Peter hates his birthday and Tony is there for him.
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This was it. The day that Peter had been dreading. August 10th.
Other kids would find it strange. They would ask questions like, why are you dreading your birthday? Aren't you excited?
No. He wasn't excited. Peter hates his birthday. He's always hated his birthday, for many reasons. One of them being that he doesn't like the idea of a whole entire day being about him. He doesn't really like the attention. In other words, he's annoyingly selfless.
Then, there's the other reason. Ever since his parents and Uncle Ben's death, he's never wanted to celebrate his birthday without them. May was always there for him of course, and it did end up getting easier. But then she died too, and he was back to square 1.
Today was his first birthday without Aunt May, his second birthday without Uncle Ben and his twelfth birthday without his parents. And it sucked.
He knew it was only a matter of time before Tony walked in his room to wake him up, a squealing 5 year old behind him. The man knew how much he hated his birthday, so maybe he would be sympathetic and not make a big deal about it?
He was wrong. Tony walked in the room around 5 minutes later and sighed when he saw Peter laying in bed, staring at the ceiling.
"Happy birthday, kid." He smiled, despite the glum look on Peter's face. He sat down next to him on the bed and waited for a response.
"Why do people say 'happy' birthday? Do they just assume that everyone is in love with the concept of getting older and watching everyone close to you die?" Peter, the little depressed teenager he was, replied.
"I know this is a hard day for you, Pete. I understand. But can you at least try and lighten up? I can make this day amazing for you. We can do whatever you want, yeah? Just say the word."
"I want to go back to sleep."
Tony groaned but he wasn't actually annoyed. He ran his fingers through the boy's hair and twisted his head gently so he was looking at him.
"Where's that smile that I love?" He asked. Peter was about to argue even more when he heard tiny feet running towards his room. He sighed and waited for the inevitable to happen.
Morgan came running in and Tony smiled at her. He helped her up onto the bed and she sat on Peter with a smile on her face, knocking the wind out of him.
"Happy birthday, Petey!" She squealed and bounced slightly.
"Petey is being a grumpy boy, M. He doesn't like his birthday." Tony told her. She pouted and turned to face him.
"Why? You get presents and lots of hugs and kisses!"
"Yeah, Peter. You get lots of hugs and kisses." Tony said with a smile. Peter groaned and stuffed his face into his pillow.
"Come onnn, Petey! Today will be fun!" Morgan whined.
"Fine! Just...give me some time, okay?" Peter compromised.
"Alright, alright. Morgan, why don't you go wake your mom up?" Tony said to the little girl. "Peter will come down in a few minutes."
"Okay!" The girl beamed and jumped off the bed before running out the room.
Tony's smile dropped as soon as Morgan was out of site and turned back to Peter.
"Are you gonna be okay today?" He asked as he placed a hand on the kid's arm.
"I don't know...I miss May. She should be here." Peter said truthfully. Tony sighed but gave him a sympathetic smile.
"She is here, Pete. She'll always be with you." He responded.
"You- you believe in that stuff?" Peter asked, looking hopeful.
Tony hummed. He never really believed in an afterlife, or whatever comes after death. Tony was a man of science. If you're dead, you're dead. That was before Pepper. That was before Peter. That was before Morgan. He realized that maybe...just maybe...people could care enough to watch over you after they die. And he wants that for Peter. He prays to God that May is right next to him, wishing him a happy birthday.
"In a way, yes. But if you really think about it Pete, if all that crap is true, then do you think May would rather be playing in the clouds with a bunch of strangers, or visiting her nephew on his birthday?" He explained. He studied Peter's wondering expression and waited for a response.
"I mean...yeah- I guess." He said. Tony thought that he was about to cry, but instead he shocked him when he smiled.
"You okay, kid?" Tony copied Peter's smile.
"Yeah. I'm okay, Mr. Stark."
