He leads the way down to the kitchen and heads straight for the coffee machine,
'Jarvis, where's Pepper?'
'Sir, it is ten minutes past seven,' Jarvis points out, 'Ms Potts is in bed.'
'Slacker...' he watches the coffee start to run through.
'I think some of the things in this kitchen might be as old as I am,' Steve searches through some cupboards.
'Probably,' he agrees as he lets Pete down. Pete clambers onto a chair beside Steve to watch what he's doing. 'I haven't been here much since Dad died. This all dates from back then.'
Steve glances back at him; the bastard probably noticed he didn't mention that of course Maria died at the same time.
'It's a shame,' Steve comments lightly, 'it's a beautiful building.'
'Sure,' he pours a couple of mugs of coffee and joins Steve by the stove.
'Why is the Gala here?' Steve stirs the eggs. 'You must have other properties?'
'Galas for the charities supported by the Maria Stark Foundation are always held at the Stark Mansion,' he shrugs.
There's a sudden tension in Steve's shoulders,
'You support charities in her name?'
'She's dead,' he drinks some of his coffee, 'what I do with her name is up to me.'
The eggs appear to have offended the good Captain.
'It was Obe's idea,' he adds, 'and I figured it was a good way to give her the finger...'
'Did he know about her?' Steve's casual tone is completely at odds with how every muscle in his back is tensed.
That's a hell of a lot of glorious angry muscles.
'Probably,' he tries to get his brain working in the right direction. 'Why?'
'Are you angry?' Pete is looking between them.
'No,' Steve's a terrible liar.
'You look kinda angry,' Pete tells Steve. 'Maybe Dada can fix it? Dada fixes things.'
'He does,' Steve agrees and shoots him a smile, 'but I'm alright. I just wish I woke up sooner.'
'Right,' he shakes his head to try and clear it as he pulls a tablet from his pocket. 'How many rooms to go, Jay?'
'Twelve on the floor we were on,' Jarvis tells him, 'and the hallway, the floor above and the bedrooms that we skipped last night.'
He groans,
'It's going to be a long day isn't it, buddy?'
'Sir, may I remind you that the press will be here in four hours for your photo shoot?'
'Fuck,' he groans and slumps forwards beside the stove.
'Tony!' Steve scolds.
'Nnnnaarrrgh!' he scrubs at his hair with both hands. 'Fine; I'll have to eat and get another few rooms wired before getting ready for them.'
'Acknowledged, sir,' Jarvis confirms.
'Here,' Steve hands him a plate of eggs.
'You're an angel,' he doesn't bother sitting down.
His son finds himself a seat at the table; he's clearly been domesticated. Steve puts plates on the table for himself and Pete before returning to usher him over too,
'You've got time to eat so you've got time to sit and eat,' Steve instructs.
'Barely,' he complains as he sits down. 'Jarvis, when Pepper wakes up tell her I have the flu.'
'Yes, sir.'
'You're sick, Dada?' Pete's so immediately worried.
'No, baby,' he steals Steve's coffee.
'Does Pepper have another Board Meeting for you?' Pete asks before cramming a large amount of food into his mouth.
'Worse,' he grins, 'I'll be seeing reporters!'
Pete makes a horrified noise through his food.
'Pete can hang out with me while you're busy,' Steve finally smiles again.
'I want to stay with Dada,' Pete objects.
'We could do that,' he considers it. 'Jarvis, run that past Pepper when she wakes up.'
'Before or after I inform her of your dire illness, sir?'
'Smartass,' he finishes Steve's coffee.
'But Dada,' Pete has managed to swallow, 'what about Cap's brain?'
'What?'
'Coffee is important for brain function in adults,' Steve grins at him.
'Well, that's true,' he agrees as he considers the two empty mugs. 'You want another?'
'I wanted the first one,' Steve laughs. How is he so chirpy in the morning?
'Right, sorry.'
'Don't worry about it,' Steve tells him. 'Eat your eggs.'
Tony eats a little before becoming distracted by something on his tablet. Pete doesn't seem to mind his father's distraction; he's chattering happily about his new toys.
'Sir,' one of Tony's suits walks in carrying a small box, 'your delivery has arrived.'
'Right,' Tony tenses and shoots a quick glance towards him, 'thanks, Jarvis.'
Jarvis hands the parcel over and the suit walks back out.
'Right,' Tony repeats quietly before thrusting the box out to him, 'here.'
'You got me another present?' he reluctantly accepts it.
'Yeah,' Tony shrugs.
'Shall I open it?' he hesitates.
'Sure,' Tony feigns disinterest.
He opens the box to find a small white baby grow. On the front are written the words 'My Daddy is a Captain!' over an image of his shield.
'It seemed like a good idea at the...' Tony frets and cuts himself off. 'Oh, fuck, ok I messed up. I'll get rid of it.'
Tony reaches out but he clutches his present to his chest,
'What?'
'You're...' Tony waves a hand at him.
'Are you sad, Cap?' Pete gazes up at him.
'No,' he shakes his head and looks back at Tony, 'no! This is... This is great, Tony.'
'Really?' Tony doesn't look convinced.
'Yeah,' he laughs suddenly, 'yeah, Tony, you did good.'
Tony looks conflicted for a moment before adding,
'You'll be a great dad, Cap.'
He knows he's smiling goofily,
'You think?'
'Cap is Dada?' Pete looks confused as he looks between them.
'Cap's going to be a Daddy,' Tony corrects before shooting him a look, 'or a different name if he wants?'
'Daddy sounds good,' he smiles at the baby grow.
'Why?' Pete asks.
'Because little boys should all have great dads,' Tony tells his son.
'You're the greatestest,' Pete declares firmly to his Dada, 'but maybe Cap can be the nearly greatestest?'
'Sounds fair to me,' he grins at Tony's bemused look.
'Sure,' Tony accepts, 'if you think so.'
Pete looks pleased before turning on him,
'But if you are a Dada-y will you not visit anymore?'
'Hey,' he reaches over to cup the side of Pete's face, 'I'll be visiting all the time. I promise.'
Pete beams,
'Ok!'
