Chapter 9

Peter's 14th birthday was a week away and he was not at all excited. It had been almost 3 months since Aunt May had passed away. Tony had asked Peter to join him in the lab on Sunday afternoon.

"So, Pete, what do you want for your birthday?" Tony asked while messing with a tool in his hand.

"Um, I don't need anything, Mr. Stark. I-" Peter was interrupted when Tony held his hand up.

"It's Tony. You can call me Tony. It's okay. " Tony said with a light tease in his voice.

Peter's cheeks flushed with embarrassment, "Sorry, Tony."

Tony reached out and ruffled the kid's hair. He really hoped Peter was okay, or as okay as he could be, with all the changes going on. Thankfully, Peter started sleeping through the night more often.

However, their conversation and thoughts were interrupted once again by Jarvis. "Sir, young Morgan is attempting to enter the lab."

Tony rolled his eyes and went to the door. He knelt down to Morgan's height. She had a big smile on his face. "Morgan, you know you are not allowed to be down here."

"But Daddy, I wanted to play with Peter!"

Tony let out a huff. He turned around and looked at Peter. "Pete, Morgan wants you to play with her."

Peter set his pen and notebook down and ran to Morgan, scooping her up in his arms. He swung her around, held her down against his chest and tickled her. Tony watched, laughing at his two kids.

"Okay, you, goofballs, go back upstairs before you break something."

Peter held tightly to a giggling, squirming Morgan and ran up the stairs with her. By the time dinner was ready and Tony made his way to the kitchen from the lab, Morgan had fallen asleep on Peter's lap while watching a movie. The same movie (Moana) that Morgan was obsessed with.

Tony went over to the couch that they were at, "I see you wore her out, Pete."

"Yeah, she made me chase her around the tower for like an hour. She finally got tired, so I gave her a juice box and we decided to put a movie on." Tony just smiled and ruffled Pete's hair.

Pepper came in, "Dinner's ready. Wake Morgan up."

Tony gently started rubbing the little girl's back and arm and woke her up. She was starving and so was Peter.

After dinner, Pepper took Morgan upstairs and got her ready for bed. When Morgan had fallen asleep, Pepper joined Tony in the living room. Peter was at the kitchen bar, working on an essay. At 11 o'clock, Pepper decided to go to bed. Peter was still working on his essay. "Make sure you get some sleep, young man." Pepper told Peter lovingly.

"I will. I just wanted to get this essay done." Pepper nodded and kissed Peter on the forehead.

Tony had gotten up to get a water bottle and went over to the island that Peter was at. Tony grabbed the pen that Peter was using, handing him a soda.

"Hey." Peter said annoyed.

"Take a break." Tony said with a slightly serious tone.

Peter smirked at him, "Well I am now, 'cause you took my pen."

"You never told me what you wanted for your birthday, mister."

"Yeah, well we were interrupted by a cute little girl."

"Yeah well."

Peter sat in silence for a moment. "Honestly, I don't know what to ask for. I mean this is my first birthday without M-May."

Tony sighed, "I know Pete. I want you to do whatever makes you happy for your birthday. We can go eat somewhere or go anywhere you want. I could take you to Disneyland."

"Mr. Stark! I am 13 going on 14. Disneyland is the last thing I want to do." Peter said incredulously but halfway laughing.

"Fine, no Disneyland. Just think about it and let me know, okay?"

"Yes sir."

Tony ruffled his hair one last time. "Okay, goodnight kiddo."

"Can I have my pen back?"

Tony looked at the pen and smirked, "Hmm… you want this pen?"

Peter just rolled his eyes, "Duh…"

Tony threw the pen at him and Peter caught it, of course.

"Yes, you can have the pen back but don't stay up too much longer. You have school tomorrow."

Peter smiled, "I won't. I will have Jarvis inform me when it's midnight. Is that okay?" Tony nodded and gave Peter a shoulder squeeze.

The next morning, Tony went to Peter's bedroom, "Pete, time to wake up. You have school." Peter just groaned.

"Pete, wake up. Pepper made pancakes. Be downstairs in 15 minutes. Got it?"

Peter groaned into his pillow and nodded. Fifteen minutes later, Peter made his appearance in the kitchen, dressed for school. He wasn't fully awake yet. Pepper scooted the butter and syrup towards his stack of pancakes.

Tony came in, noticing Peter's dark circles under his eyes. The kid still wasn't getting a full night's sleep- which was something else that needed to be addressed. He went over and sat next to Peter.

"How are you doing, kiddo?"

"Just really tired." Peter mumbled.

"Get much sleep last night?" Tony asked, hoping that Peter would open up.

"Sure." Peter tried in attempt to get out of this conversation.

Tony rolled his eyes, grabbed Pete's arms until he was turned around-facing him.
"I know you don't want to talk about it, but you have to sleep, bud. It's not healthy. What time did you go to bed last night?" Tony prodded sternly , but not angry.

Peter shrugged, hoping this conversation could be over.

"Peter, what time?" Tony sternly asked.

Peter looked everywhere but at Tony, trying to avoid his eyes. Tony snapped his fingers to get Peter's attention.

"What time, Peter? Stop playing this game and answer me."

"3 am, sir." Peter finally said.

It was like pulling teeth to get an answer out of him. Tony wondered how the counselor had so much patience. He knew that Peter was somewhat afraid because he tacked on that "sir" at the end of his answer.

"Pete, are you still having nightmares?"

"N-No, not really." Peter said, finally letting his tense body relax.

"Are you staying on your phone all night long?"

Uh-oh. Peter had been, but Mr. Stark couldn't blame him. He's a teenager and tech genius.

"Yes, but only because I couldn't sleep."

Tony gave out a little laugh. Peter was just like him, in that way.

"Pete, I am going to tell you this only because I care about you. If you can't sleep, come find me. No more being on your phone after you are sent to bed or go to bed. Got it?"

"But…" Peter wanted to argue.

"No buts. If I find out that you are on your phone, I will take it away."

Peter's jaw dropped at the threat. Tony had always been so patient and kind. Today, it was like his dad-mode was on or something.

"Peter. Do you understand what I am saying?"

"Yes, I understand."

Tony got up from his seat, eyeing Peter suspiciously. A few minutes later, Peter was off to school. He figured the whole "stay off your phone" thing wouldn't last very long. Tony would be in ownership of that phone before he knew it. The kid was good, but he had a way of sneaking around and getting into trouble too. A couple of times, May would call Tony to go and rein Peter in from whatever he was getting into.

When the kids got home, Pepper had made cookies. Peter inhaled 12 cookies before going to his room. On most days, he went straight to the lab, but he was not in the mood. Tony always allowed Peter access to his lab from the very start. Peter decided to text Ned and work on some physics and calculus homework. Tony didn't see Peter until dinnertime.

"Hey, Pete. You have a lot of homework today? Never did come to the lab."

Peter thought quickly, "Um, yeah."

Tony didn't really believe Peter. He knew something was bothering him, but he didn't want to push. Tony went over too little Morgan. She was quite grumpy that evening because she hardly saw her brother. He didn't pay attention to her in the car and didn't play with her. During dinner, Morgan decided to ask Peter if she would help her read a book.

"Morgan, I don't want to tonight. Maybe some other night, okay?"

"B-but you always help me read!" Morgan began to cry. Pepper went over to soothe a now upset little girl.

Peter rolled his eyes, "Stop being such a baby. You don't always get your way." Peter spouted off.

Tony and Pepper both looked up in surprise. Peter's face flushed in embarrassment. He proceeded to load his plate in the dishwasher and walk up to his room, in complete silence. What surprised Peter the most was that neither Pepper nor Tony stopped him. Peter knew he just needed to sleep and forget the world, so he put his earbuds in and played music. With his birthday approaching, he realized he was just getting grumpier and more difficult with everyone. It was just because he missed May so much.

A little while later, there was a knock on his door. "Come in."

Tony walked in and sat on the edge of Pete's bed. "So, you want to tell me why you spouted off like that? It's not like you."

" I am sorry. I will apologize to Morgan right now." Peter started to get up, but Tony grabbed his arm.

He sat him back on the bed. "You can but Morgan's mad now. Right now, though, I want you to tell me what's on your mind."

Peter sighed. "I-I just miss May so much. I had a hard day at school too. Plus, it made my day worse when I got Ned and MJ mad at me. I really tried hard to keep my attitude in check today, but I-I failed miserably."

"You didn't spout off to a teacher, did you? Tell me the truth, Pete."

"I-I." Pete was so nervous.

"It's okay, Pete. You aren't in trouble. Just tell me the truth."

"I did."

"What did the teacher do to make you mad?"

"He just kept bragging about Flash, making everyone feel dumb. It just really pissed me off."

"What happened after that?"

"He pulled me aside when the bell rang. I think he was actually more concerned about me. I apologized to him for spouting off and he let me go."

"You were lucky that he didn't give you a detention."

"I am really sorry, Tony."

"It's not okay that you spouted off to a teacher, Pete. You aren't in trouble this time. I want you to talk to me when you're feeling sad. Cry on my shoulder, let it out, do what you need to do. Heck, if you need a day off from school, we can do that too."

"Yes, sir."

"I am serious, Pete. We are all here for you." Tony got up and pulled Peter into a tight hug. Peter nodded and began to softly cry into Tony's shirt. Peter held everything inside, usually, and all of his emotions just came out. Tony offered him comforting reassurance and rubbed circles on his back to end the kids now harsh sob.

When Pete's sobs turned into hiccups and coughing, Tony kissed his forehead, "Feel better?"

Pete nodded, sniffling, and wiped his eyes. Tony put his arm around Peter and led him into the living room. He sat Pete on the couch and grabbed him a soda out of the kitchen. Peter just rested his head on Tony's shoulder, while they watched tv.

Pepper came in a little while later. "Morgan finally fell asleep."

Tony nodded and nudged Peter. "I am sorry, Pepper for making her upset. It won't happen again."

Pepper gave a small smile to Peter. "It's okay, Pete. She still loves you. She was actually more worried about you. Do you want to talk about it?"

"We already did." Tony said before Peter could answer.

Pepper smiled and said, "Good. Did you finish your homework?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good. Go to bed, mister. No staying up until three, young man." Peter nodded and went off to bed.

Author's Note: I am beginning to wonder if Peter is getting too comfortable around Tony… Maybe- maybe not? Who knows? Anyway, next chapter is his actual birthday.