Chapter Text
Tony had been home from the hospital's care for a couple of months, and he and Pepper had decided it was well past time to have The Conversation with Peter about his living situation.
The lawyers at SI had already rushed through the paperwork and the court red-tape, and the Starks had been approved as foster parents for the teenager right after the battle. It would be another couple of months before the official six month waiting period was over, but Tony and Pepper had decided to give Peter all the time he might want before making a final decision about adoption. They were officially his foster parents already, but Tony in particular wanted to make the next step to adopt the teenager if the boy wanted to do so.
Peter, Tony, and Pepper were seated on the porch of the cabin, with Morgan out playing in her "club house" as she called her small tent.
Tony was the first to speak up, broaching the subject they had all been considering for the last few weeks.
"Peter, I don't want to pressure you, and I know we can't replace May, or Ben, or your parents, and I'm sorry we didn't really give you a choice in the question of your foster care--" But Pepper cut him off there, uncharacteristically interrupting.
"That's my fault, but, I don't regret it for a moment, Pete. I know what can happen in the foster care system, I lost my parents when I was young, and I spent a few months in foster care before an older cousin took me in...And, well, I didn't want you to have that experience. Especially not after the Blip and everything else, not to mention your powers. You needed to be with your people, and we very, very much wanted to give you a space to call your own," Pepper finished, her blue eyes bright, though her expression was uncertain. She had been concerned at the time that they had over-stepped, but the decision had to be made quickly, and she felt it was the right one. Tony had been too injured to have much of a say, so Pepper had been the one to decide for everyone.
Tony nodded in agreement, and gently took her hand in his left, squeezing slightly in support. Pepper looked over at him and smiled softly. Tony's right arm was still bandaged and in a sling, and he was still using the cane for balance as he built back up the soundness in his right leg, but the scars were healing, and the dark, desperate part of him that had been ever-present after Peter's dusting had been gone ever since they had gotten home, safe.
Peter, quickly wanting to dissuade Pepper from her fears, and always now determined to prevent any stress to Tony, spoke up. "No, not all all, Mrs. Stark, I'm so, SO glad you guys took me in! Geeze, I was worried, there, at first, when I found out about Aunt May...I-I didn't know what was going to happen, and I was worried about Mr. Stark, and then I found out about Morgan, and, it, it was just -- a lot," Peter trailed off, his eyes prickling with unshed tears any time he thought about having lost May during his five-year-absence.
Tony leaned forward, gently pulling at Peter's chin, guiding his eyes up to his own. "Peter. We always wanted you around. I haven't been sure of much in my life, but there have been three things I was certain of immediately. Pepper, You, and Morgan. Everything else has been fraught with questions, but you three, it was a no-brainer. No question. I always wanted you to be safe. Whatever that took."
Peter, lower lip shaking just slightly, nodded, unsure if he could trust his voice.
Nodding at the teen's agreement, Tony went on. "And I'm so sorry about May. Hell, I'm sorry about your uncle Ben, and your parents, and all the other crap you've had to deal with in just sixteen years on the planet...Damn, kid, even I made it to seventeen before I lost everybody..." Tony trailed off, shaking his head slightly in amazement that Peter had turned into such a solid, dependable, and civic-minded SUPERHERO after all he had been through so young.
Pepper broke in once again, not wanting Tony or Peter to get lost in darker thoughts. "Peter, you will always have a place here, no matter what you decide, but we wanted to at least offer you the choice."
Peter, unsure as to what the two adults were talking about, looked up questioningly. "Uhm, choice? Uh, am I going to go away...I-I was, sort of hoping that I could-maybe, stay here, with you guys--but I totally understand, you have your own family and your own lives, it's not right for me to ask you guys for that. Can-can I maybe go live at the Tower, with Cap and Scott, and Sam, Bucky, and well, I know everybody else kind of comes and goes. But I don't really need looking after, I can totally take care of myself, I really just need a place to crash, if-if that's...okay?" Peter's crestfallen look was painful to Pepper, but to her shock, Tony started laughing at the boy's question.
Jabbing him with a careful elbow, despite wanting to make it a much harder blow, she looked over at her husband, angry and vaguely horrified at what she thought was his callousness. Turning to look at her, eyebrows raised, his slighly hysterical laughter died off, and Tony cleared his throat before looking back at Peter.
"Look, Roo, I don't know what planet you've been on, but not only do we NOT want you to live at the Tower--" Peter's look of dismay was almost comical, until he tried to reschool his face into something stoic, and that reaction caused a deep ache in Tony's chest that had nothing to do with his injuries.
Unable to bear the hurt in the boy's eyes, Tony quickly rushed on, "uh, yeah, so, like I said, we have no intention at all of you living with those yahoos in the Tower, and you are absolutely going to live here, with us, at the cabin, no matter what. Until you are eighteen, then you can escape from our clutches if you so desire." Tony said, trying his best to lighten the heavy mood.
Pepper, having realized what Tony was laughing about, shook her own head with a smile, before leaning forward and reaching out to take both of Peter's hands in hers. "Peter, like Tony said, you're not going anywhere, and apparently we've been beating around the bush, because what we're trying to tell you is that we want to adopt you! But ONLY if you want us to!"
Peter's eyes were huge, *this* was not at all what he had been expecting when the Starks' had called him out onto the porch that afternoon.
"So, Pete, what do you say? Do you want to join more than just the Avengers? Are you ready to be a part of Team Stark?" Tony asked, a quirk to his mouth, but his soulful dark eyes bore the truth, the intensity of his longing for the boy to answer yes.
Jumping out of his chair, and nearly throwing himself at Tony, stopping only at the last second when he realized the older man was both bracing himself, and had screwed his eyes shut in a grimace of preparation for the incoming hug he thought was about to hurt. Peter slowed, and instead gently pulled Tony into an embrace. Peter reveled in the depth of feeling rising up in his chest, and he didn't even register the pair of tears that fell from his eyes as he squeezed them shut. When he felt Tony wrap his left arm around him, he was back in the battle, and the completely unexpected, but so fiercely tender, embrace of his mentor, even in the midst of all-out war.
"T-thanks, Tony..." Peter murmured, not wanting to pull away from his guardian, but also concerned about hurting him.
Peter did sit back though, and he was quickly met by Pepper, pulling him tightly into her own arms, pressing him against her warm body. Peter felt..safe...and loved...and...wanted...there, in her embrace. May had always been a little tentative about physical affection, but Pepper, Pepper held no qualms at all about embracing the people she loved, and Peter had only realized, after, how much he had longed for that feeling. Peter finally let his tears go, and Pepper held him as he trembled and released all the pain and fear and anxiety he had been holding ever since he had come back from The Dust in the midst of a terrible battle.
Peter heard the chair scrape as Tony pulled himself up from it, and then he felt Tony's large hand slowly making circles on his back. This only made him cry harder, and he was almost embarrassed, but the joy overrode everything else. He was finally going to be part of a family again. A real family. With a Mom and a Dad and even a sister...He wasn't just a ward, now, not a nephew, they wanted to be his parents. Peter had no idea what to say. Peter loved May and Ben, and he would always be grateful to them for raising him after his parents died. But the sheer relief at knowing that he was wanted after the loss of all of his biological family was...something he couldn't even describe.
After his tears were spent, Peter quietly pulled back from Pepper's embrace, and she gently handed him a box of tissues to "mop up, there, sweetheart," she said. Tony had gingerly resettled himself into the chair, but his smile was huge, and pulled at the slight scars on the right side of his face. His eyes were so bright, brighter than Peter had ever seen them.
Before anyone could say anything else, Morgan clambered up onto the porch, her jumping steps loud against the hollow floor, and as she ran over to the trio, she stopped short, noticing that Peter had been crying. Instantly, her yammering about what was for lunch ended, and she came tentatively over to Peter, quietly cocking her head and looking at him. Her soulful eyes, such copies of Tony's, that Peter marvelled again at how much had changed, and so much of it for the better, while he had been gone. But, putting those thoughts aside for the time-being, Peter could see that she was concerned, and quickly tried to reassure her. "Hey, Morgan, what's going on in your club house?"
Morgan's smile was quick and bright. She still wasn't sure what was going on, and why Peter was upset, but she was eager to answer his questions.
"I'm playing with my ponies, I would like for us to get a pony, but so far Mommy says NO PONIES, but Daddy said that we're going to wear her down!"
At this, Tony's face instantly fell into a look of bemused concern, and something akin to fear, even as Pepper's mouth dropped open and she gave him a knowing look of disapproval. Tony just gave her a slightly sideways grimaced smile and hoped that he was pulling off innocence...Or at least a battle-wounded-and-currently-unable-to-be-abused, look. Pepper just rolled her eyes in return. Just to try and further his woundedness, Tony was quick to speak up, "Oh, no no no, you can't be mad at me, I'm an invalid! See, all invalid'ed up over here! No violence against the old man in the bandages!" As he carefully waved his sling-covered right arm.
Peter watched the interaction with delight, and he was soon giggling, which caused Morgan to join him, and quickly all tears were forgotten.
Leaning over to whisper conspiratorily to Morgan, Peter said, "I think Dad is in BIG TROUBLE this time."
Morgan nodded, eyes wide, and she snuggled closer into Peter's side, as if trying to stay out of the way of the Mommy Is Angry fallout.
Pepper and Tony both heard the title Peter had used. Pepper's eyes grew wide, even as her smile dimpled her cheeks. And Tony cocked his head, one eyebrow raised in question, but with a grin pulling at the corners of his own mouth as well.
Peter, suddenly shy and unsure, looked down at this hands. "Uhm, since you guys are going to, well, officially adopt me, the, is--is it okay if I call you...that?"
"Oh, Pete, it would be so very perfect!" Pepper cried, even as she grabbed him into another quick hug. When she let him go, Tony stuck out his left hand, apologizing for it being the wrong side. "Well, you know, the right one is kind of on a leave of absence at the moment. But, yeah, Kid, I think that would be just about perfect. I'm still gonna call you Underoos, though. That's just too good for me to give up. Just ask Cap the next time you see him about 'language'," Tony said, tightly shaking Peter's hand, laughing even as he did. "That's a handshake business deal, right there, young man, you're committed, now. No going back," Tony teased.
With a broad smile, Peter nodded his head, and said, "I wouldn't take it back for the world...Dad."