This one's a bit of a short chapter but I'm pretty sure you'll all enjoy it. Get ready for some surprises. I'll see you at the end.
Being back home after being stuck in the hospital for a month was amazing. Tony was thrilled to be home. Honestly, when he'd used Thanos' gauntlet himself he never expected to ever return home to his family. He felt lucky. Very, very lucky.
Two days after Tony returned home they celebrated his birthday. It was a huge party with everyone still there at the tower. It was nice to see everyone smiling and celebrating. Tony was just happy to see everyone else in all honesty. He kept Steve, Peter, and Nicola close by the who time as he relished in the feeling of being alive and back with his family.
And that night Tony and Steve had some spectacular life-affirming sex so… best birthday ever.
Recently, Tony had come to the conclusion that he didn't care about the scars now covering his arm and face. In the past, sure he would have. He would have tried to hide away or cover them up. But not now. Now Tony saw these new scars as proof that he'd done the impossible and lived through the power of 4 Infinity Stones. Plus his new glasses sort of took the focus away from his facial scars so there's that.
A couple of days after the party, it was time for the Guardians to depart. There was a whole galaxy that needed to be reassured that Thanos was gone and it was their job to spread the news. Everyone was sad to see their new friends leave, but they promised to come back and visit soon. Just before they left, Tony gifted Nebula some things to play paper football with as well of some puzzles she'd been enjoying. It was a nice gift for someone who'd never really received one before.
Carol had decided to stick around for a little bit. It had been over 20 years since she'd last been Earthside and she wanted to catch up a bit. Rhodey was absolutely thrilled with this decision and appointed himself her official guild and started taking her out often so she could experience things. Steve had to hold Tony back on teasing the man about his crush.
About a week and a half into June, Tony was sitting in bed doing some thinking. He'd been doing that a lot lately. He was still on rest after everything that happened so he didn't have any stuff to do for SI or the Avengers so thinking was really all he could do. And there was only really one thing Tony had been thinking about as of late.
He was thinking about retiring Iron Man.
Sure, it wasn't like him to back away from the fight, but with almost dying to Thanos it put some things into perspective. In the past, Tony would have continued to fight until his death, and that nearly happened a few times. But now, Tony had a family that depended on him. He had a husband and kids and he had a life. A life he never thought he'd get.
It was high time that Tony got the opportunity to rest and just enjoy it.
"Hey Stevie, can we talk?" asked Tony as the two were getting ready for bed.
"Sure, Darlin'. What's on your mind?" asked Steve as he sat down on the bed next to Tony and took his hands in his.
And Tony, to his credit, went and just ripped the whole thing off like a band-aid. He trusted Steve to be fair with his decision and that was what mattered.
"I want to retire from being Iron Man. It's just… I've done so much and I know I'll never be able to perform at 100% again after Thanos. I just want to stay alive and well for Nicola and Peter. I don't want to die and leave them behind. We've already had some close calls. I finally have a family of my own. I don't was to loose that."
"Tony, I get it and I support your decision. You've done so much for this team out on the field. You deserve to rest and be with the kids. You deserve to be able to invent things and not stress so much. You deserve a break."
And Steve's words struck a chord with Tony. The fact that he was being told that he could finally rest was some of the best news of his life. Ever since Tony was a kid he was always on the go. He was always working and feeling like shit. But now, now he could take a step back from something and relax with his kids. It was a dream come true.
The next day Tony and Steve told the team what was going to happen. And you know what? Every last one of them supported Tony's decision. It was a huge relief. And sure, Tony would still make new gear for the team and help them out with intel, but he was no longer going to be out on the field. But the team was strong and they knew they'd all be ok.
The media, on the other hand, was a completely different story.
A couple of days after Tony made his final decision and finished up the paperwork, Tony had to hold a press conference to tell the public about this new change. This was a huge deal as this was Tony's first public appearance since Thanos. This was the first time the public was going to see his new scared body. This could only go so well.
At least Tony wasn't alone during the conference. Because this was an Avengers matter everyone was there to support Tony. And boy did he need it.
Despite the fact that Tony was the one to actually end the Mad Titian and humanity should be thankful, the fact that Tony was announcing that he was stepping down in order to heal and focus more on his family, well, there were some very vocal media people who didn't like that.
There was a lot of yelling. Like, a lot of yelling. A lot of not very nice yelling. The media wanted Tony to continue to fight. They thought it was selfish that he was stepping away after almost dying. There was so much negativity that honestly Tony was about 5 seconds away from a panic attack. Lucky Steve caught on pretty quick and took control of the situation.
It was moments like that when Tony was glad he had the other Avengers as family. They knew what Tony was going through. They knew how to help because they knew how Tony was feeling. They also all shared a common hatred of the press. Sure, there were some nice people out there who asked good questions, spoke the truth, and were actual decent human beings. But the majority of the press was just annoying, rude, and out there to hurt them. Especially at large press conferences because they could be more vocal.
But, despite all the bad press about stepping down, the actual public was really nice and supportive. There were so many people who were sympathetic to the scars Tony now bore from the fight as well as to his decision to step down and stay with his family. And it wasn't like he was leaving the Avengers. He's still be running tech for them. Iron Man just wouldn't take to the skies anymore. The public understood and their voices mattered more than the media's did.
Towards the end of June Tony noticed that he was starting to feel ill. At first, he chalked it up to being sick after the injuries he'd acquired recently. It made sense. But, Tony began to question that once he started feeling sick whenever he smelled cooking meat. That sent up a couple of red flags for sure.
But it wasn't until it was a couple of days before Nicola and Steve's birthday that Tony finally put the pieces together. Tony had woken up that morning and ran to the bathroom to throw up. Luckily Steve was already up and making Nicola some bananas and oatmeal so Tony didn't have to worry about his sometimes overbearing husband.
And as Tony sat there on the bathroom floor trying to compose himself everything seemed to fall together. Tony was mostly sick when he woke up and when smelling cooked meats. He'd been feeling a bit bloated this last little bit. And the real nail on the door head was the fact that Tony had the sudden realization that on his birthday he and Steve had had pretty amazing unprotected sex.
It was very likely he was pregnant.
"Hey J… could you maybe order a couple pregnancy tests. Don't tell Steve though."
"Of course Sir. You can expect a package down in medical this afternoon."
"Thanks, J. You're the best."
And so for the rest of the morning, Tony kept his little secret. He didn't want to tell Steve before he was sure. So, all morning Tony went about as normal. He ate breakfast with his family, played with Nicola, and made sure that Peter took his suit when he went over to his friend Ned's. It was all normal.
But after lunch, things changed. Tony excused himself to work in his lab while Steve went out to do some paperwork for the team. Tony quickly swung by medical and picked up the package before he sequestered himself in his lab with the intent of using the contents. Tony pretty much ran to his bathroom, read the instructions, and used the tests.
Tony ended up sitting on the floor while he waited in anticipation to get his answers. He just needed to know what was going on. Sure, he had a very good feeling, but it was good to know. When time was up Tony got up and looked at all three different tests that JARVIS had gotten him. He turned each one over in his hands just to make sure they were right. After that, Tony put the tests back down on the counter and took a step back.
"Oh shit."
He was pregnant.
Tony was a mix of excited and scared. He was excited because he loved Nicola and had always wanted to give him a sibling, but he was scared because this was so soon after Thanos and he didn't know how this could affect his baby. Tony's hands trailed down and ended up resting over his stomach. His new baby was growing there. Sure, he'd done this all before with Nicola but this still felt special. This baby was made of love and he couldn't wait to tell Steve.
Tony ended up waiting until Steve and Nicola's birthday to tell Steve. The day itself was fun. Nicola had had an amazing party with all sorts of games that the kids enjoyed. Scott and Hope came to visit and brought Cassie with them so Nicola had fun making a new friend. There was cake and Nicola loved the new toys he'd gotten. Tony could hardly believe that his baby boy was now four years old! Just yesterday he'd been a tiny little baby in his arms, not Nicola was getting ready for preschool and forging his own path in life.
But that night, that night was something else. After all the kids had gone to bed Tony pulled Steve aside before they went to return to the adults' party. Steve looked confused but with the way, Tony was smiling and hiding something behind his back made Steve a little giddy.
"So, I know we all agreed that you didn't want any presents but I have a feeling you'll really like this one." Smiled Tony as he faced Steve and bounced on the balls of his feet.
"Well, whatever could it be Sweet Thing?" asked Steve coyly.
And then Tony grinned even bigger and pulled out a positive pregnancy test from behind his back.
"I'm pregnant!"
"… What! How?" asked Steve dumbly as he tried to take in the news, looking between Tony and the clearly positive pregnancy test.
"Well, I think this happened when we had that incredibly hot, life-affirming sex once I was out of the hospital. If I recall we didn't use protection but didn't care because it was incredibly hot life-affirming sex."
And it had been incredibly hot, life-affirming sex. It was Tony's birthday, he'd been looking irresistible in his new glasses, and most importantly, he was alive. Steve remembered the night fondly. But still, this was coming as a surprise. An amazing surprise, but a surprise none the less.
"So… we're having another baby." Stated Steve as he looked Tony up and down. The emotions welling up inside him.
"I guess we are."
And then Steve scooped his husband into his arms. He bent down and rested his head on Tony's shoulder as he felt a stray tear or two fall from his eyes. Tony returned the embrace and kissed the side of Steve's head.
"Have I ever told you how amazing you are? God Tony, you're so amazing. I can't wait till you start showing and I can feel our baby. Fuck I love you so much. This is the best gift you could ever give me." Cried Steve as he stepped back a bit and placed his hands on Tony's stomach.
Tony smiled up at Steve and gave his husband a sweet little kiss on the lips as he placed his hands on top of Steve's.
"You're a good dad Steve."
"And you're a great mom. God, I love you so much."
And at that moment, time seemed to stop as the two just enjoyed this little moment of joy together.
AAAAAAHHHHHH! It's time for another baby! Any guesses as to who it is? But even so… Yay baby time! I hope you guys liked this chapter. I wanted something short and sweet to follow all the hard shit from last chapter and I think I did it. Next chapter will be longer and probably out sometime around Christmas. Yay! I'll see you soon guys! -Shadows