"We're not really going to get a Christmas tree, are we?"
Tony shrugged, buckling his seatbelt.
"We might. If we find one that we like."
"It won't fit in your car."
"We'll figure it out. For now, we're just going to go for a drive and check the place out." He hadn't missed the way Peter enjoyed every trip that they'd taken out of the city, so far, and they might as well scope out a tree while they were getting the fresh air. "If we find the right tree, then we'll go from there."
"Okay."
They had nothing but time that day, really.
Peter's homework hadn't taken long for the boy to do – especially with Tony feeding him answers. Recognizing that he wasn't sleepy, really, and already catching on that the little guy could watch movies endlessly, rather than try to send him back to bed, Tony had simply brought out a blanket from his bed, had JARVIS turn off all the lights, and then turned on a Disney cartoon while the two of them lounged on the sofa and watched it.
The child fell asleep rather quickly, leaning up against Tony, who dozed off after a while, as well. When they'd next woken, the sun was well up in the sky, the streets were filled with Black Friday shoppers, and rather than bother to go out into that mess, they'd eaten a leisurely breakfast and discussed the merits of going to buy the decorations for the tree before they even found one, or if they should wait to make sure they had the right tree before buying whatever was going to go on it.
In the end, they (mainly Tony) decided that they didn't want to go to any store that day if they could avoid it. Time enough the next day, after all, when Tony had already brought up the idea of going to see Santa at the mall. Peter had been uncertain, now that he was away from Nick's certainty, but he'd looked so hopeful, almost desperate to believe that Santa really was waiting to hear what he told the guy in the mall that he wanted for Christmas, that Tony had taken the decision away from him. He pointed out that he needed to go to the mall, anyway, so they might as well stop in and see what they could see.
So they drove out of the city and headed for the place that Tony had been told about. Peter watched the scenery with interest, and grinned, excitedly, when the first fat snowflakes hit the windshield.
"It's starting to snow!"
Tony rolled his eyes, not bothering to point out that his sportscar wasn't designed to traverse back wood roads with accumulating snowfall. It wasn't a big deal, so far, since it wasn't too bad.
"Good thing we brought winter clothes, then, isn't it?"
"Yeah."
Peter wrapped his arms around himself, watching as the snow fell against the windshield as they drove, and the trees were getting bigger and the houses fewer and further apart from each other.
It was almost an hour before they pulled into a long driveway, and now, suddenly, the trees were all uniform shaped and close to the same size. A perfect Christmas tree farm. They weren't the only ones to park their car in the large gravel parking area, but there were only a few people in sight; small groups of potential customers intently checking out all the available trees, and none of them paid any attention as Tony got out of the car, grabbing his coat and putting it on before he opened Peter's door and helped him into his heavy coat, too.
"Ground rules," he said, picking the boy up and putting him on the hood of the car so he could put snow boots on his feet.
There was only a couple of inches of snow, and more falling, but he didn't want Peter to have cold or wet toes.
"Yeah?"
"No wandering off."
"Okay."
"No trying to pet anything that might want to eat us."
"Like what?"
"Bears. Wolves. Angry squirrels."
Peter nodded.
"Okay."
"No chopping down any trees until we both agree."
Peter nodded, smiling, because Tony was smiling.
"I didn't bring an axe."
"Neither did I." Tony pulled the coat's hood up over Peter's head. "Come on. Let's go look around."
There wasn't a lot to see. Trees. Snow. The occasional bird or squirrel that scolded them from a distance. Every now and then a person, or a couple of people, most sizing up the trees around them, obviously looking for the perfect Christmas centerpiece for their homes or businesses. Peter didn't mind, though. Conscientious of the promise to stay close, he held Tony's hand as they walked around, but the billionaire could tell that it was only the grip that he had on him that kept the boy close at hand. As it was, he practically vibrated his way through the trees, pointing out a few of them and laughing whenever a wild animal would cross their path.
No one bothered them, and Tony found that he was having almost as good a time as Peter was. And he didn't even have a drink in his hand.
By the time Peter started getting cold – and Tony's feet were numb – they hadn't found the exact tree that they wanted, but had seen several that would do quite nicely.
"Ready to call it a day?" he asked Peter, who nodded.
His nose was cold, and he was getting hungry.
"Yeah."
They walked back to the car, stopping to talk with the owner of the tree farm, who was awed to be talking to Tony Stark in flesh and offered him his pick of a tree. Tony had smiled his appreciation and taken a couple of pictures with the man – and his wife, who had joined them in mid-conversation – and had mentioned that they might be out the next day or two to get their tree, but that he'd pay them for it, fair and square.
He didn't set a particular time, just in case the proprietors had relatives that might come and wait to ambush him for autographs and photos of their own, but as excited as Peter was at the idea of having a Christmas tree, chances were they weren't going to wait too long. He remote started the car to make sure the heater wouldn't take long to warm up, then he helped Peter out of his heavy boots and coat, bundled him into the front seat and then got behind the wheel to head back home.
"Did you have fun?" he asked, forced to concentrate a little more on the road, since the snow was starting to come down, heavily.
"It was great. Did you?"
"Yes." He hesitated. "I wanted to discuss something with you, though, and since I have you to myself, it's probably a good time to do it."
Peter froze, wondering if he was going to tell him that he was going to have to move. If the state had decided that Tony's house wasn't the best place for Peter, after all. Maybe Miss Marples had decided to get a different judge and make Peter move back in with her? He knew it couldn't last, of course, but he'd hoped for it to be a little while, at least.
"Oh."
Tony noticed the fear in Peter's expression and frowned.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh…" the little boy turned his head to look out the window. "I… I was thinking, is all."
"About what?"
"Am I going to have to move?"
"What? No. Why did you ask that?"
The boy shrugged.
"Eric said he had something that he wanted to discuss with me when he told me that I was being moved from his house… I just thought that maybe it's the script that they have you use to tell a kid."
Stark felt something inside him ache, horribly, at the uncertainty that Peter must feel. His life had been so turned upside down, and he was so little. It was hard to remember that, because he was so intelligent and had moments of maturity that seemed to be far surpassing Tony's own levels. But he was still young, and very uncertain, obviously. Stark wanted to give him a hug, but he couldn't with the snow falling around them.
"It's nothing like that, Peter," Tony told him. "This is about your school."
Peter turned to look at him.
"My school?"
"Yeah. I was talking to Nick and the others, yesterday, and they pointed out to me that you might be in danger…"
"What? Why?"
"Well, you know what ransom is, right?"
"Yes."
"Natasha's worried someone might try to kidnap you, and hold you for ransom."
"That's kind of dumb." He looked a little guilty for calling anything that Natasha said dumb, but it was clear he was confused. "I'm just a foster kid," Peter told him. "Not your real son."
"It doesn't mean I wouldn't pay. I care about you… I want you to be safe."
"Oh."
"So starting on Monday, you're going to have a bodyguard. Someone to watch you when you're at school."
"Natasha?"
Tony smiled.
"Probably not. Sorry. She and Nick are going to pick someone, though. He or she won't be breathing down your neck, or anything, but it'll be their job to watch you while you're in school, and bring you to my office every day, after."
"I still get to come to your office after school?"
"Of course. You still want to, right?"
"Yes." The boy sniffed, wiping his suddenly runny nose with his forearm. "Of course. I just didn't know if… you know, if I'd get to do that."
"Well, you do." Tony rested a hand on Peter's head for a moment. "You can do anything that you want to," he added.
"Except climb the walls…"
"Except climb the walls," Tony agreed. "At least, not in the middle of the night. Okay?"
"Okay."
"Or at school," Tony added. "We don't want the rest of the world to know what you can do until you're a little older – and better at doing it."
Reassured – at least a little – Peter relaxed and enjoyed the drive back to the city. The snow was coming down steadily, but Tony was a skilled driver and even though they were in a car that wasn't designed for traction, he had no trouble getting them home without incident. They could have stopped at a fast food place to get dinner, but Stark had meant what he said when he'd promised to try to do right by Peter and feed him healthier than he, himself, tended to eat.
OOOOOOO
They had a ton of leftovers, still, and as soon as they got back to the apartment, Tony sent Peter to change into his pajamas while he headed into the kitchen to see what new kind of turkey something they were going to have for late lunch/early dinner.
"I don't have to go to bed, right?" Peter asked, coming out of his room and dressed in a pair of Captain America pajamas. "It's just because they're more comfortable?"
"Yeah, it's early, still," Tony said. "How about turkey and noodle casserole for dinner?"
"Okay."
He hoped Tony would want to play Legos that night. Or watch a movie.
The boy was really happy at the thought of Tony spending time with him - even when they'd just spent the whole day, together.