Stark Men Are Made of Iron

Happily Ever After

Peter tried to make the tie tighten down, but it kept falling loose. After years of press conferences and business galas, the teen should have been able to tie a tie, but it was one of those tricky things he never really got the hang of. Pepper, Rhodey, Happy, Tony - someone had always been around to help with it.

"Need some help?" A voice came from the door, startling Peter as he tried for a seventh time to make the tie work.

Peter turned. "Hey, Pep. That'd be great, actually."

The redhead moved towards him, her hands outstretched towards the teen's neck. Her dress was flowing around her knees in a way her suit skirts never did. "I like the dress," Peter said.

"Mmm." Pepper hummed as she fixed the tie. "You know the drill, right?"

Peter nodded. "Got it. We come down, Rhodey starts the whole thing off, and Happy has the rings with the twins, right?"

Pepper smiled. "I just barely got Harley into his suit, he was being so fussy. I don't know what those two got those babies, but they should get a refund."

Peter laughed. He'd been just as surprised as anyone when Natasha and Tony had shown interest in adopting the twins SHIELD had recovered in a case they were investigating. Once he met the babies, though, he'd fallen in love and that was that. A happy family of 5, plus the team, and the Tower was full of smiles and laughter.

"Harley may be fussy, but Morgan is an angel," Peter said, defending his younger siblings good-naturedly. "She make up for all the shit Harley gives us."

"Watch that language," Pepper warned, prompting another laugh from the teen. "Your father is already concerned enough as it is about Natasha and you getting close, I'd hate to see him call this whole thing off if he knew she was a bad influence, too."

"It's not Natasha," Peter started. "It's Rhodey who really gets the most foul when I'm around."

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The music started. The lights softened. Clint's daughter started off with flower petals, followed by Pepper and Peter. Tony was already at the end of the aisle. His tux was perfectly pressed, but his grey pocket square was a little wrinkled. Peter leaned over to him as he took his spot at his father's side.

"Did you pull the pocket square out to cry?"

"Why would I cry before I saw Natasha?" Tony asked, his voice hushed.

"Because you haven't stopped tearing up all day."

Tony shook his head a little. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Just then, the doors at the end of the hall opened and Natasha, dressed in a floor-length gown, came into view. Tony tried to keep his tears quiet with a few sniffled, but he gave up as soon as Nat sent him a small and sympathetic smile. Tony let his sobs out openly and Peter let out a sigh as he passed over his own pocket square.

"Can we get on with it now?" Rhodey asked when Tony was done blowing his nose and dabbing at his eyes. Tony waved his hands.

Rhodey welcomed the team, family, and friends gathered at the hall and got things rolling.

"We are gathered here today to witness Natasha and Tony's union as wife and husband. Life has not been easy for these two, as it is for so many of us, which is why love is so important to hold on to. Some people never find someone to share the burden with, but Tony and Natasha found one another in an impossible way - brought together in the pursuit of a better world through superhe-"

Harley began to fuss, his tiny voice gaining some power as he began to get more and more upset. Happy tried to pull him up on his shoulder and patted the baby's back, but he just wailed harder.

"Tony, your son is ruining the wedding," Natasha said slyly.

"My son? Peter isn't screaming during the ceremony, Tasha, Harley is your son."

Natasha shook her head. "Nope. I'm claiming Peter and Morgan, you can have the noisey one."

It was all just teasing, of course, everyone knew the couple loved their kids - all three of them - and Tony was quickly stepping down to get Harley from Happy. He hitched the baby up on his shoulder and cooed a little. Once the baby was done screaming, he passed him over to Peter, and the ceremony resumed.

"I forgot where I was," Rhodey mumbled, pulling out his emergency flash cards. "Let's see..."

Natasha laid a hand on Rhodey's arm. "Just go to the vows, Rhodey, we don't need a lot."

"Better yet," Tony added. "Just get to the man and wife part and we'll do vows tonight by ourselves." He shot Natasha a wink and she smiled back. Rhodey just threw his flashcards over his shoulder with an eyeroll.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Everyone cheered as Tony and Natasha kissed one another, none more loudly than Peter. As Tony broke away from the kiss to take Harley back, Peter leaned into a hug and made eye contact with Nat. She jerked her head to the side and Peter got the message. Once the crowd had calmed down and Tony, Natasha, Peter, and the twins were headed to the reception, the teen lagged behind and caught Natasha's hand.

"Hey," he said as they watched Tony, a baby in each arm, walk ahead of them.

"Hey yourself," Natasha said back. "What's up?"

"'s nothing," Peter said with a shrug. "Just wanted to say that I love you. And I love the twins and- yeah. I just wanted you to know. Thank you."

"'Thank you'?" Natasha repeated. "Peter, I should be thanking you. You taught me what it was to be a mom, long before the twins got here, and you let me love your dad. You didn't have to make it easy, you know."

Peter shrugged again. "I didn't let you do anything. Who am I to decide who my dad loves and who loves him? Besides, you're the best mom I ever had. I never knew Mary, remember?"

"I know," Natasha said. "Still. I appreciate you being so mature about the whole thing."

"Yeah, well... I love you. You're my mom. If that's okay with you, of course, I don't want you to feel like I'm putting this on you or like I don't care how-"

Natasha cut him off with an arm around Peter's shoulder, fully accustomed to the teen's rambling. "I'm honored to be your mom, Маленький паук."

Peter beamed, then drew his eyes up in confusion. "What's that mean?"

"Little spider," Natasha said with a giggle. Peter's smile didn't fade, though.

"Hurry up!" Tony called. "We've got dinner!"

Natasha laughed. "That man and his stomach."

"We'd better get going."

The two jogged to catch up. Natasha slung an arm around Tony's waist, while Peter leaned into his father's side. "I love you guys."

Tony pressed a kiss to Peter's hair. "We love you, too, Bambino."

Peter followed them into the reception watching as his father and Nat - his mom - passed the babies off to Happy and Pepper, then an AC/DC song came on and they both started laughing and dancing. Tony did some silly moves, his arms flailing through the air as Natasha threw her head back and laughed. Nat challenged him with the sprinkler. Tony nearly choked on his own spit.

Peter watched from the sidelines. His father had lost love, family, friends. He'd been tortured. He'd been to the brink of death and back. He was proof that Stark men were iron strong, and Peter... Peter was his father's son. He'd seen the ugly side of superhero business, and he'd been abused and battered. He'd come out stronger on the other side. He was iron, like his father, through and through.

And nothing would ever break the family iron again.