Konoewpl: Thank you!

drainednerves: Thanks so much!

sillysammijo: Thanks a bunch! I didn't want it to be snail-slow, but I figured something like this would realistically take a bit of time, lol.

Belbelanne: Oh, Obie has some plans, trust me...

RosePetal7: Thanks so much for the review!

Idiotic Brainspark: Howard Stark, holding his newborn son: "What is this?" Lol but seriously thanks so much!

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Okay, so...This story has all its current chapters (up to number 25) on AO3 right now. I've been exclusively updating to AO3 because...IDK, I'm stupid I guess. Anywho, so sorry for all the people who were waiting for the next chapters even though they were ready :I I'm going to be posting all the chapters over these next weeks-at least once a day, but remember, if you want to go ahead and get waaaaaaaaaaaay caught up on the story, you can find it on AO3. Title and my username is the same!

Tony didn't like, at all, bringing up the conversation only four hours after Ben's best friend's funeral, but time wasn't infinite for them. He was technically supposed to fly out tomorrow, and he hadn't told Pepper that yet. He also had to admit that he was running on adrenaline at that point and didn't want to run out.

Ben was alone in the apartment. May was out with Peter, but he didn't give any more detail than that. Tony took a guess that she was trying to cheer the poor kid up. For all he knew, Peter was still sobbing his eyes out. Richard was MIA. No one knew where he was.

Their greetings were a lot cooler than the last time they'd seen each other. Tony didn't know if Ben had expected him to come to the funeral, and he probably never would. Maybe Ben was mad, maybe he was still grieving, maybe he was just being awkward. It took some chitchat and coffee before Tony finally managed to say what he wanted to say.

Ben didn't balk, nor did he smile. He accepted it fast enough, albeit with an understandable confusion.

"You sure?"

"I'm pretty sure I'm sure."

Ben took a deep swig of coffee, except he'd run out a minute ago. Considering he didn't so much as blink, he didn't notice. Tony decided Ben needed more sleep than he did. The poor guy was still dressed in the suit he'd worn to the funeral. His striped tie was haphazardly looped around his neck.

"Can't say this is what I thought we'd be talking about," Ben mumbled.

"I realized on the way over that this might not be the time and place to talk about this. But I also can't think of what would be a good time and place, so."

"Yeah. Um…" There came the hand to scratch at his stubbly cheek. That was his tic the way that Richard's was stammering, Tony had learned. He guessed he needed to be paying attention to everything now. "I mean, obviously—this isn't my decision. We're going to have to do a lot, a lot of talking."

"I know this isn't going to be a one-conversation thing. Just know that I'm extending my stay here in Queens, and I'm prepared to do what needs to be done."

He really needed to tell Pepper. Happy also wasn't, well, happy that Tony had once again dashed off without him. "The apartment" worked well enough as an answer, though.

Tony was definitely, absolutely, unquestionably pushing any doubts deep, deep down before they could even become proper thoughts. This was just like skydiving, right? If you freaked out and thought of every bad thing that could happen, you got cold feet. You just had to go for it before you could second-guess it.

Maybe skydiving wasn't a good comparison to taking in a child. Hm.

This was going to have to be a step-by-step process, he decided. There were two ways of overthinking this whole thing, and neither of them were good. Step one was to just get the ball rolling. No plans could be made until he got the 'okay'.

Ben's hand couldn't stopped moving, it seemed. First he was scratching his cheek, then he was rubbing his brow, then he was running a hand down his face. The conversation had turned him as fidgety as a kindergartener.

"I know I literally just asked, but you're sure that this is what you want to do?"

"I can't say I don't understand your questioning, Ben, but if you don't mind, could we maybe wait until May gets here? I feel like maybe she should be here for this, too."

Ben nodded before he was even finished. "Yeah, yeah. You're right. Of course."

So they waited. It took a short while, but May and Peter finally returned home from wherever they were. Tony had by sheer chance been in the bathroom when they arrived, so he was spared the image of little Peter in a black suit and puffy red eyes. From the other side of the door, he heard May and Ben's voices muffled, somber.

The conversation picked up shortly after that. May's reaction was a little different from her boyfriend's.

Which was to say, she was livid.

"What the hell?! No!"

The sudden whip of her voice had Tony and Ben both shifting in their seats just a bit. She at once looked regretful—not for her anger, but for almost waking Peter in his bedroom. He'd apparently been tuckered out as soon as they came in.

May's eyes were wide open behind her glasses. Hands on her hips, auburn hair bright against her black dress, Tony had never seen her so intimidating.

Ben cleared his voice in a teeny little cough. "I think we all need to sit down and talk about this—"

"Talk about what?" demanded May. "This is a terrible idea! There's nothing else to talk about."

Tony raised a finger. This could have very well been one of the most awkward situations in his whole life. "I had some points prepared."

May's eyes somehow managed to harden and soften on him at the same time, same as her voice. Terse but calm, she told him, "Tony, I like you, alright? I do. But you cannot take Peter back to Malibu; he can't live with you."

"I am neither agreeing nor disagreeing—" So familiar was he with May that Ben didn't so much as flinch when she rounded on him. "—but I think we need to get into the why."

"Why? Why. Okay. Here's why." May pressed one finger hard to another. "One: Peter has lived here his whole life and moving all the way to Malibu is too big a change."

Here Tony interjected. "Malibu is a fantastic city, if I do say so myself, and I will do whatever it takes to make it feel like home."

"Two: all of his friends are here, including us."

"Five-year-old friends, which he will make more of at the best school Malibu has to offer. I would do absolutely nothing to keep you separated from him. Plus, Richard would only be forty minutes away, tops."

"Three: he met you two days ago."

"Which I am terribly, terribly sorry about, and which is why I intend to make this a very easy process for him. It is my full intention to read every parenting one-oh-one book that I can get my hands on." May's glare was withering. "I'm not expecting an immediate Brady-Bunch bond. I want to get to know him, I want him to get to know me. He'll be able to call you at any time of the day."

"Four: his mother just passed away, her funeral was a few hours ago, and now you want him to move across the continent with a stranger?"

"…I have no response to that."

May heaved out a great gust of air and grabbed a fistful of her hair. "Where is this coming from?"

"I honestly think it's been in the back of my head this whole time, I just needed a walk in the park to get it out."

Ben hummed. "Where'd you go?"

"Corona."

"It's nice when there's not much of a crowd."

"I noticed!"

May snapped her fingers at both of them. "Don't change the subject!" She took a step closer to Tony and leaned forward, eyes hard as rock behind the lenses. "This isn't something that you decide in just two days."

"May, I don't know what you want me to say. I want to take care of him and watch him grow older. The kid's got a grip on me."

"Can you honestly look me in the eye and say that all you want is for Peter to be taken care of?"

"Yes."

Thankfully, the sincerity in the one word was enough for May to stand upright again. She watched him for a long moment, eyes roaming over each inch of his face. It was the same look she'd given him yesterday after their dinner together with Richard. She couldn't read minds, but she could read faces.

May finally tore her eyes away to pace around the living room. Now it was Ben's turn to let out a great sigh.

"Okay," he said, "maybe I'm playing devil's advocate here—"

Tony pointed up a finger again. "I'd appreciate not being called the devil."

"Sorry—but just thinking from the other side of the coin, I think Tony should have some say here. He is Peter's father."

"Since when?" snapped May, but the glance she sent Tony's way was apologetic. Tony couldn't deny some hurt, but neither could he deny that it made sense. "I'm not going to say that Mary made the right or wrong choice not telling you, Tony, but it was a choice she made. Yes, you're Peter's father, but you're also a stranger he doesn't know."

"Like I said, I'm not pretending otherwise. I swear to both of you, I have been thinking about this a lot, and—I'm not going to vent about my life story, but I can put myself in Peter's shoes here. The way that I see it, this can go three ways. The first is that I never see or talk to him again, which is going to upset him and me both. The second is that I visit as much as I can, but that's going to be a very awkward life with no satisfaction for either of us. The third is what I'm proposing right now. It'd be a real awkward start, don't get me wrong, but I think we could work up a—a real, father-son bond. Or something. Something along those lines."

Ben looked from him to May. "He has a point."

"Why does it have to just be those three, though?" countered May. "What makes you think he won't be happy otherwise? I'm really, really not trying to be mean here, but it sounds like you're saying being with you is, like, the only thing that can ever make Peter happy. My dad was in the military, I saw him for half the year at most. I was still perfectly happy."

Ben looked from May to him. "She has a point."

Tony swallowed the seemingly permanent lump in his throat and stood up to his feet. Ben stiffened up on the armchair, probably thinking that a shouting match was about to ensue, but Tony liked to think he was as cool as a cucumber. May didn't step back an inch from him as he approached.

"I'm not saying I'm his only key to happiness," he told her. "That's ridiculously self-centered."

"I agree."

"I'm glad you agree. What I'm saying is that it might have been better if I'd never come here at all."

Every muscle in May's face scrunched together. "What?"

"Hear me out. I wanted to meet him. I wanted to meet him very much. Now that I've met him, and now that he knows me, I'm afraid that I've put both of us in a very awkward situation. I remember what it's like to be a kid, alright? When you're a kid, you're taught a lot of rules, and when something goes against those rules, you get very confused and upset. You with me?" May nodded reluctantly. "Okay. Peter knows what a dad is, he sees them on TV and he reads about them. He probably sees his friends get picked up by their dads every day. He knew that his dad wasn't around; that was the rule. Now his dad finally came, but he's kind of, sort of leaving again, so I can only imagine that he is ridiculously confused at the moment."

"You don't think living with a stranger will also be confusing?"

"It'll be a lot less confusing, in my opinion."

Ben finally joined in. Though he, too, stood up to his feet, he kept himself right in the middle of them. He still wasn't taking one side or the other.

"My mom left my dad when I was six," he told Tony. "I knew what was happening. I hated it, but I knew what was happening. I hear what you're saying, but I think Peter's capable of figuring out what's going on."

May nodded. "And if you ask me, there's no outcome to this that isn't going to be stressful to a five-year-old. Will he understand? Sure. But it doesn't matter whether you never see him again, or if he lives with us while you visit, or if he lives with you while we visit. I can't even put that all on you, that's just how things are now. I'm just trying to figure out a plan that will give him a pinky's less trouble. Right now, that's between people who have known him his whole life and a person who's known him for forty-eight hours."

"Maybe I'm misrepresenting myself here: I'm not saying he'd be with me exclusively. Like I said, you'd be able to call him anytime, anywhere. He can come see you, or you can come see him, whenever."

"Why can't we just do that the other way around?"

"Alright, alright, alright." Ben pressed one hand to Tony's chest and one hand to May's. He waited for some of the steam to waft away from them before continuing, "Let's backtrack and cool down for just a second, because as far as I'm concerned, we have two sides here. Tony is Peter's father, he wants to be Peter's father, he's more than capable of looking after him, and he wants Peter to be as comfortable as possible. On the other hand, like May said, we've known Peter a lot longer, Queens is Peter's home, and this would be a lot to take in right now."

"I'd also like to add that he's one of the busiest men alive right now," May cut in.

Feeling petty but adamant, Tony cut in, "I'd like to add that money would never, ever be an issue."

"Al-right." This time Ben pressed them gently until they stepped back from one another. For a man who didn't have children of his own, Ben had mastered the fatherly quit fighting look down to a T. "Putting all that aside, I think we need to focus on one thing first and foremost: what does Peter want?"

Tony didn't freeze. Did he? No, he didn't freeze. He just…felt his fire die out.

May didn't look away from him for a moment. "I'm going to take it you haven't asked him?"

"I'll admit it hasn't crossed my mind."

"I need a drink." May shouldered past both of them to make her way to the kitchen. They heard the refrigerator door creak open. "I'm cracking open the beer I've been hiding behind the hot sauce. Don't look at me."

Ben didn't look at him when they were left alone; he just picked up his empty mug and went for the sink. All the while, he kept rubbing and scratching his face.

There went all the adrenaline Tony had pumping, all replaced by humiliation.

What the hell was he thinking?!

Of course Peter wasn't going to want to live with him! He couldn't make himself keep eye contact with Tony for more than five seconds, there was no way in hell he was going to willingly go live with him all the way across the continent. Considering the way kids' minds worked, he might even hate Tony for even posing the question. He wants him to leave Aunt May and Uncle Ben? Forever? No! Go away!

This had to be reality grabbing him by his collar and slapping him awake. May had been right; Tony could visit regularly and Peter could be perfectly happy. He'd broken the envelope, he'd crossed every line. Not only was he going to have to be careful about his relationship with Peter, he'd be walking on eggshells around Ben and May for the rest of forever.

The phone in his pocket buzzed for the hundredth time that day, it seemed. Expecting Obie or Happy, Tony fished it out just so he could shut it up.

The caller ID read Virginia.

"Uh—I have to take this."

Ben waved him on, and May didn't look at him. He almost moved for the doorway, but figured an apartment building hallway wasn't the best place to have a conversation. Nor did he want to do it in the room.

Fire escape it was, then. May did look up at him when he drew the window open and crawled out. Probably confirming that yes, he was weirder than she thought.

He made sure to keep his face mask up before he answered. Never knew when a camera would be ready to snap a picture.

"Hello?"

Pepper's voice was impatient. "What's going on, Tony?"

"Did I miss a call, or something? Things are pretty hectic over here, so…sorry."

"I mean what's going on with Obadiah? When's the last time you talked to him?"

Tony stilled his hand on the railing. "Maybe an hour ago. Why?"

"He said he's heading to the airport right now to come home. He sounded really annoyed, but he wouldn't tell me what's wrong. Did something happen?"

"I, uh…" Tony tugged on the bill of his ball cap. "It's a little too much to explain on the phone right now, but…I may be staying here for an extra day or two. Don't worry about Obie."

"So you're promising me that everything is okay."

"Yes. It's—Benjamin. It's just everything going on with Benjamin."

"See, you say that everything is okay, but you're lying right now, so…I don't know what to think here."

Pepper couldn't see him, of course, but he still blinked. "Pardon?"

A sigh. "I really wasn't trying to snoop, Tony, but I figured that if anything came up with 'Mr. Fitzpatrick', you might want me to send something or another over. Except I looked through pretty much every class that has graduated from MIT and they've never had a Mister Benjamin Fitzpatrick. So…I'm not asking for details, but can I just get some assurance that you're not covering for some really awful, dark secret that's going to cause everyone a lot of trouble?"

Let it not be said that Pepper wasn't dedicated to her job. Despite the cover being blown, Tony didn't feel that stressed. Probably because he knew as of five minutes ago that the whole parent-for-life thing wasn't going to happen. Probably also because he'd spent all of his stress in the past couple of days.

"Alright. I lied, I'll admit to that."

"Thanks?"

"You have my word, there's nothing really awful or dark going on over here. It's just a very private matter that I don't even think I should say over the phone. I'll tell you when I get back over there, alright? Just hold down the fort for a little while longer."

There was a shuffle on the other side. Pepper's voice became softer. "Alright. Just…Call me if you need me."

"'Course," he said, and then she hung up.

Was he surprised that Obie was flying back to Malibu? Only because he hadn't said anything about it. Tony had tested the man's patience for almost a week straight; it was a matter of time until he threw in the towel. Plus, this was probably a good thing. Now that Obie was back, Tony didn't have to worry about his attitude, and someone was there for Stark Industries. It worked out for all of them.

Inevitably, though, he would have to inform Obie that no, that whole Peter's-going-to-live-with-me thing didn't work out. Then he'd have to deal with Obie's half-assed apology and comfort all while he tried to fight a smug grin from his face. Tony might have to ask point-blank to just spare him the humiliation.

Tony was disappointed, too, but in a self-realized kind of way. He had wanted to take Peter back home with him, the idea had jet-fueled him all the way back to the apartment, but now he knew that just wasn't going to work. All that lamenting about Peter's happiness and wellbeing were for nothing, because what Peter wanted was the priority.

This was fine, though. Tony had a son, he could visit him whenever he wanted, and he'd be safe and happy with the people his mother wanted to care for him. Really, he'd just overcomplicated everything. Simple as that.

He opened the window to get back inside, but made it a good three inches before May's and Ben's voices spilled out, almost as clear as day. Tony didn't mean to eavesdrop, but once he heard, he realized that hopping back inside also wasn't a good idea.

"…thing I've ever heard of in my life. What are you even thinking?!"

"May, calm down. I just think that, you know, maybe he has some kind of right here? Mary said she trusted us to take care of Peter, but it wasn't—you know, official."

"Right, because if not us, she wanted us to pick someone we trusted to take Peter in. Now, me, I thought that maybe we could look through all our friends and family. You, however, have decided that hey, maybe the guy we met a few days ago is the most qualified person!"

"He's Peter's father, I think he has some kind of say in this."

"Yeah, he has some say, but not this much say! How the hell can you trust him? I just—I think he's nice, Ben, but that doesn't mean he's good! Peter hasn't been alone with him for more than five minutes, and he's got to be the busiest person alive. Can you look at him and imagine him and Peter having a game of catch for two seconds?"

"I'm not going to say that I'd be happy with it either. I love Peter. You love Peter. I like Tony, but I don't absolutely trust him, and I wouldn't be clicking my heels if he took Peter. But we've already decided we might not be able to take care of him, either, and Tony will never have to worry about money, or safety, or—"

"So what? It comes down to the fact that he's rich?"

"No, it doesn't come down to that, but we should consider that! It'll have to come down to Peter, alright? If Peter wants to stay with us—which he almost definitely will—then fine. All good. Happy ever after. If Peter wants to stay with Tony, then we're going to have to accept that."

"When I was a kid, I wanted to eat the entire box of Chips Ahoy that my parents bought from the store. There's a reason they didn't let me do that!"

"Well then he'll figure it out, alright? The second he doesn't feel safe about it, he can come right back home."

"You can't just 'try out' living with someone. How far are we going to let him go before he can change his mind?"

"I—I can't have this conversation right now." Tony could almost hear all the air deflate from Ben. "I'm sorry, I just…I can't."

Then he was quiet, and May was quiet, and tension was so close to physically spilling out from the window crack that Tony didn't want to go back inside anymore.

On the bright side of things, now he just had a couple more reasons to know he was wrong, right? Right.

Obie touched down sometime around five, something he learned from Pepper, not the man himself. Tony returned to his hotel room to…pack, he supposed. Either tomorrow or the day after, he'd be returning to Malibu. That meant he had to figure out what he was going to say to Peter before he went. Not goodbye forever, but goodbye nonetheless.

Happy was at first in a sour mood when he returned. To be fair, after Obie had texted him to meet up at Big Joe's for pizza, he'd wound up alone and wondering where they were. So Tony apologized for that, but then there was silence. Happy didn't ask what was wrong. Maybe he didn't need to.

Peter wouldn't be that much more open when he said goodbye, so that would render the whole visit to meet his son little more than awkward small talk. Tony couldn't grind information out of him, but maybe he could still leave him with something.

Using the stationary on the nightstand, he started to write things down.

My favorite color is red.

My favorite food is pepperoni pizza.

My favorite band is AC/DC.

My favorite movie is

Alright, what was his favorite G-rated movie Peter could reasonably watch?

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

I am 36.

My full name is Anthony Edward Stark.

My parent's names are were are Howard Anthony Walter Stark and Maria Collins Carbonell Stark.

My birthday is May 29.

My eyes and hair are both brown.

What else should he leave? Should he ask Peter to fill out one of his own? Peter's favorite color was red, his birthday was August 10, he was five years old, period. Tony had a lot of room to learn.

"I, uh…"

Happy stood up from the tiny little table in the corner (he might have been doing Sudoku puzzles for the past three hours), and went to the box-shaped mini-fridge. He pulled out a Styrofoam box and handed it out to Tony.

"Got you some," Happy explained. "It's not fresh, but—New York pizza, said you always liked it…"

Tony pressed his lips in a half-smile. He took the box. "Thanks, Hap. Very thoughtful of you."

"I also got this…"

His coat was draped on the back of his chair, and he withdrew a book from that. Paperback, with a price sticker in the corner. Tony only saw the title when Happy extended it forward.

You've Got This—Lessons for Parents Who Weren't Expecting

"I was going to get something to read on the plane, and I saw this in the bargain bin—not that I wouldn't have gotten it if it weren't on sale, I just figured. I thought maybe you'd want to—No. I am so sorry. This is horribly unprofessional."

Happy drew the book back before Tony could even touch it. He was wincing in shame.

"Hand it over." He did, still looking afraid. As if he'd just dived headfirst into this will get you fired territory. "I appreciate it."

He wasn't joyful, but he was sincere, and Happy nodded with clear relief. Tony could've been annoyed or even offended, but honestly? He needed all the help he could get. He could make exceptions to his being-handed-things peeve.

Tony's phone buzzed once again. Happy went back to his table immediately.

He didn't recognize the number, so Tony just answered. "Hello."

"Hey, Tony? That you?"

Tony set aside the paper and pen. "Hey, Ben. Yeah, it's me."

"Alright, uh…You said you were going to be here for a little while longer?"

"Yeah, probably for another day or two. I just want to make sure everything's good before I go. So just…whenever."

Ben sighed more at himself than Tony, he could hear that. "Okay. Is there any way we can meet up, maybe tomorrow?"

"Of course. I just need the when and the where. And preferably the why, if you could."

"We talked to Peter a while ago. He said he's—you know, he's okay with it. I mean, he wants to live with you."

"Oh. Alright! Great. So…your apartment, around eleven? That good?"

"Yeah. That sounds good. I'll see you then. Good night."

"See you, Parker." Tony was already talking before he or Ben have hung up. "Happy."

Like the flip of a switch, Happy went from okay-when-did-Sudoku-get-this-hard mode to tell-me-what-to-do-and-I'll-do-it mode. "Yes?"

"You remember when we were in the lobby, and there were all those magazines on the table? Confirm to me that there were Toys R Us catalogues there."

Happy thought about it for a second. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure there were."

"Go get all of them." Tony all but threw a stack of bills at him. "And go to the clerk and ask for every sticky note they have. We're in for a night of shopping."