Pepper & Peter
It was a terrible Christmas. Undoubtedly the worst they had ever experienced. At one point, everything was perfectly normal, right, a normal day. An ordinary day, which soon turned into a nightmare.
He still saw it so vividly and it happened again and again. Explosion. His dad is nowhere. And then, as their mansion slowly collapsed down, into the massive waves of the deep ocean. And his dad is still nowhere.
And even though they soon received a message directly from him through Jarvis, and they knew he was alive, Peter was still terrified. His dad was gone. Too far from him. Completely alone. Tears welled in Peter's eyes again. He wiped his wet cheeks angrily with his hooded sleeve and frowned at the opposite wall. Everyone is celebrating Christmas somewhere now, and he's waiting for his dad to come home.
"Sweetheart, you should eat something," Pepper said softly, sitting down on the couch next to him. Peter now had no mood to even think about food and looked reluctantly at the sandwich on the plate. "Come on, honey, at least have a piece of it. You have to eat something and you haven't eaten since this morning," Pepper begged him, cutting him at least a piece that Peter reluctantly took.
"I'm not hungry," he muttered as he took a bite or two to chew on. He stared at Pepper. "But do you know who's hungry for sure? My dad. And there's nothing we can do about it because he's gone." His voice sounded reproachful and broken, and although those accusations were not directed at Pepper, it still hurt her. Her eyes filled with tears, which she immediately blinked away. She had to be strong and she had to be there for Peter. It really was her fault. She was the one who wanted to spend Christmas at their headquarters in Malibu...
"I know, Peter, but as you yourself said, there is nothing we can do now. We have to wait for him. I know you'd rather go looking for him on your own, but you can't. We couldn't do it, do you understand?" She spoke to him patiently, yet she projected some vigor into her voice. Peter watched her and listened carefully to every word she said. Pepper put his hands on his shoulders and looked deep into his eyes as he still said nothing and nodded in agreement. "Peter, your dad is the strongest and bravest man in the world, and he will not give up. He'll be back, I know that, and he'll be fine. He can make it, and we have to believe it. He wouldn't leave us here," Pepper assured him, trying to make an encouraging smile. "Your dad is Iron Man. He can do whatever he wants. He'll fight with everything to come back to us."
Peter kept his eyes on her. He liked what Pepper said. And she was right. His dad is the bravest man he knew, and he'll do anything to be with them again. He nodded, and as Pepper returned the smile, relief appeared in her eyes. "You're right. Dad will come back," he muttered, setting the rest of the sandwich back on the plate and then wrapping himself in her warm arms, where he felt safe. Pepper hugged him gently and kissed his hair.
"Your dad can handle it," she whispered again, swaying gently with him as she whipped him in the hair with one hand. She felt Peter nod. His eyes were closed. She hoped he would fall asleep at any moment. It was a difficult day for him, he has to rest and regain his strength. She was sad that they hadn't had Christmas as she had imagined. She thought of Tony and hoped he was okay. She wished he would be home soon...
"I'm glad you're here with me, Mom," he muttered, exhausted, pressing closer to her. Pepper's wave of motherly love swept over her. She smiled and hugged him lovingly.