Chapter Two

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A/N: SURPRISE CHAPTER!

i just really want to get this story rolling so i thought what better way to do that than publish a surprise chapter!!

this chapter is also muy emotional and you might shed more tears, but more importantly, we're getting closer and closer to my favorite chapter which is sooner than you can imagine!!

as for now, enjoy this extremely fluffy and lovely chapter!

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"Boss, a short, Russian man

just dropped off a package."
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"Mr. Stark," the doctor greeted the billionaire. He nodded, letting himself inside the doctor's office.

"Before you say anything," Tony said, "Please tell me Adie's able to go home now. She has been driving everyone crazy with her cabin fever."

The doctor chuckled, "I understand her feeling antsy, but I have to say, since she woke up from her coma four days ago, her recovery has been incredible. I've never had patient recover from what she has overcome. Adelaide is a fighter."

"It's the Stark genes," Tony shrugged. The doctor looked at him strangely.

"Er, sure. But my point is that Adelaide will be able to be home for Christmas," he said.

"That's it? No buts?" Tony asked.

"Nope. Adelaide has passed the threshold of imminent danger. Her miraculous recovery means that you have nothing to worry about. Just make sure she takes her medicines on time for the next week and she'll be back to normal once again."

It was the best news Tony had heard in a long time.

—————

When Adelaide walked into the penthouse the next morning, it looked like Christmas had thrown up all over her home.

"Did they move the North Pole here or something?" she asked as she looked around the room. Happy smiled. He, of course, had overlooked the decorating. And by overlooking, he meant firing the guys Pepper had hired and doing it all himself.

"Merry Christmas, honey," Pepper smiled, wrapping her arm around the teenager. Adelaide smiled too and leaned her head against the woman's shoulder.

"Merry Christmas," she said quietly.

"Okay, one more surprise," Tony said, picking out two gifts out of the million others from under the huge, flashy tree. She wondered how Pepper had ever approved this Christmas monstrosity. She was sure half the power in New York was running through their tree right now. He handed one box to her and Adelaide took it with a questioning look. It had a bit of weight to it, but the gift itself wasn't large. She unwrapped the ribbon and tore the wrapping paper away. She glanced up at Tony before opening the box.

It was the ugliest sweater she had ever seen.

There was a Christmas tree on the front, made with something that made it feel like an actual tree. Not to mention the 3D ornaments that hung from the 'leaves' and the green sleeves that were also made from the same material as the tree on the front. It was horrendous. She loved it instantly.

"Custom made to be as ugly as possible," Tony said. Adelaide grinned. She handed the box to Pepper and pulled the sweater on over her shirt. She glanced down at it.

"If that's what you wanted, then you should have just put a mirror on it," she teased. Tony smiled. He had missed their playful banter more than anything. "Well, how do I look?"

"Positively hideous," he complimented. She beamed. The billionaire opened his own gift box and pulled his matching sweater over his head. "It's a bit over the top, isn't it?"

"No, it's absolutely perfect," Adelaide said, taking him by the arm and dragging him to the sofa, "Someone take our picture before our trees shed themselves off the sweaters."

And a perfectly merry Christmas it was.

—————

The Grinch had just started when FRIDAY spoke.

"Boss, a short, Russian man just dropped off a package," she said.

Tony immediately looked to her and Adelaide swallowed, shaking her head. She had no idea who that could be. Which meant it could be absolutely anyone. Fear sparked inside of her. She hadn't even been back from the hospital for a full day and something was already going wrong.

"Stay up here, I'll go check it out," Tony said and for once, Adelaide didn't argue with the billionaire. She watched him anxiously as he left the penthouse and chewed on her lip, wondering who it could have been.

Was it one of Lukov's men? Was it someone from her past, back to get revenge? The anxiety was killing her. Her mind was racing a mile a minute. It could have been literally anyone. She wasn't mentally prepared for this. What if there was a bomb inside? Or some other kind of weapon?

Pepper reached over and gently squeezed her hand as if she could see the million questions running through her head.

After what felt like hours, Tony finally returned, holding a small box in his hands that was messily wrapped with Christmas-themed wrapping paper. She frowned. He didn't look stressed or worried. So what was in the box?

"FRIDAY gave an all-clear on this one," he said, walking to her. He handed her the box. "It's a gift for you."

"For me?" she said, furrowing her eyebrows. She looked at the box in hand and spotted a small label hanging off the side. Gently pulling it between her fingers, her eyes read over the messy handwriting.

Thought you might want this back.
Graves

Adelaide swallowed. Graves left her a present? With trembling hands, she slowly opened up the present.

When her eyes landed on the old teddy bear, she felt a jolt travel through her.

A jolt of memories she almost forgot she even had. Memories from so long ago that just thinking about them made her feel like she was a baby again, being cradled in her mother's arms. She heard her mother's voice lulling her to sleep and saw her father's smile flash before her eyes the night she got her very first birthday present.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Adelaide, happy birthday to you! Blow out the candles, Dellie!"

Adelaide took a deep breath, giddy with excitement, and blew out the four candles in front of her. Henry and Ava began clapping and Adelaide laughed along with them. Ava cut out a small slice of cake but Adelaide took ahold of the spoon before her mother could.

"I wanna do it, momma! Let me!" she said and Ava laughed, handing the spoon to her daughter.

"Alright, alright, you do it," Ava smiled. Jumping with excitement, Adelaide took a spoonful of her cake.

"Who are you going to give it to first, pumpkin?" Henry asked, silently pointing to himself. Adelaide giggled, covering her mouth.

"No, it should be me. Right, Dellie?" Ava asked, crouching down to come to eye level with her daughter.

"No, no, it's me. C'mon pumpkin," Henry said, opening his mouth, "Ahhh."

"Momma's hungry, Dellie," Ava sang, opening her mouth and Adelaide couldn't stop laughing as she looked at both her parents crouching down on either side of her with their mouths open for cake.

Finally, she made a decision and ate the spoonful of cake herself.

"Traitor!" Henry said, pulling his daughter into his arms to tickle her. Adelaide laughed uncontrollably, squirming in her father's hold. Ava stood up, taking this as a chance to disappear into their bedroom.

"That tickles!" she laughed, feeling her cheeks beginning to hurt from the laughter, "Daddy, that tickles!"

"Alright Henry, I think she's been punished enough," Ava smiled, entering the room again with a pink package in her hand. Adelaide's little blue eyes widened at the gift-wrapped package in her mother's hands.

"You got me a present!" Adelaide shouted, running to her mother.

"Happy fourth birthday, Adelaide," Ava said, smiling softly as she handed her daughter the present.

"Open it, pumpkin," Henry said, appearing behind her but his daughter was already tearing open the wrapping paper with her small hands. Inside, was a beautiful, big, brown teddy bear.

"A teddy bear!" Adelaide gasped, holding it in her hands as if it was made of a delicate gold. It was her first birthday present. Her very first present.

"I love him, I love him!" Adelaide shrieked, jumping up and down while hugging her present to her chest. She stopped for long enough to pull both her parents into a hug. And then she pulled away, running to the bedroom with her new toy.

"I'm gonna call you...Maxwell," they heard their daughter say and they both gave each other a smile.

Tears pricked her eyes. She softly ran her thumb over the teddy bear's face and sniffled.

"Maxwell..." she whispered to herself as the tears fell from her eyes, "I can't believe...all these years..."

She swallowed, her lower lip trembling. This was the best present she had ever gotten. It was all she had left of her parents now and so she held on tight to Maxwell and sent a silent thank you to Graves, hoping he could hear her from wherever he was.

—————

They were almost done with watching The Grinch, when Adelaide received a text.

Peter: Balcony?

Adelaide looked around. Tony and Happy had had a bit too much eggnog to drink. She wasn't even sure what movie they thought they were watching. Every few seconds, they threw popcorn at the screen and shouted Hulk mad.

Pepper, on the other hand, was still sober enough to notice the smile on the teenager's face when she got a message on her phone. Adelaide glanced at her for permission and the woman nodded. Grinning, Adelaide pushed herself off the couch and hurried to her room. She grabbed the big box on her bed and rushed to the balcony.

"Hey, bugboy," she greeted as she stepped out onto the balcony. He was standing there in his suit without his mask on, holding a box of his own in his gloved hands. Peter laughed.

"That," he laughed, "has to be the ugliest sweater I've ever seen."

Adelaide grinned, "Tell me about it."

"You still look great," he said. She smiled. They held each other's gaze for a few more moments before Adelaide spoke up.

"I got something for you," she said, holding out the box for him.

"You didn't get me a tv, did you?" he joked, taking the big box from her. He held out her gift for her. "I got you something, too. You open it first."

Adelaide tore open the wrapping paper. Inside the box there was a little brown teddy bear wearing a red and blue Spider-Man hoodie with the spider symbol on its chest. He looked adorable. Completely different from Maxwell, but adorable all the same. The two of them would look great together on her shelf.

"Press the button," Peter told her. Glancing at him questioningly, she pressed it.

"What kind of ghost has the best hearing?" the teddy bear said, "The eeriest."

At that, Adelaide laughed aloud, making Peter smile. That was kind of the reaction he had been hoping for.

"He'll say a new joke every time you press the button," Peter said, "You know, just in case you're feeling down and I'm not around to cheer you up." She smiled at him, hugging the bear close to herself.

"It's perfect, Pete. Thank you," she said, "Although, I doubt he'll be able to replace you. No one tells me stupider jokes than you."

"I try my best," he shrugged.

"Open yours!" she said eagerly. Peter tore open the gift wrapping paper on his gift as she watched him anxiously.

It was a guitar.

"I know that you said Ben used to teach you to play and um, so I thought maybe you could try learning again..." Adelaide said quietly.

Peter smiled down sadly at the guitar. It was one of his happiest Christmas memories as a child when Uncle Ben played the guitar for him and occasionally try to teach him a few chords.

"Look Uncle Ben!" little Peter said excitedly, dancing around in his snowman onesie, "I'm a wockstar!"

The man laughed at the sight of his nephew holding his guitar and striking a pose. He grabbed him by the shoulders and ruffled his hair.

"Yes you are, Pete," he smiled, "You make an amazing rockstar."

"I love it," he said quietly, "Really. It-It's perfect, Ada. Thank you."

He stepped forward, wrapping his arm around her without thinking twice. Adelaide hugged him back, burying her face into his chest. He felt painfully familiar.

"Merry Christmas, Pete," she whispered. He closed his eyes, hugging her closer. His stomach was swarmed with butterflies as those three little words hung on the tip of his tongue. He almost said them aloud. Hugging Ada after he realized that he was in love with her felt...sad. He wasn't sure why.

"Merry Christmas," he mumbled instead.

She pulled away a moment later, but Peter just couldn't seem to let her go. He studied her eyes and the city lights being reflected in them. He thought maybe he could just blurt it out, get it over with. But then she smiled a little and his heart fluttered like a hummingbird's wings.

Not like this, he thought.

He wanted it to be the right time. For the most perfect girl in the world, it had to be the most perfect moment. He wanted to say it to her when he knew that she would be able to say those three words back to him.

"What are you thinking?" she murmured, noticing his pondering brown eyes.

"What are we?" he asked, blurting out the wrong three words impulsively. She frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Before Peter could answer, the balcony doors slid open behind her and Pepper poked her head outside. She looked between the two teenagers, realizing that she had very clearly interrupted a moment.

"Tony's coming this way. He's completely wasted, but if he sees Peter here, I'm not taking responsibility for his actions," she warned. Peter and Adelaide glanced at each other. Pepper waited for a moment, looking between them and waiting for one of them to move. When neither one did, she urgently said, "Go!"

"I'll call you," Adelaide said, referring to their unfinished conversation. Peter nodded, pulled his mask back on over his face, grabbed his gift, and swung himself off the balcony just moments before Tony pushed past Pepper and stumbled out onto the balcony.

"Hey Adie," he mumbled, "What are you doing on the trampoline?" He tried jumping but ended up stumbling around instead and nearly falling down. "It's not very good."

"Come on, it's bedtime for you, big guy," Adelaide sighed, wrapping her arm around the billionaire's and dragging him back inside the penthouse.

Later that night, Adelaide tried calling Peter a couple of times, but he didn't pick up. She assumed he must have been asleep and went to bed herself shortly afterward.

Little did she know that Peter had seen her calling, but didn't have the guts to pick up the phone.

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A/N: oop. do i smell a bit of tension? 👀

like i said, padie is the biggest focus of this story so i obviously want to start it off on the right foot with roughly a billion or so padie moments. there's going to be so many, you might just get sick of it ;)

as for all this tension...just leave it up to me to handle

question: any guesses about how this tension is going to unravel?

see you guys wednesday, ily!!


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