"I told you he was sleepy…"

Pepper smiled up at her husband before looking down at their son, who was stretched out on the sofa in her office with his head in her lap, sleeping soundly and looking comfortable.

"And I agreed with you. Peter was the one who said that he didn't want to stay home."

He'd looked so tired when he'd joined them at breakfast that Tony and Pepper had both suggested he stay home, but Peter had assured them that he was fine.

"No, I'm good," he'd said. "Really. I'm just not adjusted to the schedule, yet, is all."

"And we stayed up pretty late letting you guys hang out with Shuri."

"It was the right thing to do, though," Pepper said, before Peter said something similar. "She was so bored. Poor baby."

"Yeah, she was," Peter agreed. "It was good for her."

Tony didn't argue that. He happened to agree. Not to mention, he thought it was probably good for Peter and MJ, since the two looked pretty relaxed together when the evening was done.

"If you get tired, take a nap," Stark said, looking at the boy, and then at Pepper to see if she was good with allowing him to go. He was willing to allow her to overrule him – but she'd be the bad guy, and they both knew it. "Stephen said it'd be normal for you to be a bit wiped out the first week or two."

Pepper rolled her eyes, and nodded her agreement.

"I'll keep an eye on him."

"Of course you will, honey."

And that was the end of the conversation. They'd had breakfast and Peter had gone to get his things, with Pepper telling him to meet her in the garage in half an hour. They'd said goodbye to Tony – who told them that he might come into the city and have lunch with them – and had left.

She'd mentioned that he could sleep on the way if he wanted, but Peter wasn't that tired, yet. He stayed awake, talking to her about what her schedule was for the day. Which had included two video conference calls and a meeting with a potential merging company's CEO. A man who just so happened to be able to schedule the meeting because the astounding light that had healed the world's injuries and illnesses had also healed his wife's cancer, eliminating the need for him to stay with her and allowing him the chance to come to New York to meet with Pepper about their companies joining.

Pepper had warned Peter, just in case he was in the room and the subject came up, and he was glad that she had. Not that he (or she) had any intention of divulging Peter's part in things, but it was well known that Pepper was married to Tony, of course, and it was just as well known that the Avengers had had something to do with those events. There was always a chance the man might be curious enough to ask – despite the perception that it wouldn't be polite to do so the first time they'd met.

The boy had made it through the first section of schoolwork, which had been science and was interesting, but since his next block of study had been set aside for him to work on his reading list, he'd picked up the book and taken it to the couch to be more comfortable. Pepper had been getting ready for a video conference call, and she'd asked the boy if he'd be distracted if she joined him on the couch, since there was only the one in the office. Peter had smiled a welcome that was wholly sincere, and when Pepper had brought her display over to set on the coffee table, he'd promptly put his head on her leg and sprawled in one of his favorite positions with her (and with Tony). He'd looked up at her, to make sure it was alright, and Pepper had simply brushed her fingers against his cheek, then handed him his book.

Reading himself to sleep hadn't taken long, though, and Peter was out before all the attendees were online and introducing themselves to the ones they didn't know. Even more, he was still sleeping when it was over, and she hadn't bothered to move, more than capable of working from the sofa rather than her desk, and unwilling to wake him.

Which was where Tony found them when he flew in wearing the Ironman suit, deciding to have lunch with them, after all. He smiled, too. They looked so comfortable together.

"Do you want me to put him in his bed?"

They had quarters in the tower, after all. No sense in having them if they didn't ever use them. He doubted that Peter had slept in the bed in his rooms here more than three times. If that. But it was convenient to keep them open and the bedding clean and rooms dusted and ready – just in case.

"If you try, you'll wake him up."

The voices of the people that he loved the most woke him before they could decide what they wanted to do, and he opened his eyes, turning his head and looking up at them, sleepily.

"Hey…" he blinked, looking around and probably wondering if he'd been sleepwalking until he realized where he was and remembered how he'd gotten there. "Your meeting's over?"

Pepper nodded.

"It is. How was the book?"

She knew he hadn't read more than the first page – if that.

"I'm almost done," he lied, grinning as he sat up, because he knew that she knew better. "It's interesting."

"Yeah? What's the best part, so far?" she asked, smirking and turning her head to wink at Tony, who was watching, amused.

Peter bent over and picked the book up from where it had fallen, looking at the picture on the front of the cover. The entire section was going to be Shakespeare and the first one he was scheduled to read was Romeo and Juliet, but while he'd heard of it (who hadn't?) he really didn't know much about it. And the picture didn't help him come up with anything, since it simply showed two crests – presumably of the two families involved?

"Oh," he tried to look confident. "The way they like each other…"

"Who?" Pepper pressed, wondering how deep he'd dig himself, trying to fake it.

"Romeo…" Peter said. "And um… Juliet."

"You didn't read any of it, did you?" Tony asked, catching on.

"It's a play," Peter complained. "They're hard to read. And boring."

Tony smirked.

"We'll get copies for everyone and you guys can act it out, tonight."

Pepper raised an eyebrow at that.

"You think you can talk them into that?"

"It's for Peter," Tony said. "Of course they will."

Maybe?

"And you, too," Pepper added.

"What? I mean, yeah, of course me too." Peter smirked, now, and Stark made a show of trying to cuff him, which the boy dodged, easily. "Are you two hungry, yet?"

"Yeah."

Not surprisingly, it was Peter who spoke up first. When he was healthy, there wasn't anything wrong with his appetite. One of the reasons they used it as an indicator of how he was feeling. Pepper nodded, too, and offered her husband her hand so he could pull her to her feet.

"I could eat. Negotiating is hungry work."

He nodded, sliding his arm through hers as they headed for the door – and then the elevator.

"Speaking of negotiating, Carol's back."

"Oh? Does Steve know?"

"Who do you think was the first to greet her at the door?"

"Did he kiss her?" Pepper asked.

"No." Tony's eyes were practically sparkling with good cheer. "But you could tell that he wanted to. There were just too many people around, I think, for him to do it."

"She's okay?" Peter asked.

"She's fine," he confirmed. "Apparently the guardians got more than they were even asking for."

They made it to the floor that held the cafeteria, rather than the restaurant, in deference to the fact that Peter was more comfortable in the informal setting. They could have anything the restaurant made, after all – the staff would order it for them. But they didn't bother. Tony got a burger, same as his son, and Pepper had a grilled chicken sandwich. All of them ordered fries to go with them, and they walked to a table in the corner, nodding hello to many of the people who greeted them, but not actually stopping to chat with any of them, just then.

"Was he that excited to get the stone back?" Pepper asked, curiously, as they sat down.

"Nope." Tony winked at Peter, who was sitting so he could look out the window and down on the traffic and the tiny people walking along the sidewalk. "Apparently the Collector guy knows that Peter's the one who took the stone – and Sirah – from the spaceship, and he asked them to arrange a meeting."

"What?" Pepper looked worried, but Tony didn't. "What does that mean? Are we going to have to get this guy to-"

"It's okay, Pep," Tony interrupted. "They didn't tell him anything. And they did a fair job warning him off. According to Danvers, they tried to set a tracker on the Milano – probably to follow them and see where Peter's from – but Rocket found it right away, and they sent it off in a little drone thing. The guy's people will be following the thing for weeks and won't have any luck with it even when the battery dies and they find it."

Peter hesitated, but decided that Pepper still looked concerned. With an approving nudge from Alec, he cleared his throat.

"We don't have to worry about him, even then," he told them.

"Why not?" Pepper asked.

"I met him, last night, and talked to him."

"Ah! There's that vein…"

Alec's amusement almost made Peter smile – almost.