A/N: You don't understand how happy your reviews, follows, and favourites made me! This is my most popular story ever, and my second has over a dozen chapters! Thank you!
Chapter Summary: Pepper asks a favour of Peter
Peter was happy for the first time in weeks.
Not the "faking your smile because if you stop you might cry" happy, or the "if I act like I'm fine maybe I'll actually be fine" happy, but the genuine feeling that Peter had missed for too long.
The sun was shining brighter, and when Ned asked if he wanted to come over to his place to see the new Star Wars movie (it came out while they were dusted), Peter agreed.
And that's how he found himself running home to pack before the sleepover in a few hours.
He knocked on the apartment door before unlocking it. "Aunt May? I'm home!" He called, kicking his shoes off and headed for the kitchen for a snack.
"Hey Peter." He turned and saw Aunt May smile. She went up and hugged him. "How was school today?"
Most teenagers would just shrug their guardian off, but not Peter; she was all he had left. He hugged her back tightly. "It was good. Did you get my text about Ned?"
May let go of him and grinned. "Yes, and of course you can go. I'm so happy you're finally getting out of the house." She turned around and started rummaging through the cupboards. "You want me to make you something? I've gotten better at baking after five ye—"
"NO I'M GOOD!" Peter interrupted quickly. According to Happy at the funeral, May's cooking had definitely not gotten better. "We're eating at Ned's."
May rolled her eyes. "That is definitely a lie, Peter Parker." But she was smiling as she went over to kiss Peter's forehead. "You go get changed. We can pick something up on the way."
Peter nodded and went to his room, actually excited for the first time in weeks.
He was just putting his on when his phone started going off.
Quickly pulling the shirt over head, he grabbed his phone and looked to see who was calling him.
When he checked the caller ID, Peter furrowed his brow, confused.
"Why is Ms. Potts calling me?" He muttered as he answered the phone. "Hello?"
"Oh, thank god you answered." Sighed Pepper in relief.
"Listen, I wouldn't be contacting you unless it was urgent, since I know how much you've been grieving. But you see I really need a babysitter because Happy got called and it was an emergency, and I have a meeting for the future of Stark Industries—"
"Wait Ms. Potts." Interrupted Peter. "A babysitter? Couldn't you just find one of the best ones in the state?"
Peter heard Pepper chuckle. "Yes, I could do that Peter. However, I tried to hire a nanny last week and Morgan almost burnt the house down—"
"I'm sorry what?" Peter's voice cracked.
"—but she's been asking to see you since the funeral. I didn't want to bug you, since distancing you from us would likely be the best thing for you, but I just needed to ask anyways."
Peter wanted to say no.
Peter wanted to act like a normal kid again; he wanted to go fanboy over Star Wars with his best friend and talk about girls who will never like them back.
But when he thought about what that little girl must be going through, alone and scared, he made a decision.
"Yeah, I'll come. What time? And would it be okay if I left by nine?" He asked. At least that way I don't need to completely cancel on Ned. He thought to himself.
"Thank you, Peter. Would an hour be okay? I'll send a car to pick you up at 4:30."
"Sounds good." With that he hung up the phone and dialled his friend's number.
Ned was surprisingly understanding.
"Stop apologizing man." Ned said. "It's nice that you're helping the kid. Mr Stark would be proud."
Peter felt a lump form in his throat. "Yeah, he would be."
"Anyways, text me if you end up not being able to come over tonight, we have the entire weekend." Finished Ned.
"Sounds good. See you later."
"You too"
Peter hung up and set his phone down, sighing.
This was going to be a long night.
0o0
o0o0o0o
After an awkward ride to the Stark house with a terrifying bodyguard (her name was Rosie, but Peter wouldn't be fooled; Wanda seemed like a regular teenager until he saw her almost kill Thanos singlehandedly) Peter knocked on the door.
He sucked in a breath as he waited for someone to answer the door. Every time he thinks of the funeral, the same sentence always repeats in his head,
Tony might be alive if you had snapped
…And that usually leads to a crying session.
For Spider-Man, universe hero, he was a real softie.
The sound of someone unlocking the door snapped Peter out of his thought. A few seconds later a tired looking Pepper Potts swung it open, smiling at Peter.
"It's good to see you, Peter." She leaned in for a hug, and Peter hesitantly hugged her back. (God knows she needed it)
She pulled away after a few moments and gestured for Peter to follow her into the house. "She's been acting very moody lately. The therapist says it's just her way of mourning so don't feel bad if she gets out of control and you have to call me." They turned the corner and Peter saw Morgan, sitting at the bottom of the stairs, arms crossed and looking angry.
Pepper turned to Peter and rubbed her temple. "She wouldn't eat her supper and refuses to move from there. I don't want to leave you with her, but this is the first time I'm going to a gala since before and I really shouldn't miss it because the tabloids will be all over that."
Peter grinned at Pepper. "Don't worry about it, Miss Potts. I've dealt with way worse than a grieving 3-year-old. We'll have fun."
Pepper nodded. "Then I'll be off." She walked over to Morgan and kissed the top of her head while Morgan grumbled and pushed Pepper off of her.
Pepper just smiled sadly at her. "I love you baby."
Morgan didn't reply as Pepper walked out the door.
After she was gone Peter went and kneeled in front of Morgan so he was eye level with her. "Why didn't you eat your supper?" He asked.
Morgan glared at him. "Mommy doesn't cook like daddy."
At the mention of Tony Peter felt like he ad just got punched in the gut, but he couldn't think about that right now. "But your mom is so good at cooking, Morgan."
Surprisingly, she nodded. "I miss Daddy's burnt food."
If possible, that hit Peter even harder.
"What if we ordered something?" Offered Peter. "Do you like pizza?"
She shook her head. "I like burgers."
Peter snorted. "McDonald's it is."
After placing the order, Peter turned back to Morgan, who was now frowning instead of glaring (Peter saw that as a plus).
"What do you want to do now?" He asked. "Want to play a board game or something?"
She shrugged. "I don't know."
From his years babysitting the kids in the apartment building, Peter knew that you shouldn't give complaining kids a choice when it came to an activity.
"Well I want to play a board game. Where do you keep yours?" He stood up and looked around before spotting a chess board on the living room coffee table. He turned backed to her. "Do you know how to play chess?"
Morgan nodded. "Yeah, but I'm not very good at it. Daddy always won."
"We'll see about that." Peter bent over and offered his hand to Morgan, which she took.
Peter saw that as a win.
By the time he lost the fifth match, Peter was about to go crazy.
Morgan stared at him with a shit-eating grin on her face. "Checkmate."
"How is this even possible?" Asked Peter as he took his captured pieces from Morgan (which were about 80% of his men). "I thought you said you weren't very good!"
Morgan giggled as she started moving her pieces back to their respective squares. "Or maybe you're just really bad."
Peter knew that wasn't the case; he'd won chess tournaments before. "Or you're just a genius."
Morgan just shrugged. "Another game?"
"Obviously; I have to be able to beat you once." He was about to move his knight (he refused to lose in four moves again) when the doorbell rang.
He stood up from the coffee table and stretched his arms over his head. "That must be the delivery guy. You want to get some plates out for us?"
Morgan nodded and ran passed Peter as he walked to the door.
After Peter paid and tipped the delivery guy, he went back to the kitchen where Morgan was sitting at the island, two places set up for the two.
Peter chuckled. "Thanks Morgan." He placed her burger and fries on the plate in front of her, and then placed her apple juice beside her plate.
After he got his meal set up, Peter was just about to eat a chicken nugget when Morgan started giggling.
"What's so funny?"
"You're drinking orange juice." She said it like it was the funniest joke in the world.
Peter gave her a look. "What's wrong with that?"
"Orange juice is a kid's drink."
Peter rolled his eyes. "What's the point of being a teenager if you can't drink juice?"
Morgan thought for a moment before nodding. "I guess you're right. I don't want to grow up. I want to drink juice and eat juice pops forever."
Peter laughed at that remark. "You're not wrong."
After they finished their meals Peter grabbed the garbage and plates off the island. "While I clean up, why don't you go get yourself ready for bed? After that we can pick out a movie to watch on Netflix."
Peter laughed as Morgan raced upstairs.
After she turned the corner, Peter brought the dishes over to the counter and started rinsing off the plates. After drying them, he reached to out them back on the shelf, but as he was putting them away, a photograph caught his eye.
Placing the dish down, Peter reached for the picture frame, not believing who it as.
It was him and Mr. Stark.
Peter held the picture in his hand, fondly remembering the day it was taken; he couldn't believe he had not only met his idol, but his idol knew him; a random kid from queens.
Peter blinked away the tears that were forming in his eyes. Now was not the time for a breakdown.
He was so focused on the picture that he didn't hear Morgan come up behind him.
"I always wondered who Peter was, ya know." He wiped away his tears and looked at Morgan, who was now in a pair of pink cupcake pajamas and had a stuffed rabbit in her arms. "I knew that daddy blamed himself for your death, but I never knew what happened."
Peter couldn't think of anything to say; when he was this young, he couldn't understand the concept of death, let alone talk to someone else about it.
Peter smiled weakly. "Let's go watch a movie, shall we?"
Morgan nodded. "Can we watch Moana?"
Morgan and Peter were almost done the movie when Peter realized he should call Ned.
He looked to Morgan, who was snuggled into his side and looked like she was about to fall asleep. He nudged her with his shoulder, and Morgan tilted her head to looked up at him with sleep eyes.
"I need to go call my friend. Think you can finish the movie by yourself?"
Morgan just yawned and moved to the other side of the couch, mumbling something Peter couldn't quite hear. Smiling to himself, he dialled Ned and then walked to the kitchen, waiting for his friend to pick up.
Peter waited four rings until his friend answered. "Hello?"
Petr sighed "Hey Ned. I don't think I'll be able to make it tonight. Pepper still isn't back."
Peter was surprised when Ned chuckled; he thought Ned would be disappointed for sure.
"It's fine, Pete. I figured you wouldn't be able to make it there and back in time anyway."
"So you aren't mad?" asked Peter, confused. "I ditched you on our first hang out in forever."
"You actually got out of your apartment today, Peter. There will always be a next time."
A week ago, Peter wouldn't have agreed with Ned on that point, but now he just grinned.
"You're right. We have all the time in the world."
When Peter finished his call and came back to the living room, the credits were rolling, and Morgan was curled up asleep on the couch.
Smiling, he walked over to her and gently picked the little girl up. Peter carried her upstairs to her room and pulled the blankets back before placing her in the bed.
A half-asleep Morgan yawned and pulled the blankets over her, rolling onto her side. "G'night Peter." She mumbled.
"Night Morgan."
When Peter went back downstairs Pepper was in the front hallway, taking off her heels. When she saw him she smiled. "How was she?"
"She was awesome. Beat me at chess way too many times."
Pepper gave him puzzled look. "She was actually civil towards you?" She asked.
Peter gave her a look. "After I offered her something other than the food you made she was—I am so sorry Miss Potts! I didn't mean it like that!"
Pepper laughed. "I know what you meant." She rolled her eyes. "She made you order burgers, right?"
"How did you know?"
Pepper seemed to remember a distant memory as she smiled.
"Like father like daughter."
I apologize for how horribly written this was; I need a beta reader ASAP so PM me if you are interested in the position.
What did you think? I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it.
I don't have any ideas for the next chapter, but please review with some prompts! Want some cameos from other MCU characters? Aged up Peter and Morgan? Some protective! Peter? Feel free to leave a prompt! I love hearing from you guys!