It's a customary tradition to bring deceased relatives flowers on the anniversary of their passing. And for Peter, that tradition was highly reinforced, only this year would be harder than the others. Ben and May would take Peter to visit his parents' graves, May would take Peter to visit Ben, but Peter didn't have anyone to take with him to visit May's grave, his last living blood relative was gone.

The memory of that awful night was still ingrained in Peter's mind. He had done his normal few hours of patrol, letting the wind carry him wherever until he decided to call it a night at around eleven, which happened to be the boy's curfew anyways. And when he did, he found May slumped on the sofa with blood oozing out of her chest.

His reaction was immediate, panic dribbling within the pit of his stomach as glassy eyes welled up with uncontrollable tears. He was still in his suit, but the mask was off as his eyes were blown wide in fear and shock. He started blurting and mumbling as all of his anxiety ticks released at once, "No, no, no, May!" Tears spilled down his cream-colored cheeks as Peter knelt by May's side, who in turn had hollow empty eyes. He didn't remember calling Tony, only remembering the Avenger holding him as he whispered soft promises and reassurances that everything was going to be okay, even if it didn't seem that way.

Fast forward three heartbreaking months, came the tenth anniversary of Uncle Ben's death. And for the first time in Peter's existence, he didn't have anyone to go with.

The topic had been bugging him for the entire week, more so from the panic-induced anxiety as that was the only thing that would stay on the boy's mind. It had come to a point where it was unbearable when he asked Tony one late night, "Mister Stark, if it's not too much trouble..."

Tony replied kindly as brown eyes met brown eyes, "Kiddo, you can tell me anything." His voice was sincere, "You know there's no trouble when you need me to do something for you." The boy had a particularly bad habit of thinking that he was a huge inconvenience to everyone around him, especially with Tony. And as much as the surrogate father tried to shake that out of the boy, it seemed to be a part of him.

Peter stuttered, "Tomorrow is um, Ben's anniversary for his passing." He stopped to swallow thickly, Adam's Apple bouncing as he did so.

Tony instantly softened as he noticed tears beginning to well up in his kid's eyes, "Oh Pete, come here." He wrapped his arms around the kid, knowing how sensitive of a topic Ben was.

Peter wiped the few tears that fell with the backs of his hands continuing, "Usually May goes with me, but um, she can't now, so could you?"

Tony nodded as he offered a sympathetic smile that was warm and promising all at the same time, "Of course I'd go with you kid. In fact, I was already thinking about it."

Peter dipped his head down relieved, "Thanks, Mister Stark. Really."

Tony smiled warmly as he ruffled Peter's hair, "Of course kiddo, and I'm not that old yet."

...

The next morning, Tony woke up earlier than Peter, something that was a natural occurrence, especially on trying days like today. Tony smiled fondly as he looked over at Peter who was sound asleep curled against him. Peter clung loosely to his surrogate father's shirt as slight drool spilled out of the corner of the boy's lips as his eyes were shut. He looked peaceful, despite all the pain he was going through.

Tony smiled as he rubbed Peter's temple, unable to resist showing affection to his kid. Peter was pure and loving, everything that Tony wished he could've been. Peter was also a kid who needed someone to hold him and ground him, and to tell him that no matter what happened he'd be okay. Tony felt more than honored to be the person.

Tony breathed softly as he guided his son back to reality, "Peter, bud, time to wake up."

Peter was still asleep as he replied sleepily, "Five more minutes?" He added, "Don't wanna deal with today."

"Yeah I know," Tony nodded as he coaxed Peter out of bed, "but I'm going to be right by your side the entire time. C'mon, I'll make pancakes. Up we go."

Peter reluctantly got out of bed, leaning on Tony as he got to his feet.

He was still half-asleep during breakfast, more due to the fact of what today was and not actually being sleepy. He rested his head between his arms on the table, watching Tony cook. Tony poured Peter a glass of orange juice to go with the pancakes offering with a quick rub on the back, "C'mon kid, let's get some energy in you. I know it sucks, but after you go you'll feel better. And, I may or may not have made special pancakes for a very special person."

Peter lightly smiled at that.

Tony praised, "There's that smile."

After breakfast, the two got dressed and dragged themselves into one of Tony's not-so-expensive cars and headed off to the cemetery. Peter laid his head against the elbow rest as Tony drove, letting himself feel. He asked softly, "Mister Stark?"

Tony hummed, "Yeah kiddo?"

Peter asked, "Can we stop to get some flowers for Ben? And some for May too?"

Tony smiled softly, "Yeah, there's a flower shop along the route so we can stop there and pick up some flowers." He slung an arm around Peter, mentally offering comfort and solace as he hummed along to tunes on the radio to try and brighten the boy's spirits. He offered, "What's on your mind kiddo?"

"Nothing much", Peter said, "It's just strange y'know. You'd think by now I'd come to terms with his death, and yet here I am."

Tony reassured, "It's okay to remember Peter. I still haven't fully come to the terms with my parents. I've accepted it, but on their anniversary it's the only thing that I can think about. The feelings don't ever go away completely, especially when you loved them with all your heart."

Peter nodded, allowing silence to linger between the two. He focused on the soft yet amusing hums from his father and fell asleep to the tune.

Eventually, the silence was broken and Peter woke when Tony gently nudged his surrogate son, "Pete, bud, let's pick some flowers yeah?"

Peter complied, opening the car door and entering the flower shop right behind Tony. The shop is small and quaint which brought a sense of comfort as Peter strolled the isles of the shop, searching for the perfect flowers. From the corner of his eyes, he spotted a small bouquet of white roses and a similar one with red roses. He picked them up one, one in each hand and gestured to Tony who flashed a thumbs-up.

They paid for the flowers and then returned back to the car.

Peter laid the flowers on his lap as he pressed his head against the windowpane on his side of the car. He let his eyes flutter shut, but Tony knew the boy wasn't sleeping. Tony interlocked his fingers with Peter's hand that wasn't holding his face up, squeezing it so the boy knew that he wasn't alone. Peter squeezed back.

The two were silent the rest of the drive, the only sound audible is the soft dripping of rain that had just begun to pick up.

Tony pulled into the cemetery and unbuckled his seatbelt. He tapped Peter's hand speaking, "We're here kiddo, c'mon let's do this. Do you remember where they are?"

Peter nodded as he exited the car. He clung to Tony's side as he steeled his resolve to answer, "Yeah, they're in section three, it's right over there." He led the two to the side by side plates that read "May Parker" and "Benjamin Parker".

The rain has lightened to just a drizzle that's barely noticeable with the exception of light pelting. Peter knelt down in front of the two graves, while Tony took a few steps back to give the boy some space but not too much in case the boy might need him.

Tears drip down the boy's face unconsciously as Peter set the flowers down for his family members. He started to speak, "Hey May and Ben. I hope you guys are both doing well up there. I knew how much you missed Ben May."

He continued, this time addressing his late uncle, "Hey Ben, I miss you so much. I hope you're okay up there with May, taking care of her and everything. It's hard without you guys, but I know you're okay, and I'm going to be okay too. And you guys don't have to worry about me, there's this great guy who's taking care of me. He's such a good guy Ben, you'd like him a lot. He's the best, just like you. He's actually here with me today, and I just miss you so much." Peter's eyes flutter shut and his lip quivers as tears stream down his face.

When Tony noticed Peter crying, he knelt beside him and wrapped an arm around Peter's shoulder, pulling him against his chest so Peter wouldn't feel alone. "Hey", Tony started as Peter sobbed into his side, "it's okay, you did real good kiddo, real good."

Peter sniffled, "You can say something if you'd like."

"Oh", Tony started, "Of course."

He cleared his throat, "Ben, you're kid is in good hands. I'm going to try my best to keep him safe," he looked down at Peter who despite looking ahead of him was listening intently to what Tony had to say. He continued, "Peter is the best kid anyone could ever have. And growing up, I know he didn't have much, but he had you and May, and whatever you two did worked so well cause Peter's such a good kid. I hope you and May are resting easy up there, and if you happen to come across Maria Stark, do let her know Tony says hello."

Tony dipped his head down as he rubbed Peter's arm, letting a few tears of his own slip down his face.

The two lingered in silence until Peter croaked waterily, "You really meant that about me?"

Tony smiled through his tears, "Every single one of them." He kissed the top of Peter's head as he rubbed soft circles on the boy's back, "And whatever happens, I'm always going to be right by your side."

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