Peter quietly watched the passing landscape. They had left the town a long time ago, and now only snow-covered trees lined the road. And the further they got away from the city, the more he began to doubt it all. Maybe they should go back.
"Mr. Stark, are you sure this is all a good idea?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the window.
“Kid, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that? Seriously, just Tony is cool. And don't worry, I came up with this plan, so everything is more than fine. May and Happy will have a nice holiday and we will have a nice holiday too. Besides, there's still someone you have to meet," he replied and Peter sighed.
He was glad that May had found someone. And Happy was more than fine so it wasn't a problem. And of course, he was looking forward to spending more time with Mr. Stark. Especially after everything they've been through. But he still felt like he was intruding on their home. Christmas is about family. And what was he?
Peter sighed again and turned his gaze to the man next to him. The use of stones of infinity has marked him quite a bit, but they can be grateful that he survived at all. What's a pair of scars and a mechanical arm against death?
"Can you drive with that hand?" He asked, and Tony laughed.
“If I couldn't, I wouldn't. Rehabilitation and training do wonder. "
"Okay."
"A few more minutes and we'll be at home," he said, and Peter looked back from the window.
Home.
It was home for him, but Peter has no idea where they were going or what it looks like there. And yet, from the man next to him, it sounded like Peter had been there before. As if it was his home too.
"How much?"
“Ten, fifteen at the most. Pepper prepared your room. We used it as a guest room, so there is nothing extra, but you can arrange it however you want. I talked to May and she agrees that whenever you want, you can spend some time with us. Come over for the weekend sometimes or whatever," Tony said slightly nervously and Peter looked at him in surprise.
“You don't have to give me a room in your house. The guest room is fine,” he muttered, not knowing what to do with this new information.
"It's not worth talking about. We want you to feel at home there, and not as a guest."
"That means a lot. Thank you, Tony."
"You're welcome, Peter, you're welcome," Tony said with a satisfied look on his face.
After that, the conversation between them died down and Peter went back to watching the snow-covered trees. The drive really could have been a few minutes before Tony parked the car in the driveway of a nice-looking cabin.
"We are here," Tony stated with a smile and got out of the car. Peter sat in the passenger seat for a while longer trying to absorb it all before getting out of the car as well.
"I'll take it!" He blurted as he noticed that Tony was taking his bag from the trunk of the car.
"Nonsense," Tony said.
“You're not going to let it go, are you?” he asked resignedly.
"No," he answered simply. "Let's go inside now so we don't become icicles."
"Speak for yourself, I got dressed, unlike anyone else," Peter smirked. The truth was that Tony hadn't dressed very warmly, but he didn't have to either. They were practically in the car the whole time, where it had the heater on, so that was it.
“Ha, as if it's only a matter of time before you turn blue. Spiders can't thermoregulate, as far as I know."
"You won this round," he said defeated, and then they finally walked out to the cabin. Somehow Peter couldn't imagine that Tony lived in this place. But he never knew Tony very personally, and then he disappeared for five years. And this was just another painful reminder that while he was gone, others were still living their lives.
“Mommy! They're here!" a girl's voice squealed as soon as the front door closed behind them and Peter's blood froze in his veins. He felt like his feet were attached to the ground and he had to blink a few times to convince himself that a little girl was in fact standing in front of him.
That's a child, he thought.
They have a child.
How the hell didn't he know they had a child?
"Morgan, this is-" Tony started but was cut off.
"Petey!" she exclaimed excitedly, her eyes twinkling at him intently. She had the same eyes as Tony. And she knew who he was. How could she know who he was?
"H-hi," Peter croaked as he recovered at least a little.
“You're here! I can't believe you're here!" she squealed again and Peter grimaced. High notes didn't do him much good.
"Morgan, you need to quiet down," Tony said gently, noticing Peter's expression.
"I'm sorry, I forgot about your enhanced senses," she mumbled apologetically and Peter gave her another surprised look. She knew who he was.
"It's okay," he said and then finally noticed what she was wearing. A blue and red sweatshirt with a spider symbol on the chest. His spider symbol.
What the hell was going on here?
"Peter! I'm glad you decided to spend the holidays with us," Pepper greeted him, who finally appeared as well.
"It's nice to see you," he said without addressing her, not knowing if he should stay with Miss Potts or move on to Mrs. Stark. He reached out to greet her, but she pulled him into a hug and even though Peter was in shock, which was nothing new lately, he didn't protest.
“Why don't you go settle in a bit before dinner?” she suggested and he nodded.
"I'll show you to your room. It's right next to mine," Morgan said excitedly and before Peter could react, she was already pulling him by his hand up the stairs.
The next day, Peter woke up in the early hours of the morning, which didn't surprise him at all. Sleep was not his best friend after the soul stone. And the nightmares about Tony not surviving the use of the infinity stones didn't help matters much either. The clock on the bedside table read 4:30 in the morning when he woke up and knew he wouldn't fall asleep again. He just stared blankly at the ceiling for a while, and then he took his cell phone from the table and put his headphones in his ears, listened to carols, and was on social networks. At 5:30 an empty stomach drove him out of bed, so he got up and got ready for his day. He didn't make it to the kitchen until six, which wasn't so bad.
"Peter, good morning," Pepper, who was in the middle of baking cookies, greeted him. Does this woman ever sleep?
"Good morning," he greeted her, skipping the addressing her again.
"Please take whatever you want in the fridge," she said and he nodded, though he wasn't too keen. He wasn't going to rummage through the fridge!
“Can I have yogurt?” he asked as he reluctantly opened the fridge.
"Sure, at least two," she said with a smile, and who was Peter to protest her? He knew full well that one yogurt wouldn't fill him up.
"So, I have a question."
"Go ahead," she prompted.
"What shall I call you?"
"Oh please call me Pepper."
"Okay," Peter agreed. "Can I have one more question?"
"Of course."
“How are you?” he asked and this time she was the one in shock.
"What do you mean?"
"Just how are you? After all this..."
“You know you're the first one to ask me that? Everyone was just asking about Tony. It was hard, but I'm fine now. After all, I have a family with me, alive and well. What else could I wish for?"
"I'm glad you're all right."
"Thank you," she said and he smiled at her. She didn't have to say what she was thankful for. He knew it.
"Won't you join me when you finish?"
"With pleasure. May and I always baked cookies, although we usually burned everything,” he said, leaning over to see what kind she was baking.
"In that case, I'll leave the decorating to you," she laughed and he smiled back.
“Are those spiders?” he asked in confusion as he noticed that there were a few gingerbread spiders among the Christmas motives.
"Oh yes. Morgan insisted on them. You know, Tony wanted to keep your memory alive, so he talked to Morgan about you. And she quickly took a liking to you. Just like Tony, or me," she explained and Peter felt tears in his eyes.
"Seriously?"
"Yes. Having you spend the holidays with us really means a lot to us, Peter. Don't forget you're family, okay?” she said, gently ruffling his hair.
Family.
They considered him family.
"Thank you," he just said and she smiled at him.
"Pete! Dad took out the Christmas decorations and said that this year we are in charge of the tree! Can we decorate it right now?” little Morgan asked pleadingly as she ran into the kitchen after Peter.
"Won't it wait a few more minutes?"
"Petey!" Morgan whined as she wanted to go decorate the tree. Right now. She was really Tony's daughter.
"Go ahead, I'll handle it here," Pepper said with a smile as Peter helped with the dishes.
"Alright," he agreed, following an excited Morgan into the living room.
"I'll decorate the bottom half and you the top, okay?" Morgan suggested as they reached the tree, but it sounded more like an order. She must have picked that up from Pepper, Peter guessed.
"As you wish, Mo," he said, and then they got to work. Morgan asked Friday to play carols for them, and they did so well. Pepper brought them hot chocolate with cookies, and Peter was beginning to think, that he really was home. Not that he wasn't home with Aunt May, but it was nice to have a bigger family than just one person.
"Carefully! I made this myself," Morgan scolded him as he almost dropped the ornament once.
"Really? It's seriously a masterpiece, I must say,” he said appreciatively, earning only a giggle from her.
"Can you put this one up?" she asked when they had all the ornaments hung and all that was left to do was add the chain and lights. Peter attached one end of the chain to the top at her request and Morgan walked with it around the tree until she wrapped it all around. The same process followed with lights.
"Well, I think we've done quite a job, Mo," Peter remarked proudly as they finished.
"But Petey, what about the star?"
"Oh, I'm a fool," he said, slapping his forehead, causing Morgan to laugh.
"Will you place it?"
"I would be honored," he replied with a smile and took the star from her, he then climbed up to the ceiling and placed the star on the top of the tree.
"Great!" giggled Morgan, who was thrilled that they were decorating the tree together, but also that Peter could climb the walls.
“Peter Benjamin Parker! Get off that ceiling right now before I will have a heart attack!” yelled Tony who decided to go check on his kids.
"I'm sorry," Peter blurted out and was down immediately. Tony just waved it off and turned his attention to the Christmas tree.
"Great job, kids," he complimented them.
"Thank you," Morgan said happily.
"So we already have the tree, but did you write a letter to Santa?" Peter asked curiously as the three of them sat down on the couch and started eating what candy they had left.
"I wrote to him and I must have been really good this year because I already got my present," she said casually and Tony gave her a surprised look.
"And what is it, young lady?"
"Why, Petey!" she said as if it had been clear for a long time. "I wanted my big brother back and here he is!" she explained, snuggling up to Peter.
"Oh." Was all Peter could get out. He was sure if he tried to say anything else he would burst into tears.
"And you already wrote the letter?" Tony asked him.
"Am I interrupting something?" Pepper asked as she sat down next to Peter and placed a tray of snacks on the table. She noticed that the three of them were somewhat soft.
"Actually, I got my present already too," Peter replied to Tony, placing a kiss on Morgan's hair.
The last few months have been terrible. Tony was recovering from the battle and Peter had to absorb the fact that he had missed five years of his life. He thought it would be hard to find his place in the new world, but the truth was that he didn't even have to look for it.
His place was always where Tony was. And Pepper with Morgan.
His place was here.Â
“Merry Christmas,” he wished them.
"Now after five years they finally are, Pete," Tony said with a smile. Â