Chapter 28

Author's Note: Thanks for reading and as always feel free to review!

The weekend was practically here, and Peter really wanted to go out as Spider-Man. It was Friday night and Tony had told him he could go out just a few days before.

"Hey, Pete." Tony said, as he and Peter both were washing and drying dishes after dinner.

"I am almost done with these dishes and then can I go on patrol?" Peter asked hopefully.

"Sure, Pete. Just be back by curfew."

"I will, don't worry." Peter said honestly.

Tony and Peter both finished the dishes and Peter made a beeline for his room to change into his suit. Tony had followed him upstairs and wanted to have a little chat with Peter before he left for patrol.

"Need any adjustments on it?" Tony asked, as he sat on Peter's bed.

"No, no, it's fine." Peter said, as he was fiddling with his web cartridges.

Tony noticed Peter's hands were shaking slightly, as if he were nervous. He stood up and went over to Peter.

"Everything okay, spider?"

Peter nodded his head, obviously too distracted to notice Tony's look of concern.

"Why are your hands shaking if your okay?"

"Huh." Peter said. He was totally confused by the question.

Tony gently grabbed the web cartridges and set them down, so Peter could focus on what he was saying. "Pete, look at your hands."

Peter did and they were slightly shaking.

"Just nerves, I guess."

"Nothing to be nervous about, Pete."

"I know. I know."

Peter tried to grab the cartridges again, but Tony stopped him by holding Peter's arm.

"Dad, come on, I want to go." Peter whined.

"Peter, will you be honest with me?"

Peter nodded his head. Honesty in his eyes and all the trust in the world.

"Are you sad, Pete?"

Peter didn't say anything but adverted his eyes to the ground. There was Tony's answer right there, but he wanted the kid to tell him.

"Pete."

"Maybe a little." Peter said quietly.

"Today is the day, you know." Tony said, not wanting to make the kid sad, but it was probably the reason the kid had been so desperate to go out.

"I am fine, Dad. I just really want to go out on patrol. Please?" Peter said, a tear started falling. Peter hadn't realized it until Tony ran a finger to dry his cheek.

"C'mere." Tony said gently and quietly. He pulled Peter into a hug that was probably too quick. Peter pulled away and quickly wiped his eyes.

"Go on, Spider-Man. Have fun. Be careful."

It felt amazing to be swinging through the city of New York. The sun was just beginning to set, and the wind was blowing. It had been a really pretty day; too bad Peter had been stuck inside at school. Spider-Man stopped a few robberies. Crime wasn't all that bad that night. Peter still had another hour before curfew, so he decided to stop by the cemetery. Frankly, it was thirty minutes away from his location. He knew he didn't really have the time to go over there because it would be about forty-five minutes home. Gees. Would Tony understand or would he be angry? Peter took a deep breath.

You could just ask Tony to take you.

Not worth the risk of getting in trouble, I guess.

But Tony would understand. Or maybe not.

God, why is this so hard?

No, Peter. No. Don't go.

Peter decided to swing towards home. Good choice. He made it home with about fifteen minutes to spare. He climbed into his window and changed into some sweats and a shirt. He headed downstairs towards the living area. Tony and Pepper were both watching a movie. Tony looked up in surprise as he saw Peter coming down the stairs. Tony couldn't help but glance at his watch.

"Hey, Pete. Fifteen minutes early, huh?"

Peter nodded.

"Want to watch the movie with us?" Pepper asked.

"Um, I am pretty tired. I think I would rather go to bed." Peter said, not feeling social.

"Okay." Pepper smiled. "Good night, baby."

"Night." Peter said, turning around and heading back up the stairs.

Tony waited a few moments, hoping that Peter wouldn't hear him.

"You think he's okay?" Tony asked.

"He's fine, Tony. It's been a hard day for him."

"Yeah. I know."

"Tony, relax. He knows we are here to help him. Give him space and time." Pepper advised.

God, Pepper was smart.

"Okay. Should we make him pancakes tomorrow?"

"I think we should all just go out for breakfast tomorrow."

Tony snapped his fingers, "Even better. Should I go tell him?"

Pepper chuckled and slapped his arm, "No."

The next morning, Morgan ran down the hall and jumped on Peter's bed to wake him up. It was 9:30 and she wanted to go to breakfast.

"Wake up, wake up!" She said as she bounced, not all that gently on Peter's back.

"Mo, 's to early."

"Nah-uh." Morgan argued back.

Peter was glad when Morgan went silent and just as he was falling back to sleep, he heard Morgan yell to wake up.

"Mo…"

"Daddy said we were going out for breakfast. Let's go! I am hungry!"

Peter rolled over onto his back and opened one eye. He saw Morgan smiling and giggling at him.

"Wake up, sleepyhead."

Peter grabbed Morgan's side and put her on the other side of the bed and began tickling her. Tony was making his way up the stairs when he heard giggling He peaked into Peter's room.

"What are you two crazy kids doing?"

"I am trying to wake him up so we can go eat!" Morgan said.

"I am awake." Peter mumbled.

Tony chuckled, "Hurry up then, princess, we are waiting on you." The pillow that was thrown at his face was a total surprise. Morgan giggled and followed her Dad to go annoy him. Boy, she had so much energy in the morning.

Breakfast was great! Well, it was until Morgan started complaining about the sausage being too spicy.

"Mo, it's not spicy, baby." Pepper said.

"Yes, it is."

"Then ask for ham or bacon, Mo."

"No. I wanted sausage." Morgan complained further.

Tony just shook his head. He was honestly so tired of the complaining.

"Why don't you try it with ketchup?" Tony offered.

"No." Morgan whined.

"You have to eat some meat, Mo." Tony told her trying to get her to eat.

"I just want more pancake."

"You can have more pancakes, but you need to eat one more piece of meat." Tony instructed.

"No." Mo whined again and began to cry. Everyone knew it was the cry to get what she wanted.

Peter had an idea, "Hey, Mo. Try some of the sausage with your syrup. It helps the spicy to go away."

Mo just continued to cry and whine to Peter, "I just want pancake."

"Look." Peter said, as he dipped a bite of his sausage into his syrup, "Here, just try it."

Morgan took the piece of sausage and made a whining noise.

"Just try it. You'll like it." Peter encouraged.

She loved it! There was no more complaining about the breakfast sausage. Tony couldn't help but smile at how Peter was with Morgan. Usually, the food issues with Morgan would end up with her in tears and being in time out. After breakfast, Tony suggested that they all go to the park, it was a beautiful day outside. They made their way to the park. Peter picked up a basketball over by the court. He made a basket on his first try.

"Wow, kid. That was a good shot." Tony called out.

"Thanks." Peter said. He bounced the ball a few time and threw the ball into the basket.

"Want to play a round with me?" Tony asked.

"You?" Peter asked in feign shock.

"I will have you know, genius, that I played basketball in high school."

"You, Tony Stark, played basketball?" Peter still not believing Tony.

"If you keep questioning my basketball playing, I am gonna throw this ball at your head."

"Nuh-uh, it's child abuse." Peter retorted.

In all fairness, Tony was really good. Peter was shocked at how good his dad was. It was a fair game and Tony let Peter win at the end. Peter seemed really tired and sweaty at the end. Tony and Peter got some water and watched Morgan play on the playground for another hour. To Tony's surprise, Peter fell asleep on the bench they were at.

"You must have worn him out." Pepper whispered.

"That or he didn't sleep well and didn't say anything." Tony said, as he rubbed Peter's arm gently.

"Well, either way, he's out." Pepper whispered, as she ran her hand through Peter's hair. "He needs a shower."

When they were done at the park, Tony tried to wake Peter up, but he was dead asleep.

"Okay, I guess you're going to make your old man carry you, huh?" Tony teased. He picked Peter up and buckled him in the car.

When they got to the tower, both kids had fallen asleep. Pepper carried Morgan in and put her on one couch and Tony put Peter on the other. It was almost one p.m. and they needed to have lunch.

"I am going to order some Chinese." Pepper suggested.

Tony went upstairs to shower while the kids slept. After he was clean, he saw that both kids were still asleep. Pepper had ordered the food, so the kids would still have some time to sleep. The food arrived in twenty minutes, so Tony woke the kids up. Well, Morgan was awake. Peter was still dead asleep. He wouldn't move. Tony noticed Peter still seemed hot and sweaty. He felt the kid's forehead and sure enough, he felt like he had fever.

"I am going to call Bruce and have him check Peter out. He feels like he has fever." Tony said, as he moved Peter to the other couch. Peter had made the first couch wet with sweat and Tony thought moving him to the other couch would help cool him off.

Within a few minutes, Bruce came in and saw that Peter was indeed asleep and hot. He checked his temperature.

"103.5" Bruce said. He checked Pete's blood pressure. The kid hadn't stirred.

"It's probably the flu. Has he had any other symptoms that you know of?" Bruce asked Tony.

Tony was laying some wet cool cloths on Peter's forehead. "No. Unless, he hasn't told us. He seemed fine at breakfast."

"Okay, well I am going to stick around and if he shows new symptoms or says something, let me know. Let him sleep though." Bruce said as he went to go hug Morgan.

Peter slept until almost 4 p.m. He woke up disoriented at first, but realized he was in the living room. He felt nauseated. What in the world? He figured he was just hungry. He went to the kitchen and saw the Chinese food in the kitchen. It was so quiet in the house.

"FRIDAY, where is everybody?"

"Mr. Stark is in his lab. Pepper and Morgan are watching a movie in the bedroom."

"Oh thanks." Peter said, as he went to go down to the lab.

"Dad, can I come in?"

Tony looked up, "Oh, Peter. You're awake. How are you feeling?"

"I am fine. I am just hungry."

"No noodles in my lab." Tony said.

"It was just one time."

"Yeah and I spent three hours picking noodles out of Dum-e and U's wheels."

Peter chuckled, "I will be careful."

Tony rolled his eyes and went back to his work. He was working when he heard Peter whimper.

"Pete, you okay?" Tony instantly noticing how pale Peter was and then Peter threw up. Everywhere.

FRIDAY then came on the intercom, "Sir, Pepper is asking for assistance as Morgan has just puked all over herself, the bed, and the floor."

"Tell Pepper I am dealing with my own mess down here. I will be up in a minute. Two sick kids." Tony ordered FRIDAY. "Get Bruce back up here."

Tony was able to get Peter out of the clothes he was wearing. Peter began to weakly apologize. Tony led him upstairs and into the bathroom.

"Here, Pete." Tony washed Peter's face and his feet.

Bruce checked both kids over after they had both been cleaned up from the mess. He came downstairs. "Both are sound asleep, and both have food poisoning."

GREAT. JUST GREAT!