So, all of us in this beautiful little corner of fandom love fluff about Tony deciding he wants a baby and Peter being the best older brother anyone could wish for and wholesome family feelings.
One day (a while after the while Thanos fiasco, maybe a few month, when everything is mostly back to normal but some days there's still that weird phantom pain) Tony pulls Peter aside and tells him that Pepper is pregnant
He wanted Peter to be one of the first to know, before any speculation even has the chance to pop up in the media
Peter has never seen him smile so brightly
So he grins back, pretty convincingly, and he tries so so hard to be happy for Tony and Pepper and he's mostly successful
It's difficult though because Peter isn't stupid and he knows how much people's priorities shift when they have a child
(He was able to observe it from like the second row when Ned's older sister had her daughter and in the quiet hours before dawn when it's easy to share secrets, Ned confessed how much he missed spending time just the two siblings)
(He wasn't able to observe it he himself first stepped into Tony's life and he started spending half his time watching the Baby Monitor Protocol footage and devising new safety features of the suit)
(If he had been able to observe that change maybe he wouldn't be so worried now; but he hasn't)
So Peter knows he's about to lose the one father figure he has left in his life to that guy being an actual father and they won't be spending as much time together in the lab or for rare movie nights and that sucks
But it isn't like he had any claim on Tony in the first place (is it?)
When he gets home that night he's feeling angry and resentful and then the next morning he's feeling guilty about feeling angry and resentful and from there it kind of oscillates back and forth
He doesn't talk about it really, only a little bit to Ned who won't tell, but he's saying 'Mr Stark' more and 'Tony' less again and he isn't rambling 100 words per second at May about the amazing projects he's working on with Tony and they both notice
So the next time Peter arrives at the compound Pepper is there to ask him if he'd be okay with cutting the lab time short to accompany her and Tony on their quest to buy baby clothes and toys for the nursery
("you can pick out Baby's first plushie - your choice but I know that Tony would love for it to be Spider-Man")
That's when he starts to think this might be a good thing for him
After that, Pepper and Tony keep involving him in stuff
("Peter, sweetheart, can you help me decide between these mobiles for the nursery?")
("Hey, kid, you used to be a child not too long ago. Would you have wanted glowing stars on the ceiling or glowing superheroes?")
It's nice, but it doesn't quite make the worry stop
That doesn't happen before one day Peter is sitting in English class and his phone rings even though he's certain he put it on silent
It's Tony and he's frantic saying something about how Pepper is having the baby and Happy being on his way to pick Peter up from school
When he arrives in the ridiculously fancy hospital room there's no one there except for him and the little family and Happy standing in the doorway looking ready to kill anyone trying to enter with bad intentions
Pepper looks tired but happy and Tony is watching the tiny bundle in his arms with an expression of absolute unguarded awe
(Peter doesn't know that he had that exact expression nearly a year back, when Thanos' snap was reversed and he first layed eyes on Peter after months of fighting)
He feels like an intruder but then Tony looks up at him and grins and gently gives the infant into Peter's arms - she's so tiny, Peter refuses to believe he could ever have been this small and vulnerable
"Remember this face, little one. Peter's important. You'll probably annoy him to no end before long, but you can trust him to always be there for you."
He pulls Peter (who is trying and failing to pretend he isn't choking up) into a one armed hug. "Because that's how this family is going to work."
The word "brother" isn't spoken aloud - just like "dad" and "son" have never been - but the meaning is clear
That is when Peter understands
(And of course from then on between babysitting and family movie nights and shared milestones and "men time" afternoons and "But I want Peter to read my story" there's no time or room to doubt that Peter is part of this family, Peter is loved, Peter is irreplaceable)
Let it be known that I am currently trying and failing to finish writing a completely different WIP and then this happened. I wholeheartedly blame @parkrstark who doesn't even know me but is responsible for putting the specific posts that triggered this on my dash.
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