When dinner was ready, he gave up his spot almost reluctantly, but smiled when Pepper kissed his cheek, soundly, and thanked him for keeping her company. She was glad to see that he didn't look as troubled as he'd looked that morning, or in her office after school. While they ate dinner, they discussed what they might do that evening, as well as that weekend.

The walk in the park – and on the fringe of it in order to go to the many stores that Peter so enjoyed walking through – would take up their afternoon, but since it grew dark so early, they wouldn't spend the entire day outside. Pepper offered to take them out to eat, the next evening when they were done walking – to thank them for letting her stay with them and being such good hosts.

Tony smiled when Peter immediately mentioned McDonald's, and watched as the two began to bargain over what restaurant they'd go to. In the end, instead of going to a swanky French place that Pepper had had in mind, they ended up settling on a new Chinese restaurant that Pepper had tried once, but Tony had avoided because Peter wasn't a fan of Chinese food and it tended to be somewhat messy. The boy had agreed when Pepper had assured him that the place had traditional American fare on their menus, as well, and he wouldn't be stuck eating raw fish wrapped around rice.

Peter was cheerful when dinner was over, and he offered to help Pepper do the dishes, since Tony had cooked for them. While they were cleaning up, Pepper asked Peter if he and Tony ever made cookies, or if they only bought them. Stark had wandered into the kitchen, and now he was dressed in casual clothes, as well, and he leaned against the island while the boy pointed out that it was a lot easier to buy cookies than to make them.

"It isn't that hard," she assured him. "All you need are a few simple ingredients and a couple of cookie sheets."

"May sometimes got the stuff that you cut up and baked," Peter said, looking interested. "When she was in a good mood. Sometimes."

The way he said it made the two adults think that it almost certainly wasn't that often.

"Those are good," Pepper agreed. "But nothing is better than a homemade cookie, right off the cookie sheet and a glass of milk."

"Can we make cookies?" Peter asked, looking at Tony, excitedly.

The billionaire tossed Pepper a look that was a mixture of amused and chagrined, but he nodded.

"We can. What kind?"

"Oreos."

Now it was Pepper's turn to roll her eyes.

"It doesn't work that way," she pointed out.

"Why not? Two chocolate cookies and the stuff in the middle."

"Do you know what they make that out of?" Pepper asked.

"White stuff."

"JARVIS? Can we make Oreos?" Tony asked, already aware of the answer.

"No. The pantry is missing several ingredients that would be needed for something so complex, and the white stuff – as Peter called it – has several more components that would take most of the evening to reverse engineer as there isn't a recipe for it where I can find it."

"We could make cookies and then take the white stuff from the middle of all the Oreos that we already have…" Peter suggested, reasonably. "Then put it in the middle of our cookies."

"Why don't we just make chocolate chip?" Pepper said, smiling at the expression on Tony's face. Cannibalizing the Oreos that they already had simply to make new ones from scratch was something that only an eight-year-old would think up. "It'll be a little less convoluted. You guys have chocolate chips, right?"

"Oh, we have chocolate chips," Tony replied. It was one of Peter's favorite things, after all. "You're good with chocolate chip cookies, right?"

Peter smiled, too.

"Yeah."

OOOOOOOOO

"That worked out well."

Pepper had to nod her agreement, looking over at Peter who was seated on the floor in front of the stove, watching the cookies that they'd just placed inside the oven baked.

"And we didn't catch the kitchen on fire," she added. "That puts us one step ahead of Nick."

Tony smiled.

"Good point." He smiled at just how engrossed Peter was in something as dull as watching cookies bake. Of course, he'd thoroughly enjoyed helping Pepper add all the ingredients together to make the cookie dough, and had even managed to scoop the cookies onto the sheet into fairly even rows. "Son? Go get ready for bed."

"What about the cookies?" Peter asked. "Pepper said we need to watch them."

"We'll watch them until you get back."

"I don't have to go to bed, though, right? It's not a school night."

"Nope. You can stay up as late as you want."

The plan, though, was to allow him a couple of cookies fresh out of the oven and a glass of milk, and then settle him in for a movie. Even if he stayed awake for the movie – and the sugar in the cookies might make that happen – Tony knew the little boy would be ready to settle in his bed when it was over.

"Okay."

The boy got up and hurried to his room, eager to get changed before the first batch of cookies came out of the oven. Pepper scooped a small amount of cookie dough from the bowl and ate it, amused when Tony sighed and settled himself on the floor in the spot Peter had vacated.

"What are you doing?"

"Watching the cookies."

She shook her head, but she was smiling.

"Are you going to be able to get off the floor, now that you're down there?"

"I'm not that far gone, yet," he assured her. "Besides, if nothing else, I'll have Peter give me a hand."

"Is he alright?"

She – of course – hadn't missed the moodiness from earlier, when the boy was in her office, but hadn't had a chance to ask Tony, earlier, when they were relaxing before dinner, since she hadn't been sure if Peter was going to come out and join them.

"He's fine, Pep." The billionaire smiled up at her. "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but he's going to miss having you here."

Which made her expression soften – something that melted Tony's heart every time he saw it.

"You guys aren't tired of me?"

"Not yet."

"That's sweet."

"He isn't supposed to tell you, though," Tony said. "So as to not put any undue pressure on you. I'm not supposed to say anything, either, but it's something that you need to know – if for no other reason than so that you understand if he becomes grumpy."

Awwww.

She started to say something, but they heard Peter's door open with a bang and the boy came running into the kitchen, now dressed in his Ironman pajamas. His eyes lit up when he saw Tony on the floor and he rushed over, jumping onto his back and hanging over his shoulder to look into the lit up oven.

"Are they done, yet?"

"Nope," Tony replied, reaching up and grabbing the boy and pulling him over into his lap. "The timer hasn't gone off. They smell good, though, don't they?"

"Yeah."

Before they could say anything else, the timer for the oven dinged, and Peter gasped, excitedly, and rolled out of Tony's lap, looking at the two, expectantly.

"Hold on," Pepper cautioned. "We have to give them a couple of minutes to settle before you can have any. The chocolate in the chips will be really hot and can burn your lip."

"Is that the voice of experience speaking, Pep?" Tony asked getting himself to his feet, as well.

She nodded, reaching for a potholder.

"Of course."

OOOOOOOOO

The cookies were a success – which was no surprise to either adult. Peter had already proven that he loved all things chocolate chip, after all, and a couple of fresh from the oven cookies with a glass of cold milk never failed. When they had all sampled the cookies from the first batch, and had pulled the second and third batches out of the oven, Tony sent Peter in to brush his teeth and Pepper to the living room while he cleaned up what little mess they'd made and put the leftover cookies into the never before used cookie jar that sat on the counter as a decoration, but now actually had a purpose.

Pepper went to brush her teeth, as well, and joined Peter and Tony just as they were all converging in front of the fireplace and the TV above it to settle on the sofa.

"It's still snowing," Peter reported, watching as Pepper and Tony sat down.

"Is it supposed to accumulate?" Pepper asked.

"JARVIS?"

"The forecast says several inches, depending on the location in the city," the AI replied, as Tony patted his lap in invitation, and Peter happily climbed into it.

"We might not go out, tomorrow," Tony warned the boy, putting an arm around him while reaching for the blanket that they kept over the back of the couch. He draped it over himself, and Peter, and then used his free hand to pull Pepper to his side so he could put his arm around her and made sure she was warmly covered, also. "Traffic might get messy if the roads get slick."

"It's okay," Peter assured him. "I don't mind."

"We'll find something to do," Tony told them both.

"We could sit around and eat cookies and hot chocolate," Peter suggested, making the adults smile.

"We'll aim a little higher than that." Tony ran his fingers through Peter's hair. "JARVIS? Start the movie, please."

The lights went out, although the fireplace stayed lit, and the movie they'd agreed on at dinner started without any of them using the remote. Peter sighed, contentedly, when the Disney movie started, and he rested his cheek against Tony's chest. It was a position that allowed him to be held, but also let him watch the movie, and occasionally glance at Pepper, who was close enough that he could reach out and touch her if he wanted.

He didn't, becoming engrossed in the adventures of the people on the display, but he could have, and it made him feel good. He already felt loved, of course, and he wondered if Pepper felt that love, too. Like being a family. Peter watched the movie, but part of his agile young mind started thinking about other ways that he could show her how much he liked her without saying it.

Maybe he'd ask JARVIS for some suggestions.

After the movie was over and he was tucked into bed, and had negotiated how many stories he'd have read to him – and who would do the reading.

Instead, though, surprising Tony, the boy fell asleep before the movie was over, lulled by the warmth, and the hypnotic flames in the fireplace, and the heartbeat that he could hear against his ear.