"Good morning."
"Hello. You're up early."
Pepper's image smiled at him.
"I was calling to check in on my guys and see how the night went. You look tired."
"Because I didn't sleep well," Tony admitted.
"Did Peter keep you awake with nightmares?"
She knew Tony had been concerned about the possibility, after all.
"No. As far as I know Peter didn't have any," he replied, glancing toward the boy's room where he'd gone to change only a few minutes earlier. "I, on the other hand, had several."
"Oh." Her expression softened. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Pep," he assured her, appreciating the question. "And he is, too. JARVIS said he was only up, once, and that he didn't stay awake long. Played with Legos and looked out the window and then went back to bed when he was told to."
"JARVIS orders him around?"
Tony smiled.
"He orders me around, too."
"What are you two doing today?"
"We're going to hang around the house. Plenty to keep him occupied, here. I spoke to him about seeing a psychologist."
"Oh? And he said…?"
"That shrinks are for crazy people."
"Oh, no. Was he against the idea?"
"He didn't say no," Stark assured her. "I might have told him you thought it was a good idea." The door to Peter's room opened, then. "Speak of the devil. Pepper's on the phone," he said, raising his voice so the boy could hear – and so she would know he was there, now. "Come say hi."
Peter grinned and hurried over, catching the back of the sofa, and climbing over to flop down beside Tony in a heap.
"Hi, Pepper."
"Hello, handsome. How are you?"
He smiled at the compliment.
"Good. Are you coming over, today?"
A quick glance at Tony didn't tell her what the answer was supposed to be, so she gave the boy another smile.
"I was thinking about it. If your dad says it's alright."
Tony nodded, hiding how pleased he was at the idea.
"Sounds good. It's probably too late to come in time for breakfast, but you could have lunch with us and hang out."
"We could go for a walk," Peter added. "Maybe you can see Trixie."
"And the neighbor?" she asked, with a slight smirk directed at Tony.
"Maybe," he agreed. "Come whenever is good for you," he told her. "We'd be happy to have the company."
"Bring me a surprise," Peter added, leaning over Tony's lap to make sure she could see him. Stark rolled his eyes and put his hand over the boy's mouth – and most of his face.
"Ignore him. He doesn't need a surprise."
Peter wriggled free, giggling.
"Yes, I do."
Pepper was amused – and charmed by the way the two of them interacted – and she didn't bother to hide it.
"We'll see."
She ended the call, still smiling, and Peter rolled his eyes in a fair imitation of Tony.
"Think she meant no? Or that she would think about it?"
"I think you're in real danger of being spoiled if she brings you a present every time she comes over."
Peter didn't look too concerned.
"Not every time," he corrected, laying across Tony, now, and looking up at him. "Just this time."
Tony smiled down at him.
"A good host doesn't ask the guest to bring a present. They offer their guest a present, instead."
"Like refreshments?"
"Exactly."
"We have stuff to offer her when she comes. Like when Santa came. Cookies and stuff."
"That will probably work. Are you hungry?"
The little boy nodded.
"Yes. You?"
"Yeah." Tony put his arms under Peter and picked him up, tossing him to the side so he could get to his feet, and smiling when Peter giggled. "Let's have breakfast and find something to do."
"Can we make pancakes?"
"Not this morning." He was too tired to deal with the mess that such an endeavor would make, just then. "Oatmeal and a pop tart?"
Since that was Peter's favorite, and Tony knew it, he wasn't surprised when the boy nodded his agreement. Even better, it was easy to make, and Peter never got tired of the batman logo burned into the frosting of the pop tart.
"Okay."
While Tony cooked the oatmeal – enough for both of them, since he was developing a taste for the stuff, too – and Peter made his pop tarts, they discussed the rover project, and how it went with the other kids on his team. It wasn't something that they'd had a lot of chance to discuss, really, with everything that had happened that day, instead.
Despite how early it was, Tony made it a point to call each parent to verify that they were all allowing their student to go to the tower to work on the project on Monday. Invariably, they all agreed, and shrugged off his apology for calling so early. Of course, it wasn't every day someone gets a phone call from Tony Stark, now, was it? Not surprisingly, he also fielded questions about what had happened at the school the other day, but Stark simply replied that it had been a SHIELD thing, and that he couldn't really say much more than that.
The oatmeal was doled out into two bowls, Tony had a muffin instead of a pop tart, and they ate in cheerful silence, concentrating on their meal because they were both hungry.
"Wash your face," Stark told his son when they were done. "I'll do the dishes and get dressed, and we can find something to do."
"I could do the dishes," Peter pointed out. "They aren't that hard."
"Good. You do the dishes," Tony agreed. "And I'll get dressed and meet you in the game room."
"Okay."
Peter watched him go, and then gathered up the dishes, dropping a spoon when he did a little experimenting with the utensil, to see if whatever it was that helped him stick to walls would help the spoon stick to him if he held it upside down. It clattered into the sink with an echoingly loud noise, and the boy hurriedly opened the dishwasher and started loading it, instead.
It had been worth a shot.
OOOOOOOO
They were playing Giant JENGA when JARVIS told them that he'd just permitted access to the front gate.
Tony had been concentrating on the piece that he was trying to move, while Peter was holding his breath, making a weird scrunched up face in anticipation of the whole stack falling.
"Miss Potts has just entered the front gate," the AI announced.
Tony's concentration faltered, just a little, but it was enough to make the piece in his hand jerk, and that was all it took for the cascade of foam blocks to fall – mostly on Peter, who giggled in the sudden release of tension.
"Pepper's here!" he said, excitedly.
Stark held a hand up, stopping him before he could run to the door.
"You have to stack these back up, first," he reminded the boy. "I'll go greet her, and you come when you're done."
Peter grumbled, good-naturedly, but it had been the promise that he'd made when he'd cajoled Tony into playing the game with him. Win or lose, he'd be the one to put the thing back together, rather than leave them in a jumble to be figured out the next time they played. Or worse, left for the cleaning lady to have to deal with.
Tony was still smirking when he opened the door right as Pepper reached it. She was wearing a warm jacket, and even had a stocking hat on, despite the very short walk from the car to the front door.
"Why do you look so pleased with yourself?" she asked by way of greeting.
"Because my son just referred to himself as Cinderella."
She frowned, but the amusement in his expression made her smile.
"Do I even want to know?"
"Probably not." He ushered her into the house. "Give me your coat."
He took it and hung it for her – along with her hat, while she looked around.
"It still looks newly moved into," she told him. "You guys need to be a little messier, I think."
"Tell Peter; he's the neat freak. I'm a slob."
Not true, really, but she knew that about him, already.
"Where is he?"
"In the game room. We were playing JENGA."
They walked across the living room, but before they made it to the entrance to the game room, Peter came out – and he smile, happily, when he saw them.
"Hi, Pepper," he said, moving in front of her, and looking up at her with an expression of mingled hopefulness and excitement.
She smiled, unable to stop herself from reaching out and touching his chin. He was so adorable. And little.
"Hi, handsome. Did you have breakfast?"
"Yeah."
"Good. I brought you something."
His eyes lit up.
"What?"
"Go check the pocket of my coat. I think I might have left it there."
"Oh boy."
Peter hurried off and Tony led the way into the game room.
"This looks a little more lived in," she decided, looking around the room.
"Because we're in here a lot."
"Are you having a good morning?"
"I lost at JENGA."
"To an eight-year-old," she said, shaking her head in mock despair. "You're slipping."
"He's pretty good," Tony assured her. "He has a steady hand."
Before she could reply, Peter was back, and both adults watched him enter the room, a package of twinkies in his hand.
"You brought him sugar?" Tony asked, scowling.
It was her turn to smirk.
"Yup."
"Thanks, Pepper," Peter said, settling himself on the sofa in the room to eat the treat.
"You're welcome, Peter," she replied, smiling.
Tony rolled his eyes.
"Pool?" he asked her, reaching for a stick.
"Sure."