Tony wanted everything to be perfect. This was Peter’s first birthday since he was classified as a Little and he was determined to make this the most memorable birthday. Peter didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. He was just turning 19, it wasn’t like it was his 21st birthday (his jokes about getting wasted were not appreciated by his caregiver).
“Mister Stark, I’ve already celebrate my birthday with you before and there are many more birthdays to come. Don’t you think this is a little over the top? I’m not even sure I will like it.”
What Peter was referring to was Tony’s birthday plans for his little headspace. While his aged-up birthday was going to be spent eating pizza in Queens with Aunt May, Ned, MJ, and Tony, there was another plan for his birthday for his little age. One evening Tony had been scrolling through Instagram and stumbled upon a video of a one year old doing a cake smash.
From what Peter could gather, the point was to give the young child a small, frosting covered cake and let them eat it with their hands. As they tear into it, parents take photos or hire a photographer to come and take the photos while the parent coo over their adorable child. Peter found the video adorable when Tony showed it to him, but wasn’t expecting for the follow up to be that he was going to have one for when he was in his little space.
With Peter’s headspace ranging between 12-20 months old, Tony found it to be the perfect way to celebrate his birthday with his little and no one was going to tell him otherwise.
“Just humor me kid. While big you may not understand it, I think the little version of you is going to love it.”
Peter looked apprehensive but wanted to humor his caregiver. With the promise that no photos would be put online and that the only audience members besides Tony would be the Avengers and May, Tony got his wish of doing a cake smash.
When the time came, Peter was in his young headspace eager for his daddy’s affection.
“Good Morning sweetpea! Who’s my cute baby?” Tony greeted as he opened up the nursery door.
Peter cooed and giggled as his daddy lifted him from his crib and rubbed their noses together.
“We are gonna have so much fun today. You’re gonna get eat more cake then your little heart could ever imagine!” Tony explained as he got the baby dressed and ready for the day. Despite his best efforts, Peter didn’t really understand what Tony was saying but still made sure to smile and match his Daddy’s excited energy.
With a morning filled with opening presents and birthday pancakes, made by Steve of course, Peter’s birthday was going off without a hitch. While Peter took his midmorning nap, Bucky and Natasha helped Tony setup the kitchen with decorations and preparation for the mess, while Steve and May made the final preparations on the vanilla cake, covering it with a sweet chocolate frosting.
Once Peter awoke, Tony ran to the nursery and stripped him down to only be in a diaper as it would save Tony from an extra load of laundry. Walking out slowly to the kitchen with Peter in his arms, he stops in the doorway to let Peter take in his surroundings.
All the Avengers, even Bruce who had come from the lab just in time, and May were sitting wearing party hats, all smiling and cooing at the adorably confused little boy. Peter, bless his heart, simply began to blow kisses and make faces at Clint, not fully understanding what was going on.
“All right honey lets get you in your chair!” With Peter strapped into his high chair and now also wearing his own party hat, Aunt May walked over with the cake, everyone laughed at Peter’s look of wonder that he wore on his face.
“What is it Peter??? You wanna try some cake???” Aunt May cooed. Trying to get the boy interested in the cake as she set it down in front of him.
Peter looked at Tony and the other Avengers, not understanding that he could attack the cake.
“Here honey,” Tony said. “Try some. You can eat it with your hands.” His explanations were falling on deaf ears as Peter continued to look at the cake in front of him, almost as if he was waiting for the cake to do something. To try and help speed the process along, Tont grabbed Peter’s hand and put it on top of the cake.
Expecting for the baby to laugh and begin digging in, Peter instead began to wail at the sudden and odd feeling of frosting and cake being on his hand.
“Oh no! I’m so sorry sweetheart, daddy’s sorry!” Peter only continued to cry louder as Tony began to panic, realizing that maybe Peter didn’t really want to do a cake smash after all.
Seeing his friend in distress, Bucky stood and walked around the table waiting to see what he would do. “It’s okay Pete, try some. I think you’ll like it.” Bucky said with a sweet smile and soft tone. Picking up Peter’s hand and slowly guided it to the crying baby’s mouth.
The moment the frosting hit Peter’s tongue it was silent. Everyone in the room stood silent waiting to see what would happen, Natasha had even stopped taking pictures to see if she could continue.
“Mmmmmm” Peter called out as he smacked his lips. Looking to his daddy to see if it was okay to go back for more, Peter stuck his hand in the cake, this time immediately bringing it up to his mouth the chew on.
“There you go!” said Tony, who was breathing a sigh of relief.
“For a second there I thought he just didn’t like my cake.” Steve laughed, breaking the tension in the room even more.
With Peter enjoying his cake, Natasha snapped photo after photo of the baby enjoying his delicious birthday treat. Even in his little space, Peter cared about his family as he offered slobbery chunks of his cake to his family. After about 30 minutes, it was obvious that Peter had his fill of the cake. Even after being wiped down by both his daddy and aunt, Tony decided that the little one still needed a bath.
“Can you say thank you to everyone for coming?” Tony said to Peter.
“Ta Oo!” Peter exclaimed
“Eh, close enough.” Clint proclaimed as the team went to work cleaning up the aftermath of the cake smash.
As Tony walked to the bathroom with Peter cradled in his arms, he could not help the smile that had taken over his face. This truly was the best “first birthday” ever.