A soft knock on the guest room door woke Pepper. She frowned, sleepily, and rolled over, looking at her watch, which was on the stand next to the bed. It was five am. Awake, now, and worried that something was wrong, she sat up.

"Yes?"

The door opened and Peter poked his head in, looking so much like Tony when he did that at her office that she had to smile, despite her concern and the early hour.

"Are you awake?" Peter asked.

"Yes. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah. Can I come in?"

"Of course."

She patted the spot on the bed beside her, but he surprised her by vanishing for a moment. When he returned, he was carrying a tray in his little hands. The boy carried it over to her bed and set it down, looking excited – although maybe a little uncertain, too.

"Look."

"What's this?" she asked.

The tray had a cup of coffee on it. There was also a bowl of soggy-looking fruit loops, a fruit roll-up, and a saucer that held eight slices of toast – all with the Batman logo burned into it.

"I made you breakfast," he told her. "In bed."

Pepper smiled.

"That's very nice of you. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Now he climbed onto the bed, and she held the tray steady to keep it from upsetting the coffee or the cereal.

"Where's your father?"

Surely Tony had something to do with this? Although she was just as certain that if Peter had had help making her meal, there wouldn't be so much toast – and maybe the cereal would be dry with milk on the side to avoid allowing it to get soggy.

"He's sleeping, still. I made the toast, and poured the cereal, but the coffee pot turns on by itself."

Technically, JARVIS turned it on, but it was the same thing. She knew he was just assuring her that he hadn't actually cooked anything.

"It looks amazing. Thank you."

He hugged himself, and Pepper leaned over and hugged him, too.

"You're welcome."

"Do you want a slice of toast?"

"I had some, already. You can eat it all."

Uh huh.

She reached for a slice, and nibbled on the corner.

"This is very nice of you."

"I know. Do you like it?"

"I love it."

His smile was pleased.

"When I was really little, my dad and I made my mom breakfast in bed, once."

"You did?"

"I don't remember it, much," he admitted. "Only that she was happy."

"Was it for Mother's Day?"

"I'm not sure."

"I bet she loved it."

'Yeah."

"Is it still snowing?" she asked, wanting to change the subject in case it was something that might upset him – even though he looked pleased, more than anything else.

Peter's memories of his parents were obviously very good ones.

"Yeah. It was earlier, anyway. I didn't check since I started making breakfast." He settled in, sitting cross-legged beside her so he could watch her eat. "It'll probably be too snowy to go to the park."

Or to the Lego store, but he didn't add that.

"We could see if your dad wants to build a snowman, later."

"You'd do that?" he asked, surprised.

"I'd love to. As long as it's with you."

His eyes lit up at the words, and then filled with tears. Pepper made a soft noise and set the tray on the stand next to the bed and pulled him onto her lap so she could hold him.

'I'm okay," he told her, quickly, sniffing in her ear when his cheek came to rest on her shoulder, and she could feel her Batman t-shirt getting a little soggy in that area. "I'm sorry."

"Are those happy tears?" she asked.

She had to know.

"Yes."

Another sniff, and Pepper turned her head and kissed his ear.

"You're such a fun guy," she murmured to him, rubbing his back, lightly. "You know that, right?"

"Yeah."

Pepper smiled, amused – and touched that she could make anyone so happy that they cried.

"Why don't you hang out with me?" she asked, bringing the blankets up and over the two of them, and thinking that as early as it was, he might be able to go back to sleep for a while. "We'll try to avoid waking your dad for a little while, still."

"Okay."

There was an occasional sniff, but Peter was mostly quiet as Pepper held him. Sure enough, he fell asleep in her arms, and when she tucked him into the space beside her in the bed rather than in her lap, he never stirred – except to nestle a little closer when she turned the light off and lay back down. Pepper looked at the enormous stack of toast on the tray and wondered if there was going to be any bread left for sandwiches, later, or if they were going to have to make a trek to the store, despite the snowy weather.

Then, still smiling and feeling warm and gooey, she went back to sleep, as well.

OOOOOOOO

"Aren't you cold?"

Peter smiled up at his dad, his eyes bright with cheerfulness and his hands filled with a large snowball that he was forming into a head for yet another miniature snowman. He had a small army of them surrounding the side of the swimming pool – and under the new fallen snow, Tony could almost make out the forms of the previous army that he'd built weeks before.

"A little."

It was still snowing, but the accumulation wasn't supposed to be epic, or anything, according to JARVIS' latest report. Just enough to keep them home, but not enough for them to worry about being snowed in.

Tony had woken that morning and after the obligatory morning pee, he'd gone to check on Peter while telling JARVIS to start the coffee as he walked out of his bedroom. The smell of coffee already in the air didn't even compute with his still sleepy mind. He peeked into Peter's room, quietly, and was surprised – and momentarily worried – to find that both beds were empty.

A quick query to JARVIS had him leaving Peter's room and silently peeking into the open door of the guestroom. The gentle glow of the light from the stand next to the bed showed him that Pepper was awake and sitting up in her bed, with a soundly sleeping Peter curled up beside her. She smiled a greeting when he walked over, but pressed a finger to her lips to make sure he understood she didn't want him to wake the boy.

Tony noticed the tray as he leaned over to kiss her, lightly.

"Did you guys have an early breakfast without me?" he whispered.

Pepper put the tablet aside that she'd been looking at.

"He brought me breakfast in bed."

"That's a lot of toast."

She nodded.

She'd finished the coffee once she'd woken, again, but it had been lukewarm, at best, and the toast had been cold. A fruit rollup was hardly something to eat at breakfast, but she wouldn't have told Peter that for anything.

"And the cereal was soggy. Would you clear the evidence before he wakes up, please? This was definitely one of those 'it's the thought that counts' situations."

"Can I come back and join you?"

"Yes."

He picked up the tray and left, only to return a few minutes later carrying a fresh cup of coffee – it wasn't freshly brewed but was still better than nothing – which he handed to her as he slid under the covers beside her, leaving Peter to sleep on the other side so he wouldn't be woken.

"What time did he come in?"

"Five."

"Wow. It's still snowing."

"It was when he came in with my breakfast, too," she'd told him. "He's fine with hanging out here, today, if the roads are bad, or if it's too cold."

"That's thoughtful."

"Yes."

Tony had scooted closer, pressing right up against her so he could kiss her.

"You're so sexy…" he'd whispered. "You know that, right?"

The compliment made her smile, but she couldn't help that she ran her fingers through her somewhat tangled hair.

"Me and my sexy bed-head."

"It is sexy," he assured her. He'd kissed her again. "You're even sexier with him nestled against you. Is that weird?"

"You'd have to ask your shrink," she'd replied, smiling. She understood exactly what he'd meant, though. Peter was a little guy and she knew that little kids brought out maternal (and paternal) instincts that she and Tony had neither ever needed to contemplate, before. It was almost certainly biological and, as such, not something to be too concerned about. "He'd probably be able to explain that…"

"Psychologist," Tony had corrected, tapping her nose, playfully, and then settling beside her, putting his chin on her shoulder so he could be close, but she'd have her hands free if she wanted to continue reading. "Make sure you get that right."

"Sorry." She'd kissed him, and then reached over him for the tablet. "I promised him I'd build a snowman with him, today."

"Sounds like fun."