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Ch. 8

It was Thursday night, four days before Peter's scheduled press conference and Pepper still hadn't been able to change the time.  All the magazines and reporters that were supposed to come then said they were booked full for the next four months whenever Pepper asked to reschedule.  Some were annoyed with her for asking to change again.  It didn't matter when she explained what had happened; all they cared about was getting as many stories as they could before someone else printed them.  Clearly a surprise Stark Industries announcement wasn't as important as a meeting with Elon Musk or some boy band that was rising to fame.  Pepper was trying as hard as she could, but nothing was going in her favor and now she had to tell Peter he'd be doing a press conference at the beginning of finals week.

"Maybe we can just push it later,"  Tony suggested, staring absentmindedly at the wall in front of him.  Pepper was running her fingers through his hair, his head in her lap as they talked.

"No, it needs to be within the next month,"  Pepper said.  Tony sighed.  He didn't need her to remind him why they needed to do it so soon.  Ever since a board meeting eleven months ago, he'd been thinking about it nearly every day.  He'd been given a year to find and announce an heir for the company that wasn't Pepper, but someone that could take over once both Stark's were done.  Even then Tony didn't have to think about who he would name.  Peter had been an obvious choice after the two had gotten so incredibly close a year after meeting.

"Maybe I should just fire my board members,"  Tony thought out loud.  Pepper's fingers paused halfway through his hair as she looked down to give him a look he was very familiar with.  "Or not."

"We only have three weeks before they decide on an heir for you,"  Pepper reminded him.  Tony grunted.  Why did the people on his board of directors hate him so much?  Didn't they know how stressful it was to think about bringing a kid into the spotlight?  If only they would let him just tell them, write it into his will, and be done with it until Peter was older.

"But it's finals week,"  Tony groaned.  Pepper nodded.  "He's already going to be stressed, I don't want to add to it."

"I know,"  Pepper sighed,  "But he's a smart kid.  He'll figure it out."

"Doesn't mean he should,"  Tony mumbled, his voice muffled by the arm he'd thrown over his face out of frustration.

* * * * *

After school on Friday, Peter found himself in the backseat of the car as Happy drove him to the Stark townhouse.  He had decided this weekend would be relaxing.  No matter how hard he would have to study Sunday night, it would be enjoyable and relaxing.  He had even cleared it with Mr. Stark and Pepper for Michelle to come over Sunday evening so they could study for AP Physics C.  They'd already covered Spanish pretty thoroughly, but it was an easy class for Peter so he wasn't worried.

"Thanks, Happy!"  Peter yelled, jumping out of the car and shutting the door when they pulled up to the curb.  He raced up the front steps and walked inside without knocking.  "I'm home!"  he called, carrying his backpack into the living room before letting it drop.

"Hey, Peter,"  Pepper said, looking up from her laptop.  "Tony should be home in an hour or so."

"Alright,"  he said, sitting on the floor opposite Pepper.  He pulled out his AP English notes and began running over them once more, just in case he didn't have time over the weekend to study them.  It wouldn't take him that long, but he did want to read through them once or twice.  However, time went by faster than he expected and suddenly Mr. Stark was walking in the front door while Peter read through his notes.

"I'm back!"  he announced, walking into the living room.  He kissed Pepper quickly and ran a hand through Peter's curls, getting his attention.  Peter looked up from his notebook and grinned, closing it as Mr. Stark smiled down at him.  "How the studying coming along?"  he asked.  Peter shrugged, stuffing his notebook in his backpack.

"It's alright,"  he replied.

"Well, I hope you're in the mood for a family dinner, cause I invited the whole crew!"  Tony exclaimed.  Pepper looked up at this and Tony grinned innocently.  "They were all so lonely at the Compound.  Besides, I thought Peter missed them."

"Yeah!"  Peter said happily, nodding in agreement to Mr. Stark's assumption.  "When are they coming?"

"We've got exactly one hour and two minutes to go pick up food before they arrive,"  Mr. Stark said, glancing at his watch.  Peter jumped to his feet excitedly, rushing to pull his shoes on.  "Don't miss us too much.  We'll be back soon,"  Mr. Stark promised Pepper.  She just rolled her eyes and pushed him in Peter's direction.  Forgetting about Peter's upcoming conference and finals, the two boys hurried out of the house and into one of Mr. Stark's Audis to pick up enough food to feed the small army called the Avengers.