Pepper stood in the doorway of Tony's bedroom, prodding him to let them get moving before they're late.
"Come on, we're never going to get a good spot if you don't hurry up!" Pepper said, bouncing up and down in excitement.
"Relax, Pepper. I'm not exactly a morning person." Tony responded.
"Well you should start being one because I want to get moving."
"You better do what she says or she'll explode from excitement." Rhodey teased. Tony grabbed his coat and they finally got going downtown to catch the Thanksgiving Day parade an hour before it started. They weren't as extreme as some other people, who camped out all night just to keep their spots or the people who came at four in the morning just to wait five hours to see the parade. There were still a few spots open an hour or so before, though, and that's what they were aiming to find.
"I still can't believe you and your dad never went down to the street to watch the parade. How can you sit in your office and work on inventions and 'glance out the window' at the parade? That's so…boring!" Pepper said as they walked downtown.
"We were never really that interested. Since my mom died we were never really interested in celebrating the holidays. It's kinda just us." Tony explained. It was true, after all, that Tony's mother was an only child and her parents passed away a few years ago, and Howard was also an only child, his parents passing away a year or two back. They were literally the only ones left from their whole extended family, so holidays didn't usually come as a joy to them.
"Even Christmas, all we did was invent some small gismo for each other. Not really holiday people." Tony finished.
"Wow, is that ever sad." Pepper responded. Tony shrugged as they found their spot on the stands near the green Macy's performing floor.
"Wow. This is so fun! The whole parade is going to go by us!" Pepper said excitedly. They managed to sit still and entertain themselves for the rest of the hour before the parade started with a few Broadway musical performances and after a while, the first marching bands, parade floats and balloons of children's favorite television characters.
What they failed to realize was that one of the reporters looked around several locations of the parade, talking to celebrity viewers. Tony didn't even know that, so when he sat down right next to Tony, he took it as a big surprise. (A/N: I am being WAY too realistic for my own good…)
"Oh my gosh, it's Tony Stark! No one has seen you in a long time, Mr. Stark, what brings you down to the parade for the first time?" She asked, holding the microphone to Tony.
"Well, uh, I thought it'd be nice to get out of the lab, you know?" Tony answered.
"And these are your friends?" She asked, looking over to Pepper and Rhodey. Pepper smiled at the camera and waved, reaching to the remote before Tony had a chance to respond.
"Yes we are! That's me, Tony 's closest friend! Oh yeah, and Rhodey…" She said excitedly. Tony chuckled at the move.
"Well Tony, its good for us to know that you're having a good time. I hope you enjoy your thanksgiving!" She said, walking away. Pepper waved as the camera moved along with its reporter.
"This is soo much fun! That marching band is so close to us! I was just on TV!" Tony chuckled more.
"Yeah, good job Pep."
~…~
As the parade passed by Tony, he observed all the happy and excited faces and noticed the sincere joy in their eyes. Everyone was so happy. Everyone had a reason to be celebrating today, and that reason was family. Tony knew he'd never trade his makeshift family consisting of his two best friends and their families. He loved them all as if they were his biological family, but he still couldn't help but miss having a real one. He was used to not having his mother around, since she hasn't been around for ten plus years, but now that he celebrated ever y holiday without the dad he's made a best friend out of for all those years where all they had were each other, he couldn't help but miss it.
He couldn't help but miss those days where it'd be Thanksgiving or Christmas and he and his father would ignore the well-known fact and go on with their daily lives. They would always figure that they had no family to celebrate with besides each other, and they got to see each other every day so they didn't bother. Tony knew he was just as well the way things were right now, but he had just abandoned ten or more years' worth of tradition. This was his way of letting go for the last time.
~…~
After the rest of the parade passed by with the finale of Santa, the trio decided to go back to Rhodey's house, where Roberta and Virgil were cooking turkey and other thanksgiving fixings. (They had decided that since the Potts family lived so far away and weren't coming up, Tony had no family and the Rhodes family lived too far to travel up to the city for a mere few days, they would all celebrate the holiday together at the Rhodes house and the adults would cook.)
"Mm, smells good mom," Rhodey commented as they plopped their coats and shoes down and wandered into the kitchen.
"Yeah, but it's still going to take a few hours." Roberta responded.
Tony, who had never experienced a real holiday with his family, absorbed every second of the close-knit bonding of it all. He hadn't felt a sense of family since before his dad 'died', and honestly it felt nice for him. He liked the idea of celebrating the fact that for the first time in his life he had a loving family.
Hours later, at the dinner table, as they were stating everything they're thankful for before they dug in and pigged out on turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes, Tony added his own excerpt.
"Not to 'Tiny Tim' myself here, but I think I'm just glad that for once in ten years I have a family again." He said. Roberta patted his back as Virgil carved the turkey and served everyone their piece.
For once, Tony felt like he had a normal life.
Hey, I tried to lengthen it a bit :P leave me alone, I'm watching the parade as I speak. Have a happy thanksgiving everyone! And if you don't celebrate thanksgiving, then, well, happy Thursday…review!