Growing Up

4 Years Old

"I have child services here for you, Tony," Pepper said, pushing open the office door.

Tony looked up from his desk with a frown. What?

Pepper opened the door wider, allowing an older woman followed by a young boy into the room. Mouthing 'good luck', Pepper gave him a short smile then left the room. The room was silent as the older woman took a seat in one of the chairs in front of Tony's desk and motioned for the little boy to sit as well.

"Mr. Stark," the woman said, turning from the kid to Tony. "I'm Miranda Henley and I've been assigned to your son." She gestured to the boy beside her and Tony blinked in surprise. "Peter's mother recently passed away and didn't leave a will. As is custom, we did a biological test on Peter and you popped up as his father."

In his chair, Peter played with two action figures and made a whoosh sound as he made them fly through the air. As the two collided, he happily whispered boom to himself. Miranda gave him a stern look and his ears turned red. Sinking back into his seat, Peter sat very still and stared down at his lap. Tony frowned.

"I've never met Peter before," he said, keeping his eyes on the little boy curled up on the chair, staring at the ground sadly.

Miranda didn't seem bothered by Peter's actions, choosing to ignore him entirely and focus on Tony.

"He's a very nice kid, I'm sure you two will get along very well," she said. Her comment sounded empty as she shuffled through her papers.

"You don't have to have me if you don't want, Mr. Stark, sir," Peter said quietly.

Miranda rolled her eyes and continued looking for her paper.

"He's having trouble realizing his mother is dead," Miranda told Tony. Peter sunk even lower in his chair if that was possible. "I recommend a mental health therapist. Usually, young children take longer to understand what happened."

"No!" Peter yelled. "I know what happened! A truck hit her and she's dead. She's never coming back."

He looked like he was about to cry, but Miranda scowled at him for his outburst.

"Peter Benjamin—"

"It's okay, Mandy," Tony said, holding out a hand to stop her.

Miranda turned to Tony, looking surprised at his interruption.

Tony kept his eyes on Peter though and smiled warmly as he said, "I understand, Peter. My parents died when I was pretty young and everyone thought I didn't understand, but I did."

"If you sign here, Mr. Stark," Miranda interrupted, procuring a paper from her handbag. "You will officially have custody of Peter and he will no longer be under my care."

As Miranda held out the paper to him, Tony flinched away from it and patted his desk.

"I don't like being handed things," he said, flashing her a grin.

Unbothered, Miranda slid the paper across the desk to him and Tony pulled out his pen to sign it before he hesitated. Sure, he was trying to right all his past wrongs, but should he really be adopting a child? Perhaps he should consult with Pepper first.

"Just a minute," he said.

Miranda looked up to object, but Tony was already calling Pepper to come in.

As she entered Tony's office again, Pepper smiled warmly at Peter who grinned back. That was a good sign, Tony figured. He was definitely not adopting a kid if the kid didn't like Pepper.

"Yes, Tony?" she asked, stopping beside Peter's chair and handing him a candy from Tony's desk.

Peter wriggled in his seat happily and took it from her, hurrying to unwrap it and pop it in his mouth. Clearly he was more comfortable with Pepper than Miranda. Tony couldn't help but feel the same way.

"Marissa here thinks I should adopt Peter," Tony said, leaning back in his chair.

Pepper glanced at Peter who gave her another grin. Now that his attention wasn't on Miranda, the kid seemed a lot more at ease, Tony noted.

"What do you think?" he asked.

Pepper looked at Peter for a few seconds and he sat perfectly still and straight. If the nice lady was going to say yes, then he'd finally get a dad. He didn't want to mess this up. Despite what he had said earlier, Peter really wanted Tony to take him in. After all, having a dad would be pretty neat. All the other kids had one and he'd always wanted one.

"I think you should try it out for a week and if you think it's a good idea, sign the papers," Pepper suggested. Tony nodded, turning his chair to face Miranda.

"We'll do as Miss Potts says."