Archive of Our Own

"Peter Benjamin Parker! Get back here and eat some breakfast!" Tony shouted as he watched Peter run maximum speed down the hall and towards the front door. He wasn't sure what the hurry was about but it wasn't like his kid to skip out without eating anything. They were all thoroughly aware of how many, many calories he required to function. "What's gotten into you this morning?" He shook his head when Peter hesitated before darting into the kitchen to grab a couple of granola bars and a bottle of juice to shove into his backpack.

Frantically, Peter gestured toward the clock on the stove. His hurried fingers sighed, ‘Late’ and ‘school,’ leading Tony to sigh. 

He wasn’t wrong. There had definitely been a late start. Although at least twelve percent of the blame could be directed at himself. With Pepper out of town, he’d been tasked with seeing his kid off to school. That didn’t happen very often. So he wasn’t super familiar with the routine. As such, he hadn’t realized exactly how behind schedule they were until FRIDAY mentioned that Peter had slept well past his first, second and third alarm. With a curse, he’d practically dropped his coffee mug onto the floor and rushed down the hall. Not that there was much he could do. His kid was up, and rushing around his room and Happy was already in the garage waiting to drive him. 

Tony sighed. “I hear you, Bud. But you can’t run off without breakfast. You know that.” He started pouring himself a fresh cup of coffee. The sun hadn’t even properly risen yet, and he was already feeling stressed. He absolutely wasn’t a morning person. As he brought the mug up to his lips, his phone buzzed on the counter. His gaze fell to the message displayed on his screen. He had to actively stop himself from rolling his eyes. 

‘Happy hates waiting!’

“It’s fine. He can chill,” Tony assured. Admittedly, Happy wasn’t customarily the most patient person in the world. But he knew for a fact that at least ninety-five percent of his grouchy exterior was purely for show. “FRIDAY will let him know what’s going on.” He pointed towards the refrigerator stocked with an abundance of quick healthy breakfast options and narrowed his eyes. “Eat. real. Food.”

Without bothering to remove his backpack, Peter started to dig around in the freezer. Eventually, he emerged with a frozen breakfast sandwich in hand. Tony was mildly concerned he was going to try to wolf it down straight out of the package. Thankfully that wasn’t the case. Although he did stand directly in front of the microwave, tapping his foot and drumming his fingers on the counter for the entire two and half minutes it took to heat the food.

With one second still remaining on the timer, Peter jerked the microwave door open. He looked like he was going to make another run for it. Tony reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Great. It’s done. Now sit down with it, Kid.” 

Reluctantly, Peter took a seat. Although he remained at the very edge of the closest stool, clearly prepared to elope at any given moment. Tony stared, mouth agape as his kid started eating with gusto, barely taking time to breathe between large bites.

Never in his life had he ever seen a breakfast sandwich disappear so quickly. His kid was acting as though he’d not eaten in weeks and was convinced he’d never have the opportunity to do so again. It was like watching a feral cat with a stolen hot dog. “Did you even taste that?”

Peter shrugged, quickly threw away his trash and sign, ‘Go?’

Skeptically, Tony looked his kid over. His jacket was hanging off of one shoulder and his backpack was half unzipped at the top. “You have all your things?”

Peter nodded his head. 

“You’re sure?” Tony asked, arching his brow in a challenging manner. “Homework? Gym clothes? All that stuff?”

Peter bobbed his head with more vigor and pointed aggressively toward the exit. 

“Alright, alright. I don’t understand the big hurry. But whatever.” He reached up to smooth down Peter’s hair brushed a few crumbs off of his shirt. He chuckled as his kid rolled his eyes and started drumming his fingers impatiently against his leg. “Okay, go. Be good. Stay safe. I'll see you after school, okay?”

Peter ginned and held up a thumb. As he started to turn around, Tony plucked the back of his sleeve. “Do I get a hug?” he playfully inquired. “I know for a fact, Pepper gets a hug before you leave for school.”

With a faint smile and an exaggerated huff, Peter dove in for a quick hug. It couldn’t have lasted for longer than a second. But as he retreated, he whispered quietly into Tony’s ear. “Bye. Love you.”

Tony’s heart thudded in his chest as he tried to decide if he’d heard correctly. For all the care, compassion, collaboration, and honestly there was between them, the words ‘I love you’ had yet to be said. Not because anyone was opposed. He and Pepper both loved Peter dearly. He was their son, even without the formality of the pending adoption proceeding. They knew that, to some degree, Peter loved them as well. However, they’d decided early on that they didn’t want to force any words into or out of Peter’s mouth. Hence, their choice to stick with phrases like, ‘We are about you' and ‘Nothing is more important than you.’ They assumed the ‘I love you's would come one day. They were prepared for it to pop up in a text or to be expressed through sign language. They in a million years would have predicted the first declaration of love would be spoken aloud. It was earth-shattering in the most magnificent possible way. 

Perhaps a second or two too late, Tony opened his mouth to reply. Although he was unable to utter a single syllable before Peter had jerked away from him and ran directly into the elevator. 

“Pete, Wait!” he called out, one hand outstretched; as if he believed he could be swift enough to catch the fleeing teenager. He couldn’t. Even if he’d have managed to get his suddenly wobbly legs to function, his kid was gone in a blink. It was on the tip of his tongue to have FRIDAY bring Peter right back, but promptly opted against it. At that point, he wasn’t persuaded he knew what an appropriate response would be. 

A curse slipped out of his mouth. He growled under his breath and vigorously massaged his forehead. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” he muttered to himself. “You were supposed to say something, you idiot . Geez.”

Rather than returning to the breakfast bar where his coffee was waiting, he sat on the couch. He pulled out his phone and stared at the screen. He considered sending his kid a message, a simple text to say ‘I love you too,’ and ‘Have a good day.’ However, with the way his kid had taken off, he couldn’t be sure that was the reaction Peter would want. He’d taken off in a hurry. Conceivably the words had simply slipped out. He supposed there was a chance his kid didn’t even know what he’d said. 

Tony rubbed his hand down his face and opened up the ongoing chat between himself and Peter. He pondered if perhaps a gif would be more casual. He scrolled through until he found one picturing a howling pug-faced dog. Beneath it were glittery words proclaiming, ‘Love you.’ His thumb hovered over it for several seconds. It felt wrong. With another small noise of frustration, he exited the chat and tossed his phone onto the coffee table.  “What is wrong with you?” he asked himself. “Why are you making this so difficult?”

Naturally he knew why. The words ‘I love you’ hadn’t made their way into his vocabulary until he was well into his relationship with Pepper. His mother may have said it to him once or twice. He couldn’t recall. His father sure as hell hadn’t declared it. He balled up his fist and gritted his teeth.From the moment Peter had wormed his way into his heart, he’d promised himself he would be like his dad. He thought he’d been doing okay. Of course, there had been a few misunderstandings and a handful of minor arguments. But every one of them had been followed up with a calm open conversation and a cathartic hug. Things had been good; healthy even. Then he had to go and screw it up. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back onto the top of the couch. “Way to go, Stark.”

He was lured from his spiraling thoughts when his phone started to ring. He peeked at the caller ID and sighed in relief. It was Pepper, and he was certain she would know exactly how to fix everything.

The second the elevator doors opened up in the garage, Peter darted out and went straight for the car. He knew FRIDAY had messaged Happy about being late. What he didn't know was if Tony had messaged him about what he’d said before he’d left. It had been an accident, an impulse; he wasn’t even sure where those words had come from. ‘Stupid, stupid, stupid,’ he thought to himself as he threw his backpack into the car and dropped into the back seat. Nervously he peeked up at the rearview mirror. He was being watched, but he’d never been good at reading Happy’s expressions. 

The car revved to life and the local morning show started playing through the speakers. The volume was turned down immediately as Happy asked, “You okay, Kid?” 

Peter inclined his head and released a relieved sigh. It appeared that, at least for the time being, Happy was unaware of what he’d said. 

“Really?” Happy questioned, his brows both raised and pulled together. “Because you look a little freaked out. Anything I should be worried about?”

He shook his head, pointed to himself and signed, ‘okay.’ Although he was actually certain he was. His mind was racing, and his heart was thumping a little too quickly against his ribs. 

Happy looked him over once more. Likely trying to determine if he should prod any further. A few seconds later the car began to back up and he sighed profoundly. “In that case, we better get going. Traffic is going to be a nightmare.”

For the entire ride to school Peter replayed the morning's event in his head. Not the whole morning. As harried as it had been, nothing of consequence had genuinely taken place. That is until he’d hugged Tony good-bye and the words, ‘I love you,’ had so effortlessly slid out of his mouth. He sucked in a breath and diverted his attention to the window. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t love Tony. He did. He loved Tony and Pepper both. How could he not? They took care of him, respected his boundaries and accepted him for whom he was. They’d defended him, advocated for him and they were always making sure he felt secure and comfortable. Perhaps most importantly, they were well on their way to becoming his forever family. 

Obviously, he knew they loved him too, even if they'd never asserted it. He knew because he’d been loved before. He knew what it looked like; what it felt like. Sometimes, when Tony and Pepper thought he wasn’t paying attention, they’d look at him the way his parents, aunt and uncle used to look at him. Their eyes would soften, and a gentle smile would pull at the corners of their mouths. Their hugs were genuine in every way and well- he was their baby. They’d said so themselves. And no one other than his biological family had ever called him that.

So, yes. There was love. The entire Stark-Potts household was filled with love. But that didn’t make him feel any less anxious about his unplanned declaration. He’d learned the hard way that loving someone was the best way to lose them. When he was little the words, ‘I love you’ were exchanged on a regular basis. In the morning, before bed and at least a dozen times in between. After his aunt had died, he’d told himself he wasn’t going to employ those words quite so freely. 

The way Tony had practically stopped breathing once the ‘I love you’ had escaped made him realize that perhaps he wasn’t prepared to use those words so freely either. He tried to think if he’d ever heard Tony and Pepper say they loved each other in front of him. No specific moment came to mind and that made the entire situation feel even more awkward. Although it was worth considering that the entire morning had been rushed. Even Tony had looked sufficiently frazzled. Maybe he’d been too distracted to discern what had been said. There was a chance he’d not even heard him say it all. Although that seemed unlikely given the reaction. 

His shoulders tensed and his brows furrowed. Things had been going so well. He was finally starting to feel like he was a part of a real family again. It was everything any foster kid could ever hope for. He sighed profoundly, his warm breath fogging up the cool window. ‘And then you had to go and screw it,’ he thought to himself. ‘ Way to go, Parker.’

He was jerked from his deteriorating thoughts when Happy announced they had arrived outside of the school. He pulled his backpack onto his shoulders, signed ‘thank you’ to Happy and hopped out of the car.

As expected, he arrived inside just after the first bell had rung. He’d known from the start he would be late, but that didn’t make him any less frustrated. He really needed to talk to Ned. And there was no way he was going to be able to do that before lunch. 

For the majority of his first period class, the words Peter had whispered that morning played on repeat in his head. It required a lot of work not to outwardly wince every single time. His second period didn’t go much better. Third period was computer science. That went by much more easily. He had to actively engage in the classroom materials to complete his assignment. 

When the lunch bell finally rang, Peter tore down the hall to meet Ned at the lockers. He waved his hand to get his friends attention and rapidly typed into his phone. ‘Lunch outside? We need to talk.’

Ned tossed a few books into his locker and read the message. His brows furrowed as he looked Peter up and down. “What do we need to talk about?”

Peter clamped his lips into a taut, thin line. He finger spelled Tony and Pepper’s names and nervously bit the inside of his cheek. He didn’t want to reveal too much while standing in the middle of the hallway. Not unexpectedly, everyone was acutely aware of who his foster parents were. But Ned was the only one who knew he’d ever verbally spoken to them. For some reason, the mere thought of people finding out he’d used his voice made him feel incredibly anxious. Especially if one of those people ended up being Flash. He’d never hear the end of it.

Ned dutifully nodded his head and flung his bag over his shoulder. Together they entered the cafeteria. The lines were long and Peter was impatient. Had Ned not also been in need of a hot lunch, he would have happily settled on eating the protein bars he had in his bag. He managed to remain semi-patient as he slopped a serving of turkey pot pie and some potatoes onto his tray. He typed his student number to pay and followed Ned outside. 

“Alright,” Ned said, once they were both settled down on the grass. “What's the deal with your fosters?”

The tray on Peter's lap bounced slightly as he anxiously jiggled one of his legs. He pulled out his phone and typed, ‘I said something stupid.’

Ned gaped and elevated his eyebrows. “Out loud?” he asked, to which Peter tentatively nodded his head. “How stupid are we talking?” 

After gathering and releasing a deep breath, Peter opened his arms as wide as they would go. He realized that didn’t even begin to explain the scope of his stupidity. He attempted to emphasize the severity of the situation by bouncing his hands up and down.

Ned winced. “What happened? What did you say?”

Hesitantly, Peter looked down at his phone. He stared at it for several seconds as he tried to decide where to start. He didn’t think he was physically capable of jumping directly to the point, so he started from the very beginning. He typed out a series of messages explaining Pepper’s absence, how he’d overslept and how rushed everything had been. He mentioned, in detail, how Tony had forced him to sit down to eat and asked for a hug on the way out the door. He paused there, his thumbs hovering over the keyboard as he approached the climax of the story. 

“Come on dude!” Ned encouraged. He leaned back on his hands, his lunch still carefully balanced on his thighs and lightly swayed his head. “It can’t have possibly been that detrimental. What did you say?”

For another few seconds Peter looked between his friend and his phone. He swallowed hard and rapidly typed out the message, ‘I told Tony, I love you.’ He hit send before he could talk himself out of it and squeezed his eyes closed. 

Less than half a second later, he heard Ned’s reply. “Oh. Is that all?”

Frustrated by the casual tone, Peter snapped his head up. He narrowed his eyes and huffed a sigh.

Ned swayed his head, as though he didn’t quite understand. “But you do love him,” he reasoned. “You love both of your fosters. I can tell.”

Peter growled ever so slightly under his breath. Typically, talking to Ned came with a distinct form of awareness and insight that no other person could provide. They were close and shared a background in foster care. He couldn't fathom why he was suddenly having to explain himself. ‘Yeah, but I’ve never said it!’ he helplessly messaged. ‘I didn’t even mean to say it. It just came out!’

Ned shrugged and blinked. “Freudian slip.”

‘What?’ Peter signed. 

“Parapraxis. A slip of the tongue.” Ned waved his hand through the air. “You let your guard down and unconsciously revealed your internal train of thought.”

Peter couldn’t exactly argue with that. Ever since he’d moved into the Stark-Potts household, the towering walls he’d built up had been falling lower and lower. The whirlwind morning hadn’t helped. He looked down at the cooling food on his tray and bit his lower lip. 

“What did he say, after?” Ned asked. When Peter didn’t answer right away, he tilted his head curiously to the side. “He said he loved you back, right?”

Peter could feel his entire body stiffen. He clutched his phone tightly in his hands and shook his head. ‘I think it freaked him out,’ he texted. ‘He just sort of stood there.’

“For how long?”

Peter shrugged. He pinched a few blades of grass between his fingers and plucked them out of the ground. ‘I don’t know,’ he eventually signed. He waited a moment, then tentatively added, ‘I ran.’

“You ran- away?” Ned’s face was askew with perplexity. “why?”

Peter balled up one fist while using the other to manage his phone. ‘I was freaked out too!’ He lowered his gaze, feigning interest in the heap of pot pie piled onto his tray. He picked up his fork and absentmindedly stabbed a few of the overly soft carrots. He didn’t look away until Ned sat up and leaned down to attempt eye-contact.

“Peter. Peter, I think your dad was probably, like- the good kind of freaked out. You know, surprised and happy?” Ned sighed as the afternoon breeze blew through his hair. He skimmed it off of his forehead and smiled softly. “I know my mom was. The first time I told her I loved her, she just stared at me for a full twenty seconds before reacting. I’d only been adopted for like, two months. So, when she didn’t say anything, it was scary. I was just starting to think that maybe we weren’t there yet when she hauled me into a hug. I swear it was so tight I could barely breathe. That’s when she said she loved me too.” His nostalgic smile shifted into a smirk. “I think you bailed too soon, dude. Adults require time to process those kinds of things.”

Peter took a few seconds to allow everything Ned said to sink in. He supposed it was possible he’d bolted before Tony had time to properly respond. He'd been in a panic. He wasn’t certain he’d stuck around for longer than three seconds once the words had escaped his mouth. But there was no going back. What was done, was done, and he had no idea how he was supposed to address the situation. Cautiously, he elevated his hands. He emoted nervously as he signed, ‘Now what?’

Ned rolled his eyes. “Now, you talk to him. Or type or whatever. It doesn’t matter.”

‘What if he wants to pretend it never happened?’ Peter texted. 

“I can assure you that won’t happen.” Ned tipped his head side to side and held his hand out, palm side up. “But if it does, I guarantee it’s because he thinks that’s what you want.”

Peter huffed. Because everyone pretending like it didn’t happen sounded like the most convenient possible solution. ‘Maybe it is what I want.’

“No it’s not,” Ned firmly asserted. The tone took Peter by surprise. “You waited so long to be a part of a family again. And I know at one point, you have given up on it. But now you have it and- Peter, do you remember when we were little? You used to write and sign that you loved me all the time. At first, I thought it was so weird because no one had ever really expressed they loved me before. You’re the one who told me that families are supposed to say they love each other. You’re the reason I was brave enough to say it to my mom, my dad and eventually my lola.” As a result of the rambling, he sucked in a deep breath. He looked Peter in the eyes and frowned. “So, no. I don’t believe you for one second that you actually want to pretend like this didn’t happen. It's possible you wish it had happened differently, but that’s okay! It’s all going to smooth over, I swear”

Peter didn’t respond. He took a few small bites of potatoes and thought about when he was young. He’d entered foster care with a childish naivety. He’d seen too many movies and read too many ‘uplifting stories.’ Once he’d gotten past the worst of his grief, he’d waited patiently for his forever family to show and take him home. Even after Ned had been adopted without him, he held onto some amount of hope. All the way up until he hit the dreaded double digits. At that point, he’d been sure Ned was the only family he had left to love. 

Then Tony and Pepper entered his life, and everything had changed for the better. He had people who cared about him. They invited him into their home. They took care of him when he was at his best and his worst. He and Ned still referred to them as his fosters, but that terminology was reaching its expiration date. The adoption was likely to be finalized in the next several weeks. They were going to be his parents: his mom and his dad. They would be his forever family, and he loved them. Ned was right, he wasn’t sorry he’d told tony he loved him, so much as he wished it had been a bit more planned out. He hoped Ned was right about everything smoothing over too. Because, if he was being honest, he missed having adults he could safely say he loved. 

Peter looked at Ned, in search of reassurance. ‘You think?’ he signed.’okay?’

“Yeah.” Ned nodded vigorously. “I think it’s going to be fine.” He looked at the time in the corner of his phone and down at his barely touched lunch. “We should eat, yeah?”

A tiny gasp escaped Peter’s lips as the amount of time that had passed clicked in his head. He hurried to clean his. Ned did the same beside him. As they ate in silence Peter thought about everything his friend had told him. It wasn’t news that he and Ned had entered foster care under very different circumstances. He knew his friend's biological family hadn’t been in a position to care for him in a stable and meaningful way. What he’d never considered was how Ned’s early childhood had affected him. Nor had ever considered how sharing his own childhood experiences altered his friend's perspectives. 

As the end of lunch bell finally rang, Ned stood up. Peter stuffed the last spoonful into his mouth. He crumpled up his napkin before following behind. Before they reached the edge of the courtyard he the desire to say something itched at his tongue. He bit his lip but ultimately gave in. He reached out to seize Ned’s arm before he could pull the school door open. 

Ned turned around. Peter released his lip from between his teeth. He smiled and whispered, “I love you, bro.” He could have sworn he saw Ned’s eyes listening with tears. He didn’t mention it as his friend transferred his tray into one hand.

“Love you too, brother.” Ned grinned and raised his first for Peter to bump. “Always.” 

After dropping off their trays, they went their separate ways. Peter sighed contentedly as he went to class. They’d had a constructive talk, and he found he was no longer so worried about Tony’s reaction. He was about to breathe a sigh of relief when. Then suddenly the abated anxiety was abruptly replaced with a new one. Worried or not, he still had to talk to his foster father about the incident and that part was still a little nerve racking. He spent the rest of the school day so on edge, that the last bell of the day startled him nearly out of his skin. 

He gathered a deep breath to slow his heart and started to gradually collect his things. He made his way into the hallway and through the school. As he did so he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He peeked at the screen. It was a message from Ned. ‘You’ve got this, dude!’ it read, making him smile. He texted a quick thumbs up before pushing through the front door. As always, Tony’s car was already there, parked by the curb and waiting for him.

“Hey, Bud. How was your day?” Tony asked as Peter tossed his bag into the back seat. 

Peter shrugged and signed, ‘I don’t know.’

Tony could sympathize. Despite his conversation with Pepper, he was still feeling a little out of his depth and mildly embarrassed about his lack of reaction that morning. Even though he had been assured, multiple times, that it was okay. She’d insisted he could fix it; all he had to do was talk to Peter about it. He’d spend the majority of the day dwelling on what that conversation would look like.

“Me neither, Bud,” he belatedly replied. “I don’t know about you, but my morning didn’t go at all how I expected it to go.” He glanced at the side. Peter was facing the window, his shoulders still and his knee bouncing. He wondered if they are both worked up over the same thing. “Should we stop and get a milkshake on the way home?”

Hesitantly, Peter turned around and nodded. “Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip?” he whispered.

Tony smiled and playfully scoffed. Like he didn't know his kid’s favorite flavors. “Of course, Kiddo. Wouldn’t dream of getting you anything else.”

Peter grinned and went back to looking out the window. But the atmosphere felt far less tense. Especially once the desired confections have been acquired. Tony sipped at his cup and hummed to the songs on the radio while Peter tapped his leg to the beat. Although he spent more time with his straw in his mouth than out of it. 

As they carried their Styrofoam cups up to the penthouse, Peter opened the lid and stirred the last third of his milkshake to evenly distribute the remaining chocolate chips. Tony teased him, claiming it was a miracle there was anything left at all.

The moment they reached the penthouse, the illusion of normalcy dissolved into awkwardness. Tony shifted his weight and nodded toward the living area. “We need to talk, Bud.”

Peter deflated and carried himself over to his favorite chair while Tony sat down on the couch. Despite having barely touched it, he set his milkshake on the coffee table. He leaned back on the cushions and watched his kid nervously roll his own cup between his hands. He wished he could just call the whole conversation off, sweep the early morning miscommunication into a corner, and tuck it under a rug. Ignore it. Pretend it didn’t happen. He was certain it would be easier, less- stressful than trying to talk it through. But Pepper had insisted they needed to communicate and knew from experience that she was nearly always right. So, he gathered a fortifying breath and quietly cleared his throat.

“About this morning.” He forced a smile and placed his right hand on his chest. “I- did not handle that well.”

Peter looked up from where he’d been studying the top of his cup and raised a brow. He tucked the milkshake aside and signed, ‘I ran.’

And there it was. Confirmation that Pepper had known exactly what she was talking about. Because of course, his kid blamed himself. “You ran because I froze up,” he adamantly countered. “Seconds passed and all I did was stand there like an idiot. That- God, that probably sent the wrong message. You must have thought-” he paused mid-thought and ran both his hands down the length of his face. “I would have run too.”

With his head ducked down, Peter raised a fist to his chest to sign, ‘Sorry,’

Confused, Tony held out his hands. Unconsciously, he sighed the word ‘what’ while asking, “What could you possibly be sorry about, kid?” 

For a few seconds Peter fretted with the hem of his shirt. Tony wondered if he was ever going to get an answer. Right as he was considering repeating the question, Peter started typing into his phone. Moments later his own device began to vibrate. ‘It slipped out. I meant it but I didn’t mean to say it.’ That message was swiftly followed by two more. ‘Not right then, anyway,’ and ‘I freaked out. I didn’t stop when you told me to.’

Tony huffed a small laugh. “I think it’s fair to say, we both freaked out.” He smirked and playfully rolled his eyes. “That would have never happened if Pepper had been here.”

Peter bit his lip, indicating that maybe he didn’t hold the same belief. Tony indulged him with a reassuring smile before dropping his gaze to his knees. He swallowed hard and looked back up again. “But seriously, Kid. Peter. I didn’t react because I was just so surprised. In a good way! I know we all care about each other a lot and I assumed one day those words would- come out. I just wasn’t-” He was a smart man, charismatic and well-spoken, yet he could seem to find the right words to soothe the situation. He ran his thumb and forefinger just below his eyes and sighed. He didn’t know why, but he felt like he was making things worse. He looked at Peter. The poor kid had practically folded in on himself. “I’m not- Geez. What I’m trying to say is-” He sucked in a breath and held out his hands. “I love you too, Buddy. So much. All the time.” The more he spoke the less tense Peter appeared. He smiled, moved his hands to his lap and looked his kid in the eyes. “I’m so sorry I didn’t say it back to you first thing this morning.”

Peter licked his lips, half-smiled nodding his head. He untucked his legs and sighed, ‘Okay.’

Tony leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. He smiled and used two fingers to gesture between himself and Peter. “Just so you know, whenever you’re ready for a re-do, so am I. I won’t freeze up again. Scouts honor.”

With a quiet laugh, Peter raised hand to finger spell, ‘scout.’ He dipped his chin and raised his eyebrows in a questioning manner.

“What?” Tony scoffed. “I was a scout once. For three whole months! Would have been longer but it turns out I’m not built for camping.” 

Peter shook his head, signed ‘okay’ and laughed. Tony laughed too. The constantly fluctuating tension in the room had taken another dip. Things felt calm and easy, and he hoped they could pause the discussion on a comfortable note. He grinned and outstretched his arm to point at his kid’s nose. 

“I mean it though, about the re-do. When or if, you ever want to try again. I’m here for it.” He dropped his tone to something more soft and serious. “Because you’re my kid, Pete- almost to the letter, at this point. And I love you so much. Yeah?”

There were tears in Peter’s eyes but as he nodded, he was swift to wipe them away. He got up and crossed the room, sat beside Tony and leaned into his side. Tony had to twist his body around in order to pull his kid into a hug. He could feel warm wet tears soaking into his shirt as Peter returned the embrace with vigor. 

“I love you,” Peter whispered into his ear. Tony pulled him in more tightly and held him close. 

“I love you too, Peter.” There was no hesitation. His voice was soft and gentle as he rocked his kid side to side. “There are billions of children in this world, Buddy. And Pepper and I? We are so lucky to have found you.” He pulled away just enough to kiss Peter’s hair, then held Peter's head so their foreheads would touch. “You’re our baby, Pete. And we love you so much.”

Tony held on until Peter pulled away. He cupped his kid’s cheek and smiled softly. “How are we feeling, hmm?”

‘Good’ Peter signed. He smiled and wiped the dried tear tracks off of his face. ‘I Feel good.’