All The Stars Align

“Pepper, where’s your key to lock the balcony?” Tony asked the next morning.

Last night had been long and exhausting and it wasn’t the end of that yet.

They ended up getting back to Peppers place at four in the morning so him and Pepper both passed out as soon as they got home and Tony only got to sleep for six hours before Peter was waking up and waking him up in the process.

Now, it was lunch time and he didn’t have to go in for any meetings today since they stayed so late last night. Tony was extremely happy for that but he still had to spend at least two hours answering emails.

Unluckily for Pepper since she had to go into the office for a few hours. Being the CEO and all.

Pepper turned to where Tony was standing by the open balcony door. “It just locks automatically when you close it.”

Tony shut the door and opened it again. “Well it’s not locking.”

She rolled her eyes and walked over to him. “I thought you were a genius, Tony. It locks from the inside. So if you go out there, you can’t open it without a fingerprint match. Which only I have. You can add yourself if you want.”

Tony shut the door again and followed her. “Okay. I hate that design. I’m gonna need the key lock because Peter will go out there and try to look over.”

Pepper passed by a kitchen drawer and started digging around for something then handed Tony a key. “Sorry. I didn’t even think about that.”

“It’s fine.” Tony took the key from her and leaned against the counter. “So… I didn’t get a chance to ask you before but I was just wondering, when did you get that surprise for Peter because I told you he was coming when we were on the plane and you didn’t know before then so?”

She smiled at Tony and crossed the distance between them. “I knew he was going to come because I know you two can’t be without each other. And I was hoping that it was something for him to help him feel more at home here.”

If Tony didn’t already love Pepper, he would have fallen in love with her at that moment. “Thanks. Um, I love you.”

Pepper took in step back in surprise at the sudden three worded sentence.

Tony didn’t take it back. “I do. I love you. But… it’s just, it’s not the time. Maybe it never will be but… I just want you to know that.”

A faint smile appeared on Pepper's lips. She stepped closer to Tony again and pressed a kiss to his lips so he pulled her in to deepen the kiss before she was pulling away. “Whatever’s meant to be, will be, Tony.”

He didn’t believe that before but now, he definitely did.

He wanted to lean forward to kiss her again but then Peter was walking around the corner dressed in Tony’s oversized shirt and hopefully underwear under it since he wasn’t seeing any pants.

“Dad, I’m hungry. And I want to make milkshakes for lunch.” Peter placed the base for his lego set that Pepper got him on the kitchen counter and walked over to Tony.

Tony wished that Peter could have given him one more minute but if this was any indication if he should get in a relationship, the answer was no.

“We can make milkshakes after we eat. What do you want?” Tony moved his hand down to feel if Peter was wearing anything under his top but he did feel something there so he was happy.

“Chicken nuggets and French fries. And milkshakes.” Peter jumped up onto the counter and tried to lift his leg up but Tony was putting him back on the floor.

“Okay. I’ll get started on that.” Tony opened the fridge but then remembered to go lock the balcony so he went to go do that first.

“I’m gonna get going. I’ll be gone until at least six or seven and then we should all do something later.” Pepper looked at Peter who was climbing on the kitchen counter again. “Think of something we can do together and then let me know. Have fun.”

Tony put the key back into the drawer and said bye to Pepper then he got to work on cooking some lunch.

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.
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“I don’t understand how you managed to get ketchup in your hair and all down your shirt.” Tony rolled his eyes at his son and went to wipe it off but there was way too much to begin with.

“It’s not ketchup.” Peter moved his face away from his dad when he tried to clean him off. “It’s the strawberry sauce for my milkshake topping.”

Tony put down the wet cloth and stared at Peter. “What am I going to do with you? Oh, I know. Shower time.”

Peter shook his head, moving to grab the sauce again because it was yummy to eat on it’s own. Tony watched him while trying not to gag at how disgusting that was.

He wondered if Peter was just doing that because of his age or if he just liked to eat processed jelly out of a plastic bottle. Either way, it was disgusting.

“All done, Peter. That’s disgusting.” Tony grabbed the bottle from Peter and stood up to go put it back in the cabinet. “Take your shirt off so I can wash it before it stains.”

Peter followed him into the kitchen to grab some more sweets but Tony was pulling his shirt off for him so he could wash it in the sink before the stains set.

“Do you think Pepper has any chocolate lying around?” Peter asked Tony, mischievously. He opened up the fridge to look in there but didn’t see anything that caught his eye.

“Pepper? Are you crazy? She is a chocolate monster. She’s obsessed and I know if we look hard enough we will find her stash but first you need to shower.” Tony ran his hand through Peter’s hair and lifted up but his fingers got stuck in all the knots.

Peter shut the fridge door. “Fine. Then chocolate hunt.”

“Yes. Do you need help turning it on?” Tony asked him but Peter was yelling no and running off in the direction of the bathroom.

Tony watched him as it dawned on him. That was the easiest it took to get Peter to shower. By himself. With no tears. Woah. He didn’t know if it was because he pulled Peter out of school and that was already making a difference or what but it was a step up in improvement and Tony loved that.

He cleaned up the kitchen, wiping down tables and putting dishes into the dishwasher before he picked his phone up to see a text from Pepper.

Pepper: At the meeting now. I’ll see you guys soon

Tony: Glad I’m not you. Have fun

Tony smirked at the heart emojis that he sent then put his phone back down on the counter and went to go check up on Peter to see how he was getting on.

He walked into the bedroom and went to knock on the bathroom door but it was already open so knocked on it anyways. “How’s it going in there?”

“My hairs all knotted. Can you brush it?” Peter asked his dad, grateful that he was here since he was struggling.

“Yeah, is there a brush in there?”

“Uh huh.”

Tony opened up the shower door and chuckled at the distressed look on Peter’s face. He grabbed the brush from Peter and went to start brushing out his wet curls but stopped once he felt that there was no soap on his head.

“Pete, no wonder why you can’t get the knots out. You have to put some conditioner in it.” Tony pointed to the bottle on the floor corner. “Get the purple one and hand it to me.”

Peter walked over to it and bent down. “This one?”

“Yeah. Give it here.” Peter handed it to him so Tony poured some onto his hands and then started messaging it into Peter’s hair, thinking back to when he did it the last time and how much closer they became since.

He let it sit for a few minutes while he rinsed his hands off and then started combing the brush through. “Look at that, it’s coming out silky smooth.”

“Yeah. I like it when you brush my hair.” Peter said, stumbling forward a bit because he was so relaxed.

Tony was glad that Peter didn’t have long hair. It was fairly long but it wasn’t past his shoulders kind of long although he would need another haircut soon.

As Tony brushed Peter’s hair, he thought about how he was so grateful that the person under the mask when he first met Peter wasn’t a girl. He could not be the father of a girl, he just knew deep down that he didn’t have it in him.

He also knew that if Peter were a girl then they wouldn’t be half as close as they currently were. It just wouldn’t have happened and both of them needed each other and what they have.

In the end, he now knows that everyone gets what they need.

He finished brushing the knots out already but he continued to brush Peter’s hair because it was relaxing for the both of them.

“Look at that, good as new. Just rinse all that out and then we can get our chocolate.” Tony rinsed his hands and the brush off in the second shower handle that was in the shower.

“Yay! And my hair smells so good. And it’s so soft!” Peter watched all the soap rinse out of his hair and down the drain then looked over at his dad. “All rinsed.”

“That means chocolate time and then-”

Tony cut himself off because the doorbell was ringing at the penthouse door. He stopped and tried to listen for anyone calling out mailman or delivery or something but there was nothing.

He didn’t know why someone was even ringing Peppers doorbell but he wasn’t here often enough to know if it was a reoccurring thing.

“Who’s at the do-”

Both of them jumped when a loud bang rang through the penthouse. Tony immediately reached into the shower to turn it off and tried to listen.

“Dad, what’s-”

“Shh.” Tony cut Peter off and felt his heart start to race. Another loud bang was heard so Peter let out a loud whimper and started to panic because Tony was obviously scared too.

Tony rushed over to the bathroom door and shut it quietly, locking it. “FRIDAY what- fuck.” He remembered that Pepper didn’t have FRIDAY in her house. Fuck.

He reached into his pockets for his phone but then remembered that he left it on the kitchen counter. He had nothing on him and his suits were all the way back at home which was useless to him here.

“Dad. What’s going on?” Peter asked and started shivering because he was wet and cold and he was terrified now.

Tony rushed back to Peter’s side and leaned down so he was face to face with him. “You have to be quiet. It’s okay.”

Peter felt the tears stop to fall so Tony quickly covered his mouth to muffle the sob that Tony knew was about to escape his mouth. “Shh, baby. You have to be quiet.”

Another loud bang went off, louder than the others and then he heard voices as Peter’s eyes widened, clearly hearing it much louder than Tony was.

Fuck. Tony knew that people were in the house. He tried not to panic but he had his kid with him in the bathroom and nothing to protect Peter with besides his wrist gauntlet.

“People are inside.” Peter whispered and felt the tears pour down his cheeks. He could hear them talking quietly and walking around in the living room which was right down the hallway from them.

Tony picked Peter up and walked over to the bathroom counter to look for a towel. Peter tried to muffle his whimpers into his dad’s shoulder but it was barely working.

“Where’s a fucking towel.” Tony whispered under his breath and tried to move as quickly as possible without being loud and slamming drawers.

He put Peter down for a second so he could look for one faster with his heart beating so quickly he was sure that if he checked he would be able to see it moving under his skin.

Peter curled into a ball and tried to listen to what was going on outside the bathroom door. He could hear them walking around and counted at least three of them. They were… looking for something… or someone?

The thought of someone here to hurt him or his dad made him let out a rather loud hiccup so he immediately covered up his mouth and looked over at Tony who was still looking for a towel.

Tony wanted to cry once he found a fucking towel in fear that these men came here to hurt his son. He turned around to grab Peter’s arm and walk him over to the space behind the bathtub.

He stepped inside and grabbed Peter rather roughly onto the other side and wrapped the towel around his shoulders. “Sit down.”

“No. No no.” Peter shook his head and tried to reach out to grab onto his dad but Tony grabbed his wrists. “Daddy, no. I’m scared.”

“Shh. It’s gonna be okay.” Tony forced Peter to sit down and made sure his towel was covering him up. “Stay here, baby, and don’t come out no matter what you hear.”

Peter shook his head desperately. “Daddy. No. Stay here. Where-where you goin’?” Peter let out another loud hiccup and then Tony leaned down to press a kiss to his wet hair.

“Just stay here. No matter what you hear.” He said again and then climbed over the bathtub and walked over to the bathroom door.

He activated his wrist gauntlet and looked towards Peter to make sure he was still hidden before he unlocked the door.

He had never been in a situation like this before. He was fine in fights and could hold his own, suit or no suit but to have someone break into his home without knowing their intentions or how many there are. With his son in the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel… he knew that if one of them even so much as made a move in that direction he would be blasting their faces off.

Tony quickly opened the door and aimed his hand up. There was no one there but when he looked into the hallway, he could see the shadows of people walking.

He shut the door quietly behind him and started making his way towards the hallway but he froze against the wall when he heard voices so he listened in.

“... good. I want evidence of us being here. Let’s go… pick it up.” Tony tried to make out what they were saying but he couldn’t hear much.

He stepped out from the bedroom and aimed his repulsor.

Back in the bathroom, Peter couldn’t stop himself from shaking. The bathroom tile was cold on his bare butt and his hands were shaking so much so he couldn’t even cover his whimpering properly.

He wanted his dad. He didn’t know if that was going to be the last time he saw his dad alive. If that was the last kiss he was going to receive from him.

Peter felt sick.

He felt his body gag and tried again to stop himself from making so much noise. He wanted to listen to see if he could hear anything but he didn’t know if he wanted to.

Peter felt something warm start to spread underneath him so he spread his legs a bit and moved the towel to see that he had accidentally wet himself. Not that it got anywhere since he was only wrapped in a towel.

He didn’t care. He wanted his dad.

In the hallway, Tony moved slowly forward and saw two men with their backs to him. He didn’t know how many were in the room so he wanted to catch those men off guard.

“Who the fuck are you?” Tony asked in a low, intimidating voice. Both men jumped and one of them dropped a picture frame that he was holding, it falling onto the floor and shattering.

“Tony Stark! Holy fuck.” The man who dropped the picture frame pushed the glasses up on his face more and took a step towards Tony.

“Stay the fuck back and tell me what you’re doing here.” Tony looked to his left and saw another man standing in the living room and staring at him with wide eyes. “You, get over here.”

“Iron Man, sir, please don’t shoot us.” The man begged as he lifted his arms up and rushed over to stand next to his buddies.

“Tell me why you are here.” He asked, trying not to yell and potentially scare Peter and cause him to make a sound.

“I-we are huge fans. Okay, we didn’t know anyone was home. We saw Pepper Potts leave.” The first guy explained and started looking around the place for something. “We saw pap pics of you arriving last night with your son.”

So they knew Peter was here. Fuck. Tony stepped towards them and wired up his repulsor, causing two of them to drop onto the floor and the other to continue staring at him, frozen in fear.

“Move. Get out of my way.” Tony passed by them and picked up his phone on the kitchen counter so he could call up security while still keeping his eyes on them.

“Mr. Tony Stark. Sir, we-we just came up to grab some evidence of us being here. For our blog. Please don’t kill me.” The man with the blue dyed hair in a man bun said and then sat up to look over at Tony.

“Stay the fuck down. You just broke into my fucking house!” Tony yelled and immediately looked in the direction of the bedroom where Peter was.

“Please don’t. We shouldn’t have come. We didn’t know any-anyone was home.” Tony looked at the guy. He had a camera around his neck and that told Tony that they were fucking crazy fans.

Not the good kind. The obsessed with every single detail of his life and everyone around him kind of crazy. “You need to shut your mouth because I don’t want to hear it.”

The guy who had yet to say a word, looked up at him with a sick smirk on his face. “Where’s Peter? Is he in here too?”

The man looked behind him in the direction where Tony came from.

Tony felt his heart speed up again. To hear a complete stranger ask for his son like that as if they were family. “If you so much as move in that direction, I will blow your legs off your body without a second thought.”

Tony put his phone into his pocket and moved around to put himself in between the bedroom and the men.

The same guy turned around to face himself at Tony. Tony stared back at him, waiting for the guy to make a move.

The guy smiled at Tony. “Can we meet him?”

Tony didn’t know what the fuck this was. These men were actually psychopaths. “Something is so fucked up in your mind if you think you can break into my house and have the audacity to ask to meet my son.”

The man stared back at him for a few seconds until his face turned red and he started yelling. “PETER!”

Tony knew Peter wouldn’t come out. Peter knew his voice and knew that he wouldn’t come out to a random man calling his name.

“Shut the fuck up!” He yelled and it looked like the man was about to start yelling again but four security men were walking into the penthouse with their guns aimed.

Tony put his arm down and watched them handle the situation. He looked around the room, having no idea if there were more of them.

One of the security walked over to him with a garbage bag. “Is this from here, Mr. Stark?”

Tony saw what the man was holding and in the bag were dirty cups from the kitchen, a throw pillow from the couch and some other little decorative items. They wanted some prized possessions to leave with. “Yes. I don’t want that here anymore. Get rid of it and I want to know how the fuck they managed to get into the penthouse.”

“Of course, Mr. Stark. The police are on their way and are going to take them into custody and come do an investigation.” The security guard tied the garbage bag into a knot and moved aside.

Tony walked over to the door, seeing as it had obviously been kicked down but he didn’t understand how. Pepper wouldn’t live somewhere without top of the line security and doors that couldn’t be kicked in by amateurs.

He waited until the security guards left but he wanted to know how this happened. There was a private elevator that led up to Peppers penthouse and two others but Tony knew on one side was an old woman who spent most of the year in France and on the other side was an elderly couple who he was pretty sure were dead by now.

“Mr. Stark, we will let you know what happened but so far what we know is that these three men drugged the front security officer so they could steal the keys and get up in the elevator.” The security explained to him after more had walked up to take the three men down.

Now that they had no door, Tony didn’t feel safe here with his kid who was still in the bathroom. “I’m taking my kid and leaving until we get a door so I want the elevator blocked off to everyone’s access until I say so.”

“Yes. Of course, Mr. Stark.” The man turned and joined the last one in the elevator so Tony took a quick glance around the room before making his way back to the bathroom and deactivating his gauntlet.

He spoke first so Peter knew that it was him. “Peter. It’s daddy, buddy. Everything’s okay so I’m coming in.”

Tony opened the door and shut it behind him, locking it as well because he was paranoid.

He heard Peter whimpering so he didn’t hesitate to step back into the bathtub and sit on the ledge so he could calm his son down. “Peter, it’s okay now. Come here, baby.”

Peter pulled his head out from between his legs and looked up at his dad, trying to make sure it was really him and once he saw his dad’s face, he lifted his arms up and started crying loudly, hoping that it was safe to do so.

Tony lifted Peter up into his arms and sat Peter on his leg so he could hold him at the awkward angle for a few moments. He pulled him against his chest and felt Peter wrap his arms around his neck and cry against him.

“It’s okay, Peter. Everything is okay now, I’m okay and you’re okay. Shh, just breathe.” Tony reassured his baby and rubbed at his back, feeling Peter shaking in his arms.

“I-is the bad g-guys gone?” Peter asked, stumbling over his words.

“Yeah, baby. They’re gone. They were just crazy people. Everything’s okay.” Tony pressed a kiss to Peter’s cheek and felt his phone vibrating in his pocket so he let go of Peter with one hand to reach into his back pocket to grab it and hit answer since he knew it was Pepper. “Everyone’s okay, Pepper.”

“Tony. Oh my god, I just got a call saying that three men broke in. Is Peter okay?” Pepper rushed out, Tony heard the fear in her voice.

“Peter’s okay. He’s just calming down. They kicked the door down while Peter was in the shower so I’m just gonna get him dressed and then we’re gonna go somewhere for a few hours.” Tony continued to rub at Peter’s back to calm him down some more. He felt Peter try to sit on his other leg but they would be getting up soon so Tony didn’t help him.

“My other car is in the garage. Call me when you can and I’ll come wherever you guys are.” Tony could hear Pepper rushing around but he didn’t blame her, he was already going crazy and wanted to get Peter out of there.

He said bye to her and put his phone back into his pocket then stood up with Peter in his arms. He walked into the bedroom and kneeled down to grab clothes out of Peter’s suitcase and then stood up and let go of Peter.

“No. Pick me up.” Peter begged him and tried to get Tony to lift him back up.

“We have to go. We are meeting Pepper somewhere. Let’s get you dressed.” Tony tried to move but Peter clung onto him.

“I-I peed before cause-cause I was scared.” Peter broke down crying again so Tony shushed him. He knew it was an accident and wasn’t surprised one bit but that still broke his heart.

“That’s alright. You were scared.” Tony grabbed Peter’s underwear and bent over him to get his feet through so they could get out of there. “Step in.”

“And-and I didn’ know if-if you were gonna be okay.” Peter cried out and tried to wipe his tears away while Tony pulled his underwear up on him and reached down to grab his pants.

“It’s okay now, baby. We’re gonna go somewhere for a bit. Left your feet up.” Tony pulled on Peter’s shorts and turned him around to wipe at his eyes, knowing that this whole situation traumatized Peter. “Look at me. I am okay. You are okay. Everything is okay now.”

Peter nodded his head and leaned forward to hug Tony again so Tony sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Peter onto his lap to hold him for a second.

He grabbed his shirt off the bed and put it over Peter’s head then stood up to grab some socks for him while Peter finished getting his shirt on. “Put your socks on too, Pete.”

Tony grabbed shoes out of his own suitcase and put them on himself since Peter only brought one pair which was at the front door, well, what was left of it.

Tony grabbed onto Peter’s hand and led him towards the hallway but Peter grabbed onto the door frame. “No. I don’t want to.”

“No ones out there, Peter. I promise you.” Tony reassured him but Peter still didn’t let go so Tony grabbed him and carried him towards the door to get his shoes on.

Peter peeked an eye out just to make sure that no one was there but then shoved his face back into his dad’s neck.

“Let’s get your shoes on.” Tony was glad that Peter’s shoes were slip on’s since he didn’t want to stay here any longer and tie up some shoes.

Once they were ready, they left the penthouse and went down in the elevator only to be greeted by some police officers who headed up right after them.

Tony and Peter walked to Peppers new SUV that Tony had yet to see but he was excited to drive it and Peter’s mood was immediately better once he saw how big the car was.

“Woah. It looks like a van. It’s so big.” Peter observed and ran over to look into the windows. “It even has back seats, dad. Why’s there a baby car seat in there?”

Tony unlocked the car and opened up the back door to see a baby car seat. He double checked that it was actually Pepper’s car because she didn’t have a baby…

“I have no idea.” Tony pushed Peter in anyways. “Climb in and climb over to the front seat.”

Peter climbed over the car seat so Tony shut the back door, climbed into the driver's seat and started the car. He loved driving new cars and testing them out.

When he was in his thirties and bored with his life, he used to test out new cars almost every Saturday.

Peter put his seatbelt on and tried to move his seat forward but Tony moved it back. “Peter, I’m pretty sure it’s illegal for you to even be sitting in the front seat with your height and weight so keep the seat back.”

“Aww. But I like to look out.” Peter crossed his arms and looked over at his dad who was already backing the car up. He swung his feet in the seat and smiled at all the new buttons on the radio. “Music time.”

For the next thirty minutes, the two of them drove around, trying to find something to do while they waited for Pepper to finish off with work after Tony had reassured her multiple times that they were okay and there was no rush to meet them.

When it was finally time to pick her up since they would be leaving her car there and get it another day, it was dinner time so the plan was to get some take out and go have a picnic somewhere quiet.

Tony parked the car outside and waited for her to come out while Peter jumped into the backseat.

Pepper walked out of the building and opened up the front door, throwing herself into Tony’s arms like Peter had done to him so many times when he picked him up from school.

“Oh god. I was so scared when I got the call.” Pepper squeezed Tony so he hugged her back and tried to make her feel comforted.

“We’re okay. It’s okay now.” Tony reassured her and then she was pulling away to look into the back seat.

“Are you okay, Peter? That was scary, huh?” Pepper turned her body to fully face him and reached out to grab his hand.

“Yeah. It was but why is there a car seat in here?” Peter asked her, moving to lean forward on his seat more.

Pepper looked over at Tony and then back at Peter. “Oh yeah. I was with my friend the other day who has a little boy and I just forgot it in here.”

Peter looked at the seat offended since he always sat behind his dad. “But I always sit in this seat.”

“Sit inside the car seat then.” Tony joked but saw that Peter was actually going for it. “I’m joking, buddy. Just sit next to it.”

Peter whined but did it anyway and then they were driving to a restaurant to grab some dinner and go eat it somewhere nice and quiet and surrounded by trees.

It was already starting to get a bit dark out once they got the food but it was extremely hot out so it wasn’t like they had to rush anything.

Tony pulled down a dirt road that Pepper was telling him to go on so he took off his seatbelt and zipped up his window because of the dust. At the end of the road was a parking lot and a field with a park across from it. It was perfect and only two other families there.

Tony shut the car off and started getting ready to get out of the car when he heard Peter speak up in the back. “I got stuck. Can you help me?”

Both adults turned back to look at Peter who had somehow gotten himself buckled into the car seat and somehow fit.

Tony bursted out laughing and got out of the car to get a better look. When he opened the back door, Peter was desperately trying to get out but Tony couldn’t stop laughing. “Oh my goodness, Pete. How did you even manage to do that?”

Peter kicked his legs out and tried to reach for Tony. “I just wanted to try. Help me.”

Tony shook his head and wiped the tears at his eyes from laughing so hard. “I have to take a picture.” He pulled out his phone and snapped a few pictures of Peter struggling. “Smile for the camera, Peter.”

Peter forced a smile out at Tony who couldn’t stop laughing. “This picture is getting framed. My goodness. But I think it kinda suits you.” Tony turned the camera around to show Peter the picture who looked at it then gave Tony a dirty look.

“Dad! I want out.” Peter yelled, pulling at the straps that he had no idea how he even got on in the first place.

Tony wasn’t ready for this moment to end just yet. He hit record on his phone and aimed it at Peter. “Hey Pete, how did this happen? Wanna tell me?”

Peter stopped squirming and looked at Tony with a dry look. “I was just trying to see if I fit. I want out!”

“Well, you definitely fit but I have bad news for you,” Tony stepped more towards Peter and titled his chin up.

“What is it?” Peter asked innocently.

“I don’t actually know how to take you out so… I guess you’re stuck in there.” Tony teased him and then Peter was trying to pull his legs up to try and get out.

“Oh Tony, let him out.” Pepper said from the other side of the backseat where she put the food.

“Aw. Fine.” He aimed the camera down to the red button to try and stick his fingers under it so he could let Peter go free but it was hard with one hand so he turned the camera up to Peter’s face. “I need two hands for this, bud.”

Peter looked up at the camera and grinned. “Yay. Then I get to hug you dad. Bye!”

Tony ended the video after that and put his phone in his pocket to get his kid out of the car seat. “You know, Pete, something I never thought I would be doing with you was unbuckling you from a car seat yet here we are.”

Pepper walked around to their side just as Peter was jumping out of the seat and jumping into Tony’s arms. “And to think, even wiping your butt came before this.”

Peter pulled back to look at Tony with a betrayed look on his face. “No.”

Tony looked over at Pepper and nodded while she shook her head fondly at the two of them. He let Peter slide off him so he could help Pepper with the blankets that she had in her trunk coincidentally.

They set up in the middle of the field and Tony looked at his surroundings like he always did when Peter and Pepper were around. He saw two other cars in the parking lot and a family at the park and another family doing what they were doing but off in the distance.

Peter laid down on the blankets and looked over at his dad who was already looking at him. Tony sat down on the blanket and leaned over Peter so he could pin his arms at his side and lift up his shirt to blow a raspberry onto his stomach.

Peter tried to roll away and was giggling like crazy so Tony did it again and sat up. “I’m sorry. I’m just so hungry I thought you may have been food. My bad.”

The giggles died down so Peter rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself up. “Food!”

The three of them all began eating their food during their last minute picnic idea which turned out to be one of the best decisions ever.

After they were done eating, Peter ran into the grass and was doing flips so Tony and Pepper watched him while they spoke.

“I got a message from the repair company so they are going on to take out the old door and give me a new, better door.” Pepper told Tony who was rubbing at his eyes.

“That was so scary, Pep. Peter was in the shower and I was in the bathroom with him when they broke in. Fuck. I couldn’t find a towel to cover him and he was so scared.” Tony paused so he didn’t start hyperventilating. “All I was picturing was a bunch of men coming in with gun who hate me so they see Peter and tried to get back at me by… by hurting Peter and I just, I was so fucking scared.”

Pepper let Tony talk it out. He needed to talk about it to someone that wasn’t Peter. “And of course I couldn’t tell Peter that these men might try to rape him. I just, that was what was running through my mind the whole time, oh my god that was the scariest moment of my life I think.”

Pepper rubbed at his arm. “I know. I can’t even imagine how scary that was for you and I don’t think that that was what was going through Peter’s mind which made it even scarier.”

Tony was so glad that she understood. He talked about the dangers of that with Peter before but in that moment, he knew Peter wasn’t thinking of that and maybe he was wrong but he didn’t want to tell Peter and scare him even more.

Which was why Tony tucked him tightly up in that towel and hid him.

“Yeah. Fuck. That was scary.” Tony looked at Peter as he squatted down and pulled at the grass. He was okay. “They said that they knew Pete and I were in Malibu to see you and that they watched you leave your building but then they said they didn’t know Pete and I were up there so I don’t know. It doesn’t really add up.”

“That’s scary. It’s definitely a wake up call to show us how easy something like that could happen.” Pepper pointed out and Tony couldn’t agree more. “But I don’t think they would have broken in if they knew you were there with your child.”

Tony wasn’t so sure about that.

He groaned and went to stand up so he could go play fight with Peter. “Either way, I’m just glad he’s okay so I get to do this to him,”

Tony walked over to Peter, standing over him as he squatted down in the grass. “Boo. What’re you doing?”

Peter jumped from the scare and then smiled once he saw it was Tony. “I’m ripping the grass out.”

Tony stood up a bit straighter to get a better grip under Peter’s underarms. “Oh yeah.” He lifted Peter up, causing Peter to start screaming and laughing as he turned him so that Peter was upside down.

Tony held him with one arm and used his free arm to tickle Peter’s exposed belly. “Ahhhaahh! S-stop! It tickles!”

“The tickle monster doesn’t listen to anyone!” Tony continued to tickle Peter’s stomach with his arms falling above his head so Tony went to move down to tickle his armpits but then Peter was screaming louder.

“I’m gon-gonna pee! I’m gonna pee! It’s coming out.” Peter yelled and the last thing Tony wanted was to get peed on with no change of clothes so he quickly but gently laid Peter onto the grass.

“Don’t pee on me.”

Peter continued to laugh while he looked up at Tony and then he was turning onto his hands and knees and trying to crawl away from Tony. “I tricked you!”

Tony grasped. “Oh you little bugger. Get back here.” Tony quickly caught up to his kid and picked him back up so he could hold him bridal carry in his arms and devour his face with kisses.

Peter kicked his legs out so Tony put him down which he eventually did but tucked Peter against his chest so he could continue kissing him.

“Ahhh! It tickles me! Ahh!” Peter fell down onto his dad’s feet and wrapped his arms and legs around him so he couldn’t go anywhere. “You’re mine now.”

Tony reached down to try and pry Peter off of him but it wasn’t working so he dragged Peter over to the blankets and sat down with his legs stretched out so it was awkward for Peter to grip on.

Peter grinned and then crawled over Tony’s legs so he was lying down on them. “Silly silly boy.” Tony laughed out and reached down so he could pinch Peter’s butt.

“Ow. Ow that hurt me.” Peter jerked his hips and grabbed onto Tony’s hand but Tony was making pinching motions again and making his way towards Peter’s bum. “No. Ahhh!”

“The num num monster wants a nibble.” Tony made his hands into the motion which caused Peter to sit up on him and try to grab his hand but Tony was too fast and rolled him onto his stomach so he could pinch his butt again which caused Peter to let out an ear piercing scream so Tony immediately stopped. “Okay. Num num monster is going bye bye now.”

Peter bounced onto his knees and couldn’t stop his laughing so Pepper bud in after watching the two being adorable. “I got an idea. How about we go to a drive-in movie?”

Peter jumped up in excitement. “Yeah!” He threw himself onto Tony’s thighs so Tony groaned and covered his hands over his crotch. “Ow. Peter.”

Peter didn’t move or even realize what he did wrong. “I wanna go to a drive-in movie. What’s even is that?”

Tony got over his excruciating pain and gasped. “You don’t know what a drive-in movie theatre is?”

Peter jumped over to Tony and shook his head. He was picturing some sort of fast moving lineup to get him inside the movies faster.

“Oh buddy, you have so much to learn.” Tony ruffled his hair and looked over at Pepper. “Should I tell him now or let him see for himself?”

“Hmm, let him see for himself.” She answered causing Peter to groan in impatient anticipation.

They packed up their stuff and headed towards the car and as a joke, Tony picked Peter up from behind and walked over to the back door, opening it up and then tried to sit Peter in the car seat. “In you get.”

“No! Ahh! Noooo!” Peter screamed to try and get away but Tony had a better grip on him. “Ahh!”

Tony lifted Peter up and into the car seat but once he was sitting in it, Peter’s laughing stopped and his face turned serious. “I don’t want to.”

Tony tried to see if Peter was being serious or not because he didn’t think that Peter would actually think he would put him in the car seat all of the sudden. “No?”

“Nooo. I don’t want to.” Peter struggled to get out and Tony’s heart melted as he watched. His kid was too precious and too cute. He didn’t know what he did to deserve Peter.

“I’m just joking with you, bud. Come here.” Tony pulled Peter out of the car seat and pressed a kiss to his cheek, getting a smile in return. “Drive-in movie time?”

“Yes!” Peter cheered and climbed over the car seat to the other seat.

They decided what movie to watch on the way there and there were only two options for the time they were going at which was How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Annabelle Comes Home.

Tony wanted to watch the scary movie but he didn’t know how Peter would be with it.

“How about we watch Annabelle and if it’s too scary, you can tell us and we’ll leave.” Pepper suggested since she hadn’t seen it and really wanted to plus Tony wanted to watch it as well.

Peter thought about it. He looked out the window and saw that it was pitch black out besides for the street lights that they would pass every so often but he could see that they were driving in a forest of some sort.

“I’ll be there the whole time, Pete, and Pepper’s right, we can leave whenever we want.” Tony reassured him since he really didn’t want to watch a cartoon movie, as much as he’s used to watching them with Peter, he would prefer to watch something else.

“Mmm… fine. But I’m still scared because I don’t like scary movies.” Peter knew his dad would be there with him the whole time but he was still scared.

When they arrived, they waited in a car lineup to pay and pick the movie so Peter tried to see the building but he couldn’t spot it. “Where do we go in?”

Tony finished talking to the teller who was completely star struck but then Tony was driving forward to find their spot. “This is it. We sit in the car and do you see that giant white screen? A film projects onto that for us to watch.”

Peter looked over to where Tony was pointing and felt his jaw drop. “Woah. That’s so cool! But how do we hear it?”

“There will be speakers near our car for us to listen to the movie.” Pepper explained to him and took off her seatbelt to turn around and look at Peter. She loved seeing him get excited about stuff which was basically everything.

“Oh look. Here’s our spot right next to the scary forest.” Tony put the car in park. “I sure hope Annabelle doesn’t crawl through the windows and take you, Peter.”

“No.” Peter shook his head and looked out his window, they were right next to the forest, about two car spaces away and if Annabelle were to take anyone, it would be him right?

“Tony. Don’t.” Pepper smacked his arm and then turned back to look at Peter who looked like he was about to start crying. “Annabelle isn’t coming here, Pete.”

“Because she’s not real.” Peter said as a fact but it came out more as a question.

“Well…” Pepper looked at Tony to see if he wanted her telling Peter the truth or not. “Actually Annabelle is real. But she’s locked away in a Museum in Connecticut.”

Peter’s jaw dropped. He had no idea the freakin murder doll was real! What did he get himself into. “I wanna watch How to Train Your Dragon 2 now.”

Tony zipped down the front windows and shut the car off. “No you don’t. This is a good movie I heard.”

“Then I wanna cuddle with you.” Peter looked at his dad’s chest that was looking really inviting right about now.

“Okay, come here.” Tony moved over on the seat a bit and held his arms out for Peter to climb over to him. The movie would be starting in ten minutes so they didn’t have much time to do much. “Do you need to go pee before it starts?”

Peter tested to see if he needed to go before shaking his head. “No.”

“Okay. Let me know because I don’t want no jump scare wettings going on.” Tony teased him but he was being 100% serious. He moved the seat back so there was more space and then leaned it back so they could lie down.

“Let me grab the blankets.” Pepper leaned into the backseat to grab the blankets that she had thrown in there before and leaned her own seat back a bit.

“Ow. What’re you doing? Stop moving so much.” Tony tried to hold Peter down but he kept making uncomfortable moves.

“My pants.” Peter weakly tugged on them, cracking his neck to look at Tony. Tony didn’t know how he didn’t notice that that was what Peter wanted earlier. Something about tight clothing or any type of clothing on Peter for that matter, he hated.

“What?”

“I want them off.” Peter told Tony while waiting for permission so he didn’t get kicked into the back seat.

“Fine. Take them off but just that.” Tony helped him unbutton the pants and then pulled Peter’s legs up so he could tug them off and tossed them into the back. “Better?”

“Yeah.” Peter stared at him like he was waiting to ask to take off more clothing but Tony was shaking his head and grabbing his leg to force him down on the seat.

“No more. Look, the movie is starting now.” Tony thankfully took a blanket from Pepper to cover themselves up but Peter was kicking it off.

“No blankets.” Peter moved so that his head was resting on his dad’s shoulder and his feet were stretched out on the steering wheel so he was super comfortable.

As the movie began, Tony would be lying if he said that the forest right next to them wasn’t freaking him out. Pepper may or may not have caught him looking out the window every time a jump scare happened on the screen.

Peter seemed to be doing fine… surprisingly.

Tony had to check if he was even watching it or had fallen asleep since he was barely reacting to any of the jump scares but he saw that his eyes were opened and glued on the screen.

About half way through the movie, Peter pulled his legs on top of Tony’s and grabbed the blanket so he could cover him and his dad. He got more comfortable with his head on his chest and went to turn over but Tony had his arm wrapped around him too tightly.

Peter was starting to feel his eyes start to get heavy with sleep but he didn’t want to fall asleep. Not when he was having so much fun and being in the moment with his dad.

So, Peter sat himself up and tried to force himself to stay awake.

“What’re you doin’, Pete?” Tony asked after his full view was being blocked.

“Sleepin’.” Peter simply replied.

“Are you tired?” Tony asked, pushing himself up a bit but he already knew that Peter was since it was extremely late, it was an emotional day and the way he was swaying.

“Uh huh.”

“Come lie back down. It’s okay if you fall asleep.” Tony managed to tuck Peter back against his side but he knew that Peter wouldn’t last much longer. He always lost his battles with sleep.

Peter hated how he always got so tired. He wanted to be like his dad who could stay up no matter what with days on end with no sleep. He was practically a baby with all the sleep that he needed and he hated it so much. It was so frustrating!

In the end, Peter ended up passing out on Tony.

It didn’t surprise either adults when they noticed that Peter was sleeping. So when the movie ended, Tony carefully sat up and manoeuvred Peter so that he had both legs on either side of him to make it easier to get him out of the car and into the backseat.

“I’m actually surprised he stayed awake for more than half the movie. I wasn’t expecting that.” Tony thought that Peter would either get too scared and want to leave or he would have passed out after the first twenty minutes but none of that happened.

Pepper yawned and stretched. “Yeah. He still needs so much sleep. Do you need help putting him in the back?”

“Nope. I’ve been doing this for months so I’m kinda an expert by now. I’m so glad the spider bite makes him light, otherwise I would have pulled my back out months ago.” Tony hated everything that came with the spider bite because he hated Peter being Spider-Man but he loved the lightweight and the fast healing.

“How light is he?” Pepper asked curiously since she always saw Tony whip Peter around as if he weighed nothing and it amazed her.

“He’s about seventy pounds. I bet you could pick him up.” Tony made a mental note to take Peter to the doctors for a check up. He’s been holding back but he also wants to make sure everything is going on good with his insides.

“I’m not you, Tony. Maybe I could pick him up but I can’t carry him around.” Pepper laughed weakly. Tony was strong. He trained hand to hand combat with super humans so she knew he was strong but she wasn’t that strong physically.

“That’s what he has me for,” Tony opened up the back door and slid out while still holding onto Peter as if he weighed nothing. “to carry him around everywhere.”

Tony opened up the back door and looked behind him for a certain possessive doll but he didn’t see anything. Although now the damn car seat was in the way.

He debated with himself for a few seconds. He glanced behind him again because he was paranoid that the doll was there so he turned back to the car and sat Peter in the car seat then put the seatbelt over him, buckling him in.

His head rested comfortably on the padded part which made Tony want to invest in a car seat.

They were a lot safer than what they were doing now but Tony knew that Peter wouldn’t want to move to the backseat after he had the luxury of sitting in the front seat.

He also knew that Peter sat in a booster seat when he first met him but he only saw it in passing in his Aunts car and then once or twice when she dropped him off at the tower on her way to work.

That only lasted for a few months and then he started sitting in the front seat and he never saw it again.

With that thought in mind, Tony shut the back door and got back into the front seat. “Do you think he’ll be mad if he wakes up?”

Tony knew Peter would be way too tired to be mad about anything. “No. Maybe if he was more awake.”

It was a long drive back to Peppers penthouse and also an anxious one. Tony knew that the police went inside to make sure that everything was safe and then the door repairs came to take out the old frame and put a new one in with new doors.

The memories of what happened kept replaying in his head but he knew Peter was okay and that was all that mattered.

Back at the penthouse, Tony shut the car off and pulled out his phone to check the time. “It’s late. We have to be there at eight tomorrow morning and I don’t know what to do with Peter.”

“Can he stay at home for a few hours tomorrow?” Pepper asked and looked in the backseat to see that he was still passed out.

“I’d prefer if he didn’t but I could leave him for two hours at the most but then what do I do with him after? He can’t exactly sit in a meeting with us and he doesn’t exactly take naps so I can’t leave him how we did last night.” Tony groaned. He didn’t know what to do but all he knew was that he was so grateful that this was a one time thing.

He worked from home for the most part so he was happy for that.

“We’ll figure something out. Worst comes to worst we’ll set up a tv in one of the boardrooms and leave him in there.” Pepper shrugged her shoulders at Tony but it was a good idea. Maybe he would consider it.

He got out of the car and opened up the back door but Peter was opening his eyes and looked at Tony as if he were drunk. Tony chuckled at the sight. Although he never wanted to see Peter drunk, that would forever be banned in their house.

“Close your eyes and go back to sleep.” Tony reached over to unbuckle the seatbelt from his car seat and then pulled him into his arms, holding him with one arm under his butt. “Do you need help carrying in anything?”

Pepper grabbed everything and shut the car door. “More things? You’ve already got your hands full.”

“It’s fine, I’m good at multitasking now.” Pepper rolled her eyes at Tony and then they started walking into the building. “If we go this way, will it take us straight up or will we potentially bump into someone with Peter in his underwear?”

Pepper unlocked a door and held it open for Tony. “Not from this way we won’t.”

Tony was relieved to hear that. The last thing that he wanted was for them to get a picture taken with Peter in his Star War briefs.

When they got up in the elevator, Tony immediately looked around and checked out the door. It already looked a lot better. “See, this is what you should have had before. And some better security, what the hell do you got going down there?”

She opened the door and looked around. “Well… I’ve been here for three years and nothing. Those guys came for you and that bundle in your arms, Tony.”

Somehow, that was even worse.

“Eye opener. Anyways, I’m gonna go put him into bed.” Tony said before disappearing down the hall and into the bedroom. He looked around quickly before he gently laid Peter on the bed and tried to decide if he should change him into pyjamas or just take off his shirt.

He pulled him up by his arms a bit but Peter was deadweight meaning that he wasn’t going to wake up for anything. So, Tony took his shirt and socks off then deposited him onto the pillow.

He looked up at the door and saw Pepper there. “I’m gonna go shower and stuff but I got an idea… tomorrow, we can drop Peter off at this giant jungle gym that just opened up. It has an arcade, mini zip line, a jungle gym and all this other stuff. Once the kids go in, they can’t get out unless their parent comes to pick them up and ID them.”

Tony wanted to immediately say no but maybe it would actually be a good idea. There would be kids Peter’s age there which was always a good thing for him to interact with them.

“I actually like that idea.” Tony told her, causing her to roll her eyes at him before leaving the room. “Goodnight, Pep.”