Scratch that, the coffee was horrible.

About fifteen minutes and a dead phone later, Peter and Ned had decided to risk the coffee. The machine had dragged its metaphorical feet for almost ten minutes making a single cup of coffee since it was one of those Keurigs and just had a refillable cup thing to put the coffee in. Ned had groaned and gone back to his seat after a while, getting a few minutes of playing Pokemon Go out of his phone battery. He was still a loyal Instinct player, and the hospital -as morbid as it was- had a Pokestop and a Gym.

After the machine had finally stopped making weird noises Peter deemed it safe enough to remove the styrofoam cup. It was then that the teen noticed that there were only packets of sugar, and it wasn't even real sugar. He put a few in before facing the brown liquid with fully believing that he was going to keel over dead after taking a sip. But he'd already committed to it, and Ned was watching in curiosity. Peter's face scrunched as he held the small cup up to his lips. With very, very low expectations, the teen took a sip.

Instantly Peter spit the coffee back into the cup. Not because it tasted bad, but because it was still practically boiling. Peter could feel his taste buds burning off as he practically threw the cup down and took off for the bathroom on the opposite side of the hallway as the waiting room. The teen ran the water without even bothering to turn on the lights and used his cupped hands to dump ice-cold water into his mouth to stop the burning.

"You okay dude?" Ned asked from outside the bathroom. Peter hadn't even bothered to close the door and just shot Ned a thumbs up as he looked through bleary eyes for paper towels since his face was covered in water.

"I'm fine, just an idiot," Peter said. He found a plastic handle and when he pressed down on it he could hear the paper towels. He grabbed a few and wiped off his face.

"You're not an idiot, Peter. Just a bit stupid," Ned insulted playfully.

"And you're one to talk," Peter retorted and stuck his tongue out at his friend. It was all just a joke, after all.

"Easy for you to say with a burnt tongue." Replied Ned. Peter rolled up the paper towel before walking back into the waiting room. He yeeted the paper towel at Ned before plopping down in the seat next to him.

"I gotta admit, that was a good one," Peter held his hand up for a high-five and Ned, surprisingly, didn't leave him hanging. With that distraction gone, and the remains of it thrown into the trash a few minutes later, the pair were left to sit in silence. The boredom that had made them resort to watching Spongebob reruns was cut short when Tony entered the room.

The billionaire looked a bit worse for wear, but was in a much better state than he was in earlier. It'd only been 40 minutes but his hair had had time to dry and he must've gotten a moment to brush it back into a semi-presentable state. He looked generally calmer as well, but there was still a buzz of energy going around him, perhaps just because of the circumstances.

"Hey," He greeted, holding the door open.

"You guys wanna see Pepper?" He asked. Peter immediately stood up but turned to Ned when he didn't stand.

"You go on without me, I'll stay out here," Ned said dismissively. Peter levelled him a glare. He could tell that his best friend was embarrassed and probably felt like he was overstepping some boundary that he'd made up in his own head. Sometimes it seemed like, even though he was an amazing person and Peter was definitely better for being his friend, Ned just couldn't get it through that thick skull of his that he was wanted. That people liked being around him and wanted him near. Sure, he didn't know Pepper the best, but he was still Peter's best friend and was like a brother to him. Why didn't he get that? Tony spoke before Peter could.

"If you're worried about imposing, don't." He said in that matter-of-fact, Stark way.

"There's a reason I called you up with Peter, so come on," Tony said as though it was the most obvious thing and made a hurrying gesture. Still Ned didn't move so Peter grabbed his arm and dragged the sputtering teenager through the door with a roll of his eyes.

Almost immediately after walking through Peter scrunched up his nose. It smelled horrible. At least, it did to him. The air was saturated with the smell of hand sanitizer, bleach, and just general cleaning supplies. Not to mention that it was a strong smell in the first place. Luckily the sights weren't as disgusting. In fact, everything looked fairly nice. The floors were tile, of course. The walls were painted a light blue, and on one of them was a board like in elementary school classrooms that was covered in pink and blue construction paper and a bunch of babies' names. It was adorable, and it excited Peter to no end that soon a name with the ending of 'Stark' would be put up there with the rest.

The space itself was fairly simply laid out. Straight ahead was a short hallway and another one to the left. On the corner was a nurse's station which was oddly devoid of any people. Peter didn't get very long to take in the sight as Tony headed off down the hallway to the left and the teenagers trailed after him. Somewhere in the distance, a baby cried and the weight of what was actually happening hit Peter like a freight train.

They were at a hospital, not for a bad reason for the first time. Sometime that very day Pepper would give birth, and he was here to actually experience it. He was going to be present as his, Pepper's, and Tony's lives changed. There was going to be a baby around the penthouse, an adorable little infant. He'd have a sibling! It was surreal to think about that, after a decade of thinking he'd never have one.

The trio entered a room. Up against the centre of the left wall was a hospital bed, and in it laid Pepper. She was sitting up in the bed, leaning against a pile of pillows behind her. She looked to be in a lot less pain than she had been before, which Peter was glad for. He felt almost guilty for her going through this whole ordeal for something he'd benefit from, but he was determined to help her any way he could after the baby was born. She had Tony to help her now, but Peter was going to do everything he could to help her feel better and get a rest after it was over.

"How're you doing?" Peter asked as he walked over to the bed. Tony had already taken the chair right next to it so he stood behind Tony. Ned went over to sit on the loveseat by the window, probably feeling again like he wasn't supposed to be there. There was only so much Peter could do to change his mind, so he left Ned be.

"A lot better, but I can't wait for this all to be over with." Pepper said in an exhausted tone.

"The nurse said it'll probably be another two hours or so before she's ready," Tony added. He reached out for Pepper's hand and held it. Tony nodded in response, but inside he felt as exhausted as Pepper looked. He wasn't in the mood to just sit around for so long. But for about a half an hour Peter muddled through the wait, watching Pepper half the time and watching the tv the other half.

But as Peter was waiting, something happened.

As normal Peter's senses started to go off. He'd gotten used to it after a while and always paid extra attention to Pepper while it happened. However, this time was different. Tony reacted to Pepper's contraction more pankickedly than normal and pressed the button to call the nurse. Peter didn't completely understand as the nurse, Peter learned her name was Sarah, came to Pepper's aid. Words were spoken and like magic another nurse appeared -his ID said Matthew- and started talking to Pepper and Tony. Things began to go by in a blur and suddenly Peter found himself and Ned being pushed out of the room, being told to go to the waiting room until Tony came and got them.

Peter was no idiot, and he knew that was not meant to be there and did not want to be there when Pepper gave birth. So he and Ned left the room in a hurry and even though they were in no rush to wait, even more, they went to the waiting room. Its name was far too fitting.

"I can't wait to see the baby," Ned said with a smile as they sat down in the same seats as before. Ned being there must've counteracted Peter's Parker Luck because they were still the only people in the room.

"I'm excited too, but I hate waiting," Peter huffed as he collapsed into the seat.

"Well, maybe we don't have to wait here the entire time," Ned said with a smile that just screamed he had an idea.

"What are you planning?"

After definitely not getting lost, Peter and Ned found themselves in the hospital's gift shop. The entire left wall of the rectangular room was covered in baby stuff. Anything from onesies to balloons could be found, and much more. The entire wall seemed to be separated into boy's and girl's stuff, which frustrated Peter to no end.

"Do they expect everyone to know the gender first?" He huffed.

"Maybe they just don't expect people to shop before the baby's born," Ned shrugged and wandered over to the toy section. The pair of boys awed at the adorable little blankets and hats. Suddenly Peter gasped and saw some baby stuff that, very ironically, seemed to be Avengers themed.

"Ned!" Peter called for his friend's attention as he kneeled to look through the beanies. There was Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Black Panther, and even a Hulk! Peter was honestly surprised how many they had, seeing as the gift shop was fairly small. Even as he looked through the box the boy couldn't find what he was looking for, though.

"Look at this Peter," Ned interrupted the search with two beanies in his hands.

Peter gasped when he saw the little hats and reached to take them from Ned. An Iron Man and Spider-Man hat looked back at him. Peter's grin stretched from ear to ear as they stood.

"Thanks Ned," Peter said in genuine gratitude. That was just what he was looking for.

"Oh, it's nothing. Certainly not anything worth a chocolate bar," Ned added as a side-comment, and at the mere mention of food Peter's stomach rumbled. They hadn't had lunch, and the clock was nearing 1 in the afternoon.

"I hear you, Ned," Peter nodded.

Fifteen minutes later and the pair of friends left with quite a bit more than they'd arrived with. Ned carried a medium-sized, yellow gift bag with a "congrats" balloon trailing after him. Inside was the beanies, a bar of chocolate for Pepper, and a stuffed animal blanket thing that looked like a monkey and Ned had insisted on. Peter was carrying three bottles of Pepsi, two candy-bars, and two small bags of chips. Even with just the few things they'd gotten Peter's wallet was significantly lighter. That wasn't very big of a deal, however, and Peter was glad he'd brought it. Not to mention he was fairly certain Tony would be glad for the drink.

Peter and Ned somehow managed not to get lost on their way back to the waiting room, a miracle, and had just sat down when the door opened and a familiar figure stepped out with a broad, yet tired, grin on his face. Tony didn't even have to say anything and the pair of boys were leaping from their seats.

"Pepper gave birth, and the baby is perfectly healthy," Tony informed.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Peter replied immediately. It'd been itching at him since the moment he and Ned had stepped into the gift shop. Tony only grinned conspiratorially and made a 'follow me' motion with his hand. A glare was sent Tony's way but the teens followed anyway.

The lights in Pepper's room had been dimmed. In the bed still laid Pepper herself. However, there was something new. Peter could hear quiet breathing from the figure curled up against Pepper's chest. Pepper herself looked absolutely exhausted but was looking down at the adorable bundle with pure adoration on her face. Her gaze only moved when they walked in.

"Hey boys," She greeted.

"Isn't she adorable?" Asked Pepper with a cheeky grin that Peter couldn't help but copy.

AN: So uh, have fun with this! I'm thinking of ending it here, so let me know if you want more!