Day of School

Tony checked his watch and grinned. "Okay, Fri, save that under the Intelli-Crops file and I'll come back to it tomorrow," he said, swiping a hand so the hologram shrank into the base. "My little girl will be home from her first day of school soon, and I want to see her."

"Done, Boss," she replied.

Tony strode out of the garage and spotted Peter sitting on one of the Adirondack chairs on the porch, the picture of contentment and ease. Tony joined him on the second chair and said, "So, how was her day?"

Peter feigned innocence. "How would I know?"

"Because you kissed her goodbye after breakfast this morning and then disappeared on me. And now, when Pepper has gone to pick her up, you've arrived again. Unless you're going to tell me you spent Morgan's first day of preschool in the Soul Plane or hanging out at the compound, which I wouldn't believe…"

"Okay, I might have peeked in a couple times," Peter admitted.

"Helicopter brother."

Peter scoffed. "Helicopter father."

"True," Tony said with a grin. "But she deserves that focus, that attention, because…"

"Because she's Mo," Peter supplied. "Exactly."

He grinned and stared out over the lake, seeming perfectly content.

It was another of those moments that Tony blessed the situation he was in, even though he knew the world as a whole was suffering. His life was as good as it had been in a long time, though, and he'd given up on feeling guilty for it.

He had his daughter in his life: every day she was there, and his son came every weekend and occasionally for surprise visits in the week, too. He knew for a fact that all the people they'd lost were okay, together and as happy as they could be.

Life for them all was good.

Peter's head snapped around and Tony knew, from the smile on his face, that he'd heard the car bringing Pepper and Morgan back. Tony sat up, anticipation making his heart skip.

The car pulled into sight, and Peter jumped to his feet. Pepper pulled them to a halt outside the garage, climbed out and then opened Morgan's door and unstrapped her from the car seat.

Morgan tumbled out and ran towards them on the porch. She jumped into Peter's arms, clinging on like a little monkey, and then dropped and climbed onto Tony's lap and kissed his cheek.

"Hey, Maguna," Tony said. "How was your day?"

"I liked it," Morgan said, maneuvering Tony's arms so they were wrapped around her, leaning back against his chest. "I was sad when Momma said goodbye. That made me cry a little."

"Oh, honey," Pepper said. "I'd have stayed if you wanted me to."

"No, I have to be a big girl and go," Morgan said. "And Petey was there."

Pepper's eyes snapped to Peter and narrowed. Peter tried for innocence but failed. Tony was puzzled. He didn't understand why Peter would let himself be seen, especially when it was such an important day for Morgan.

"How do you know I was there?" Peter asked.

Morgan rolled her eyes, a perfect imitation of her mother when she was exasperated by the males in her life. "I didn't see you, but I knew you were there, so I was okay. I liked it. I knew you'd help when I needed."

Peter smiled. "Very true. But you know you can't tell anyone about me being there?"

"I know," Morgan huffed. "You have to hide because you're not supposed to be here yet but you've got magic."

"That's exactly right," Tony said. "And you're a very smart girl remembering the rules."

"Tell Mom and Dad what you did today," Peter encouraged, a glint in his eye.

"I played dress up, and I was a princess and a bunny rabbit which was fun because I did the twitchy nose and made Miss Becky laugh. She's my teacher, and I liked her a lot. I… uh… played house and we made dinner outside with the mud and water."

Pepper raised an eyebrow and looked at Morgan's pristine t-shirt and skirt outfit.

Peter noticed and said, "You were extra clever and remembered to wear the apron, weren't you?"

Morgan frowned. "Yeah." She intoned it as, 'duh'. This is my Angelina Ballerina shirt that Aunt Natasha bought me for my birthday. I can't get it dirty."

"Smart thinking," Tony said.

Morgan nodded. "So I did the cooking and ate it but didn't really eat it and then we did some drawing." She beamed. "I drew a picture of Peter in his special suit and I needed the red crayon and Max wouldn't give it to me—"

"Max," Tony said, intoning the name as a curse.

"—And I told him I needed it to draw a picture of my brother, and he asked about my brother and—" she drew a heaving breath and rushed on, "—and I knew that Peter was a secret, so I told him he was one of the people that went away. And I remembered that it's secret that it's not forever, like you told me, before all our other family come home, like Uncle Bucky and Aunt Wanda. And Miss Becky asked if was okay, and I knew Peter was there and I could feel him and I knew he was going to look after me so I said I was fine and that I miss Peter sometimes—because I do when he's not here—but he loves me and she said he did."

A lump formed in Tony's throat as a memory washed over him. It had been a day like this, though not Morgan's first day, and Morgan had to be picked up early because she was in floods of tears. That little jerk Max had upset her, telling her she didn't have a brother. Pepper had brought her home and she and Tony had been faced with the trauma they'd created by not thinking. For Morgan's whole life, they'd told her she had a brother called Peter. The story of Peter was the first Tony had told her, as an hours' old baby, but they'd never told her that he wasn't coming back—as all sense at the time said he wouldn't.

Morgan had assumed one day her brother would arrive and take up his place in her life because he loved her, as they had always assured her he did. That day had carried one of the most difficult conversations Tony had ever had, telling her Peter wasn't ever coming back, dealing with her devastation.

The only thing that had soothed the pain that remained from that day was the moment Peter and Morgan met at the Tool Shed.

"Do you want to see the picture I did of Peter?" she asked, casting Peter a look when he nodded eagerly and said, "Petey, you watched me draw it," in an exasperated tone.

"I'd like to see it," Tony said.

Morgan slid from his lap and rushed to where she'd left her backpack. She fumbled with the zip for a moment and then pulled out a sheet of paper which she carried over and held out to Tony.

He took it and examined her creation. In it, Peter was swinging from one of his webs. Though the lines were shaky and the colors drifting past their borders, it was one of the best things Tony had ever seen because it was here—Peter was here, with his sister, Tony and Pepper never had to have that conversation with her. Morgan was always going to know Peter; he was always going to be there for every step of her life.

Once again Tony blessed Peter and the Stones for allowing him to relive these years and to experience these things.

Watching his daughter grow up with her brother in her life was worth more than any fortune he'd ever amass in his life.

So… We finally overwrote that tough one-shot from the beginning. It felt good to me.

Until next time…

Jadey xxx