Peter nodded. He looked at the door, which was closed, and then lowered his voice a little.
"She was looking at him like May used to look at her boyfriends. Like she wanted to do it. I don't think Tony knows, though."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because he didn't send me to my room."
"I thought you said she was married…" Steve pointed out, incredibly certain that this wasn't a conversation he should be having with an eight year old.
No matter how precocious.
"She said that they have an open relationship."
"She told you that?"
"She told Tony. I heard. While I was walking Trixie. I asked Tony what that meant, and she said it meant that she wanted us to come over, but I think it's the other thing, instead."
"Did you tell Tony?"
"No."
Steve shook his head.
"Well, that is definitely something that he needs to worry about," the man told Peter. "And absolutely not something for you to be concerned with. You have plenty of other things to think about, right?"
"Yeah." Peter smiled. "I go back to school and daycare, tomorrow."
"I heard."
"With two SHIELD agents."
"That's what I heard, too." He reached out and tousled Peter's hair, pleased at how excited the boy looked. "You can't ask them to do your homework, though."
"I wouldn't do that. Besides, Maria already told me that."
"Good." Steve was relieved that he'd distracted Peter from the other topic. "Let's go see what Pepper and Tony are doing," he said, picking the boy up, easily, and slinging him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, smiling at the way Peter squealed in happiness at the treatment. "They better not be eating that cake before everyone else gets a chance to see it."
"Is it chocolate?" Peter asked from somewhere near the middle of Steve's back.
"It's liver."
"Gross!"
Rogers grinned.
"There might be some chocolate in it, somewhere."
OOOOOOO
Tony had finished hanging the Congratulations banner on the archway that separated the kitchen from the living room, and was assisting Pepper with other decorations. Most of them were simply little houses made of paper that were going to placed all over the interior of the house. They would have candy or toys, or money, in them and were mostly for Peter and the other youngsters that would be there for the party to find, but the others would enjoy the treats – and maybe the toys. He smiled when he saw Steve carrying Peter into the kitchen, but before he could rescue him, Pepper reached out and plucked the boy from Rogers' grasp.
"We're decorating."
"Can I help?" he asked, looking at the decorations with interest.
They all already knew that he liked arts and crafts, and some of the decorations were as colorful as something that might be found in the daycare at the tower.
"Of course." She set him down and handed him a stack of heavy cardboard pieces. "These are houses," she said, demonstrating how to fold along the drawn lines and turn the top piece into a 3-dimensional representation of a house. "Want to build them for me?"
"Yeah."
He started in on his project, and while he was doing that and the others were busying themselves with other decorations, Peter told Pepper and Steve all about the neighbor's dog and how much fun that he'd had walking her.
"Should we have gotten you a dog?" Pepper asked, only half teasing. She'd been told – at least, she thought that she had heard – that Peter wasn't interested in a dog, or a puppy – or any other pet. But he certainly sounded enthusiastic about the walk, earlier. "It isn't too late."
The boy smiled, glancing at Tony, even as he shook his head.
"No. It's fun to play with someone else's, though."
"Maybe you should get a dog, Pepper," Stark suggested with an amused gleam in his eyes. He'd been to her apartment several times, of course, and knew that her carpeting was all white. "Then Peter can come over and play with him."
She was far too clever to be put into a corner, even when verbally sparring with Tony Stark.
"I don't have time for a dog," she said. "I'm too busy making you money. Unless you want me to divert my attentions to kibble, and chew toys?"
He made a wry face.
"I suppose not."
OOOOOOO
"I've just granted access to a small convoy of vehicles," JARVIS announced at two-thirty.
Peter had been playing with a balloon, chasing it around the living room and continually hitting it to keep it from landing on the floor, while the adults had been putting the finishing touches on the decorations and the platters of food that had been brought in for the party.
Similar to their Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve fare, but with no particular theme, now.
"Is it Natasha?" Peter asked, grabbing the balloon to keep it from falling.
"Affirmative. As well as several others."
Tony set aside the tablet that he'd been looking at, and got up from the couch, gesturing for Peter to stop, even as the little boy ran for the door.
"You're not wearing shoes," he pointed out. "Wait for them to come to us."
Not to mention, he didn't have a coat on. Tony had done the sick kid thing, once, already. He didn't have any intention of trying it again any time soon if he could avoid it.
The boy grinned, excited, but stopped at the door, flinging it open and watching as a couple of large black SUVs pulled up to the front entrance, joining Pepper's sportscar, Steve's SUV and the car that he and Tony were using, just then, for their own personal drives. He knew that Tony had a lot more cars, but they were in other houses and Peter hadn't even seen them all, yet.
"Wow," he said, watching as Natasha got out from an SUV that Nick had been driving, and Agents Coulson and Hill both emerged from another – along with Sam, Clint, and a woman he didn't know. Clint smiled at the woman, and opened the back door of the car, and a boy hopped out, looking around, while the archer reached out to help a younger girl out, too. "There are a lot of people."
"That's Clint's family," Steve said, walking up to watch. "Laura, Cooper and Lila. We thought you might want some others your age, since from what we heard it was only Ned coming from the Tatro's house."
Besides, it was good for Peter to meet the others.
The introductions were made, but even though Peter and Cooper were similar in age – close enough that they wouldn't feel like the other was a burden – Natasha had scooped Peter up into her arms in greeting and kept hold of him as several boxes started being pulled from the rear of a truck that had followed the other cars in.
"What are they?" Peter asked, curiously.
"Housewarming presents," the spy replied, mysteriously, enjoying the fact that Tony looked curious, too. "Just the things that you boys need in your new bachelor pad."
Tony rolled his eyes at that, but followed Sam and Coulson, who were carrying a large, flat box that was nondescript enough that it didn't give any hint as to what was inside – although the shape did.
"Where do you want it, Tony?" Sam asked as they went into the large (and mostly empty) game room.
"Put it in the corner, for now. By the window and the giant JENGA game."
"Rhodes is coming?" Natasha asked, her and the boys following the big box.
The boy because they wanted to see it opened, and Romanoff because this was where the activity was going to be for a little while.
"He is," Tony confirmed. He rolled his eyes. "He wanted to come in the War Machine suit. I pointed out that the idea is for me and Peter to be as low key with the neighbors as we can be. That doesn't include zipping around with the thrusters, waking people from their Sunday afternoon nap."
"Or charring the grass," Pepper added, also walking in.
Behind her came the others, and a few more boxes.
"Are we waiting for the others before we open these and start assembling?" Steve asked.
Since none of the boxes had labels (on purpose, Tony knew) Peter was wriggling with excitement, and looked hopefully at the adults, clearly saying without words that he didn't want to wait that long.
It was Pepper who took pity on him. She smiled.
"If they are put together, people can use them, today."
"Good point."
"What are they?" Peter asked, unable to help himself.
The little boy had moved to stand by Tony, his arm around the billionaire's leg, but his eyes glued to all of the boxes.
"Open them and find out," Pepper told him.
"Help him, Tony," Nick added, leaning against the wall and looking intimidating, even in a turtleneck sweater and jeans.
"Which one, first?" Stark asked the little boy.
Not surprising any of them, Peter pointed at the biggest box.
"That one?"
"Good choice."
With considerable help from Tony they opened it, and Peter made an excited noise when it turned out to be a pool table.
"Wow!"
Tony looked just as pleased, really.
"Nice. Thanks, guys."
It was one less thing that he'd need to order, after all. And a great choice.
The next box was all the accruements needed to use the pool table, but the one after that turned out to be a foosball game, which also made Peter look excited. Of course, he hadn't missed the fact that these were all games that required more than one person to play, and that meant that much more time with Tony, really.
That was a big win, as far as Peter was concerned.
The rest of the boxes were holding other games; board games, and a video game console – complete with several cartridges for it – and some hand-held video games.
They would still need several displays in the room, a large screen TV for sporting events and something to play the videogames on, but the room was shaping up, nicely.
"A couch in here, and we'll have it mostly completed," Tony said, looking pleased.
"Do you have a coffee pot, yet?" Fury asked, pointedly, watching as Steve and Sam began putting the pool table together, while Cooper and Peter pulled one of the trays of pool balls and started rolling them on the top of the table, which was on the floor and easily accessible.
"I do," he confirmed.
The others followed him, closing the door on the sound of clashing balls and instructions being unfolded.
"You met the neighbor?" Natasha asked as they all gathered around the island, being more comfortable than the table in the dining room.
And closer to the coffee pot.
"The woman two houses down," Tony said, nodding.
He didn't even ask how she knew.
"Dickerson?"
"Correct."
"She's fine."
Meaning she wasn't on the threat list for Tony or Peter.
Of course, no one in the neighborhood was. It didn't mean that they didn't bear watching, as far as Romanoff was concerned.
"She has a dog."
"Trixie."
Tony frowned.
"You know their dogs' names?"
"I know everything, Tony," she reminded him, much to Fury's amusement. "I thought you already had that figured out."
He rolled his eyes.
"Did you know that she and her husband have an open relationship?" the billionaire asked. "Know how I know? She told me. Right in front of Peter. Who of course then immediately asked what that meant."
"Oh, no… what did you tell him?"
"Nothing. She answered that it meant Peter and I are welcomed to go to their home."
"I'd advise against that," Fury said.
"Yeah. No worries."
He had enough friends. He didn't need more.