Tony watched fondly as Peter sat at the table barely able to see over the top of it devouring his fifth pancake. He had briefly wondered whether Peter still had his spider powers, with the amount the kid was eating it certainly looked like he still did, how such a tiny body could eat so much was honestly astonishing.

"Can I have 'nother daddy?"

Tony turned to look at the toddler raising an eyebrow at him, "what's the magic word Pete?"

"Pwease Daddy, can I have 'nother pancake"

Ruffling the boys hair Tony gave him another, boxes of supplies for the boy had arrived not ten minutes before and he really wanted to look through them but always eating at the table was a rule for big Peter so he had to ensure little Peter followed it too, and leaving the boy alone obviously wasn't an option.

Ten minutes later Peter had gone through another two pancakes and finally seemed to be finished eating. "C'mon little man let's go get you some clothes on," Tony told the boy who seemed eager to wear something other than Tony's too big shirt.

Pepper blinked when she entered the lounge unable to comprehend what she was seeing. Tony was kneeling on the floor hair a mess from running his hand through it in frustration holding a t-shirt in his hand. Peter was stood looking at the man arms crossed over his chest, wearing nothing but a pair of underwear.

Hearing her entrance Tony turned to look at his fiancée beseechingly. "Help me, he refuses to put clothes on. It's been ten minutes."

Pepper walks into the room fully and kneels down to be eye level with the boy she sees as her own. "Hey, Peter whats the problem? It's not nice being difficult for daddy, he's trying to help you, you can't walk around dressed in only your shorts baby." Her heart melts as Peter immediately looks down ashamed and digs his foot into the floor, his answer is so quiet she hardly hears him.

"Don't wike it."

"The t-shirt?" At the boy's nod she turns to look at her lover. "Did you let him choose Tony"

"I just took the top one! He's three Pep!" The man splutters confusion all over his face.

Turning back to her boy she looks into his eyes "Okay, you can choose what you wear Peter, I'll give you three shirts to pick from. But if you have a problem you have to use your words okay darling?" She pulls him into a hug at her words and almost misses his response.

"Yes mummy" She makes eye contact with Tony over the child's shoulder and sees tears in his eyes. She gives the child in her arms an extra squeeze before letting him go.

Five minutes later Peter is dressed. He has on soft black sweatpants and a light blue t-shirt with a dinosaur on the front, Tony's face when Peter had chosen that shirt over the Iron Man one was priceless!

While Pepper dressed Peter Tony called Bruce and Nat up to the penthouse to give him some help unpacking Peter's new toys and clothes. The two had wanted to stay afterwards but Bruce had to get in contact with Thor and Nat had been called into a meeting at SHIELD.

"What do you want to do then Pete?" Tony asks the adorable child sitting next to him on the couch.

"Paint"

"Good choice. Let's go to the table then, and you need an apron you don't want to ruin your new clothes after all."

Peter nods and sprints into the kitchen where Pepper helps him put an apron on, she had taken the full day off to be with Peter and reduced her meetings for the next week to make the most of the time they had together.

Within minutes Tony regrets allowing Peter to paint, the child was a menace! Sure Peter looked to be having the time of his life but he was covered in paint, thank god for that apron. The boy even had paint in his hair. Pepper had decided not to join in with the painting and Tony couldn't help but envy her slightly, she stood a bit away from the table camera in hand and notably totally paint free. Tony on the other hand was covered in paint, Peter had tried to hug Tony while covered in paint but hit the man in the face in his excitement. The little monster just giggled too!

Peter was in his element. He loved to paint, he had more paint here than May had, he had blue, red, yellow, green and pink but he didn't like pink so didn't use it…apart from in his picture for mummy because she wears pink shoes so must like it. He had done three pictures already, one for mummy with pink flowers, one for Dr Buce an' one for daddy, his one for daddy was his favourite it had mummy an' daddy an' Peter in it!

Tony looked at the painting which was still slightly wet that Peter was trying to force into his hands. He suddenly understood why some of his scientists had pictures drawn by their kids in their labs or on their desks, Peter's picture was a work of art. He knew he was probably grinning like an idiot but he couldn't find it within himself to care. "Let's leave this to dry Pete, then I'll put it on the fridge, how does that sound?" The child threw himself into his arms, he's take that as a 'that sounds good'. He turned to glare playfully at Pepper as she let out a laugh seeing Tony's high-end shirt covered in bright yellow paint.

"How about you two take a bath and I'll make us some lunch."

Tony nodded and stood still holding his son in his arms…he didn't want paint over the entire penthouse which he was sure would happen if he left Peter to walk to the bathroom. "C'mon then Peter Pan, let's get cleaned up then we can have PB and J sandwiches," he told the child as he jiggled him around in his arms slightly making him giggle loudly.

If Tony had known bathing a toddler would be so difficult he would probably have asked Pepper for help. Here he was, still covered in paint and sopping wet as his boy laughed at him from inside the tub. "Peter stop splashing me, you need to get washed so I can get clean after"

"Daddy in."

"No Peter I'm not getting in, I will after"

Unsurprisingly Tony did eventually fall victim to his son's doe eyes and ended up joining him in the tub still wearing his boxers. Peter looked adorable, he had been attempting to copy Tony's goatee with bubbles before trying to give the man himself a bubble beard.

"Come on you little monster, let's get washed up"

He grabbed the children's shampoo Pepper had ordered for them and gently washed the boy's curls being careful not to get any in his eyes. He made quick work of washing the child's hair but that then led to Peter wanting to return the favour and Tony trying not to swear when the kid got shampoo into his eyes.

"Hold out your hands Pete" he squeezed shower gel into the boy's hands as he took some for himself. "Go on then get washed Bambi, I don't want to see any paint on you at all." His eyes crinkled as he watched Peter mimic Tony's movements, he had never felt more like a dad than he did in that moment as his son copied him.

Her boys had been in the bathroom now for over half an hour, it was getting ridiculous, how long did a bath take? She had made their lunch and even cut up some carrots and left them in the fridge should Peter want a snack later. Sighing to herself she made her way to the bathroom knocking once before walking in. She was still holding her phone in her hand and snapped a quick photo at the scene before Tony could react to her presence and stop her.

Her fiancé was in the bath with their son playing some sort of war game with toy boats and rubber ducks. Both of them looked carefree and laughed without worry, she felt bad having to break it up to be honest. "Come on boys, lunch time" She grabbed a towel and pulled Peter from the bath laughing as we groaned in frustration at her actions. "Don't be like that Pete, you can have your lunch then we can call Aunt May, how does that sound?"

"May, May" the boy screeched trying to run from her arms still sopping wet.

"Let me dry you first baby, we have plenty of time to call May"

Peter hardly sat still throughout his lunch he was so eager to speak to his Aunt May but Pepper was firm and made sure he ate at least two sandwiches and a yogurt before he left the table.

Two minutes later the family of three was sat on a couch in the lounge facing the TV. "Call May Parker Fri"

May answered as soon as her phone rang and immediately brought a hand to her mouth in shock. There was her Peter, a toddler again. Sure Tony had told her what had happened but seeing it with her own eyes was something else. The child looked adorable, his curls making him look angelic, but she had raised the boy from the age of four and knew he could be an absolute terror when he wanted to be. "Hello, Petey what have you been up to?"

At his aunt's question Peter began to babble. "I woke up in the funny room an' Doc Buce looked in my eyes an' mouth. And I had pancakes with daddy…"

At the boy's words May looked at Tony who was avoiding eye contact clearly uncomfortable. "Tony, Tony I spoke to him a few days ago about it. I don't mind if he calls you dad. I know my place in his life it's fine, the same for you Pepper, Peter loves you both. He would have called you those names soon anyway this incident just sped it up."

Peter huffed, he was supposed to be talking to May! She was meant to look at him! Why was she talking to Daddy? "I'm still hewe May" he whined making the woman chuckle and turn back to him.

"Of course you are baby, sorry I shouldn't have interrupted you, what did you do after breakfast?"

"Painteded"

"Painted" Pepper corrected the boy smoothly, it didn't matter if Peter would only be a baby for a week she would make sure he spoke correctly, who knew if there would be some sort of carry over into his teenage life if she didn't?

"That…and I painteded Daddy, me an' Mummy. An' flowers an' Doc Buce.. Then I had a bath. An' played war boats ducks with daddy."

May nodded along as he spoke relaxing as he did so. Teenage Peter could be so solemn at times, he had a lot on his plate what with Spiderman, school, his internship…sure he loved all those things but sometimes she wished he took more time to just have fun. She looked up at the clock in her room and sighed, she would have to go unfortunately her shift started in half an hour.

"Pete, it's time I have to go, I'll call again in a few days."

Peter's face drops at her words and she feels horrible but she doesn't really have a choice. "Now be a good boy for mummy and daddy okay?" After she receives a nod from her boy she turns back to the two adults either side of him. "Thank you so much for this, I don't know what I would do without you. Take lots of photos and don't let him walk all over you he can be a terror at mealtimes, if you have any problems I'm just a call away."

The small family spend the rest of the afternoon playing with Peter's new toys just enjoying each other's company. By quarter past seven Tony and Pepper are both exhausted and thrilled Peter seems to be as well. He goes down easily without fuss which surprises them both, he had been running around all day they expected him to be too excited about his new situation to go to bed. But he willingly climbed into his bed wearing his new Iron Man pyjamas….this time all three choices were Iron Man and settled down as Tony read him a story.

Tony had barely read five pages when he looked up to see his child sound asleep clutching a small tiger to his chest. He stood up to leave wrapping his arm around his fiancée as he did so, they would have time for a movie or something now Peter was in bed. With both of them working so much it was honestly rare to get an evening just the two of them, they weren't too bothered for dates but sometimes a romantic evening was needed. "Tell me if Peter has any problems Fri" he ordered as he left the room ensuring the bedroom door was left open a crack in case Peter woke up scared of the dark in the night.