It was an easy week.

Peter's grade came in from the mars rover assignment and they went out to eat on Thursday to celebrate the A that his team had earned. The rover wouldn't be going to space, but that didn't matter. Not to Peter, and certainly not to Tony. Thursday had also found Peter sitting at the arts and crafts table at daycare when Tony had come to pick him up at the end of the day. The boy was busily drawing on a piece of heavy pink construction paper, and he grinned when Tony walked over to him.

"What are you working on, son?"

"Valentine's Day card," Peter replied, holding it up for him.

Tony took it, and smiled. It was definitely a card – and with all of the different hearts on it, it had to be for Valentine's day. Then he frowned.

"Natasha is spelled N-A-T-A-S-H-A."

Peter nodded, cheerfully.

"I know."

"This says Pepper."

"I made that for you to give to Pepper," Peter told him. He reached for a stack of construction paper that Tony hadn't noticed amid all the other materials. "This one is for Natasha."

It was even more ornate than Pepper's, and bright red letters proclaimed that it was for Natasha and was from Peter. There was a heart with an arrow on the front and when Tony opened it, he saw a drawing of a red-haired woman holding the hand of a little guy with brown hair.

"Is that you and her?"

"Yeah." He smiled. "I was going to have her holding guns – you know, like when she saved me from those men? But I didn't know if that was very Valentine's day-ish."

"Yeah… it isn't." He smiled. "They're great, buddy. Thank you for making this card for Pepper. I wasn't sure whether I'd have time to get her a card, or not. Now all I need to focus on is candy and flowers."

"So do I."

"We'll stop on the way home and find the perfect ones. For Pepper and for Natasha."

"Okay."

They gathered the cards, carefully, and Tony stashed them into Peter's backpack while the boy put his coat on. Then they headed for the elevator.

"I heard from Nick, just before I came to get you," Stark told his son as they rode down to the parking garage. "The others are going to be home late, tonight, and everyone is fine."

"That's good."

Tony was relieved. Peter didn't know what Romanoff and her little group had been up to – and Tony didn't know, technically – but the rising death toll among seemingly unrelated business people and some military commanders in Europe gave Stark a very good idea of what she was doing. He appreciated it, but was – of course – worried about her and the rest while they were gone. And not just because that wasn't a conversation that he'd have wanted to have with Peter.

A stop at a flower shop that was doing brisk business was all that was needed for both of them to return home with two arrangements of flowers. After being told the significance of various colored roses, the ones Peter chose for Natasha were yellow roses, because he told the woman behind the counter that he loved Natasha but didn't want her to think that it was anything too serious. Tony hadn't had any such conversation, and the dozen red roses in the ornate box were beautifully arranged and were set aside for the next evening.

They also picked up heart-shaped boxes of chocolates. One for Pepper, one for Natasha, and another for Tony and Peter – because they needed to be sure that the chocolates were good, after all.

"Any homework?"

Peter shook his head, pulling the cards out of his backpack and setting them on the table beside the flowers and chocolate.

"No. I did it in class."

"Good. Let's make dinner and then we'll play Legos."

"Great."

OOOOOOOO

"Those are for me?"

"They are," Tony confirmed with a slight smile. "But you can't have them, yet."

Natasha Romanoff nodded, and then her hand came to rest, lightly, on the box of red roses. She opened them, curiously, and raised an eyebrow when she looked at him.

"Who are these for, then?"

"Those are for Pepper."

"Red ones, huh?"

"They were out of yellow ones and when Peter and I wrestled for the yellow ones, he won. What's the plan?"

"I'm going to hang out here until Peter gets out of school. When Maria delivers him to you, I'll get my hugs, accept my flowers, candy and card, and will then be taking him back to the compound."

"For the weekend?" Tony asked. "Or should I come get him, tomorrow?"

"No. We'll keep him all weekend." She smiled. "That way you get a chance to do adult things."

Her face was expressionless, and he rolled his eyes, but he didn't deny anything.

"You're sure you want him all weekend?"

"Yeah. Clint won't be there, but everyone else will. If he needs anything, there'll be plenty of us to provide it."

"I'll come get him Sunday afternoon."

"Or I can bring him to you. Whichever works best. Call me, Sunday morning, and let me know."

There was a knock on his office door, and Pepper entered without waiting to be admitted. Nothing unusual there. The newcomer smiled when she saw Romanoff.

"You're home, good."

Natasha's smile was genuine.

"Thanks. How have things been, here?"

"Peter's rover isn't going to Mars, but they earned an A for the concept, from what I understand, and he ate too many s'mores and threw up all over himself – and Tony – Saturday night."

"Oh, no. Poor baby."

"Poor me," Stark said. "I almost threw up, too. And he cried – of course – which meant that I couldn't."

Both women smiled at that.

"Is it acceptable for me to ask how things went?" Pepper asked Natasha.

Romanoff gave a slight shrug, looking at Tony.

"Is this room secured?"

"JARVIS keeps people from listening in, sure."

"Your AI is incredible," she said. "We have an impressive network – of course – but every time we thought we'd flushed the last of the main players, more intel would come in, giving us another name."

"Does that mean we don't have to worry about a repeat of the attempt on him?" Tony asked.

"No. We always need to worry about it. But not from this particular group. Not for a long time, anyway. By the time they get things sorted and reorganized, Peter'll be rounding up his grandchildren to tell them bedtime stories."

They didn't ask for clarification, and she didn't offer, but both nodded, feeling relieved.

"Are you here for a while?"

Natasha nodded.

"I'm waiting on my Valentine."

"How about we take you to lunch, then?"

"Sounds good."

OOOOOOO

"He's on his way up," Tony reported, his expression clearly anticipating the reunion between Peter and Natasha. "How do you want to play it?"

"I'll meet him at the door."

Romanoff wasn't one for the theatrics that Stark was – and she was looking forward to seeing the little boy who had managed to steal such a large piece of her heart.

Tony moved to sit in his desk chair where he'd be out of the way but still have a good view of the door. A minute later it opened with a soft knock, and Peter walked in, with Maria right behind him. The boy squealed with happiness, immediately.

"Natasha!"

She swept him into her arms with a smile and hugged him, close.

"Hey, sweetheart. How are you?"

His face was buried in the soft fabric of her sweater, but Tony was able to hear the reply just fine.

"Good. I missed you."

"I missed you, too. Are you good?"

"Yeah." She hugged him even harder. "I'm great."

Hill looked over at Tony, nodding before she left them, and Stark stood up, but he just came around and leaned against his desk, allowing them their moment. It was a mixture of relief and satisfaction that Natasha loved the boy so much. Peter was a target, they knew, but Natasha was dangerous. The fact that the assassin was so willing to do whatever was needed to make sure the boy was safe was one less thing to worry about, really. The lesson that SHIELD – and Natasha – had doled out to HYDRA, now, wasn't going to be forgotten, and it would be a pointed signal to others, less organized but maybe as rabid, that Peter Stark was a little boy with some dangerous guardians.

And Ironman was dangerous, but he wasn't even close to the top of the deadly list.

Natasha put the boy down, finally, and he wriggled with happiness as he looked up at her.

"I missed you," he repeated.

She reached down and touched his cheek.

"You look good. Did you grow while I was away?"

"Maybe. I'm pretty tall, now."

Tony smirked at that, but didn't say anything.

"Are you ready to spend the weekend at the compound?"

Peter nodded.

"Yeah." He looked over at Tony. "Do I give her the flowers and card, now?"

"It's Valentine's day," he confirmed. "Whenever you want to."

Peter took Natasha's hand and led her further into the office, over to his little desk, where the box of candy, the card that he'd made, and the flowers were all waiting. He picked up the card, first, and handed it to the assassin.

"I made you this."

She was properly amazed by the artwork, and touched. Peter hugged himself while he watched her open it.

"Is this me and you?"

The boy nodded, excitedly.

"Yeah. I'm the little one."

"It's incredible."

"We got flowers, too," Peter told her. "And candy."

"Did you try it?"

"We got a box for us," Peter admitted. "It's good."

She bent down and hugged him, again.

"Thank you. I love it."

"You're welcome."

"What's the plan?" Tony asked – even though he knew.

This was for Peter's benefit.

She straightened, but rested her hand on Peter's shoulder.

"I'm going to take him to the compound. We anticipate that we'll want to keep him through to Sunday, so unless something comes up, don't expect to get him back until then."

"You good with that, buddy?" Tony asked.

Peter nodded.

"Yeah." But then he hesitated. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to take Pepper out to dinner, tonight. Then I'll see what happens. If I get too lonely, I'll come join you guys."

"Okay."

"You're packed?" Natasha asked the boy.

He nodded, again, and looked at Tony.

They'd packed his little bag the evening before. Tony was sending several changes of clothes; jeans, pajamas, sweats and t-shirts. They'd be left in Peter's room at the compound so the boy had extra clothes there. As much as he anticipated that Peter would be hanging out with the avengers – if they had their way – he might as well have a wardrobe ready.

The billionaire reached down behind his desk and picked it up, tossing it to Natasha, who caught it easily.

"Give me a hug, goodbye."

Peter grinned and did just that, hugging his father, tightly.

"You won't be alone, right?" the boy asked into his neck.

As if on cue, Tony saw Pepper walk into his office, and he smiled, hugging Peter close for another long moment before releasing him and setting him back on his feet.

"Pepper's going to keep me company."

Peter followed his gaze, and greeted Pepper with a smile, and then a hug when she walked over to pick him up.

"You're all packed and ready?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Yeah. Take care of him?"

"Of course. You take care of Natasha."

"I will."

She kissed his cheek and set him down.

"We'll see you Sunday," Romanoff said, offering Peter the hand that wasn't holding his bag.

"Sounds good."

Peter waved goodbye and then they were gone.

Tony sighed, and Pepper smiled at the sound.

"He's only going to be a phone call away."

"I know."

And he couldn't be safer, he knew.

"That little boy has you wrapped around his finger."

Tony shrugged.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

He smiled, though, and Pepper stood beside him, leaning against his desk, too.

"When do I get my flowers?"

"Before we leave for the day. Do you need to go home, first?"

"Do I look alright? Are we eating someplace fancy?"

Stark put his hand over hers on his desk.

"I made reservations," he told her. "But I was thinking it might be nice to make you dinner. I'm getting pretty good at it."

She arched a brow.

"Are we having toast?"

"No."

"Sounds good, then."

"And, for the record," he said, squeezing her hand, lightly. "You look incredible."

Pepper smiled at that.

"Thank you."

"Are you almost done for the day?"

"One more meeting."

"Come find me when you're ready. I'll drive."

"I'm looking forward to it."

She left, and Tony watched her go, and smiled when an irreverent streak in him made him wonder what she'd say if he took them through the drive thru at the McDonald's closest to the house.

"Might be fun to see," he murmured, walking back around his desk to sit down and finish his own work so he'd be ready when she was.