Happy Friday everyone! Hope you're ready for your weekly dose of irresponsible not-dad Tony, overprotective Pepper, and adorable Peter! I was looking forward to this chapter because we get a new friend this chapter as you can probably tell by the title,,, prepare for both fluff AND angst today!

Have fun and stay safe❤ 💛💚💙💜


Chapter Three: Building a Friend

"Over here!"

"Mr. Stark!"

"Is it true you adopted a kid?!"

"What's his name?!"

"How long have you been keeping this from the world?!"

"Will he be the heir to Stark Industries?!"

The questions bombard them all at once, leaving them no room to speak or move. Tony knows he has to take charge if he wants to ever get back to the car, but it's also the perfect opportunity to show off how he can be protective the kid. People love to see a protective parent.

"Back off! Let us through!" he shouts, pushing his way through the crowd of people and camera flashes. Tony can feel Peter shaking in his arms and his small hands gripping the back of his neck. When they manage to get back to the car, Pepper tries to relieve Tony of Peter, but Tony keeps a firm hold on the kid. "You drive, I'll sit in back." Pepper looks hesitant, but ends up rushing to the driver's side. Tony slides into the backseat, careful not to let the paparazzi get a picture of the lack of a car seat, and shuts the door behind him. As soon as the door is closed, Pepper drives away from the hectic scene.

"How is he?" Pepper questions worriedly. Tony looks down as Peter clings to him, the boy's breaths quick.

"Uh…" Tony isn't exactly sure how to answer. He pries the kid back to get a good look at the flushed, sweaty face. As soon as they make eye contact, Peter's bottom lip wobbles and he bursts into tears. Peter openly sobs and hiccups between his cries. "Not great!" Tony informs Pepper over the loud crying. Peter wipes his cheeks with his fists, but his gut-wrenching sobs don't stop.

"Hug him!" Pepper orders as she tries to find a gap in traffic to pull over. Tony stiffens.

"I don't do those," he instantly denies, holding Peter slightly away from him.

"You've got to be kidding me," Pepper says under her breath in disbelief. "Kids like hugs! Just do it!" Tony moves his leg to keep the tears from dripping onto his expensive pants and makes no effort to hug the kid.

"It's okay. You're fine," he lamely comforts, glancing between Peter's face and where the tears are landing on the leather seat. Tony just doesn't know what to do. He can barely think over how loud the kid is bawling and he has no clue how to provide physical or emotional comfort in the first place.

Finally, the car screeches to a halt up against the curb. Pepper is quick to get out of the car and onto the sidewalk while Tony is frozen in place. When she opens the door, she doesn't waste a second before pulling Peter from Tony's arms and into her own. Peter wraps his arms around her neck and cries into her shoulder.

"Hey, sweetheart. It's okay, it's okay. You're safe," Pepper softly assures as she bounces the distraught boy in her arms. Tony watches Peter slowly calm down, wondering how a crying kid is ever going to get his company's positive image up and running again. This is such a waste of valuable time, he thinks. I'm wasting my time with a toddler when I could be in the workshop. Last time I ever listen to Obi's advice. The pessimistic thoughts continue to race through his mind, but they're merely a distraction to hide the fact that he feels sorry for Peter. The onslaught of paparazzi caused the poor kid to freak out, and Tony feels bad about it. He isn't completely heartless. Still, he wouldn't ever admit his guilt. If it gets him some positive PR, then he doesn't regret it.

"There's, there's dots in my eyes 'n my head's owie," Peter desperately explains to Pepper as he gasps in breaths. Pepper gently shushes him and rubs his back, hoping it'll help to calm him. Tony doesn't understand why it takes so much work to calm a toddler down. Howard used to just ignore him until he found something better to do than cry. Then again, Tony doesn't think he turned out too great under Howard's watch. It takes a few more minutes, but Peter stops crying and simply rests his head on Pepper's shoulder.

"How about we go to Build-A-Bear? Would that make you feel better?" Pepper implores sweetly. Peter lifts his head up and pulls back to look at her with a half exhausted, half confused look.

"What's Build-A-Bear?" he asks, swaying slightly. Pepper steadies him and smiles.

"You'll love it. You get to make your own stuffed animal. How does that sound?" she tries to add as much inflection as she can to make it sound exciting. Peter nods and wipes his partially dried tears.

"Good." Noticing that Peter has calmed down and the situation has gotten somewhat under control, Tony lifts his arms in an offer to take back Peter. Pepper glares at him instead.

"You're driving," she orders, leaving no room for argument. Of course, Tony can't ever take a hint. He's too stubborn for that.

"I'm legally his guardian, so-"

"You might legally be his parent, but you sure as hell aren't acting like it," Pepper interrupts harshly. "I'm not going to argue with you right now. Drive." Tony seriously considers arguing anyways, but decides against it. After today, he just doesn't have the energy. Tony moves up to the driver's seat and lets Pepper sit in back with Peter.

It isn't too much of a drive to Build-A-Bear Workshop and as soon as Peter sees the colorful inside of the building, he bolts off to find a bear. Tony and Pepper watch as Peter picks out a light brown bear, then moves on to find outfits. Seeing the kid recover so quickly just because of a stuffed animal is what confuses Tony. He doesn't understand how Peter looked beyond heartbroken just a few minutes ago and now looks perfectly fine. Resilient little thing, he notes absentmindedly. When he glances to Pepper, he notices that she's standing with perfect posture as she also watches Peter. Tony adjusts his orange tinted sunglasses and clears his throat.

"Pep, I-"

"Don't," Pepper warns, cutting him off. "I can't talk to you right now. If I talk to you, I'm going to explode." Her voice is dangerously low, partly so that she doesn't draw attention from other people in the store.

"He's fine! Look," Tony gestures to Peter looking through bear-sized outfits, "he's having a blast. Every kid dreams of being a billionaire's kid. Sue me. If you knew what was going on, you'd understand." He knows that isn't true, but he defends himself regardless.

"Nothing can justify leading on a kid like this. He's four, Tony. I've put up with a lot over the years during this job and this relationship, but this is not okay. You've gone too far." Pepper's voice trembles slightly. Tony isn't sure if it's because she's holding back tears or her temper. Peter eventually chooses the clothes he likes and runs up to the two adults with a bright smile.

"I did it!" he exclaims. When Tony realizes that Peter has chosen a Captain America outfit, it takes everything he has not to roll his eyes.

"Good job! Ready to fill him with stuffing?" Pepper asks, her mood quickly shifting. Peter loudly gasps with a wide, unhindered smile and yells,

"I get to stuff him?!" It then occurs to Tony that kids do not have inside voices and Peter has an exceptionally loud outside voice.

"You do! And Tony here is going to help you," Pepper offers as she gives Tony a stern look that strictly says "go with him or I'll end you." Peter shifts his gaze to Tony, his wide, brown eyes locking onto the man in seconds.

"Tomy's gonna help?!" Both Peter and Pepper stare at Tony expectantly. Of course, that leaves Tony without much wiggle room.

"Fine, yeah. I can do that. Piece of cake," he agrees. He has to prove to Pepper that he can handle taking care of this kid, otherwise she'll never let him do it. Besides, how hard can taking care of a kid be?

"Let's go!" Peter runs up and grasps Tony's hand before pulling him towards the stuffing machine. The white, fluffy padding swirls around in the container labelled "heart stuff." The front of it has a wooden bear holding a box of felt hearts. Peter lets go of Tony's hand in order to put his hands in the hearts. "What do we do?" he asks curiously.

"Well…" Tony hasn't ever been to Build-A-Bear or built a bear. He wasn't too worried about getting toys when he was young, he was more focused on trying to please his asshole father and getting into MIT and achieving his master's degree in engineering as well as physics and then…grieving.

"Tomy? Are you okay?" Peter's small, concerned voice breaks Tony's train of thought.

"Peachy keen."

"Are you sad?" Tony raises his eyebrows, surprised by how perceptive the kid is.

"Nope," he lies. "How about stuffing that thing up? Then we can get you home and in bed. Lord knows I need a break." He mutters the last part as he rubs his face. Peter purses his lips and pouts.

"He's not a thing! His name is Stebe," he valiantly defends, holding his unstuffed bear closer. Tony holds up his hands in surrender. There's no way he's in the mood to argue semantics with a four-year-old.

"Sure thing. Ready to stuff?" Peter's grumpy pout disappears and he nods excitedly. Tony, trying to hide his disgruntled attitude, helps by holding the bear in place as Peter turns the crank to fill the bear full of fluff. Peter has to stand on his tiptoes just to spin the crank all the way around, but he gets the job done and Tony doesn't have to step in. As soon as his Captain America bear is filled, Peter rushes back to the bowl of hearts.

"I get to put in a heart?" he double checks eagerly.

"You do you, Peter." Tony's trying to pay attention, he just…doesn't care. Plain and simple. But he has to look like he cares, so he kneels down beside Peter and holds the back of the bear open.

"I'm gonna make a wish!" Peter giggles and closes his eyes to concentrate on making his wish. He holds the chosen felt heart tightly in his fingertips. Tony takes an impatient breath and looks around to keep his mind occupied. I could be in the workshop making progress on the upgrades for the holotable and- "I did it!" Peter exclaims before pressing the heart into the fluff.

"Good work. What'd you wish for?" Tony asks absentmindedly as a nearby machine sews up the back of the bear.

"I can't tell you, Tomy! It's a secret." Peter smiles innocently. The last thing Tony would want to do is pry more talking out of the kid, so he just finishes up the bear and hands it to him.

"Have at 'em." With Tony's confirmation, Peter runs the bear over to Pepper so that they can dress it and pay for it.

Once they finally finish up at Build-A-Bear, Peter has his very own Captain America bear a.k.a. Stebe. He happily jumps to the car in his bumblebee rain boots, then waits for Pepper and Tony to catch up. After the day they've had, Tony is left wondering why people ever want to have kids and how they handle it everyday for years. And what do they get out of it? Lots of tears, snot, and backtalk.

Tony is the one who drives them home with Pepper sitting in the back seat to keep Peter company. Luckily, Peter falls asleep against Pepper's side halfway through. As soon as they're home, Tony briefly contemplates taking the kid from Pepper to carry him up, but then decides against it. He doesn't have anything to prove when they aren't out in public after all. That is, until Pepper speaks up.

"Take him up to his room. He should be out for the rest of the night since he didn't get to nap today," she informs in a whisper. Tony holds back a scoff since he knows not to test her nerves right now.

"Y'know, just not feelin' it right now. You, on the other hand, are doing a spectacular job. Keep it up." That whole thing about not testing Pepper's nerves? Yeah, Tony's not great at that. When all he's left with is a glare, he gets the message. "Or I can take him up to his room." He carefully slips his hands underneath Peter's neck and legs, then stops. How is he supposed to maneuver the kid? What if he drops him? Does he have to carry him up the stairs?

"If you can't carry him up to his room, you'll never make it as a parent," Pepper cuts in after Tony has been thinking for a few moments too long.

"Disheartening how you don't have more faith in me. Soul-crushing, really," Tony feigns hurt before carefully pulling Peter out of the car. He keeps his hands steady to be sure not to wake the boy. Since Peter's asleep, Tony decides that a quick elevator ride can't hurt. What Peter doesn't know won't hurt him.

The short ride up to the main floor is tense. Between Pepper's cold, unwavering stare ahead and Tony's stiff posture as he holds the kid, there isn't much room for anything besides the tension. Tony can't help but look down at the sleeping child in his arms. Peter's mouth is slightly open and his brown curls are tousled in all directions. His outfit is beyond horrendous with the bumblebee rainboots and Tony hates how the kid chose a Captain America bear, but children don't know any better. Still…Peter's pink tinted cheeks and unruly curls are somewhat endearing. Tony would never say it out loud.

When the elevator doors open, Tony gingerly walks to Peter's room as to not wake him up. The last thing he needs is Pepper yelling at him because he woke up the kid.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., door." The door to Peter's room instantly opens at Tony's command and he walks in. Tony can't get Peter out of his arms fast enough, but he manages to delicately place the toddler in the massive bed underneath the covers. As soon as he's settled, Tony slowly retreats out of the room, into the hall, and quickly shuts the door. He immediately breathes a sigh of relief. Finally. Now he gets time to himself to tinker in the workshop away from everything and everyone.

"Are you out of your mind?" Peper demands with her arms crossed as soon as Tony renters the living room. Her jaw is tightly set and her eyes burn with barely concealed rage.

"Well, that went better than expected. Cocktails to celebrate? If only I hadn't thrown out all my adult beverages." Tony chooses to distract from the seriousness of the situation with humor. He knows it will undoubtedly piss Pepper off even more, but that just means he'll be able to retreat to his workshop.

"This is serious, Tony." Pepper tries to keep her level headedness, but she's far beyond being angry. She's enraged.

"I thought for sure either me or the kid would burn the place to the ground by now. So I'll count today as a win. Do you think I could get Dum-E to babysit?" Tony slowly meanders his way to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee.

"Tony."

"You're right, Dum-E can barely watch himself. I'll have Butterfingers do it."

"Tony!" When Pepper yells, Tony raises his eyes from the brewing coffee.

"Goodness gracious, darling. There's no need to raise your voice," Tony says innocently, as if he hadn't just manipulated a kid for points with the press.

"You're absolutely unbelievable," Pepper scoffs. Tony chooses to interpret it as a compliment.

"Yeah, I get that a lot," he quips accompanied by a wink. Pepper's lips don't so much as twitch, let alone smile.

"This is a new low, even for you," she rebukes through clenched teeth. Tony noncommittally shrugs his shoulders and plops onto the long, pleather couch. He would kill for a drink with TV right about now.

"Haven't heard that one before," he snorts. "If you wanna make a dent, you're gonna have to hit harder, Pep." That lackadaisical comment is the last straw for Pepper. She walks in front of the TV, blocking Tony's view.

"Oh yeah? You really want to get into this?" She puts her hands on her hips and raises her eyebrows. When she doesn't get a response, she nods. "Fine. You can't take care of a child! You can hardly take care of yourself! You drink yourself into a coma every other night and the nights when you aren't doing that, you stay up all night in the workshop!" Tony merely waves her off. He knows it's a bad choice, but he doesn't have the energy to give a shit.

"Look, we have this all under control. Obadiah and I have a plan and-"

"No. Don't. Don't pretend like you thought about this," Pepper interrupts without regret. Tony sits up straighter when he realizes she isn't going to let this go. Who would've thunk.

"I did think ab-"

"You did not think this through," Pepper counters before Tony can start his list of excuses. "If you two had, you would've thought of how terrible an environment this is to raise a kid. Raising a kid was not in my job description, Tony! That's something you do after discussing it with the person you're dating! A couple's decision! You didn't even ask me!" she tries to keep her voice quiet enough not to wake up Peter, but her frustration seeps into her voice. Tony resists the urge to roll his eyes and instead stands.

"Yes, I should've asked you," he relents. "I apologize. There." Pepper knows that's as good as she's ever going to get for a sorry, but it shouldn't be for her. It's about Peter.

"How serious about this can you be?" she questions intensely.

"Fine, set up a press conference. Be my guest," Tony challenges comfortably. The more PR, the better.

"You don't even let him call you dad. You made him call you Tony," Pepper points out, deadly serious. Of course, Tony redirects the statement.

"Hey, you're the one who ever-so-eloquently pointed out that we're a couple. I don't see you offering him to call you mom," he smugly fires back instead of answering.

"Don't you turn this on me. I'm not the bad guy here," Pepper warns, her voice tight with anger.

"And I am?" Tony asks indignantly. Pepper scoffs and rubs her forehead.

"Yes! I'm not the one who adopted a kid willy-nilly without thinking about the consequences! This is a real child with feelings. You don't get to stand here and tell me that you haven't thought about giving Peter back after all this." Tony hates how Pepper is absolutely correct. She somehow always hits the nail on the head. He stays silent. "You don't understand how-"

"No, I don't think you understand." Tony cuts her off and takes a step closer in order to angrily whisper, "I'm stuck, Pepper. This is beyond irreparable. You're acting like you could go in there," he points towards Peter's room, "and tell that kid that we're taking him back. Have a blast! Let me know how that fucking goes for you." With that point made, Tony turns on his heel and confidently walks towards the stairs that leads to his workshop.

"So that's it? You're just going to walk away?" Pepper demands, slightly shaking her head in disapproval.

"I'm going to the shop," Tony informs curtly.

"And what about your kid?" Pepper calls after him. As Tony answers, he's already walking down to the next floor.

"He's sleeping, he's not going to be doing anything." He finishes his descent and, finally, has some peace and quiet away from a yelling toddler and a screaming Pepper. J.A.R.V.I.S. automatically opens the door for him and greets him with,

"Good evening, Sir. Do you require anything for your wounded pride following Ms. Potts' accurate arguments?" Tony shakes his head in disbelief at J.A.R.V.I.S.'s quick wits.

"Knew I could count on you. The usual is just fine, thanks." He takes off his jacket, so that he's just in a tank, and the workshop is enveloped in blasting AC/DC. Now this is his element, not taking care of a four-year-old. He can't believe Obadiah talked him into the whole situation, but he's not going to deny that it's perfect. Who can resist a cute kid? Besides himself, of course. All he has to do is hold a press conference to show off how great the kid is and then go out in public with said kid. It'll be a few months of fake parenting, if even that. Tony can handle it. For now, he straps on his welding goggles for a long night and fires up his welding torch.


Mom and dad are fighting, but at least we have Stebe!

Thank you for reading❤ 💛💚💙💜

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