Growing Up

8 Years Old

Peter could hardly contain his excitement. At exactly 6:02 AM, he had raced into his dad's room and poked him until he woke up. Even though Tony was less than thrilled about being woken up so early on a Saturday, he had climbed out of bed and joined Peter in getting ready.

Still in his pyjamas, Tony sat on Peter's bed and listened to him chatter on and on as he found the perfect shirt to wear. Fifteen minutes later, Peter had finally made his decision and Tony was allowed to go make coffee. As he brewed his first cup of coffee, he texted Steve to let him know his kid was already awake and—unsurprisingly—Steve texted right back to say he was too. A minute later, Peter came bouncing into the room and Tony took a long sip of his too-hot coffee.

"Alright, kiddo," he said, pausing to yawn. "Steve will be here in ten minutes and since you're awake so early, he's taking you out to breakfast."

"Yay!" Peter cheered. Tony took another sip of coffee.

"Go pack your stuff," Tony instructed. Peter shot off into his room to pack a small backpack while Tony stayed in the kitchen, slowly trying to wake up.

By the time the lift alerted them to Steve's arrival, Tony was awake and Peter was all packed. Steve had just stepped out of the lift when Peter jumped into his arms for a hug and shouted excitedly. Chuckling Steve hugged him back.

"Hey, Peter," he said, letting him go.

Tony held out Peter's backpack and Steve happily took it from him. Now on his second cup of coffee, Tony was still struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Ready to go?" Steve asked, turning back to Peter. Peter nodded vigorously.

"He's been ready since you brought up the idea four days ago," Tony grumbled. Steve smiled as Peter pulled on his shoes then jumped to his feet and Tony muttered, "Have fun, stay safe, all that."

"Bye, Daddy!" Peter said, quickly hugging Tony then racing into the lift behind Steve.

"Bye, kid," Tony said, waving until the elevator doors closed. As soon as they shut, he stumbled back down the hall and back to bed. Two cups of coffee weren't enough.

* * * * *

After having breakfast at a local cafe, Steve and Peter drove to the New York Yankees stadium. Steve had bought them both seats so they could see across the whole field (and maybe Tony had upgraded them a little), but Peter was just happy to be there.

"Who's that, Uncle Steve?" Peter asked, pointing at a man on the field. "Who's that? Ooo! Who's that?"

Steve couldn't honestly say that he knew. The first one he recognised, the second was just a maintenance worker, but the third looked like a new player. Lots of things had changed since his last baseball game in this stadium.

"I guess we'll have to wait and see," Steve said, sitting down beside Peter. Handing Peter a corndog, he smiled down at the kid and settled into his seat.

"I'm excited," Peter said, not for the first time that morning.

Biting into his hot dog, Peter sat on the edge of his seat and stared in awe at the maintenance workers that walked across the field. The game hadn't even started, but Peter was already captivated. Steve just smiled.

* * * * *

Steve was disappointed at the turnout of the game. Peter, on the other hand, couldn't be more excited. The entire walk back to the car, he talked to Steve about it and continued talking as they took the lift up to the penthouse. Steve didn't mind, though. The fact that Peter had enjoyed the game was good enough for him. After all, Sam wasn't a baseball fan and going alone wasn't very exciting, so if Peter wanted to join him more, who was Steve to complain?

"And then he just—it was so cool," Peter said, walking off the lift. He looked like he was about to continue, but at the sight of Tony, he shot off towards the couch and shouted, "Daddy!"

"Hey, buddy," Tony said, wrapping his arm around Peter as he jumped up on the couch. "Did you have a good time with Uncle Steve?"

"Yeah!" Peter nodded quickly.

Launching into another story about the baseball game, Peter didn't leave out a single detail. It took several minutes for Peter to get through his story and by the time he did, Tony was pretty sure he'd heard enough about baseball to last him a lifetime.

"Sounds like you had lots of fun," Tony said once Peter had finished talking. "What do you tell Uncle Steve?"

"Thank you for taking me, Uncle Steve," Peter said, climbing off Tony's lap to give Steve a hug. Steve chuckled and hugged him back.

"Thanks for going with me, kid," he replied, "I would have had to go alone otherwise."

Peter shook his head, a determined look on his face.

"You'll never have to go alone again!" he declared, "I'll go with you every time!"

"I'm sure you will," Steve replied and Tony held back a groan. He was going to have to buy more coffee.