Coughs and Colds
“Peter kiddo, come on, time to wake up. Your Daddy’s making breakfast today!” It was Steve who had come into their bedroom to wake Peter up. And by their bedroom I mean: he and Tony take turns sleeping with Peter or on the couch. Getting no reply or movement from the kid, Steve decided to go and see if he was still asleep, which he never was. He had always woken up before Tony and Steve.
“Peter? Buddy you up?” He had asked worriedly, turning the boy to face him, only to be met with a distressed looking face covered in sweat, Peter who’s breathing also seemed to have quickened. “Hey, hey.. Peter, Hey look at me, are you okay? What's wron- Peter you're burning up. Oh god- Kiddo come here, it’s okay, breath. I’ll check your- should I-? Now wait, I'll get Friday to quickly check it, F.R.I.D.A.Y whats-” He had started rambling, bringing Peter close to him. (if it’s not obvious I'm a very touch starved person.-) “103 degrees, I suggest he seeks medical help, shall I contact the med bay and Tony?” She had cut him off,
“No.. no, don’t call the med bay or tony, I’ll deal with Tony, Peter sweetheart, how about we take a cold bath? And then rest? hm?” Steve had replied, trying to smile, he’s never dealt with kids, or fevers, this was gonna take some time. Peter had only replied with a whimper, nodding his head a little, flinching every time as if the movement had burned him. “I- It burns.. S.- So- Bad Papa..” the little kid was now on the verge of tears, shutting his eyes tightly. Once getting the nod, Steve had almost ran into the washroom, setting Peter on the toilet seat going to turn on the water. “I know buddy, We’ll get through it. I promise.” Once the water was filled, Steve checked to make sure it was cold but warm enough for Peter before he began getting Peter ready for the tub.
As he had gently placed the little boy in the tub, he could hear a small breath come from the boy, as he slowly loosened his eyes to rest. “Hey there you are, I was calling you- hey I thought we agreed that bath time was at night??” Tony had walked in, a wooden spatula in his hands, as he crossed his arms. “Peter’s not feeling well, he has a fever. He was burning so I thought a cold bath may help.” Steve had explained turning to look at Tony, who’s eyes had worry written all over them, he looked over to Peter who was in the bath, laying what seemed to be almost asleep. Tony could only sigh, closing his eyes and bowing his head. “It’s alright Steve, I’ll set up a cooler in the room, let's just get him in bed before he gets worse, okay?” Tony replied crouching down, putting his hand on Steve’s shoulder.
The other man could only nod, getting up to lift the boy out of the bath, wrapping him in a towel and deciding they could worry about the clothes once he was in the bed resting. “Okay, I’ll change his clothes and ask FRI about the cooler, I have some soup in the fridge can you bring me that? And a bowl of cold water and a cloth.” Tony had ordered around, heading over to their closet to get Peter’s clothes. Steve had only nodded, heading out of the room, still dazed.
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“Okay, I had FRI turn the cooling on, changed his clothes, fed him some of the soup and switched the cloth on his head every 10 minutes. He’s sleeping again right now, once he wakes up we can take him to the doctors okay?” Tony had reassured, sitting down beside Steve on the sofa, who only hummed in response. Resting his head on the other man's shoulder. “Hey Steve, what's wrong?” Tony turned to look at the man, “What if he’s like that because of what we ate yesterday..? I made that food.. What if he got sick because of me?” Steve asked, turning to face Tony. worried he may have been the cause of this.
“Steve.- I’m sure he’ll be okay, and even if he’s sick. We got this okay? We can get him checked up later too.” Tony replied, trying to reassure the man. Who only nodded in response. Until.. An ear bleeding scream was heard from across the hall. Both of the men whipped their heads to look down the hall, leading to Tony’s room.
Once they had gotten there, they found Peter holding his stomach, screaming and crying. “Hey, hey Peter. Kiddo, what's wrong??” Tony had asked, running up to the boy trying to stop him from kicking and screaming. “It hurts! It hurts so bad!! Make it stop!!” the boy had screamed, holding his stomach while rolling around on the bed, crying. Tony could only stand there frozen, unsure what to do, when he turned to look at Steve he saw the man stuck by the door, his expression full of worry.
Tony was stuck. He had no idea what to do, and he was frozen in place. So he only did what he could think of. Grab the boy, grab Steve. And run, where to? The hospital of course.
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“Okay.. so. First time parents?” the doctor had asked as he stepped into the room. Tony could only nod as his question, turning his head to look at the boy who lay asleep. “Hm. makes sense, anyways. Have you had any take out over this past week?” He had asked, looking over his notes. “Uh, yes we had Chinese on Friday.” (It’s Sunday) Steve had answered the man, a little confused as to why he was asking that. “Well that answers it then.” The doctor stated. Putting his clipboard down. “He’s got a stomach infection from food poisoning, and he’s low on fluids. We’re gonna have him on a Drip for some time. Before you check out, tell the receptionist that I had told you about a drip and take that home with you. You’re gonna have him hooked up with the thing for about an hour or so okay? So assuming.. It’s 5 right now.. And you get home and let's say 6:30-7ish, you're gonna have him hooked up until 9:30 okay? And I want you to give him this syrup once a day for the next week okay?”
He had finished, writing down the results on a sheet, and handing them the prescriptions. Once he had left, did Tony let out a sigh of relief, turning to look at Peter who lay on the bed, unconscious.(they had given him half a sleeping pill and syrup to help ease the pain) “at least now we know it’s not your fault?” Tony said, turning to face Steve with an awkward smile which made the man slightly chuckle. “Yea I guess so.. Anyways. We should get going, I’ll get these checked with the front desk and you sign Peter out.” Steve had replied smiling, holding up the papers with the prescription on them, getting up and heading out the room.
Once they had gotten everything, out the door they went. Steve held the drip, an injection, and the syrup in a bag whilst Tony carried Peter to the car. Tony had decided to sit back, laying Peter beside him while Steve was going to drive. “Well I guess no more Chinese for a while huh.?” Steve asked as they made their way onto the main road. “I guess not,” Tony replied, chuckling. Looking down at Peter, he realized just how much the boy had grown on him, never did he expect to find himself adopting a kid, and Peter on top of that. Poor little mentally unstable (Like you) Peter Parker.
The ride back home had gone pretty peacefully, Peter had woken up a while later, shifting so he was laying against Tony, and Tony had fallen asleep resting his head on the window. Seems like everyone was tired. But it hadn’t taken long for them to get home. And sooner than later Steve had parked the car in the parking lot. Moving to grab the stuff from the seat beside him, now trying to wake up Tony and Peter. “Tony, wake up. We’ve arrived, let's head upstairs and you can sleep then okay?” He whispered gently, shaking Tony awake.
Once they had made their way into the elevator, Tony holding a sleeping Peter while Steve held all their things, Tony leaned against Steve as he tried to fight his tiredness away. Once they had made it up to their room, Steve had set up the drip while Tony lay Peter down, pulling his sleeve up so they could inject him. “We have a med bay here.. Why did we go to the hospital?” Steve questioned, inserting the drip into Peter as he hooked him up to the bag.
‘I don’t even know whether it’s Peter who woke me up this morning or you man. I’m losing it okay..” Tony replied lazily as he got into bed beside Peter, slowly drifting off to sleep with him. Steve only smiled softly at the two, making his way to the kitchen to get started on dinner. He decided they would have spaghetti tonight. Simple enough right? Wrong. Steve was stuck rethinking his life choices as he thought about breaking the spaghetti in half, he could either: A: break it in half so Peter wouldn’t have a hard time swallowing and deal with the insults from tony for the rest of his life, or he could: B: Not break it in half and have a possibly choking on noodles Peter and happy and insults free Tony. He spent 30 minutes stuck on that one question F.R.I.D.A.Y had asked him.
…
“Tony get up, dinner’s ready. Come’on I’ll feed Peter okay, here this is your bowl.” Steve spoke, handing a still sleepy Tony a bowl of spaghetti, going to the other side of the bed to wake up Peter. “W..-What..? What’s this? Silly Straws..?” The sleepy man had questioned lazily, rubbing his eyes awake. “No. It’s spaghetti, now eat up. It’s already 9.” “Oh. Okay…” Tony had replied, looking to Steve then back at the bowl of food, before his eyes darted awake. He turned his head so quick, you would have thought his neck was about to break.
“What happened to you!?” The man had almost shouted, pointing his fork at Steve, who only fed Peter a spoonful of noodles, sighing before turning his head away. “I uh.. Fell over some..” He had whispered quietly, cheeks covered in a light red tint. “Over what?” Tony looked at him, an eyebrow raised, while his eyes looked like they were about to pop their sockets. Stuffing his face with the spaghetti.
Steve had mumbled something while feeding Peter another spoonful, grabbing the water he put on the side table to give to the little boy. “Thank you” Peter had sleepy mumbled, taking the water and chugging it down. “What was that? I couldn’t hear you.” It seems like Tony did not want to end the conversation just yet, he had a smile plastered to his face as though he already knew what had happened.
Steve let out an awkward cough before he spoke again, closing his eyes as he spoke. “I..- I slipped on some.. Flour…” just as he had finished his sentence, Tony had burst out laughing, so hard tears had made their way down his face while he held his stomach. “I don’t get it. Why’s Daddy laughing?” Peter had asked, puzzled, looking from Steve to Tony, back to Steve who only sighed before replying. “Because.. I fell while making your spaghetti kiddo.” The man had replied which only made Tony laugh more.
“Oh. Daddy! It’s not nice to laugh! Papa you didn’t get hurt?” Peter quickly went from scolding his still laughing Father to facing his papa who was now gently rubbing his back from the ‘fall’ “Petey, don’t.. Forget.. T.to.. Ask him..- how he.. Fell oh my god! Ahaha!!” Tony was still laughing, as he wiped his eyes with one hand, while the other was holding his stomach. Confused Peter turned face Steve, who answered before he could ask.
“I fell.. Over some flour..” which only made Peter hold a hand to his mouth, trying to contain his laughs. Steve only sighed at him, face still a little red. “Fine.. go ahead and laugh. Gang up on me, why don’t you.?” Steve shot back, to which Peter only started to burst out laughing along with Tony, “come on! Doesn’t everyone fall over flour!?” Steve shouted, throwing his hands in the air as he spoke. “No!” the two shouted back at him at once, making them laugh even more.
Slowly but surely Steve had started to laugh as well, telling them off saying: “It’s not that funny” or “Come one guys.” every now and then. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood, that is until Peter froze, grabbing his stomach as he started to shout and cry again. Making the other two men freeze. “Steve, grab a bucket. Now” Tony had quickly ordered, getting up and making his way over to Peter. “Hey buddy.. It’s okay, just breathe okay. Breath Peter.” Tony had softly said to the boy, rubbing circles on his back.
As Steve passed the bucket to Tony, the man grabbed it, placing it in front of Peter in case he needed to throw up. To no one's surprise, that's exactly what he has done. Tony still sat beside him, patting his back while rubbing circles. “That’s it buddy, It’s gonna be okay..” The poor boy had thrown up everything he had eaten from that day, not even just his food, he threw up water, along with small bits of blood. Making the older men look over to each other concerned.
Once he was done and out of energy, Peter leaned over onto Tony, resting his eyes while breathing heavily. “It’s okay buddy.. It’s okay.. I got you.” The man had whispered to the boy, pulling him close while wiping his tears away. While the two were still laying, Steve decided to get up and put the dishes away, that was before he stopped all of a sudden. When he turned around, he say Tony holding onto his hand, which told him everything he needed to know.
Gently Steve sat down beside the two, Peter turning slightly so that he was in Steve’s arms, eyes shut softly as he sighed, breathing back to normal. “Stay with him okay?” Tony had asked the man, who only smiled softly, nodding his head as he gently patted Peter’s. Slowly Tony moved Peter so he was fully in Steve's arms, as he let go of the man's hand and got up, grabbing the dishes as he made his way out.
The man had gone back to check up on the two a while later, hiding that Steve had removed the drip and was now asleep with Peter still cuddled up next to him. Tony only smiled before leaving the room again, heading down to his lab to work on his suit a little.
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It was now almost 7 in the morning. And Tony had spent the entire time working in his lab unaware of the time, or the sun that was now rising, or the man that had walked in holding a small boy in his arms. Only when he looked up did he take in the area and the other two. “What are you two doing here?” he had asked them, “We could ask you the same thing.” Steve shot back, smiling as he made his way to Tony, but Tony was not smiling. No siree Tony looked more upset than happy. “You know it’s dangerous here, and it’s still too early for Peter to be up. He should be resting right now.” He has scolded the man for bringing Peter in, to which Steve only smiled softly in response, setting Peter down so he could run to his Daddy.
“Daddy! I wan-” Peter ran towards his father, but before he could finish his sentence he fell face first to the floor, making more the men rush over to him, until he got up quickly, brushing it off like nothing and running towards Tony. Earning a concerned look from the man. “I wanted to see you!” He had finished, as he leaped into the man's arms, earning a chuckle from Steve.
“I missed you too kiddo, how was your sleep? Feeling better?” Tony had started shooting questions left and right, grabbing the boys face to make sure he didn’t hurt himself too badly. “I’m ofkay! Papa loofked after me.” The boy had muffled out, pointing backwards to Steve who started walking up to them both.
“Buddy why don’t you go look around, I need to have a talk with you daddy.” Steve had smiled, placing a hand on the boys head as he ruffled his hair, earning a little scream about how he was older now and that he didn’t need to do that as he ran away, making both the men laugh a little before they turned to each other.
Once Peter was far enough, Tony began walking away from Steve, back to what he was doing, making the other man follow him. “Okay, what's wrong?” Steve had skipped straight to the question, making Tony sigh before he replied. “Nothings wrong, just.. Tired.” “We both know that’s not true Tony. What's wrong? You’ve been so.. Lost since last night.” Steve was now trying to get his attention, as Tony clenched and unclenched his hands, he took a deep breath before answering.
“I just..- Everything’s been so messed up since I took Peter in. And..-” Tony had cut himself off, unsure of what to say, “You think you made a mistake?” Steve had asked, looking at him worrily. “No god no! I just.. Peter’s been through so much.. And even with me, He’s still going through so much, like the day I adopted him, after we went out for ice cream, and the Paparazzi, or the incident at the park, or when I had gotten injured and made him worry, or now.. What if..” “You’re not good enough for him..?” Steve had finished for him, earning a hesitant nod from the man.
“Tony.. Look. as difficult as it sounds, that’s how life is. There are always going to be these little speed bumps along the road, but that doesn’t make you a bad father. You see the way Peter is with you, he loves you and the little things. Like when we had that movie night, and Peter got scared of how you came out the dark hallway, and then started laughing when you tripped on your way to the couch. You’re still new to this, and I bet Peter is too, but that doesn’t mean you stop trying okay? You’re gonna face a lot of ups and downs, but you’ll face them together.” Steve had assured Tony, smiling at him as he spoke softly, earning a smile back from the man.
“You sure?” “3000%.” (See what I did there??) he smiled. “Daddyy!! Pappaa!!” they heard a voice call out, and just as they looked towards the direction the voice came from, they saw Peter running over to them, tripping yet again and falling face first. Quickly getting up again and running to the men. “Catch me, catch me, catch mee!!” The shouted quickly as he jumped into their arms, making them fall back with a loud *thud!*
“Yayy! You catched me!” Peter squealed, hugging the two close, “Caught Peter, Caught.” Tony corrected, laughing along with the other two.
No matter what, they got this.
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“So sir, what will you do?” F.R.I.D.A.Y had asked Steve, clearly the better option would have been breaking the spaghetti and dealing with the insults. So what did Steve do?
Steve had made two batches of Spaghetti that night..
4 times..