They took both cars.

Pepper probably wasn't going to need her car with her – she'd ride with Tony to the tower every day that she was staying with them – but you never knew, she said, and Stark agreed. He wasn't even annoyed when Peter turned his big, brown, hopeful, eyes on his father and asked if he could ride with Pepper back to the house.

Tony agreed, of course, and Peter carried the heavy suitcase down to the parking garage, while Tony carried the garment bag, leaving only a small overnight bag for Pepper to tote. When they reached the cars, they loaded Pepper's things into her car, and then transferred Peter's booster seat into it, as well. Stark made sure his son was buckled in, and then walked around the car and opened Pepper's door for her, as well, kissing her, softly.

"Drive safe," he murmured into the kiss.

She smiled.

"I will."

She would follow him to the house, and they would certainly be followed by at least one SHIELD vehicle, if not more. He didn't even bother to call anyone to tell them Peter was riding with Pepper. They were good at their jobs and would notice.

The drive for Tony was uneventful. The drive for Pepper was filled with conversation from Peter, who told her all about the morning that he had spent with Ned, and with Tony, and how they'd done several scenarios with JARVIS to prove that the garbage bag thing probably wouldn't have worked as well as he'd expected it would. He still thought that it might work – if he was the one who had jumped – but he was willing to concede that he might have been injured if he'd landed funny.

She listened as he explained the complicated math, and made the appropriate noises, and even asked a few questions. By the time they pulled into the garage at the house, she was once more reminded just how brilliant that little boy was – and how much she enjoyed his company. Even when he was in lecture mode.

It was adorable.

Tony was waiting by his car, and he once more held the door for her. She thought it was sweet, and wondered if it would ever get old to have him treat her like someone so cherished.

"Let's get Pepper settled," Tony told his son opening the back of the car so they could unload her things.

"Okay."

This time the boy took the heavy suitcase in one hand and the garment bag in the other. He carried them easily, not even noticing just how heavy they were, but he was so small that both of them dragged across the kitchen floor, and then through the living room and into the guest room. Pepper followed, her hand in Tony's, and they watched Peter flip the bags up onto the bed, negligently.

"Come here, buddy," Tony said, picking Peter up and putting him on the bed, where Pepper joined him. "I want to go over some ground rules."

"Are you talking to him?" Pepper asked, amused. "Or to me?"

The billionaire smiled.

"I meant him," he assured her. "But you might as well hear them."

"Of course."

Tony looked at his son.

"This is Pepper's room, right?"

"Yeah."

"If the door is closed, then you don't bother her if she's in here."

"How come?"

"Because women need more privacy than men do, son," Tony explained. "They don't like having people watch them take off their makeup, or when they're changing. If the door is closed, and it's important, you knock and wait to hear her say if you can come in, or not. Got it?"

Peter nodded, smiling.

"Okay."

Pepper gave him a one-armed hug and kissed the top of his head.

"But if I say you can come in, then of course you can come in," she added.

"But you wait until she says so."

"Okay."

Tony smiled at him, but then looked at her.

"If you get tired of us, then this is your escape," he said. "Come in here and close the door and we'll leave you alone."

"Thank you."

"We won't be annoying," Peter assured her.

"But we're a lot of work, sometimes," Tony reminded his son. "And we can be enough to make someone tired. Pepper works hard all day, remember? She'll need a chance to relax."

"For how long?"

"Until the door opens."

"Okay."

The billionaire reached over and ruffled his hair.

"Other than that, the rules with Pepper are the same ones that you and I already have. All right?"

"Yeah."

"What rules are those?" she asked, curiously.

Peter smiled.

"No drinking, no smoking and no dangerous stuff."

"Makes sense." Pepper looked at the two. "What do you have planned for today?"

"No plans," he admitted. "We'll let you get settled in, and then we can spend a relaxing day doing nothing more exciting than building something with Legos, or maybe playing pool."

"Can we go to the zoo, tomorrow?" Peter asked, suddenly excited.

Tony frowned.

"We've been to the zoo."

It was one of the first excursions that they'd taken, together – before Tony had even considered being a foster parent, much less a dad.

"Pepper hasn't, though," the little boy pointed out.

"Is your homework done?"

"No."

"Do your homework, tonight, and if Pepper wants to go to the zoo with us, tomorrow, then we'll go to the zoo."

Peter turned to look at her, hopefully, and she had to force herself not to roll her eyes at just how powerless she was, just then, looking at him.

"Do you want to go to the zoo, Pepper?"

"Walk around the zoo in the middle of winter?" she asked. "Of course, I do."

"Yay!"

Tony caught his son before Peter could jump off the bed and rush to go do his homework. He swept him up into his arms.

"Let's let Pepper unpack."

"Okay."

Tony smiled at her.

"We'll be in the game room if you need anything. Or ask JARVIS to call."

"He's in here?"

"He's everywhere, Pep. No cameras, though – audio, only. I promise."

"So JARVIS can't watch you take off your makeup, either," Peter assured her, turning himself upside down in Tony's grip so he could look at her from the odd angle.

She smiled, reaching for his nose and making him squeal with delight at the gesture, even as he squirmed to avoid her grasp.

"Good thing."

OOOOOOOOO

She didn't take long to unpack, and when she went looking for her hosts, Pepper found them in the game room as expected. They were playing pool, and Pepper leaned against the door, watching them for a moment, before they realized that she was there. When they did notice, Tony smiled over at her, silently inviting her to join them.

"Who's winning?" she asked, walking over and watching as Peter moved a small step stool to the far side to allow him to see well enough to look at the balls.

"I am," Tony told her. "He's pretty good, though."

"Because it's all about physics?" she guessed.

"Yes." He smirked, watching as Peter's shot went wide – clearly because the boy wasn't completely comfortable wielding the long pool cue. "He has the math down, but making the ball go where he wants it to go is still something of a science for him. He's getting better, though."

"He'll be a pool shark before he knows it," she predicted, making the boy smile.

"Want to play winner?" Peter asked.

A glance at the table told her that there were many more stripes remaining than there were solids.

"Sure."

"We'll eat around six," Tony said. He smiled, moving around the table to line up his own shot and bodily picking Peter up and moving him out of the way – which made the boy giggle. "But there are plenty of snacks in the kitchen if you're hungry."

"I'm fine."