When Tony returned to the table, he was carrying a plate with a sandwich – turkey, cheese, mayo, tomatoes, and lettuce – and set it in front of his son.

"The soup is warming up."

"Thank you."

Peter took a bite of the sandwich, and Stark resumed his spot next to him.

"Are you going to stay for a while, this evening?" he asked Pepper.

"Not for too long. I need to get up early, tomorrow." She smiled. "We can watch a movie, or play a game before I have to leave. Besides, it's a school night, right?"

"Yes."

He didn't have any homework, but that was good – or he'd have to work on it, instead of spending time with her and Tony before bed. He wanted to tell her that she could stay the night – they had an extra bedroom, after all – but he waited for Tony to tell her, figuring that if it was something they should offer, he'd be the one that should do it. Peter was a little disappointed when he didn't say anything about it.

Instead, he brought up the psychologist appointment.

"I like Dr. Wayne," Tony told Pepper. "He's pretty good with Peter."

She looked surprised at the admission, and she turned to Peter, who had shoved a big bite of sandwich into his mouth and was chewing carefully, before he could be reminded that he wasn't supposed to do that, any more.

"Do you like him, too?"

Peter nodded.

"Mm-hmm."

It was all he could say around the mouthful of food.

"Good."

She looked a little smug, Tony decided, as he got up to get Peter's soup, but that was only fair. He didn't like a lot of people, after all – and admitted to liking even fewer, when he could get away with it.

He smiled, but settled for resting his hand on Peter's head.

"Maybe we'll see if he can hypnotize Peter and make him stop taking such big bites."

"He said he doesn't do that," Peter replied before Pepper could, his mouth now empty.

"He's teasing you," Pepper assured the boy. "But please don't take such big bites. There's plenty to eat, right? It isn't going anywhere if you eat, slower."

"I'll try not to," the boy promised, proving it by taking a much more reasonable bite the next moment.

"Thank you."

Tony rolled his eyes over Peter's head where the boy couldn't see it. Of course, he'd told Peter a million times now (and maybe even more than that – even though he knew the numbers didn't exactly add up) not to take such big bites, and he knew Romanoff and Steve had also reminded him, more than once. Pepper simply says please and doesn't make him eat salad and suddenly he starts listening?

She caught the gesture and smiled, but her attention was on Peter, and as Tony went to dish up the soup, she started asking him questions about Dr. Wayne.

Peter answered them, eating his soup when Tony brought it, and finishing his sandwich.

"Do you want a piece of cake?" Pepper asked when they were done eating.

"I want four pieces," the boy said, looking hopeful and cheerful.

She frowned.

"Four?"

Tony rolled his eyes, again, and smirked.

"Ignore him," he said. "Natasha and Phil taught him how to negotiate over the weekend, and now everything starts with an exaggerated number so he can talk you up from one to whatever he thinks is what he really wants."

Pepper smiled, but Peter nodded, his own smile happy.

"Four seems a little high," she replied.

"You're supposed to say two," Peter told her, helpfully.

"Oh. Two seems a little much, as well. Maybe one piece that is regular sized, but another one that is a fourth of the size of the big one."

The boy frowned, confused.

"How does that work?"

"She's adding fractions into the equation, son," Tony told him. "It works for times when you're negotiating, but something is too precious to give away more than you really want to, so you have to switch up the dynamic a bit."

"Oh." Pepper was amused – and just a little awed – at how easily Peter was able to accept that explanation. "Three and a half pieces."

"One and a quarter," came the immediate counter.

"Three."

"One and a third – and the third is tiny."

The frown returned, but he was obviously enjoying himself.

"Two."

"One and a half."

"Done."

"You caved too early, son," Stark told him, going into the kitchen for saucers and a knife to cut the cake with. "She might have gone as high as two."

"One and a half is still pretty good."

Pepper gave Tony a look as he returned from the kitchen that plainly told him to make sure the pieces weren't big. The last thing they wanted was a repeat of the marshmallow incident at the cabin. He smiled and cut her a slice, and himself a slice – both were quite small – and then made a show of cutting one and a half pieces for Peter, putting them on the plate and setting it in front of him.

"When you're done eating, I want you to go brush your teeth and get ready for bed."

"Okay."

OOOOOOO

By the time Peter was finished in his room and returned to the living room, the dishes had been done and most of the lights in the house were off. Pepper and Tony were on the sofa, settled close, and Tony had an arm around her. They were watching TV, but not any particular show, and Peter knew that they were simply waiting for him.

He walked around to the front of the sofa, looking at them, hopefully. Yes, there was plenty of room for him, on the other side of Tony, or even the other side of Pepper, but that wasn't where Peter wanted to be. The only problem was that he knew that as boyfriend and girlfriend, Tony and Pepper probably wanted to sit by each other.

One of May's boyfriends had pulled Peter up onto the couch between him and May one time, and his aunt had gotten angry at him for doing it. Peter didn't want Pepper and Tony to be mad at each other because of him. But he longed to be between them. So much so that it almost made him ache, inside.

Tony must have understood his uncertainty, because he smiled and scooped his son up into his arms and then settled Peter between himself and Pepper, who moved only as much as was needed to make sure Peter was comfortable.

"You good?" Tony asked.

He hadn't missed the uncertainty on the boy's expression, and there was no hiding the hopefulness in those big, brown eyes. Or the happiness when Peter realized what he was doing.

Peter breathed a short gasp of happiness as his breath caught in his throat from pure joy. Especially when Pepper put an arm around him and then pressed a kiss against the top of his head.

"Yes." He snuggled down between them, soaking up the love and warmth in equal measures. "What are we going to watch?"

"Pep?"

She smiled, taking the remote.

"How about a comedy?"

"Sounds good. Peter?"

He didn't care. He was just happy where he was and wanted to savor it for a while.

"Okay."

She found a kid-friendly one and hit play, then set the remote down and leaned into the cushions, as JARVIS lowered the lights without being asked. Peter leaned back into the cushion of the sofa and then tilted, just a little, toward Pepper – although his hand sought out Tony's side for the comfort of the touch.

Then they settled in to watch the movie.

OOOOOOOO

It didn't surprise either adult that Peter was asleep by the time the movie was over.

Tony scooped the boy carefully up into his arms as he stood.

"I'll be right back," he told Pepper.

She nodded and turned the TV off, while Tony carried his sleeping son into his bedroom and put him to bed. Peter roused, somewhat, as he normally did when he was being moved around.

"It's morning?"

"Shhh… no…" Tony crooned, gently. "It's night. Go back to sleep."

"I'm not sleepy."

"I know." Tony stayed with Peter until he settled back to sleep, his breathing steadying, once more, and his little body limp. Then he covered him, kissed his forehead, carefully, and got to his feet. "He's all yours, JARVIS."

"Yes, sir."

With the boy under the vigilant guard of the AI, Tony closed the door, quietly, behind him and went into the living room to join Pepper.

Pepper smiled up at him as he sat down beside her, now close enough that he was feeling the residual warmth left by Peter.

"He went without an argument?" she asked, leaning in for a kiss.

"Of course not," Tony told her, brushing his lips against hers. "He assured me that he wasn't sleepy. And then he went to sleep."

A soft chuckle, and she pressed her hand against his chest, kissing him, again, but then pulling back.

"I should get home. It's late."

"You could stay the night."

"Someday," she assured him. "Not tonight, though."

The billionaire didn't argue. He wanted to, of course, but trysts were better when both parties were comfortable, and she wasn't there, just yet. Maybe because she was worried about Peter waking up and being traumatized if he saw them, or caught them, or – even worse, Tony decided – wanted to join him in his bed at an inopportune moment and found them involved in adult activities.

He'd have to address that. A mag lock on his door, just in case, and a conversation with JARVIS. Maybe even sound-proofing his bedroom.

"We'll do a raincheck," Tony said. He kissed her. "I'll walk you to the door."

It was chilly, and there was a bit of a brisk wind. Stark shivered, and put his arm around Pepper as they walked to the car.

"I had a nice evening," she told him.

"So did I." He opened her door for her, and shivered, again. "Why don't you start parking in the garage when you come over?"

There was plenty of room, after all – and it was heated.

"Is there a spot for me?"

"We'll move Peter's bicycle."

Pepper chuckled, and kissed him.

"Sounds good. I'll see you in the morning."

"Drive safe."

He waited until she drove away, and then headed back inside, shedding his coat and shoes at the door. He stopped and peeked in Peter's room, but the boy was where he'd left him, and sleeping, soundly, from what he could tell. Tony resisted the urge to watch him sleep, and left, closing the door, again. Then he went to bed, too.