InsaneJournal

In truth, a family is what you make it.

Tony never had a better Christmas morning. Oh, his own childhood holidays were filled with expensive toys and fancy meals, but they lacked the warmth and excitement he experienced with Pepper and the kids that day. Pepper and Tony were generous with the “Santa” gifts, of course, but the morning was about more than the physical items. It was about the happy music playing in the background, the smell of cocoa, the cookies for breakfast, and, most importantly, it was about being together as a family. Tony, however, was still cognizant of the fact that the kids were without their families on an important holiday so he strove to give the best day possible, which included bits of their own family traditions.

He had one surprise left once the last gift was unwrapped and the family dispersed to get ready for a food-filled day. “Pete?” He rapped lightly on the teen’s bedroom door. “Can we go for a walk? I have something to show you.”

Peter glanced up at his door at the sound of the knock, giving Tesla a quick scratch behind the ear. She was definitely getting bigger (either that, or the bed was getting smaller. He was pretty sure it was her, however), not to mention far more well behaved than she had a few months ago. He’d been working with her, and while he doubted he’d ever enter any competitions with her (because that seemed like even more work than he had time for with school and everything), she was definitely smart and enjoyed learning. He gave her a quick hand signal to stay as he stood and walked over to the door.

“Yeah, sure,” he said, curiosity just barely tinting his voice. What Tony had to show him, he didn’t know. Unless it was snowing? Maybe someone had made a squad of Snow Spider-Men? Would anyone even do that? Other than himself, of course. Or had another Spider-Person appeared? Would that really warrant a walk, though? Somehow he doubted it. Still, he was curious.

“One sec,” he said, quickly grabbing his jacket and pulling it on.

“Okay. Ready.” He gave Telsa a wave and smiled at Tony.

“You’ll like it,” Tony, who was already wearing his jacket, promised as Peter stepped out of his room. Or, at least he hoped Peter would like it. Suddenly he felt nervous, like he was overdoing it again. Oh, well, too late. “We have to head a few blocks toward the office,” he added as he opened the door to their apartment and waited for Peter to step out. He’d already told Pepper he and Pete were heading out for a bit.

For a brief second, Peter wondered if it were a car. It didn’t make too much sense, in his mind, to have a car in anything that resembled Manhattan (especially with a bunch of random ostriches running around), but it was the only thing he could think of in the moment as he headed out of the apartment. Maybe Tony had gotten one of his cool cars, and he was letting Peter drive it! It was Christmas, so he doubted the roads would be too bad, even with ostriches hanging out everywhere. And it’d be pretty cool to get to drive one of Tony’s cars. They were pretty sweet. Though why they’d have to go a few blocks toward Stark Industries, he didn’t know. And that made him think maybe it wasn’t a car.

It still could be, he told himself as he said, “Okay! Sounds good to me,” to Tony, giving the man a bright smile.

“And we are here,” Tony announced as they neared the building where most of the labs were kept. “This way.” He stepped up to the door, placed his hand on the DNA imprint and waited for it to open. Once he was cleared, he held the door open for Pete. “C’mon,” he urged. He really couldn’t wait to reveal his surprise; he was worse than a little kid on Christmas!

The fact this thing was in the building and not just in the general direction of it piqued Peter’s curiosity more. It definitely likely wasn’t a car of some kind if it were inside, he reasoned as he headed through the door Tony held open. Was it a new suit? Those were always a lot of fun, even if Goodland didn’t hold the same necessity for a Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man that Queens did (especially with its abundance of superheroes in residence). It didn’t mean he couldn’t be prepared for anything crazy or weird (or terrifying) the Entity threw at them.

If it weren’t a new suit, Peter was stumped. What else could it be? He tried to wrack his brain for ideas as he glanced around the familiar halls of Stark Industries, but he found himself coming up blank. Which was okay, really. It just meant that whatever it was, if it weren’t a suit or car, would be a proper surprise. And Peter liked surprises.

Tony led the way down the hall and stopped in front of a closed door. “Go ahead and place your hand on the DNA box,” he said. “I copied your print from your access to my lab.” He grinned at Peter, wondering if he was catching on.

Peter thought perhaps they were going to work on some new project, through what project couldn’t wait until after Christmas, the teen didn’t know. But it made sense. Tony said he’d imprinted this particular lock with his DNA, and people only kept things locked that they didn’t want others to see. Like secret projects (among, well, other things. Secret things. Things they didn’t want people to know about).

Curious, Peter put his hand on the pad, watched it scan his print, then pushed the door open at the tell-tale sound of unlocking.

Tony was bursting at the seams, but managed to keep his lips sealed for a few more minutes while Peter unlocked the room and stepped inside. “Well?” Tony prompted when they were inside the lab that lit up the minute Peter was indoors. “Do you like it?” The “please, like it,” was evident in his voice, which he hated. Why did the kids make him so damn soft?

Walking further into what appeared to be a lab, Peter slowly looked around. He took in as much as he could, as much as his brain could process (which was a surprising amount, given how he sometimes came off like he didn’t have much of an attention span. Really, he just went from one idea to the next a bit too fast most of the time).

“Yeah, it’s awesome,” he exclaimed, turning to look at Tony with a smile. “Really awesome.”

“It is yours,” Tony replied. “Even I can’t get in unless you let me.” It was the total display of trust from Tony Stark, but, more importantly, the biggest way he knew how to show his affection.

“It is?” Peter said, disbelief in his voice as he looked around the lab again. All of this was for him? It was his?

“I don’t know what to say,” he said, then shook his head. “I mean, I do! Thank you.” Because he had been raised with manners. And he meant it. “This is--I don’t even know! Thank you,” he said again.

“This is so awesome,” he beamed, looking from Tony back to the lab. To his lab.

Tony was pleased that Pete seemed excited about the lab. He knew it couldn’t replace spending the holidays at home with May, but he hoped he was giving him as good a Christmas as possible. “Yeah?” Tony grinned back and held his arms out. “Then I demand a hug.”

“Yeah.”

Grinning, Peter closed the short distance. He wrapped his arms around Tony in a hug, his thoughts briefly flitted to the first time he’d hugged Tony. It hadn’t gone well, had been a horrible, embarrassing misunderstanding on his part. He marveled for a few seconds on that hug back then and where they’d come now. A whole other universe. It almost felt like a completely different Peter. And yet, it still felt the same, in the best way possible. And with more hugging. It almost made him laugh.

“Thank you,” he said again. “And Merry Christmas.”