After Pepper had sufficiently gotten Tony to stop smiling like an idiot, she asked that they keep it a secret for now. There was always the chance of a miscarriage, and she had only known she was pregnant for about a month now. Tony agreed with enthusiasm and swept his wife into a hug.

"I have an appointment later this afternoon, do you want to come?"

And that's how the two ended up sitting in the doctor's office, waiting to get their first ultrasound. They were also waiting to get some testing done, the best money could buy. They wanted to know everything was going to be perfect for their baby.

"Mr. and Mrs. Stark?"

The two made their way to the back, following a nurse to their room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter woke up in dead silence. He blinked, shaking the last remnants of a headache away. He noticed his pajamas, and furrowed his brow softly. When had he gotten changed?

He stumbled out of his room, walking down the hall. It was nearly 4 o'clock. Jesus, how long had he been out?

He rubbed some sleep out of his eyes and blinked. His parents weren't in the kitchen, but Bucky was. Peter pushed his way into the man's arms, snuggling into his chest.

"Hey, bud. I heard today was kinda rough," Bucky's voice was soft and concerned. Peter only nodded, so Bucky rubbed his back a bit. "Wanna sit and talk about it?"

The two made their way to the couch, Peter sitting close to Bucky and pulling a blanket over himself. Bucky absentmindedly ran his fingers through Peter's curls.

"It was just really loud. Everyone at school normally ignores me, but today they were all staring at me. And whispering, but I could hear them so clearly. It was just too much to handle all at once and then the sub in Chem was so annoying and talked really high pitched and asked me questions. But it was the bell that ultimately did it. And then I couldn't see anything and it just felt like my head was splitting open."

Bucky nodded. "Kinda sounds like everyone is still trying to get used to the idea of you being so damn cool at school."

"Thanks, Uncle Bucky," Peter scoffed.

"No, I just mean... Peter you are the coolest kid I know. Here in the Tower, you're the smartest of all of us, and you're so kind and really fit and we love you. And you keep all of that hidden away when you are at school, so no one was expecting it to come out so quickly."

Peter smiled. "Alright, whatever. You've redeemed yourself."

The older man pulled Peter in for a hug, and the younger one gladly accepted the affection. "It's getting kinda late for dinner."

"Agreed, you wanna make something with me?"

"Yeah, alright," Peter smiled. The two got up, making their way to the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Voila!"

Bucky and Peter set a massive platter of tacos on the table. Everyone started grabbing for them, happily crunching away. Tony and Pepper still weren't back, though no one knew where they were.

"Mr. and Mrs. Stark have arrived," FRIDAY's voice said suddenly. "They will be joining you all momentarily."

Sure enough, the happy couple came spilling out of the elevator a minute later, both laughing and carrying a bag from the mall.

"Oh! Dinner!" Tony rushed over, throwing his keys onto the table by the elevator and grabbing a taco.

Pepper kicked off her heels and came to stand behind Peter's chair. She brushed his hair back with his hands. "How are you feeling, Bambi?"

"Much better, thanks," the teen replied. "Where were you all?"

Something about Peter's spider sense was going off. It wasn't something bad or dangerous, just.. off. Something was coming.

"We went to the mall and ran a few-"

"Woah, my spider sense is going crazy," Peter cut her off and stood up. The rest of the family tensed, waiting for something to happen. "Its not something dangerous, but it is important."

Tony smirked. "Yeah, yeah, kid. Give it some time and you'll find out eventually."

"You might as well tell them now," Pepper laughed.

"Alright," Sam interrupted. "What's going on?"

"I'm pregnant."

The whole room went quiet. Then exploded into celebration.

"Really?"

"Congrats!"

"Do you know if it's a boy or a girl yet?"

"Yes, actually," Pepper said.

"A little boy," Tony smiled. Normally, it would be impossible to know this early, but then again. The two Starks had gotten the best possible testing done.

Peter stayed quiet for most of it. He had said Saturday night he wouldn't mind a little sibling. But this... this was happening fast. And soon enough there would be a little kid, a lot cuter than Peter, running around the Tower. And it would be Pepper and Tony's real child. Their biological heir.

"Congrats!" He gave his parents a hug, then said he had a lot of homework to do and went to his room.

Natasha knocked not 5 minutes later. Peter sniffled, hoping she wouldn't be able to tell he was upset, and grabbed a random book off his desk to look like he was working.

"Petya?" Her voice was laced with concern. "What's up? Besides lying about homework?"

Peter's eyes shot up.

"You came home early today, you didn't have anything assigned."

"I-" Peter took a deep breath. "I am really happy for Mom and Dad. But I'm also scared. I want them to be happy and I want a little brother, but... this is happening really fast. And it'll be their biological child. What if he gets here and they like him more than the orphan they picked up from the streets and have been stuck with ever since? What if I'm not good enough?"

"That won't happen, Peter. Your parents love you. More than they love each other. You are always going to be their son, through and through, I promise. You mean so much to them, Peter, I wish you could see that," she sighed. "I think you should talk to them about this, okay? They deserve to know what you are feeling."

She got up, walking to the door and opening it to reveal a very concerned looking Pepper and Tony. They came in as Natasha disappeared around the corner.

"Hey, babe, we wanted to talk to you," Pepper whispered, sitting close to Peter on his bed.

"We wanted to talk about this... change. I know it's weird. Having a little brother isn't going to be easy, but-"

"Will you still love me as much?" Peter's question stopped Tony in his tracks and he and Pepper exchanged looks.

"Peter, we will never stop loving you as much as we do right now. You are our son! Our favorite son, though you can't tell the other one when he gets here. I promise, nothing will change. Not ever," Tony said, the fierceness in his eyes coming from the heart. The two adults enveloped Peter in a hug, and he finally breathed.

They loved him and nothing, not even a new baby, could change that.