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Very few people thought Tony would ever end up as a father, not even Tony himself. But when he started dating May Parker, he started being a father figure for her adopted eight-year-old nephew. It was a strange place to find himself in. His own father had been a terrible role model and Tony spent most of the time terrified that he was going to fuck everything up. But Peter was a good kid and easy to get along with.
It made Tony want to do something really special for Peter’s upcoming birthday, so the Saturday before Peter turned nine, Tony approached May about taking her and Peter on a surprise outing.
Peter was bouncing up and down with excitement in the backseat as Tony gave May turn by turn directions, making wild guesses about where they were going. “Well, I’m out of ideas. Mr. Stark, sir, where are we going?”
Tony turned round in the seat and patted Peter’s knee. “Remember what I told you, buddy? You don’t need to be so formal. Just Tony is fine.”
“Oh yeah.” Peter screwed up his face. “So, uh, Mr. Tony, sir.”
Tony met May’s eyes in the rearview mirror. She just smiled and shook her head.
“Well, kiddo, we’re going somewhere really fun. I think you’re going to like it.” He straightened up in his seat. “Oh, take the next freeway exit. And then we’re going to make a right at the light.”
As the giant theme park sign came into view, Peter squealed with delight.
“Legoland! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mr. Tony. This is the best birthday ever!”
May took Tony’s hand. “This is very sweet, but you didn’t have to do all this. Peter would have been perfectly happy with an ice cream cake and a day at the lake.”
“Aw, he deserves something special. He never asks for much and that’s why I want to give him the whole world.”
Peter eagerly scrambled out of the car as soon as Tony pulled into a parking space. They could barely get him to stand still long enough to put on his jacket. He was just brimming to the top with enthusiasm and the whole way up to the gate, Peter rambled nonstop about all the Lego facts he knew and everything he wanted to do and see in the park.
“Definitely no sugar for you today,” Tony teased.
“But it’s my birthday and I have to have cake. At least a small piece.”
“A small piece,” May agreed. “After we have lunch.”
Once they made it into the park, Peter forgot all about cake. He was too eager to go on all the rides. May actually had to set her foot down or he would have wanted to keep right on running through the park and skip lunch.
All the food lines were long, of course. And Peter was too wiggly to stand still for very long so May offered to take Peter around to look for a good seat while Tony waited in line for pizza.
A few minutes later, Tony was surprised when May joined him in the line.
“Oh, hey. Did you two find a spot to sit?” Tony tipped his head to the side and looked past her, towards the seating area. He didn’t see Peter sitting at any of the tables. “Kiddo in the bathroom?”
“What are you talking about? He said he was going to come help you carry the food.”
“No, he never said anything to me. I thought he was with you.”
May’s eyes went wide. “Oh god. Where is he?”
Tony immediately got out of line and circled the seating area and the food stand. He poked his head into the nearby restroom. “Peter? You in here?” He watched for everyone exiting the bathroom stalls, but his kid wasn’t one of them.
Outside the bathroom, he could vaguely hear May screaming Peter’s name, but there were so many people, the sound wasn’t carrying far.
Tony circled the park, checking the ride lines for everything else Peter had been excited to go on that afternoon, on the off chance he had wandered ahead instead of waiting for them, although that wasn’t like Peter at all.
Right as he was about to give up and head for park security, he spotted a little boy near the park exit, crouched down next to a squirrel. Tony was only seeing him from behind, so he couldn’t be sure, but he was wearing a shirt the same color as Peter’s.
“Peter!” he shouted.
The boy straightened up and turned to look at him.
Oh god, it was him. Tony rushed over and scooped Peter up in his arms. “Where the hell have you been? We’ve looked everywhere for you.”
“I was just right here,” Peter said. “Talking to my new friend.”
Suddenly, May was right there, scooping Peter into a desperate hug. “Why did you run off like that? We had no idea where you were and we were both worried sick.”
Peter’s eyes welled up with tears. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you worried.”
May squeezed him harder. “I’m just so glad we found you. Promise me you’ll never do anything like that again.”
“I promise,” Peter said solemnly.
May pressed a kiss to Peter’s cheek. “Now, how about that cake?”