Because He Loves Me

Surprises at Dinner 4

"I'm sorry for my outburst." Kassidy said, her quiet voice seemed to ring out nonetheless. "You came here for somewhere to stay, not to witness a temper tantrum. I'm very sorry." She let her eyes meet everyone's but Steve's. She was never going to apologize to him. Peter said something similar, but very quietly. He too scanned the room but wouldn't look at Steve. Tony smiled, he knew both his children were avoiding looking at the Captain, but there was nothing he could do about that. Kassidy actually had enough nerve to shoot a glare at Steve, but no one other than Steve and Peter noticed, and if anyone else had noticed they didn't say anything.

"It's okay, water under the bridge." someone said. Again, neither of the children could find who said it, but they both thought it was Clint or Sam.

"Not really." Kassidy mumbled.

"What does that mean?" asked Banner, confused.

"They're grounded." Tony replied. Both children groaned quietly. 

"Tony, if that's because of me-" Steve began, but Kassidy and Peter cut him off.

"We were grounded before." Kassidy said.

"Yeah, you aren't that important." Peter said. Tony groaned now. Neither child had lasted ten minutes after the apology, they really were his. Tony spun both children around and kneeled slightly to be eye level with them. Kassidy didn't like it at all, it made her feel like a child. Peter liked it, he wanted to be close.

"We just had a talk about being disrespectful, do we need to go have another discussion?" Tony asked.

"No sir." both children mumbled, looking at the floor. Had their dad actually said that? In front of everyone?! Peter blushed deep red and tried to hide his face, but Kassidy was able to make herself seem unfazed.

"You know perfectly well that tone is unacceptable. Apologize, both of you." Tony said.

"Sorry." the children said in sync. Peter seemed to mean it a little, but Kassidy was not the least bit sorry. Tony pinched the bridge of his nose in exhaustion. 

"Corner!" he said. The children looked at each other incredulously. "Now." Together they walked to the corner their father pointed to. The boy's ears were red from embarrassment but the girl just glared at everything she saw on the way there. It seemed that neither of them regretted their actions, they both seemed to be hating Steve too much to care. It made sense to everyone why the children would act like they had, but Tony was acting much more parental then anyone would have expected. The children were only defending their father, and to Peter, a boy who had lost so many parental figures already, he probably was terrified at disappointing his new father. 

"Pizza's have arrived, sir." said FRIDAYS voice. Thank god thought Peter. he won't keep me here during dinner, corner time will be over soon. 

 Tony called the children over to him. They both kept their heads low, but they could feel everyone's eyes burning into them. They made their way to their dad and hid their faces once with him. 

"You two...Kassidy, you're fourteen, not five, but you keep acting like it. You complain about being treated like a child, but then you act like one. And Peter, you do the same thing! Letting anger take over isn't something adults do." Tony said. Kassidy refused to let Tony see how much that hurt her, but Peter's bottom lip was trembling severely. Tony was right, he hated being treated like a baby but here he was crying like one. Peter wanted to run out of the room, but then Tony opened his arms slightly and Peter fell into them. 

"I'm sorry dad..." he mumbled. He was soaking the front of Tony's shirt, but neither of them cared. 

"Shhhh, it's okay Petey." Tony said. 

"Dad," Peter whispered. "T-they're all looking at me." Tony nodded and lifted Peter. If he wasn't so upset, Peter would have complained about being carried like a baby. But right then he was too upset to care. 

"Peter, I know you don't like being treated like a baby, but no one in there thinks it's weird for you to cry. You and your sister are the youngest people there, and I don't think anyone will care that you're crying. You may not like it, Peter, but you are still very little." Tony said. Peter buried his face in Tony's chest again. 

"Don't wanna go back." he mumbled. Then his head shot up. "My sister...she's younger than me...and sh-she isn't....." Peter broke off in tears. 

"Aw, Peter, your sister is insanely good at hiding her feelings, but that doesn't mean you have to." Tony said. Peter nodded but seemed to be attempting to stop himself from crying any more.