Chapter 8: "Christmas With the Starks"

On Christmas Eve, Sadie found herself in Malibu with the Stark family for a much quieter celebration than was going on across the country in Westchester. It was just the four of them for a dinner, complete with White Christmas and a fire.

To be honest, she hadn't the slightest idea of what to do with herself. It was just so … quiet. And almost still. Nothing like the low-key rumble of the mansion or even the quiet when it was just her family. It was just … different.

When the boys were distracted setting up snacks for the movie, though, Pepper came to sit next to Sadie on the couch with a warm smile. "I know it's not as exciting as what you're used to, but I'm glad you came, Sadie," she said. She looked a lot more relaxed than Sadie was used to seeing her, with her hair down and without the usual business attire — and the smile showed how much she was enjoying the family time when it reached her eyes.

"It's just a different kind of quiet," Sadie said. "It's never busy when my parents take us up north either, but it's … different." She gave Pepper a little smile. "And I wouldn't have missed it."

Pepper matched her smile and leaned forward. "To be honest, this is something I look forward to every year. It's a chance to reset. Tony's always going, and I'm always busy. Even Howard — I'm sure you've noticed he's always moving. I guess you could say this is a crash."

"Pretty sure it's a learned behavior," she said with a little smirk.

"Oh, I'm sure it is," Pepper said. She shook her head. "Just don't feel pressured to keep up. Make him slow down. That's what I do."

"He hasn't been pushing to do anything, honestly," Sadie promised. "He kind of … suspends himself when he's around me, I think. He gets pretty quiet and still." She frowned and then met Pepper's gaze. "Do you think that's a bad thing?"

But Pepper was smiling wider as she shook her head. "Actually, that's a relief to hear," she said. "It means he doesn't feel like he has to perform for you." She leaned forward and let her voice drop. "They grew up being watched, Sadie. They don't slow that down for anyone unless they love them."

Sadie nodded at that. "We have a different group watching us," she said. "We learned to stay steady and make them move around us."

"Everyone deals with it differently," Pepper said with a nod. She glanced over to where Tony and Howard had completely abandoned their snack task and were clearly going back and forth about something or other. When she turned back to Sadie, she had dropped her voice a bit more. "Are you feeling alright?" she asked. "I know people must ask you that all the time, but you're about to be my daughter, and I want to help if I can."

"I'm fine, really," she said quietly.

"Howard showed me the house he found," Pepper said, reaching over to rest her hand on Sadie's arm. "I think it's lovely. I'll have to schedule more business trips out here to see all three of you."

"I'm sure we don't have to rush …"

"Well, I'm sure you won't move until after Maria gets here anyway," Pepper said. "And after you meet your niece and nephew. There's a lot going on in the next few months."

"There always is," Sadie told her. "That's just how things work around there."

"It's kind of nice to be part of that," Pepper admitted. "Tony and I … Howard was literally a miracle, you know. It's just been the three of us."

"Yeah, he's in the magic babies group," Sadie said, nodding. "Mom said I missed that by a few weeks."

Pepper smirked and nodded. "You did," she said. "But it's still … nice to have another girl around," she said, the smirk turning into a genuine smile.

"Two more soon…"

"And then we'll outnumber them," Pepper agreed. "That'll take some getting used to."

"We're already outnumbering them," Sadie told her. "Dad said he was outnumbered long before Elin showed up." She tipped her head. "By his measure, you've been winning the whole time."

Pepper couldn't help but laugh at that. "I like his outlook."

Sadie settled in, though she wasn't quite comfortable — not that she'd ever let it show. Eventually, though, the boys did get there with popcorn and Twizzlers and candy canes and various other snacks, and Howard settled in beside Sadie with a smile and stole a kiss with a quiet, "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you, too," Sadie said, curling up with him. "So, what's the big plan?"

"We watch my mom's favorite Christmas movie, open a few presents, and then, we'll sleep on the flight out to Westchester so we don't miss the big party," he said. "Not anything earth-shattering, but besides the flight, this is what we do every year."

"I hope it doesn't bother you too much when we get to the crowd," she replied. "It's a lot … well. It's a lot like Dad's birthday — with less alcohol."

"I've never been scared of a crowd," Howard said with a smirk as he nuzzled into her hair. "I'll just have to tough out being around so many people," he couldn't help but tease her. "I'll be so lost. You'll have to hang onto me so I don't get permanently turned around."

"Just do yourself a favor and don't take any of mom's glögg. She routinely slips it to the underage crowd on Christmas once she gets their parents snookered."

"Noted," Howard said. "But now I really want to try it."

"Try it … but don't drink the whole glass. She'll never let you live it down. I think your mom will like it. It has a lot of red wine … and it's warmed up."

"Sounds fun," he said with a nod, though he leaned forward and added, "Actually, I like white wine more, though. From what I've tried."

"This is a lot stronger than just wine," Sadie laughed. "It's bad enough to get Dad buzzed. No Asgard additives needed."

Howard let out a low whistle. "Oh wow."

She pulled her stocking feet up underneath her and leaned on him a little more prominently. "This is kind of nice, too."

"I like the snuggling part, yeah," he said, nuzzling in a little more to prove his point.

It was a sentiment that all of them seemed to share, with Tony and Pepper curled up until Tony outright fell asleep with his head on Pepper's shoulder, which got a little laugh out of Howard when Tony inevitably slid down until his head was in her lap too.

"Also a tradition," he whispered to Sadie.

"I think that's everyone's tradition, Howard," she whispered back before she leaned up and gave him a little kiss.

"What, you mean everyone else's dad snores through the movie?" he teased.

"Oh, absolutely," she laughed. "You know. Unless it's inappropriate PDA's."

"I like that tradition too," Howard said with a troublemaking grin as he pulled her into a particularly long kiss that probably would have gotten more involved if his mom hadn't been a few feet away.

Eventually, though, it was time to pack up and head out again, though that was an excuse to fall asleep together for the flight out that Howard took full advantage of, pulling Sadie close until he ended up falling dead to the world asleep with one hand on her stomach.

Christmas morning was like it always was at the Institute. Again, K and Logan were the first ones up, though to start with, they'd put James in charge of keeping an ear open for the littlest ones so Malin could sleep in a little bit.

They knew James had been pulling late nights again, and Malin had been working hard with some private lessons with Natasha that had nothing to do with toe shoes and a tutu. But that just meant that the two of them got a moment together after Logan came in from handling the chores in the barn.

By the time James did come down with the two little boys, most of the house smelled like coffee and cinnamon. He brought the boys over to get kisses before he set them up in their chairs and returned with a mess in the making — all before he got himself a cup of coffee to join his father with. And that was what they were doing still, nibbling on Swedish pancakes and cinnamon rolls when Sadie got in with her soon-to-be family.

"This smells amazing," Tony said, grinning K's way and all but spinning into the kitchen to try and steal some of what she was working on — and getting his finger in the icing to lick it.

"Right … you haven't come by in the morning before, have you?" K said with a little smirk. "Grab some coffee before you die, please."

"That is a real, real concern," Tony said seriously as he went to the coffee, and Pepper was left shaking her head at him.

"It's a fully Swedish morning, Tony … that coffee's stronger than you're probably expecting," K warned before she gave Pepper a wave to come in. "Dive in. Your timing is perfect."

Pepper smiled K's way. "He'll drink the whole pot," she warned. "He's never up this early."

"I'll fight him for it, win, and then he'll cry. All before noon," K replied with a shrug. She pushed a plate full of little crepes and red berries toward her. "Don't worry about the coffee. It's made by the gallon on days like this, and when Chance gets here, he'll start a new coffee maker."

"He's still up with Elin?" Pepper asked, smiling as she took the offered plate.

"She's really, really uncomfortable," K said. "Twins are rough. But she's almost as small as I am on top of it."

Pepper shook her head at that. "Are you worried about them coming too early if they have nowhere to go?" she asked.

She nodded. "Chances are they'll be a early anyhow," K said. "Most twins are. And if she's anything like me — I don't think I ever made it to a due date." She shrugged. "But who knows. That could be from the metal."

"Well, I really hope they're as beautiful and healthy as can be," Pepper said.

"So far, so good," K told her before she pushed Tony back a few steps and finished icing the fresh cinnamon rolls. "Go on. Have something to eat. Maybe beware of my boys in there."

"These look amazing," Howard said as Tony grinned and popped half of a cinnamon roll into his mouth. "You do this every year?"

K was chuckling at both of them. "Every year," she said, nodding. "Except for the year I made Logan do it."

"That sounds ridiculous," Tony scoffed, his mouth still half full. "You should just make him do everything. Come on."

"He's a hell of a cook," K laughed. "But I like to do this. Now … the lingonberries should have whipped cream on them. Get out of my kitchen."

"You heard the woman," Tony laughed, which really just had Pepper shaking his head at him as the three Starks went to find seats with their breakfasts — where the pile of kids around Logan was only growing. Lily had joined the boys as well as Chelsea and Ariel, and all three girls were hanging onto one limb or another insisting on snuggles.

Which just made it harder for Logan to get to his coffee, not that he minded too terribly. Chelsea had the best delighted laugh when he growled quietly at her — and it sent her rocketing around the table every single time until he snatched her up and pulled her into a snuggle from behind so he could whisper something in her ear that had her covering her mouth to hold in the giggles. Of course, as soon as her feet touched the ground, she carefully pulled her hair out of her face — a move she learned from Lily — and then rushed to tackle Pepper, overly excited to cuddle up with another redhead, though Lily of course took up the spot on Logan that Chelsea had vacated.

"You look just like me! See?" Chelsea told Pepper excitedly, pulling on her own hair, which Kate had braided, as Kate and Kurt both chuckled at her excitement.

Pepper took a moment to respond, clearly not prepared for a full frontal attack from such a little girl. "I suppose I do," she said, smiling in spite of herself as Chelsea grinned wider. "You're very pretty, do you know that?"

Chelsea beamed and nodded. "Uh-huh. Papa says I'm an angel."

"And you are, Engelchen," Kurt said with a smirk, sitting down with Kate and not helping Logan in the least, clearly enjoying watching him get mobbed by all the little ones.

Logan, however, just gave Kurt a look, though it was obvious that he was giving Lily her marching orders too. Especially since the little blonde was seriously nodding as he spoke. Which was fun on its own until she let out a heavy sigh and a soft, "Are you sure?"

Logan smiled crookedly at her and leaned in again to tell her something that had her turning to look at Kurt and then giggling outright. Of course, it didn't help that Sadie had both hands clapped over her mouth as she tried to keep from laughing too. And she wasn't surprised at all when Lily headed over to Tony, pulled on his sleeve, and then blew raspberries in his face before she skipped off to the kitchen to get her breakfast.

Tony burst out laughing as he watched Lily skipping off. "Oh man. That's… you have them trained."

"I told her to say hello," Logan laughed.

"So she did," Kate said, giggling to herself as she leaned on Kurt's arm and watched Ariel wrap her tail around Logan and snuggle in, clearly not wanting to get sent out and holding on with both arms and legs to his arm too.

Logan didn't even try, of course, not when it was so clear she wanted to stick around, so instead, he leaned close to her and spoke just loud enough that the other adults could only hear it if they listened hard. "Hey. You want some coffee? You look tired."

Ariel picked her head up and started to giggle. "I not tired! I snugglin'!"

"Oh," Logan said, nodding his head to himself, and then pulled his plate over to cut up some pancakes. "Are you hungry, then? Or do you want to wear it? It'd look good on the white, don't you think? Little red warpaint?"

"Oooh," she said, giggling and nodding. "Inna warpaint."

Logan was smirking and even going forward with the plan, waiting for Kate or Kurt to intervene. "Two streaks on your cheeks?"

But just as Ariel started laughing hysterically, Sying zipped in to steal his daughter with a laugh and hung her upside down. "The bamfs said you were getting painted up without me!" he said, shaking his head at her. "Why would you do that?"

"You were too slow!" Ariel giggled and held up one finger that was coated in red goo. "One on your … nose!"

And just like that, Sying had a stripe of red on his nose, and he was shaking his head at Ariel. "No, no," he said. "On my cheeks, right?"

"No-o-o … onna nose!"

"Oh, okay. I see how it is," he said before he simply tossed her high in the air and started tickling her until she forgot about the warpaint.

Sadie had scooted her chair closer to her father to get a little snuggle too — especially since James had the boys more or less entertained. "Get any coffee yet?" Logan asked her, whisper quiet, and when she shook her head, he turned to the little bamf over his shoulder that had been intently watching the whole fiasco and gave him a little growl to get the little guy moving so Logan could spend a few minutes with his daughter.

"Is it like this every year?" Pepper asked Kate, shaking her head at the spectacle of all of the kids.

"It's like this every day," Kate said, grinning. "He's a giant hug magnet. You get used to it."

"Quit telling people that crap," Logan growled at her, though when K came through a moment later, she set down more cinnamon rolls and slid a plate with the Swedish pancakes in front of Sadie.

"My big sister … she's touched in the head," K said as she kissed Sadie's forehead and sat down on Logan's other side.

"I call it like I see it," Kate said, waving her hand. "I'm a Hawkeye. That's what I do."

"You need your eyes checked, Chicken Hawk," Logan replied, curling in with both K and Sadie.

"Lies. Vicious lies you tell me," Kate said.

"You got coal in your stocking," K told her. "And holy water. Sounds like a mixed message to me."

Kate rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue at K. "It's because I'm an evil purple seductress tempting a demon into my clutches."

"Not any more you're not," K chuckled. "You already got him."

James was shaking his head at both of them, and when his mother gave him a little nod, he got up with little Kurt and walked over to simply hand the baby to Tony. "You're out of practice."

Tony looked surprised to be handed the tiny little boy. "Oh, okay. Hi." He looked down at the little dark-haired boy, and Kurt grinned right back until Tony broke into a grin of his own.

"You haven't been around to see the tiny ones," K said before she raised her mug.

Howard leaned over Tony's shoulder too, even though he'd already met Kurt. He and Kurt got along and Kurt would always grin at him — which was great for Tony, because then, he had his son and a tiny giggling baby. "You set this up," Tony laughed, not even accusatory in the least and clearly enjoying it.

"So what?" K asked before she obviously snapped a few pictures. "You're the one dragging your butt to say hello to my youngest. Poor form, old man."

"His name is Kurt Henry," Kurt put in with a far-too-pleased smirk, since he loved getting to tell people that.

"I did actually hear about the name," Tony said, shaking his head.

"Awwww, and you were mad it wasn't for you. That's why you've been so stuck up," K said, tutting.

"Hey, if you get around to an Anthony…" Tony grinned.

"Not gonna happen, sweetheart," K sang out.

"Come on. A tiny Tony Howlett," Tony said. "You know you've thought about it."

K was outright chuckling at that. "I have not, you lunatic."

"It's alright; I know you can't admit it in front of Logan, but I'll always know the truth," Tony said, nodding seriously.

K couldn't stop the honest laughter at how much fun he was having. "And what's the truth? For the record. For your wife?"

Tony grinned and leaned forward. "You and me could have been great together. You missed out, K."

K shook her head slowly. "No. Pepper would have had to call the vice squad by the end of the second date."

"But we would have been great together for the first and second ones," Tony insisted.

"Oh yeah," K said, nodding slowly. "Right up until I killed you."

"I'd've died happily."

She was grinning at him. "Yeah, it would have been painless. Messy. Traumatic. But Painless." She turned to Pepper. "There would have been a major paperwork issue that would have magically appeared on the books too."

"Of course," Pepper said, shaking her head and smirking hard. "Of course he'd leave me paperwork even after he was gone."

K was laughing harder at that. "No, no. I mean the kind that was already filed and post dated a few months."

"Oh, well then, you can have him," Pepper said with a careless wave. "Simplifies things."

K was still shaking her head as she pushed the cinnamon rolls toward Pepper. "No, no … I'm just sure that's how it would have gone down if I'd stayed in with the other side. This is much better."

"Just my luck," Tony said, shaking his head. "The only way you can see us working is if you're trying to kill me. That's familiar."

"Not trying, sweetheart," K said. "I would have."

"Should I be worried that my daughter's going to get a complex from her grandparents?" Howard couldn't help but ask Sadie's way with an eyebrow raised.

"Nah," Logan said. "She'll teach her how to take him out a totally different way."

"Not that she'll have to work too hard," Kate said, tipping her head to where Tony was playing with Kurt in between teasing K.

"Only bet we've got going now is if she'll have claws," K said, clearing her throat a little. "You going to be okay with that, Stud?"

Howard blinked at her. "Wait, is that me now?"

"That's never gonna be you in this particular conversation," Tony said with an almost insulted look.

"Oh, so it is me," Howard shot right back. "That's what I thought." Which of course got both Logan and K to bust out laughing at the look on Tony's face.

Howard was smirking to himself as he leaned back in his seat. "Yeah, I think I'd love it if she was as much like Sadie as possible. I mean, what's there to improve on?" he asked, clearly enjoying himself now.

K wiped the tears from her eyes as she leaned into Logan, still grinning. "Have you gotten the claws experience yet, Howard? I know Sadie doesn't really like to use them often."

Howard shook his head. "No, I haven't actually seen them," he admitted. "But I've got the general idea, right? From the siblings and you two?"

James and his parents shared a little look before James spoke up. "It's different without the metal," he said with a shrug. "Messier."

"Well, if Maria has them, I'm sure we'll be asking you guys for advice."

"You should be able to find out when you do your last scans," Logan said. "Bones'll be there."

Howard grinned over at Sadie. "We should do that," he said. "Find out as much as we can. She'll be amazing no matter what, obviously. And smart. But we should find out."

"We will," Sadie said, shaking her head to herself at how well this was going.

"Maybe she'll get both," Pepper suggested. "Technically-gifted girl with weapons… dangerous combination," she added with a little smile.

"That's ridiculous," James said, scooping Kurt up when he started to fuss and squirm.

"Oh yeah. It's totally unheard of," Kate said dryly as Pepper chuckled to herself.

"It is," James defended as Kurt rubbed his eyes, and he started to take the little guy upstairs.

"It's their little joke," Howard explained to Kate. "Mom loved having James around. Practically like having a brother for me in her eyes."

Pepper made a dismissive noise, but it was clear it was the truth when she couldn't stop her smile.

Kate just smiled at that and leaned back into Kurt. "It's kinda fun to see you guys all… already merging the families."

"Eew, big sis, that is so … gross-sounding," K said, pulling a face dramatic enough that she knew Kate would get the point. "Just for that, I'm taking you out for ice cream."

Kate grinned. "You know I can't resist ice cream with my sister."

"I know. And this place has mistaken Annie for my big sister already. So. Get your thick skin on, old lady."

Kate let out a longsuffering sigh, though when Kurt leaned forward to ask, "And who will they say is your mother?" she let out a disbelieving noise and hit him in the chest, which really only had him grinning wider, clearly not sorry in the least.

"You're lucky he likes older women," Logan said with a perfectly straight face as he picked up his mug.

Kate made almost the same disbelieving noise as she rounded on Logan, but then, Kurt snagged her and pulled her into a kiss anyway. "It's true. I do," he said when the kiss ended, just to get her to huff at him and hit him again, though he was still laughing.

Just then, Elin and Chance made their way down, finally, and Elin dropped into the seat next to her mother and just put her head on her crossed arms, while Chance rested his hand on her shoulder until she shrugged it off.

"You don't have to make an appearance," Sadie said, leaning forward to look at her sister. "You can just stay cozy and hide."

"That's what I told her, but…" Chance gestured at Elin and let the statement hang in the air.

"Your family will come looking for me if I try to hide," Elin pointed out. "And I'll get the concerned look from your mom. No thank you."

Chance shook his head and leaned back. "Mom went through it with me and Charlie. She'd get it."

"I didn't say she wouldn't get it. I said she'd make the face," Elin repeated. "And your aunts would come looking."

"Okay, that part is true," he had to admit, reaching over to rub her back gently.

Kurt thumped Chance's shoulder with his tail, and when he looked up at Kurt, he pointedly picked up his coffee mug and gave him a look.

Chance nodded quickly and got to his feet. "I'll be back with coffee," he told Elin, which just had Kurt smirking and shaking his head.

"Summers blinders," Logan said low, and Kurt was nodding along with him, which only had the girls snickering to themselves. "Just like dealin' with a plough horse."

By the time Chance got back with coffee for Elin, the rest of the mansion residents were filing in — with Gerry and Charlie beating out the rest of the Summers clan, though, of course, Elin had been right about Annie coming right to check on her, which had Chance looking downright sheepish at the look Elin gave him.

Of course, Annie was set to get down to work after breakfast — though with Chance trying his best to make sure Elin wasn't horribly suffering, she simply snagged James by the arm on the way to the kitchen. "I need your help in the kitchen today," she informed him. "You're in charge of dishes. That's what Chance usually does."

James didn't do more than blink a couple times before he just nodded. "Okay."

"Oh good," Annie said, simply setting to work directing the usual chaos on the kitchen — though she was surprised when she had a little extra help with Zoe.

"Just tell me what to do," Zoe said, rolling up her sleeves.

Of course, as soon as James saw Zoe insisting on helping, he couldn't help but start whistling little love songs and the more romantic Christmas tunes as he went about his business — which was all well and good and irritating until the Hale sisters took his cue and started singing under their breath while they worked.

Cody was shaking his head, though he couldn't even get mad when Zoe picked up on the teasing going around and immediately launched into, "I really can't stay!" and then looked at him pointedly.

Cody laughed at her expectant expression and then shrugged and joined in, "But baby it's cold outside."

Which really just fueled Zoe — and that was how they ended up singing the whole thing together, to the delight of the entire kitchen clan.

It was loud enough when some of the others joined in after the first song that the others could hear it, though Scott hadn't missed the fact that Cody and Zoe had been singing duets and was snickering to himself as he listened in on the obvious flirting going on.

You couldn't hear James humming to start it out, but… Rachel came to sit down next to Scott and grinned. "Not like Cody or Zoe is subtle anyway, though."

"Why am I not surprised that's how this started out?" Scott had to say as he shook his head. "How's Annie handling the flirting — and has she figured out who's egging them on?"

"Oh, she absolutely knows," Rachel laughed. "And she's looking forward to the future. Zoe's already her daughter in her head. You've been warned."

"I'm not at all surprised," Scott said, shaking his head.

Rachel just smirked at that. "Why don't you come join us? Willow and Ivy would love to spend more time with you."

Scott gave her a dry look, but when she grinned and held his gaze, he shook his head. "How's Willow doing on the telekinesis and telepathy, by the way?"

"Wonderfully, of course," Rachel said, grinning. "She's a natural."

"Good genes," Scott said with a little smirk that had Rachel grinning wider as she pulled on his hand until he went to join the girls where they were playing Chinese checkers with Chloe.