Peter woke early the next morning in his new bed with no memory of how he got there. He stretched, the warm comforter tempting him to go back to sleep for a little while longer, even though he couldn't remember the last time he'd slept through the night. He opened his eyes, looking around the bedroom with a fresh wonder. There were so many gadgets, and gizmos and even toys. Not that he'd ever been abused in his short life – although May's care had been somewhat iffy, at best – but Tony seemed to be going all out for him, to make him feel wanted.
And he did.
They'd converged on the sofa the night before, and he remembered Tony draping a blanket over them as they settled in to watch a movie. The apartment was warm, even without the fire in the gas fireplace, and Peter had nestled himself right up against Tony's side, feeling very much as if it were the most normal thing ever.
But he didn't remember much past the opening credits of the family friendly movie they'd started watching.
"JARVIS?"
"Good morning."
Peter smiled at the instant response, and the greeting.
"Good morning. Did I fall asleep, last night?"
"Yes. Tony put you to bed when the movie was finished."
"Where is he?"
"Still in bed. It's early, yet. Although he did go to bed at a reasonable time, last night – especially for him."
"Do I have to stay in bed until he wakes up?"
"Of course not. Are you hungry?"
"Not, yet."
"Then get yourself woken up and come out to the living room. You can keep me company while I look up how to cook that monster of a bird."
Peter laughed and rolled out of the bed, dropping to the floor, silently.
"What time are the others coming?"
"The latest input I have is that they will attempt to be here by noon. Colonel Rhodes is looking forward to watching football, and will probably arrive earlier, so he can be here before the game starts. His reasoning is that if the game is already on, the others will not be impolite enough to change to something else."
"Wow."
OOOOOOOO
When Tony came out of his bedroom, he found Peter sprawled on the couch, bundled in a blanket watching cartoons and eating a poptart. The billionaire yawned, and walked over to lean over the back of the sofa, touching the boy's head from behind. Peter looked up at him and smiled, and it made Tony smile, too.
"You okay?"
"Yes."
"How long have you been up?"
The boy glanced at the clock.
"Two hours."
"Why didn't you wake me?"
"You were asleep."
Tony rolled his eyes.
"Are you hungry?"
"A little."
He'd finally decided to have a poptart when hunger drove him into the kitchen, and JARVIS had suggested that he also pull the turkey from the fridge to give it a chance to thaw a little more.
"We'll make breakfast and then start cooking."
"Okay." The boy turned off the TV and shoved the rest of the poptart into his mouth as he climbed over the back of the couch to follow Tony into the kitchen. "JARVIS said to take the turkey out and put it in the sink."
"Thank you." He started the coffee maker, and watched as Peter climbed up onto his chair. "How did you sleep?"
"Good."
Tony hadn't been too surprised when Peter had fallen asleep during the movie. It had been a long, emotional, day, after all, and that would wear on anyone. Especially a little boy. By the time the movie was over – and Tony hadn't left Peter dozing on the sofa to do other things – Peter was snoring, softly, and drooling, just a little. He hadn't stirred when the billionaire picked him up and carried him into his room to put him to bed, either.
"Is your bed comfortable?" he asked, poking a finger into the turkey to test how thawed it was. "Or do we need to get a new one for you?"
"It's great."
"Good." He frowned. "JARVIS? How do we thaw this thing out, faster?"
"Run hot water over it," came the suggestion.
Tony did as he was told, and dried his hands off.
"What do you want for breakfast?"
"Cereal."
"That's it?"
"With a banana chopped up in it?"
"Alright." Cereal wasn't something Tony ate very often, but they'd bought a few different kinds at the store the night before, and he pulled the healthiest of the options down. Fruit Loops wouldn't taste very good with a banana in them, after all. "Rhodey is coming around ten," he told the boy as he poured the cereal into a bowl and brought the milk out. "Everyone else will come around noon."
"Okay."
Tony watched the boy eat while he made his way through his first cup of coffee. He felt pretty good, really. After he'd put Peter to bed, he'd decided to call it a night, as well, and because of that, he'd had more sleep than usual. He brought up a display that showed the local news, mostly out of habit, and realized something.
"Did you want to go to the big parade, today?" he asked Peter. "I could get us a great view."
"No. Thanks." Peter hesitated. "Unless you want to?"
"If I'm there it will be even more of a spectacle. I feel like being low-key, today, and just spending time with people I like."
Peter smiled at the thought that he was included in that group.
They talked about what they were going to have to get finished before their company arrived, but the big one was the turkey. Had they done it right, the bird would have been thawing for a few days, now, and would have been ready for baking. As it was, they were in danger of having ham, or hamburger helper, and ending up eating the thing by themselves sometime later in the week.
Luckily, JARVIS' suggestion seemed to be better than anything that Tony could come up with, and by the time Peter was finished with his breakfast and Tony had started another cup of coffee and had eaten a granola bar, the things was thawed enough to put in the disposable baking pan that Tony had bought the day before. Then, following the direction of the AI – and watching a demonstration on the display that came down from the ceiling – Tony managed to pull the little baggy of innards out and was waving it in front of Peter, who giggled and pretended to throw up.
"What do we do with it, JARVIS?" Tony asked.
"Make gravy."
"Ugh."
They'd bought canned gravy, so that wasn't going to happen.
Tony put the turkey in the oven, and then set the timer – although JARVIS could watch it, too – and then turned to Peter.
"I'm going to go take a shower and get changed."
"Okay."
He smiled, his expression softening as he looked at Peter.
"I'm really glad you're here, Peter. It's going to make today great."
That made Peter smile.
"I am, too, Tony."
"Good. Need anything?"
"No."
He was going to go change, too – although he didn't think he needed a bath.
Peter watched as Tony downed his coffee and then vanished into his bedroom. The little boy looked around the kitchen, and then hopped off his chair and went into his room to change. He returned a few minutes later dressed in jeans and a Captain America t-shirt, and went back to the sofa, where he bundled himself, once more, into the blanket and turned the TV back on.
The parade wasn't on, yet, but they were showing all of the preparations and the giant balloons, and Peter thought that that was pretty interesting, too.
OOOOOOOOO
He wasn't so caught up in the program that he didn't hear Tony coming out of his bedroom sometime later. Peter smiled when he felt the grown up come up behind him, lean over the sofa and hug him.
"What have you learned, so far?" Tony asked him, brushing his still damp hair against Peter's cheek, making the boy squirm.
"There's an Ironman balloon. Did you know that?"
Tony was pleased at just how impressed Peter looked. Yeah, he was eight, but it was always fun to see anyone looking at you with that kind of wonder.
"I heard rumors. Is it a good one?"
"It's bigger than the Snoopy one."
"Wow. I made the big time, then. No Captain America one?"
"No. I didn't see one, yet."
"Good."
He couldn't help but feel smug and didn't bother to hide it in his tone. Tony let the boy go and walked around to join him on the sofa, purposefully pinning him under the blanket by sitting on the edge, and then squishing him, a little, against the cushioned arm of the couch. Peter giggled at the treatment, and shifted so that he was leaning against Tony, again, and the two settled in to watch the craziness that was the thanksgiving parade in the city.