A love like no other
Tony sat up in bed and looked to his right.
He didn’t see Peter there but it was dark after all so he felt around on the bed for him, like he’s done many times before, only relaxing when he feels Peter’s warm body, but he doesn’t feel him this time.
Tony turned on the bed to turn the lamp on. Squinting at the harsh light briefly, Tony looked back towards where Peter went to sleep and still, no Peter.
Tony all but lost it.
He fumbled out of bed, kicking the sheets tied around his legs off and making a beeline for the hallway. “Peter? Peter? Pepper, I can’t find Peter!” Tony doesn’t hear any reply in return.
He’s too busy focused on finding his boy than anything else though. Tony ran downstairs, shouting for Peter and it’s then that he realized that the door was wide open.
Outside, it’s raining heavily but it isn’t cold out. It’s actually rather warm. He stepped outside and looked around, expecting to find Peter walking down the street, sleep walking or something.
Instead, he found Peter lying at the end of the driveway.
Tony ran towards him, screaming. “Peter! Peter!” He reached his body and placed his hands on him but Peter was cold to the touch. “Peter? Peter! Peter, please.”
Tony began shaking him, begging him to wake up.
He shook him back and forth, his hands shaking over his kids’ cold, lifeless body.
He just got Peter back.
This isn’t supposed to happen.
He heard footsteps walking towards him and when he looked up, he could see Steve walking towards him, holding a needle in his hand. “What did you do to him?! You fucking monster! You took my child away from me again!” Tony sobbed against Peter’s cold, lifeless body. “Peter! Please! Please please, baby! Wake up! Don’t leave me! Don’t leave me!”
Steve dropped the needle onto the ground beside Tony. “You did this. You failed our boy three times, Tony. I would have kept him safe. After all, Peter prefers me. I give him everything he desires and you keep it from him, letting him cry for it. You’re the monster here.”
Tony shook his head, rain pouring down on them so hard you couldn’t even tell that Tony was crying. “No. I’m trying my best. I am! I’m doing everything I can.”
“Your best isn’t good enough. And now look. Peter is dead. Because of you!”
Tony looked down at his son’s lifeless body. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t move. Peter was dead. Peter was gone. Tony couldn’t live without him. He wouldn’t be able to do it.
Steve stepped towards him and kneeled down, lifting up Peter’s dead body in his arms. Tony just watched, letting Steve take Peter away from him.
He watched Steve carry Peter towards their house, walking around the side of it and disappearing out of view. “No! Nooo! My baby! You can’t take him! No!” Tony pounded on the ground, feeling like he was going to die but that feeling actually brought him some peace. Knowing he was going to be with Peter after all.
He stood up and walked inside his house, shutting the door behind him.
Morgan was sitting on the last step of the stairs, dressed in a black dress. He looked at her. “Are you ready?”
She didn’t even acknowledge him, continuing to stare blankly ahead.
Tony walked upstairs and walked into his bedroom, getting dressed in the black suit lying on his bed. On the pillow, he saw Peter’s empty bottle sitting there and his blankie but he left it, unable to look at it any longer.
As Tony stood in front of the mirror, making sure he looked somewhat presentable, Pepper walked in.
“Peter’s funeral starts in seven minutes. Are you ready?”
Tony nodded. “I am. Let’s go say goodbye to him.”
He walked downstairs and outside into their backyard, seeing his family standing by a tiny coffin.
Tony squinted at the sunlight shining down on him and looked at all the people there. Everyone was looking at Peter’s coffin but Natasha was standing in the audience, facing him.
“You didn’t try hard enough, Tony. And that’s why Peter’s gone. You failed him.”
He looked away from her and walked up to his family. When he pushed past them and could see Peter lying there, he broke down, gripping onto the tiny coffin as if it would swallow him whole and take him instead. He could only hope so.
“Peter. Peter. Please don’t leave me. Wake up. Wake up. Please.” He caressed Peter’s soft but cold face, sinking to his knees at the realization that Peter wasn’t going to wake up.
“Tony,” It was Pepper. She placed her hand on his shoulder. “are you going to go with him?”
He nodded, without any hesitation. “I… I’m sorry. I have to go.”
“It’s okay. I know you’d always choose him over us, every time.”
That wasn’t true. Tony stood to his feet. “No. I love you. I- Peter.” He said as if that would explain everything. “I need to go with him. He’s scared to be without me.”
“No. You’re scared to live without him. You can’t do it.” Pepper stepped away from him, disappearing into the crowd so Tony leaned down and pressed a kiss to Peter’s cold cheek. “Goodbye, Peter. Daddy loves you so much. Until we meet again.”
He backed away, listening to the funeral celebrant start talking about his baby’s life gone too soon.
He walked upstairs, grabbing the gun from the safe and walking into Peter’s bedroom.
He couldn’t live without Peter. He didn’t want to.
Tony brought the gun up to his head with a shaky hand-
“Daddy.”
“Peter?”
“Daddy. Please.”
Tony placed the gun down and went to go look for him. “Peter!”
“Daddy. Stop. You’re hurting me. Daddy!”
“Tony. Let go of him. Tony!”
Tony woke up, bolting up in bed and gasping for air. His shirt was soaked from sweat and he couldn’t breathe.
Peter was crying and Pepper was holding him, giving Tony a dirty look but Tony couldn’t focus on that right now. He got up and left the bedroom, going downstairs until he was in the basement bathroom.
He hadn’t had a dream that real in a very long time.
He hadn’t dreamt of Peter dying in… a very long time.
But this dream, it felt so real. Too real.
He couldn’t catch his breath. He wanted to see Peter but not when he was like this.
Tony stayed downstairs for some time, he didn’t know how long but long enough to calm down and make himself look somewhat decent.
God, he was a mess.
His hair was sticking up at every angle and he had huge bags under his eyes. At least he was no longer having a panic attack.
Tony took off his sweaty shirt and made his way back upstairs.
Peter was sitting on Pepper’s lap, his head resting on her chest and a pacifier in his mouth. He didn’t care about that and knew Pepper likely gave it to him to calm down.
Tony squinted at the bright lamp that was on and sat down next to Pepper’s legs. “I’m sorry I scared you, Peter.”
Peter just looked at him. The fact he wasn’t reaching for him now scared Tony.
“Daddy just had a really bad dream, that’s all.”
Peter brushed the curls out of his eyes and that’s when Tony noticed the giant bruising on his wrist. “What happened here?” He went to touch it but Peter moved away and it felt like he slapped Tony across the face. Did he do that? Oh god! Did he hurt Peter?
He looked at Pepper. “Did I-”
“Tony. You had a nightmare. Maybe you should sleep somewhere else tonight.” Pepper suggested, continuing to hold Peter.
Tony got out of bed and stepped back. He hurt his child. He hurt his baby. How did he do that? He couldn’t even trust himself with his own son now.
What if he never woke up in time? What if Pepper wasn’t there? What if he had his hand wrapped around Peter’s neck instead.
Tony walked out of the bedroom and went downstairs. He couldn’t do this. He needed to calm down before going into another panic attack.
.
.
.
Tony walked into his bedroom for the third time.
Peter was still sleeping.
He didn’t want to get up.
Of course it had to be the one day Tony actually couldn’t stay home with him and let him sleep. Peter needed to go to school today because Tony was backed up with meetings all day.
Yesterday and the day before that had been a calmer day.
After Tony had that nightmare, he spent all day with Peter by his side and by the end of the day, Tony definitely felt much better. Although the dad guilt was still there. And the bruise on Peter’s wrist. As much as Tony hated to see that there and that he was the one who caused it.
But it was a new day now. A new day that was off to a rough start so far.
Man, today was going to be a long and rough day, he just knew it.
He pulled the blankets off of Peter and rolled his eyes at the three empty bottles that went flying. That’s how long it took to get Peter to fall asleep last night. And even after the third bottle, he was still awake but there was too way Tony could give him a fourth because he knew Peter would drink it and most likely he would be sick.
Peter rolled onto his back and used his Blankie to cover his eyes with it. “Mm! No school.”
“C’mon. We gotta go.” He pulled his legs towards him and rubbed his tummy. “If we went to bed earlier last night, then you wouldn’t be so tired this morning. We gotta get up.”
Peter stuck his thumb in his mouth. “Mm! No school. I wanna sleep.”
That was a first. Peter was always up at 5am and Tony needed him to sleep longer but he was always ready to get up. It figures that today of all days he actually wants to sleep in. “Baby. I need to go to work and you need to go to school.”
He pushed his legs open and pulled the straps off the diaper then pulled it out from underneath him to throw it out and grab the wipes.
“Dad?”
“Huh?”
Morgan walked into the room wearing a dress and tights under it. “Do up the back for me fast.”
Tony looked at her but he was busy at the moment. “Can you go wait in your room? I’m busy right now with your brother.” He pulled the wipes out but Peter was looking at Morgan looking at him.
“Hey! She’s looking at me! I don’t want her to look at me! Put her in timeout!” Peter screamed and when she didn’t move, he covered his hands over his face and cried into them.
“Okay. Okay. Morgan. Just leave. You’re upsetting him.” Tony waved her away and watched her storm off so he pushed Peter’s knees to his chest to get him to stop going stiff.
“It’s cold!” He tried to roll away but Tony was holding him down. “That hurts! You’re hurting me!”
Tony finished up and let him go. “I wasn’t hurting you. Can you put some clothes on now?” He asked, knowing Peter was going to milk every excuse this morning to be able to stay home from school.
Normally, Tony would keep him home but he didn’t have anyone to watch him. Pepper was already at the tower and Harley stayed with friends last night.
Peter crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m still tired.”
“Because you went to bed so late last night.”
“I’m thirsty. I want milk before I leave my bed.”
Tony chuckled because it was actually his and Pepper’s bed but same thing now. Peter hadn’t slept alone in months.
“If I get you milk, you have to get dressed.” He said, waiting for Peter’s reaction.
“Yeah… after I drink my milk.”
“No, Peter. Before that. We need to go. I need to get work.”
Peter shrugged. “No work. Stay with me.”
“I wish I could. But if I don’t go to work, we’ll live on the streets. I need to make money.” Technically that wasn’t true. They were billionaires. Tony owned a multi billion dollar company and so they wouldn’t ever go poor but Peter needed to understand the concept of money, all their kids did. Tony and Pepper were trying to raise their kids to understand that they had to work hard for what they wanted and things weren’t just handed to them because they had money.
They were trying.
Peter thought about that. “Mommy works. You don’t.”
That was true too. “Mommy works so I don’t have to. So I get to stay home and listen to crying and wipe your butt.” He tickled his belly, getting a giggle from his boy. “But sometimes I still gotta go into work for important meetings and you need to go to school.”
Peter shook his head still so Tony sighed and held his hand out for him. “You need to sit on the potty before you get dressed.” Surprisingly, Peter actually listened to him and got out of bed, taking a seat on the toilet.
Tony squatted down in front of him. “I need you to keep your underwear dry today. Go pee between classes and if you feel like you need to go, ask the teacher to go to the bathroom.”
Peter pouted. “But… but I don’t wanna wear underwear, dad. It’s uncomfortable.” He pointed to the stack of diapers on the bathroom counter but Tony ignored them.
“Underwear’s are comfortable.” He tried to remember what Karen told him about Peter’s daytime accidents. He hadn’t had any yesterday, or the day before that and they haven’t even introduced the reward chart yet. “So you need to go pee pee in the toilet, not in your underwear.”
Peter would try. He just wouldn’t drink anything all day if he had to. “Fine.”
“Good boy.” Tony stood up and kissed his forehead. “Just in case, I’m going to pack you extra clothes and keep them in your backpack.”
“And-and a diaper!”
“No diapers, baby.”
Peter groaned and groaned even louder when his dad didn’t give him any attention but after the second time, he sighed, knowing he wasn’t going to get any attention from that. So Peter stayed on the toilet for ten minutes until he went, then he got off of it and walked into the bedroom. “Dad. I went pee in the toilet. Go look.”
“Wow, baby. Good job.” With a kiss to his hair, Tony went to go make sure Peter actually went then he sat on the bed, holding out underwear for him. “So, today after school, mom and I have a happy surprise for you. Are you excited?”
“Yeah! Give me a hint.”
“No hints. You just have to be patient.”
Peter agreed with that.
Now it was something extra to look forward to after school.
Peter waved bye to his sister at drop off and was extremely reluctant to leave his dad’s side even though they hadn’t even arrived at the school yet.
Tony Parker the van and once Peter was out of his car seat, Tony had to now take his car seat out of the van.
“What’re you doing?” Peter asked him, not liking that his car seat was coming out.
“Mom is going to pick you up after school today because I’ve got a late meeting.”
Peter frowned. “But-but you said I’m gonna get a surprise.”
“You will. Once I get home.” He hated taking out car seats and putting them in. It was arduous.
“Well, what time will you be home then?” Peter was already getting anxious over the thought of his dad not being the one to pick him up from school and having to wait even longer to see him.
Tony tried to give an accurate time. “You’ll get home from school around 2:30, you’ll have a snack, play, then I’ll be home at around 3:45.” He finished his meeting at 3pm but it was a forty minute drive home in traffic. So he hoped to be home in time. Or earlier. Then he didn’t have to go back into the office for a while. He could do everything else over the phone and on his computer.
“Let’s go.” Tony carried the heavy car seat in one hand and held onto Peter’s with the other hand. They stepped into the office and Tony set the car seat down. “Alright, I’ll see you at 3:45. Have a good day at school.”
Peter didn’t want to leave his dad’s side.
“Good morning, Mr. Stark, Peter,” The receptionist greeted and walked around to look at the car seat.
“Good morning. I have his car seat here, his mom is picking him up at 2pm so she’ll be taking that with her.” Tony leaned down to kiss his son. “I love you. You be good and have a good day,” He leaned down to whisper in his ear. “and remember to pee in the toilet.”
“I don’t want you to go.” Peter pouted.
“I know, but I’ll see you after work.”
“But you’re working too late.”
“Baby, you go to class. I’ll see you later.” Tony needed to go before Peter caused a scene. He waved bye to the woman in the office then left, blowing one last kiss to Peter.
“Honey, why don’t you come with me to put your car seat in the back room and then you can head up to class.” The school's therapist walked out, familiar with the separation anxiety between the father and son duo.
While Peter followed her back, the three women in the office looked at each other, wanting to gossip. “He dropped off the car seat. Do you think they got divorced?”
“I don’t know. I wouldn’t be surprised. After everything they’ve been through.”
“You know what they say, losing a child either breaks couples apart or brings them closer together.”
“But they didn’t lose their son. He’s alive.”
“I mean, hardships can break people up.” The secretary hummed. “I wonder if they got divorced.”
“I think so. Why else would his father being the car seat in. Doesn’t the mom have one in her car. I mean I know they can afford two car seats.” She raised her eyebrows.
“Ask Peter.”
“Ask him what? That’ll be weird.”
“He won’t think anything of it. Okay, I’ll do it then.”
The three of them waited for Peter to walk out then the receptionist called Peter over to her. “Peter, so your mom is picking you up today, right?” Peter nodded. “Are you excited?” Peter nodded again. “Why isn’t your dad picking you up?”
“Cause he works until 3:45 today. He says he has a surprise for me at home today.”
“Wow. Who do you live with, Peter?”
“Aiser, Harley, Morgan, mom and daddy.”
“Ohhh.” She looked at the other two women in the office. “So your mom and daddy sleep together in the same bed then? Or does daddy sleep somewhere else?”
Peter didn’t understand why they were asking him that. “Uh, in their bed together. And me too.”
“You sleep with them?” Peter nodded and pulled on his underwear between his legs to make it more comfortable. “Oh. And does Harley live at home still?”
“Yeah. In his bedroom.”
The receptionist looked over at the other two so Peter looked back at them then back at the woman, waiting for her to ask him more questions.
“Okay then. Thank you, Peter, you’re so cute. You go to class now.” She pinched the boys cheek and let him go. “Well, I guess that solves that. I really thought they got a divorce.”
“Why? So you can have his sexy daddy for yourself?” The woman teased, causing them all to laugh.
.
.
.
Tony was nervous.
He didn’t know why he was nervous about this. He should be excited but he was actually nervous.
He placed the bathroom chart and the stack of different varieties of stickers on the kitchen counter. “We should talk to him now.” He whispered to Pepper then looked over at Peter. He was drinking a bottle of milk and was wearing a diaper that was full from what Tony could see. “The sooner we start, the sooner he starts staying dry. Hopefully.”
“Let’s hope this works. Do we start today? Or start tomorrow?”
Tony wanted to round it off to next week but he knew if they did that, they would never start and the longer they waited, the harder it would be. “No. Let’s start today.”
He grabbed the supplies and walked into the living room, placing the stuff behind him on the floor and taking a seat on the coffee table. “Your mom and I want to talk to you, Peter, about your surprise.”
Peter smiled. “At-at school today, I told the receptionist in the office I had a surprise today.”
Tony listened to him. “Oh yeah. After I left?”
“Yeah!” Peter pulled his feet together. “They asked me who I lived with.”
“Oh.” Both adults shared a look with each other. “They did? What did they say?”
Peter tried to remember. It was a long time ago after all. “Ummm… they says who do you live with. Then they say if you and mom sleep together.”
“What?” Tony couldn’t help but laugh. What nosy woman using his son to satisfy their own curiosity. That was embarrassing for them and hilarious for him.
“Oh my gosh.” Pepper came to a realization and slapped Tony’s arm. “It’s because you dropped the car seat off today and I picked him up. They probably thought we separated or something.”
Tony bursted out laughing. That was hilarious. Wow. Some people just want to know every single little detail of their life, and lucky for them, Peter doesn’t have a filter.
“That’s hilarious. Did they ask you anything else, Pete?”
Peter tried to remember. “They asked if Harley was living at home.”
“What?” It was Harleys turn to speak up. “That’s weird. Why do they even want to know?”
“Because, it’s three ladies working at a high school together. They love to gossip.” Pepper used to love gossip but now she doesn’t have any time for it. Plus her gossip buddy at work is eight months pregnant and is going to be on maternity leave for the next two years so she can't gossip with her anymore.
Tony clapped his hands together. He wanted to get back on track. “Okay. Focus up,” He looked at Peter. “Back to the surprise.”
Harley was sitting on the other couch, trying to see what it was himself while Morgan was sitting next to Peter, playing on her iPad but she put it away to listen.
Tony started once everyone, especially Peter, was listening to him. “So, mom and I got you a special gift from the store. But this special gift comes with rules,” Tony grabbed the potty chart first. “Do you know what this is?”
Peter was curious. He shook his head, reaching out to touch it. “It’s for me?”
“Yeah,” Tony wrote Peter’s name on the line so it said Peter’s potty chart. “Mom and I got this for you to help you stay dry and get you back into underwear during the day. It’s to keep track of how many times you stayed dry and went pee in the potty and not in your underwear or diaper.”
Peter tried to think of how that was going to work out.
Tony smiled at him. He hoped this worked. He grabbed the stickers and showed Peter. “Every time you stay dry and pee in the toilet, mom or I will put a sticker on the chart. Then, once you fill up all the spots, you will get a reward. So at the end of the week, if you managed to get enough stickers, I’ll buy you a present. Anything you want.”
Peter bounced on his knees. “I want a sticker now.”
“No. You need to pee in the potty first.”
Peter tried to reach for the pack of stickers and Tony made a mental note to hide them from him. “I wanna see them.”
“Okay. You can look but don’t take any off. You have to earn them.” Tony handed them to Peter and looked at Pepper. He thought that went really well.
“And Petey, that means no going pee in your pants. Alright? You have to stay dry in order to get a sticker.” Pepper added. “Do you want to put underwear on now?”
Tony budded in before Peter could say anything. “No, it’s the first day, let’s just keep him in a diaper.”
“I think a pull-up will be better. I’m gonna go get one upstairs.” Pepper stood up and held her hand out for Peter. “Come with mommy. Let’s go get you into a pull-up.”
Both Tony and Peter stood up at the same time. “Pep, just put him in a diaper. It’s fine. He can still go.”
“No, Tony, because he can’t pull them down.”
Tony sighed and watched them walk off. He wanted Peter to ask him for help and still depend on him but he knew that was selfish of him. He grabbed the potty chart and placed it on the wall in the kitchen at Peter’s height level.
He hoped it worked but another part of him wanted to wait to try.
He debated with his thoughts until Peter came running down, dressed in a new pair of track pants so Tony pulled them back to see what he had on, sighing at what it was.
“Dad! I peed in the toilet! I need a sticker.”
Tony didn’t believe him. “Oh yeah? Already? Let me go ask mom.” He gave Peter a side eye then went upstairs, finding Pepper taking the blankets off the bed. “Did Peter actually pee in the toilet?”
“No.” Pepper puffed out. “He peed all over our bed comforter. Now I need to wash it.”
“Oh.” Tony wasn’t surprised. He walked back downstairs and saw Peter and Morgan standing in front of the chart. “Nice try, Petey. But don’t lie to daddy again. Got it?”
Peter blushed. “I-okay.”
“Dad, I want a potty chart too. I always pee in the toilet. I’d have it filled up in no time.” Morgan smiled, pleased with herself.
Harley walked over, grinning. “I want one too. I wouldn’t mind a nice reward for peeing in the toilet.”
Tony rolled his eyes at his children’s behaviour. “Only Peter gets one. You guys don’t need it.”
Peter grabbed onto his dad’s arm and stuck his tongue out at his siblings. “Ha-ha! I need it.”
“That’s not exactly an accomplishment, Petey.”
“Harley.” Tony warned.
“No, I mean that’s amazing, Peter. I wish I was you. Lucky.”
Peter smiled again then grabbed between his legs. “I need to go pee now.”
Tony highly doubted that but didn’t tell him no. “Alright. Let’s go sit on the toilet.” He took Peter into the bathroom, wishing he had one in the living room that Peter could sit on while watching tv. “Let’s get these out of the way.” Tony pulled his track pants off of him, tugging his pull-up down and standing back up. “Let me know when you’ve gone, alright?”
“Okay. Then I get a sticker?”
“Only if you go pee in the toilet.”
Peter nodded, proud of himself.
“Good. I’ll be back. Call me if you need me.” Tony left the bathroom, leaving the door open in case Peter called for him. He busied himself with cleaning up the kitchen and attempting to neaten the living room although he gave up when he realized that it wasn’t going to make a difference anyways.
He’d have a clean house in twenty years when all his kids moved out. Although he didn’t seem to care that his house was messy, he actually loved it.
“Where’s Peter?” Pepper asked once she walked downstairs, a laundry basket full of clean clothes that needed folding.
“He’s trying to pee. I think he’s just trying to get a sticker though.” Tony chuckled. He’d check on him in a little bit. “I think this is a good idea.”
“Me too. I just hope we can stick with it though.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well…” Pepper gave him a look. “We-you tend to fall through with things once he gives you his puppy dog eyes.”
Tony couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Seriously. His face is the cutest.”
“No but I’m being serious, Tony. We need to stick with it this time. If you aren’t going to budge on the bottles, I really want this to work for us. I know you don’t want him growing up but-”
“Don’t imply that I’d sabotage this because I don’t want Peter to grow up. I’ll never want Peter to grow up but I know it’s inevitable that he will. Eventually. I still want him to… not be peeing his pants every hour though. Sometimes more.”
“Daddy! Daddy, come!”
Tony looked at Pepper, wanting her to think about what he said while he went into the bathroom to check up on Peter. “Did you go pee?”
Peter nodded. “Yeah. Just a little bit.” He looked between his legs to look into the toilet but there was nothing there. “See?”
“Buddy, that’s not pee. It’s just the toilet water.”
“But I want a sticker!”
“You can have one once you do a pee in the toilet.”
Peter got off the toilet and left the bathroom crying. “I’ll never get a sticker!” He cried, finding his way into the living room to sit with his mom. “I didn’t go pee!”
“Aw, Peter. Come here. How about you try when you’re ready?” She pulled her son next to her, wiping the tears off his face. “There’s no need to cry, there’s no rush, Peter.”
Tony really thought this was going to work. Apparently not.
.
.
.
Tony was so tired. He was going nonstop all day between work and the kids. He was doing it all by himself too since Pepper was taking over most of the meetings so they didn’t have to go back to the tower all week.
It was just after 10pm and Tony just got Peter to sleep after the struggle he put up. He walked downstairs, exhausted but needing to clean up a bit before he could go to bed himself. After trying to get Peter to pee on the toilet all afternoon, there was still no success and it was stressful.
He grabbed all the dirty dishes from the living room and dumped it in the sink, groaning at the pile of dishes that he didn’t think he was going to do. He was way too tired and it could wait until tomorrow morning, or afternoon.
He just needed to wash all the bottles so they were ready for tomorrow.
While he was doing that, Harley walked through the front door. “Hey.”
He heard Harley moving around in the hallway. “What?”
“I said hey.” Tony tried to see him but he couldn’t. “Come in here for a sec.”
He heard a groan and then Harley walked into the kitchen, looking like he was dead on his feet. Tony turned the water off and shifted to fully face him, drying his hands with a towel. “Where were you?”
“Urg. At a friends house.”
“Yeah? What friend? Have you been drinking?” Harley raised his eyebrows at him. “Are you high?”
“What? No. I’m not drunk and I’m not high. Why would you even ask me that?” He opened the fridge to grab a water so Tony eyed him suspiciously.
“Because you were supposed to be home at nine. We agreed for nine. It’s 10:23, Harley. No call. No text. And you come in looking like you’re drunk and high.”
Harley let out a loud groan and slammed the fridge door shut, obviously upset at Tony’s accusations. “I’m twenty years old. Stop treating me like I’m fourteen. I’m allowed to stay out as late as I want. And I’m not drunk or high.”
Tony was not okay with that. He tossed the towel on the counter and stepped towards Harley. “You can’t stay out as late as you want. If I want you home for nine, you better be home for nine. Or at least text me and let me know where you are.”
“Oh please. Stop being so overbearing and let me live my life.” Harley went to walk away so Tony grabbed his arm to stop him. “What?”
“Don’t walk away while I’m talking to you.” He snapped, anger filling his veins. “As long as you’re living under my roof, you do as I say. I control the air you breathe in this house. You coming home an hour and a half late is disrespectful, Harley. Grow up and be responsible for your actions.”
Harley was breathing heavily, trying not to snap at his dad. “What the fuck, dad. That’s so controlling, do you have any idea how controlling that is?”
Tony didn’t care. He had his reasons to be controlling over the people he loves.
Harley wasn’t done yet though. “You tell me to grow up yet you'd never tell that to Peter. Even though he’s literally wearing a diaper right now and drinking from a fucking bottle. It’s unfair. Wait until he’s my age and he’s not your little baby anymore!”
Those words really hurt to hear but Tony didn’t show it. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you done?”
Harley just breathed heavily.
“How about you go through what Peter went through and come out of it totally fine. Huh? How about you think about what he’s going through. Did you ever think about that? And then tell me that you’re gonna be walking around like you’re fine. Because he’s not fine. I’m not fine. Stop picking on him. Stop comparing your life to his because it’s totally different! You want me to treat you the same and have the same relationship with you as I do with him? Then how about you go crawl into my bed and I’ll fucking put a diaper on you! Then tell me how you feel after that!” Tony was getting too worked up. He pinched the bridge of his nose and braced himself against the counter.
He shook his head and turned back to Harley. “Stop comparing my relationship with you to my relationship with your brother. Because it’s not the same. At all.”
It looked like Harley was either going to start crying or start screaming at him. Tony waited for it. “Then why did you choose to have kids?!”
Tony looked at him. “What? Your mother and I wanted to start a family together. We didn’t plan for our child to be taken from us at three years old and then spend seven years in absolute misery.”
“Oh.” Harley actually looked heart broken. “So those seven years, even though you had Morgan and I, those seven years still sucked. Right? Because we weren’t good enough. We weren’t Peter.”
Tony sighed. He didn’t mean to say it like that. “No. No, Harley, I didn’t mean it like that-”
“But it’s the truth.”
Tony didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t present during those seven years. He missed Peter so much he felt physically sick, it felt like he was dying a slow and painful death. He missed the first few years of Morgan’s life. He missed her first steps, her first words, everything. He just couldn’t do anything but look for Peter. He was obsessed.
“It’s not the truth. I love you all differently.” He didn’t know how to explain to Harley that he needed Peter. He couldn’t sleep without him, and apparently not with him either since he was stuck on him like glue all night.
Harley nodded but looked away.
“I just need you to be more responsible. If you want to hang out with friends, you cannot be coming home at 10:30 when I asked you to be home for 9.”
Harley groaned again. “I’m twenty, dad. I don’t understand why it matters.”
“It matters, Harley, because you’re my son and I don’t want anything bad happening to you either.” Tony felt a bit more calm now.
“But dad, nothing bad is going to happen to me. What happened to Peter sucks but it happened. You need to stop treating me like I’m the baby of the family. I’m twenty and I hate how you treat me like I’m Peter or-or nine again.”
Tony didn’t think he did that but Harley obviously felt that way since it wasn’t the first time he was saying that. “I need communication from you, Harley. I need you to let me know when you’re coming home. A simple text is all I need from you.”
“But why?”
Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. He was losing his patience again. “Because Harley, because it doesn’t cost you anything to take five seconds of your time and send me a quick text telling me that you’re gonna be late because you’re doing whatever the fuck you’re doing.”
Harley considered that. “It’s just annoying.”
“See? This behaviour, this behaviour right here is why I treat you the way I do. I ask your mom, text me updates so I can prepare dinner if I have to, so I know if I’m the one bathing and putting both kids to bed, it takes two seconds. You think I’m texting your mom about the weather or what top she looks cute in, I text her for important updates that makes everything easier on everyone. And that’s literally all I am asking from you, Harley.”
Harley didn’t respond because he knew his dad was right.
“We would not be having this conversation at 10:30 at night if you had just texted me at 9pm and said dad I’m at so and so’s house I’m gonna be back at 10:30 instead. That’s it. That’s all I’m asking from you.”
“Fine. Alright. Fine, if you want me to text you, I’ll text you. I’m going to bed.” With that, their conversation was over and Harley walked away.
Tony placed his head in his hands and sighed loudly. He hated how strained his relationship with Harley was becoming. Truth was, it was hard to bounce between how he treats Peter and Morgan, then having to see Harley as an adult and treat him as such.
He looked up when he saw Pepper walk around the corner. “Did you hear?” She nodded and joined him in the kitchen, sitting on the kitchen stool. “Do you think I was being unfair? Does Harley have a point?”
Pepper shrugged. “I think that you are right but Harleys also right, you can be a bit controlling and… possessive of the ones you love.”
Tony didn’t see how that was a problem. “I need to protect the people I can’t live without. And that’s you and our kids.”
“No. That’s Peter.” Pepper corrected.
“What?”
“Tony, you were barely there during those seven years and I think that’s why Harley has a hard time connecting with you. You weren’t there to help him through puberty, my dad was, and just being there.”
“What? What are you talking about? I gave him the sex talk and explained to him the whole wet dream thing, I taught him how to shave.” God, he did not want to give those talks to Peter. “I was there.”
“Tony. You weren’t. Maybe you still talked to him about all that but after my dad did when Harley needed it. You weren’t there, Tony, you were looking for Peter.”
Tony looked away. Was that true? He hadn’t realized how much he actually missed. Of all his children’s lives. “I-I… I was looking for Peter.” He confirmed.
“I know.” Pepper agreed. “But we almost got a divorce over it. We would have been divorced if we didn’t have Morgan.”
Tony didn’t think so. But then he thought back to all the times Pepper called him crying, begging him to be a part of their broken family and just be present. He never listened unless she threatened him with a divorce. He looked down.
“Yeah. I guess so.”
He didn’t regret that. But he wished he did it differently. But he remembered how he felt then, he would never forget that awful, indescribable feeling. He wouldn’t change not being there even if he could because he was an empty shell without Peter and he didn’t want his kids to have witnessed that anymore than they already did.
“Point is, Tony, is that you are right. Harley should be texting us updates so we don’t worry, but also, the way you talk to him about it, you’re very overpowering and possessive and it pushes Harley away.”
Tony shrugged. “I don’t think I am.”
“You are. When we first started dating, you didn’t like it when I spoke to guys and you always wanted to know where I was and who I was with.”
“Okay. I’m not like that anymore. And I’d call that jealousy. Not possessiveness.”
“Correction. You’re not nearly as bad but you still do it. And it’s definitely a mixture of both.”
Tony couldn’t argue with that. He turned to put the bottles away then stood behind Pepper, kissing her neck and sliding his hand under the front of her shirt. “I can’t help but want to protect what's mine. And for the record, I wouldn’t want to be doing this parenting thing with anyone but you.”
Pepper giggled, leaning up to kiss him while rejecting him anyways. “I’m glad to hear that. But I don’t want to have sex with you tonight. Just so you know.”
“Okay. I don’t either. I’m tired and I need to go talk to Harley.” He pulled away from her with one last kiss and went upstairs. He walked into his bedroom, checking on Peter first.
Peter was sleeping with his butt up in the air, thumb in his mouth and his other hand was holding onto a bottle. He smirked.
That was so Peter
Tony walked out and stood by Harleys bedroom door, hesitating before knocking. “It’s dad. Can I come in?”
“Sure.”
Tony walked in, shutting the door behind him and sitting on the bed. It was obvious that Harley wasn’t going to bed yet, despite what he said. “I just wanted to come in and talk to you before I went to bed. First, I don’t take back what I said but I am sorry for the way I said it. Your mother pointed out that I can be really overpowering and possessive and I didn’t mean to come across that way. I’m sorry.”
Harley considered that apology. “Alright. Thank you for actually realizing that. I’ll still try to text you and update you.”
“Thank you.”
“And you know, Peter wasn’t the only one who went through a lot. I did too. So did Morgan. We all did. It obviously wasn’t as bad as Peter but… I still missed him. I lost my baby brother and I was old enough to understand that he wasn’t ever coming back but I wasn’t old enough to do anything about it so instead I had to watch mom cry all the time and you… wherever you were.”
Tony listened to him. He knew everyone else suffered but he didn’t acknowledge it as much as he should.
“I know. You’re right. I’m sorry.” He wasn’t apologizing for not being there though, he wouldn’t and couldn’t change that. Maybe he was apologizing for that actually. Pepper made a good point. “I’m sorry for not being there for you when you needed me the most. I-I didn’t even realize I wasn’t there for you to talk to you about all that body changing talks and stuff.”
Harley waved him off. “Oh. I don’t care. That’s what Google is for.”
“Please don’t teach your brother that.” Tony chuckled.
“Don’t worry. I’ll give him the ol’ banana and condom demonstration.”
“Please don’t do that either.” Tony laughed with his oldest son, feeling a bit better now. He stood up and left after pressing a kiss to Harley's forehead, going back to his room and getting some well deserved rest.
.
.
.
Peter was actually excited to go to school for once.
It was a water day today in the afternoon before the long weekend and Peter couldn’t wait for it; the long weekend and the water day with his class.
Peter walked into the school with his dad, only twenty minutes late today. He pointed at the janitor walking by and waved. Tony remembered being in high school, the janitor was always the coolest guy there, he wondered if it was still the same now.
He pulled Peter into the office, greeting the receptionist there and signing Peter in. Tony had a meeting in forty five minutes at the tower and he needed a coffee before he went in. So he had to go.
“Okay. You have your bathing suit in your bag and towel. Make sure to put it in your bag after.” He pressed a kiss to his forehead but Peter reached for his hand. “No, I gotta go, Peter. I have a meeting.”
“What meeting?”
“For work.”
“You don’t have a job.”
Tony gave Peter another kiss. “Yes I do, how else do I put a roof over our head and food on the table.” He sighed, they already had this discussion. Multiple times.
Peter actually thought about it. “Mom.”
“Okay. Her too. I’ll see you later. Have fun today.”
Peter watched his dad leave and let out a loud sigh then began making his way up to his class.
He was having a good day so far, he got caught up with a few friends he hadn’t seen in a few days and he was moving to his third period class and still hadn’t gotten assigned any homework. Today was a good day.
Peter finished his lunch and grabbed his juice box, drinking it when he saw Ned walk into the cafeteria with his new group of friends. Peter looked down. He hadn’t spoken to Ned in quite a while. He felt bad for it but also Ned never reached out to him.
Not even to ask if he was okay after getting kidnapped again.
Ned made eye contact with him and started making his way over to Peter’s table. “Hi Peter.”
“Hey, Ned. What’s up?”
“Nothing. Where have you been all week? You’ve barely been to school, it’s like you don’t even care about your grades anymore.”
“Just because you haven’t seen me, doesn’t mean I haven’t been here. I’ve literally been here all week.” Peter looked at Ned, annoyed.
He hated how him and his best friend were drifting apart but his dad told him that it was just a part of life and that they were on different paths in life, whatever that meant. Peter looked down at his juice box.
“Sure… that’s what I meant.”
“Alright.” He looked at Ned. “I’m gonna finish my lunch so I’ll see you later.”
Ned took the hint and left, leaving Peter torn between feeling guilty and trying not to. It was how he felt, it was his feelings and no one else’s so he tried to remember what Karen taught him. My feelings are valid. I’m allowed to feel how I feel and that’s okay.
Peter took out his phone to text his dad for reassurance.
Peter: Heyy
He put his phone down and waited for a text back. While he was waiting, his friend Asher came to join him and his other friend, his new friends, Peter thought. Although they weren’t his best friends. He didn’t have any history with them.
Peter looked down. Maybe he didn’t need to have history with someone to consider them a friend, history has to start somewhere after all.
He looked at Asher as he sat next to him. “Hey.”
“Dude. I was walking past the staff room and I could have sworn I saw Brad in there stealing muffins. He’s gonna get in so much trouble if he gets caught.”
Nate started belly laughing. “No way. I’ve always wanted to go in there.”
Peter sighed and looked down at his phone, just as the screen lit up with a text.
Daddy: Hey Pete. How’s school going?
Peter: Good
Daddy: Anything new going on?
Peter: No
Daddy: Did you get any homework?
Peter: No I jus wanna to say hi
Daddy: Alright, buddy. I’ll see you soon. Be good
Peter put his phone away. He just wanted to hear from his dad.
He finished lunch with his friends, feeling more comfortable with Nate. He hung out with him a few times after school and enjoyed his company.
The three of them walked to their class together and their teacher was pointing to a blue and pink piece of paper. “If you’re a boy, line up in front of the blue, if you’re a girl, line up in front of the pink.”
Peter stood in the boy line up, rolling his eyes at his classmates pushing each other into the opposite line and thinking it was the funniest thing ever.
“So we’re going to the change rooms to change, boys, we’re going in two groups and girls, you’re gonna go in two groups. Let’s go. Stay in your line.”
Their teacher led them outside into the hallway and Peter turned to see one of the grade twelve teachers coming with them. “Why do we have to go in two different groups?”
“Because there’s twenty four of you.” His teacher explained and stopped by the change room door. “Alright, I want six of you in here with me. Peter, let’s go.”
Peter swung his bag over his shoulder. “It’s so heavy.”
“It’s okay, I can take him in my group. Come, Peter, I’ll take your bag for you too.” The teacher that Peter recognized from the grade twelve floor took his bag for him.
“What’s your name?”
“My name is Mr. Greco.”
“Take his EpiPen then.” Peter’s teacher handed over a pouch with the life saving device in there.
Peter watched it carefully. “Is that mine?”
“I guess so.”
“Cause it’s my EpiPen.”
“It is. Alright boys! Let’s go into the change room.” Peter followed him in and sat on the bench, swinging his legs back and forth.
“Mr? Do I need to go pee?”
“I don’t know, you tell me.” He placed Peter’s bag on the bench and Peter tested to see then shook his head proudly. “Then don’t go. Get changed.” With that, the teacher left to go wait in the hallway.
Peter stood up on the bench, swinging on the hooks. “Dare me to do a flip?”
“Do it! Do it!” Chanted the rest of the boys so Peter flipped around, almost doing a somersault but his hands slipped on the hooks so he landed on his feet. “Woahhh!” Everyone yelled in sync.
Peter was so proud of himself. He saw some of his classmates starting to strip from their clothes and run around for a bit before getting their bathing suits on, so Peter decided to join them, taking his clothes off and tossing them to the middle of the change room.
They were screaming too loud, being way too reckless so Peter heard the door open and the teacher who’s name Peter couldn’t remember was standing there, looking unimpressed.
“What is all this noise? I expect you boys to be more mature than this. C’mon, grab your towels and your bags and go line up outside.
Peter leaned against the bench, staring at his bag where he knew his bathing suit was but he couldn’t do it by himself.
“But Mr. Greco, we didn’t even put our sunscreen on yet.” Nate said, getting on his bathing suit by himself. Peter looked away. His dad wasn’t here to help him and he knew he could do it by himself but he didn’t want to.
“Then what are you waiting for, get it on. And you don’t need sunscreen. The pool is indoors. Chop chop.” He walked over to Peter, crossing his arms over his chest. “Peter. Where’s your bathing suit?”
Peter shrugged.
“Did your dad pack it for you?”
Peter shrugged again.
“Then I’m going to check your backpack.” He picked it up from the floor and dug inside, pulling out a hat and a bathing suit. “Here. Put this on.”
“Mr. I’m done. Look.” Nate tapped on his shoulder, showing their teacher then sat down on the bench to wait for his friend.
“Good, Nate. Peter, do you need help?” He asked slowly, already grabbing his bathing suit.
Peter nodded, a bit relieved he wouldn’t have to do it by himself. “Yeah. I need help.”
“Alright. You know, I had your brother a few years ago in my class.”
“Oh. He’s at work with daddy.”
“Daddy?” His teacher smiled. “Did daddy drop you off at school today?”
Peter nodded and stepped into his bathing suit. “I-he’s picking me up in ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes? I don’t think so.”
Peter laughed along with Nate then turned to poke his teacher's nose. “You kinda look like Santa Clause.” Nate bursted out laughing.
“Really? How old do you think I am?”
Peter laughed along, getting himself situated once his bathing suit was on. “Ummm… ninety-five.”
“Ninety five?!”
Both Peter and Nate continued laughing.
“That’s so old. Do you think I have superpowers?”
“Yeah! I think-I think-I think you have magic to control water!” Peter bounced on the balls of his feet.
“Wow. That would be cool. Let’s go to the pool room now and see if I can.” He picked up Peter’s clothes on the floor. “Is this yours?”
Peter gasped, moving to grab it. “Oh. I forget. Um, what’s your name again?”
“Mr. Greco.”
“Oh yeah.” Peter grabbed his towel. “Um, Mr. Greco, when-when I was in Bali, when I goed with my dad, I didn’t even need to wear a bathing suit.”
“Wow. That’s cool. Did you go with your whole family?” Peter nodded. “And is your dad at work now?”
Peter nodded. “Yeah. He’s in a meeting.”
Mr. Greco began leading them outside into the hallway and into the pool room. “Wow, that would be cool to work at Stark Industries. Did you know it’s a multi billion dollar company, Peter?”
Peter stepped onto the floor, giggling at the feeling under his feet, it was slimy. “And-and after my dad picks me up, we’re getting ice cream!” Peter made that up, hoping it was true though.
“Oh wow. That sounds like a lot of fun.”
Nate grabbed Peter’s arm once they walked into the pool room and joined the rest of their glass in the sprinkler laid out for them. Most of his classmates were in the pool but Peter didn’t feel like swimming so he hung out with his friend Nate and two other kids whose names Peter didn’t know.
“Grab the hose. I wanna hold it over your head.” Peter pointed to it, waiting for Nate's reaction.
His teachers were watching them closely, mainly Peter as they were talking about him.
“You had his older brother in your class, correct?” Asked Peter’s teacher.
Mr. Greco, the grade twelve teacher, nodded. “I did. I think two or three years ago now. Maybe more. He must be what, twenty now. Twenty one maybe.”
“And he has an older sister too?”
“No. Not that I know of. I think he’s the youngest. Just a brother that I know of.” Mr. Greco responded, watching Peter spray his friend with a hose. “He’s a good kid. From what I’ve seen.”
Peter’s teacher laughed. “Oh. Wait until you actually have him in your class. He’s smart but he’s always talking, he does not listen. That boy can’t sit still for the life of him.”
“Is he ADHD or something?”
The teacher shrugged, looking away from Peter and at the other group of kids. “No. Probably not. He’s just hyper. I mean look at him. At least he doesn’t come every day.”
“Oh. No? Why not?”
Peter’s teacher moved to look back at Peter, watching him jumping around. “You know he was kidnapped, right?”
“Sure. Everyone knows. Who hasn’t followed that story. My wife and I followed it from the very day it started, what, ten, eleven years ago now.” Mr. Greco explained. “My wife used to keep tabs on that disappearance case, she can’t believe I taught his brother.”
“Yeah… well, the kid has a hard time leaving his dad. I don’t know, I overheard the principal and the school's therapist talking about separation anxiety.” Peter’s teacher said, not knowing the half of it.
“Huh.” Hummed Mr. Greco. “I wonder how it’ll affect him in the future. Poor kid. I’m gonna send my wife a picture of him, she’s not gonna believe it.” Mr. Greco waved Peter over. “Peter. Come here. I wanna ask you something.”
Peter ran over, wiping the wet hair off his face. “Yeah?”
“Peter, how old is your brother? I can’t remember.”
“Um…” Peter looked back at his friends. “When Harley, I mean when I was born, Harley was already my brother.”
“Okay. But how old is he?”
“Um… he’s like… twenty.”
“Oh right.” Said Mr. Greco.
Peter’s teacher bent down a bit to be at his height. “Do you have an older sister?”
“Yeah. I mean no.”
“So you have a younger sister?” Peter nodded. “You do?”
Peter nodded again. “Yeah. She’s um… eleven. She had- we celebrated her birthday in Malibu! No. I mean Bali.”
“How long did you go to Bali for, Peter?”
“Two months and twenty days.” Peter replied, looking back at his friends and wanting to join them again.
“Wow.” His teacher shook his head since he knew Peter didn’t actually go for that long.
Mr. Greco pulled out his phone. “Let me pick you up, Peter. Let’s take a picture together.” Peter lifted his arms up so the teacher could pick him up, Peter wished it was his dad though. He didn’t know if he wanted to be picked up by this man he just met but if he said no, he’d upset the man. “Wow. You’re so light.” He looked at Peter’s teacher. “He feels like a feather.”
“He looks like one too.” Commented his teacher.
Peter smiled uncomfortably and looked back at his friends but a phone was being shoved in his face, the camera on.
“I want to send a picture to my wife, can you smile, Peter.” He took a selfie of the two of them.
“Why does your wife want a picture?” Peter asked him shyly, afraid to upset him.
“Oh. She remembers you from the news.” Mr. Greco placed him on his feet after, looking at the wet spot on his shirt now from the bathing suit. “Peter. So is your dad your favourite parent?”
Peter’s teacher tapped Mr. Greco on the side. “This isn’t appropriate. You know he’ll go home and tell his parents this.”
Peter looked between the two, not really knowing what was going on.
“No, it’s fine. I just want to know.” Mr. Greco kneeled down, holding onto Peter’s wrists. “So you like your dad the best?”
Peter let out a whine. He didn’t like this question.
“Alright. Alright. What do you do when you go home?”
“Um… go to sleep. And… play with my toys.”
“Do you sleep in your bed?” Peter nodded. “Or with your parents?” Peter started chewing on his fingers.
“Um… yeah.”
“By yourself?”
“No. With daddy.”
“Ohh. Did he-”
“Okay, Peter. You go play with your friends.” His teacher gently pushed him off so Peter walked away, staring back at them, feeling extremely confused but it didn’t take long for him to join in on the fun again. His teacher turned to the senior teacher, angry. “You can’t be asking him questions like that. You don’t know what he’s going to tell his parents. Stuff like this can get us in trouble with the office, our jobs can be at risks.”
Mr. Greco didn’t seem to care. “He’s going to forget about it in a few minutes. Look, he’s already playing.”
“That’s not my point. Do you even know who his father is? He’s extremely protective of him and is very particular with his child.”
With a huff, Mr. Greco waved him off. “He’s fine. Look at him, he has the attention span of a three year old. They all do. Look at them.”
Peter’s teacher rolled his eyes. “Peter better not be telling his dad what you asked him. And you shouldn’t have taken those pictures of him either. On your personal phone too. You better hope he doesn’t tell his dad.”
Now Mr. Greco was nervous. He walked over to Peter playing with his friends and squatted down next to him. “Hey. You’re having fun?”
Peter crawled away from him. “Yeah.”
“Wow.”
Peter just didn’t feel comfortable with that man. He stood up and ran through the water, bumping into his friend.
He heard the phone ring in the small office connected to the pool room but he paid it no mind and drank some of the water then squeezed between his legs. “Uh, Mr, I need to go pee.”
Mr. Greco turned to make sure the other teacher wasn’t behind him then looked at Peter. “Just go here. You’re already soaking wet.”
Peter hesitated but started going, laughing at peeing his pants at school. He turned to Nate. “Look what I’m doing.”
Nate laughed and joined Peter, the two of them laughing together now.
“Peter, your dad is here to pick you up.”
Peter jumped to his feet. “Yay! My dad!” He ran through the water one more time and ran over to his teacher for him to take him to his dad.
“I’ll take him to get him changed and into clothes.” Mr. Greco said, holding his hand out for Peter to take so Peter reluctantly took ahold of his hand, shifting uncomfortably on his feet a bit. He didn’t want to go with him but he was too afraid to say no.
He heard the squeaky door open so Peter looked up and spotted his dad walking in with Harley. Peter squealed, it echoing throughout the pool area.
“Daddy!” He let go of the man’s hand and ran into Tony’s arms but his dad didn’t pick him up. “Up.”
“You’re soaking wet, Pete. I’ll pick you up when you’re dry.” Tony brushed the curls off his face. “Did you have fun?”
“Uh huh.” Peter grabbed onto his brother’s hand. “Harley. You came. Do you remember this school?”
“Obviously. I only graduated two years ago.” Harley waved hi to his old teacher. “Hey, Mr. Greco. It’s nice to see you again.”
“You’ve grown up so much, Harley. Wow. My star student.” He walked over to them but Peter started trying to pull Harley away. “Hopefully you aren’t getting up to too much trouble.”
Harley faked a laugh and let his little brother pull him to the sprinkler he was playing in. “Come! Come!”
Tony watched them at the same time he had a conversation with Peter’s teacher. “How long have you guys been here for? I’m not taking him home too early, am I?”
“No, we’ve been here for about an hour. We’re leaving in about thirty minutes anyways.”
Tony nodded and saw Harley pick Peter up, bridal style and bring him towards the pool. He already knew what was going to happen.
“I was trying to ask Peter but I couldn’t get an answer from him, how old is his sister?”
“She’s eleven. We celebrated her birthday in Bali a few weeks ago.” He stuck his hands in his pocket, watching Harley throw Peter into the pool.
“Typical brothers, right?” Mr. Greco laughed so Tony faked a laugh. “So you look all dressed up. Are you guys heading home after?”
“I just came from work.” Tony dryly explained. He was wearing a suit but it was obvious he had a freaking job, why was this guy acting like he’s going to a wedding on a Thursday. “And we’re gonna go home and I’ll probably give this one a shower then have a chill night until dinner.” Tony stepped away from them, “Excuse me.” He walked over to his boys. “Alright guys. We gotta go pick Morgan up. Let’s go.”
“But I wanna swim. We can’t even use our pool.”
Tony leaned down and lifted Peter out of the pool by his arm. “Then you can go in a bath. Let’s go. Say bye to your friends.”
“But I wanna show you how I played.” Peter went to run off but Tony held his arm. “Dad.”
“Where’s his stuff?” Tony turned to Peter’s teacher but Peter was tugging on his arm. “Okay. Quickly. Show me quickly.”
“I have his towel here. The rest of his stuff is in the change room.”
“Thank you. Come on, Peter. Let’s go get you changed.” Tony stood just by the water edge so he didn’t get wet. “Peter. Now.”
“Incoming!” Peter ran towards Tony, preparing to hug him and get him soaked but Tony wrapped a towel around him before he could. “Up. I want up.”
Once Tony lifted him up, Peter pressed a ton of kisses all over his face. “Did you have a good day?”
“Yeah. I wanna go outside like this.”
“Do you want to turn into an icicle?”
Peter giggled as Harley pushed open the door to the change room. “Yeah. Hey, that’s my bag!”
“Good. Let’s get you changed.” Tony placed him on his feet on the bench and pulled his towel off of him, drying him everywhere. “Off these come.” Tony said, yanking down Peter’s bathing suit and holding his hand for balance so he could step out of it.
“Harley! Look!” Peter pointed down at himself, grinning.
“Wow, Pete. You’re packing a whole centimetre.” Harley teased and Tony playfully smacked Harleys arm with the towel.
Peter ran across the bench so Tony grabbed him before anyone walked in. “Alright, monkey boy. We’re not at home. Let’s get you dressed.” He held underwear out for Peter but then Peter pushed it away.
“No. I need to air dry.”
“Pete, we’re not at home. Get dressed. Okay. Do you wanna go commando until we get home?” He suggested and Peter grinned so Tony grabbed track pants out of the bag, holding them out and doing the same for his shirt and socks.
“No shoes or coat. Carry me to the car.”
“Alright. Can you try and go pee first?”
“No.”
“Let me rephrase that; go pee now.”
Peter looked down between his legs. “I already went. When-when I sayed I need to pee, my teacher says go in the water.”
Tony was angry at first but then he thought that he would probably do the same thing. “Alright then. We have to go pick your sister up so please don’t go pee in the car.”
“I need a diaper.”
“Shh. No you don’t. Not until bedtime.” Tony grabbed his backpack and swung it over his shoulder then took Peter into his arms, setting him on his hip. “Do not pee. Please.”
Harley chuckled, following behind them and heading for the van.
Truth was, Tony wished he brought a diaper for Peter but he didn’t and now he had to risk getting peed on or risk Peter peeing in the car on the way home.
Picking Morgan up went by quickly and smoothly.
Peter stayed dry the whole way home and as soon as they stepped inside the house, Peter made a dash towards the bathroom. “I need to pee! I need to pee!”
“Okay, you go, buddy.” Tony dropped all the bags he was holding by the door and raced to the bathroom, equally as excited and nervous to see if Peter made it. When he turned the corner, he saw Peter standing in front of the toilet, pants on, and peeing. “Peter. What’s this?”
Peter watched himself go. “I-the toilet seat wasn’t there.”
Tony sighed. Great. He put the toilet seat padding on the toilet, yanked Peter’s pants down and sat him on it. “You need to be peeing in the toilet.”
“I’m trying!” Yelled Peter, extremely angry now. He was so close but he had a fear of sitting on the toilet without the padded seat. And now his dad was angry at him for it.
Tony didn’t expect that lash out but he did deserve it. “I’m sorry. I know you’re doing your best.” Although it had been three days since introducing the potty chart and not one sticker had gone on it. “Let’s work on it together, okay? I’m gonna go prepare a quick snack and you continue to sit here and try to go pee. Just relax. It’s okay if you don’t go.”
Peter leaned forward. “I want a sticker.”
“You’ll get one. I know it. But first you need to go pee in the toilet.” Tony patted his head and left, going into the kitchen and preparing some chopped up grapes with pita bread and cream cheese. He filled up a cup of juice for Morgan and a spill proof cup of milk for Peter.
“Morgan, wash your hands and come have some snack!” He grabbed a diaper then walked into the bathroom, finding Peter squatting down and looking under the sink in the cabinet. “Peter.” Peter jumped back onto the toilet. “You’re not gonna get a sticker if you don’t sit on the potty.” He explained then kneeled down. “You clearly don’t need to go. Stand up. I’m gonna put this on you but that doesn’t mean you can use it, it’s just so you don’t wet the couch or anything.”
Peter nodded, used to it by now although he found comfort in using it anyways. Once it was secured onto him, Peter ran into the kitchen to join his sister at the table. “Yummy. I like grapes.”
“Did you get a sticker yet, Petey?”
Peter frowned. “No. I never will. I just can’t.”
Tony hated to hear his lack of determination even though Tony felt the same way as him. “You will, Pete, you just have to pay attention to when you need to go and not wait until the last minute to tell me or go.”
Peter didn’t care anymore. He popped the grape into his mouth, talking with his sister until his mom walked through the door. He watched her walk into the kitchen. “Mom! I went swimming at school today!”
“Wow, baby. How was it?”
Tony kissed Pepper in greeting then disappeared to go upstairs. “I’m gonna throw a load of laundry in. You watch them.”
“Good.” Peter replied. “My teacher helped me get my bathing suit on.”
“Oh.” Pepper didn’t like the sounds of that and she knew Tony wouldn’t either. “Your teacher did? Like he actually helped you put your bathing suit on?”
Peter nodded and took a sip of his milk. “Uh huh.”
It scared Pepper how Peter didn’t see the problem with that. “Why, Peter? Did you ask him to?”
“Uh… I don’t remember. I think he just did. And his wife says she wants a picture of me so he took one.”
“What? What do you mean, Peter? Your teacher took a picture of you changing?”
Peter nodded then shook his head. “Uh, no. Not my teacher. Then dad came with Harley and Harley threw me into the pool.”
“Honey. Can you tell me what happened? I don’t like how someone took a picture of you. Were you changing?” Pepper grabbed onto his hand, holding it to try and get him to focus.
Peter drank his milk and tossed a grape into Morgan’s juice. “Hey! Mom, he put a grape in my juice.”
Peter grinned. “It’s grape juice.”
“Peter,” Pepper tried to get his attention but he was too focused so she left to go upstairs and tell Tony. There was no need to worry, right? Peter was probably confused and telling a different story. She walked into the laundry room, her hands shaking. “Tony, Peter told me that his teacher changed him into his bathing suit and took a picture of him.”
Tony felt all the blood leave his face. “What? What do you mean?” What the fuck. No. Nonononono. He was not going to let that slide.
“I don’t know. I’m trying to get it out of him but he’s too distracted.”
Tony dropped the clothes and rushed downstairs, but before he turned the corner, he took a few calming breaths to try and calm down. He didn’t want Peter to think he was upset with him.
He walked into the kitchen and looked at the two of them. Peter was drinking his milk, barely having touched his food yet while Morgan was practically done. He leaned against the counter. “Hey, Pete, so mommy tells me that your teacher helped you get your bathing suit on, did he?”
Peter showed him the grape he chewed and spit back out. “Look, now it’s gonna turn into a raisin.”
“Not true.” Morgan grabbed one of his grapes. “It has to be a full grape but these are already half’s.”
“I need a full grape.”
Tony grabbed Morgan’s iPad from the charging cord. “Morgan, how about you go play while mom and I talk to Peter about school.”
“No!” Peter reached for her. “I want my iPad too!”
“I’ll give it to you but how about we talk first. I just want to hear about your day.” Peter was sitting on his knees and watching Morgan in the living room, a sad look on his face so Tony needed a place to talk to him where he wouldn’t be distracted.
So he took Peter into the family room that no one ever really used. “I want more milk.” Peter held out his spill proof cup that was half full now.
“Okay. I’ll get more for you but can you tell me about today, did your teacher put your bathing suit on?”
Peter nodded and stuck his feet in Tony’s face, laughing. “No, Peter. No sillies right now. I want to talk to you.” Tony was so scared. Peter was so innocent and naïve and so gullible that he wouldn’t even know how to tell if an older man was going to hurt him or had intentions to. That terrified Tony.
What also terrified Tony was that if a man did hurt Peter, would Peter know that what that man did was wrong? No matter how many times they’ve spoken to Peter about stranger danger, Peter doesn’t seem to get it.
He was actually surprised, considering Steve raised him to run from every adult he sees. Maybe that was why Peter didn’t see anything wrong with it now, Tony didn’t know.
Peter looked at him, a frown on his face.
“Peter, did your teacher change you into your bathing suit today?”
“Yes.”
“Did he take a picture of you?”
Peter nodded. “Yes.”
“He did? Did-did he take a picture of your private parts, Peter?” Please say no please say no please say no-
“Uhhh… my private parts? Uh, no. He says his wife wants to see me. So he takes a picture of me.”
“But where? In the change room?”
“Ummm… no. In the pool room. He picked me up and we took a selfie together. I didn’t even know why. Then he asked me um,” Peter trailed off and pulled a string from the couch.
“What did he ask you, Peter?”
“He asked me um, like um, like if you’re at work and that you work at Stark Industries.”
Tony nodded. Okay, they were getting somewhere. Although Tony wasn’t okay with someone taking a picture of his son, he was relieved it wasn’t in the change room.
“Peter, I don’t like how your teacher changed you. It was very inappropriate. Did he touch you down there at all?”
“No.” Peter frowned.
“Okay. Peter, he's your teacher, not your dad, or mom, or brother or grandparents. He should not be doing that.”
“Or Karen or Natasha.” Peter added.
“No. But it’s not Karen’s responsibility to help you get bathing suits on or anything.” Tony looked at Pepper for help.
“Peter, your dad and I aren’t mad at you. But we are concerned because you can’t trust people so easily. What if your teacher hurt you? I don’t like that you trusted him so easily.”
Peter felt bad for upsetting his parents. “Oh. But-but I just couldn’t do it by myself. I don’t know how.”
Tony knew he could but he chose not to. “Peter, I know you can. If you need help with something like that next time, tell your teacher to call mom or me. And we’ll always come.”
Peter sighed but he nodded.
“Good. Now what was your teacher's name?”
“Um… Mr. Greco. But-but he isn’t my teacher.”
“Oh.” Tony knew now. That was Harley’s old teacher from grade twelve. He suddenly knew what this was all about. While Peter was gone, a lot of obsessed, curious and crazy people cared a lot about his case. Civilians were trying to figure out where the toddler had disappeared to and some people even blamed Tony and Pepper for being involved in their own son’s kidnapping.
But there were always people who saw the Stark’s as famous. Sure, Tony Stark was quite known in the media due to his high profile parents and his company and simply him being a playboy back in the day, him and Pepper went to a few events when they started dating but slowed down once they had Harley.
But when Peter was kidnapped, their name as well as their boy's face was all over the news. And that attracted quite a lot of people.
People such as this Mr. Greco and his wife who apparently thought it was a good idea to snap a picture of a minor without permission from his parents.
Tony was angry, more frustrated at the events than angry actually, he would be calling the school and speaking with the principal to make sure this doesn’t happen again but he wasn’t going to take it any further than that.
For now, Tony wanted to have a quiet night, relaxing and spending time with his family.