Tony stands in the doorway of the new house in the all black suit he'd driven into town wearing. The air conditioning coming from the 2 story, 3400 square foot house is doing little to nothing to cool his face. Sweat is dripping down his temple, making it hard for his designer sunglasses to stay put on his perfectly curved nose.
Note to self, don't wear suits on 104 degree days.
"Is that it?" Peter asks, standing at his father's hip, a plastic terrarium clutched in his right hand that houses his pet tarantula, Flash.
"Yep."
"It's..." Peter can't find the right word; all he knows that it is definitely not Manhattan.
"I know," Tony sighs.
Peter pushes past Tony's legs and makes his way around the downstairs. This new house is modern with tile floors and granite counter tops but as Peter goes to check out the 2nd story the wood stairs squeak with each step Peter takes. This is definitely going to be an adjustment.
Peter makes his rounds through all the bedrooms and finally picks the one with the view of the backyard. From the room you can see the pond a few hundred yards back and the wrap around porch. Even still, it definitely doesn't have the beautiful lights of the Manhattan skyline that his old bedroom did.
He sets his terrarium on the floor and lies down next to it with a heavy sigh, suddenly feeling so alone. But alone is okay because alone is what Peter has; it's what he's always known. He's never been too good at making friends. He gets bullied in school a lot and he hopes that at his new school kids might finally be nice to him because he and Tony are definitely the richest people in town. Then again, the town isn't very big with a population of roughly 1600 residents.
Peter has already decided that everyone here is so weird. They wear denim tuxedos and overalls and ripped jeans but definitely not the good kind. Peter already feels like he and Tony are outsiders. Tony didn't do anything to help that complex when he opted to drive into town in the Audi R8. No one in Kiowa had ever seen such a car. The newest vehicle in town is 2 years old and when Tony drove down Main Street, disobeying the 20 miles-per-hour speed limit, people stared. Bruce would have never let Tony take the Audi. He would have insisted they drive the Suburban.
Suddenly Peter misses Bruce so bad and Peter feels even more alone.
He wishes Pepper were here but she isn't coming until tomorrow. Peter loves Pepper so much and he sort of thinks of her as his mom. When Tony leaves town to go on business trips he gets to stay with Pepper. He loves her because she makes him go to bed on time like Bruce used to do. She reminds him a lot of Bruce, except with long hair and lighter skin and the fact that she's a woman. Regardless, Pepper makes Tony behave just like Bruce used to. Pepper is always there for Peter just like Bruce used to be, especially when Tony leaves.
Peter hates it when Tony goes on business trips because he's so terrified that he won't come back. When Bruce left for a mission in Bosnia he promised Tony and Peter that it'd be okay. He'd never been there before and didn't really know what he was getting himself into. He promised things would be fine but they weren't; he came home on an airplane in a body bag.
Peter misses how Bruce used to tell him stories about the different countries he'd been to. When Peter had a bad day at school Bruce always made it better. Tony tries but he only ends up making things worse. But Bruce would bring Peter a bowl of ice cream and hold Peter on his lap and tell him stories. Peter loved the way Bruce told his stories. He made different voices for each character. It's been 14 months since he's heard one of Bruce's stories.
Peter loves Tony too but in a different way. Tony is the fun parent and lets Peter stay up until whatever hour he wanted when Bruce wasn't around. Tony would take Peter to the park and museums and fun places. Tony still does those things, just not as often because of his job. Judging by the size of town and the lack of entertainment options, it would be happening even less in the coming months.
Being alone for Peter is okay and everything but he's starting to get bored. He pushes himself off the carpet and walks downstairs in search of his dad. He weaves through the boxes and between the movers until he finds Tony in the kitchen on the phone.
"No. Yeah, okay, we should be here. No big plans. Thanks, Pep."
Tony slides his phone onto the counter and turns around, surprised to see his son downstairs.
"Hey, Champ!" Tony smiles, "Thought you'd gotten lost."
"No," Peter sighs.
"Guess who that was."
"Pepper."
Tony frowns, "How'd you know?"
"I heard you."
"Said she'll be here tomorrow. Well, what do you think of the house?"
"It's not New York," Peter grumbles.
"Yeah, I know."
Tony and Peter spend the better part of the afternoon telling the movers where to put the boxes. By Peter's bedtime they have most of his room arranged and Flash is set up in his regular tank on top of Peter's dresser. Tony tucks his son into the familiar bed with the familiar sheets but it isn't the same for Peter because this isn't home. Peter's very afraid that he may never begin to like this town. He doesn't even want to think about school yet.
Tony pulls the quilt up to Peter's chin, pressing a kiss to his forehead.
"Night, champ."
"G'night," Peter replies quietly. He waits until Tony's at the door to say, "Dad?"
Tony turns around, eyebrows rising in question.
"Is it okay if I still miss Papa?"
Tony looks away for a long moment. He isn't really sure why Peter would ask him such a thing. Maybe he misinterpreted something Tony said, or something he hadn't said. Maybe it's because Tony isn't exactly good at expressing emotion. He suppresses things so much that he feels like it's all going to come out at some point but it never does. He would never let Peter know that he was still sad about Bruce.
Tony finally looks back at his son with glossy eyes and doesn't trust his voice enough to speak, so he simply nods his head. Tony still misses Bruce, too.
