"Of course we can!" said Tony. "Why don't you kids go first. Mom and I will save ours for last. It's a surprise."

Rory looked up with big eyes. "Is it a pony?" she asked, remembering some jokes from when they were much younger, about Phoebe getting a pony for her birthday.

"It is not a pony," said Tony with a laugh.

"Me next!" said Aurora, proudly holding out a small wrapped box. The gift inside was not expensive, but she was very proud of having picked it out herself and paid for it with her own money. The box contained a pair of dangling earrings shaped like clownfish, which she'd seen in a shop and had known immediately Phoebe would love. Her parents had agreed, and Tony had let her do extra chores to earn the money.

"Mommy...?" Morgan poked at the sleeping silhouettes of her parents. "Daddy?"

Pepper sighed softly, turning over to see their daughter standing at Tony's side of the bed, then glanced at the clock to see it read 5:15am. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she tried to wake up more. "Morgan... what's wrong? Did you have a bad dream?"

Morgan soon crawled up into their bed, nestling herself between her parents. "No... I couldn't sleep anymore."

"You couldn't sleep anymore?" Pepper nodded, leaning back in bed, then it hit her - today was the opening of the new capybara habitat. "Is that because we're going to see Miss Bubbles and the babies at the zoo today?"

Tony opened his eyes as he felt Morgan crawl into bed, and yawned. He heard Pepper's question, and then Morgan wriggled a little and nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm excited. It's like we get to have Christmas again!" Morgan had cried the day the zoo staff had come to take the capybaras away, but the keepers had sent regular picture and video updates, which had helped her feel better in the weeks since.

Tony sat up a little and smiled. "I hear the concession people are planning some surprises for the event," he said.

"In a way, we are keeping them," Tony added. "It's our zoo, and we can visit whenever we like. And they'll have lots of space there and a hot tub to sit in. Remember we walked about a capybara hot tub, like in the videos?"

Morgan hung her head. She'd been pretty sure that was what her parents would say, but she'd had to ask. She cuddled the baby capybara and put it down to go back to Miss Bubbles.

"Can we visit them every day?" she asked.

"We'll even put oranges in it, like in the videos," Tony promised. He had no idea what the point of them was, but they'd seen several pictures of capybaras with oranges on their heads.

"Hey," he added, hoping to get Christmas morning back on track. "Why don't we have some breakfast and then open those presents, huh?"

Tony chuckled and removed the candles from the cake. "You can be a bigger nut if you want. How about a Brazil nut?" he suggested with a chuckle.

Owen, Avery, and Aurora giggled because they knew Dad was trying to be funny, but their eyes were on the cake. They wanted their parents to hurry up and cut it.

"Of course we can!" said Tony. "Why don't you kids go first. Mom and I will save ours for last. It's a surprise."

Rory looked up with big eyes. "Is it a pony?" she asked, remembering some jokes from when they were much younger, about Phoebe getting a pony for her birthday.

"It is not a pony," said Tony with a laugh.

Tony got the luggage in the car while Pepper and Morgan said goodbye to the livestock, and once the car seat was secure and they had everything, he started the car and headed out. This was going to be an experience, flying commercial... he hadn't done that in ages. What was it going to be like?

"You said there's an aquarium," said Morgan. "I wanna see that."

"There's also a Museum of Chocolate," Tony said. "I bet that's where your Mom wants to go!"

They arrived at the airport and Tony parked the car. As they climbed out and got their luggage, a plane came over quite low, having only just taken off. Morgan looked up at it in astonishment.

"How big are planes?" she asked. "How high do they go?"

Tony should have kept his mouth shut, but he couldn't resist.

"Not an original thought in that man's head," he agreed. "First he steals my look, and now he's got both Satan and Nightcrawler! I dunno if Satan will sue but if Kurt wants a lawyer there's a couple I can recommend."

Tony winked and leaned in to whisper, "you're my favourite toy and pillow," in her ear, before nodding. "We've got books and games for the plane, we've got our luggage, we've got our snacks. What do you think, Morgan? Do we need anything else?"

"Did we bring swimsuits?" Morgan asked.

"Yes, we definitely brought swimsuits," Tony said. They were going to a city on a beach, after all. "I think we're ready to go, then. Everybody grab your stuff and let's go out to the car."

On the way, Morgan put her little suitcase down and ran to give the alpacas some goodbye pets and a hug for Daffodoodle.

Tony got the luggage in the car while Pepper and Morgan said goodbye to the livestock, and once the car seat was secure and they had everything, he started the car and headed out. This was going to be an experience, flying commercial... he hadn't done that in ages. What was it going to be like?

"You said there's an aquarium," said Morgan. "I wanna see that."

"There's also a Museum of Chocolate," Tony said. "I bet that's where your Mom wants to go!"

@notgonnabesubtle

"Happy birthday dear Peanut... happy birthday to you!" Tony winked as he put the cake down on the table, knowing the old nickname would make Phoebe roll her eyes.

"Daaad," Phoebe rolled her eyes when she heard her dad, but still couldn't help but smile because she knew how much that nickname meant to them. Blowing out her birthday candles, she looked at her parents. "I'm hardly a little peanut anymore... but thank you for the cake."

Tony chuckled and removed the candles from the cake. "You can be a bigger nut if you want. How about a Brazil nut?" he suggested with a chuckle.

Owen, Avery, and Aurora giggled because they knew Dad was trying to be funny, but their eyes were on the cake. They wanted their parents to hurry up and cut it.

Tony finished putting down papers and then got out his phone to get some pictures. They needed pictures of this... Pepper was usually the one making a record of their cute animal encounters but he was here so he might as well.

Then Morgan dropped the question, and he sighed. This was gonna be hard, he knew.

"Well... remember we're gonna send Mr. B... Miss Bubbles to the zoo as soon as they've got an enclosure ready for her? The babies need to go to the zoo with their mom. They're not gonna stay this small."

"In a way, we are keeping them," Tony added. "It's our zoo, and we can visit whenever we like. And they'll have lots of space there and a hot tub to sit in. Remember we walked about a capybara hot tub, like in the videos?"

Morgan hung her head. She'd been pretty sure that was what her parents would say, but she'd had to ask. She cuddled the baby capybara and put it down to go back to Miss Bubbles.

"Can we visit them every day?" she asked.

That perked Morgan up. "Can we bring her squeaky hedgehog? That's her favourite. And her pillow," she added. Comet would be most comfortable if she had her familiar pillow in the crate.

"Of course we can," said Tony. "We're bringing your favourite toy and pillow, so we'll bring hers too."

Tony winked and leaned in to whisper, "you're my favourite toy and pillow," in her ear, before nodding. "We've got books and games for the plane, we've got our luggage, we've got our snacks. What do you think, Morgan? Do we need anything else?"

"Did we bring swimsuits?" Morgan asked.

"Yes, we definitely brought swimsuits," Tony said. They were going to a city on a beach, after all. "I think we're ready to go, then. Everybody grab your stuff and let's go out to the car."

On the way, Morgan put her little suitcase down and ran to give the alpacas some goodbye pets and a hug for Daffodoodle.

continued (x) | @imjustthemechanic

“‘Course not,” Morgan happily chimed in. She wrapped her arms around Pepper’s leg, but still peeped out so Tony could see her big happy smile that spread from ear to ear. “Mommy, I think Daddy needs juice pops.”

While Pepper and Morgan talked about what they needed to get to keep Tony occupied while he was stuck here at the hospital, Peter took this moment to actually talk to him. He gently placed his hand on Tony’s left arm, just enough to grab his attention. “Are you really okay?” he asked softly and sincerely. “Like… I’m not going to wake up and realize this is all a dream… right?” The end of the question trailed off a bit, getting very quiet.

Morgan smiled up at Peter with food on her face. She liked him very much but was a little unclear on who he was... he'd arrived when the missing people came back, so he'd clearly been one of them, but that was as far as it went. Seeing him cry over Daddy being okay, she'd finally come to a conclusion.

"Why do you live with your auntie?" she asked him. "Why don't you stay with us?"

"You have a bingo card?" Tony asked with a chuckle. He snagged one baby and it started to squeal as he put the ribbon around its neck. Miss Bubbles trotted over and put her paws on his arm, concerned. "No, no, we're good, here he is!" Tony finished tying the bow and put it down again, and Miss Bubbles started licking it. "What's on a Stark Family Christmas Bingo Card? Alpaca Hijinks? Supervillains?"

The latter had made for a very stressful Christmas one year... thank heaven that was long enough ago that they could joke about it now.

Tony finished putting down papers and then got out his phone to get some pictures. They needed pictures of this... Pepper was usually the one making a record of their cute animal encounters but he was here so he might as well.

Then Morgan dropped the question, and he sighed. This was gonna be hard, he knew.

"Well... remember we're gonna send Mr. B... Miss Bubbles to the zoo as soon as they've got an enclosure ready for her? The babies need to go to the zoo with their mom. They're not gonna stay this small."

"The future and another universe?" asked Tony. That seemed like overkill, but also amazing. The possibilities of being able to move around time at will were endless - he'd thought about that before - but also an infinite multiverse? "So there really are other universes? Is this an eternal inflation thing? Or are we talking about membranes in the bulk, like in string theory? Who built that? Did you make it yourself?"

Doctor Strange wasn't somebody Tony had ever heard of, and he wanted to know who this person was who could build something to take a whole person from universe to universe into a watch. But he also hadn't missed her statement that she wasn't a very good spy, followed by the casual question about what he was up to. That wasn't suspicious at all.

"Why do you ask?" he said. "You say you're a bad spy, but that might be something a good spy would say to get somebody off-guard."

Tony groaned and moved to summon the suit, but he didn't use them anymore, not since the fight with Thanos in which he'd lost his arm. He'd had some idle thoughts about how to design a suit that would work with the prosthetic, but he hadn't actually worked on it because he thought he didn't need to. In this situation... all he could do was hunker down and hope Rhodey could handle it.