'Deny this emptiness, this hole that I'm inside, these tears, they tell their own story.'
Lay me down by Sam Smith and John Legend
A month and a half after the funeral, and Peter was back at the cabin where it took place.
He was babysitting Morgan for Pepper while she attended a few meetings, and he didn't know her that well, but she was just like Tony. The eyes, the hair, even some of her mannerisms were like him. But her personality was all her own.
"Daddy likes the orange ones." Morgan smiled as Peter pulled out a tray of orange juice pops out of the freezer. "He says they taste the best. I like the cherry ones though."
"Then why did you ask me to get the orange ones?" He asked playfully, pulling one out and handing it to her.
"Cause we ran out of cherry." She responded before putting it in her mouth. "And it makes me think about him."
Peter nodded, swallowing back a sob as he put them back in the freezer, and she looked at him with a confused face as he pulled a granola bar out of his pocket.
"You know, it's okay if you have one. I won't be mad"
"I gotta eat this before it goes bad. You know my aunt would be mad if I got food poisoning." He insisted, taking a bite of the granola bar, unable to pull away from looking the four year old in the eyes.
Cause those were Tony's eyes.
She pushed her stool up to the sink and washed her hands and face, before taking Peter's hand and leading him outside.
"I wanna show you something."
He followed her lead, and had to shield his eyes from the sunlight, before following her to a tent under a tree. She waved him in, and he had no choice but to duck and follow her inside.
She had seemingly decorated it with pillows on the floor and little boxes she clearly used to put up her drawings, and while he was admiring her drawing of Captain America, he felt a tap on his shoulder and saw her wearing one of the many Iron Man head pieces.
"Daddy doesn't like when I go in the garage, but Uncle Happy let me go in, and I took this. You know that this was his very first mask? Like, when he made the suit? He doesn't like keeping old stuff, but Mommy does." She put it on her head and kept talking. "All the heads are disconnected from FRIDAY, but it's cool still." She pulled it off, and offered it to him, with those big brown eyes. "Do you wanna put it on?"
"I'm okay, Morgan. But thank you." Peter smiled, swallowing back another sob, knowing just how much this kid was just like him. The mask even looked right on her tiny body. Big, yes, but it worked.
He was snapped out of his thoughts by Morgan squeezing him around the stomach, and placing the Iron Man mask in his lap.
"You know, Daddy wouldn't want us to be sad. He also would probably like it better if you had that mask. It's gonna be okay, though." She insisted, letting him go. "And it's okay to cry. Mommy says that's normal. Mommy and I both cried after I hugged you that night. I asked her for a story, and Daddy would always say "once upon a time, they all went to sleep, the end" and I would always tell him that's a horrible story, and he would say "that's your favorite story" , but when I asked her, she started to say it, and just started crying and hugged me. Then I started crying. But I know that wherever he is, that he is watching us, and still loves us."
Peter smiled, feeling his walls starting to break as he hugged the little girl tightly, and looked up at the top of the tent, hoping that she was right, and that he was looking at him right there.