《You're the guy my dad never shut up about? | S. Rogers [1]》18. Gali's Birthday
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Galilea rolled over in her bed and nearly fell. She rolled back to safety and groaned when she was hit by the bright light coming through the window. Gali pulled the covers over her head to block the light but it was too late. The damage was done.
She sat up in bed and scratched her head. What time is it? She yawned and checked the clock. She got out of bed, slipped her feet in her slippers and went to the elevator.
When the doors opened to the living room Gali was hit with the smell of food. She went to the kitchen where the first thing she noticed was Tony cooking. He's what now? This is as rare as him buying me an ice cream cone when we were kids.
"Good morning my lovelies" Galilea brightly said to Tony, Bruce and Pepper.
"Gali!" Pepper attacked her in a bear hug. Gali jumped in surprise but slowly hugged her back not knowing why she randomly hugged her that early in the morning.
"Happy Birthday" she pulled away.
Galilea blinked and was confused for a moment. Birthday? Oh my gosh, it is my birthday!
"Don't tell me you forgot your birthday?" Bruce asked with a smile.
"Nooo, I would never" Gali tried to act offended at the fact that she would forget her own birthday, but she failed and they clearly saw it. Gali sighed and dropped my head "I did"
Bruce laughed and gave her a hug. "Happy Birthday"
"Thanks"
When they let go, she saw her brother standing in front of the stove with a wooden spoon in hand.
"You're so old" he joked.
"You're older" She pointed out. He pulled her in for a hug and held her for a full minute.
"Happy Birthday pipsqueak"
"Thank you fruitcake"
Gali eyed the stove behind her brother and understood why he's cooking. He so rarely cooks, he only cooks on special occasions or to butter people up. Either way he's a good cook, and the brownies he makes... those are made by the angels.
Tony shooed his sister out of the kitchen so he can finish cooking. Gali went to the living room and flipped the tv on and to her delight The Brady Bunch is on. She's always said that the old tv shows are the best. I Love Lucy, The Brady Bunch, Mr Belvedere, Three's Company, Doogie Howser... She loves those tv shows.
The elevator doors opened, and Gali glanced over her shoulder and saw Kamilla. The strawberry blonde spotted her best friend and quickly ran towards her.
"Happy Birthday Lea!" Kamilla gave her a bone crushing hug.
"Thank you" Gali hugged her back with the same force.
She plopped herself on the couch next to Gali and grinned widely "It feels just like yesterday that it was at your ninth birthday party and you ate half of your cake before the guests arrived and your dad had to go out and buy another cake" Kami laughed.
"Then when my dad came back with the new cake. Tony tripped and brought my dad down and the cake was all over them" Gali added with a laugh "and then Jarvis, oh sweet Jarvis... he whipped out a cake he made the night before because he knew, he just knew that something was gonna go wrong with the cake" Gali smiled at the memory of that birthday.
Jarvis was prepared for everything. Him and his wife Ana were the nicest people Galilea had ever met. They would play with her, let her cook with them, took care of her as if she were one of their own.
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Ana couldn't have children because of an accident that happened back in the 50s, but they adopted. A boy named Matthew and a girl named Penelope. They were obviously much older than Tony and Gali but that didn't stop them from bonding like cousins.
Her train of thought was interrupted by Tony yelling that the breakfast is ready. Kami and Gali made their way to the table where Bruce is sitting at, playing on his phone. Kami sat across from him and they started talking.
The way he looks at her, my god it's so cute. He totally likes Kami. I'm so teasing him about this.
The table was all set up when Tony and Pepper joined. As they were eating Gali looked up at Bruce, he saw her, she flickered her eyes at Kami who's talking with Pepper and Tony, and looked back at him. He followed her sight to Kami, looked back at her and she winked, causing him to go red. Gali smirked and continued with her breakfast.
"Where's the party?! Thor and I brought drinks!" Clint yelled. They showed themselves and Clint is carrying a bottle of vodka.
"Does Thor even know what vodka is?" Kami asked.
"Of course he does!" Clint nodded. He then turned to Gali and gave her a hug "Happy birthday Gali"
"Thanks" She smiled. Thor was next to hug her.
"As mortals say... Happy birthday"
"Thanks Thor" She leaned in to whisper in his ear "Go to the kitchen" He seemed confused but didn't say anything as he turned on his heel and to the kitchen. She then turned to Clint.
"Vodka?!"
"Should've brought tequila instead?" He asked. Gali facepalmed but before she could say anything else Thor's loud voice was heard.
"Jane!"
"Jane?" Tony asked.
"Thor's girlfriend" Gali informed. Seconds later Thor ran over and gave her a crushing hug "can't... breath" She gasped out.
"Sorry" he let go and she felt her bones move back to place. Gali took in a deep breath. "Thank you Gali" he thanked. He called me by my name. That's some kind of accomplishment.
Jane walked in and Gali introduced her to the small group there. A few minutes later the elevator doors opened and out came Happy.
"Happy!" Hali ran to him. He wished her a Happy Birthday and then Tony went over to say hi to his friend.
A few more minutes later the elevator doors opened to reveal a grinning Natasha and Rhodey, and a blushing Steve. Happy went to a defense mode.
"Oh Happy, that's not going to happen again" Nat laughed.
"You never know" Happy said. She chuckled and once again Galilea received hugs.
They didn't stay in the tower for long because they went out for brunch and Tony got people to decorate the tower. Steve has never been to brunch so it was all new to him.
They got fruit salad, sliced fruits, butterscotch sticky buns, Gali got a jumbo strawberry muffin. The best word from that is the word 'jumbo'. French toast, French toast with raspberries, blueberries and blackberries.
After a delicious brunch, they roamed around the city until Tony told them to go home and change. He wouldn't let Gali see the decorations, even if she lives there. So she was confined to her floor of the tower, not that she was complaining.
She just hopes that Tony doesn't invite random people. Unlike him, she invites people that she actually knows. Sure he throws great parties but sometimes she feel that he invites half of the city.
The times he's thrown parties in the tower Galilea blocks all access to other rooms, they're only allowed to be in one or maybe two floors of the tower. But when he throws them in his house in California, that's his own business.
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Galilea does like big parties, but when it's her birthday she'd rather celebrate it with close friends. She confesses that for her 21st birthday she invited many people. But when it's small gatherings, her and Kamilla usually go to a bar with whoever wants to join, and then return home drunk.
At around eight Kami and Gali made their way down. The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened to reveal a beautifully decorated room. A big golden banner that says 'Happy Birthday Gali!'
Colorful balloons in big bunches that are around the room, food that she can't wait to eat, drinks, a big table with a bunch of beautifully wrapped gifts, music playing in the background, and much more decorations that she didn't pay much attention to because she was caught with the food.
"Why are there Iron Man cake pops?" Galilea asked as she grabbed one.
"Because every birthday party needs Iron Man cake pops" Tony said.
"I like the Harry Potter ones" She grabbed a Hedwig pop. She turned to her brother and hugged him "Thank you bro-ha. Everything's beautiful"
"You're welcome my wonderful little sister" he planted a sloppy kiss on her cheek.
"Ew, that's disgusting!" She wiped it off on his jacket.
"Come on, this is a $300 jacket!" He tried to push her away from him so she won't mess up his jacket. He's such a diva when it comes to his clothing, unlike me that I wear the first thing that I find in my closet.
"Hey, the birthday girl is here!" Clint exclaimed as he swung his arm around her shoulders "Here, have a brownie" he handed her a brownie.
"Did Tony make them?" Gali took a bite of the brownie and her question was answered with the delicious taste of the brownie. Tony bakes like the angels.
"Who knew Stark could bake this good" Maria Hill spoke up. Gali looked over at her to see her eating a brownie.
"Yeah, a little something I picked up after my mom" Tony informed. Of course he did, he was a mamas boy after all.
Gali looked at the others and saw them talking and noticed a particular couple talking with Thor. That couple being Emil and his wife Katherine. Emil is Kami's older brother and Katherine is Emil's wife and mother to their 5 year old son Leo. Gali didn't see Leo anywhere around there and she got a little sad. I love that kid. He's so cute.
Galilea acted as a bar tender for a while because she likes to make drinks and it's a great way to share stories. The bar they have is small but with Tony and his big parties, he modified the bar, he made it bigger so with a press of a button it expands and now there's room for everyone.
"Yeah and now I have a scar the shape of Santa Claus on the bottom of my foot" Gali frowned.
Tony just told them the story of when Gali was 10 and jumped off a kitchen counter and her foot landed on a Santa Claus shaped cookie cutter. What a stupid way to get hurt.
"After she got her foot cleaned up, she pressed her foot on the floor and left a bloody Santa silhouette on the floor" Tony added.
"Do you still have the scar?" Clint asked like an excited little kid.
"Yes, but there's no way I'm showing it now because I'm wearing a dress" she told him. He pouted. Tony shook his glass cup, the ice inside rattling.
"Hit me" he said. Gali hit his arm and he pulled away.
"Ow"
"You said 'hit me'" She acted innocent. The others chuckled. She grabbed a bottle of whiskey and poured some in his glass. Katherine rose her glass and tapped her finger on it, her nail clinking with the glass. She took it and made another margarita for her.
"Thanks" she smiled as she set the drink in front of her. Gali smiled back. Her eyes wondered to Steve who has an empty glass. She lightly tapped the table to get his attention.
"Would you like a drink Captain?"
"I would like one, yes" he nodded. She grabbed a cup, put ice cubes in it and started mixing drinks. She put a single mango slice in there and poured the red liquid in the cup.
"Here you go" she set the glass in front of him.
"Thank you" he smiled his amazing melt worthy smile. Pepper caught Gali's attention and she turned to her.
"Another martini Miss Potts?" Gali asked. She nodded. She took her martini glass and put extra olives.
"It's Gali's birthday and she's serving us drinks" Rhodey started "shouldn't it be the other way around?"
"No worries" Gali said as she shook the liquid in the cocktail shaker "I like making drinks" she poured the liquid in a glass and took a sip from it.
"Gali wanted to be a bartender before she even knew what a bartender was" Tony said "at parties she would stand behind the refreshment table and serve drinks to guests. She would be like 'Hello, what would you like to drink?' You know how girls had tea parties with their stuffed animals... well Gali did that but most of the times she would be serving drinks to Mr. Cuddles and talk like a bartender" Tony explained.
"I wanted to open my own bar" Gali took a sip from her drink.
"Who's Mr Cuddles?" Hill asked.
"My teddy bear from when I was a kid" Gali simply said.
"Well isn't that cute?" Happy teased.
"It's adorable" She bit into a cake pop.
Two hours later everyone dispersed. Some are hovering over the food table, others are enduring Clint's horrible singing, Kami is slow dancing with every single person in this room, and Galilea found herself back at the bar with a confused look on her face as Thor gave Steve some strong alcohol from his realm.
"So why can't I try it?" Galilea asked the god. Steve smelled the liquid in his cup and shrugged his shoulders.
"It's not meant for mortal men" Thor poured some in his cup.
"I'm not a man" She pointed out.
"It's not for mortals" Thor corrected.
"But Steve's a mortal. Why does he get to try?" Galilea whined.
"I can't get drunk" Steve simply said. Galilea huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.
Bullshit. Everyone can get drunk. But it's not fair. I want to try that foreign alcohol. It's out of this world. Literally... that alcohol is literally out of this world.
Galilea pulled out a tray of Jell-O shots from the mini fridge and slurped one down. If I can't drink what they're drinking, I'm taking shots.
"What's that?" Thor asked.
"Jell-O shots" Gali said between slurps of gelatin.
"Can I have one?" He eyed the colorful jello cups. Because Galilea is a nice person and doesn't wish to get drunk on jello, she shared with them.
"I like this" Thor nodded towards the Jell-O shots.
"They have vodka" it came out muffled because of the jello in her mouth. They chuckled.
"Oh cool, Jell-O shots" Hill took a small cup, handed another to Jane.
"I did it, I danced with everyone in this room" Kami said proud of herself.
Jane shoved a jello cup at Kami and she happily took it. Before anyone could do or say anything Tony pulled his sister away from the bar and moved her around as they danced. They settled down at a slow pace as an Ed Sheeran song played. Gali still had a small plastic cup in hand and she tried to take it but Tony took it and took the shot.
"That was mine" Gali frowned.
"There's more" he shrugged "now be quiet and dance with your brother" Gali complied and Tony and her danced in silence.
He can be a sweetheart at times. Especially when it comes to Galilea's birthday. He remembers the day his sister was born. He remembers when he was at the hospital and met his baby sister. Then they went home and she wouldn't stop crying.
It drove him crazy and he called the hospital to return her. Fortunately they don't do returns so he had to put up with her. He also said that as soon as Galilea started walking, there was no safe place for him to hide. She was always chasing him and wanted to be by his side all the time. She finds that kinda hard to believe. Probably trying to boost up his ego. Either way I love my brother... even if he is a pain in the ass.
"I miss them" Gali whispered, her head resting on his shoulder "I miss mom and dad"
"And Jarvis and Anna" he added. She nodded.
"And Jarvis and Anna"
Soon the song ended, she planted a kiss on Tony's cheek and made her way to the balcony. The city lights bright in the dark sky.
"She's been out there for 20 minutes now. What's she doing?" Jane asked.
Tony looked over at the balcony and saw his sister standing outside staring out to the city lights. The others are sitting around in the living room, some are sitting on the couches, others are sitting in chairs, or be like Clint and sit on the floor.
"She's a little upset" Tony informed.
"About?" Clint asked.
"Our parents" he replied.
There was a moment of silence until Steve got up and went outside to join Gali.
"Is it me or does Steve have a huge crush on Gali?" Katherine grinned.
"Huge crush" everyone said at the same time.
Tony kept his eyes on Steve and Gali. She talked with the man and his brother instincts kicked in. Anthony has to admit that Steve is much more better than Justin Hammer. Way much better. But him being him, he's a protective brother.
"Tony's jealous!" Clint laughed.
"Can't stand the fact that your sister might have a boyfriend soon?" Emil teased.
"And don't start with the 'she's too young crap'" Rhodes added.
Tony sighed and turned to look at his sister. Am I a jealous brother? Do I like Steve? Sure we had our disagreements back with the Loki thing but we're on good terms now. Would I be okay with him dating my only sister? I don't know. Maybe.
"Okay so while Tony is debating with himself, I got a plan" Kami cut short Tony's train of thought "if Steve doesn't ask Gali out by the end of the week, I'm gonna set them up on a date. I still don't know what I'll do, but I'll need your help. You guys in?"
They didn't even need to think about it before a chorus of "Yes" were heard. Amazing how they want Gali and Steve to be together.
They turned to Tony and he just blinked. He want Gali to be happy, especially after what happened with Justin. And he can see the happiness on Gali's face when she talking with Steve.
"Okay" He agreed "We should call it 'Operation get Spangles a date'"
They agreed and began planning. They stopped once Steve and Gali went back in ten minutes later.
"Time for cake!" Tony went to the kitchen to get the white three story cake.
He grabbed the sparklers and stuck them on the cake. He lit them up and they sparkled.
"Please don't burn me, please don't burn me" He grabbed the cake and went to set it on the table where everyone is standing around. Gali's eyes widened when she saw the cake.
"We are gathered here today for Galilea Stark's birthday. Gali-"
"This isn't a funeral Anthony" Gali cut her brother off.
He sent her a glare, clapped his hands twice making the lights go out, the only light are the ones from the sparklers. Tony thinks that the singing part is the best part because he says that he sings like the angels.
After the cake Gali couldn't wait anymore so she ripped open the presents. Not even delicately and paper saving like most people do... she went right in there and ripped the wrapping paper off the gift. Gali let out a loud gasp when she opened a small box.
"Thank you so much Thor!"
"What? What is it?" Happy asked.
"A necklace of frozen gemstones from the depth of Jountenheim" Thor said. Nothing from that sentence made sense to them. Gali was beaming of happiness from the gift she received from Thor.
"Alright, you're gonna make my gift look bad. Damn you Thor" Kami glared. Thor just smiled.
"You don't need to open it now, just read the card" Kami gave Gali a white envelope. Gali took a card out of the envelope and read what it says in the front.
"Somebody mentioned that this is the anniversary of when you popped out of a vagina or something. Anyway, Happy Birthday"
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