Chapter 4: Chapter 4
May. I'm home." Peter said jumping in through his bedroom, window and changing into normal clothes before walking into the living room.
There was romantic music on, and May and Happy sitting on the sofa with glasses of wine and there were candles everywhere.
"Peter!" May said shocked as she and Happy jumped up.
Peter spun around with his back to them and eyes closed; "Oh sorry!" Peter exclaimed; "I'll just go to my room."
"Peter it's ok we were just.."
"No it's fine!" Peter interrupted quickly; "I'm er going to..." Peter rushed into his room slamming the door closed, and shuddered. Now he wished he stayed out on patrol.
A short while later, May knocked on the door peeking in. Peter looked up from his desk with a pencil in his hand.
"Happy's gone." May started.
"May I'm sorry if I interrupted..."
"No you didn't."
Peter sent her a dubious look.
May sat down on the chair by his desk; "Actually I wanted to talk to you. Happy and I agreed we weren't going to any further until I talked to you. Nothing is going to happen if you aren't ok with this."
"No. I mean Happy seems to make you happy..." Peter cringed at the wording but May laughed; "I mean doesn't he?"
May smiled a goofy smile; "He's a good man."
"And you like him?" Peter prompted, looking down.
"I do. A lot." May replied before seeing his face; "But like I said nothing else is going to happen if you aren't ok about it. You come first Peter and you always will."
Peter could say he didn't want May to date. Yes it was weird seeing May with Happy, and it felt like she was moving on without him. But that wouldn't be fair. She was happy with Happy They were happy. Peter couldn't take that away from May. She'd already put her life on hold to take care of him. He'd been a burden enough to her.
"Of course I'm ok with it." Peter smiled; "Happy's a great guy and if he makes you happy. Then that's good enough for me."
May smiled and she reached for his hand on the desk; "You are an amazing kid. And just know no matter what, you are still my number one priority. You know you can talk to me about anything right?"
"Yeah." Peter said squeezing her hand; "I know."
"I love you Peter."
"Love you too May."
0o0o0o0o0o0o-SPIDERMAN-0o0o0o0o0
"Those were the best two weeks." Tony murmured as he kissed Pepper back in their house in New York.
"Hmm. But it is nice to be home."
"Really? Because I was thinking of taking you back to Paris next month but..."
Pepper gently punched him on the arm and he chuckled.
"I love you Mrs Stark."
"And I love you Mr Stark."
"I'm going to go unpack ok?" Pepper said pulling away; "Then maybe we can go to dinner? Maybe invite Peter?"
"The kid? Why?" Tony furrowed his brow.
"Oh come on. Like you think I didn't notice the way you kept tracking the news stories about Spider Man, or calling to check in with Happy about Peter the whole time we were gone?"
Tony made a face, not liking being caught out. It's true he liked to keep an eye on the kid to make sure he was ok.
"You know it's been two weeks, and what with everything that's going on with Happy and May, maybe he needs someone to talk to."
"I'll think about it." Tony murmured and Pepper smirked before turning to the shower.
"Boss. Welcome home." FRIDAY said as Tony entered his lab.
"Thanks FRIDAY."
"Now that you are back does this mean you would like to know the important data I collected?"
Tony frowned confused before realising; "You mean the so called emergency you tried to tell me about before the honeymoon?"
"Yes."
"Ok fine give it to me. What's so important?"
"It is the results of Mr Parker's DNA results."
Tony frowned as he poured himself a cup of coffee; "That's the emergency?" Then he stiffened; "Is Peter ok?"
"Yes. I detected no unusual abnormalities in Mr Parker's blood samples. There is a 67% alteration from the spider bite but his DNA is stable and showing no more signs of corruption."
"Okay..." Tony prompted; "So what is it?"
"There is something else I found that I think you would find important. I found markers in Mr Parker's blood that showed similarities to your own. So I ran a Paternity test."
"You ran a paternity test? Why?" Tony demanded.
"You said to run any test I thought necessary."
Tony rolled his eyes; "Fine what did you find?" Not that he expected anything, he knew who Peter's parents were.
"There is a 99% familial match between you and Mr Parker."
The cup slipped from Tony's hand, smashing to the floor. Tony didn't even noticed. He just blinked as the words echoed in his head; "I'm sorry. What did you just say?"
"There is a 99% familial match between you and Mr Parker."
"So...you're saying...Peter's my son?" Tony said slowly.
"Correct Mr Stark." FRIDAY replied.
Tony's heart raced and his mind spun. What? No. He couldn't be Peter's dad.
"But that's not possible." Tony murmured; "Run them again. There has to be a mistake."
"I sensed you may ask that, which is why I ran the test 3 times to be sure of the results."
Tony's thoughts were going crazy as he tried to think. Peter's birthday was 10th August 2001. That was during his partying, playboy lifestyle when he met lots of women. He always feared he had kids he didn't know about out there because of it. But Peter? He was a good kid. The best. And he'd had parents.
Tony just didn't believe it. What are the chances that the one kid he's mentoring happens to be his son. Maybe FRIDAY needed an update.
"But Peter already had a father..." Tony started slowly.
"Richard Parker. Husband of Mary Parker. Died in 2002 in a car accident when a truck lost control during a snow storm."
Tony paced; "Ok." He prompted; "So what about this Richard Parker? Isn't he Peter's dad?"
"Blood samples found for Richard and Mary Parker from the car accident. I tested them against Mr Parker's blood samples. Positive for Mary Parker familial test. Negative for Richard Parker familial test. Richard Parker is not Peter Parker's father."
Tony ran a hand over his face, feeling suddenly shaky. But still just because this guy Richard wasn't Peter's dad didn't mean he was.
"FRIDAY can you work out when he would have been conceived based on Peter's birthday?"
"Calculating. From Peter Parker's birthday of August 10th 2001, and counting for difference from due date. Most probable date of sexual intercourse that led to conception date between November 13th and November 20th 2000."
"Ok. November 2000." Tony tried to wrack his brain for where he was on that date. He remember there were a lot of conferences and parties he went to that year.
"FRIDAY can you tell me where I was on those dates?"
"Extrapolating."
"You attended a tech conference in Belgium between November 12th and November 19th."
"Belgium tech conference." Tony repeated frowning trying to think. He vaguely remembered a large party in his hotel room. And a brunette woman he was talking to.
"FRIDAY." Tony said slowly; "Are there any photos of me from the tech conference?"
"Searching..." A moment later; "Found. News and tabloid articles on the tech conference including Tony Stark."
Tony moved over to the monitor as FRIDAY displayed them all briefly flicking through them. He wanted to roll his eyes at the way in every picture he was hanging over some woman, or making out with her. He felt sick thinking about the way he used to treat people back then. Especially women. Finally, a photo caught his eyes.
"FRIDAY. Stop. Go back."
FRIDAY flipped back a photo and it showed the people making the speeches posing for the photo, but in the background he saw himself talking to a woman with brown hair, wearing a skirt suit. And she was familiar.
"FRIDAY identify the woman with me in this photo."
"Enhancing and analysing." The photo grew enlarging on the woman; "Comparing to list of names attending conference. Identity confirmed. Mary Parker."
Tony straightened up, crossing one arm over his torso as he rubbed his beard. His heart raced. Now he remembered her. Sort of. Just flashes. Them talking, drinking, laughing. Kissing. Tony closed his eyes to stop the memories. He had slept with her. He didn't even know her name. And the next morning she had disappeared. He had tried to track her down wondering why she left but with no luck.
"When were Mary and Richard married?"
"1997."
Tony huffed dropping his arms. Not only had he slept with her and not known her name. But he'd slept with a married woman. She must have realised she made a mistake sleeping with him because she was married and that's why she left. Either Richard never knew or he went along with the lie.
But then that meant.
Oh my god. It's true...
"Peter is my son."
His heart raced as it finally hit him. He had a son. He was a dad.
"Mr Stark. I'm detecting a rise in your heart rate. Are you in need of medical assistance?"
Tony didn't hear her, he didn't hear anything over the blood rushing to his ears.
He felt pins and needles all over his body and everything felt numb. And there was a single thought rushing through his head.
He was a dad.
0o0o00o00o-SPIDERMAN-0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"Mrs Stark. Mr Stark is currently having a panic attack and cannot calm himself down. Should I call for medical assistance?"
"What?" Pepper shrieked and she ran from their bedroom, down to Tony's lab finding him leaning over a desk hyperventilating.
"Tony!" Pepper rushed over to him, touching his arm and cupping his face. He was shaking and so pale; "God. Are you ok?"
"Mrs Stark. Should I call for medical assistance?"
"Ye.." Pepper started but Tony interrupted.
"No."
"Tony!" Pepper warned; "You need a doctor."
"No." Tony gasped a few times; "Just need a minute."
He moved over towards a chair and Pepper helped him to sit down.
"FRIDAY. What's Tony's vitals?"
"Still elevated but stabilising."
Pepper let out a sigh of relief before rushing over to get a cup of water for Tony. She sat down on a chair opposite him and handed it to him. She waited as he took a few sips, and waited for his breathing to normalise. All the while he held onto her hand like he was terrified to let go.
"I'm ok." Tony assured her as he finally managed to calm down. Just having Pepper here, made him feel better.
Pepper frowned concerned at him; "Are you? What happened? I thought you were getting better? What set you off?"
Tony looked at her, and the love in her eyes as his heart raced again slightly. How was he supposed to tell her he had a son? And it was Peter!
"I can't lose you Pepper." Tony murmured.
"What?" Pepper frowned leaning closer, grabbing his hand with both of hers; "You're not going to lose me. Whatever it is. I'm here for you. We can handle it together."
"Are you sure because I don't want you to hate me? Not you."
"Why would I hate you?" Pepper sighed; "Tony. Come on. We're married now. No secrets. Just tell me."
Tony took a moment to study Pepper. She was so beautiful. Squeezing Pepper's hand for strength, he took a deep breath to steady himself.
"Before the wedding. Peter asked me to test his blood."
"Why? Is he ok?" Pepper said suddenly wondering if there was something wrong with Peter.
"He's fine. He just wanted to know how much his DNA had changed."
"Ok." Pepper said not following where this was going.
"Well I told FRIDAY to run any test she could think of, just to make sure everything was ok. And she just gave me the results. Now Peter's fine." Tony said quickly seeing her worry; "But there was one test that showed some interesting results. A Paternity test."
"A Paternity test?" Pepper repeated her eyes widening. And then she frowned; "Wait why would she do that test? We already know who his parents are." Pepper saw Tony's face and she faltered; "Right?"
"Apparently there were some similarities in Peter's blood to another person's on file."
"Whose?"
"Mine."
"Wait. So are you saying...Peter's..."
"Peter's my son."
Pepper froze. Her expression displaying a range of emotions and Tony gulped terrified she was going to pull away from him, so he clung to her hand.
Then she tilted her head; "I always thought you looked alike."
That Tony hadn't expected. Then she smiled and he stiffened.
"Are you laughing at me?"
"No." Pepper's face became serious; "But I see now why you panicked." She paused; "Are you sure about this? About Peter?"
Tony gestured towards the monitors; "I had FRIDAY look into it. Peter had to have been conceived about November 2000. And at that time I was at a tech conference in Belgium."
Pepper nodded; "I remember that. There was a brunette you slept with."
"You remember that?" Tony cringed feeling guilty.
"Yeah only because you asked me to try and track her down for you. But I couldn't find her." Pepper studied his face; "So was that Peter's mother?"
Tony nodded.
"Wow." Pepper murmured then she looked at him sympathetically; "Are you ok?"
Tony just scoffed; "Ask me again later. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it." Then he looked at Pepper scared; "Are you mad?"
"Mad?" Pepper looked at him startled, before understanding hit her and she smiled; "If you didn't scare me off back then, you're not going to scare me off now."
"But...I had sex with a woman and I didn't even know her name. And she was married! Which I didn't know about by the way. And I had a child because of it. A child I didn't even know was my son! How can you not hate me?"
Pepper reached up to cup his cheek; "We both knew it was possible you could have a child out there. I accepted that. Besides, you're not that person anymore. Just look at us. Married. Happy."
Tony looked at her in awe, she was constantly surprising him; "I don't deserve you."
"True." Pepper said smirking; "But you aren't getting rid of me."
Tony grumbled; "God I hate to think if there's other kids out there I don't know about."
Pepper studied him for a moment; "So what do you think of all this? I mean being a dad. And Peter being your son."
"Honestly? I don't know. I mean Peter's an awesome kid."
Pepper smiled; "Yeah he is."
"But that's had nothing to do with me." Tony looked down; "I missed the first 15 years of his life because she kept him from me. She lied to me, to Peter, maybe to her own husband. And I know I wasn't a good guy back then, but I wasn't one to sleep with a married woman! Yet that's what she made me."
"You have every right to be angry." Pepper nodded; "She shouldn't have kept him from you." She paused; "But she must have had a reason."
Tony looked at her shocked. Pepper held up a hand; "I'm not defending what she did. Just trying to understand. And this isn't to judge, just to make you think about why she may not have told you. If you had known about Peter back then. What would you have done?"
That made Tony pause. And he knew Pepper was right. He was a jackass back then. He didn't want to be tied down by anything or anyone. And knowing he had a kid. He probably would have paid Mary to make him go away.
"Yeah I was an ass then. But I'm not anymore." Tony was caught off guard by the wave of anger rising up; "For god's sake. He's my son. I would have wanted the choice to be in his life." Tony froze, catching Pepper's surprised face, and heck he even surprised himself.
"How are you going to tell him?"
That made Tony waver, and he shook his head standing up; "No. No. I can't tell him."
"Tony!" Pepper warned frowning at him; "He deserves to know the truth."
"But maybe she was right to keep Peter away from me. Just look at him. He's amazing in spite of me. If I'm in his life, I'll screw him up. I'm not exactly a good role model."
"Do you know how much he already looks up to you? You're already his role model. And you haven't screwed him yet have you? No, you've made him better. You were there for him when he went up against Toomes, and you disciplined him, showed him how to be better and not get himself killed. Now look at him."
"I just didn't want him to end up like me."
"There's nothing wrong with you how you ended up."
"He's better than me. He doesn't have a bad bone in his body. He deserves someone better to be his dad."
"Do you really think Peter would think that? Do you think I deserve someone better for a husband?" That made Tony stiffen and he looked at Pepper, a wave of jealousy at the idea of Pepper with someone else; "You said you wanted to be part of his life. You can't just carry on like everything's normal."
"Why not? I can still be his father without ruining his life."
"Because if he find out you lied to him, he will never forgive you. And you'll lose him Tony." Pepper sighed when Tony looked away dejected. She stood up walking over to him, putting her hands on his biceps; "You're not a bad man Tony. I wouldn't have married you or fallen in love with you if you were."
"I don't know what to do Pep." Tony murmured; "Business and stopping bad guys is simple. But this? I have a son. I don't know how to be a dad. How do I know he even needs a dad? I mean he's already 15."
"No one knows how to be a dad at first. But look what you've already done with him. You were there for him, you disciplined him, you encouraged him. He could be 30 and still need his dad. But you'll never know if you don't tell him. Do you really want to spend your life being just Mr Stark to him? He's your son Tony. You said yourself you wanted to be part of his life."
"He'll hate me."
"Tony no.."
"If I tell him, I'll have to tell him about his mom and dad lying to him. His own parents. No kid should have to deal with that." Tony shook his head. It was all too much; "I need some time to think. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. And I need to know why Mary didn't tell me."
Pepper nodded in understanding; "Well there is one person who could give you answers."
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