Though the invitation card said 2:30PM, a lot of the guests arrived before. It felt more like a big get-together with family, friends, and co-workers than a birthday party for Jack. He was one, he couldn't really process what was happening. He just knew a lot of people were paying him a lot of attention and bringing him a lot of gifts.

Chris and Denise took turns carrying Jack for the first two hours of the party, circling the room. A lot of photos were taken of their very smiley, incredibly photogenic son. He was then passed on to his grandparents, aunties, and uncles so his parents could relax and catch a break before the cake. Some of these friends and co-workers were people neither had seen in a long while, so it was good to be able to catch up. Chris and Denise were requested to join the rest of the Marvel cast, who were having their food and drinks by the fire pit. They were going to join them for a while before they had to move on and talk to the rest of their guests. It had been a unanimous decision to hire a caterer for the party, there were simply too many heads to feed to do it themselves without exertion.

"Where's my number one fan?" Robert teased when he saw Chris and Denise walking over. Everyone laughed when Chris rolled his eyes with an involuntary smile "Just so you know, his present is an Iron Man suit he can wear for Halloween when he's a little older. I also got him the Iron Man teddy bear that Susan wouldn't let me get the first time around, but now that we know he's a fan..." Robert trailed off, smirking.

"You realize he's just a fan of the red, right?" Chris bit back playfully. "That's why he likes Winnie the Pooh, and Mickey Mouse, and Elmo. He likes the color red, it's the only reason he likes Iron Man so- you can calm down 'cause that boy is going to be Captain America when he's old enough to go trick-a-treating."

"And he tells me to calm down," Robert murmured under his breath smugly, earning laughs from everyone again. "God, I still can't believe I'm at your kid's birthday party," he smiled at Chris. "You've been talking about wanting kids for as long as I've known you, so this is pretty amazing." Chris smiled at him, then at Denise and kissed the side of her head. "What's even better is Sebastian Stan has a child of his own too," Robert turned to Sebastian and Luca, chuckling, "never thought I'd see the day."

"Neither," Anthony agreed. "Every time I ask, 'when you gonna have kids?' Nothing. Then one day," he held his hand up to his ear like a phone, "'yo, Mackie. Guess who's going to be a dad?' So suave, so chilled, I almost thought he was joking." More laughter filled the air. "But then I remembered I was talking to him, and not Chris. Chris," he turned to Chris, "I expected to cry as soon as he heard, like a whole celebration the second he heard."

"Oh, man," Chris laughed, sharing a glance with Denise. "I was- No, I was too stressed when I found out to cry. I was on the verge of crying, but it wasn't out of happiness. It was before the wedding and she just got that opportunity with Emilia and-" He shook his head, chuckling. "I was scared she was going to lose her mind, so no, I didn't celebrate until after she started celebrating."

"Yeah, Jack was too much of a surprise for us to have an appropriate reaction," Denise agreed. "But we're happy with how things turned out, he's an amazing kid." She turned towards the house and spotted Jack in her brother's arms. She smiled when she saw how happy he looked, as well as how great her brother was with him. She couldn't wait till he was a dad and she was an aunt. "Where's Alex?" She turned to Sebastian and Luca and asked when she realized their son wasn't with them either.

"Your mom took him after your brother took Jack," Luca told her.

"Of course," Denise chuckled. "I think it's time he and Erica set a date, don't you?"

"Definitely," Luca agreed with a nod. "So they can get started on having children of their own."

"Says the two ladies who asked for a long engagement," Chris quipped and the girls laughed.

After spending another twenty minutes with the group, Chris and Denise continued circling the party to socialize with the rest of the guests. They were with Denise's grandparents when one of Chris' buddies, Oscar politely asked for the company of her husband. A group of them were hanging out at the front of the house, drinking beer and most probably having a cigarette or two. Chris had the terrible habit of smoking, which he'd been quietly trying to kick since he found out Denise was pregnant. He claimed he was a social smoker, but really, he knew he smoked when he was stressed or nervous too. Denise had a big opinion when it came to him smoking, it was disclosed and acknowledged the first time she saw him smoke. The idea of it in general irked her, so one could only imagine how much more irksome it was for her to see the love of her life shorten his lifespan with each puff. Every time he apologized for reaching for a cigarette, she reminded him he was an adult capable of making his own decisions; quit or smoke, that was on him. As long as he kept his habits away from her and their son, and kept himself in check- she wasn't going to say anything.

Chris glanced at his watch, noting it was 4:48PM and probably time for cake soon. "We'll do the cake when I get back," he told Denise and she nodded. "I'm not going to smoke," he whispered into her ear and pressed a quick kiss on the side of her head before taking his leave.

Denise felt a small smile surface as she watched him walk off with Oscar. It was always appreciated when he reassured her about it, because though she said nothing, he knew she was deeply concerned. Her grandfather's statement: "He's a really good man," was something she could easily agree with.

Fifteen minutes later, the guys returned inside the house upon Chris' request as cake was about to be served. Denise was in the kitchen with Lisa and Tina preparing the cake when Chris returned to her side. There wasn't much to be done to prepare the cake, it was mostly getting the plates and cutlery sorted. Jack was only one, so it wasn't like she had forty candles to stick into the cake; that was going to be Chris' cake in three months. And because Sebastian had Jack, Dodger was following him; the three of them joined the other four in the kitchen. Chris scoffed when he saw Jack was in an Iron Man onesie, apparently Richard and Robert thought it was a good idea to do a costume change just before the cake. His daughter may have married Captain America, but Richard was still very much Team Iron Man. It was a fact he liked to point out to mess with his son-in-law.

"James Buchanan Barnes," Chris shook his head in disbelief, trying not to smile at how happy Jack looked in his Iron Man onesie. "What are you doing, man?" Sebastian laughed, bouncing a giggling Jack. "You're meant to be on my team, you're my right hand man."

"Who are you, Jack?" Sebastian quizzed.

"Ion Ma," Jack said then clapped his hands excitedly.

"And what does Iron Man do?" Sebastian raised his brows, smiling. Jack tilted his head then grinned when his godfather reminded him with an outstretched arm. "What does he do, buddy?" He asked again prompting Jack to hold out his little hand exactly like Iron Man whenever he wanted to blast the bad guys. "Pswoosh," Sebastian mimicked the sound of Iron's blasters to the best of his ability, making Jack squeal with delight.

"Is he not a fan of Captain Man?" Denise's maternal grandmother asked as she made her way over to join the others in the kitchen. They all laughed because of how little she knew about these things. Everyone in Denise's family knew who Chris was the first time she brought him home, but not her as she didn't watch many movies. When she asked what he did for a living and he told her he was an actor, her response had been priceless: "That's nice, dear. But are you successful enough to take care of my granddaughter?"

"Well, I don't know what Captain Man looks like, Elsie," Chris teased her, drawing laughter from everyone. "But I don't think he is, and unfortunately he's not a fan of Captain America either." It was at that moment she realized she'd gotten it wrong; she shook her at Chris, pretending to scowl at him. "I'm sorry, Ma Ma." Chris laughed and walked over to her to give her a hug, "You know how much I love you."

"Yeah yeah," she rolled her eyes, but hugged him back.

"Seb, can you call those out the back inside?" Denise asked Sebastian and he nodded, passing Jack over to her. Dodger watched Sebastian leave then padded over to Denise because that was where Jack was. "Look at you, my little Avenger." Denise smiled at her baby boy, smoothing her hand over his little belly. "Are you ready for cake, sweetheart?" She walked him closer to the cake so he could see; his face lit up when he spotted his favorite bear. "It's Winnie the Pooh."

"Poo," Jack grinned.

"Mm hm," Chris moved in next to Denise, wrapping an arm around her waist as their guests gathered around the large island bench in their kitchen. Everyone with phones and cameras started taking photos and videos as they all prepared to sing happy birthday. "Happy birthday, pal." He kissed the back of Jack's head, then the side of Denise's and whispered "and thank you for him" into her ear. She smiled at him, then at Jack, then at Dodger; everything and everyone she had in her life now that she had him.

"Thank you for everything."