#elisaphoenix

It would be peaceful if not for the sound of the screaming kids as they splashed around in the water or yelled at each other over a game of Uno. From the looks of it, Dia was winning, but it was hard to tell whether she was cheating or not. Sometimes, Dia seemed so lucky in her gameplay that it didn’t seem like a coincidence.

Now, it was clear that Clint was in fact cheating however, if badly so, and Cassie seemed to be able to hold her own, so Tony let it slide as he walked past with a tray of drinks and re-joined the adults. Tony sat down next to Stephen at the table, the wooden bench perfect to slide in close to his husband. Stephen leaned into him in turn, smiling contently as he watched over the kids in the water.

Tony knew they had nothing to worry about; Scott and Quill were down by the dock on child watch, making sure no one drowned or otherwise injured themselves. He understood, though, that Stephen wouldn’t ever quite trust the lake, even with chaperones.

“You know,” Tony mused, making Stephen and the others look at him, “we should probably send someone else down to make sure Thumbelina and space cake haven’t snuck off.”

Some laughed, others rolled their eyes or nodded in agreement, but Stephen was the most vicious, pinching his side. He squirmed away from his husband in betrayal, but Stephen just stared back at him innocently before pulling Tony back against him. 

He wanted to say something in retaliation, but he was interrupted by Sam stepping out of the cabin, dressed in swim trunks as he shrugged at Tony’s words. “I’ll go tap them out. The twins will wake from their naps soon anyway. Anyone else coming?”

Wanda and Bucky seemed to think about it, before shrugging and getting up to change, while Sam went ahead. A loud splash followed by a chorus of screams cut through the air. Stephen tensed beside him, but quickly relaxed once he noticed it was just Sam joining the swimmers and annoying the kids.

“Where’s Val?” Nat frowned as she looked around, probably doing a mental headcount of all the kids, “I haven’t seen her since lunch.”

“She’ll reappear eventually.” Stephen shrugged the question off. 

He and Tony weren’t concerned. She always liked to wander off or stay at the edge of the crowd away from the spotlight; especially at the lake house where she felt completely at ease and didn’t have to worry about strangers.

Tony could see her usual hideout from where he was sitting, barely had to strain to glance past the side of the house to her little tent. He’d seen it rustle a few times since sitting down and had no doubt Stephen had been watching it as well.

Usually she’d stick to her parents’ side, but at the house she could do whatever she pleased.

Natasha frowned sadly but nodded in agreement. Besides her parents she was probably Valerie’s fiercest protector. Whenever they weren’t available, she had been the one to babysit Valerie after all. She loved children and was one of the few people they could fully trust with their offspring.

Quill had been a merciless contender for Val’s attention, but when the twins were born, he had his hands full with his own kids (plus Dia), and Nat could give her the one-on-one time Val preferred.

Tony watched as the tent rustled once more, and he pressed a kiss to Stephen’s temple, whispering in his ear so the others couldn’t hear. He wasn’t going to give away coordinates to Val’s safe house. “I’ll go check on the princess.”

Stephen nodded fondly, before his attention was pulled away by the Uno table, which had broken out in a heated discussion over the rules.

Tony could hear something about ‘Barton’ and ‘acting like an adult’ as he walked over the porch, but quickly lost interest as he used the cover of heading inside to sneak around the building towards Dia’s old ‘castle’. The curtains had been replaced since Dia last fit into it, but it was still the worse for wear.

He sighed as he sank down in the old chair positioned in front of it, knees aching, but at least it didn’t snap in two with his weight on top of it. He could feel the legs digging further into the earth, but he sat comfortably as he turned towards the fabric.

“Knock knock.” Tony started, politely waiting for a response that never came before trying again. “Knock knock. Anyone home?”

Once again there was no response, and Tony rolled his eyes fondly as he switched tactics. “Strange, Valerie isn’t here after all. Guess we should just head back to New York without her.”

Still no response.

Damn, why did their kids need to be so smart? Curse his brilliant genes.

“Come on, topolina,” Tony begged, voice pleading as he played for sympathy. He wiggled in his chair, the creaky noise eliciting a small giggle from inside the tent. “If daddy can’t hide away, neither can you.”

“Too much noise,” the tiny voice finally sounded through the curtain, soft and timid, and a smile pulled at Tony’s lips.

“Yeah, mommy’s been complaining about that for years,” He replied, tone muted to hopefully ease Valerie even more. No response came, which was expected as his remark hadn’t really been directed at her. “At least make room for your old dad to join you.”

Valerie remained silent, but Tony smiled fondly and peaked inside as the curtain was pulled open a little. He grinned in victory and moved to push his head into the tent. The tiny table in the middle was covered in paper and markers, Valerie moving to take her seat again once Tony was halfway in the tent.

Tony grumbled, though, knees getting dirty with sand as he tried to crawl in and glanced around the small space. He’d never expected to fit, but a good parent needed to be able to put up a performance. “Yeah, this isn’t going to work, kiddo.”

He had to fight back a smile at Valerie’s tiny pout, her sparkling blue eyes a clear image of Stephen’s. It was signs like this that assured him Valerie really did want company, did enjoy their presence, even if she liked to hide out.

Tony knew their lifestyles didn’t quite match up with Valerie’s needs. They were often required to be in the public eye, couldn’t leave the tower without getting attention and even their home itself was always filled with people. She was fine around the Avengers most times, but Tony could tell she’d enjoyed the week away, the time with just the six of them, and that it would take some easing into before she’d be able to fully deal with that amount of people again.  But despite her hesitance to let anyone into her bubble now, she still clearly wanted Tony to join her.

“Tell you what,” Tony started, smirking when Valerie immediately looked up at him in intrigue. He guessed he was getting repetitive; the kids knowing that start meant a usually sweet deal for them. “How about we go hide out in the garage instead?”

Her shoulders drooped the tiniest bit, eyes hesitant as she tucked a dark strand behind her tiny ear.

“I won’t make noise, I promise, but it will be big enough for daddy to fit.”

Valerie thought about it, seemingly more at ease with this proposition, and smiled as she nodded her head and immediately reached out her hands. Tony let her wrap her arms around his shoulders as he pulled back out of the tent, taking her with him as he stood up and positioned the little girl on his hip.

“You know, mommy is too distracted to worry about paint stains.” Tony mused as they headed towards his workspace, moving further away from their guests. He had caught a glimpse of Stephen smiling at them, before his husband had turned his attention back to helping Scott and Quill with the twins and disappearing out of sight. “You want to paint? I’ll even let you use your hands but don’t tell mommy I said that.”

Valerie nodded excitedly, resting her cheek against his shoulder.

Tony sat down at his workspace, leaving Val in his lap as he cleared away the rubble and grabbed some sheets of paper. “DUM-E, get me the secret paint stash.”

The little bot whirred excitedly at being given a task and came back with the box of paints and brushes - locked, luckily, or he had no doubt DUM-E would have spilled everything on the floor and then he’d be in trouble with Stephen.

Well the floor wasn’t really the problem; it was his workspace to do with whatever he wanted. Stephen didn’t interfere unless Tony was doing something dangerous. He was more afraid about getting the paint out of Valerie’s good clothing. Even magic can’t fix paint stains.

Tony was certain it could, but Stephen had reminded him multiple times that ‘he was not studying to become a magical housewife’ and that he had better things to spend his time learning than household spells.

He pulled an old shirt closer that he’d abandoned in the lab at some point and pulled it over Valerie’s head, and once pleased that it covered enough of her clothing, he unlocked the box and handed her free reign over her creativity.  

Tony didn’t know how long they sat there, but Stephen was the one to come get them. 

Tony noticed him the minute he walked into the room. After years of marriage that had never changed, and he watched as Stephen leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms as he watched over the scene. Val was still sitting on his lap, but her hands were cleaned as much as possible - only a few spots of blue skin left - and she was leaning against Tony’s chest as she waited for her paintings to dry.

“The Bartons already left,” Stephen started, voice soft and laced with fondness, “I gave them your regards. Want to come say goodbye to the other Avengers, Val?”

It was clear that she was getting tired, the nearly four years old’s eyes were drooping, and her breathing was getting heavier. She thought about it for a while, but it seemed that with the crowd having receded to the main habitants of the tower she was more inclined to at least try. She nodded her head, and Tony stood up, placing Valerie on his hip again as he moved towards the doorway.

He stopped in front of Stephen, placing a soft kiss on his lips before Valerie reached out and let herself be transferred to her mom’s side. “Did you enjoy your day, cub?”

She nodded in reply to Stephen, and Tony smiled softly as he followed the two of them back to the front of the building, hand at the small of Stephen’s back where he liked it.

“You know you have paint on the back of your shirt, right?” Stephen questioned, but he sounded amused at least, voice teasing as he touched a spot on Tony’s left shoulder.

“What?” Tony frowned in exasperation, “How did that even get there?”

He turned his head around as much as he could, and even from the shitty angle he could see the edges of a green stain. Even with all his precautions... “I have plenty of shirts, Stephanie, it doesn’t matter.”

When they reached the front porch again, Tony had to admit that it was a little disorienting. He guessed he had gotten used to it over the years, but he understood how Valerie could still find it overwhelming at times. The lake was empty now, everyone dried up and ready to leave, standing around in a huge group of people as everyone finished up their conversations and was about to say their goodbyes.

Tony and Stephen and their kids would stay behind one more day, cleaning up and packing their things before heading back to the tower, but Stephen created a portal for the Avengers to head right through.

Valerie stuck to Stephen’s side, smiling and waving goodbye at the Avengers but leaning heavily into Stephen’s comforting touch, legs wrapped firmly around Stephen’s torso.

She only allowed Nat to take her out of Stephen’s arms for a quick hug, and high-fived Quill on his way through with Hailey on his hip, and by the time everyone had stepped through she seemed much more at ease and happy.

“Val?” She looked up at Peter from Stephen’s shoulder after the portal had been closed. “Want to come watch a Disney movie with us?”

She nodded her head excitedly as she squirmed for Stephen to put her down, and quickly ran over to her siblings as they headed back inside.

She made through the first fifteen minutes before falling asleep curled between her brothers, and Tony lifted her off the couch and into her bedroom.

He’d barely closed her bedroom door behind him when arms wrapped around his waist, and he smiled, leaning into his husband. The sorcerer trailed kisses down his neck, stopping by his ear to whisper, voice low and appealing, “You know how sexy it is when you’re being a dad?”

“I’m always a dad,” Tony fumed in response, squirming under Stephen’s administrations as his hands trailed over his sides.

“Exactly,” Stephen whispered before gently tugging at Tony’s earlobe with his teeth, making Tony roll his eyes, pleased.

Tony hummed in agreement, before turning around in Stephen’s arms and pinning the doctor against the wall, finally able to face his husband and kiss him properly. Stephen melted into his touch, opening up to him easily as his arms moved to wrap around his neck. He broke away a few minutes later begging for breath, pleased to find the lustful eyes boring into his. “You do know the kids are still up, right?”

“They’re not even in the realm of monsters yet, we’ve got plenty of time,” Stephen sniggered, stepping away from the wall and pulling Tony along behind him.