They had a quiet evening.

Pepper didn't have a lot of board games at her place. She rarely entertained at her apartment, and never entertained children. She had a deck of cards, and if she searched the very back of the closet, she thought that maybe there might be a Monopoly board, somewhere. Luckily, Tony had planned for that, and in Peter's bag, he'd had the boy pack a couple of the ones that he enjoyed most. Battleship, Sorry, and Candyland were all brought out and put on the coffee table after they were done eating and the boy looked at her hopefully.

"Want to play?"

She'd smiled and allowed him to pick what they played, since she didn't have a preference and honestly hadn't played any of them in at least twenty years.

Peter was a brilliant little boy, but Pepper found it endearing that he still liked to play games that were geared specifically to youngsters. Candyland wasn't a difficult game, but the boy had thoroughly enjoyed it, and Pepper found that she had, as well. They played several times, and they'd both been victorious before they finally called a halt to things when it started getting late.

"You should get ready for bed," Pepper told her young guest, as they picked up the pieces and put them back into the box.

"I'm not tired."

He looked tired, though, she decided. And why not? It had been a long day, really. She was tired, too.

"Go put your pajamas on, and brush your teeth," she told him, taking a page out of the small mental handbook that she'd developed watching Tony deal with his son. "And I'll come read to you."

His brown eyes lit up.

"You will?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

He vanished into the guest room and she went around the apartment, making sure everything was put away and cleaned, and then she went to get ready for bed, as well. By the time she returned, wearing old, worn, sweats and a baggy t-shirt, Peter was in bed, bear tucked beside him and the book on the stand beside the bed.

For a moment, she thought he was asleep, but he opened his eyes when she walked into the room, and moved to the side in invitation.

An invitation that she took him up on. Pepper was once more amazed to find herself in the position that she was in. Especially once she'd settled herself in his bed, propped up with a pillow behind her and book in hand. Peter wasn't a shy child when he was with someone that he knew, and he'd snuggled right up beside her, willingly. Cheek resting against her and a hand on her stomach, he waited, patiently.

"Ready?" she asked, looking down at him and brushing his bangs with her free hand.

God, he was adorable, wasn't he?

Peter smiled, reacting to the motion, and feeling a warmth go through him at the contact. Cuddling against Tony's side was amazing, and it was comforting, but it was different with Pepper. He didn't understand the mother/son dynamic and his natural reaction to the maternal instinct that he brought out in her, but it was nice. He hadn't had that kind of contact in a very long time, after all.

Definitely not with May.

"Yes."

Tony had marked the spot that he'd left off in the book, and Pepper read to Peter, one arm around him, and the other holding the book open. The book that Tony had picked for Peter was illustrated on every page – a classic novel but geared to children – and Peter studied the pictures while she read.

Her soft voice, soothing presence, and the gentle caresses that brushed his cheek and forehead as she read, all worked against him staying awake to hear much of the story, however, and his eyes were soon closing. She read another page, even after she'd realized that he'd fallen asleep against her, and then set the book aside and simply held the sleeping boy for a little while, not wanting to wake him.

Maybe Tony hadn't been as crazy as she'd thought, she decided, looking down at Peter.

OOOOOOOOO

"Are you getting anything actually done, there?"

Tony nodded.

"Of course I am. But the bad guys can wait a minute while I check in with my favorite eight-year-old and the woman who is not only taking care of him, but also watching over my company while I'm gone."

"I watch over your company every day," she reminded him. "Even those days when you're not out being Ironman."

"True." He smiled. "Everything going alright?"

"We're doing fine."

"Pepper made me pancakes!" Peter said, unable to be still any longer than he already had been. He knew it was wrong to interrupt a conversation, but it was pretty exciting. "With chocolate chips."

"You made him chocolate chip pancakes?"

She shrugged.

"It was what he asked for. I had blueberry."

"How did they taste, Peter?"

"Great."

"Got all your stuff together for school?"

"Yes."

"What are you going to do with your bear?"

"Pepper's going to keep him company for me, today."

Peter hadn't wanted to leave it in her guest room, since JARVIS wasn't there to keep track of things, but Pepper had pointed out that with all his homework, there might not be a lot of room for it with his things and offered to keep track of the bear for him. Besides, she'd added, she might miss Tony – a little – and the bear would be a good stand in for the billionaire.

Peter had immediately acquiesced, and had handed the bear to Pepper, who had been properly careful when putting it into her purse.

"Do you guys need anything?"

"Why do you keep asking us that when you know if we needed something that for some reason I couldn't provide, we would either call you, or call Happy and let him know so he could get it for us?"

The little boy giggled at the question, the smile on Pepper's expression (and the amusement in her tone) and the way Tony's image on the phone rolled its eyes but was obviously also amused.

"It's habit, I guess – don't encourage her, big man. She's going to think that she's funny."

"Sheis."

"Do you need anything, Peter?"

"No."

"Pep?"

"No."

"Then have a good day and I will be checking in when I am done shooting at bad guys."

"Are you shooting at bad guys?" Peter asked, excited, now.

"No. Go to school."

Peter groaned, making Pepper smile.

"We'll talk to you, later," she told her boss.

"Yeah." He winked at his son. "I love you."

"Love you, too."

OOOOOOOO

It was two more days before Pepper got the phone call that she knew Peter was waiting for. Tony and the others had been away much longer than he'd wanted, but the situation had been far more serious than they'd hoped it would turn out to be, and Ironman had definitely needed to be on hand to provide cover for those avengers who were sorting out the dangerous situation.

She was in her office, preparing for a meeting, when her phone rang and Tony's face popped up on the display, almost immediately. Since she'd already spoken with him that morning – he checked in with Peter (and her) every morning to make sure nothing was going on that he needed to know about – she frowned.

"What's up?"

"We're done," he said, understanding her concern. "I'm getting on the jet, now."

"That's great news. Have you told Peter?"

"No. He's at school, right?"

"Yes."

"I don't want to distract him – and I really think I'll just surprise him when he's out for the day."

She smiled at that.

"He'll love it."

"Yes. So don't tell him, if you talk to him before I get there."

"Any idea when that will be?"

"We're going to be using the afterburners," came Natasha Romanoff's response to the question. "If we do it right, we'll get him there about the same time Peter gets out of his last class."

"Great." She raised an eyebrow. "You look tired," she observed. "You'll want to sleep on the way home. He'll be much too excited to have you back to settle down to let you get any downtime, right away."

"That is a very good point," he agreed. "Thanks. I'll see you as soon as possible."

"Safe flight."

The call ended and Pepper smiled, opening the secured drawer to her desk and pulling Peter's bear. She smiled at it, feeling just a little reluctant to give up its company every day. She was glad that Tony was going to be home, though. Peter was an amazing little guy, and they'd had plenty of good times, but he was definitely missing the billionaire, and she couldn't wait to see his reaction to Tony's return.