Warning for cuteness overload! I've been waiting so long for this chapter you have no idea. So, let's get on with it. I'll see you at the end!
Nicola was now two months old and growing like a bean. He was starting to focus more and was also beginning to recognize both Tony and Steve's voices. Poor baby had no idea what they were saying but was more than happy to just know that Mamma and Dada were close by for cuddles.
Everyone in the tower was adapting well to having a baby around. They all learned when to be quiet for the baby as well as what they could do to help out the sleep-deprived parents. Despite the fact that Tony was famous for his lab binges, he wasn't doing that hot with the "not enough sleep" thing. Steve was fairing much better and that was probably due to the serum. Lucky bastard.
Speaking of said Lucky Bastard, Steve was currently sitting in his art room scheming while Tony and Nicola napped. He was dead set on keeping the promise he'd made to himself to propose to Tony after Nicola was born. But it couldn't just be any old proposal. It had to be perfect. Which was why Steve had enlisted Rhodey to help.
"I wanna propose to Tony." Spouted off Steve before Rhodey could even ask why he was there.
"This isn't out of some obligation because the two of you have an admittedly adorable baby together, right? Just wanna make sure." Spoke Rhodey as he sat down across from Steve.
"No, it's not. I've wanted to marry Tony for a while now. I can't imagine my life without him in it. I want to marry Tony to show him that I will always be committed. I'm not leaving him unless he tells me to leave."
"Well then… I guess you have my blessing. Now, I'm assuming you asked me here because you need ideas for the proposal." Asked Rhodey. Steve nodded and the two got to work.
"Despite everything, everyone seems to think they know about Tony he doesn't like to make a big deal about himself. You know this. So, keep it simple. Take him out somewhere private. Just get him out of the tower period. The rest of us will babysit. Poor man needs some fresh air and time away from the crying. Just use the excuse of spending time together. I know Tony likes that. Just keep things simple and you'll be fine. Tony'll say yes anyway so you'll be fine."
Steve listened closely to everything Rhodey said and started to formulate a plan in his head. He wanted this to be perfect. Tony deserved the world and this was the least that Steve could do. So with a plan now in motion and a date set Steve felt ready.
Two days before the date Steve had picked out to propose, in early September, Fury gave them a call out for a local mission. They didn't need to even leave the state and it wouldn't last more than a day but Steve was still nervous. This was his first mission call out since becoming a father. He didn't want anything bad to happen that would prevent him from returning to his family. Sure, Sam, Rhodey, Thor, and Natasha were also coming and would have his back, but Steve was a worrier… so he worried.
"You better come back to us." Whispered Tony as Steve held him and Nicola close. They were standing out on the helipad as everyone going began to board the jet.
"I will always come back to you. You guys are my whole world and I will never leave you." Soothed Steve as they broke apart and Steve gave one last kiss to each of them before hopping on the jet with the others going on the mission.
Steve was very happy to keep his promise. Because of his haste to get home, the mission finished in half the time. Although, some of that may have been attributed to the fact that some young HYDRA agent at the base had blown up the entire thing when cornered by Thor. Sure, they didn't get all the information they needed from the HYDRA databases, but they had enough to move forward with plans to take down more bases. All in all the mission only took around 12 hours and Steve was thrilled to return home to his family.
So, right on time on September 7th, Steve asked Tony to go out on a walk with him in central park.
"I don't know Steve. I don't want to leave Nicola. He's still so little." Sighed Tony and Steve grabbed his hands in his.
"Anthony sweetheart. You need to get out every once in a while. Nicola will be just fine with Clint and Rhodey. We deserve just a little bit of time to ourselves. Other parents do stuff like this all the time and it's not like we'll be gone long. Only for like an hour. So what do you say? Shall we go out?" asked Steve as he slowly pulled Tony towards the elevator.
"Fine, but only for an hour. I don't want to be away from my baby for long."
"Me neither Tony. Just a quick outing to spend some time together."
So with a smile, Tony and Steve exited the tower and hopped on Steve's bike to head out. Steve was giddy the entire ride out. He couldn't wait. He had the perfect spot picked out and everything. Once they arrived Steve parked the bike and the two started their walk. They held hands and strolled at a leisurely pace just talking about this and that. It was a nice day out. The leaves were only just starting to change colour and it wasn't cold yet. Perfect weather for a stroll.
Once they got the to spot that Steve had picked out they stopped to take in the view for a moment. There was a light breeze rustling the leave of the nearby trees and the sun was shining off of the water making it sparkle like glitter and gold. But speaking of gold…
"Tony, I want to ask you something." Spoke up Steve after a moment. Tony looked a bit confused but Steve continued. Steve took Tony's hands in his and got down on one knee like a proper gentleman and instantly Tony knew what was happening. Tears sprung up in his eyes and Steve began to talk.
"Tony, I don't know where I'd be without you. I can't even begin to imagine what my life would be like without you in it. I don't want to even think about what a depressing would that would be. I love you so much. You've given me a home, a family, a life worth living for. I want to be yours for as long as you'll have me. And I know I've made mistakes in the past and it took Loki being a grade-A dick to show me how wrong I was, but I'm glad he did. I love everything about you, Tony. You and Nicola are my entire world. So, Anthony Edward Stark, would you do me the honour of marrying me?"
Steve reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet box. Inside was a golden ring with three red rubies, one for each member of their family. It was perfect for Tony. The whole time that Steve was proposing, Tony was silently crying. He never thought he'd ever be at this point in his life. The point where he had a kid and someone who loved him. He never imagined this for himself and he was not about to let any of his insecurities get in the way of this special moment.
"Yes, Steve. Yes I will marry you!" smiled Tony, tears of joy falling from his big doe eyes.
Steve carefully slid the ring onto Tony's left hand and gave his knuckles a kiss before he stood up and pulled Tony into a searing kiss. Tony's hands snaked around Steve's neck while Steve rested on Tony's hips. Steve was glad that he'd chosen a spot off the beaten path because his hands began to wander a little bit.
"I'm the luckiest man in the world." Whispered Steve as he and Tony pulled apart and rested their foreheads together.
"I love you so much, Steve." Whispered Tony back. Steve just smiled and pulled Tony into another kiss.
"As much as I'd like for this moment to continue on forever, we should probably get back home. I'm sure Nicola will need feeding soon and I know our friends will want to know our big news." Spoke Tony after a few more minutes of kissing.
Steve agreed and soon the two were speeding back off towards the tower. The second they got back Tony made a b-line for where Nicola was perched on Rhodey's lap. He plucked the infant out of Rhodey's arms and sat down on the big chair in the living room so Nicola could feed. The whole time he had this stupid smile on his face.
"What's with the smile looser?" snickered Rhodey, knowing full well why Tony was smiling like a loon.
"Steve proposed!" smiled Tony as he held out his hand to show off the ring. Steve smiled as well and sat down on the chair with Tony and Nicola.
"Congratulations you two! See Steve, I told you he'd say yes."
When the rest of the team joined in for dinner they also got to hear the news. Everyone was excited and unsurprisingly some money was exchanged between the spies. Of course, bets had been made on what one of them would propose. Clint was just off by a couple of months.
After dinner and once Nicola was asleep, Tony called Pepper and Happy to tell them the news. Pepper was excited and happy for Tony whereas Happy had simply said: "it's about time." And left it at that. Happy was a man of few words but Tony knew those words were out of love.
Later that night, Steve decided to make an announcement on Instagram. It was better to control these things instead of letting rumours run wild. The picture Steve decided to post was simple. It was just their hands clasped together with the ring on display. It was simple yet elegant. Just perfect for the two of them. Nobody would have thought any different of an artsy picture on Steve's page, but it was the caption that set it apart from everything else.
capamericaofficial: He said yes!
The internet lost its collective shit at the post. Although there was a very vocal homophobic minority, the general consensus was that people were excited. Some were even calling it the wedding of the century. The wedding between two lovers who in any other life would not have met, yet the stars seemed to be in their favour. The wedding between two heroes who stood tall in the face of adversity. The wedding that was all about love. People loved it.
Two weeks after Steve had proposed he found himself in his office while Tony and Nicola were having a nap. He was supposed to be doing some paperwork for Fury but Steve's head was in the clouds as he kept envisioning what his and Tony's wedding would look like. How amazing Tony would look. How happy that would be. How adorable Nicola would look in one of those little suits they make for babies. Steve much preferred to let his mind dwell on those thoughts then on paperwork.
"Cap, JARVIS's algorithm picked up a sighting of your friend Bucky in California." Spoke up Sam as he all but slammed open the door, pulling Steve out of his thoughts just before they became a bit more impure.
"Why would Bucky be in California?" asked Steve
"Beats me, but we should go check it out."
So, after a quick goodbye to Tony and a promise to return within a day, Sam and Steve boarded the jet and set off to track down Steve's missing friend.
Turned out that their lead was not Bucky, but the actor from Hot Tub Time Machine, Sebastian Stan. Boy was that a funny mix up. Apparently seeing Captain America and Falcon trying to sneak up on you was enough to send anyone running. Good thing Mr. Stan was cool with everything once the two idiots explained themselves. After an autograph and some pictures, Sam and Steve sulked back onto the jet to head home.
Finding Bucky was proving to be far from easy.
Well, at least wedding planning was easy. Tony and Steve agreed on almost everything. The only thing they didn't agree in was cake flavour but they just compromised and decided to get two cakes. Tony and Steve had even brainstormed funny ways for Nicola to get involved. He was becoming more active as he grew and they both knew that he'd look adorable at the wedding.
Steve and Tony couldn't wait for their special day. They just knew it was going to be perfect. After all, their love was like a romance novel and getting married would be but another amazing chapter in their lives.
I have been waiting to make an MCU Sebastian Stan joke since Hot Tub Time Machine was referenced in Endgame. I'm feeling very proud of myself right now, you have no idea. So, our babies are getting married! I promise you won't have to wait long for the wedding. It's literally next chapter. Also next chapter there's going to be some sexy times. Some… kinky sexy times. Just warning you now and I'll remind y'all at the beginning of next chapter. I'll be seeing you soon. -Shadows
