Your brother had called you shortly after you'd gotten home from work, wondering if you could watch his daughter - your niece - for a while. His wife was out of town for the week, and something urgent came up at work. You immediately agreed, wanting to help out in any way possible, as well as see Harper, but you also let your brother know that Tom was home. The two of you had been dating for a while and were now living together, but somehow, even though he'd met most of your family, he'd never met your niece. Even though it was supposed to be your date night, Tom was excited to help out; he loved kids and really wanted to meet Harper since you talked about her nonstop.
"She's probably going to be shy at first," you told Tom as the two of you raced around trying to clean up a little and make the apartment safe for the three-year-old.
"Babe, kids love me! I'm Spider-Man, it'll be fine!" Tom protested, shaking his head as he folded a blanket and placed it over the back of the couch neatly.
Laughing, you nodded, "I know kids love you, baby. And I know it'll be fine; she's just gonna be shy at first."
Before Tom could say anything else, there was a knock on the door, effectively ending your conversation. Tidying up a few more things, you quickly made your way over to the door, throwing it open to find your brother and niece, "Hey guys!"
"Hey, Y/N, thank you so much," your brother spoke. He looked pretty frazzled as he turned to his daughter in his arms, "Harper, you're going to hang out with Auntie and her friend while Daddy goes to work for a little bit, okay? You're going to have so much fun, I love you, sweetie!" He quickly passed Harper off to you, handing Tom a bag full of stuff she might need, "Here's a bunch of toys she likes, and she'll eat pretty much anything. I'll pick her up later tonight, thanks again, guys."
After the door closed, you turned to your niece in your arms, giving her a huge smile, "Hey, bug! Are you ready to have some fun?" Harper gave a hesitant nod a moment later, glancing away from you to look at Tom who was watching the two of you with a smile. She lifted a hand, pointing at Tom with a questioning look, not saying. "That's my friend Tom, can you say hi?"
Her head shook from side to side, burrowing into your shoulder causing you to laugh a little and give Tom a pointed look, knowing that you were right. Tom shrugged, giving her another smile as he opened the bag that your brother had handed him, "Can I see what kind of toys you have in here, Harper?" She didn't reply but lifted her head to watch as he moved to sit on the carpet in the living room.
You set Harper down on the ground, and she immediately went to hide behind your leg, "C'mon, bug. Let's play!" She followed behind you slowly as you moved to sit on the ground across from Tom. After a moment, Harper sat down in your lap, watching Tom closely as he pulled out some of her toys.
Tom pulled out toy after toy that was princess themed, along with a baby doll or two. Finally, he found some superhero toys that had been packed at the bottom of the bag. There was Captain America, Iron Man, and of course, Spider-Man. A smile grew on Tom's face, and he looked up at Harper in excitement, "Whoa! I love superheroes! Which one is your favorite?" You'd actually been the one to get her the superhero toys, knowing how much you'd loved superheroes when you were younger, but you weren't about to tell Tom that.
Harper quickly got out of your lap, making her way over to Tom as she picked Captain America up off of the ground, her voice small as she spoke, "This." She was still being shy, but you could tell that she was coming out of her shell a little bit.
"Aw man," Tom stuck his bottom lip out in a pout, "What about Spider-Man? He's my favorite." Her little nose scrunched up, head shaking from side to side in reply. Tom feigned hurt, placing his hand over his chest dramatically, "What do you mean?!"
"Nuh uh. Cap'in Merica is better," she stated plainly, causing you to laugh behind your hand as you watched the two of them interact.
Another dramatic huff and then a sigh passed Tom's lips, "Alright, alright. Will you play with me, at least?" Harper paused, glancing back at you as if for permission and you nodded with a smile, so she nodded in reply. "Awesome!" Tom exclaimed, picking up the Spider-Man toy.
Half an hour later, the two of them were playing as if they'd been friends forever. You could feel your heart swell in your chest as you watched them play together. Tom with kids always made you feel a certain type of way, but to see him with a child you loved so much made you feel so happy. You couldn't help but imagine him with your kid someday.
In the middle of acting something out with Tom, Harper turned to you and let out a dramatic sigh, "Auntie Y/N, I'm soooo hungry."
You laughed a little, shaking your head with a smile, "Do you want dinner, Harper?"
She nodded enthusiastically as her eyes went wide, "Nuggets?"
"I'll see what I can find, love," you replied as you tousled her hair and stood up, leaning over to press a kiss to Tom's head. You ran your fingers through his hair once, "You okay with her?"
He smiled and tilted his head back to kiss your cheek, "Yeah, we'll be fine. Right, Harper?"
"Yeah!"
"Okay, great!" Booping Harper's nose gently, you pressed another quick kiss to Tom's lips before walking off to the kitchen.
As soon as you were gone, Harper turned to Tom with big eyes, tilting her head a little, "Are you in love with Auntie?"
Tom laughed a little, furrowing his eyebrows as he wondered where that had come from, "Where'd you learn that, hon?"
She shrugged her shoulders, sticking her bottom lip out, "Like my mummy and daddy love each other."
Giving in, Tom nodded with another laugh, "Yes, I love your Auntie Y/N so much. I want to marry her someday, just like your mummy and daddy are." Harper gasped, her mouth dropping open, and Tom realized that he'd just told a three-year-old that he wanted to marry his girlfriend, and he was pretty sure that three-year-olds were not the best secret keepers, "But you can't tell her, okay? It's a secret, I want to surprise her!"
Excited at the prospect of a secret, Harper nodded, "Okay!" Apparently, that was enough for her as she got back to playing, trying to get Tom to play with her again.
Not long later, dinner was finally ready, but when you called for them to come eat, there was no response. Wandering back into the living room, you found the two of sitting on the floor, teacups in hand and tiaras on their heads. Without saying anything, you quickly snapped a few pictures of the two of them with a huge smile on your face.
Once you had the pictures, you spoke up again, "Dinner's ready, guys!" Harper immediately jumped up without a second thought, running towards the kitchen, leaving Tom sitting there in his tiara. You laughed as Tom stood up, teasing him, "Well hey there, princess."
Tom's eyes rolled but he grinned, sliding his arms around your waist as he pulled you into him, "Yeah, yeahhh." Leaning down, Tom's nose brushed against yours, lips almost pressed against yours, until he was cut off by a small voice.
"C'mon, c'mon! I'm hungryyyy!"
After dinner was over, you knew it wouldn't be long until your brother would be back to pick Harper up, so you let her choose a movie to watch. It took a while, but she finally decided on Finding Dory and crawled up onto the couch. "Wanna sit with me?" You asked, figuring she'd want to sit on your lap like she normally did when the two of you watched movies together.
Instead, she surprised you by shaking her head and moving over to the side of the couch Tom was sitting on, "Wanna sit with Uncle Tom."
A surprised, but happy, look took over his face as she got comfortable in his lap and he wrapped an arm around her to keep her safe. He shot you a glance with the biggest grin on his face, and you couldn't help but smile back at him. Harper had managed to fit herself just right into Tom's lap; legs crossed on top of his as she leaned back against his chest. It was safe to say that your heart had fully melted at the sight.
It wasn't long until your brother showed up to pick Harper up. Tom and Harper were both much too invested in the movie to notice, leaving you to go get the door. You gave your brother a hug, grinning at him, "Seems as though Harper's found a new best friend."
The two of you walked into the living room, finding them in the same spot as a few moments before. You paused the movie to get Harper's attention, and when she turned around to pout, she saw her dad standing there. She quickly launched herself off of Tom's lap and into your brother's arms as he picked her up and hugged her tightly, "Did you have fun, sweetie?"
"Yes! Uncle Tom and I played with superheroes and then we played tea party and now we're watching Finding Dory. Can I come back to play with Auntie Y/N and Uncle Tom again?" The little girl babbled on for a few moments, hugging her dad tightly.
Tom had stood up again and was standing just behind you with his arms around your waist, "You can come back any time, Harper!" You leaned back into his chest and tilted your head back against his shoulder to look up at him with a smile, pressing a kiss to his jaw lightly.
"Mhm!" you echoed, picking the bag of her toys up to hand back to your brother, "You can come play with us any time, bug." The little girl cheered before reaching her arms out to you. You grabbed her and hugged her tightly, pressing a kiss to her cheek. She quickly reached out towards Tom next and he took her without a second thought, spinning her around once before passing her back to her dad.
As she got her coat on, Harper was telling her dad stories of what you guys had done all evening, "And, Daddy, guess what! Uncle Tom told me that he loves Auntie Y/N."
"I'm sure he does," your brother replied with a laugh, opening the door to head out. Glancing up at Tom, you found that his cheeks had tinted a light pink, one of his hands running through his hair out of embarrassment.
"Oh! And Uncle Tom said he wants to marry Auntie Y/N, just like you and mummy are married!" Harper exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.
"Okay, Harper, that's nice. Alright, it's time to go! Bye, guys!" your brother stuttered as he quickly closed the door, making his way out of your apartment with your niece. The door closed and you turned to Tom whose cheeks and ears were now a bright red. He opened his mouth as if to say something, maybe to refute her claim, but nothing came out.
"You wanna marry me someday?" you asked, a huge smile growing on your face as you slid your arms around Tom's neck.
He laughed nervously, nodding his head a little bit as his hands came to settle on your waist, "Well, yeah. I- I mean, I hope so."
You grinned, leaning up on your toes to be eye-level with him, "Well, I want to marry you, too, someday. And have kids of our own."
He let out a sigh of relief, pecking your lips softly, "There's nothing I'd want more, love."