All The Stars Align

“Dad? Dad?” Peter called for Tony on his bedroom floor and waited for the man to walk into his room. “Dad?! I’m calling you!”

Tony appeared seconds later with a basket of clean clothes. Peter had refused to wear anything that was clean and insisted that he wanted his dirty clothes so Tony had to spray them so they didn’t smell dirty.

“I’m here. Stop yelling before the sun even comes up.” Tony rubbed his temples and put the basket on Peter’s bed. “What do you want to wear?”

Peter lifted his feet up on the bed to kick down the basket so Tony moved it over.

“Nothing. I don’t want to go to school.” Peter laid back down on the floor now that he couldn’t kick the basket off the bed.

“So you wanna wear your birthday suit then?” Tony looked at Peter and raised his eyebrows at him then went to pick Peter’s clothes for the day himself.

“Yeah.” Peter grinned. He couldn’t imagine that. That would be his worst nightmare showing up to school like that. No way.

Tony decided to play along. He put down the clothes and looked at Peter. “Oh. That’s good. It’ll save me for having to do laundry so just take off your shirt and-”

“No! I’m joking. I’m just joking, dad.”

“Oh, that’s good. So you’re gonna get dressed now?” Tony asked and sat down on the bed so he could fold some of the clothes and get that out of the way. When Peter didn’t make a move, Tony looked at him again. “So?”

“Yeah. But my clothes are dirty so you have to wash them first.” Peter sat up and put his feet onto Tony’s knees for the fun of it.

“That’ll take way too long. If you don’t want to wear these clothes then you can wear something else but I’m not washing anything else today.” Tony stood up since he knew if he was still in the room then him and Peter would continue like that for hours. “Meet me in the kitchen when you’re done.”

Peter threw a top of the floor at Tony but it missed him so he groaned loudly and then crawled over to his dresser to get himself dressed for the day.

He already ate breakfast so after he was dressed and ready to go, the two made their way down to the car but Peter was starting to feel really anxious.

“I don’t want to go to school today, dad. Please. I want to stay home with you.” Peter whimpered and rubbed at his eye. He didn’t want to cry but if that’s what he had to do for Tony to not send him to school then so be it. He would cause a scene.

“I know you don’t want to but you have to, buddy. You’re missing too much school and I don’t want you to fall behind anymore.” That wasn’t really the truth. Although Tony didn’t want Peter to fall behind, it was also a mix of other things.

Peter stayed by the hood of the car and shifted on his feet. “But… what about you? Are you gonna miss me?”

Tony smiled. “Of course. I always miss you when I’m not with you.”

“Well… then why won’t you let me stay home with you?” Peter asked, sadly. “Was it because I was bad last night?”

Tony walked over to Peter and cupped his cheeks. “Peter. Listen to me, no matter how bad you are, school is not a punishment so don’t think that.”

Peter’s eyes started to tear up. “But I just don’t want to go.”

“I know. Can you at least try. Stay for thirty minutes and if you still want me to pick you up then I will. Okay?” Tony asked him. He knew that always worked but it was just to shut Peter up temporarily. It didn’t help him actually stay the full day.

“Mm, no but I will.” Peter wiped the tear that had fallen and got into the car then they were off.

The whole way to his school, Peter was extremely nervous. He really didn’t want to go since he knew he could just be with his dad at home the whole time and that was making him anxious.

He didn’t even think he could make it thirty minutes, never mind a whole day at school.

“Dad.” Peter whimpered and reached over to grab onto Tony’s hand. “Please.”

Tony sighed. “I want you to try. I’m not saying you have to stay all day.”

Peter shook his head “I don’t want to try. I just want to stay with you. Please.”

Tony shook his head but Peter was persistent. “Please please please please. Dad. Please.”

“Peter, please. I’m asking you to try.”

Peter pulled his hand from his dad's hand. “Well I’m telling you I don’t want to try.”

“Okay. How about we go to McDonald’s and get something to drink or eat or something? Will that make you feel better?” Tony looked over at Peter and hoped that that was a good compromise.

“Yeah. I want a hash brown.” Peter sat up straighter since he didn’t have to cause chaos in the car just yet.

Tony pulled into the plaza and drove through the drive thru. “No. I wanna go inside.”

“No. We’re making this quick.” Tony said but he could already tell that Peter wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“Please dad. I really want to go in. Please. I want to!” Peter lifted his foot up to kick the dashboard so Tony pulled out of the drive thru and parked the car.

He was terrified of Peter throwing a tantrum anywhere that wasn’t at home because he didn’t want anyone to look at them and bring attention to them but that was hard since Peter just didn’t care who sees.

“We’re going in and then right out. We’re not sitting inside. I’m telling you this right now because I don’t want you to ask me once we’re in there.” Tony grabbed onto Peter’s arm to try and get Peter to listen to him but he wasn’t evening looking at him.

“Yeah. Let’s go inside. Can I get two hash browns?” Peter asked once they left the car and started walking towards the McDonald’s.

“Yeah. You can get as much as you want.” Tony held open the door and waited for Peter to walk in before following him in.

Peter went to sit down in one of the tables and Tony was already terrified of telling him no. He didn’t want to live this way with his kid because he wanted to be able to live life and not have to worry about Peter causing a scene but he didn’t know how to do that.

“We’re not staying in here.” Tony told him as he stood in the lineup.

“I know. I’m just gonna sit here.” Peter looked away from his dad when he stared at him and made him feel uncomfortable. He turned on his seat to look at the play place while Tony got his hash browns.

“You ready to go.” Tony asked but he didn’t even realize why he gave Peter an option.

“Aunt May used to take me and Ned into McDonald’s play places. It was fun. But it was sticky and it smelt.” Peter said and turned to Tony.

“That sounds nasty and I think you’re a bit too old for that so let’s go.” Tony gestured for Peter to follow him but Peter didn’t move. “Come Peter. You have to go to school.”

“Wait. I have to go poo.” Peter said, way too loud for Tony’s liking.

“Peter.” Tony whispered as he looked over and saw a woman walking towards the door who looked over at Peter and smiled because she heard him.

“I’ll be back.” Peter went to go run towards the bathrooms but Tony followed him.

“I’m coming with you. Who knows what kind of creeps are in there.” Tony told Peter but he was almost 100% certain that Peter didn’t need to go poo.

They got into the bathroom and Tony kicked open one of the stalls to look inside. Nasty. He opened another one and saw that it was somewhat clean.

“Okay. Come.” Tony looked over at Peter who was grabbing the paper towels out. “Peter. Do you actually need to go?”

Peter looked over at Tony and slowly shuffled over to him. “Um… not yet. Maybe I should wait a couple minutes so I don’t have to go at school.”

Tony stared at Peter to try not yell at him. “You don’t actually need to go poo. Let’s go.”

“No. I do. I do! Stop!” Peter tried to get Tony to let go of him so Tony did.

“Peter. Be quiet. Someone’s gonna think I’m trying to hurt you in here.” Tony nervously checked towards the door and ran a hand through his hair.

He knew what people would think if they walked into the bathroom and Peter was screaming and saying he doesn’t want to. That wouldn’t look good.

“I need to stay for a few minutes just to make sure.” Peter said and looked up at Tony.

Tony didn’t want to say no to Peter but he knew Peter didn’t need to go. “Okay. Line the toilet with toilet paper because you’re not sitting in that gross thing.”

Peter hesitated for a few seconds then shrugged. “Actually… I don’t actually need to go anymore. Can we go back to the car and eat now?”

“I know you didn’t need to go.” Tony set his lips into a thin line and looked down at his wild kid. “Let’s go.”

Once they got to the school, Peter was still eating his second hash brown and Tony knew that he was taking his time so that he didn’t have to go into the school right away.

It was already 9:30am and Tony hated himself because he actually woke Peter up early to get him to school on time. It took three hours to get Peter to school. That was not good.

“Okay. Finish up, Peter.” Tony said impatiently because they had been sitting in front of the school for ten minutes now with Peter taking mouse bites.

“Don’t rush me. I’m almost done.” Peter put the rest of his hash brown into his mouth and then looked over at Tony. “And I can still text you whenever I want?”

“Yep. I’ll be at home. Then after school is done we can go grocery shopping for a few things. Sound good?” Tony reached into the back seat to grab Peter’s backpack himself.

“Yeah. And then we can watch a movie together, right?” Peter asked because he needed that reassurance that his dad was still going to be there for him even after school, well, depending on how long he stays at school for.

“Yeah, Pete. Now get your butt moving. Give me a hug and kiss.” Tony held his arms out for Peter which Peter didn’t hesitate to lean over and hug his dad.

Tony pressed a kiss to his cheek and smiled when Peter pulled away and wiped it off. “Okay. I love you. Have fun.”

“I love you too. I’ll text you if I need you, okay dad?”

“Yes, Peter. See you later.” Tony tried to hold back from laughing. It wasn’t funny and was actually sad that Peter needed this much reassurance but he still found it funny.

Peter opened the car door and put his backpack on and waved bye to his dad before shutting the car door and watching Tony drive away. He turned and started walking into the school, feeling his chest start to tighten but he was used to that feeling now.

He just wanted his dad to come back but he knew that he would be mad at him if Tony got the text before the thirty minutes was up. So Peter sucked it up and walked into the school.

Second period was starting so Peter got a late slip pass from the front office and ignored the looks that they were giving him.

He knew he only came to school about once or twice a week and barely stayed that long so he was getting weird looks although he was used to it by now too.

Peter walked to his locker and opened it up but was met with one of the older students. “Hey. So you’re Stark's kid?”

Peter looked up at the boy and nodded his head. “Uh, yeah.”

The boy leaned against the locker next to Peter’s as Peter was putting his textbooks into his backpack.

“So are you his actual son that he kept hidden from the world for… how old are you?” The older boy asked him and Peter turned to look at him.

He shut his locker and swung his bag over his shoulder. “I’m fourteen.”

The boy raised his eyebrows at him. “You didn’t answer my first question.”

Peter didn’t know why this guy was asking him this question. It wouldn’t affect him one way or another so he decided to test his lying ability. “Yeah. I’m his real son.”

“Woah. So why did he say he adopted you?”

Peter didn’t have time to answer because a teacher was walking over to them. “Samuel. Get to class. Peter, it’s so nice to see you again.”

The boy, Samuel, sighed but walked away and walked into the classroom closest to them. Peter looked up at the teacher and then awkwardly looked away. He had never met this man before.

“Oh um, I don’t remember you.” Peter told him and put his backpack on fully now.

“I met you a few months back when you were trying to decide what school to go to. I’m Mr. Alpert and I’m the senior history teacher.” The teacher, Mr. Alpert, said.

Peter nodded his head, having no idea why this man was talking to him. “Oh okay. I um, I have to go to class.”

“Let me walk you.” Mr. Alpert started walking in the opposite direction of Peter’s class so Peter hesitated.

“Um, Mr. Alpert, my class is this way actually.” Peter tried to say to the man but he continued walking.

“That’s alright. We’ll loop around and I’ll drop you off.” The teacher said and waited for Peter to reluctantly catch up. “So, I heard of the news a few weeks ago that The Tony Stark adopted you.”

It wasn’t a question but Peter felt that he had to answer. “Yeah. He did.”

“So you’ve been living with Iron Man for the past few weeks then. How has that been? What’s he like?” Mr. Alpert asked and Peter hated that everyone always asked him in a judgemental way.

“Well, actually it’s been… like years I guess.” Peter said since he met Tony over a year ago when he was thirteen so it’s been that long.

“Oh. Oh so you’ve been living with him for longer but he just made it public then?” The teacher asked, searching for some answers.

Peter nodded his head. “Uh huh.”

“Well, I’m a huge fan of your father. I’ve been studying him for years and then I find out he has a boy that goes to my school. I haven’t seen you around until now.” Mr. Alpert told him and Peter unconsciously wrapped his arms around himself since people always tried to get information out of him about his dad.

“Oh.” Was all Peter said. He felt uncomfortable and just wanted to get to class so he didn’t miss any more class time. He was in school for a reason.

“Yeah. As well as Howard Stark. You wouldn’t have been born yet but I’m a huge fan as well.”

Peter didn’t like to talk about Howard Stark since he knew that his dad didn’t like the man that much.

They turned down a hallway which was the history wing and had a bunch of important dead people in history. There were statues of their heads all down the hallway and Peter’s known about this hallway but the younger grades weren’t allowed down there, just the grade twelves.

“Oh, I can’t go down there, Mr. Alpert.” Peter stopped walking and told him. “I’m in grade nine.”

“That’s alright. I just want to show you something.” Mr. Alpert smiled warmly at him and gestured for him to continue walking with him so Peter followed him down the hallway.

There were about ten statues so Peter was looking at all of them but then stopped when he came across a familiar face.

It was Howard Stark.

“That’s your father's father.” The teacher said and stood next to Peter. “I’m a huge fan. I’m still studying his work even years after his death. This is what I wanted to show you.”

Peter looked at the face that stared back at him. Tony hadn’t told him much about his dad, he told him a few stories about his mom and Javis but that’s it. He just knows what he looks like from pictures of him.

“Oh. I didn’t know there was a statue of him at the school.” Peter admitted and continued to look at Howard. He didn’t really see the resemblance between him and Tony.

“Yeah. It’s been here since before you came.” Mr. Alpert told him. “He would be your grandfather, yeah?”

Peter felt like the wind just got knocked out of him. He had never had a grandparent in his life. He never called anyone grandma or grandpa and he’s never really thought about the fact that technically, the statue he was looking at was his grandfather.

Since Peter didn’t say anything, the teacher continued. “I don’t know personal details like you probably do but I’m pretty sure your dad didn’t get along with him very well. Either way, this is your grandfather, Peter.”

Peter didn’t know why this teacher was telling him this stuff. “I um, I gotta go to class now.”

“Of course. Let me walk you there.”

Peter began awkwardly walking next to the teacher the whole way to his class which was on the other side of the school. He wished that he threw a bigger fit in the car this morning so he didn’t have to deal with this teacher.

On top of everything else, now he was thinking about Howard Stark and how technically the man was his grandpa which was incredibly weird to think about. He wanted to meet the guy just to smack him for treating his dad so badly.

“Alright. See you around, kid.” Mr. Alpert said and patted him on the back. Peter waved bye to him and walked into his biochemistry class.

“Oh Peter. So nice of you to join us. Please join your group. We are mixing chemicals today.” Peter’s teacher said and Peter smiled at him and went to go join Allison at one of the centers after dropping his stuff off at his desk.

“Hi Peter. Look how cool this is.” Allison said and held up one of the beakers.

Peter grabbed his goggles and looked at it. “Woah. It’s turning purple. Let me try.”

Allison handed him the beaker so he could get a better look at it while the new boy, Lucas popped up beside him. “Hi Peter. Are you going on the trip to Philadelphia tomorrow?”

“Uh… what? No. That’s tomorrow?” Peter put the beaker down to look at the new boy.

“Yeah. I’m going. Allison isn’t since she has dance.” Lucas told Peter and Peter felt his heart start to race. The trip was tomorrow but he didn’t want to go and leave his dad even though he was on the list.

“Um… no. I can’t go.” Peter lied although it wasn’t that big of a lie since he technically couldn’t leave Tony with his separation anxiety.

“Aw why not?” Lucas asked him, sounding hurt.

Peter didn’t understand why since he only met the boy one other time. It wasn’t like they were friends.

“Um… because, we can’t… afford it.” Peter lied but he knew that his dad could afford anything he wanted. He also knew that everyone else knew that too.

“Oh. But I thought you were like… really rich. Because your dad and all.” Lucas said confused and Peter just looked at him.

He didn’t really know what else to say. “No. I’m not. And… I just can’t afford it because, I just can’t so I can’t go.”

Peter thought that that was actually a good idea. He could tell everyone that he can’t afford it and then he got to stay home for two days anyways since there was no point in coming to school.

“Peter. Come see me for a sec.” his teacher called him over so Peter took off his goggles and slid off his chair to go speak with him.

“Yeah?” Peter asked and leaned over his desk to grab a candy that he always left out for the students.

“Can I have your permission slip for our trip tomorrow?” He asked and put his feet up on the desk.

Peter looked around to avoid his eyes and played with the wrapper in his hand. “Um… actually I’m not going tomorrow.”

His teacher looked at him confused. “Come again? I thought you just said you weren’t going.”

Peter swallowed. “Yeah. I-I’m not. I can’t. Um… I can’t… afford it.”

His teacher lifted his legs off his desk and chuckled. “Peter. Your dad is Tony Stark. You know he’s the third richest person in the whole entire world? And he’s almost going to be the second.”

Peter didn’t know that. He wasn’t actually sure just how much money his dad had.

“Oh. Well, I just mean, he needs to pay like the rent this month I mean. So I can’t go.” Peter thought back to his dad telling him he’s a horrible liar because right now, he was learning that that was in fact true.

“Alright. So you wouldn’t mind if I called him right now and sort everything out then. I’m sure the school could help pay for it.” Mr. Paul offered but Peter shook his head.

“I mean, I guess you can call him. Maybe he’s busy though.” Peter really wanted his teacher to call his dad just so he could possibly talk to Tony but he didn’t want his dad to know he was telling everybody he’s poor.

“Alright. How about you go back and join your group.” Mr. Paul told him so Peter grabbed another candy and went to go sit down.

He put his goggles back on and sat on the chair but then he heard a loud bang and looked over to see two of the students standing up with a flipped over table between them.

Mr. Paul stood up and rushed towards the two students. “Alright. Enough! Who flipped the table?”

Daniel looked at Mr. Paul and shoved him away. “Get away! Liam is an ass.”

“Okay, Liam, come here. You’ve been causing trouble all week so I think it’s time to go down to the office.” Mr. Paul grabbed onto Liam's arm but he pushed him away.

“Don’t touch me, dude. I’m not going anywhere!” Liam shouted and went to go sit down on one of the chairs furthest away from everyone.

“Daniel. Leave the room and wait in the hallway.” Mr. Paul ordered him so Daniel kicked a chair and left the room. The teacher turned towards Liam who had turned his back to everything and hunched forward.
“Get up. You’re going down to the office too.”

Liam mumbled something so Mr. Paul moved the desk over and pulled Liam’s chair back. “Stand up.”

Liam stood up and shoved the teacher. “Get off of me. I ain’t goin anywhere, man.”

“Liam!” The teacher warned but then Liam turned around and pulled his pants down so he could moon the teacher.

The whole class started laughing and muttering ew’s as Liam ran to the front of the class with Mr. Paul looking like he was regretting ever becoming a teacher to begin with.

“This is unacceptable. Pull up your pants and get down to the office. Right now!” Mr. Paul stood by the door so the boy couldn’t leave.

“Look at me!” Liam yelled the ran towards the teachers desk before finally pulling up his underwear and pants then Mr. Paul was grabbing him and walking into the hallway but he couldn’t leave his class unattended so he grabbed the classroom phone and dialed the office.

Peter turned towards Lucas and started laughing even more. It was funny to watch Liam run around while Mr. Paul tried to chase him. “He’s gonna get in so much trouble.”

Lucas nodded and looked over at Allison who was still covering her eyes. “Ew. Ew. If I see a penis before I turn eighteen I will go to hell.”

Peter patted her on the back. “Does that mean that me and Lucas are going to hell since we see our penises everyday?”

Allison uncovered her eyes and spared a quick glance around the classroom before looking at Peter. “No. You just can’t look at a vagina until you’re twenty-one.”

“Why is it longer for boys?” Lucas asked while he was still laughing.

“Because… my mom says that boys develop mentally longer than girls.” Allison answered and smacked Lucas for laughing at her. “I’m being serious.”

“But now you saw Liam so you’re going to hell.” Peter told her and took off his goggles.

“No. I only saw it for like two seconds and it wasn’t my fault so no, Peter.” Allison tucked her hair behind her ears and put her goggles back over her face.

“Oh if you’re sure.” Peter teased and pulled out his phone to text his dad but he decided that he wanted to save the story for when he got picked up after class was over since he just missed his dad and wanted Tony to hold him.

Peter: Daddyyyyyy

Peter smiled at his text. He hoped it made his dad want to pick him up. He put his phone down on the table and only had to wait three minutes for a text to come in.

Tony: Sonnnn

Peter: I wanna come home please I miss you

Tony: Are you sure? You don’t want to stay until the end of the day?

Peter groaned and texted back.

Peter: NOOOOO come pick me up after second period please please

Tony: Ok. I’ll see you then

Peter: Yayyyyy

Peter put his phone away and checked the time. He had twenty minutes left of class and then he got to see his dad.

The rest of class was spent with everyone cleaning up their equipment but Peter got out of it because he didn’t want to clean up anything so he pretended to be busy with his goggles and putting it away.

He grabbed his stuff when the bell rang but was stopped by Allison and Lucas. “Are you sure you can’t come tomorrow?” Lucas asked him. “Because you’re the only one I know in this class and I’m not good at making new friends.”

Peter felt bad but there wasn’t anything he could say that would make Lucas feel better. “Yeah. Sorry. I just can’t go.”

“Alright. Well… have fun doing whatever. Bye Allison. Good luck with your dance thing.” Lucas waved bye to the two of them so Peter continued to walk with Allison towards his locker.

“Why are you following me?” Peter asked once she still didn’t leave his side.

“Because I missed you since you never come to school anymore.” Allison explained and sounded annoyed that Peter even asked. “Didn’t you miss me?”

“No.” Peter said honestly. He didn’t even miss Ned so why would he miss Allison.

“Oh. Well, okay. So what are you doing for lunch then?” Allison asked and Peter just wanted her to leave so he would stop disappointing his friends.

“I’m not feeling good so I’m going home.” Peter lied again but he used that lie many times before on May and his other teachers.

“Oh. But you seem fine.” Allison pointed out and Peter resisted from groaning.

“Well I’m not. My stomach hurts and I’d rather go poo at home than on a school toilet.” Peter said annoyed and then looked over at Allison who was scrunching her face up with disgust.

“Fine. I hope you feel better soon. See you on Friday I guess.” Allison turned and left after giving Peter a side hug.

Peter was glad that she was gone so he could hurry up and see his dad. Speaking of Tony, he felt his phone vibrate so he pulled it out and saw that it was a text from Tony.

Tony: I’m here. Come out when you’re ready

Peter: Ok I’m coming now

Peter quickly opened his locker and put his textbooks away since he wouldn’t be needing those. He was in the middle of putting his jacket on when Ned walked up to him.

“Peter? I didn’t know you were here today. Why didn’t you tell me?” Ned asked with a hurt look on his face.

Peter looked behind Ned and saw that Betty and Abe. He felt bad that Ned was hanging out with new friends because of him. “I um, I’m actually leaving right now.”

Ned nodded, seeming that he knew that already and Peter didn’t blame him. “Aren’t you always.”

Peter slammed his locker shut and swung his bag onto his shoulders. “I’m sorry. I just…” Peter lowered his voice. “you know why, Ned.”

Ned sighed but nodded his head. “I know. It’s fine. Well bye then.”

Peter didn’t waste anymore time. He said his goodbyes and left Ned and his new friend group but he didn’t care because he had a new best friend and that friend was waiting in the car for him.

Peter walked as quickly as he could to get outside the school. He ran down the steps and spotted Tony’s car then made a run for it, not caring if he slipped and fell on ice.

Once he made it to the car, Peter opened up the door and jumped in. “Daddio! I missed you. Can we get McDonald’s?”

Tony shook his head at his kid in amusement. He loved him so much. “Alright. Just because you’re so cute.” Tony tried to pat Peter on the back but his backpack was in the way.

Peter pulled away from Tony and grinned. “Yay! Hmmm I missed you. You’re my best friend.”

Tony put the car into drive and pulled out of the school. “Aw thanks, Pete. You’re my best friend too.” And it was true. Of course Rhodey was his best friend as well but Tony would rather spend the day with Peter over anyone else.

Plus Peter was the only one he could spend two weeks alone with and not go completely mental after just two days. Well, maybe he could with Pepper but they would spend a huge chuck of that time doing adult things.

“Yay! I’m glad because that means that we should get a friendship bracelet together so we can match. Oh! Can we get a matching pyjama set? Or matching bathing suits for when we go back to Miami and swim!”

Tony couldn’t help but feel his mood boost up as soon as Peter got into the car. His kid just radiated off this pure, innocent energy and Tony loved that.

“I love that idea but the matching bathing suits won’t work since you spend most of your time out of your bathing suit there-”

Peter moved his hand over to cover Tony’s mouth. “Nope. What happens in Miami stays in Miami.”

Tony moved Peter’s hand off of his mouth before he got sick. “Ew. You are not allowed to touch me after school until you wash your hands. You nasty child.”

Peter shrugged. “What? I’m not nasty. It’s not like I pick my nose.”

Tony scuffed. “Yeah you do.”

Peter shrugged again. “It’s not like I pick my nose in public.”

Tony rolled his eyes but he was thankful for that. He didn’t want it in the newspapers that he had a nose picker as a son.

“Oh! Guess what.” Peter turned on the seat to say to his dad. He was so excited to tell him the story.

“What?” Tony asked and pulled into the McDonald’s drive thru but it was a huge line up. At least he had his favourite boy to keep him company.

“Today in my biochemistry class, there was these two boys and one of their names is um, Liam and the other one is Daniel and he’s actually nice but he has a weird laugh and he always has snot dripping from his nose but so then someone flipped the desk but I didn’t see who did it because I wasn’t looking but then I did look over and I saw um, I saw Daniel, I mean Liam standing there so I think he did it but then um,”

Peter paused to pick a string from his pants. Tony was so amused. Peter always had a way of making a boring story, interesting but he had no idea where this story was going.

“Um, what was I saying? Um, so then Mr. Paul, he’s my biochemistry teacher and he has candy on his desk and I took two today. One was blue and the other one was yellow and it was good but so then Mr. Paul grabbed Daniel and told him to wait in the hallway and then,”

Peter paused to start laughing and at this point Tony just wanted to know what was going to happen.

“And then um, Liam he went like this,” Peter demonstrated by tugging on his pants but not pulling them down. “and he pulled his pants down so he could stick his butt out at the teacher! It was so funny because he was going like, and running around!”

Tony started laughing. He could just picture how his kid would have found that hilarious. “Oh my god. I wonder what that boys’ parents are going to think.”

Tony didn’t want to ever get a call saying that Peter pulled his pants down and mooned his teacher but also all of his classmates. That would be a mess.

“He’s probably gonna get in trouble. And then the teacher chased him around the class until he pulled back up his underwear and his pants and Allison said if she sees a penis before she’s eighteen then she goes to hell.” Peter explained and Tony got whiplash from the topics.

“Did her parents tell her that?” Tony asked but he didn’t blame them. Maybe he could tell Peter that but for a girl, or boy. Who knows. Tony would support Peter either way.

Peter nodded. “Uh huh. But she saw Liam’s penis! But she said that’s okay since it was an accident.”

Tony felt bad for the girl's parents who were clearly protective of her. He wanted to think that if it was Peter and the other way around then he would sue the school or someone but the boy is a child and just wanted to moon the teacher for some reason.

“Yikes. That’s rough.” Tony couldn’t help but laugh because the whole story was funny.

“But Allison said I can’t see a vigina until I’m twenty one.” Peter told Tony and Tony bursted out laughing.

“Oh my god. I love this kid. Just you can’t?” Tony asked, amused. He wanted to meet Allison.

“No. All boys. Because she said that boys are mentally like they’re mentally behind compared to girls so it means that it’s twenty one for boys.” Peter explained like he believed that was true and Tony wasn’t going to tell him no.

“That’s true. So twenty one it is then. Not before but it can be after that too.” Tony told Peter who was nodding his head which caused him to hold in the laugh that was trying to escape.

“Yeah. I think so. Because ew ew ew.” Peter made a face of disgust and Tony couldn’t hold in his laugh anymore.

“You’re so cute. I love you so much.” Tony told Peter but he was closer to the menu now so Peter wasn’t listening anymore.

“I want… chicken nuggets! With French fries and-and a chocolate shake!” Peter bounced in his seat and looked over at Tony, biting his lip.

Tony reached over to run a hand down the side of Peter’s face. How was someone so small; so cute and make the man of Iron go soft?

“If that’s what you want then that’s what you’ll get.” Tony zipped down his window to order Peter’s order and his own with extra fries since he knew Peter would be dipping all of his into his shake.

They ate their food in the parking lot which was one of Tony’s favourite things to do. Peter always got super hyper and cute and he just loved his kid so much.

Two hours later, after they got home and Peter literally ran around the house about 500 times because for some reason he was extremely hyper, Tony wanted to talk to Peter about the call he got from his teacher today.

“Hey, bud. Come sit with me on the couch for a sec.” Tony told Peter who was doing flips on the other couch and making Tony’s heart combust.

“Why? I’m practicing.” Peter said and then stood on his head.

“Practicing giving me a heart attack? Come sit.” Tony didn’t mean to be so firm but he had been watching Peter for the last fifteen minutes and he couldn’t take anymore.

Peter sat up and frowned then walked over to the other couch and went to go sit in Tony’s lap but Tony pushed him off. “No. Let me. I’m allowed.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Obviously you’re allowed. What does that even mean? Sit your butt on the couch, not on me.”

Peter jumped off and jumped onto the couch so he was sitting beside Tony. Tony started. “So, I got a call from your teacher today and apparently I’m poor.”

Peter felt his heart speed up. So his teacher did get around to calling him dad. Hmm. He wondered when he did it.

Tony gently nudged his ankle. “Do you know anything about that?”

Peter looked away and shrugged his shoulders as he played with his sock. “Um… maybe not. I don’t know.”

“Peter. Just tell me. I won’t be mad.” The truth was that Tony already knew what happened since his teacher called and told him everything but Tony wanted to hear it from Peter himself.

“Um, well,” Peter hesitated. “I guess Lucas was asking me if I was going to Philadelphia tomorrow and I said no because I didn’t want to so… so I just told him that you can’t afford it.”

Tony laughed at how ridiculous that was. It was public knowledge to just about anyone that Tony Stark had money. And lots of it.

“Yeah, did Lucas believe you?” Tony asked, curiously.

Peter nodded his head. “Uh huh. He said okay but he still wanted me to go and I said no.”

“So then did you tell your teacher that too?” Tony asked, trying to get Peter back on topic.

“Um, yeah. Mr. Paul just asked so I told him um, that you couldn’t afford it because you had to pay the rent this month.” Peter looked down and mumbled the last part and Tony couldn’t stop himself from bursting out laughing.

The teacher didn’t tell Tony the part about that rent and it was hilarious.

Peter snapped his head up to look at Tony. “Hey. That’s rude. Stop laughing at me.”

Tony tried to stop and wiped the tears from his eyes. “Okay. Okay, I’m sorry. It’s just… rent, Peter? I don’t pay rent.”

Peter didn’t know how houses or… towers worked. He just knew that that lie would work with May but most of the time it wasn’t even a lie, it was the unfortunate truth.

“I don’t know how it works. Stop laughing.” Peter glared at his dad and waited for him to stop laughing.

Tony took a few seconds to get a hold of himself since he knew Peter wouldn’t know any better. “Okay. I’m sorry. And did your teacher believe you too?”

Peter sat back and put his feet out on the couch. “Maybe. He said he would call you but then the boy pulled his pants down.”

“He called me while I was driving to pick you up.” Tony told him and reached over to turn Peter’s face towards him. “Buddy, you don’t have to lie about that. If you don’t want to go to something then straight up say no. And especially don’t say I can’t afford something because everyone knows I can.”

“Can you afford the moon?” Peter asked with that mischievous grin on his face.

“Last time I checked, the moon wasn't for sale.” Tony smirked. Who else could he have these conversations with. He loved it.

“So you’re saying you would buy the moon when it is for sale then?” Peter grinned at his dad.

“Oh when it’s for sale, huh? Of course. I’ll buy it for you.” Tony pulled Peter’s legs and placed them on his lap. “So I want to talk to you about you going to Philadelphia?”

Peter’s head snapped up and his eyes went wide. “What? No. No no no. I’m not going. I can’t, dad. I’m gonna die if I go there because-because you won’t be there and-and I’ll miss you and…”

Peter trailed off and was shaking his head aggressively. Tony rubbed his ankle with one hand. “It’s gonna be okay, bud. It’ll be fun.”

“No! I’m not going. Please, dad.” Peter begged desperately and looked at Tony with pleading eyes.

“You’re going. I already signed you up.” Tony told him and then Peter kicked him and turned onto his stomach to curl into a ball and cry into the couch.

“Peter,” Tony rubbed his back. “Peter. You didn’t let me finish. I’m going with you.”

Peter sat up and started mumbling something incoherent to Tony.

“I’m going on the trip with you, bud.” Tony told him again. “Your teacher wanted someone else to come on the trip for groups or something, I don’t know, and so I suggested that I come so I am.”

Peter sat up straighter and rubbed his eyes. “You what?”

“I’m going to come with you and your class tomorrow. Although, I’m not sitting on a bus for five hours so we will be driving.” Tony would come under the condition that he will not be sitting on a bus with a bunch of smelly kids.

Peter rubbed at his eyes again. “Really? Are-are you being serious?”

Tony smiled. “Yes, Petey. Tomorrow we have to wake up super early though since we have to be at the school at seven in the morning.”

“Oh.” Peter thought about that. He kinda did want to go on the trip but the only reason he didn’t was because his separation anxiety would have been unbearable but now his dad was going so he could tell Lucas and Lucas will be so happy. “Okay. Yay. I’m so excited. You can meet my new friend Lucas.”

“Yeah, bud. I’m glad you’re excited but that means we have to go to bed early tonight.” Tony told him in advance but no matter what, if Peter didn’t want to go to bed then it didn’t matter how long he told him in advance, Peter won’t go to bed.

“Yeah, and are we going to stay for both the days too?” Peter asked, excitedly.

Tony was glad that Peter was excited about something other than Peter and daddy time. He wanted Peter to socialize with some kids his age and be a kid.

“Yeah, we are. So we should start packing, bud.”

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“Do you want this cup or the blue one?” Tony asked Peter before they were going up to bed.

They both showered, brushed their teeth and got their pyjamas on and now all they had to do was fill up Peter’s water bottle. Although Tony was watching Peter’s water intake after that night time accident from the nightmare.

“Um… the blue.” Peter told Tony and waited for him to fill it up so they could head upstairs.

“What time do we have to wake up tomorrow?” Peter asked once they got upstairs and got comfortable in the bed.

“Uh, are you going to be difficult?” Tony asked seriously because that was a huge question that needed to be asked.

Peter actually thought about it which scared Tony. “No. Because you’re coming too.”

“Yeah, so we have to wake up at five then.” Tony told Peter and grabbed the water bottle from him since he wouldn’t be needing that anymore.

“Hey. I’m still thirsty.” Peter sat up to grab it from Tony but Tony put it on the nightstand table and shut the lamp off.

“You’re all done. You’re going to be peeing all night.” Tony told him and laid down but Peter was trying to crawl over Tony to grab it. “Peter. Please not tonight. Just go to sleep.”

“After I’m done drinking it.” Peter went to grab it but Tony pulled him down on his chest.

“Hey, tell me what else happened at school today.” Tony said and rubbed the back of Peter’s head.

“Um… oh yeah, is Howard my grandpa?” Peter asked and lifted his head up to look at Tony in the dark.

Tony was not expecting that at all. He debated handing Peter his water back to get him to stop talking.

“Um… I guess he would be. And my mother Maria, would be your grandma.” Tony knew that if his parents were still alive, his mother would adore Peter and would never want to let him out of her sight.

Tony would have some competition since he knew Peter would adore his mother as well.

“Oh. Are they nice?” Peter asked, using present tense that Tony needed to correct.

“Well, my mom was nice. She was an amazing woman. You couldn’t get anything past her. She would have loved you so much.” Tony could make out Peter’s smile from the moonlight shining in through the window.

“I’ve never had a grandma or a grandpa.” Peter admitted sadly. “And your dad was rude?”

“Uh, yeah. He was a cold man.” Tony didn’t want to get into too much detail about his father with Peter right now. Maybe when he’s a lot older.

“But would he have loved me too?” Peter asked and if Tony was being honest, he wasn’t sure.

He knew Howard would have loved that fact that Tony had a son, someone to hand the company down to but Tony knows that Howard would have expected Peter to do a lot of grown up stuff that Tony would be saying absolutely no to which would cause a lot of fights.

“It’s impossible not to love you, Petey. It’s those big, brown eyes of yours and those chubby cheeks.” Tony pinched Peter’s cheeks and smiled. “But Howard would have loved you in a different way. He would love you from afar. That’s just how he was.”

“Oh. That’s okay. I would have loved him anyways because he’s your dad and he made you be born so you can be my dad.” Peter rested his head on Tony’s chest and Tony felt his heart soar.

Sometimes Peter surprised him with how adorable he is and how someone who went through so much loss and hurt their whole life could still be so loving and see the best in things.

“Oh baby. I love you so much.” Tony pressed a kiss to Peter’s head and held him tightly.

“I love you too, dad.”