Chapter Text
He still remembered that day in vivid detail.
That day, when Tony had let him sit in the car’s passenger seat during a race.
It had been his birthday.
He would never forget the way his heart thumped in his chest whenever his dad made a dangerously sharp turn or narrowly avoided crashing into the cars trying to catch up to him. The roaring of the vehicle was muffled by loud and familiar music. His dad’s face had a confident smile plastered onto it, his eyes never leaving the road for anything but quick glances to Peter. He was happy. It was… amazing. He never ever wanted it to end. As Tony finally crossed that finishing line, unsurprisingly in the first place, Peter almost felt a pang of disappointment mixed in with the sheer joy he felt. He didn’t want it to be over. He watched as his dad turned off his headlights, starting to drive at a considerably slower pace to make sure that no police were following him. They eventually parked at an empty gas station, and Tony turned to look at Peter.
“What’d ya think of that, kid?” He asked with a grin.
Peter’s smile was massive. “Dad, that was so awesome!”
“Yeah, I know. I’m pretty cool.” Tony said, ruffling Peter’s hair. Peter giggled and reached over to hug his parent. He heard the man chuckle a little as he wrapped his arms around his son.
“Dad…”
“What’s up, kiddo?”
“When do I get to race?” He asked, looking up at his eyes.
“You want to race when your legs can’t even reach halfway to the gas pedal?” Tony joked. Peter puffed out his cheek.
“I’m not that short!” He insisted.
“Oh, yes, you are.” Tony teased warmly.
“Once I start racing, nobody’s gonna call me short, and I’ll even be faster than you, dad!” Peter said enthusiastically. Then, he added, “I wanna be just like you!”
Tony gave a fond smile, but it grew a little bit smaller after he seemed to think for a moment.
“Kid, I need you to remember that what I do is very dangerous. If you’re out there and you’re not careful, you could get other people hurt…. or you could get hurt yourself. I don’t ever want to lose you if you go out there.” He said, sounding unusually serious.
Peter blinked, but his own expression didn’t falter. “Don’t worry, dad. I’ll always be super careful.” He said.
“Yeah, but I’ll always worry.” He said quietly under his breath, almost inaudible to the boy. His mood brightened again quickly, though. ”So, birthday boy, do you wanna go grab some pizza?” Peter’s eyes sparkled, and he nodded vigorously.
“Yeah! Pizza time!” He cheered.
“Hey, dad?”
“Yes, Peter?”
“I love you.”
There was another soft chuckle.
“I love you too, kid.”
He treasured that day in his heart still, even long after. But that was years ago now.
