A New Home

Chapter Twenty: A Test Run (Part 2)

 Things were back to normal (Well... except for the spider powers. He was still getting used to that.) But Peter couldn't be more thankful. He and Tony were talking again, Pepper and Tony weren't fighting anymore, and Peter was happy.

Three weeks had gone by, and those have been spent in training, and improving his suit. Tony was proud of his son for the work he'd put into making his mark one suit. It was unbelievable how well the kid had done, with webshooters, focus lenses, among other things. But he wanted to make sure his kid would be as safe as any super hero could possibly be. So he and Peter had been hard at work, drafts and blue prints and ideas. Peter didn't think the safety protocols were all that necessary, but agreed to have them for Tony's sake.

Of course there were features that Tony had installed that Peter didn't even know about. The boy would be able to use them once he had more experience in the super hero gig. After a lot of editing, adjustments, and improvements, Peter would be trying out the new suit today. And to say he was excited would be an understatement.

"Mama паук." He yells, running into the training room. "Mama паук guess what!"

"You get to try the suit today?"

Peter stops, his head tilting slightly in confusion. "Yeah, How'd you know?"

"You've been talking about it almost non-stop, маленький паук."

"Oh yeah." Peter flips and gets comfortable, taking a seat and casually hanging upside down from ceiling. "You think I'll get to do any actual hero work today?"

"Maybe. It's up to your Dad. But if you do you're not going solo."

"What?? Why not?"

"It's like learning to drive. When you learn, you have an experienced driver in the car with you. And when you're ready, you go on your own. The same thing applies here." Peter nods in understanding- even though he'd never actually gotten his learners permit. He was supposed to get them this summer, and then life kind of happened.

Oh well.

"So Dad's running a last minute check on everything. Can we train for a while?"

Natasha noticed it almost immediately. He'd referred to Tony as 'Dad'. Peter had done it a few times before, but only when he was talking to Natasha.

"Does Tony know you do that?"

"What?"

"That you call him Dad. You've said it around me, but when you talk to him you still say 'Tony' or 'Mr. Stark'.

"Oh."

"You know, Stark would be over the moon if you called him Dad." She continues as she begins to set everything up for their training session.

"But what if you're wrong? What if it just makes him uncomfortable, or makes everything awkward?? Things are going pretty okay right now, and I don't wanna mess that up." Peter's accent had slightly faded in the time he'd been here, but in times like this- when he was nervous or worried or embarrassed- it would be stronger than ever.

"The only way you'll find out is if you ask him."

"And what if it makes Pepper feel left out. I don't think I could call her mom... not yet anyway."

He was pacing on the ceiling now, back and forth. From what Natasha could tell, this had been bothering him for a while.

"Pepper would understand. She knows that's different."

"Maybe." The boy falls silent, his mind racing. Natasha can almost see the wheels turning as he thinks over the situation.

"You don't have to decide anything right now, Peter. You take your time and wait the time feels right."