To Build A Home

Pepper let go of Tony to compose herself a bit. She lost her child seven years ago, almost to the day and her life had never been the same again.

It was Tony who suffered the most when Peter was gone.

He didn’t get out of bed for days and then he would disappear for days at a time just to be by himself and breakdown alone so Pepper and Harley wouldn’t see him like that.

So to hear that Peter was now alive, that was the only news they had been begging god for since the day Peter left them.

The two of them walked out of the house, Pepper quickly sending a text to their neighbours to check up on Morgan and Harley in a few hours and then got into the police car without another word.

Tony and Pepper clung on desperately to each other for the whole ride to the police station. They didn’t want to get their hopes up in case that this wasn’t their Peter. They didn’t want to have to go through another heartbreak that bad.

When they arrived, they continued to hold onto each other. It was dark outside and nearing ten at night but Tony didn’t want to wait another day to see his kid.

Inside the building, Natasha, their case worker who had been working with them from the very beginning, walked over to them and broke down in tears while she nodded her head. “He’s alive. He’s alive and he’s here.”

Pepper hugged her back and she joined her in crying while Tony was eagerly waiting to see his baby.

When Natasha pulled away, she wiped her tears and motioned them to sit down on the chairs. “Before I take you to see him, I have to tell you a few things.”

Tony shook his head. The thoughts of someone taking advantage of his kid and hurting him was haunting his every thoughts and making its way into his nightmares. He didn’t want to hear that. “Please. Did that monster hurt my baby?”

“No. Not that we know of. The man who kidnapped him is named Steve Rogers.” She paused and Tony let that name sink in. He didn’t recognize it. “When he kidnapped Peter, he moved him up to Alberta for a year until things settled down a bit. He must have known some insiders who helped him change Peter’s last night and some fake identification then he moved Peter back to New York and he’s been raising Peter as his own in Queens ever since.”

Tony stood up and wanted to vomit.

Peter had been kept right under their noses this whole time. That almost made it worse. Maybe he didn’t do enough to find his kid?

“Peter didn’t know you guys existed until a few hours ago. He’s scared.” Natasha continued and suddenly Tony was feeling scared to meet his own kid. “He was told that his mother died in a house fire when he was three, along with all family pictures up to that age. He lived a somewhat normal life.”

“Normal?” Tony asked in crazy disbelief, although after many years of working with Tony, Natasha was used to this by now. “He was raised by his kidnapper who did god only knows what to him in that time. He probably brainwashed him.”

Pepper reached out to grab onto his hand. Natasha didn’t flinch. “I meant that he wasn’t abused or chained to a bed. He was given toys, allowed to go outside, have friends, and go to school.”

Pepper wiped at her face. “How do you know that monster didn’t hurt him? How do you know for sure?”

“We don’t know for sure. At least not yet but I can tell you right now that he didn’t, Rogers is a child kidnapper and is on the run right now but I can tell you that he never laid a hand on Peter.” Natasha spoke with conviction and Tony believed her, mainly because he didn’t want to believe anything else.

“I’m going to let you guys see him now but we have to take this slowly. He still believes that Rogers is his father and that’s all he knows.” Natasha explained. “As much as you want to, do not bad talk Rogers. Don’t even bring him up unless Peter does. It will just cause him to turn on you guys.”

Both parents agreed and followed Natasha down a hallway. At the end of the hallway, there was a door with a rainbow painted over the top of it and had trees and monkeys swinging from it.

Tony knew what was behind those doors.

“I’m going to go inside and tell him that you guys are here.” Natasha went to move but stopped. “Just remember that he doesn’t remember you guys. I showed him a picture and he didn’t remember.” She turned to Tony. “He called you Tony so maybe he remembers that somehow. That’s good news but maybe him seeing you will ring some bells.”

As Natasha turned and walked into the rainbow room, both Tony and Pepper clung onto each other and unconsciously held their breath.

They waited until the door was being opened back up what felt like a lifetime later. Natasha walked out and turned around. Tony saw a set of curly brown curls follow her out.

He covered his hand over his face. His eyes were glued onto his baby that was walking towards him. It had been seven years since he'd last seen him and now here he was, in arms reach yet Tony couldn’t move.

Natasha stopped walking and stepped to the side a bit. “Peter. This is Tony and Pepper. Do you remember who I told you who they are and how much they love you?”

Peter gave a slight nod and then lifted his head so he could look at the two adults standing in front of him. He looked at Pepper first and then looked over at Tony but his eyes lingered on him for a lot longer.

Both parents were trying to keep it together but Pepper couldn’t hold it in anymore. She broke down with a sob and reached forward so she could touch Peter but she hesitated. “Oh baby. Can-can I touch you?”

Peter looked like he wanted to shake his head but instead, he gave the tiniest nod and if Pepper and Tony hadn't been staring at him so intently, they wouldn’t have seen it.

Pepper ever so slowly reached out to cup Peter’s still chubby cheeks in her hands. Once she was touching him, it was as if it became real for her so she broke down even harder and hugged Peter without him making any move to hug her back.

When she pulled away, Tony wanted to do the same thing. He wanted to pick Peter up and hold him in his arms like he used to do when he was a baby but the sad truth was that they were complete strangers to Peter.

Tony wanted to hear him speak. He wanted to hear what his voice sounded like. He wanted to memorize every single part of Peter and embed it into his mind so he wouldn’t ever forget.

He looked down at his son and couldn’t stop his stomach from growing butterflies in it. The love he had for this boy standing in front of him. He mourned the loss of his kid for longer than he knew him and now he couldn’t even move to reach out and touch him.

Looking down at him, he was trying to take in everyone of Peter’s features. He was extremely tiny. Not underweight and starved kind of tiny but naturally tiny. He was wearing grey track pants with a blue, oversized sweater that had some kind of lego man on the front.

Tony looked into his eyes and saw a mirrored reflection of his own. The same curly brown hair that he remembered from the three year old that left their lives all those years ago.

He couldn’t wait any longer so he kneeled down in front of Peter so he was closer to his height but now Peter was the one looking down at him. Tony looked up at his kid and felt the tears burn his eyes.

“Hi Peter. I’ve waited so long for this.” Tony wiped at his face some more. “I know you probably don’t remember me but I’m your father, baby.”

Peter looked away from him and turned back to Natasha who was watching the scene unfold in front of her. Tony sat there, down on one knee and looked at his son who didn’t even want to look at him.

He knows that he should expect it. Another man who claimed to be his father was the one who raised him and it was all Peter knew so of course he was going to take a liking to everyone else but him.

Peter turned back to look at Tony with tears falling down his cheeks. “I-I don’t know you.”

Tony just stared at Peter. That broke him. Although he knew he shouldn’t have expected Peter to know who he was.

He was taken from them at three years old so Peter wouldn’t have the memories still in his mind. Tony hoped that eventually something would ring a bell for him and let Peter’s memories come flooding back but it was unlikely.

Tony cleared his throat and stood up. “That’s okay. Um,” He looked up at Natasha who looked sad as she watched the small family reunite.

It was stupid of them to have pictured Peter running into their arms and sobbing on them while they all clung onto each other because Peter wouldn’t have remembered them no matter who had kidnapped him and what they did to him.

Natasha put her hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Would you like to go back into the room while I talk to Tony and Pepper?”

Peter responded by turning and walking in the direction of the rainbow room. He turned around and glanced at Tony before looking away and disappearing into the room.

Pepper cried into Tony’s shoulder. “He hates us.”

“He doesn’t know you guys. We always talked about the possible outcomes of this happening. We tried to stay hopeful and this was the downfall of it but you have Peter back. He’s ten years old. He’s a child and he’s scared so don’t rush him.” Natasha tried to help calm them down with reason which Tony liked since she never sugarcoated anything.

“I can take him into foster care for the night so you guys can get ready-”

“No. We’re taking him home.” Tony rushed out. “I’m not leaving his side ever again. Just… bring him back out here.”

Natasha looked at Pepper then gave a sharp nod and turned to walk into the rainbow room.

Natasha walked over to Peter and kneeled down in front of the chair he was sitting on. “I just want my dad. Please.”

She sighed. “Steve is not your dad, Peter.”

“Yes he is!” He screamed at her, tears pouring down his face.

“He stole you away from your real mom and dad when you were a baby.” She explained once again.

Peter shook his head and continued to cry harder. He was exhausted and all he wanted to do was go home and fall asleep in his dad’s bed with him like he does every Friday night. It wasn’t fair. Where was his dad?

“Tonight, you’re going to go home with Tony and Pepper and I will come to check up on you tomorrow, alright?”

Peter started crying harder and shook his head desperately. “No. I don’t want to! I don’t know t-them. No.”

Natasha stood up and pulled Peter to his feet. “They’re your parents and they love you so so much. Even if you don’t remember. Just know that they do.”

Peter continued to tug weakly against Natasha who was holding onto his hand and bringing him into the hallway but he had no more fight left in him.

She stopped just in front of the two strangers so Peter tried to pull her in the other direction or at least try to get free so he could run but he gave up and sank to the floor.

“I know this is hard for all of you but he’s overtired which is making everything worse.” Natasha explained to them but she knew that they were already aware.

Pepper bent down so she could reach out and hold onto Peter’s tear soaked face. “It’s gonna be okay, Peter. Just take a breath and we’ll take you back home.”

Tony watched them. It wasn’t home for Peter.

They had moved out of their old house a year after Peter was kidnapped. They brought a house with four bedrooms because they always wanted an extra one for Peter and it worked out perfectly when Morgan came along so now there was an empty bedroom in their house with nothing in it, waiting to be used by Peter.

They would eventually make their own memories over time but Tony didn’t know if they were going to be happy memories or not.

He knelt down on the floor next to Pepper and reached out to place a hand on Peter’s arm. “Peter, it’s okay. Everything is gonna be okay now, baby. You’re home.”

When Peter looked up at him and shook his head, something inside Tony broke.

They wanted Peter so badly but Peter didn’t want them.

Natasha had to be the bad man in this situation so she grabbed onto Peter’s arms and pulled him to his feet. “I’m going to see you tomorrow, Peter.”

Peter tried to stop crying. He sucked in a shaky breath and rubbed at his eyes then looked up at Tony who had stood up with him.

It was scary and frustrating for Peter. He just wanted his dad who apparently wasn’t even his dad anymore. Part of Peter never wanted to see the man ever again and another part of him wanted to run into his arms and never let go but he wanted to know why more than anything.

He walked a bit behind Tony and Pepper as they were led to another police car and had the back door opened for them. Peter hesitated and took a step back. “Why are we going in a police car?” He asked, he was already put in one to be brought to the station.

“Since we drove them here, we will be driving them home.” One of the police officers explained to him and Peter looked up at Pepper who was looking at him as if he had hung all the stars and the moon just for her.

She gestured to him to get into the car so he slowly got in and shifted to the window seat, pushing himself up against it and looking out.

It had to be at least twelve at night which was way past his bedtime. He should have been in bed with his dad, safe in his arms. Instead, he was sitting at the back of a cop car with his whole world flipped upside down.

The car started and then they were driving. Peter watched the street lights pass by above him and spotted the moon. He wondered where his dad was. If he was thinking about him and worried, Peter sure was.

He spared a glance over at Pepper who was sitting in the middle. She was already looking at him so he frowned and looked down at his lap.

When he looked back out the window, he didn’t recognize where he was. He knew he was being taken somewhere where he’s never been before which he was pretty sure was Manhattan.

After what felt like hours, they were pulling up to a street with huge oak trees on the properties of these giant houses. If it was any other situation, Peter’s jaw would have dropped at how beautiful the street was, well from what he could see at nighttime.

The police car pulled up to a driveway which must be where they live and it was obvious that they were rich and had money. His dad wasn’t rich but they were happy. They lived in a small but cozy house together and were happy.

He wanted his dad so badly.

Peter immediately looked over at Tony after that thought and tried to see himself in him again. He saw it clear as day. He hated that.

The car door was opening on his side and then a hand was grabbing onto his arm as if he would make a run for it once he got out. He didn’t have anywhere to go and he was exhausted.

“This is your home, Peter.” Pepper said to him after she got out of the car. He was looking up at how big and beautiful it was. He didn’t reply to her.

When he looked over at Tony, he was talking quietly to the policeman and Peter wondered what they were saying. They were definitely talking about him.

After the policeman got into the car and left, Peter felt so much more alone now. He hugged his arms around his stomach and shifted away from the two adults.

Tony walked up to him and smiled weakly, bending down a bit so they were at eye level. “You’re home now.” He looked over at Pepper then back at Peter. “You have an older brother, Peter. And a younger sister. I know you don’t remember your brother but he missed you so so much and they don’t know that you’re home safe so I’m going to go tell them before you come inside, okay?”

Peter just looked down at his feet. It didn’t matter anyways.

After Tony left, him and Pepper went to go sit on the front steps. Peter grabbed a dandelion from the ground and picked it up.

“When you were a baby, you used to love it when I used to pop the heads off of dandelions.” Pepper said with a smile but it dropped when Peter turned to look at her with tears in his eyes.

“I don’t remember. I-I don’t remember anything about you or-or him or any of this.” Peter cried out but wiped at his tears because he didn’t want to cry anymore. Why didn’t they understand that he was scared and didn’t want any of this?

Inside the house, Tony ran upstairs and went into Morgan’s bedroom where he knew his two kids would be. He opened the door and found Harley sitting on the floor with his back up against Morgan’s bed and Morgan lying down, staring at the door.

Both of them jumped when Tony opened the door. Harley immediately jumped to his feet and looked at Tony, demanding for him to talk with his eyes but also silently wishing to never find out.

Tony smiled and nodded his head. “He’s alive. They found him and he’s alive.”

Harley broke down, practically throwing himself into his father’s arms. “Oh my god. Are-are you s-sure?”

Tony held him back. He thought back to all those days in the very beginning when Harley would ask where his little brother went but Tony and Pepper couldn’t give him an answer because they were wondering the same thing.

“He’s outside right now.” Tony said and Harley pulled away from him so fast.

“What? He’s outside.” Harley went to leave the bedroom but Tony stopped him.

“Wait. He doesn’t remember us, Harls. He has no idea who we are so you can’t be too pushy with him.” Tony warned him and looked over at Morgan who was standing on her bed and watching the two.

“What happened to him? Where was he this whole time?” Harley asked, scared of the answer like Tony and Pepper were just a few hours ago.

“Mom and I will explain everything we know to you later.” Tony told him then lifted Morgan off the bed and set her on his hip to walk down the stairs.

“Peter’s back, daddy?” Morgan asked, sounding unsure.

Tony gave her a weak smile because even though they had their missing puzzle piece back, it didn’t really feel that way and maybe it never would. “He is. You get to meet your big brother now.”

Tony walked into the living room and placed Morgan on the couch. “Mom and I will bring him in so wait here. He’s scared and this is all so new to him.”

When Tony left them to go back outside, he felt his heart start to race suddenly. He had his kid back. After seven whole years.

He opened the front door and both of them turned around to look at him. He silently told Pepper to bring him inside so she stood up and Peter followed.

Peter looked down the long hallway and up at the staircase that had a baby gate at the bottom. It made him wonder how young his actual sister was.

Woah. The thought hit him hard. His sister. He had a sister. And he had an older brother. He was pulled from what seemed like a beautiful life.

When he walked into the living room, his eyes landed on who must be his older brother. He tried to remember him but he couldn’t. The boy was looking at him and slowly making his way towards Peter so he took a step back.

The boy didn’t look like him or Tony. He saw a bit of Pepper in him but he wasn’t like him and Tony.

“Peter. Oh my god. I can’t believe it’s you.” The boy said and walked closer to him but this time, Peter didn’t move away. “Do you remember me? I’m your older brother, Peter.”

Peter shook his head. “No. I don’t remember you.”

He smiled, despite Peter not remembering him. “That’s okay. It’s been so long. Can I hug you?”

Peter thought about it. He always loved physical contact. Even if a random person asked him for a hug, he would say yes. He loved hugs because they always made him feel so safe and loved. He nodded his head so the boy didn’t hesitate to cross the distance between the two and pull Peter tightly against his body.

A wave of something hit Peter once the boy was holding him in his arms but Peter didn’t know what it was and kept his arms by his side.

When the boy let go of him, Peter looked down. “Uh… what’s your name?”

“Harley. I’m Harley but you used to call me-”

“Harls.” Peter interrupted to say. He didn’t know how that memory randomly came back to him but it felt good.

Harley silently gasped and looked at Tony and Pepper who were looking at each other.

Peter peeked around Harley at the head peeking over at him on the couch. He unconsciously reached out to grab onto Tony’s hand and move closer to him but after a split second, he realized what he was doing and immediately pulled away.

Tony felt his stomach flutter when Peter grabbed onto his hand. Even though Peter let go not a second later, it felt good. He missed his baby so much but it still didn’t feel like they had him back yet.

Tony wondered what Peter was like. If he was shy or outgoing. If he was smart, funny, silly, sweet and innocent. He wondered what his laugh sounded like or what his natural smell was like, if it was still the same since he was a baby or if it changed over time.

He wondered what Peter’s favorite colour was, or his favorite movie. Could he sing and dance? What were his fears? What did he like to eat or not like to eat? There were so many questions that Tony wanted to know the answers too.

If he remembers correctly, which he always did when it came to Peter, Peter hated blueberries and bacon. Absolutely despised it so he wondered if he still did.

Tony looked over at Morgan and knew that she would be shy. How could she not be? She had never met Peter before, she was told her whole life that she had another older brother who was missing and she heard millions of stories of him. A lot of repeated ones but stories nonetheless.

She peeked her head up a bit more and waved at him. “Hi. I’m Morgan.”

Peter didn’t respond. He looked up at Tony and then shifted on his feet.

“How about you two get ready for bed now. It’s late.” Tony told Harley who was staring at Peter with wide eyes, as if he looked away then Peter would disappear.

After a few seconds, Harley grabbed Morgan’s arm and pulled her out of the living room. Peter watched them go then once they were gone, he looked back down at his feet.

Tony just wanted to pick Peter up and hold him in his arms forever but he knew he couldn’t since Peter didn’t want that. His own kid didn’t want him to touch them and that was killing him to just stand there and watch Peter break without being able to give him any comfort.

“Let’s go upstairs. Tomorrow after you wake up, we can show you around the house.” Pepper said to him and went to walk towards the stairs, passing by the front door so Peter ran over to the front door and weakly banged on it.

“Please let me go. I want to go back to my dad. Please.” He tried to pull on the door handle then turned back to look at his biological parents. He knew now that Steve wasn’t his actual dad now but he loved him and he was the one who raised him so he wanted to go back to him.

Tony walked over to him and gently pulled his hands off of the door handle. “Let’s go up. You need to sleep now, Peter.”

Even though Peter didn’t want to listen or go with Tony, he was way too tired to do anything else but sleep. If he was back at home with his dad, he would be able to get some cuddles and most likely a hot chocolate.

When they got upstairs, Peter looked at every single detail of the house. Was this the house he used to live in for the first three years of his life? Would anything bring any memories back to him just by being there?

They walked into a bedroom at the end of a hallway and Peter guessed that it was the master bedroom and once they walked inside and the light was turned on, he guessed right.

He hoped that he wasn’t sleeping in here because there would be no way that he was sleeping with them.

“Would you like to shower?” Pepper asked and walked into the bathroom. It looked huge. As well as everything else in the house.

Peter shook his head.

“We don’t have any clothes that fit you right now but I’m gonna grab some clean pyjamas for you to put on, okay?” Tony told him and waited for Peter to shake his head but he never did so he quickly left the room to grab some pyjamas from Harley’s room although he knew the clothes would be huge on Peter.

Pepper was staring at him. She hadn’t taken her eyes off of him since she first saw him again after all that time. She was scared that she was living another one of those beautiful dreams where she was reunited with her son again and if she looked away, she would wake up and Peter would be gone.

“I know this is so hard and scary for you, Peter, but… Tony and I love you so much. We missed you more than anything and we… we just love you so much.” Pepper admitted to her ten year old child.

Peter felt his eyes burn again so he blinked away the tears. “I-I don’t know you. And-and I just wanna go back home to my dad.”

Pepper wanted to tell him the truth. She didn’t know what Peter already knew but she wanted to tell Peter that that man stole him away from his loving family and that he was an evil person for doing such a thing.

She didn’t though. Tony walked into the room with a clean top and pants. “I know it’s gonna be really big on you but it’s just for one night.”

Peter reached forward to take the clothes from Tony with a quiet thank you. He then hesitated because if he was back with his dad, he wouldn’t have cared about his privacy but he didn’t know these people.

He turned towards the bathroom and walked inside but when he looked at the door, Tony was standing there. “Do you need any help?”

“I’m ten.” Peter answered, annoyed. “And you’re not my dad.”

That hurt Tony but he remembered what Natasha had told them so he just shut the door and sat down on the bed. “I hate that guy so fucking much. I want him locked up. He stole my baby from me.”

Pepper sat down next to him and grabbed his hand. “I know. I hate this too but we got him back. We won. It’ll take time and I know it’ll be hard but we have our baby boy back.”

“I just want to hold him.” Tony admitted. Peter always used to be so loving and cuddly, always wanted to be held and always wanting to be tucked away under daddy’s chin.

Peter had always been a daddy's boy. While Harley and even now Morgan are mommies babies, Tony wanted his baby back.

When Peter walked out of the bathroom, both their heads snapped up to look at him. He was holding onto the waistband of the pants and his shirt hung way over his arms and made it look like he was wearing a dress if he let go of the bottom half.

He looked so small and Tony thought that maybe they didn’t miss out on Peter’s life. He was only ten and still had so much to do and to learn and to develop as a person. Tony could be there for that. He could still teach Peter so many things.

“Do you need some help so they stay up?” Tony asked, standing up and walking towards Peter who was looking between the two cautiously.

“Uh, sure.” Peter stepped towards Tony and let go of the pants so Tony could roll the waistband up. Peter felt his eyes burn again. He watched as Tony rolled up his pants so carefully and he thought about how this person standing in front of him was actually his dad. Tony was his dad and if Steve had never taken him from his real family then who knows how he would have turned out.

He seemed to have so much with this family. A mom which he always wanted and often cried about the fact that he never got to crawl into his mother’s arms after a hard day and let his mom hold him until he fell asleep.

All the emotions came flooding in at once so Peter stepped away from Tony and started to cry. He wiped at his tears and looked up at Tony who was looking at him with a look that Peter couldn’t recognize.

“Are-are you actually my real d-dad?” Peter asked, trying to stop crying but he couldn’t.

Tony kneeled down in front of Peter again and grabbed onto his hands. Peter didn’t pull away and looked into the same eyes as his. “I am. I’m your real dad and Pepper is your real mom.”

Peter wanted someone to hold him so he could cry and let it all out but he didn’t want to take comfort from anyone but his dad. From Steve.

He carefully pulled his hands away from Tony and walked towards the bed so he could hopefully fall asleep. He stopped by it and fisted the comforter in his hands. “I… I um, I sleep with my blanket.”

“Oh. We can grab you another one.” Pepper got off the bed and went into the closet.

Peter stared at the door until she walked out with a red and white striped blanket that looked soft. She handed it to him so he took it from her and rubbed his hands over the material.

“This used to be yours when you were little.” Pepper explained to him. “You used to carry it around everywhere with you and you would never go to bed without it.”

He curled his fingers around the material and let out a yawn. When he looked up at Pepper, she was smiling at him with watery eyes and the same with Tony so he looked away.

“I know today was extremely hard for you, Peter, but I want you to know that we all love you so much. We dreamed about this day, having you back home with us again and again so… we just, we’re really happy.” Tony spoke softly but Peter didn’t want to hear it. He did feel bad for them because he would be leaving them soon to go back to his dad.

“You should get some sleep now. We’ll be downstairs if you need us.” Pepper looked like she wanted to reach out and hug him goodnight but she didn’t and it suddenly hit Peter that he wasn’t going to get a goodnight kiss from his dad or a goodnight cuddle.

He let out a puff of air to try and keep his tears in once again then climbed onto the bed to crawl under the blankets that Tony had pulled back. Peter laid down and cuddled his temporary blanket against his chest.

He shut his eyes but then he was opening them again once he heard the bathroom light shut off so he sat up and held his hand out. “No. Can you keep it on?”

A faint smile appeared on Tony’s face as he turned the light back on and shut the door a bit. “Of course. Do you want the door open or closed?”

Peter laid back down on the pillow and moved his head so he was more comfortable. He used to always sleep with it open because he liked it better that way but now he wasn’t sure but he settled on what he usually did. “Open.”

“Alright. Sleep good, Peter. We’ll be downstairs if you need us.” Both adults stood by the door, knowing Peter wouldn’t reply to them but also not wanting to take their eyes off of him.

After they finally left, they went downstairs and into the kitchen where Harley was sitting at the kitchen island looking extremely anxious. “What happened? Where was he this whole time?”

Harley watched his parents take a seat across from him. Tony put his head in his hands and sighed. “Dad? Tell me. You can’t keep this from me. Was he being abused?”

Tony shook his head and looked over at his oldest son. “No. He was kidnapped by a man who… who fucking raised him as his own.”

Harley ran a shaky hand through his hair. “What do you mean? So Peter just found out that we exist?”

“The man who raised him is crazy.” Pepper spoke so Tony didn’t have to. “He lied to Peter his whole life and he just found out that we exist today.”

“Who is he? Who’s the guy?” Harley stood up and asked, demanding to know.

Tony didn’t want to involve Harley. He was sixteen years old and he didn't need to have to take care of that. That was Tony’s job as a father. “His name is Steve Rogers but that is all you need to know. You will not get involved with the legal aspects of this.”

“He’s my brother.” Harley said as if that explained everything and in a way, it did. The kind of bond that an older sibling has with their younger ones.

“We’re his parents and I’m telling you to stay out of this. You need to be here for Peter now. Let your mom and I deal with this.” Tony demanded because he would not get any more of his kids involved in something where they shouldn’t belong.

Harley continued to stare at Tony for a few moments, deciding if he should go at it more but instead, his demeanour changed. “I want to go see him again.”

“He’s sleeping in our bedroom for the night.” Pepper answered her first born and stood up to turn the kettle on since she knew that they weren’t going to get any sleep tonight.

“I’m going to go check on him.” Tony stood up and said. He didn’t know why he was sitting in the kitchen when his missing child was sleeping in his bed alone.

Pepper and Harley ended up following him up but he knew he couldn’t stop them. He quietly walked up to his bedroom door and peeked into the room, seeing that Peter was in fact asleep.

They all walked into the room and Tony carefully sat on the bed. Peter was sleeping in the middle of the bed with his butt up in the air and his knees tucked against his chest.

The position melted Tony’s heart and wished so badly that he got to be there for every year of Peter’s life.

He missed out on way too much.