Chapter 10: Chapter 10
The ship was finally starting to take shape. They'd been at it for a couple hours.
After their conversation about their relationship, they'd managed to ease into a casual conversation. Peter told him about the other Lego sets he'd build with Ned, and Tony was telling him about some of the projects he'd build growing up.
"Do you wanna stay for dinner?"
"Sure." Peter answered immediately, enjoying spending time with Tony and not wanting it to end.
"Good. Because Pepper would like to get to know you more." Tony knew he was taking a risk pushing Peter to see Pepper again, especially without talking to Pepper first. But he wanted them to get along. It was the only way this was going to work.
"Pepper? What!" Peter exclaimed snapping his head up; "Why? Why does she want to know me? Wait does she already know about me?"
"Woah ok slow down there underoo." Tony scoffed; "First of all, yes she does know about you. I told her as soon as I found out. I don't keep secrets from her. And second, she wants to get to know you better. Seeing as you're going to be an important part of my life now."
"Is she ok with this though? I don't want to get in the middle of anything. I mean you just got married and I..."
"Ok let me stop you there. You aren't getting the middle of anything. She's been nothing but supportive about this, and she's excited to see you again. But only if you're up to it. If not I'll tell her we can do it another time. No rush."
"No its ok." Peter said slowly; "It would be nice to get to know her." It would probably be best, if Pepper didn't like him, it would be better to know now before Peter got too attached to Tony.
"Good. That's good. She'll be thrilled to hear that."
"But I mean...if she...does she...does this mean she's like my...step mum or whatever? NotthatI'magainstitsomedaybecausePeppersoundsgreats." Peter said quickly; "ButI'mnotexpectinganything. Idontwanthertofeelobligatedto.."
"Ok stop." Tony said raising his hand because Peter's babbling was getting out of hand, he didn't even get half of what the kid was saying. But he got the beginning of it, and from the terrified look on Peter's face, he must be really scared about how Tony was going to react. But Tony thought it was kinda sweet of Peter to ask if Pepper was going to be his step mum. He'd mentioned it to Pepper before and she didn't seem against it, and he quite liked the idea; "Wow ok. You're going to have to stop the babbling because I didn't understand most of that. But I think I understand what you're saying. And let's just take this slow ok. Let's not make any decisions yet and see it goes. Does that sound alright?"
"Yeah." Peter said relaxing; "That sounds good."
"Ok. Now I'm hesitant to ask this because of the response I might get. But what do you want for dinner?"
Peter's smile quirked upwards; "I don't mind. Whatever is fine."
0o0oo0o-SPIDERMAN-0o0o0o0o
"Hey honey how's it going?" Tony said on the phone to Pepper as he left Peter building the Lego ship for a moment. He paused to eye Peter through the doorway before pacing away into another room.
There was a sigh on the other end of the phone; "It's been a long day. And I spoke to the lawyers and made sure they know to back off Peter."
"That's great. Thanks for doing that Pep." Tony said seriously relieved.
"Of course. So how did it go with Peter?"
"Great. Yeah good. We talked and he's agreed to give me a chance to be his dad. We're going to take it slow and hang out."
"That's great Tony! I'm so happy for you both. So when are you going to see him again?"
"Well actually...he's still here."
"He is?"
"I asked him to stay for dinner and he said yes."
"Oh. Well that's good. I supposed I can stay at the office a few more hours."
"I told him you'd be here." Tony said closing his eyes and wincing, preparing for the yelling.
"I'm sorry?"
"I said you wanted to get to know him."
"Tony..." Pepper started her tone serious.
"Well you do don't you?"
"Yes of course. But I meant someday. Not today. I don't want to just spring myself on him before he's ready."
"He wants to get to know you too."
"He does?" Tony waited, there was a long pause on the other end of the phone; "I don't know Tony...of course I want to meet him again. But this is all new for him and you've only just started to work things out with him. I don't want to get in the middle of that."
Tony sent a glance towards the lab to make sure Peter couldn't overhear; "He asked if you were going to be his step mum."
"What?"
"I thought it was kinda sweet. Yeah he was more curious than anything else. He said he wasn't against the idea, but didn't want you to feel obligated to. He said he wasn't expecting anything..."
"Tony."
"Ok fine I want you to be here. We're finally getting somewhere, and I want to make this work. But I can't if the two most important people in my life don't get along."
There was another beat of silence; "What does Peter want for dinner?"
Tony grinned raising his fist in triumph.
0o0ooo0o-SPIDERMAN-0o0o0o0o
"I didn't know you could cook." Peter said as sat at the kitchen island and watched Tony making dinner.
Tony turned to him wiping his hands on a towel before throwing it over his shoulder; "Your dad can do a lot of things." As soon as he said it he stilled, wondering if maybe it was too soon. But Peter just smiled.
"May's not a big cook. When she tries the smoke detector usually goes off. We tend to eat out or order take out."
Tony paused; "Would you rather we get take out?"
"No." Peter said quickly; "This is good."
"Sorry we didn't get a chance to finish your Falcon ship." Tony murmured cringing; "I didn't know it would be so many pieces."
Peter grinned; "It's ok. I like it when there's more pieces, takes longer to build it."
Tony leant his back against the counter opposite the island and surveyed Peter; "So why do you like these things so much? I mean it takes ages to build them and then you take them apart. Plus they aren't exactly stable."
"That's what so fun about them." Peter leant forward eagerly; "It's not about the end results, it's the time and effort put into building them. It's like a puzzle you know, it's fun when you snap the pieces together and watch it take shape. And the longer it takes, the more you look forward to seeing what it looks like when you finish it. Then when you're done you can break it apart and have fun rebuilding it over and over."
"Hmm." Tony thought about it, still not convinced.
"But it's better when you build them with someone else." Peter glanced briefly at Tony, hoping he knew he meant him.
Tony's face became smug and that's when Peter knew he knew; "Well maybe we could build some others sometime."
"That would be cool."
Tony nodded.
"But I'm holding you to building a real replica."
"Sure thing kid." Tony chuckled.
"Tony?" The door suddenly went and Pepper's voice echoed throughout the house.
Peter froze, and Tony raised a hand at him to reassure him.
"Hey Pep in here."
Pepper suddenly walked in wearing a fancy black dress with a white jacket, and she was holding a stack of files with her purse over her shoulder.
"Hey honey." Tony walked over to kiss her, and Peter looked away feeling like he was intruding on a moment.
"I'm sure you remember Peter." Tony said taking her hand and turning to face Peter.
Peter turned on his stool and stood up, suddenly unsure what to do with his hands.
He cleared his throat trying to remember his manners; "Hello Mrs Stark. It's nice to meet you again. You have a lovely home." Peter shoved his hand out to shake hers, hoping it was the right thing to do.
Tony and Pepper stared at Peter, and his heart raced suddenly terrified he said the wrong thing.
Tony then starting chuckling and Pepper smacked his arm, before turning back to Peter.
"It's nice to see you again Peter. And you can call me Pepper." Pepper shook his hand smiling warmly; "You have lovely manners." She turned to Tony with a smirk; "I wonder where you got those from."
"Hey!" Tony said faking outrage; "I have nice manners."
Pepper just rolled her eyes at him but she was smiling.
Peter could clearly see they were in love, he didn't know much about it. But he could see it in the way they looked at each other. They were a family. How did he fit in to that?
"Peter why don't you help me lay the table, and we'll leave Tony to making dinner."
"Yeah sure ok." Peter said quickly nodding.
Pepper grabbed the plates and just sent Tony a wink before going after Peter.
"I hope I'm not intruding by being here." Peter started as he started laying down the cutlery; Mr Stark...er Tony asked me to stay but I can go if..."
"Oh sweetie." Pepper interrupted straightening up looking at him kindly; "Of course you're not intruding. You're his son, and he wants you here."
"Do you want me here?" Peter mumbled looking down nervously playing with the fork in his hand.
This kid...
"Peter. Why don't you sit down?" Pepper walked over and pulled out the chair at the head of the table, and Peter slowly sat down on the chair on the corner facing her; "Why would you think that I wouldn't want you here?"
"Well you and Tony just got married, and then I turn up as his son. I can't imagine you planned for that."
"Life rarely turns out how you plan. Sometimes you get some surprises along the way, and sometimes those surprises turn out to be the best things that ever happened to you."
"But I'm sure you want you're own family someday not someone else's kid."
"Maybe we'll have a family someday." Pepper startled slowly; "But that doesn't mean you aren't a part of that. He's your father Peter, he wants to be in your life. That makes you family. Makes us family. And he's so proud of you. He's always going on about how amazing you are. And I'm not talking about being Spider Man but..."
"Wait you know about that?" Peter snapped his head up, eyes wide.
Pepper smiled nodding slowly; "Don't worry I'm not going to say anything. But the point is family isn't about blood. It's about loving one another and being there for each other no matter what." Pepper paused as she reached over and took Peter's hand; "Peter you were family even before Tony found out he was your father. And there is always a home here for you."
Peter was amazed at how welcoming and accepting she was; "You're so nice."
"Thanks." Pepper said amused, not expecting that response.
"No I mean it. Thank you. That means a lot." Peter said honestly. He never expected her to be like this. He expected her to be mad, to not want him around. He didn't expect Tony to just accept him.
It felt...good. To be part of a family. There had always just been him and May, and he loved May, but it was nice to have more family. To have an actual dad.
Pepper smiled at Peter, he was such a sweet kid, and looking at him now there were some similarities to Tony. A flash of movement caught Pepper's eyes, and she looked up seeing Tony leaning against the doorway watching them. Clearly, having overheard.
Thank you. Tony mouthed to her and she nodded at him. She loved Tony, if Peter was important to Tony, then he was important to her.
0o0oo0o0-SPIDERMAN-0oo0o0oo0o
It was an awkward dinner to start with, none of them having any idea what to say to each other.
Pepper spent most of it watching Tony and Peter together. They were clearly still nervous around each other. And the more she watched them, the more she realised she should have seen it sooner. They are just like each other.
"So how's school going?" Pepper offered hoping to ease into a casual conversation and make them all relax.
Peter nodded; "Yeah it's good."
"Do you like school?" Pepper prompted, sending a look to Tony to jump into the conversation.
"Yeah actually I do."
"Really? Why?" Tony said frowning in what appeared like disgust and Pepper kicked him under the table. He winced and glared at her and she looked at him sternly; "I just mean...most kids don't like school. I certainly didn't."
"It's ok." Peter shrugged; "I like learning new stuff."
"So do you have a favourite subject?" Pepper continued.
"Erm not really. But I like Chemistry and Physics..."
"Now I get how you made your webbing. It's extraordinary really. I was really impressed a kid made that. The tensile strength is like nothing I'd ever seen before. You have a gift kid."
Peter smiled proudly, and Pepper sipped her drink watching Tony and Peter.
"Thanks Mr Stark."
"Tony." Tony reminded Peter, and Peter nodded sheepishly.
"Right. Tony." Peter said embarrassed. It was going to take some getting used to calling him that.
The rest of dinner went smoothly and Peter got to know a bit more about how Pepper and Tony met, and how she became head of SI.
"So she's your boss?" Peter said with a smirk.
Tony sent Peter a warning look, not liking the amusement on the kid's face; "No."
"Yes." Pepper corrected; "And that reminds me honey. I'm still waiting for that prototype for the new bulletproof vest."
Tony narrowed his eyes at her but smiled sweetly; "It's almost ready sweetheart."
"You're making a bulletproof vest? Don't they already have those?"
"This isn't an ordinary vest. Actually I was inspired by your webbing and the tensile strength," Tony turned to Peter; "It uses the same principle of a mesh style as a shock absorber, meaning it can withstand larger bullets."
"Wow." Peter was impressed, and surprised that Tony would use something he made for something so important as a bulletproof vest. He felt honoured; "That's amazing." Peter knew SI made products for the military, law enforcement and hospitals but he never really thought about. His dad was saving lives with the stuff he built. He was a hero, and not just as Iron Man. How could Peter live up to that?
"You'll be building stuff like that when you take over." Tony said as he sipped his drink and Pepper froze.
"Tony..."
"Take over?" Peter murmured in between bites; "Take over what?"
"Stark Industries." Tony replied and there was a moment of deathly silence, followed by the clanging sound of the fork falling from Peter's hand and hitting his plate.
"Tony!" Pepper hissed and he turned to her confused and she shook her head vigorously. Peter was not ready to hear this.
"Stark Industries?" Peter repeated his eyes widening; "Why would I take over Stark Industries? It's yours, and Pepper's CEO."
"Well.." Tony started and then upon seeing the terror on Peter's face and the shaking of Pepper's head, realised he had said the wrong thing. But he couldn't just back out now; "You are my son now." He said slowly; "And when you reach 21 you're entitled to take over as CEO if you want to."
"But I don't know anything about running a company! I don't want to. You don't."
Tony could see Peter was really starting to freak out.
"Peter. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do." Pepper said quickly sending a look at Tony.
"You don't have to be CEO." Tony agreed; "I hated it. It's so boring and..." After seeing the glare Pepper was sending him he trailed off and rephrased; "But you could be like me and be head of R&D and build the fun stuff. That's why we're a great team." Tony said smiling at Pepper; "I build the stuff, Pepper sells it."
"There's more to it than that." Pepper said slowly.
"Do I have a choice?" Peter said looking fearfully at Tony. He didn't want to run a company. Especially Stark Industries. He had no idea what to do, and he would just end up ruining the company. Besides he didn't earn it. Yes he was Tony's son by blood, but that didn't mean he was a Stark. And there was no way he could run a billion dollar company.
"Of course you have a choice." Pepper said firmly; "Right Tony."
"Yeah there's no pressure. You can do whatever you want kid. It's just...you can if you want to."
"I...don't know..." Peter muttered.
"You don't have to decide now kid." Tony reassured him; "Just think about it."
"Thanks for dinner, and for having me over." Peter said as he picked up his plate and took them into the kitchen.
Pepper looked sweetly at Peter truly impressed by his manners; "Of course, we loved having you over Peter."
"Boss. Mr Hogan has just arrived to drive Mr Parker home." FRIDAY said aloud.
"Oh thanks." Peter nodded slinging his backpack over his shoulder. Peter then paused as he stared at Tony unsure how to say goodbye. Was he meant to hug him? Or shake his hand? Or just say goodbye?
"We still gotta finish the Millennium Falcon, so maybe we could do this again tomorrow? Or whenever you want."
"Erm I promised to hang out with Ned tomorrow. So maybe the day after that?" Peter nodded, excited about the idea of hanging out with Tony again.
"Sounds good kid."
"Right." Peter moved backwards towards the door; "So I guess I better..."
"Yeah of course." Tony said, a part of him not wanting Peter to leave. He was his son, he should be living with him. But Tony knew that it would be way too soon to ask that of Peter. Plus he needed to speak to May first.
"Oh and kid." Tony called making Peter pause; "As a favour to me, can you let Happy drive you back and forth to school?"
Peter opened his mouth to object and Tony held up his hand; "I know you can handle yourself. But for my own piece of mind. Just...humour me."
It looked like he was worried about him. But why would Tony be concerned about him going to school alone? Finally, Peter relented seeing how important it was to him. And he finally nodded.
"Ok if that's what you really want. Ok." Peter opened the door but lingered as he turned to face Tony; "Um bye Mr Stark...er Tony."
Then he was gone.
0o0o0oo-SPIDERMAN-0o0o0o0o
"I think that went well." Tony said as he walked back into the kitchen as Pepper was loading the dishwasher; "Don't you?"
"Yes. It went fine."
"What did you think of the kid?"
Pepper looked at him with a small smile; "I think he's a great kid. I can see now why you're so proud of him. And you know I can't believe I didn't see the resemblance sooner."
"What do you mean?"
"He has your eyes Tony." Pepper murmured softly, and Tony froze.
"He does?" Tony slowly grabbed the island in shock; "I didn't even notice." He took a moment to process that, and he felt immensely proud and smug to hear that Peter had his eyes. He really was his son.
"So how did it feel? Being a dad."
"Interesting."
"Good interesting or bad interesting?"
"Good." Tony smiled; "It was fun to hang out with the kid. But it was different to any other time we've hung out. He was nervous, and I was nervous."
"But you talked it out right?"
"Yeah..." Tony blew out a breath; "He sure knows how to ask a loaded question. He could be an interrogator or a reporter."
Pepper frowned "How do you mean?"
"He asked me if I loved his mom."
"Oh." Pepper walked around the island and placed her hand on his arm; "What did you say?"
"What could I say? That I didn't even know her name and it was just sex!" Tony huffed; "I tried to explain without telling him the truth."
"That couldn't have been easy."
"Harder than you think. He actually said to me that he knew what a one night stand was."
"I'm sorry?" Pepper exclaimed.
"Yeah I know. But he didn't really know thank god."
"Ok back up." Pepper raised a hand; "What exactly did you say to him?"
Tony blew out a breath; "I told him part of the truth. I said I was drawn to her that night, and we had a special night. But we couldn't have worked out, we were just two very different people with a lot going on in our lives. He seemed to understand. But he asked me why I didn't try harder to find her?" Tony shook his head; "I didn't like lying to the kid. Made me feel like a sleaze."
"But telling him the truth would only hurt him."
"Because I did something terrible?"
"No you didn't." Pepper said firmly; "Because he's just a kid, and he wouldn't understand. Tony you wanted to protect his idea of love and his mother, and of you, and there is nothing wrong with that. Sometimes its better not to tell the truth."
"But he's already been lied to his entire life, by everyone else. I don't want to lie to him too. He'll never forgive me."
"But telling him would only hurt him more. And he doesn't need to know. You've already told him the truth anyway. That you and his mom had a special night but it just wasn't meant to be. The rest doesn't matter."
"Maybe." Tony pondered that; "He did say he wasn't mad about it. He just wanted to understand. So I guess it doesn't matter. I just don't want to hurt him."
"You won't." Pepper paused choosing her words carefully; "But I would suggest taking this slow unless you want to scare him off. Tony, telling him that he was going to take over Stark Industries.."
"I know I know." Tony paced away; "It just slipped out. He seemed terrified about the idea. And frankly I don't blame him, I didn't want the company when I was his age either. I still don't. That's why you're running it." Tony paused; "Atleast I didn't tell the poor kid how much he was worth now." It was true. Now he was Tony's son, Peter was the heir to a billion dollar fortune. His net worth was now billions. God forbid how the kid would react if he ever found out. No one could find out. Peter's life would be in danger if they did. "You don't think I scared the kid off do you?"
"I think he was more rattled. Probably just overwhelmed by the Stark Legacy. Just don't put too much pressure on him."
"How do you always know what to say? What to do?" Tony looked at her in awe; "Like when you spoke to Peter earlier. You knew just what to say to him."
"It's a gift." Pepper quirked.
"I'm serious. Thank you for talking to him. Did you mean what you said? About him feeling family? You're ok with this?"
"Of course I am Tony. Like I told him. He was family way before you became his father. Plus, I kinda like him." Pepper paused a curious expression on her face; "He asked me about us having kids?"
"Ah yes I was going to talk to you about that."
"We haven't talk about kids yet." Pepper murmured studying him.
"How do you feel about it?" Tony offered.
Pepper shrugged; "I wouldn't be against a few little Starks running around. Someday." She added quickly.
"Really?" Tony said smugly as he rushed over to her pulling her into arms; "A few huh? Like how many are we talking? "
Pepper slapped his arm playfully; "How about we focus on the one Stark kid we already have?"
"We? Are you saying you want to parent the kid with me?" Tony said seriously.
"I'm saying I'm in this." Pepper ran her hands up his arm smiling at him; "He's your family which makes with mine. Now I don't want to rush into anything, he's your son and I don't want to get in the middle of that. But I'll be here if you or him need me."
"Oh there is no way I'm doing this without you." Tony said pulling her flush against him grinning; "Plus I think it will be good practise for those little Starks you see in our future."
"I'm serious." Pepper said chuckling and then her face became serious; "I like the idea of us having kids. Someday. But I'm in no rush. And right now, Peter needs you. We'll find a way to make this work."
"Bet you're regretting marrying me now?"
"Mmm." Pepper made a face like she reconsidering, and Tony rushed forward and kissed her, deeply. When he pulled back she was breathless and staring at him flushed; "Never." She smiled before kissing him again.
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