Comfortember Day Six: Falling Leaves [Bio!Dad Tony + Kid!Peter AU]

"Daddy, Daddy, get up!"

Tony moaned at the sudden sound of his child's voice. He shifted onto his back and opened an eye to see Peter crawling on the bed getting closer. Tony yawned and stretched his body out, the sudden movement apparently shocking Peter as the kid stopped moving.

"Alright, Daddy's up, kiddo," Tony said, suppressing a yawn.

Peter sat by his side and Tony ran his fingers through his soft curls, earning a big smile from his kid. It was that smile that made Tony get up and out of bed every morning. Things weren't the same after Pepper died but he still had a ray of sunshine.

"Look out the window," Peter prompted, taking Tony's big hand in his tiny one and pointing it in the direction of the window. The window that still had it's curtains closed. Because Tony still hadn't gotten up.

Tony sat up with some effort and rubbed his hands down his face. If it was snowing, he was going to have to find a way to lose his shit without Peter realizing he was losing his shit. Some people said it was too early for snow but the last time someone said that, it was snowing two days later. And Tony was still in Fall Mode not Winter Mode.

Tony got out of the bed and put his housecoat on before picking Peter up carefully in his arms. Peter held onto the fabric of Tony's housecoat as Tony held him on his hip. He walked to the window and opened the curtains.

"See, it's pretty out!"

Tony smiled and let out a sigh of relief. He'd rather see falling leaves than snow any day. And Peter was right, it was pretty. There was something nice about watching leaves fall, especially this time of year when the leaves were orange and red and yellow. The weather was also like this when Tony first proposed to Pepper years ago.

"Daddy, why are you crying?"

Tony hadn't even realized he started to tear up at the thought of Pepper. The tears hadn't actually spilled but his little genius son noticed the small things. He even began to lightly tap under his eyes as if to ward off any tears.

Tony cleared his throat. "I'm not crying, Underoos."

Peter tilted his head with the most adorable big brown eyes that Tony couldn't help but smile. He kissed his child's forehead. Peter giggled and snuggled closer to him. With that, Tony exited his room and headed into the living room. He placed Peter on the couch and turned on his favourite cartoon channel.

"Breakfast will be ready soon," Tony said, patting Peter's head.

"Okay!"

Tony made sure to open all the curtains so they could have the view of the leaves continuing to fall. The warm sunlight was also nice and better than having to use the overhead light in the kitchen, that's how bright it was. A truly beautiful day.

"Scrambled eggs sound good, kiddo?"

"That sounds great!"

Tony went to work on making breakfast and kept glancing out the window. He liked to think that Pepper would be proud of him for going on and doing this well without her. It was almost as if her spirit was there watching over him. It made him feel warm and comfortable.

"Daddy, can we make a big leaf pile in the yard like last year?" Peter asked, coming into the kitchen.

"So you can jump into it again and make a mess?" Tony asked with an amused smile.

Peter twiddled with his thumbs. "It wasn't a mess…"

"I was just joking, baby."

Peter chuckled. "I knew that!"

Tony shook his head and put Peter's plate of breakfast on the table and helped the little five-year-old up. He gave him a glass of milk and patted the top of his head again.

"Eat up, get changed out of your PJs and we'll go make a pile."

"Alright." Peter nodded and started munching on his scrambled eggs.

And it was so.

Peter finished up all his breakfast and milk and got changed and Tony did the same, putting on a cozy sweater and jeans. Before going outside, Tony made sure to wrap a scarf around Peter's neck and gave him the appropriate jacket to wear, because although it was sunny, it was also chilly outside on days like this.

Peter was swirling around in the yard as if he was trying to create a tornado to move the leaves around him. Tony was busy raking up the leaves and giving the occasional nod to neighbours who were also raking. Unfortunately, there were no other kids in this neighbourhood.

One day when Tony and Peter went to a nearby park his child did meet another boy his age, Ned Leeds, and they seemed to hit it off well. It was just that Ned lived on the other side of town. He made sure to get Ned's mother's phone number the day they met so they could set up some playdates and Peter could finally have a good friend.

Later, perhaps after lunch, Tony would give Miss Leeds a call and see if they could set up a playdate for Peter and Ned.

"Alright, little one, here's your pile," Tony called, looking over his shoulder where Peter was.

Peter wasn't twirling anymore and instead held his hands out, letting leaves fall into his hands for a moment and then watched them go to the ground. He almost seemed like he was in a trance of some kind.

"You okay, bud?"

Peter smiled and looked over. "I am. I just felt a warm spot here."

Huh. Maybe Pepper's spirit was here if Peter was saying things like that. Or maybe Peter really did just find a warmer spot in the sun. Tony decided not to think too hard on it. The kid was five, going on six, and kids at that age always had vivid imaginations.

Peter rubbed his hands together before he made a mad dash toward the leaf pile. Tony made sure to move out of the way to avoid getting hit with too many leaves. He did make a rather big pile, after all. Only the best for his son.

Peter laughed when he hopped into the pile, making leaves fly up all over the place. He laid on his back and kept laughing. His tiny hands swatted leaves out of his face. He looked up at Tony.

"Why don't you ever jump in leaf piles?" he asked, curiously.

Tony waved his hand. "I prefer watching my kid enjoy it. It's more fun for me."

"Aw, Daddy," Peter chimed sweetly, giving Tony another one of his big smiles.

Tony smiled softly.

"Well, it looks like I have to rake this up again."

"Aw-"

"Oh, it looks like something's in the way. Ah, well."

With that, Tony started piling the leaves on top of Peter, smirking when the boy squawked in offense. Peter rolled out of the pile and shook the remaining leaves off him. He pouted at Tony and stuck his tongue out.

"You did that last year too!"

"Did I? Hm, it seems I forgot," Tony said, feigning innocence.

"Oh, Daddy," Peter drawled but smiled.

Peter hopped up and ran to Tony. Before a collision, Tony lifted Peter into his arms and twirled around. Peter held onto him securely and rested his head on Tony's shoulder. Tony smiled and kissed his kid's cheek.

Moments like this really made life special.

Author's Note: The first AU of the bunch! Something soft and sweet.

And is it any surprise I offed Pepper? Oops. Tbh I kinda like Bio!Dad Tony being a single father to Pete and I haven't come across any stories where that's the case, so I decided to make one.

That's all for now. I'll see ya'll in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading!

~Kurosaki