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Tony Stark has a date.
Well, he had a date. Said date cancelled on him last minute. Normally, Tony would have been pretty put-off, who fucking waits until after they planned to meet up to cancelled? Well, other than Tony himself… actually, he's starting to realize why everyone hates when he does that now.
Unfortunately, Tony really likes this woman, and she did seem genuinely distressed about cancelling, so he can't bring himself to be upset about driving all the way out to Queens.
It takes him considerably less time than he'd have thought to come to his current decision. Tony pulls back into the parking lot he'd just been in. He grabs the takeout bags from the passenger seat, opening his door before grabbing the drinks. He really hopes she likes burgers.
Tony walks up to the building and immedaitely realizes his error. His hands are full. He shifts the bag in his arm, grunting as he tries to press the call button. He barely manages to buzz it.
About three seconds later, Tony hears, "who is it?" from the tinny little speaker.
"It's Tony, again," Tony replies.
"Oh, uh.. I still can't come out?"
Does Tony seem like the type of guy who would week trying after being rejected? …Actually, he might not want that answered.. "No, no.. I.. I brought you dinner, actually. Since, y'know, I'm assuming your plan for the night was whatever you'd get at the restaurant." She doesn't respond, so Tony continues, "I hope you like burgers."
There's a quiet oh from the speaker, then, "yeah, come on up," as the door unlocks.
Tony starts up the stairs immediately. By the time he gets to her apartment, the door's already open.
And there she is, May Parker. "You didn't have to," she says, walking over to take the drinks out of his hand. Tony lets her, following her inside the apartment.
"I really am sorry for cancelling," she adds. She sets the drink down on the table, motioning for him to sit, which he does. "My babysitter got grounded, apparently. Her dad forgot to call and let me know."
Babysitter? "You got a kid?" She didn't mention anything about this last week.
"Uh.. yeah! He's not mine-mine, he's my friend's. I took him in a couple weeks ago."
"What happened there?" Tony regrets the question almost immediately, as he watches May's face fall. "You don't have to say." he tacks on quickly.
"No, no, it's fine. Uh, I was just supposed to be watching him for the weekend while her and her husband went on an emergency business trip, but her plane crashed. So… yeah.."
"I'm sorry."
"It's alright."
"I shouldn't have asked, I—" Before Tony could finish the sentence, there's a shrill cry from the other room.
"Ah, shit," May places the burger she'd just grabbed back down, "one second." And just like that she's gone down the hall.
She back in the room 137 seconds later, Tony counted. He probably shouldn't have counted. Actually, that might be a little pathetic. Very pathetic.
There's a baby in her arms now. A baby. As in, a tiny human being. "Sorry," she says, "he woke up."
"Oh, not a problem." Tony waves her off, because the alternative is panicking over the fact his date, whom he is in the home of, is holding a fucking baby. He's not equipped to be anywhere near a fucking baby. "There's always room for more."
May chuckles as she sits back down, shifting the baby to one arm so she can continue eating. The baby babbles, and May grabs a french fry to hand to him.
Tony doesn't notice the smile creeping onto his own face, not until May looks over, smiling back at him.
"Peter," she says. She looks at the baby, gently tapping his face until he turns to look at tony. "Pete, hon, this is Tony," she whispers.
Tony only hesitates for a second before giving a little wave. Peter grins, letting the fry drop from his hands to reach out to Tony.
"I'm sorry," May says for maybe the.. 5th time this evening? 6th?
"It's alright. I can.. hold him… if you'd like?" Please say no, please say no. Tony cannot handle a baby. He hasn't held a baby in over a decade. He let a woman hand him one once when he was 21 and then decided he was never doing that again.
"Well, he'd certainly like that." Damnit.
Tony wipes his hands on his pants before holding his hands out, letting May hand the baby to him. He's… small. Tony lets out a little squeak as he adjusts Peter in his hands.
May laughs at the noise. "You don't have to, Tony, I can take him back."
"No, it's alright, it's alright," Tony brings Peter to his chest, slowly shifting him into one arm. "I got the little bugger." He really hopes he sounds more confident than he feels. He is not blowing this.
"Careful."
"I'm bein' careful." Tony pokes Peter's little face, earning a giggle. Hey, he's pretty good at this. "I think he likes me."
"Yeah." May moves to the seat next to him, leaning over his shoulder a little to look at Peter. "He does."
This isn't actually as bad as Tony thought it would be. He hasn't dropped the kid—not yet, at least. And Peter isn't drooling on him, or throwing up… and of course there's a beautiful woman less than an inch from him.
All in all, a win in Tony's book.