All Previous Disclaimers Apply

"I hate people," Tony moaned into the comforter where he had collapsed face down not long before. The day had been an exhausting one between Wong's information overload early in the day and then getting the boys home later in the afternoon.

It had always been a possibility that someone in the hospital would tip off the press when Tony and Pepper were getting ready to take the boys home. In fact, they'd expected some kind of media presence, had even been prepared for it. After all, they hadn't exactly been subtle when getting the boys to the hospital. The picture of Tony turning two boys faces into his sides with Pepper just behind him carrying a small boy covered by his suit jacket had been all over the gossip rags for weeks. Pepper had put together a press release that confirmed that, yes, she and Tony had been involved in getting three boys out of a bad situation, but nothing in it had confirmed or denied if they would be involved with the boys further. The press had made the correct assumption that they would when they disappeared from their normal routine and Peter had been spotted going in and out of the hospital. But, nothing had prepared them for the actual shitstorm that happened. There had been a couple hundred press gathered around the hospital entrances, and some more daring photographers had been sneaking through the halls. They'd known that they couldn't let that kind of circus get a hold of the boys before they were all ready and they'd had time to talk through it together, make some decisions together as a family. So, in the end Tony had gone out to face the masses, being his normal manipulative, close-mouthed media personality while Pepper, Peter, and Happy snuck the boys out through the kitchen with the help of the real heroes of the hospital. The nurses who had helped them for weeks would all be receiving massage packets and new Stark phones as Tony and Pepper's way to thank them.

It had taken almost an hour for Tony to be able to get himself out of the grip of the press and by the time he was done telling them too much and absolutely nothing at the same time, Happy had returned to pick him up. When he'd gotten to the penthouse the boys were tense and quiet and Bucky had thrown himself at Tony the moment he'd come out of the elevator. Stevie had reached out for him, making grabby hands, big tears running down his cherubic face. Clint had even reached out and grabbed onto the hem of Tony's suit jacket.

"Hey, now," Tony had pressed a kiss to Stevie's temple and run a hand over Bucky and Clint's heads, "What's all this?"

"There were so many people," Bucky whispered.

"They were worried for you," Pepper expanded when none of the boys seemed ready to do it.

"It's okay, guys," Tony said gently, "I know that many people can be scary, but I've been dealing with them for a long time. I know how to handle them. You don't need to worry."

The boys had taken what he said as the truth and tried to relax, but the stress and anxiety of getting out of the hospital and making the move across town to the penthouse hadn't been easy for them. Peter tried his best to help them calm down by being his normal, goofy self, but what usually got belly laughs only got slight smiles. And in the end, they had all decided to just settle in the family room, cuddled together and watching a movie just as they had done so often in the hospital. Pepper had gotten up only long enough to make them all a light supper of sandwiches and hot chocolate before rejoining them. After the stress of the day, once they were fed all three boys, and Peter, had fallen asleep almost immediately. Tony and Pepper had finished the movie, their hands linked on the back of the couch over the boys' heads, feeling content, before they'd gotten them up one at a time, waking them up just long enough to show them their rooms, where the bathroom was, where their bedroom was if they needed them, and then tucked them in. There had only been one scary moment when Clint, half asleep, had slipped while climbing into his bed, but despite the minor heart attacks it caused both Tony and Pepper, he had only used his other foot to vault him into the bed like a gymnast. They silently agreed with their eyes to get him into some classes to further train that particular talent. After their younger boys were all settled Pepper had gone to get ready for bed herself while Tony steered a mostly sleeping Peter to his own room. Then, he'd made his way to their room and collapsed on their bed still fully clothed, face down.

"You don't hate people," Pepper's voice was tired, but still amused at her husband's antics, "You love people. You hate paparazzi."

"Same thing today." Tony whined, "I need a shower. Pepper, drag me to the shower."

"That's not happening," Pepper laughed, "Drag yourself to the shower."

"But, I'm tired!"

"You whine worse that Stevie," Pepper teased, "Come on, Tones. We'll shower together."

When he looked up her face her expression was less seduction and more exhaustion as she held a hand out for him, but it didn't stop the smile that spread across his as he took the offered hand and follower her into the bathroom. They stripped each other gently, and stood under the warm spray together, holding each other close, pressing sweet, closed-mouthed kisses to each other's wet warm skin, but not feeling the need to take anything further. After almost falling asleep standing up they forced themselves to wash before haphazardly drying off and getting into sleep clothes before they both crawled into the bed with wet hair and were sleep almost before they'd pulled the blankets up around them.

Tony was woken by a sniffle, which demonstrated just how much his awareness had grown over the past couple of weeks, especially when it came to the boys. He sat up and blinked the sleep away from his eyes as he looked into the dark where the sound had come from. He wouldn't have known Clint was there except for the toe he hadn't pulled past the doorframe. But, Tony recognized the purple socks.

"Clint, sweetheart?" He asked quietly. The lights in the hall faded down, and then came back up, twice, the signal that they'd agreed on with Clint that meant someone was trying to talk with him. After a moment a little face half appeared around the door frame.

"Are you okay?" Tony asked, signing as he spoke.

Clint nodded, and rubbed at his eyes tiredly.

"It's a little weird to be in your own room after so much time together, huh?" Tony asked gently.

Another nod.

"Do you want to sleep in here with Pepper and me?"

A hesitation, then another nod.

"Come on in, buddy." Tony smiled gently, and held out his hand. Clint dragged his feet as he made his way to the bed, but he snuggled down into it pretty quickly once he was in between Tony and Pepper. When Pepper sighed in her sleep and rolled over, laying a hand over Clint's chest, wanting to protect him even as she slept, he froze for a moment, and so did Tony, waiting to see what would happen. After a couple of moments Clint began to relax inch by inch until he was loose and his face was turned toward her, a small smile on it as he closed his eyes. Tony smiled and made sure that, while he didn't touch Clint, feeling that it might be too much for the boy, he was faced toward him as he allowed himself to relax again as well. He was almost asleep again when he heard a small cough.

"Come on in," He called quietly, turning over to see Bucky standing in the doorway, a sleepy Stevie in his arms. Stevie was sucking on his fist, his eyes aware, but tired.

"Come on," He said quietly, lifting the blanket in invitation.

"Only babies have to sleep with adults," Bucky murmured.

"Nah," Tony chuckled, "Peter still comes to sleep with us when he's had a nightmare. The bed's big enough. Come on in. Clint's already here."

"Dad…" Peter's voice was a whine and Tony started a little. He'd been unaware that Peter was even in the room, but his rumpled, grumpy son's head came up on the other side of Pepper, "Some people are trying to sleep here!"

"My point exactly." Tony motioned to Peter, "Come get comfortable, boys."

Bucky's smiles, a little crooked and entirely too charming for his, and Toy's own good, had quickly become one of Tony's favorite things and he felt an answering one on his own lips as the boy carried his brother to the bed. Tony sat up and took Stevie in his arms so that Bucky could climb on the bed in between himself and Clint. He slipped under the covers like a little seal and then laid his head on one side of Tony's pillow before closing his eyes and sighing happily. Tony ran a hand over his head and tried to lay Stevie down next to him, but the toddler, already mostly asleep again already, made a discontented sound from the back of his throat and clung a little. Tony pressed a kiss to his fine, blonde hair and laid down, keeping Stevie on his chest. He tried to gently extract Stevie's thumb from his mouth, but gave up when the boy was stronger than he appeared and the effort was more than Tony wanted to expend in his exhausted state, so he gave up, snuggled the boy closer, and let himself drift until he was dreaming again.

He woke up sweating and a little disoriented when he felt a weight on his chest. It took him a couple of seconds, but when he opened his eyes and saw the blonde hair it all came back to him, all of their boys crawling into bed with them in the middle of the night, Clint feeling comfortable enough to let the sleeping Pepper put her arm around him, Pepper never waking up through it all. He idly wondered what time it was, as the room was already fairly bright, and turned his head to look out the window. He was greeted instead with the sight of Pepper looking down at her phone, a soft smile on her face as she reviewed the pictures she'd just taken. Tony looked at the occupants of the bed and knew that his smile was probably just as soft and content. Clint had moved in the night, and was laid horizontally across the bottom of the bed, which wasn't a surprise, but he'd pulled the blanket and sheet up so that he could hold onto Pepper's ankle in his sleep, and was still holding it gently as he slept on, his face unlined with worry or nightmares. Pete had moved to the other side of Pepper and was sprawled out on his back like a starfish, like always, but this time he was joined by Bucky, splayed almost exactly the same way, his head on Peter's shoulder. Stevie was still curled up on Tony's chest, but had taken his thumb out of his mouth and there was quite a wet spot on Tony's t-shirt.

"Drool shouldn't be this endearing." Tony whispered to Pepper. She laughed lowly and propped herself up on her elbow.

"We probably shouldn't let them get used to sleeping in here," She murmured.

"One night isn't habit forming," Tony pointed out, "New place, new sounds, new smells. We're lucky we didn't have any nightmares last night."

"True." Pepper agreed.

Whether it was Tony and Pepper speaking or his own natural rhythms, Tony froze when he felt Stevie starting to shift around, waking up. He lifted his head up for a moment, looked around, stuck his thumb back in his mouth, and laid his head back down, his eyes toward Pepper.

"Good Morning, sweetheart," Pepper said quietly to the boy. He popped his thumb out of his mouth, rolled onto his side, trusting Tony not to let him roll off, and made grabby hands at Pepper. She laughed again and sat up just enough to take him and settle him in her lap.

"How did you sleep, little love?" Pepper asked.

Stevie looked at her for a moment, then leaned in to lay against her chest, already mostly asleep again.

"Mama," the baby said quietly on a sigh as his eyes fluttered closed.

"Did he just…" Tony could hardly speak around the emotion that was rising in his throat. He looked at his wife just as the first tears slipped down her face. She nodded quickly and reached out a hand for Tony.

Tony wondered, as he took his wife's hand and looked at their boys, all of them safe and happy with them, if he had ever been happier in his life.