Closer Than You Think

18

3rd POV

"Mr. Stark, why are you crying?" Peter asked when he entered his room.

"Peter, this bear, who gave it to you?" Tony asked, even though the bear was proof enough he wanted to be one hundred percent sure that Peter was his son.

"I don't remember, " Peter said truthfully. He always had the bear for as long as he could remember, he never bothered asking who gave it to him.

"How long did you have it?" Tony asked.

"I don't know, since I was five or something, what's with all the questions Mr. Stark?" Peter asked confusedly.

''Do you have any photo albums from your childhood like before you were five?" Tony continued with his questions.

"Actually no I don't, my parents said that it got destroyed, out house caught on fire when I was younger so we had to move," Peter explained he was wondering why Tony was asking so many random questions.

Tony pointed to the message on the bear's foot,"This is my handwriting,"

Suddenly something clicked in Peter's brain, it was like the memories that he was forced to pushed out of his brain came back to him all of a sudden.

"Don't go," five year old Peter said with a pout as Tony was about to go on a mission, well to Peter it was a business trip.

"I'll be back soon," Tony said with a sad smile, he knew that Peter was upset.

"But I'll miss you," Peter said with a pout and stomped his little foot on the ground.

"I  have something for you," he said and held out a stuffed toy to Peter.

"I don't want a toy. I want you to stay with me," Peter said pouting even more.

"I know my little monkey, I want to stay with you too, but sometimes we will have to be apart, whenever you miss me, you can hug this bear, it will be like I'm  right there with you," Tony said.

Peter nodded and took the bear.

"Thank you daddy, I love you," Peter said.

"I love you too, don't ever forget that, I even had it written on your bear," Tony said and showed him a message that was inscribed on the bear foot.

Peter's tears started falling as he remembered everything. He remembered how he was kidnapped, how he was forced to accept Mary and Richard as his parents, how he longed for his real family waiting for them to come save him and now his dad, he was right in front of him.

"D-dad," Peter said while looking at Tony.

He immediately engulfed Peter in a hug, "Peter, I missed you so much, trust me when I say that I kept looking for you everyday, I'm sorry that I couldn't find you,"

Peter knew how much his parents missed him, he saw how miserable they were without him, how guilty they felt for not finding him. His family loved him a lot and he knew it, even though he wasn't found earlier, he was with his dad now, his greatest wish was finally fulfilled.

He was reunited with his family, as a kid, he realized that there wasn't much hope for him to be found. He had to accept Mary and Richard as his mom and dad if he wanted to get food, and sleep on a bed instead of a closet.