"Last chance to change your mind and let me go home…"
Tony smirked, looking over at Pepper, who was settling herself into the plush leather chair of the jet.
"You aren't a prisoner, Pep. You could leave any time."
She rolled her eyes, giving him the look that he knew so well before she turned her attention to Peter, who was being shown the cockpit by the two pilots that would be flying them to California.
"Right. Like that was ever really an option. Not since you had him turn those big brown eyes on me."
"My big brown eyes?" he teased, hoping to make her smile.
She complied.
"You're entirely too good at getting what you want, Tony."
"Well," he said, thanking the steward who was escorting Peter back to sit in the chair beside him. "I want you to have fun. So let's work on that, shall we?"
Peter smiled, buckling his seatbelt under the watchful eye of the steward, who then tugged on it to make sure it was tight.
"I want you to have fun, too, Pepper," the boy agreed.
Pepper's expression softened.
"I'm sure we'll have a great time," she told him, ignoring the amused triumph in Stark's expression. He probably just wanted the extra babysitter. "What are you looking forward to seeing, most?"
"Everything."
"I hope your dad brought comfortable shoes, then."
Now it was Tony's turn to roll his eyes. The implication being that he was going to be doing a lot of walking that week.
"I did."
OOOOOOOO
It was Peter's first flight, so it probably wasn't much of a surprise that the boy spent most of the trip with his nose pressed against one of the windows along the fuselage of the sleek jet. Once the flight leveled off, and Tony and the steward gave him permission, he unbuckled himself and went to stand on the low-slung couch that ran along the length of the small area to look outside.
"Peter, honey, don't stand like that," Pepper had said, quickly, worried that if they hit turbulence the boy might lose his balance and fall backward – and probably hit his head or something.
Peter had dropped to his knees without comment, but hadn't moved his face away from the view.
"The tops of the clouds look a lot like the bottoms," he noted.
"Yes, they do," Tony agreed, leaning back into the fine leather and relaxing. Peter's excitement for the trip had left the boy wide awake the night before – even more than usual – and Tony was more than willing to catch up on that missed sleep during the flight. He was sleeping fairly regular – despite Peter's odd sleeping patterns, and he was beginning to get used to it. "It shouldn't be cloudy the entire way, so you'll get to see what the tops of mountains look like, too."
"Wow."
Pepper smiled, and then accepted a glass of wine from the steward. He didn't have to ask her what kind she preferred; she'd been on the jet many times, after all.
"Peter? Are you hungry?"
"No, thank you."
He didn't even turn his head.
Tony smiled, and closed his eyes.
"He can eat, later."
She shrugged, but since Tony wasn't going to insist the boy had something, neither was she. Instead, she pulled out a paperback book, settled into her seat and allowed herself to enjoy the flight. But even as she read, occasionally she would glance over at the little boy, and then smile at Tony, who was already asleep.
OOOOOOOO
The hotel they were staying at was at Disney, not in the Legoland property. Mainly because Tony only anticipated one day at Legoland, with the rest of the holiday being spent riding rides and enjoying the activities that were much more diverse. There were acres of property to look at, after all. Much more than Legoland had to offer.
When their jet landed (at another private airfield) there was a car waiting for them. This one was a sleek sedan, and Pepper and Tony put Peter between them in the back, allowing the driver to load everything into the trunk except Peter's backpack, which stayed with the boy. He held it on his lap, holding it rather than hugging himself, but the two adults actually felt him tremble with excitement when the car crossed into the Disney properties and stopped in front of the fancy hotel.
Tony smiled at Pepper over Peter's head, and took the boy's backpack.
"Come on, buddy," he said, opening the door before the driver could. "We'll check into our suite, have some dinner and relax a while."
"Can we go on rides?" Peter asked, scrambling out of the back of the car behind Tony.
"Not tonight," he replied, offering the boy his free hand, and squeezing it, lightly, when Peter took it. "We'll get a lay of the land, and get ready, tonight, then we'll do all that stuff tomorrow."
There were rides at Legoland, so it was a promise that he knew he could keep.
Peter knew that, too.
"Okay."
Pepper stepped up beside him, and took Peter's other hand, and they walked into the hotel lobby, leaving their bags for the driver and the hotel staff to take care of. Peter smiled, swinging from their grips, playfully, not at all tired – even though he hadn't slept during the flight like the two adults had.
Indulging the boy, Tony swung his arm to allow Peter to swing out and then back, and when she realized what he was doing, Pepper echoed the motion on the other side, which made the little boy giggle, happily.
It wasn't exactly a ride, but it was still fun.
The three walked up to the check in desk, and Peter looked around the lobby, excited.
"Look!" he said, pointing, and getting Tony and Pepper's attention. They both saw a woman dressed as Cinderella walk across the room, holding hands with two little girls, and being followed by another. "Wow."
Tony smiled at his cheer, but had to turn back to the conversation that he was having with the desk clerk.
This was going to be so much fun.
OOOOOOO
"This is nice."
Pepper looked around the room they were standing in, her hand still holding Peter's, idly, as it had the entire ride up the elevator and to the door of the suite she'd reserved for them. Tony had offered to do all the leg work on the vacation – it was his idea, after all, and was supposed to be a break for her – but she said she didn't mind.
Secretly, he assumed that she wanted to make sure everything was laid on right, the first time, and trusted herself to do that more efficiently than she trusted him.
It was a two bedroom suite. Pepper would have one room, and he and Peter would take the other. Tony had made a sly comment about maybe making different sleeping arrangements, and she'd countered with the rejoinder that Peter might be a blanket hog and she didn't want to share her bed with him. The billionaire had rolled his eyes, amused, and had dropped the idea of them sharing one room and giving Peter his own.
He hadn't really expected her to be on board with that notion.
"It is," he agreed.
There was also a large living area, with a couch, a couple of chairs, a large flatscreen TV and a full bar, rather than just a minibar. There was a coffee table with a huge basket that held fruit, nuts, candies and every kind of snack that they might think of while they were there.
They took a few minutes to look around, with Peter making excited noises every time he found something new to gawk at in the room.
"Look!" he'd say, pointing at (or picking up) something that was designed to be purely decorative, but was still amazing to the boy. "Isn't it great?"
Pepper seated herself on the sofa so she could watch him without following him around, but Tony eventually held up a hand to stop him, and gestured for him to join him at the far corner.
"Come here, Peter," he said, crouching down on the floor next to a big metal box.
Peter went over and joined him, and he saw his backpack next to it.
"What is it?" the boy asked, curiously.
"It's a safe," Tony replied. "We're going to put your backpack in here, to make sure it's safe when we go out and look around. There's too much chance that you might lose it out in the park – and I don't want that to happen."
"Oh." Peter eyed the box, speculatively. "No one can get into it?"
"Just the people who know the code. You, me, and Pepper. No one else."
"Wow."
Their own safe? How cool was that?
Tony smiled, and handed the boy his backpack.
"Take out what you think you'll need while we're here."
It shouldn't be much, he knew – and was proven right when the only thing Peter pulled from the bag was the teddy bear Tony had won for him – and his Lego Avengers. Then he handed the backpack to Tony, who opened the safe and tucked it, neatly inside.
"What is the code?" Peter asked.
"Whatever you want it to be," was the reply. "But not a birthday," he added, smiling.
"Right," Pepper said, proving that she was listening. "Only an idiot uses his birthday for a code."
"Tony did it," Peter told her, which made Stark roll his eyes.
"She knows, buddy," he said. "She was just being a smart ass."
He smiled when he said it, though, so Peter would know that he wasn't being serious. When the boy looked over at Pepper, uncertainly, she was smiling, too.
"Pick a number, guys," she told them. "I'm hungry."
OOOOOOO
They did as they were told, and soon the safe was locked tightly, and Peter felt himself relax a little. He and Tony went into their shared room and Tony helped him unpack the clothes that they'd brought, putting them into the wardrobe that was supplied. One that was designed to look much older than it actually was.
Part of the Disney experience, Tony told him when Peter commented on it.
When they returned to the common room, Pepper was just coming out of her room, as well, and she smiled.
"Do we go out to eat?" she asked. "Or eat here?"
"We go out," Tony decided, looking at Peter. He picked the boy up and put him on the back of the sofa, though. "But first… some ground rules."
Pepper rolled her eyes, but Peter nodded.
"Okay."
"You stay with me or Pepper at all times."
"Okay."
"And you make sure that we know who you're going to be with. Makes sense?"
"Yes."
This wasn't too different from when they went anywhere, really – there was just the addition of Pepper.
"If you get lost, you wait where you are for me to come find you."
"Right."
"And you don't go with anyone. No matter who they are, or what they're offering you. Right?"
"Yes." Peter smiled, looking up at him. "I'll be careful."
Which made Tony pick him up and hug him.
"I know, buddy. So will I." He looked at Pepper. "Unpacked? Ready?"
"Absolutely."