Surrogate Son

No Babysitter Necessary

Baby!Peter joins us in this adorable little one-shot.

"Peter!"  Tony yelled happily.  Peter jumped off the third stair from the bottom and into Tony's arms, giggling happily as Tony swung him up into the air.

"Daddy!"  Peter exclaimed, hugging Tony tightly and kissing his cheek sloppily.  Tony grinned and looked up from his four year old son to Pepper who was following Peter down the stairs.  She stopped at the bottom on the stairs and smiled at the both of them.

"You be good, okay, baby?"  she said, running a hand over Peter's curls in hopes of smoothing them down.  Peter nodded excitedly and reached out to hug Pepper from Tony's arms.

"I will, Mommy,"  he promised.  Tony pulled him back and moved so Pepper could get past him and into the elevator.

"Remember, he needs a nap after lunch,"  she told Tony, grabbing her bag and walking backwards into the elevator.  "He'll be fine in an office and should sleep through an entire lecture, but it he doesn't nap he'll be cranky.  I made sure there were plenty of snacks in his play bag, but you might want to grab a few of the apple slices I cut—"

"We'll be fine, Pepper,"  Tony assured her.  He glanced at Peter who looked at him with wide eyes.  "Tell Mommy I know what I'm doing."

"Daddy's smart!"  Peter told her.  Pepper rolled her eyes and hurried forward to kiss Tony.  "Mommy!"  Peter protested.  Pepper pulled away from Tony and kissed Peter's forehead.

"You know how to have JARVIS call me if something goes wrong, right?"  Pepper asked.  Peter nodded and tapped the watch Tony had made, complete with JARVIS in case Peter was ever in trouble.

"Pep, we'll be fine,"  Tony said, gently nudging her towards the elevator.  "Now go.  You're going to be late for your meeting."

"Alright, alright,"  Pepper said, hurrying towards the elevator.  She stepped inside and as the doors closed, she called out, "I love you two!"

"Love you too, Mommy,"  Peter yelled back.

"Love you too,"  Tony said at the exact same time, waving at Pepper as the doors closed and she disappeared from their sight.

* * *

Tony was glad MIT was so willing to make accommodations for him.  The first lecture hall they'd led him to didn't have a back office and after remembering what Pepper had said about Peter needing a nap, he asked for one with an office.  They'd taken him right to one that was not being used that day as the regular class wasn't meeting due to a week of field work the students were required to do for it.  He had about an hour to prep for his lecture by the time they'd found him a lecture hall with an office and finished telling him his schedule.

"Alright, buddy,"  Tony said, setting Peter down for the first time since they'd arrived at MIT.  He hadn't wanted to risk losing the small kid on the big campus, so he'd just carried Peter everywhere.  "You can play and explore all you want until people start showing up, but stay in this room, okay?"

"Okay!"  Peter grinned.  Tony turned and started unpacking his things while Peter walked around the lecture hall.

Peter explored the entire area then came back and pulled out a drawing pad to draw the room for Pepper.  He was in the middle of drawing the front of the room when the first few

students began to show up.  As soon as Peter realised he and his dad were no longer alone, he scrambled to hide.  He ducked into the small space inside Tony's podium, ditching his drawing pad where he'd been sitting earlier and looking up at his dad nervously.