No More Lonely

Ch. 7

Peter woke up in the morning to Tony gently shaking him. He blinked a couple of times then gave a sleepy smile and closed his eyes again.

With a smile, Tony pulled back Peter's covers and gently picked him up. Peter's head dropped to Tony's shoulder and Tony had to shake him again to keep him from falling back asleep. With a small groan, Peter's eyes opened and Tony smiled down at him.

"It's time to wake up, kiddo," he murmured, "Did you sleep well?"

Peter huffed and buried his face in the crook of Tony's neck in response.

Letting Peter keep himself tucked away, Tony walked into the living room with him. At their approach, Rhodey looked up and Peter frowned slightly.

"You must be Peter," Rhodey said softly. Peter nodded. "I'm Uncle Rhodey."

"I'm Peter and I'm four," Peter said, holding up four fingers.

Rhodey smiled as Tony set Peter on the couch, Iron Man pyjamas and all.

"Your dad and Pepper are going talk to some fancy people," Rhodey told him, "So we'll be hanging out for the day. Sound good?"

Peter nodded and rubbed his eyes. As Tony and Pepper waved goodbye, he waved back sleepily. The moment they disappeared behind the lift doors, Peter looked at Rhodey.

"Uncle Rhodey?" he asked, "I'm hungry."

Rhodey nodded and stood up, holding out a hand for Peter. Scooting off the couch, Peter grabbed Rhodey's hand and walked with him to the kitchen.

"Ever had pancakes, Peter?" Rhodey asked, lifting him into a stool. Peter shook his head. "Do you like chocolate chips?" Peter shrugged. "We'll try both today."

From his perch on the stool, Peter watched Rhodey make chocolate chip pancakes and slowly woke up. By the time Rhodey slid a plate of chocolate chip pancakes across the counter to Peter, he was fully awake and bubbling with things to say.

"I have Lego blocks and I can build a castle with them."

"Really?" Rhodey asked, sounding impressed.

Peter nodded vigorously and asked, "Want to see?"

Rhodey said he would but after breakfast. Agreeing happily, Peter nodded and hurried to eat his chocolate chip pancake. When he was done, he ran to his room and lugged the box of Lego blocks into the kitchen while Rhodey did the dishes. After Rhodey had everything put away, he followed Peter into the living room where his Lego castle was waiting.

"Amazing," Rhodey said, clapping. Peter grinned and took it apart while Rhodey protested. "No! Why did you take it apart?"

"It won't fit inside," Peter said as if it were obvious.

Rhodey laughed and sat on the couch near Peter. Opening his laptop, he worked while Peter played.

Around noon, Rhodey got a text from Tony saying they had finished and were coming home. Rhodey grinned and looked down at Peter. Even after four hours, he was still building Lego castles and it didn't look like he was getting bored.

"Hey, Peter?" Rhodey asked. Peter's head snapped up and he stopped in the middle of putting another block on his fifth castle. "How about we make a really big castle to show your dad when he comes back?"

"Is he coming back soon?" Peter asked with wide eyes. Rhodey nodded and Peter's eyes widened further as he looked at his partially finished castle. "We don't have enough time."

"Of course we do," Rhodey assured him, joining Peter on the floor.

Together, they hurried to make Peter's current castle bigger. They were finishing the last turret when the lift dinged.

"Don't come in!" Peter yelled, jumping up and running to stop Tony and Pepper from going into the living room.

"What's going on?" Tony asked, frowning and looking around for Rhodey. As soon as Tony had picked Peter up, the kid covered Tony's eyes with his hands.

"We made you a surprise," Peter told him, "You can't look until it's done."

"It's done, Peter," Rhodey said.

Peter removed his hands and Tony walked into the living room. At the sight of the large Lego castle, Tony smiled and glanced at Peter.

"Did you make that all by yourself?" he asked. Peter nodded, his smile becoming shy. "Well, I guess I don't need to worry about the next greatest builder. It's obviously you."

Peter squirmed and Tony set him down as he began telling Tony all about the castle, showing him where the different rooms were. By the time he had finished explaining, Rhodey and Pepper had finished lunch and they were ready to eat.

"I love spaghetti!" Peter exclaimed as Pepper set his plate at the table. As soon as she gave him a fork, he began eating.

"Did everything go smoothly?" Rhodey asked once Peter was distracted. Tony nodded but Pepper's facial expression said otherwise.

"For the most part," she murmured, "There was trouble signing the adoption forms. The state didn't believe Tony was capable or caring for a kid, so we faked an engagement and they allowed it."

"Oh, so you two are getting married now?" Rhodey asked with a smirk. Pepper gave him a look.

"No," Pepper said at the same time Tony said, "Yes."

He turned to look at her in mock offence. "I thought we had something here. Is that not true? Are you just using me for my money?"

"Eat your spaghetti," Pepper said, pointing to his plate with her fork. He stared at her innocently as he scooped a forkful of spaghetti into his mouth and Pepper muttered, "You know why we can't get married."

"No, actually," Tony said, "I don't."

Pepper sighed and shook her head, giving Rhodey the impression this was a conversation they'd had before.

"My offer still stands. Let me know when you're ready, cause I'll always be ready."

"Ew," Rhodey grumbled, twisting his face in annoyance.

At the sight of Rhodey's face, Peter laughed, spewing spaghetti everywhere. The mood immediately shifted as Pepper scolded Rhodey who found a wash cloth to clean up the mess. Although Peter looked guilty as well, he was still giggling so Pepper knew he wasn't upset with her for scolding them.

"Uncle Rhodey's funny," Peter said with a giggle. Pepper nodded, shooting Rhodey a small glare. He just chuckled.

"Thanks, kid," Rhodey said. Peter shot him a toothy smile then went back to eating his spaghetti.

Once Peter's spaghetti mess had been cleaned up, he directed the conversation to his day building Lego castles in different countries. When asked which countries, however, his face scrunched up and he frowned.

"I don't know any countries."

Pepper laughed.

"That's okay," she said, "You can make them up."

Peter visibly brightened at that idea and looked between Pepper and Tony as he asked, "Really? You can make up countries?"

"Of course," Tony replied. Peter tapped his chin then raised his hand.

"I know where they were from now!" he exclaimed. He listed them off six different words that neither Tony nor Pepper could understand, but Rhodey nodded along.

"Wow," Pepper said when he'd finished. "Maybe one day I'll visit those places and see all the castles."

Peter giggled and shook his head.

"You can't," he told her. When asked why, he said, "Because they don't really exist!"

"Maybe I'll visit them in my imagination," Pepper replied. Peter thought about it then shrugged.

"I guess," he said, "But I'd rather go to a real country."