The billionaire left, closing the door behind him, and Peter rolled over onto his side to look at the door, even as the lights faded.

"JARVIS?"

"Yes, Peter?"

"What should I get Tony for Christmas?"

"That is a difficult question to answer," the AI told him.

"Because he's rich and doesn't need anything?"

"There are plenty of things that he needs," JARVIS disagreed. "But he will never admit them, most likely. Not even to himself. Some are things that you can give him without realizing it. Others are things that are too complicated for him to understand, so you would have difficulty comprehending them, also."

"What can I give him?" Peter asked, confused.

It was like one of his teachers that he had when he was still living with May. She would answer any question that he asked her, but it was always making more questions, really. That had been the philosophy class, and he'd been glad when it ended.

Peter liked answers that were black and white, not shaded with a lot of mystic nuances that made his head hurt.

"Let me make a suggestion," came the response.

"Okay."

"You've known him for a while, now, and have had a chance to observe him – somewhat. Now that you're living with him, you'll be spending more time with him. It will provide you with more opportunities to learn about him. What he likes and what he enjoys. That might give you more insight into what he might want for Christmas."

"Oh."

That sounded complicated. Peter liked to solve problems, but he didn't know anything about people.

Maybe he'd buy him a tie, or something. Tony wore a lot of ties, Peter had noticed.

"Go to sleep, Peter," JARVIS told him. And now the lights were off, completely. "It isn't a question you can answer, immediately."

He closed his eyes, but he was awake for a long time, mulling over the question – as well as what all of the others might like. He didn't know what Tony had in mind for allowance, but he knew that whatever it was, it wasn't going to be enough to buy something for everyone. It worried him, because he didn't want to be forced to decide who got a good present, and who got something that he might try to make by hand.

His parents used to tell him that they loved getting the handwritten and homemade cards and drawings that he made them, but they were his parents, and they were supposed to lie to him to make him feel better about himself, he knew.

He could do some research, though, and maybe go online and see if there was anything that someone like him could do to make something that someone as great as Natasha, or even Nick, would like.

"JARVIS?" his voice sounded loud in the silence of his bedroom.

"Yes?"

"Would you remind me later to ask Tony if I could have some art stuff? Paper? Markers? That kind of thing?"

"Of course."

"Thank you."

"Go to sleep."

Peter closed his eyes, again, but this time his long day caught up to him and overwhelmed his hectic mind, and he fell asleep.

OOOOOOO

"Peter would like some arts and craft paraphernalia."

Tony nodded, not even startled by the voice of his AI after so many years, now.

"Order whatever you think he'd want," Stark said. "Have it rushed so it's here as soon as possible. Is he alright?"

"He is wondering what he should get you for Christmas."

Stark smiled, and turned off his tablet – which was open to a website that gave suggestions for gift ideas for children.

"He isn't the only one. I should have held off a little when I stocked his room. Now I need to figure out something amazing to top what he already has access to."

"He's a little boy," JRVIS reminded Tony. "He doesn't need more than what he already has – and he definitely prefers your company over any of the toys in his room."

"Crazy, isn't it?" Tony asked, smiling and shaking his head. "Because I feel the same way about him."

"Quite the coincidence, sir," JARVIS said, and Tony thought that his tone was smug – although he knew it couldn't be. "You should go to bed."

"I have things to work on, and some research to do."

"All of which will wait until tomorrow. You'll want to be refreshed in case Peter requests an outing."

"Is it still snowing?"

"Yes."

"Then the only outing we'd be able to make is by sled dog."

He did what he was told, though, and went to bed, rather than staying up half the night as was usual for him.

Just in case Peter really did want to go somewhere, the next day.

"Wake me if he needs me."

"I will. Goodnight."

"Night."

He stopped at Peter's room, though, and opened the door to peek in and check on him. The boy was asleep, and Tony smiled as he crossed the bedroom and looked down on him. With gentle care, Stark pulled the blankets back up where they'd shifted, tucking them around him. It was cold outside, but the bedroom was warm.

Still… he wanted him to sleep, comfortably.

Then he went to bed, closing the door once more behind him.

OOOOOOO

"So how did it go?"

Tony leaned back in his chair, feeling smug and even content. His expression was enough to make Pepper smile.

"It was good. Some of the others came over for dinner on Thanksgiving, we filled him full of turkey and Nick convinced him Santa was real."

"Nick did?"

"Yup. So, of course, we had to go find a Christmas tree, and stuff to decorate it with."

"You two are getting along?" she asked, looking surprised and pleased, both. He looked as cheerful as she could ever remember seeing him. "He's not driving you to distraction?"

"We're still getting to know each other," Tony reminded her. "I expect once he feels more confident about our living arrangements, he'll start to loosen up a little more. Maybe run amok, or something. Of course, Nick has a SHIELD agent assigned to him while he's at school, and I'll be watching him when he's here – and at home – so he'll be reined in fairly well."

"A SHIELD agent?" she repeated. "In case someone decides you like him, and makes a play for him, to exchange for a ransom?"

Proving she wasn't stupid.

"Exactly."

"Is there a lot of concern that that will happen?"

"Not too much," he said, shrugging. "You know how Romanoff and Fury are, though."

She did.

And it wouldn't surprise her if they had more people watching the boy than even Tony knew about. For that matter, she was fairly certain that SHIELD had people watching Tony that he didn't know about.

"So this is going to work, then? The foster dad thing? You like it?"

He seemed to be enjoying it. But then, he'd only done it a weekend.

"I like him."

"Good."

"And you should be aware, you're invited to Christmas eve."

Pepper smiled at that.

"Oh?"

"Yes. And don't say you're not coming, because Peter is excited by the idea, and he's going to personally invite you. So good luck resisting his big brown eyes."

"I've resisted yours for years…"

"He's a lot nicer than I am, though."

Her expression softened.

"You're doing okay."

"Thank you."

She nodded.

"May I make a suggestion, though?"

"Yes."

Of course she could. Tony was well aware that she was smarter than he was.

"How much time – since he's moved in with you – has he spent with children his own age?"

"None," Tony admitted "Unless you count standing in line waiting to see Santa."

"You took him to see Santa?"

"Yep."

"Awww." The softly uttered noise made Tony roll his eyes, but he was pleased that it made her smile, too. With one stroke he'd made Pepper happy, as well as Peter. "Did he get a picture?"

"Yes." He'd had JARVIS scan it, immediately, and it was officially part of his network. The display on his desk came alive and an image of little Peter sitting on the lap of a jolly older man in a Santa suit came up. The boy's smile was happy, and he was looking at the camera. "I'll have JARVIS send it to you, if you want."

"Thank you. So, my suggestion. He needs time with kids his age. Hanging out with you and other adults – no matter how much they like him – isn't going to give him the socialization that he needs."

"I didn't hang out with a bunch of kids my age," Tony pointed out. "And look at me."

Her expression changed to that one that he knew so well, but luckily, she let that comment slide.

"The tower has a daycare."

"It does?"

"Yes. You signed off on creating it two years ago."

Which meant that she'd set it up and used her authority as his assistant to make it happen without asking.

"Oh. That was nice of me."

"People work better and more efficiently if they know their children are safe and being taken well care of. Productivity and morale have skyrocketed – and we're actually doing well because of it."

"Alright. But you think I should let Peter go there?"

"He comes in after school to do his homework. Is there any reason he couldn't come from school, say hello to you and check in – maybe have a snack so you can ask about his day – and then have him go to daycare until you're ready to go home? He could play with children his own age – and then, later, you can help him with his homework and get some time with him."

"He doesn't usually need my help."

"Then he can do his schoolwork and you can work on whatever project you might have going."

"It'd be good for him?"

"I think so. There are several children his age enrolled. Even geniuses need playdates, sometimes."

"I'll ask him, today."

"Good. I'll set it up, and you can take him down to meet Ella before the end of the day. She's the director."

"If he agrees," Stark added. "I'm not going to force him to do anything he doesn't want to do."

"He'll agree."