(This is my Christmas present to the Iron Man Community :) Thanks for all the reviews and for reading my stories! Merry Christmas! Alrighty, I don't own any of the Marvel characters)

Letters to Santa

Dear Santa,

I'm sorry I took apart the TV, and the pool vacuum. I think we can look past this though and come to an understanding. I did make it better. The pool vacuum doesn't get clogged anymore and the TV…I put it back together! I'm sorry about the coffee table too. I didn't know that mixing peroxide with bleach would result in that. My Mom likes the new coffee table she bought though. But, I think I've been good this year despite these mishaps.

What I would like for Christmas is a yellow remote control porche to go with my red mustang, Robbie the robot and for my dad to be here on Christmas.

Thanks, I'll make sure mom leaves out some good cookies for you :)

Tony

The company family Christmas Eve party was a success. Both men in red had shown up (Santa and Iron Man) for the kids and every child left with a smile on their face. It had been one of the best family parties in Stark Industries history. Virginia "Pepper" Potts was very pleased at how well the party had gone. It was 9 o'clock now and most everyone with children had left and those without kids were now getting ready to leave.

There were chairs lining the wall and Tony had taken a seat in one of them. It had been a long night but a good one. He saw his P.A. approaching and smiled at her. Tony held up his champagne glass in her direction, "This will be the first Christmas Eve I'll remember what happened…Day and Eve actually." He took a sip and observed her expression. She was standing there smiling at him and then she started to chew on her lip, looking thoughtful. There certainly was something on her mind.

"What?" Tony questioned.

Pepper looked down and then back up at Tony, "Well…"

"What, Potts? What is it?" he wanted to know what was going on in that mind of hers.

She sighed, "That can't be true." He raised an eyebrow and she sat down next to him, "You have to remember at least one Christmas when you were a kid." Pepper looked at her boss for a response.

Tony swirled the liquid in his glass not making eye contact with her. "I try not to." He took a swig of his drink.

"They couldn't have all been that way." She put a hand on his arm.

Tony glanced at Pepper's hand and then at her, "They were."

Pepper's hand slid back down into her lap as did her eyes. She had a sorrowful expression on her face now. Tony hated having someone pity him and he hated it when Pepper looked that way. He wanted to avoid causing her heartache as much as possible. Tony took a sip from his glass and sighed. He stared at it in thought.

"I just thought maybe…" Pepper stopped, she didn't know where to go from here.

Mr. Stark spoke up, "Mom tried really hard…I remember when I would write letters to Santa."

Virginia looked over at Tony and blinked in astonishment. He rarely spoke about his parents as it was a touchy subject for him. She stayed enthralled with what he had to say.

He smiled slightly, "She was really clever with the whole thing. Mom would go to great lengths to make me believe that she had actually mailed my letters. Every year Santa would get me exactly what I had asked for. I was amazed at his accuracy." He chuckled softly and then his smile faded, "Every year, every single thing on my list…except one. One year, it didn't happen…that was the year I stopped believing."

Flashback…

The Stark residence was decked out with all the holiday cheer. There was a beautiful Christmas tree in the living room by the window. All the stockings were hung above the fireplace (with care). Christmas had never looked so festive.

Little Anthony "Tony" Stark was waiting with anticipation on the couch. He held a remote to a remote control car he was playing with. Maria Stark was in the other room on the phone. She was having a heated conversation with someone on the other line.

Tony was getting tired of waiting to open his gifts. He got up off of the couch deciding it was time to shake the boxes underneath the tree to figure out what they held inside. He set the remote down on the table and headed over to the tree. Tony smirked, picked up a gift and shook it next to his ear. He liked the yellow and red wrapping paper that adorned the outside of this rectangular shaped box. The young Stark began his game of guessing what was inside when he heard his mother loudly speaking in the other room. Tony considered whether he should continue with he was doing or see what mom was up to. Curiosity getting the better of him, he set down his present and tip toed over to the other room. He hoped that everyone would be ready to open gifts now. Tony got close enough to hear the conversation his mom was having without being seen.

"That's not the point Howard, it's the principle of the-" She was cut off by Tony's father on the other line. She continued, "It's Christmas day! Christmas day, one day out of the whole 365 day calendar and you are telling me that you simply can't make it?" She paused again as he talked. Maria shook her head, "You hoped I'd understand? What about your son, Howard? Will he understand? It was the last thing that he asked Santa for, Honey…you." Maria was beginning to tear up as she thought of how disappointed her son would be.

(Howard: "He has to learn it's all a fairytale sometime. This will help him to move on. I don't have time for these silly affairs, I'm on the brink of a major break though…something spectacular.")

She bit her lip, her insides boiling over, "Something spectacular happens here everyday, it's called your son growing up! Merry Christmas, Howard!" She hung up the phone and growled in frustration. Then the tears started to fall as she began to sob.

Tony blinked in shock as he felt his own tears welting up. He sat down on the floor and shook his head in confusion. "No." Santa wasn't real and dad wasn't coming. He hit the floor with an angry fist, "No!" Tony felt his body begin to shake as his tears started to fall.

"I kept it together for mom and never let her know that I heard the conversation. I didn't write anymore letters after that year." Tony in took a breath, "the year without Santa Claus." He swirled the liquid in his glass once more and looked over at Pepper. Her look of sorrow was gone, and she now wore one of understanding.

Her eyes were somewhat watery and she placed a hand on Tony's arm, "Maria sounds like a great mother."

Tony smiled slightly, "She was…she would have liked you. You're bossy like she was." Pepper chuckled lightly and Tony grinned. "Merry Christmas, Miss Potts." He put his free hand over hers.

"Merry Christmas, Tony." She replied softly.