New Traditions
At the end of the summer, Peter, Tony and the team all moved back into the newly renovated (again) Tower and things sort of went back to normal. Well, as normal as things could be in a building of superheroes. Bruce moved in with them and reintegrated himself into the little group while Thor and Loki found a place for the Asgardians on Earth. Peter stepped back from Spider-Man a little. Not completely, but just chilled out a little. He cut down his patrol times and stuck to the small stuff, trying not to get involved with armed attacks with gangs and things that might get him back in the Med-Bay again. Tony had made him a new Iron Spider suit with all the bells and whistles and a strict new set of rules and systems that Peter couldn’t hack into and remove. School started up again and the focus went back to the Academic Decathlon final that had been rearranged to the fall because of the alien attack. It was rescheduled for the third week in November, and Peter had successfully attended every meeting after school, much to MJ’s surprise.
The whole team were so excited when Peter told them the details about the final and they all promised to be there again just like last time in all their ‘disguises’. Peter had a word with them about having actual disguises and not just a baseball cap and a set of sunglasses. In the end everyone had decided they’d wear a baseball cap and a set of sunglasses. Because of course they did.
On the day Peter couldn’t help but jig his thigh up and down in the seat he’d been assigned. He’d been nervous before. Hell, he’d almost been strangled to death by a giant purple grape alien. This was worse. This was far worse. Usually crowds weren’t a big thing. He’d spoken in front of loads of people as Spider-Man and he’d done other Academic Decathlon competitions before, but this was the final. They’d never reached the final before. Everybody was at the final. It seemed like they’d invited the entire fucking country to come and sit in the auditorium.
He was partly thankful for it because it meant the team could blend in more, but it didn’t do anything good for Peter’s nerves.
He was startled out of his thoughts by MJ’s hand resting on his shoulder. He looked up at her as she scooted past him to sit in her seat next to him. He shot her a quick smile and then went back to bouncing his leg.
“You need to chill, Parker. We’ve got this.” She said, nodding confidently.
“What happened to the cynical MJ? I liked her. The whole ‘expect disappointment and you won’t be disappointed’ thing worked.” Peter waved his hand about and MJ shook her head, rolling her eyes at him. Men.
“Get a grip, Peter. We’ve prepared for this moment for as long as I can remember. We have this. We’re not the popular kids, we’re not the pretty cheerleaders or the jocks, we’re the nerds. We’re the completely insufferable smart-ass kids that everyone hates because we have perfect GPAs and we’re gonna get into Ivy League colleges. The Academic Decathlon was made for people like us. We were made for this.” Strangely enough, her pep talk seemed to work and Peter found his heart rate slowing down a little, his watch beeping to confirm his suspicions. It buzzed again and he glanced at it to see a text from Tony.
Stop flirting and concentrate.
Peter looked up and scanned the room for Tony, narrowing his eyes when he found him. He whipped his phone out of his pocket and fired off a reply.
Stop being jealous just because I have game and you haven’t had a hook up since the 00s.
He looked up at him, waiting as Tony read the message and smiled to himself before looking up at Peter and placing a hand over his heart, feigning hurt.
Who taught you to speak to your elders like that? After all that I’ve done for you?
Shut up and go pee before it starts. If you can’t make it through the Shawshank Redemption without going you’re not gonna make it through this. I heard your bladder gets weaker once you hit 65. Maybe you should get checked out.
He saw Tony splutter but smile immediately after and he knew he was secretly loving it.
The audacity of you youths today, honestly, god help you all when we die. I truly worry for your generation.
At least I can hold my pee.
He didn’t reply for a minute and Peter looked up at the man again. Tony was smiling proudly at him. Victory.
You nervous?
Peter bit his lip, his leg still bouncing up and down. Maybe he needed to pee?
Shitting myself.
Language.
Shut up, this is an extenuating circumstance.
You’re gonna knock it outta the park, kiddo. Don’t worry your pretty little head about it. These other kids won’t know what hit them. Remember: you’re Tony Stark’s intern, so you’ve gotta be smart, right?
Peter snorted.
Of course. How could I possibly forget?
Alright, ten minutes to go. Go give your phone in and splash some water on your face and then go show these dumb bastards who’s boss.
Language.
Fuck off.
Peter laughed and then slipped out of his chair, heading back stage to give his phone to the guy at the desk. He saw a few of his teammates hanging about and doing final questions with each other. He did what Tony had said and went to the bathroom to splash some water on his face, giving himself a little pep talk before joining them again.
Soon enough it was the final call and both teams were asked to go and take their places on stage.
Peter’s eyes found the team and they all pumped their fists and grinned. He smiled and nodded at them before wishing his teammates good luck.
They did it.
They actually did it.
It all started with the other team giving the wrong answer for the atomic number of molybdenum. It went downhill for them from there and before they knew it, the final deciding question was being asked and Ned buzzed in and answered it correctly. There was an almighty roar from the crowd and then everyone was jumping up out of their seats and Mr Harrington was sobbing and the audience was applauding them and someone was coming on stage with medals for them all and Peter could hear Sam whistling from somewhere.
The bus back to school was the most chaotic thing Peter had ever experienced. Everyone was so hyped up to have won and Mr Harrington still hadn’t stopped crying and he was on the phone to Morita telling him the good news and everyone was still gazing at their medals and Flash was already doing everyone’s head in but that wasn’t out of the ordinary, at least. Peter just sat in his seat sort of stunned about the whole thing. He’d been so nervous about letting the team down, but they’d done it. Ned answered the deciding question and Peter was so happy for him and so proud of him and MJ was actually smiling and Peter realised that she was really pretty when she smiled and she should do it way more often. Betty was already drawing up a rough entry for the school’s paper and Abe looked as though someone had given him a shot of espresso because he was practically bouncing off the walls.
He’d gotten congratulations texts from everyone off the team, including Tony. They were driving separately of course, and had a big dinner planned back at the Tower that night. There was going to be a little impromptu party back at school for when they arrived and Tony had decided it was too much of a risk to come, which Peter had completely understood.
So when they all turned up in the gym to congratulate everyone, Peter about had a heart attack. Of course, so did every other kid. It wasn’t every day literally all the Avengers turned up at your school.
Everyone signed an NDA and then they were allowed to freak out and talk to their favourite Avenger. Peter made a beeline straight for Tony.
The man smiled and opened his arms and Peter folded himself into them, sighing contentedly when he pushed his face into the man’s shoulder.
“I told you you’d do it,” Tony mumbled, pressing a kiss to Peter’s hair.
“I’m so glad it’s over,” Peter chuckled and Tony smiled, pulling away to look at him properly.
“Looks like there was nothing to worry about after all, huh?” Peter smiled, stepped back and flushing bright pink when MJ walked past and saw the two of them. Tony followed his eyes and smirked.
“Oh I get it, nobody wants to be with a guy that loves hugs, huh? Nobody wants to be with a guy that hugs his parent, right? You wound me, Pete.”
“Shut up!” Peter hissed.
“What? I’m right, aren’t I? You think she’s cute?”
Peter just wanted to die right on the spot. Where was Thanos when you needed him?
“Stop it. You’re embarrassing me.”
Tony laughed. “That’s what I’m here for, kiddo. Welcome to the rest of your life.” He teased him, ruffling his hair. “Go on, go talk to your friends, flirt with the scary girl, spend some time celebrating. We can chat later.” Tony shooed him off and Peter went off to find Ned and MJ.
“It’s cool that they all came to see you,” MJ said, nodding to the Avengers that were dotted around the gym. “Their disguises suck though. I can literally see Barnes’ metal arm."
Peter cringed. “Yeah, I know. I told Dad they needed better disguises but he paid no attention to me at all, as usual. It’s kinda cool though, I didn’t think they’d be able to come celebrate with us but I guess Dad organised it with the school or something and I’m glad they’re here…” he trailed off when he noticed both his friends staring at him and smiling. “What?” Peter immediately ducked and turned around, thinking someone was coming up to him from behind. He cringed again when he realised he’d lived with Sam and Bucky too long and he needed to chill the fuck out. Late night attacks in the kitchen when his Spidey-Sense was relaxed had traumatised him for life. And to think, Sam was the therapist of the group. “Why are you both looking at me like that?”
“You called him ‘dad’.” Ned pointed out and Peter opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out.
“I—” he started to stutter. “N-No I didn’t, I—I said Tony.”
MJ shook her head. “No you didn’t. You totally said ‘dad’.” They stood there for another minute while Peter gaped. “You really care about him, don’t you?”
Peter started spluttering again. “I—what, I—yeah, I mean of course I care about him, he took me in when I had nobody. I don’t know where I’d be without him and—what now?” MJ was giving him another weird look. She stepped towards him, placing her hand on his shoulder.
“Give up trying to make yourself miserable, Peter. The only one stopping you from being happy is you. Give it up already.”
Peter was about to ask her kindly what the fuck she meant by that but she walked off to talk to Betty and Nat, leaving him gaping in the middle of the gym with Ned.
“What did that mean?”
“I think you know, dude.” Ned patted him on the back. “Now, I think it’s about time you introduced me to Bucky. I’m both in complete awe and absolutely terrified of him and I think it’s time I find out which one overpowers the other.”
About an hour after everyone got to school, Tony cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention.
“So, first of all, I’d like to say a massive congratulations to you all for winning Nationals. It’s a huge accomplishment and I’m sure you all will go on to do great things in your careers.” There was a smattering of applause and a few cheers. “Secondly, I was trying to think of some sort of reward or celebration that I could give you guys for this, and I was struggling to come up with anything big enough. But, then I remembered that I’m a billionaire. And so, tomorrow, for the whole day, all of you and your families are coming with us to Coney Island, because I’ve rented the entire park for a day.”
There was stunned silence for a few moments before the hall erupted into screaming children and Tony spotted Peter just standing there with his jaw slack.
“We’re all gonna meet at the Tower tomorrow at 8am and I’ll provide the transportation to Coney Island and you can spend the day going on all the rides and playing on all the arcade games you want. And don’t forget the beach, so remember your swim suits.” Steve cleared his throat and Tony nodded. “And your sunscreen, please. I don’t need to be dealing with crying children who forgot to put sunblock on and now resemble a tomato.”
Peter walked towards him as the rest of the Academic Decathlon team started to ring their families.
“W—I—How?” He spluttered and Tony smiled.
“I’m Tony Stark.” He said simply and Peter rolled his eyes. “Besides, I felt bad that we couldn’t go out for your birthday since I was still recovering and I figured hey, if I can rent the entire park out for the day, you don’t need to be worried about being seen. And no queues. It’s literally the perfect idea.”
Peter felt a grin spread across his face. “Thank you. So much. This is… this is awesome.” He stepped forward and hugged Tony tight, not caring that MJ might see anymore.
Tony ruffled his hair. “You’re welcome, kid. I’m so proud of you.
Peter was pretty sure their day at Coney Island would go down in the history books as one of the best days ever. Going to Coney Island at all was always an awesome day, but literally having the entire place to yourself and your friends? The best.
Tony spoke to him when they arrived since he noticed he was a little fidgety.
“Hey, are you okay? I know that being here with what happened the last time and everything…” he trailed off and Peter nodded.
“I’m sure I’ll be fine. I just—give me like ten minutes and I’ll go on a ride and I’ll be fine.”
Tony nodded. “Okay, as long as you’re sure. Don’t put any pressure on yourself. If you wanna leave, we can leave.”
It turned out, being with his friends and family at a place that had previously held pretty dire memories for Peter made everything seem a little better. When he walked across the beach he didn’t think of the Vulture and the plane crash and the fire. Instead, he laughed at Ned’s joke and raced MJ across the sand. It was just what he needed for him to heal.
The Avengers didn’t hold back. They made sure to go on all the rides with the kids and to have fun themselves. Everyone laughed at Bucky because he grabbed the metal bar so tight he accidentally ripped it off and everyone laughed at Sam because he bet Abe $20 that he could have a dozen churros and go on the Cyclone and not throw up and he was proved wrong.
All in all, it was the best day ever, and Peter could be out with his friends and not have to pretend about anything, and not have to worry that someone would find out who he was. He could be a kid.
The next day, Peter had another meeting with Arthur and he had a few things he knew he wanted to talk about once Tony left the room.
“Something on your mind, Pete?” Arthur asked, opening his notepad.
Peter wiped his hands on his jeans and wondered why they were so clammy. Why was he so nervous? This wasn’t even the real thing, he was just telling someone how he thought.
“I spoke to my friends the other day and uh, they kind of told me off a little, I guess. We—we won the Academic Decathlon and when we got back to school Tony was there with the rest of the team and I was talking to Ned and MJ and I must’ve called Tony ‘dad’ or something and they, I—I need to stop making myself miserable and at this point, the only one stopping me from being happy is me. And I’m done with it.” Peter said definitively and Arthur raised his eyebrow.
“And what exactly are you trying to tell me, Peter?”
He looked up at Arthur nervously and took a deep breath.
“I think I’m ready for Tony to adopt me.”
A smell stretched across Arthur’s face and Peter bit his bottom lip.
“Peter, that’s great! That’s such good news. What made you change your mind?”
“A couple months ago, Tony surprised me on my birthday and said that he was naming me the heir to Stark Industries and it made me realise that no matter what happens, I’m always going to have a place with him. Even if something happens, I’m always going to have SI. I’m not going to be alone again. Ever. And I guess talking with my friends yesterday—it sort of sealed the deal for me. He’s my dad. He just is, I don’t know what else to say.” Peter shrugged his shoulders and Arthur smiled again.
“That’s brilliant Peter. I’m glad you’re ready for this next step. Have you got a plan yet on how to talk to Tony about it?”
Peter gave a small smile. “Well I was figuring that since it’s Christmas soon I could maybe get the papers or whatever and give them to him on Christmas Day or something? I know it’s a little cheesy but I can’t really think of anything else.”
“No, it’s a great idea. Do you have someone that can help you with everything?”
Peter nodded. “I’m gonna talk to Pepper when we get home and I think she can help me get the stuff ready.”
Pepper was so excited when Peter told her about his plan, and was 100% on board to help him get ahold of the adoption papers. She even let Tony’s lawyers know a little in advance to expect something soon. Peter worried that it was a bit premature because Tony hadn’t even said yes yet, which earned him an eye roll. A few days later, the paperwork arrived and Peter hid them in his desk drawer that he locked. He didn’t need anyone snooping for Christmas presents and finding them accidentally, *cough* Sam *cough*.
The minute it turned December 1st, the Tower was in complete Christmas mode, and Peter couldn’t help but feel excited about his first holiday season with Tony. He couldn’t wait for their Christmas traditions and to join in with them all. He went down to the lab to ask Tony about them all.
The only thing that told you it was Christmas in the lab were the Santa hats that Dum-E, U and Butterfingers were wearing.
And, of course, the Christmas music blasting at full volume instead of AC/DC.
“Hey, kiddo!” Tony yelled over Band Aid before asking FRIDAY to turn the music down to 50%, which was still loud enough to be heard three floors away despite the sound proof walls of the lab. “What’s up?”
“I was just gonna ask what sort of stuff you guys do over Christmas? Like when do we put the tree up and bake and stuff like that?”
Tony scrunched his face and thought for a moment. “We usually have a team come in a set up the Christmas trees since the place is so big and we usually have a few. I don’t think we’ve ever baked at Christmas. Was that something you did with Ben and May?”
Peter’s jaw dropped. Christmas without baking? No gingerbread houses? No home made cookies for Santa? Yeah, Peter figured out Santa wasn’t real when he was like eight years old like every other kid but they carried on making cookies for him and Peter would sneak out of bed every Christmas Eve and eat the half a dozen, but that was part of the fun! And not putting up your own Christmas tree? Scandalous. Absolutely unacceptable.
“Tony, gingerbread houses and chocolate chip cookies are staples of Christmas!” Peter argued. “They make the whole house smell so good and it’s so fun and you get to decorate them and see who made the best one and then you get to eat them and they’re so good with the cinnamon and I—I can’t believe you don’t bake at Christmas!”
“Kid, Pepper’s already had to remodel the kitchen five times. Do you really think putting me in the kitchen is a good idea?” Tony raised his eyebrow but Peter shot him with the puppy eyes and he melted like a stick of butter… a stick of butter that was in a pan ready to make gingerbread.
“Please, Tony? It’s like the best part of Christmas. And we absolutely cannot have other people come in and decorate our tree. That’s like against the law. It has to be us. Come on, it’s my first Christmas here, don’t you want it to be like, amazing?” Peter pleaded.
Tony set his tools down and turned to face him properly, a smile on his face. “You’re right. I tell you what, anything you want to do this Christmas, we’ll do. Gingerbread house competitions, a thousand batches of cookies, cheesy Christmas movies, hot chocolate, the lot. And I’ll compromise and tell them to leave one tree bare so that we can decorate it together. Deal?”
Peter grinned and nodded, walking into Tony’s waiting arms.
“Good morning.” Peter said, tucking himself into the man like he usually did.
“Morning, kiddo. Did you get your advent calendar?”
Peter grinned.
Peter’s advent calendar was quite literally the coolest thing on the entire planet. He had a regular chocolate one, which was great, but it was nothing compared to the one Tony had made for him.
Each window had an equation which Peter had to solve to find x and put the variable into the keypad so that it would open. And behind each door was a program that he could install into his Iron Spider suit. Today’s addition had been laser webs.
Coolest. Present. Ever.
“I did. It’s so awesome, thank you so much.” Peter mumbled against him and Tony chuckled, pulling away.
“I couldn’t just leave you with a regular $10 advent calendar, it’s not my style.”
“I’m shocked to the core.”
“Alright, alright, enough with the sass. Why don’t you go down and see the team and tell them they’ve got—” Tony looked at the time, “—about three hours to prepare themselves for a gingerbread house competition. Working alone, no teams. This will be a fight to the death. Whoever wins gets to pick what Christmas movie we watch tonight. We’re gonna do this right.”
Peter grinned.
“This is gonna be so awesome.”
There were… mixed feelings when Peter announced the competition to the team. Sam immediately ran into the kitchen to check on supplies, Steve started sketching out designs, and Bucky put his head in his hands and prayed for death.
Like he said. Mixed feelings.
Peter sat down next to Bucky and put his hand on his shoulder. “Hey, at least know that you’ll probably do better than Vision. He doesn’t eat so he doesn’t know what gingerbread’s supposed to taste like.”
Bucky managed a half-hearted smile. “Thanks, kid.”
Pepper and Rhodey were going to help oversee and judge all gingerbread houses. Mostly because Pepper wanted to be there in case anyone decided they wanted to blow up her kitchen. Again. Absolutely not looking at anyone in particular, there. There were eight people going for gold as it were; Sam, Steve, Bucky, Nat, Bruce, Wanda, Vision and Peter. Tony had been removed from the competition almost as soon as it started when he’d managed to set a tea towel on fire whilst trying to sketch out his plan. Pepper had stepped in with a fire extinguisher and a shake of the head and pulled him to the judging bench.
Each person had half an hour to plan and sketch out a design before getting on with actually baking. Pepper stayed pretty close when it got to that stage. Bruce cringed when he was a little heavy handed with the bottle of cinnamon and accidentally dumped the entire thing into the mixing bowl. Oops.
Peter figured his real competition was probably Wanda and Steve. Wanda’s cooking was good. She didn’t do it very often, but she seemed to know her way around a mixing bowl. And Steve’s food had always been good, and he was an artist back before the war started, so his design would be good.
Bucky was already struggling, the metal hand not a good match for trying to crack eggs. He ended up with a mess of egg, sugar and shell before Sam helped him out. Peter followed the recipe he’d found to the letter. The times that he’d made gingerbread with Ben and May, they’d always burnt it (of course, nothing actually edible was ever cooked in that kitchen), but today, Peter was not messing about. Peter was here for one thing and one thing only. Peter was here to win.
With the gingerbread successfully baked and only ever so slightly burnt, the decorating began. Peter’s heart melted a little when he looked over and saw Bucky being so gentle with the gingerbread, trying not to crack it with his metal hand.
Focus, Peter. Bucky is the enemy right now.
He refused to look at anybody else, choosing to have faith in himself that he could pull through and deliver. There was a lot riding on this. He wasn’t about to sit there for two hours and watch some shitty Christmas movie. If they didn’t end up watching The Christmas Chronicles that night, Peter was going to have some very choice words for everyone.
Eventually, their time was up and each gingerbread house was positioned on the island with a photo of its maker in front a-la The Great British Bake Off. They were sophisticated in this house.
Peter bit his lip with nerves. Steve’s looked really good. Sam he wasn’t too worried about—his gingerbread house had collapsed the second he’d let go of it. Nat’s was surprisingly neat, but because it was so precise she hadn’t managed to finish it in time. Wanda’s looked good but it was a little too burnt. Bruce proved to be solid competition, producing a pretty good-looking house. Bucky’s was a mess of cookie and icing but Peter was so proud of him. He hadn’t cracked any of them. Go Bucky. Vision’s was horribly under-baked and looked like brown slop. Pepper and Tony skipped right by him without even trying it. Pepper didn’t want to get food poisoning in the run-up to Christmas. Completely understandable. They finally came to Peter’s house, which he was very happy with. Yeah, it had caught a little on the edges, but he’d managed to cover it up with white icing. He’d used little jellies for decoration and even made a few gingerbread men to stand in front of the house. Tony broke off a corner and took a bite, winking at him.
“Well, Pepper, I don’t know about you but I think I’ve made my decision.”
“Yes, I believe I have, too.”
An hour later, after clearing up the kitchen to an appropriate degree where Pepper wasn’t threatening to decapitate anyone just yet, everyone settled down with hot chocolate and Peter put on The Christmas Chronicles.
He snuggled down next to Tony and curled into his side. Tony put his arm around him and tugged him close, pressing a kiss to his head as the movie started playing. Peter took a sip of his hot chocolate, giving himself a whipped cream moustache. Tony smirked and wiped at it with his thumb and Peter smiled.
“New tradition?” He asked, hopeful.
And how the hell could Tony say no to that face?
“Absolutely.”
Everyone just had to accept that Peter was the best baker and that was that.
Peter loved Christmas with Ben and May. He understood that they didn’t have much money, but that was never a big deal. Everyone got one or two presents depending on the cost and usually there was a homemade one that had the extra sentimental touch. He knew that this Christmas would be very different, and he missed his aunt and uncle. Sure, he was excited for new traditions with Tony and Pepper and Rhodey and the team, but he did miss the old stuff. Getting matching pyjamas and having quiet nights in was something he cherished when he was younger, and he hoped to get Tony involved with it, but he wasn’t sure how willing the man would be. Matching pyjamas didn’t really seem to be his thing.
The day school was out for the holidays, Pepper was the one to pick Peter up from Midtown Tech and she took him shopping. He’d expressed his worries to her the other day about getting a present for MJ. He’d already sorted Ned’s presents, but he was a little nervous and unsure about what he should get for MJ. He had an idea about a necklace, but he wanted Pepper’s opinion about it before he bought it first. He’d been saving up whatever money he could from his birthday in the hopes of finally having enough to buy it for her.
Pepper, of course, thought the whole thing was completely adorable and kept teasing him relentlessly.
“If I knew you were going to be like this I would’ve brought Tony instead,” Peter said, pouting and Pepper laughed and threw her arm around his shoulders.
“Oh, come on. You had to expect a little teasing, Pete. It’s not like we’ve ever had kids around us before. It’s exciting, seeing you and MJ together.”
“Well we’re not even together… I was hoping that the present would kind of tell her that I’m into her,” Peter mumbled and Pepper rolled her eyes.
“What is it with men? Are you all useless? Have you ever thought about—I don’t know… asking her out on a date? Maybe for coffee? A movie?”
Peter shook his head vehemently.
“Why not?”
“Cause she could say no.”
Pepper shrugged her shoulders. “Okay, so the worst thing that could happen is she says no. You respect her wishes and don’t push and continue to be friends. Is that the worst thing in the world?”
“No, but I’d never live down the embarrassment.” He moaned, shifting his weight from foot to foot like an utter child.
“Oh, don’t worry. Embarrassment fades. Your fa—Tony once peed in his suit at one of his birthday parties. You’d think that would be embarrassing, right?” Peter nodded. “Nope. Didn’t affect him one bit. If there’s anyone that can help you get over embarrassment, it’s Tony Stark.”
Peter bit his lip. “You really think he’s gonna say yes?”
Pepper looked down at him. “About the adoption?” He nodded. “Honey, of course. I don’t think there’s anything that could make Tony happier. He loves you so much and I think he’s been ready for this step for months, he’s just been waiting for you to decide that you’re ready. There’s not a single doubt in my mind. Not one.”
Peter released a big breath.
“Have you been nervous about that for a while?”
“Since the party for Academic Decathlon.” Pepper ran her hand through his hair.
“Honey, that was weeks ago. Why didn’t you say something before?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I was just overthinking things, I guess. I—I’m not changing my mind though. I want this. Man, I really want this. I just hope that when the time comes to ask him I don’t mess it up or chicken out.”
“Don’t worry, honey. Everything will be fine, I promise. It’s gonna be a fantastic Christmas.”
“Pepper? Do you—do you think we could persuade Tony to get matching Christmas pyjamas?” He asked as they were passing a store that had pyjamas on display. Pepper looked up at them and smiled.
“I suppose if we bought them and showed them to him and told him he had to wear them, he’d have no choice, would he?”
They left the mall that day with a necklace and 11 sets of Christmas pyjamas, and Peter felt a lot more confident about asking Tony to be his dad.