Incredibly large and incredibly random sneak peek from the middle of a book I'm working on :) I just got too excited okay

—

The place Peter had picked out was very much a hole in the wall pizza parlor. It was small— so small, in fact, that only three two-seat tables fit next to the counter. The rest of the tables are were out in front of the place, which is where Peter insisted to sit to enjoy the sunshine. The tables inside were filled up anyway.

They walked in, hand-in-hand, and waited for the customer in front of them to finish and pay for his order. The place was dark—only cheap dim lighting to illuminate the menu, the rest of the lighting was provided by the afternoon sun— and it was warm, uncomfortably so. But Tony decided to focus on the positive for the kid's sake; the food smelled absolutely divine.

"What are we thinking, kid?" He asked, looking down to see Peter straining to read the menu, standing on his tip toes and everything.

"I can't see!"

Tony sighed softly and bent down to pick the five year-old, placing him on his hip. Peter's hands automatically clutched around the neck of Tony's t-shirt. "Can you read all that?"

"Uh-huh!" Peter nodded, one hand opting to stick a finger in his mouth as he read over the menu. Tony was impressed to say the least. He knew kids his age were starting to read but he was sure it was unusual to understand an entire menu.

"Pasta sounds good, hm?"

"Is pepperoni animal?" Peter asked, completely ignoring Tony's offer.

Tony blinked, "Uh... yeah, it is."

Peter wrinkled his nose in distaste, "Ew," his eyes move to something else on the menu, "I want cheese pizza, please."

At that time, the person in front of them moved away with their receipt, and the cashier called for the next customer. Tony stepped forward, keeping his conversation with Peter, "You sure you don't want pasta? Your mom said something about a healthy lunch."

Peter clutched the front of Tony's shirt again. He looked at him with big puppy eyes and a pout, "No! Please, Tony?" He whined.

"Your mom is gonna kill me-"

"But I used my manners!"

Tony deflated, shooting a defeated look at the very amused cashier, "You're right, kiddo, you used your manners. Thank you for being polite." He turned to face the patient woman just as Peter placed his head on his shoulder. Tony smiles softly at the feeling, "The cheesiest slice of cheese pizza you have, and a bowl of pesto, por favor. Oh! And two lemonades."

"Por favor means please in Spanish!" Peter supplied with a smile.

The cashier smiled back and accepted the credit card Tony handed over, "You're a very smart boy." She complimented.

"Thank you! My mommy thinks so too!"

The adults chuckled softly and Tony was handed his card and his receipt, along with a table number. He set the kid down and let him choose an empty table outside after he was given the cups of lemonade. They sat down across from each other— well, Tony sat. Peter kneeled in his chair because he was too small— the umbrella over them doing nothing to block the sunshine from Peter's face. Tony chuckled at his squinty eyes.

"You wanna switch places?"

"No, 's okay, I have a hat!" Peter pointed out.

"It's a cool hat." Tony agreed.

"I made it all myself."

"Did you? Wow," Tony looks at the baby blue bucket hat the kid is sporting. There are wobbly stars displayed around it, all in yellow puff paint. There was also a red rocket ship— also in puff paint— and a few funny alien stickers. "You're very talented."

"Thank you," Peter smiled as he carefully brings his cup down to take a sip.

"Don't drink too much lemonade. You got a big slice coming your way." Tony inwardly grimaced at how much was staring to sound like a father already. When Peter's only response was a nod, he kept the conversation going, "So what was that about, in there, when you asked me about pepperoni being an animal?"

Peter pulled away from his straw, "I'm veggie-terian."

Tony's eyebrows raised, "Are you now?"

"Uh-huh. Mommy is so I am too."

"Have you ever tried meat? Like at all?"

Peter shook his head, "I feel sad for the animals. Mommy says they hurt them bad."

"You love animals, huh? I saw all your books."

"Yeah! I love animals, they're really cool! Did you know there's 8.7 million species in the whole wide world?" Peter's eyes seemed to sparkle and Tony couldn't help but smile.

"Are there? I didn't know that."

The small brunette nodded his head furiously, "I want to be a life support engineer. They're the people that help design animal homes in the zoo's to make them feel happy."

"That's really cool, kiddo." Tony smiles fondly. He felt an odd sense of pride; even though he'd only known Peter for a couple of days, the realization that the kid was his was only now starting to sink in.

The same cashier from earlier came by with their respective dishes, smiling brightly when Peter thanked her cheeringly. Tony told him to wait a bit for the hot cheese to cool down slightly. When it did, the boy wasted no more time in digging in, grabbing the comically large slice of pizza and taking his first bite. His eyes widened as he pulled away and the strings of cheese followed, not breaking even when he pulled farther. Tony chuckled as he watched Peter squeal and giggle for a bit until he decided to cut the strings with his little fingers. He finally chewed throughly and did a little dance in his chair.

"It's good?"

"Mhm!" Peter hummed through his mouthful, giving Tony a thumbs up. When he swallowed, he asked, "Is yours good?"

Tony realized he hadn't taken a bite yet, too entertained by his son being adorable. "Let's find out, shall we?" He picked up his fork and twirled the pasta before having a mouthful. He hummed in delight and gave Peter a thumbs up back. "It's really good," he stated, covering his mouth as he spoke. When he was done chewing, he picked up more noodles, "You wanna trade a bite?"

"You can have some pizza."

"What, you don't wanna try pesto?" His only response was Peter wrinkling his nose again. Tony chuckled, "C'mon! You'll like it, I promise. It's vegetarian and everything."

"No thank you," Peter said, pushing his plate toward Tony, "You can sill have some of mine."

"Alright now I'm getting offended, Pete. Pizza is good and all but pesto is even more Italian! Did you know that you're Italian?"

Peter's big eyes filled with wonder, "I am?"

"You are, kid. Which is why you'll like this, trust me," When Peter still looked hesitant, Tony added, "I'll buy you ice cream if you think it's the grossest thing ever, deal?" Petey finally nodded and leaned in closer to the fork. Tony backtracked slightly, "And don't go pretending you don't like it just to get the ice cream, munchkin. I don't give treats to liars."

Peter pulled back a little as well and gave Tony an incredulous look, "I don't lie, Tony! Lying is bad!"

Tony smiled softly, "That's good, Pete. I trust you," with that, he finally fed his kid for the first time. Deep inside, he felt a bit emotional when he realized that he missed feeding baby Peter his bottle, and he missed feeding toddler Peter all that gross mushy stuff. But at the same time, he was grateful that he was here now, with the sweetest little boy, watching him experience pesto pasta for the first time. "What's the verdict?"

Peter chewed with a thoughtful look on his face before mimicking his father; covering his mouth as he spoke, "'S yummy. Needs more cheese."

Tony laughed wholeheartedly, "That's fair." He handed Peter a napkin to wipe his face with, "But what did I tell ya, kid? There's a reason this stuff has been around since the sixteenth century."

"That's a long time!" Peter exclaimed after he swallowed his food, "Here, now try my pizza! How old it that?"

"I think it was invented in the late 1800's? Not sure, though," He answered before taking a bite of Peter's pizza. The bite was as cheesy as Peter's first, "Mm, that's pretty good."

"Are you Italian, Tony?"

The older nodded, "My mom was born in Venice."

"Was my mommy born in Venice?"

That's where Tony realized his mistake. Peter didn't understand that he was Tony's son yet. Mary wanted them to become friends before dropping the 'I am your father' bomb. How could he explain to Peter that he was Italian without revealing their relationship?

"Uh... I'm not sure kiddo."

"How do you know I'm Italian then?" He didn't ask it in a rude manner, Tony noted— he honestly doubted that the kid could ever ask something in a rude manner— Peter was simply curious.

"I can just tell. I'm very good like that." Tony answered, shoving another forkful of pasta into his mouth.

Peter nodded, seeming to believe him, and went back to eating his pizza. The two sat in comfortable silence for most of the meal; Peter watching the passerby and pointing at the "puppies" whenever he spotted one. Tony stared at the little angel in front of him; how much his eyes looked like his own and how much his nose reflected Mary's. He had a small patch of freckles in the center— whoever he got that from was beyond him. He wondered what Peter looked like as a baby— he'd have to ask Mary for pictures when they got back. He realized the entire day, he'd only learned a handful of things about the kid: he talked like there was no tomorrow, he was creative, he was vegetarian, he loved animals and wanted to grow up to take care of them. Tony had been the one talking about himself since their day started because Peter was extremely curious.

"Hey, Tony, I know I didn't like pesta but can we still get ice cream?" Peter piped up after a while, looking up and tilting his head adorably.

Tony chuckled, "Of course, kid. And it's pesto."

"Oopsie," Peter giggled, wiping his mouth with his napkin, "I'm full, Tony. Is it okay if I take this home?"

Tony looked down at the plate to find more than half of the pizza gone. In all honesty, he wasn't even expecting the kid to finish a third of the ginormous slice. "That's okay. You ate a lot, huh?"

Peter nodded proudly as he was taking a sip of his lemonade, "Mommy says I have a big appetite."

"We can take our ice cream home for when your hungry again, okay?"

"Thank you," Peter nodded in agreement.

"Of course. You okay?" Tony frowned, noticing the sudden discomfort on Peter's face as he shifted in his chair.

"My knees hurt," he pouted, coming down to sit with his bottom on the chair. Now Tony could only see his chubby cheeked face.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier, Pete?"

"I didn't want to bother," He replied quietly, looking down, most likely rubbing at his sore knees, "I have little lines now," at least he sounded amused.

Tony sighed, "Hey, look at me," Peter obeyed, "If something makes you feel uncomfortable you have to tell me, okay? Or if you don't like something that I say or do, don't be afraid to tell me. You're not a bother, Peter, your feelings matter to me."

"I'm sorry, Tony."

"It's alright, kid. Your knees feeling better?"

Peter nodded, "The hurt is leaving."

"Okay, good. Now, what's your favorite ice cream flavor?"

The smaller brunette's eyes lit up again, "Rocky Road!"

"Chocolate freak, huh?"

"Mommy says I'm gonna turn into a chocolate chip if I keep eating so much chocolate," he giggled, causing Tony to smile,

"Hey, I've been eating chocolate all my life and do I look like a chocolate chip to you?"

"A little bit,"

"Excuse me?" Tony asked, pretending to be insulted. Peter's giggles became louder the longer Tony kept staring at him incredulously, "If anything I'm a brownie, sir."

"No, you're tiny!"

"I'm tiny? Look at you!" Peter's cheeks were turning pink with laughter, and Tony swore he'd never heard a more beautiful sound. "You think your funny,"

"I know I'm funny," Peter corrected after he'd calmed down. "Everyone laughs when I say funny things."

"Sassy little bug," Tony muttered, thinking he's definitely my son. "Fine, joker, let's go get some rocky road."

—

"Walk in front of me, Pete." Tony gently guided him so that he could keep his eyes on him at all times. After getting their leftovers packed and getting ice cream from a shop a couple of blocks down, the two began making their way back to the tower. "So do tell me, have you lived in Queens your entire four year life?"

Peter nodded as he poked at his ice cream. Apparently by the time they'd made it to the ice cream place, his stomach had made room for dessert. "Yeah, I've never moved."

Unbelievable. His own kid was living right under his nose for four years, still as a rock. "Do you like it over there?"

"Uh huh. I like my neighbors and my friends and Mr. Delmar."

"Who's that?"

"He owns a store around the corner from our house. He has a fat kitty. He makes the best sandwiches!"

"The kitty makes the best sandwiches?" Tony teased, making Peter laugh.

"No, silly! Mr. Delmar!"

"Oh, sorry, I misunderstood," Tony chuckled. A beat passed and then, "Well Queens and Manhattan are only like half an hour apart. So you come up here and visit me whenever you want, okay?"

"You mean that?" Peter's eyes shone brightly with excitement.

"Yeah, kid. I'll give you my phone number so you can call me too."

Peter gasped, "I love using the phone!"

Tony laughed, "Good, I'll be expecting your calls then."

The rest of the way was spent in comfortable silence. It felt nice to get out of the penthouse. Everyone was outside riding their bikes or walking their dogs— lord knows how long Tony had been cooped up in the tower before this. Still, he couldn't help but feel a bit melancholy when he realized Peter would have to go home with his mom tonight and every other night until Tony proved himself trustworthy.

They arrived at the lobby of the tower with Peter politely greeting everyone on his path. Pepper was waiting for them by the private elevator with a soft smile on her face, "Welcome back, boys. Did you have fun?" She helped Tony take his jacket off when she saw him struggling to hold on to his ice cream cup. She took and held onto both items.

"Hi Ms. Potts! We had tons of fun! Right Tony?"

"We sure did, squirt," Tony smiled as he brushed Peter's curls away from his face, "Mary here yet?" He asked Pepper quietly, choosing to ignore the knowing look on her face.

"She is. She arrived a couple of minutes ago."

Tony nodded, pretending to be indifferent, "Cool. C'mon Pete, your mom's here." The elevator doors opened as Tony grabbed Peter's tiny hand.

"Excuse me, Ms. Potts," Peter said sweetly as they walked past her into the elevator, "Tony, can we watch a movie?"

Pepper followed them in and quietly asked JARVIS to take them up to the penthouse. Tony looked down at the sweet boy next to him, "Sorry buddy, I think your mom wants you to go home right away."

Peter pouted and stayed quiet for a couple of seconds. Then, "Do you think we can convince her to stay a little bit?"

Tony looked toward Pepper for help but before she could even open her mouth, the doors were opening again. Mary was sitting on the living room couch, looking as classy as ever with her legs crossed and a cup of tea in her delicate hands. JARVIS must've announced their presence in the building because she was facing the elevator with a smile on her face. She must've been expecting Peter to run up to her after their day apart— Tony was expecting as much— because she set down the tea cup on the coffee table.

Peter, however, stayed glued to Tony's side. He still greeted her with a happy, "Hi mommy!"

"Hi sweetheart, how was your day?"

"It was super fun!" Peter bounced, still gripping Tony's hand.

The latter chuckled weakly and tried to let go, "Go give your mommy a kiss, squirt."

Peter obeyed, bounding up to his mother to give her a kiss on the cheek. She didn't get enough time to enjoy it though, because as soon as Peter was done, he made his way back to Tony. "Mommy can we stay to watch a movie? Pretty please?"

Mary blinked, looking up at Tony in confusion before turning her gaze back to Peter, "Its a school night, honey."

"But... but it's still light out..." Peter pouted again, hugging Tony's leg, "Pretty pretty please?"

"It's still light out but you have to go do homework, don't you? I have homework to do too. And you have dance practice tomorrow, don't you want to be well rested for that?"

"We can bring homework here..."

"I'm sorry, baby, the answer is no. Go get your backpack from the other room, please." When Peter didn't budge, Mary looked back up at Tony, "Tony's gonna be busy too, right?"

In all honesty, Tony wanted to let the kid stay as long as he wanted, but he knew this was a test he had to pass, "Yeah, I got tons of boring meetings I have to go to and grown up stuff I gotta do. Next time, okay?"

Peter looked up at him, "Pinky swear?"

Tony looked at Mary, silently asking if a pinky swear was appropriate. She rolled her eyes fondly and shrugged, an equally silent 'it's up to you'. Tony reached down and hooked his pinky with Peter's, "I pinky swear. Now go get your backpack."

Peter smiled contently and did what he was told, running upstairs to the guest bedroom he was shown earlier. Mary and Tony sighed in relief, smiling warily at each other.

"I take it you bonded well?"

"Oh yeah. You were right, the kid's a great conversationalist."

"I hope he didn't cause too much trouble."

"No, no. I mean he has the energy of a freaking puppy but other making me run a couple of times he was very well behaved. Very polite."

"I don't doubt it," Mary smiled proudly and Tony couldn't help but return the expression. Peter bounded back down the stairs, backpack strapped on. "You got everything, hon?"

"Yeah- oh wait, no!" Peter gasped, going back to Tony and yanking on the hem of his T-shirt slightly. Tony crouched down, getting the message clearly, for Peter to whisper in his ear, "Your phone number."

"Oh right," He said, standing back up and turning to Pepper, "Hey Pep, write my number down somewhere and give it to the kid. It's very important that he has it."

"To the- you want me to write your personal number down for him?" Pepper recited, just to make sure her boss wasn't going crazy.

"Yeah. He likes using the phone," Tony answered as if that would explain everything, "You don't mind, right?" He asked Mary, who looked just as confused as Pepper, "I just thought if he ever got bored or wanted to schedule another playdate or something."

"I.. no, I don't mind. That's fine. Thanks," Mary's expression turns soft and genuine, "That's very sweet. Say thank you Peter,"

"Thanks, Tony." Peter smiled, hugging his leg again.

Tony crouched back down and gave him a proper hug instead, "You got it, kid." He felt like he could stay there forever, with Peter laying his head against his shoulder and his curls tickling his jaw, but alas Pepper approached them with a white business card. On one side, there was Gino's Pizza boldly written in a black font. Tony immediately recognized it as the card he swiped from the counter before leaving the place he and Peter had lunch at. Pepper must've taken it from his jacket. On the blank side, her neat handwriting had provided the digits to his cellphone and his name in blue ink.

Peter's eyes lit up and he took the card gently, "Thank you Ms. Potts!"

"You're welcome, Peter. And you can call me Pepper."

Tony stood back up and cleared his throat, "Well, I guess you two better get going. Do you have a ride or did you plan to take a cab again?

Mary seemed to snap out of a trance and stood up as well, "We'll get a cab-"

"Nope, wrong answer. Happy will drive you home."

Peter giggled, "I like Happy,"

"Why? He's a grouch." Tony replied, making the small boy giggle again.

"Tony it's fine, really." Mary tried protesting again, but she clearly had lost the argument already.

"Yeah, it's fine that Happy will take you. Pepper will walk you down, won't you, Pep?"

"I sure will, whenever you're ready." She smiled politely.

Mary sighed but nodded and grabbed onto Peter's hand, all of them moving back toward the open elevator, "Well thank you both a lot. I appreciate it."

"Don't mention it," Tony shrugged, "Bye, kid. Do good on your homework alright?"

"Bye bye Tony!" Peter smiled and waved.

"Have a safe ride home. JARVIS, take 'em down." He said. The elevator doors shut and Tony was already missing his kid.

—

It was much later, 8:16 at night to be exact. After getting a text from Happy that the Fitzpatricks had made it home safely, he went down to the lab to escape Pepper's teasing. You're already going so soft. So what? The kid was an angel.

He was elbow deep in a custom engine when his blaring music suddenly lowered in volume, "Incoming call from an unknown number, sir." JARVIS announced.

"Ignore it." Tony said simply, focus sharp on the task at hand.

"I've traced the call location to somewhere in Queens, sir. And I have a hunch that it's a certain four year old's bedtime soon."

Tony caught on to what the AI was implying and he set his tools down, sitting back on his chair, "Oh. Patch him through, then."

The music stopped and there was a slight click that announced the call was connected. For a second there was silence and then a sweet voice rang out through he speakers, "Hello?"

"Hey, munchkin. What's up?"

Peter gasped, "Mommy it worked!" He told his mother excitedly before returning to the call, "I wanted to call you to say goodnight."

Tony's heart did the wildest thing, "You did, huh?"

"Yeah. I wanted to tell you to have sweet dreams."

"That's very nice of you, Pete," Tony replied softly, feeling incredibly warm in his chest, "I'm gonna have very sweet dreams now, thanks to you."

"Are you going to sleep soon too?"

"I have some work to finish. I'll go to bed in a while."

"You should sleep early so you feel good tomorrow." Peter advised. Tony couldn't help but laugh.

"That's what everyone tells me."

"You should listen."

"Gosh, you're getting sassier by the minute, aren't you?" Peter laughed on the other side and Tony's face was hurting from smiling so much. "Alright, funny guy, I'll go to bed early too."

"Promise?"

"I promise. Go to sleep now, you got a big day tomorrow, hm? Dance practice or something?"

"Yeah, we start doing Swan Lake!"

"Well, even I know that's a huge deal. Go get some rest, alright?"

"Alright. Goodnight, Tony!"

"Have a good night, buddy."

The silence after Peter hung up had Tony going deaf. He could talk to the kid for hours and never get bored. He no longer felt the motivation to keep working so he decided to hell with it and told JARVIS to shut down the lab.

For the first time in years, Tony went to sleep early. He had promised to, after all.