Chapter 13
“Are you sure you have to go already?”
Tony smiled, scooping Peter up into his arms to hug him tightly.
“Yup. If we stick around when the other kids come, you know they’re only going to want to talk to me and gawk at me. That would be fun for me,” he added with a smile that made Peter know he didn’t mean what he was saying. “But it wouldn’t be as much fun for you and Ned. You wouldn’t be able to have the summer camp experience.”
They’d already explained it to Peter, of course; it was one of the reasons they’d brought him up early.
“Yeah. I know…”
“But we’re just a call away if you need us.”
“And Phil and James are even closer than that,” Pepper reminded him, stealing the boy from Tony so she could hug him, too.
Peter hugged her close. They’d toured the entire camp together in the forty-five minutes since they’d checked Peter in. Out to the far meadow which was for the horses to graze when they weren’t being ridden or weren’t in the corrals or the barn. There was a ball field with a fence around the infield area to keep softballs or baseballs (or kickballs) from escaping the area and ending up in large forest that started at the edge of the camp and encircled most of it – even going out beyond where the lake ended.
They poked their heads in the cabin, approving of Peter’s choice of his bunk – which was right above Ned’s and near the back of the small room and then went down to check out the main buildings and the gym, which was under the cafeteria and had a double door that opened out into the area that led to the lake. Ned was showing Eric and Nancy around, too, (while checking the place out, himself) and the teen boys had ended up down on the dock, most likely hoping to run into the lifeguard that they’d already met, or any other who might also be cute.
By the time they’d looked around the main areas of the camp it was time for the other campers to arrive – and Tony and Pepper to go. It was just a little harder to do than Tony thought it would be.
“Do you have your money?” Pepper asked, brushing her hand against his cheek and thinking the same thing as Tony.
The boy nodded, his hand going into his pocket.
“Yeah.”
They were allowed to bring snacks with them, but they could also buy snacks at the camp canteen – which was just another name for a little store. Peter had some money but not the hundreds of dollars that Tony initially wanted to send along with him. He had a twenty and Barnes would give him more if he needed it.
“Did you forget anything?” Tony asked.
Peter grinned.
“If I did, I wouldn’t know, right? Because I forgot it.”
Can’t argue with the logic of a nine-year-old.
“True.”
Eric and Nancy were walking over to join them and Ned ran ahead to stand beside Peter. He was grinning, too, just as excited. The teens came behind them and one of them was wet, proof that he’d gone into the lake. The fact that he was bemoaning his phone getting wet proved that he most likely didn’t go in on his own. Eric waved them to the van and then turned his attention back to Peter and Ned.
“Well,” he said, smiling. “Need anything?”
Ned shook his head and Peter followed suit.
“We’re ready.”
Eric turned a knowing look at Tony and Pepper.
“Are you guys?”
They both smiled.
“Yeah.” Tony looked at Ned and Peter. “Stay out of trouble.”
“Okay.”
Barnes stepped up between the boys and put one hand on each one’s shoulder.
“I’ll take care of them.”
Tony wasn’t the only one to nod. Eric and Nancy – obviously – didn’t know Barnes’ skill set, but they suspected that he was more than simply a SHIELD agent brought in to play counselor to Peter. There was no doubt their son would be fine. Eric hadn’t really been worried before, now he wasn’t at all.
“Thanks.”
Another hug and another kiss pressed against both of their cheeks, Tony and Pepper got into the car and headed out. Not without several looks back, however, and maybe a second thought, or two.
Bucky looked down at his two charges and there was genuine warmth in his smile as he did.
“Let’s go wait for the other kids to come.”
Peter nodded, looking at the watch he was wearing.
“It won’t be long, huh?”
“Any time, now.”
He didn’t need to look at his watch. Counseling wasn’t something that he’d ever in a million years thought he would find himself doing and he wasn’t in his comfort zone by any means. He hadn’t hung out with a bunch of little kids since he was a little kid himself – and that was decades ago – but he was a perfectionist, and that meant doing it thoroughly. He was even going to try and have fun – as long as no one decided to do something stupid and make a play on Peter when they thought he was at his most vulnerable away from Tony.
Then all bets were off, of course.
OOOOOOOOOOO
“How are you doing?”
Strange managed to not roll his eyes at the question. He shrugged, gesturing to the room that was filled with milling children and parents – as well as the counselors who were there to meet them all. As each family walked into the room, they went to the table where the sorcerer supreme (now downgraded to title of camp doctor) was waiting with the camp director to greet them. Jay took over the conversations; it was Stephen’s job to simply make sure that each parent with a child that took medication or had an allergy had a chance to speak with him about any concerns that they had and to hand him their medication. One of the younger boys actually had a prosthetic leg, but after watching him run around on it as naturally as if it had been flesh and bone, Stephen had taken the boy’s parents word that it wasn’t going to get in the way of him having a good time and keeping up with the rest of the camp.
“I’m fine,” he assured Nor.
It wasn’t rocket science, after all. Or brain surgery. But it was more work than he’d expected to be dealing with that week. On the plus side, there weren’t many kids who took medication and those that did had been told to come to his cabin at the right time to take them, so Strange didn’t have to go around looking for anyone. The kids on medication knew what they needed to do, so it wasn’t going to be too terrible.
Nor looked down at his list.
“We’re only waiting on a few more kids. Then you can go take care of hat…” he gestured to the small stack of medications. “And you’re free to do whatever you want for a while.”
Strange nodded. He had resigned himself to being here, but he had little plans to spend the week in the great outdoors. He had a book, and he’d sit on the porch and read if nothing else needed his attention.
“Sounds good.”