A/N: dearest gentle reader is the only way i will be addressing you guys henceforth 😤

i'm still in the midst of recovering from kate and anthony because i fell in love with their love and now i can't seem to want to do anything else at all. peter and ada pale in comparison to them and honestly everything pales in comparison to them 😭

anyway, i think this chapter is really cute bc it's her birthday!! adie's turning 16!! they grow up to fast 🥺🥺 also, credits to  @amararodriguez781227 for finding this photo!

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"I want to do everything

in the world with you."

"Hello? Anybody home?" Adelaide shouted into the penthouse as she walked in from the elevators. The dimmed lights suggested that everyone was out somewhere. She sighed, walking into the kitchen for some chocolate.

She couldn't believe everyone was out doing something without her, especially tonight when it was her birthday.

She didn't exactly turn sixteen twice.

The adults had all wished her in the morning, but then she didn't hear a peep from them during her entire afternoon with Vivian. The two girls went all around the city together to celebrate her birthday and the sun had already set by the time she made it back to the penthouse. She thought they would all be here together to celebrate, but the penthouse was completely empty.

Adelaide glanced at the clock. It was only seven. Where had everyone gone to?

"A package arrived for you today, Adelaide," FRIDAY told her, "It's sitting on your bed."

She frowned, popping some chocolate into her mouth before closing the fridge door behind herself. Since was she getting packages that were delivered to her bed?

"Who's it from?" she asked the AI.

"Why don't you see for yourself?" she replied. Dusting her hands of the chocolate crumbs against her jeans, she made her way down the hall to her room.

She never really got any packages. Although, ever since the world found out she was Tony Stark's daughter, people had been sending her all kinds of stuff. Happy always opened the packages before she did as a security precaution. Sometimes, people even sent her chocolates and candy, but Happy never let her eat them. He said they could be poisoned but she suspected he just wanted them for himself.

When she reached her bedroom, she saw the package sitting at the foot of her bed. It was wrapped in rich, navy blue paper with a silver bow tied over it. When she got closer to it, she saw there was a handwritten note tucked under the ribbon. She smiled to herself and took the note out to read it.

Happy birthday, love.
Put this on and I'll see you at eight.
— Peter

She bit her lip, trying to keep her smile from taking over her whole face, but she failed miserably. She put the note down on the bed beside the package before slowly tearing off the wrapping paper.

Inside, was a thin black box and when she pulled off the lid, she saw the deep navy blue dress inside. It was made with satin and the straps fell off the shoulders. She held it up against her body. The dress came down just above her knees and the material felt luxurious in her hands.

Grinning widely, she hurried into her bathroom to get dressed.

—————

She had done her and hair and makeup as best she could without Pepper's help, but she was still struggling with getting the dress's zipper all the way over her back when she heard the elevator ding down the hall.

"Ada?" she heard him say.

"In here!" she shouted back. She was beginning to get really frustrated with the zipper. She had been trying to get the stupid thing up for almost ten minutes now, but it was just stuck. (A/N: i sincerely apologize but title of your sex tape 😭)

She heard Peter's footsteps getting closer and she grew more frustrated. She arms were starting to hurt from trying to reach over her back for so long. So when Peter knocked on her bedroom door, she just sighed in defeat.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

"Yeah," she mumbled, dropping her hands and giving up completely. She'd gotten the zipper high up enough that the dress wouldn't just fall. Maybe if she wore a jacket over it no one would notice. But it was still August and she walked around in a jacket, people would think she was crazy.

When Peter stepped inside, her heart skipped a beat. He had cleaned up really, really well. He was in a crisp, white button down shirt with khakis and a brown belt around his waist. His hair was combed back except for that one stubborn curl that always felt into his forehead and he was wearing this new cologne that sent her heart racing.

"Wow," he breathed when he saw her, "You look...stunning." She tilted her head, giving him a half smile.

"Yeah, well..." she sighed and he raised his eyebrows.

"What's the matter?" he asked. She pressed her lips into a thin line, turning around.

"It's stuck," she mumbled.

"That's it?" Peter chuckled, stepping forward to help her. His hands moved the hair to the side. She felt his warm fingers moving against her back as they gently tugged at the chain to loosen it. His breath fanned over her shoulder and, occasionally, his soft curls brushed against her skin as he worked the zipper. Finally, it became loose and he slowly pulled it all the way up, resting his hands on her bare shoulders.

"There," he whispered softly in her ear, "All fixed." His hands slid down her arms, coming to rest on her waist and he slowly pulled her into him. "Did I say you look stunning already?"

"You might have mentioned it," she whispered, smiling softly. His lips found their way to her bare back and her eyes fluttered closed on contact. He trailed soft, warm kisses along the nape of her neck and the dip in her back between her shoulder blades. His hands felt like furnaces against her waist. He slowly slid them forward until they were flat against her stomach and pulled her even closer to himself.

"Mm, happy birthday, love," he murmured lowly against her skin. She swallowed, all words lost to her. She turned her chin to her shoulder and found their lips just a breath apart. Adelaide looked into his brown eyes and found herself never wanting to look at anything else ever again. She could look into these beautiful brown irises forever.

"Thank you for the dress," she whispered, "I love it." Peter looked down at her lips as he spoke.

"The dress is only the beginning," he whispered back. She smiled.

"What else do you have planned, bugboy?" she asked quietly.

He didn't reply, just closed the distance between them and kissed her lips as softly as physically possible. He was being so gentle and soft and caring, Adelaide didn't really want to leave her room. She was perfectly content with dressing up just to spend the rest of her birthday in her room with Peter kissing her like this. Like she was a dream he couldn't believe had come alive. Like he had been dying to kiss her all day.

He sighed in frustration, pulling away. He was so close to her that everything just looked like blurry lines and nothing was in focus, but she loved the intimacy all the same. These moments with him felt sweet and silky, like chocolate.

"As much as I would love to keep doing this all night, we really have to get going," he whispered.

"Where are we going?" she asked. The boy smiled, softly kissing the tip of her nose.

"It's a surprise," he grinned.

—————

"I just need to grab something from my apartment and then we'll go, okay?" he said as their limousine stopped in front his apartment complex, "Why don't you come up with me?"

"Uh, sure," she said, confused and wondering what he could possibly need to get that would require two people to carry. On second thought, maybe he just didn't want to spend any time apart from her. He could be sweet like that.

Peter stepped out of the limo and then held his hand out for her to hold as she stepped onto the sidewalk. Hand in hand, they both walked into the lobby and to the elevator. Adelaide looked over at him with a smile as they waiting for the elevator to reach their floor. He was tapping his finger against her hand nervously.

"What is it?" she asked him quietly and he realized what he was doing and stopped, clearing his throat.

"N-Nothing," he said. She could tell something was bothering him, but she didn't press him any further. The elevator dinged and the doors opened up onto his floor. Peter checked his watch, something he had been doing repeatedly ever since they had left the Tower.

They stopped in front of his door and he pulled out his keys from the pocket of his khakis to open the lock. When he pushed the door open, Adelaide realized the apartment was dark. She frowned. May was usually home from work around this time.

As they stepped inside, Adelaide looked around in the dark and Peter walked over to the kitchen, dropping her hand.

"Where's May?" she asked in his general direction, "I thought she got ba—"

"SURPRISE!"

Suddenly, all the lights turned on in the room and everyone jumped out from behind the furniture. Adelaide's mouth fell open. Her eyes traveled over everyone who was there. Tony, Pepper, Happy, May, Ned, Vivian, and....and Peter, holding out a birthday cake with sixteen burning candles on it.

"Happy birthday to you..." everyone sang as he put the cake down on the kitchen island. Someone took her arm and led her to the kitchen as she was still in too much of a shock to go by herself. "Happy birthday to you..."

"Happy birthday dear Adelaide, happy birthday to you!" they all sang around her.

"Make a wish!" May said excitedly and Adelaide grinned, closing her eyes and making a wish that nothing in her life would change ever again. That everything would stay just the way it was right now and everyone could stay as happy as they are. She caught Peter's eyes smiling at her and then she blew out the candles.

Everyone clapped around her but her eyes found Peter standing across the island again, smiling at her like she was the only person in the room and her entire body flooded with warmth.

I love you, he mouthed.

And she knew he really, really did.

—————

While everyone was giving out their gifts in the living room, Tony discreetly pulled Peter aside into the kitchen.

"You both were exactly three minutes and twenty-four seconds late," the billionaire said to the teenager whose eyes widened a bit, "Wanna tell me why?"

Because I was making out with your daughter in her bedroom...again.

He had been hoping the billionaire wouldn't notice that. They had gotten a little sidetracked back in Ada's bedroom when he saw her in the  dress he bought for her. She just look so pretty, he needed some time to soak her in alone before he had to get her to the party. He was just a boy in love, who could honestly blame him?

"Uh, traffic?" Peter said nervously, beginning to sweat. He shifted his weight on his feet uncomfortably.

"You better hope there was traffic when I check the street cameras," Tony said sternly. Peter gulped and hoped he was only saying that to scare him. The billionaire frowned, squinting at something on the teenager's face. "What's that on your face? Is that lipstick?"

His brown eyes widened. That is lipstick, actually. Your daughter's lipstick, he thought. He racked his brain for a plausible excuse that wouldn't land him in trouble with his girlfriend's father. He found himself in this position a lot more often than he ever thought he would.

"Uh, n-no that's um...that's icing. From-From the cake," he said. The billionaire frowned hard at him and Peter held his breath, waiting to see if you would buy it.

"Tread carefully, kid," he said quietly, squeezing his shoulder before joining the others back in the living. Peter stood there, shuddering before collecting himself. That was a close call.

He watched as Mr. Stark sat beside Ada on the couch, embracing her into a big hug and then handing her his gift. It was a small box wrapped in black wrapping paper. Peter frowned, wondering what it could be as Ada tore open the paper and took off the lid of the box. Her beautiful eyes widened in surprise as she reached into the thin box and pulled out...

Keys!

Holy shit, Mr. Stark got her a car. Ada squealed, throwing her arms around her father and squeezing him tightly.

"It's a black Audi R8 convertible," he said, "But you have to get your license before you can drive it."

"Not a problem," she laughed, "I can already drive."

"License first," he said firmly, "But after that, the car is all yours, hon."

"I cannot believe you bought me a convertible," she breathed, staring at the key in awe. Adelaide sometimes forgot how rich he was which wasn't too hard to do when you lived with him and saw him wearing the same old t-shirt for three days. But then he did stuff like buy her a sports car for her sixteenth birthday and she suddenly remembered that her dad was an actual billionaire.

Peter was watching them both from the kitchen with a smile on his face when he suddenly remembered the gift that he had gotten for Ada. It paled in comparison to a $100k sports car. He dug his hand into his pocket, feeling for the small box nervously. He could only hope she liked it. He just had to get her alone to give it to her.

He caught May's eye across the room and silently gestured to her that he needed to give Ada his gift. Thankfully, she got the hint and distracted everyone with more cake. Peter walked up to Ada who was sitting on the edge of the couch next to Mr. Stark and tapped her shoulder. When she looked up at him, he nodded his head towards the hall and she frowned but followed him down the hall, into his room.

"Is everything okay?" Adelaide asked him, slightly worried. She didn't know what he had brought her away from the party for. As usual, her mind was always imagining the worst. Peter closed the door behind himself, taking a deep breath before facing her.

"Everything's fine," he smiled calmly, "I just wanted to give you your birthday present."

"Oh," Adelaide sighed, relieved, "Oh."

"Close your eyes," he whispered. Adelaide hesitated for a moment, studying his face. She smirked.

"You're not going to kidnap me and hold me for ransom, are you?" she teased. Peter rolled his eyes, fighting a smile.

"As if anyone in their right mind would want to kidnap you," he said and she hit his arm, making him laugh. "Come on, Ada. Just close your eyes. I pinky swear I'm not kidnapping you." She held out her pinky and he rolled his eyes, hooking his pinky finger around hers.

"Fine," she said, closing her eyes. She took a deep breath, shaking her hair out of her face.

Peter reached into his pocket for the gift.

"So, have you thought about what you're giving Adelaide for her birthday?" Aunt May asked him as she came to sit beside him on the couch. Peter looked away front the tv, sighing heavily.

"That's all I've been thinking about," he groaned, "What do you give a girl who already has everything? I mean, Mr. Stark is a billionaire. The only way I could ever give her something she doesn't already have would be if I gave her, like, a trillion dollars."

May laughed.

"I was actually hoping you hadn't already bought something," May said. Peter looked at her questioningly.

"What do you mean?" he asked. His aunt smiled, as if she knew something that he didn't. She stood up from the couch and reached over for the remote to turn the tv off.

"Come on, there's something I wanna show you," she said. Peter hesitated.

"What is it?" he asked, still unmoving on the couch. May clicked her tongue.

"Just come on already," she said, waving her hand, "I promise you're going to like this."

Peter sighed, pushing himself off the couch and followed his aunt through the hallway, into her room where she headed directly towards the dresser in front of her bed. Peter sat down on the bed, pulling his legs under him so he was sitting cross-legged on the mattress.

May, with a knowing smile, slowly sat down beside him, now holding a thin, square box in her hand. Peter looked from the box to her and back again.

"What is it?" he asked.

Grinning, May opened the velvet box. Inside, was the most delicate silver necklace with the tiniest little songbird hanging from the end. Peter frowned. Why was May giving this to him?

"This was your mother's," May said quietly as Peter studied it, "Your father gave it to her when they first met and she wore it every single day. She said this little songbird was the luckiest thing in her life. The day of the...plane crash, she had forgotten this at home. But even before you were born, she used to tell me that if she had a daughter, she would give this necklace for her to wear. And if she had a son, she would want him to give it to the right girl when he met her just like how she had gotten it from your father."

Peter was trying really hard to ignore the knot in his throat. He didn't remember his parents but, goddammit, sometimes, he really, really wanted to. So badly. He even felt this load of guilt for not remembering them and it would drag him down. But it was especially in moments like these when he wished he remembered his mother enough to know what she was like and what she would think of him if she could see him now.

"May, I..." he whispered.

May took his hands and put the box in them. She squeezed his hands.

"I want you to give this to Adelaide," May said, quiet but serious, "And I know if your mother were still here, she would want the same. Adelaide's an incredible girl, Peter. And trust me, when you've seen as much as I have, you can spot true love like that. Adelaide loves you very much. Everyone can see it."

He wished he could have introduced Ada to his mother. That, one day, he would have brought her home to meet his parents. Maybe she would have charmed them over easily. Maybe they would see her through his eyes and see just how amazing she was.

And as Peter looked at the necklace that used to be his mother's, all he could imagine was how much she would have loved Ada too.

When Adelaide felt something being put in her hand, she shot open her eyes to look at it.

It was a thin, square box that was perfectly gift wrapped with the same navy gift wrapping paper that her dress had been in and a tiny silver ribbon tied up like a bow in the corner. Adelaide glanced up at Peter who just smiled encouragingly at her.

"Open it," he whispered, holding his breath as he watched her eyes.

Adelaide slowly tore open the paper, and then, carefully, she opened the box inside. Her breath hitched.

It was a necklace.

There wasn't much to it, except for the tiny