Faith in her Timing

Chapter 6: Thanksgiving

Things were calm in the Stark house for a little while. Rio kept showing Timothy things of their time, to allow him to integrate as well as he could. Still, the act of watching silly cartoons in ones undergarments was still lost on him. He visited Roman as often as he could, but Rio decided to stop protesting. She believed that her act of kindness really changed something between them. Nothing could be further from the truth, the man was merely waiting his turn to come between her and the Monsignor. On Thanksgiving morning, everybody was running around to prepare for the festivities. Although Tony was more in the way than actually helping.

"Tim! Can you hand me the thingy? Over there!" Rio asked him, standing on a ladder as she tried to hang an orange garland on the wall. Timothy sighed and shook his head as he looked around. "Rio, a 'thingy' is not very specific.." He told her in an exhausted tone. "Why are you on that ladder to begin with? You are wearing a skirt!" He continued to chastise her as he kept looking around. The girl rolled her eyes. "If you want a peek, just say so." Timothy scoffed. "I do not!" But as she stuck out her tongue, Rio lifted her red plaid top, showing him that she was wearing no bra underneath. "Rio! I...I....don't do that!" Rio laughed. "Relax, I'll show you more later." The doorbell rang. "Would you get that? Then I'll get the thingy myself."

As Timothy walked over to the door, he shook his head. "I'm still not sure what the 'thingy' is exactly..." He murmured and opened the door. A young man stood before him, an attractive brown-haired young woman behind him.

"H-Hello sir, I'm Peter, Peter Parker. I'm here to see mister Tony Stark, sir." Peter stammered as the woman chuckled and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hello, I'm May, Peter's aunt. Mister Stark invited us for Thanksgiving." She explained. Timothy shook her hand and then shook Peter's hand. "Welcome, welcome, I'm Timothy Howard. A friend of mister Stark." He stepped aside so the two could enter the house.

"We're a little early, but Peter was just so excited." May explained, as she took off her coat. Timothy took a clothes hanger out of the closet near the front door and hung her coat on it. Peter already threw his on a nearby chair and was now eyeing the living room.

"Peter, behave." May hissed and quickly grabbed his coat, also hanging it on a clothes hanger. But Peter was completely distracted by Rio. "Hey...I eh..." He stammered again and Rio grinned, coming over to shake his hand. "Sup Peter. I heard a lot about you. And you must be his aunt, hello. Rio Taylor, Tony's assistant." She shook her hand as well. "Nice to meet you, Rio. So you work with mister Stark?" May asked her and before Rio was able to answer, Tony interrupted.

"For me. Hello May. Looking gorgeous as always." Tony said in a charming manner, grabbing up her hand to plant a kiss on it. May chuckled shyly and blushed a little. "Hello mister Stark, thank you again for inviting me."

"It's Tony. And I work with him, not for him." Rio stated, ignoring the 'really'-look that Tony was giving her.

"So the Avengers are gonna be here too? I mean, the other Avengers?" Peter asked, wide-eyed and obviously very excited.

"Sure are. Capsicle, the Weener soldier, Legolas." Tony summed up and Peter was beaming, even though he wasn't exactly sure who Tony meant by those nicknames.

"And a good friend of mine, from the church I belong to." Timothy added, a little proud. When Rio rolled her eyes, the mood got a little awkward.

"Drinks all around, I say. No use spending this day sober." Tony decided, trying to prevent a holiday induced fight between the two lovers. "And a nice Seven-up for the kid." He quickly added, when he saw the disapproving looks coming his way. Peter's face fell a little. "I'll let you sip some of mine." Rio whispered to him and gave him a grin and a wink.