It was fairly late by the time they finished playing. Recognizing that the boys weren't tired, or ready for bed, yet, Tony sent them into the kitchen to find a snack and told them to go play. Peter and Ned didn't look at all upset at being dismissed. Instead, they were cheerful as they headed into the kitchen and Peter opened the fridge, while Ned opened the pantry door that he already knew held the chips and cookies.

"Can we make toast?" Peter asked Tony, raising his voice to be heard.

The billionaire had just finished putting the cards in the box, and was leaning back against the soft leather of the sofa, an arm already going around Pepper. He was ready to cuddle for a while.

"Yes. Clean up after yourselves, though."

"Okay."

He heard them talking, but couldn't hear what they were saying, and heard the rattling of the butter dish and the cupboard where the bread was kept slamming shut.

"You do remember that it's going to be batman toast and just how popular it was, the first time he and Ned started making toast…?" Pepper reminded him, adroitly.

He smiled and released her, standing up.

"Good point. Want to come and keep me company while I supervise to make sure we still have bread, come morning?"

"Sure."

OOOOOOOO

The boys were in their fort when Pepper left.

She went into Peter's room to say goodbye and found both of them were asleep.

"You could just stay," Tony reminded her once she had closed the door behind her, to avoid waking them. "I don't mean so that you can I can have happy fun time," he added, making her smile. "But because I like the idea of having you here when I wake up in the morning."

Pepper slid into his embrace, wrapping her arms around him and wallowing in the sensation of being held by the man. She'd never have believed it if someone had told her that he was capable of finally settling down, but here he was.

"I need to get some things packed if I'm going to come over, tomorrow," she told him, resting her cheek against his chest. "What time are you taking Ned home?"

"After lunch." He buried his face in her hair for a moment. "We'll come by your place when we're done, and after we drop him off."

"Sounds good."

Tony hugged her, tightly, for just a moment longer, and then released her.

"I'll go get your coat."

"Thank you."

OOOOOOO

Eric was the only one at the Tatro home when Tony dropped off Ned. He smiled when he walked out to meet them in the driveway, and hugged his son, cheerfully, when the boy hopped out of the SUV. Peter got out, also, and hugged the large man, happily.

"Where's everyone else?" the boy asked, noticing that the large SUV they used when transporting all the boys was gone, and no one else had come out to meet them.

It was Ironman, after all, despite the fact that the others had seen him plenty of times, before. The boys would still have come out to say hello, and Peter knew it.

"They all went to the new DC movie," Eric said, scooping Peter up into his arms for a moment before settling him on his feet.

"You should have said something," Tony told him, also getting out so he could shake hands with the man. "We could have kept Ned a few more hours so you could go, too."

Eric shook his head, reaching down to put a hand on Ned's head.

"I was hoping to have some alone time with him, here," he replied. "So it works out well." He looked at the two boys, who were looking up at him, cheerfully. "Did you have fun?"

"We made a fort," Ned said.

"And had toast – and played UNO," Peter added.

"Miss Potts was there."

"We slept in the fort."

"We had toast for breakfast."

"And we played pool."

"And with Legos."

Eric smiled and the sudden rush of information.

"Why don't you go put your bag in your room?" he told Ned, amused.

"Okay."

"Can I help him?" Peter asked Tony.

"Yes. But come right back. We have things to do, right?"

Since those things included going to Pepper's, next, Peter nodded and grabbed Ned's bag from the car, easily, and ran into the house with his friend right beside him.

"How did it really go?" Eric asked Tony.

"It was great," the billionaire assured him. "We spent some time this morning with my AI's simulator, going over the various reasons why a large garbage bag will not create enough drag to be used as a parachute. I think I've convinced him, but if Ned comes walking by with a box of them in his hand – and you didn't send him out to rake the yard – you might want to intervene."

The bigger man laughed at that.

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks." He looked back toward the house. "I should probably warn you…"

"Oh?"

"Nancy and I are getting a puppy. Mostly for Ned, but it'll be everyone's."

"And you're warning me because you think Peter might want one, as well?"

"Right. You never know with little guys like him. A friend gets one, and he might want one, too."

Tony smiled at that, and then his smile widened when the boys reappeared at the front door and ran out to the driveway.

"Thanks for the heads up," he said, sincerely. "If he wants one, we'll get him one – otherwise, I'll just bring him over here to play with yours until he loses the bug."

Tatro snorted, amused, and caught Ned up into his arms, easily, as Tony opened the car door for Peter to scramble into his booster seat.

"Sounds like a plan."

"What plan?" Ned asked, curiously, grinning at Tony from the impressive view point he had in his new father's arms.

"Secret Avenger plans," Tony replied, almost automatically. "And don't nag your dad, here, because he doesn't know all about them, yet."

Ned groaned, theatrically, and Stark winked at Eric.

"Did you thank Tony for having you?" Tatro asked Ned, pointedly.

The boy smiled.

"Thanks, Mr. Stark."

"You're welcome. We'll do it, again, soon," he was assured. "It was fun."

OOOOOOO

They left and drove to Pepper's apartment, next.

She answered their knock – even though there was a doorbell, Tony just didn't want to use it – and smiled down at Peter.

"Did you get Ned delivered home, safely?" she asked as she moved aside so they could enter.

"Yeah," Peter replied. "He's going to hang out with Eric, today. Everyone else went to see Batman."

She looked surprised – maybe because Tony hadn't taken Peter to see it, as well – and the billionaire winked, obviously understanding the question in her expression.

"It's rated PG-13," he explained. "I'm going to check it out before Peter and I go see it – just to make sure."

"It might be too scary for him," Peter explained, climbing onto Pepper's couch and watching them.

Pepper had left a plate of cookies on the coffee table, and there was a bottle of juice – a sure sign that she didn't have any chocolate milk.

Tony rolled his eyes, but he didn't deny it.

"Are you packed?" he asked.

"Almost. Peter, honey, have a cookie while I make your dad help me decide what to bring."

"You're not leaving the country," he reminded her, following her into the bedroom and leaving Peter happily munching on an Oreo. "If you need something, you can come back for it, right?"

"Unless they've already started fumigating."

"Good point." He looked around the room. She had two bags on her bed. One was a large suitcase, which was already zipped closed and bulging, while the other was a garment bag that held several outfits that she would want for work, the next week. "Don't forget your toothbrush. I'm not sharing mine."

Pepper smiled.

"We're not there, yet?"

Tony shrugged, and kissed her, lightly.

"Maybe."

"I've already packed it."

"If there's anything you need, we can get it," he assured her.

"I know. I just don't want to be an imposition."

"We're looking forward to it," Tony told her.

She rolled her eyes and then closed the garment bag.

"Just for that, you get to carry the heavy bag."

He laughed, and reached for it, making a show of just how heavy it was – although it really was a bit heavy.

"I'll have Peter carry it."

They walked out and found that the boy was on the sofa, still, but he was on his knees looking over the back of it and watching them, one cookie in his hand and his mouth full of another.

"How many of those have you had?" Pepper asked.

Knowing that he wasn't supposed to talk with his mouth full, he simply held up two fingers on the hand that wasn't holding the cookie.

"No more, okay?" Tony told him.

"Okay."

"Did you two have lunch?" Pepper asked.

"Yes." Tony smiled at his son. "The fine folks at McDonald's made sure we had plenty of French fries and chicken nuggets."

"And a shake," Peter added, his mouth cleared enough, now, to have a real conversation. "It was good."

"We're not having fast food for dinner, though, right?" she verified.

"We're having Hamburger Helper," Peter assured her. "It's good, too."

"Did you clear your fridge?" Tony asked. "Or are you going to come home to science experiments growing in there?"

"I took care of it, this morning," Pepper told him. "There were a couple of us at the trash chute throwing things that would spoil."

"Smart."

"None of them mentioned seeing any bugs, though."

"So it might be a single cockroach that is forcing you all out onto the street for a week?"

"If it was even a bug," she reminded him. "It sounds like it might have been a figment of someone's imagination."

"Better safe than sorry," Tony said. He liked the idea of having her company – and didn't care why. "Are you ready?"

"Let me get my jacket."

While she was doing that, Tony picked up the bottle of juice that Peter hadn't even opened, and put it in his pocket so it wouldn't be sitting out all the next week, either. He handed the cookies that remained on the plate to his son.

"Put those in your pocket for later."

"Okay."

Pepper returned just as Peter was hopping off the sofa, excited, and she smiled to see him so happy.

"Let's go."