Hey Brother
Peter decided he liked Mrs. Keener from the moment she stormed into the penthouse.
'Tony Stark!' She shouted, eyes blazing as her head swivels around the room. Her gaze fell on Tony, mid-sip, and he nearly choked. Peter exchanged a glance with Harley, who Mrs. Keener hadn't noticed was on the couch no more than five feet or so away from her. Harley shrugged and goes back to watching the TV. Tony lowers his mug as Mrs. Keener stalks toward him. She did look quite intimidating; curly dirty-blonde hair falling from it's ponytail, and bag hanging from her elbow as she stormed in all her four-foot-nine glory.
'Caroline.' Tony replied. Her finger waved.
'Don't be nice with me Stark! Where's my son?!' Harley cleared his throat then, and Mrs. Keeners head snapped toward the sound so suddenly Peter is shocked she didn't give herself whiplash.
'Hey Ma.' Harley said, face flushed. Harley's sister and Mr. Keener came through behind her, and Peter saw how apt Harley was to turn away.
Tony had led Mrs. and Mr. Keener to one of the conference rooms a few minutes later, and left Peter and Harley to entertain Harley's sister. She had seemed nice enough, though there was noticeable tension between the siblings. All in all, Peter was content in the company of Billie Keener. She excused herself after about thirty minutes to use the washroom, and Harley's shoulders lost all tension as soon as she left. Peter nudged Harley's foot with his own.
'You okay?' He asked. Harley met his eyes, and Peter wasn't sure there was anything behind them.
'Yeah.' He said.
That was earlier in the morning; around nine. Now it was four pm, and Pepper was preparing dinner for them and the Keeners. Harley had locked himself in Peters room. Peter was outside. He'd already knocked.
"Harley," He sighs. "Open the door."
"Go away, Peter."
"You're in my room." Peter stresses. He hears grumbling then, and he perks slightly. There's shuffling, and then the door clicks. Peter blinks at it for a moment before turning the knob. He slips inside and closes the door behind him again. He turns, and tilts his head when he sees the sight before him. Harley is sitting cross-legged in the centre of his bed, with his duvet wrapped around his head.
"Gosh, you really are like a dog." Is all Harley says. Peter grins at that, and moves to the bed.
"Scooch," He says, and then sits beside Harley. He pulls his legs into his chest and rests his elbows on them. There's silence between them; Harley looking at Peter, and Peter looking at the tuft of hair that peeks through the blanket on Harley's forehead. "So..." He says then. "Why'd you lock yourself in my room?" Harley raises a brow, and Peter challenges it with the quirk of one of his own.
"I don't have my own to lock myself in." Harley says, and Peter rolls his eyes.
"Glad you're getting your snark out before Mr. Stark comes in," He says, and Harley blinks at the same time the knob turns. Both boys look to the door as Tony pokes his head in, and Harley whips his head back to Peter with a gobsmacked expression. Peter lifts a finger to his ear.
"Super hearing." He says, and Harley nods slowly. Tony slips inside the room much like Peter had, and closes the door without latching it. He perches on the foot of the bed.
"I hear you're protesting supper." He says. Harley nods.
"I'm fasting indefinitely. Food is irrelevant and I will now gather nutrients through photosynthesis."
"Mood," Peter says, and flushes when Tony fixes him with a look. He glances back to Harley with a sort of sigh.
"Guess I'll tell you now," He says, and Harley perks. He shares a glance with Peter, that confirms he doesn't know what Tony's about to go off on. "This is a bad idea; I can already tell by that weird telekinesis thing you two are doing." Harley rolls his eyes.
"Tell me what?" He asks. He adds; "Peter can stay." after Tony glances to him, to which Peter whacks his arm.
"It's my room!"
"Your mom and I talked, and she doesn't think that you've been faring very well since coming back." Tony continues as though Peter hadn't spoken. Harley scoffs; deflects. "So we decided that since you came here in the first place, you'll stay with me for the first few months." Harley's jaw drops. In his peripheral, he sees Peter do the exact same thing.
"What?" Harley breathes.
"You'll live with me and Pepper in New York. Here at the tower." Tony says, and Harley thinks he might cry. "Your folks and your sister will come up and visit every second weekend; the ones Pete isn't over. You'll be enrolled in school once all that get's settled, Midtown, same as Pete, and you'll be attending therapy once ever two weeks." Harley nods, and he really is crying.
"Yes," He gasps, and Peters arms wrap around him. "Oh my God, thank you." Tony smiles.
"Sweet," Peter says, and Harley swears Peter's voice sounds a bit wobbly too. "I always wanted a brother." Harley laughs and elbows him. They both register it as a joke; but Harley's chest becomes all warm and fuzzy the moment Peter says it.
"Yeah," He sniffles, and meets Tony's eye. "Me too."
A month passes, and soon it's Peter and Harley's first day back to school. May had let Peter stay over at the tower the night before so Peter could help Harley adjust, and then the boys would go back to May and Peters apartment after school. Tony drops them off, and glances at them in the mirror.
"Anything you need, you call me, okay?" He asks. The boys answer him in unison, and Tony would be lying if that didn't terrify him at least a little bit. He's got to admit, he figured they'd get on like a house on fire, but he hadn't expected this. He didn't expect them to be having wordless conversations within only hours of knowing each-other, and he hadn't them to become so attached in only a month. Rhodey had taken to calling them 'The Twins', and even though both boys did their best to appear embarrassed, Tony could see the way they glowed under the nickname. Even looking at them now, Tony can't tell whose shirt is whose. Peter goes to open the door and Tony blurts; "Text me when you get to Mays!" Peter chuckles and Harley rolls his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah," He says, crawling over Peter. "Sure thing dad." He enthuses the word 'dad' in a way that implies it was sarcastic, but a sudden warmth blooms in Tony's chest. He feels his heart hammering as he watches Peter wrestle with Harley, and then they're both out of the car and closing the door. Tony barely hears them saying goodbye, and then he's watching them run up the stairs to meet Ned and MJ, who stand waiting for them at the doors. Harley trails behind Peter a little uncertainly, and their arms are entwined, but still makes a point of turning his head and waving before they go inside.
Tony speeds home and bursts into the penthouse.
"Pepper!" He calls. "Harley called me DAD." He shouts, looking around first the kitchen and then the living room. "He was joking but-" He stops when he sees Pepper sitting on their bed, looking a bit pale. "Pep?" Her eyes lift and meet his.
"He's not wrong." She breathes, and that only makes Tony more nervous. He moves into the room and kneels in front of her. There's a small frown on his face.
"Pep?" He asks, and a tear falls down her face when she smiles.
"I'm pregnant."
Tony faints.