Birthday Party

As expected, when Pepper went to rouse her daughter on the morning of her third birthday, she found her in Peter's bedroom, though unexpectedly she was wide awake. Peter was still asleep, or pretending to be, and Morgan was poking his chest and saying, "It's my birthday day, PeePee. We gonna play."

Pepper chuckled. "Is your brother being lazy on your special day?"

Morgan looked at Pepper and nodded, and Pepper noticed Peter crack an eye open and grin.

"You know, I think maybe Petey has had a Sleeping Beauty spell put on him when we weren't looking. He needs a kiss to wake up."

Morgan gasped. "From a Prince?"

"No, I think he needs one from Princess Morgan."

Morgan beamed and rolled over to brace herself over Peter. With very careful movements she bent and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Peter's eyes opened with theatrical surprise, and he made a show of stretching and yawning. "Thank you, Princess Morgan," he said. "I thought I was going to be stuck asleep forever. I'd have missed your party."

"Am I really a princess?" she asked.

Peter sat up and pulled her onto his lap. "To me, you are the Princess of the Lake, and this house is your palace. And today you get to be everyone's princess because it's your birthday."

Morgan threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. "And everyone's coming to play?"

"They absolutely are," Pepper said. "So you need to come get in the bath and put your party dress on."

Morgan bounced out of bed and rushed to her mother's side.

"What do you want me to wear today, Mo?" Peter asked.

Morgan tilted her head to the side and considered carefully. "Umm… I think you should wear your jeans and the red jumper I got you for Christmas but with a tie and shirt underneath."

Pepper saw Peter's eyes bug a little but then he nodded and said, "That's exactly what I hoped you'd say," and Morgan beamed.

"Honey, Peter will be very warm in those clothes," Pepper said. "It's a really sunny day. How about he wears a t-shirt?"

"With a tie?" Morgan asked.

"I can do that," Peter said obligingly.

"Thank you, PeePee," she said, and Peter grimaced at the nickname.

"Anything for Princess Morgan," Peter said dutifully, and Morgan beamed.

Enjoying the love between her children, Pepper led Morgan to the bathroom, eager to have her ready to start the celebrations.

Breakfast was a messy affair, of all of Morgan's favorite breakfast foods, prepared by Tony and Peter while Pepper washed and dressed her daughter, ready for the big day.

Peter was wearing his best jeans, a red collared Iron Man t-shirt and a gold tie. He still was going to be too warm in that, even though he'd foregone Morgan's requested Christmas jumper.

Tony seemed to have decided to join the theme as he was also wearing jeans, t-shirt, and tie, though his shirt was a Spider-Man one and his tie was blue. They actually looked very sweet, in their complementing clothes, and Pepper made a mental note to make them pose for a photo later.

Morgan tried to match Peter plate for plate of the feast, but she had no chance of keeping pace with Peter's appetite. There was much laughter, though, and Morgan seemed perfectly happy sitting at the table on her booster seat and kicking her feet.

When Morgan's face and hands had been washed clean of the chocolate sauce and maple syrup, Peter took her outside to wait for their guests to arrive while Pepper and Tony loaded the dishwasher. They left the window open and listened to Morgan and Peter's conversation on the porch.

"You know, I got you a special present because it's your birthday…" Peter said.

"You did?" Morgan asked excitedly. "What is it? Did you make it with your magic?"

Pepper was intrigued. Peter didn't usually bring anything with him when he came and went. His rather nomadic life, spent between the compound, the cabin, and the Soul Plane meant that material things didn't really have much hold on him. He wore the clothes Tony and Pepper bought for him with gratitude, but Pepper had the feeling he would wear the same clothes to rags if they didn't provide more.

So knowing Peter had a gift for Morgan was unexpected.

Tony seemed to be thinking the same as he set down the dishcloth and leaned over the sink to see out of the window better.

Peter reached under his chair and pulled out a bundle wrapped in what appeared to be kitchen foil. He handed it to Morgan who took it, wide eyed with excitement.

"Shiny," she said.

Peter laughed. "And that's just the wrapping. Why don't you see what's inside?"

Morgan peeled back the corner carefully and then abandoned patience and tore into it. A bundle of red, blue, and brown fell onto the floor, and Morgan grabbed it up.

Tony sucked in a breath and exhaled a shaky laugh. Pepper was surprised to see tears in his eyes. Curious, Pepper examined the gift. It appeared to be one of the teddy bears Pepper had bought and wrapped as one of Morgan's birthday gifts. However, this one was a little worn and was wearing a clearly homemade Spider-Man suit made from what Pepper thought was silk—and even thought she recognized the embellishments of the blue from one of her scarves in the closet.

"Wow," Morgan breathed. "It's just like you."

"It is," Peter agreed. "It was actually a gift someone had made for me, someone I love more than anything in all the world, and they made it for me when I really needed something nice. I thought it'd be good if you had him now."

"What's he called?" Morgan asked.

"Spider-Albert," Tony whispered at the same time as Peter said it.

Tony shook his head and headed outside, leaving the dishes behind. Pepper followed him and she saw that both Tony and Peter looked a little misty eyed.

"It felt wrong to not have him in bed with us," Peter said, which seemed to mean something to Tony.

"You snuck back to get it," Tony said.

"Technically forward, but yeah," Peter replied. "I just… I thought it was right that he was here with us."

Pepper understood it was something from their future that Peter had bought back for them to share. She wondered at the story behind it but would ask another time. Morgan was demanding Peter's attention by bouncing Spider-Albert on his stomach and saying, "Thank you, PeePee, I love it so much."

"You are so welcome, Mo," he said. "And now I've given you your gift, I wondered if you'd give me a present."

"Like it's your birthday too?" Morgan asked.

"Kinda. I wondered whether you could try to say my name properly."

"Peter instead of PeePee?" Morgan asked, enunciating perfectly.

Pepper stifled her laugh behind her hand and Tony snorted.

"Exactly. See, PeePee is a little embarrassing for me."

"But PeePee is your special name that no one else calls you."

"That's true," Peter conceded. "But no one else calls me Petey either, so that could be my name just for you."

"I call you Petey and no one else and you call me Mo and no one else?"

"Exactly," Peter said. "What do you think?"

Morgan considered then wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. "I think Petey is a good name and Mo is a good name so we both have good names."

"I agree," Peter said, kissing her cheek. "We have our own names because I'm the only brother you've got and you're my only sister."

"Mhmm. I'm yours and you are mine," she said.

"Absolutely," Peter said emphatically, a contented look in his eyes. "No matter what happens, I am always going to be yours."

"Good," Morgan said. "Because I want you forever."

Peter smiled. "Forever sounds good to me."

Pepper wondered at that. Peter really did have forever, assuming he survived his Snap, which Pepper believed he would. It cheered her to know that Morgan would have her brother always, even after she and Tony were gone, but she did wonder about Peter and Bucky going forward, with eternity stretched out in front of them.

She didn't think she would handle that well if she was in their place, though she supposed they would always have each other.

Peter had found a tiara in Morgan's toy box and had insisted she wear it as the birthday princess, which she was more than happy to do. They posed together, Peter bowing to Morgan and kissing her hand, for photos while they waited for the guests to arrive.

Morgan's birthdays before had included her friends from the playground, too, but with Peter present, they had to limit it to people in the know as otherwise Peter couldn't be there. Morgan didn't mind in the slightest as she loved her Avengers family just as much as her young friends, and Pepper and Tony had arranged a party at Chuck E. Cheese another day for the kids.

As soon as they started arriving, Morgan danced to the porch and clapped her hands with excitement. Rhodey was first out of his car, and Morgan sprinted across the drive to hug him, crying, "Uncle Rhodey!"

Rhodey scooped her into his arms and balanced her on his hip, giving her a noisy kiss on the cheek which made her giggle.

There were moments occasionally when Tony noted the difference in what Peter did for Rhodey's path by sending them back. Though Rhodey had accepted his injury with time and therapy, though he had mobility thanks to Tony's inventiveness, there were limits to what he could do before. Now, though, there was no injury, no mobility issues—no limitations at all.

Though it wasn't Peter's intention in sending them back, he had given Rhodey a gift.

A black SUV pulled up behind Rhodey and Steve, Natasha, Clint, Rocket, and Okoye climbed out. Tony was touched that Rocket and Okoye had come as they were usually out doing what they called 'field work' following the Snap.

Rhodey set Morgan down and she rushed to greet her other guests, giving Rocket a hug that he allowed with gritted teeth but a kind, "Happy Birthday, Midget."

Tony wasn't sure what Morgan thought Rocket was—a raccoon they didn't chase away from the trash cans or a talking stuffed toy. Or perhaps he was just Rocket, another member of her extended superhero family that needed no further explanation.

Steve swept Morgan up when she reached him and slung her over his shoulder, which made her squeal with happiness, and Natasha scolded him for making her tiara fall off. Clint picked up the Tiara and placed it on Peter's head, which he allowed with a grin and then nod of the head in the direction of the lake. Tony assumed he was going to give Clint an update on his family. Clint smiled widely as he followed Peter away.

"I hope you've got food planned for this," Rhodey said, knocking Tony on the shoulder. "Steve tried to make breakfast for us, so we're all starving."

"Yeah, don't worry, I'm grilling," Tony said. "And Pete's helping me."

"If Morgan lets him," Rhodey said pointedly. "You know PeePee will do whatever she asks."

Tony held up a finger. "As of today, and forevermore if Peter has his way, it's Petey not PeePee."

Rhodey snorted. "About time, too, poor kid. How did he persuade Morgan to update the name?"

"He asked nicely," Tony said. "Which he probably could have done months ago. It was pretty sweet, though. Morgan liked calling him that because she was the only one that did. It was her special name."

"That is sweet," Rhodey said, placing his hand over his heart. "Your kids, Tone… I don't know, man, I remember when we were a pair of badass superheroes, but now we're getting mushy over pet names."

"True." Tony sighed. "But I tell you something, man: I wouldn't go back to how it used to be for anything in the world. My kids are what brought me to life."

"They really did," Rhodey said. "The change when you came back, when you went from no kids to two, and then meeting Peter… It was huge, Tone."

Tony nodded. "In the best possible way, believe me. The point Peter sent us back to was a bad time in my life, no Pepper, pretty soon after no Avengers, the whole Sokovia thing on my back… He made it all better."

"He did," Rhodey agreed. "And you made it better for him, too. Think of all you gave him in those extra years, especially after he lost May. You and Pepper were there for him in everything he needed. And with everything else he went through, you were there for him when it mattered. In fact, the only time you stepped away was when he forced you to. Bucky might have been the one that gave him a chance of being Worthy when they were bound, but you did it every single day since you were sent back."

Tony stared out at the lake, unsure how to respond to that. While it was true he had done everything he could to help Peter, Peter still didn't truly believe it was enough. He thought the ten-percent chance he would not be Worthy was the one that mattered.

Tony knew better. It was the other ninety percent that was what mattered.

Peter was going to be Worthy.

After a dinner cooked by Peter and Tony, following a competition in which Peter and Steve—encouraged by Morgan—fought to be the victor of how many hamburgers could be eaten in two minutes, which Peter won cheerfully and Steve was left looking a little green, they all settled by the fire pit and chatted. Morgan was starting to wear down after her action-packed day, having curled up in Peter's lap and corked her thumb in her mouth as Peter rubbed circles on her back, lulling her to sleep.

Pepper was enjoying herself, chatting with Natasha and Rhodey, watching the sun sink towards the trees, and marveling at her life.

Even though the world had been through something horrific and so many were suffering still, even three years after Thanos' Snap, Pepper was happy in her life. She felt a little guilty about it sometimes, and she tried to offset that by focusing Stark Industries resources and financial aid to helping those that remained, but her life was good. She had two children she adored, and an extended family of Avengers that were present in their life in a way Tony said they hadn't been before.

Pepper couldn't imagine their life without them all—with Morgan growing up without her uncles and aunt. She loved them and they loved her.

Tony also said, or perhaps admitted was the right word, that Pepper and Peter hadn't been close in the future. He said that loving Peter came with pain, and she wanted to shield Morgan from that pain. She understood the desire, but she couldn't imagine living her life without being Peter being a beloved part of it—of not being his mother.

Peter and Morgan, together with Tony, were her world.