Chapter 11:

Peter's weekend grounding passed rather quickly. Tony was really surprised that the kid wasn't moody from having his phone taken away. When Peter woke up Monday morning, Tony was happy to see the kid's dark circles under his eyes lightening a little from the dark bruised color. When Peter sat down to eat his bowl of cereal, Tony handed over Pete's phone.

"On at all times. Understand?" Tony's gaze was stern.

"Yes, sir." Peter said, taking his phone back with a smile. Finally, he could transfer over from his old one to the new one he had gotten for his birthday.

"Hey, Tony. When do I have to go back to see the counselor?" Peter asked, finishing his last bit of cereal.

"I am leaving it up to you. Do you need to go again? We can if you need to." Tony said, not wanting to push.

"N-No I am okay." Peter said honestly.

"Time for school, kiddo. Happy will take you." Tony pointed to the elevator and snatched Peter's arm to give him a quick kiss on the head. Peter blushed but smiled. It felt really good to see Peter smiling. It had been awhile.

The next day, Tony and Pepper had officially gotten the adoption of Peter legalized. So, Peter was officially a Stark! He was in such good spirits and everything felt normal again! He still had times when his heart was breaking for May. That evening after they went out for dinner to celebrate, Tony and Peter were in the lab working. Peter was helping to figure out some new ideas for the iron man suits. After spending several hours, they finished in the lab and went straight to sleep. Peter slept all the way through again. It was so amazing to see how much progress he had been making in his sleeping pattern.

Peter had spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday serving his detention for skipping school. Seriously, three days seemed a little extreme. At least, Peter got his homework done during that time. When he got home from school, Tony saw Peter pull out a ridiculously huge paper packet, which Peter dramatically plopped on the kitchen island.

Tony's eyes went huge and rolled them, "They expect you to do that over the upcoming holiday?!"

"Yep."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. They want us to do this and complete a reading list."

Tony stared at the packet. "You sure you wouldn't rather just skip the whole high school thing and go straight to college?"

"No, I am fine. Thanks, besides, I think they give out as much or more." Peter said.

"Give me half and I will work on it."

Peter looked around sheepishly, "Mr. Stark isn't that cheating?"

"No, kid. You already know all this stuff."

"Yeah but the teachers can tell the difference in our handwriting. Then I will be in trouble."

"Kid, listen, I don't want you stressing out about this packet or the reading list. Got it?"

Peter smiled and nodded. "I won't, Tony. I promise."

"Good and you are still giving me half." Peter finally gave in and handed half to Tony.

"Fine Tony, but if I get in trouble, it is your fault."

Tony playfully shoved Peter, "Brat." Peter laughed. Tony was really glad Peter was feeling back to his normal self.

That evening, Tony ordered pizza and Chinese food. When Peter saw the food on the island, he ran over and grabbed a paper plate. He immediately filled it with several slices of pizza and three boxes of Chinese food.

Tony watched Peter amusingly, "Dang, Pete. I am glad to see you have an appetite. You're going to drain my bank account at this rate."

Peter scoffed incredulously and rolled his eyes. "Yeah right. You're a billionaire, Iron Man."

Tony raised an eyebrow, "Wow, I have taught you well. The sass came from me 100 %."

"Sure, Tin Man." Peter laughed taking his food back to the living room. Morgan giggled at that and Tony playfully glared at her.

"Traitor." Tony said playfully to Morgan, as she stuck her tongue out in response.

"FRIDAY, play The Time of The Time of the Gypsies." Peter said.

Tony and Morgan said, "NO!" in unison.

Pepper said, "Good choice, Pete. And you two-" Pepper said pointing at Tony and Morgan, "No bashing the Time of The Time of the Gypsies."

Tony looked over at Morgan, smiling, "Mohuna, I give you explicit permission to tackle Peter and bash his knucklehead brain in for liking this movie."

Morgan giggled. She got up and shoved Peter playfully. He dramatically fell over on the floor and Morgan got on top of him. They wrestled for a few minutes until Morgan couldn't stop laughing.

"Mr. Stark, I think her tickle box turned over." Peter said.

Morgan scoffed and grabbed a slice of Pete's pizza, "Thanks, Spidey."

Peter's jaw dropped, "Morgan H. Stark, I am going to tickle you for taking a piece of my pizza."

After that the movie night was stopped for a half hour because Peter and Morgan were being silly and tackling each other playfully. Finally, the two kids settled down and laid on the couch after Tony told them to settle down, when they nearly knocked over one of the DUM-E robots. About halfway through, Tony turned to see Morgan soundly asleep on Peter's lap. When the movie was over, Peter scooped her up and got her to bed. A week later, Peter was working on some projects with Tony down in the lab. Peter seemed a bit down and Tony thought working in the lab would be a good distraction. He knew that Christmas would be coming up, it would be hard on Peter. Pepper and Morgan were out buying some decorations for the house. Peter was overly quiet.

Tony came over to Peter, "Everything okay, bud?" Peter nodded, not saying anything. He didn't even look up at Tony. "You would tell me if something is bothering you, right? Pete?"

"Yeah, Tony." Peter said, his voice cracked. Dang it.

"Look at me Pete."

Pete looked up. His eyes looked sad and Tony could tell he was about to break down.

" C'mere." Tony pulled Peter in for a hug and kissed his head.

"Sorry." Pete whispered.

"You have nothing to be sorry about. What's on your mind, Pete?"

"I just miss May."

"I know, bud."

"Can we-I mean- can I" Peter trailed off when he broke into a soft sob.

Tony just hugged him tighter, kissing him again. "Shh, it's okay, bud."

Finally, Peter wiped at his eyes and sniffled.

"You okay now, Pete?" Tony asked checking Peter over to make sure he was really okay.

"Yes sir." Peter whispered.

"Now what were you going to ask me?" Tony pushed.

"Oh, uh, can I go to the cemetery tomorrow to see them?"

"Of course." Tony patted Peter's shoulder and gave him another small kiss on the head.

When Peter pulled away, he asked one final question. "Tony, can you make me another appointment?"

Tony turned to look at Peter, "Are you sure?"

Peter nodded in response.

"I will have FRIDAY make you an appointment." Tony smiled a little, still worried about the kid.

Tony pulled up to the grave site. Peter slowly unbuckled and got out. "Take all the time you need. If you need me, let me know."

Peter nodded. Pete sat on the ground, resting his head on his knees. He was trying his hardest to not cry. He had been doing so well lately. After 15 minutes, Tony came out to check on Peter.

"You okay, bud?"

Peter was too embarrassed to look up, because dang it, he was crying. "I miss them, all of them." Peter said flatly, trying not to show his real emotion.

Tony came over and sat next to Peter. He put an arm around Peter. Peter laid his head on Tony's shoulder. "It's okay to cry."

"I know, Tony. It's just- I am tired of crying."

Tony sighed. He knew the kid was so tired of crying. "I understand but just know it's okay to cry."

"I am not a baby." Peter said abruptly and a little more harshly than he intended. His mouth went dry, figuring Tony would give him the lecture he had heard several times before about being respectful.

Instead, Tony got up, squeezing his shoulder, "I know bud. You are a very brave and strong 14-year-old. No one should go through what you have been through, especially at your age. It is okay to grieve, Peter." Tony said with a bit of firmness.

Peter sighed, standing up, "I know, Tony. I am sorry. You were just trying to help." Tony smiled a little.

"I am ready to go home now." Pete said, dusting off his jeans.

A little while later, Tony pulled up to an ice cream shop. "Let's have some ice cream, kid."

Peter didn't say anything. Tony looked over, "Kid?"

"You want to get me ice cream, even though I was rude to you at the cemetery?"

"Pete, I know you didn't mean it the way you said. I am not mad Pete. I will tell you if I ever am, believe me. Besides, ice cream is the best distraction ever."

Peter smiled, "Thank you, Tony." Peter order 3 cups of ice cream each with 3 scoops of different flavors.

When they got home, Peter crashed on the couch. He was really tired. Tony came over to tell Peter something but saw the teen sprawled out on the couch, sound asleep. Tony smiled at the teen and laid a blanket over him, gently patting Pete's back. An hour and a half later, Peter woke up from the smell of coffee that Tony was making. Peter sat up, wincing and rubbed at his arm a little. He must have slept on it wrong.

"Hungry, Pete?"

Peter nodded.

Tony took out a plate that had a ridiculously huge sandwich on it. Peter inhaled it in about 3 minutes, it was the emotional toll of the day.

Author's Note: I may have to do a time jump eventually (ex: a couple of months) because so far this has been day to day or week to week. I am starting to run out of ideas, even though I had a lot of this written. There will be another appointment in the next chapter!