Tony comes into the living room where Pepper is sitting on the couch reading a book. Pepper looks up from her book. Tony is walking back and forth like he is thinking about something.
"where is the kid?" Pepper asks as she looks down in her book again.
"Happy is taking him home." Tony sounds distant like he is far away in his thoughts. He walks over and drops down next to Pepper.
"what are you reading?" he asks but doesn't sound all that interested.
"Sherlock Holmes," Pepper responds. Tony doesn't seem to listen. He is just staring straight ahead. Pepper puts her book away and leans closer to Tony. She places one hand on his chest.
"what is going on?" Pepper asks. He places her other hand in his hair and gently plays with his hair.
"do you think it is a mistake that I am mentoring him?" Tony finally asks and then looks at Pepper.
"no why?" Pepper isn't sure why Tony suddenly sounds so uncertain of himself and his project with helping Peter become a better spiderman. Tony has been so confident about it and Pepper has been the one who has doubted the project from the beginning.
"he almost got himself killed because he wants to be like me. what if I am a bad influence on him?" Tony says more as a statement than as a question.
"Tony… Peter adores you. He loves you. He wants you to accept him and he seeks your recognition. You are his hero…" Tony look at Pepper in disbelieve and Pepper now realizes what she just said. "okay in more than just being Iron man. He looks up to you as his parental guidance."
"yeah, maybe that is the problem."
"Tony listen." Pepper sits up and turns in her seat so she can look straight at him. "he seeks your advice and your acknowledgment. The way he wants to be like you is amazing. He loves you and the way you are when you are with him tells me that you love him as much as he loves you."
"I'm not exactly known to be the best role model, Pep."
That makes Pepper smile, but Tony isn't joking.
"Tony you have matured a lot with this and I can see how much you enjoy working with him. He is seeking your advice."
"yeah… my advice. I told the world I was Iron man and it got you kidnapped and I was so damn stubborn that you broke up with me. I never listen to you…" Tony is just staring straight ahead as he is talking. "you should be his mentor." Tony suddenly says and looks at Pepper. Pepper looks surprised at him. "no Tony."
Pepper places her hand on Tony's chest to get him to look at her.
"Tony… seeing you with Peter makes me really proud of you. You have grown so much." It warms his heart hearing that from her.
"today he asked me advice on how to ask a girl to a party," Tony tells her. Pepper recognizes the little smile and a little sign of pride that comes up on Tony's face.
"That is great," Pepper says not sure what to say to it.
"I shouldn't be the one he should ask those things," Tony says now serious again.
"why not?"
"I'm not his parent."
"he doesn't have his parents." Pepper reminds him.
"no, but he has his aunt." Tony reminds her.
"yeah…" Pepper laughs. She finds it a bit amusing that Tony almost sound freaked out about the trust Peter shows him. "Tony, when you were 14 and you needed advice, who did you seek advice from?"
"my father… no, actually that was Jarvis. My dad's butler."
"exactly." Tony looks confused so Pepper elaborates. "you sought guidance and advice from your male parental figure and so does Peter. You are his male parental figure."
That scares Tony. "I don't want to be that, Pep." Tony says and leans back and rest his head against the backrest and stares into the ceiling. "what if I screw up? That is on me."
Pepper snuggles into Tony and rests her head on his chest.
"the fact that you are scared of screwing up actually just convinced me that you are a great parental figure for him…" Pepper closes her eyes and just listens to the sound of Tony's heartbeat. Tony places his hand on her back and gently runs his fingertips down her spine. "or you could be in the future," Pepper adds still with her eyes closed. Tony suddenly looks down at her with widened eyes. "what did you just say?" he asks with a terrified voice that amuses Pepper.
"Sit Still Tony I am trying to relax."
Tony leans his head back again. He would be lying if he said the thought of fatherhood hadn't popped into his head several times recently but at the same time the thought terrifies him. But the thought of him and Pepper raise a child together might not be as far away as he might have thought after today, but… Maybe he already… kinda… is raising a child in his own Tony Stark way.
And with his fiancée Peppers help and guidance maybe mentoring Peter Parker isn't a bad idea after all…
