Here to Help

Safe? Let's keep it that way

"What's up kid? Not the right size?"

"No--Uh well, yes, but also no, um..." He scratched his head while he gathered his thoughts. "Well these would be the right size, if I was my normal weight. But um, I'm not. The only ones that fit me were the small sizes."

"What size normally fits you?" I asked.

"Medium. Sometimes large, depending on the brand."

"I see. Well, why don't we pick out the clothes in a size that would fit you normally , and then we can just get you a few belts that you can wear until they fit you better? The shirts will still be a bit baggy but you'll grow into them. Does that sound good?"

Peter beamed and nodded vigorously, putting his pile of clothes into the shopping cart. Eventually we got almost everything he needed (I snuck in a few "expensive" things that Peter wouldn't even look at). Peter now had plenty of shirts, pants, sweaters, coats, socks, underwear, and pajamas to last him quite a long time. Now the only thing he needed was a couple belts.

Peter started to say that he really only needed one, when I cut him off, saying that having at least two was good in case the other one broke. To be honest, I really just wanted to be able to spend more money on Peter. I wanted to communicate to him that money was and never will be an issue for him, and that I loved him enough to spend copious amounts of it on him.

However another problem arose when Peter started trying to find the right ones.

"Uh, Mr. Stark?" he said, putting the belts he had picked out back on the rack. "None of these are small enough for me."

"They're not?" I said, frowning at them in confusion. Though as I took a closer look I realized there was no way for any of these to fit him. None of the holes went back far enough.

"But, how do the pants you're wearing right now fit you? They must have become too large just like your shirt."

Peter turned red.

"Uh--Well..." he said, before lifting his shirt a little so I could see his waistband. Instead of a belt, he had a strip of cloth that was tied in a knot in the front.

"It's um, a bit of one of my old shirts," he said, putting his shirt back down. "Aunt May always bought me clothes that were too big anyway, and she never bought me belts or anything, so I usually ended up cutting up an old shirt or using shoelaces from old shoes."

I looked at him for a moment, before pulling him into a tight hug. Peter gave a squeak of surprise, but after a second or so he hugged me back. When we broke apart he looked up at me in confusion.

"What was that for? I wasn't even sad."

"I would hate to be anything like your Aunt. Which means that I give you so many hugs you have no idea what to do with them all. But it also means that I'm going to have a couple belts made specially for you."

Peter started to open his mouth to protest, but I raised a finger to stop him.

"I know you don't like me spending money on you like that but this time you really need it. I'm not having you wear bits of old shirts with your new clothes until you fit into them. I promise, this is the only billionaire-style article of clothing I'll buy you, and even then it'll look just like a normal belt. Is that alright?"

Peter hesitated, then nodded.

"Alright then. Looks like we're done shopping! I'll get us checked out, you can go back to the car and wait with Happy. And no , you may not come to the checkout with me, I know you're going to try and look at the price," I said sternly, and Peter gave me a slightly disappointed look before leaving.