Chapter 7
The trio of boys decide to walk to the nearest Burger King, both due to the lack of car seat (which apparently is a legally required necessity) and because of the close vicinity of the restaurant.
Harley is quiet as they walk, holding onto to Peters hand. The small boy had wedged himself between Tony and Harley as they were leaving, grabbing onto each of their hands. Tony didn’t know if it was his young age or his shorter amount of time in the system, but Peter was far more easily trusting than Harley.
Perhaps it was a personality trait. He still doesn’t really know these boys, not when it comes down to it.
Nevertheless, he finds himself enjoying the walk. Even through the quiet, it’s nice. The late summer/early fall air is warm but there is a cool breeze. Harley’s trying to cover the smirk he’s directing at his brother while Peter skips and hums a song, doing his best to make the lights in his shoes flicker and flash. The red and blue LEDs illuminated the sidewalk in front of them.
“What are you going to get, boys?” Tony asks, picking Peter up by his arm as they walk, making the boy laugh.
“Burger n’ fries!” Peter shouts. The kid seems to have exactly two volumes: inaudibely quiet and ear splitting.
“Sounds perfect bud, and to drink?” Tony asks. He casts a glance at Harley but he’s not going to force the boy to talk if he doesn’t want to. The mommy blogs advised that if possible, you let the kids come to you themselves.
“Wha’ c’n I have?” Peter asks, shining big brown puppy dog eyes up at Tony. The man thinks, kids probably aren’t supposed to have soda, especially not tiny three year old kids when it’s nearing night time.
“How about a juice or chocolate milk?” Tony suggests, hoping it’s the right call. He’s honestly still in the dark about this whole small children thing. The only time he’s been around kids as young as Peter has been at expos or meet and greet events when he’s taken photos with them. Never for more then five minutes and he was never responsible for them. Tony doesn’t even know where someone Peters age stands developmentally wise, and that’s even with his genius level IQ.
“A’ble juice!” Peter exclaims, smiling and swinging all three of their arms. Tony smiles, Peter likes apple juice, noted.
“What about you, Harls?” He asks, trying to at least make sure the boy knows he’s being included. He read somewhere that ‘sibling jealousy’ flourished in fostered children.
“Whatever your having is okay.” Harley mutters, kicking a loose pebble as he walks. It bugs Tony that he can’t figure out why the boy has so suddenly mellowed out.
“He likes bu’gers too.” Peter informs Tony. “And, uh…. Dr. Pepper!” Tony smiled, the more information about these boys’ likes and dislikes, the better.
“Well then if that’s what he wants, that’s what he can get.” Tony agreed. He was aiming to make sure that the boys knew they could have whatever they wanted. There was nothing ‘off limits’ and no food rations when it came to food in Tony’s house. Except maybe soda for Peter, the boy was energetic enough as it was.
Harley glanced at Tony with a certain spark of distrust and an underlying hope. He still wasn’t so sure about all of this. He was still nervous all of this was a trick, that soon the last couple months with the Tony Stark would all be flushed down the drain and a new, more realistic reality would take over.
The bright lights of Burger King distracted him from his spiraling thoughts.
“We’re here, we’re here!” Peter chanted as he struggled to yank open the door five times his size. Tony chuckled at the kids antics. If Tony had ever thought Harley had energy, he had to think twice when he saw Peter.
“I’ll order the food, you kids can pick where we sit.” Tony said. “Burger, fries and Dr. Pepper good for you, Harley?” Tony asked. The boy nodded before ushering Peter away. Tony could only sigh.
When he returned from ordering their food, after surprising the couple of teens behind the counter, Harley was whispering to Peter, his own hands on the other boy’s face. The oddity of the scene caused Tony to subconsciously quicken his pace.
“Your not a baby anymore, Peter.” Harley was saying. “I thought I had finally got you to stop doing that.” He snapped. Tony paused in his steps, even in the few hours he had known of Peter, he had never heard Harley use that tone with the boy.
“Ms. Vivi didn’ care.” Peter grouched around the thumb that Tony now realized was planted in the boy’s mouth.
“Well I do.” Harley said, pulling the digit away from the boy’s face. “And that woman didn’t know shit about kids.”
“Hey.” Tony snips, stepping in. “Language.”
Harley whips around. Eyes narrowed, comeback ready on his lips.
“Hey, Pete.” Tony changes tone, using a much softer voice towards the little boy. “I forgot to give a tip to the nice workers behind the register, think you can do that for me?” He asks, digging a fifty out of his pocket and handing it to Peter. Peter nods, smart enough to still see the obvious reason for his departure but polite enough to take off towards the counter nonetheless.
“What was that about?” Tony asks once Peter is safely out of hearing range.
“Peter, he’s behind on everything!” Harley whisper yelled. “If those people at the orphanage had just cared more, he wouldn’t be so messed up.” Tony’s face hardened.
“That kid is not messed up.” He affirmed. “And I know you don’t think that.” He said, softer. The kids at the counter were talking to Peter, thanking him for the generous amount of money and cooing over the boy.
“No.” Harley sighed. “I love him, he just…. you have no idea how he is. You don’t know him.”
“But I want to.” Tony soothed. “And I know he’s sweet and that he’s smart. He’ll learn quickly.” Tony stood by that. Peter was smart, understanding the show they had been watching not an hour earlier. The way that he talked and said please and thank you. Yes, of course there were gaps that his countless caretakers had neglected to fill but there was still time. Plenty of time if you asked Tony. Although Harley’s concern did make Tony really consider reading up on the developmental stages of kids.
“Your not leaving us, right?” Harley asks. The question is so sudden, so out of the blue that it shocks Tony into gaping silence. It seems he had reached the route of Harley’s suddenly non verbal issue.
“Of course not kid. That’s what I’m trying to make clear to you. I’m in this for the long run.” Tony reached across the table, taking Harley’s hand in his own and running his thumb along the boy’s knuckles. It’s something that Jarvis has always done to him when he was younger, usually to calm a young Tony down after an argument with his father.
“It’s just that, Peter can’t take that.” Harley continues. “I know he looks happy and he acts like it doesn’t bother him but, it does. He cries a lot and he has nightmares every night and… he doesn’t even remember mom.” Harley finishes, voice quiet by the end. Tony thinks this has a lot more to do with than just Peter.
“I’m never leaving either of you.” Tony promises, squeezing Harley’s hand. “I don’t know what you’ve drugged me with, but it must have been the good stuff because I’ll fight tooth and nail for you kids.” Harley gives a wet laugh, looking up as Peter and a worker approach. The uniformed teen carries a tray of food.
“Here you are, gentlemen.” He says, Peter trailing behind him. “Three burgers, two large fries, a Coke, a Dr. Pepper and one very special apple juice.” He winks at Peter as he says the last thing, the toddler smiling as he hauls himself into his seat with some assistance from Harley.
“Wow, what great service.” Tony laughs. He thinks the teens must have been side eyeing his and Harley’s conversation, distracting Peter until they were finished and then bringing to food over personally to get the boy back in his seat.
“No problem, Mr. Stark.” The kid smiles, retreating back to the gaggle of his peers behind the counter. What Tony thinks is the girlfriend of the teen is giddy at the exchange.
“Wow.” Peter breathes, looking at the table with wide eyes and a matching grin. “Look how much food!” He exclaims before glancing at Tony in a silent ask for permission. Harley is doing the same.
“Let’s eat!” Tony says, some stress dissolving when the boys both happily take their food and begin to dig in. “Maybe after, we'll see about some ice cream.”
“You really don’t have to do that Tony.” Harley says, taking a sip of his soda.
“No.” Tony agrees. “I don’t. But I want to.” He says, taking a bite of his own burger. Perfect.
“O-okay.” Harley stammers. Before repeating: “Okay” with a little more confidence.
“I’m gonna get chocolate.” Peter proudly states, hungrily taking in his long awaited apple juice.
***
“We have a situation Tony.” Pepper says through the phone. Tony and the boys had just returned from their junk food extravaganza and the two kids were currently seated on the couch in the living room, searching for a movie for the three to watch. Pepper had called Tony just as he sat down, typical. But, with the current circumstances, he wasn’t going to pull his usual and just not answer.
His heart quickens at the statement. A simple phrase like that in a scenario as complicated as this could mean an endless amount of things. Bad things.
“Which means? Because I think your trying to put me into cardiac arrest, Pep.” He says, rubbing his chest at the phantom pains. At least he thinks their phantom.
“Well,” she begins, “if you had just decided to adopt children normally that wouldn’t be an issue.” She snaps.
“That would cramp my style.”
“Tony there’s an issue with the adoption.” She blurts. At the same moment Tony swears he can actually feel his heart coming to a stop. Can feel his muscles seize and his breath catch. ‘There was an issue with the what?!’
“What issue, Pep.” He asks apprehensively.
“Issues, Tony.” She says. “Peter has an active history of medical complications: Asthma, immunodeficiency, respiratory infections, night terrors and there are reports of two seizures.”
Tony blanches, that little boy had, had seizures?!
‘You don’t know how he is. You don’t know him.’
“What does that mean for the adoption?” Tony asks.
“Well, not much besides that your going to have to prove you can physically and mentally provide for his medical dependencies.” Pepper says. “What I’m more worried about is the report of multiple incidents of statutory rape. Not only that, but the foster mother that he is currently with has placed a guard on Peter so that while he is under her care, he cannot be adopted.”
Tony runs a hand over his hair and face, pacin with the phone pressed tightly to his ear. Seizures, statutory rape, adoption guard. All relating to a three year old, a kid that hasn’t even been alive long enough to make it into the public school system.
“How do we get him out of her care?” He asks. “Is there any way we can bribe ourselves out of this one?”
“I don’t think so, Tony.” Pep sighs, Tony knows she wants this adoption to go through, if only so the boys can be together. “I’ve talked to your lawyers and they seem to think the best and ultimately only course of action is to ask her and if needed, bring her to court. I’ve emailed her with your address and a brief explanation of why Peter was staying the night with you but so far all I’ve heard is silence. If she’s willing to hand over guardianship than this could be easy, if not…” Pepper trails. “Peters young, and his testament isn’t going to count for much in the courtroom.”
“What’s the plan?” Tony asks.
“For now? There’s not much more we can do other than wait.” Pepper says. “If she answers my email I’ll sure to get back to her if not, I’ll send someone to her address tomorrow early afternoon.”
“Where do I stand in this?” He asks.
“Well, Mr. Stark.” She says, obviously smirking on the other end. “Until I give you further instructions, how about you get to know those boys.”
Tony smiled, that sounded like a great plan to him. Of course all of the sudden complications with the adoption upset him, as did the revelations about Peters past and medical history but, there wasn’t much to be done about that until he could have a long sit down conversation with Harley. For now, there wasn’t much more he could do than change into sweatpants and have a much deserved movie night.
When Tony returned to the living room the boys were sitting on one side of the couch, Peter bouncing excitedly as Harley finished cueing up Empire Strikes Back.
‘The boy’s like Star Wars, noted.’
“So, pajama time and then movie?” Tony asks. He’s assuming the boys would rather be comfortable, even if they would never request a moment to change, and decided offering himself was the easier route. Harley nodded, making to get off the couch.
“Can you help Peter?” He asked on the way to the bedrooms. The prospect made Tony nervous but, then again, it’s not like he was helping the toddler with bedtime. This was just a quick change into pajamas and the proposal meant Harley was beginning to believe the promises from their earlier conversation. Besides, if Tony was as serious as he said he was about adopting these kiddos, he would have to get used to taking care of a little one. Better now than never, he supposed.
“Yup, come‘ on Pete.”