In honor of Tony's birthday, I decided to write him another one-shot (I can't believe it's already been a year since the other one) and since I already had the emotional in-canon one shot, how about a really nice one shot where it's exactly the same events but but Civil War didn't happen and the Avengers moved back into the Tower (but Bruce and Thor aren't back yet, so sorry) so they're all still happy and together, because Tony Stark deserves to be happy.

○ ○ ○

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TONY!"

From the way the small pair of feet were digging sharply into his stomach, most likely crushing some vital organs, Tony was having a hard time believing that it was actually his birthday, like the familiarly high voice was telling him, and while he didn't want to cause the kid any harm, his body was demanding equal standards, his reflexes acting before his brain could, nearly shoving the kid off the bed, only just barely keeping him on.

"You just jumped on my stomach, Rem," Tony wheezed, feeling rather gutted, and while he had never gone bike riding when he was young so as to have the experience of having the handlebars dig into his stomach and wind him, he had a feeling that it was similar to the experience he was having right now.

"Sorry, Tony," Remy said, and help him, he sounded genuinely apologetic, and Tony wasn't sure if he wanted to tamp down the guilt that was rising in his chest, deciding that it was probably best that he not feel bad, if only for Remy's sake.

"It's okay, bubba, you didn't mean it," he said, reaching out and tugging the boy into his arms, pressing a kiss to the top of his head, "How did you get in, you and mama are supposed to be at your apartment."

"I took the train then Happy helped me get in, mom's gotta finish up some stuff, but she's trying to rush over here, she wanted me to give you this," Remy explained, and before Tony could ask what 'this' was, Remy sat up and kneeled on his thighs, pressing a kiss to the man's cheek, pulling away to make a face.

"Your face is scratchy," Remy said, and reached out to pat at his own face, like he had inherited the beard himself and was trying to understand what it was like.

While the boy continued to pat his face, mumbling about beards, Tony tried not to melt into a puddle of emotions on his sheets as he looked at the child seated in his lap who had given him the same kiss that his mother had given to him, and he could see Birdie kissing Remy's cheek in the morning, because she kissed him on his cheek every morning, and to have it passed along to him in such a way was so alternatively domestic that he didn't even know if he was happy about it.

Scratch that. Of course he was.

Smiling, he scooped the boy up in his arms, Remy interrupted himself to shout, his arms grabbing for purchase on Tony's sleep clothes, and Tony wouldn't have dropped him, but he understood the need for some form of foundation and control, especially from Remy.

He frowned to himself as he exited his room, glancing back towards his bed that wasn't as well lived in as it probably should have been. Tilting his head up, he called, "F.R.I.D.A.Y., when did I go to bed? I don't do that."

"You fell asleep against the kitchen counter around midnight after drinking Colonel Rhodes' decaf, and Captain Rogers carried you to your room," the A.I. replied, and then, because she was that kind of a lady, "Hi, Remy, it's great to see you."

"Hi, F.R.I.D.A.Y.," Remy chirped, because he was polite and was far too used to communicating with artificial beings.

Tony felt his heart soften as he watched the boy talk to the ceilings where he attributed F.R.I.D.A.Y. to be, which was good for Rhodey because he was more than peeved that he had, once again, tricked him into drinking decaf; of course, Tony should have caught on, but he had been running on five hours of sleep for the past three days, and he could have gone longer, but he wasn't as alert as he normally was.

Not his fault that he had work to do, it's just humanity's fault that they haven't evolved past sleep yet; all the things that could've been done if they didn't need to rest.

"Wait, Tony, no, go back to your room!" Remy cried, realizing that they were already more than halfway towards the kitchen, the boy pushing at his shoulders and face, "We can't go out yet."

"Why not, bubba?" Tony asked, slowing because while he had a feeling he knew what was happening, there was the small voice in his head that constantly shouted that it couldn't possibly be that because no one cared, nor should care, enough about him to waste energy doing it.

"I wanna feel your pillows," Remy said, desperately trying to reach out towards the way they had come, "We can't go up yet, I wanna lie down!"

Tony tried not to snort because he didn't want to be mean, but the idea of Remy getting so worked up because he didn't get to feel Tony's pillows before they got to the kitchen was so ridiculous that he almost wanted to joke and ask if this was actually his Remy, but the idea of calling him his out loud made him far too emotional than he wanted to be that early on.

But then Remy was framing his face with his hands and forcing him to look at him, and Tony couldn't help but think that this was his boy, because only his boy would force direct eye contact to yell about how he was going to die if he didn't get to shove his face in an expensive pillow right that very second.

"Baby, we'll go get us some food then we can go back to my room and you can shove your face in the pillows for as long as you can hold your breath," Tony reasoned, already making it up to the stairs, and Remy just let out a long, shouted whine that, granted, really hurt his ears, but Tony was very proud in being able to put his foot down this one time.

Climbing up the stairs, he found most of the team in an utter scramble to finish the surprise breakfast they had planned for him, and the part of him that hoped the small voice in his head was wrong was over the moon.

"Damn it, Remy, you had one job!" Harley called from where he and Peter were hanging up the last of the decorations, Harley on a small stool because he was too tall for his own good, in to Tony's unbiased opinion, and Peter stuck on the ceiling.

"I tried!" Remy shouted, glaring at the oldest boy with his entire body before huffing, leaning his whole weight against Tony, "Tony, tell Harley he's being mean."

"He tried very hard, Harley, but you shouldn't have sent someone I can carry down to stall me, you should've sent Cap or something, it wouldn't have taken a lot to get us out of bed," he said, sending a wink over towards the blond who was in the middle of icing a cake, looking utterly scandalized, gaping at him.

"Tony, there are children," he said, after two beats of silence, "You're engaged to one's mother."

"Yeah, Tony, you have to share Steve with my mom, it's only fair," Remy said, and he had his back to Steve so the man couldn't see, but he had a grin that could rival Clint and Sam's during their prank war, and Tony couldn't be more proud.

Just as expected, the supersoldier nearly keeled over, seemingly gutted as he stared with wide eyes down at the counter, his entire body stiff. "...no."

Tony looked up as Peter dropped down in front of him from the ceiling, grinning at him. "Happy birthday, Mr. Stark!"

The boy was nearly vibrating with pent up energy, giving Tony the shy smile that he reserved only for these kinds of situations, his lip caught between his teeth as he leaned slightly forward, the weight more on his toes as he waited, and Tony could only smile and set down Remy, holding out his arms for a hug.

Peter let out a whispered, "yes..." as he threw himself into the man's arms, hugging him so tightly that Tony was sure one of his ribs cracked, but he couldn't say that he didn't enjoy the hug immensely.

Harley walked up behind Peter, waiting until the younger boy had gotten his hugs before smiling, stepping forward and holding out one unfairly long arm. "Happy birthday, Tony."

"Thanks, Harls," Tony whispered, smiling into his shoulder as he had to reach up to hug him, "Didn't you see my wish list, I asked you lose a couple inches for today."

Harley laughed, ducking his head, and Tony grinned as he swiped a hand through the hair that had once been styled in a mess of curls, now much neater, betraying his Tennessee roots. 

"Good to have you with us," was all Tony said, because neither of them were big on vocalizing their emotions directly, unlike Peter and Remy who cried at least once a day. They preferred to show their affection by paying off student loans and finishing off all the blueprints that were forced to be left until adequate amounts of sleep, followed by sarcastically witty email replies to pesky investors and government officials.

The little things.

"It's your birthday today?" Clint asked, and Tony turned around to give him a dry response, only to find the man holding a poorly wrapped box in his hands, made up of Iron Man comic strips, "I completely forgot."

Tony couldn't help but laugh and, just like that, the rest of the team was rushing him, coming all at once to greet him.

"Happy Birthday, Tones," Rhodey greeted, and Tony hadn't even seen where he had been, but he was really glad to see him; there had seldom been a time when Rhodey wasn't there for his birthday, so having him there just felt right.

Speaking of feeling right, Vision approached him right after, and Tony swallowed, trying not to fidget too much as the android gave him a soft and almost apologetic smile. After all, to some degree, he was JARVIS now; just not his.

"Happy birthday, sir," Vision greeted, and Tony wasn't going to cry, he wasn't, but he said it just like JARVIS would and he could feel his throat begin to close, and he wasn't going to cry, but, damn it, he was cutting it very close.

"You're getting old," Natasha said, coming to just stand next to him, not one to give hugs, but she gave him a genuine smile, and that was more than enough for him, "Your presents'll be given later, Clint was just excited."

"Happy birthday, man," Sam greeted, passing by her to pull him into a hug, and it was the kind of hug that Tony always wished his parents would give him, a kind of gentle, but anchoring one; his mom wasn't overly fond of excessive affection, and she was the more caring one.

"Nicky'll drop by later," he explained, "He'll come in with Pepper and the others, there's a whole group, it'll be a thing."

"Thanks for the heads up," he said softly, and the two shared a smile before Tony cleared his throat, about to address the whole group, before he heard a shout.

"Tony!"

Whirling around, Tony felt his lips tug into a bright smile as he saw Arabella racing up the stairs towards him, her little posse right at her heels. In the blink of an eye he had the excitable twenty-something in his arms, the young woman squealing as she hugged him.

"You're getting old," she cooed, trying to fight past her smile to give him a sad look, "Should I start looking up nursing homes?"

Pietro laughed loudly behind her, and Tony glanced over to see the young man smiling at him, Wanda right next to him, and the two seemed rather abashed, not quite standing with everyone else and not quite meeting his eye.

Of course, Tony couldn't blame them for being rather uncomfortable even after these past few years, they had intensely hated him for so long that even though they had patched things up, the lingering feelings were still a lot to feel guilty for.

"Happy birthday, Tony," Wanda said, stepping forward first, after seeing him give her a softer smile, and he grinned as he accepted her hug.

Pietro didn't hug him, instead moving forward and taking Tony's hand, balling it into a fist to tap his own against, and Tony didn't know how he expected him to react to that, but he accepted it nevertheless.

He thought, perhaps, he'd find Marnie and Nerissa behind them, but they weren't there. He felt a pang of disappointment, but one glance at Sam told him that he would most likely be seeing her later, so he didn't let that put a damper on his mood.

"Thank you for the well wishes, everyone, good to know you're not all sick of me just yet," he joked, and he tried not to linger on the fact that everyone looked about ready to argue with him, Arabella actually shouting that none of them were, which meant more than he actually wanted to show, "I very much appreciate the decorations, they're a nice touch."

He motioned over towards the streamers and balloons, as well as the handmade banner with drawings from every member of the avengers next to much more detailed and defined sketches of him, and it didn't take three guesses to know who had done them.

Turning, he found Steve still in the kitchen, the only one there, leaning against the counter and just smiling at him, shifting when he saw he was caught, clearing his throat and averting his gaze for a moment.

"Oh God, they're gonna do that thing again. Quick, find something to be way too invested in until they're done," Harley groaned, motioning for everyone to fan out and find a magazine or oddly shaped dust mite.

Tony rolled his eyes as he made his way over to Steve who seemed to stand at a relaxed form of attention as he approached, looking him in the eye and smiling, Tony hating that he was so much smaller, but feeling quite proud that he still had a commanding presence in the face of a man his younger self had idolized, but his father ironically taught him to hate.

"Happy birthday, Tony," Steve said, same as every year, always grounding and always kind, and Tony couldn't imagine not seeing him every year; strange, they hadn't known each other for that long, but this new family had quickly wormed their way into the heart that, contrary to popular belief, he actually had.

"Thanks, Cap," he said, letting himself pop the 'p' as he glanced over towards the cake he was icing, "Don't you think it's a little early for cake?"

"It's for later, but pancakes were made until then. Among other things," Steve said, motioning towards the stove where multiple trays of breakfast food sat, staying warm and waiting to be eaten.

Before Tony could speak, Steve cleared his throat, averting his gaze as he explained, "Bucky's still healing, but I was able to talk to him and he didn't think you wanted to hear from him, especially not on your birthday, so he told me to give you this."

Reaching into his pocket, Steve pulled out a small manila folder, and Tony, despite his habits, didn't open it just yet, figuring to save it for the rest of his presents. Instead, he tucked it into the pocket of his pajamas, raising his head up to catch Steve's eye.

"I've got no problem with Bucky, you know that," he said, because he didn't, they were good, they were healing, and Steve nodded earnestly, near horror flashing in his eyes.

"I don't think you do, he just—" he started to explain, but Tony shushed him quickly.

"I know, I know. I'm the genius, remember?" he joked, and he smiled wider as Steve visibly relaxed, his lips stretching into a similarly dopey grin, and the two just smiled at each other for a moment before they heard Harley cough loudly while facing the corner.

"Rhett coming today?" he asked, and Steve's cheeks flushed lightly, which always happened when Tony mentioned his boyfriend.

"Yeah, he told me he would be coming with Nicky, which means he'll probably bump into Birdie. Small world," he replied, and Tony felt himself grow excited at the mention of his fiancé.

"I'm really happy for you, Tony, and I'm happy you're with us," Steve said, as he said every year, and, like every year, Tony didn't want to deal with those feelings head on, rather letting the good feelings linger for weeks as he did nice things for Steve without it being too obvious, to show his love without having to also explain how happy he was that he wasn't alone anymore, and hadn't been for some time.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get soft on me," he said, reaching out to pat Steve's chest, the younger man scoffing softly, giving him a wry smile, and Tony winked before calling out to the group, "Okay, you all have ten seconds to sit down or I'm eating this food all by myself."

º º º

It seemed that there was a technique towards the food, and Tony found himself still eating two hours later, but nowhere near full, sitting on the couch with Remy in his lap, the young boy trying to feed him while Tony was having a physics debate with Rhodey, many of the other members going back to their work to make sure they would be fully present for the party later on.

"You can't talk with your mouth full," Remy reminded him, trying to cover Tony's mouth with his hand.

"Remy, I don't have time to be polite, I have to verbally kick your uncle's ass," Tony explained, trying his best to glare at Rhodey who was just grinning the entire time.

"Remy, your dad just doesn't want to admit he's wrong, it's better you sit with the winning side before the embarrassment passes onto you," Rhodey explained, trying to seem serious as he held out his arms for the boy to come sit with him.

Tony was ready to gloat in the face of his best friend as Remy chose to sit with him regardless—even though he wasn't wrong, thank you—but found himself choking on his food as he watched his soon-to-be legal son sliding out of his lap and happily plopping down in the lap of his soon-to-be ex-best friend.

Tony blinked. Once. Twice. "Harley, you're my favorite."

"Damn right I am," Harley called, Peter at the same time looking up and whining, "What? Mr. Stark, I thought I was your favorite!"

"You were never his favorite, you were just closer," Harley gloated, reaching out to pat Peter's cheek, the younger boy scoffing and swatting his hand away, "It's okay, Peter, you're someone's favorite."

"Yeah, my girlfriend's," Peter sniffed, taking a sharp bite of his food.

Remy and Harley immediately laughed, shaking their heads. "No, you're not."

"Mr. Stark!" Peter whined, and Tony immediately remembered that he was a living person and not just a set of eyes, breaking out of where he had been frozen, shocked at the betrayal.

"Play nice or I'm taking your things away," he called, and, granted, he didn't have access to most of their things, and had declared the things he had given them as theirs, but that didn't mean he couldn't pretend to have the authority to take them.

"Go ahead, I got nothing to lose," Remy drawled leaning back against Rhodey, and Tony was starting to reconsider whether or not this was his boy, but then remembered that his boy would love Rhodey as much as Tony himself did.

Without missing a beat, he countered. "I'll take BUDDY and your mom."

"You can't take my mom away, she's my mom, you just get to see her sometimes," Remy cried, looking towards Sam and Steve who were watching the scene on the beanbags that had been brought up for the party, "Steve, do something!"

Steve, who had been sketching the scene in front of him, blinked owlishly at everyone around him, as if just remembering that he was a person and could be seen just like everyone else. Looking over to Sam, he waited for the older man to help him.

"I can tell her the party's cancelled so you don't see her today," Sam offered, laughing when Tony glared at him.

"You wouldn't dare," he whispered, and Sam laughed, because he wouldn't, but it was worth a shot anyways.

Sniffing, Tony turned his attention back to Remy. "Rem, I'm honestly hurt at this betrayal, and I'm starting to debate uninviting you from the party I didn't know was happening because I kind of forgot my birthday was coming up."

"Tony," Steve whispered softly, Peter and Harley mumbling similar comments of concern, Sam furrowing his brow while Rhodey groaned with his own, "Tony."

"What? I'm here aren't I?" he countered, smiling when Remy scrambled back into his lap, burying his face in the crook of his neck, Tony's hands coming up to hold him instinctively.

He turned his head to press a kiss to Remy's temple, his words coming out more soft than dry. "Okay, you can stay for the party, but you're on thin ice."

"Who's being kicked out?" Pietro asked, appearing right by Rhodey's head, the man shouting before groaning, raising a hand to his face, Pietro raising an eyebrow in confusion, the twitch of his lips betraying his otherwise naive expression.

Tony just grinned at him, laughing the second he caught Rhodey's eye. He looked around at the others around him, feeling his heart swell. So far, the day was off to a good start.

º º º

Of course, Tony didn't spend all his time out and about, and despite everyone trying their best to pop in and spend time with him, they all had various responsibilities, Harley having two classes that he couldn't miss, Peter needing to do volunteer work for his school that he had been forced to agree to, and everyone else being called in for meetings or small mission-related excursions, just to make sure that everyone could make it to Tony's party.

But Remy was still with him, so he wasn't completely alone.

"Your pillows are so nice," the boy groaned, voice muffled by the pillow he was currently trying to smother himself with, "Why don't you sleep more, I'd always sleep if I had your bed."

Tony elected not to answer, not wanting to dampen either of their moods with his response, instead just switching from where he was responding to birthday wishes on social media to take a picture of Remy, which he had been doing periodically ever since they retreated back into his room, a cartoon movie playing on the TV in the background.

"Tony," Remy said, lifting his head up, his eyebrows furrowed, "Are you sad?"

Tony blinked, tilting his head. "Right now?" He figured he wouldn't give the option of Remy's question being posed to him in terms of his general position, as he didn't want to open that can of worms, especially not with him.

"Yeah, I mean, it's your birthday and we're not really doing anything, are you sad about it?" he asked, moving to sit right at his side, peering over at the video of one of the hospitals that Tony regularly visits and donates to sent him, a compilation of many of the children greeting him a happy birthday.

Tony didn't even have to think. "Of course I'm not sad, bubba, I'm with you. I have you here, your mom will be here soon, and all of my friends and family are here, I can't be sad with that."

"But we're not doing anything," Remy countered, leaning against his arm, his cheek squished as he looked up at him.

"Sure we are, we're hanging out," Tony said, motioning to the rumpled pillows, then to his phone and the TV, "We were hanging out with everyone earlier, and we're just taking a break before we go to our party. I don't need to be doing something every second to be happy. I can just be with you."

Remy smiled, but he didn't seem to really believe Tony; that, or he didn't know how to react to being told that he made someone happy enough to just sit on a bed doing nothing with them. Either way, Tony hoped he knew that he really did mean it, and it was both a shock that he did, and not a surprise at all.

"There are a lot of people coming, does that mean we get to go to the penthouse?" Remy asked, and Tony had flashbacks to the last party he had thrown in the Tower, but quickly tamped them down in order to give him a smile and a nod.

"Yeah, it'll be fun," Tony said, and Remy grinned, standing on the bed to start bouncing, Tony immediately curling up to protect his body.

"Your bed is bouncy," Remy said, dropping down into a sitting position as he jumped, laughing as he was sprung forward, his face landing in one of the pillows that he had shifted in order to compare its size to himself.

"I can get you one just like it for your room if you want," Tony said, already thinking about the dimensions and how he could get one custom made to fit Remy's room which was nowhere near the size of Tony's.

"No, that's okay," Remy said, pausing for a moment to run his hands over the sheets.

Tony raised an eyebrow; he thought he had already gotten Remy to be more okay with him buying things, there was no need to regress now. "Do you want the pillows and sheets too, because I—"

"No, that's okay, I just like it 'cause it's yours," Remy said, moving to rub his face against the pillow, effectively hiding himself from Tony and whatever reaction he had.

Which was good for Tony because, to anyone who would have chosen that very moment to walk inside, he looked like he had just been shot, but in the best possible way. He just sat there, staring down at the little boy who was now hugging one of his pillows, not looking at him, as if he didn't just render Tony Stark speechless in one sentence.

"Then it's a good thing we're hanging out in here," he reasoned, his throat hoarse, "But if you don't want your bed to change, I'll at least change your mom's. Since I do spend a lot of time there, I might as well change it, especially since it's starting to hurt her back..."

Tony started thinking about the dimension's of Birdie's larger-than-Remy's-but-still-much-smaller-than-Tony's room, startled only by Remy who now was hugging him, kneeling in his lap, and Tony decided then that, yes, he really wasn't sad at all.

º º º

The guests seemed to flood in all at once, and Tony couldn't be not-sadder. 

The birthday wishes seemed to be a resounding, harmonized chorus and the presents were all being taken by Wanda and Arabella and transported to the little area where all the other presents sat, Clint's right up front to remind everyone that he had given his first, and Tony had only just remembered to drop Bucky's in there as well.

"There you are!" Tony greeted, catching sight of Marnie and Nerissa walking through the elevator with one of the groups.

"Happy birthday, Tin Man," Nerissa greeted before her mother could speak, moving to hug him.

"Nice to see you with legs, fish stick," he countered, because normally Nerissa stayed in her natural form, but it seemed that she saw this occasion to be special enough to warrant legs, which meant more to Tony than he was going to let on.

"Hey, sweetheart," he greeted, giving Marnie a sad smile, "How're you holding up?"

Marnie gave him an equally tight smile, and Tony felt his heart clench. Marnie had been living with him consistently ever since they met, always sticking by Bruce who stuck by Tony, save for a few times when they went out to continue work, but they always were with Tony. Now, she was with Tony, but without Bruce. 

He hadn't seen her around the Tower for some time as she had been chasing down a lead on his whereabouts, but considering that she was back, it seemed that she would be back to stay, falling back into the hopeful normalcy that she had been living with for this long, but that didn't make it any easier for Tony to witness.

"It's your birthday, Tony, don't make yourself sad," was all she said, because this was Marnie and as if he could expect anything else.

The elevator doors opened again, and it was as if all of his favorite people had decided to group together, letting in a few others in with them as well, but strategically placed themselves at the very end in order to surprise him.

"Hey, Mr. Stark!" Peter called, waving at him even though he and Harley were already walking towards him, leading the group forward, the older boy pointedly ignoring the actions of the younger.

"Hey, kid," Tony greeted, hugging both of them while simultaneously searching through the crowd for the next person to greet.

"Happy birthday, Tony," a trio chorused, and from their gasps, it seemed that it was rehearsed recently and somehow was pulled off well.

Diana, Rhett, and Nicky all stepped forward with presents in their arms, the young girl looking like she was making a point not to ask for help, though she looked ready to topple over at any minute, the other two men seemingly counting down the seconds until they could come to her rescue.

"Happy birthday, Tony, thanks for having us," Nicky said, because he was his emotional sugar baby, and Tony, as his sugar daddy, expected a lot of attention.

"Of course, I had to invite my sugar baby, and it just makes sense to invite his roommate, who is also my friend's boyfriend, and also my not-son's girlfriend who also knows them," Tony said, pointing towards each in turn and making motions, trying to explain how he connected them together in his mind.

"Thank you, Tony," Diana said, giving him a hug, because both of them were pretty sad a lot of the time, and it was their greeting on the off-chance they actually interacted.

The trio stepped aside to let in Pepper and her girlfriend-slash-assistant, Happy right behind them. They all just stood there for a moment, smiling at each other, before Tink squealed and ran to hug Tony, pulling him into a tight hug, the taller man surprised by the power in someone so small, which was saying something coming from him.

"Happy birthday, Tony," Pepper said, hugging him once Tink was done, and Tony didn't even feel sad when she did, just happy that she was there, but nothing more.

Progress.

"We have presents," Happy said, his arms full, and Tony let out a startled laugh, glancing over towards Tink who was practically glowing, the large man explaining, "She went all out with the gift giving, lots of these are handmade."

"The perfect assistant," Tony said, giving her a grateful smile, and Pepper scoffed as he watched her current partner and her former partner hug, a smile fighting its way to a permanent spot on her face.

"I would say more, but your fiancé has been standing by the elevator doors for far too long, so I suggest just going to her and catching up with everyone later," Pepper said, nodding towards Jayne and Brad who were passing by, Tony catching both of them just in time to give a quick greeting before turning his attention to the elevator.

Birdie was standing there with a small gift bag in her hands, giving him a small smile as she met his eye, ducking her head instantly, and it hit Tony that he loved this woman. They were getting married.

He didn't know how he wound up hugging her against the wall by the elevator, but he certainly wasn't complaining, taking a deep breath to smell the coconut shampoo that she used, groaning softly because it smelled like her bedsheets and that smelled like home.

"Happy birthday, Tony," she whispered, kissing his cheek, "Sorry I didn't get to see you all day, I really wanted to."

"You're here now," he said, and he didn't want to let go of her, and he loved all his friends, he did, they were his family, but all he could think of was just stepping into the elevator with her and locking it down, the two just staying in there doing nothing, because when he was with her he was so, so happy.

Birdie seemed to read his mind, laughing softly and leading him towards the center of the festivities. "I'm staying with you, so we can catch up later, right now, you need to go and be loved by everyone here."

Tony couldn't help but grin, waggling his eyebrows. "Elizabeth, I can't do that, there are children here."

It took Birdie a moment to understand, but the second she did she was swatting at his arm, shrieking, and he was laughing harder than he had in a while, tugging her along and into the fray, and everything felt so right.

There weren't too many people, but it was a rather filled room with all of his teammates and their significant others, as well S.H.I.E.L.D. agents—including Leo Oberholt, which had been a pleasant surprise for Tony who had immediately tried to pick him up, only to remember he was made of pure muscle, Tensley Ellis laughing beside them—and the Director himself.

"Happy birthday, Stark," Fury greeted, coming up to greet him, and his disposition was warmer than Tony had ever remembered it to be, and he just gaped, unable to keep himself from messing with him; old habits died hard.

"Thanks, Fury," he finally said, after he had done his obligatory amount of teasing, "Good to have you here."

He looked around, catching sight of Norman Osborn's son without his father and the members of the Fantastic Four, who were all talking to everyone and seemingly out of place, but not unwanted. He had interacted with them at public events, but because of their short leash, they never fought together, and the closest he'd had to a real interaction beyond science talk with Reed Richards and general pleasantries was when Johnny Storm had nearly asked to be adopted by either-or-both Tony and Steve before being dragged away by his sister.

"Thanks for showing up," he said, making a show of counting only three of the four, "Where's your other member?"

"Ben doesn't go out much, but he said to pat you on the back for him, so," Johnny explained, eagerly rushing around his sister to pat Tony's back, "He would've done it harder, but I respect old people."

"Johnny!" Sue shrieked, looking over at Tony with horror etched into her features, and Tony just laughed, waving aside her concerns.

"I like you, kid, you're alright," Tony said, clapping a hand on his shoulder before looking over at Harry Osborn, "I've heard a lot about you from a lot of people, but can I say, I'm glad you didn't bring your dad."

"Me too, Mr. Stark," Harry said, not missing a beat, "And happy birthday, thanks for having us."

Tony waved aside his thanks, smiling. "What's a party if no one shows up? I didn't plan this, though, but I think the food's somewhere and I don't know if there's alcohol or not, but I won't touch it, and neither are you two," he said, motioning towards the two boys in turn, "If I find out, I'll post embarrassing photoshopped pictures of you, I have to be the responsible one here or else my fiancé will frown at me."

"Congratulations," Reed said immediately, and Tony smiled.

"I'm racing you to the wedding finish line, Richards, you might've won the engagement, but I get the wedding," Tony said, and the taller man just snorted, but there wasn't much else to say, the two parting ways easily, Tony waving to the others before continuing around.

He went through the crowd fairly easily, bumping into teammates and chatting with the circle they had wound up in, being introduced to significant others he hadn't yet met and poking fun at the ones he had. Rhodey's wife, Flick, was particularly fun to mess with, what with getting to try and win his best friend back from the clutches of not only her, but her daughter as well.

"Have you met Remy yet?" he asked, because what kind of a father was he if he didn't make sure that his best friend's stepdaughter didn't become best friends with his soon-to-be stepson.

Libby looked around the room for a moment, and it was a wonder she was able to see anything at all, what with being so short, but she quickly zeroed in on Remy and pointed. "The one trying to touch the ceiling?"

Tony turned around, confused by what she meant, only to shout when he caught sight of Remy standing on Harley's shoulders, desperately trying to reach up to touch one of the hanging objects that was nowhere near his reach.

"Remy, get down right now!" Tony shouted, running over towards them, and Harley was just able to get the younger boy down from his shoulders before Tony was scooping him up in his arms, cradling him close to his chest.

Tony squeezed Remy tight as his words came out so sharp they could only be whispered, his heart nearly beating out of his chest. "You could've hurt yourself, you don't do that, you could've cracked your head open or-or—" 

"Breathe, Tony," Harley said, standing closer so his voice could be heard over the roaring in Tony's ears, breaking through, and it was suddenly winter in Tennessee and Harley was the same age as Remy and just as small.

"Sorry, Tony," Remy repeated, having been saying it over and over, and then Tony felt the tears and realized that Remy was crying, and one look at a blurry Peter standing in front of him told him that he was crying, and he wasn't even sad to begin with.

"I'm not mad, baby, you just scared me," Tony said, now aware of everyone staring at him, concerned and confused, "You just scared me, 's all, didn't mean to yell at you, I'm sorry, I'm not mad, no one's mad, you didn't mean it, I know."

"I didn't," Remy cried, and Tony's heart broke, because this really was his boy.

"They're okay, everyone, just go back to what you were doing," Tony heard Steve call, his voice piercing through the tense silence filled only with him and Remy's voices, and he had never been more grateful to have Steve in his life until that moment.

"Thank you," he whispered, looking over to the blond who came to check up on them.

"Of course," Steve said, looking at the people around, then pausing to nod at someone just behind Tony, "Ma'am."

Tony turned to find Birdie standing there, her hand on his shoulder, and he didn't realize that it had been there the whole time until just then, but the realization of her being right there and witness to the entire situation filled him with a feeling that he couldn't describe.

"We're right here, Tony, no one's going anywhere," she whispered, and he believed her with his entire being, because she was right, and he actually believed that.

Clearing his throat, Tony looked at the kids and teens that were crowded around, giving them a smile. "Go back to your memes, kids, everything's okay."

Easier said than done, but after a few hugs and check-ins, everyone went back to what they were doing, though Tony then had to deal with people coming over to make sure they were okay, and Tony appreciated it, he did, but he didn't want people to worry about him, he didn't want to ruin their time more than he already did; if they had anyone to worry about, it was Remy.

But then he caught sight of Nicky and remembered that he was supposed to be working on the self-deprication and reminding himself of his worth, so he tamped down his feelings because it was his birthday and he had everyone around him and, even with the scare, he still wasn't sad.

Far from it, he was happy. Because Remy was still okay and with him, and there was really no way to make this night bad; it could be scary, but it wasn't bad.

"Sorry I ruined your birthday, Tony," Remy mumbled, still holding onto him, because Tony hadn't put him down and he hadn't wanted to be put down.

"You didn't ruin my birthday, Remy," he said, sitting down next to Birdie and BUDDY on one of the couches, Birdie immediately moving to sit next to him, pressing a kiss to both his cheek and her son's, "I'm still not sad."

"Why?" Remy asked, genuinely confused.

Tony looked around at the room before him. At the room in the Tower that he owned, filled with the people that he cared about, and the family he had found. At the good food that had been made for him for the party that he hadn't planned but was planned for him, with gifts that people had gotten him all piled in a corner that radiated thoughtful care, all from people who cared enough to show up. At the little family he had found all for his own sitting right by him, completing the family he had been searching for.

"Because I'm spending it with my family."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I wanted to write interactions with him and literally every single person ever, but it would've been its own book, so I had to cut stuff out and it's upsetting and this isn't exactly what I wanted it to be, but I just wanted to write Tony surrounded by everyone and just really feeling the love, so sue me.

Also, I included Harley Keener because I have an upcoming Harley fic and I just wanted Tony to be surrounded by his sons, at the very least. Man, this could have been so much better, but it also could've been worse?

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!