Can We Keep It?

Now it's a Party

"This kid is only one and look at all the stuff she has already. I thought you said you weren't gonna spoil her, Barnes?" Tony walked around the lounge and casually picked up gifts for a quick shake, checking the tags and making a mental note of who brought the biggest and best offering.

"Says the uncle who bought most of it," Bucky snickered.

Tony gave him his best attempt at an innocent look and kept silent until he saw Nat bring you in to join them. "There she is! There's my girl!" He bounced up the stairs and grabbed you from your Aunt, stopping with a surprise when you slapped a pink bow on his head. "Okay, where is she getting all of these?"

"Just go with it, Stark. Own it." Nat flipped her own hair full of bows, leaving you there to join the party that was finally underway.

You reached up and pulled on Tony's tie, loosening the knot just a bit and pulling the end into your mouth to chew on with your few new teeth. You stopped and laughed when you saw him staring at you with wide eyes and a wide grin to match. "It's a good thing that I have more ties than I'll ever need."

"Hey, don't let her put that in her mouth." Steve approached and grabbed you under your arms and tossed you gently over his shoulder, much to your delight. "She's doing that with everything now that she's teething even more. We don't want to encourage her." As if you knew what your dad was saying about you, you looked back at Tony and stuck out your tongue, spitting and drooling down the back of his shirt.

"I don't think she agrees with you, Cap."

"She never does," he sighed loudly. He quickly turned you around and carried you in front, facing away from him in hopes of salvaging the rest of his shirt. "Okay, young lady, time for presents. We need to hurry before your other Papa opens them all. This is his favorite part." Steve stopped short of the massive pile of gifts, giving Bucky a disapproving look, shaking his head while you struggled to reach out to dive into the pile of torn and colorful wrapping paper.

"Buck, I was joking when I said that you would open them first. What are you doing?"

Bucky stood up from behind the large box and took you from Steve, setting you atop the new miniature tricycle, painted to match Steve's own bike. "I was too excited to give her this one first. It's not like she could actually open the box anyway, right?"

"What do you think, honey?" Steve said as he crouched down on the floor next to you. "Should we get you a bike just like Papa's?" Steve and Bucky's faces changed to confused when you crawled off the new toy and ran to the box, tipping it over and running inside; you turned around and peeked out with a huge smile, opening your arms for them to join you.

"Papa! Here!"

"Wait, guys, hold on," Clint jumped up from his chair and began to dig through the remaining gifts. "I know what she's doing. Okay...here!" He ripped the shiny paper from the box, revealing a large tea set. He quickly opened it and laid the cups, pots and spoons out in front of you, then sat at the edge of the box next to you.

"Okay, (Y/N), let's do it," he said with a grin and held out his hands. "You know how I take my tea, right?"

The group looked to each other, amused but a bit bewildered. "Barton, do you two do this often?" Steve asked.

"Yes, sir, every Tuesday. We usually play with my daughter's old set, but I thought it was time for (Y/N) to have her own. She's quite the hostess."

You started throwing the cups around in a circle in front of you and tapped your hand at your side, "Aunee!" Nat laughed and sat at the other edge of the box and took a cup from your tiny hand. "Okay, I guess the party's down here now guys. Take a seat."

The rest of the team took their seats around you and took their cups, pretending to enjoy the imaginary drinks that you were providing. With each refill you gave them, you babbled and laughed, doing your best to hold conversations that only you understood. You finally had your parents and all of your aunts and uncles in one place, and were taking full advantage of it.

Nick entered the room, arriving a bit late to the party. He moved to stand behind the group, holding his present and watching the interaction with a serious face. "So, after all these years, this is the key to getting you guys assembled in one place? Could've saved me a lot of gray hairs."

"Fury, you're bald," Tony chuckled.

You looked up at Nick and laughed; he was the one with the silly patch over his eye that he would never let you grab, not that you didn't give it a strong effort every time. "Furry!"

"Hey, darlin'," he said, pushing Tony over so that he could join the group. "Here you go, honey. I think this is just what you need."

You pulled at the paper but clearly didn't move fast enough, waiting for Bucky to finish for you. You squealed and clapped your hands together when he opened the box, little plastic pastries and treats falling into your lap.

"There, now it's a party!" Fury exclaimed, leaning over to place a kiss on the top of your head.

"Wait," Steve asked, looking to Clint and then to Nick, "did you guys plan this together? Do you play tea party with her too?"

Nick looked back as if Steve didn't realize how ridiculous his question was. "Of course. Every Tuesday."