"You're adopting him?"

Tony nodded, taking a sip of the coffee that Eric had offered him, and watching as Peter played with Ned under the watchful eye of Eric's wife, who was in the living room helping a couple of the other boys assemble what looked like a Lego Empire Strikes Back fighter.

"I've already signed the papers," he confirmed. "I've been advised not to make any public announcement, right away, to give Peter a chance to adjust to the idea before he gets thrown into the spotlight of the press and paparazzi that comes with being associated with me. So, don't spread it around, please."

"Of course."

Pepper had been pleased when Tony had called her with the news that Peter had said yes, and she'd been the first to congratulate them both – even though it was just over the phone. She'd been the one to suggest keeping the news low-key, for now, and Peter had agreed not to tell anyone. Except the avengers, of course. He wanted to let them know.

Pepper had ended the call, saying that she'd find a judge to approve the papers that very day, and that she'd let Tony know where he needed to be – and when. By then, they were pulling up to the Tatro's and it had been enjoyable for Tony to watch Peter greeting Eric and his wife and handing over the gift basket that practically dwarfed the little boy.

Since they didn't have anywhere that they needed to be – just yet – Tony had accepted the offer of a cup of coffee and another snack to tide he and Peter over for a while.

"Anything you think I should know?" Tony asked, only half joking. "I don't have any experience with the dad thing."

Eric smiled, gesturing with his free hand toward the boy in the living room.

"He's happy," the big man pointed out. "That's the goal. You just keep doing whatever it takes to make that happen. Peter's pretty level-headed for someone who's had the rough time that he's had. Most of that is that his mom and dad did a good job giving him a good start on life. Your job will be to finish where they left off, really." He shrugged. "You're already proving that you're willing to spend time with him. That's important. Play catch with him, take him to the park. Maybe sign him up for T-ball in the summer, or something, so he can learn team dynamics."

Tony nodded, taking mental notes. The guy knew a lot more about young boys than he did, after all.

"That's a-" he was interrupted by a call, and apologized as he took it. A minute later, though, he was smiling as he put his phone away. "We have a date with a judge," he told Eric. "I'm afraid we need to cut our visit short."

Eric smiled, too, and offered Tony his hand.

"You have my number, if there's anything I can do."

Tony shook it.

"Likewise. If you ever need anything…"

"Call Peter's billionaire superhero dad," Eric finished. "I'll keep that in mind."

Stark smirked, and the two men went into the living room to allow Peter a chance to say his goodbyes before Tony hustled him back out into the car.

OOOOOOOO

The judge didn't look like any of the judges that Peter had seen in the movies. He was about Tony's age, probably, and wasn't wearing a black gown, and he wasn't holding a gavel. He was wearing jeans, a hooded sweatshirt and boots that were well worn in and warm. The man smiled when Peter and Tony walked into his office, and Peter saw Pepper standing next to a desk that had a few chairs around it.

"Mr. Stark," he said, offering Tony his hand. "I'm glad to meet you."

"Judge Rhyme," Tony knew who he was, of course, since Pepper had briefed him on his way to the man's office. "Thank you so much for being willing to see us, today."

The man nodded, smiling down at Peter, who was shyly peeking out from behind Tony's leg.

"I'm glad to do it. Hello, Peter."

"Hi."

Tony smiled, too, and brought his hand to Peter's shoulder.

"Come on out, buddy," he said, amused. "He's a friend."

Peter did as he was told, but he kept his arm around Tony's leg, anchoring himself to the man for the support and reassurance that the touch provided.

"Did you have a good Christmas?" the judge asked the boy, kindly.

"Yes. I got a Lego Batman."

"Wow. With the Batmobile?"

Peter smiled, nodding.

"And a Batcave, but I have to build it, still."

"That's amazing." It was clear he was used to dealing with intimidated children and putting them at ease. Tony was impressed. "Come sit down for a minute."

Peter did as he was told, climbing into the chair that was offered to him and watching as the judge walked behind his desk and sat down, too.

"Mr. Stark wants to adopt you, Peter."

"Yeah."

He couldn't help but smile at the thought.

"Do you understand what that means?"

"He doesn't want to be my foster dad. He wants to be my real dad, instead."

"Right. What do you think about that?"

"I like it."

"Yeah?" The judge smiled. "Do you think you'd like to live with him, permanently?"

"More than anything."

"I'm glad to hear that." He glanced at Tony and then back to the boy he was interrogating. "What did you have for breakfast, this morning?"

"Bacon and egg sandwiches. And orange juice."

"Before or after you opened presents?"

"Before."

The judge's expression was amused.

"Good to hear." He looked at Pepper, expectantly. "You have the papers?"

"I do."

She'd been closer to Tony's and had stopped by his apartment to pick them up before coming to the meeting. Reaching into a bag, she handed over the manilla envelope and they all watched as the judge pulled the papers out and looked them over, carefully.

"I signed it, too," Peter said, helpfully.

"I see that." Pepper had added the special paper that had been made just for Peter to have a chance to be a part of the process, and the judge looked it over, recognizing it for what it was, immediately. "Your signature is much neater than Mr. Stark's."

Peter beamed, looking over at Tony, who winked at him.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." The other man pulled a pen from a holder on his desk and signed three of the papers, and then put them all back in the envelope. "Alright," he said, standing up. "He's yours, Mr. Stark."

"Just like that?" Tony asked, surprised.

He'd honestly thought there'd be a lot of questions for him. A way to make Tony prove that he was capable of taking care of a small human before the judge actually turned Peter over to him, officially.

The judge smiled.

"Just like that. He seems willing, he's been in your care for a while, now, and he's still alive. You obviously know that he needs to eat regular meals and wear warm clothes. That and the fact that he hid behind you when meeting me tells me all I need to know. Congratulations. He's a cute little guy. I'm sure you two are going to be great together."

Tony's answering smile was pleased, and he offered the man his hand.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. It's standard for my office to file the papers, which will then be a matter of public record, but I'll instruct my staff to keep it to themselves. There might be a tabloid that has people monitoring these activities, but no one will find out from us."

"I appreciate that."

"I'd offer to take you all out to celebrate, but my wife expects me home by dinner."

"We appreciate your time, James," Pepper said. "Thank you."

"My pleasure." He turned to Peter. "It was good to meet you, Peter."

"Thanks."

OOOOOOO

"What are you doing for dinner?" Tony asked Pepper a few minutes later when they were in the mostly deserted parking garage.

"I'm meeting a couple of friends." She was pleased by the question, though, because she knew that had she said she didn't have anything interesting planned, Tony would have invited her to eat with them. "What are you two doing?"

"We're going to go home and I'm going to heat up leftovers from last night."

"And there's a lot of trash to pick up," Peter added.

They'd left plenty of wrapping paper on the floor, especially around the piano.

"Are you coming in, tomorrow?" Pepper asked Tony.

"Do I need to?"

The tower was going to be open, of course, but there wasn't going to be much work being done, Tony knew. Technically the holiday wasn't over until the new year.

"It wouldn't be a bad idea," she replied. "There are several things that you're going to need to take care of – for Peter, I mean. I'll get the list made up sometime in the morning. If you come in after lunch and make a half day out of it, we can get everything done."

"I'll be there at one," he promised. "Thank you for everything."

She smiled at that.

"You're welcome. I'll see you, tomorrow."

She hugged Peter (because he was too cute not to) and they watched as she got into her car and drove off.

Tony looked down at Peter.

"Are you hungry?"

"Yes."

"So am I. Let's go home."

The word was somehow magical all of the sudden, and Peter smiled.

"Okay."