To Tony's surprise, finding out Pepper was pregnant wasn't the most difficult part of this whole ordeal. Despite that he was still struggling internally with the idea of becoming a father, he knew he wasn't the only person who would be in this baby's life.
How were they going to tell everyone? That was the thought most often bouncing around in Anthony's head. Why was it that he was a super genius who could invent automated suits of armor, but he couldn't even come up with a good plan to tell everyone that he and Pepper were having a baby?
Telling them about the engagement had been easy. For the most part, Steve had already known. Bruce, from the amount of time he spent at Stark Tower, figured it was only a matter of time. Clint and Natasha were as placid as usual, and Rhodey had referred to them in his head as an old married couple for over ten years.
Thor had been the only one who hadn't seen it coming. That was probably due to the lack of time he really spent with the rest of the Avengers, being stuck in Asgard most often. He claimed with enthusiasm that, "This calls for immense celebration!" to which Tony replied, "Yeah, Goldilocks; that's called the wedding."
This time, however, was a much different scenario. No one could have foreseen that the Starks would be having children any time soon, solely for the reason that not a single one of them could picture Tony as a father any more than he could picture himself as one. Pepper, as efficient as ever, had proposed the solution about a week after the doctor's appointment that had confirmed the results of the pregnancy test.
"The SHIELD Christmas party is next week," she reminded him casually as she flipped through her newly acquired copy of "What to Expect When You're Expecting", and Tony raised an eyebrow, glancing up from his laptop.
"You actually want to go?" he asked, and it was almost a groan. The two had always skipped out of Fury's fun-filled evening, in favor of sitting at home and watching Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Tony would never admit it, but it was one of his favorites. Maybe it was because he'd never really had much of a childhood, and was just getting caught up now.
"Well, I was thinking," she explained to him as she turned the page of her book, "that it would be a good time to tell everyone the news."
Freezing, Tony's eyes widened. "You're kidding. Please tell me you're kidding. You want to tell everyone at SHIELD about the baby?"
"They're bound to find out eventually, Tony," she reminded him gently, and he scoffed.
"I thought it was supposed to be bad luck to tell too many people about the baby or something?"
"Since when are you superstitious?" she asked, and Tony shifted warily, laying a hand over her still reasonably flat stomach.
"I'm not," he stated, giving a shake of his head. "But this is… different, Pepper. It's not stepping on a crack or walking under a ladder… it's… our baby. Excuse me for not wanting to take any chances."
Her expression softening, Pepper put her book aside and moved closer to the philanthropist, looping her arms around him and sighing when he did the same in return after setting his laptop aside.
"It will be fine, Tony," she assured him, closing her eyes when he kissed her shoulder. "You worry too much…"
"You're all I have," he reminded her quietly. "If anything happens to the baby… there's a chance I might lose you, too. I'm not about to let that happen."
Shifting in his arms, she pressed her forehead against his, offering him a small, reminiscent smile. "You're all I have too, you know," she whispered, instantly feeling him relax a bit, "and I don't plan on leaving you alone. For one, you couldn't function without me."
Laughing dryly, Tony shook his head and pressed a small kiss to her lips, brushing her red hair over her shoulder. "For more reasons than one," he stated, finally releasing a sigh of defeat. "Fine, we'll go to the dumb party. But you'd better have a better plan than just announcing it out of the blue over eggnog."
"Alcohol free eggnog," she reminded him, and he groaned.
Of course, she'd insisted that if she wasn't allowed to drink anymore, neither was he.
It was killing him.
… . … . … . … . … . … . … . … . … . … . … . …
"This is ridiculous. I look ridiculous. I don't do ridiculous!"
Rolling her eyes, Pepper adjusted the fake beard on Tony's face, shaking her head with a grin. "Oh, stop you're whining. Do you know how hard it was to convince Steve to let you be Santa without giving away our surprise? Damn near impossible. Besides; you make a very sexy Saint Nick."
Snorting, Tony shook his head as he looked in the full length mirror.
"There's no such thing as a sexy Saint Nick," he grumbled, examining his overstuffed red jacket and matching hat with a puff-ball. "I'm fat, grumpy, and my beard looks like it belongs on the set of Harry Potter."
"Huh," Pepper said, tilting her head. "I had no idea that mirror let people see themselves in twenty years. Maybe this is the set of Harry Potter."
Swatting her behind lightly at that, Tony smirked and shook his head when she squeaked. She'd managed to get her hands on an elf costume, complete with a green and red skirt, matching top and green fishnet stockings. Maybe this wasn't a completely awful idea…
"Oh, shut up," he said with a shake of his head. "We weren't all so lucky as to get to be sexy elves. Someone should have made you dress up as Mrs. Clause."
Grinning, she leaned over and kissed the small patch of his face that she could see behind the beard and small glasses. "We both know you'd rather see me as a sexy elf than an old woman. Don't complain, Mr. Stark."
"Don't gloat, Mrs. Stark."
Pepper found herself blushing at that, and she shook her head. She wasn't sure she'd ever get used to people calling her "Mrs. Stark", no matter how many times she heard it at work in the run of a day.
"I wasn't gloating," she insisted with a shake of her head, adjusting her red curls beneath the pointy green hat. "Come on, Santa; there are kids waiting for you."
Tony resisted the strong urge to groan. He usually liked kids, but he wasn't sure he could stand sitting there in this sweltering costume listening to kid after kid ask for impossibly huge gifts that they probably wouldn't really get. It made him feel bad.
"Fine, fine…" he muttered, following her out of the dressing room and into the main dining hall. Fury had rented out one of New York's smaller hotel's ballroom, so that they wouldn't all be ambushed by the press while they were there. Nothing ruined Christmas faster than a few nosy reporters and their "motherfucking cameras."
Flopping himself down in the rather large red and gold throne with holly wrapped around the armrests, Tony forced a smile when there were squeals of excitement and children quite literally ambushed him.
"Form a line!" Pepper called over the noise in that voice of authority Tony knew all too well. "Santa can only talk to one of you at a time."
There was a fair amount of pushing and shoving for who would get to be first, and Tony sighed before using what he thought had to be the most ridiculous voice he'd ever used. It was too deep, and Pepper had to restrain herself from bursting into laughter.
"Ho ho- ermm… Ho, ho, ho!"
The children all froze when he spoke, and Tony smirked slightly. Well, damn. This Santa guy could have an army of children if he wanted one, from the way they listened when he spoke… they'd better not tell Loki.
"I only give presents to good boys and girls," he reminded them. "So be nice and line up. You first," he stated, pointing to a boy with dark hair.
"Awesome!" the boy cried as he hurried forward and plopped himself down on Tony's lap. He took no time in informing him of exactly what he wanted. "Santa, I've been real good this year, so I want a race car, swimming goggles, an iPod touch, battle robots, a motorboat…"
Tony ended up tuning him out. The kid seemed to go on and on and on, and the gifts only kept getting more and more outrageous.
"…and a castle with man-eating crocodiles, and a dinosaur skeleton, and…!"
"Okay, I think that's enough," Pepper finally said, trying to be cheerful, but it was clear to most that she was getting annoyed. "Save some presents for the other children."
Scooting him off Tony's lap, she proceeded to gesture the next child up, a little girl with blonde pigtails in a red frilly dress. She wasn't as bad as the last child; all she asked for was a Rapunzel Barbie, some new dressed, and tickets to a Taylor Swift concert. What kind of a five year old wanted to go to a concert…?
It grew rather repetitive. Dolls for one girl, trucks for the next boy, lip gloss that tasted like bubble-gum for a brown-haired girl, an Iron Man action figure for the last boy.
After nearly an hour of greedy children, they finally reached the last child. She was a little red-haired girl with freckles, around four years old. She cautiously approached Tony and got up on his lap with Pepper's help, hiding behind her curls.
"What's your name, little girl?" Tony asked, and her cheeks turned red.
"Ana…" she said quietly, and Tony raised an eyebrow. Thus far, she was the only child not to launch straight into what she wanted.
"Ana, huh? That's certainly a pretty name."
Nodding, she avoided his gaze a bit nervously, whispering, "Anastasia."
"Don't be shy, sweetheart," Pepper encouraged her, bending down so she was closer to the little girl's eye-level. "Just tell Santa what you want him to bring you for Christmas."
The little girl bit her lip, and she shifted in Tony's lap. "All I wants is for my daddy to comes home."
Sympathy flooded through both Tony and Pepper, and Tony hesitantly patted the small girl's back in a comforting fashion.
"Where's your daddy?"
"I no know," she said with a shake of her head that made her curls bounce, and Pepper furrowed her brow.
"You don't know?"
"Uh-uh," sniffling, she wiped at her eyes. "He comed here befores, but he no come home to see me an' my mommy agains."
"What was his name?" Tony asked, and she looked up at him with big watery eyes.
Eyes Tony was slightly mortified to recognize.
"Phil," she said with a lisp, and Pepper's eyes widened, but Tony wasn't surprised. He'd guessed the second she met his gaze whose daughter she was. It would be hard to miss.
"Phil Coulson?" he asked, and she nodded again.
"I misses my daddy. I wants him back. That all I wants for Christmas, so me an' my mommy can be happy agains… her cries a lot, and that make me sad."
All hesitation gone, Tony wrapped his arms around the small girl, wiping away her little tears with his thumb as she leaned in and hugged him in return.
"I'll do my best," he assured her, and she gave him a watery smile.
"Thank you, Santa," she said with a sniffle as she wiped away her tears before wiggling down from his lap and hurrying over to rejoin a tall red-haired who Tony assumed must have been the cellist they'd heard about a few times. Phil Coulson had led an even more private life than any of them realized. Either that, or Tony just hadn't paid close enough attention…
"So, that's Phil's daughter…" Pepper said quietly, remaining where she was kneeling beside his chair, and Tony nodded, determination shining in his eyes.
"She didn't ask for a single thing but to have her father back," he stated, and Pepper nodded, looking up at him with confusion.
"Tony… there's nothing you can do to make that happen. He's gone…"
"That doesn't mean she has to be miserable on Christmas," he stated, shaking his head. "I want every cent the company made this month going to her and her mother so they can get by without Phil."
"Tony, I don't know if we can do that…"
"It's my company!" he snapped, and for once Pepper didn't have the heart to remind him that it was technically hers now. "My company, my money; if I want to spend it on something unselfish for once, I sure as hell can."
Pepper just nodded, but he wasn't finished.
"Toys; that little girl is going to wake up to the most massive load of toys, books, dolls; anything she wants on Christmas morning. Make it happen."
"We can do that," she assured him, and he exhaled a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. Pepper recognized that look all too well; it was his guilty look.
"Tony…" she whispered quietly, gently grabbing his knee and squeezing it. "I know what you're thinking; don't. Don't think that way. What happened to Phil wasn't your fault. There was nothing you could have done."
"Yes, there was," he insisted, and his voice broke with something close to pain. "I could have stopped that Asgardian bastard before he killed him. I could have done more, Pepper, but I didn't."
"You can't put the blame on yourself," she said firmly, shaking her head. "Tony, you couldn't control what happened, no matter how much you wish you could have. You weren't there when it happened because you weren't meant to be. You didn't stop Loki sooner because you weren't meant to. Everything happens for a reason… sometimes the things that happen are awful, but we can't change them. If helping this little girl and making her Christmas perfect is your way of coping… then we'll do it. We'll do anything you want. Okay?"
Her voice remained calm and soothing, as it always did when he was in distress these days, and he gave a meek nod of his head.
"Yeah… yeah, okay."
"Good."
Smiling softly up at him, she got to her feet and gave him a small, almost excited grin. "Now, don't tell me you went and forgot the entire reason you're wearing that costume tonight…"
His eyes widening at her words, Tony released a small, "oof!" when she dropped into his lap, his arms going around her waist out of habit as she spoke loudly over the buzz of the crowd, causing the noise to die down and all eyes to fall upon the two of them.
"Well, Santa, since you asked, there are a few things I'd like for Christmas."
Tony blinked rapidly for a moment, getting himself together before responding. "Oh? And what would that be?"
"Well, we should probably start at the top of the list," she said with a shrug, grinning when she felt the eyes on her back. "First off, I'm going to need clothes. Small clothes."
"Well, you do seem rather petite…" he said in response, and the crowd snickered a bit.
"Oh, not for me, Santa," she objected, and everyone fell silent again with curiosity. What was Pepper Stark on about?
"No?" Tony asked, and she shook her head.
"I'm also going to need food. But nothing to strong, or too hard to chew."
Tony nodded, and she continued.
"Toys are important, too. So are a few bottles, paint for the room, and… a crib."
There was a distinct sound of glass smashing when she finished, and Pepper and Tony both looked up to see the Avengers gaping at them with wide eyes. Bruce had dropped his glass of eggnog, and his mouth was agape with shock, his glasses sliding down his nose. Natasha was just gawking at them with disbelief, Clint was shaking her as if it would bring her back to reality, and Steve simply raised a hand and pointed at Pepper, crying the first thing that came to his mind.
"I knew they were fonduing!"
Hysterical laughter broke out throughout the crowd, and Pepper's cheeks turned pink as several people rushed up to congratulate the two of them. Nick Fury was the only one who remained behind, adding extra alcohol to his eggnog, muttering to himself, "Another Stark? Oh hell no…"