Always Be My Baby

Tony sat by Peter’s hospital bed in their room. 

He was sleeping now after being given steroids and adrenaline to help keep his airways open to prevent him from going into another anaphylactic shock. 

Tony held his hand tightly, rubbing his thumb over the soft skin and focusing on the heart rate monitor. He was tired but he knew he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep. 

Tony looked up and watched one of Peter’s doctors walk into their room, grabbing the chart. “How’s everything going on here?” 

“Um, good. He’s been sleeping for about two hours now.” Tony caressed Peter’s forehead. At home, he usually woke up every two to three hours but Tony had a feeling he was going to be passed out for a very long time. 

“His vitals still look good. Strong levels. The medications we gave him are working well. I’m going to clear him to go home. I think he’ll feel better resting in his own bed at home.” The doctor handed Tony a sheet of paper with a prescription to get another EpiPen before leaving. 

He pulled out his phone, calling Pepper. She answered on the third ring. “The doctor cleared Peter to come home so I’m gonna re fill his EpiPen and I’ll be home in about an hour.” 

“Is Peter awake?” 

Tony looked at him. He was passed out. “No. He’s still sleeping.” 

After the phone call, Tony woke Harley up. He appreciated Harley coming but he wished he didn’t have to watch his younger brother get injections after injections of medications to open his airways. “Hey, bud. The doctor cleared Peter. We’re gonna head home.” 

Harley wasn’t in a deep sleep and he was ready to go. “Okay… is he sleeping?” He stood up and looked over at Peter sleeping on his back still. A nurse came in to unhook the monitors on him and once he was free, Tony scooped his arms underneath him and lifted him into his arms, supporting his bum with his forearm and letting Peter’s head rest against his shoulder. 

He was used to carrying Peter in this position but no matter how light Peter really was, Tony’s arms always lost feeling in it and he was already tired so he just wanted to get this over with and go home. 

Maybe Harley could see that. “I can get his EpiPen if you want to wait in the car, dad.” 

Tony appreciated that. “It’s okay, bud. I’m the only one who can sign for it anyways.” He would suggest Harley taking Peter to the car but Tony didn’t think he could be separate from him right now. 

He walked into the prescription area and struggled to pull out his ID and wallet. “Fuck.” All his cards dropped to the floor at once. Tony was definitely losing his patience. 

“I got it, dad.” 

Tony was so glad Harley was here. He handed over the paper for the worker, thankfully they were the only ones in the line up. “It’ll be a fifteen minute wait.” 

Tony nodded. There wasn’t much he could do about that. 

Peter’s body jerked and then he lifted his head up, looking to see who was holding him before putting his head back down. Tony sighed. “Is he awake?” He asked Harley since he wasn’t able to see Peter’s eyes. 

“Uh, yeah.” 

Great. Tony patted his back and it wasn’t long before Peter was wiggling to be placed on his feet so Tony did just that. Peter stood there, looking confused. 

“Huh?” 

“What, Pete? You still tired?” 

Peter leaned against him and looked around. “Mm! Stop.” 

“Stop what? I’m not doing anything, kid.” 

“Mm. I’m tired. You woke me up.” Peter pushed away from him. 

“I didn’t wake you up, you woke yourself up, baby.” Tony brushed the curls off his face. 

“Can you sign here.” The worker slid over a sheet of paper so Tony walked over to the desk and Peter screamed, trying to reach up for him. “And how will you be paying?” 

“Uh,” Tony quickly signed his name. “Debit. What, Peter? What do you want?” 

“Pick me up.” Demanded Peter. 

Tony lifted him up just to stop the whining that was getting on his nerves. He typed in his passcode and took the offered bag from the worker containing the new EpiPen and left. “We’re going home now? Do you want a bottle once we get home?” 

“Yes.” 

“Then you need to sit in your car seat and be good. Or else no milk.” 

“No. I am.” 

Tony sighed. He wasn’t even sure if Peter knew what happened to him and how much he actually remembered. “I know. We’ll be home soon. Suck your thumb then.” 

Harley opened up the back door for them. “I thought you didn’t want to encourage that.” 

“Who cares. He’s going to do it anyways. I can’t take his thumb from him.” At this point, Tony didn’t even care anymore. 

“You got him to stop at one point.” 

That was partly true. “He still sucked his thumb in his sleep. When I’d walk in to check up on him, I always found him with it in his mouth.” 

“Oh.” 

Tony shut the back door. He just wanted to get home. 

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Pepper laid on the bed watching Peter. 

Tony was sleeping in Peter’s bedroom since this was the first time he was sleeping in two nights basically. She couldn’t leave Peter’s side though. No matter how much stuff she had to get done, she just couldn’t leave.  

Now she knew how Tony felt when he spent all his free time just watching Peter as if he were the most interesting thing in the world. He was their little miracle child after all. 

Peter didn’t stay asleep for much longer. He woke up shortly after Morgan came to join them for an early morning snuggle. He stretched his legs out and reached around for a bottle that wasn’t there so he looked around for his dad but he wasn’t there either. He spotted his mom though and smiled. 

“Someone slept well. Did you have nice dreams.” Asked Pepper, leaning on her side to enjoy the rare moment of just getting to be with her two youngest without Tony there. 

“Yeah. I had a dream about Bali. It was cool.” Peter sat up in bed and looked around. “Where’s dad?” 

“He’s still sleeping. He slept in your room last night after you got home from the hospital.” 

Peter turned to her. “That was actually this morning.” 

“Oh. You’re right.” 

Peter gave a sharp nod. “I’m always right. I’m like that… what’s it’s called, the smart man from the tv show Morgan watches.” 

“Einstein?” Morgan supplied but Peter shook his head. 

“No. I don’t remember. It was just from one of the tv shows you watch.” Peter picked up his empty bottle again only to remember it was empty so he tossed it to the bottom of the bed. 

“Oh. Do you wanna build a Fort in the living room with me? Mom says no school today and tomorrow is the weekend.” 

Peter thought about it. He sat up and looked towards the bathroom. “I need to go pee. And I want to go in the toilet.” He looked at his mom for permission, as if she’d ever say no to him. 

“Of course, Peter. I’m so proud you. You go.” She sat up, watching him go into the bathroom and feeling her heart burst with happiness. She was so proud of him. 

Morgan scrunched up her nose. “Why are you proud of him? He’s not doing anything even.” 

“I know but to him, it’s a big deal, Morgan.” 

Pepper stood up and grabbed wipes along with clean underwear then peeked into the bathroom, seeing Peter sitting on the toilet, diaper still on. “Oh no. What happened?” 

“I just forgot I was wearing it. I’m sorry. Are you mad at me?” He held his breath, waiting for the answer. He knew his mom wasn’t mad at him but it was still scary to think he did something wrong and upset her. He stood up. 

“No, baby. Never. It’s my fault. I should have taken this off of you. Let’s do that now.” Pepper shut the door halfway and closed the toilet seat to sit on, pulling Peter to stand in front of her. 

Peter held his shirt up. “Can you make me waffles for breakfast?” 

“I can do that.” Pepper pulled the diaper off of him and tossed it into the garbage then grabbed the wipes. 

“No. No wipes.” He pushed her hand away. His behind was still sore from these passed few days. 

“I know but I have to. Grab the cream off the counter.” She pointed behind him but Peter didn’t move to grab it. “I know your dad usually does this but he’s sleeping still.” 

Peter didn’t care who did it, he just cared about the pain. “No wipes.” 

“Peter. I have to or it’ll get worse.” 

“No. I say no.” 

Pepper tried to think about what Tony would do. She looked towards the shower but didn’t think that would be better. “One wipe?” 

“No.” 

She sighed. “Fine. Then let me put cream on. Grab it for me.” 

Peter quickly grabbed it. “Put a lot.” 

“I will.” She dipped her fingers in and held him by the arm just in case he decided to run. “Relax, Petey. It won’t hurt.” 

Peter let out a breath of air then waited for it to be done so he could go play. He walked into the bedroom after, getting on his underwear and cringing at the slimy material now. 

“Are you okay?” 

Peter froze briefly. “Yeah. Just uncomfortable but it’ll get better, right?” 

“Right. Let’s go downstairs for breakfast.” She was so proud of him. Peter was so different without Tony, she thought she could hold an actual conversation with him. 

Morgan was already getting started on the Fort so Peter walked down and bumped into Harley. “Are you helping us?” 

“I am. I’m supervising the outside of it.” 

Peter rolled his eyes and squatted down. “You were supposed to wait for me, Morgan.” 

“Oh. Oops.” 

“It’s fine. I’m here now so move over.” Peter crawled over her lap and moved the chairs over to make more room in the Fort. “Let’s make this area here our entrance. Okay?” 

“Yeah. Definitely.” 

So the two of them got to work. 

They only stopped when Pepper called them out for breakfast then they took their plates underneath their half made blanket Fort. Peter licked the syrup off his fingers and tossed his spill proof cup. “Mom. I want more juice.” 

Pepper peeked her head in. “What do you say?” 

“Please. Fill it to the top please and thank you.” He handed her the empty cup. 

“Alright. Then I want you to go pee in the toilet in five minutes.” 

“I don’t need to go.” Peter insisted. 

“I still need you to try, Peter. I don’t want you to have any accidents today.” 

Peter didn’t say anything. He looked over at Morgan then slid his half empty plate under the couch and crawled to the other side of the Fort to finish building it. “Can you hold this part up for me?” He asked Morgan, getting frustrated when she didn’t immediately come to him. 

“Here you go, Peter.” His mom handed him more juice so Peter put the silicone straw in his mouth, holding it there so he could still use his hands. “Go pee now. Then you can come back and finish building.” 

“No. I already said I don’t need to go.” Peter took a sip of his grape juice and left it on the floor so he could climb onto the couch to attach the top of the blankets. “Morgan! Hold this side before it falls!” 

Morgan quickly followed the instructions and plopped the pillow onto the blanket to hold it there. 

The two of them continued building their fort together, fighting in the process over the best way to do something. Peter always won, knowing Morgan wouldn’t put up too much of a fight with him if he threatened to hit her. 

“No! I said put it there.” Peter demanded, narrowing his eyes at her. 

“If you hit me again, I’m telling.” 

“So. I don’t care.” 

Morgan pouted. “Fine. I’ll tell dad on you.” 

Peter deflated. “Nooo. Don’t. I won’t hit you. I promise. But put that there! Please. Okay?” He pointed to the edge of the table, wanting that blanket to be placed there. 

Morgan did as she was told. 

Peter squeezed between his legs, knowing he needed to go pee soon but he was having too much fun to stop now. He ignored the feeling, crawling out of the Fort to grab two more pillows. 

He then jumped down and crawled further into the Fort and squatted down, suddenly feeling a warmness spread down his legs and he really regretted not listening to his mom. 

Morgan crawled over to him, the blankets covering up most of the light. “Are you-” 

“Shh. Don’t tell anyone.” Peter covered a hand over her mouth then looked around with something to clean the mess up with. Thankfully there were a lot of blankets around them so he pulled one out and placed it over the puddle. “Just don’t tell anyone. It’s just an accident.” He sighed. He really should have listened to his mom. 

“I don’t know… I think you should tell mom at least-” 

“No. If you want to be a part of this Fort, don’t tell anyone.” 

“But… your underwear. It’s all wet.” 

Peter looked down and tried to pat it dry the best he could. “It’ll dry. Let’s finish building.” 

Tony walked down shortly after that. He was surprised and a bit disappointed that a curly haired boy didn’t wake him up. 

At least he got to get a full nights rest and he was feeling great. “Good morning. Where’s my monkeys?” He spotted the Fort in the middle of the living room and smiled. He knew who was in there. 

“Good morning.” Pepper pressed a kiss to his lips. “How did you sleep?”’

“Good, yeah. Is Pete in there?” Tony was more interested in seeing his baby. 

“Yeah, he slept pretty good. He woke up just after eight.” 

Tony nodded then walked around to find the entrance of the Fort and leaned down, looking inside. “Are there any kids in here for me to eat? I’m hungry.” 

He heard a giggle and he knew who that was so he pulled back one of the blankets and grabbed Peter by the arms, pulling him out of the Fort and lifting him up. 

“Wait! Dad- no.” Peter tried to stop him but his dad didn’t listen to him. 

Tony stood up and lifted Peter up, immediately feeling his soaking wet underwear under his hand and against his shirt. What a way to wake up. “Oh-Pete. What’s this?” 

Peter shrugged. “I spilled my juice.” He lied. 

“What is it?” Once Pepper walked over and saw his wet underwear, she sighed. “Peter. I told you two times to go sit on the toilet. You told me you didn’t even need to go. That wasn’t even fifteen minutes ago.” 

Peter wrapped his arms around his dad’s neck. 

“No. No, you aren’t using your dad to get out of this. You pee in the toilet. Not in your pants.” 

“Pepper. It’s fine. I’ll just go clean him up.” Tony couldn’t be mad at Peter for this. 

“Tony. I told him two times to go pee.” 

Tony rubbed Peter’s boney back. “Okay. Well why is he even wearing underwear? He’s still not 100% yet-” 

“Tony. No. He needs to wear it.” She gave him a look. 

“Not right now.” Tony bounced Peter a bit. “Let’s go get you changed, huh? Does your bum still hurt?” Peter nodded against him and Pepper sighed loudly. She couldn’t help but think that Tony was encouraging this behaviour. 

He took Peter upstairs and placed him on his feet in the bedroom, grabbing wipes and cream and stopping at the box of diapers. Pepper was right. But Tony didn’t want to cause Peter any stress or deal with this all day. He turned to Peter. “If I put you in a pull-up, can you actually pee in the toilet?” 

Peter stuck his thumb in his mouth. “I don’t know.” 

“Okay. Let’s try.” He grabbed a pull-up and pointed towards the bed so Peter laid down. 

“No wipes though.” 

“Yes wipes.” Tony pulled his wet underwear off of him and tossed it on the floor for now. 

“I said no wipes to mom and she didn’t. I don’t want you to.” Peter tried to turn onto his stomach but Tony placed a hand on his hip to stop him. “Ow. Stop.” 

“Pete, I’m not doing this to hurt you.” Tony got two wipes out but Peter tried to kick him away. “Peter. Ow. Hey, stop it. I’ll be quick and gentle.” 

Pepper walked into the bedroom and looked at them. “Tony. He’s telling you to stop.” 

Tony heard him but he was trying to help Peter so his rash didn’t get any worse. “Pep, look how much worse it is because you didn’t clean him this morning.” Tony tried but Peter was kicking him too much so he let Peter flip himself onto his stomach to crawl away then used that opportunity to wipe him clean. “Sorry. I’m sorry.” 

Peter screamed into the bed and once his dad was done, he began sobbing. “That hurt!” 

“Okay. I’m sorry. Daddy’s sorry. I’ll put cream on now. You’ll feel better.” Tony showed him the container. “I’ll be gentle, okay. Just lie down again.” 

Pepper couldn’t believe this. She had her arms crossed over her chest and walked around to sit next to Peter on the bed. “Are you wearing underwear after?” She decided to let it be Peter’s choice. 

Peter looked up at his dad to see what he wanted. “Um… a diaper.” 

“No. We decided on a pull-up.” Tony corrected him. He wiped his finger on a wipe once he was done, Happy that Peter no longer looked like he was in pain. He looked at Pepper. “We need more rash cream. Can you go get some or do you want me to send Harley?” 

Pepper was going to volunteer but she wanted to be alone with Peter. “No, can you go? We need more and I don’t want to run out of it when his skin is this raw.” 

Tony didn’t want to go but he’d do it for Peter. “Alright. Uh, I’ll be back in about forty minutes then.” He got a pull-up onto Peter and lifted him up, kissing him. “Do you feel better?” 

Peter nodded against him. “Yeah. Just… no more wiping. It really really hurts.” 

“If I don’t, it’ll hurt more next time. I’m trying to help you, baby. That’s all. I don’t want to hurt you.” 

Peter nodded. “Well, you did. Just… I want more cream.” 

“Daddy’s sorry. I’m gonna go get some now.” He pressed a kiss to Peter’s cheek and left, making sure to get him a chocolate bar to make up for hurting him. 

Peter made his way back down to his Fort and looked at the ruined part. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Someone ruined it.” 

“I did. I had to clean up the mess.” Pepper explained to him and sat down on the couch to watch the two. “Peter. It’s not a big deal, stop whining and fix it.” 

Immediately, Peter uncrossed his arms and fell to his knees to start fixing the Fort with Morgan, bossing her around and telling her what to do. “Stop. Tie it here. It won’t work there.” 

“Yes it will. Just watch.” 

“No.” Peter watched her anyways and when it caused the rest of the blankets to fall down, Peter screamed and threw himself onto the ground. “I knew it! It’s ruined!” He cried. 

Pepper stood over him. “Peter. Stop this. There’s no reason to cry over this so how about you use your words and fix it for Morgan.” 

Peter continued to cry. “I can’t! She don’t listen!” He sat up and wiped the tears off his face then looked at Harley. “I want to play with you.” 

“Well, I don’t want to crawl in that fort.” Harley didn’t trust what he’d crawl into. 

“Then I want to go into your bedroom and play in there.” He insisted, grabbing onto Harley’s hand to pull him into a standing position but Harley didn’t really want Peter in his room. 

“Fine. I’ll crawl in the Fort with you. Let’s go.” 

Pepper watched them go off and play together so she pulled out her computer and did some research. She wanted to stop the naps first and then move onto the bottles and then get Peter sleeping by himself but she didn’t think Tony would get rid of Peter from their bed. She knew he needed Peter to sleep with as much as Peter needed him. 

So she looked up their first battle. 

How to stop napping with kids? 

Pepper clicked on the first website. 

She skimmed it but it wasn’t helpful so she found another website and wrote down a few things. 

Start off with shorting the nap times gradually over time. 

Make sure bedtime is at a decent time for them 

Create quiet times in replacement of nap times. 

She didn’t know how that would work out. 

Pepper also wanted to bring it up to Tony to get him on the same page. 

Peter walked over to her so she quickly clicked off of the website. “What’re you doing?” He asked, sitting next to her and looking at the home screen of her computer. It was a picture of him and Tony when he was a baby. Peter loved that picture. 

“Oh. Just looking for new shirts for me.” 

Peter nodded and chewed on his index finger. 

“Are you hungry?” Pepper asked, taking notice of what he was doing. 

“No. When’s dad coming home?” 

“Maybe in thirty minutes or so. Why?” Peter shrugged. “Are you having fun building your Fort?” 

“Yeah. It’s fun.” He turned to sit on his knees and look over the back of the couch. “I want you to play with us too. Not sit here.” Peter admitted, sliding off the couch to encourage his mom to follow him. 

Pepper shut her computer and got up to follow Peter into the blanket Fort. She was surprised at how big it was inside. She followed Peter around a corner and stopped when he decided to stop crawling. “Oh. What is it?” 

Peter gasped. “I heard the garage open.” He knew his dad was home and he heard the front door beep to prove that so he quickly made his way out of the Fort and bolted towards the front door, straight into his dad’s arms. “Daddy!” 

“Hi baby. I was only gone for like twenty minutes.” He pressed a kiss to his cheek and hoisted him up higher. He loved leaving home just to come back and be greeted by Peter like this. 

None of his kids ever did that, at least not since after they turned a certain age. Peter always did it. As soon as he learned how to walk. And even before that, he crawled to him. It was one of the reasons why coming home during those seven years was so hard because Tony knew he wouldn’t be greeted with a toddler running towards him. 

“I know. But I still missed you.” 

Tony pressed another kiss to his cheek and walked into the living room, surprised to find Pepper inside the Fort. “What are you doing?” He chuckled, placing Peter on his feet and squatting down to look inside. “How do you all fit in there?” 

“It’s actually quite spacious.” 

Tony hummed and waited for Peter to crawl in first so he could follow him in. “Wow. I’m impressed. Did you help them build this?” 

“No.” Pepper was impressed too. “They did it all on their own.” 

“And-and-and even inside there is where we sleep in the-where we put the blankets in.” Peter explained and Tony didn’t understand half of what he was saying so he just nodded. 

“Oh. Wow. Really.” 

“Yeah.” 

Tony smiled, caressing his cheek. 

They played together in their fort for a little longer after that. Tony just enjoyed doing something as a family together. 

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Pepper was tasked with getting the kids ready for bed tonight. 

As they were eating dinner, they noticed that the house was freezing and when Tony went to check, no heat was coming out from the vents so he looked at Peter, assuming he had messed around with the thermostat. Upon further inspection, he realized that it wasn’t even on and that with their luck, it was in fact broken. 

Tony was trying to get it fixed but they needed to buy a part and it was already nine at night. He debated on going to a hotel tonight but by time they packed everything and got there, it would be way too late and that was simply too much stress for everyone. 

So, the plan was to set up the basement, the warmest place in the house right now, with beds and blankets for them to sleep. 

He finished pumping up the last air mattress and turned the one electric heater they had on. Maybe he should be more prepared for something like this but he wasn’t. 

Tony went upstairs after to see how things were getting on with Pepper. He felt bad for her, when he left last, Peter was crying and Morgan was in a crazy mood. 

He stood by the bathroom door and listened in, hearing Peter talking away; to who, Tony didn’t know. 

Once he opened the door, Peter spotted him and jumped into his arms. “You came back!” 

“Obviously. Where else would I go without you.” He kissed his cheek and went back in to sniff his skin. “Mmmm. You smell so good. Did mommy put cream on you?” 

Peter nodded. “She gave me a massage like at the salon.” 

“Wow. Do you mean the spa?” 

“Yeah.” Peter wiggled his legs to be put down so Tony placed him on his feet and followed him out of the bedroom but Pepper stopped him. 

“I’m just braiding Morgan’s hair. She wants it curly for tomorrow.” 

“I want my hair to be curly like Peter’s, dad.” Morgan proudly said and then a diaper was being thrown in Tony’s face, clean thankfully. 

“Uh, what’s this?” 

Peter grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the bed. “I want it on now. Are-are we gonna sleep in the um, in the basement?” 

“Yeah, because it’s cold. Aren’t you freezing right now?” He ruffled his hair that was still wet. “Pep, where’s the blow dryer?” 

“I have it here. I’m gonna blow dry his hair soon. I just have to finish up here. Also I already put a diaper on him, didn’t you feel it when you picked him up.” Pepper did the last braid and put Moose in it to finish it up. “There we go. How about you go downstairs with daddy to bring some blankets down.” 

Tony felt between Peter’s legs. “I guess I'm just so used to it now.” He wanted to wait until Peter was done but he still had to get the basement set up so he and Morgan grabbed a ton of blankets and made their way downstairs. 

Peter hopped into the bathroom. “My turn. I want a braid in my hair, mom.” 

“I’m not sure your hair is long enough.” Pepper combed his hair back with a brush. When it was combed back and not so curly, it went just above his shoulders. He definitely needed a haircut but Tony liked the long haired look on him. “Alright. How about I give you a French braid along the side of your head?” 

“Yeah!” He tried to stand still for that but it was too hard when he had so much energy and had to keep moving his feet. 

To make it easier for Pepper, she pulled her phone out, giving it to Peter to use. “Your dad has your Hay Day game on his phone but you can go on mine so you stay still.” Peter giggled but it worked. He got his braid in and got his hair blow dried. “Look at me. You look so handsome, honey.” 

Peter grinned up at her then moved to stand in front of the body mirror, checking himself out. 

“Oh look at you. Turn around so I can take a picture with you.” Peter turned around, grinning into the camera and did a pose. He always had been so photogenic. 

“Okay. Let me see now.” He pulled her arm down, looking at the picture. “Wow. Now we go downstairs. That’s where everyone went to.” He went to run out of the bathroom but bumped into Harley. “Oof!” 

“Sorry. Hey. Woah, you look so cool with that braid in your hair.” Harley examined it closely, thinking it made his brother look really cool with it in, also a bit older, he wondered what their dad was going to say. “I’ll give you a piggyback ride downstairs.” 

Peter jumped onto the bed and waited for Harley to walk towards him so he could jump onto his back. “Stop by the kitchen on the way down.” 

“What do I look like, a taxi?” 

Peter giggled. “Yeah. Just do it. I’ll pay you with Monopoly money.” He happily rode on his brother’s back until they made it downstairs so Peter wiggled off to be placed down. “Woah. I almost fell.” 

“Hurry up and have a growth spurt so you can give me a piggyback ride.” 

Peter liked staying the size he was. He fit perfectly in Tony’s arms. He knew his doctor was always disappointed in his weight and it made Tony stressed but Peter didn’t care, he wanted to stay the size he was for the rest of his life. 

“Never!” He climbed up onto the cabinet. “Get me a bottle.” 

“Are you allowed?” 

“Yes. Just get me one.” Peter turned around, narrowing his eyes at Harley. 

Harley hesitated. “Fine. I’m blaming you if you’re not actually supposed to have one.” Harley didn’t know, it was off and on. He grabbed a bottle, pouring it to the top with milk and handing it to Peter’s awaiting hands. “Don’t pee on me.” 

“I won’t.” Peter got back into his brother’s back and got carried downstairs, waving to his dad once they got down. “Hi dad. Look at me.” 

“Oh. Hey. Uh-” Tony walked over to him, taking Peter off Harley to hold for himself. “Oh my god. Mom braided your hair!” 

Peter nodded happily. “Do you like it?” 

“I do. It makes you look so handsome.” He pinched Peter’s cheek and placed him on his feet. “Go sit with Morgan. I wanna take a picture with you two.” 

Peter walked over to the beds that were set up. There were two blow up mattresses pushed together and covered in pillows and blankets. “It looks like a Fort.” He jumped onto the bed. “Dad. Can you do that thing where-where like I sit on the edge and you jump on it and then I go flying into the sky?!” 

“The only place you'll go flying into is the ceiling. So no.” 

Peter let out a puff but otherwise didn’t complain and crawled over to Morgan, sitting next to her to pose for more pictures then jumped in between his older brother and sister when Harley joined. 

“I like being the middle cause then no matter what I just always get to be in the middle.” Peter explained. He crawled off the bed and walked towards his playroom, looking inside. 

“Pete, where’re you going?” 

“I just wanna see if my trucks are in here.” 

“No. We’re not playing. Do you even know what time it is?” 

Peter shrugged. “5 o’clock.” 

“No. It’s past your bedtime so get into bed.” 

“But my bed is upstairs.” 

Tony just loved him. “Baby. Remember we’re sleeping down here.” Tony just noticed the bottle in his hand. “Oh. And I can see you already got that so you’re ready to go.” 

“I didn’t know if he could have it…” 

Tony opened his mouth to say he could but Peter beat him to it. “Obviously I can. Who’s gonna stop me.” 

“Oh.” Harley didn’t expect that from his little bro but Peter got possessive when it came to his bottle… kinda like their dad when it came to Peter… 

“No ones taking it from you, Pete. You drink.” Tony shut the main light off and collapsed onto the bed. “Harls, turn the heater away from us a bit, would you. It’s actually getting too hot now.” 

Peter agreed with that and tugged his pyjama pants off, kicking it down. “Yeah. It’s too hot.” 

Morgan just caught onto their previous conversation. “When you fall asleep, Peter, I’m gonna take your bottle away.” 

Both Tony and Peter looked at her. Before Tony could reassure Peter that she was only kidding, Peter lunged at her, punching her arm. “Hey! No, get off. Both of you enough. Morgan, don’t say those things to your brother, and Peter, you do not hit. I am not happy with either of you.” 

Peter gave Tony sad eyes. “But-but-but she started it.” 

“I don’t care who did. You do not hit. Do you understand me?” Peter looked at his feet so Tony shook his arms. “Hey. Do you understand me?” 

“Yes! Now let me go.” Tony let Peter go and he fell onto his face on the mattress. He crawled over to the other side, giving Tony a dirty look. 

Tony was so used to those by now. He turned when he heard Pepper walk down. 

“It sounds like someone is already in trouble. What’s going on?” 

Peter stood up. “No. Not me. I’m being good. Right, dad?” 

“I think everyone is just tired so it’s time to sl-” 

“NoooooAAA!” Peter threw his head back, stomping his feet until he collapsed onto the bed, crying. 

Harley was already ready to just go upstairs and freeze. He didn’t want to deal with listening to his brother all night long. 

“Alright then.” Pepper placed diapers, wipes and rash cream on the table. “I’m putting this here just in case. Saves you from having to go upstairs.” 

“Oh. Saves me. Not even you.” He chuckled although he knew he would be the one doing all the changes. 

“Yep.” She patted his arm and got onto the bed, rubbing Peter’s back. “Hey. Look, do you want milk? I know you’re tired, Peter. Come here.” 

Peter cried harder but lifted his head up to take the bottle from his mom and start drinking it, the crying immediately stopping. 

“Is he going to do this all night long? Cause if so, I’m gonna go upstairs and just freeze to death.” 

Tony rolled his eyes at Harley’s comment. “He has his milk now, he’s fine.” He ran his hand through his hair and turned to leave. “Alright. I’ll be back. I’m gonna go make sure everything is locked up.” 

Peter pulled his bottle out. “Nooo! Stay! Stay.” 

“Daddy will be back. Just drink your milk-” 

“Nooo! I wan’ you to stay.” 

Tony sighed. He wasn’t going to be able to leave without Peter and he couldn’t sleep without double checking everything was locked up. So Tony held his hands out for him. “Come here. Let’s be quick.” 

“Mmmmm!” Peter quickly crawled across the bed, lifting his arms up and sticking his bottle back in his mouth, just sucking on the silicone nipple for comfort. 

Harley went to the far corner of the bed. It was two queen blowup mattresses so it was rather large. He wanted to be as far away from Peter, knowing he cried, peed, and slept like an octopus. 

Their dad could deal with that, like he did every night. 

“I’m not waking up at 5am tomorrow when Peter wakes up. Tell him to be quiet.” Morgan pouted. 

“Your dad will get up with him. And he probably won’t even be up that early anyways, guys.” 

“Why does he even get up so early?” 

Pepper didn’t even really know why. “Because he doesn’t sleep well and he gets overtired. And when you’re overtired, you don’t sleep. Why do you think your father and I put him down for a nap every day. For our sanity at least.” 

Harley knew his parents put up a lot with Peter but as stressed and as tired as Tony looked, Harley could see how happy and full of life his fathers eyes were. He hated seeing him so… dead looking when they didn’t have Peter, it was basically like he was a walking shell, just a body with no soul or purpose. 

He watched Tony walk back downstairs with his brother and how he held him so carefully then placed him on the bed. “I’m still here, Pete. Let me crawl in next to you.” 

Peter sat up and started crying. 

“Okay. Okay. I’m right here. What’s wrong?” 

Peter cried harder. “Daddy!” 

“I’m right here. Baby. What’s wrong?” Tony didn’t know. He laid down next to him, forcing him to lie down but Peter let out a painful sob and refused to lie down. “Baby.” 

“What’s wrong, Peter? Do you want to come to me?” Pepper held her arms out for the boy, hoping he would calm down with her but he shook his head, putting his fingers in his mouth. She watched as spit dripped from his mouth, pooling onto his thigh. 

Tony grabbed him, swinging him onto his hip and taking his bottle. “Shh. Shh. I know you’re tired.” It had been an extremely stressful day yesterday and early today. Tony was overtired too, or at least getting there. 

“Do you want to watch some tv for a bit? Huh? Drink your milk and watch tv?” Peter shook his head, chewing on his thumb and looking both uncomfortable and in pain. “Baby. I don’t know what’s wrong if you don’t tell me.” 

Peter let out a sigh and tilted the bottle up to drink it so Tony turned to Pepper. Of course the one night they all had to sleep together was the night Peter decided to be difficult. He walked back over to the beds, laying Peter down and lying down next to him so it was Tony on the end, then Peter, Morgan, and Pepper, Harley was lying on the couch, on his phone. 

He looked at Peter and Morgan, knowing he was going to have to separate the two of them but they seemed fine together now. 

“Peter, can you put your pyjama pants on? It’s cold.” 

“Mm.” Peter laid on his stomach, refusing to look at his mom so everyone left him alone. 

Tony stayed awake. 

Morgan was the first one to fall asleep and then Harley did and Pepper soon followed. Tony thought Peter was asleep but when he looked over at him, he could see his eyes still open and looking at the tv. 

So Tony grabbed the remote and shut the tv off. 

Thankfully Peter didn’t complain, he just swung an arm over his dad’s chest. 

Tony knew he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep unless Peter did too, and Peter didn’t look like he was tired, he just looked calm which Tony was grateful for at least. 

About fifteen minutes later, Peter was asleep. Tony pulled him closer and tried to fall asleep now too. 

.

.

.

Tony woke up to whining. 

He felt like he didn’t even fall asleep and upon checking the time, it was thirty minutes later. 

“Baba.” 

Tony sat up. “What’s wrong?” 

Peter whined again. “Baba.” 

“You have your bottle right there. Look.” He handed it to him, still half full. Peter took two sips then tossed it away and started crying. “Shhh shh, everyone is sleeping. Peter. Stop.” 

Peter looked at him and cried harder which resulted in Harley waking up. 

“What’s going on?” He shined his phone light on his dad and brother then groaned. “Urggggg. How can I sleep with him here?” 

Tony tried to guide Peter’s thumb up to his mouth but Peter refused it so he tried the bottle. 

“Noooo.” 

“Peter. Please be quiet.” 

Morgan sat up in bed and looked around. “Is it morning?” 

“I’m sorry, guys. I’d take him upstairs but there’s no heat.” Tony felt so bad. He didn’t know what to do but then he had an idea that Pepper would hate him for later although she wasn’t awake right now, he was so he made the decisions. 

“He’s so loud.” Morgan complained, covering her hands over her ears. 

“I know. Come with me, Peter.” Peter lifted his arms up, being lifted onto his dad’s hip and crying into his ear. He was tired and it was frustrating for him that he couldn’t sleep. It was all his dad’s fault. So Peter slapped his arm. “Hey. What’s that for?” 

Peter didn’t know. He was overtired. “Mmhmmm.” 

Tony walked upstairs with him, already feeling the cold air in the house hit them. Peter shivered against him. “Where you taking me?” Peter cried out. 

“Upstairs to get something.” Tony walked into his bedroom and placed Peter on the bed temporarily, not surprised one bit when Peter started sobbing even louder. 

Tony opened up his nightstand drawer and dug around until he found what he was looking for. He knew Pepper would be so angry with him in the morning but Tony didn’t know what he was supposed to do with Peter crying and everyone else needing to sleep. 

So Tony pulled the pacifier out and pushed it past Peter’s lips, the crying immediately stopping. “Here. All better now?” 

Peter took a few sucks to test it out and hummed happily. He lifted his arms up, laying his head on his dad’s shoulder once he was in his arms and was practically asleep by the time they got back downstairs. 

Tony sighed as he laid Peter back down on the bed. He hated how Peter needed these comfort items to sleep. Tony wanted to know how Steve got him to sleep, what he gave to Peter to make him so dependent on his thumb and other comfort items. 

Peter held an arm up to him so Tony didn’t hesitate to lay next to him. Everyone else had fallen back asleep, Tony assumed so since no one was moving or talking to him and now he knew Peter would be asleep until the next morning. 

He felt guilty for giving in… Peter didn’t even ask for one to begin with and Tony was creating bad habits but at this point, he didn’t know what to do to get Peter to sleep. 

Maybe he would have to hire a sleep trainer… but this will do until then. 

Tony just had to deal with Peppers wrath.