"What are you doing, tonight?"
"Spin class. Why?"
"Can you miss it?"
Pepper shrugged.
"It depends on why…"
Stark smiled.
"Eric called me. The adoption went through, and he has invited us to celebrate at the Palace, tonight."
"That's wonderful."
Tony agreed.
"Interested?"
"Of course."
"Peter and I will come pick you up at 7:00."
"I'll be ready."
"It's casual," he reminded her.
"Is Rhodes coming?"
"He always makes it a point to come," the billionaire said. The monthly pizza thing was a favorite, really – and a good way to allow Peter a chance to see Eric and Nancy, and all the kids to spend time with Peter. Even the newest foster who had recently arrived. "This evening is going to be a little different, though."
"Oh? How?"
"Eric is renting the place for a couple of hours, and inviting his family to go. And in addition, when I mentioned it to Steve, he mentioned it to Natasha, who mentioned it to Sam and Clint, and there will be many more Avengers there than simply me and Rhodey."
"Wow."
Tony smiled.
"Yes. It's going to be special – and it should be."
"No one's even going to notice me," she complained, good-naturedly. "Not with so many superheroes around."
"You'll be the prettiest person there."
"Smooth talker."
"Well… right behind Rogers, I suppose."
Pepper snorted, amused.
"Do we bring presents?"
"No."
"I'll see you at seven."
"Yup." He looked at his watch. "I'm going to go collect my son from daycare and see if he has any homework."
With that, the billionaire left her office, and Pepper returned to the business model she'd been looking over before he'd interrupted her. She was in a cheerful mood, though.
And not just because she'd heard the pizza at the Palace was good.
OOOOOOOOO
As parties at pizza places went, it was about as good as it could get.
The kids – Peter, Ned, and the foster boys from Eric's place – all had a fun time. Since the party was private, they found that they had unlimited access to all of the video games, and the prize machines, as well as the excitement of paying those video games against actual Avengers. They weren't in their uniforms, or their suits, but they were easy to recognize even without, and all of them were willing to allow those who had gathered to celebrate Ned's adoption to take selfies, wesies, and action pictures of them.
There were group pictures, too. Every combination of picture, with every kid, involved. The foster kids were used to Tony and Rhodes, by then, but having the others? It was a dream come true to most of them, and serious bragging rights when they got to school the next day and started telling the story.
It was a win for the Palace, too, since they would get the publicity of having their place associated with the Avengers – and all of the staff had been included in photo ops as well, as a thank you for the way they were treated. In return, the manager of the restaurant allowed them an extra hour of time to extend the party, and made all the video games free of charge – although the prize machines still cost money.
Peter spent a lot of time with Ned. First at the table while they were eating (pizza, and then cake and ice cream) and then while they went to play video games. With SHIELD agents guarding the entrances (and enjoying the party, too) as Avengers scattered throughout the room, there was no reason to keep them on any kind of leash. (Figuratively, not literally – although Tony was tempted, sometimes.)
When they finally called an end to the fun – it was a school night, after all – Peter and Ned walked up to where Eric was talking to Tony, who was describing the cabin.
"About ready to leave?" the billionaire asked his son.
Peter nodded.
"Can Ned stay the night, Friday?"
"What?"
Ned looked excited, but allowed Peter to speak for them.
"Can Ned stay the night? On Friday?"
Tony looked at Eric.
"He's your son…" Tony reminded him – which made Ned and Eric both smile.
"You don't have any plans this weekend?"
"Nope. We're trying to do regular, mundane, things, as well as the things that come with me being who I am. We'll be home, and it'd be fun for Peter to have the company."
"I don't see why not, then," Eric conceded, and he smiled again when Ned and Peter jumped around, happily. "Provided nothing comes up."
"Thanks."
Tony smiled, too.
"Get your coat, buddy, and tell everyone goodbye. We need to get Pepper home, or she'll be grumpy in the morning."
OOOOOOOOOOO
The rest of the week was smooth.
Peter and Tony stayed home in the evenings, relaxing and being a regular family, as much as they could. Two nights of the three remaining, Pepper came over and had dinner with them, and both nights she stayed and spent time with them after they ate. They didn't do anything super exciting; Peter still had homework to get done, and while he did that after dinner, Tony and Pepper would clean up the kitchen.
On Thursday night they watched another movie with Peter tucked between them. This time he didn't fall asleep, and it was Pepper who volunteered to put the boy to bed when the movie was over – despite his protests that he wasn't tired. They negotiated a bedtime story – or two – and she was the one who read it to him, with Tony sitting on the edge of the bed, watching the two as she read and the boy tucked his head against her side, looking at the pictures.
Then both adults had told him good-night, and had closed the door as JARVIS turned down the lights.
"Is she going to stay the night?" Peter had asked the AI, softly, in deference to the fact that he was supposed to be going to sleep.
"No." JARVIS was modulating his response to make sure it couldn't be overheard, either. "There is concern that you might not be ready for them to change their dynamic so abruptly, so they'll ease into that sort of thing."
"Oh."
"Adults who are parents have to consider the children they have at home when they have their girlfriend or boyfriend stay the night," the AI told the boy.
"Why?"
"To make sure there aren't any underlying issues."
"I don't think May did that with her boyfriends…"
"I am certain that she did not. Tony, however, will – and Pepper will encourage him to continue to do so."
"Oh." The boy hesitated, and then voiced something that he'd touched on the very edge of a few times in their night-time conversations, but never came right out and asked. "Do you think Tony and Pepper could ever get married?"
"It's possible."
"Ned told me that if Tony gets married, then I'll have a mom, again."
"He's correct. You shouldn't bring it up with Tony – or with Pepper – however."
"Why not?"
"Because it's something that they need to ease into. Otherwise one or the other may get cold feet and terminate their relationship, prematurely."
"What do cold feet have to do with anything?"
If an AI could roll its eyes, JARVIS was doing just that.
"It's not a literal term. Cold feet means they will hesitate to continue their relationship because of uncertainty or other negative emotions."
"Oh. What do I need to do, then?"
"Keep being yourself," JARVIS said. "You can't make them do this, and if you begin acting odd, they'll worry about you and that will be a distraction from the endgame. So continue simply being Peter Stark. What will happen will happen."
"And it'll work?"
"It has been, thus far."
"You meant for it to happen?" Peter asked, surprised. "Tony and Pepper?"
"I nudged them in the right direction," the AI admitted. "Tony Stark was a lonely man, and that made him reckless, and unconventional. And something of an ass. Now he isn't."
"He's nice," Peter said, loyally.
"Yes, he is." JARVIS' tone was smug, which was impressive considering he wasn't human and wasn't supposed to be capable of that kind of emotion. "Because he has someone to come home to. And someone to take care of – aside from himself. It makes him a better man – whether he wanted to be, or not. Go to sleep, Peter."
"I'm not tired."
He was, though, but he wanted to continue the discussion with JARVIS. It was interesting, and it made him hope for more, when he knew he really didn't have any reason to want anything beyond what he already had. Tony as a dad was so much more than Peter ever could have hoped for.
"I'll tell you a story…"
"Five stories."
"One, and then you're going to go to sleep or I'll erase all your math assignments and you'll have to do them, again, instead of playing Legos with Ned."
Peter frowned at the threat – even though he wasn't sure that JARVIS meant it.
"You're not very good at bargaining…" he complained.
"I'm an excellent bargainer," JARVIS assured him. "Close your eyes and I'll tell you a story about your dad when he was younger."
"You will?"
"Yes."
Peter did as he was told, and the AI started telling him a story about Tony's first attempt at learning how to use his Ironman suit. The first one he'd manufactured. It was a funny story and not at all scary, but Peter fell asleep in the middle of it, despite the fact that it was interesting. The AI noted the boy's regular breathing and lack of response to a soft question, and turned his attention to other matters.
There was a new suit that was being manufactured, and it was nearing completion. When Pepper Potts went home, if Stark wasn't tired, he'd want to check on the status – and JARVIS wanted to make sure he knew everything.
It saved time.