Peter roused when he felt himself being picked up, and he mumbled something even he didn't understand.

"Shhh…" It was Tony's voice, and it was calm and soothing. "I've got you."

Peter allowed his head to drop to the man's shoulder.

"Movie's over?"

"Yeah, buddy," he confirmed. "I'm going to put you to bed."

"'kay…"

He was carried into his room, but Tony didn't put him down right away. Peter didn't need to open his eyes to know that he was pulling the blankets back, first. Only then did he get put into bed, and he opened his eyes when the covers were brought up over him; wonderfully soft and warm.

"You okay?" Tony asked, smiling down at him.

Peter had to smile back even as he nodded.

"Yeah. You?"

"I'm fine." A kiss to the cheek "Go back to sleep, alright?"

"Okay." He rolled on his side, though, and watched as Tony left, turning off the light and closing the door behind him. "JARVIS?"

"Yes?"

"Do you like the new house?"

"Yes."

"Better than the apartment?"

"It doesn't matter to me where I am," the AI told him. "I'm capable of being everywhere, after all, so one place is the same as another. The most important thing is that Tony and you are happy with this place."

"I like it," Peter said. "It's a little big, though."

"It might feel that way, now," JARVIS replied. "But as you get older, you'll get used to it. You'll see. Go to sleep, Peter."

The boy did as he was told, but the room was big, and the house made noises that weren't really loud, but that Peter could hear, and didn't recognize. He didn't hear the normal sounds of a big city, either, and that made things weird for him. His sleep was restless, and the outside noises invaded his subconscious enough that they made his normally unsettling dreams even more so, and he woke several times in the night.

OOOOOOO

It was Tony who roused, next, when he felt the little body join him in his bed. Sleepily, he pulled his blankets back, scooting over to make space for Peter, even though the bed was plenty big. It was automatic, though, to make sure he had the warm spot left from where Tony had been.

"What's up?" he asked softly, concerned but not really worried, since he knew JARVIS would have told him if there were a real problem. He had to assume Peter hadn't fallen out of bed and hit his head, or something. "You okay?"

"Yes," Peter said, sounding sleepy, too. He pressed against Tony's side, shivering just a little, and the billionaire pulled the blankets over the two of them. "Just can't sleep."

"Why?"

"The house is noisy."

Tony frowned at that.

"JARVIS? Anything I need to know about?"

"It isn't noisy," the AI assured him. "The sounds are the usual night noises. Presumably, Peter isn't used to being able to hear them over the sounds of the city. This property is not as congested, and the acoustics are dissimilar. It is safe to assume he is unsettled by it."

Tony chuckled.

"Hear that?"

"Yes."

"Want to sleep with me, tonight?"

"Please?"

"Yeah."

There was a soft sigh – relief? Maybe just contentment. Peter tucked himself against Tony's side, a little arm coming around him as well as it could.

"Not every time," the boy assured him, and now he sounded like he was falling asleep, once more. "Just tonight."

"It's fine, buddy," Tony said. "We'll worry about the big stuff, and let the little things figure themselves out."

"'kay."

The room went still as the two went back to sleep. Knowing Tony as well as he did, JARVIS silently accessed resources designed to assist children adjusting to new places and spaces, and had a comprehensive file soon ready for Tony to look at when he woke the next morning. Then the AI turned its formidable attentions to monitoring the perimeter of the small estate, just to get an idea of what might make noises that Peter could hear, and cataloging them for future references.

OOOOOOO

"I was thinking we might take a walk…"

Peter looked up from his bowl of cereal.

"Outside?"

Tony rolled his eyes, amused.

"We could walk around the living room a few times, instead."

The boy smiled, realizing what he'd said.

"I meant; here? Or somewhere else?"

"Here. We could bundle up and go look around. See what there is around here. Get some fresh air and a little exercise. What do you think?"

Lord knew Tony wasn't the biggest proponent of fresh air and wholesome activities, but Peter had been inside almost continuously since they'd returned from Disney, and yes it was winter and was cold out, but they had coats and it wouldn't kill him to take a walk with his son, now would it?

"I'd like that."

"Good. Finish eating, first, though."

He'd woken with Peter sprawled across his chest, belly down and head resting on his left forearm, while his feet were stuck somewhere around his right armpit. The boy had been a bit restless all night, keeping Tony from sleeping soundly, but as far as he knew there hadn't been any bad dreams – or even weird ones. Just the new surroundings keeping him from truly getting comfortable.

The billionaire wasn't worried; Peter would settle in just fine, and if he needed to help that along, he'd get a psychologist for him to talk to. It might not be bad idea, anyway, he thought, privately, as he watched the boy cheerfully devour a bowl of oatmeal that had chocolate milk poured over it.

That couldn't be normal.

He finished his muffin and coffee about the same time Peter finished his breakfast. They cleaned up what little mess they made and went to put on coats, boots and – for Peter – mittens. Then they went outside into the clear and cold morning. The walk to the gate that protected the driveway from the rest of the world wasn't a quick one, especially with Peter's short legs, but the boy was in high, cheerful, spirits, and since they were within the safe confines of the small estate's perimeter fencing, Tony didn't insist on keeping him reined in. For every step Tony took, Peter must have taken five or six. He ran around the man as they walked, he chased after a squirrel and laughed when it climbed a tree and scolded him, which made Tony smile.

"We'll find a feeder or something," he said. "To make up for you being an annoying neighbor."

The boy nodded, and ran the other direction, then, enjoying the fresh air and the company in equal parts. The driveway was long and wide. It had solar heating under the surface which kept it free of ice even on the coldest of days, so Tony simply tucked his hands in his pockets and watched as Peter ran around him, getting familiar with their new house, and the property around it.

And wear himself down, just a little, maybe.

He didn't call him to his side until they reached the gate, and Peter smiled, his eyes happy and his cheeks flushed with cold. They hadn't looked around the neighborhood, yet, although they both knew that Natasha and some of the SHIELD agents had. Carefully. There weren't many houses in the area and they all had gates and privacy hedges. There was a sidewalk, though, that meandered around the front of each estate, following the curve of the road and giving them a safe place to walk.

Tony offered Peter his hand and the boy took it. They weren't in any hurry, after all. The house was ready for their housewarming party, and no one was going to be there for hours, yet. Since Peter had flitted from tree to tree and pretty much checked out each hedge, individually, he was sufficiently mellowed to be able to settle into a walking pace beside Tony, now – although he did point out the mailbox of their closest neighbor, since it was shaped like a train.

"Can we get a train mailbox?" he asked.

"We'll see," was the reply.

"Is that the same kind of we'll see that adults use when they don't want to do something?" the boy asked, suspiciously.

Tony smiled.

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "I don't know that I've ever used it, before."

If he didn't want to do something, he usually had no problem pointing that out to whomever he was talking to, after all.

"Oh."

"Mainly we'll see because we might find a cooler mailbox than a train," Tony explained as they walked. "Maybe we'll get something that defines us, better. Neither of us are into model trains, or toy trains, really. Right?"

Peter had to admit that he wasn't. A train hadn't been on his Christmas wish list, after all – even though he'd found one under the tree.

"Yeah."

"So, we'll see," the billionaire said, again, squeezing the hand he was holding. "Who knows? Maybe someone will bring us a new mailbox."

"Santa?"

Tony smiled.

"I was thinking more along the line of a housewarming gift," he explained. "It's customary to bring things to help the new homeowner settle into their house, easier. Like towels, and bedding, and maybe a ping pong table."

"We already have most of that."

"True."

As they were talking, they were walking, and they were passing a gate two driveways down from their own when they were hailed by a feminine voice. Tony's softly uttered curse wasn't missed by Peter as they stopped their walk and turned toward the source. A woman was coming through a smaller side gate, not the driveway one, and Peter was excited to see that she had a dog on a leash. A long-haired one that was yellowish brown.

She looked excited, too, but was clearly trying to hide it.

"Mr. Stark?" she offered him her hand – the one that wasn't holding the leash – and the dog walked over and stuck his nose into Peter's chest, demanding attention from the boy. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Faith Dickerson." She smiled down at Peter, who was already petting the dog's face. "You must be Peter."

He smiled up at her, the dog making him too happy to even turn shy and hide behind Tony like he might normally have done.

"Hi."

"I was hoping for a chance to see you and welcome you to the neighborhood," the neighbor said, cheerfully. "How do you like it, so far?"

"It's neat," Peter told her.

"We were just taking a walk," Tony added, not wanting Peter to get into the habit of talking to strangers. Even ones who didn't seem to be a threat, like the woman in front of them. "To get a better look at the place."

"I'll walk with you," she offered. "If you want. I can tell you more about your neighbors."

Before Tony could decline, thinking that the last thing he really wanted was to spend time with the neighbors, Peter spoke up.

"Can I walk your dog?"