Broken Lullaby ▷ Tony Stark | ✓

22 - ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS

Birdie raised her head, taking a deep breath, only for it to get caught in her throat as Tony walked into the room wearing a nice sweater underneath a jacket and nice slacks. He looked everything like a model, and she found that the Santa hat Wilma dropped on his head only completed the look.

"Tony!" Janice cooed, standing up and reaching out to hug him, careful not to let her hands touch his nice clothes, as they were dirty from the food, "Fashionably late, I see, is this a trend with you celebrities. Oh, hush, I'm joking, come on, go get some food, Birdie is sitting over there, you can see her once you get a plate."

Birdie smiled and waved slightly as Tony was ushered into the kitchen by Janice, the man able to give her a small wave back before his attention was turned to more pressing issues, that being the spread in front of him, unable to do anything except take all the food Janice was piling onto his plate, the woman stating that he "just had to try this dish," but saying the same for every dish they had.

"Mom, don't scare him," Birdie called out, laughing as she listened to the spiel.

"He was here on Thanksgiving, he knows the drill," her mother called back, and everyone laughed, because Tony looked so out of place, yet so happy; at least, that was why Birdie laughed, she figured everyone else laughed for less introspective reasons.

She went back to eating, glancing over towards Remy and Ethan who were playing board games and eating, looking towards the clock every few minutes as if an hour had gone by while Remy was rolling the dice.

She looked up when she felt someone hover above her and smiled up at Tony who was standing almost nervously. She moved towards her left, motioning for him to sit, smiling as he squeezed into the space next to her, balancing his plate and starting to eat.

"Sorry I was late, Wilma told me to come at ten," he mumbled, taking a bite of his food to keep from replying, and she just knocked their knees together, letting him know that it was okay.

"You're here now," she whispered, and that was that.

While the two ate in relative silence, mulling over the weight of Birdie's words, Remy was watching them intently, furrowing his brow in confusion as he tried to understand what was going on between his mother and Tony.

"What's wrong?" Ethan asked, glancing behind him to see his aunt and Tony Stark sitting next to each other and eating, "If you think that's a problem, let me tell you, that's the opposite of a problem."

Remy shrugged noncommittally, going back to the game. "I just don't get it. I don't know."

Ethan frowned, opening his mouth to ask what he could have meant by that, only to be interrupted by the doorbell ringing again.

"I didn't invite anyone," Jayne called out from where she was perched on the arm next to Birdie, chatting with the woman and Tony, glancing over to her husband as if to question him and his motives.

Wilma hesitantly opened the door again, sharing a nod with her mother who was frowning, all the air sucked out of the room as they listened with anticipation and fear, Jayne and Tony shielding Birdie protectively, the woman unrelenting in her want to see who was there.

"You have to leave," they heard Wilma say, her voice stern and cold, "She doesn't want to see you."

"I just—Just let me see them, I'm still—" a voice argued, and Birdie's stomach plummeted as the familiar sound was coupled by the emergence of a familiar face.

"You're not welcome here," Janice called out, and Birdie jumped to her feet, genuinely appalled.

"Mom!" she cried, looking towards Mark with fear, as if he would storm off with that outburst, "You can't—"