~Iron Family~

Hey, Pedro

Peter couldn't sleep.

All night, images of May hugging Peter and ruffling his hair like Mr. Stark just had flashed through his mind. He felt so guilty--no one shouldn't replace May.

Instead of sleeping, he dug out the notebook from under his bed and studied the notes in the light of his desk lamp. There had to be something he was missing. Maybe he would go out for a swing tomorrow and scout for unsuspecting appliances.

Who was he kidding? They were kitchen appliances. They didn't suspect things.

He jolted awake that morning, unaware he had even fallen asleep, and stumbled outside to find that Harley, Morgan, and Pepper were already up.

This is the first time I've slept in since the apartment, he realized in surprise.

A small, playhouse-like plastic cottage had been set up in the living room for Peanut. A silver collar now glittered around her neck, and her blonde mane and tail were painted with pink hair dye. She looked plump enough for someone to mistake there was a Peanut Jr. on the way.

She was currently poking her head out of the cottage's window, eyeing the bowl Morgan was pouring grain into. The cape Peter had made for her was tied around Morgan's neck and she had blue fuzzy monster slippers on that Happy had found.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Pepper called from the kitchen. "Is cold cereal okay? I didn't have the energy to make breakfast this morning. I was kinda tired, Tony woke up early."

"Oh, yes, Mrs. Stark," Peter answered with a smile as he pulled up a chair. "Thank you so much for when you do make breakfast, by the way. You're always so considerate to others."

Pepper pressed a hand to her heart and pursed her lips. "Aw, thanks, Peter."

"Giddyup!" Morgan's voice shrieked as Peanut whinnied. Peter looked over his shoulder to see Morgan riding bareback, clattering down the hallway, knocking over stands and pieces of junk from last night's party.

"I'm sure they'll both get tired and take a nap," Pepper sighed. Peter chuckled and nodded as he poured cereal into his bowl, trying to ignore Harley's glare.

"Um, Mrs. Stark?" Peter started, casting a sideways glance at his foster brother. Pepper turned from where she was writing something down and flashed him a brief smile, indicating for him to continue. Peter took a deep breath--first lie of the week. "I--I'm meeting up with my friend Ned at school, since there's a chess thing going on it's sill open. We're doing some work on a chemistry project, and--and I was wondering--"

"Of course you can go!" Pepper interrupted with a grin. "I'm glad to hear you're meeting up with some friends! Happy can drive you."

Peter opened his mouth to protest, but Pepper held up her hand.

"Happy's a great driver. He'll love to take you."

"Thank you."

"Just be back by dinnertime!"

"Thank you, Mrs. Stark!"

Peter darted around the counter and gave her a quick hug, not wanting to make her change her mind.

***

Even though Mr. Stark had said he wouldn't activate the tracker unless Spider-Man requested help, Peter didn't trust him. Still, it was a very expensive suit, so as soon as Mr. Stark had given it to him to give to Spider-Man, Peter had hidden it at the first safe place that came to his mind: his school locker.

Sometimes people did break into the lockers at the school, which was why he hid it under the locker, along with extra webfluid from, like, nine months ago.