By the time Pepper arrived, dinner was in the oven, and there was a fire burning in the gas fireplace. It was mostly for added ambiance, but the warmth was always nice, too.

Tony was the only one to meet her when she pulled up to the front of the house – and then into the garage when JARVIS opened the door, without being told. He walked over and opened her car door for her, and the garage door closed, cutting off the sound of the howling wind outside.

"Where are the boys?" she asked as she unbuckled her seatbelt and took the hand that he offered her.

Tony kissed her, soundly, before pulling back.

"They're playing the piano." If she'd waited until they'd gone through the kitchen door, she'd have known, immediately. "Peter's teaching Ned how to play the Emperor's March from Star Wars."

"Fun."

"It's entertaining them and keeping them out of trouble," he pointed out. He smiled when she kissed him, once more. "And I get a chance to come say hi, just the two of us."

Which made her smile, too.

"Something smells delicious," Pepper commented when they walked into the kitchen from the garage.

"Casserole. Peter and Ned helped put it together, so if it turns out to badly, pretend it's good and we'll accidently drop it on the floor, or something and order a pizza."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Pepper!"

While they'd been talking, the music from the other room had stopped, and Peter and Ned came into the room. Peter rushed over and hugged her, tightly, and Pepper swung him up into her arms, amused (and enchanted) by the fact that he was acting as if he hadn't seen her in days, instead of merely hours.

"Hello, sweetheart." She smiled at Ned, who was watching, but didn't seem to need a hug by way of greeting. "Hi, Ned."

"Hi, Miss Potts." He smiled, happily. "We made dinner."

"That's what I heard."

"I'm teaching Ned to play the piano," Peter told her, hugging her, again, but then squirming so she'd know he wanted down. She complied, immediately. "We're going to start a band."

Tony rolled his eyes.

"They're both going to play the piano," he informed her. "So it'll be interesting to see how that works out."

"True." She tousled the boy's hair, fondly. "What's for dinner?"

"Casserole."

The two boys ushered her into the living room to sit on the sofa, all the while telling her about getting the noodles boiled, and the vegetables and chicken and soup cans all mixed together and then covered. It was quite a production, and she made a point to pay attention – just in case there were to be a quiz or something at the end of the discourse.

"Coffee, Pep?" Tony asked her from the kitchen. "Or something stronger?"

She rolled her eyes, but was thoroughly enjoying herself.

"Coffee, please."

He brought it out, and settled on the couch with her.

"Why don't you guys go find something to do for a while?" Tony suggested, deciding that she wasn't quite ready to be the center of attention to both boys, just yet. "Dinner is in about forty-five minutes."

"Okay."

Peter rolled himself over the back of the couch and Ned followed suit when Tony didn't yell at him for doing it. The two boys vanished into the game room, but they didn't hear them start playing the piano, again.

"They'll settle a little once we stuff them full of dinner," Stark told her.

"They're fine," she assured him. "It's good for Peter to have his friend over, isn't it?"

"I assume so. If it isn't the boys, why do you look so distracted?"

Which proved that he knew her well – and was good at reading her, because she had tried not to let it show. She shrugged, allowing her expression to turn slightly annoyed.

"I'm going to have to rent a hotel room for a week, or so, starting Monday."

"Because…?"

"Some woman in an apartment under mine swears she saw a roach, and I had a message waiting for me when I got home, telling me that the building is going to be fumigated. Do you have any idea just how inconvenient this is going to be?" Now she sounded exasperated. "And it probably wasn't even a roach. The building is cleaned, and there are exterminators who come regularly. For all I know, she saw a raisin, or something."

Tony smiled.

"Why would you go to a hotel?" he asked her.

"Because I'm not going to fit all my clothes in a refrigerator box on the corner," Pepper reminded him.

"So? You can come stay with us. We have plenty of room."

"I don't know…"

"You can stay in the guest room," he told her. "It doesn't have to be weird."

"I should probably just get a hote-"

"I'll have Peter ask you."

Pepper rolled her eyes.

"You know that isn't going to work every time, right?"

"It only has to work, this time," he replied, taking her hand. "It'll be a good chance for us to get Peter used to the idea of you spending more time with us. And for you to get used to us," he added.

She hesitated, despite his easy acceptance of the idea.

"Are you sure?"

"Yup. Peter will be, too, when we ask him."

"Alright, then. We'll try it."

He beamed, and pulled her into his arms, lightly holding her, and brushing a kiss against her temple.

"Good. Starting Monday?"

"Yes."

"We can move your things in when we take Ned home, tomorrow."

"Monday," she repeated.

"It'll take a day or two to get you settled," he pointed out, reasonably. "You don't want to do it on a Monday, do you? You'll have a million other things requiring your time and attention."

She sighed, amused, and gave in – mainly because he was probably right – and relaxed against him.

"Fine."

"Good."

They were quiet, just enjoying the peaceful quiet of the room, and the somewhat hypnotic glow from the fireplace. Right up until they heard the door to the game room open, and Peter and Ned head into the kitchen. Tony could have ignored that, assuming that the boys were getting a snack – although right before dinner wasn't really the best time to find something to eat. There was the sound of several different drawers and then cupboards opening and closing, and he pulled away from Pepper to look over toward the kitchen.

"What are you guys up to?" he asked.

"Nothing," Ned answered.

"I can't find the garbage bags," Peter said.

"They're under the sink."

"Not the little white ones. The big ones. The black ones with the picture of leaves on the box."

Pepper frowned, looking at Tony, who also looked confused.

"Why do you need them?" he asked.

There was a slight pause, and a muffled conversation that he couldn't quite make out.

"We're doing an experiment," Ned told him.

"What kind of experiment?"

Now Stark was turned toward the kitchen, but the island was blocking his view of the boys.

"Drag," Peter replied. "And gravity. I found them."

Tony frowned.

"Why do you need garbage bags to – no. You are not making parachutes out of garbage bags."

Pepper frowned, standing up when Tony did.

"What?"

She followed the billionaire into the kitchen, and Peter and Ned looked up at the two adults, both sets of eyes wide and innocent. Peter was holding the box of garbage bags – and Pepper saw that it did, indeed, have a picture of leaves on it.

"It's safe," Ned said, quickly. "Kyle told me that one of the guys at his school did it. He jumped off their garage and the garbage bag made a perfect parachute."

"He said that, did he?" Tony asked. Kyle was Eric's biological son, Stark knew. He'd met him several times, now. A good kid – but still a teenaged boy. "Did he happen to mention if his friend was injured?"

"He said he just landed hard."

"We weren't going to jump off the garage," Peter said, reasonably. "It's too high."

"What were you going to jump off?" Pepper asked, curiously.

"The pool table."

She snorted, amused, and Tony rolled his eyes.

"No."

"The math is good," Ned said, quickly. "I figured it out, earlier, and Peter double-checked it, just now."