Didn't Have To Be

8

"Oh, my God..."

The last ten hours for Peter were kind of like hell.

There was screaming, cursing, lots of pain to go around, more screaming, quite a bit of panic on his end, and so much sensory overload that he had to suffer through. Not to mention his parents and all of the Avengers (along with their respective families) were around to watch as well.

"Oh, Peter..." Mary stared straight ahead, tears falling down her cheeks as she clung to her husband's arm. "Peter, this is... I have no words for any of this..."

Peter rubbed the back of his neck as he chuckled slightly, "I know, I'm still trying to take this all in as well... I had so many months to prepare, but now... Wow. He's beautiful."

Mary nodding in agreement as she placed one hand on the glass, smiling down at the newborn baby sleeping in his crib. "Just like his mother."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Peter smiled. "Though MJ says that he has my eyes."

"A little revenge, finally." Tony muttered, causing a few of the nearby Avengers to chuckle, knowing exactly what he was talking about."

"What?" Peter tilted his head slightly, his large brown eyes showing his confusion.

"Those damn eyes of yours are the reason you grew up so spoiled," Tony smirked, "No one could ever tell you no. You shall now know how we all felt; you know what they say about karma."

Peter thought about it for a second before smiling, "I wouldn't mind. Even without the eyes, I'd probably still spoil him."

"You're gonna be one of those parents, huh?" Nat smiled and ruffled Peter's hair, the young man chuckled as he looked at his heroes and friends. They all were watching him or his new son with fond expressions, making a warm feeling buzz in Peter's chest. His family really was great... and it was all because of Tony that he had them.

The new father glanced towards his own dad, his lips twitching upward as he listened to him and Mary coo over the newest Stark.

If it hadn't been for Tony, then Peter would have never gained such an amazing family with the Avengers or possibly even become Spider-Man. If it hadn't been for Tony, Peter's life would have been so much different. As a child, Peter had been so starved for a male role model that he often dreamed of having Tony, Bruce, and other famous geniuses as dads. His dream seemed to have come true, Tony Stark was his dad, his uncle was Bruce Banner, he was able to hang out with some of the greatest minds in current times because of the power that both men had...

His dream had come true. It was real. He could wake up in the morning and smile because all of this was reality.

A rough hand clasped his shoulder as Tony looked at his grandson, "You did a great job with this one."

"Thanks, dad." Peter moved his hand up to hold onto Tony's shoulder as well, chuckling a bit as he watched his son yawn.

"We have to go now," Clint informed as he wrapped an arm around his wife, their kids still gazing at the babies with their faces pressed against the glass. "Congratulations, Peter. Your son's beautiful."

"Thanks, Mr. Barton. I'm glad that you could make it." Peter shook the archer's free hand as Laura called her children to them. The others started to leave as well, handing their gifts and balloons to Peter. Soon it was just the Starks standing in the hall.

"I can't believe that I'm already a grandma," Mary commented with a smile, "I'm too young for this, Peter...!"

"Sorry, mom." The man leaned over to kiss his mother's cheek. "You wear the title of grandma very well if that makes you feel better."