Chapter 3
After Tony put Peter into bed he came down to the lab to tinker. He didn’t know what he was gonna do but he had to do something.
He started to pull apart one of his gauntlets that he was working on a few days ago but he couldn’t really focus because he was too concerned about Peter.
He tried to focus on something else and moved his stool across the room when FRIDAY spoke up.
“Boss. Steve Rogers is asking for you to come down to the common room to talk”
Tony stopped what he was doing and rubbed this hand over his face. He totally forgot about the rest of the team. He’s been so busy doing other stuff like dealing with Peter and making sure that he’s okay that he forgot about the team. They must be wondering where he is.
He stood up from his stool and replied to FRIDAY “tell him I’m coming up FRI”
“Yes boss”
Tony walked to his elevator and closed up his lab then made his way to the common floor expecting to find everyone there but only seeing Bucky and Steve. Well it was really weird to see Steve without Bucky because wherever Steve went, Bucky went. Bucky moved in with them about 3 months ago after spending almost 2 years in Wakanda. Steve was really happy to have him back and Tony didn’t mind him being here, he didn’t really care because Bucky didn’t really say anything to him, he didn’t really say anything to anyone but Steve, but again he didn’t care.
Tony walked out of the elevator and walked into the room and practically ran to the coffee machine “what did you wanna talk about capsical?” Tony asked as he waited for his coffee to finish.
“Isn’t it a little late for coffee Tony? It’s almost dinner” Steve said sounding disappointed as he walked over to Tony and put his hands on his hips.
“It’s always time for coffee” Tony said as he poured his coffee the sat up on the counter.
Steve shook his head at Tony’s choice of seating before speaking “we haven’t seen you in days Tony. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah everything’s fine” Tony lied. Everything is not fine. I’ve got a kid upstairs I’m supposed to take care of but I have no idea how and I’m scared I’m gonna screw him up so everything is definitely not fine.
“Doesn’t seem that way” Steve stepped closer to Tony and was about to say something else when FRIDAY cut him off.
“Boss the social worker is calling you”
“Yeah put it on hold I’ll answer in the lab” Tony jumped off the counter and made a beeline for the elevator.
“Why is a social worker calling you Tony?” Steve asked sounding really annoyed.
Tony was in the elevator and the doors closed before he could answer. He chugged his coffee then stepped out into his lab to answer the phone.
“Stark” Tony spoke into the phone sitting down on the couch he put down there for Peter after he fell asleep on the floor once and Tony almost stepped on his head.
“Hello Mr. Stark I am the social worker for Peters case” the lady spoke into the phone and Tony could hear a pen clicking in the background. “I am calling to ask you a few questions regarding Peter”
“Okay what do you want to know” Tony said not meaning to sound so rude.
“I need to know what you plan on doing with Peter” the lady spoke then paused for a bit. Tony thought she was gonna say something else but he realized that she was waiting for him to reply.
Tony thought about it and the question kinda caught him off guard because what did he plan on doing with Peter. Peter was just a kid, he had no where else to go if Tony didn’t keep him. He guessed he could try and find some of Peters family that could look after him. What was he kidding, if he was lucky he’d find a sixty year old great uncle somewhere in the mountains that would claim to be Peters family then take him away and he’ll never see him again. Maybe he could find Peter a nice family- no Tony thought. I want him. I want him here with me. I want to keep him.
The lady spoke again into the phone taking Tony’s quietness as confusion “I mean that Peter is a child and children are a lot of work, you can’t just take him on and say you’ll care for him then not give him the proper care, attention and love that he needs. If you don’t want to care for him I understand there are other options. I can pick him up tonight and take him to a foster home temporarily-“
“No! No that won’t be necessary” Tony almost screamed into the phone. Just the thought alone of Peter being taken away from him made him angry.
“What are you saying Mr. Stark?” The lady asked confused.
“I’m going to keep him” Tony said then a little smile formed on his lips at the idea of Peter being his. Would that make Peter his son? Would that make Tony a dad? No this is just temporary guardianship, it’s just for the time being.
“Alright perfect. I’ll email your lawyers the temporary guardianship until we can move further into it. Have a good day Mr. Stark.”
Tony didn’t even have time to say anything else before the phone was hung up. He felt so happy but also scared at the same time.
Tony stood up from the uncomfortable couch wondering how Peter slept on this thing and went to go sit down on his stool to begin tinkering again but FRIDAY spoke up. At first Tony thought it was Steve being nosy again but then FRIDAY spoke.
“Peter seems to be in severe distress. I suggest you go to his room”
Tony bolted out of the lab and into the elevator hitting the faster button to make it move faster.
Once he got to his private floor he ran to Peters room and opened the door without even knocking first. He opened the door and saw Peter moving and kicking on his bed. He was whimpering and breathing heavily. Nightmare, Tony thought then he went to grab peter by the arm.
“Peter, Peter. Wake up. It’s just a dream buddy, wake up” Tony sat down on the bed beside Peters kicking body and he had one arm trying to hold Peters arms from flying everywhere and the other arm he brought up to Peters hair and gently brushed it away from his eyes. “Peter”
Peters eyes opened wide and tears immediately started falling down his cheeks. Tony immediately lifted Peter up by his arms and put him on his lap so that Peters butt was on Tony’s thighs and Peters legs were on the bed, his head fell against Tony’s shoulder and he was crying so loud it kinda hurt Tony’s ears he just rubbed Peters arm with his hand that was holding him around the back to support him from falling back.
“Want to tell me what the dream was about kiddo?” Tony asked softly not really expecting Peter to tell him.
Peter shook his head. Not surprised. “No n-no” peter replied sadly, still crying.
“Shhh it’s okay Pete. I’m here. It’s okay. You’re okay” Tony moved his arm up to play with Peters hair and he immediately stopped crying just a bit and started whimpering “it was just a nightmare, it’s okay Peter”
“I’m-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean - didn’t mean to wake you up” peter said then started playing with his sweater strings.
Tony looked down at Peter and laughed because the kid thought it was night time “Pete it’s only 6:12pm” peter looked up at him and Tony couldn’t tell if Peters cheeks were red from embarrassment or crying.
“Oh. Okay” Peter said then made no move to get off of Tony’s lap. He actually seemed to try and get more comfortable by shifting his legs so that they were almost up to his chest so he was in a ball. Tony stayed in that position with Peter for a few more minutes before his butt started to get numb so he stood up and turned around so Peter fell on the bed with an oof.
“Do you want to come down to the lab with me?” Tony asked Peter as he watched Peter try and get back under the covers “No. No more sleeping buddy. Up” Tony grabbed Peter by the ankle and grabbed him then dragged him down to the end of the bed so that he could lift Peter up by the arms. When he dragged Peter down he heard a tiny giggle come out of his mouth and his heart swelled. It was cute. He heard Peter giggle before but he was expecting to hear it anytime soon. Peter tried to kick his ankle away from Tony and tried to climb back on he bed but Tony was faster and put his knee on the bed to gain some support as he grabbed Peters ankle again noticing that the kid was trying to play and he was giggling again. Tony grabbed Petersnd dragged him back down to the end of the bed and Peters shirt lifted up to his neck to reveal his whole stomach that Tony was about to start tickling but decided against it.
Tony let go of Peter and Peter looked kinda sad like he wanted to play more. His smile disappeared and he lied down on the bed with him shirt still rolled up. He lifted his legs to lift himself off the bed to pull his shirt down then he didn’t move again.
Tony looked down at Peter tempted to just pick him up and carry him to the lab himself but he didn’t.
“Are you coming?” Tony asked Peter as he put his hand on the light switch and turned it on.
“Where?” Peter asked sitting up in his bed.
“We’re going down to the lab to tinker”
“It’s ok Mr. Stark, I don’t really want to. I’m just gonna stay here, if that’s okay” peter looked down sadly and Tony began to walk out of the room.
“Okay kid. Fine, then I’m gonna go make dinner that you are going to eat. Don’t sleep because you’ll mess up your sleep schedule” Tony walked out of the room and left with the door open.
Peter didn’t want Tony to leave him but he also didn’t want to leave his room.
Peter rolled over in his bed and then realized he needed to pee so he walked to the bathroom and opened the toilet seat then he untied his pants and was about to take off his underwear when he remembered he wasn’t wearing any. He then finished going pee, tied his pants extra tight so they wouldn’t fall and washed his hands and walked out to go find Mr. Stark.
“Mr. Stark?” Peter called out down the hall about to walk into the kitchen.
“Yeah kid” Mr. Stark called out but Peter still couldn’t see him.
“Where are you?”
“Kid, look down” Tony said from the floor trying to clean up something that spilled.
“Oh. Umm... I don’t have any clothes” Peter said as if Tony didn’t know.
“I know kid, we ordered some earlier. They’ll be here tonight. Just in time for you to sleep in your Ironman onesie”
Peter flushed red then walked over to the kitchen table and sat down on a stool.
“Dinners ready in a couple minutes. Go watch tv or something you’re making me nervous.” Tony moved his hand in a swiping gesture for Peter to leave.
“But I wanna watch you catch something on fire” peter put his hand into a fist then put his chin on it to rest his head.
“Get outta here, I’m not gonna catch something on fire” Tony said jokingly. “If anything you’d be the one that would catch something on fire” Tony laughed “I’m a great cook I have you know”
“Okay Mr. Stark”
Peter stayed at the table and watched Tony cook until dinner was ready and Tony placed a plate of pasta with red sauce and garlic bread over to peter and his own plate of the same thing next to peter as he rounded the table. Peter put his fingers in his mouth and started to bite his nails “Peter. Put the food in your mouth not your fingers” Tony removed Peters hand from his mouth then walked back over to the other side of the table “What do you wanna drink kid?” Tony turned back around to catch Peter with his fingers in his mouth again “Peter! Out”
“Umm juice?” Peter said as he lowered his hand onto his lap then looked down.
“I only have apple juice. Is that fine?” Tony lifted the juice up to Peter who nodded his head letting Tony know that he wanted apple juice.
“I’ll have to go grocery shopping to get more kid foods”
“Apple juice isn’t a kids food Mr. Stark” Peter said confidently and had a little smile on his face.
“You’re right. It’s not kid food. It’s a kids drink” Mr. Stark poured Peters drink then placed it in front of him. He walked to the other side of the table and sat down. He started to eat but looked over and Peter wasn’t eating his food but was watching him eat instead “Do you even know how to eat or do you want me to get you a high chair and a bib and feed you” Peter frowned and looked down at his lap hand comimg up to his mouth but stopped himself halfway before lowering it back down to his lap, he looked up at Tony who was watching him.
“I told you I don’t want to eat” Peter crosses his arms angerly.
“Peter please. You have to eat. When was the last time you ate?” Tony looked concerned over at Peter “it’s not healthy if you don’t eat, especially for you. With your fast metabolism”
Peter looked up at him and stood taking a few steps backwards as tears began to form in his eyes “before- before aunt May died” Peter wipes his eyes before continuing “we had- we had lunch together before she l-left”
“Oh peter. I know it’s hard buddy but you have to eat, you can’t starve yourself” Tony noticed Peter was about to run away so he stood up and walked over to Peter gently grabbing him by the arms and then dragged him over to his seat and pushed him into it the moved the plate closer.
Peter still didn’t make any move to eat but he did try to get up and walk away again so Tony picked him up and sat him on his lap then moved Peters plate in front of them both. He picked up his own fork and took a bite of his food and Peter tried to move out of his arms but Tony held him tight around the stomach. Peter gave up and slumped against Tony’s chest and crossed his arms. After about a minute Peter reached for his plate and moved it closer to himself as he grabbed his fork and slowly brought it to his mouth. Tony loosened his arm around Peters stomach so he didn’t make him vomit as he ate.
“It’s good right?” Tony asked Peter then took another bite himself “see I can cook”
“Yea it’s actually really good” Peter said then leaned back against Tony’s chest.
“Okay off now” Tony told peter and gently pushed him off “I only put you there so you didn’t run away”
“I’m not gonna run away” peter climbed into his own seat then ate a little bit more but drank all his apple juice.
“Boss there is a package delivery downstairs and Steve wants to talk to you”
Peters eyes widened so much Tony thought his eyes were gonna pop out of his head “Steve is here? As in Steve Rogers? As in Captain America?”
Tony looked at Peter annoyed because he was a bit jealous over Peters reaction “Yes Pete Steve is here, along with Bucky and maybe Clint and Natasha” Tony stood and grabbed his plate over to the sink “I’m gonna go see what he wants. You stay here and finish your food”
Peter would have protested a little bit more if he was in the mood which he was not.
Tony walked to the elevator and down to the common floor where Steve was and when he walked down there he saw Bucky, not surprised standing next to Steve who was holding a kids top in his hand with a confused face. Shit.
“Tony why is there a box of kids clothes here?” Steve asked holding out the top in his hands looking at it as if it personally offended him.
“Because I ordered kids clothes. Got a problem with that Cap” tony walked over to grab the box from Steve when Steve pulled out a pair of pjs that did look really small. Maybe the kid didn’t know his size after all.
“Tony why did you order kids clothes?” Steve held the pair of pjs pants in his hand then held it down to his legs and it barely made it down to his knees.
“What’s with all the questions? Why do you care what I do on my free time?” Tony asked them winced because he really didn’t know how to explain this. He could either tell Steve the truth right now. Tell him that he had a kid upstairs or keep trying to lie to him. The thing is is that they’re gonna find out sooner or later and he would rather them finding out when he chooses them to but obviously now that’s too late.
“Tony-“ Steve was cut off by Tony raising his hand up to silence him. It was now or never.
“Alright fine” Tony ran a hand down his face then walked over to the coffee machine to make himself a cup of coffee. Steve followed close behind.
The thing was is that the only people who who that Peter is Spider-Man are Rhodey and Pepper. Even them, when pepper first found out she yelled at Tony for being irresponsible saying that Peter was only a kid practically a baby running around New York fighting crime. Pepper was not impressed at him at all and had actually hit him over the head with a stack of paper then she sat him down and gave him a lecture that he zoned out of. Rhodey basically said the same thing as Pepper but instead he supported his decision to let Peter keep the suit so he could keep him safe and keep an eye on him.
Tony made a decision if he was going to tell Steve which would eventually lead to the rest of the avengers whether or not Peter was Spider-Man and he decided not to tell the avengers that part just yet. He took a deep breath and began to speak.
“I have a kid” Tony blurted out. Steve’s mouth fell opened and looked at Tony like he had 3 heads.
“What do you mean you have a kid Tony?”
“I mean I have a kid. Well he’s not mine” ouch that hurt. “I’m just...taking care of him for a bit” that hurt too, Tony wanted longer than a bit.
“So...you’re babysitting him? For how long”
“I don’t know Steve, stop asking so many questions and let me go back to him now because he’s probably wondering where I am” Tony walked past Steve and walked over to Bucky who was sitting next to Peters box of clothes, coffee long forgotten.
“Well, how old is he? I mean he must be really young if those clothes are for him. What’s his name?” Steve followed Tony into the living room then stood next to where Bucky was sitting and put his hand on his shoulder.
“I’ll let you know everything later but right now I have to get back to him so bye Capcicle” Tony walked into the elevator and looked down at the box in his hands.
He got back to his private floor and made his way to where he left Peter hoping that the kid ate some more.
He walked into the kitchen and put the box on the counter and he didn’t see Peter anywhere but his plate was near the sink exactly how it was when Tony left.
Tony walked to Peters room knowing he’d find him there.
“Peter, kid. Can I come in?” Tony didn’t even know why he was asking because the door was half open.
Peter didn’t even move as Tony walked up to him on the bed.
Peter was lying on his stomach with his legs stretched out and his face buried in his pillow.
“Hey kiddo” Tony said slowly then walked over to the bed and sat down and he hesitated before putting his hand on Peters back and rubbing it comfortably. Peter flinched at first then moved his head up to look at Tony, he had red puffy eyes and tears running down his face.
Peter sat up and threw himself into Tony’s arms and put his head in his chest and put his hand in his mouth to bite his nails but Tony took his hand out of his mouth. “What happened buddy? You were fine before I left.”
Tony sat up straighter and Peters hand grabbed his shirt so he couldn’t go anywhere. “I just-I don’t want May to be gone. I want her back! I want her back! Please bring her back to me Mr. Stark. P-please” Peter begged Tony and began to sob louder.
“I would if I could buddy. But I can’t. I’m sorry” Peter cried even harder and Tony just held him until Peter calmed down a little bit and he looked over at the clock and it read 8:43pm, well that’s a good bedtime for Peter so he could probably let him sleep now.
Tony held Peter for a little bit longer then when he heard Peters soft breaths comimg out telling him that Peter was asleep he moved peter over so that his head was on his pillow instead of his chest.
He wished that Peter could have worn his pjs to bed but he decided that he could do that tomorrow night instead.
Tony got up and walked to Peters bedroom door then tuned around one last time hoping that Peter will stay asleep until tomorrow morning.
He shut the door then walked to his room to get some sleep himself. He took a quick shower, brushed his teeth and got into bed when FRIDAY spoke up.
“Boss someone from Marie’s Funeral Home is calling you” At this time of night Tony thought. He was gonna leave it till the morning but the decided just to get it over with, he already knew what it was about.
“This is Stark”
Tony answered into his phone lying down on his bed just wanting to go to sleep, he was actually really tired.
“Hello Mr. Stark, my name is Cindy Groom and I am calling to ask you if you’ve decided where you would like to have May Parker buired” Tony thought for a second then regetted picking up the phone, he can’t deal with this right now.
“Ummm” Tony brought a hand to rub at his face then closed his eyes.
“You don’t have to decide right this second Mr. Stark but this does have to be planned within the next day or so. I know this is a hard time for you and it’s a lot to think about but I promise it’ll make the greiving process a lot faster once the funeral happens” the lady spoke really kindly but Tony didn’t want to deal with this right now.
“I’ma- I’m gonna have to call you back tomorrow so I can think about it for a little bit” Tony sat up on the bed already over this conversation. “Yes Mr. Stark call me when you’re ready I’ll be here at this number. Have a good night”
she hung up the phone then Tony put his phone on his nightstand and pulled out his StarkPad and started to do research on the grieving process.
Tony found a lot of information on grieving and the process of it. He found that denial was the first stage of it. This was the stage that Peter was in right now. Confusion, avoidance, shook, and fear. Peter was in one way or another going through all of this right now and he was expecting more of it to come before it gets any better. He continued to read the next stage which was anger. Frustration, irritation and anxiety. Anger. That’s not gonna be easy. Well none of it was gonna be easy but he was particularly scared and more worried for this stage because would Peter be mad at him, at everything else, at the world. He didn’t know. When Tony’s parents died he didn’t remember going through any of these stages he just moved right in to anger and was stuck in that stage for awhile. He was so mad at everything and anything and didn’t do anything but lock himself away from everyone and drink himself to unconsciousness almost every night. Although he’s gotten better and rarely has a drink anymore, it took him a long long time to get out of that stage.
Tony decided that he’s done enough reading for one night and went to try and fall asleep
He moved his StarkPad onto his nightstand table and rolled over in the bed. He was tired but had so much on his mind that he couldn’t fall asleep so he decided to check on Peter.
“FRIDAY?” Tony rolled onto his back looking up at the ceiling.
“Yes Boss” FRIDAY responded immediately.
“What’s Peter doing” Tony asked them whiced because he was just in the kids room obviously he was still sleeping, well actually maybe not.
“Peter seems to be in a light sleep but does not show any signs of distress”
Tony rolled back onto his side and shut his eyes. Maybe he could sleep now that he knows Peter is okay.