Let's Begin

Ch. 5

Peter always loved going abroad with his parents and this time was no exception. He'd only ever been to Italy once before and that was to Venice over spring break his 3rd-grade year. Now he was in Milan, headed to the Italian Grand Prix with his parents and their bodyguard. Even though the reporters and nosy cameramen were a little intimidating, Peter still enjoyed the trips. After all, the last time a reporter had gotten aggressive with Peter, Tony had handled it in his Iron Man suit and no one had dared get too pushy around him.

"Peter?" Pepper asked, "What are you hungry for?"

They had arrived in Milan about ten minutes earlier and Peter was struggling to stay awake in the car while they drove to whatever hotel his dad had booked for them. It was barely 4:00am local time and even though Peter had slept on the plane, he was tired.

"Sleep," Peter mumbled, curling against Pepper more.

Pepper rubbed his arm soothingly and turned to look at Tony to ask, "How much longer until we're at the hotel?"

Tony checked his watch.

"Shouldn't be more than ten minutes away," he answered. He glanced down at Peter whose arms were wrapped around Pepper's waist, face buried in her abdomen as he curled in the seat. "Looks like the kid is asleep," Tony stated, running a hand through Peter's curls.

Peter weakly swatted his hand away and Tony smiled softly.

"'m wake," Peter mumbled before promptly going back to his soft snores.

"What's on the agenda?" Tony asked Pepper quietly.

As she combed her fingers through Peter's hair, she relayed Tony's schedule for the day. Conference at 9:00am followed by a meet-up with a local partner at noon. After that, he was free to join up with Pepper and Peter and had no more appointments until the Grand Prix on Sunday.

"We're here, boss," Happy said quietly, stopping the car outside.

Walking around the car, Happy opened the door for Tony to get out. Once he was out, Tony walked around to the other end of the car and gently tugged Peter out.

"Come on, kiddo," Tony muttered, lifting Peter up into his arms. Peter protested slightly, but gave up quickly and fell back asleep.

Once Peter was no longer curled against him, Pepper climbed out of the car as well and the two walked inside to check in while Happy brought all their bags.

Fortunately, the check-in process was quick and soon they were all standing in a lift and going up to the top floor. While Happy carried their bags into the Stark suite, Tony took Peter back to his room and laid him in his bed.

"Dad?" Peter grumbled.

"Go back to sleep, Peter," Tony told him, "Mom and I are right through the door. Want us to leave it open?" Peter nodded as Tony kissed his forehead then stood up. "See you in a few hours."

"Mkay," Peter hummed, rolling onto his stomach and falling right back asleep.

Propping Peter's door open, Tony made his way through the suite and into his and Pepper's shared room. She was already lying in bed and changed in her pyjamas and Tony was quick to follow suit.

"Wake me up when it's time for the conference," he said, lying down beside her.

"Try again," Pepper replied, flicking off the lamp.

"An hour before?" Tony suggested. He threw an arm around her and pulled her close as she sighed.

"We'll see."

* * * * *

When Peter woke up, it was 9:17am local time and he was starving. He rolled out of bed, stumbling into the nightstand and rubbing his eyes. As he blinked and looked around his room, he spotted the propped open door and grinned sleepily. As he walked out into the living area of their suite, Pepper looked up from her laptop and smiled at him.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked. Peter nodded and rubbed his eyes again. "Good. Get dressed and we'll go to breakfast."

"Where's Dad?" Peter asked, walking back into his room.

"At his conference."

Peter changed quickly then returned to his parents' room. At the sight of Peter fully dressed, Pepper grabbed her purse and room key card.

"What sounds good?" she asked, leading him out of the room.

"A bagel," Peter replied, "And a chocolate muffin."

Pepper smiled at her son as they entered the lift.

"Sounds like you know exactly what you want," Pepper teased. Peter nodded, not awake enough to be embarrassed by the teasing. "Happy is with Dad at his conference, so we can either walk or take the Metro."

"Walk."

Pepper nodded and they fell silent as another guest joined them in the lift and rode to the ground floor. Once they stopped at the bottom level, Pepper asked FRIDAY to locate Asiago bagels and they began walking down the streets of Milan in search of a good cafe.