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It was four days after the first call when Tony’s rang again.
He’d considered texting Peter himself, but decided against it. May had said it was up to Peter, and Tony didn’t want to get too pushy too quickly. The very last thing he wanted to do was scare his son away.
His son was still a wild phrase to think. He’d known about Peter for a few months at that point, and had known for sure about his relation to him for about two. He’d only had one single, sixty-second-long conversation with him in that time.
Tony felt like the waiting was slowly killing him.
August 10th was quickly approaching, and Tony had already missed fourteen birthdays. He’d been warring with himself about what to do, if Peter didn’t reach out to him again before the day came.
Should he text happy birthday? Send a card? A present?
Would getting his son a present be overstepping?
What would he even want?
But then, four days after the first call came, Tony’s phone started ringing again right in the middle of a SI board meeting.
He’d set his phone so if Peter called him, the ringer would go off at full volume. The sound made several around the table jump, and all eyes snapped to Tony as he picked his phone up.
When Tony saw Peter’s name flashing on the screen, he couldn’t help the hopeful smile stretch across his face.
“Sorry, gotta take this,” he said, standing and leaving the room without even a glance at anyone around the room.
Tony’s heart fluttered as he stepped into the hall and hit accept. He pressed the phone to his ear and said, almost breathlessly, “Hey.”
“Hi,” Peter replied. His voice was all anxiety and nerves.
More than anything, Tony wished his son wasn’t nervous about reaching out to him.
“How’s it going?” Tony asked. “School… no wait, is it camp? How is camp treating you?” He knew Peter was doing decathlon practice over the summer, and some sort of science camp.
His kid being interested in science excited him more than anything else. He couldn’t wait to get him in his workshop, tinkering with stuff. Tony’s own father had never invited Tony to hang out with him in the lab, and Tony did not understand that.
The second he found out his son would enjoy it, that was all Tony could think about. Making his kid happy and spending time with him? Sign him up.
“Uh, yeah,” Peter stammered. “It’s good. We, uh, we’re building robots. How is… work?”
Robots. Tony could build a robot with him.
Tony cleared his throat. “Work is good,” he said with a smile. He leaned up against the wall in the hallway and added, “It’s so good to hear from you, kid.”
“Oh, yeah. Okay,” Peter said. He paused for a moment, then asked, “Do you want to maybe…”
Tony held his breath, trying not to anticipate where this might be going.
It took Peter another moment, but finally he stammered out, “Uh. Come over for dinner?”
Tony felt absolutely frozen in place.
This was it. This was… this was more than he thought he’d get.
Was this a birthday dinner? Peter’s birthday was on Saturday. Or was it just… normal dinner?
How should Tony—
“You don’t have to,” Peter said quickly. “Sorry, I was just thinking, maybe, but you—”
“Yes,” Tony cut in quickly. “Yes, I would. I would want that.” So much.
“Oh.”
“Should I bring something?” Tony asked. Like… a present? Or… he wasn’t sure. Wine was his go-to, but obviously he wasn’t bringing wine to dinner with his fifteen-year-old.
Unless May would want some…
“Um,” Peter said. His voice went quieter, like he pulled the phone from his face, as he said, “He wants to know if he should bring something.”
Tony could hear a laugh in the background, then May say, in an incredibly amused voice, “Tell him he can bring dessert.”
“Oh, we won’t have cake?” Peter asked.
“Did you want to do cake with him?”
“Oh. Uh, I don’t know. I’ll, uh, tell him.” Tony heard some rustling again, then Peter’s voice much clearer, “You can bring dessert.”
“Great,” Tony said with a fond smile. “Do you have any requests? Uh… like cake or…?”
Peter was quiet for a few seconds, then he said, “I like cannoli. That's… my favorite dessert.”
Tony grinned wide. “Perfect. I’ll bring cannoli, then.”
“Cool. Friday?” Peter asked. “Is Friday good? At six?”
“It’s perfect,” Tony said instantly. He didn’t care what was on his calendar. Dinner with Peter and May was now on it. “At your apartment, I assume?”
“Yeah,” Peter exhaled.
“I’ll be there, Pete,” Tony said with a wide smile.
“Cool. Okay. See you then…”
“Yeah, can’t wait,” Tony said, just before he heard the line click.
He grinned down at his phone as he opened his calendar to see what he needed to square away, but got distracted when the conference room door cracked open.
Pepper poked her head out and asked, “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” Tony said with a smile. “He invited me over for dinner.”
She smiled. “That’s great.”
“Yeah,” Tony agreed. “He likes cannoli. It’s his favorite dessert.”
“Is that so?” Pepper asked, her tone highly amused.
“I’ve got to find the best cannoli to bring. That’s my task.” Tony clicked ‘Add Event’ on his calendar and typed in Dinner with Peter. He set multiple reminders, not that he thought he’d actually be able to forget about this.
“Do not fly that in from Italy,” Pepper said as she stepped out of the conference room and shut the door behind her. She wrapped her arms around Tony’s waist and leaned over his phone. “Be normal about it.”
“Yeah, yeah. I can be totally normal,” Tony said. “There’s a great bakery a few blocks over.” He’d get a few of every flavor of cannoli they had.
It was Peter’s birthday, after all.
Tony tapped on the conflicting event that appeared next to the new dinner event, and opened it. It was a gala of some sort. He didn’t even read what it was for before he hit delete.
Pepper squeezed him and said, “I’ll send them a check.”
“You’re the best,” Tony said, as he wrapped an arm around her. “Should I get him a birthday present? Do you think that’ll go over well? What should I get him? What do fifteen-year-olds like?”
“Honey,” Pepper whispered, as she kissed him on the cheek. “Come back to the meeting now.”
Tony huffed. “Fine, fine. But I won’t pay attention.”
“Do you ever?”
Tony just grinned, as he immediately searched for gift ideas.
- - -
In the end, Pepper talked him out of getting Peter an outrageous gift.
For one, Tony didn’t know Peter well enough to know what he’d even like.
And, well, Tony wasn’t a good gift-giver, anyway. Pepper told him he was more of an acts-of-service kind of person, and Tony wasn’t really sure what that even meant, but he didn’t argue with her.
So he opted for a simple card. And maybe a gift certificate inside for Micro Center. He knew Peter liked to dumpster dive for parts and put together his own electronics, so clearly he’d probably like access to new parts…
And if he protested it was too much, he was going to spin it as for his education. To help with science camp, and building the robot. Or whatever. Pepper told him not to go overboard and overwhelm him. Or look like he was trying to buy Peter’s affections.
Tony felt more nervous than he usually felt as he walked down the hall to Peter’s apartment, a box of two dozen cannoli in his hands, the birthday card tucked into his jacket pocket. He didn’t even knock before the front door was pulled open, and Tony found himself face-to-face with his son for the first time in months.
“Hey,” Tony said, with a smile.
“Hi,” Peter replied. “Uh. Come in. Wow, that’s a lot of cannoli.”
“I wasn’t sure which flavor was your favorite,” Tony said as he stepped inside. He looked over to find May standing in the kitchen, scooping takeout containers into actual dishes. “Mrs. Parker.”
“Oh, please,” May scoffed as she rolled her eyes, though she was smiling softly. “It’s May. Unless you make me call you Mr. Stark, then you can bite me.”
Tony grinned. “It’s just Tony.”
“Can I take it?” Peter asked, holding his hand out for the box. Tony easily handed it over. Peter opened the box as he walked it over to the kitchen counter and grinned. “Wow, I didn’t know there were this many flavors.”
“Peter, not until after dinner,” May said warningly.
“Aw, come on,” Peter complained, but he shut the box.
Tony shoved his hands in his pockets and just looked around the little apartment, really unsure about what to even do next.
“Peter,” May said, “why don’t you ask our guest what he wants to drink?”
“Oh.” Peter turned back to Tony and gestured to the kitchen. “What do you want to drink?”
Tony huffed a quiet laugh and said, “I’m fine with anything.”
Peter shuffled from one foot to the other, then asked, “A Coke?”
“Sure,” Tony said easily.
Spinning on his heels, Peter turned around and padded into the kitchen, where he opened the fridge. “May, do you want one, too?”
“Yes, darling,” she replied, as she finished scraping the last of the takeout into the serving dish. Once done, she looked up at Tony and said, “Dinner’s just about ready. Peter’s been talking about this all week.”
“May,” Peter protested. He stood up straight, three cans of Coke in his hands, and his face was just about the same color as the cans.
“What?” May said with an amused smirk. “You have.”
“I have not,” Peter said petulantly as he walked around the kitchen island and to the table.
“You changed your mind about fifteen times about what to order,” May said, following him with the platter of food in her hands. “You kept worrying about whether Tony would like—”
“Stop talking,” Peter demanded.
All May did was laugh, smiling mischievously.
Tony was trying very, very hard not to smile. It eased some of the anxiety in his own chest to know Peter actually did want him there…
“I think Pepper’s tired of me worrying about whether I ordered enough cannoli,” Tony admitted as he headed over to the table, himself. “I must have asked her at least ten times.”
Peter blinked, his whole face going slack as he looked up at Tony.
“And,” Tony stammered, “uh, whether I should be bringing more for… yeah. If that makes you feel any better.”
Peter looked over at May, who simply raised an eyebrow at him.
“Sit, sit,” May said, motioning to one of the chairs for Tony.
Tony sat right where he was told, and watched as Peter took the chair to Tony’s right. May sat down a moment later, to his left.
The table was small and round, and didn’t have room for more than three people. Tony could see a fourth chair pushed back against the wall, so he supposed they could fit four, if needed, but three was likely all they ever needed.
That was, until Peter’s uncle passed recently…
Did they push the third chair up against the wall now? Or was there always an empty chair…
Sitting in the third chair suddenly feels… heavy. Tony cleared his throat and pulled the card out of his jacket pocket. Peter raised an eyebrow when Tony held it out to him.
“Uh, I’m not sure if…” Tony started slowly, “but I know it’s your birthday tomorrow.” He paused to clear his throat again, holding the card closer to Peter so he’d actually take it. “Happy birthday, kid. I figured giving you a card a day early was kosher, considering.”
Peter slowly took the card from Tony’s hand, his eyes wide. He glanced over at May, then down at the card as he started opening the envelope.
May was just sitting there across the table, her elbows on the table and her hands clapped together in front of her face, the warmest smile Tony had seen on her directed right at Peter.
Tony hadn’t written much on the card. He’d found a nice card with a poem about having a nice birthday, and wrote his own little note underneath.
Really, he’d agonized over the words, and had finally settled on ‘Happy 15th, Peter. Thanks for letting me be part of it.’ and had simply signed it ‘Tony.’
He’d even worried over how to sign the card, until Pepper told him to just write Tony and stop overthinking it.
Peter slowly read the note. Tony couldn’t get a good read on his reaction.
Then Peter turned his attention to the gift certificate, and his eyes went wide. “What, this is way too much,” he protested.
Tony’s smile faltered. “Uh, you don’t have to spend it all at once,” Tony tried. “It’s for, you know, robots and computer emergencies.” It wasn’t even that much, as far as computer parts went.
Pepper had tried to talk him down, but it was still less than what he’d wanted to give Peter…
May cleared her throat and gave Peter a pointed look when he glanced up.
“Uh,” Peter stammered, “I mean, thanks. Thank you, uh.” he paused for a moment, “Tony.”
“What is it?” May asked after a beat.
Peter pulled the gift certificate out so May could see it. “It’s for Micro Center.”
“Oh wow,” May said enthusiastically. “That is your favorite store, isn’t it?” She turned to Tony and added, “He begs me to take him there all the time.”
“May,” Peter whispered harshly.
“It’s a pretty great store,” Tony agreed with a grin.
“I’ll have to take you and Ned there soon,” May said.
Peter nodded easily. “Yeah.” He looked at Tony. “Ned is my best friend. We’re doing science camp together. He’s my lab partner.”
“I’m glad you got one of those,” Tony said honestly. “Mine’s name is Rhodey. I met him when I was about your age, actually. He was my lab partner, too.”
“In high school?” Peter asked, perking up. “And you’re still friends?”
Tony grimaced. “I met him in college. My dad made me go to college at fifteen, so Rhodey is several years older than me. But yeah, we’re still friends.”
Rhodey will want to meet Peter as soon as Tony tells him about Peter…
He only hadn’t told him because he wasn’t sure if Peter was going to let Tony in or not. And he didn’t want Rhodey asking after Peter every time he called, if Peter didn’t…
May pushed them both to serve themselves food, then start eating. Peter rambled about the options a little, but the table quickly lapsed into silence.
After letting it stretch for a minute, Tony cleared his throat and asked, “How’s the suit holding up?”
Peter’s face went carefully blank as he replied, “Fine.”
“Everything working on it as it should?” Tony asked. He got reports from Karen, but hadn’t checked up on much. He’d promised he wouldn’t hover.
“Yep,” Peter said shortly, as he stabbed his fork into a mushroom on his plate.
Tony nodded. “If you ever need something fixed on it, or you have ideas for improving it, you can bring it over to the tower and…”
While Tony was speaking, Peter rubbed the back of his hand against his forehead and clenched his jaw tightly while nodding. And Tony just trailed off.
He shouldn’t have brought up Spider-Man.
Tony was so damn proud of Spider-Man. So damn proud of this kid in front of him, all the good he was doing…
But clearly, Peter didn’t want to hear that.
Peter didn’t want Spider-Man to be the reason Tony paid attention to him. Tony knew that. May had told him as much.
And Tony wasn’t there because of Spider-Man. Not this time.
“Sorry,” Tony said after a beat. “I’m not really asking about the suit.”
Peter furrowed his brow and looked up. “You’re not?”
“I mean, I was. And I’m serious, if you need work done on it or have ideas, I’m happy to help you with that.”
“Help me?” Peter asked slowly.
“Yeah,” Tony said, nodding. “I mean, I could do it for you, but you’re smart. I figured it would be more fun teaching you how to do it than just fixing it myself.”
“Oh,” Peter whispered, averting his eyes away from Tony.
“But, uh,” Tony stammered. “You don’t have to bring the suit, either. You can just come over. That's, uh, what I was trying to do. Invite you over. I have a pretty cool workshop. We could build something? Or break something. Breaking things is fun, too.”
Peter blinked a few times, then looked over at May.
May gave Peter a look even Tony knew was saying, ‘You can do that if you want. Do you want that?’
Peter finally looked back up at Tony, and Tony’s breath caught at the tiny glint of hope in Peter’s eyes as he said, “Not Spider-Man related?”
“Nope,” Tony said easily. “Not Iron Man related, either. Just Peter and Tony, hanging out in the workshop.”
Peter nodded absently a few times, eyes dropping back down to his plate. He twirled his fork in his Lo Mein. Finally he said, “I guess that would be cool.”
Tony felt the knot in his chest loosen all at once, the breath rushing out of him as he grinned. “Yeah. Really cool,” Tony agreed.
“I’m gonna go use the restroom,” May said quietly, as she pushed her chair back and got up. She ruffled Peter’s hair as she passed, then disappeared through the little hall.
Peter started chewing on his lip, then focused on serving himself another spring roll.
Pepper had coached Tony before this. She’d told him he had to be explicitly clear with Peter about how much he wanted this.
And Tony saw now why. Peter most certainly was not going to be forthcoming, first.
It wasn’t on the son to build the relationship, anyway.
“Thanks for inviting me, Pete,” Tony said. “I’m… I’m just really glad you invited me.”
“Yeah,” Peter said, nodding again. He took a bite of the spring roll, chewed, and swallowed it before he asked, quietly, “Do you have things I can take apart?”
“I’ve got so many things you can take apart,” Tony said eagerly. “I’ve got, like, sixty years of junk in storage from Stark Industries projects.”
Peter ghosted a smile. “I like fixing things… and building robots.”
“I think you’re going to love the workshop, then,” Tony said with a wide smile. He could so help his son build a robot. “Stop by after camp next week?”
With another absent nod, Peter looked off to where May disappeared, then back over at Tony. “I could do Wednesday…”
“Wednesday, then,” Tony said with a smile. He slipped his phone out and pulled up his calendar. He had a meeting with R&D scheduled, which he deleted without a second thought.
He knew FRIDAY would send an email to the director about his change of plans.
“Looks like I’m free all afternoon,” Tony said, as he blocked off the last half of the day.
Peter laughed quietly but nodded. “Okay. I get out of camp at 3.”
“Do you need a ride? I can have you picked up.” Happy would need to hear about Peter’s existence now, too.
Happy would eagerly start chauffeuring Tony’s son around, he knew. Even if he’d complain about hating kids, Tony knew for a fact Happy would take his security duty seriously with Peter.
But Peter shook his head. “Camp is in Midtown. I can just walk.”
“Alright.” Tony wouldn’t push this yet. Once word got out about Peter, or people started noticing him, then Tony would push security. “Just come right into the lobby, then. I’ll meet you there.”
“Okay,” Peter said with a nod.
May came back out, and the conversation flowed after that. They discussed the robot Peter was building at camp, and the ideas Peter had for his science fair in the coming school year. May gushed about how he had won every science fair he’d entered so far.
Tony couldn’t keep the smile off his face the rest of the night.
Peter was coming to the workshop. To hang out with Tony.
He couldn’t wait for Wednesday.