"This place looks beautiful. How the hell can we afford this?" Carol asks, wide eyes looking around the open living room.

"Three people's salaries can surprisingly do some good," Rhodey explains, following the woman into the kitchen. "Plus, this place is crazy cheap thanks to my sister-in-law. She's a realtor so she got us a good deal."

"This is crazy," Tony agrees, keeping hold of Peter's hand. His son is now almost four years old, starting school, starting kindergarten next month.

It wasn't easy for Tony to get this far. It was a lot of effort and a lot of days where he got pretty close to giving up.

His parents still haven't spoken a word to him since he told them he was keeping Peter. They've been adamant on ignoring him until he 'comes to his senses.' He told them he couldn't care less whether they were in his life or not. He didn't care because he made his own family. He has Peter and Rhodey and Carol. What more could he want?

Obviously, it wasn't easy. It wasn't a walk in the park to get where he is now. It was a lot of work. Between Peter, school, work, and expenses, there were a lot of moments where he wondered if it was worth it to continue like he was.

But then he'd get back to his small apartment and Peter would race up to him with the biggest of smiles, one of the babysitters in tow, and it would show Tony what he was working towards. He'd do anything to give his kid a wonderful childhood.

"Daddy?" Peter squeaks, tugging on Tony's hand with his little one. "Are we going to stay here?"

"Yeah, kiddie. This our home now," Tony says, scooping his kid up into his arms. Peter immediately curls into Tony's shoulder, a little smile touching his face.

Peter grew up in a small apartment. One with only one bedroom and a small bathroom, barely enough room for both of them. One where the electricity was turned off half the time when Tony couldn't pay the bills. One where the sink was broken and there was never any hot water and the couch was worn. One where it might hold happy memories, but was never a happy place.

Rhodey grins as he makes a full spin in the kitchen, arms outstretched.

"I can't believe it! The kitchen is big enough for a whole arms width!" he exclaims happily.

Rhodey and Carol had an apartment together for the last two years of University and it was small. Not as small as Tony's, but still pretty small. It's a miracle to all of them that they get a real house with space and storage and enough bedrooms for everyone.

Technically, it's a two-bedroom house, but they've turned the office into a bedroom and there was a walk-in closet in the bigger of the bedrooms that they've converted into Peter's room.

Carol opens the fridge with a loud sigh. They've only just moved in so they have no food, barely enough furniture, and their moving truck only gets there tomorrow.

"Guess we're ordering in tonight," Tony laughs, setting Peter on the floor. The kid immediately starts running for the stairs to explore the house. "Be careful!"

"Pizza?" Rhodey suggests, pulling out his phone. Everyone nods in agreement and Carol heads off, in need of a shower and Tony goes to search for his kid to make sure he hasn't gotten himself into too much trouble.

*

After pizza, Peter is tucked into his new bed, tired but happy. And Tony heads back downstairs to where Carol has already popped open a bottle of celebratory wine.

"This is going to be good for us," Rhodey says, pride sparkling in his eyes as he lifts his glass.

"Damn straight," Carol says.

"To new beginnings," Tony chimes in.

They clink their glasses together in the center, adorning smiles.

"Tomorrow, we'll check out Peter's new school and our jobs and unpack and get ready to start this new beginning," the blonde says, leaning back in her chair.

Tony tosses his legs up on the dining room table, sipping his wine thoughtfully. This is their new beginning. Their new start. The beginning of their lives.

Might as well start somewhere.

Peter's starting kindergarten, Carol has a job as a secretary in a branch of the government, Rhodey is starting to work with the military, but has a job as a waiter during the day. Tony has a job at a grocery store and is a freelance mechanic, but is going to be taking out a bank loan so he can start his business.

He's talked it over with his friends and they've agreed it'll be risky, but a risk everyone's willing to take. To create a business to rival his father's.

Tony's good at creating. He's good at everything his father does and more. He wants to create a business that's just like Howard's, but better. And he believes he can do it with some financial help. Carol and Rhodey have already agreed that they're willing to put the money in to help him achieve his dreams.

It's just the matter of getting there before Howard can stop him.

*

"Hello. I am Catherine Thorne. I'm one of the kindergarten teachers here," the woman greets with a kind smile.

Rhodey and Carol both had to work, so Tony brought Peter alone to the open house.

"I'm Tony Stark and this is Peter," Tony introduces, gently pushing Peter forward. Peter can be a little shy when he's around strangers, but the moment he trusts someone, he becomes a little chatterbox.

"Hi," Peter murmurs softly, looking up at Catherine with a little smile. His cheeks are flushed with embarrassment and he holds onto Tony's hand tightly.

"Hi, Peter. You're going to really like it here. I promise," she says, bending down to offer Peter a kind smile at his height.

"Are you guys hands-on with your learning? Are you individualized? I'm not bragging, but Peter's pretty smart and I don't want him to get bored at school," Tony explains, ruffling his kid's wild curls.

Tony and his friends have had a little too much fun with teaching Peter. The kid's a natural at everything so he's already pretty advanced in math and science for a four-year-old.

"Of course!" Catherine says, pausing to wave at a little kid who passes by. "Our school is very individualistic. We've got a program dedicated to gifted kids and we've got extra help options for kids who are having more trouble learning things. For kindergarteners, it's pretty tough to be a gifted kid because it's not part of the curriculum to teach anything beyond basic maths, speech, movement, and manners. There are always options, though. If Peter's bored, we can always give him more advanced things."

"That sounds great. I think we'll definitely pick this school. Do you send buses out to Oakville?"

"Yeah, of course. That's one of our further locations, but we still send a bus out that direction. The office will get the paperwork set up for you, then," Catherine says, smiling brightly.

"Perfect!" Tony says, patting his kid on the head and turning the other direction.

"Wait!" Catherine calls. Tony turns back and the woman is blushing a little bit, nerves showing behind her brown eyes. "I don't normally do this... I have a policy against asking out parents, but do you want to maybe get a coffee sometime?"

Tony smiles, eyes crinkling with the movement. "Sounds like fun."

Catherine pulls out her phone and gets Tony's number, telling him she'd call soon.

*

Catherine ends up calling a week later and they meet up for coffee the next day. Tony has the day off from his grocery store job but has a car to fix up later that evening. Carol's babysitting for the afternoon with Peter.

Tony can't wait for the day Peter is old enough to take care of himself, though luckily he doesn't have to pay his 'babysitters' because Carol and Rhodey will do it for free.

Tony takes a long sip from his latte, a peaceful smile touching his face when the caffeine races through his system.

"Coffee addict?" Catherine says with a small laugh. She has a coffee too and looks just as happy to be drinking it.

"You too?"

"Yeah... Kindergarten teacher isn't the easiest of jobs, I'll be honest. What do you do?" Catherine says, turning the conversation on Tony.

"I have a part-time job at a grocery store and I'm a freelance mechanic. Anything to help pay the bills when you're just out of University," Tony says with a short laugh.

"How old are you?" Catherine leans back in her chair, brown hair pulled back in a messy bun with little tendrils curled around her mocha skin. "I'm 24, by the way. We didn't really exchange any information when we met."

"I'm twenty-one. Just turned."

"Really? You were, what, seventeen when you had Peter?" There's no judgement on her face, just curiosity. "That must've been tough."

"You have no idea," Tony replies with another small laugh, taking another sip of his drink. "I got into MIT when I was fifteen, knocked up a girl the next year and ended up with a kid by the time I was seventeen."

"What happened to the girl? Are you two still together?" Catherine asks, subtly wondering if Tony is single.

"We were never together. It was supposed to be a one-night stand, but she ended up pregnant. She was nineteen, almost twenty. She couldn't afford to take care of the kid and she ended up passing away only a few months after Peter. Car crash. I knew Mary a little bit, but not well enough. I helped her through the pregnancy to the best of my abilities when I found out she wanted to keep him. We set up a plan for both of us to have time with the baby, but I would end up with more because she was really busy with a lot of things. And it didn't matter in the end anyway," Tony explains.

Mary found him a few days after she found out she was pregnant. Tony told her he'd support her no matter what decision she made and at the time, he still had his parents' money to live off of. He didn't tell his parents until after Mary passed away and he ended up with a three-month-old baby.

"Oh... I'm so sorry. That's terrible," Catherine sympathizes.

Tony offers a smile. "It's okay. It was a long time ago. What about you? Do you have any kids?"

"Nope. I had a serious relationship in University, but he moved away for his job, so it's just me. Long distance didn't work out," she explains, pushing her glasses up on her nose with a little smile.

"That sucks," Tony says. He's never had a serious relationship before. He and Mary were never a couple. Just the one night and afterwards they were more friends than anything. The closest thing he's had to a serious relationship is Rhodey and they're just best friends.

"It's just you, then? By yourself?"

"I live with two close friends. I wouldn't be able to afford a place in Oakville if it weren't for them," Tony says, pride sparkling in his eyes. "They're like Peter's Aunt and Uncle, and they babysit free, so that's a huge bonus."

*

Tony ends up getting back to the house around dinner time, unable to wipe the smile from his face. The afternoon with Cat- they're on nickname terms now- had gone incredibly. She was nice and she's pretty and she's smart. It was fun.

Tony needed it. The afternoon out. He's spent the last four years with his world revolving around Peter. It's nice that this new beginning has given him a life outside of Peter. Obviously, he goes out with Rhodey or Carol on occasion, never both because they haven't been able to afford a real babysitter yet, but it's been nice to have someone outside of his little family.

Peter grins, big and tired when he sees his father, racing up to hug him around the thighs. Peter's still short for his age, no doubt inheriting his father's genes.

"Hey, kiddie. How was your day with Auntie Carol?" Tony says, taking off his jacket and shoes.

Peter immediately launches into a detailed explanation of his afternoon, following his dad into the kitchen.

They have a schedule for chores between the three adults and it's Tony's turn to make dinner.

Carol cooks on Monday's and Thursday's, Rhodey cooks on Tuesday's and Thursday's, and Tony cooks on Wednesday's and Sunday's. Friday's and Saturday's are either leftovers or cheap takeout food.

Carol does the laundry and takes out the garbage, Rhodey sweeps and vacuums, Tony does the dishes and tidies.

Unfortunately, they still don't have much in the fridge and grocery shopping is always on Saturday's.

"What's for dinner?" Carol says, skipping down the stairs. She's wearing a pair of black jeans and an old David Bowie t-shirt. Most of their clothing has come from cheap sales thanks to student loans. A lot of garage sales and thrift store clothing. But Carol always manages to make her clothes look nice.

"I don't know. We don't have anything," Tony says, rolling his eyes. "Are we really supposed to wait three days before shopping?"

"We don't have a whole lot of spare cash lying around, Tony," Carol responds, rolling her eyes with a teasing smile. "Can you just magically pull fifty bucks out of your pocket?"

Tony rolls his eyes right back, shutting the fridge door loudly.

"Peter, you want to head up to your room for a little while?" Tony asks. Peter races off without a second thought, almost tripping as he heads up the stairs.

Once Peter's out of earshot, Carol's smile falls. "This isn't just a magic change, Tony. This isn't just some magic beginning where we get everything we ask for."

"I know. I just hoped it would get easier faster than this," Tony says. He's gotten better at sharing his emotions now that he doesn't have his father wanting him to be made of iron.

"It will. We've been telling you this for years, Tony. It will get easier. Look at us, we have a house. We have a house with four bedrooms and a real kitchen. We have hot water and electricity and degrees. It will get easier."

"I just want him to have a good life, you know? I want him to be happy," Tony admits, letting his gaze drop to the tiled floor with a sad smile. "I just want to give him a happy childhood."

"You're doing an amazing job. I mean, Peter loves you second most. Obviously, he loves his Aunt Carol more," Carol says with a teasing grin. She falls serious as she continues. "He's the happiest kid I know. He's got the best family he could ask for."

*

Dinner ends up being pasta. Cheap and easy, but everyone loves pasta, so it works out okay.

Peter rambles for most of the dinner about everything from his day to his favourite type of dinosaur, the Plateosaurus. Tony can't help but be proud of his kid for everything he does.

After dinner, they watch Treasure Planet and then Tony tucks Peter into his bed.

"Daddy?" Peter murmurs, doe eyes staring up at his dad.

"What's up, kiddie?" Tony says, keeping his voice quiet in the dim room.

"Did I ever have a mom?" Peter asks. He doesn't sound particularly sad about it, just curious.

"Why do you ask?"

"In all the movies and all the books, everyone has a mom or it talks about a mom. And yesterday, all the other kids at the school had a mom and a dad. Do I have a mom?"

"You did, kid. When you were a baby you had a mom. You look a little like her. The same curly brown hair and the same nose and the same freckles."

Tony's never been sad while talking about Mary, but now he is. He's always expected Peter to ask a question like this, he just didn't realize it would be so soon. He feels like maybe Peter is missing out because he doesn't have a mom like the other kids, but there's nothing he can do about it. There's no way he could bring Mary back.

"What happened?" Peter's always been good at reading between the lines and understanding body language.

"She's gone now. She died when you were really little. But you have Aunt Carol and Uncle Rhodey, so you're not missing out on anything, okay?"

Peter doesn't seem to mind the fact that he doesn't have a mom, simply tilts his head in thought.

"Was she pretty?" he asks.

"She was beautiful. And so smart. And really sweet, too. She'd be so proud of you, kiddie," Tony murmurs, pressing a kiss to Peter's forehead as he blinks away his tears.

"She would?"

"Yeah. She'd love you so much. Just as much as I love you," Tony says, brushing back Peter's curls with a gentle smile. "Any more questions?"

"No... Yes, do you have any pictures of my mom?" Peter asks, eyelids drooping with exhaustion.

"I have a few. We'll look at them tomorrow, okay? And I'll tell you all about her."

"Okay. Goodnight, Daddy," Peter says, pulling the covers up to his chin and pulling his teddy bear into his chest.

"Night, kiddo. I love you."

"I love you too."