They played pool for a while, with Peter simply sitting on the sofa and watching them and occasionally interjecting a comment into their conversation. Pepper purposefully kept the conversation from the events of Friday, both to keep Peter from reliving what she was certain had to have been a scary time for him, and to keep Tony from dwelling on it.

He was distracted enough that she won their first game easily, and Pepper decided that what the man needed was something a little more active than pool. Besides, the sugar rushing through Peter's system, now, wasn't going to allow him to sit still much longer, she was sure.

"Why don't we go for a walk?" she suggested, setting the pool cue on the top of the table. "I haven't had a chance to see your new neighborhood, yet."

Peter got to his feet, immediately, already excited at the thought.

"Yeah!"

With the two of them looking at him like they were, even if Tony didn't want to walk, he had no choice in the matter. He nodded, looking at Peter.

"Go put on a warmer shirt."

The boy was just wearing a t-shirt, now, and Tony wanted him bundled up before they went out. It was cold.

Peter hurried out of the game room, while Tony and Pepper left at a more reasonable pace.

"You'll thank me when he's tired, later," Pepper assured her boss.

He smiled.

"I'm good with the idea," Tony replied as they walked over to the area by the door that had their coats and boots. "But if you're hoping to see the neighbor with the dog, I have to admit, I'm hoping that we don't."

"I wasn't," she told him. "But now I am."

He smirked, but before he could reply, Peter joined them, now wearing the sweatshirt that he'd bought at Batman land. Pepper hid her amusement at the way Stark's expression became just a little pained at yet another batman logo, but the billionaire simply handed the boy his coat.

"Zip it all the way up," Tony told his son. "No drafts."

And it would cover everything but the hood of the sweatshirt, which was an added bonus as far as he was concerned.

Peter didn't argue; he simply did as he was told and then danced in place while he waited for the two adults to get their coats on, too.

"Ready?" Pepper asked, unnecessarily as she zipped her jacket up.

He opened the door by way of answer and ran outside without waiting for either of them, yelling happily as he headed down the driveway at a run, only to turn around and run back to them by the time they reached the bottom of the stairs that led to the porch. Unable to settle enough to walk with them, he ran over to the row of trees that lined the driveway, looking for squirrels.

"Don't worry," Tony told her when he realized that she looked a little concerned that Peter wasn't right there with them. "He'll run off the first spurt of energy, now, and then I'll hold his hand when we're outside of the gate."

"How do you not have paparazzi swarming the place?" she asked, curiously, realizing that a photo of the two Starks do something so domestic would probably be worth a small fortune – but that she hadn't seen a single photographer in the area when she'd driven up. "Does SHIELD keep the area clear?"

The billionaire smirked.

"SHIELD doesn't," he advised her. "But JARVIS does."

"How?"

"That would be telling."

He looked pretty smug, though, and she smiled.

"Tell me, or I'll bring a case of twinkies, next time."

Tony rolled his eyes, and hooked his arm through hers, feeling pretty good, despite the lack of sleep. It had to be the company that he was keeping, he supposed.

"JARVIS keeps an eye on all cars entering the neighborhood – from a mile out, or so. If said vehicle is registered to anyone that cross references with a photographer, then he watches it. If the photographer is minding their own business or just passing through, no problem."

"But if they're something else…?"

"Then suddenly the remote engine cut off activates – if the car is equipped with it – or something else happens. Or maybe their Bluetooth audio system alerts them to the presence of a restricted area. Or one of a hundred other inconveniences happen that distracts them from whatever it is that they're planning."

"Like what?" she asked, curiously, frowning when Peter started climbing one of the trees. "Peter… don't go too high."

"I won't," he called back, and then allowed himself to drop from the first branch and into the snow that lined the driveway.

Tony felt a thrill of happiness at the domesticity of the scene and was forced to focus on her question to keep from hugging her, right then and there.

"Sometimes they get a low tire pressure warning. Sometimes the network in their cameras stop working and they lose all their data – or they can't get it to take any pictures. Or their phones blow up with alerts from their banking apps saying there's a problem with their finances. Or maybe the phone just blows up."

Her eyes widened at the list of things that he called inconveniences.

"JARVIS can do that?"

"All that and more," he agreed.

"That's a little scary."

"Not to me."

He was actually pleased – and relieved. He didn't like people sneaking around taking his picture at the best of times, and he hated the thought of anyone doing it to a little boy. Especially his little boy. The fact that JARVIS had started to take care of that particular problem without any input from Tony proved to the billionaire that the AI didn't care for the idea, either.

By the time they reached the gate, Peter was ready to settle a bit. The boy sidled in between the two of them when Tony released Pepper's arm, and offered his hand up to his father, who took it, automatically. The other hand went to Pepper, and she smiled when she took it.

"Are you happy?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Yeah."

"You look happy."

She approved.

With Peter walking between them and sometimes swinging himself on their hands, they made the long walk along the semi-private cul-de-sac with Peter pointing out the Dickerson house and the cool train mailbox that one of the other neighbors had at the end of his driveway. Pepper had seen it all before, of course, from her drives to their house, but walking it was fun, since it was still so new to Peter that he was excited to show her everything that he could.

Tony was along for the walk, but Peter was the guide, and the billionaire made the appropriate noises when they were needed, but really watched the two interact and was just feeling warm and gooey inside for being a part of something so domestic.

It didn't end at the walk, though, he was pleased to find. (although he didn't mention it to either of them). Pepper accepted an invitation to stay for lunch, and Peter was perched on the special barstool in the kitchen, sitting at the island while watching Tony and Pepper team up to make their meal. Nothing fancy; chili from cans and hotdogs with a side salad because Pepper insisted. Peter got the salad mix out of the fridge, trying to keep from laughing at the way his father rolled his eyes when she'd said they should add something healthy to a meal that definitely wasn't.

Tony simply winked at him when he took the bag and proportioned out the salad, giving much more to Pepper than he did to Peter and himself. She noticed, of course, but her expression was amused when they all sat down at the table to eat.

Like a family, Peter thought, hugging himself even as he settled in.

Tony noticed the gesture, of course, and even though he didn't understand what the boy was so happy about, the fact that he was that happy made the billionaire smile.

"You good?" he asked.

Peter nodded.

"Yeah."

"Good."