Always Be My Baby

Tony’s body was so used to waking up at 5am because of Peter so just after 5am, Tony automatically woke up and looked over at Peter, seeing him sound asleep. 

He was so relieved to see that, knowing he was going to be able to sleep for longer now, or at least continue to rest his eyes for another hour or two. 

He was still so tired. 

As Tony laid there, he watched the pacifier bob in Peter’s mouth rhythmically as he sucked on it in his sleep. Tony was both happy Peter had a comfort item to help him sleep right now but he wished it didn’t have to be a pacifier. 

There was no doubt that the only reason Peter was actually still sleeping right now was because of the soother in his mouth. Tony sighed and tried to fall back asleep. 

He wasn’t able to but he was able to peacefully lay there, eyes drifting between Peter and the ceiling as he let his thoughts wander, trying not to dwell too much on the future stresses of breaking some of Peter’s most difficult habits. 

Tony laid there until Morgan woke up. He watched her stretch then she sat up and crawled out of bed. Tony chuckled to himself, gaining Morgan’s attention. He always found it funny how his two youngest woke up and immediately got out of bed like they were on some mission. It was funny. He liked to lay in and relax but of course he couldn’t always do that with Peter. 

“Good morning. How did you sleep?” 

Morgan yawned. “Good. It was actually really comfy down here. Can we sleep down here again tonight?” 

Tony chuckled. He didn’t think so, well, he hoped not. “Maybe not. I think one family sleepover is enough for now. How about we all go back to our own beds tonight.” 

Morgan thought about that, getting off the blow up mattress to walk over to the couch, looking at Peter. “Well… Petey doesn’t even sleep in his own bed…” 

Tony looked over at his baby. That was true but Tony didn’t mind it. He needed Peter if he wanted to sleep himself. “Yeah, because-” 

“Hey! Petey has a paci!” Morgan finally noticed, looking at her older brother carefully. “Why?” 

“Yeah, shh. Because remember how loud he was crying last night?” Tony made sure Peter was sound asleep then he carefully tried to get off the bed without waking Peter up. He knew Pepper was going to be upset if she saw Peter with a pacifier in his mouth but he couldn’t take it out without waking Peter up. 

He decided to leave it. 

“Morg, you wanna go upstairs and eat breakfast? I’ll make French toast. How does that sound?” Tony whispered to her, hoping Peter stayed asleep so he could have one on one time with Morgan which he rarely got. 

He walked upstairs with her, keeping the basement door open to listen to anyone waking up, well, for Peter waking up. 

“Dad, later can we go to the park?” 

“I don’t think so. We’re going to the cabin the day after tomorrow, and you guys go to school tomorrow. I don’t think we’ll have time today.” Tony needed to get the heat fixed before they left so that was his top priority right now. 

Morgan let out a huff. “Fine. When are we going to the cabin? It’s the same one we went to before, right?” 

“Yeah. A few years ago.” Tony passed the bowl over to Morgan. “Can you stir this?” 

“Yes! I love cooking with you. Remember we used to cook together just us?” 

Tony vaguely remembered that. He had a hard time remembering stuff during the worst time of his life. It was all a blur. “Yeah.” He smiled. It was the one thing he did with Morgan to try and take his mind off of missing Peter so badly. But he always ended up telling Morgan about him anyways. “You’ve come a long way with your mixing skills since then.” 

Morgan grinned. “Cause I know better now. Plus you taught me the best tricks and ticks.” 

Tony laughed. “It’s ticks and tricks.” He continued laughing until Pepper walked upstairs, eyes narrowing in on Tony so he cleared his throat and turned away from her deadly stare. 

“Tony. Can I talk to you for a second.” 

“Is this about Petey having a soother?” Asked Morgan, looking between her parents. “Cause it’s because he was crying lots last night.” 

Pepper crossed her arms over her chest so Tony dared to face her. “Morgan, can you go downstairs and wait with your brothers until they wake up?” 

“But I wanna cook with you.” 

“You can. I just need you downstairs for now.” Tony waited until she was out of earshot then he sighed and looked down. “Pepper. You were sleeping. I had to deal with it so I dealt with the crying the best I could.” 

“The best you could. Literally by giving him a pacifier. A pacifier, Tony. Really? He’s fourteen. You can’t be encouraging this.” 

“I’m not.” Okay, maybe he was. “He took to it. I can’t force that but it got him to be quiet and actually sleep and look, he’s still sleeping and it’s actually a decent hour.” 

Pepper still didn’t look happy with him. Tony couldn’t really blame her. “Tony. You gave him a pacifier. While we’re in the process of starting to drop naps and bottles. Seriously. You really think that was a good idea.” 

“Yes. I did. I do. Because you’re never there to deal with all that, Pepper. I am. You’re in… dreamland. I’m always the one stuck awake with him and he was crying and refused to sleep plus he woke up his siblings. It was too much.” 

“You should have woken me up.” 

“What are you gonna do that I can’t. I tried everything. You don’t breastfeed him anymore, it isn’t like that old trick will work!” Tony yelled a bit too loud then realized how loud he was actually being. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as the silence spread over them. 

Pepper was the one to break it. “Tony. I think you’re terrified of him growing up so you’re doing these things to hold onto his childhood. You baby him.” 

Tony knew he did. “We all baby him.” 

“But you shouldn’t have given him a pacifier. When he wakes up, I can guarantee that he won’t want to give it up. And tonight, he’ll beg for it and probably cry himself to sleep since we’re not giving it to him.” 

Tony knew all of that. He would still do it all over again, given the chance. 

He went to say that but Peter walked up from the basement stairs, carrying an empty bottle and a blanket around his shoulders. “Good morning, baby. How did you sleep?” 

Peter didn’t respond. He walked over to his dad, leaning against him and then holding the empty bottle up. “Mmm.” 

“Peter,” Pepper walked up to him, leaning down to be at his height. “can you give me the pacifier? It’s time to take it out now.” 

“Mmhmm!” Peter shoved his head in Tony’s stomach, covering himself with the blanket. “Up.” 

“Just give him a second to wake up, Pepper.” Tony told her as he lifted Peter up, setting him on his hip and taking the bottle from his hands to place in the sink so he could get a new one for him. 

He made awkward eye contact with Pepper as he filled up the new bottle. He knew she was judging him but he couldn’t really care about that. He liked to make the decisions regarding Peter. 

Tony walked into the living room and placed Peter on the couch, handing him his bottle then sitting next to him. Peter took his pacifier out to replace it with the bottle so Tony took it from him and all hell broke loose. 

Peter jerked his whole body, screaming and reaching out for the pacifier. 

Tony honestly didn’t expect that so he handed it back to Peter. “Woah. Alright. Here you go.” 

Peter let out a sigh as he put it back in his mouth, sucking on it and deciding to hold his bottle in his hand instead, in fear of the silicone comfort being taken away from him again. He pointed to the remote, looking over at his dad who was already looking at him. 

“Here.” He handed it to him. “I gotta go run some errands so you stay with mom. I’ll be back.” He went to press a kiss to Peter’s cheek but Peter screamed and fisted his shirt. 

“Nooooo! Stay.” He knew his mom was just going to convince him to give her his paci and he was not on board with that. “Daddy.” 

“Pete. This house is freezing. I need to go to the store and get the right parts.” 

“Mmmm.” 

Tony caressed his face. “I don’t know what you’re trying to say. Take that out and talk to me.” 

Peter let out a huff and crossed his arms over his chest, staring at the tv so Tony left him and walked into the kitchen, speaking quietly. “Just… don’t force him to give it to you. I’ll be back in an hour.” 

“I’m gonna put him in underwear while you’re gone. That’s all. You can do the rest.” Tony looked back at Peter like he wanted to protest it but he didn’t. He grabbed his wallet and keys then left. 

Pepper grabbed a tea and walked over to the couch, joining Peter. She saw the way he moved away from her. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to take that away from you. Can you tell me why you want it?” Peter didn’t respond so she didn’t push it. Instead, she placed her tea on the table and grabbed wipes and dug in the clean laundry basket that she had yet to fold for underwear. 

“You look comfy but I need you to come stand up in front of me so I can take that off you. Come.” 

Peter turned onto his stomach, burying his face in the couch. “Mm. No. Just dad.” 

“He’s not here and won’t be for an hour or so. If you wait that long, you’ll get a rash. Come here, Peter.” 

Peter didn’t want to. He was feeling really emotional this morning and just wanted his dad. “No underwear.” 

“Alright. How about you put your pyjama pants back on after I take that off? Alright.” Pepper stood up and tried to pull the blanket away from Peter’s face. “Peter. Dad’s not coming home for an hour. I don’t want you to get a rash.” 

Peter didn’t respond. He pulled the pacifier out to suck on his thumb a few times then replaced it again, trying to comfort himself without his dad there to do it for him. “Mmmm.” 

“I know. I know. I’ll be quick then you can go back to lying on the couch.” 

Pepper sat down and pulled Peter to stand in front of her, making quick progress of pulling down his pyjama pants and taking off the diaper, folding it up and tossing it on the floor. She wiped him clean and was done in under a minute so Peter pulled his pyjamas back up and buried his face in the couch. “I want daddy.” 

“Daddy will be back soon.” Pepper patted his butt. “If you need to pee, please go in the toilet. I’m not cleaning no accidents up today.” 

“I don’t need to go.” Peter mumbled and turned over to face the tv, a permanent pout on his face until his dad returned an hour later. 

By that time, Harley was awake and in a hot shower and Morgan was cuddled on the couch beside her brother. Peter heard the front door open and ran towards it. “Daddy. Pick me up.” He was stressed out. 

Tony didn’t expect that. He also thought Peter would have given up the pacifier by now. “Aww. Baby. What happened?” He shut the door behind him, locking it. 

“Mm.” 

Tony rubbed his back and walked into the kitchen. “So I got the part. I think it’s an easy fix. I’m gonna go do that now. Can you take him?” 

Pepper gave Tony a sad look and led them over to the couch. “I’m definitely not his favourite right now but okay. Come, baby.” 

Peter whined, refusing to let go of his dad. 

“I’m always his favorite. It’s not just today.” He tried to make light of the situation before handing a reluctant Peter to his mom and then the crying started. 

Tony wanted to get the heat back on as soon as possible and while he was working, all he could hear was the distant sound of crying and it did not stop. 

So Tony worked harder. 

He finished and immediately felt the house starting to warm up. He made his way upstairs, expecting to find Peter in the same place he left him but he found him sitting on the toilet and crying. His heart broke. 

“Baby. What’s wrong?” 

“I don’ need to go pee!” Peter cried. 

“Alright. Stand up then.” He waited for Peter to stand up and get his pants pulled up then he lifted him up and walked into the living room to find Pepper. “How long was he sitting on the toilet for?” 

“Not even a minute. Did he go pee?” 

Tony sighed. “No. I’m taking him upstairs to watch some tv and get him to calm down. Someone woke up miserable.” 

“Because you tries and take paci from me!” Peter screamed at him, clearly worked up. 

“I didn’t, Peter.” He hoped Pepper didn’t while he was out. “You can give it to me when you’re ready. Okay?” 

“I want my bottle.” 

Tony handed it to him. 

“And I want paci after my bottle.” Peter hoped his dad said yes. 

“You can have your paci until you want your bottle but then you gotta give me paci.” 

“Noooo! No!” Peter cried against Tony’s chest, still crying against him as he was placed on the bed with Tony. He continued crying for the next ten minutes and then decided his want for milk beat his want for a pacifier so he took it out of his mouth and handed it to his dad so he could drink and watch the Disney shows on the tv contently. 

Tony hoped that was the end of that. He was exhausted and the day barely began. 

.

.

.

Peter couldn’t contain his excitement. 

Normally he hated going on school trips since he had a bad history of them but since his dad was going to be one of the parents that were going on the trip with him, he was excited. 

Last night, he cried himself to sleep, wanting to have a pacifier so badly but his parents didn’t give in, as badly as Tony wanted to. 

Tony expected him to wake up in a bad mood because of that but thankfully he was happy. All thanks to their field trip. 

“Hurry, dad. Let’s go, let's go!” Peter wiggled in his car seat and waited for the door to open. “You’re taking too long. I wanna see my friends.” 

Tony opened up the back door. “Is Ned going to be on this trip?” He asked as he unbuckled Peter. 

Peter shrugged. “I don’t know.” He jumped out of the van but Tony grabbed his arm to hand him his backpack. “No, you carry it. I don’t want to.” 

“I’m not carrying your backpack, kid. You carry it.” Peter reluctantly grabbed it from him. “Wait for me. I have to get something from the back.” 

Peter saw the school bus and bounced on his toes until his dad let him cross the parking lot. Once they were in the crowd of students who were going on the trip, Peter ran over to his friends while Tony got the list of children who were in his group and basic instructions on what he needed to do. 

Tony kept an eye on Peter but let him have his space to talk with his friends and have fun. It wasn’t often Tony got to see how Peter interacted with his friends so he was looking forward to it. 

Peter walked onto the bus with his friends but he wanted to sit with his dad so he looked back for him but didn’t see him.

 “Come sit next to me, Peter.” Said Timmy but Peter shook his head. 

“I’m sitting with my dad.” 

“But I’m your best friend.” 

Peter pulled away from him. “No. My dad is. And my sister. And my second best friend is my mom and my brother and my dog.” 

Peter sat down next to Timmy briefly while he waited for his dad to come onto the bus. “I thought I was your best friend. We sit next to each other in math class.” 

“Um… you can be my other best friend.” 

“Then you have to sit next to me.” 

“I don’t have to. Don’t say that.” Peter spotted his dad get onto the bus and sit down so he got up and plopped next to him. “Hi.” 

“Hey. Why don’t you go sit with your friends, Pete?” 

“You’re my friend.” 

A boy walked over to them, looking upset. “I want Peter to sit with me.” 

“Yeah, go sit with your friend, Pete.” 

Peter grabbed onto Tony’s arm. “No. I’m sitting with you. I like you more.” 

The boy, who Tony didn’t know, crossed his arms and took a seat behind them with another boy. Peter crawled over his dad’s lap and sat up on his knees to look back in the seat. “Hi. Now it’s like we’re still sitting beside each other.” 

“What’s that kid's name, Pete?” Asked Tony, quietly. 

Peter sat back down. “Um… I forgot.” 

Tony rolled his eyes but it was funny. “Ask him.” 

Peter sat on his knees over the seat. “What’s your name again? I forget it.” 

“Timmy. And my whole name is Timmy Matt Frederick.” The boy told Peter and Tony couldn’t help but laugh. He would never understand why kids decided to tell everyone every single thing about themselves. 

Peter leaned a bit more over the seat. “My name is Peter Stark. And my dad's name is daddy but his real name is Tony. Actually his real name is Anthony. He’s twenty five.” 

Tony looked at him. “I’m not twenty five, kid. That means I would have had Harley when I was five and I’m sure that’s impossible.” 

“Oh. He’s actually not twenty five. How old are your parents?” 

“I don’t know. My dad is old. He has gray hair. My mom is ten years younger than my dad.” 

Tony silently gasped. That was a pretty big age gag. 

“I’m ten years older than my sister.” 

Tony had no idea where Peter was getting these numbers from. “No you’re not, Pete. Morgan is ten now. That means you’re four years older. Not ten.” 

“But I was ten when I met her.” 

Tony thought that was true. He didn’t like that. He didn’t know how he didn’t already think that’s what Peter meant. “When the bus starts, you have to sit on your bum, Peter.” 

It wasn’t like Peter listened to Tony. Throughout the hour and a half bus ride, he kept getting out of his seat to look over at Timmy. Tony was getting annoyed after having to tell him to stay seated so many times so he grabbed Peter and forced him on his butt. “Enough. Stop getting up.” 

Peter’s face scrunched up but Tony wasn’t going to give in. “Cry all you want. You aren’t listening to me.” 

“I’m sorry.” Peter’s bottom lip shook. 

“It’s okay. Just listen.” 

Once they finally arrived, Peter jumped out of the seat. “I need to pee.” He announced for the first time and so Tony didn’t necessarily believe him. 

“You have to wait until we get off the bus.” Tony grabbed the clipboard with his students' names on it and got off the bus to hand them their coloured wrist bands. 

“Listen up!” The teacher yelled to get the kid’s attention. “We’re going to have a quick snack and then we will start on the trails. If you need to use the bathroom, come with me.” 

Practically all the kids lined up to go but Peter who was now digging in his backpack for something to eat. “Pete, come pee.” 

“I wanna go here.” Pete said, not even caring who was around to hear. 

“You can’t. We’re all going to the bathroom. Come. Leave your food for now.” 

Peter slowly zipped his bag back up. “But you’d let me pee here if we weren’t at school.” He whined and Tony had to ignore the chuckles from his teacher behind them. 

“Because that would be just us and our family. Everyone else is here and using the bathroom so you will too.” Peter followed close behind on the way to the public bathrooms that Tony didn’t even want to step foot into. He was already trying not to gag. “Okay. Use the urinals. I’ll hold your bag.” 

“No. I can’t use those.” Peter refused and walked towards the toilets. 

“You have to get over your fear of those things eventually, kid.” Tony followed Peter to the stalls, seeing two kids fighting over who could pee the highest. He focussed on his kid. “Stand. Don’t sit on that nasty thing.” 

“I have to.” Peter tugged down his pants and underwear and went to sit but Tony had to stop him. He wasn’t gonna let Peter sit on that nasty seat. 

“Wait. Line the seat, kid. That’s nasty.” 

Peter waited for him to do that and when Tony turned around, Timmy was watching. “Woah. What’re you doing, kid?” 

Timmy shrugged. “I’m waiting for Peter.” 

“He’ll be done soon.” 

Peter looked at his dad so Tony waited. He then looked down at himself, watching the stream of pee go into his underwear by accident. “Oopsie.” 

Timmy pointed at the sink. “Peter’s dad, they’re having a soap fight.” 

Tony stepped out of the stall to stop the boys. “Guys, wash your hands and go eat snack. You’re making a mess.” 

The three of them turned to him and stopped laughing, scared of getting in trouble so they quickly ran out, now only leaving a few kids in there. Tony walked back to see if Peter was done. “You done, Pete?” 

“Oopsie. I accidentally peed in my pants.” 

Tony sighed. “How did that even happen?” He saw his wet pants and couldn’t help but laugh. Only his kid had this problem. “You’re sitting on a toilet and you still managed to pee inside your pants. It’s because you’re not standing up, bud.” 

“Oopsie.” 

“Stand up now.” Tony kneeled down and dug in Peter’s backpack, hoping there were extra clothes in there. 

Timmy looked in. “Did Peter pee in his pants?” 

Peter nodded and held up his shirt. “Yeah. At home there’s a comfy seat with the cup thing.” 

“You gotta learn to stand up, Pete.” Tony pulled out underwear and shorts. “Take your shoes off. Let’s just change quickly.” 

“Five more minutes, boys!” The teacher yelled into the classroom so Tony rolled his eyes, trying to remember a time when someone told him how long he had to use the bathroom. 

“It’s just us in here.” Tony said, not seeing the man since he was trying to help get Peter changed quickly. “Step in, Pete.” 

Peter backed away so Tony grabbed his ankle. “Wipes first.” 

“I don’t have any.” Tony handed his pants to him next. “Put these on.” He shoved the dirty clothes in Peter’s backpack in a side pocket and stood up, almost bumping into Timmy again. “Thanks for supervising, kid.” He teased since the boy was acting like he was watching tv or something. 

“You’re welcome.” He stepped aside to wash his hand with Peter. “If you put a bunch of soap in your hands and clap, the soap goes everywhere.” 

Peter grinned and tried it but Tony was ushering them out of the bathroom and over to the picnic tables. “Eat quickly. And drink some water, Peter.” Tony knew Peter would purposely not drink water just so he didn’t have to go pee and stop what he was doing. They were working on that. 

Peter pulled a package of welches out of his bag and began eating them. “Hey. We have the same snack.” He showed Daniel across the table. 

“Cool. Do you wanna trade an orange one for a strawberry one?” 

Peter dug in his package and crawled onto the table to trade the fruit snacks with his friend but his teacher spotted him. “Peter. Get off the table.” 

Peter looked at him and shook his head, waiting for his teacher to do something about it and Tony wanted to shrink from embarrassment. “Sorry. He’s in a testing his limits phase.” 

“It’s fine. He’s at that age.” 

Tony felt a bit better, knowing he had one fourteen year old but Peter’s teacher had twenty of them. Although sometimes Peter felt like twenty kids in one. 

He looked at Peter and held his finger up. “Get off the table.” 

Peter quickly climbed off and sat back down so Tony stayed where he was, not having to go sit him down himself. 

“Wanna go over to the lake over there?” Peter asked his friends and pointed off in that direction, already standing up. 

“I don’t think we’re allowed. That group is already packing up.” 

Peter shrugged. “So? Let’s go anyways.” 

“No. We don’t wanna get in trouble.” Timmy grabbed Peter’s hand to pull him to sit back down so Peter took a seat and looked towards the lake until everyone was packing up. 

They were at a fake wildlife exhibit for dinosaurs. It was all outside in a nature trail although of course, the dinosaurs were fake. Tony had looked it up the night before and knew Peter was either going to be super excited or not care at all. His kid wasn’t a huge dinosaur fan like most young boys were… Harley on the other hand was obsessed when he was a toddler. 

The class began walking through the forest so Tony stayed behind with some of the teachers, wanting to watch Peter play and talk with his friends instead of being right there with him. Another random student wouldn’t leave his side though so Tony was stuck talking to him. 

“…is definitely what I wanna be. Plus the Triceratops dinosaur is probably the best dinosaur there is. I’d like to see one in person but one that’s actually alive.” 

“Dinosaurs are dead. They’re all instinct.” Said another kid. 

Tony chuckled at the boy. “You mean extinct, kid.” 

Peter was walking ahead with Timmy and Daniel and came across a group of small dinosaurs beyond the tiny rope fence that they had up. He leaned against it. “Let’s go climb on them.” 

Timmy pointed to the sign. “It says not to though. Can’t you read?” 

Peter stuck his tongue out at him. “Obviously. But I wanna touch him.” Peter climbed over the fence with Daniel following him. He jumped over the mud puddle and touched the animal then knocked on it. “It sounds hollow.” 

“Peter and Daniel! Both of you get out right now.” Their teacher yelled at them so Daniel hurried out but Peter didn’t move. 

Tony had heard Peter’s name get yelled so he walked over to see what was going on and shook his head. He wasn’t surprised, lately Peter was testing every adult around him to see how far he could get away with something. He expected exactly this kind of behaviour today. 

Tony stood by the fence. “Get out right now.” 

Peter looked at his dad. He wanted to stay where he was and continue playing but his dad was intimidating when he wanted to be. He slowly made his way over and then Tony grabbed his arm and lifted him over the fence. 

“Do not go over there. You stay on the path. It says not to cross over the ropes.” Tony pointed at the sign and let go of Peter. “If you cross over it again, you’ll be sitting out for the rest of the trip.” 

“No. No, I’m sorry.” Peter stuck out his bottom lip and tried to hug Tony. Tony was grateful that everyone walked ahead to give them some space. He hugged Peter back, being a bit more gentle with him now. 

“You have to listen, Peter. You’re not the only one here.” Tony brushed the curls off his forehead. “Okay. Go play. And listen.” 

Peter ran back to meet up with his friends. They talked about the scariest dinosaurs and who would win if they had to outrun a dinosaur. Peter concluded that he wouldn’t run from them but would make friends and therefore, he would survive. 

They got to a gift shop and Tony told everyone that he would buy them whatever they all wanted and got a few hugs as a thank you. Most of the kids had got something then went out to the play yard to play at the enclosed park but Peter was still trying to decide. 

“Hurry up, Pete. All your friends are playing at the park.” Peter was squatting down on the floor, looking at tiny dinosaurs. 

“I wanna get something for Morgan and mom but I don’t know what they want. And Harley needs something too.” 

Tony knew Peter was indecisive so he grabbed a fluffy pen. “I think mom will like this, don’t you?” 

Peter shook his head. “No. Mom doesn’t.” Peter stood up and grabbed a water bottle and gasped. “Dino bottles! I love it. I want these.” 

“Let me see.” Tony made sure it wasn’t another bottle. “Good choice. Is that all you want?” 

“No.” He spent the next five minutes picking something out for Morgan, Pepper and Harley and of course Tony who got a mug for his coffee that was shaped like a dinosaur. Tony put all the stuff in Peter’s bag and joined the class in the playground. “Can you hold my bag?” 

“I’m gonna put it here with the rest of the bags, Pete. You go play.” Tony walked around the playground, still wanting to keep his distance from Peter. He lost sight of him but he wasn’t scared, it was something he was going to have to control and get used to. He wasn’t going to have Peter in his sight all the time. 

Peter on the other hand was having a blast. 

It had rained all night so the grass was wet and muddy in some areas. None of the other kids were going near the puddles but Peter was a Stark. 

He jumped onto the stairs and almost slipped. “Woah.” 

“There’s a giant mud puddle at the bottom, Peter!” Timmy called out to him but Peter already spotted it and he didn’t care. 

“Good. Watch me slide.” Peter sat down and went down the yellow slide, flying off and landing on his butt in the mud puddle. He started laughing and rolled onto his stomach to push himself up. “I’m all muddy now.” 

Timmy laughed with him. “You look like a mud monster!” 

Peter stood up and pretended to chase him but he wanted to go down the slide again so he did and landed on his butt, getting even more soaked in the mud. 

He stood up after and ran over to play with his other friends but they all looked at him and asked how he got so dirty. Peter went to climb up on the other slides but his teacher almost had a heart attack by looking at him. “Peter. What did you do?!” 

Peter pointed over to the yellow slide. “I fell down.” He walked over to the monkey bars and then Tony spotted him and gasped. 

“Peter.” Tony tried to keep his distance and then he saw Peter run by covered almost head to toe in mud. “What happened?” He asked, walking over to him. 

“I fell off the slide in a mud puddle.” Peter told him and went to climb on a monkey bar but Tony stopped him. “I wanna play.” 

“Peter, you need to change. Oh my goodness.” Tony wasn’t mad, he wasn’t surprised either. He found it funny but now he had to deal with it. “Come. Let’s go change.” 

“No. I still wanna play.” 

Two of the teachers walked up to him. “We’re taking the rest of the students into the jungle gym before lunch. Do you need help with him?” 

“No, I’ve got him.” Tony knew they were laughing, he was too. He walked over and grabbed Peter’s muddy hand. “Let’s go. Everyone else is leaving too.” 

“Everyone is coming to change with me?” Peter asked as he followed his dad to his bag. 

“No. They’re going somewhere else and we’ll go there after. Wait here.” Tony opened his backpack but he couldn’t find any extra clothes since Peter already changed once this trip. “Did your underwear get muddy too?” Tony opened the back of his pants to see but Peter turned around. “Let me see.” 

“My bum?” 

“Your muddy bum.” Tony sighed. He had no other clothes. 

“I think the gift shop has clothes. I don’t know about underwear.” Peter’s teacher said, having been watching them. 

Tony grabbed Peter’s backpack and his hand. “Thanks. I’ll find something.” 

Peter followed his dad inside the building. “I’m gonna have to wear toilet paper underwear.” 

“Just about.” Tony opened the door for him and led Peter into the gift shop. “Do not touch anything.” 

The workers were surprised to see Peter but tried not to show it. “Do you guys sell clothes here? Underwear as well.” 

“Uh… we actually do. We have all dinosaur themed clothes though. I hope he likes them.” The lady led them to the far corner of the shop where there was a table of clothes. “Here you go.” 

“Thank you so much.” Tony let go of Peter’s hand. “Stand here and don’t touch anything. I’m gonna be quick.” 

Peter followed him and pointed to the red shirt. “That one, dad. I want that one.” 

Tony picked up the red shirt and searched for pants, only finding track pants but those would have to do. “Do you want dark blue or grey?” 

“Grey!” 

Tony then grabbed a pack of underwear and two packs of wipes then payed at the counter. He led Peter into a wheelchair stall, hoping no one came in that needed it. 

“Yikes, Pete. This is gonna be hard without a shower.” Tony opened the seat for babies and put the clothes and wipes there. 

“Can I see the wipes?” Peter looked at the package. “They have dinosaurs on them as well.” 

Tony pulled out his phone to take pictures. “Smile. You look so cute and muddy at the same time.” Tony laughed. This was too funny. It was never a dull moment with Peter. “I need to FaceTime your mom and show her. This is too funny.” 

Pepper answered on the second ring. “Hey. I’m just waiting in the car to pick Morgan up. How’s it going? Is Peter having fun?” 

“I’d say he’s having a lot of fun. He fell… no, rolled in a mud puddle.” Tony turned the camera around to show Peter and laughed. 

“Oh my goodness, baby. You look like a chocolate bar.” 

Peter tried to see his mom's face. “I wanna see.” 

“No. Don’t touch my phone with your muddy hands.” Tony flipped the camera back around and placed the phone on the baby seat so Pepper could see them and they could see her. “Stand here.” Tony took off his shirt and a bunch of mud fell off. “Ew. Look at the mess. I feel really bad but I can’t clean the floor up after.” 

Tony laid the paper bag from the gift shop on the floor so Peter could stand on it and left the muddy clothes on the floor for now. 

Peter tried to pick the mud out of his belly button while Tony got his pants and underwear off. “Lift your foot but don’t step on the floor. It’s nasty.” 

Tony laughed and turned Peter around. “Look at his butt, Pep. Turn around, Pete.” 

Peter tried to see. “What is it? I can’t see.” 

Pepper laughed. “Aw baby. Well, I’m glad you had fun. I know Aiser would have also.” 

Tony bursted out laughing. Peter was basically part dog. “Too bad he isn’t here.” Tony read the label on the wipes just to make sure it wasn’t Lysol wipes. “I took pictures of him before. I’m gonna show the kids when we get home.” 

“Do I have mud in my bum?” Peter tried to turn around and see but he couldn’t. “Take a picture and show me.” 

“No. Let’s clean you off.” 

“Take a picture first.” 

“No, Pete. Hold out your arms.” 

“Take a picture.” 

“Okay. Okay, later I will.” Tony sighed and wiped his muddy arms and chest then made his way down. “Does this stuff make you itchy?” 

Peter looked at his arms. “The mud?” 

“No, the wipes.” 

“Nope.” Peter turned to look at his mom in the camera. “We’re going to eat lunch now. Well after I’m not muddy.” 

Tony grabbed another wipe. “Actually we’re going to play in some play jungle gym thing. Hopefully it’ll burn off some more energy so you sleep tonight.” He playfully pinched Peter’s bum which had him screaming. “Shhh shh. People are gonna think I’m hurting you or something.” 

Peter laughed and tried to reach up for him but Tony couldn’t pick him up. “Not yet. Stand still.” 

“Do you have extra clothes for him?” Asked Pepper. 

“Yeah and he-” 

“I peed my pants today.” Peter said, giving zero context. 

“Oh no. On the bus?” 

Tony rolled his eyes, grabbing more wipes. “No. He was sitting on the toilet and peed in his pants because he didn’t aim properly.” 

“Because at home the toilet aims for me.” Peter squatted down and Tony took advantage of that to wipe between his legs. 

“Yeah well…” Tony looked at Pepper. “Turn around.” Peter did a full 360 so he was facing Tony again and laughed. “No, cheeky bum. Face the phone. We’re almost done.” 

“All the mud is off?” Peter asked, getting impatient and wanting to go play. 

Tony grabbed more wipes. “Almost. Until we get home and then you need to shower.” Peter tried to jump away to reach for the phone. “Stop. Stay still.” 

Peter still tried to reach for the phone but Tony was done. He grabbed the pack of underwear and opened it up, pulling one out and looking at that design. “That’s cute. Put it on.” He handed it to Peter and stood up, stretching his back out. “We’re gonna go now because he’s gonna get dressed and play in that jungle gym thing.” 

“Alright. You boys have fun. I can’t wait to hear all about it.” 

“Say bye, Peter.” 

“Do you think we can wash my clothes in the sink?” 

“Say bye.” 

“Bye. Do you think we can wash my clothes in the sink?” He asked again, bending down to grab the clothes. 

“Get dressed first. I’ll put all the dirty clothes in the bag and put it in your backpack.” Tony bent down to grab Peter’s shoes that were full of mud but he was going to have to put them on anyways since there were no shoes here. 

Peter went to sit down to get his pants and shoes on but Tony stopped him. “No, stand up, kid.” 

“I can’t balance on the bag.” Peter walked over to the change table and tried to climb on it. “Why couldn’t I lie down on here?” 

Tony tried to flush the wipes down the toilet, bit by bit. “Uh… cause you’re not a baby. Get off.” Tony lifted him off and grabbed his track pants, bending over him to hold them out. “Step in. We have to be fast if you wanna play with your friends.” 

Peter let his dad do all the work and grabbed the pack of underwear, pulling out the other two. “I wanna wear the blue ones. Not the green ones.” 

Tony was sweating. He wiped his forehead and grabbed both of them from Peter’s hands and started putting all the dirty clothes into his bag. “No. Probably when you need to change again in five minutes.” He joked but really hoped not. 

“Let’s go wash our hands then we’re all done.” Tony swung Peter’s backpack over his shoulder and washed his hands with Peter then they walked out and into the play place. The entrance was a dinosaur mouth and inside was glow in the dark. There were some arcade games but Tony could already see the teachers in the foam fences around the actual jungle gym. 

He walked over with Peter and placed his bag down. “Go play. Be careful, bud, and don’t leave the fence.” 

“I know!” Peter excitedly ran over to the padded stairs and started climbing up it until Tony lost sight of him. 

One of the teachers walked up to him and Tony noticed that he was interested in Peter a little bit too much, asking him if he needed help with his kid. He didn’t know if the man was trying to be nice but he always thought the worst when it came to people and Peter… he couldn’t help it. 

“They’ll all sleep well for their parents tonight.” 

Tony faked a laugh. “Yeah.” 

“Peter’s dad. Come this way.” Timmy grabbed onto his arm and tugged him into the jungle gym. 

Tony was grateful to be pulled away from the adult small talk. He always hated it. He looked around for Peter but he didn’t see him as he walked over to a ball pit with a bar that you could swing across. 

“Lift me onto it.” 

Tony lifted the kid up, not used to lifting the weight that Peter was supposed to be and now he realized that he definitely took for granted that Peter was extremely light. 

Timmy swung across it and kicked off the other side to be swung back. And that was how Tony got stuck lifting each kid up onto the bar and pushing them across. 

He didn’t recognize a few from the bus so he guessed they were randoms. 

“Um… Peter’s dad, I want to go but don’t push me too hard so I can jump into the ball pit.” Tony lifted the kid up, whose name he didn’t know, and pushed him a bit. 

Peter slid down some obstacles on the other side of the thick plastic net and fell on his face. Tony’s heart jumped a bit. “Ooh. You’re okay. Get up, buddy.” Peter pushed himself up and watched his dad lift the other kids up. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Being put to work.” Tony joked. 

Peter watched some more. “How do I get over there?” 

“You have to come around.” 

Peter looked around for the exit and once he found it, he ran over and climbed up onto the foam platform. “Lift me up, dad.” 

Tony lifted Peter onto the bar. “Okay. You have to hold on.” When he pushed Peter across, Peter screamed and flew to the other side then kicked off the wall and went back. 

“Again!” 

Tony pushed Peter one more time but he had to make it fair since the other kids still wanted a turn. Timmy lifted his arms up next. “Peter’s dad, I want to hold on with Peter.” 

Peter laughed as his friend was put on it and when they got to the middle, they dropped into the ball pit, laughing. Peter managed to crawl out first and climbed onto the platform to get away. “Let’s go down the slides.” 

Tony watched him go and felt so proud how he went so easily, not once even looking back at him. Tony knew he was going to grow up way too fast on him and he wasn’t ready which was why he held onto every tiny bit of childish behaviour from him. 

He left the kids to play on their own once he started to get tired but he was used to lifting kids up. He had one clingy monster around him at all times. 

Tony climbed out of the play structure and walked over to the fence and leaned against it. He still didn’t see Peter but he wasn’t actively looking for him. He knew he was fine. He would just like to spot him. He stayed where he was for ten minutes, seeing kids run by and a few somehow almost bump into him even though he wasn’t even in the way. 

He spotted the same teacher from before and was holding onto Peter’s hand and pulling him away from the play structure so Tony walked towards them to see what was going on. 

“Hey. Where are you guys going?” Asked Tony, walking up to them. 

They stopped to look at him. “He needs to go number two so I’m taking him.” 

Tony stepped forward. “Thanks but I got him. Come, Pete.” 

Peter grabbed onto his dad’s hand to go with him instead but his teacher still insisted. “It’s okay. I can take him. I don’t mind, really.” 

Tony already started walking away with Peter and towards the bathrooms. “He’s my kid, I’ve got him.” He opened up the door and led him over to a stall at the back. “Did you ask him to go?” He asked as he lined the toilet seat. 

“Uh… I said I needed to go and I was gonna find you but he said he’d take me.” Peter told his dad as he pulled down his pants and underwear then squeezed by to sit down. 

“He shouldn’t have done that when I’m here.” Tony didn’t like that, it scared him, knowing Peter was very open. “Would you let him stand here like this? Or would you have come and got me?” 

Peter thought about it. “I don’t know… I just need to go.” 

“I know but… you can’t trust people. He shouldn’t have even been taking you to the bathroom and you should have still insisted on getting me instead.” Tony sighed. He felt bad. Him and Pepper never wanted to scare Peter and make him terrified of everyone but Peter didn’t know right from wrong and that scared them as parents. “I don’t mean to scare you. I just don’t want you going to the bathroom with randoms.” 

Peter kicked his legs and finished. “I’m not. I know you.” 

Tony laughed. Peter always knew how to put him in a better mood. “That’s true. Wipe and let’s go back. I think we’re eating lunch in like twenty minutes.” 

Peter looked around. “Where’s the wipes?” 

“There are none. Use toilet paper.” Tony grabbed some out and handed it to Peter but Peter pushed it away. “Pete, you either use this or use nothing. There are no wipes.” 

“Where are there?” 

“In your backpack but we don’t have it here right now.” 

Peter looked around again as if it would magically appear in front of him. “I don’t like using toilet paper. It’s scratchy.” 

“It’s not. I don’t have wipes here like at home so you have to use this.” Tony handed him the toilet paper, waiting for Peter to finish up and get himself situated then they were going back out. 

Because of their bathroom break, Peter was only playing for ten minutes then they were being called for lunch. Inside one of the party rooms were long tables that the kids sat with their lunches on and ate. Tony knew Peter was too wound up to sit and eat but he didn’t want to force him in front of everyone. 

He sat and let Peter talk with his friends, not interrupting even though Peter hadn’t even opened his lunch yet and it had been five minutes. 

Tony walked over to him and tapped on his shoulder. “Hey, Mr. Talky. How about you eat your lunch and talk to your friends.” 

Peter opened his lunch box, looking at what his mom packed him. He hadn’t had to bring lunch to school since elementary school and he definitely didn’t miss it. He hated having to sit and eat when he could be talking or playing with his friends instead. 

“Did you pack this?” Peter turned around to look at him. 

“Mom did.” 

“I don’t like this.” Peter pushed it away. 

“Peter’s dad,” Someone tugged on his shirt and Tony cringed at the now dirty marks on his shirt… although he already had a bunch from before. “Look at my lunch. My mom packed me string cheese for dessert too.” 

“I like string cheese.” Peter said. “My mom didn’t pack me any.” 

Tony looked at his lunch. He actually didn’t know what Pepper packed until now. He was too busy trying to get Peter up early and get him ready all while getting Morgan to not wear her old Halloween costume to school. It was ditalini pasta and cheese with two carrot muffins, cut up grapes and a package of cookies. 

“You like this. Eat it.” Tony tried, not wanting to force Peter now. 

“Whoever finishes eating can put your stuff away and go play. We’re leaving in one hour to get on the bus.” Announced one of the teachers. 

Tony tried to refrain from rolling his eyes. A few kids got up to go play and it made Tony wonder if this teacher has ever worked with kids before since of course they wouldn’t eat their lunch given the choice to go play instead. 

Peter shut the lid and went to stand up but Tony opened it and put the fork in his hand. “No. You eat first.” 

Timmy shut his lunch box lid and went to stand up but another teacher was walking by. “Timmy, did you finish?” The boy just stared at his teacher. “Let me see.” Timmy reluctantly showed his chicken wrap that had one bite. “No. Finish your lunch and then you can go play again.” 

“But Mr, my mom made me this and I don’t like it. I already told her that.” 

Tony laughed. That sounded familiar. 

“Your mom wouldn’t make it for you if you didn’t like it.” 

Timmy sighed and reluctantly picked it up to start eating it. Upon seeing his friend eat, Peter picked up his fork and shoved a forkful in his mouth then looked at Tony. “I’m full.” 

“You took one bite. A hamster wouldn’t even be full.” Tony complained and sat on the bench. 

“I wanna play.” 

Tony didn’t say anything, he just looked at Peter. 

Peter patted his thigh. “Dad? Daddy?” 

“If you don’t eat, you’re gonna be hungry and you’re not going home to snack on junk food then not eat dinner.” 

“Heard that before.” Tony turned around to see one of the other parent volunteers. “Picky eaters are a whole other level of difficulty.” 

Peter put his fork down. “I’m not difficult.” 

Tony picked his fork back up. “We didn’t say you were. We’re saying you’re a picky eater.” 

“I’m not hungry.” Peter stood up and looked at all his friends playing. “I want to play. I’m gonna go play.” Peter looked back at Tony as he slowly walked to the door to leave. 

Tony watched him. By now, there were only five kids left with him and the other parent. “If you leave, I’ll grab you out of that play jungle and you’ll sit out for the rest of the trip.” 

Peter stood by the exit and watched his dad. He put his foot on the other side of the door to see what his dad was going to do. “Look, dad. I’m putting my foot on the other side.” 

“I mean it, Peter. Come and sit back down right now.” 

Peter slowly walked back over, the smirk off his face now. “I wanna play.” 

“You can. It’s all up to you. You have to eat first.” Tony moved it closer to him. “Eat.” 

“Peter’s dad. I finished. Can I go play now?” 

Tony looked at the boy's lunch and saw that it was all gone but the tomatoes. “Good job, kid, go have fun.” 

Peter watched his friend go like it was the end of the world for him. “No. Why can he go?” 

The rest of the other kids left now besides for the one that had fallen asleep with his head on the table. “Because you need to eat.” 

“You take a bite first.” Peter said, pushing it towards his dad. 

Tony picked up his fork and took a bite of the pasta. “Mmm, that’s so good. Your turn.” 

Peter smiled and took a bite. “Mmm. Yummy. Now your turn.” 

“No. This isn’t a game. Okay, just eat the grapes and muffin.” 

Peter took a bite of the muffin half, eating the tops off then he ate half of the grapes and threw his head back. “I’m done. I wanna play.” 

Tony couldn’t force it anymore. He knew Peter was near tears and if he forced it, the next step would be tears. “Okay. Put it away then go play. You’ll be hungry later.” 

“No I won’t.” Peter responded and ran out of the room. 

He told him and stood up to walk around the table and wake up the boy who had fallen asleep. “Kid. Wake up.” Tony shook him a bit and he snapped his head up. “We’re leaving soon. Go play for a few more minutes.” 

The kid, whose name Tony didn’t know, stood up and wobbled. “Are we leaving now?” 

“Not yet.” He walked out of the room and checked the time. By time they got home it would be way past dinner and that would push bedtime back and that meant a cranky Peter which made Tony a bit anxious to get on the bus and leave. 

Eventually when that time came, it was hard to get all the kids lined up and ready to go. Peter refused to put his muddy shoes on so he walked in socks only and that made a few of the other kids want to walk back to the bus in only their socks. 

After twenty minutes, five headcounts, and three trips to the bathroom, they were finally on the bus and were doing one last headcount before they were going. 

Peter laid his head on the window but when they went over a bump, he whimpered. “Ow. The window hit me. I hit it back.” Peter smacked the bus so Tony held his arm out for him. 

“Are you tired?” 

Peter nodded and rubbed his eyes. “Mm. I wanna-I wanna sleep at home on Aisers bed.” 

“In Aisers bed?” Tony pulled Peter against his side. “His bed does look comfy.” Peter nodded and his eyes started to get heavy and then his head was becoming too hard to hold up. 

“I wanna sleep.” 

Tony tried to sit him up but Peter was collapsing against him. “Do you need to pee?” He asked, knowing Peter’s bedwetting still hadn’t stopped and showed no signs of stopping. Plus he was in underwear on a bus with his classmates, Tony didn’t know if he wanted to risk it. 

Peter rubbed at his eyes again and went to put his thumb in his mouth so Tony pulled it out. “Mm!” 

“Wait until we get home.” Tony knew they still had an hour and a half to go, maybe longer with traffic. “Don’t fall asleep if you need to go pee, Pete. We’ll stop soon.” 

One of the teachers turned around and looked at them. “Is he a bed wetter?” 

Tony was caught off guard. He didn’t know how someone felt the right to ask something so personal if they weren’t family or Peter’s freaking doctor. “That’s none of your business whether he does or not.” 

The teacher looked like he wasn’t expecting that answer and it upset Tony that the man was expecting him to go into detail about Peter’s nighttime bodily functions as if it concerned him in any way. He didn’t even know the man was listening to them and why’d he even ask that. 

The teacher sat back in the seat in front of them and Tony tried to put it out of his mind. Peter was going onto his knees and laying his head on Tony’s lap, facing towards his stomach so he could put his thumb in his mouth and no one would see. 

Tony patted his lower back, not even bothering to try and get him to stay awake or try to get him to stop sucking his thumb. He knew Peter needed to do that to fall asleep anyways. 

Peter stayed asleep for close to forty five minutes but the bus was pulling into a rest stop for bathroom breaks and Tony wanted Peter to go before he wet the seat but he also didn’t want to wake him up. He made the risky decision to let Peter stay asleep. 

It was an awfully long bus ride. Peter stayed asleep the entire two and a half hours, all throughout traffic and bumps. Most of the children had fallen asleep so there wasn’t any yelling and screaming like there was on the way there. 

When the bus pulled up to the school, Tony checked the time. It was 6:33pm and Peter had already slept for close to three hours and now Tony was regretting that. 

He patted Peter’s back. “Hey. Wake up, buddy. We’re here.” 

Peter moaned and sat up on his knees, rubbing at his eyes so Tony got off the seat and stretched his sore back out. “Come, Pete. Let’s go home.” 

Peter practically collapsed back into the seat. “Mm.” 

Tony just wanted to get home and they still had a twenty minute drive ahead of them. He looked towards the back of the bus and chuckled at the sight of almost every kid passed out. It brought Tony a bit of peace knowing that he wasn’t going to be the only parent struggling to get their kid to sleep tonight after an extremely long car nap. 

Parents were waiting outside for their kids and when barely any of them were walking out of the bus, the teacher went out to tell them they just had to wake up first. 

“Excuse me.” 

Tony moved over so a father, he assumed it was someone’s father, could walk into the bus. He watched him pick up a sleeping kid and walk out, clearly in a rush to get home. 

Tony shook a few kids awake behind him but he wanted to leave now. “Come, Pete. Wake up. Let’s go home.” 

Peter sat back up and looked around with his eyes closed. “Are we home?” He slurred. 

“Not yet. Let’s go home now.” He picked up Peter’s backpack and waited for him but Peter could barely keep his eyes open. 

“Carry me.” Peter moved closer and lifted his arms up so Tony quickly picked him up and felt Peter’s head fall onto his shoulder and his whole body become lax in his arms. 

He walked out of the bus, walking towards Peter’s teacher to let him know he was leaving so he didn’t look for him. 

“Oh, Mr. Stark.” His teacher spotted him first and walked over to him. “Thank you for helping out today.” 

“You’re welcome. I gotta get him home now so we’ll see you another time.” Tony was struggling trying to carry Peter and his backpack all while trying to pull his phone out of his pocket. 

The teacher went to shake his hand but realized he couldn’t. “Oh. My bad. You’ve got your hands full. At least he’ll sleep good tonight. I wish someone could carry me to my bed.” 

Tony faked a laugh, all while slowly backing away. “Yeah… well you have a good night.” 

The teacher signed Peter out on his clipboard but Tony was already gone. He wanted to get Peter home and get him to eat something before getting him in bed while he was still tired. 

Tony walked across the parking lot and unlocked the van. He opened up the back door next and tossed Peter’s backpack onto the floor then sat Peter in his seat and put the buckles on him. At Peter no longer sleeping against his dad, he started to wake up a bit so Tony guided his thumb into his mouth and got into the van. 

They were almost home when Pepper called. “Hey. Are you guys almost home?” 

“We’re about five minutes away.” Tony made a left turn at the lights and turned down the street before theirs.  

“Alright. Morgan is so excited to hear how it went and Harley went out with his friends about two hours ago. I don’t know when he’s coming back but I have dinner ready.” 

“Peter’s sleeping right now so I don’t know if he’ll eat.” 

“Oh. Did he eat lunch?” 

“Nope. I don’t blame him with the play structure that was right in front of him.” 

Pepper sighed. “It’s okay. Let’s see when you guys get back.” 

“Okay. See you soon.” Tony hung up the phone and looked in the backseat mirror, seeing Peter’s head bent forward at an awkward angle. 

Tony went to turn into the driveway but just as he did, Harley was driving from the other direction so Tony signalled for him to go first and pulled in next to him. He didn’t expect him to be home so early. Tony got out of the van and opened up the back door. “Hey. Where were you?” 

Harley locked his car and walked around. “I went out for ice cream with Josh. How was… Peter’s thing? He walked around and saw Peter sleeping. “I’m guessing good.” 

Tony got Peter unbuckled and lifted him into his arms, grabbing his backpack and shutting the door. He was exhausted and all he wanted to do was shower and sleep. “It was fun. Peter will tell you all about it when he’s awake. He fell into a mud puddle… I didn’t see him do it but we all know he did it purposely.” Both of them laughed. “And he was covered in mud so I had to change him. I’ll show you the pictures.” 

Tony unlocked the door and the girls plus Aiser was greeting them. “Petey. Nooo. I wanted to play with him.” Morgan pouted, crossing her arms over her chest with a huff. 

“I know, Morg. You guys can play tomorrow. And remember we’re going up to the lake for the weekend.” Tony locked the door behind them and took off his shoes. “Do you wanna help get Pete’s dinner ready for me then get his pyjamas out?” 

“Yes!” 

Tony looked at Pepper. He was so grateful to be home. “Hey.” After he kissed her, he walked down the hallway and into the kitchen. “I’m exhausted.” 

“I can’t wait to hear all about it.” Pepper grabbed the food out of the fridge and put it in the microwave to heat up. “Morgan wants to see the muddy pictures.” 

Tony pulled his phone out of his pocket and passed it to Harley. “Yeah. Look through those, you two.” He pulled the kitchen island chair back and tried to sit Peter in it but when he was, Peter was waking up and clinging onto him. “Try to eat some dinner first.” 

“Mhmm.” Peter shook his head against his shoulder so Tony sat him in the chair and tried to hold him up but Peter was falling over. 

“Pete, wake up.” Tony held him up, knowing he didn’t eat lunch and now was too tired to eat dinner. 

Pepper placed the warmed up pasta, cheese and beef in front of Peter so Tony grabbed a forkful and pushed it at his lips but Peter was falling to the sides and was barely able to keep his head up. 

“Don’t. He’ll choke.” Pepper grabbed the bowl back and opened the fridge to grab milk and one of Peter’s bottles. “Just give him this then. At least it’s something.” She shrugged. 

Tony lifted Peter back up into his arms. “He’s exhausted. I haven’t seen him this tired in a long time.” He took the bottle from her, still not knowing if Peter was going to drink it or not. 

With that, he started walking upstairs to put Peter in bed with Morgan chasing after him. “Dad, I can still pick out Peter’s pyjamas, right?” 

“Yeah, something warm l because it’s gonna be a cold night.” Tony walked into his and Pepper’s bedroom and laid Peter on the bed, placing a pillow on top of him which he learned helped with the transition from sleeping on Tony’s chest to now lying on his back. 

Morgan followed him in and pulled out pyjama pants with the matching top. It was grey and had red fire trucks on it and Tony was sure Peter had only worn them once or twice. He took them from her. “Thanks. Can you do me a favour and grab a face cloth from the hallway closet and wet it with warm water?” 

“Yes.” Morgan ran off to help her dad so Tony took the pillow off of Peter and pulled his pants and underwear off then sat him up a bit to get his shirt off. He wasn’t trying hard not to wake Peter up because he didn’t wake up during the thirty second dinner when he was purposely trying to wake him up. 

Tony grabbed a diaper from the box and wipes, making sure there was no mud on him down there before he went to sleep. 

He just got the pyjama pants on him as Morgan ran into the room. “Here. I squeezed all the extra water out.” 

“Thanks, Morg.” Tony started wiping Peter’s face and neck clean, wanting to try and get as much as the dirt and sweat off of him as possible since he wasn’t going to shower. He then grabbed his hands and cleaned them, knowing his thumb was going to return to his mouth in a matter of minutes. “He’s too tired to shower and you saw how muddy he was today?” 

“Yeah.” Morgan peered over Peter. “Will you give him a shower when he wakes up? Is he gonna be sleepy then?” 

Tony grabbed Peter’s feet and took off his socks, trying to clean them last. “Maybe. Let’s see if we’ll even have time tomorrow because we’re going to the lake house at ten.” 

“Oh yeah.” 

Tony tossed the now dirty rag in the dirty laundry pile, not bothering with that. He dragged Peter up and flipped him onto his stomach so he could sleep better, not even bothering to wrestle him into a shirt. He sighed. “How about you get ready for bed. We gotta be up early.” 

After Morgan left to do that, Tony had every intention of tucking her in but he passed out right next to Peter, not even bothering to change. He was out. 

Now, he had to hope Peter wasn’t going to wake up too early the next morning.