Snow in Malibu
Title: Snow in Malibu
Universe: The Marvel Universe, specifically the Avengers movie-verse MSV
Pairing: Phoebe/Tony
Written For: rylan_m
Prompt: egg nog, fire, Frosty the Snowman, Yule log
Rating: adultish. some sexual overtones. Tony being Tony.
Word Count: 2952
Disclaimer: i don't own Tony Stark. he's owned by Marvel and whoever the hell else owns him. i'm simply playing with him for my own perverse purposes and will return him. eventually. please don't sue me because i got no money, dude. Phoebe belongs to rylan_m. she's doesn't know i've borrowed her, but that doesn't mean anyone else can.
Author's Note: i meant to have this finished and posted by Christmas as a surprise, but i fell behind and my brain was being a dick. i'm sorry about that. either way, hon, i hope you enjoy.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Pepper asked her, a faintly skeptical look on her face. Phoebe only smiled and nodded.
"Yes. I want to do this. I love Tony. You know I do. And I know this is going to be something that sends him for a loop. But its for his own good. If I had known when I met him that he was a Scrooge, I would have told him to sod off."
Her answer must have been what Pepper was waiting to hear because the other woman smiled. "He isn't going to know what hit him. And he doesn't stand a chance." She keyed in the code that would let her into the lab, holding the door open for Phoebe. The two of them were carrying boxes of Christmas themed items that they planned on putting up in Tony's lab in an effort to give him a little bit of holiday cheer and spirit.
"Good afternoon, Miss Potts. Miss Sinclair." Jarvis' voice came out of the ether to greet them. It had taken Phoebe a long time to get used to the disembodied butler's voice just suddenly appearing out of nowhere. There were still times, like now when she was feeling a little guilty, that Jarvis still managed to startle her.
"Good afternoon, Jarvis," Pepper said, setting her box down on Tony's work bench. Phoebe put hers right next to the other one and started studying Tony's lab. There wasn't much real open space, since he had all kinds of things stored in it. But that wouldn't matter, assuming that the man's AI butler would be willing to help them out with this. "How do you feel about Christmas, Jarvis?"
"I don't believe I have any thoughts on the subject, Miss Potts. Mr. Stark didn't program any into my processes," Jarvis replied.
"That's a diplomatic answer," Phoebe muttered as she began digging in the box for the miles of garland that she knew could be found in it.
"That isn't diplomacy. That's the truth. Tony doesn't really celebrate Christmas. I don't think I can recall an occasion when he ever did," Pepper told her. She systematically emptied the box she'd carried in with her until she had the contents laid out neatly before her. "Damn. I'm going to have to go upstairs. I think there's one more box. Get started without me. We've got hours before Tony is free from his meetings, but I'd rather have it done and be gone before he gets home."
"Chicken," Phoebe accused softly.
Pepper smiled at her. "Hardly a chicken. But this was your idea and if anyone can sell Tony on Christmas, its you." She was out the door before Phoebe could say another word.
"What are you doing, Miss Sinclair?" Jarvis asked while Phoebe unpacked her box. Ornaments, candy canes, tinsel garland, lights, and various other holiday themed items were laid out before her. She pondered just how to approach this subject with Jarvis. Though the AI was exactly that, she always got the feeling that it was much smarter than Tony had ever meant it to be. And, as odd as it sounded, Jarvis did seem to care for Tony in his own weird, electronic way. So maybe a bit of truth was in order here.
"I'm decorating Tony's lab for Christmas."
"You may correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that Mr. Stark has an aversion to all things related to the Christmas holiday." It sounded like there was a hint of confusion in Jarvis' voice. Which was just plain stupid, because he was nothing more than a computer program. Except she'd come to the conclusion that he really wasn't, that he was as much a close friend and family member as anyone else around Tony.
"No. You're right, Jarvis. Just... Christmas was always a big deal in my family. At least it was up until my parents were killed. After that, it didn't seem as important. But now, with Tony..." she frowned and sighed heavily. "I really want to have a happy, very merry Christmas again and I want to share that with Tony. When I brought it up to him a few weeks ago, you'd think I'd mentioned that he get his testicles waxed by a chimpanzee based on the look he gave me."
"And here I thought he was up for just about anything." There was obvious affection in the AI's voice.
"I've decided that I'm going to Christmas him into submission. Maybe I won't get him to enjoy it the way us mere mortals do, but I think I can settle for him putting up with it."
There was silence as she began casting her gaze around the place, looking for good spots to string the garland and the lights. Finally, Jarvis broke the quiet with what could only be described as a soft chuckle. "It would seem that Mr. Stark has finally met his match, Miss Sinclair."
"Please, Jarvis. I insist that you call me Phoebe. The formality is a little strange," she replied, smiling to herself.
"Very well. Phoebe. What can I do to help you with this mission of yours?" Jarvis asked her.
"No, I don't think so." She shook her head, uncertain what the AI could do that would help. Then an idea took her. Even though she knew it was kind of silly, she glanced up at the ceiling. "Jarvis, you're capable of projecting images into the air around the lab, aren't you?"
"How do you mean, Phoebe?"
"Well, when Tony works on projects, you're able to project a holographic image for him. A life sized image that hangs in the air?"
Almost before she'd finished speaking, a very realistic image of Tony's Iron Man suit popped up right in front of her. Phoebe was momentarily startled by the holographic projection, but it was exactly what she'd been hoping for. The image flickered out a second later. "Is that what you mean, Phoebe?"
"That's what I mean, Jarvis. Can you do this all over the house or just down here in the lab?"
"I'm capable of producing such images all over the house, Phoebe. What do you have in mind?" This time, Jarvis' voice seemed to hold a touch of conspiratorial camaraderie.
"Well, it is winter. And its Christmas. Think about that old song and I'm sure it will come to you."
There was no further time for conversation because Pepper returned toting a third, larger box. She brought it into the lab and set it down on the nearest clear space. Her gaze took in the lack of decorations around the place, then came to rest on Phoebe. "I thought you were going to start without me?"
"I was enlisting Jarvis' help with a few things." Phoebe shrugged and crossed to Pepper. The box she'd come down with contained a four foot artificial tree and all of the required decorations for it. She reached for it and began fluffing the branches out.
"Jarvis, huh?" Pepper studied her for just a second, then grinned. "He definitely won't know what hit him. Where do you think we should put the tree?"
"I suggest placing it in the middle of his desk," Jarvis chimed in. "Once you have it decorated, I can produce gifts to place underneath it." Pepper glanced at Phoebe, then laughed and began pulling lights out of the new box.
~*~
It took a couple of hours for them to get all of the decorating done. By the time they'd finished with Tony's lab, it was starting to grow dark and a chirp of Pepper's phone warned them that Tony was on his way home. She left Phoebe with a hug and wishes of good luck. It gave Phoebe the courage to go ahead with her plan, even though there was no turning back now.
As she surveyed their work, Phoebe let her mind wander. She sometimes felt guilty for becoming the woman in Tony's life. Pepper had had that distinction at one time and though neither of them had really explained to her, both Tony and Pepper had told Phoebe that they'd split amicably. Pepper had told her that she was happy for both of them and glad that Tony had finally gotten his life together. She was starting to think that Pepper was fine with the split because she was seeing someone else. Tony had mentioned something about Happy...
She and Pepper had strung lights on nearly every surface possible so there were cheery spots of red, blue, green, orangish-gold, pink, and white. There were fake pine garlands and ornaments in every color imaginable. They'd paid special attention to those that were red and gold. The small tree was decorated with a couple strands of lights that were, honest to God, miniature Iron Man suits. Said suit was a plastic cover that sat over a white light so that it glowed red and gold like the real armor. Giant fake poinsettias in white and red sat over the spots where the garlands were tacked to the walls. They'd even gone so far as to decorate all of Tony's robotic arms. Dummy looked especially festive in a tiny Santa hat.
"Your efforts are sure to win a 'Bah! Humbug!' from Mr. Stark. Perhaps you should go shower and get ready before he arrives," Jarvis said, sounding faintly considering. "Given the way Happy drives, I estimate you have less than thirty minutes to prepare yourself."
"Thank you, Jarvis. You have everything ready?" Phoebe asked, collecting the empty boxes to take with her.
"Of course, Phoebe," he replied. His voice followed her as she headed out the door and up the stairs. "I am to give Mr. Stark five minutes to find you, then begin the program you set up earlier."
"That is correct." Even though she knew he couldn't see her, she tossed the AI a smile. "Thank you, Jarvis. I appreciate all of your help here."
"Its my pleasure, Phoebe."
She took the entire thirty minutes the AI had estimated to get ready. After ditching the boxes in a closet, she climbed into the shower and got cleaned up. She let her hair hang long, something that she only did when she and Tony were alone, and climbed into one of the many slinky dresses he'd insisted on buying for her. For those occasions when they had to attend some function or another. It was a cream colored sheath with a low plunging back and gossamer sleeves that looked like angel wings when she raised her arms. Just a touch of color to her face to add some warmth and she was as ready as she was ever going to be.
Tony's voice was floating up the stairs toward her when she made the living room. "Phoebe? What the hell did you do to my lab?" There was considerable snark in his voice, telling her that getting him to enjoy this evening was going to take quite a bit of work. Oh, he was totally going to make it up to her, too.
She didn't bother to answer him. It was better to wait until he saw the rest of the house before she gave him any kind of response. Because he was going to have more questions and it would be easier to let him get all of that out before she responded. She was just pouring egg nog into a pair of expensive goblets when his dark head appeared on the stairwell that led down to his lab/garage. There was a frown on his face when he cleared the top step and saw the living room proper.
She watched as he took in the fire flickering away in the hearth, eating happily at a large birch Yule log. His eyes then slid to the garland of pine boughs and poinsettias that decorated the mantel. A large tree stood near the floor to ceiling wall of glass windows that overlooked the ocean. This tree was done entirely in red and gold to reflect Tony's suit. A star of red and gold lights rode the top of it and the pungent smell of pine filed the room. Tony sighed as he crossed toward her. "Phoebe. I thought we discussed this."
"No. We didn't discuss this, Tony. I mentioned Christmas and you ordained that we were going to head to Malibu for the holidays. You never asked me what I did or didn't want to do. You just assumed that you could sweet talk me into whatever was going through your head at the time."
"I think I made it pretty clear that I didn't want to do anything special for Christmas," he replied. She crossed her arms over her chest and shot him a frown.
"Again, you didn't do anything of the sort. You just told me that we weren't going to have anything that remotely smelled of Christmas."
"This was Pepper's idea, wasn't it?"
"Why does this have to be Pepper's idea? Do you think I don't plan such things myself?" she lifted her egg nog and took a drink. For the first time in her life, she wished that she drank alcohol because she could certainly use a belt right about now.
"So you did this. Why?" Well, that was about the most obtuse question she'd ever heard him ask.
"For as much as you say you know about me, there are some things that you obviously never found out," she replied. "My family used to celebrate the holidays in the biggest way possible. A giant tree. Handmade decorations. Lights and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. I loved it. Then, when mom and dad were killed," she said, proud of herself for not letting her voice catch. After all this time, it was finally getting a little easier. "I lost interest, Tony. It didn't matter to me. I had no one to share my joy with. Until I met you. And now... I want all of that again."
"I don't really have any good memories of Christmas." He was blank when he said it, but she knew better. She could hear the underlying sense of pain in his words. "I don't even really have any good memories of my childhood."
"Then let me help you make some," she insisted and stepped closer to him. "No one should live their lives without having good memories of Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, sir," Jarvis' voice broke in before Tony could say anything. A second later, holographic snowflakes started drifting toward the floor from the ceiling. And the wall of glass turned into a large viewing screen.
"Happy Birthday!" Frosty exclaimed to a group of eager children. She watched Tony's head turn toward the windows. The glass seemed to darken and the image sharpened, allowing them to really see the cartoon snowman and his happy young companions.
"Frosty the Snowman?" Tony asked, glancing down at her.
"Everyone loves Frosty," she explained. "It was my favorite as a child. Growing up in Colorado, I saw a lot of snow and I always hoped that I'd one day find a hat that would make my snowman come to life." Her confession saw him smiling at her indulgently. Instead of feeling the urge to defend her younger self, she simply watched the cartoon play and smiled fondly. "I know now that it was silly to hope for such things. But I don't think I'd change those days for anything."
"Its never silly to have hope and to dream, Phoebe," he admitted softly. She smiled at him before wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling him against her.
"And its never too late to start enjoying Christmas, Tony. I'm serious. I want to make happy memories with you. Create some new traditions. Maybe someday, if we have kids, we can pass those traditions on to them."
That statement earned her a quirked brow. "Children, huh? You would seriously consider having children with me?"
"Of course I would, Tony. I love you. And I think you're capable of being a great father."
"I don't know about that, Phoebe," he replied, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of her head. "I didn't really have a great example in my father. I don't want to be like him." She could hear a touch of fear in his voice at that. She shook her head.
"Tony, darling," she smiled up at him. "Don't you know that you're nothing like your father? You could never be like him."
He glanced down at her. "You don't know what my father was like."
"I know more than you think. Unlike you, when I do research, I do it thoroughly."
Tony chuckled. "Does Fury know that you've been abusing his computers again?"
"Of course he does," she grinned. Pulling away from him, she made her way over to the table that held the pitcher of egg nog and poured him a goblet. She scooped them both up and carried them back to where Tony stood. He took the glass from her with a raised brow, but he said nothing. "Now come sit with me on the couch so we can watch Frosty."
He let himself be tugged over to the couch and he settled without complaint. She snuggled close to him and turned her attention to the large images of Frosty on the windows. The holographic snow continued to fall around them while the fire crackled in the hearth. "Thank you, Phoebe," Tony said softly, his breath whispering against her hair. She smiled and lifted her goblet. He clinked his against hers lightly.
"Merry Christmas, Tony. Here's to new traditions and happy memories."
Universe: The Marvel Universe, specifically the Avengers movie-verse MSV
Pairing: Phoebe/Tony
Written For: rylan_m
Prompt: egg nog, fire, Frosty the Snowman, Yule log
Rating: adultish. some sexual overtones. Tony being Tony.
Word Count: 2952
Disclaimer: i don't own Tony Stark. he's owned by Marvel and whoever the hell else owns him. i'm simply playing with him for my own perverse purposes and will return him. eventually. please don't sue me because i got no money, dude. Phoebe belongs to rylan_m. she's doesn't know i've borrowed her, but that doesn't mean anyone else can.
Author's Note: i meant to have this finished and posted by Christmas as a surprise, but i fell behind and my brain was being a dick. i'm sorry about that. either way, hon, i hope you enjoy.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Pepper asked her, a faintly skeptical look on her face. Phoebe only smiled and nodded.
"Yes. I want to do this. I love Tony. You know I do. And I know this is going to be something that sends him for a loop. But its for his own good. If I had known when I met him that he was a Scrooge, I would have told him to sod off."
Her answer must have been what Pepper was waiting to hear because the other woman smiled. "He isn't going to know what hit him. And he doesn't stand a chance." She keyed in the code that would let her into the lab, holding the door open for Phoebe. The two of them were carrying boxes of Christmas themed items that they planned on putting up in Tony's lab in an effort to give him a little bit of holiday cheer and spirit.
"Good afternoon, Miss Potts. Miss Sinclair." Jarvis' voice came out of the ether to greet them. It had taken Phoebe a long time to get used to the disembodied butler's voice just suddenly appearing out of nowhere. There were still times, like now when she was feeling a little guilty, that Jarvis still managed to startle her.
"Good afternoon, Jarvis," Pepper said, setting her box down on Tony's work bench. Phoebe put hers right next to the other one and started studying Tony's lab. There wasn't much real open space, since he had all kinds of things stored in it. But that wouldn't matter, assuming that the man's AI butler would be willing to help them out with this. "How do you feel about Christmas, Jarvis?"
"I don't believe I have any thoughts on the subject, Miss Potts. Mr. Stark didn't program any into my processes," Jarvis replied.
"That's a diplomatic answer," Phoebe muttered as she began digging in the box for the miles of garland that she knew could be found in it.
"That isn't diplomacy. That's the truth. Tony doesn't really celebrate Christmas. I don't think I can recall an occasion when he ever did," Pepper told her. She systematically emptied the box she'd carried in with her until she had the contents laid out neatly before her. "Damn. I'm going to have to go upstairs. I think there's one more box. Get started without me. We've got hours before Tony is free from his meetings, but I'd rather have it done and be gone before he gets home."
"Chicken," Phoebe accused softly.
Pepper smiled at her. "Hardly a chicken. But this was your idea and if anyone can sell Tony on Christmas, its you." She was out the door before Phoebe could say another word.
"What are you doing, Miss Sinclair?" Jarvis asked while Phoebe unpacked her box. Ornaments, candy canes, tinsel garland, lights, and various other holiday themed items were laid out before her. She pondered just how to approach this subject with Jarvis. Though the AI was exactly that, she always got the feeling that it was much smarter than Tony had ever meant it to be. And, as odd as it sounded, Jarvis did seem to care for Tony in his own weird, electronic way. So maybe a bit of truth was in order here.
"I'm decorating Tony's lab for Christmas."
"You may correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that Mr. Stark has an aversion to all things related to the Christmas holiday." It sounded like there was a hint of confusion in Jarvis' voice. Which was just plain stupid, because he was nothing more than a computer program. Except she'd come to the conclusion that he really wasn't, that he was as much a close friend and family member as anyone else around Tony.
"No. You're right, Jarvis. Just... Christmas was always a big deal in my family. At least it was up until my parents were killed. After that, it didn't seem as important. But now, with Tony..." she frowned and sighed heavily. "I really want to have a happy, very merry Christmas again and I want to share that with Tony. When I brought it up to him a few weeks ago, you'd think I'd mentioned that he get his testicles waxed by a chimpanzee based on the look he gave me."
"And here I thought he was up for just about anything." There was obvious affection in the AI's voice.
"I've decided that I'm going to Christmas him into submission. Maybe I won't get him to enjoy it the way us mere mortals do, but I think I can settle for him putting up with it."
There was silence as she began casting her gaze around the place, looking for good spots to string the garland and the lights. Finally, Jarvis broke the quiet with what could only be described as a soft chuckle. "It would seem that Mr. Stark has finally met his match, Miss Sinclair."
"Please, Jarvis. I insist that you call me Phoebe. The formality is a little strange," she replied, smiling to herself.
"Very well. Phoebe. What can I do to help you with this mission of yours?" Jarvis asked her.
"No, I don't think so." She shook her head, uncertain what the AI could do that would help. Then an idea took her. Even though she knew it was kind of silly, she glanced up at the ceiling. "Jarvis, you're capable of projecting images into the air around the lab, aren't you?"
"How do you mean, Phoebe?"
"Well, when Tony works on projects, you're able to project a holographic image for him. A life sized image that hangs in the air?"
Almost before she'd finished speaking, a very realistic image of Tony's Iron Man suit popped up right in front of her. Phoebe was momentarily startled by the holographic projection, but it was exactly what she'd been hoping for. The image flickered out a second later. "Is that what you mean, Phoebe?"
"That's what I mean, Jarvis. Can you do this all over the house or just down here in the lab?"
"I'm capable of producing such images all over the house, Phoebe. What do you have in mind?" This time, Jarvis' voice seemed to hold a touch of conspiratorial camaraderie.
"Well, it is winter. And its Christmas. Think about that old song and I'm sure it will come to you."
There was no further time for conversation because Pepper returned toting a third, larger box. She brought it into the lab and set it down on the nearest clear space. Her gaze took in the lack of decorations around the place, then came to rest on Phoebe. "I thought you were going to start without me?"
"I was enlisting Jarvis' help with a few things." Phoebe shrugged and crossed to Pepper. The box she'd come down with contained a four foot artificial tree and all of the required decorations for it. She reached for it and began fluffing the branches out.
"Jarvis, huh?" Pepper studied her for just a second, then grinned. "He definitely won't know what hit him. Where do you think we should put the tree?"
"I suggest placing it in the middle of his desk," Jarvis chimed in. "Once you have it decorated, I can produce gifts to place underneath it." Pepper glanced at Phoebe, then laughed and began pulling lights out of the new box.
~*~
It took a couple of hours for them to get all of the decorating done. By the time they'd finished with Tony's lab, it was starting to grow dark and a chirp of Pepper's phone warned them that Tony was on his way home. She left Phoebe with a hug and wishes of good luck. It gave Phoebe the courage to go ahead with her plan, even though there was no turning back now.
As she surveyed their work, Phoebe let her mind wander. She sometimes felt guilty for becoming the woman in Tony's life. Pepper had had that distinction at one time and though neither of them had really explained to her, both Tony and Pepper had told Phoebe that they'd split amicably. Pepper had told her that she was happy for both of them and glad that Tony had finally gotten his life together. She was starting to think that Pepper was fine with the split because she was seeing someone else. Tony had mentioned something about Happy...
She and Pepper had strung lights on nearly every surface possible so there were cheery spots of red, blue, green, orangish-gold, pink, and white. There were fake pine garlands and ornaments in every color imaginable. They'd paid special attention to those that were red and gold. The small tree was decorated with a couple strands of lights that were, honest to God, miniature Iron Man suits. Said suit was a plastic cover that sat over a white light so that it glowed red and gold like the real armor. Giant fake poinsettias in white and red sat over the spots where the garlands were tacked to the walls. They'd even gone so far as to decorate all of Tony's robotic arms. Dummy looked especially festive in a tiny Santa hat.
"Your efforts are sure to win a 'Bah! Humbug!' from Mr. Stark. Perhaps you should go shower and get ready before he arrives," Jarvis said, sounding faintly considering. "Given the way Happy drives, I estimate you have less than thirty minutes to prepare yourself."
"Thank you, Jarvis. You have everything ready?" Phoebe asked, collecting the empty boxes to take with her.
"Of course, Phoebe," he replied. His voice followed her as she headed out the door and up the stairs. "I am to give Mr. Stark five minutes to find you, then begin the program you set up earlier."
"That is correct." Even though she knew he couldn't see her, she tossed the AI a smile. "Thank you, Jarvis. I appreciate all of your help here."
"Its my pleasure, Phoebe."
She took the entire thirty minutes the AI had estimated to get ready. After ditching the boxes in a closet, she climbed into the shower and got cleaned up. She let her hair hang long, something that she only did when she and Tony were alone, and climbed into one of the many slinky dresses he'd insisted on buying for her. For those occasions when they had to attend some function or another. It was a cream colored sheath with a low plunging back and gossamer sleeves that looked like angel wings when she raised her arms. Just a touch of color to her face to add some warmth and she was as ready as she was ever going to be.
Tony's voice was floating up the stairs toward her when she made the living room. "Phoebe? What the hell did you do to my lab?" There was considerable snark in his voice, telling her that getting him to enjoy this evening was going to take quite a bit of work. Oh, he was totally going to make it up to her, too.
She didn't bother to answer him. It was better to wait until he saw the rest of the house before she gave him any kind of response. Because he was going to have more questions and it would be easier to let him get all of that out before she responded. She was just pouring egg nog into a pair of expensive goblets when his dark head appeared on the stairwell that led down to his lab/garage. There was a frown on his face when he cleared the top step and saw the living room proper.
She watched as he took in the fire flickering away in the hearth, eating happily at a large birch Yule log. His eyes then slid to the garland of pine boughs and poinsettias that decorated the mantel. A large tree stood near the floor to ceiling wall of glass windows that overlooked the ocean. This tree was done entirely in red and gold to reflect Tony's suit. A star of red and gold lights rode the top of it and the pungent smell of pine filed the room. Tony sighed as he crossed toward her. "Phoebe. I thought we discussed this."
"No. We didn't discuss this, Tony. I mentioned Christmas and you ordained that we were going to head to Malibu for the holidays. You never asked me what I did or didn't want to do. You just assumed that you could sweet talk me into whatever was going through your head at the time."
"I think I made it pretty clear that I didn't want to do anything special for Christmas," he replied. She crossed her arms over her chest and shot him a frown.
"Again, you didn't do anything of the sort. You just told me that we weren't going to have anything that remotely smelled of Christmas."
"This was Pepper's idea, wasn't it?"
"Why does this have to be Pepper's idea? Do you think I don't plan such things myself?" she lifted her egg nog and took a drink. For the first time in her life, she wished that she drank alcohol because she could certainly use a belt right about now.
"So you did this. Why?" Well, that was about the most obtuse question she'd ever heard him ask.
"For as much as you say you know about me, there are some things that you obviously never found out," she replied. "My family used to celebrate the holidays in the biggest way possible. A giant tree. Handmade decorations. Lights and all of that stuff. It was fantastic. I loved it. Then, when mom and dad were killed," she said, proud of herself for not letting her voice catch. After all this time, it was finally getting a little easier. "I lost interest, Tony. It didn't matter to me. I had no one to share my joy with. Until I met you. And now... I want all of that again."
"I don't really have any good memories of Christmas." He was blank when he said it, but she knew better. She could hear the underlying sense of pain in his words. "I don't even really have any good memories of my childhood."
"Then let me help you make some," she insisted and stepped closer to him. "No one should live their lives without having good memories of Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, sir," Jarvis' voice broke in before Tony could say anything. A second later, holographic snowflakes started drifting toward the floor from the ceiling. And the wall of glass turned into a large viewing screen.
"Happy Birthday!" Frosty exclaimed to a group of eager children. She watched Tony's head turn toward the windows. The glass seemed to darken and the image sharpened, allowing them to really see the cartoon snowman and his happy young companions.
"Frosty the Snowman?" Tony asked, glancing down at her.
"Everyone loves Frosty," she explained. "It was my favorite as a child. Growing up in Colorado, I saw a lot of snow and I always hoped that I'd one day find a hat that would make my snowman come to life." Her confession saw him smiling at her indulgently. Instead of feeling the urge to defend her younger self, she simply watched the cartoon play and smiled fondly. "I know now that it was silly to hope for such things. But I don't think I'd change those days for anything."
"Its never silly to have hope and to dream, Phoebe," he admitted softly. She smiled at him before wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling him against her.
"And its never too late to start enjoying Christmas, Tony. I'm serious. I want to make happy memories with you. Create some new traditions. Maybe someday, if we have kids, we can pass those traditions on to them."
That statement earned her a quirked brow. "Children, huh? You would seriously consider having children with me?"
"Of course I would, Tony. I love you. And I think you're capable of being a great father."
"I don't know about that, Phoebe," he replied, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of her head. "I didn't really have a great example in my father. I don't want to be like him." She could hear a touch of fear in his voice at that. She shook her head.
"Tony, darling," she smiled up at him. "Don't you know that you're nothing like your father? You could never be like him."
He glanced down at her. "You don't know what my father was like."
"I know more than you think. Unlike you, when I do research, I do it thoroughly."
Tony chuckled. "Does Fury know that you've been abusing his computers again?"
"Of course he does," she grinned. Pulling away from him, she made her way over to the table that held the pitcher of egg nog and poured him a goblet. She scooped them both up and carried them back to where Tony stood. He took the glass from her with a raised brow, but he said nothing. "Now come sit with me on the couch so we can watch Frosty."
He let himself be tugged over to the couch and he settled without complaint. She snuggled close to him and turned her attention to the large images of Frosty on the windows. The holographic snow continued to fall around them while the fire crackled in the hearth. "Thank you, Phoebe," Tony said softly, his breath whispering against her hair. She smiled and lifted her goblet. He clinked his against hers lightly.
"Merry Christmas, Tony. Here's to new traditions and happy memories."