They walked out into the cold, sunny, day as a group and Natasha set Peter on his feet.
"I'm going to go get the car," she told the others.
"Can I come?" Peter asked, hopefully.
Romanoff looked at Tony, who shrugged his acceptance of the plan, and she nodded.
"Of course."
The two left and the rest of them stood on the steps at the entrance to the courthouse.
"I wasn't kidding about taking him," Rhodes told his friend. "If you guys want to get away for a few days – or next weekend, or something – let me know, and he can come hang out with me."
"Or with us, for that matter," Fury said, adding in his own offer.
"We might take you up on that," Tony replied, taking Pepper's hand. "Eventually. But not this week – and not next weekend. We already have plans set up to meet Ned's new puppy."
"He got a puppy?" Rhodes asked. "Very cool."
"He did," Pepper told them. "She's adorable. We were supposed to meet her, today, but we became a little distracted."
"A puppy and parents all in the same month," Rhodey said. "He's a lucky kid."
"So is Peter," Steve added, smiling at the two. "A mom to go with his dad? I'm really happy for you guys."
They chatted for a few minutes, until Natasha drove up in one of the large SUVs that were so common out in the compound. Peter was buckled in the backseat, and he didn't make a move to get out when Romanoff rolled down the window.
"Peter's going to ride with us," she said to Tony and Pepper. "We're going to stop and get you guys a wedding gift on our way back to your place."
"You don't need to get us a gift," Pepper protested.
"We do," Romanoff told them both. "Don't expect anything too exciting," she cautioned them. "Not with an hour's notice of the wedding."
Tony smiled.
"We'll meet you back at the house, then."
There wasn't any sense in arguing, after all.
"Right."
There was a lot more slapping of shoulders, and the avengers piled into the SUV, and Rhodes headed for his car, as well, telling them he was going to stop somewhere and get a wedding gift, also. Tony and Pepper watched them all leave, and then he smiled, putting an arm around her.
"So, wife…" he said. "How does it feel to be married?"
"I'm still a little shocked," Pepper admitted.
"But no regrets?"
"None." She turned and put her arms around him, hugging him and resting her cheek against his shoulder. "We have a little time before we need to be home, husband," she told him. "Why don't we go find you a ring, too?"
His smile broadened.
"I think that's a great idea."
OOOOOOOOO
As parties went, it was fairly low key – especially for Tony Stark and even for the Avengers as a whole.
There was a catered meal being prepared when they all arrived – and Tony and Pepper only arrived home a few minutes before Steve drove the SUV through the front gate. Rhodey was waiting, having let himself into the house with some assistance from JARVIS, of course, and the caterers were in the kitchen, cooking, mixing, and setting everything up. The place smelled amazing, and Rhodes was on the sofa, nibbling on a pepperoni stick when the newlyweds walked into the kitchen from the garage entrance.
"What took you so long?" he asked.
"We had a few stops to make on the way," Tony replied, taking Pepper's jacket and hanging it before hanging his own. "What are you eating?"
"Snack," was the immediate answer, as he held up the pepperoni stick for them to see, but didn't turn his attention to the TV, where there was some kind of nature documentary being played. "The others are on their way."
He kept track of them through the mutual communications, of course, but this time it had been JARVIS who made him aware of where everyone was.
"Good."
Pepper had gone into the kitchen to introduce herself to the caterers – and to make sure that nothing was going to have strawberries in it – or at least, so she would know what did, if there was. She returned to find Tony and Rhodey on the sofa, munching on snacks and watching the program.
"What are you watching?" she asked, frowning. "Is that a spider?"
"It's a wolf spider," Rhodes replied. "Tony told me that's what JARVIS thinks bit Peter."
She, of course, already knew that.
"So you're watching this because…?"
"Well… just to see what a wolf spider does, I guess," he said, shrugging. "I mean, if it's a part of your boy, then we should know something about it, right?"
"Spiders are creepy…" she told him. "And, for your information, Peter is afraid of them."
"He is? How do you know that?"
"Because I was researching them the other day – for the same reason – and when he came to see what I was watching, he told me."
"Does he know what JARVIS knows?"
"No," Tony answered. "And we probably won't really discuss it with him until he's a little older."
Before he could explain why he thought they should wait, JARVIS announced the others pulling up to the front, and Tony got up to go meet them. Pepper kicked her shoes off and settled beside Rhodes, but he turned the channel to a basketball game, which they watched in comfortable silence. A few minutes later, there was a small wave of people entering the house, and a very cheerful Peter came over to greet her.
She smiled at how happy he looked.
"Hey, handsome. Did you have a good drive?"
"Yeah." He climbed into her lap and pressed a cold nose against her neck when he hugged her. "We got you a present."
She pretended to be surprised.
"You did? What is it?"
The boy shook his head.
"I'm not supposed to tell you."
"We got you something, too," Pepper told him.
His eyes widened.
"You did? What?"
Pepper shook her head.
"I can't tell you. It's a secret."
Peter groaned, theatrically, and flopped onto his back, draping across her lap.
"Awwww… can I have a hint?"
"It's not edible."
"Is it chocolate chips?"
She rolled her eyes, and tickled his stomach – which made him giggle and squirm.
"Chocolate is edible," she reminded him. "Can I have a hint about what you got us?"
"You can come open it," Nick said, leaning over the back of the sofa and picking Peter up, to free her from the living blanket. "We'll open it, now, and save any anticipation."
By the time Pepper and Rhodes reached the dining room table, there was a beautifully decorated box sitting in the middle of it, and all of the others were standing, or sitting, around the table waiting. Tony beckoned for her to come stand beside him, and he put an arm around her when she did. It was clear he was curious what was in the box, though, and Peter was beaming at them from his position in Nick's lap.
"Open it," the boy told them, excitedly.
Tony gestured for Pepper to do the honors, and she unwrapped the box, revealing a large toaster oven. Amused, because it was such a mundane present, and one of those gifts that no one would ever have thought to give someone as extraordinary as Tony was, she didn't have to pretend to like it.
"Wow…"
"It's a toaster oven," Peter said, helpfully. "It makes toast."
"And a bunch of other things," Nick added, one arm around Peter to keep him from falling, while the other hand pointed out all the various dishes that could be cooked – according to the pictures on the box. "Safely and conveniently," he added, obviously amused.
"Peter picked it out," Natasha told them.
Of course.
"It's perfect, son," Tony said, leaning down to kiss the top of the boy's head. "Just what we need around here, right?"
"Yeah."
He looked so happy that it really could have been a burning bag of shit and Tony would have loved it.
"Happy wedding day," Steve told them. "If you decide to have an actual ceremony for the rest of the world to see, give us a little more warning."
"We'll do that," Pepper assured them. "We stopped and picked out Tony a wedding band," she added, gesturing to her new husband's hand, which Tony held up to show them.
It was made of black metal and gleamed dully in the light in the room. Nothing flashy, but definitely high quality.
"We got something for you, too, buddy," Stark said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a box, which he handed to Peter.
"Wow." The boy worried open the fine wrapping paper, and discovered a velvet box. It was black and fancy, and when he opened it, he and the others found that it contained a ring. "It looks like yours," Peter said, plucking it out of the box.
"Because it's exactly like mine," Tony agreed. "We didn't want you to feel left out."
"That's nice…" Rhodey said, smiling at how excited Peter looked. "Good thinking."
"Thank you," Peter said, putting the ring on his finger and admiring the fit.
"He'll grow out of it a lot sooner than you will," Natasha told Tony.
The billionaire shrugged, smiling at just how pleased he looked with the gift. It had been Pepper's idea, and it was a brilliant one.
"When he does, he can put it in his safe with the other treasures," Tony said.
Peter twisted around in Nick's lap so he could show the ring to the others, and the SHIELD director winced when he was stabbed with the boy's bony knees.
"Isn't it neat?" Peter asked, excitedly.
"It's great."
Tony picked up the toaster oven, looking at the pictures on the box. Pepper smiled.
"New toy to play with."
He shrugged, watching as Peter hopped off Nick's lap and then ran off to show the ring to the caterers.
"At least it doesn't burn Batman onto the food."
"True." He looked at the kitchen, but the caterers had all of the counters and the island in use, just then. The good-natured workers had all stopped what they were doing, though, to admire Peter's new ring. "We'll set it up, later."
She nodded her agreement, and took his hand.
"Why don't we all go into the game room?" she suggested to them.
That would keep them out of the way of the caterers, and there was more to do for them, there.
"Sounds like a plan," Nick said, getting up. "Peter? Let's go play giant JENGA."
"Yay!"