*3RD POV*
Tony was antsy during his ride home to the compound. Sure, he knew Pepper would be fine with everything but his nerves were just... out of wack.
He didn't even know how they'd left without saying goodbye to Pepper...
'Eh. She'll probably give us shit for it later,' he thought humorously.
The man couldn't wait. He was a father and Peter was his son and he could make up for all the lost time. In a way... he had already been making up for it. The two of them had had countless movie nights and joked around all the time.
There had even been a few times where Tony made some corny jokes just to screw around with Peter.
As Tony walked into the tower, he immediately found Pepper to share the news. "Pep!" "Huh? Oh hey Tony. You already got Peter home?" "Uh yeah. We meant to say bye but got sidetracked." "Yeah? The look on your face shows you want to tell me about it," she teased.
"Um yeah. I do... Pepper. You're kinda a mom." Step-mom? Eh they'd figure everything out eventually.
"How the hell does that work? Aren't I the one that finds out first, considering I'd be the pregnant one?" "Y-Yeah I... Peter's my son." Pepper laughed lightly. "Well duh." "Ya know, May had the same reaction." "Wait you're serious? I thought that was some kind of confession of you seeing him as your kid." (IT TOOK ME MORE THAN A DAY TO THINK OF CONFESSION! I BLANKED)
"Well Pep, he really is. We did did some DNA test and... he's mine. Y-you're not... mad are you?" Pepper stared at Tony for a second. At first he thought she'd be angry at him for his past decisions. For getting another woman pregnant without thinking of the consequences, Peter's mother in fact!
But suddenly, she smiled and tears began to slip out of her eyes. "Pep...?" Tony walked closer to her. His wife put her hand on his cheek, allowing him to lean into her touch. "You're not mad?" He repeated.
"Tony, honey of course I'm not mad at you. Sure, you made some bad decisions in the past but you've made up for a lot. I'm really of you. I mean, look at how hard you've been trying for Peter... I don't think you'll have to worry about much changing between the two of you." Tony sighed in relief. "Thank god..."
"...So what's the plan?" "Well... May and I talked about it and we've decided to share guardianship over Peter. To be honest, it won't be that different from how things are now... he comes over on the weekends already and other than that, he should probably come here when she's got overnight shifts. Just so the kid doesn't have to be home alone all the time. We probably should've done this anyway a long time ago... He gets bored." Pepper chuckled as she watched her husband ramble.
"What?" "Nothing, nothing. You picking him up from school tomorrow?" "Yep." "Ok then. We should probably get to bed. It's almost 2:30." "I was really there that long?" "A little over 3 hours, yes." "Huh. Didn't realize. Maybe that's why Pete fell asleep so quick," he thought out loud. "Past the spider-kid's bedtime."
"Doesn't he have as bad of a sleep schedule as you do?" "Close to it, yeah. I've been trying to get him out of that though. Help him with his work sometimes so he can finish it before morning- aaand now that I'm saying this stuff out loud I'm surprised I missed it," he huffed. Pepper chuckled in agreement. He was a dad from the beginning.
"Oh also, ask May to send Peter's baby pictures. Both of us have catching up to do." "Ah so you admit you are some sort of figure in Peter's life." "At least I never denied it," Pepper quipped.
The couple laid in bed and did their nightly routine. Tony would either stay up and work a bit more or go on his phone while Pepper read her book. The two would fall asleep soon after.
Tony smiled as he looked through the pictures May had sent him. He would make sure to set one as his lock screen just to mess with Peter.
Ding.
'Oh no, this one's definitely gonna be this one,' he thought, staring at a picture of Peter fast asleep on the couch, just a few hours prior.
"Pep, I got them." The woman smiled sleepily. "Send 'em."
~~~~~~~~TIME SKIP~~~~~~~~
Normally, Happy would pick Peter up from school but there were certain times it would be Tony. Mainly, the man was picking him up today because Happy was out of town, but also because he really wanted to be a good dad and redeem himself for missing so much of Peter's life.
"Hey kiddo," Tony chirped as his son got in the back of the seat. "You decided to pick me up... in your Audi R8?" "Ah I see you've been practicing," he replied humorously. "Practicing? Pfft! Why would I practice if you already talk about the types of cars that are quote-on-quote 'cool', and mainly this car, all the time!" "Touché..."
Within minutes of Tony driving, Peter was clutching onto his seat in fear. "Holy shit! Tony- watch out for the car!!" "Relax kid! I know what I'm doing!" "No you don't! You're over the speed limit and you've almost crashed 3 ti- WELP NOW 4!" "Jeez back-seat driver much kid?" "Back seat dri- You NEED A FRONT SEAT DRIVER! THIS IS CHILD ENDANGERMENT! YOUR CHILD ENDANGERMENT!"
"Cut me some slack Happy's the one who normally drives," he exclaimed, laughing at Peter widened his eyes dramatically. "THEN WHY DO YOU BUILD SO MANY CARS IF YOU CAN'T DRIVE-"
The two continued to yell at each other, though most of it was sarcastic teasing and comebacks.
As soon as the bright orange car was parked, Peter practically leapt out of the back seat and ran inside to Pepper, who was reading a magazine on the couch.
"This man tried to kill me Pepper! How did he even get a license?!" "I've been wondering the same think for the past 13 years," she replied dryly. "I feel attacked." "You feel attacked?! I WAS attacked!" "Don't you swing faster than that kid?" "Yeah but if I fall, I have the control to web onto another building and pull myself up!"
"Alright, alright. Want head to the lab? We'll come back up in an hour and have dinner and a movie night for the 3 of us." Peter instantly smiled, agreeing with excitement.
The two sat down in their seats and tinkered like they always did. A comfortable silence hovered in the air until Tony spoke.
"So, how was school kid?"
This was another everyday conversation. Well, other than weekends but Tony would always ask how his day had been. The boy always rambled on about his different classes and funny moments that happened while Tony listened intently.
"And then Flash walked face first into his locker and it was so funny Mr. Stark! Like I'm sure it hurt, which sucks, but you should've seen his face!" Tony chuckled lightly. "You know kiddo, we should probably cut the Mr. Stark crap." The boy suddenly looked slightly anxious.
"Pete, I'm not making you call me dad. I wouldn't force you to do that. If you want to, I'm perfectly ok with that. And if not, Tony's perfectly fine. Though, Mr. Stark is no longer an option. It makes me feel old," he said humorously.
Peter smirked slightly. "You already are old." "Wow. I'm hurt." Tony placed a hand over his heat, mocking being upset. His kid laughed at the dramatics.
"What movie do you want to watch?" "I dunno kid. I'm guessing you want to watch another Star Wars?" "You know me so well." "Wasn't hard."
"Boss, Mrs Stark wants me to tell you two that dinner is ready." "Alright. Tell her we're on our way up."
The small family ate dinner together, letting any insecurity that came to their minds melt away with the jokes and bickering to come. They just spent their time in conversation about anything and everything. They'd definitely have to invite May next time.
They ended up starting the movie late so it wasn't long before Peter fell asleep in the middle of Tony and Pepper, despite the loud booming of the fight scenes of Star Wars coming from the tv. Though, they didn't pay too much attention to it. The air was light and humorous as they chuckled at Peter's soft, content snores.
"Ya know Pep... I could get used to this."
They all could.
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Words: 1462
Oof not too proud of this one. I've been having major writers block but I think that's over 😅
I hope everyone's doing well!
<3000 :D