~Iron Family~

Santa's Evil Twin

Peter started jerking again, like that night they'd watched the Princess Bride. He started whimpering, so Tony gently shook him awake.

He woke with a strangled cry, gripping onto Tony's arms desperately.

"No," he gasped, looking panicked. "May! And the smoothies! There was so much of it--We were up in the clouds--magic carpet--" 

"Shh," Tony soothed, brushing his hair from his clammy face. "You're okay. Shh."

Peter calmed down, eventually resting his head on Tony's chest. He watched his breathing get slower and slower until he was back to sleeping peacefully.

***

Tony had Steve, probably the strongest among them, carry Peter back to his room while Tony tried to get Morgan into her bed. She didn't want to go, so he had to resort to juice pops in bed.

Tony put his hand over her face and gently shoved her back onto her pillow as she giggled.

"Tell me a story," she demanded softly.

"A story?" Tony grinned. "Um, once upon a time, Morgan went to bed, the end."

"That is a horrible story."

"Come on, that's your favorite story!" Tony leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Love you tons."

Morgan put her hand under her head, giving him a tired grin with her missing front tooth. "I love you three thousand."

Tony nodded as his heart melted, chewing on his juice pop stick. "Wow." He stood and flicked off her lamp, smiling at her from the doorway. "Three thousand. That's crazy... Now go to bed, or I'll sell all your toys."

He walked down the hallway, peeking in the boys' rooms. Harley gave him a tired wave from his bed, and Peter slept blissfully, moonlight from his window splashing across his face. Tony smiled to himself and closed the door gently.

The next morning, everyone slept in until lunchtime. Tony was thankful it was still the weekend--he would be in big trouble with Pepper if he'd been keeping everyone up late on a school morning.

Tony poured cereal into a bowl for Morgan, who was yawning, and tousled Peter's hair affectionately. Harley was still sleeping, which wasn't unusual.

"Anymore nightmares, kid?" he asked, opening the fridge and looking for the leftover pizza.

"What?" Peter asked, feigning confusion. "Uhm...no..."

"Good." Tony gave a nod, then he turned around and put his hands on his hips. "Hey, who ate all the leftover pizza?! That was my breakfast!" Happy raised his hand and Tony stuck out his tongue at him.

"Daddy, can we go see Santa at the mall?" Morgan asked. Tony blew out a puff of air.

"Uh...Santa, yeah. Sure."

"Like soon?" she pressed. "I need to get him my list before Christmas Eve."

"Yeah, we will, Maguna, don't fret. You'll see Santa before then."

"Yay!"

She clapped her hands excitedly. The previous night, after realizing that Christmas was two weeks away, she'd dug through her winter clothes until she'd found her pajamas with reindeer and snowmen on them. It read Nice List on the front, which Tony seriously doubted.

After all the Avengers that were there showed up (except for Clint, who was with his family again), Tony had FRIDAY open her usual program she used during Christmas and assigned everyone names. Tony even had Peter come in.