Chapter 17
2008
2 days, 1 week, 1 month, 0 years
Peter was pressed up against the window, his nose smashed up against the glass as he watched the rain pour.
He let out a disappointed whine. It was the first time Tony had heard him make that kind of noise because it was raining.
“But you said we could have a picnic on the roof! I got dressed and everything!”
Tony gave a quick look up and down Peter’s outfit. Dressed was a strong term for what Peter was wearing. His socks were mismatched and twisted; his jeans were ill-fitting, Tony wasn’t entirely sure if that brands sizing came out bigger or if he had just bought the wrong size entirely but, either way, they looked as though they were about to fall off his hips at any moment; and his t-shirt was his well-loved Snow-White pyjama shirt.
“Sorry, Kid,” Tony sighed. He paused to take a long sip of his coffee from an uninspiring grey mug and watched as it continued to rain cats and dogs outside. “Maybe another day.”
Peter pouted hard, stroppily crossing his arms tightly across his torso.
“But we were going to have a picnic,” he whined.
“Not out in this we won’t.”
There were another couple of minutes of silent pouting before Peter gave in, skulking away to sulk in his bedroom.
It made Tony’s heart clench. He hated letting the kid down. The way Peter’s face would crumble right in front of him as the emotions took over broke some part deep inside of Tony. It made him think back to all the times his own father, Howard, had broken promises of going on adventures together and bailed on plans at the very last minute.
But he had no idea what to do to make it right. He’d never been quite delusional enough to believe he could ever be an actually decent father-figure to anyone – let alone a kid who had been forced to go though as much as Peter had.
So he called Pepper.
She picked up quickly but didn’t seem pleased to be receiving a call from him.
“What have you done now?”
“Why do you still always assume I’ve done something when I call,” Tony grumbled, immediately jumping to defend himself from his years and years of horrendous screw-ups and other mistakes. “I though we agreed that Peter was a good influence on me.”
Pepper sighed.
“Sure, but I’m on my way to an important meeting with Maritza, Natalie and Brogan from legal so this had better be urgent and slash or disastrous.”
“You’re always so busy Peps, you should take a vacation.”
Pepper sighed again, louder this time.
“No, seriously Pep. Pick somewhere, anywhere – hell, throw a dart at a map to decide and I’ll send you there. Two weeks, no work, all expenses paid; just you relaxing wherever you choose to go.”
“You’d fall apart without me here Tony, we both know it. Now hurry up and tell me why you called so I can actually go to the meeting you’ve now officially made me late for.”
“I made the kid sad,” Tony admitted. “I had promised him a picnic on the roof today but its bucketing it down and so we can’t and he kind of looked like he was about to cry when he went of to his room. How do I fix it, Pepper? He was so excited about having a picnic and now he’s so sad.”
“Just lay down a blanket on the floor and have it inside.”
Tony looked at his phone in utter amazement. This was exactly why he had called Pepper to help him solve this.
“And next time, use your genius brain to figure out a solution before calling me and making me late for the meetings I’m going to for the sake of your company.”
There was no heat or even any actual annoyance in her tone but Tony got the message loud and clear regardless.
“Sure,” he replied. “Thanks Pepper. And you think about that vacation destination.”
“I’m going to hang up now and I’ll be up tomorrow with some legal papers for you to look over and sign. Goodbye Tony.”
Tony, despite being a grown man, wasted no time in sprinting down the hallway towards Peter’s room to tell him of Pepper’s genius indoor picnic idea.
Pepper was awesome. He was going to send her on the most awesome, and expensive, vacation of her life as a thank you.