Fic: Glory Beyond Mere Biology {Epilogue}
Epilogue
“You bought two cakes?” Tony asked in lieu of a proper greeting to his personal assistant and glorified babysitter, Pepper Potts. “Why?”
The casually dressed redhead rolled her eyes at her employer and friend as she gave his appearance a cursory glance, from his faded Black Sabbath t-shirt and rumpled blue jeans to his obvious bed head. “Do you really need to ask that question?”
“If I’m asking then the answer is obviously yes,” the genius drawled, his eyes wandering across the two birthday cakes on the dining room table.
The smaller of the two was a single layered round cake, about four inches across, frosted in white icing with alternating green and yellow piping along its edges and green piping around a brightly colored number one drawn in yellow. The second was a much bigger and more elaborately decorated two tiered cake. The bottom tier was a twelve inch round cake covered in pink fondant with sporadically placed white candy stars, while the top tier was six inches in diameter and wrapped in green fondant with medium-size black stripes. Each of the cake’s tiers was decorated with one of the witches from the Wizard of Oz in mind. The pink tier had a magic wand sticking out from its top with a pair of ruby red fondant slippers by it, and the top tier was topped with the stripped-socked legs of the Wicked Witch of the East under a black witch’s hat.
“So she can mess the little one up to her heart’s content and we don’t have to contend with baby drool on our cake.” Phil replied for Pepper, who was busy helping Natasha set out all of the food for Zoey’s birthday party.
Tony gave Phil a brief glance before looking back at Pepper. “Oh that’s smart,” He affirmed, earning an exasperated sigh and another eye roll from Pepper. He sometimes thought everyone was a little stupid because they weren’t a genius like him; but on the flip side, Pepper thought he was a little lacking in the common sense area of life, which she blamed on his genius-level intelligence.
Leaning against the dining room table, Tony watched as Clint and Bucky worked on hanging the birthday banner from the ceiling, until a glimpse of black coat caused him to turn his head towards the open doorway. “Who let you in here?” He asked before mental waving his question away and opening his mouth again. “Never mind, don’t care. Get out.”
“Tony, play nice!” Pepper chastised, giving Nick Fury an apologetic look for Tony’s lack of manners. “You act like he’s the devil incarnate.”
“Why else would he be here?” Tony replied while openly glaring at S.H.I.E.L.D’s director.
Pepper could only blink at Tony’s response; it was moments like these when she started questioning her sanity and why she continued to work for the billionaire. “To celebrate Zoey’s birthday,” she answered slowly in the same way you would a small child.
“Lies!” He exclaimed, shifting his eyes towards Fury, “he probably wants to kidnap her for his nefarious reasons.” Fury arched his eyebrow and rolled his eyes, clearly unimpressed by the billionaire’s ever expanding paranoia, which seemed to have grown following the birth of Zoey.
“I thought Clint was supposed to be the paranoid one,” Bucky quipped, earning a side eye then a grin from the archer.
“Here I was thinking it was Bruce.” Phil shot back with a quick look towards the physicist, who was currently putting the finishing touches on his gift to the little girl.
Clint grinned and looked at the large Asgardian as he spoke, “Definitely Thor.” The Demigod shrugged his shoulders, not really having a reply for the archer’s remark.
“Given who his brother is, are we surprised?” Natasha pointed out as she pulled her hair into a low ponytail.
“He’s adopted,” Thor told his friends, falling back to his standard excuse when it came to Loki, causing the gathered group to chuckle.
“What are we talking about?” Steve asked a he walked in carrying a rambunctious Zoey, who was dressed in a drop-waist blue and white checkered shirt dress with matching ruffled bloomers and red mary janes on her feet.
The little girl giggled as she reached out with her chubby little hands for Tony, who swiftly swung her from her daddy’s arms and into his own, gazing at the eyes that were so like his own yet not; she had Howard’s eyes just like she had the same wild black hair of his youth. “Happy Birthday, Nosy Zoey.” Tony said as he bumped noses with her, causing the little girl to let out a string of high-pitched giggles.
Bucky made a face at the nickname. Over the last couple of weeks, Tony’s use of nicknames had become increasingly more bizarre as he tried to rhythm words with Zoey’s name. Generally, Bucky didn’t see anything wrong with the use of nicknames; hell… it would be hypocritical if he did. What Bucky didn’t understand was Tony’s need to bestow one upon his goddaughter. And when he had mentioned it to Steve, the blonde had likened it to Tony staking a claim on her and sending a giant metaphorical fuck you to Howard. While he might understand Tony’s issues with Howard, Steve couldn’t say that agreed with Tony’s desire to make Howard a non-factor in Zoey’s life. Regardless of everything that could or would happen, Howard Stark would always be a part of her; he was her father and there was nothing Tony could do to change it, except be her dad.
Spinning in a circle, Tony settled on the floor with Zoey in his lap. “So what’s first, daddy?” Tony questioned, looking up at Steve, who hadn’t moved since entering the room.
The blonde smiled at his partner, amused by his enthusiasm. “Pepper and I were thinking presents first, and then cake.” Steve replied as he moved closer to Tony and Zoey, bending down and pressing a kiss to his daughter’s dark hair. Zoey twisted her head at the outward pressure of the kiss, her eyes seeking out the cause of it before spotting her blonde haired dad and giving him an open mouthed smile, showing him her newest teeth. Steve returned her smile with one of his own, rubbing his index finger along her baby soft cheek.
“Where’s my kiss, daddy?” Tony asked mischievously, earning an eye roll and a quick kiss from his partner. “Thank you, daddy.”
Rolling his eyes at Tony’s cheeky grin, Steve let out an exasperated sigh before turning his focus back towards their friends, who were beginning to settle on the floor in a semicircle around the birthday girl. Fury was the only person who didn’t take a seat on the floor; instead he grabbed the closest chair and placed it behind Natasha and Bucky.
Wrapping his hands around Zoey’s, Tony clapped the girl’s hands together and asked, “Who’s first?”
Each team member looked at the other before Phil decided to be the brave one and slide his gift towards the girl. “Skylar loved this when she was Zoey’s age.” The agent told Steve while Tony helped his daughter unwrap her gift.
“Oh look, Zoey,” Steve exclaimed in an overly cheerful voice, “it’s a toy xylophone. Now, what do we say?” He continued, speaking to her as you would an adult. It was one of his and Tony’s rules when it came to conversing with their daughter: no baby talk. Though she was little, it didn’t mean that she wasn’t capable of understanding the adults in her life.
Zoey giggled as she wiggled her body out of Tony’s lap and toddled over to Phil on wobbly legs to give the S.H.I.E.L.D agent a hug and kiss. Phil gave the little girl a small smile before turning her around and sending her back towards her dads with a light pat on her behind.
“Good girl, Zoey.” Steve said as he watched his daughter walked a couple of steps before falling to her knees and crawling the rest of the way back to Tony, who wrapped his hands around her small body and hoisted her into the air, wiggling her back and forth. Zoey squealed as she made a grab for Tony’s nose, and then giggled when the genius mimicked eating her chubby fingers.
After returning the girl to his lap, Tony glanced at Steve and flicked his eyes towards the assembled group, silently motioning Steve to ask for the next gift. “Bucky?” Steve asked, looking at his friend.
“Tasha helped me pick it out,” Bucky explained as he handed the medium-size box to his best friend. “I wasn’t too sure what to get her; I mean, we thought kicking around a tin can was fun.”
Steve snorted, shaking his head at his friend, even though Bucky’s statement wasn’t a lie. Sometimes the only toys you had to play with were made from recycled materials, especially when you were an orphanage kid. “If she doesn’t like it then Dummy or Butterfingers will. They like to steal her toys when they don’t think Tony is watching.”
“But JARVIS sees and tells all,” Tony quipped. “He’s like the Great and Powerful Oz.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Welcome, JARVIS.” Tony replied, “Now this is kind of cool; bowling with little barn animal shaped pins. I just might have to play this myself.”
“All right, Stark, stop hogging the birthday girl.” Natasha said, holding her hands out to take Zoey before passing her over to Bucky, who took her without comment. “Here you go, Zoey.” She said, setting her gift in front of Bucky. Reaching out, Bucky tore a small corner of the wrapping paper before letting the toddler take over. After a few minutes of fighting, Zoey had most of the box uncovered to reveal a cartoonish orange kitty.
Steve watched as his daughter tilted her head a little at the kitty before turning her attention to Natasha and babbled in baby talk. Natasha smiled her own brand of a smile and answered the girl’s question. “You chase it, Zoey. It’ll help you learn motor skills; it’s what every little assassin needs to learn.”
“Nope, not happening.” Tony scoffed. “My Zoey isn’t learning to be anything but a good little girl, who goes to school and eats her vegetables.”
Pepper blinked at her employer, a little perplexed by this statement. “Is that you or Steve talking?”
“Steve.”
“Sounds about right,” Bucky remarked as he cuddled his goddaughter before handing her off to Natasha to do the same. Steve gave his friend a look that clearly said he wasn’t amused; but he stayed silent, choosing to be content with his makeshift family’s brand of humor.
Once she was finished, Natasha handed Zoey to Thor, who held her while he and Bruce gave her their gifts: a musical aquarium for her crib from Thor (“The Ladies Jane and Darcy helped me pick it out.”) and a plastic tub of small plushie turtles from Bruce (“It’ll help with her fine motor skills as well as color and design requisition.”).
After receiving kisses and hugs from the dark haired child, Thor passed her across the circle to Pepper and Happy. The strawberry blonde bounced the girl lightly on her bent knee before settling her and giving Zoey her gift. “This is from Happy and me.” Pepper explained as she helped Zoey in opening her present, a type of scooter shaped liked a zebra. Zoey jerked her head as though she understood what Pepper was saying then twisted her body, reaching out with both hands towards Clint, who was a little shocked at the child’s actions. While Clint loved the little girl, he tended to steer clear of her, the mere thought of breaking her worried and scared the archer a little.
The first to notice Clint’s slight hesitation was Phil, who quickly took Zoey from Pepper and rested her in his lap. Zoey grunted, put out by not being held by the person she wanted; but started smiling as soon as Clint tickled her cloth covered belly. “I was going to get you a bow and arrow kit; but mean ole Uncle Phil vetoed me.” Clint told the girl, pouting as he spoke. Zoey grinned at the archer and reached out again; this time grabbing hold of his hand and holding tight. Clint returned her grin with one of his own, wrapping his free hand around hers and kissing it. “Ready to open your gift, little girl?”
Phil sighed and watched as his husband assisted his goddaughter in opening the large, brightly colored box. What was inside was anyone’s guess; after the vetoing of a child’s archery kit, Clint had disappeared one Saturday morning and returned a few hours later, refusing to tell Phil what he had gotten for the girl.
“A trampoline?” Steve remarked as he turned his head a little, getting a better look at the child model plastered across the box.
“Don’t worry, Cap.” Clint said, smiling. “It’s perfectly safe. I read all the reviews I could find and checked for any recalls on it.” Phil shot him a look, which Clint met with a half-shrug. “See... I listen.”
“Thank you, Clint.” Steve replied, holding out his hands for his daughter. Once she was back in her arms, Steve directed his next statement to Fury, who had been patiently watching the entire present opening. “Director Fury?”
“Here,” the dark skinned man grunted as he handed the present to Natasha, who passed it across the semicircle to Tony.
The genius took the package with barely concealed paranoia. The older man might have been a friend of his father’s, but Fury was a spy and Tony tended not to trust spies, with Clint and Natasha being the exception to the rule. “What is it?”
“Tony!”
“What?” Tony asked while doing his best impression of a ‘who? me?’ look.
With a shake of his head, Steve turned to him and said, “Just help her open it. No comments needed.” Tony sent Steve a mock salute before he did as ordered. Fury’s gift turned out to be a learning toy made to resemble a kitchen.
“Way to teach gender stereotypes, Fury.” Tony mocked as soon as he saw the gift.
“Cake time,” Steve called out, stopping their verbal sparring before it could start. Rising to his feet with Zoey in his arms, Steve carried her over to the table, setting her down in her highchair. As Tony continued to glare at Fury, one by one the rest of the birthday goers rose to their feet and followed Steve over to table. “Tony?”
“Coming.” The genius replied as he looked away from Fury and climbed to his feet.
Once everyone was gathered around the birthday girl, Steve lit the giant one candle on Zoey’s yellow and green smash cake. As soon as the wick blazed, the group started to sing a varying musical skilled rendition of ‘Happy Birthday,’ which left some members of the group laughing at how terribly good they sounded together.
“Blow out your candle, sweetie.” Steve coaxed as he leaned in close to her. Zoey jerked her head at the sound of his voice and watched with wide eyes as he mimicked blowing out the candle before twisting her head back towards the mini cake and repeating her daddy’s actions with a bit more drool than was necessarily needed.
Steve barely managed to remove the used candle before Zoey face-planted into the white, yellow, and green icing; earning herself cheers and laughter from the gathered crowd. Grabbing bits of the cake in her hands, Zoey started to feed herself, not bothering to wait for her daddy to help her.
While Steve and Tony enjoyed watching the birthday girl enjoy her cake, Phil carried the adult sized cake over to the table with Pepper bringing the plates and forks. Then, as though it was planned, as soon as she set a plate down in front of Fury his phone began to ring, followed a couple of seconds later by Phil’s. The Avengers glanced at each other silently, pushing their chairs back seemingly in unison, knowing that they were about to be called out.
“Avengers Assemble,” Fury barked and snapped his phone closed while Phil was still on the line with Sitwell, coordinating intel.
Steve glanced at Tony, who rolled his eyes and shrugged, before pressing a kiss to his daughter’s cheek, smearing icing across his mouth and chin. “I love you, baby.”
“You’ve got a little something on your face, Steve.” Tony said, motioning with his finger at the icing on Steve’s chin. “Here let me help,” Tony offered as he leaned over their daughter’s head and pressed his lips to the icing on his partner’s chin before moving to the icing on his lips.
Once he was satisfied that all the icing was gone, Tony stepped away from Steve and laid his own kiss on the crown of Zoey’s head. “Don’t give Uncle Bucky and Aunt Pep too much trouble. Aunt Tasha is scary.”
As the pair stepped away from Zoey, each headed to get their suits, Pepper and Bucky quickly slid into their vacated chairs. They were well versed in this song and dance; when the Avengers were called out, Pepper and Bucky became Zoey’s caregivers, tag teaming the little girl until her daddies got home, or at least that was how it was going to be until Bucky was cleared for duty with S.H.I.E.L.D. Regardless of if or when he was cleared, Bucky was content with the life he shared with the Avengers in their tower; just as he knew Steve was happy with the curveball the super-soldier serum had thrown his way. It had given him the gift of his daughter and later a wonderful partner to share his life with, along with some great friends and teammates.
All in all... the best gift Dr. Erskine could have possibly given to Steve and one Steve would cherish for the rest of his life.