InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I would prefer not to."

ᴡᴀɴᴅᴀ (hexx) wrote in avengers_logs,
@ 2019-11-13 20:56:00

Entry tags:

-complete, pepper potts, tony stark, wanda maximoff

Who: Wanda, Tony, and Pepper (with Morgan)
What: Finding a set of godparents for one of the twins
When: Today?
Where: Stark Fam Penthouse
Status: Complete

It was the perfect time of year for old-world apple cake, a tried and true recipe from Wanda’s homeland. Sokovia may not exist anymore but she still remembered - and since the crisp coolness of fall had finally arrived, that meant whipping up something that was rich and creamy, with cinnamon flavors not too overpowering, and a beautiful work of art in the way the final product was dusted with powdered sugar. A cake made with the purest ingredients, fresh and simple.

She had called ahead, of course. Arranged a time to stop by the Stark family penthouse - it would be rude to just show up. And when she did arrive, she did not do so empty-handed. Wanda had her apple cake in a box, ready to present, because not only was it rude to show up unannounced, it was rude to go to someone else’s home and not bring anything. At least it was in her opinion.

At this point in her pregnancy, regarding clothes, if it fit and was comfortable? She’d wear it. Didn’t really matter what it looked like, even if Wanda sometimes despaired about the patterns and general ugliness of maternity clothes - she found a few good bargains at consignment shops, things that were workable; like right now, she had on stretchy leggings, a flowing top - those were easy, but maternity coats were generally meant for a bump that was one baby, not two. She had to improvise with a coat that was double-breasted and belted, but even the belt wouldn’t go all the way so she made up the difference with a scarf and also wore slip-on shoes. Hormones loosened her ligaments and the bones of her feet had shifted slightly, so she couldn’t really fit into any of her pre-pregnancy shoes at the moment.

Entering the building, she assumed she’d have to be buzzed up to the Stark penthouse so she waited, carrying the cake box, to make sure it was okay.

The buzz didn't take long, since Tony compulsively asked Friday when Wanda was there. Every minute, for the last ten minutes. It always put him on edge when the 'I need to talk to you' phrase came up. He apologized for the Accords, and thought to himself that perhaps the accommodations weren't up to snuff.

Once Friday announced her arrival, the private elevator doors opened downstairs and Friday took care of the rest. Of course he wired her into that elevator. It was a security measure.

"Pep, she's here," he called out while throwing open the door, ready to swoop in and help if she needed it. Morgan peeked from behind her dad, who - once he saw the cake box - thrust both hands out while telling himself to be careful. It would royally suck to drop anything food related that Wanda brought. Every baked good tasted delicious. Tony swore that one time he went to the vegan cafe she once worked at, that he gained a pant size.

"Heya, Wanda," he said with a smile, "C'mon in, lemme help with that. Promise I won't drop it."

Morgan whispered as though relaying a great conspiracy, "Daddy might drop it."

Tony shook his head noooo while Morgan nodded yessss.

As usual, it was a neverending source of amusement to watch Tony wait for company. One time she’d sat with Morgan and whispered to the little girl what would come next in the Tony Pattern of Waiting. It of course made their daughter giggle. They had both given Tony innocent smiles before they both gave in to giggles when he looked away. This time was no different.

Tony might be worried, but Pepper wasn’t. If Wanda wanted to talk about something bad, and judging by her own experience, it wouldn’t be in the middle of a pregnancy. Anything bad had a tendency to be screamed then cried about. A casual chat wasn’t even a consideration. So Pepper was very curious as to what was on Wanda’s mind.

Even before Tony announced the arrival of their guest Pepper was walking to join him at the door to the elevator. Good thing, too. She was able to gracefully take the cake from Tony, making it look as if he were handing it to her. “You had something handed to you, honey,” she whispered before giving Wanda a bright smile.

“Hey, Wanda. Come in and get off your feet.” Pepper then turned to take the cake to the kitchen.

Wanda couldn’t help but laugh a little at the smooth dance that was the cake-passing. Good thing Pepper had it, because it would have been depressing if Wanda’s hard work at baking had ended up in crumbly bits on the floor. So many things took energy these days, and baking and cooking were two of those things. She tended to make meals last, simple ones that didn’t take too much effort to prepare. Takeout was always an option too but she did try to eat as healthy as possible.

“Thank you, you two - hello Morgan,” she added to the littlest Stark. Wanda couldn’t help but feel a pang of something, even when she smiled at the girl - the last time she saw Morgan, she’d been a baby. Wanda could recall, with astounding clarity, the way Vision looked holding that baby in his arms too - it was very sweet to witness. “I promise I won’t stay long,” she assured as she slipped out of her coat headed for the sofa. Being off her feet sounded great right about now.

People coming over often resulted in someone turning into the equivalent of a hyperactive puppy that knew its owner was coming home soon. Being trolled by the two most important people in his life about it? That figured. And he wouldn't have it any other way!

"Pregnant ladies are different," Tony said under his breath to Pepper. There was a whole other fear element involved with the handing off of things to him when a baby (or babies) were on board. The last thing he wanted was 'The Glare' being lobbed at him for not thinking about juggling things with extra baby baggage being carried around. Sitting down was an important part of that too, so he motioned toward the couch like it was hers for as long as she needed it.

"I'll take your coat," he said, fumbling with it before handing it to Morgan, who had both hands held up. "Ok, munchkin land. Why don't you take that and lay it on the chair by the front door?"

Morgan hugged the coat instead of putting it away, smiling brightly like she loooo~ooved being handed things. It was her small way of rubbing in the joke even more.

"Or whatever. Don't smush it." Tony threw up both hands in a classic 'what can you do?' gesture and sat down on a different part of the long L shaped sofa. Still unsure what the visit was about, he fought off a fit of fidgeting as he turned more toward her. He drummed his fingers for a few seconds, but his hand quickly stilled after that. "I hope the ride over wasn't a hot mess."

“Stay as long as you want,” Pepper said as she came back to take a seat in a chair near Wanda. Sometimes, when she had been pregnant, she wanted to have someone...namely Tony...right up next to her. Sometimes she had wanted space. It was safer to assume on the side of space.

“How is everything coming?” she asked. Her interest was obvious, and there was that look in Pepper’s eyes that said she got it. She really, really got it.

“It’s coming along nicely - also slowly, it feels like,” Wanda sighed, but she had a spark of happiness in her eyes; she was excited to meet her boys, despite how by now she was certain she’d lost the glow that pregnant women boasted. Mostly, she just felt fat and tired all the time, like it took an extra half hour to get anywhere she needed to be. Sometimes she still took shifts at the cafe, but only when she could actually sit in the kitchen and shape dough or wash dishes by hand at the sink. Waitressing was out of the question.

She shifted a little on the sofa, hand falling over the massive bump that was her pregnancy belly. Being without Vision and expecting his children was difficult, but she had other friends to help curb her loneliness. Like right now. And not to mention Tony and Pepper had been wonderful about moving her into the Avengers tower and letting her set up a nursery there too.

“I actually wanted to ask you both something? About one of the twins,” she said, motioning to her belly.

Morgan sat on the other side of Wanda, still hugging onto the coat and staring at the young woman's stomach with round awestruck eyes. Hands were, luckily, kept to her little self.

Her father, however, always expected the worst. He sat up a little straighter, his face very serious when he glanced at Pepper and then honed his gaze back onto Wanda.

"Is everything ok with both of them?" he asked. He always tried to be on top of things, and up until Pepper gave birth, he was paranoid about every little thing.

Pepper was concerned but not overly worried. After all, if something was wrong Wanda would be talking to Christine or Bruce instead of her and Tony. So she was more curious than anything.

“Sure, Wanda,” she said with an encouraging smile.

The solemn expression on Tony’s face had Wanda’s mouth twitching up in a smile - Pepper seemed a little calmer, but she’d been in this position before. She knew just exactly what a heavily pregnant woman would flip out about, and it wouldn’t be anything that would have her here.

So, no, nothing to worry over. Just a potential commitment for a very long time. “Everything is fine with them, they’re healthy. I was wondering if you and Tony would like to be the godparents for one of the twins though?” she asked hopefully. “I am having two boys, but I haven’t picked names yet. It’s just that one twin already has a set of godparents so the other needs a set as well. If you are interested in this.”

She trusted them, of course - and involving Tony especially in their lives, she knew it was something Vision would have wanted.

Morgans eyes were round with barely containable joy, in the way that all little kids wanted a brother or sister to ~~torture~~ play with. She clasped her hands together and shoved them against her mouth to stiffle a squeeing sound that would make puppies howl, ten floors below.

Her father appeared to be frozen on the couch. Sure, he registered what was said to him, but the processing portion was still running calculations that included two ways to armor up a couple of kids if a situation went down. Like terrorists. Or hijackings. Kidnappings. Pedobear in a candy van....

A shudder ran through him as he unthawed, glancing over at Pepper. As always, she was the one who would have the final say.

"If it's ok with Pep, I'm onboard," he said, nodding at them both in turn. "It'd be a ginormous honor."

Pepper looked like a better controlled Morgan. Her eyes went shiny as her hands covered her mouth. “Oh, Wanda…!” She didn’t get up to go hug the other woman. She wanted to go hug the other woman, but she knew better than to follow through.

“We would love to! Thank you for thinking of us!” No, really. She told herself she HAD to stay where she was. Which meant Tony’s hand got grabbed and SQUEEZED.

Wanda’s eyes were shining too. And, oh, forget that she had just sat down - she did get up (or scooted, actually) to hug Pepper. And Tony. She could spare some exertion for this - and now Morgan definitely would have a little brother type to play with - or play pranks on, as Wanda was aware. She wasn’t much of a trickster growing up but Pietro was another story.

“Thank you,” she chuckled gently, relieved that they had said yes. “It makes me feel much better, knowing I have friends who will be involved in their lives.” Takes a village, as the saying went?

Not one to be left out, Morgan moved to hug onto Wanda too. And it was a safe bet that there would be a lot of pranking when she whispered like it was some great conspiracy, "We're gonna have so much fun."

Tony squeezed Pepper's hand with a broad smile, and he didn't shy away from Wanda's hug. Sure, he wasn't the most demonstrative person most of the time, but he also wasn't pulling away from that group hug. If it helped reassure Wanda that everything would be all right, that one of her sons would be in good hands, then it was the right thing to do.

"We got this covered," he reassured everyone, including himself. "You don't have to worry about anything. Not that we're gonna let anything happen to you, either. Because we won't."

The last thing he wanted was anyone dying and leaving kids behind. Not again.

If Wanda wanted hugs then hugs Wanda would get! Pepper knew just how much and for how long, but her daughter made her laugh.

“I promise I won’t let Tony spoil him rotten,” she said with amusement coloring her voice. She meant every word. Tony could go over the top in how he displayed how much he cared. It was Pepper’s job to rein him in a bit.

Morgan was adorable - Wanda definitely got her hug in with the little girl, and she too was sure that her twins would have a lot of fun with someone close to them in age. Five years wasn’t that much of a difference. “I believe that, about Tony,” she grinned. “But you have always been good at reeling him back.” She was teasing, yet there was a certain amount of truth to it - that was why they were married, no? It was a good balance.

“Anyway, I will not keep you,” she continued. It’s just that getting up off of the couch was always a lot more difficult than actually sitting. “I only wanted to speak with you about that, and drop off the cake I made. Hopefully you enjoy it.”

Morgan seemed pretty excited, anyway. Sweets often were, to a young child. Wanda remembered those days.

Kids were a super important task. Beyond building things, even. Tony gave Morgan a quick not-so-discreet thumbs up, before focusing back on Wanda.

He didn't want to mess this up, as much as he didn't want to mess up anything with Morgan either. It was important for Wanda, so she didn't have to worry about anything while they were in a universe that could pull someone away in an instant.

"We got this," he assured her. "It's all good. And hey, you brought cake! You should stay and eat it with us. I'll see if Happy isn't already off yelling at something or someone. He can drive you back. C'moooooon."

"C'mooooon," Morgan softly echoed, along with a bright smile.

Tony's days of eat whatever you could get your hands on apparently did not end in childhood. That was despite the perpetual health fads he went through....including failing that cutting back on non-diary thing because of Ben & Jerry's. Only wizards thought it was chalky.

“Yes,” Pepper said after one last hug. Wanda got a mock stern look from her as she got up from the couch. “I insist you stay long enough for a slice of that cake. I’ll make some tea while Tony calls Happy.” She might also put in a call to Happy to clear her schedule so she could go shopping for baby boy things.

“You all are very convincing, so yes, I will stay. And many thanks in advance for the ride back home.” Honestly, it was a lot better than taking the bus or the subway, or hailing a cab - even if she did have a car to drive, she doubted she would fit behind the wheel anyway.

There was also one very important point that went along with being so heavily pregnant as well... “Besides, I never say no to food,” Wanda added happily.

She hadn’t gotten to taste test the cake after it came out of the oven and she finished it off, so, better go for the quality control. Even if it was a little bit late.