Chapter Text
“Tony,” the voice whispers, then a hand places itself on his knee and shakes him awake, “wake up.”
Tony slowly opens his eyes, his sight bleary and his brain foggy. His headphones were wrapped around his neck now, the song blaring out of them was now only a fade. He follows the soft voice and meets Jarvis’ eyes, who’s looking at him with a fond look on his face.
“Mmm?” He says and sits up in the car’s backseat, stretching his arms over his head with a yawn.
Jarvis fondly laughs. “We’re here.”
Tony sits back against his seat and looks out the window and smiles at the sight.
The sight of the old house never fails to bring something warm to his body. The feeling of an actual home is placed in this rustic house, not the huge mansion he’s raised and grew up in. The house with its porch swing that Tony loved to huddle against during summer nights, the vast garden filled with different types of flowers that grow best during spring, and the beach not too far away from there, where he’d dip his toes in the sand and learned how to surf for the first time.
He spots the couple coming out of the door, looking at their car with expectancy and excitement. He grins at them and all but jumps out of the car as he swings the door open and runs towards them, hearing Jarvis’ laughter behind him as he grabs Tony’s bags.
“Poppet!” Aunt Peggy cries and laughs as Tony wraps his arms around her and buries his face on her floral dress, inhaling her comforting scent. He feels Uncle Daniel’s hand smooth his hair down and rub his back before he leaves to help Jarvis with the bags.
Tony pulls away and smiles. “Hi Auntie. I missed you.”
“Oh, how you’ve grown!” Aunt Peggy says, her hands on his shoulder as she turns him from left to right.
Tony laughs. “Auntie, I was still this tall last year. I hit my growth spurt when I was fourteen. I haven’t grown since.”
Aunt Peggy shrugs, a playful smile on her red lips. “Well, how should I know? I only see my darling boy every summer.” She leans in and gives him a kiss on the cheek. “Now, how about you come in and I’ll grab you and Jarvis some food before he heads back to the mansion, sound good?”
Jarvis grins, him and Uncle Daniel climbing up the steps. “That sounds great, Peggy. Is it your blueberry pie?”
Aunt Peggy joyously laughs as she leads Tony inside the house, the two men following behind. “What else would it be? You know it’s what I always make for you two when you arrive here.” She leads them to the kitchen where the steaming pie is placed. “Fresh out of the oven.”
“How do you always have a fresh pie out of the oven no matter what time we come here?” Tony asks his aunt in awe.
She taps his nose. “A magician never tells her secrets.”
Uncle Daniel laughs. “She checks the traffic on the roads you might get stuck on and times her baking there.”
Aunt Peggy gasps as Jarvis and Tony laugh. She walks to her husband to slap his arm. “Danny!”
Uncle Daniel laughs harder and grabs her wrists to pull her into a hug, swinging her from side to side. “I’m sorry, my love, but the kid was curious!”
Aunt Peggy pulls away and huffs, a smile on her lips. She smooths her dress out and turns to Tony, “How about you freshen up, dear, and I’ll prepare your food.”
Tony nods before he and Jarvis walk out of the kitchen and towards the narrow staircase leading to the house’s second floor. He smiles as he climbs up, the brown wood of the railing old and rough, the steps creaking with every step, and the pictures adorning the walls the higher you go up - Uncle Daniel and Aunt Peggy’s wedding pictures, pictures of their relatives from both sides, pictures of their vacations with Sharon, and even a picture of Tony when he graduated elementary school was there.
Tony and Jarvis walk towards the end of the hallway, the room Tony calls his every summer. He opens it and smiles at the sight of it. It’s smaller than his room back at the mansion but he doesn’t care.
The afternoon light is beaming through the window, casting the room with an ethereal glow. Various sci-fi movie posters litter the walls, some of them slowly peeling off which Tony will fix later. The shelves had books Tony bought at the small bookshop a few blocks from him - they weren’t the types he’d bring home, either for fear the illusion of the safety he has in this summer house would break if he did or the realization that he knows bringing them home would mean they weren’t fit in his life as much as he doesn’t really fit here as well.
Despite this, the room is clean. Always is. Aunt Peggy and Uncle Daniel would come in and clean it because it’s a part of it, not just a guest room that Tony would occupy for a few months.
Jarvis sets his bags on his bed for him to unpack later. “I’ll be downstairs, Tony.” Jarvis tells him before he leaves and closes the door behind him.
Tony grabs his phone off his pocket and pauses the music still faintly playing from his headphones. He takes it off and puts it and his phone on the desk. He walks over to his bed and unzips the bag, grabbing a shirt and some shorts.
He walks over to the bathroom but not before he hears something outside his window. He hugs his clothes tight against his chest and walks towards the window to hear someone whistling a tune Tony can’t distinguish.
There, out in his Aunt and Uncle’s garden, was someone watering the flower beds with the garden hose.
Tony watches, fixed gaze as the gardener moves around the yard, whistling and watering the plants. He’s tall, wearing an unbuttoned shirt over a white tank top - both clinging to his skin due to the heat - and a pair of light brown pants with a towel hanging out the back pocket, and a pair of gardening boots.
He watches as the gardener turns off the hose and takes off the hat he was wearing to reveal sweaty dark blond hair. His eyebrows raise when the man lifts his shirt up to wipe his nose and is gifted with the sight of his sweaty abdominal muscles.
The gardener pauses in his actions then suddenly, looks up, and meets Tony’s gaze. Tony’s eyes widen, despite how far they are away from each other, he can see how blue this guy’s eyes are. The gardener smiles and lifts his hand up to wave at Tony. He gives a small wave back before he moves away from the window and hurries inside the bathroom, locking and closing it behind him.
After Tony finishes freshening up and changes out of his clothes, he runs downstairs back to the kitchen. He hears before he sees them - Uncle Daniel, Aunt Peggy, and Jarvis laughing over coffee and pie. He smiles at the sight of them.
He wishes it was like this forever.
“Poppet, c’mere.” Aunt Peggy waves him over. “Saved you the biggest piece.” She guides Tony to sit beside her, a plate of blueberry pie in front of him.
He grins as he takes a bite and exaggeratedly moans at the taste. Aunt Peggy laughs. “It gets better every year, Aunt Pegs. How do you do it?” He asks as he takes another bite.
Aunt Peggy shrugs with a bashful grin. “Just magic, I guess.” Tony chuckles, taking two more bites before he grabs the cup of coffee in front of him and gulps it down.
“So Tony, Jarvis told us you got that scholarship to MIT?” Uncle Daniel prods.
Tony puts his coffee cup down and grins. “Yeah, I did! I just got it yesterday.” He gushes.
Aunt Peggy wraps her arm around Tony to hug him. “Congratulations, my love. I’m so proud of you!” She gives him another kiss on the cheek.
“Thank you guys.” Tony says and pulls away to look out the window, to the back garden where he saw the man earlier. “Hey,” He tries to keep his tone casual, “who’s that guy in your garden?”
“Oh!” Aunt Peggy says, “That’s Steve, he’s going to be staying with us for the summer.”
Uncle Daniel leans back on his seat to the open door, leading to the gardens. “Steve! Come here for a sec, we want you to meet somebody!”
Not a few seconds later, Steve walks inside the kitchen, wiping his face with the towel. He glances at Jarvis then at Tony and smiles. “Hello.”
Up close, Tony can see he and Steve are roughly the same age. Up close, Tony can also see how gorgeous Steve actually looks.
“Steve, this is our nephew, Tony, he’ll be staying with us for the summer.” Uncle Daniel introduces. “And this is our old friend, Edwin Jarvis.”
“Hello Steve.” Jarvis greets.
“Hello Mr. Jarvis.” Steve greets back then at Tony. “Hello Tony.”
“Hi.”
“Steve’s Sarah’s son. You remember Sarah, don’t you J?” Aunt Peggy asks. She looks at Tony. “Oh, remember when your Uncle Daniel had to get physical therapy for that motorcycle accident?” Tony nods, remembering the scare he got when Aunt Peggy called one night to tell him that his uncle got into an accident. It was the only time he saw them outside of summer. “Well, Sarah was his nurse and she’s so kind and became such a dear friend to us that when she asked if we knew anyone who can hire her son for some jobs during the summer, well we thought ‘why not?’.” She shrugs with a grin on her face.
“But Steve here lives in Brooklyn and that’s a long ride away from here and we told Sarah we’re fine with housing him for the summer especially with Sharon off to college. Now, there’s a lot of spare rooms inside this house.” Uncle Daniel continues.
Steve looks down, a boyish smile on his lips that Tony tries not to think too hard on. “Thanks again for the opportunity, Mr. and Mrs. Sousa.”
“It’s the least we could do, Steve.” Aunt Peggy says. “Now, come on, how about you eat first? Don’t think I didn’t notice you haven’t eaten all day.” She admonishes him with a playful glare.
Steve huffs out a laugh. “Sorry. Okay, um, can I take a shower first? I’m a little -” He gestures to his sweaty and dirty self. Aunt Peggy nods and he nods in thanks before he leaves the kitchen.
“So, where is he staying?” Tony asks, doing a mental sweep on the different rooms upstairs.
There’s Aunt Peggy and Uncle Daniel’s room on the other side of the hallway that overlooks the front of the house, far from Tony’s, across from it is a bathroom then there’s Sharon’s bedroom beside theirs and a storage closet across hers then on the other side of the hallway that overlooks the garden is two rooms next to each other that share a bathroom. One is Tony’s room which leaves -
“The room next to yours, son.” Uncle Daniel helpfully replies.
Tony nods. “Oh.”
Fuck.
Before night falls, Jarvis leaves to head home.
“You’ll come visit, right?” Tony asks as he follows Jarvis to the car.
“Of course, Tony.” Jarvis tells him, a kind smile on his lips. “I’ll come visit, especially on July 4th. You know I always spend that time here.” Tony smiles at the promise. “Now give us a hug.” He says.
Tony all but jumps into his arms, tightening them around his waist. Jarvis laughs as he hugs back. They both pull away. “Text me when you get home.”
“Why can’t I just call?” Jarvis teases.
Tony laughs and lightly slaps his arm. “You know us kids don’t do that anymore.”
Jarvis laughs. “Of course, I forgot, you’re all scared of the ringing.”
Tony laughs harder as he hugs Jarvis again. “Just promise me you’ll text when you get home.”
Jarvis nods. “Of course.” He kisses the top of his head. “Now I have to go, Ana’s making roast and you know how the other staff loves it when she makes it.
“Why can’t she just leave some for you? You’re her husband.” Tony laughs.
“She says she doesn’t like to play favorites.” Jarvis laughs as he opens the door. “See you soon, Tony.”
“See you later, J.” Tony says before Jarvis gets in the car. He stays there as Jarvis pulls out of the gravel road, the wheels crunching underneath as he backs out of the driveway and into the road leading back to Stark Mansion..
He sighs. As much as he loves spending his summers here, it’s always painful to say goodbye to Jarvis for the time being. He turns and walks inside, smiling at the smell of Uncle Daniel making supper.
He walks into the kitchen and sees Uncle Daniel stirring something in a pan as Aunt Peggy sits on the chair beside the dining table, reading glasses perched on her nose, and flipping through a magazine.
“Whatcha makin’?” Tony peers behind Uncle Daniel’s shoulder to see him stirring pasta and shrimp together.
“Gambas pasta with my homemade bread.”
Tony’s eyebrows raise and he looks at Aunt Peggy, who’s looking back at him. “Your Uncle was bored last month and took a quick course in baking.” She smiles besottedly at him. “He’s been making bread all month. I’m absolutely sick of it right now!”
Uncle Daniel laughs. “She’s lying. Every time I make a fresh batch, she’s the first to pick them off.” He turns off the stove, letting the pasta and shrimp cook a bit before he grabs a huge bowl to put it on. “Tony, would you mind calling Steve down for dinner?”
“I don’t mind.” Tony says and leaves the kitchen to go upstairs. He walks towards Steve’s room and knocks.
The door opens and Tony steps back at the sight of Steve with his shirt off. He’s got that boyish smile from before. “Hi Tony.”
“Dinner’s ready.” Is what Tony says before he scurries off down the stairs.
Dinner’s a fun affair.
Aunt Peggy and Uncle Daniel continue to ask Tony about his entire year spent away and he told them the fun bits - graduating high school, getting his learner’s permit, his friend Happy delivering the winning touchdown at their school’s football game which won them the title, finally figuring out the code to this robot he’s working on -
“How about dates?” Aunt Peggy teases and pours herself another glass of wine.
Tony smiles as he looks down, twirling his pasta with his fork mindlessly. “Don’t have much time to date when you’re trying to figure out a code for your first AI, Aunt Pegs.” He jokes.
Uncle Daniel huffs out a laugh. “I hear you.” His smile morphs into a comforting one. “If you decide to date again, pick someone nice this time.”
“Ty was nice.” Tony defends.
Aunt Peggy groans. “He was an asshole, Poppet.” Then giggles. “Excuse my French, Steve. But yes, honey, Tiberius was nice but not to you.” She places her hand on his and rubs it comfortingly. “You deserve a sweet one, someone who treats you like the special bird you are.” She grabs the spine of her wine glass around her fingers and points it at Steve. “Take Steve here.”
“What?” Tony and Steve look at her, looking at each other then looking down shyly.
“Steve, didn’t you tell me about that girl you’re seeing, what’s her name? Natasha?” Aunt Peggy asks.
Steve shakes his head. “Oh no, she’s not my girlfriend. She’s just a friend.”
Aunt Peggy furrows her eyebrows. “Oh, I must be mixing up my names. Are you seeing someone though?”
Steve shakes his head again. “No. I was but we - uh - broke up.”
Aunt Peggy pouts. “Shame. Why? You seem like a long term type of fella.”
Steve smiles. “Thank you, Mrs. Sousa. Uh, she - uh, said we’re ‘going into different directions in our lives’.”
Tony laughs as Aunt Peggy blows a raspberry. Steve is startled by her reaction before laughing as well. “That’s just talk for ‘I found someone new’. Bitch.” She mutters.
Uncle Daniel laughs. “Okay, honey, you’re officially wine drunk.”
Aunt Peggy looks at her wine glass then at her husband. “I guess I am.” She giggles. “But listen, boys, you’re both young and you’ve got a full life ahead of you so why not just enjoy it with your friends and family.” She wraps her arm around Tony’s shoulder and gives him a side hug.
“That’s what I said.” Tony counters.
“Well I said it better.” Aunt Peggy laughs.