Chapter Text
It took Peter Parker about three minutes to decide, ‘sunglasses or no sunglasses?’ He’d rather avoid the reverse raccoon look after the day in the sun, but he props a pair onto his hair as a preventive measure. They’re held in place with his right hand while his left loosely holds onto the rail, and he bounces down the marbled wood steps to the first floor.
For Peter, no time has passed at all, but suddenly Tony has a daughter and, Peter has a sister, he guesses? The whole thing is so wild, and he can’t believe it, but he has a family now. He had a family before, of course. Aunt May is great! But, it’s always a little lonely, coming back from the rambunctious Leads household to his little family of two. And Mr. Stark Tony! He’s great! He's the smartest person Peter has ever met and he… he’s always been there for him. And! He’s not afraid to tell Pete when he’s being a total idiot. And he needs that. A lot.
It still blows his mind a little, sometimes, seeing Tony in his PJs in the mornings-all groggy and mumbling. As of this Summer, Peter is officially living in the mansion with the pair. It had actually been Morgan’s idea.
“Dad! I’ve had an epiphery.”
Tony gave a rough snort. “Do you mean epiphany?” He looked up from his stark Pad, always surprised at the things that would come out of his 1st grader’s mouth.
“Yeah! Epiphery.” Duh. Anyway, “Can Petey come live here?”
He turns to her with soft eyes and tells her for the umpteenth time, “Sweetie, Peter has school. He can’t play dollies with you all day.”
She groaned with a volume much too big for such a small form. “Dad. I know. Not right now. I mean for Summer.” She turned to look up at Peter who was currently stuffing his face with cold pizza. “Is your last day in two-” She held up two little fingers for emphasis, “Wednesdays, too!?”
The teen didn’t want the disappointed Pepper look, so he took a moment to clear the food out of his mouth before he spoke. “Tuesday, actually. One day before your school.”
She pouted for a moment, before brightening. “That’s perfect! You can get all your stuff while I’m at school. Please, Daddy!? Please?? I’ll be so good.”
“I’m sure you will, Bug, but,” He glanced once at Peter. “That’s not my decision.”
Morgan looked as if he’d just spoken in Mandarin. Everyone focused their attention on the little girl as her gears turned. “Mom!” She whipped around to Pepper, expectantly.
“That’s up to Peter and May. If he was living here, his Aunt May would miss him a whole bunch.”
“But I miss him!” She whined.
Tony started on something about naptime, but Peter ignored him and scooped her up before her hot tears could escape and opened Subway Surfers. She settled into her big brother’s chest and snagged his phone, a pout still on her lips.
Later that night, after Pepper had gone back home to the tower and Morgan was in bed for the night, Tony sat Peter down in the living room. “You know that’s an option right?” Tony’s caffeine-less brain assumed Peter would immediately be on board with his train of thought, but the teen blinked back at him, mouth open. He rolled his eyes and elaborated in an even tone. “You staying here. If you want.”
“I mean- I don’t wanna- No, that’s okay Mr. Stark- You’ve got enough on your plate-”
“You’re my kid, Pete. You’re not imposing, Kid; get that through your head. As far as I’m concerned, this is your home, too. I’m not trying to pressure you. What-so-ever. Okay? But, I need you to know that you being here is never an intrusion. If I didn’t have so much respect for Aunt Hottie, I probably would have kidnapped you by now.”
So yeah-things are a little bit different than they were before the blip. Before, Peter would find himself wondering whether or not it would be appropriate to bore him with details of his day at school, because, 'Why should he care?' and, 'Am I going to look like an idiot?' Now, Peter wonders if he should start referring to him as his dad.
“Ready to go?” Tony asked. Peter was and told him so. “Great, I’m gonna go track down Munchkin.”
Peter acknowledged him and took a moment to compare the wood-toned and sunny entryway before him to the clinical, white foyer of Tony’s old penthouse. Where the old entrance was framed by strange, lifeless plants in pots that looked too expensive to touch, this door was framed by a coat rack on the right, which also served as a home for Morgan’s backpack. On the left was a large, droopy fern that Morgan had decided was named Angelica. Angelica had an assortment of nail polish colors speckling its leaves.
Morgan’s hurried footfalls and winded breathing came barreling from the opposite direction Tony had headed. “Hi,” Peter greeted, still somewhat unsure how one was meant to interact with a five-year-old.
“Hi.” She huffed. She had her favorite, purple pool noodle wrapped in each arm, the ends jutting straight out behind her as if she were already in the water.
“Hey FRI, could you…” Peter trailed off, pointing in the general direction Tony had gone.
“I’ll let Sir know where his children are waiting for him.” Pete felt his cheeks warm.
At the beach, Peter’s instantly grateful for his decision to bring sunglasses. He squinted behind them as he shouldered the large bag containing towels and snacks for the trio. Tony was on the phone with Rhodey and asked Peter to take Morgan and find, “Somewhere that isn’t too people-y.” The seventeen-year-old then turned to find Morgan already holding out her arm, expectantly. He grabbed hold of her itty bitty hand and thought about squeezing her like a teddy bear. So. Cute.
“What me to carry that for you?” The teen offered, looking at where her pool noodle was dragging on the ground.
“Nuh thanks.”
“You should hold it over your shoulder, so it doesn't get scuffed.” She obliged, immediately. Well, that was easy, he thought thinking of how argumentative the girl could be. He adjusted her grip. “Alright, can you look both ways for me?” He parroted from Tony.
She leaned forward, whipping her head to the left, right, left, right. “CLEAR!”
It was a pretty long walk to the vacant stretch of beach Peter was aiming for. By the time they settled, Tony had already caught up to their three-foot-four pace. “Daaad, it’s hoooot. Can I go in the water, yet?”
“Go for it, kid.”
Peter plopped the bag in the sand and wrung his hands together. “She asked when we were walking but I didn’t know if she needed those floaty arm things or a life-vest or how deep she can go so-”
“Pffft- She’s a fish .”
“I prefer mermaid, Dad.” The tot called over her shoulder.
Tony put on his businessman face.“Right. Of course.”
“Dad, come on!”
Tony protested. “I think I’m going to soak in this sun a little longer.” The man peeked up at Peter, from his place on a towel, a mischievous grin on his face. “I think Pete’s ready to join you, though.”
Peter stuck out his tongue at the man but found his way to the water’s edge. The lake sloshed over his feet and ankles and it was freezing. He forced himself to walk on but wondered why the heck everyone looked so carefree in this ice bath.
“Come on! Just jump in!” Morgan cheered between twirling herself around under the surface. Peter ignored that and continued to inch himself his way until the water reached his waist. He somehow hadn’t notice Morgan paddling toward shore, which made it all the more surprising when a gush of spine-chilling water hits him square in the back.
“Ha! Hoh! Hoooo-wow. You-You little!” Peter lunged and Morgan shrieked, trying to fill her super soaker in a frenzy. Peter grabbed her torso and held her over his head. He was kind enough to warn her to plug her nose before throwing her into the deep. She shot up, giggling.
It wasn’t long before Dad joined in, equipped with his own water weapon. Peter’s face hurt from smiling as he watched father and daughter play. He could get used to this.
Eventually Tony and Morgan team up on Peter. Mogan secured on Tony’s shoulders vs. Peter. Tony would dip down, chanting “Get it, get it!” And Morgan would reach for the water gun in Peter’s hands.
When Peter’s spray caught Tony’s face pretty good, the teen saw something shift in the man’s expression that seemed out of place in the cheery context of the moment. Tony lowered the five-year-old from his shoulders and snagged the super soakers. “That’s enough of that.” He made his way to the shore with them.
'What was that?' Peter noticed Morgan pouting and threw a smile back onto his face. “Can you show me how to do that backflip thing you were doing, earlier?”
“You’ve come to the expert!” She announced, puffing out her little chest in a very Stark-like fashion.
Unfortunately for Morgan, it wasn’t until they were getting ready to leave that Tony realized he hadn’t put any sunscreen on his mini-me. Now home, Tony grabbed a bottle of aloe vera gel from the hall closet and led the whiny child into her room.
Peter let out a shallow breath in a long sigh. Now that he was in the safety of his own home, he imagined his still damp binder to be actively constricting his rib cage and jogged to his room. Peeling the half-tank off, he took large lungfuls of air, lightheaded with relief. He flopped his back onto his bed and took a minute to pant at the ceiling.
Once dry, he put on something more suitable for lounging and headed out to find his little family.
They weren’t in Morgan’s room...
Peter glanced around the living room, confused. Then he noticed the groaning, shirtless child sprawled on her stomach, on the carpet. The outline of her swimsuit was white on red. Peter mindlessly picked up a throw pillow, held it over Morgan, and let it fall.
Peter covered his ears as Morgan wailed.