"Well? How is it?"

Ned smiled at his friend – and then at Tony, who was sitting at his desk watching the two boys. Eric had just dropped Ned and his overnight bag off at Stark's office, reminded Ned to behave, hugged Peter and told Tony that if Ned misbehaved to call. It wasn't really a concern, of course. Ned was genuinely a nice kid, and he got along well with Tony – and, of course, with Peter.

"It's crazy. I have my own room, now. Eric rearranged the older boys, and I got the little room upstairs to myself."

Peter looked suitably impressed.

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"Have you called him dad yet?"

Ned shook his head, looking uncertain for the first time.

"No. I don't know when I'm supposed to start doing that… When did you first call Mr. Stark dad?"

Tony answered before Peter could.

"New Year's Eve."

"Was it weird?" the boy asked both father and son.

"He was half-asleep," Tony admitted with a smile. "But it was exactly what I was waiting for him to say."

"You were?"

"Yup." He was amused and somewhat touched to find himself having this particular conversation with Ned, but he wanted to make things as easy for him as he could. "There's no set time for you to say it by, buddy," he assured the boy. "When you're ready to call him dad, then you should. He's going to love you no matter what you call him. You know that."

Ned looked happy.

"Yeah."

"I have a few things that I need to take care of, here," the billionaire told the two. "Then we'll go. Do you guys want to hang out here? Or go to daycare?"

"Daycare," Ned said, looking at Peter, hopefully. "You can introduce me to all your friends."

Peter nodded. None of the kids that he spent his afternoon hours with were really good friends, or anything – not like Ned was – but they were fun. They weren't nearly as intelligent as Peter was – or as Ned was, even – but there was always something going on, or some crazy story one of them would tell him about what their older brothers did.

"Yeah."

"Cookies, first?" Tony offered.

Ned nodded.

"Please."

Peter didn't need to do more than nod. He'd never pass up on a snack, after all.

OOOOOOOO

They had chocolate milk and cookies and then Tony walked them down to daycare. He told the boys that he'd be by to pick them up as soon as he was finished, reminded Ned that he was to stay in the daycare area, and then went back to his office.

Which was where Pepper found him.

"Is Ned here?" she asked, walking in and settling herself in one of the chairs across from his desk.

She didn't kiss him, as much as Tony would have liked for her to do so. They were at work, and while he didn't have a problem with the idea, Pepper didn't want their new relationship to come under scrutiny at the tower. It was Tony's company, and Pepper was the CEO, so what other people thought didn't really matter, of course, but she had pointed out that she didn't want things to be uncomfortable with her subordinates.

He respected her wishes and simply greeted her with a smile and a nod to her question.

"Yes. He and Peter are down in daycare."

"What are you boys doing tonight?"

"Guy stuff," Stark told her. "We'll hit a strip joint, pick up some easy women and bring them home with us."

She was amused rather than annoyed, of course, and her smile proved it.

"And then what?"

"Feed them chicken nuggets and tater tots and play Legos, probably."

Pepper chuckled.

"Want company, this evening?" she asked. "Or is it going to be just the guys?"

"No, I'd love company. Then they can't gang up on me if they come up with something outrageous that they want to do."

"Is that a concern?"

"Not really," he conceded. "But you never know. Want to ride home with us?"

"I'll stop at home and change, and then be over in time to have dinner with you guys."

"You should just leave some clothes at my place," he told her. "Then you wouldn't have to go home, first."

"Are you ready for such a big step?" she asked him, raising an eyebrow but still looking more amused than concerned.

"Sure."

"Is Peter?"

"I think so. I can always ask Dr. Wayne what he thinks."

"I'll think about it."

"Not a lot of clothes," he said, quickly. "I don't want you using up all my closet space."

"I'll keep that in mind. I have a meeting. You're invited."

"Does that mean that I have to come?"

"No. But it wouldn't hurt for you to know what's going on."

"Then, of course, I'll come."

"Don't look so put upon," she told him, reaching for his hand as they stood up and squeezing it, lightly, before she let it go. "It isn't a long meeting."

"I'm going to hold you to that," he replied, smiling to show that he wasn't too serious.

He was getting better about a lot of things, lately. And not just eating healthier and getting more sleep at night.

"I'm running it."

OOOOOOOO

They stopped at the store on their way home. They had to, since Tony knew they only had a few slices of bread and he was certain that the toaster was going to get a lot of usage between the two boys. Loaded down with Ned's overnight bag, a few bags of groceries and snacks, and Peter's backpack, they parked in the garage to avoid the frigid wind that was blowing outside, picking up the remnants of the last snowfall and sending it in white sheets across the driveway as they pulled up.

"Looks like we're probably going to be inside, this weekend," Tony commented as he parked the car and the garage door rumbled closed behind the SUV.

"That's okay," Ned assured him, unbuckling his seatbelt. "It's going to be fun."

Peter nodded his agreement, and grabbed his backpack as he got out of the car.

"Yeah."

Tony handed his son a bag of groceries and took two for himself, leaving Ned with only his bag of clothes and things to carry.

"Go help Ned get settled, and then you boys can meet me in the kitchen. Pepper's coming for dinner, so we'll get everything started."

He nudged the door open with his foot and Ned held it for them while they walked in and set the groceries on the island.

"Welcome, Ned."

The boy's eyes lit up with excitement. He knew all about JARVIS, of course, and had even heard him speak at the housewarming party, but it was the first time the AI had spoken to him, directly.

"Hi, JARVIS. Thanks."

Peter smiled at his friend's cheerfulness.

"Come on," he told Ned, also excited – but for a different reason. "I have something to show you."

"What?"

"You'll see."

Tony smiled, too, but didn't follow the boys as they headed for Peter's room. He already knew what Peter was going to show Ned. The bunkbeds in Peter's room at the compound – and, of course, the ones at the cabin in the boonies – had been such a success that Tony had asked his son if he'd like to replace the full bed that was in Peter's room with a set like the ones at the compound; a full bed with a single on top.

Peter had agreed, immediately, not surprisingly, and they'd been delivered and set up within hours of Tony's ordering them. Peter hadn't seen them, yet, but he knew that they'd been delivered, because Tony had told him at lunch when he'd checked in with him.

Now it was just a matter of seeing who was going to end up with the coveted top bunk that night.