Work Text:
“Dad?”
The peaceful environment of the lab is broken by Peter’s call, but he has to repeat himself. Tony is so busy looking at the new prototype of the suit that he has forgotten Peter is there too, which happen too often for the man’s like. Sometimes, he’s so concentrated in a project, idea or material that he doesn’t notice what’s happening around him. Like in that moment, where he keeps rubbing his chest with an absent hand while looking at the blueprints in front of him.
Peter tries once more, but from where he is Tony can’t hear him. And he’s afraid of talking too loud and startling his father, since when it happens Tony reacts quite… exaggerated. Knocking things down. Falling off the chair. So, deciding against it, he picks up his worksheet and wheels himself towards his father.
The question isn’t that hard, but he’s been trying to come up with an intelligent answer and he can’t find one. He has to describe his favourite holiday, since winter is getting close and his teacher has told them to write about what they were going to do for Christmas. Peter had endless possibilities, because Tony always takes him to the most expensive places and extravagant hotels. But he doesn’t want to catch excessive attention to himself, so the ten year old kid calls again for Tony.
“What?” Tony looks around, surprised to see Peter so close. “Hey bud. Spaced out again?”
“It’s fine, dad. I didn’t want to scare you” Peter shrugs, moving closer to his dad.
His wheeled chair is a bit taller than Tony, because Peter is quite short for his age and he needs some cushions to reach the table. So his dad built him a rocket themed wheeled chair two months ago. When he reaches Tony’s side, his shoulders are the same height than his dad’s, and he’s pulled even closer from his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Pete. You don’t have to –“
“It’s fine. Really” Peter gives him a soft smile. “It’s fine. I just wanted to ask you about something”
“Unless you’ve finished your homework, there is no ice cream young sir” Tony ruffles a little his hair, and Peter blushes.
It’s hard to grow used to that kind of affection. Peter Stark had been living with his mother since he was a baby, and she hadn’t mentioned Tony until she died three years ago. She hadn’t been a bad person – she was just, distant. Peter had grown up between strangers and barely any hugs or kisses, so he was as shy as he let you see. Introvert, timid, stuttering, and blushing, were qualities that Tony had found when he was notified that he had a kid.
After one year bouncing from orphanage to boy’s homes, Peter was told his father wanted to keep him. And for two years, Tony has showed him that he loves him more than anything in his world. That he doesn’t have to be afraid to ask for a hug or kiss, and no one will stay they don’t have time for him.
“I-I didn’t finish yet” Peter explains, not feeling the usual dread he felt before when he didn’t finish something on time. “I, uh, have some problems with this…”
“Maths?” Tony asks, peering into his worksheet.
“No, uh, it’s for English” he shoves it into his dad’s hands. “I have to write about a family vacation. But – with mom, we never went anywhere. At least she didn’t take me. And we always go to his fancy places… I want to write about something normal”
“What’s wrong with spending the summer in a Spanish beach?” Tony raises a brow. “We’ve talked about this, kiddo. If there is something you don’t like, you don’t have to pretend to –“
“No! I really like it, dad. It’s just – the other kids will talk. And I don’t like when, all of them are looking at me”
Tony smiles sympathetically at his son, and squeezes his shoulder. There is a boy in Peter’s school that, even if the boy doesn’t complain about it, likes to tease Peter more than what it funny. He’s a sensible boy, that gets upset too often – probably, as any 10 year’s old. And even if Tony knows it’s not only that kid’s fault, but also his mother and the trauma in early years, he wants to start home-schooling teacher every time something like this comes up.
“Where did you go when you were little?”
“Well” Tony thinks for a moment which memory of his childhood doesn’t end in hard arguments or cold stares. “I didn’t travel much with my parents, because my dad was a very busy man and never made time for me. So we stayed home and he worked a lot”
“Like mom?”
“Something like that. But there was this time where Jarvis, who was our butler, and his wife Anna took me with them to a cabin in the woods. We stayed there for two whole weeks. Ate burned marshmallows, built a pillow fort and we even watched a movie. It was the first time I went to the cinema – and I was ten, just like you know?”
“What did you watch?”
“Popeye” seeing his son’s confused face, he realizes that Peter can’t know about a film that was released nearly forty years ago. “Well – it’s about a naval who arrived to a town looking for his father.
Tony forgets about his son’s worksheet as Peter seems interested in the story. As he tells him about that wonderful movie, the first one he ever saw in the cinema, and about his weekend getaway with Jarvis, Peter ends up climbing into Tony’s chair, sitting on his legs and resting his hands on his chest. There is a shy smile that grows with the story, and Tony finds himself exaggerating about how scared he was because of a squirrel when Peter giggles a bit.
Eventually, Peter forgets too about the worksheet, that ends up on the floor. He jumps in excitement when Tony tells him about the comics he used to read when he was a kid, and about Jarvis and Anna. The man doesn’t tell him how his father roared in anger when he discovered his secret drawer under the bed with comics, or how he yelled at him for being so stupid and wasting time on something like that. Instead, when Peter asks if eating spinaches will get him strong as big, he tells him that he’ll be bigger than Iron Man.
“Will you let me read the comics?” Peter asks, with a special shine on his eyes. “I want to read them too, dad! I want – I want –“
“Wow, hold your horses there” Tony laughs as Peter starts bouncing on his lap. “I don’t have them, Peter. They… uh, got lost – hey, we should get started on that worksheet, shouldn’t we?”
Peter tries not to let it show how upset he is, but Tony is his dad and he knows him too well. The problem is, that the man thinks it’s because he’s sad for not reading the comics or for having to do the worksheet; things that a normal kid could get angry at. But Peter isn’t mad because of that, not at all. As they sit down again on their chairs and Tony helps him with the composition, Peter can’t help but thinking that his dad has lied to him.
He has used the same voice his mom did when she had to left him with a nanny for a few days, and told him that she’ll be back before his birthday. Or when he told him that the new man in the house was just a friend. Tony has swallowed before talking, and his voice hasn’t been as warm and nice as usual. Besides, he changed the topic of the conversation, and Peter knows that’s what adults do when they lie.
Now, he only has to find out why.
-
Peter Stark gets an allowance.
Tony starts giving it to him the third month of living together. He sees that Peter is used to doing more things around the house than what a kid his age should do, so they have a deal now; Peter helps his dad around and do as much as he can during the week, and the weekend is his free time. He doesn’t have homework, or house chores, just toys and moments with his dad. Tony gives him 10 bucks every Sunday, and even Pepper has her doubts at the beginning; but Peter has never had his own toys, or books, or even money; so Tony doesn’t back down.
Peter gets 10 bucks every Sunday. He has brought a few things already. A new Lego set of the Harry Potter castle, and a smaller one of Star Wars. Some books about adventures and fiction. Two big plushies that he fell in love with last summer in their vacations. And some gifts for Pepper, Happy and Rhodey.
Last year, he didn’t buy anything for Tony, because the man doesn’t like his birthday and Peter has forgotten that he had a birthday. When the day came, Peter burst into tears and Tony couldn’t get him to bed at night, so he promised to warm him the next year. Tony was turning 50, and according to the adults, it was an important number.
Peter doesn’t have to be reminded of his dad’s birthday, because he has been planning it since December.
When January rolls by, Peter starts offering Rhodey to help him with the shopping bags and the man give him five bucks for it. He helps Happy to clean the car, and he gets another time. Happy cleans the car once a month, so he gets five extra bucks each months. Pepper notices that he keeps his dad’s office clean, so she gives him twenty bucks, and they go to the piggybank.
At school, he exchanges his football stickers for some dollars, and then he goes to the shop to buy cords to make bracelet and necklaces. MJ helps him, and he stays with her at the end of the school to sell them. Tony thinks it’s something cute; Peter keeps putting money into the piggybank.
Peter doesn’t buy anything else, and on April he has used already two piggybanks. With the help of FRIDAY, and Rhodey, he gets to the 29th of May with the perfect present for Tony.
“I don’t think he’s gonna like it, Uncle Rhodey” Peter frowns once he’s in the room. Pepper is entretainingTony in the kitchen, and Rhodey is going to help him carry his gift to his dad.
“What – why? You were really excited about it yesterday!” the man sits on the bed with Peter.
“Yeah, but… dad could buy this if he wanted. It’s nothing special” he says, picking up at the wrapping paper. “H-he’s gonna hate it”
“Peter, you could give your dad a piece of wrinkled paper and he would love it”
Seeing how Peter’s eyes are staring to get wet, Rhodey places a comforting hand on his. It hurts him so, so much that Peter is doubting his gift. He knows from first hand how much effort the boy has put on his gift, how much time and money has he spent – and how many things Peter had done and said no to, to finally get it. If Tony was there, he’d be probably complaining to Rhodey about the kid’s mother. The woman who threw away the pictures Peter draw for her. He bits his lip and gives him a comforting smile.
“He’s gonna start asking for you soon, you know? If he discovers you’re not in the living room, he’s gonna call the military and the police” Rhodey jokes, and Peter gives him a shy smile.
“I’m just nervous. Mom didn’t celebrate her birthday with me, and – and she didn’t like my presents, anyway” Peter explains, missing how Rhodey’s eyes sadden. “And dad… dad has everything already. He’s so good with me, I don’t know if –“
“You’re the best gift Tony can wish for, Pete. The rest are just extras that he’ll love. But I think the second one is going to touch the crying nerve”
There are two envelopes on the ground. The first one is the easy, even if it has been the most expensive. It’s a box with some of the Popeye’s comics, that Peter has wanted to get him after learning from Rhodey that his father threw them away, and that Tony had been upset for a really long time. They had been easy to find, and Peter knows his dad will like them.
But then, it has occurred to him that, if Howard had been such a bad dad, then Tony hadn’t had what Peter. He hadn’t had comics, or books, or toys to play with. Peter has confirmed so when he had asked Rhodey, and has been upset for a week. Then, even if his dad hadn’t know why he was sad, he told him that if it didn’t have a solution, to forget about it – and Peter had found the solution.
It’s in the second envelope, a little wrinkled because he has wanted to wrap it himself. He has put a golden and red bow on top, trying to hide the torn part. That’s the one Peter is nervous about – because it has taken him two months to finish, and has put so much love and affection into it, that make his insides turn.
“You ready?”
“Yeah” before Rhodey can get up, Peter grips his hand and gives him one last pleading look. “But – can you go in first?”
“Of course, buddy”
Rhodey can already hear from the hallway Tony calling out for Peter, a subtone of panic on his voice. He arrives to the living room seconds away from Tony actually freaking out, followed by quiet, shy steps. Pepper is there too, and before Tony can say anything, she makes him sit on the couch. They are all wearing fancy clothes, a petition made from Tony, in exchange of the extravagant birthday’s parties he used to have. He doesn’t miss them, not at all – not when Peter peeks from behind Rhodey’s legs and give him a small smile.
The sun is going down, creating a beautiful sight in the living room. They look like a real family, gathered together for a normal birthday. There aren’t suits flying around, SHIELD’s agents interrupting or an ex-veteran of the world with a blue shield following Tony. For the mechanic, it’s more than enough. He has received already a few gifts – a framed picture from Pepper with Peter and his initials printed behind, and a beautiful watch from Rhodey.
Peter has drawn him a picture, but if Tony has noticed it had been just a lame excuse and that he hadn’t dedicated more than two minutes into it, he didn’t say anything. He gave Peter a big hug and put it on the fridge, making Peter get the courage to go for the last present.
Tony’s eyes widen a little when he sees another box given to him, and he raises a brow.
“This is all your little man here” Rhodey raises his arms, leaving the box and walking back with Pepper. “He’s been planning this for a really long time”
“Is that so?” Tony’s voice almost cracks already with emotion. “You didn’t have to get me anything, bud. This day has been wonderful enough just by having you around”
“Wanted to give you something special” Peter mumbles, with his hands behind the back. “Cause you do lots for me, and I love you a lot”
“Oh, Pete, I love so, so much. I –“
“Tones, if you don’t open the present I’m gonna do it for you”
They laugh, but they know it isn’t true. Rhodey is tempted to leave the father and son on their own, because it would be a very personal moment, but Pepper is holding him tightly from his arm. So he just watches with a huge, proud smile as Tony carefully opens the envelope. He nods at Peter when he looks at him doubtfully, and swears tha Pepper dries a tear before he can see it.
Finally, the blue envelope Peter has chosen falls to the ground, and the box is open. No one says anything for a long minute, where Tony takes them all out and looks at the covers. He treats them as if they were made of gold, and both Rhodey and Pepper know what he’s thinking about. The memories of his childhood aren’t pleasant, and he has never got any toy for Christmas or his birthday. Neither of them have thought of the idea before, and they didn’t doubt in supporting Peter when he lay it out.
“Buddy” Tony chokes out. His right hand is trembling. “How – how –“
“I knew you lied to me when you told me they got lost, because mom used to do it a lot. So I asked Uncle Rhodey and he told me that your dad threw them out” Peter has an adorable reddish colour on his cheeks. “And… I didn’t need all those toys, but you said that you had to make up because I never got any toys when I was with mom. I thought… that if you didn’t have any comics, you would like them”
“This is – this is – too… too… “ no one said anything when a small, teary noise left Tony, still not looking up from the comics.
“I saved up and got money from helping uncle Happy, and aunt Pepper, and uncle Rhodey” Peter explains. Rhodey is thinking about doing something, because Peter seems to think that Tony’s silence means he doesn’t like it. He’s looking a little pale, and keeps messing with the bow from the other present. “I – I tried to get them all, b-but they were really expensive. You can… you can give them back if you don’t –“
Peter doesn’t get to finish his sentence, because he’s grabbed by the arm and pushed towards Tony. The other gift gets thrown under the desk, but the man doesn’t look at it. Peter’s face is suddenly between Tony’s hands, and finally they can all see his face. He had red eyes and a lonely tear running down his cheek, and his eyes hold so much emotion that Rhodey feels his heart squeeze in happiness.
Tony chuckles wetly, another tear making his way down. Peter isn’t frowning, because he knows they aren’t sad tears; and since he’s such an empathetic boy, his own eyes start to get a bit red. Words don’t come out of Tony’s voice, just some incoherent ‘love you’ or ‘so happy’. There are other words that Rhodey manages to hear, but they all get lost when Peter hugs his father back, and hides his face into his neck.
The comics lay forgotten on the couch, and Rhodey is sure that the intention of buying them is already the best gift he can receive. He can’t wait to see how he reacts to the second one.
“Dad – dad, let me – I still have another present!” Peter slips out of Tony’s grip, and ducks under the table.
“A-another one?” that time, Tony looks at Rhodey asking for explanations. Or maybe he’s just thinking why he deserves Peter as a son. “I can’t – you…”
“I made this one myself” Peter is up the next second, offering the now more wrinkled paper to Tony. He shifts on his feet and tries to fix the now ruined bow. “I hope you like it, dad. Happy birthday”
Tony is chewing on his inner cheek to stop the tears from coming, as he opens the second present. It’s smaller than the first one, but Tony could have been happy just with the bow. A boy – who has had nothing for eight years of his life, whose father hadn’t been there – had saved up the allowance of five months just for Tony.
The trick of bitting the inside of his cheek doesn’t work anymore when he sees what’s inside the package, golden and red bow falling to under the couch. Peter small and thin finger points at the two figures of the comic in front of him, drawn with a precision that could only belong to his son.
“That’s you. And that’s me” he explains, pointing at the man with a goatee and his smaller version on the ground, smiling with his eyes closed.
The amazing adventures of my favourite superhero – dad!
There isn’t an Iron Man flying around, or a Hulk. As much as Peter likes Captain America, there aren’t any shields. Tony Stark is the man Peter is talking about, and it becomes clear when he opens the few pages of the comic and finds himself having daily situations with his son. Him helping Peter to reach the tallest shelves of the kitchen. Tony defending him when he got scared of the monster under the bed. Both of them together, at the door of the orphanage, hugging together. The same words were repeated in every page, under each drawing – you’re my hero, dad! Thanks for saving me!
Pepper and Rhodey appear too, and Happy is wearing his usual frown. There are too many emotions running through him, and for a second Tony thinks he’s about to faint. His arc reactor is brighter than ever, and his hands are shaking. Before that can happen, Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist, burst into tears. He feels like he has hit the big jackpot with Peter, that he won’t even be happier than what he’s with him.
Before Peter can ask what’s wrong, Tony pulls the comic aside and brings Peter into his lap, burying his face into the kid’s neck. He should be ashamed of crying like that – of letting other people know how much he cared about Peter. But can just think about how his son created a comic for him, just for him, and how he’s his favourite superhero.
“I love you, Peter” he whispers, squeezing his eyes tightly. “I love you so, so, much. This is the best birthday day I’ve ever had”
“I love you lots and lots, daddy” Peter relaxes against his father’s grip, not minding about the word slipping out. If anything, it makes Tony hugs him tighter.
A few hours pass by, and Peter doesn’t move from Tony’s lap. He falls asleep on his dad’s arms, knowing he’s loved and care. And when Tony goes to bed that night, after tucking his son in, he knows he’s loved and cared by Peter Stark, and that there isn’t another love he wish for.