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elisaphoenix13 · 7 months

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This Family Is Forever

There was always this pleasant feeling of in between that Stephen enjoyed. Not quite asleep but definitely not awake. He was aware of Tony's warm body that he was curled up against, his spouse's soft snores and the rise and fall of his chest where he laid his head. Anything beyond that bubble was non-existent. The weight of Athena and Apollo never processed, no noises outside of their room…just their breathing. Just the warmth they shared. It was a pleasant limbo that Stephen had been enjoying for…however long he had swam into consciousness. If he was conscious. Sometimes the little bubble ended up being a very vivid dream that was eventually unceremoniously popped and he would find himself alone in bed. Alone with his ever loyal wolf still at his feet of course. Tony and Apollo would be long gone if the coldness of the sheets beside him were any indication.

This was real though, Stephen could tell. With just the slightest bit of adjustment, he threw one of his legs over Tony's, and the man instinctively responded by tightening his arm around him and rubbing his thumb along his shoulder. The motion died down after a few seconds and Tony would lie still. Stephen selfishly enjoyed every moment of the peace–

"Mom!" Stephen's eyes snap open when the door flies open, the sound of the rest of the penthouse–namely their children's daily noise–breaks that wonderful bubble and forces the sorcerer out of his stupor. Tony grumbles beside him because he was unceremoniously woken up from his own bubble.

"Nobody lives here by that name," Tony says for him.

"There is when William is being bullied at school!" America retorts.

Of course that immediately got their attention and Stephen was already sitting up. Tony took a few seconds longer, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"How did you find out about this?" Stephen asks as he slips out of bed to follow his newly adopted daughter out of the room. As she led the way to the youngest twin's room, the man mentally kicked himself for ignoring the signs. The boy had been more withdrawn than usual, staying in his room and declining to spend time with the sorcerer like he usually did, whether to read together, practice his magic, or to simply put together a puzzle.

He even openly avoided Harley and Valerie, making them very put out and hurt. If Stephen really thought about it, he could recall that William very gingerly ate his dinner the night before. The conclusion he came to caused him to see red but he stamped the anger down as he and America approached the room. The door was closed and Stephen at least knocked twice before letting himself in, fully expecting the boy to teleport away to escape the situation, but instead he found the boy sitting on his bed looking defeated.

He was clearly tired of hiding the truth or was aware Stephen would follow him to the ends of the earth to make sure he was okay.

The bruise on his cheek was a clear sign that he wasn't and Stephen's rage boiled in his chest.

"I caught him trying to cover it up," America explains before Stephen can ask. "He's been covering it up for days."

Considering the bruise was still rather dark and large, whatever caused it had to have happened at the beginning of the week. Even more concerning was the fact that Cassie hadn't caught on. She was, unofficially, their eyes on the twins while they were at school because they knew how the boys hid things. It had gotten better, but bullying was something they felt wasn't worth bothering their parents about. Stephen could understand to an extent. Schools had a no bullying policy but never really enforced it, or if they did, suspended both parties and washed their hands of it.

It was Peter all over again. Stephen would have to talk to Tony about the usual funding threat to get the bullying to stop like they had done for Peter. It seemed the only effective solution.

"William," Stephen says softly as he crouches in front of the teen. "What's going on?"

For a moment, William didn't make any indication that he would respond, but finally he said, "they said it's because my parents are both guys."

The words sunk in slowly before finally clicking. William was being bullied because he was gay? And on top of that, because they thought he was gay because of his parents? The notion was laughable considering Cassie had gay parents and she was very happily in a straight relationship with Peter and vice versa. Bullies really reach for a reason to ridicule someone.

"Let me see," Stephen says, reaching up to gently tilt William's head to examine the bruise around his cheekbone. The boy winced at the slightest touch, making the sorcerer frown as he sent some healing magic into it. The color lightened but his body would have to finish the healing itself. "America, will you go run and get some ice please?"

"Yup!" The girl rushes out in an instant.

"I want the names of whoever did this to you and your father and I will take care of this," Stephen tells William, smiling when the boy's eyes widen. "Quietly, I promise. This isn't our first rodeo. What I am curious about is how you managed to hide it from Cassie and Thomas."

"They were home sick the day it happened and you were out doing sorcerer stuff, so when I got home I was able to cover it with some of Cass's make-up," William says quickly, or as Thomas would call it, word-vomiting. "I didn't want to say anything because if you or dad or Harley freak out, then I freak out, and I didn't want you to worry about something so stupid–"

"This isn't stupid," Stephen interrupts sharply as he moves to sit next to William on the bed. "Nothing that hurts you is ever stupid. Even something as small as a paper cut isn't stupid…do you know why?"

William swallows thickly, only looking up when Tony walks in with some ice instead of America, and winces when the older man gently applies it to his face. Tony only let go when William held the ice under his own power and moved his hand to place on top of the boy's dark hair.

"Because you deserve better," Tony answers, having obviously heard what Stephen had said and been updated on the situation by their daughter. "All of you do. Every kid does, really. You and your brother had to take care of each other for a long time because no one else would, but you have this whole new family that would take a bullet for you. Hell, there's even a god downstairs that would blow up the school if you asked him to."

Stephen snorts. "Quill's not going to blow up a school."

"The point," Tony rolls his eyes fondly, continuing. "Is that he would. And if we had you when the snap happened, I would have worked that much harder to get my boys back. Losing Stephen, Harley, and Peter like that…I still have nightmares. And you know what? I have nightmares that it happens to all of my kids. You and Thomas, America, Cassie, the girls…" Tony sighs quietly. "Something that may seem stupid to you, won't be stupid to us. You are our kid and we love you. We want you to be safe, happy, and validated. We want you to feel comfortable calling us if you decide to go out partying without telling us and you end up in some kind of trouble."

William's shoulder slump. "I'm sorry. I just…even after all this time…a part of me is still worried that one little thing will ruin everything."

Tony lifts his head up by his chin and smirks at him. "I told you before and I'll tell you again kid. We're in this for the long haul. There are plenty of actual stupid things Peter and Harley have done that made us want to tear out our hair but they're still here. We still love them. Making mistakes is all a part of growing up. Or, in this case, telling your parents when something not so great is happening at school. Capire?"

William nods. "Yeah."

"Is there anything else you need to talk about or tell us?" Stephen asks.

"No," the teen shakes his head this time. "It's just that, I swear."

"Alright. Do you think you can handle pancakes with some strawberries and whipped cream?" A nod from William sends Stephen out the door to make breakfast, but a near collision with Valerie makes him stop.

"Liam better?" She asks quietly and Stephen smiles and brushes her hair back.

"I think so. Maybe if you ask nicely, he'll play with you until breakfast is ready."

It was enough to make the little girl perk up with a smile before hurrying into William's room, almost running into Tony while doing so. The man was fortunately able to move out of the way and snorted in amusement.

"I'm pretty sure if we did try to get rid of him, your daughter would have something to say about it," Tony jokes and Stephen huffs as he turns and descends the stairs to the kitchen.

"My daughter? Just like Lucy is my daughter when she gets into trouble you put her in?" Stephen challenges.

Tony laughs. "In my defense, Lulu climbs those shelves by herself. She doesn't need any help from me."

"After you taught her to do that, you mean."

"I plead the fifth."

Stephen snorts again and sets about making breakfast while Tony goes in search of their youngest. She was found in the living room watching TV with Diana and America, but was eager to be held by Tony, who returned to the kitchen with her in hand. Lucy was happily rubbing her hands along Tony's goatee with her typical gleeful babbling or an actual English word, and the rest of the kids were slowly leaving their rooms. Probably enticed by the smell of pancakes.

"Quill would blow up the school if it were Cassie," Tony suddenly says.

"Quill would find a way to disintegrate someone with lasers from his eyeballs if someone so much as sneezes in her's or Scott's general direction," Stephen responds flatly.

"Don't give him any ideas," Peter yawns, and plops into a seat at the breakfast counter. "He already gave some guy at her school the side eye when he had to go pick her up when she was sick. Like you said, the poor guy just sneezed."

"Was he sitting next to her?" Tony asks.

"I think so. They were both in the office."

"Then he probably silently accused him of making Miss Sass sick," Tony says. "Quill's planning his demise as we speak."

Stephen rolls his eyes and tunes the two of them out as he finishes breakfast, but keeps an ear out when he hears Harley talking to William. He couldn't hear much of what his oldest was saying, but it was clear that he was fussing over his boyfriend and irritated at whoever hurt him. He was surprised to hear Valerie reprimand Harley for upsetting William because of the fussing.

"If you think Quill's bad, I wouldn't want to get on Valerie's bad side when it comes to William," Stephen says to Tony and Peter. "I'm sure she's ready to push Harley out of the room."

"Val?" Peter gawks and gasps dramatically when Stephen smirks. "What is this world coming to?!"

"I saw a stare down between her and Sam when he tried to talk to Will about something that was obviously upsetting him," Thomas adds nonchalantly as he joins them. "She didn't even glare or anything. Just stared. Sam left."

"Seriously. What's this world coming to?" Peter mumbles and Stephen chuckles.

The twins weren't the only ones learning and growing up it seemed.

#mama bear au #stephen strange #tony stark #william kaplan #thomas shepherd #supremefamily #ironstrange #peter parker #america chavez

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elisaphoenix13 · 1 year

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The Not So Secret Life Of Misfits

"Don't you guys have people to do this? Or at least have it delivered?"

Stephen sighs softly as America follows him down the bread aisle of the grocery store. She had mentioned that while he was not the same Stephen she had known, he was still who she was used to and was sticking to his side for the better part. It didn't bother him, especially since he was used to it with Valerie, and the little girl was more attached to him than America was being. America was still adjusting.

Suddenly having rich parents was definitely an adjustment. Stephen remembered how every single one of the boys had their own way of getting used to things.

"We usually have it delivered, but sometimes I need to pick up a couple of things and it's nice to get away from the chaos." Stephen finally answers as he grabs a few loaves of bread.

"So…I'm still a little confused. How many kids do you have?" America asks while leaning against the cart. She quickly decides to take it for a joyride instead and rides it up and down the aisle as Stephen looks at the bagels.

"Depends on what you mean." Stephen says.

"Well, I heard Tony call Cassie your kid but she doesn't stay upstairs with us. And then that girl…Kate? She comes over this morning and calls you Mom." America looks at him sheepishly when she accidentally runs the cart into Stephen's hip but he just puts his things into it.

It hadn't been the first time he was hit by a shopping cart. Peter was the first and the rest followed. Every single one of them decided at one point to take the cart for a joy ride and ran into him, except William and Valerie of course. Lucy hadn't yet but it was only a matter of time.

"In that case I have…" Stephen stops to think about it, counting under his breath. "Thirteen? Including you?"

America gapes at him. "What, so you have more?"

"Yes. They're called the Avengers." Stephen snorts, leading the way to the next aisle and leaving America to follow with the cart.

"I thought Bucky was joking when he called you Mom."

"It started off that way, but it sort of stuck."

"Do you like it? Being Mom?" America asks softly and Stephen looks at her after grabbing some cereal.

The question threw Stephen for a loop. Nobody had asked him the question. At least not directly. The closest anyone ever got to it was Peter and that was just to ask him if it was really okay to call Stephen "mom" after his slip up all those years ago. Now that he stopped to think about it for a moment, he couldn't see his life any differently. He loved his kids, his husband, even the Avengers. It was a family he didn't dare think of giving up for anything. It made him sympathetic to America's situation. The poor girl had bounced around countless universes until she heard of this one. One where she thought she could have a chance to have a family again.

And when they welcomed her with open arms, it left her reeling. Hence the questions.

"I do actually." He answers. "Does it bother you?"

America shakes her head immediately with wide eyes. "No! It's just…an adjustment compared to the you I knew. I don't feel like a burden here. Am I?"

"No." Stephen says immediately. "You're not a burden. Don't ever think you are. It took a lot of reassuring for the boys to not feel that way anymore when we took them in."

For the next few minutes, America follows him in comfortable silence as they shop, until they get to the dairy section.

"I know you said you come to get away from the chaos, but how come you brought all of the kids?" Just as the last word leaves America's mouth, Diana runs over with a bag of goldfish crackers, putting them in the cart when Stephen nods.

"Where's your sister?" Stephen asks.

"Sissy is coming. She saw you walk down here and said to go ahead. She said she needs to grab some toothpaste for Uncle Scott and Uncle Quill." Diana answers.

Stephen hums in acknowledgement and turns his attention back to America. "Because my kids scatter and find a snack they want. They don't cause trouble…at least not anymore."

"Oh…makes sense I guess. But not Lucy?"

"Lucy is content to stay at home with Tony and get covered in grease," Stephen rolls his eyes. "It's probably for the best anyway. She's very…energetic."

"Mom's just afraid that Lucy will climb the shelves and then jump off with that happy screech she has." Cassie elaborates when she walks over and America laughs.

"Yeah I did see her climbing the bookshelves the other day."

"We have to keep her away from the personal gym too," Thomas adds when he seemingly appears out of nowhere with white cheddar cheez-its and mumbles, "There was an incident with the pool."

Cassie powers his voice to say, "Lucy jumped in without a care in the world like she usually does. No life vest or floaties so she sank to the bottom immediately. We've…never seen Mom so freaked out."

"He jumped in after her before any of us could even react and kept her at his side for the rest of the day." Thomas adds. "We heard him having a nightmare that same night."

"He had a nightmare?" Cassie whispers.

Stephen froze while reaching out for some butter. Despite Cassie and Thomas's attempt to tell the story quietly, the sorcerer still heard their words and had to take a moment to collect himself. The pool incident was still fairly recent so it was still fresh in his mind, and it made his chest tighten. He had gone in after Lucy without a second thought and she had been unperturbed by the situation, but to Stephen, it was almost like reliving a memory.

A memory that still haunted him after almost 20 years when a similar situation arose. It happened before with Peter at the lake house, and now with Lucy at the pool…

"He's right here and he can hear you." Stephen sighs, finally tossing the butter into the cart. "America, why don't you find a snack you like?"

Her eyes nearly pop out of her head. "Really? Any snack?"

"Yeah! I always get the white cheddar cheez-its. They're like crack to me." Thomas cackles. "Will and Val get strawberries and whipped cream. They do everything and share everything together if Val isn't attached to Mom."

"I noticed. You know, when I first got here, I thought she was actually William's," America says and Stephen covers his face with his hand. "I was like, wow, talk about a teen dad, but then I realized…siblings. Would have thought Cassie and Diana were mother and daughter if the age wouldn't have been so weird."

Cassie blushes. "Oh geez, no. I helped Tony…raise her…but you know. I helped however I could since…the snap."

America nods. "Yeah…I was told about that. I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"It's okay. I think we've all healed and moved on from it now." Cassie smiles.

"Sissy and I will help you find a snack!" Diana finally says after listening to the older kids converse with each other.

"Sure. I gotta see the weird foods here anyway."

Cassie laughs. "No, you gotta save the weird foods for when I drag Papa shopping. He saw cotton candy flavored grapes and had an aneurysm."

"Please take me on your next shopping trip with him," America laughs as she walks away with the girls.

In the meantime, Stephen finishes in the dairy aisle and leaves Thomas to push the cart after him as he leads them to the drinks. The kids wanted a movie night and so they needed drinks and popcorn, one of the reasons Stephen brought them with him. Harley and Peter were charged with finding the popcorn, but after that? He just prayed to the Vishanti that they really had grown out of their public shenanigans.

"Do you think coffee would make me travel at light speed?" Thomas asks and Stephen snorts.

"I'm sure your body metabolizes it faster than it can set in, but I still wouldn't want to risk it."

"Pietro taught me how to run through walls. He says the laws of physics don't always apply to us when we run. Like running on water or running through thin walls." Thomas explains. "Brick walls are still too hard for me."

Stephen glances at his son and raises an eyebrow. "Remind me to ground him when we get home. You should ask before testing anything like–"

"I did! I asked Dad! He set up some things we can try." Thomas reassures quickly.

Not that Stephen wasn't sure it was something to be relieved about. Tony was a fantastic father, but sometimes even his genius brain took a break and didn't think things through. But since Thomas had yet to come to him with a concussion, he assumed Tony and Pietro were being somewhat responsible.

With Lucy though, Stephen was still convinced that Tony had blown out her eardrums while working in the lab with her. Whether from blasting music or from blowing things up. But Bruce had checked out her ears for her and said Lucy was fine. Maybe the little girl just had selective hearing when it came to Stephen. She listened when he was stern, but usually if he asked her nicely to please not wipe her boogers on Levi, it went in one ear and out the other.

There was also the time she tried to climb the railing of the stairs just so she could slide down. Fortunately Rhodey had been visiting and put a stop to that pretty quickly.

"Just…please be careful." Stephen finally says. "I'd rather not have to use a jackhammer to dig my child out of bricks."

Thomas grins. "You might not have to. Pretty sure Yelena could headbutt a brick wall and make it crumble like sand."

"Speaking of Yelena, remind me to talk to her and Kate about their not so private…trysts." Stephen motions to some drinks for Thomas to grab and put on the bottom of the cart. "Your brother did one of those panic flusters when he walked in on them. Closed the door while he was still in the room and then apparently turned so red that a sunburn would have been jealous and teleported away."

"Was that the day he called from Japan?" Thomas bursts into laughter then yelps when Stephen smacks the back of his head. "I love him but he's such a ditz sometimes."

"Yelena thought it was hilarious too," Stephen drawls. "Now go round up the brood. I'm finished."

Thomas salutes. "Yes, sir!"

"And never do that again."

"Peter and Harley are right. It's fun to see you make that face." Thomas dodges Stephen's next swipe and jogs off hollering for his siblings, which makes Stephen rub the bridge of his nose.

The twins had certainly come out of their shells. And unfortunately that meant that their older brothers were rubbing off on them. At least William still had some modicum of respect for Stephen and Tony. He had his moments of sass but it was still in the respectable range. Thomas, on the other hand, was teetering dangerously on Harley's end of the spectrum. Even going so far as to run literal circles around their resident god.

Sometimes even Sam after he heard the story about how he and Steve first met. Sam was less than pleased with the outcome and Steve always got a good laugh out of it.

Stephen was fairly certain that Thomas used his speed to his advantage when he wasn't in view anymore, because the sorcerer was surrounded by all of the kids before he was even halfway to the front of the store. They were all chattering about at least three different subjects and none of them needed his immediate attention so he tuned them out. He simply pushed the cart to an open register, let the kids unload it onto the belt, and waited for the cashier to ring him up so he could pay and go home. Tea and that piece of chocolate cake he had put into the cart were starting to sound heavenly.

"Dude...I just found Peeps flavored Pepsi," Harley announces and Cassie laughs, taking it from him and putting it on the belt.

"Just when Papa thinks the grocery store won't traumatize him anymore." Cassie grins.

"Babe, that's savage." Peter laughs.

"Busy day, Dr. Strange?" The cashier asks and Stephen snorts humorously.

"Believe it or not, this is a calm day."

#mama bear au #supremefamily #stephen strange #america chavez #tommy shepherd #diana stark strange (oc)#cassie lang

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