Happy Fourth of July guys!
For MysticFantasy.
Steve Rogers was not expecting the fire alarm to be the first thing he heard when he woke up.
He's no idiot, he knows exactly what day it is, which means Tony's probably either setting off fireworks in the tower or he bought a giant cake and attempted to light 100 candles on the damn thing. Either way he doesn't want to find out, so he simply ignores it and tries to go back to sleep. But after a few minutes the alarm is still going off and Natasha has resorted to pressing his pillow over her exposed ear, and there's really no way he's going to get back to sleep now so he drags himself out of bed and down three floors to the common kitchen.
Sure enough, the inventor is standing there with what appears to be a raging inferno on the counter. Tony is wrestling with the fire extinguisher mounted on the wall and he swears that Tony is one of the smartest guys he knows, but sometimes he can be such an idiot that it astounds him.
"Tony, what the hell are you doing?" He shouts over the bleating of the fire alarm that is still going off.
"Nothing! It's nothing! Go back to sleep!"
"Yeah, that's not happening." He unhooks the fire extinguisher and pulls the pin out. Aiming the nozzle at the fire he squeezes the handle and immediately the flames are choked out. It's only then that he sees that the cake was on his shield, and he shoots a withering glare at Tony who simply smiles and shrugs. The elevator dings and the other Avengers appear as the fire alarm finally goes silent, including Natasha holding a very tired and very grumpy looking James. He clings to his mother and rests his head against he shoulder, looking very much as if he wants to go back to sleep and Steve feels the exact same way.
His son's eyes light up when he sees his dad though, and he leans away from Natasha and stretches toward him. "Happy Birthday, Steve," she murmurs as she hands their son over to him. "James, can you say 'Happy Birthday Daddy?'"
"Dadadadadada," James babbles and he promptly sticks his fingers inside his father's mouth.
"Close enough, kiddo," Steve smiles. The baby grabs a fistful of Steve's hair and tugs, laughing when he grimaces.
"See, this is why I don't want kids," Tony says from behind him. "Look at that evil little smile on the kid's face! He's sadistic."
"He's a baby," Bruce says flatly. He can practically hear Tony's eyes rolling.
"What were you even doing, Tony?" Clint says, rifling through the cabinets in search of the coffee. "Not exactly the best wake up in the world."
"Trying to surprise the good captain here," Tony grins, gripping Steve's shoulder and earning a glare from him. "I guess it worked. Happy Birthday Steve!"
"Well, I'm going back to bed," Bruce announces. He heads back toward the elevator and Clint gives up his search and follows. Steve decides that while going back to sleep is impossible he'd really rather not look at his shield any longer than he has to. He fully intend to make Tony clean it to his standards later.
He and Natasha head back up to their floor with James and have a much quieter breakfast there. James is deposited in his booster seat with a few cheerios while the two of them get started on cooking their own breakfast. Soon their home is filled with the smell of bacon, eggs, and waffles and they steal kisses as they cook. Steve often glances at Natasha when he thinks she's not looking, bringing a smile to her face, but he really can't help it.
He's been dreaming of this, of having a wife and a family, for as long as he can remember. And now he finally has it. He realizes that this is his first birthday as a father, and then he kind of has to scoop James up out of his chair and toss him in the air a few times.
"Steve, be careful with him," his wife stresses as she looks on nervously.
"I know," he grins. "He's fine, see? He likes it." Still, not wanting to fry Natasha's nerves further, he places his son on the ground and watches him roll around. He can't wait for James to start talking and walking, though he's certain that once he is he'll be wishing for the days when his son was less mobile and thus easier to catch. He feels Natasha's arms wrap around his middle and rest her cheek against his back.
"Thank you," he whispers as he turns around in her embrace and kisses the side of her head.
"For what?"
"For this. Everything. For giving me a family." He kisses her hungrily. "I couldn't ask for a better present."
"Oh yeah?" Natasha smirks as she raises an eyebrow. "What about your son sleeping tonight? You know the fireworks are going to keep him up. He'll probably think it's thunder and we all know how that ends."
"Us on the couch with a baby sprawled all across our bed, I know." A small crash sounds and they look over to James who's laughing at the stacks of movies he's managed to topple over. "But you know what? I don't mind that. Because it means that we have a son in the first place and because it means I have you next to me, and I can't think of anything I would ever want more than that."
Ehh not too happy with this one.