I do not own anything Marvel. All properties mentioned belong to their respective owners.

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SuperFamily: A New Addition

Chapter 14

It was almost eleven o'clock when Tony finally woke up from his difficult night of sleeping. His eyes slowly opened as the bright sunlight poured in from the window and onto his face; his ears perked slightly to the hum of the room's air conditioner.

When his eyes were fully opened, Tony looked up at the white ceiling and then turned to the empty side of his bed; a small photo of him and Steve on the bedside table caught his attention. It made him think about his beautiful husband on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean and he frowned when he realized he would get no morning kisses.

"What will I have for breakfast?" The sleepy inventor asked himself as he sluggishly sat up against the wall behind his bed, "Maybe Carol has something ready."

Tony scratched his messy bed head and slumped his shoulders as he silently planned his day; he felt a sense of abnormal peace, a peace he hadn't felt for a while.

"Good morning, sir." JARVIS greeted him.

Tony scratched his goatee and then reached down and did the same to his chest, "Morni-" he swallowed his words when his fear had set it, "Holy shit. Peter."

Tony immediately jumped out of his bed in a frenzied panic; he yanked at the covers and threw them onto the carpeted floor. Nothing. He did the same to his pillows. Still nothing. He could feel sweat forming underneath his shirt and his breathing became heavy.

"Sir, are you alright?" JARVIS was concerned, "Your heart rate has elevated dramati-."

"Not now JARVIS!" Tony barked; the tension in his voice scared him a little, "Where are you? Steve is gonna kill me."

Tony fell to his knees and lifted the bed frame a few inches to check if the baby had fallen and rolled underneath; Peter wasn't there. The panicked man ran over to the crib, maybe he had placed the baby there in the early hours of the morning and had forgotten.

Again, he wasn't there.

"How the hell did I lose a baby?" Tony pulled at his hair in frustration and anxiety, and continued his desperate search for Peter.

"Sir."

"Not now!" Tony yelled as he ran into the closet and pulled out the hanging clothes, only to find that the little space was empty.

"Why would he be in a closet?" Tony asked himself. He was baffled by his own rare case of stupidity.

Tony sat down on the edge of his bed and looked at the mess he had made; bedsheets, pillows and clothes were scattered on the floor, and almost every closet and drawer had been left open. He rested his face in the palms of his hands and let out a sigh of defeat, he had finally surrendered his search.

"Mr. Stark, if I may speak."

"What?" Tony snapped. But his ears perked when he heard a soft giggle through the closed bedroom door, "Peter?"

"Sir, if you had let me finish."

"Shut up, JARVIS." Tony said as he walked out the door in his pajamas; leaving his mess behind.

Tony quietly crept through the hallway towards the living room. He had stopped sweating but his body was still cold from his moist skin and his own nervousness. Tony pushed forward and he could hear the giggling get louder as he turned the corner to face his couch. His tense shoulders quickly dropped and he let out a silent sigh of relief.

There, in his living room, was a redheaded woman sitting on the couch playfully holding Peter above her head; a wide smile on the baby's face. It was Pepper.

"What the hell, Tony?" He thought to himself; his arms were crossed and he dropped his head in disappointment, "The kid's not even yours."

He looked back up at the woman and child in his living room; Peter had seen him while he was in the air, and his eyes had locked onto Tony's. Pepper didn't notice.

"Uhh, why do you have Peter?" Tony shoved his hands into his pajama pockets and leaned on the wall corner behind him.

"Oh my god!" Pepper jumped up, screamed, and instantly pulled Peter to her chest, "Don't do that!"

Tony smirked at her reaction, "So?"

"I came over early; to check on you and Peter." Pepper sat on the couch again and watched as Tony did the same beside her, "While I waited for you to wake up, he started crying and you wouldn't wake up to get him to stop. So, I went into your room and took him out."

"You went into my room?" Tony sounded playfully offended, "What if I was naked?"

"You and I both know that I've seen you naked before." Pepper laughed, "And with another person in the bed too."

Tony tilted his head in confusion. Pepper had walked in on him and Steve in bed a few times before, be he didn't fully understand the implication.

"Peter was in your bed." Pepper said with a smile.

"No, he wasn't."

"Yes, he was. On your chest too."

"Nuh-uh." Tony stood up and walked towards the kitchen, "You were seeing things, shoulda slept some more."

Pepper readjusted Peter in her arms and kissed him softly on the forehead as the baby snuggled deeper into the woman's arms and let out a quiet yawn. She looked up as Tony re-entered the room with a cup of steaming coffee.

"You made coffee for me?" Tony sipped his hot beverage, "You're so sweet."

"Of course." Pepper turned away, "That's not all, Tony. I got some work done for you too. Now it's your turn."

Tony grunted his displeasure. All he wanted was to stay home, play with his toys, and do nothing else; Pepper ruined his day very early.

"It's Monday, Tony." Pepper scolded him, "You need to work, I can't manage Stark Industries all the time you know."

"Ugh, fine." Tony sat in the armchair across Pepper and Peter, and reached for his tablet on the coffee table, "What do you have for me?"

"Two things. I pushed your meeting with Norman Osborn to one o'clock today, and-"

"Shit." Tony pulled at his hair and looked at the email Pepper had sent an Oscorp representative, "Do I have to meet with him today?"

"You've pushed back your meeting with him for almost two weeks." Pepper looked at Tony sternly, "You need to see him."

"Fine." Tony grumbled and then sipped more of his coffee; he almost spat it out when he read through Pepper's email," You told him I have a kid here? He's not gonna take me seriously now! This is gonna ruin my image."

"Your image, Tony? Really?" Pepper readjusted Peter again, "Mr. Osborn is a professional, Peter's not gonna change that. So don't worry about your image, Mr. Genius-Billionaire-Playboy-Philanthropist. Just go to the meeting and figure out your business plan."

Tony frowned, "What else?"

"Steve called."

"What did he say?" Tony's face immediately lit up at the sound of his husband's name.

"To call him back." Pepper smiled at Tony, "Said he landed a few hours ago and that he wanted to check on his boys."

Tony quickly combed his fingers through his messy hair to make himself look presentable and pressed through a series of buttons on his tablet, "JARVIS, call Steve." He looked up at Pepper who flashed him a wink and a warm smile.

"Dialing Captain Rogers."

Tony tapped the side of his device as he waited for his husband to receive his call; the seconds he waited felt like an eternity.

"Hey hun!" Steve said cheerfully as his face finally flashed onto the tablet screen.

"Steve!" Tony grinned, "Pepper said you called. I was asleep, so you know. How was your flight?"

"Yeah, she told me." Steve scratched his blond head when he noticed Tony's messy combover, "Flight was great, not much turbulence and I did get some sleep. When Clint was awake, of course." Steve laughed; his perfectly white teeth flashed when the caught the reflection of the lights in the room.

Pepper grinned when she heard Steve laughing on Tony's tablet. She looked down at Peter in her lap who was now smiling too and proceeded to make silly faces with him.

"Where are you?" Tony asked as he admired the complex computer set-up behind his husband.

"We're in the palace, actually." Steve turned around to look at the room behind him; Natasha and Clint were working on one of the units, "It's amazing here, Tony. You'd love it."

Tony smiled, but his eyes frowned, "You've met with T'Challa already? What did he say?"

"Yeah, we met with him as soon as we landed." Steve responded and then turned to fully face his screen again, "Well, he welcomed us with his… What are they called? His Dora Milaje. Then he took us into the palace for a meeting, he said he found some evidence that suggests Red Skull is involved here. But that's all we have. Now we have a little down time, trying to catch up on lost sleep."

"Right." Tony nodded, "Well, I guess I better let you rest the-"

"Wait!" Steve interjected, "I wanna see Peter."

Tony looked at Pepper, who instinctively looked up and made eye-contact with Tony. She stood up with Peter and walked over to the armchair that he boss was sitting on, "Wanna say hi to Steve?" She playfully asked the baby in her arms.

Tony took Peter in one hand and held the tablet in the other, "There's Steve, Peter. Say hi."

Peter's eyes widened at the sight of the familiar friendly face on the screen. His smile widened as well and he reached out at the tablet as if to touch Steve's face.

"Hi, Peter!" Steve said with a sing-song voice and a wave, "How's taking care of Tony going?"

Tony looked at the baby and felt himself smile, though he didn't know why.

"Tony let him sleep on your bed!" Pepper called from the couch.

"Wha-?" Tony glared at her. His face turned red; a mixture of embarrassment and anger, "I did not!"

The red-faced inventor looked back to his husband, his were eyebrows slightly furrowed and his lips were pursed. His flurry of emotions quickly died down, however, when he noticed that Steve was smiling widely on the screen. Tony let out a sharp breath and the redness in his cheeks faded into his normal hue.

"That's real sweet, Tony." Steve said lovingly, "Thank you."

Tony looked away and blushed, "Don't get used to it Steve. He knows it was only for one night. Right, kid?" He gently lifted Peter; making the baby smile.

"So." Steve said after a few seconds of silence, "Any plans for today?"

"Not really." Tony said; a slight hesitance in his voice, "Just gonna stay home. The usual."

Pepper cleared her throat without looking up from her cellphone, which was now in her hands.

"I have a meeting with Osborn." Tony admitted after flashing a quick glare at his assistant, "It's at one o'clock, though. And it shouldn't take too long."

"What about Peter?" Steve raised one eyebrow; making Tony swoon silently, "Where's he gonna stay?"

"Oh, with Pepper." Tony responded confidently and looked at Pepper, "She'll take good care of him. Right, Pep?"

Pepper looked up from her phone with her mouth opened in disbelief, but she made no comment so not to worry Steve. Tony winked at her before turning to look at Steve again.

Steve chuckled, "Well, I should probably get going. Maybe catch a few winks."

"Alright, call me when you can." Tony said, "Say bye, Peter."

"Bye!" Steve waved at the smiling baby, "Bye, Tony. Love you."

"Love you too, Cap."

The screen turned black as Steve ended the call. Tony felt himself frown a bit, but he could hear little Peter giggling away in his lap.

"That was sweet." Pepper looked up from her phone with a warm smile on her face. "Tony?" She noticed that the man was frowning at Peter, so she stood up to walk nervously to the two, "Tony?" She asked again

Tony looked upset but said nothing for a while.

"Take him, Pepper." He finally spoke as he held the baby out to the woman, "I gotta go eat."

Pepper immediately took the boy and watched Tony stand up, "What about him?" She called out to Tony as he walked back into the kitchen.

"Who?" Tony replied as he stuck his head into the refrigerator, "Peter?"

"Yes, Peter."

"Oh, he's got formula in here." Tony closed the metallic fridge door and turned around to see that Pepper and Peter were now behind him.

Pepper's right eyebrow was arched high and both of her hands were wrapped tightly around the baby.

"Oh? You think I'm gonna make it?" Tony asked sarcastically, "You're gonna have to make it yourself." He walked away with a cold donut in his mouth and one hand waving in the air, "I've got to prep for my meeting with Osborn."

"I'm surprised you can stand him." Pepper said to Peter who flashed another smile at her, "C'mon, let's get you some breakfast."

Hello everyone! First off, I just wanted to apologize for taking so long to update. School got real busy again and I suffered from a severe case of writers' block (glad that's over now). Anyways, thank you so much for reading! I'm not super happy about how this chapter ended, but I love the first half, hope you did too! Hopefully, I'll be able to get the next chapter out soon.

Please feel free to leave reviews and let me know what you think! I love reading what you have to say and I love getting notifications from you guys. It really pushes me to keep writing. I really love being able to create stuff you like reading!

Until next time,

-B