Nora was the same sweet little angel she always was, even without her mom there to nag her to behave every five minutes. Peter had asked again how old she was, and Wade repeated Sean's proud speech about her turning 5 years old in a week. Vanessa had a cute little party planned for the weekend before her birthday. Friends from her nursery, the X-Men and their kids, some sort of entertainer dressed up like a princess. Being surrounded by superheroes wasn't cool enough for her, evidently.
"Which princess is coming to your party?" Peter asked.
"Mulan! She's one of my favourites," Nora grinned. "She didn't get saved by a boy, she saved the boys and the whole country. And she didn't have powers like daddy either, it was all just hard work and training. And-"
The girl rambled on about all the best bits about Mulan and the movie, something Wade had been forced to sit through so many times he counted it as torture. But he liked that she had a decent princess role model. Not the one who married someone she knew for one night or the Stockholm Syndrome love story. Rising up against a sexist society and saving those even though they wronged you was a pretty good message to send. But Peter looked interested in what she said, and brought up a couple of things Wade hadn't thought of, such as the story of Mulan was based on a real-life.
"SHE'S REAL!" Nora screamed. She excitedly bounced onto Peter's lap, "I need to know, please tell me the story!"
"Well, her name was actually Hua Mulan. But it's true that she took her father's place in the war by dressing as a man because he was old and injured. But she already knew how to fight, because she lived in a place where people thought women should know how to defend themselves. And the man she loved found out she was a woman while they fought together, and he didn't mind. They fell in love, fought together, and she became a general too. And when she came out to all the other soldiers, they didn't care either. They respected her bravery."
"That's real?! Is Mushu real?"
Peter smiled sadly, "I don't think so. But I wish he was."
Nora proceeded to put Mulan on her tablet, curling up with a blanket over her shoulders and letting herself get absorbed in the film. It was no small relief for Wade to not have to watch it for the millionth time.
"Sean had looked pretty smug when he dropped Nora off earlier," Peter grinned, curling into Wade's side.
Wade had called Vanessa the morning after, and she was smug as anything even if she tried to keep it out of her tone. And Sean had definitely been smug when he dropped Nora off at 4. One of the two were due back at 8 pm at the latest, depending on if they went home for 'alone time' or did it wherever they were. Peter had heard that comment, but simply raised an eyebrow and asked Wade if exhibitionism was something he was into. He'd said not usually, and Peter joked he'd had enough of messing around in public places for one lifetime.
Peter handled most of the babysitting duties. Wade had been in Nora's life since birth, and he was fiercely protective of her, but he still made inappropriate jokes all the time and didn't know what child-friendly activities were. But Peter let her talk, read her a book Nessa had provided and let her watch him make dinner. This was when he had Wade step in, so Nora could be held up to see the stove and throw in ingredients with Wade's hand blocking her from the steam. And she seemed to have a lot of fun. So much fun that she was tuckered out by 7 pm, sleeping soundly on the couch while Peter and Wade cuddled on the floor with their backs against the counter.
"You did so well with her today," Wade smiled. He pulled Peter's head onto his shoulder and nuzzled the top of his head. "I can picture you with kids, ever thought of having any?"
Peter giggled into his hand, "I don't think I can get pregnant how we do it, Wade."
Wade snorted, "I mean it, have you thought of having kids?"
"I have, in the ideal sense. With someone else to play daddy, financially ready and settled. I haven't put serious thought into how though, because it seems like such a long-term plan for being settled. But I did joke with MJ about it once. It was a sensitive time in for the month with her and she was crying about wanting a baby, so she demanded to be my surrogate to have my baby. She also insisted on being godmother to any kids I adopted. How about you?"
"I never thought about it. My job is dangerous, my work hours are irregular. It would be irresponsible to have a kid that I can't take care of properly. And I make loads of dirty jokes, not the best for kids."
"Have you not seen Disney?" Peter smiled. "They always throw dirty jokes into films for the adults. Kids don't understand and it's fun for parents."
Wade had admitted it had been a long time since he saw one that wasn't Mulan.
Before Peter could respond, the door opened and Nessa click-clacked down the hallway. She noticed Nora on the sofa and the two lovebirds cuddled on the floor. It warmed her heart to see someone accept Wade better than even she could. She asked when she'd fallen asleep, but got a shrug, so moved to try and lift her baby.
"I'll carry her," Wade offered.
Vanessa nodded thankfully and let Wade pick up her daughter like a baby to keep asleep on the journey down the stairs. He left the details off his night with Peter, and the way he entirely accepted everything about Wade. He barely blinked at the scars and sounded genuinely turned-on when Wade touched him. It was like it didn't matter how screwed up his skin was because Peter still found him attractive.
"He seems to have a good heart, Wade. He must see the good in you. So take care of that beautiful soul, right?"
Wade had assured her he would, but was thinking about it all the way up the stairs. The voices nagged that there wasn't much good to see and hooker's fake it to get paid more so Peter probably hated their time together. It honestly sucked having more than one person in your head. But it made the stairways less lonely.
Peter was hooking his laptop up to the TV when Wade got back to the living room, and he sat down when ordered to. Peter warned him he wanted to remind Wade of the childish joys of Disney and the sneaky jokes for the adults they hid. He had store bought popcorn and cuddled into Wade's side after pressing play. But he also rolled Wade's mask to his nose, so he could kiss his cheek as he settled in.
"Gotta get in that practice."
Wade chuckled, wrapping both arms around his baby boy as the film started. The voices in his head were quiet for a moment. So he settled in, not worrying what his voices were saying or anything troubling. He just relaxed with his guy, watching the star arch over the castle as the film started and embraced the moment to see Peter so innocently happy.