Chapter summary:

"May, I'm home! Tony says he'll send Happy."

"Okay! How was the field trip?"

"Not so bad, but I'm glad it's a holiday."

Or, it's Christmas, and the Parkers spend them in the Tower with Tony and Pepper.

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"You know Tony isn't going to keep our secret Santa agreement, right?" Peter asked when May and he were in the elevator.

"Pepper promised to keep it," she said with a small smile.

"Yeah, but you know Tony, the fact that he was crouching on my birthday doesn't mean he'll do it every time."

"If that's just what he told me, it's not that bad. He's a billionaire, we can't re-educate him, but he listens to me quite well. And he definitely listens to Pepper."

"So he won't keep it."

"Well, no," May said, remembering the conversation they had a month ago.

"So, I've been thinking about Christmas, and I'm happy to accept your invitation, but I have a little request," May said as she came to the Tower for dinner and waited for Peter to return from patrol.

"You know you can ask us anything," Tony said, excited about May and Peter celebrating Christmas with them.

"You did great on Peter's birthday, and I thought, how about we make a secret Santa?"

"Oh, come on, May, aren't you going to let us spoil you?" Tony groaned and Pepper laughed.

"It's a great idea, May," Pepper said.

"Honey, have you forgotten something?" Tony asked, and Pepper gave him a frown.

"No?"

"I'm sorry, May, but I can't accept this deal because I already have a gift for Peter," he said, and Pepper gave him a surprised look.

"Then you can be his secret Santa," May said simply.

"Tony, please tell me you didn't. You know what? I can't even say I'm surprised you did," Pepper cried.

"What are you talking about?" May asked confusedly.

"Maybe or maybe not, I made a special room for Peter here in the Tower, full of the latest lego," Tony explained.

"Okay, you know what I don't want to know," May laughed.

"We can still make a secret Santa because let's be honest. Tony would think of something anyway, and we wouldn't stop him. So it'll be a secret Santa plus a lego room," Pepper said, and May agreed.

"Plus a new suit," Tony interjected.

"Yeah, okay, the suit keeps him alive, so I'm definitely not going to stop you," May said.

"Here they are!" Tony greeted them as soon as they got out of the elevator.

"Hi, thank you for sending Happy. I hate driving in this weather."

"That goes without saying, May. I thought we were going to the lab before our family movie night, Pete, but I learned you had gingerbread baking with Pepper on the program. Careful, kid, we want you to be another genius like me and not a chef like Gordon Ramsay," Tony joked, and Peter grinned.

"Just leave him, he must know other things to survive than only how to make a web," May laughed.

"Well, Pep's in the kitchen, in the meantime, I'll show May her room and entertain her with my great company."

Peter left them and went to the kitchen to see Pepper. He was a little scared. He knew Tony and May would discuss what had happened today. Maybe Pepper will discuss it with him.

"Hi, Pep," he said as he reached the kitchen.

"Hi, Pete, you were a little late, so I started without you to make it. One plate is already in the oven, but I have prepared the dough so you can start cutting straight away," she said, giving him a quick kiss in his hair as usual when they saw each other.

Peter picked up a snowman form and began to cut. Meanwhile, Pepper was washing the dishes and was strangely quiet.

"Are you mad at me?" he asked.

"Well, I don't know. Probably not, but I'm definitely not happy that you didn't tell me anything. Why would you like this? If he ever insults you again, you tell me, you understand? And I mean it."

"Okay, I'll tell you."

"Good, because you should know that Tony made a deal with your friends, and they'll tell us every time," she said with a winning smile.

"What?! You can't be serious."

"We are very serious. If you didn't keep it to yourself, we wouldn't have to do it," she explained, and Peter sighed. He knew it wasn't worth talking about it now. After Christmas, he would have to talk to MJ and Ned.

"Fine. Got another plate? I'm done," he said, changing the subject.

"Behind you in the cupboard. Put the baking paper on it before you put the gingerbread there."

"How are you doing here?" May asked, suddenly appearing in the kitchen.

"Oh, hi, May. We're doing fine. Where's Tony?"

"He went to order a pizza for the movies. Would you have a moment?"

"Yeah, okay. Peter, you can start frosting and take the plate out of the oven in five minutes, okay?" she commanded lightly, and when Peter nodded, she and May disappeared from the kitchen.

"First, I'd like to thank you for what you and Tony did today. Peter never mentioned..." she sighed as they entered Pepper's office.

"He didn't even tell us, we figured out, thanks to the interns he works with. It's done, I just hope we have not crossed the line. I know Peter is your nephew."

"Don't be a fool! I'm glad he has you."

"I guess it wasn't all you wanted to talk to me about, was it?" Pepper asked.

"No, and I don't know just how to put it, so I guess I'll just say it straight. I'd like you to be Peter's second guardian. Better to say, Tony and you. Both of you."

"May, wow, I... I think there will be no problem, but are you sure?"

"Yeah, who else should it be? I know you love him as if he were your son and that is respectable," she explained, and Pepper tried to hold back the tears in her eyes.

"May, you must know we're not trying to take him from you."

"That's what I know, Pepper. I'm really glad he has you. I'm his aunt. I was and I will. Did you know he once called you mom?" she asked, and Pepper sobbed.

"I had no idea," she said with a smile on her face. She had never presented herself as a maternal type, but she had taken Peter as her son from the very beginning.

"I can say he sees you as parents. And I couldn't be calmer and happier that it's you guys. Especially at the moment," she said, and Pepper frowned slightly.

"What do you mean?"

"So it turns out I have cancer. Lung cancer. In people with lung cancer, symptoms do not always occur until the condition has reached a later stage."

"Okay. Yeah, we can fix it. We know the best doctors. It won't be a problem—"

"Pepper."

"We're not just giving up. It'll be all right. You know what? I'll call them now," she murmured, reaching for the phone, but May prevented her.

"Pepper, it's done. We won't do anything about it."

"How can you be so calm?" she asked with a cry.

"Because someone must be. And I'll see Ben again. You'll be all right. You're a family."

"You're family, too," she sobbed.

"I know. And I'm sorry I gave you such a burden, but you can't tell anyone about it. Especially not Peter. You're the only one who knows."

"May," she sighed.

"Don't cry. It doesn't suit you, Miss Potts," she said with a small smile, wiping a few of her own disobedient tears running down her cheeks.

"You can't tell me something like that and don't expect me to cry."

"I know, I'm sorry. Just promise me you'll take care of my nephew."

"Of course we will take care of him. If you let us, we can take care of you too, May. It doesn't have to end up like this."

"I've been thinking about it. But it's really late, Pepper. Do you think I want to go? I don't want to, but I have no choice in this. I won't spend my last days in the hospital, I want to spend them with Peter and you guys. With my family."

"Yeah, okay, fine, we can do that. But you have to tell the boys."

"I will. I will tell them after Christmas."

"I think I just need a minute to get back down and act like nothing's different," she said, taking a deep breath.

"Of course. I'll go see how the gingerbreads are, even though we both know I'm more of a nuisance than a help in the kitchen," she said with a small smile, leaving Pepper alone in the office.

"Merry Christmas," Pepper muttered to herself before she completely broke down.

***

Please don't hate me, please don't kill me