Tony was happy to walk hand in hand with Steve all the way home. The entire way, Steve kept kissing his neck and whispering in his ear all the ways he was going to spoil him. By the time they made it back to the Tower, Tony was ready to melt into a puddle on the ground. Oh, the things Steve did to him.

Steve headed straight for the kitchen because apparently the first thing on the list was making Tony a chocolate sundae.

"Congratulations on your engagement, sir," Jarvis said as they entered the room. He played a few sound clips of people clapping and blowing noise makers.

Tony grinned. "Thanks, J."

Clint poked his head in through the door. "What are we celebrating, your future baby?"

"What? Who said anything about a baby?"

"Well, the Sun's reporting that you're pregnant. Because that's the only reasonable explanation for why you stopped drinking."

Tony snatched the magazine from Clint's hand and glared at the front cover. As a further insult, the photoshopped belly was particularly sloppy work. "Steve," he growled. "You need to have another talk with the media."

"Ignore it," Steve said. "The Sun prints stories about fifty-pound babies and talking cats. Who's going to believe anything they say?"

Tony huffed. "Some fiance you are. Well, when we actually get married, it's going to be your job to protect me from all the ridiculous stories about me."

Steve grinned as he kissed Tony's cheek. "Of course, darling. I'll make sure to burn the papers before you see them."

Clint's eyes widened. "Oh my god, you finally got engaged? Congrats, dude." He thumped Tony's back. "Took you long enough."

Tony wiggled his hand in Clint's face to make sure he had a good look at the ring. "This is quality bling, my friend. Do you know how long it takes to make something this awesome?"

"Wow," Clint said. "Wait until the rest of the team hears about this."

"Don't you dare tell them." Tony said. "You breathe a word of this to anybody and you're not getting any of Steve's scallops for dinner." He looked to Steve for confirmation and Steve nodded, his face schooled into a stern expression. Good man.

Clint scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine. If anybody else knows, they didn't hear it from me." He vaulted over the counter and disappeared into the vent above the fridge.

Steve leaned back against the counter. "How long are we making him keep it a secret?"

"Not long. I just want a chance to blind everyone with my ring at dinner." Tony rubbed his hands together gleefully. He really hoped Clint kept his word because he couldn't wait to see the look on Natasha's face when he surprised her at dinner. It felt awesome to know something the super spies didn't know.

Steve rolled his eyes. "You are such a child."

"Yeah, well, you're marrying me anyway." And that was a comforting thought. Steve had seen Tony in some truly terrible situations. No one would blame him for wanting to break up with him after all the stress he put Steve through. But, instead, Steve had committed to sticking around no matter what mess Tony landed them in next.

Steve stroked his thumb over Tony's cheek. "It's not always your fault when things go bad," he said. "You're responsible for a lot of things that go right, you know."

Shit. Thinking out loud again. He really was going to have to learn to stop that one day.

Steve grinned. "A day may come when you can hide how absolutely adorable you are, but it is not this day."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Lord of the Rings? Really?" And they said his sense of humor was bad.

Steve shrugged and laced their fingers together. "Seemed appropriate, considering."

Ah, yes. The ring. The coolest piece of jewelry Tony owned. The greatest present anyone had ever given him. The only thing he was never, ever, ever taking off for the rest of his life.

Steve squeezed his hand. "You're getting a wedding ring, too, you know."

Okay, scratch that. So, the wedding ring was never, ever, ever coming off.

"And we'll have matching rings," Steve said. "Proof for the whole world that you and I love each other and any rumors to the contrary are just a bunch of hogwash."

Somehow, Tony didn't think the tabloid rumors would stop just because they got married. It'd just move into a new stage of speculation: the infinite divorce watch. But fuck the tabloids. Steve wasn't going to leave him.

Steve scooped them each a bowl of ice cream and slathered Tony's with chocolate sauce, which was just the way he liked it. Then they spent the next hour savoring their sundaes and talking.

Bruce wandered in a little after four to get a refill for his chai tea. "Good to see you lovebirds enjoying yourself," he said with a smile. He poured his tea and made for the door, hesitating just inside the doorway. "Steve, you do realize you have team dinner tonight, right?"

"Already planned out," Steve affirmed.

"Good to hear." He raised his mug in a salute and ambled back down to the lab.

Steve sighed. "Regrettably, I do need to start working on dinner," he said. "But you can stay and keep me company if you want."

Tony settled onto a stool to watch Steve at work. Steve had five different pots on the stove at once, and he still managed to make the meal look effortless. At this point, Tony would have been rushing around the kitchen putting out fires and trying to salvage whatever looked the least burnt. But, of course, nothing Steve made was the slightest bit burnt. The scallops were perfectly seared and the pasta sauce was just the right consistency. Steve let Tony have a taste test before he dished out the plates and everything tasted just as good as it looked.

The delicious smell summoned the rest of the team and they all quickly found a spot at the table. As usual, Tony and Steve sat across from each other so they could play footsies under the table. And tonight, Tony just couldn't keep the smile off his face when he looked across at Steve.

Natasha looked between the two of them. "Well, you both seem to be in fantastic mood tonight. Have you been fucking in the kitchen?"

Steve looked horrified. "Of course not," he said. "That would be so unsanitary."

Tony rolled his eyes. Of course that would be the only objection Chef Steve had to kitchen sex.

Clint stuffed a big helping of scallops into his mouth. "Ememend," he said around his mouthful.

Natasha narrowed her eyes. "What did you say?"

"He said we're engaged," Tony said. He proudly held out his hand so everyone could get a good look at the ring.

"Congratulations, my friends," Thor said. He thumped both Steve and Tony heartily on the back. "I hear that it is Midgardian tradition to celebrate such an occasion with alcohol and dancing maidens."

"We'll pass, thank you," Steve said. "Tony's put that life behind him." And he favored Tony with a proud look.

"That's right," Natasha said with a smirk. "He has to stay sober for the baby."

Tony huffed. Of course she had read that stupid story too.

Thor looked startled. "I did not think the men on your planet could conceive."

"We can't," Tony practically shouted. "There's no baby."

"That's not what this article says." Natasha tauntingly waved the offending magazine in his face.

"Ooh," Steve said. "Can I see that?"

"Of course." She handed it over to him.

Steve ripped the cover in half and handed it back to her with a smile. "Such shoddy journalism these days," he said cheerfully.

She stared at him with open-mouthed shock.

Tony burst out laughing. "Steve, you're the fucking best." He leaned across the table to kiss him.

Clint sighed. "They're going to become even more sickeningly lovey-dovey, aren't they?"

"I'm afraid so," Bruce said. But he didn't sound particularly upset about it. Because Bruce was so much cooler than Natasha and Clint. It was why he was Tony's favorite. Besides Steve, of course.

"You probably won't see much of them the next few weeks," Natasha assured Clint. "They'll be too busy planning their wedding."

Right. Wedding planning. Tony knew how to throw a big party, but he could count the number of weddings he had ever attended on one hand and still have five fingers left. And weddings were really, really formal and elaborate. There had to be so much detail and work that went into every little second and Tony hated that kind of stuff. Pepper was usually responsible for the little details. But he couldn't exactly ask his ex-girlfriend to plan his wedding for him. That seemed a little tacky.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked. "You look awfully worried all of a sudden."

Tony licked his lips. "I'm not good at planning things."

"Understatement of the year," Natasha said. "But don't worry. I'll take care of everything."

And now Tony was even more worried.

"Relax," Steve said. "It'll be a small wedding. Just the team and a few of our allies from SHIELD. No one else needs to know. A big ceremony will just be inviting a supervillain strike anyway."

Tony sucked in a deep breath. Okay, he could do this.