Chapter Text
Ever since Thor had returned, it was no secret in the tower who Peter was totally in awe of. Tony swore he could practically see the stars in the boy’s eyes whenever the large god spoke. It didn’t matter if he was talking about joining them on a mission or suggesting that they eat dinner. Peter was in awe.
Steve grumbled because once Peter found out that “the real life Thor” loved Pop Tarts, he refused to eat anything else for breakfast. “Come on, buddy, at least have some fruit with them.” Steve wheedled.
“Uncle Thor can eat an entire box of Pop Tarts just for a snack!” Peter recited.
Steve groaned. “Your teeth are going to rot out of your head with all that sugar.”
“But Uncle Thor has perfect teeth that bite through even the toughest of meats.” Peter argued, unmoved.
Tony rolled his eyes. “Did the big oaf tell you that, Petey? He’s probably exaggerating.”
“I am Weapon.” Peter glared at Tony who scoffed. He didn’t push it, but sleepy Peter always let him call him Petey when they were cuddling. Whenever he tried when Peter was fully awake though, the boy still protested. “Uncle Thor would never lie. It is unbecoming of a warrior.”
“You know what else is unbecoming of a warrior, kid? Being a pain in the –“ Tony’s voice was muffled by Steve’s hand covering his mouth. Steve grimaced and pulled his hand back when Tony licked it.
“That is disgusting.” Steve complained, wiping his hands on his pants.
Tony just shrugged and went back to his coffee. Steve sighed. “I swear I’m dealing with two children. Alright, buddy, but if you’re going to eat Pop Tarts every day, you get double vegetables at dinner.”
Peter made a face.
“Uncle Thor always eats his vegetables.” Tony butted in before Peter could argue. That stopped Peter in his tracks. That was true. Thor had an enormous appetite, but he did always eat what was put in front of him, including vegetables.
“Fine.” The boy pouted but bit happily into his breakfast. Tony just shrugged, not really caring either way, but if Steve was happy, he was happy.
Once breakfast was over, Bruce came to the table for Peter’s daily lessons that he was happy to note were progressing nicely. In Bruce’s mind, Peter was an incredibly bright boy. He was moving much more quickly than he had anticipated in order to keep up with the young boy’s bright mind. Steve left to go for his daily run and Tony to his lab.
The two of them worked diligently until Bruce looked over the final paper for the day and wrote a large A at the top before handing it back to Peter. “Excellent work! We might move on to multiplication tomorrow.” Bruce announced with pride.
Peter puffed up his chest. “Can I put this on the refrigerator?”
“I think Tony would be disappointed if we did anything else with it.” Bruce remarked, smiling as the boy hopped up with excitement and ran to find some free space on the appliance that was now overflowing with Peter’s work. One side was completely dedicated to drawings that he mostly did with Steve, but the front Tony insisted was reserved for his school work.
At first Bruce was worried that Tony was setting Peter up for disappointment. Tony had proclaimed loudly that any kid of his was bound to be a genius and should show it. But, to Bruce’s surprise and delight, Peter actually was incredibly intelligent for his age and took Tony’s words to heart. Peter beamed with pleasure each and every time Tony took note of a new A on the refrigerator, even though it happened every single day.
“Alright, let’s head downstairs. Bucky wants to meet you in the play room.” Bruce told Peter who was now bouncing in excitement.
The adults realized quickly that Peter had an endless amount of energy and being cooped up in the tower was not ideal. Tony refurbished an entire level to be a play room. It held anything a kid could dream of from play structures to bikes and skateboards and space to play with a number of different toys. Tony even set up a space on the ceiling with ropes for Peter to climb all over and use his abilities.
When they entered the floor, Bruce waved cheerily as he left Peter with Bucky. “I’ve got a present for you.” Bucky announced.
Peter immediately scrunched his eyes closed and held out his hands. Bucky smiled at the boy and placed a box in his hands. Peter opened his eyes. “A box?” He asked.
“Look inside the box, punk.” Bucky told him pointedly.
Peter opened up the box and looked down at a pair of brand new shoes. Peter wouldn’t admit it, but he was slightly disappointed. So far, every time he had gotten a present from one of the Avengers it had been exciting. Peter already had shoes in his closet. He didn’t know why Bucky was grinning. “Thanks.” Peter said carefully.
“Put ‘em on!” Bucky demanded. Peter sat down and quickly popped off his other shoes and put on his new ones. Immediately, his eyes widened in excitement.
“What is that?” He asked, poking at the shoes carefully.
Bucky looked down at him knowingly. “Go on, try ‘em out. Run a little.”
Peter stood up and practically squealed with glee as with each step his took, his shoes lit up. “It’s like I’ve got lightning just like Uncle Thor!” Peter announced proudly.
“Sure thing, kid.” Bucky agreed.
Bucky’s face broke out into a large grin that he didn’t even try to hide when Peter ran up to him and hurled himself into a hug and told him happily, “Thanks, Papa!”
“Papa?”
“Well, you take care of me. I’m yours, right?” Peter asked, cocking his head to the side to determine Bucky’s reaction.
Bucky’s heart swelled. “Right.” He agreed easily. Peter nodded and hopped down gracefully, then continued running around, literally bouncing off the walls and shrieking in delight every time his shoes lit up. Bucky watched as Peter ran around the room admiring his shoes, seemingly not growing tired of the novelty with a sense of pride and love.
That night, Steve went to get Peter for dinner. He pushed the door to Peter’s room open gently and smiled at the sight in front of him. Peter was stomping around his room, lighting up his shoes. He had wrapped a towel around his neck and was waving around a meat tenderizer. Peter paused when he noticed Steve watching him, blushing a little.
“Oh, sorry, Thor. I was looking for Peter.” Steve said to the small boy.
Peter beamed and didn’t even correct Steve on his name. “Pops! It’s me! I’m not Thor!”
Steve put his hand to his chin. “What? No! That’s not possible. I’m looking for a boy who can stick to walls, not the god of thunder.”
Peter giggled and hopped up on the ceiling, his towel dangling below him. “It’s me! I promise it’s me!”
“What? I could have sworn you were Thor!” Steve acted surprised. “Why don’t you come down so we can eat dinner? I bet your Uncle Thor will be there.”
“Okay!” Peter chirped, dropping to the floor.
“Those are some cool shoes, bud.” Steve told him as Peter put the meat tenderizer down so he could hold Steve’s hand on the way to dinner.
“Papa got them for me! Now I’ve got lightning like Uncle Thor!” Peter gushed.
Steve’s brow furrowed. “Papa? I thought you called Tony Dad?”
Peter looked up at Steve with annoyance, as if he was being purposely slow. “I do. Papa is Bucky.”
Steve blinked a bit at that information but shook off his surprise. Peter was adjusting better each day. If he wanted to call Bucky Papa, Steve was all for it. It was one more step to Peter moving past his time with HYDRA.
Peter let go of Steve’s hand to rush to the chair next to Thor’s side. “You look quite dashing, young warrior.” Thor praised.
Peter beamed. Steve smiled and looked on happily at their growing family. He couldn’t ask for much more than this.