Luck

It happened one of the first days Peter was with them. There was something so lovely about the scene that it just stuck in her memory like a photograph. And yes, of course, he had asked JARVIS to save the image and send it to her mailbox, although in reality it was enough for her to close her eyes to relive it: the boy was climbing on a box to reach the table; behind him, Tony was holding out his hand to show him the right way to weld the little pieces of whatever they were building. Rarely had she seen such patience and gentleness in her husband's actions, or such a calm and satisfied expression on his face; the boy's eyes were glowing, and their happy expression was visible even with the welding masks on.

For someone who had always refused categorically to have children, Anthony Edward Stark was revealed before her as a wonderful father. Peter became his little shadow and would not leave his side unless he really had to. It was clear that they both enjoyed each other's presence and benefited from it. The boy opened up completely to Tony after only a few days, even though he talked and laughed with her, it was with him that she felt most confident. The pair's relationship grew so fast and so deep that after a couple of months it was hard to believe that they hadn't always known each other or that they weren't actually father and son.

When she herself realized how ingrained the child's presence was and tried to warn Tony, it was too late because she had also fallen victim to the kid’s charm. She enjoyed arriving tired from a long trip or a particularly heavy meeting and finding the two of them laughing and preparing dinner. She liked to stand in the doorway of the laboratory with a falsely serious gesture and order them out to eat something and notice that the child unconsciously already copied the adult's gestures and slowly imitated even their sense of humor. For the first time since she started living in the huge Malibu Mansion, it felt like a real home.

She accepted every extension of Peter's time with them but understood that the whole situation was inevitably leading to a decision that would change their lives forever or to a separation that would break everyone's heart. Pepper wasn't ready for either. Or so she believed until the day Peter got sick and put it all in perspective.

Luckily it was not a serious illness, although it broke her heart to see her child suffering, what really started to killing her was watching Tony's almost motherly diligence in caring for the little boy and then imagining that, when Peter left her side, he would have no one to stroke his hair, hold him and repeat him that everything would be fine until convinced him of it.

The little hand clinging to Tony's jacket was a further indication that this situation was now irreversible for all concerned. When they finally got the boy to fall asleep, she decided it was time to finally talk about the elephant in the room.

"Peter has been with us for six months. For six months he's been part of our lives, we have a routine now." She stood up and started walking around the room without looking at him. "I don't understand how anyone else can do this over and over again, Tony, but I know I can't. I've known it for months; maybe since the first time I saw both of you working together or when Peter started copying your gestures; seeing him sick today only served me to confirm that. I didn't imagine that I could go back to sleep knowing that when he got sick neither you nor I would be there to take care of him... that maybe he wouldn't have anyone to do it."

She couldn't help but have a couple of tears run down her cheeks, and when she turned to look at her husband, he had a look of total confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Tony, tell me you don't think so. Tell me you don't already love that child as your own, that you can give him up and forget about him, because if you do, I don't care; I'll adopt him myself because there's no way I'm separating from my child!"

Before she had time to react, she felt familiar arms around her and someone kissing her frantically.

"God, I was so scared, Miss Potts." He told her without letting go. "I thought you wanted us to turn Peter in before Christmas. I thought that..." he laughed in a way that could only be described as neurotic.

"If anyone wants to take that boy away from me, they'll have to go over my dead body. And that includes you, Tony Stark!" She kissed him back, feeling the weight she had carried on her shoulders over the past few months evaporate quickly.

"So, we're going to adopt him, uh? We're officially going to be parents?"

"I think we're parents already, honey." He told her by first observing the vomit stains on her blouse. The two laughed before hugging each other.

"Tomorrow we'll call the lawyers to prepare the papers and the social worker. We need to sort out the school thing and maybe it would be better to move to New York..."

She put her hand to his lips to get him to shut up. He looked like a child talking about his presents on Christmas morning and Pepper wondered if she had ever loved him more.

"I think we should talk to him first, don't you?"

"Yes, yes; of course. Do you think he'll disagree?" A poorly disguised note of insecurity could be heard in his voice.

"I don't think that's a problem, but we should ask him anyway."

They kept talking and making plans for several more minutes until a loud noise from the room that months ago had stopped being 'guest’s' and became Peter's, brought them back to reality. They ran out to look for the boy and found him in the bathroom, with the dirty sheets in the sink, a broken glass at his feet and most seriously of all, a small pool of blood from one of his feet that was getting bigger by the minute.

Before she could react, Tony was already beside the little kid, taking him in his arms and leaving him on the bed while he started to examine his foot carefully.

"What the hell were you doing there, buddy?” His tone was calm, and it was evident that he was trying hard to remain serene, even though he was probably as scared as Peter.

"I'm sorry. I wanted to clean up. I'm sorry." the boy muttered, as he shrank.

When they met him, he had seemed small for his seven years, now eight and almost curled up as he was at the time, he looked almost like a toddler.

"You have too many pieces of glass; some are too small." The boy sighed and hung on his arm, apologizing again and again. "Okay, buddy, it was an accident. Everything's going to be okay. We're going to take a walk to the hospital and in a few minutes you’ll be as good as new." He explained as he carefully wrapped the little boy's foot in a towel. Then he carefully took him in his arms while Peter continued crying in silence and hiding his face in the man's chest.

"I'm driving. You take him." It was obvious that the boy found more comfort in Tony's arms than in hers, and she did not hesitate to do what she thought was best for Peter.

It took them just a few minutes to get to the hospital emergency room and once there they didn't need much persuasion to get immediate attention. Peter meekly allowed himself to be poked, disinfected, and stitched without a single complaint, though the tears still ran silently and constantly down his little face.

"That's all, Peter. You are very brave. Now, you will only need to take one of these pills for a few days and be careful to not put your foot down for a couple of weeks. We've got some funny colored crutches for you. What color do you prefer?" The doctor who treated him was a short woman with a stern face, but very kind, who did everything possible to gain the child's trust.

"I think red is your color, Pete." Tony said at the end, when the boy just shrugged his shoulders.

Luckily, the fever and the upset stomach seemed to be under control, and they were able to go home without any further problems. At that moment they attributed the boy's silence partly to the pain and partly to the shock. Peter practically hung on to Tony's neck the whole way back and the only words he uttered were a couple of almost inaudible yeses and noes.

With Tony, his father, beside him stroking his hair and curled up next to him in bed, the boy soon fell asleep with still fresh tears on his cheeks.

The next morning, Peter awkwardly started to move with the crutches and although he smiled weakly every time Tony encouraged him and told him how well he was doing, when she tried to cheer him up she only got a distant thank you in return. She was sure it wasn't her imagination; Peter was acting strange with her. He avoided looking her in the eye and walked away from her when she tried to touch him. All his words since he was found bleeding in the bathroom were directed exclusively to Tony, and although he would answer politely if she asked him any questions, it was a brief and elusive response.

Although they had thought that the boy's silence since the accident was due to shock, Pepper soon began to suspect that there was more to it than that. The boy's face showed more sadness than pain or discomfort.

In the afternoon, Tony offered to make him something to eat and left her in the care of Peter, who had already been sent to his room to rest. The boy's discomfort was almost contagious, so, trying to give him space, she left his side and started to put some order in the room that had been left as a war zone after his quick run to the hospital the previous night. She started by picking up the laundry from the floor and also came across one of SI's in-house magazines, casually picking it up for recycling.

"No!" Peter's scream startled her, to say the least. "Can I have it?"

The cover of the magazine had a picture of Tony standing with his shoulder around Peter, who was standing on a chair, as she recalled, that had been one of the first sessions that Peter had been with them.

When Pepper turned to hand it over, he was surprised to see that he was crying again.

"Please." He begged again, reaching out to the magazine. "I don't want my birthday Legos or clothes. Just the magazine, please, can I take it with me when I leave?"

She was really confused, because she had no idea what Peter meant. She handed him the magazine and before she sat down next to him again she left her clothes on the couch.

"Of course you can keep it, honey. In fact, would you like us to print one just alike and frame it?"

"And can I take it with me when I leave? I don't want the clothes. Just the picture, please?" His little hands were clinging to the magazine like it was a lifeline.

Pepper looked at the clothes he had just left on the couch trying to understand.

"Pete, you're not going anywhere. I just want to take the clothes to the cleaners, that's all. They're your clothes; they're your toys, and the picture we're going to frame you can have it here." She pointed to the bureau next to the bed.

"Aren't I going to leave today?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course not!" She said to him by stroking his hair and was happy when he allowed her to do so.

"If I do the laundry and clean, and promise not to get sick, can I stay until Christmas?"

It took her a few seconds, but she finally understood. That was the reason the boy had gotten out of bed to wash the sheets the night before.

"Honey, you heard us talking about you yesterday, right? You think I was mad because you got sick and wanted to get you back with Gladys? Is that why you're sad?

The little boy nodded, and Pepper couldn't do anything but hug him while she asked Jarvis to find her husband. They had to talk to the boy at once, and for that she needed him present.

"What's the matter?" He said, juggling the tray in his hands as he pushed the door through. "Does it hurt again, Pete?" he asked sitting next to him after he placed the tray in one of the bureaus.

"Tony, Peter heard us talking last night. He thinks I want to..." She couldn't stop her voice from cracking. She had never considered herself to be a particularly emotional woman, but the thought that the child believed her capable of wanting to return him as if he were a pair of shoes that did not fit her, really broke her heart. " He thinks that I want him to go away."

Both adults crossed a quick glance before Tony finished understanding and turned to Peter again.

"What? Are you crazy, buddy? If they put her in a position to choose between you and me, I'm the one who'd have to pack his things."

Pepper couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of guilt when she recalled that in their previous conversation she had made it clear that she was willing to adopt the child on her own if necessary.

Peter looked at the two of them in surprise, as if he didn't dare believe them.

"Can I stay for Christmas?"

"Of course you do. In fact, there's something we want to ask you, Pete." Pepper said to him without parting from him. She gestured to Tony so that he would ask the question.

"Would you like to stay with us? Not just for this Christmas, but forever. Peter, would you like us to adopt you? Would you like to live with us?" he asked, looking expectantly at the child. Pepper took his hand and gave him a gentle squeeze to instill confidence.

"Forever? As if I were your son?" The boy's eyes have never looked so big to him.

"Yes. Peter, forever. Would you like Tony to be your dad?" The little boy nodded so enthusiastically that the bed began to tremble under the weight of the three of them, looking at Tony as if he were in the middle of a dream and waiting for him to return to reality at any moment. Foolishly she began to feel like an intruder, as if she was not sure of her place in that small family that was about to be formed. "What about me, honey? Can I be your mom, too? Would you like that?" She asked him with a shyness she hadn't felt in years.

The boy looked at her deeply for a moment that seemed like an eternity, finally smiled again and threw his arms around her neck and nodded again with enthusiasm.

Unable to move, they spent the night in that same bed, each beside the child, who kept his head on his father's chest, while holding his mother's hand, sleep came over him after a few minutes, but even after he fell soundly asleep, he didn't stop smiling, in fact, none of the three did for a long, long time.