AN: 100 chapters and counting. Not boring, I hope? I know we've steered away from my normal AU to write this.
OOOOOOOO
The Great Snow Battle lasted much longer than any of the adults had intended. Faced with the boundless energy of the two boys – and an unwillingness to bring their fun to an end any sooner than they absolutely had to – Tony and the others found themselves embroiled in an epic snow scuffle, which then became a snowball fight, which them transformed into an intense game of tag that involved a lot of high-pitched giggling from the boys, and a lot of gasping as those adults who were in less astounding shape found themselves trying to keep up.
Tony finally called a halt, scowling at Steve, who had taken off his coat because he was getting warm with all the running around, but wasn't even sweating.
"That was definitely an entertaining way to spend a Saturday morning," Rogers said, watching as Sam and Natasha rounded Peter and Ned up with a couple of well-placed snowballs to get their attention. "I haven't had so much fun since I was probably the same age as Peter."
"He certainly makes things more lively, doesn't he?"
"Yeah." Now that he wasn't moving around, Steve put his jacket back on. "What do you have planned for the rest of the day?"
"Warm them up and feed them lunch," Stark replied, unable to keep from smiling at the shriek of laughter that bubbled from Peter when Sam picked him up and slung him over his shoulder. "Then inside games, or a movie – whatever they want to do. Don't make any plans for after dinner, though."
"Oh?"
"Peter has something for you guys, and I don't want to have to track you down, individually so he can give them to you."
"What is it?"
"It's a surprise."
Well aware that Stark wasn't going to tell him if he didn't want him to know – and if he didn't want to spoil Peter's surprise, then he definitely didn't want them to know – Steve changed the subject.
"The snow's coming down pretty hard. Have you checked to see if they're worried about it? Back in the city, I mean?"
"It's fine," Tony assured him. "There are snowplows and-"
"I meant the school district," Steve interrupted. "If it's snowing there like it's snowing here, you might be looking at a snow day."
Huh.
Tony looked up at the sky, even as Peter and Ned came running over, herded by the other adults. Both boys were soaked from all the snow melting on them and their cheeks were red with cold. But their eyes were happy and excited.
"That was fun," Ned told him, grinning.
Of course, he'd spent the entire morning hanging out with avengers. Of course it was fun. The time of his life, Tony was sure.
"You looked like you were having fun," Tony agreed. He caught Peter's hood with one hand, and Ned's with the other, making both boys look up at him. "I want you guys to go get dried off. Clean, dry, clothes and use towels on your hair to get it dried. Yeah?"
"Okay," Peter nodded.
"We're done outside for a while – maybe the rest of the day – so put something warm and fuzzy on."
"Not pajamas, though," Peter said.
He wasn't ready for bed.
"No. Sweats, and long-sleeved shirts."
"Okay."
"And warm socks," Steve added. He shrugged at Tony's look. "Feet get cold, here, in the winter. You don't want him sick, again, do you?"
"Warm socks," Tony agreed, looking at the boys.
Peter smiled and nodded.
"Yeah."
OOOOOOO
"That was really fun," Ned said as the two boys walked along the corridor toward Peter's room.
Peter nodded his agreement.
"Yeah."
Ned hesitated, looking around the hall as they walked.
"What's it like to be adopted?" he asked his friend. "Is there a test?"
Peter was surprised by the question.
"No. I mean, I didn't have one with Tony. He just had to sign a whole bunch of papers – and I had to sign one, too – and then we talked to a judge, who signed some papers, too. That was it."
"It sounds pretty simple."
"It was." He looked at his friend. "Are you nervous about being adopted?"
"A little."
"Eric's great. So is Nancy."
"Yeah. No, I'm not nervous about them. I love them. I've been with them more than a year before you even came along. It was exciting when Eric asked me, because I was really afraid that I'd be moved – especially after they moved you out."
"Then why are you nervous?"
"I've never had a dad, before," Ned pointed out. "What if I do it wrong?"
"I don't think you will. Eric knows how to be a dad, already. He'll show you."
"I hope so. I don't want to disappoint him."
Peter understood that feeling, completely.
"You won't." Ned was his friend, after all. You didn't tell your friend anything but things that would make them feel good. "You're lucky," he added.
"Why?"
"Because you're going to have a mom, too. That's twice the love, right?"
Ned was quiet for a minute.
"I didn't think of that." He smiled. "And a big brother."
That made Peter smile, too.
"And a little brother?" he asked, hopefully.
"Always," Ned assured him, offering him his hand.
Peter shook it, and then hugged himself as they stopped in front of his door.
"I never had a brother."
"Now you have," Ned replied. "Especially when I start going to your school. We can hang out, together."
Peter hadn't thought of that. He didn't hang out with anyone at his school, being so much younger than them. He didn't have anything in common with them, and they were so much older that they didn't bother trying. Some of the girls would smile at him and call him cute – or, worse, adorable – but they baby-talked him, and he hated that.
"Wow."
"Don't sound too excited," Ned warned him, pulling his big bag of clothing from the closet to start digging for sweats. "I'm not that cool, yet."
"Cool enough."
"I'll give you lessons," Ned promised.
Peter smiled.
"Thanks."
They changed into dry clothes, including warm socks, and hung the wet clothes up. Not normal behavior for a little boy, maybe, but something that Eric insisted on at the foster home, so it was pretty much second nature for both boys to be tidier than the norm. Before going to the lounge, where they were supposed to meet up with Tony eventually, they stopped at Peter's little table, drawn by the toys and the fact that they didn't have a set schedule that day. The younger boy picked up Legos, but Ned was more interested in the Hot Wheels, and he pushed Peter's Batmobile around the surface of the table, avoiding Peter's Legos with the impressive screaming of brakes and proper shifting to rev the engine.
"Does Mr. Stark have a girlfriend?" He asked, curiously.
The billionaire had told Peter's friend he could call him Tony, and Ned had – a couple of times. But it seemed weird to do so, and he reverted back to Mr. Stark most of the time.
"No." Peter smiled. "I asked him. He said he wants to spend his time with me, and doesn't want to take away from that time to court a lady friend."
"He said court?"
"Yeah."
Ned parked the Hot Wheel in Peter's Lego Batcave.
"Too bad," he said.
"Why?"
"Because if he got married, then you'd have a mom, too."
That made Peter smile.
"It'd be pretty neat," he admitted. "Unless she was evil, or something – like in the fairy tales."
"Yeah." The older boy glanced at Peter's bookshelf, at the large collection of books. "Mr. Stark wouldn't let her be mean to you, though. He didn't let Miss Marples, right?"
"True." He shrugged. "I like Natasha," he told Ned. "And Pepper."
"Then you should see if one of them and-"
They were interrupted by a knock on the door, and Rhodey stuck his head into the room.
"Hey, Cheese Pizza. You and Ned ready for lunch?"
Peter nodded, but Ned smiled as they walked over to join him at the door.
"Why do you call him that?"
"What? Cheese Pizza?" Rhodes asked, holding the door for the boys and then closing it before offering each one a hand.
"Yeah."
"It's just a nickname. Something from when we met. Besides, I like cheese pizza, and I like Peter, so it fits."
Ned took the hand given to him, smiling at Peter.
"I need a cool Avenger nickname…"
"Cheese Pizza isn't going to be my avenger name," Peter assured him, taking the man's hand and feeling happy because Rhodes knew the compound was probably the safest place on the planet so the boys didn't need him to hold their hands. That meant he just wanted to. It made Peter feel wanted, and cared for. "That's just what Rhodey calls me. It's just for us."
"Right," the man agreed, winking down at Peter. "When you get older, you'll have to come up with a good superhero name. Something that you can grow into."
"I want a superhero name, too," Ned said, excitedly.
"I don't see why you can't have one, too," he said. "Plenty of time, though. For now, we'll worry about lunch. Yeah?"
Both boys nodded.
"Yeah."