Christmas Eve. The most important of the Avengers parties of the whole year. Of course, Tony had thrown thousands of parties, but his Christmas Eve party was the only party that was for superheroes and families only. A bunch of cheesy party games were played, or so I was told. Tasha told me that every year upon entry, everyone was given a clothespin. Tony had mistletoe hidden in random spots and if two people stood under it without kissing, people surrounding them could steal their clothespins. The person with the most clothespins at the end of the night got $100.
As I was pinning the last bit of hair into my half up crown braid, Peter walked into the doorway of my bathroom.
"Hey, Peter. Will you hand me my hairspray?" I asked. He webbed it to me. "Thanks."
When the cloud of aerosol disappeared, Peter had a coughing fit.
"Is this the sixties? Chill with the hairspray," he coughed.
"No. If it were the sixties, I would still be in an ice chamber or whatever it was," I sassed. "Now shut up and kiss me."
Rolling his eyes, Peter put his hands on my waist and crashed his lips onto mine.
"Are you ready to go now?" he asked.
"Oh no. Your tie clashes with my dress. I'm gonna go borrow one of Steve's. Hold on."
Its a good thing that I knocked before walking into Steve and Tasha's room. I wasn't sure what it was lately, but ever since they went to Germany, the two of them had been inseparable. It would have been cute if Steve wasn't my dad; therefore, it was disgusting.
"Steve, can Peter borrow a red tie? He's wearing a salmon one right now because apparently it is the only one he owns." I gagged at the thought of my boyfriend liking the color salmon.
Steve leaned into his closet and handed me a red tie that matched my dress perfectly.
"Thank you."
I found Peter in the living room without his disgusting tie.
"Where's the-"
"In your room. Also can you tie the tie for me? May usually does it for me."
I scoffed playfully before agreeing. Just after Peter finished tightening the tie, Steve and Tasha came out of their bedroom. The four of us walked to Stark Tower together, and we were actually given clothespins as we walked in.
"Wait, Tasha, you were serious about the mistletoe thing?" I scoffed. As if on cue, Wanda attempted to call out an unsuspecting Scott and Rhodey standing under the mistletoe. Both disgusted, they quickly pecked each other on the lips before running in opposite directions.
"Does that answer your question?" Steve chuckled.
"Oh, dear. Its going to be a long night," I sighed. "I'm gonna go hide in the kitchen... For now..."
My attempt, however, failed because I found myself with Sam... Under the mistletoe. I just gave my pin to Wanda and walked straight to the kitchen.
"Bonnie, can I help with anything? Like taste testing?" I suggested while she pulled the perfectly roasted turkey out of the oven.
"Um, do you want to grate some carrot for the salad? Just use the cheese grater. Its above the microwave," Bonnie instructed.
I looked above the microwave. That cabinet was seven and a half feet in the air, at least. Who puts important things up that high?
"Bucky!" I called. I knew he was in the kitchen somewhere. Or maybe in the "break room" behind it. After a moment, the tall, metal-armed soldier came into the kitchen.
"Oh my gosh, your hair! I love it!" I shrieked. Bucky returned to his military haircut. He looked really nice. "Can you get the cheese grater please? Its up too high for me to reach."
He grabbed it, all the meanwhile, Bonnie was totally checking him out. Challenge accepted.
"Hey, Buck," I whispered as I began grating the carrot, "we should surprise Steve soon."
"Okay. Sounds good. Why are we whispering?"
"Because it makes the attractive lady checking you out think we're talking about her."
"Wait, Bonnie was checking me out? Are you sure?"
"Is she blonde?"
I finished up the last of the carrot before tossing the grater and sink.
"Hey, Bonnie, I'm gonna take Bucky out now. Unless you need him," I hinted.
"No. Go surprise your dad. I'll be out in a few with dinner," Bonnie promised.
Bucky waited at the door between the kitchen and party area as I went through, looking for Tony. He got everyone's attention for me.
"Okay," I began, hoping everyone could hear me, "I know that we are doing not-so-secret Santa after dinner, but I have a little surprise. Um, its mostly for Steve, but I think that this is something that we will all enjoy. Hey, Soldier! Come on out!"
Everyone stood, petrified with amazement and disbelief. Steve looked like he was about to cry as he went to hug his best friend. Everyone else went back to their conversations, but Steve came to me.
"How did you do this?"
"Magic. Henry's moms came in secret and took Henry, Peter, and I to Wakanda. They put a spell on him. His new arm was purely the Wakandan scientists," I explained.
"Thank you," Steve smiled. "This is an amazing Christmas present."
He gave me a hug which nearly suffocated me. Then dinner was served.
Do you know in Willy Wonka when Charlie sees the chocolate waterfall for the first time? The pure awe and amazement that came from each of the kids and even the parents? That was how seeing this dinner felt. The turkey was a gorgeous golden brown, the lump free mashed potatoes with the smoothest looking gravy that I had ever seen, the roasted vegetables (ew), and the gingerbread cookies. Each plate had a cookie specifically designed to twin with the person meant to sit there. It was a cuter version of nametags. I found my cookie between Peter and Steve. May was sandwiched between Peter and Tony, and Beatrix sat across from me.
After everyone finished eating, Tony began the not-so-secret Santa by handing Steve his gift. Steve gave his to one of Clint's kids. They all were blended in my mind, honestly. He gave his gift to Thor, who had Sam, who had May. As May was about to open her gift, a tall blonde in sweatpants with a stack of papers ran in the room.
"Um, Mr. Stark, so sorry to interrupt, but I completely forgot to hand in these papers before I left today. They're for the grant that you did at MIT," she began.
"Pepper," Tony insisted, "you don't have to call me Mr. Stark. Now put those papers on my desk and come join us. No one should be alone on Christmas."
Peter squeezed my knee in excitement. Maybe he could finally break up Aunt May and Tony. It would have been an evil, despicable thing if his aunt wasn't dating his boss. The whole situation even weirded me out, and I am tolerant, if not fully accepting, of most things.
"Okay," Pepper smiled uncomfortably, but she was no where near how uncomfortable May looked.
"And see if Bonnie has an extra dress. She probably will. I think she has a closet here," Tony babbled before sending Pepper on her way.
The rest of the gift giving kinda just happened at that point. I think that everyone was trying to open their presents before Pepper had a chance to feel bad that she didn't have one. I got a sword polishing kit from Tasha. Looking over, I saw that Peter had opened his assorted classic rock vinyls from Laura, but he was still holding onto the little bag which held his gift.
"Jemma, come here," he whispered, pulling me over to where Steve and Tasha were sitting.
"I could have stayed in my seat. Its right there," I complained. "But whatever."
"No, I want you to see this. Natasha, um, here's your present," he said, a bit shyly.
Tasha tore out the tissue paper, and all that was left was an envelope.
That's odd, I thought he got her a sweater. I thought to myself.
As Tasha opened the envelope, excitement grew in her eyes. She could barely speak as she showed Steve and I the "Congratulations Mommy To Be" card.
"Wait," Steve sais quickly, "did you actually agree to the adoption?"
"I did. Open the card. There's a picture from the sonogram that Bea and I went to last week. Everything is normal," he chuckled. "And its a girl."
"Steve, we're gonna have a daughter," Tasha beamed.
"Um, you already do," I interjected, tossing my hair.
"You don't count. You're already grown up," Steve teased.
"Yeah true. Wait, does this mean that I'm gonna have a little sister?" I shrieked, a little late to the party.
I did a then happy dance, then kissed Peter in thanks.
A fancy swing sounding piano song stopped the reat of our happy conversation. I looked in the direction of the red grand piano to find Beatrix playing, not the Jurassic Park music that I got her, but a peice she must have known by heart. There wasn't any music in front of her.
"Jemma, do you know how to swing dance?" asked Steve as he rose from his chair.
"I can barely walk without falling over, much less dance. Especially when I'm in heels," I chuckled, revealing the black stilettos that caused me to tower over Peter. Note to self, don't date anyone the same height as you again.
"You should have just said you have to go to the bathroom," Tasha muttered.
"That settles it. I'm going to teach you how to swing dance," he promised.
"But no one else is dancing," I protested.
Alas, my complaints were in vain. I was still dragged by my wrist to the dance floor where Steve held my hands in an awkward way that I assumed had something to do with swing dancing.
"That's because swing is my territory. Now follow me. You're going to step to the right, then to the left, then rock back on your right foot," he instructed.
After a few slips and slides, I kicked my heels towards the piano and really made a fool of myself, but only until the end of the song. A handful of people clapped, so Steve and I bowed in a joking way. When Beatrix began playing another jazzy song, I ran away from the dance floor as quickly as my legs would carry me.
Bonnie, however, seemed up to the challenge. Since I last saw her, she changed into a fifty's style crinolin dress with black and white polka dots. Bucky, while not as elegantly dressed, asked her to dance, probably thinking he would have to teach her like Steve did with me, yet she seemed to know more about it that he did. At the end of the song, they did a fancy dip where Bonnie's feet where over her head. Everyone honestly cheered at the end of that performance where I thought I overheard something about dancing as a kid.
I turned to find Pepper talking to Tony near the piano. I don't remember her returning to the party, but its definitely a good thing she didn't get a Cinderella moment. May was jealous enough as it was, and Pepper looked like a freaking runway model in the burgandy evening gown that chances are she borrowed from Bonnie. As a distraction, Peter decided to take May to the playroom with the kids. She needed the distraction, and she loved kids.
With May out of the room, I found Henry. We began talking awkwardly close to where Pepper and Tony were, coincidentally about six inches from mistletoe. Bea started playing more romantic music, and every few minutes, Henry and I would inch closer to them, causing them to inch closer to the mistletoe. Thankfully, Tony had given up his last clothespin quite a while back, so he had to kiss Pepper or break the rules of his own game.
"Oh, Tony, I believe that you are standing under the mistletoe with Miss Potts, there," I sighed. "Now I do think this means you have to kiss her because you don't have another clothespin to give."
Tony tried to look annoyed at me, but his honest to goodness love for Pepper shone through. That kiss wasn't too shy either. It seemed as though months of apologies and awkward run ins had dissolved, for the one thing that needed to be said wasn't words at all. Just a kiss.
Pepper ran off after they broke apart. Tony started to follow after before he remembered that he had a girlfriend that may or may not have witnessed that. Luckily for him, May was downstairs playing with elementary schoolers. Unfortunately, that meant he had to choose between the two. I had a feeling I knew who he was going to pick.