IronDad/SpiderSon One-shots

climbing trees

Third Person POV:
Word Count: 1,498
Spooktober 2022 Day Twenty: Trees

"Peter," Morgan yelled. Peter could hear her coming closer, listening to her heartbeat and the crunch of the sticks as she walked. "Daddy said it was time to eat." She came around a tree, looking at Peter. He was hanging upside down from a tree pretty high up in the air. She didn't look scared. Rather, she looked intrigued.

Doing a cool flip, Peter came out of the tree and landed on the ground. "That sounds delicious. Wasn't he making hamburgers and hotdogs for lunch," he asked, starting to walk back towards the lake house. He stopped after a couple steps, turning around to see Morgan staring at the tree. "Earth to Morgan? Hello?" He walked back to her, crouching down on her level and looking up to the branch Peter was just sitting on, trying to see if maybe he forgot something up there or not.

Finally, after a few seconds more of staring, Morgan looked away from the branch and at Peter. "How did you do that," she asked him. "Did you use your spider powers?" Her eyes were wide as she looked back up at the branch. It really wasn't that high off of the ground. Ten feet, at most. But, to Morgan, that was just a little under triple her size, whereas for Peter, it was a little under half his size. With his spider powers, he could jump up to the branch easily. Still, he preferred actually climbing the tree.

"No, I didn't." Deciding it would be easier to show her, he quickly demonstrated climbing the tree to get back to the branch. He sat down for a quick second before jumping back down to the ground. "See? It isn't that hard!"

If at all possible, Morgan's eyes lit up more. She ran to the base of the tree and started to try and copy what Peter did. "I want to do it," she said excitedly. She placed her foot on one of the roots sticking out of the tree and reached up to find a good spot to grab with her hands. She pulled, surprising Peter when she actually started to slowly make her way up the tree.

Moving closer to her, Peter left his arms at his side. "Don't you think we should be getting back? I thought dad said that dinner was ready," he said. Immediately, his cheeks flushed. He always felt weird referring to Tony as dad. It wasn't a bad weird, no. It was just a 'I don't think I will ever get used to this' type of weird. Plus, he never would call Tony dad to his face. He would just refer to Da-Tony as dad to Morgan. Yeah. Because he totally didn't see Tony as a father figure and that definitely didn't get stronger after the snap. No no not at all.

Morgan pulled herself higher onto the tree, her grip not slipping once. Peter would have been shocked if it were anyone but Morgan. He had learned over the past couple months of getting to know her that it didn't take much for her to be good at something. As long as she set her mind to it, she could master something within the first try. "It's fine. He always tells us dinner is ready way before it is. Then we have to sit there forever and wait for him to finish. I hate that."

Chuckling, Peter moved closer towards Morgan. A small ounce of anxiety spread through his body watching Morgan climb the tree. At any given moment she could lose her grip and fall. He wouldn't let her hit the ground. Hell, he wouldn't even let her fall. He would do whatever to keep Morgan from falling.

Peter wound up having to do nothing. Within another minute, Morgan had successfully made it to the branch that Peter had been on. "Look, Peter! I did it," she said. She let out an excited cheer as she threw her arms into the air. She was sitting securely on the branch, safe from most danger. She cheered again before patting the branch she was on. "Come on!" A giggle left Morgan's mouth as she stopped patting the branch.

Without second thought, Peter climbed the tree as fast as he could. Within a few seconds, he was sitting next to Morgan. He wrapped an arm securely around her, making sure that she couldn't fall. Morgan leaned into his side instantly. He could hear Morgan's heartbeat slowing down as she looked out across the scenery. Peter did the same.

The lake house itself was beautiful. The interior design. The exterior. Everything about the lake house was beautiful. The scenery was just a compliment to it. The way the water reflected the trees. The way the grass glimmered in the morning. The way the trees blended with the clouds in the sky. It was just an overall beautiful place, especially at sunrise and sunset. It would take your breath away if you let it. Peter knew that if Bob Ross was still alive, he would paint this as a beautiful landscape portrait.

"It's so pretty up here," Morgan said with a content sigh.

Taking a deep breath in, Peter smiled. "Yeah, it really is."

Morgan and Peter didn't say anything after that. They just sat there, enjoying the scenery. If they looked hard enough, they could see Gerald roaming in front of the cabin. They weren't really looking at Gerald, though. They were looking at everything else. The water. The sky. The sun. The clouds. The trees. The grass. Anything and everything. They listened to the birds chirping. They listened to the animals scurrying through the forest. They listened to the cries of cicadas. Morgan didn't have much of an opinion on this type of noise since she had lived out here all of her life, but Peter much preferred this to the city.

Right as Peter was about to suggest they climb down and get some dinner, he heard Tony's heartbeat. It was pretty loud, meaning he was almost to them. He wasn't sure how he didn't hear it before. He leaned down to Morgan and whispered to her. "I think dad is on his way."

As if on cue, Tony stepped out from behind the same tree Morgan had earlier. He opened his mouth to call out for Peter and Morgan, but his mouth just hung open when he saw Morgan and Peter sitting on the branch of the tree. Peter was convinced he watched Tony speedrun the five stages of grief in a whole second. "No! Absolutely not!" He started making his way towards the tree they were at. "Get down from there. Now."

Anxiety flooded Peter's system. His heart rate elevated instantly, afraid that Tony was mad at him. Grabbing a hold of Morgan. He carefully made his way back to the ground by climbing down the tree. He would have jumped down like he had the previous times, but he really didn't feel like giving Tony a heart attack. The man already had so many health issues. Let's not add to that ever growing list.

When the two made it safely to the ground, Morgan jumped out of Peter's arms and ran to Tony. She gave him a giant hug. "Daddy! Peter taught me how to climb a tree and I got to see how pretty it is up there," she said quickly. She had the biggest smile on her face as she grabbed her father's hand. She started dragging him towards the tree. "Come on! We can show you!"

Before Morgan could drag him very far, Tony stuck his heels into the ground, effectively stopping Morgan. "Nuh-uh. We're supposed to be having dinner right now, not climbing trees," he said in a somewhat stern voice. He loved his little girl so much, but sometimes she got distracted so easily. It wasn't such a bad thing. The things that she got distracted by weren't little things. They were pretty interesting things, especially to her. That's why he always did his best to remind her in a gentle way.

"Oh, yeah!" Without hesitating, Morgan dropped Tony's hand and started running back towards the lake house. "Last one there is a rotten egg!" She did that a lot, especially if she was in the lead.

Peter immediately started running, trying to catch up to her. "Oh no you don't! I am not being a rotten egg today!"

Tony smiled, watching as his two kids ran towards the house. Warmth flooded his heart. He was so happy to have Peter back. His life felt so much more complete with him here. He was happy. He had both of his kids. He was retired. His wife was here with him and they were still in love. Sure, it took inventing literal time travel and almost dying to get here, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that he was here now.

He wouldn't have it any other way.

That's it for this chapter! Remember to drink some water, eat something, take medicine (if you have to), and rest today. You did a good job and I am proud of you :)
Till next time
- Storm