Surrogate Son

Growing Up Sucks

Tony couldn't possibly be more excited than he was at the current moment. Pepper could walk in and tell him she was pregnant, but he wouldn't be any happier. He doubted it was physically possible for someone to be even the slightest bit happier than him at this very moment. Not only had Peter been accepted to MIT, but he wanted Tony's help moving into his dorm room and getting to know the campus. Pepper had already cancelled all his meetings, knowing there was no way she could expect Tony to say no.

"Now, I know you said you wanted to live in the dorm," Tony said, a few days later when Peter was helping him with his suit.

"Mr. Stark..." Peter groaned.

"Hear me out!" Tony interrupted. "I only bought the apartment for when May visits or if you and Ned want to get off campus but can't come all the way up to New York."

"You didn't have to do that," Peter told him. Tony rolled his eyes.

"I know, but I did," he replied. "Besides, it's nice enough I won't feel like I'm in a prison cell when I come down to visit."

"You're gonna visit me?" Peter asked, visibly perking up at the idea.

"Of course," Tony scoffed. "Someone has to make sure Spider-Man isn't too reckless." Peter just rolled his eyes and handed Tony a wrench. Spider-Man was never reckless.

* * *

When the day came for Peter and Tony to visit MIT for a tour, Tony was awake at 7:30AM and bouncing around the kitchen as he made cereal. It was a couple weeks before school started and he'd managed to pull some strings to get a tour earlier than orientation day. He wanted to show Peter the campus himself, not some punk who thought they owned the school. No, MIT was his college and he was going to be the one to show it off to Peter; no one else would get that privilege.

"You know the jet doesn't leave for another hour and a half, right?" Pepper asked, half an hour later as she walked out of their bedroom. Tony was on his tablet, working through some code for an upgrade on Peter's suit, but he still looked up at the sound of her footsteps.

"I know," Tony replied, leaning up to kiss her briefly. "Just needed to get some stuff done first."

"Mhm," Pepper hummed, smirking as she walked into the kitchen to make herself breakfast.

An hour later, Tony was driving Peter, May, and himself to the tarmac where the Stark Industries private jet was waiting. Peter wouldn't stop rambling about how he couldn't wait for college to start and all the plans he and Ned had for their dorm. They had everything planned down to the T. Tony had to stop himself from telling Peter all about his and Rhodey's room, not wanting to make it sound like today was about him reliving his days at MIT. Today was for Peter and he'd listen to the kid talk about Star Trek posters and Star Wars Lego sets all day if that's what made him happy.

* * *

A couple weeks after Tony had taken Peter and May around MIT to see the campus in person, it was time to take Peter's things to his dorm and start the school year. They managed to fit all of Peter's and Ned's stuff under the plane without any trouble, then Ned and his family joined him, Peter, and May for the flight down to MIT.

"Mr. Stark?" Peter asked, setting one of his boxes on the desk he'd claimed as his own. Ned and his family was bringing Ned's stuff up from downstairs while he and Tony brought up his own stuff. May was busy arranging posters and other decorations around the room so the boys didn't leave it a total mess. She'd come in two nights before and painted the room red and blue, but the room still smelled of paint even after having the windows open that whole time.

"Yeah?" Tony replied, following Peter into the room with the last box.

"I think I left my laptop at the Tower," Peter said sheepishly. Tony smiled and shook his head.

"I'll grab it tonight and fly it down once we get back to New York," Tony promised.

"Thanks," Peter replied. Tony just messed with Peter's curls and opened one of the boxes they'd brought in.

"Might as well get unpacked while we wait for dinner," Tony said. Peter nodded and quickly followed Tony's example of opening boxes and unpacking. It took all afternoon to completely empty the boxes and get everything placed in just the right spot. By the time they'd finished, it was time for dinner.

It wasn't until he was halfway through his meal that Tony realised he'd be returning to New York without Peter. In a moment of horror, he stopped chewing and looked to his right where Peter was grinning, listening to something Ned was saying on the other side of the table.

"You good?" May asked quietly, nudging Tony to bring him out of his trance. He blinked rapidly and nodded.

"Perfect," Tony replied, shooting her a grin for good measure. He returned to his food, but found it no longer tasted as good as it had before he'd had his realisation.

* * *

When the time came to say goodbye and return to New York, Tony refused to think anything. He forced his mind to remain empty as he watched Ned's family say goodbye first, followed by May. Tony stood out of the way, leaning against Peter's desk and watching the two boys silently. After May had hugged Ned and Peter multiple times, he figured it was his turn to say goodbye.

"Don't have too much fun out here," he told them. Peter rolled his eyes and hugged him. "Remember: don't do anything I wouldn't do and definitely don't do anything I would do."

"How...?" Ned trailed off, looking at Peter in confusion. Peter just shook his head and stepped back. Tony patted Ned's shoulder and smiled at him. He wasn't close enough to the kid to hug him, but he figured it would be awkward if he didn't at least say goodbye to him.

"See ya later, Ned," he said. Ned nodded, grinning widely. "Keep Peter out of trouble, okay?"

"You got it, Mr. Stark," Ned said. Tony smiled and glanced back at Peter again. The stupid kid was fiddling with his sweatshirt sleeves like he always did when something was bothering him or he was upset. Dang it, now he had to do something about that.

"Hey," Tony said, drawing Peter's attention to him. Peter looked up and Tony noticed his eyes were a little glassy. His own eyes began to get a little wetter than he wanted and his nose tingled. "You'll be okay, Peter," he promised, drawing Peter back in for another hug. Peter hugged him tighter than before and buried his face in Tony's shoulder.

"I'm okay," Peter said. He didn't make any move to pull away, though, but Tony didn't want him to anyway.

"I know," Tony replied, blinking his own tears away. "I'll be back tomorrow with your laptop. May and I will come down every weekend and stay in that apartment I bought. It's gonna be okay, kid."

"Okay," Peter said. Slowly, he pulled away and sniffled. "Bye, Mr. Stark."

"See you later, kid," Tony replied. He turned away and walked out of the room, waving back at the boys as he shut the dorm door to follow May and the Leeds outside to the taxi. He wiped a stray tear away as he hurried down the stairwell, promising himself everything would be okay even if Peter was no longer in New York. Maybe he'd have to come down more often than just weekends.