"He also said that Peter should try to remember what he dreams about, and that it might help us know what he's thinking about and maybe tell us why he doesn't sleep through the night all the time."

"Did you like him?" Pepper asked Peter.

"Yeah. He's nice."

"Did you like him?" she asked Tony.

"Yes. I was a bit surprised at how young he is."

"He's young," she agreed. "But he knows his stuff." She smiled at Peter. "He was a smart kid, too. Did he tell you that he started college when he was fifteen?"

"No." The boy smiled. "That's neat."

"You've only got him beat by seven years," Tony pointed out.

"I won't start those classes until next year," Peter reminded him, cheerfully, shoving the rest of the carrot into his mouth. "Then it'll be six."

"Chew that," Stark told him. "And take smaller bites, next time."

"Sorry." His mouth was full, though, and little pieces of somewhat chewed up carrots threatened to escape.

"What are you boys doing with the rest of your day?" Pepper asked, amused.

"I'm going to get some work done," Tony replied. "Peter can hang out with me, if he wants, or he can go to day-" His phone beeped, again, and he smiled when he saw who it was calling. "But first, we're going to talk to Agent Romanoff."

"Natasha's calling?" Peter asked, spraying carrots onto Pepper's desk – and onto her lunch.

She rolled her eyes – and felt her stomach turn, just a little – but Peter didn't notice. He was watching as Tony pulled his phone.

"She is." He answered, and Peter smiled, excitedly, when the super spy's image came up in a high tech display. "Agent Romanoff? How are you?"

"Doing well, thank you. How did the doctor day go?"

None of them thought it odd, at all, that she knew they'd had a doctor day. Yes, she was out of the country working, but she was also adept at keeping track of all things SHIELD related, and Phil and Marie had almost certainly told her why they weren't watching Peter that day.

"It went well," Tony replied. "He's here, do you want to say hi?"

Peter didn't wait for her reply. He couldn't. He moved to get into Tony's bubble, putting himself into her visual line.

"Hi, Natasha."

She smiled.

"Hey, sweetheart. How are you?"

"Good. We went to the doctor and then the shrink, and then McDonald's."

"He's a psychologist," Tony said, reminding Peter and reassuring Romanoff. "And things went well. He'll be seeing Dr. Wayne, weekly, on Mondays."

"Bruce Wayne?" Natasha asked.

"No," Peter said, his hand resting on Tony's leg as he tried to get even closer to her. "His dad is Bruce Wayne, but isn't batman."

"Too bad."

"When are you coming home?"

"Soon, I think. Maybe before the weekend."

"Really? Wow."

"We're almost done."

"Has anyone asked you to be their Valentine, yet?" Peter asked, breathlessly, eyes excited as he tried to climb up into the space between Tony's lap and the edge of Pepper's desk.

There wasn't a lot of room, even for a little guy like him. Tony shifted in his chair before Peter could hurt himself, but Peter's eyes were only on the image on the screen.

Her eyebrow went up, and then she smiled.

"No. Not, yet. Why?"

"Will you be mine?" Peter asked, hopefully.

"I'd love to."

"What about me?" Clint asked, sticking his head in between Natasha and her phone so that he could be seen.

"You're married," Peter said. "That's automatic."

"Oh. I'd better get Laura some flowers, then, huh?"

"And candy."

Natasha pushed Clint's face away so she could see Peter.

"Are you going to get me flowers?"

Peter nodded, grinning.

"And candy."

"Then it's a date. I'll see you on Friday."

"Yay!"

Peter shivered with happiness, and Tony smiled, amused.

"You're sure you're going to be home? I'm not going to let him buy flowers and candy and be stuck on the doorstep without anyone to give them to."

"Yeah. We're just wrapping things up. I'll expect you to let me have him for the weekend. He can hang out with us, at the compound. We miss him."

"That could probably be arranged."

Like he had a choice? There was no way Peter would allow him to say no.

"Good. Anything we need to know?"

"Everything is going well. You?"

"We'll discuss it, later," she said, evasively.

"Sounds good."

"Bye, Peter."

"Bye, Natasha. Bye Clint!"

"Bye, big man."

The display went blank.

"How did you know Valentine's day is Friday?" Tony asked.

"JARVIS told me, last night."

"You didn't want Pepper to be your Valentine?"

The boy smiled, looking over at Pepper and leaning back against his dad, more than comfortable sitting in his lap and being able to see over the desk, better. Being little had some definite disadvantages, sometimes.

"Yeah. But you're going to ask her, aren't you? We can't both."

"Huh." Tony wrapped an arm around Peter, putting his phone away with the other hand as he looked at Pepper. "Want to be my Valentine? Apparently, I'm free on Friday, since my son has a date with a spy."

She hesitated, but only for a moment.

"Yes."

"Good." Stark looked at the chewed up carrots on her desk – and her lunch. "Buy you lunch?"

"You already ate."

"You're not going to eat that, are you?"

"I'm not planning on it, no."

"Then we'll take you to lunch. Peter and I have eaten, yes, but we're not above a snack. Right son?"

"Right."

OOOOOOO

They didn't leave the tower. They didn't need to. Not with two good restaurants and a cafeteria in the building. While Pepper ate her lunch, and Peter and Tony snacked to keep her company, they told her about Peter's two appointments and what had been discussed.

"Did you tell the pediatrician about getting sick at the cabin?" she asked.

"I mentioned it," Tony replied. "She asked how he felt, now, and poked his stomach with her finger a few times. When he didn't barf all over her, she proclaimed him cured and told him not to do it, again. Which we already knew, right?"

Peter nodded.

"Yeah."

He was smart enough to not need to be taught that lesson more than once.

When they were done, Peter asked if he could go to daycare, and Pepper walked with them when Tony delivered the boy to the facility. Peter ran off to play with the other children, and Stark and Pepper took a leisurely walk, in no hurry to return to her office. She was done for a while, and Tony didn't have anything on his schedule for the day.

"Did Dr. Wayne say anything else?" Pepper asked.

"No. They weren't in there for long, though. He gets along with Peter. That's a good start, really."

"True."

"So, what do you want to do, Friday?" he asked her. "Romanoff was serious about taking Peter to the compound, so it'll just be the two of us."

"You mean we could eat somewhere other than McDonald's?"

He snorted, amused.

"We could. Interested?"

"Yes."

"I'll get us reservations, then."