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Peter came over especially early that morning. He was on winter break and insisted on spending as much time as could holed up in the lab.
Peter's genius never failed to impress Tony, who would swear to anyone who would listen that Peter was way smarter than he'd ever been. He'd seen the kid pick up concepts in minutes that he himself took years to get. The kid was the future, no doubt about it. He was going to do things that were beyond amazing.
The kid himself was amazing. A truly good person. You don't come across those often. He genuinely cared for other people and he was so incredibly selfless. He really did everything he could to help other people. Tony had seen him once go several miles out of his way to walk a drunk girl home.
Time passed way quicker than it should when it was just the two of them. They worked on pointless projects, joked about anything and everything, and listened to whatever songs they were into at the moment. Hours seemed like minutes. Before they knew it it was 4 am and Peter was falling asleep on the table.
"Hey, Pete. Let's get you to bed."
"Don't wanna. M' awake," he slurred.
"Mhm, I bet." Tony picked him up. His eyes fluttered open for a second before closing again as he nuzzled into Tony. "You know you're like weirdly light? How much do you weigh?" Peter didn't dignify that with an answer and instead pushed himself further into Tony. He opened the door and carefully laid Peter down onto the bed, pulling a blanket up over him. "There you go, kiddo. Goodnight." He turned to leave.
"G'night dad."
It sounded so casual, so right, that Tony almost didn't notice. He figured that a past version of him probably would've freaked the hell out, put he couldn't see himself ever minding this. He gently closed the door with a smile on his face.
This kid, this amazing human being, chose him of all people to see as a father. This kid, his kid, was the future. He had chosen him and he would do his damn best to not let him down. His boy.