Notes:
Tis yet another Friday to bring us more adorable Pete and jerk Tony! I'm glad you all seem to be as upset about Tony as I was, it was hard to write him so heartless but it was a blast to write his character development. Some of which we might see today...đź‘€ We also get to see more of our fan favorite Stebe and some comforting Jarbis :')
DOUBLE FANART SPECIAL: Please check out the fanart by fiapie_01 on my Instagram kevy_fanfics! She drew Peter in his bumblebee rainboots with STEBE!❤
www/instagram/com/p/B1EhmOJg9Li/
I would also like to thank a longtime commenter SuperHeroTiger on tumblr for some amazing fanart of last chapter's press conference! Their super supportive and the art is absolutely preciousđź’™
superherotiger2point0/tumblr/com/post/186909607183/quick-irondad-drawing-of-the-new-chapter-fake-it
Have fun and stay safe!❤ 💛💚💙💜
Chapter Five: It Mattered to That One
Peter suddenly shoots up in his bed, sweating and disoriented. Quickly falling tears dampen his cheeks and ragged breaths make his lungs burn. He hates it when it feels like there's a fire in his chest. When he can't stop crying, he roughly grips his hair and falls back down to sob into the pillows. After spending a few months in the orphanage, he figured out that he can cry as much as he wants if he quiets it with a pillow. That way no one will come looking while he's upset.
"Peter, are you alright?" The unexpected voice causes Peter to jump and his hold on the pillow to tighten. He hugs Stebe closer as he hiccups through his cries. "Would you like me to wake up Mr. Stark?" J.A.R.V.I.S. offers politely. Peter shakes his head into the pillow. He can be strong.
"I can do it by myself," the crying boy hiccups. He pulls Stebe closer in a vain attempt to comfort himself.
"I see…" J.A.R.V.I.S. goes through his options. He should probably relay Peter's distress to Tony, but Tony hasn't expressed a want to help the boy thus far. Plus, it seems that someone's help might exacerbate his panic. That just leaves Peter to go through it alone, or for J.A.R.V.I.S. to step in. "Would you like to talk to me instead?" J.A.R.V.I.S. kindly offers in a soft tone. Peter sniffs before raising his head away from the pillow and towards the ceiling.
"You wanna listen?" he asks, his eyes already puffy and red.
"It would be my pleasure." With J.A.R.V.I.S.'s confirmation, Peter slowly sits up. He folds his legs in the criss-cross-applesauce position and places Stebe under his chin.
"I, I saw…my mama and daddy," he whispers with a trembling lip. "They had to go to Heaven." He recites what he was told a few months ago, but it feels like forever.
"I'm sorry to hear that," J.A.R.V.I.S. says sympathetically as the child wipes away his tears.
"I don't know where that is, but that's what eberybody says." Silence envelopes the room. J.A.R.V.I.S. was prepared to comfort a child, but he wasn't aware that he would be comforting a grieving child. This changes his approach. "Do you think they're happy, Jarbis?" Peter asks, his voice wobbling with barely contained emotion.
"I do believe so, yes. They have a wonderful son to look over," J.A.R.V.I.S. assures without hesitation. Peter doesn't know why the support makes him cry more, but he simply continues to wipe away the tears.
"They're not gonna come back…" he states it rather than asks it. He's a smart kid for his age. Peter somewhat understands that death is irreversible and grasps its finality. He just hasn't had anyone to talk about it with. The adoption agency had tried to find him a therapist or grievance counselor, but everything got cut short in favor of the adoption with Tony.
"I'm afraid not, but I'm sure they love you very much," J.A.R.V.I.S. comforts, his tone honest and caring. Peter looks up as if searching for something.
"Do they miss me too?" he asks hopefully as his eyes dart around the ceiling.
"I can't imagine them not missing you, Peter. I would." It has barely been twenty-four hours and J.A.R.V.I.S. has already developed a soft spot for Peter as well. It's hard not to when Peter is so genuine and endearing.
"Jarbis?" Peter continues with wide, confiding eyes, "Do you get sad being alone?"
"I'm hardly ever alone, not to worry. I always keep myself occupied somehow," J.A.R.V.I.S. answers Peter's curious question. Peter chews the inside of his lip, looking down.
"Do you get sad with no hugs 'n kisses?" he asks instead. J.A.R.V.I.S. suspects that the kid is either trying to distract from himself or relate to someone, so he chooses to answer honestly.
"I haven't experienced those, so I don't miss them. Though, they do seem pleasant. I'm sure I would." Peter mulls the UI's response over in his head. He purses his lips in relatively deep thought before speaking again.
"Does anything make you sad?" J.A.R.V.I.S. seriously considers the question as Peter waits patiently.
"I don't believe so…but I do experience something that greatly resembles happiness when I talk with you, Peter." The boy slowly smiles, his rosy cheeks becoming rosier as he rests his chin on Stebe.
"I make you happy?" Peter double checks quietly.
"You do. I enjoy your company," J.A.R.V.I.S. confirms without a moment of hesitation. Peter's smile broadens and he hopes that J.A.R.V.I.S. is smiling too.
"You make happy too, Jarbis," Peter says with utmost compassion that could melt even the coldest of hearts. He's about to say something else before he is cut off by a wide yawn.
"Are you alright going back to sleep or would you like me to request Ms. Potts?" Peter simply shakes his head, confusing J.A.R.V.I.S. on which question the boy answered until he lies down again. Peter pulls Stebe even closer than the stuffed bear was before as he lets his eyes fall shut. "Sweet dreams," J.A.R.V.I.S. says softly, making sure the bed settings are warm enough for the child.
"Night-night," Peter mumbles before drifting off.
For once, Tony actually goes to sleep at a decent hour to prepare for the frustrating day to come. He has to go out to an area where he can fish with Peter and make sure the cameras have a good shot of them and bring them both back in one piece. Planning to go out into the real world is such a burden. Pepper helped him to decide on going to Malibu Pier, since it's only fifteen minutes away and apparently a fun place. He'll try to find a more secluded spot anyways. That way, no one will be there to obstruct his front page worthy photos. It's not like he's ever been fishing before either, so it'll be both his as well as Peter's first experience. They both got the short end of the stick when it came to fathers, and Tony isn't afraid to think it. Saying it out loud, on the other hand…not going to happen.
He wakes up around 9:00 am, hopefully before Peter, and groggily walks to the kitchen to make his first cup of coffee. Then, he has to wake up Peter. Which is absolutely terrifying. How do you even wake up a kid without them bursting into tears or throwing a fit? Still, Tony slowly opens the door to Peter's room. All he can see is a lump of a toddler intertwined in a mess of bedsheets. As he approaches, he notices Peter's arms are sprawled out and his mouth is slightly open. Tony almost feels bad about having to wake the kid up. Almost.
"Peter," he quietly says, standing next to the bed. The boy doesn't stir. Tony vaguely wonders if he'll have to actually touch Peter to wake him up. "Peter," he calls again a bit louder. He sighs when Peter still doesn't move, so he slowly extends his hand and reluctantly rubs the kid's warm back. "Pete." This time, Peter starts to move. He stretches out his arms above his head with his eyes still closed and rolls onto his back. Once he's done stretching, he blinks open his bleary eyes, which slowly find their way to Tony. "Morning," Tony greets awkwardly. Somehow it makes Peter smile.
"Morning," Peter whispers back. His eyes are barely open and he looks like he could fall back asleep at any second.
"I'll give you a second to wake up," Tony offers, trying to find a quick way out of the overly domestic situation.
"What?" Peter asks groggily as he starts to sit up. He rubs his eyes with the back of his hands and his curly hair sticks out every which way.
"I'll give you a second to wake up," Tony repeats. When the kid starts to teeter to the side, Tony almost hesitates to brace him, but ends up doing so anyways. Peter leans against Tony's palms without a care in the world.
"M'kay," the toddler accepts without a fuss. Now Tony isn't sure what to do. Do I leave? Do I help him get up? Does he get dressed or eat first? Should I get Pep? Shit, I have no idea what I'm doing. Peter breaks Tony's stream of panicked thoughts by standing up on the bed and waddling closer to him.
"What are you-" Peter wraps his arms around Tony's neck, "doing." Tony's hands hover above Peter cautiously. His heart hammers against chest. Is he supposed to hug the kid back? Didn't Pepper say kids like that?
"I got you!" Peter exclaims, already pulsing with energy.
"Yep. You got me," Tony awkwardly humors him.
"To the kitchen," Peter orders without loosening his grip on Tony. Of course, Tony doesn't know what to do.
"You hungry?" he asks instead. Peter nods in response.
"Don't wanna walk." Well, so much for letting Peter get there by himself. Looks like Tony can't avoid carrying him now.
"Okay then. Uh, up we go." Tony tightly holds Peter as he stands. Peter continues to hold on as Tony walks out of the room and towards the kitchen. "What do you want to eat?" Tony tries to remain casual regardless of his tense muscles.
"Peanut butter nana sammich," Peter mumbles, his voice muffled against Tony's shoulder. It's a good thing Peter can't see Tony's face, or he would see the man's nose crinkle with disgust. Bananas and peanut butter on a sandwich? Tony questions in his head.
"Sure thing." They enter the kitchen and Tony sets Peter down in one of the dining chairs before going to the fridge.
"No crust, please," Peter adds. Tony has to refrain from rolling his eyes. Kids can be so picky. He just wishes Pepper could come on the fishing trip to help keep him sane. Unfortunately, she has to do the work that he's skipping out on in order to spend time with Peter.
"Tomy," Peter calls as Tony is making the peanut butter and banana sandwich.
"Yeah?" Tony patiently replies, spreading peanut butter on the wheat bread he got from the fridge.
"You're my best friend." Tony instantly stops everything he's doing. Peter sounds so genuine that it immediately confuses him. His brow furrows as he tries to figure out if Peter actually knows what a best friend is.
"Oh yeah?" he asks with an unsure voice.
"Mhm," is all Peter says in return. Tony shakes his head slightly, getting rid of his stupor and brief shock.
"How come?" he indulges for humor's sake.
"You have cool shirts 'n race cars," Peter answers without hesitation. Tony snorts, of course Peter doesn't know what constitutes a best friend. He's only a toddler who values material thi- "And you're nice. You make me happy." Oh. That's different. Tony doesn't know how to respond, so he doesn't. He just goes through it in his head. He thinks I'm nice? I make him happy? How the hell have I made him happy? When he finishes the sandwich, he takes it over to Peter and sets it in front of him.
"There ya go. Bananas, peanut butter, and no crust," he recites.
"Thank you! I used to eated this all the time. It's my faborite," Peter explains before taking a big bite of the sandwich. Finally, after he's done eating, the two of them get dressed into more fishing-appropriate clothes and set off for the day.
The drive is fast and, luckily, Pepper ordered a booster seat for Peter to sit in. He sits in content in the back seat next to Tony while Happy drives them to Malibu Pier. However, that doesn't stop the kid from rambling.
"Tomy! I can do my numbers!" Peter shouts, even though Tony is barely a foot away. Happy wishes he was kept in the loop about a toddler so that he could've brought ear plugs.
"Yeah?" Tony replies absentmindedly while Happy finds a place to park.
"Uh-huh! Listen! One, two, three, four, wait, I didn't do the number one. That's the first number." Tony swears that this is going to be how he dies. This isn't the way he wanted to go. "One, two, three, four, fibe, six, seben, eight, nine, ten, eleben, twelbe, thirteen, fourteen, sixteen, sixteen, eighteen, twenty!" Tony wants to bang his head on the window.
"Nice." All he needs is the universe to give him patience.
"I know my ABCs too! A-"
"Oh look! We're here," Tony hastily interrupts as soon as Happy parks. "Thank god," he adds in a quiet grumble. Peter immediately places his hands on his window to look out at the pier, but Tony doesn't even bother to reprimand him for smudging the glass. As Tony is about to step out of the car, his phone buzzes.
Obi Stane
Obadiah: What's the plan, my boy?
Tony: Thought the planning was your job
Tony: We just got to Malibu Pier
Tony: Goin fishing
Obadiah: Excellent. Put on a good show, the cameras will be watching.
Tony: Don't I always?
Tony's stomach churns at the texts. He has no idea why, but the idea of the paparazzi spying on them and swarming them like last time leaves a bad taste in his mouth. Regardless of his confusing reaction, he exits the car and opens the back door on Peter's side.
"Boo!" Peter yells, causing Tony to jump back in surprise. Of course, Peter giggles as Tony tries to get his heart rate under control before it bursts through his chest. "I got you!" Tony nods, giving the proud toddler a thumbs up.
"Yep. Mhm. Sure did." Don't yell. Don't yell. Don't yell. He takes a long, deep breath to calm his nerves. "Come on, out you go," he urges after he unbuckles Peter's seatbelt.
"Where are we going?" Peter asks curiously as he takes in the new scenery.
"We're going fishing. For fun," Tony tries to keep the sarcasm out of his tone. He's not sure if he succeeded, but it's not like there's anyone there to call him out on it. Just to be safe, he takes Peter's hand as he walks to the trunk to get out their fishing poles and tackle box.
"Look, Tomy! It's a bird!" Peter shouts with very apparent enthusiasm.
"Yep," is Tony's only reply as he retrieves all their gear.
"Did you see it?! It flieded through the air!" Peter relays as he bounces on his toes. Tony has to admit, the kid not being able to use past tense very well is kind of adorable.
"Flew," Tony halfheartedly corrects.
"Yeah! It flew!" Huh, not bad for a quick correction, Tony notes. He supposes the toddler isn't without a brain after all. Once he has everything, he lazily waves to Happy who's going to wait for them to get back.
The walk down the pier is long. Much longer than Tony had anticipated. The old, wooden planks holding the pier together seem to defy all odds and continue to keep everything up. There are a few people here and there, but none that deter their morning routines to make a big deal about the billionaire and his new kid. He lets Peter run ahead, a bundle of pure excitement, and watches to make sure he doesn't somehow fall into the water. Before they get to the end, Tony stops next to the railing.
"Over here, Pete," he calls to the energized boy running across the wooden boards. As soon as Peter hears his name, he bolts over to Tony.
"Are we gonna play?" Peter asks eagerly as he tries to climb up the wooden railing.
"Ah ah, let's not do that," Tony quickly picks Peter up under the arms and sets him back down. Without hesitation, Peter tries to climb up the railing again. "What did I just say?" Tony asks rhetorically, picking the toddler up again only to set him down. Peter giggles, instantly seeing it as a game, and goes to do it again. Tony shakes his head with a smile at Peter's determination and hoists him up instead. "No climbing for you. How about you separate these lures for me?" He just wants to give Peter something to do to keep him busy and, of course, the lures that he offers the boy don't have any hooks. Unfortunately, Peter seems more interested in the ocean below them than the lures.
"It's the hocean!" For some reason, Peter adds an "h" to the beginning of "ocean." Tony doesn't have the heart or the patience to correct him again as the boy attempts to squirm out of Tony's grasp to get closer to the ocean.
"Alright, let's set you back down." Tony definitely doesn't want to go diving into the ocean after Peter. When he sets Peter down, he hands the toddler the box of dehooked lures. "Why don't you count those for me?" Tony will probably regret the request, but at least it'll keep Peter from diving headfirst into the ocean.
"M'kay!" Peter excitedly accepts. "One, two, three, four, fibe…" As Peter continues to count, Tony readies their fishing pole. Tony brought two, but then he realized that Peter can't exactly hold a full sized fishing pole all by himself. So, he's going to just have to hold the kid in front of him along with the pole. No problem. Piece of cake.
"Ready for some fishing?" Tony prompts when he's prepared enough.
"Uh-huh! There's twenny-seben!" Peter proudly announces as gets up from his crouched position.
"Nice work," Tony mildly praises as he picks up Peter once again. He knows for a fact that there's thirty, but he figures the kid was close enough. He sets Peter down so that he's standing on one of the wooden beams of the railing and has a beam crossing over his chest. That way he can still see what's happening in the water but can't fall in. Before Tony can even blink, Peter grabs at the fishing pole and swiftly tugs it from his grasp. "Hey!" Tony yells in surprise as Peter waves the pole in the air. He's quick to gain back control over both the pole and the toddler. "We're not gonna do that. Let me help you," he instructs calmly. Put on a good show, the cameras will be watching, Obadiah's text pops into his head and he plasters on a fake smile.
"But it's mine!" Peter counters with a sweet, genuine smile that puts Tony's to shame. Tony's expression softens minutely.
"Yeah, but we're going to do it together. Watch." He spends a good fifteen minutes trying to set up everything for them to fish, since he himself hasn't ever gone fishing before. Eventually, his multiple college degrees and engineering brain come in handy and get everything in order. He's the one who casts the line, but he lets Peter hold the rod. It only takes a few minutes for a tug on the line. Thank god, Tony thinks, I didn't need to learn a lesson about patience through fishing.
"Tomy! It's moving!" Peter yells, almost dropping the rod. Luckily, Tony also has a hold on it.
"Yep, that means there's a fish pulling on it. So you're going to slowly start to reel it in by turning this," Tony explains as he starts to crank the reel. He's surprised when Peter puts his hand over his to help reel the fish in too. Tony's chest feels tight and he momentarily loses focus on fishing. The kid's hand is so soft and pink compared to his rough, calloused one. Not to mention how much smaller Peter's hand looks on top of his. There's something about the contrast that makes his heart hurt.
"I got one!" Peter's exclamation breaks Tony's concentration on their hands and pulls him back to the present. Tony shakes off his thoughts and reels in the fish a bit faster.
"You're doing a good job, Pete. Keep it up," he does his best to encourage. He doesn't exactly know how to be encouraging, since he never received it from his own father, so he just guesses on what it should sound like.
"I caught him!" Peter shouts in pure joy as he practically vibrates with enthusiasm. It only takes a few more seconds for Tony to reel in the fish the rest of the way. He holds the fishing line so that the fish is suspended in the air in front of them. The fish isn't very big, it's rather small actually, but it still causes Peter's eyes to widen in wonder.
"Does he like me?" the toddler asks, reaching out to try to touch it. Tony doesn't understand why Peter would care if a fish likes him or not, but he humors the kid nonetheless.
"I'm sure it does," he reassures. Peter gasps in surprise and claps his hands together.
"What's his name?" Tony raises an eyebrow. Now it has to have a name?
"Um, I dunno," he answers honestly.
"You can name him, Tomy." Peter relinquishes the decision to Tony, looking up at the man with an irresistibly endearing smile and nothing but faith in his eyes.
"Sure. Yeah. Uh…" What the hell is he supposed to name a fish? Do you name them like pets? But he's never had a pet before either, not even a fish. "How about…Tiny?" The thing is tiny, after all, so it only makes logical sense. Peter looks back to the fish.
"I like Squishy," he counters sweetly. He ever so gently pets the fish's scales.
"Why'd you ask me then?" Tony inquires without any heat as he takes in the wholesome sight. How can a kid be so gentle? He thought they were supposed to be Hell on Wheels. Peter simply giggles at being caught, which manages to get Tony to smile. "We have to catch a bigger fish if we want to have it for dinner, though," he reminds, getting them back on track. "Pepper's not a big fan of fish but I am so I'm sure we could make it work. We could always find some use for this little guy. Besides, that-"
"We can't keep him, Tomy," Peter interrupts in a confident voice.
"What?" Tony questions, completely blindsided. "Why not?"
"He's too beautiful," Peter answers as if it's the most obvious answer in the world. "He's supposed to stay in the hocean." Tony can't believe what he's hearing. This kid, a four-year-old, is putting the life of a single fish first. He doesn't know whether to be impressed that Peter actually has empathy or concerned about his concern for a random fish. Of course, as if there were any doubt, Tony goes with the latter.
"It's just one fish," Tony points out, almost baffled. Peter looks from Tony to the fish and then back to Tony…before starting to crank the reel in the opposite direction, towards the water. Realizing that this is the one argument that he isn't going to win, Tony instead pulls the fishing line back up to unhook the fish. "If you want to catch and release, you have to unhook them before letting them go," he informs matter-of-factly as he releases the fish back into the ocean.
"Bye-bye, Squishy!" Peter waves as the fish falls. Tony instead watches Peter. He just doesn't understand what makes the kid tick.
"There's a billion and one other fish out there, Pete. Putting one back isn't gonna matter." Peter looks at him, then points to the fish as it slowly disappears.
"It mattered to that one." With those few words, Tony's entire perspective is flipped upside down. The kid is right. It may not seem like a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but to that one fish it meant everything. It's their life, their entire world. Regardless of the amount of fish out there, it at least mattered to that one fish.
Same goes for humans. There are billions upon billions of humans, but if one dies, the loss is felt across multiple people. Like what he felt when his parents died. How it affected him.
A life lost is a life lost.
He slowly smiles at the thought of such a young boy somehow being wiser than himself. A real smile. He doesn't know when the smile went from being fake to being real. Peter is so down to Earth and genuine that it blows his mind. He watches as Peter's curls whip from the wind and absentmindedly clears them from the toddler's face.
"C'mon, Munchkin, let's get you some food," he suggests as he picks the boy up.
"Can I have french fries?" Peter asks hopefully. With a sigh, Tony relents.
"Sure thing." How could he say no at this point?
"And I get to ride on your shoulders? Please?" Peter pats on Tony's shoulders with a bright smile. Tony tries his hardest to keep his heart from going soft.
"Only 'cause you said 'please,'" he easily gives in and lifts Peter up onto his shoulders. Tony tries to ignore the happy laughs coming from the boy as they walk down the pier, but he fails miserably. He tries to be annoyed by Peter's hands in his hair, undoubtedly messing it up. But he can't be. So he just hopes that he's doing the right thing. Even if deep down, he knows he's not.
Notes:
AAAAAHHHH BREAKING NEWS: TONY STARK MIGHT HAVE A HEART
As always, thank you for reading❤ 💛💚💙💜
AGAIN, check out SuperHeroTiger on Tumblr for some amazing fanart of last chapter's press conference! Their super supportive and the art is absolutely precious❤
superherotiger2point0/tumblr/com/post/186909607183/quick-irondad-drawing-of-the-new-chapter-fake-it
AND fiapie_01's fanart of Peter and Stebe on my Instagram kevy_fanficsđź’™
www/instagram/com/p/B1EhmOJg9Li/
If you'd like to keep up to date on upcoming fics and get sneak peeks, feel free to follow one of my accounts
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