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Chapter Text

"Daddy!" Tony let out a quiet oof as his human cannonball of a son landed on his stomach, but otherwise stayed silent, pretending to be asleep.

"Daddy!" Peter repeated, putting his somehow always cold hands on his father's face, causing Tony's eyes to fly open.

"Ahh, hi munchkin!" He tackled Peter, aggressively hugging him onto the bed.

"Hi Daddy!" 

"So, why are we up so early? It's only," he glances at his watch, almost groaning out loud when he sees the time. "Half five in the morning!"

"Too excited," Peter says, snuggling into his daddy's warm body.

Tony begins carding his calloused hands through Peter's curls as he replies. "Oh really? And why is that?"

"It's the first day of school this year!"

"Oh, I completely forgot that today was your first day of school this year!" Tony exclaimed, playing along. "How old are you, three?"

"Silly daddy. I'm five now. 'M a big boy."

"Of course you are. Now can my big boy go back to sleep and let daddy sleep for a little while longer?"

"Hmm… I'll try," Peter says seriously.

"That's all I can ask for," Tony says, kissing Peter's little button nose, making him scrunch his nose up adorably.

Tony does manage to doze off slightly, but is prevented from falling asleep all the way because Peter keeps poking him in the bicep. He opens one eye to squint at his son, who is bouncing up and down slightly on the bed.

"You're not going to let me sleep any longer are you?"

"Nope. Sorry. Too hungry."

Tony sighs. "Okay, bambino. Up we go."

The omega father gets out of bed before picking Peter up and swinging him onto his hip. Sure, Peter is a little too old for that, but he's only young once, and Tony will do his damn best to make the most of it whilst he can.

They make their way to the kitchen, Pete resting his head on Tony's shoulder.

"So cucciolo, what do you want for breakfast?" He asks, putting Peter down onto the chair.

"Um…. French toast? With strawberries?"

"Of course."

Peter occupies himself by playing with his Transformers action figures and dolls, making up an elaborate story. It seems to amuse him enough so that Tony can focus on breakfast. He rubs his face tiredly as he starts the coffee machine, before beginning to whisk the eggs and making the French Toast.

Before too long, he's made enough for the both of them, and cut up strawberries for Peter too, and takes the two plates to the table, calling out for Peter.

"Peter! Breakfast!"

Peter comes running in, and almost crashes into the kitchen table.

"Woah, slow down there! Can't have you hurt before your first day of school!"

Peter just grins, before proceeding to dig into his breakfast. The relative quiet gives Tony time to think. This summer has been long. He is incredibly grateful that he's got a job that allows him to work from home when needed, and because of it, he got to spend so much time with Peter over the summer. He was able to take Peter to the beach, the zoo, to the park, and generally just go out and spend quality time with him. It was tough trying to balance work and Peter, but he managed. 

Still, he can't help but be a little thankful that school has started again. He's sort of run out of activities to do with Peter. He needs time to think of some more.

He goes through the now practised school morning routine, although it's a little rusty after so much time off. He gets Peter showered, dressed and dropped off to kindergarten, before coming home and getting ready himself, and driving to work.

The day passes in a blur of meetings and group discussions. It's never fun on the first day back at the office - especially when you're the owner. There's just so much to catch up on and sign off.

But then, thankfully, it's time to pick up Peter, and Tony leaves as soon as he's able to; he's never liked the paperwork and general CEO side of being an engineer, he became an engineer to create.

He drives over to the school and walks inside, after a quick confirmation of where Peter's new classroom is, he heads over. A few other parents are already there, and he makes small talk with them. Well, he tries to, until the door opens to reveal the teacher, and Tony almost chokes.

He's absolutely gorgeous, built like a Greek statue, and Tony can't help but stare. The kids get sent out one by one, and more or less subconsciously, Tony hangs back. He gets to the front a few minutes later, and is rewarded with an almost blinding smile.

“Mr Stark? Here for Peter I presume?”

“That’s me!” Tony all but stutters, causing him to glare inwardly. What is wrong with him?

Luckily, Peter chooses that moment to rush outside, and hurtle towards Tony, almost causing him to fall over, which makes Steve laugh.

God, even his laugh is pretty. Tony shakes his head, choosing to focus on Peter.

“Hey bambino, ready to go home?” 

“Yeah!”

Tony manages a decent wave at who he presumes is Peter’s teacher, before taking Peter’s hand and guiding him to their car. Once he is all buckled in safely, Tony gets into the driver’s seat, mentally preparing himself for the onslaught of information.

“So…. What did you do today Pete?”

“I had so much fun today! We got to make our names out of clay! Mr Rogers said we couldn't take them home today because they had to be put in a k- ki- a kin!”

“Do you mean a kiln?” Tony asks amusedly, smiling at his son’s enthusiasm.

“Yeah! And we made our own song by putting dried out beans in boxes! It was so cool!” Peter exclaimed, just as they pulled up outside their house.

“Excited to go back tomorrow?” Tony asks as he lets Peter into the house. He carefully takes off his shoes, never failing to amuse Tony with the level of care he takes over such a simple task. He’s definitely not looking forward to when Peter is all grown up, storming into the house and chucking his belongings everywhere. 

“Yeah! Can I go play outside now?”

“Sure thing. Just change first, yeah?”

Peter nods, before rushing off to change, and then running back down and out the back door into the garden, probably to play football. 

The rest of the evening is relatively quiet - Tony makes macaroni cheese and garlic bread for dinner, something of a staple in the Stark household. He lets Peter watch one episode of Paw Patrol before he convinces him to change into his pajamas and get into bed, telling him he doesn't want to be tried for tomorrow’s day of school. That does the trick, and Peter is fast asleep quickly, and Tony isn’t too far behind.

The next morning goes pretty much the same as the previous day. Tony makes breakfast for him and Peter as he downs two cups of coffee, in preparation for the day ahead. He drops Peter off, and is definitely not disappointed when it isn’t Mr Rogers at the door. 

He’s not!

He heads to the office, and annoyingly, is stuck in traffic for the next half an hour. But it’s fine, since it was a lab day, and he wasn’t required to be in any meetings for the whole day. Time flies by, and the next thing he knows is he’s driving back to the school to pick up Peter. (He definitely doesn’t check his reflection in the mirror at least four times before he gets out of the car, no way.)

Tony walks over to the exit of Peter’s classroom, and five minutes later, Mr Rogers emerges. Just like yesterday, he waits at the back of the line, hanging back.

“Mr Stark! Would you mind coming in for a second? I’d like to talk about something,” Mr Rogers greets him, and Tony just nods his head. Surely Peter couldn’t have gotten into trouble right?

Peter seems to be fine, and Mr Rogers gestures for him to take a seat, which he does. Tony might be on scent repressors, but that doesn't mean he can't smell Steve. He smells of black tea and cedarwood, and it's absolutely heavenly. It's so obviously an alpha scent, and he's almost reeling.

Well, fuck.

“So, Mr Rogers, what did you want to talk about?” Tony asks.

“Call me Steve, please. It’s nothing bad, don’t worry. It’s just Peter has expressed a love for art in the lessons, so I wanted to inform you about this art club I’m running,” Mr Rogers, no, Steve says, handing Tony a leaflet. Tony relaxes slightly, taking the leaflet.

By this point Peter has finished packing up, and made his way to the two, so Tony turns to him. 

“Do you want to sign up for art club Peter?”

“Yes please! Mr Rogers was saying about how we’d get to do potato printing and make robot puppets and-”

“Woah, slow down there! You don’t have to convince me Pete! You can go,” Tony says chuckling. He’s about to reply to Steve, when they’re interrupted by someone walking in.

A tall, clean shaven man walks in, carrying a box. “Hey Stevie, I brought some cupcakes-” He cuts off, spotting that it’s not just Steve in the room. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I thought Steve would be finishing up by now.”

Tony just waves his hand, and Steve replies. “ Don’t worry about it, Buck. This is Mr Stark, Peter’s dad,” he introduces them. “And Mr Stark, this is Bucky, my boyfriend.”

Tony sticks his hand out for Bucky to shake, which he does. “Call me Tony.”

“Nice t’ meet ya, Tony,” Bucky drawls, and Tony is inwardly screaming. Of course Steve, who resembles a Greek statue, has an equally hot boyfriend. That’s just his luck. And naturally, it's another alpha, and this one smells of coffee and driftwood. It's an odd combination, but Tony finds he really likes it.

Double fuck.

“Anyway, yes, it would be great for Peter to come to the art club,” Tony says, thankfully drawing attention away from his hopefully, not flaming red cheeks.

“Of course, just fill out this form and bring it back tomorrow. The first session is next Tuesday,” Steve says, pulling out a form.

“No problem,” Tony says brightly, taking the form. “I really need to go, dinner and all that.” he turns to leave, but Bucky stops him.

“Wait! I brought some extra cupcakes from my bakery, do you want to take them?” Bucky asks.

“Oh, I couldn't….”

“It’s really not a big issue, it’s way more than we need, trust me.”

“Well, in that case, who am I to say no to cupcakes?” Tony says jokingly, taking the box.  

He does head out this time, balancing the cupcake box in one hand as he leads Peter to the car. Again, he buckles Peter in and secures the box, before heading home.

It's Thursday evening, which means it's the weekly Stark-Rhodes dinner. Pepper and Rhodey would be cooking (well, Rhodey would be cooking, Pepper burnt everything she tried to cook) with Tony bringing dessert, and it would alternate when Tony was hosting. It was Peter's favourite part of the week, since he got to see Samantha, Rhodey and Pepper's daughter, as she went to a different school. 

So they got changed for dinner, and like every time, Peter insisted on getting dressed by himself, so Tony just chuckled and shook his head. No doubt Peter will come down ten minutes later with the buttons the wrong way round. But Tony was dressed in record time, and used the extra time to sit on the couch and think about the day.

He hadn't had a crush in, god, who knows how long. And suddenly he has two? Granted, they are both extremely pleasing to the eye, not to mention nice too. Bucky gave him a whole box of cupcakes! He may not be the CEO of Stark Industries anymore, but even he's sure you're not meant to just give away whole boxes of cupcakes. And he can tell Peter really likes Steve, which is big points in his book. 

Speaking of his son, he's now come downstairs, and as suspected has his buttons done the wrong way round. Tony just laughs whilst helping him to do them properly, before heading to Pepper and Rhodey's place.

Annoyingly, Pepper and Rhodey are no help, just laughing at him as he exclaims his predicament. 

It's fine, he thinks privately. They're in a perfect relationship, and even if they were looking for a third person, it's not like they'd want to go out with someone like me anyway.

Chapter Text

Bucky waits until Tony is definitely out of range, before turning to Steve. 

"Okay, he's hella cute."

Steve just shushes him, which, rude! 

"Bucky!" He hisses. "He could hear us!"

"He's left punk, there's no way he would be able to hear us. Did you see him blushing? I swear, I nearly melted on the spot." 

Steve and Bucky have talked about getting another boyfriend, even gone on a few dates, but they didn't really click with anyone. Either Steve liked someone and Bucky didn't, or Bucky liked someone and Steve didn't. Plus, two alphas would be intimidating to anyone. So they had taken some time off dating, deciding to focus on each other and their jobs - teaching for Steve and running a bakery for Bucky.

But it seemed as if the universe had a weird sense of humour, bringing Tony into their lives.

"He is really cute. Did you see his hair? It looked so soft," Steve grins, finally convinced Tony is out of earshot.

"But Buck, we don't even know if he's single. I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't, looking like that," Steve pointed out, ever the pessimist.

"And why can't we just ask him?"

"Because I only met him yesterday! You met him today! It'd come off creepy! We don't want to scare him off." 

"Fine. I guess you have a point," Bucky concedes, and Steve playfully smacks him.

"You guess?!" 

Bucky sticks out his tongue in retaliation, being the five year old that he is on the inside. Steve takes the opportunity to one up him, drawing him in for a long kiss that leaves them both panting.

"You're amazing, you know that right?" Steve smiles, and Bucky dips his head in mock bow.

"That's right, I'm pretty much perfect," he teases. "Now come on, we should get going, or we'll never make it to Sam and Riley's place in time. And if we're late, Sam will never let it go."

"Oh crap, you're right. Okay I'm ready, let's go."

The two Brooklyn boys head to their car and hop in. They've been friends with Sam and Riley since high school, and the tradition of weekly dinners and get togethers is almost as old. They aren't going to stop now.

*Time Skip Brought To You By A Sleep Deprived Author*

"And he has the prettiest eyes, oh my god," Steve rants, and Bucky nods along. 

Sam and Riley roll their eyes. Steve and Bucky have been ranting about this mysterious Tony for about half an hour now, and they show no signs of stopping. Quite frankly, they were sick of it. They were their best friends, but even they had an end point. They could only hear them going on about their new crush for so long.

"Have you considered, I don't know, actually asking him out?" Sam says sarcastically. 

"Of course we have," Bucky snorts. "How little faith do you have in us, seriously?"

"Honestly, I'm still surprised you too got together. I genuinely thought you were going to pine away forever," Riley jokes, and Sam chuckles in agreement with his omega. 

"I fully thought you guys were going to start college without confessing your feelings for each other. God knows who much we listened to you two going on and on about each other. And now we have to do it all over again. How fun."

"Wow, betrayed by our own best friends," Bucky mutters, but Steve talks right over him.

"See, we don't know whether he's single or not."

"Ask him," Sam says patiently, as if it's the easiest thing in the world.

"Maybe you could show you're interested," Riley suggests, the actual helpful one in this relationship right now.

"Good plan. Thank you Riley," Bucky says pointedly, glaring at Sam, who just chuckles.

"We could carry on talking to him. Occasionally give him, I don't know, flowers and cupcakes?" Steve muses. "He seemed to like the cupcakes that you gave him Buck."

"That doesn't sound like too bad of a plan. I'm impressed punk.

"Jerk," Steve fires back, shoving Bucky.

"You guys are so cheesy I'm actually gonna throw up," Sam complained. They choose to ignore him, choosing to focus on The Plan instead. 

And that's exactly what they do.

For the next couple of months, they grow closer to Tony. They start out small, engaging him in conversation when he comes to pick up Peter, whe's more than happy he gets to stay that little while longer. 

Steve and Bucky learn that he's an engineer, head of Stark Industries (honestly, how they didn't recognise him before is a minor miracle), probably smarter than them both of put together. They learn that his favourite flavour is coffee, and Bucky makes sure to bring coffee flavoured cupcakes and pastries after that. Steve and Bucky fall that little bit more in love with him as they watch his face light when he sees the pastries. They learn that he loves cheesy romance movies, even though he pretends to love action and horror films to everyone. They see a side of Tony not many people see, and they know it, but they don't ever plan to take advantage of it.

He blushes the first time Steve gives him flowers, claiming that kids were just using them as a reference, and that they don't need them anymore. He takes them every time, and Steve and Bucky live for the smile as he takes them.

It's kind of scary how much they'd be willing to do in order to keep him smiling and happy, when they've only known him for… Well, it's been half a year already, and Steve and Bucky are no closer to finding out if Tony is actually single or not, something Sam and Riley take great pride in teasing them about.

But it's fine. Tomorrow is an Art Club day, and Tony has taken to coming earlier, before the club is over to talk to Steve and Bucky. That's a good sign right? So they are going to move on to phase two of their plan.

They'll wait until club is over, then ask Tony out to dinner. And hopefully, Tony would say yes. Simple.

It was going to be fine.

Steve was jittery the whole day, to the point where Ms Romanov, the languages teacher, asked if he was okay.

But finally, finally, the day was over, and Steve sent most of the kids home, apart from the ones who were staying for art club. 

Bucky arrived fifteen minutes into the club, looking just as jittery as Steve felt. But luckily, the kids adored him, and he chatted with them for a while, and the nerves went away slightly.

And then, right on time, ten minutes before club is over, Tony shows up, and Steve and Bucky almost simultaneously choke.

Tony looks sinfully good in a three piece suit, hitting him in all the right places. 

Oh lord.

"Hey guys!" Tony says cheerfully, as if he isn't the reason Steve and Bucky almost passed out.

Bucky is the first to recover, and he grins at Tony.

"Hey Tony! How are you this fine Tuesday?"

"Better, now that I've seen you guys," Tony says cheekily, winking at them. "But yeah, glad my meetings are over. I can't wait to get out of this suit."

At this point, Steve has finally recovered enough to join the conversation. 

"Well, I have to say it suits you quite well," Steve jokes, and Tony laughs. 

"Okay, that was a good one."

Steve and Bucky glance at each other, and Steve nods. Now's as good a time as any.

"Tony-" Steve starts, but is interrupted by Tony's phone ringing. He pulls it out, glancing at it, before looking at Steve and Bucky apologetically. 

"I'm so sorry, I gave to take this."

"No worries," Bucky waves off.

"Honeybear!" Tony answers the phone, and Steve looks at Bucky in alarm. So is Tony dating someone? They have a silent conversation, debating it. Should they go through with The Plan? What if Tony is actually dating someone?

They'd rather have Tony as a friend than nothing at all. 

Of course, with their luck, they tune back into the conversation at completely the wrong moment, and get completely the wrong idea.

"Yeah, love you too.  Yeah, I'll see you tonight. Alright bye." Tony pockets the phone, and looks at Steve and Bucky. "Okay, I promise you know have my full attention. What was it you were going to say Steve?"

"Um, I was just gonna…. Ask…. About," Steve glances desperately around the room, hoping for inspiration to strike, and thankfully, Bucky cuts in relatively smoothly.

"I was just gonna ask you for your opinion on these new cupcake flavours I made last night. I'm thinking about adding them to the menu, so I wanted a second opinion." 

Tony's face lights up, and he makes grabbs hands for the box. "Oh my gods Bucky, these look so good!" Tony exclaims opening the box. He picks one out, and almost moans at the taste of it, causing Steve and Bucky's eyes to darken ever so slightly. "Seriously, these are to die for," he says, thankfully not noticing the problem. "Why aren't they on the menu? People are missing out I'm telling you now."

They already are on the menu, not that Tony needs to know that. Steve just shakes his head, grateful for Bucky's quick thinking. Tony finishes his cupcake and stands up.

"I'm really sorry, but I'm going to need to head off slightly earlier. I'm meeting Rhodey later on, and I need to take a shower first." 

Steve and Bucky nod, trying not to look crestfallen. Tony is dating someone called Rhodey. So he's not straight. That almost makes it worse. They would have had a chance if Tony was single. Maybe. They don't know if he's into polygamy, but still.

They know Tony thinks something is up, since they're usually a lot louder than this, judging by Tony's glances as he gets Peter ready. But they can't really bring themselves to care.

The two boys from Brooklyn have fallen for the genius engineer with a heart of gold. Hard. 

And no to find they can't have him? That sucks.

Big time.

So they'll wallow in pity for a while, but they'll pick each other up. So there's that at least. And even though they can't be with him, it helps to know that Tony is happy in this relationship. He certainly seemed happy enough when he was chatting away on the phone. Even though Steve and Bucky wish more than anything that that amazing smile was for them, they guess it's just not meant to be.

They'll get over it.

Eventually. 

They'll still want to be friends with Tony. They'll take whatever they can get. Not having Tony Stark (and obviously, his ball of sunshine, Peter) would be horrible, and something they really don't want to happen. 

No. 

They'll do whatever it takes to keep Tony Stark in their lives, even if it means just being friends with the man they've fallen head over heels for.

Chapter Text

Tony had been through a lot. 

With having a father who was the head of a Fortune 500 company, as well as physically and memany abusing him, his childhood wasn't great. 

Then he got to MIT, and things were okay for a while. He met Rhodey, and they instantly clicked. They met Pepper, the business major, a few weeks later, and their trio was complete. They do all the things college students are supposed to do, party, attend lectures whilst they were sleep deprived and high on caffeine and move into the library in exam season. 

It's actually kind of nice for once and Tony finally feels like he can be himself for once. 

Of course it doesn't last.

Naturally.

It's like fate decided to make Tony her personal punching bag, and Rhodey hates it. 

A few months into their last year of MIT, Tony starts dating Tiberius Stone. Howard adored him, which honestly should have been the red warning flag straight away. 

But Stone was great at first. Super respectful towards Rhodey and Pepper, surprises Tony with flowers after class, the whole works. Rhodey hates how he didn't see through the gifts and smiles for 6 months. It's not until 6 months into Tony's relationship with Stone that the alarm bells start ringing.

The thing is Tony is smart. More than smart - he's a genius, with a higher IQ than anyone Rhodey knows. In fact, it's probably the reason why he has survived for so long. Howard hated the fact he had an omega for a son. 

After everything he had done, worked day and night to make sure Stark Industries was the best in business for technology, it was all going to go down the drain. All because his only heir was an omega. A male one at that.  If it was a female, he would have been able to get away with it. He could have just passed on the company to a smart, strong Alpha. 

But the law made things difficult. The law, whilst it was questionably loose in places that it shouldn't be, was very strict when it came to inheritance. If you had a male heir, your company had to go to them. In the case of it being an Omega, they were expected to find an Alpha mate. it was the societal norm, but it wasn't written in law.

But when Tony proved to be a genius in his own right, Howard felt a little more secure with the future of Stark Industries. Of course Tony would still need to find a good Alpha mate to make sure the future of Stark Industries is firmly secured, but for now things were going well. 

And in Howard's eyes, things started going even better when the heir to Stone Corporations started courting Tony. The joining of the two companies would be legendary.

Honestly, Rhodey felt like he had failed Tony. He was meant to be his best friend, his brother and yet when it mattered, Rhodey had been blinded by the gifts and supposed charming smiles.

That son of a bitch had absolutely destroyed Tony emotionally and physically, and he hadn't done anything to stop it until it was almost too late. 

It was their weekly movie night, just Tony, Rhodey and Pepper. They were just considering putting on one last movie before calling at night when Tony fidgeted, causing his hoodie sleeves to ride up. Rhodey spotted the dark purple bruises on his arms, and had been ready to raise hell.

"Tony," Rhodey all but demands. "Where did you get those bruises from?" 

Tony's eyes widen, and he immediately pushes his sleeves back down. "Nowhere. I just bumped into my desk in the lab. You know how I am. Always clumsy," Tony chuckles unconvincingly, causing Rhodey to grow even more suspicious.

"Is it Howard?" Rhodey asks, as calmly as he can manage.

"No!" Tony protests vehemently. "Seriously, it's fine Rhodey. Drop it."

And if they weren't before, alarm bells are definitely ringing in his head now. Tony never calls him by his actual nickname, preferring to use the steady stream of ever-growing ridiculous nicknames.

Now Pepper speaks up. "Tony," she says gently, and Rhodey's never been more grateful for the calm aura Pepper gives off. "If someone is hurting you, we need to know so that we can do something about it."

"Guys, seriously it's fine. It's nothing Ty hasn't done before. I can handle it."

If Rhodey wasn't mad before, he's downright furious now. Even Pepper, the ever rational one, looks like she's barely containing her fury. 

"Tony," she says calmly, but if you truly know her,  you know she's about to rain hell. "How long has this been going on?"

"Guys-"

"Tony."

Tony sighs. "Pretty much the entire time," he admits in a small voice.

"WHAT?!" Rhodey explodes, and Tony flinches. Rhodey, at 6"1', is an imposing alpha, but he feels smaller than ever when Tony flinches because of him. "Okay. Tones, you're never going to see him again."

Tony smiles sadly. "You know that's not possible, Honeybear. Not if Howard has anything to do with it."

"Fuck Howard," Rhodey says spiteful, and Pepper nods. 

"Leave it to us, Tony," she says, hugging him tightly. Tony would trust her with his life, so he doesn't question her. 

And they do take care of it. 

Pepper managed to dig up some crippling dirt on Stone Corporations, and it's enough to financially ruin them. Rhodey himself pays a visit to Stone, threatening the alpha in more ways than one to stay away from his omega brother.

The next couple of months are rough. Tony finds out that he's pregnant, and he breaks down. He's terrified he's going to be just like his own father, and it takes both Pepper and Rhodey to convince him that he's going to be just fine.

And they were right. Tony is an incredible father to Peter, who is just as amazing. 

But needless to say, ever since Tiberius Rhodey has been a little more than protective. He would thoroughly check anyone Tony dates, but that hasn't really been much of an issue. Tony hasn't really bought anyone home since Peter was born, or even just looked at someone. 

So when he starts gushing about Peter's new teacher and his boyfriend, he's immediately protective. He needs to check them out for himself, make sure they're good enough for Tony. 

The perfect opportunity comes in the form of a meeting overrunning. Instead of Tony rescheduling the meeting, Rhodey offers to go pick up his nephew, and Tony accepts gratefully.

He parks and heads to Peter's class. Luckily, he and Pepper are the extra names of approved people that can take Peter home, just in case Tony can't make it. So he shouldn't have too much of a problem. 

Tony gave him instructions on how to get to the classroom, so he just followed them. He walks into the classroom and immediately spots who he can tell is Steve, with his blond hair, and he assumes the man next to him is Bucky. 

He can see why Tony has fallen for them - they're exactly his type, and Peter seems to really like them, which would only help their case. But Tony can be quite selective when it comes to someone he loved, only seeing what he wanted to see. So it was Rhodey's job to protect him, make sure he didn't get hurt again.

"Hi, can I help you?" 

Rhodey is brought out of his thoughts by Steve, who's smiling politely at him. 

“Hi, yes, I’m here to pick up Peter,” Rhodey smiles.

“Oh, can I take your name please? It’s just a safeguarding thing.”

“Yes, of course, I’m James Rhodes, or if Tony thought he was funny he might have put me down as Rhodey in the system.”

Steve glances at Bucky, and Rhodey catches a hint of sadness in their eyes. But why?

“Ah. So you’re Tony’s boyfriend,” Bucky says, almost emotionless.

“What?” Rhodey splutters. “Where did you get that idea?”

“Uh, Tony’s nicknames? He said, ‘I love you’ to you on the phone?” Steve says hesitantly, and Rhodey shakes his head fondly.

“That’s just Tony. We’ve been friends for years, since we were all at MIT. I’m happily married,” he says, wriggling his left ring finger to show them the wedding ring that decorates it.

“Wait…. Does that mean Tony’s single?” Bucky says hesitantly.

“Yup. And he won’t shut up about you two. So please do us all a favour and ask him out. Having said that, if you hurt him, I will end you. I’ve done it before, and I’ll do it again,” Rhodey says darkly, looking them both in the eye.

They nod, gulping, and Peter chooses this moment to spot Rhodey, and rushes up to him. 

“Uncle Rhodey! Hii!”

Rhodey picks him up, chuckling. “Hey, squirt! Ready to go home?”

“Yep!”

Rhodey picks Peter up, shoots one last look at the pair and head out, leaving Steve and Bucky reeling.

"What just happened?” Steve says, sounding like he’s in a bit of a daze.

“I think we just got the shovel talk from Tony’s best friend,” Bucky replies, just as dazed.

“Does that mean we can ask Tony out?”

“I think it does. Holy crap.”

After they get over the shock, that’s exactly what they do. Well obviously, they wait until the next art club, but the technicalities aren’t really important.

What matters is that Tony says yes, after Steve and Bucky spend a long time convincing him that no, he isn’t going to be the third wheel, he’s just as equal in the relationship. That doesn’t mean Tony is immediately convinced, he’s had one too many bad experiences in the past for that. Steve and Bucky are ready to throw hands with Stone when Tony finally opens up about it, but Tony reassures them that he can’t get near him ever again, thanks to Rhodey and Pepper.

But things get better over time.

Over time, Tony starts believing that Steve and Bucky truly love him, that they’re in it for the long haul. He starts believing that they want it all with him. They want the late nights and early mornings, the cuddles in front of the fireplace and the dancing in the rain. 

Tony falls even more in love with them as he watches Steve and Bucky interact with Peter. They’re great with him. Steve is ever patient, helping him with the humanities side of school that Tony isn’t so great with. He encourages Peter’s artistic side, and soon the house is filled with drawings and paintings, showing the progression he’s made. Bucky is more the physical side. He takes Peter to swimming lessons, and when Peter comes home upset, he finds out that Peter’s softball coach moved to another school, Bucky doesn't hesitate. He immediately volunteers to take up coaching, often bringing desserts for the whole team as a reward when they’ve won a game. 

Three years down the line, Steve and Bucky propose to Tony. Obviously, they ask for Rhodey and Pepper’s blessings first, and they’re more than happy to oblige. They’ve seen how happy they make Tony. At first, they liked them because Tony liked them so much, and they were good for him. But now they like Steve and Bucky on their own accord.

Of course, they also ask Peter. Peter is absolutely ecstatic to have two more dads, and excitedly asks about their wedding. They have to propose pretty quickly after they ask Peter; they’re scared that he’s going to spill the beans.

The wedding is absolutely gorgeous, and none of them are afraid to admit they cry. Tony, in all his omega glory, wears a stunning dress, complementing Steve and Bucky’s suits perfectly. Up until this point, Steve and Bucky have had no idea he was planning on wearing a dress, and they, just like all those years ago when they first saw Tony dressed to the nines, choke, inciting laughter from the crowd.

The dress is stunning, of course, but Steve and Bucky can’t help but think it’s Tony that makes the dress stunning, it’s not the dress that makes Tony stunning. He could be wearing a potato sack and they know that he would still be the most gorgeous person in the world to them.

Then it’s time to exchange their vows, and Steve goes first, and Bucky follows, and whilst they’re beautiful, it’s Tony's vows that brings the house down, not a dry eye in the crowd. 

I never cared for love, Tony explains. After everything that happened in the past, I didn’t think I was worthy of it. But then I met you guys. And I fell. So damn hard it honestly scared me. But it made me believe in love again. The truth is only the brave amongst us search for true love. And I’m proud to say I’ve been brave enough to look for it. And I found it. Steve, Bucky, I cannot thank you enough for showing me what true love is, and being brave enough to take that journey with me. I love you both endlessly, and I promise that I’ll love you for the rest of my life.

In the end, true love is only for the brave.