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It was ten Wednesdays into Peter and Tony’s new routine. It felt like forever, while simultaneously feeling like no time at all.
Peter… was really enjoying his Wednesday afternoons with Tony. His dad.
That was still such a weird term for Peter to use. His dad. He had a dad. Who invited him over every single Wednesday and tinkered around in the lab with him. Sometimes they built something new, and sometimes they worked on the old broken robot Tony had given him on his first visit. But every time, Tony drove him home after, in time for dinner with May.
Sometimes, Tony even stopped through a drive thru to get Peter some sort of treat that May always rolled her eyes at when Peter walked in with it, ‘spoiling his appetite.’ But she was always smiling softly when she saw it, so Peter knew she wasn’t actually mad about it.
May was pretty happy about this whole thing, too.
But yeah, Wednesdays in the lab with Tony were good.
Which was why when Mr. Harrington said, “We need to move Decathlon practices to Mondays and Wednesdays,” Peter’s hand shot straight up.
He’d only barely been paying attention to whatever Mr. Harrington had been talking about. Starting a Quiz Bowl club or something. It was Tuesday. Academic Decathlon happened on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“What is it?” Mr. Harrington asked.
“I can’t do Wednesdays,” Peter said quickly. He was not giving up his lab time with Tony.
Plus it wasn’t fair of the school to change club days on them, mid-semester.
“Why not?” Ned asked.
Peter shifted in his seat and looked toward his best friend.
Who… he maybe hadn’t told… about all this.
“I have a commitment,” he managed. “I’m… busy. On Wednesdays.”
“What’s the commitment?” Mr. Harrington asked. “Sports? Church?”
“No,” Peter said, and he could feel his face heat up.
Michelle leaned over from across the table, eyes narrowing as she said, “What is it? You don’t do any other clubs. What are you hiding, Peter?”
Peter swallowed and offered her an awkward smile. “Um.”
“You’re our best physics person,” Abe said. “We really need you on the team.”
“We could use you on the Quiz Bowl team, too,” Mr. Harrington said. “It’s a great way to practice quick responses and expand your knowledge base.”
“Yeah, but,” Peter said. He looked around and found all ten people sitting around the table staring at him. A bead of sweat ran down the back of his neck.
He hadn’t said anything about this to anyone…
“Dude, what could it possibly be?” Flash scoffed. “You don’t do anything.”
“It’s just,” Peter stammered. “On Wednesdays, I go over to my dad’s…”
Flash blinked as he sat back and outright gawked at Peter. “Ned, did you know he had a dad?” Flash demanded after a second.
“No?” Ned said, giving Peter the most betrayed look.
Peter’s face felt like it was on fire. This was not how he wanted this to get out.
He hadn’t wanted this to get out at all, actually.
Because… what if Tony decided to stop all this one day?
Mr. Harrington cleared his throat. When everyone looked to him, he asked, “Is this court-ordered?”
“No,” Peter said quickly. “Nothing like that, it’s just… an agreement. Between him and May. I go over every Wednesday after school until dinner.”
“Okay,” Mr. Harrington said, nodding thoughtfully. “Would you be willing to ask if another day would work?”
“Uh,” Peter stammered. He hadn’t… thought about that. “I mean, I guess?”
He knew for a fact that when Peter had initially said he was free on Wednesday, Tony had deleted something off his calendar to make room for him… so.
So.
“Why don’t you give him a call then?” Mr. Harrington said. “Ask him?”
“Wait, right now?” Peter said. He could feel the panic bubbling up.
What if Tony said nope, only Wednesdays. Or decided he was done altogether? And took this as an out.
He wouldn’t do that, he tried to tell himself. Tony had literally called him that morning while he was walking to school, just to say good morning and ask what his day looked like.
Tony had been doing that most mornings, lately…
Ever since he and May went on a short vacation with him and Pepper a few weekends back. May and Pepper had spent one of the days going to a spa, while Tony had taken Peter hiking to a waterfall. Just because Peter said he liked taking pictures of waterfalls.
He’d remembered such a minuscule little detail, and then planned an entire day around it.
And, and. It had been great.
Peter had really, really liked spending all day each day with Tony, even when all they were doing was eating lunch or watching TV.
“Go ahead,” Mr. Harrington said. “We’ll wait. I’d like to tell the principal tomorrow if we’re moving ahead with the Quiz Bowl team.”
“Wait,” Peter said, sitting up straighter. “It hinges on me being able to do decathlon on Wednesdays?”
“Yes, Peter,” Mr. Harrington said, a little exasperated. “We will not move club days unless everyone in available on the new days.”
“Oh.” Peter looked around the room again, though he avoided Ned’s gaze.
He couldn’t handle that at the moment.
Peter picked up his phone and pointed to the hall. “I’ll, uh, just go call him then.”
As he closed the door behind him, he heard Flash say, “Since when does he have a dad? Why is he living with his aunt if he has a dad?”
“Flash, that is none of your concern,” Mr. Harrington replied.
“Maybe his dad was in jail until recently,” Cindy said.
“Oooh, or maybe he didn’t—”
“Kids. We are not speculating about this,” Mr. Harrington said. “Don’t spread rumors.”
Peter took a shaky breath and stared down at Tony’s contact page for another second. “Just do it,” he whispered to himself. Despite that, he had to close his eyes before he hit call.
Calling Tony was always that nerve-racking.
Even though every single time Peter had called, Tony answered.
And just like every other time, Tony answered within the first couple rings.
“Hey, kid,” he said immediately. “Please don’t tell me there’s a fire, aren’t you supposed to be at school?”
“Um, yeah,” Peter exhaled, a tiny smile tugging on his lips. Just like every other time… Tony acted like it was completely normal for Peter to call him. “Hi. No fires.”
“Good,” Tony said, “because let me tell you it’s way too hot to be starting fires. It’s October, why was it 85 today?”
Peter laughed quietly as he leaned backward against the wall. “Um. Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah, shoot,” Tony replied.
“Okay, well,” Peter started. He shoved his free hand deep inside his hoody pocket. “Um, they’re trying to move decathlon practice.”
“Alright,” Tony said slowly.
“Um, to Mondays and Wednesdays, so they can start a Quiz Bowl team on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
Peter paused, but Tony stayed silent. It kind of made Peter’s chest feel a little more stabby.
“Um, so I was wondering, could we switch our day? To Tuesday? Or Thursday? I could do either of those.”
“Yeah,” Tony said, without hesitation. His voice was light and happy, like he wasn’t annoyed at all.
But without seeing his face, Peter couldn’t be certain.
“Really?” Peter asked.
Tony huffed an amused sound. “Yeah, kid, of course. Did you want to do Quiz Bowl, too?”
“No,” Peter said quickly. “No, no, it’s fine. I’d rather—” Peter snapped his mouth shut.
There was no way in hell he was finishing that sentence.
Peter could hear the squeak of Tony’s chair as he leaned backward. It was definitely the one in his lab. Peter had said so many times they needed to grease it.
Tony took a deep breath, then said, “You know… it’s not me or extracurriculars, right? It’s me and them.”
“What?” Peter asked.
“You don’t have to choose,” Tony explained. “And you’re not limited to Wednesdays, or Tuesdays, or whatever. Unless May says so, of course. She’s the boss. But if you wanted to come over Tuesdays and Thursdays, or on the weekends, or just randomly, I’d like that. I just like spending time with you.”
Peter’s heart hammered in his chest as his breath stuttered. His hands started shaking, so he reached up to keep his phone still with both hands.
It took him a long moment, but finally he found his voice again.
And, of course, all he could manage was a squeak as he said, “Really?”
“Of course, Pete,” Tony said easily. “So what do you want to do?”
“Um,” Peter stammered before taking a deep breath.
Quiz Bowl would probably be a lot of fun… And, if everyone wanted him on the team…
“I think I’d like to do Quiz Bowl,” he finished. “Uh, did you know May works nights right now?”
“I did know that,” Tony said. “Tuesday, Thursday, and Sundays.”
“Yeah,” Peter breathed. “Um. So… I could come over after practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and, uh, have dinner with you?”
“I’d love that kid,” Tony said enthusiastically. Peter could hear the wide smile in his voice. He paused for a second, then asked, “What time does she usually get home? Do you get to see her in the morning before school?”
“No,” Peter said slowly. “She gets back at, like, 2 and is asleep when I leave at 6:30.”
“Well,” Tony said slowly. “If you wanted, you could stay the night Tuesday and Thursday…”
Peter blinked. “Oh,” he whispered.
That was… the exact opposite of how Tony was going to react to this.
That was… wow.
“Yeah,” Tony replied. “It’s up to you. I’ll take you home after dinner if that’s what you’d prefer.”
“Uhhhh.” Peter looked around the empty hall and tried to think of any reason why he shouldn’t do that.
But…
Nothing came to mind.
“That would be an easy commute back to school,” Peter said slowly. “It’s like a ten-minute walk…” He could even sleep in some. It took him almost an hour to get to school from Queens.
Tony laughed. “Then that’s what we’ll do, yeah? So do Quiz Bowl if you want to. There will be plenty of time to tinker in the lab after dinner.”
Peter grinned. “Cool, yeah, okay.”
The door beside Peter creaked open, and Peter jumped before he looked over.
Mr. Harrington poked his head out and asked, “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Peter said quickly. “I’m almost done.” He turned his attention back to his phone and said, “I gotta go. They’re waiting for me.”
Mr. Harrington went back inside, closing the door behind him.
“Alright kid,” Tony said, and Peter could hear him smacking his hand against his leg. “Call me later, and we’ll hammer out the details.”
“Yeah yeah, of course,” Peter said. “I’ll call you when I’m walking home.”
“Perfect. I love you, I’ll talk—”
Peter froze at the exact moment Tony’s voice cut out.
That… was… not at all something he thought Tony would ever say…
“Uh,” Tony stammered. “Sorry. I, uh, didn’t mean to drop that on you like that. I’ll talk to you later?”
“It’s okay, Dad,” Peter said quietly, forcing himself to breathe again. “It’s… fine. Yeah, I’ll call.”
Tony’s breath caught before he said, “Okay. Go back to practice.”
Then the line clicked dead.
Peter just blinked down at his phone for a solid thirty seconds.
He… had never called Tony Dad, either…
Despite everything, Peter felt a wide smile stretch across his face. That smile persisted as he slipped back into the classroom where his teammates were waiting.
“Good news?” Cindy asked, perking up in her seat.
“Yeah,” Peter said, with an awkward laugh as he slipped back into his chair next to Ned. “He said it’s fine.”
“Great,” Mr. Harrington said. “Then Tuesdays and Thursdays will be Quiz Bowl, and Monday and Wednesday will be Academic Decathlon. We’ll start having scrimmages once a week in November.”
Everyone nodded.
“Who is going to participate in Quiz Bowl?” Mr. Harrington asked next.
All hands in the room shot up immediately. Peter looked around and saw that both Ned and Michelle were participating. Slowly, he lifted his own hand.
“Really?” Ned said excitedly.
“Yeah,” Peter said. “My, uh, dad told me I should do both…”
My dad, he thought.
The words still felt strange in his mouth, but…
It wasn’t a bad strange.
“That’s great,” Mr. Harrington said enthusiastically. “See, sometimes you just have to communicate.”
Flash made a stink face at him, but Michelle perked up in her seat across from him. “You’re our best in the sciences,” she said.
“All right, we’re kicking Staten Island’s ass for sure,” Abe exclaimed.
“Language,” Mr. Harrington sighed.
Peter sank back into his seat and tried to focus as Mr. Harrington had them read through this year’s social studies packet.
But Ned leaned over a few minutes in and whispered, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Peter kept his eyes on the packet in front of him, even though he wasn’t reading, as he whispered back, “It’s a long story. And… I keep expecting him to, like, ghost me.”
He’d had the dream several times now that he showed up for Wednesday lab time, and Tony wasn’t there, because he’d decided to move to Malibu. Or worse, he was barred from entering the building, and told to get lost.
Even just thinking about it made his heart rate pick up.
I love you, Tony had said.
Someone who loved him wouldn’t do that, right?
“Ghost you?” Ned asked, a deep frown settling on his face.
Peter just shrugged. “I don’t know,” he whispered. “Things have been really good lately, but… it’s only been a few months. I keep waiting for him to get bored or something.”
Ned furrowed his brow. “How long have you… been in contact?”
“I met him in June,” Peter offered. “But, uh, we started actually talking in August.”
Ned blinked. “Dude,” he whispered. “No wonder you didn’t tell anyone.”
Peter huffed a quiet laugh. “Yeah.”
“How long have you known about him?” Ned asked.
“My whole life,” Peter whispered back.
Ned was quiet for a long moment before he leaned back over and whispered even quieter, “You never mentioned that. I thought your dad, you know. Died.”
Peter nodded. “My dad did die in a plane crash,” he said. “Richard Parker adopted me, so he was my dad. But Tony is my, uh…”
“Biological dad,” Ned finished.
“Yeah.”
“Ah.” Ned picked back up his booklet, then whispered, “I’m happy for you, dude.”
Ghosting a smile, Peter leaned back over his own booklet.
-
After practice, Peter was relieved to not be interrogated by Ned on the way to the subway station.
Usually they rode the train together, until Ned had to get off and switch trains.
This time, however, Peter paused at the top of the steps and said, “Um. I might actually go over to my dad’s.”
Ned turned around from where he’d started down the stairs already. “Where does he live?” he asked.
“Move,” some random dude said as he brushed around Peter and Ned.
“Sorry, sorry,” Peter mumbled as he jumped back and off to the side, while Ned followed suit.
“Uh, Dad lives in Midtown.”
“Whoa,” Ned said, smiling wide. “That’s so cool. Does he have a cool view?”
“Yeah,” Peter said, returning the smile. “Earlier we agreed I’d start spending the night Tuesdays and Thursdays, too.”
“Really?” Ned exclaimed. He faltered for a second, then asked almost conspiratorially, “Is he, you know, good?”
“He didn’t just get out of jail,” Peter huffed, still grinning.
“I didn’t say that,” Ned exclaimed. “That was Cindy.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. He’s good, though. He just didn’t know about me until June, that’s all.”
Ned narrowed his eyes. “But you knew about him.”
“Yeah. It’s… complicated,” Peter settled on saying.
One day he’d probably tell Ned the whole story.
Just.
Not yet.
Ned nodded. “Do you want me to walk with you? Is there a station closer to his place?”
“No, no,” Peter said quickly. “He lives just over there.” Peter pointed toward Stark Tower, but kept his gesturing pretty vague.
He wasn’t ready to share that little detail, either.
“I’m just not sure if he’s available today,” Peter said. “It’s… last minute.”
And he’d never invited himself over before…
“Call him and ask,” Ned said enthusiastically. “I can wait.”
“Oh, yeah,” Peter said, blinking. Obviously he could do that.
He pulled his phone out and navigated back to Tony’s contact.
It was a little easier that time to hit call.
And, of course, Tony picked up almost immediately.
“Hey, Pete. How was practice?”
“Good,” Peter replied. He took a deep breath and rushed it out before he could change his mind. “Um, would it be weird to ask if I could come over now?”
“Right now?” Tony asked, sounding honestly thrown by the question.
“Uh yeah,” Peter stammered. “But if you’re busy or whatever, I get it. It’s just… May’s at work, and uh, we have to talk anyway, and I’m not—”
“Yeah, kid,” Tony cut in. “Yes. You don’t have to have an excuse. Just come over.”
Peter blinked. “Whenever?”
“Yes,” Tony huffed, amusedly. “Whenever. Don’t even have to warn me. That badge I gave you gets you in any time. It’ll even unlock the door at 2 in the morning.”
“Wow,” Peter breathed. His eyes flit up to Ned, then back down to the sidewalk. “Uh, okay, okay. I’ll be there in, like, ten minutes?”
“Great,” Tony said in a chipper voice. “I’ll see you in ten minutes then.”
The line clicked, and Peter looked up at Ned.
“Dude,” Ned said, grinning wide, “I’m so happy for you. He sounds awesome.”
“Yeah,” Peter replied. “He is, isn’t he? I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Yeah dude,” Ned said, offering Peter his hand. They did their handshake, and Ned finished it by saying, “Have fun with your dad.”
“I will,” Peter said happily. He bounced a couple times, then waved at Ned and skipped off toward Stark Tower.
-
When he got to the tower exactly nine minutes later, Tony was waiting for him in the lobby.
Peter ducked around the security, holding his badge up as he went. They were used to him, at that point.
Also, Tony was standing just on the other side, holding one arm out invitingly to Peter.
“Hey, buddy,” Tony said, wrapping his arm around Peter’s shoulders once he approached. “Did you want to spend the night tonight?”
Peter blinked as he let Tony lead him to the elevators. “I haven’t even asked May about that.” He was pretty sure she’d say yes. “Uh, and I don’t have, like, clothes and my toothbrush.”
Obviously he hadn’t packed for a sleepover that morning… since he hadn’t even know this was an option that morning.
“That’s fine, no pressure,” Tony said, as he hit the button for the elevator with his free hand. “But I can send Happy to your apartment to get that stuff. Or you and I can go to your apartment.”
Peter tilted his head to look up at his dad. “You’d drive all the way to Queens and back just to get my toothbrush?”
“Yeah,” Tony said, shrugging one shoulder. The elevator door opened, so they stepped on, before Tony continued. “If you’re attached to it, that is. Or if you need a stuffed animal or blanket or something from there. But, uh, I don’t want to freak you out or anything, but I’ve already got all the basics in your bedroom.”
The elevator door dinged open onto Tony’s personal floor. Tony stepped forward, but Peter remained frozen in place. Tony let go of Peter and stepped back into the elevator door, facing Peter.
“My… bedroom?” Peter asked slowly, looking up at Tony.
He’d been in Tony’s apartment several times. The past month or so, Tony had been in the habit of dragging Peter up there for a snack first, before they got to tinkering.
But Peter hadn’t seen any bedroom, much less one meant just for him.
“Well yeah, you gotta sleep somewhere,” Tony said, giving Peter a confused look. He put one of his hands on the door when it tried to close. “Did you think I’d make you sleep on the couch?”
Peter shook his head. He’d assumed he’d sleep in a guest room. “Did you set that up in the last two hours?”
“No,” Tony said slowly, running his free hand through his hair. “I set it up about two months ago.”
Peter just blinked.
“Just in case,” Tony added.
“In case what?” Peter asked. Two months ago, Peter had spent, like, ten hours total with Tony.
In his entire life.
Why on earth would Tony have set him up a room?
Tony merely shrugged. “In case you ever wanted to spend the night.”
“Oh.”
“Want to get off the elevator, maybe?” Tony said. “I’m sure the employees would like to make use of it.”
“Right,” Peter said, as he stepped forward. Tony moved out of the way and let Peter off completely.
“Here, I’ll show you the room,” Tony said, motioning for Peter to follow.
Peter did, walking across the familiar living room and down a hallway he’d never explored.
Mostly because when Tony brought him up there, they went straight to the kitchen to raid whatever baked good Pepper had made most recently, then immediately left.
“This one right here,” Tony said, pointing to an open door at the end of the hall. He motioned to the door right across from it and added, “This one is mine and Pepper’s.”
Peter looked up at Tony, then into the dark room. Hesitantly, he stepped inside and looked around when the lights popped up automatically.
The room was huge. It was at least four times the size of his room in Queens, if not five.
“We can decorate it however you want,” Tony said, following him into the room. “Pepper helped pick out the stuff in here now, but it’s your room so you get final say.”
Peter looked around and actually noticed the personal touches. The little things that proved this wasn’t just some guest room in Tony Stark’s house.
For one, there was an R2D2 lamp on the bedside table. It was R2D2 with a lampshade on his head.
Peter kind of really loved it.
On the wall were a few framed posters, including one of the Mets, and one of Albert Einstein making a goofy face.
Something warm blossomed in Peter’s chest as he spotted a mostly empty bookshelf. Mostly empty, because there was a stack of advanced-looking textbooks Peter already wanted to browse through, and an unopened Lego set of New York’s skyline.
Two months ago Tony had done this. They’d seen each other maybe five times, two months ago.
And yet.
Tony had carved out a place for Peter in his house.
His dad had carved out a place for him, in his house.
And decorated it. And stocked it with clothes, and toothpaste, and books, and Lego.
All for the off chance that maybe Peter might want to stay over one day.
Tears sprang to Peter’s eyes before he could stop them. He swallowed thickly. “So. You meant it, then.”
“What?” Tony asked, sounding slightly startled. He looked down at Peter, and his eyes went wide. “What’s wrong?”
Peter shook his head.
Nothing was wrong.
“Earlier,” he rasped. “When you… dropped that on me. It wasn’t an accident?”
Understanding dawned on Tony’s face as his tone turned serious. “Yeah, Pete. I meant it. I think it all the time.”
Peter nodded, then nodded more vigorously. He clenched his teeth and tried his best not to cry.
Six months ago he would have never dreamed this possible.
But now…
Peter stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Tony’s chest. He buried his face into Tony’s shoulder, and just held on tightly.
Tony startled, but was quick to wrap his arms around Peter’s back and squeeze back.
“Thank you,” Peter whispered.
“Pete, don’t thank me for this,” Tony said, his voice watery. “I should be thanking you for letting me near you. For even giving me a chance.”
Peter shrugged against Tony, and left his face buried as he whispered, “I like having you as my dad.”
Tony’s arms tightened around Peter, and that was the only sign Peter got that Tony had even heard him.
Because Tony was silent for a long moment before he finally cleared his throat and loosened his hold a little. When he spoke, his voice was suspiciously tight. “I’m starving. Pepper should be up any minute now, what do you say we go out?”
“Really?” Peter asked as he pulled back and looked up at his dad. “Like, a restaurant?”
Where people would see them?
Together?
“Yeah,” Tony said, grinning. “You like steak? I think tonight is a steak kind of night.”
Peter smiled. “Yeah. Steak is good.”
“Great,” Tony cheered. “I know the perfect place. Make sure you tell May where you are.”
“I will,” Peter said, as he slipped his phone out of his pocket. He started tapping out a text to her. “She’s gonna be okay with this, you know.”
“Yeah?” Tony asked.
“Yeah,” Peter agreed. “She likes that we hang out. And she’ll be glad I’m not alone while she’s at work anymore.”
“Well, in that case, if you want to come over every time she has work… just do it.”
Peter smiled as he crossed the room and shrugged his backpack off. He set it down on the empty desk. Looking around the room again, Peter started thinking about all the projects he could set up there. Since there was space.
“Dad?” Peter asked after a moment, turning back to face Tony, standing in the doorway.
Tony snapped his attention to Peter, and Peter saw a dozen emotions flicker across his face before a bright smile took over. “Yeah, bud?”
“Does the restaurant have sweet potatoes? I have to have a sweet potato with my steak. It’s the law.”
Tony somehow grinned wider. “They have the best baked sweet potatoes. You’re gonna love it.”
“Cool,” Peter said.
As the first Tuesday night of many went on, Peter couldn’t help but think he really enjoyed spending time with his dad.
And he was so glad his dad seemed to enjoy it just as much.