"Think they even tasted their dinner?"

Tony smirked and shook his head.

"With a timeframe over their heads like that? Not a chance."

Both boys had eaten, quickly, Pete because he was already thinking of different ideas and options for his tattoo, and Peter because he was eager to help Pete. They didn't add much to the conversation that was going on around the table, but with Natasha and Clint both there, Pepper and Tony had plenty of people to talk to. Steve had come to collect Carol and had left Jack sprawled under the table gnawing on a chewy bone, while Nutmeg had dozed off on his cat tree and Ironpig wandered the lounge in search of something to get into trouble with. Or someone.

Despite the fact that he knew the boys were in a hurry, Tony insisted on some small ceremony when it came time to cut the cake. Dutifully putting a few slices aside, they polished off the rest of it, and Natasha proclaimed it to be the best made from scratch whatever kind of cake it was that she'd ever eaten.

Peter had rolled his eyes, cheerfully.

"It's chocolate," he told her, before Tony could.

"It is?" Clint had asked, frowning down at the plate in front of him. "I detected a tinge of strawberries."

Well aware that he was being teased – and thoroughly enjoying it – Peter had smirked.

"That might be the food dye in the frosting."

"Or maybe they put some strawberries in it, just for added flavor, Pete had added, helpfully. "I think it's good," he told Peter.

"You have to tell him that," Clint had pointed out. "He's you."

Both boys had smiled at that, and Pete had only shrugged and taken another bite. When the cake was gone, though, the boys were, too, and Jack had followed them out the door with Ironpig going along at a much slower rate since the pig had no idea if he really wanted to follow them, or not. Nutmeg had opened an eye at the abandonment, and had then simply gone back to sleep, evidently content with the knowledge that when he was ready, he could go find Peter for whatever it was that he would want.

"Do we make a poll on what it's going to look like?" Clint asked the others, catching the last dollop of frosting on his plate with his spoon.

"It's going to have a spider web on it," Tony replied. "Especially since everyone knows he's Spider-man where he's from."

"I hope it does." Pepper agreed. "Peter's looks good because of it."

Stark looked over at her, eyes widened in feigned shock.

"What?"

Pepper rolled her eyes, making Clint and Romanoff grin.

"You heard me."

"I have scars on my forearm," Tony said, holding up the aforementioned arm. "From your fingernails digging in while that Wakandan Shaman and his buddies were inking him…"

"I was surprised, is all," she said, primly. She looked at the others, ignoring the arm he was showing her – and maybe there were a few little marks that might be in the right place for fingernails – and looking at the others. "Peter's grade for his cake is subjective, of course. Friday is his instructor on record and she – obviously – can't taste it. So I need grades from you guys." She held up a hand before they could say anything. "And we have to be objective," she added. "Did it taste good? Was it well-decorated? That kind of thing…"

Natasha smiled.

"A plus."

"Me, too," Clint agreed. "Definitely the best cake ever."

Pepper rolled her eyes, but she knew she couldn't have expected otherwise from them. They were Peter's biggest fans, after all. She turned to Tony.

"Perfect cake," he said.

Of course, he'd helped bake it, so he wouldn't have said otherwise – even if it hadn't been Peter, now would he?

"Alright." She wasn't planning on giving him a low grade – the kitchen hadn't caught on fire, after all. "He gets an A."

"An A plus," Clint said.

"They don't have A plus as an option."

"They should."

OOOOOOO

Pete didn't always eat breakfast with Tony, Pepper, and Peter. Not because he wasn't welcomed to, of course, because he knew that he was – and he appreciated their willingness to let him into their circle. Especially since his own family bubble of love and support was unavailable to him, just then. They ate pretty early, though, because of the need for Pepper to drive into the city from the compound, and that meant getting up earlier than Pete was used to. Peter had explained why they lived at the compound rather than at the apartment in the tower itself, and it made sense, but he would have hated getting up that early every day. As a matter of course, by the time he woke, Pepper and Peter were usually gone, and Tony Stark himself would usually keep him company while he ate breakfast, but almost always said that he wasn't hungry since he'd already eaten with Pepper and Peter before they'd left.

That morning, however, he and Peter were both in the lounge when Tony and Pepper walked in, together. She was clearly dressed for her day, looking as beautiful as always as far as Pete was concerned, and Tony was wearing a pair of faded jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt, telling both boys that he was staying in the compound. No surprise there. Pepper smiled when she saw them, and she went behind Peter, hugging him from behind and pressing a kiss against his cheek, making him smile. Pete was surprised when she did the same to him, that morning, and he smiled, pleased – even at the kiss, which was touching.

Tony pulled her chair out for her and both adults looked at them, expectantly – well aware why they were awake and so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, so to speak.

"So… Friday tells me you were up late, last night…"

Friday hadn't been utilized, but Tony's AI had no problem (or qualms when it came to) interfacing with Peter's AI and snooping. Karen had confirmed with Friday that her systems were in use until early in the morning.

Peter smiled; he looked tired, but pleased with himself. And Tony was sure it wasn't the A that he'd received for his cake project.

"Yeah." He nudged Pete with his elbow. "Show them."

The boy pulled a piece of folded paper from his jeans' pocket and handed it over the table – to Pepper.

"This is what we came up with," he said, looking excited, and hopeful.

Tony turned to look as she unfolded it, showing a design that wasn't large, and was obviously printed from the computer rather than drawn free-hand. It showed the design on the window at the sanctum – the same design that was engraved on the back of Stephen's watch – and rather than spiderwebs draped around it or in it as all of them had anticipated seeing in his design, there was a spider swinging from a single thread of webbing.

"No webs?" Pepper asked.

Peter grinned but it was Pete who answered.

"We tried," he said. "But every way we tried to incorporate it, it made the design look like we were trying to say it was dusty."

"Or old," Peter added. "And it is, of course. But we thought that Stephen wouldn't like it if it gave off that old and unkept vibe, and if he didn't like it, he might side with May to make Pete get rid of it. So we ditched the webbing idea about midnight and tried to come up with something else."

"What do you think?" Pete asked.

"I like it," Tony said. "It's not too busy, but it still has the spider – and the little symbol makes sense for you, since you're Stephen's apprentice and not an Avenger."

"That's what Peter said," Pete agreed. "The Anomaly Rue screams magic, really, so it was something I wanted to incorporate if we could. Peter told me that Doctor Strange has it on the watch you made him, and he didn't toss it, so it's pretty fitting and a good idea. Right?"

"Sounds right," Pepper confirmed. She smiled, too. "I approve."

"Really?"

"Yes. I'll contact the tattoo artist that did our tattoos and-"

"The Shaman?" Pete interrupted, excitedly.

"No." Her eyes were amused. "Not Peter's. Mine and the others'. If she's available, I'll have her come to the tower, today, so we can get it done before the holiday."

"Otherwise it might not be until next week," Tony added. He smiled, too; because seeing Pete so excited was like seeing Peter excited, and he loved it. Peter was cheerful, of course, and that was always a good thing. "And I don't think we have that long," he told the boy.

"I'll call and let Tony know when I know," Pepper promised, folding the paper back up. "I can keep this?"

"Yeah."

"It's in Karen's files," Peter told her, helpfully. "We tried to do it by hand, but that didn't work too well."

Both boys smiled at that, and Tony decided that he'd see if there were some copies of those original attempts – just to see how they'd looked.

"Well, let's eat," he said, waving at the server, cheerfully.

And why not? The boys were happy and a holiday was coming. They were doing thanksgiving right there at the compound, of course, but it was going to be a good day – and no school for Peter, or work for pepper, so he'd have them both the rest of the week.

Besides, they still had pumpkins to chuck.