Comfort me
Tony didn’t want to do this now.
He wanted to do it eventually but not right now.
They were just starting with the potty chart and now Pepper wanted them to drop the bottles. After Tony’s and Peter’s conversation in the car a few days ago, he was feeling incredibly guilty for doing this but Pepper wanted it done.
Tony knew they should but he still didn’t want to.
And now they had to go tell Peter. This was going to be awful.
“I’m tempted to just let you do it. So I don’t have to.” Tony was being serious. He didn’t even want to do this. He didn’t think they needed to add that amount of stress on Peter right now. And himself.
“Tony. We are doing this for him. Not to him.”
Tony still didn’t agree with that. “No, I think this is going to be extremely stressful for him. And us. And I think it’s going to make him pee himself even more. Say goodbye to underwear’s for him.”
Pepper rolled her eyes at Tony's comment. “We need to try. I’m scared to send him to school because I don’t want to get that call to pick him up with wet pants. It happening in elementary school is one thing but high school.” She grabbed the transition bottle from the cabinet and mentally tried to prepare herself to talk to Peter. “Are you ready?”
“No.” Tony was being honest.
“Well… me neither but we have to so let’s go talk to him.” Morgan was playing upstairs and Harley was in his room with Peter so the two of them made their way upstairs, purposely going slowly so they didn’t have to do this.
Tony walked up to Harley’s bedroom door and leaned against the wall beside it. “Are you sure you want to do this? I… I really don’t think we should right now.”
Pepper looked away from him. “I know. But we have to, Tony. It’s time.”
Tony didn’t say anything. He stared straight ahead so Pepper spoke again.
“If we don’t start now, it’ll just get harder for us later on.”
Tony didn’t necessarily agree with that but he didn’t have it in him to argue since deep down he knew that he shouldn’t be letting Peter have a bottle, no matter how badly Peter cried and begged for it.
He didn’t want to do this.
He really didn’t want to do this.
Pepper was the one to knock on the door.
“Yeah? Come in.” Came Harley’s voice so Pepper opened the door and Tony made eye contact with Peter. He was lying on the bed, watching Harley play the video game on the computer screen at the desk. Tony hated to break up their fun but it was a good time to do this.
Well, not a good time but a decent enough time where Peter wasn’t over tired or anything.
“What are you boys up to?” Pepper asked as she sat down on the bed, rubbing Peter’s thigh.
“I’m watching Harley try to beat level eight. And failing at it.” Peter laughed. He then looked at his dad, patting the bed next to him so he could lay down with him. “Come watch with me.” Tony sat down, still sitting up though so Peter tugged him forward. “Noo. Next to me. And lie down.”
“Alright. Alright.” Tony laid down next to him, not able to help the smile that broke out across his face when Peter wrapped his arms around him. “We can’t stay long. We gotta go talk to you in our room.”
Peter tensed. “Oh. About what? Am I in trouble?”
“No. Not at all. But your father and I do need to talk with you.” Pepper patted his butt. “Let’s go now, okay?”
Peter was getting anxious over this. “Uhh… but-but… why?” He tilted his head, looking at his dad.
Tony didn’t want to talk about this here. He sat up and held a hand out for Peter to take. Reluctantly, Peter took his hand and got off the bed with him. The walk down the hallway to the master bedroom was awkward and uncomfortable for everyone as there was tension in the air.
Once they got to the bedroom, Tony shut the bedroom door and now it was his turn to pat the bed to get Peter to sit beside him. Peter hesitated but he chose to sit right up against Tony’s side.
Tony looked at Pepper to get started.
“So Peter,” Pepper began. “your dad and I were talking and we discussed the idea of weaning you off of your bottles.”
They both held their breath, waiting for Peter to say something.
Peter sat up, pulling away from Tony. “But I don’t wanna do that. I don’t like that talk.”
“I know, but we think it’s important for you to stop drinking from bottles because it’s not-”
Peter cut Pepper off and threw himself on the bed, letting out a frustrated cry. He then turned and shoved his face in his dad's legs. “Nooo! Don’t say yes! Nooo! Please!”
Tony ran his fingers through Peter’s curls and looked at Pepper. He knew he was right. This wasn’t fair to Peter and was going to be way too stressful on him. “Well-”
Pepper interrupted him, probably thinking that he was going to back out of it and give in. Again. “No, Peter. None of this. Your father and I made our decision. It’s not good that you still have a bottle because you don’t need it.”
“I do!” Peter sat up only to throw himself down onto the bed again.
“You don’t.”
“I DO!” Peter screamed then completely threw himself off the bed. He sobbed on the floor so Tony got up to pick Peter back up and put him on the bed again but when he touched Peter, Peter started kicking him. “NO! Leave me alone!”
Tony stopped and moved away like he’d been burnt. He looked at Pepper and sat back on the bed. This was what he expected from Peter. And this was why he didn’t want to do this.
They sat there and listened to Peter cry for about five minutes then Tony leaned down and lifted Peter off the floor and into his arms. When Peter cried, he just needed comfort to help him calm down.
Or he needed to get his way.
Something Tony gave into way too often.
“Baby. Please don’t cry. Look,” He grabbed the transition bottle from the dresser. “I have this for you.”
Peter lifted his head up to look at what was in his fathers hands and when he saw it, he took it, taking a few sucks then tossing it onto the floor and crying impossibly louder. “Nooo! It’s broken! I want my bottle! Daddy!”
Tony just rubbed his back and rocked him side to side as he cried. “It’ll be okay. You’re okay.”
Peter shook his head against him and decided to try something that he knew his dad gave into easily. “Dada. Please. My baba.”
Tony froze.
He sounded exactly like Peter did when he was a toddler. Exactly. And Tony knew Peter was doing it on purpose too. Peter was smarter than he gave him credit for.
“Baby. How about we have one more then-”
“No.” Pepper got off the bed and tried to take Peter from Tony. “How about daddy goes downstairs for a bit and we watch a show in here together.” She knew what their son was doing. Peter knew exactly what Tony wanted to hear.
Peter screamed, right in Tony’s ear too. “Noooo! Don’t! I wan’ dada!” He clung on tighter so Tony gave in.
“I’ll keep him with me. How about he and I go downstairs and get a glass of milk.”
“Tony.” Pepper warned him. “Don’t give in. Don’t. Please.”
Tony wasn’t going to. Not after telling Peter he couldn’t have a bottle and then suddenly giving in. No way. Also because then Peter would know just how hard he had to cry before Tony did give in. And he didn’t want to teach him that for his later teenage years.
He took Peter downstairs and walked into the kitchen, opening up a cabinet of glasses. He pulled one out and Peter snapped his head to see what it was. “No! Wrong one. Baba. Daddy, please. Please. I need it.”
Tony put the glass back and looked into Peter’s wet yet frustrated eyes. He opened the cabinet with the bottles and Peter immediately made grabby hands for one. “Do you want a sippy cup instead?”
“No!” Frustration filled Peter. He was just asking for one thing and he didn’t understand why he couldn’t have it.
“You can have milk in a cup, a sippy cup or the water bottle upstairs. What will it be?”
“Bottle!”
“No, Peter. I’m sorry.”
“Daddy. Why? You-you said yes. You said-you said-you said only-only if I’m okay with it. And I’m not! You said!”
Tony knew he was referring to the talk they had in the car the other day. He ran his fingers through Peter’s curls more for his sake than Peter’s. “But baby, it’s important that you don’t have a bottle any more because it’s not good to be so dependent on them like you are.”
Peter started rubbing his eyes and shaking his head. “I don’t care. I wan’ one.”
Tony knew Peter didn’t care. That’s why they were in this mess. But he knew Peter would thank him when he’s older and not twenty still needing a bottle. “How about you take this one?” Tony suggested and held up a spill proof cup with a silicone straw.
Peter barely looked at it before he was whacking it out of his father’s hands, falling onto the floor.
Tony didn’t know what to do.
This was Pepper’s idea so why wasn’t Pepper helping him with this. It was incredibly frustrating. He placed Peter on his feet. “Alright. Then how about we go upstairs-”
“No! Pick me up!” He cried, stomping his feet and smacking Tony on the stomach. “Pick me up!”
Tony was quickly losing patience. He grabbed Peter’s arm and lifted him back up then walked upstairs and into his and Peppers bedroom. “You can deal with him.” He placed Peter on the bed but Peter screamed impossibly louder and reached for him. “This was your idea and once again I’m doing all the work.” He ran a stressful hand through his hair and debated on leaving the room to let Pepper deal with it on her own and see what it’s like.
He’s always the one stuck doing these things. Always.
Sure, he’s always the one who chooses to do it and sometimes fights Pepper on it but at times like this, she should be helping too without him having to ask.
“Peter, do you want to watch a show with me?” Pepper attempted to get him to calm down but it wasn’t working.
“No! I wan’ a bottle! Daddy!” He cried, moving closer to his dad since he knew Tony would be the one to give in easily.
Tony couldn’t walk away from him even though Peter was currently testing his very last patience. He lifted his arms out for him and set Peter on his hip, walking towards the window to look out of it with him. “Look, can you see the trees there? Do they look pretty?” He asked, trying to distract him.
Peter wasn’t having any of it though and shook his head then wiggled in Tony’s arms to be placed on the floor so that’s exactly what Tony did.
“Go downstairs.” He cried, looking up at Tony with endless tears falling out of his eyes. “Dad.” Peter said more desperately and started tugging on Tony’s hands. “Go downstairs. Please.” He tried to push Tony but the man didn’t budge and instead Peter landed on the floor and sobbed.
The same thing continued for the rest of the night, both parents taking turns dealing with the crying and trying to get Peter to sleep but he didn’t.
His thumb was raw from all the sucking and chewing Peter was doing to it but he wouldn’t stop no matter what they said to him.
He begged for a bottle every ten minutes and when he was told no, a temper tantrum started.
Peter eventually fell asleep at half past 6am and that’s when Tony decided to leave him alone and go drink a coffee or five.
.
.
.
Peter was cranky when he woke up the next day.
Tony expected him to be and was actually scared of him waking up because he didn’t want to deal with an overtired Peter on top of being incredibly cranky.
He heard loud footsteps make their way down the hallway so Tony took a huge gulp of his coffee and turned to look at Peter. He had a huge pout on his face and his eyes were dark and bloodshot.
“Why weren’t you there when I woke up?” He asked, making his way to stand in front of Tony, arms crossed over his chest and looking up at him. If Peter hadn’t been so small, Tony would actually feel a bit intimidated by him.
“Because you-”
Peter cut him off. “I expect you to be there when I wake up. Now I’m mad at you.” He turned and climbed onto the kitchen island stool. “I’m hungry.”
“Okay.” Tony put his coffee down. He looked behind Peter and hoped that someone would come to help him but of course no one was home so he was doing this alone. “What do you want?”
“Milk.”
“You can’t just have milk for breakfast. Do you want a glass of milk with maybe waffles?”
“I want a bottle with waffles.”
“Peter-”
“Where’s mom?”
Tony sighed and grabbed the waffle box from the freezer. “She went to walk Aiser with your siblings.” It was almost nine. Since Peter fell asleep so late, well, early depending on how you looked at it, he slept in. So Tony stayed home to watch him while everyone else left. He popped two into the toaster and grabbed a plastic cup and a sippy cup. “Which one will it be?”
“A bottle.”
“Peter. I said no bottle.”
“Then I’m not hungry anymore.” Peter got off the chair and ran into the living room, turning on the tv and putting it on full blast.
“Hey. Turn that down.”
Peter turned it louder so Tony walked over to him and grabbed the remote, turning it all the way down. “I’m not liking this attitude from you. You better stop this. I get that you’re upset and tired but there’s no excuse to act this way. Do you need to have a nap?” Peter sat there with his arms crossed over his chest, not saying a word. Tony sighed and grabbed a fresh diaper from the box as well as wipes and rash cream. “Can you lie down then?”
“Why?”
“Because I have to change you.”
“Why?”
Tony sighed. “Just lie down.”
“Why?”
“Peter,” Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. “because if I don’t, you’ll get a really bad rash. Do you want that?”
“Yes. I actually do.”
Tony didn’t respond. He wasn’t going to let Peter get a bad rash just to prove a point to him. He grabbed his arm and forced him to lie down but Peter fought against him and rolled onto his stomach. “Peter. Enough.”
“I don’t want you to. I want mom to.”
“Mom isn’t here. I am.” Tony rolled him onto his back again and placed a hand on his hip to stop him from rolling over again. “Stop, I’ll be quick.” He lifted his shirt up then untapped the sides of the diaper and pulled the front down, cringing at the redness. “Oh, Pete.”
He grabbed a wipe and began wiping him as gently as possible but Peter tensed and rolled away. “No! It hurts.”
“Let me put some cream on you-”
“No! It hurts!” He slid onto the floor and crawled into the corner of the living room, burying himself into a pile of stuffed animals so Tony let him, at least he was quiet. He stood up to go wash his hands and let Peter be while he made himself another coffee and tried to take it easy today.
Peter was in a bad mood which meant Tony was too.
This was why he didn’t want to stop the bottles.
Pepper wasn’t home. Tony debated on giving Peter one. But he knew Peter would tell his mom and he’d get a lecture for giving in. Again.
After about ten minutes, Tony popped waffles down into the toaster now and buttered them up, cutting them into strips and walking into the living room to give them to Peter. “Do you want these?”
Peter was so hungry so he pulled the finger from his mouth he was chewing on and gratefully took the plate from his dad. “I’m thirsty. I really want milk.”
“Alright. In an open cup or a sippy cup?”
“Sippy cup.”
Tony was so relieved he didn’t say bottle. He returned with a sippy cup and handed it to him, feeling so guilty at the way Peter drank so desperately from it. He knew Peter needed the comfort from a bottle and he wasn’t getting that.
He took a seat beside him on the super tiny mini foam couch that turned into a mini bed. It was Peter’s size but it was way too small for Tony. He sat on it anyways.
After watching the cartoon with Peter for a few minutes, he broke the silence. “Are you still mad at me?”
Peter shrugged. “I dunno.”
“Why do you think I’m taking the bottles away from you, Peter?”
Peter thought about it. “Cause I’ve been bad.”
“Oh baby. Never. We’d never do that. We are taking the bottles away from you because it’s not a good habit to have.” He caressed his cheek and Peter leaned into the touch. “We’re doing this to help you. Not to punish you.”
Peter shrugged. It sure did feel like a punishment.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
Peter looked at him. “Okay.”
Tony felt a bit better but he still felt so guilty. He wrapped an arm around Peter and then noticed Peter squirming a bit and squeezing between his legs. “Hey,” He moved Peter’s hand from grabbing himself. “don’t touch yourself.”
“Why?”
Tony didn’t think he’d have to explain why. “Because that’s not something you do in front of me, kid. Or anyone.”
“Why?”
“Because,” Tony didn’t even know what to say. “do that alone.” He knew Peter wasn’t doing anything bad, he was just being a curious boy but still. “I’m gonna put a diaper on you now. It looks like you need to pee.” He sat up and reached over for the clean diaper and cream and kneeled by Peter’s legs. “Do you want to pee in the potty before I put this on you?”
“No. I go in it.”
Pepper wasn’t here to stop that so Tony let it happen. He didn’t need anymore fights today. “Alright. Lift your legs up.” He applied a generous amount of cream onto his sore parts then wiped his finger on a wipe.
“It feels better.” Peter told him. “And I look like a snowman.”
“You kinda do.” He opened the diaper, putting it onto him and tapping it up tightly. “How does that feel?”
“It feels good.” Peter was relieved that the soreness stopped at least. He put his legs back down and finished his milk, doing his best to find comfort in the spout but it just wasn’t the same so he threw it over his head.
Shortly after that, the door opened and Morgan ran in, going straight for Peter. “Petey! Mom says we can go to the indoor play town!”
Peter was a bit too tired to be that excited about it. “Really?”
“Yes! Go get dressed so we can go! Hurry hurry!”
The two of them ran upstairs but Tony didn’t think that was a good idea. “Pepper, he slept about three hours last night. He’s in a good mood now but in an hour or two he’s going to crash hard. And I really don’t want to be in public when that happens.”
Pepper was already packing a bag full of essential items. “It’ll be fine. If he starts getting tired, we can head home.”
Tony was scared to see how this was going to go.
He walked upstairs and went into Peter’s bedroom to find Morgan helping him put pants on. Tony smiled at the sight. He knew Peter was capable of getting dressed himself but he liked the safety feeling of someone doing it for him.
“Are you helping your brother, Morgan?”
“Yep.”
“Wow. You’re such an amazing sister.” He sat on the bed and lifted Peter onto his lap, wanting him to wear something more comfortable than jeans. “How about you grab me the black track pants from the dresser. I think that’ll be more comfortable.”
Peter leaned his head against him and the tired eye rubbing had already started. “Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you put more cream on?”
“Of course, baby.” He stood up, picking Peter up with him. “Morg, can you meet us downstairs. We’re going to go into my room and apply more cream.”
“Can I help?”
“No, honey. I’ve got it.”
“Can I watch?”
“It’s okay, we’ll be downstairs in five minutes.” He shut the bedroom door behind them and laid Peter on the bed, grabbing the rash cream. “Do you want to go to the play place today?”
Peter nodded, watching his dad closely.
“If you get tired or if you don’t want to be there, just tell me.” He applied a clump of cream so if it rubbed off, it would still be in the diaper rubbing against his skin. “Is that better?”
“Yeah. Can-can you put more on later?”
“I promise I will.” Tony made sure to grab the cream and left with Peter, heading downstairs. He placed a pair of shoes in front of Peter and handed him a coat. “As soon as you get this on, we can go.”
Peter just stood there, leaning against the railing. “You do it.”
Not wanting to pick a fight with Peter over this, knowing he could and most likely would snap at any moment, Tony helped him get ready and met up with everyone in the van.
“I wanna sit in the backseat with Harley.”
“Your car seat doesn’t fit back there, Peter.” Tony lied and got him buckled in but Peter was still trying to reach back there.
“But you did it before.”
“It only fit back there on that day. Not today though.”
Peter tugged on the buckles. “Will it fit tomorrow?”
“Maybe. We’ll have to see.” Tony looked at Peter’s face and couldn’t help but notice that he looked extremely uncomfortable and stressed. This day's event wasn’t going to be a good idea.
He gave it an hour at most until Peter was crying because of how tired he was but anything could set him off at this point.
.
.
.
Tony sat on the bench and watched Peter run by every now and then.
He had yet to see Morgan since they got there but he wasn’t worried about it. If that was Peter on the other hand, he’d be stressed over it. Harley was beating some kids' high score in the arcade and Pepper was making friends with random mom’s.
So Tony sat on the bench by himself and kept an eye out for Peter.
He was tired. He knew Peter was but so was he and the longer he sat there, the longer he wanted to fall asleep.
Tony saw Peter slide down the slide, yawning while he was at it. That definitely wasn’t a good sign. Peter looked around and his eyes landed on Tony then he made his way over to him, collapsing into his arms. “Are you tired? Want to head home?” Peter shook his head. “No to what question?”
“No to it all. I’m not tired.” He whined and yawned at the same time. Tony decided to not say anything about it and continued holding Peter. After a few minutes of them sitting there, Peter spoke. “Where’s Harley?”
Tony honestly didn’t know. His back had been turned in that direction. “I'm not sure. Want me to come with you to go find him?”
“Yeah.”
So Tony stood up, letting Peter slide off of him and land on his feet. They walked hand in hand and eventually came across Harley walking out of a laser game tent. “Hey.”
“Your brother wants to play with you. Do you mind him tagging along?”
“Sure, I was just going to go check out what high score I can beat next. The games are kinda babyish so you’ll probably be able to beat them.” He didn’t mean that as a rude comment to Peter but it turned out that way.
“Hey. I’m not a baby. I’m big.” Peter hit Harley’s arm, tears easily filling his eyes. “Don’t say that to me.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Yes you did!”
Tony rubbed Peter’s back. “Pete, he didn’t mean it. How about you go off with him and play-”
“Dad!”
Tony turned around to see Morgan running over with Pepper walking behind her.
“Can we go on that ride?! It’s a swing that goes up in the air and all around the whole indoor playground! Please please!”
Tony looked to his left and saw it. He hadn’t even noticed that before. Who was he to say no? “Yeah, you guys go. Do you want to go, Peter?”
“Yes.” Peter pouted angrily.
Yikes.
As they waited in line, Tony went to go buy a watered down coffee and hope it got him through the rest of the day.
Peter leaned heavily against his mom, taking comfort in the hand running through his curls. He stuck his thumb in his mouth for comfort but his mom removed it. “That’s dirty. Fingers out of your mouth please.”
“Mmm!” He pulled away from her. “I want milk.”
“No milk, Peter.”
Peter let out a loud shriek that gained the attention from a few people around them. Peter didn’t care though. He reached up for his mom and tugged on her blouse. “I want milk!”
“Peter. Stop this. You’re not going to have any.” She knew he wanted it from a bottle. “Would you like dad to get you some from the shop here?”
Peter had to consider that. “In-in a baba?”
“No, honey-”
“Noooo!” He sank to the floor and cried but he suddenly had an urge to use the bathroom so he stopped crying and tried to focus. He looked around at all the people in the line, feeling really exposed and embarrassed all the sudden. He gripped onto his mom's pants. “I need to poo.”
“Right now?”
“We’re almost at the front of the line.” Morgan pointed out, squatting down with Peter. “Go after the ride.”
Peter focused on trying to hold it in. He could see his dad walking towards them and made eye contact, getting a knowing look from his dad.
“What are you doing, Peter?” Tony asked like he already knew.
Peter wasn’t going to respond so Pepper did. “He needs to go poo. Can you take him?” She said as quietly as possible. Thankfully everyone around them was too focused on their own children to be paying attention to them.
“It looks like he’s going now.” Tony handed his coffee to Pepper and held his arms out for Peter over the metal gates. “Come with me.”
“No.” Peter forced out.
“Peter. Let’s go.” Reluctantly and uncomfortably, Peter stood up. Tony reached over the gates and picked him up, placing him on his feet on the other side. “We’ll be quick.” He hoped so. He took the boys hand and led him into the bathrooms where he felt the back of Peter’s pants, feeling something more than pee in there. “Buddy. Why did you wait till the last minute?”
Peter shrugged. “I-I didn’t want to leave the line. I really wanted to go on the swings.”
Tony pulled them into the largest stall and figured out how to do this in a disgusting bathroom. “You still can go on the swings. But you can’t be pooping wherever you want like this. What if we were in the car? You would get a really uncomfortable rash.”
“Oh.” Peter stood there awkwardly as he watched his dad place a bag on the baby changing table and pull items out. “Can you put more cream?”
“I will.” He lined the toilet seat with toilet paper and tugged Peter’s pants down, pausing at the diaper. “Finish going on the toilet.”
“No. I don’t need to go anymore, dad. I don’t wanna sit on there. I’ll fall in!”
Tony heard a man chuckle in the bathroom and he felt really protective over Peter. The bathroom was empty when they walked in. Now a guy was listening to them. Great. He hated public bathrooms.
“Do you really not need to go?” Peter shook his head. “Do you promise?” Peter nodded so Tony kneeled down and pulled the diaper off of him, grabbing the wipes. “Touch your feet.”
“Why?”
“Because I need to clean you and you aren’t lying down.”
Peter did as he was told, flinching every time the cold wipe came in contact with his sensitive skin. “Can you put cream?”
“I will. Give me a second.” Tony finished up and grabbed another wipe. “Turn around and stand up.”
Following orders, Peter faced his dad, flinching again as the wipe touched his sensitive part. “I want to lie down on the changing table. Dad? Dad?”
“Yes, Peter. I hear you. But you don’t need to.”
Peter stomped his foot. “I want to.”
“Peter. I’m almost done anyways.” He stood up and grabbed the cream but Peter was trying to climb onto the change table. “Can you stop. I said no.”
“I want to!”
“It’s too flimsy. It’ll break. It’s for little babies. Not you.”
“I want to be a baby!” Peter started crying and rubbing his eyes aggressively. Tony sighed. He wanted to go home now.
“I thought you didn’t want to be a baby, huh? What happened to wanting to be a big boy?” He asked while he applied the cream onto him, hoping that eased some of the diaper rash burn. “Babies can’t do much.”
“They can drink milk!” He cried, still rubbing his eyes.
Tony’s heart broke. He wanted to give in just from that comment alone. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair to Peter. He didn’t agree to this. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m so sorry. How about I get you milk from a bear cup here. They have those.”
“Baba!” Peter sobbed.
Tony didn’t know what else to do so he put a clean diaper on him, pulled his pants up and opened the stall door to throw out the garbage and wash his hands. While he was doing that, Peter spotted another change table and cried against it.
“On it.”
Although it was one built into the wall with stone, Tony didn’t need to be putting him on there. “We’re done in here. Let’s go back.”
“Noooaaaa! Lift me on it! Daddy! Daddyyy!”
Tony was tempted to cover a hand over Peter’s mouth to get him to stop being so loud. “Peter. Enough. You can’t be crying so loud or they’ll kick us out. Do you want that?”
“Nooo!” He sobbed. He had tears and snot dripping down his face at this point.
“Then you need to be quiet.” Tony grabbed his hand and led him to stand in front of the sink. “Wash your hands then you can suck your thumb all you want.”
Since Peter wasn’t doing it, Tony did hand over hand, making sure it was all clean then he dried him off and tried to push Peter’s thumb into his mouth to get the crying to stop.
He was still pointing at the change table so Tony pulled him away from it. “Do you really want everyone seeing you on there. I don’t think so. Let’s go.”
“Daddy.” Peter continued crying until they got back to the line, going to the front and waiting until the swings came around again.
Tony kneeled down in front of Peter. He knew he was having a difficult time but he needed Peter to stop. “Hey. Look at me. You can go on the swing ride but you need to put your tears away. Otherwise you can’t go on.”
Peter tried so hard to stop. He was hiccuping and crying now. “I can’t! I-I-I-I need milk.”
Tony looked at Pepper, he wanted to give in. There was a bottle in the diaper bag. She shook her head at him so he sighed. “Do you want milk from the carton at the-”
“A bottle.” He cried.
“We should just go home. He is over tired and he just wants milk.” Tony stood up straight. He knew they shouldn’t have come here.
“I wanna go on the swings.” Peter wiped his face the best he could but it was all red and blotchy. “I want to.”
“Alright.” Tony didn’t know how this would go but he hoped Peter didn’t throw a tantrum while on it. “You need to behave then. Then we’ll go home.”
“I don’t want to go home.”
“Okay.” Tony wasn’t going to fight with him. Peter and Morgan stepped up onto the swings and climbed into them. Tony took their picture even though Peter looked extremely tired and looked like he was going to start crying from pure exhaustion at any moment. “Mom and I will meet you here after the ride.”
It wasn’t much of a ride, sure, it took them high into the air, up to the high ceilings but other than that, there weren’t any drop zones or anything.
And still, Tony was scared for Peter.
Peter felt his stomach drop a bit once the chairs brought them up higher. He grabbed onto Morgan’s hand and squealed. “I feel like a bird in the air!”
“Birds can fly higher than this.”
Peter rolled his eyes. “But in the building they can’t. Only outside.”
“True. This is how high I can jump.”
Peter giggled. “I can jump even higher than this. I can jump so high.” He chewed on his index finger and waved to his parents below them. The ride was over in less than ten minutes and he was feeling ready to sleep and have some milk.
As soon as he was let off the ride, Peter lifted his arms up for his dad. “I want milk.”
Tony looked at Pepper. “Let’s head home. It’s time to go.”
“And I’ll have milk at home?” Peter asked, slightly hopeful.
Tony hated this. He ran his fingers through Peter’s hair, preparing for the crying that was about to happen once he opens his mouth. “No, Peter. You can have it in a cup but-”
“Nooo!” Peter threw himself to the ground and began crying, drawing attention to them from the people around them. Although Peter’s crying basically mixed in with the other crying happening around them and the screaming so if Tony had to choose a public place for Peter to have a full blown tantrum, he would pick here.
He lifted Peter into his arms and picked up the bag from the floor. “Let’s just go.”
They were there for just over an hour and it wasn’t fair to Morgan to leave so early but it also wasn’t fair to Peter to come here in the first place.
They left the play place with Peter crying.
Tony got him buckled into the car, becoming used to the tantrum by now that he kinda just toned it out. Morgan had her hands over her ears and Harley looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here.
Pepper was watching Peter with sad eyes and Tony resisted the urge to tell her that this was all her doing.
After a long 25 minute car ride home, Tony unlocked the front door and had to go back outside to pick a crying Peter up from the ground and bring him inside. He held him awkwardly with one arm so he could shut the door behind them and kick off his shoes.
Peter had already kicked his shoes off in the van so at least Tony didn’t need to do that.
“I’m going to bring him upstairs for a nap.” Tony explained to Pepper. He wanted so badly to give Peter a bottle just to stop the crying.
As he began walking up the stairs, Peter made grabby hands. “Bottle! Bottle! Daddy!”
“I’m sorry. But you can’t.”
Tony was in fact very sorry.
The crying only got worse.
He shut the bedroom door and laid Peter on the bed, pulling his legs closer to himself when Peter tried to roll away. He stripped him down to his diaper and went into the bathroom to wash his hands. “Do you want a teddy bear? Your blankie?”
Peter crawled into the bathroom. “I want milk! Please!”
“I can give you milk in a cup. Would you like that?”
Peter cried harder but nodded his head.
“Okay. Let’s go get some together.”
Peter took his offered hand and calmed down a bit when he was taken into the kitchen and watched with wide, tired and tear filled eyes as Tony grabbed the milk out of the fridge and poured a half cup of milk.
Tony held it to his lips, already knowing he wasn’t going to drink it.
Opening his mouth, Peter took a sip then spit it out and cried. “My bottle! Daddy!” He screamed through his teeth. “I need it! Please.”
“You have milk here. Can you take another sip?” He held it to Peter’s mouth again but Peter turned his head, spotting his mom folding laundry in the living room so he walked over to her and tugged on her hand.
“A bottle.” He tried, pointing towards the kitchen. If his dad wasn’t going to give in, he had to try his mom.
“Oh honey.” She sat down, pulling him onto her lap and forcing his head to lay down on her chest. “Shh shh. Do you want to watch some tv before you have a nap?”
Peter rubbed his eyes. “No. Wan’ milk.”
“Daddy gave you some in your blue cup.” Peter shook his head. That wasn’t good enough. He needed the comfort of the silicone nipple to help calm him. “Would you like to drink that?”
“No.”
“Would you like to have a straw with it?”
“No.” He pulled away from her when he knew she couldn’t give him anything he was needing. So walked back over to his dad and began sobbing, waiting to be lifted into the man’s arms. “Up.”
So off they went back upstairs to try and get him to sleep.
Tony was closer to falling asleep than Peter was. He had flipped him onto his stomach and was patting his butt but Peter continued crying, trying to suck on his thumb to comfort himself but it wasn’t working.
After about an hour of crying and failure in an attempt to get Peter to sleep, Peter pushed himself up and pointed towards the window, still crying. Tony honestly didn’t know how much energy he had to be crying so hard and how he could go so long.
“What is it? Use your words.”
Peter face planted. “Milk!”
Tony honestly didn’t know what to do anymore.
They had been here for one hour and still no sleeping. Peter had been crying close to three hours now. Non-stop.
“Do you want to suck your thumb? You can.”
Peter stuck his thumb in his mouth but was crying around it.
“Want me to pat your bum?”
Peter didn’t respond but he did lie down, cheek on the pillow and knees tucked under his chest. Tony patted his butt, using his other hand to shut Peter’s eyelids. At least he wasn’t crying right now although the whimpering was breaking Tony’s heart.
.
.
.
Tony woke up to someone touching his face.
He pushed the hands away and opened his eyes, sitting up and seeing Peter and Morgan giggling at him. It took him a few moments to process this. Peter was just sleeping. And now he was awake.
He picked up his phone to check the time. It was 3:12pm. So they weren’t even sleeping for an hour. Great. “What’re you guys doing?”
Peter sniffled his giggles. “Nothin.” He grabbed his sister’s hand and left the room, slamming the door behind them.
Tony laid back in bed and groaned. He was so tired still but he had to get up.
He forced himself out of bed and went downstairs to get a coffee before going upstairs to see what everyone else was up to, everyone meaning his two youngest who were currently up to no good.
He opened the fridge and grabbed cream. “Oh. Hey. So how long did Peter sleep for?” He asked Pepper once she walked into the kitchen.
“Not long. He woke up whining at around 2:45 so I went up and brought him down here, changed his diaper and ordered a prescription for his rashes because it’s really bad.”
Tony missed a lot. “Yeah… that’s good.”
“Natasha called. She’s coming by later and she’s actually going to pick up the prescription for us.”
Tony didn’t know if he was up for company. “Alright.” He turned around and Pepper gasped. “What?”
She bursted out laughing.
“What?”
“Oh my gosh. Tony. Your face.”
He lifted a hand up to his face. “What?” He was laughing too but he wasn’t even sure what the problem was.
“I think,” She was laughing too hard to get her words out. “I think Peter and Morgan may have gotten into my makeup bag.”
Tony felt his face pale. “No.” He left his coffee and walked down the hallway to the mirror, scared of his reflection. He literally looked like a clown. He had red lipstick messily smeared on him, blue eye shadow and what looked like traces of mascara everywhere.
He must have been tired because he didn’t even wake up to this and he was an extremely light sleeper.
“Pepper. I never thought I’d ask you this, but I need to use your makeup remover.”
Pepper just laughed so Tony went upstairs and into his bathroom to remove all the makeup. He no longer looked like a clown after it was removed but he definitely felt like one still.
He walked into Morgan’s bedroom, not even bothering to knock.
Peter was sitting on a bowl, rocking back and forth on it and Morgan was feeding her dolls. Tony nudged Peter with his foot. “Get off.”
“Kay.” He slid off of it and picked it back up, starting to prepare food for the kids. “Play with us. I’m making food. What would you like?”
Tony sat down, leaning against the bed frame. “I see you guys had fun painting my face.” They both laughed. “That’s so funny, how about I paint your guys’ faces? Huh?” He teased, grabbing Peter and poking at his bare stomach.
Peter squealed so Tony let him go. “Daddy. You’re funny.”
“I know.” Tony tapped his nose. “Come here. Did mommy put cream on you?”
Peter nodded.
“Let me see. Come closer.”
Shyly, Peter shook his head so Tony reached over and tugged him onto his lap, pressing kisses all over his face. “I love you so much. And you smell really good. I’m so glad you’re in a better mood.” He slept for about twenty minutes but it seemed to do the trick.
“Mom put a pull-up on him. She said he needs to use the toilet if he wants to fill up his chart.”
Tony honestly forgot about that.
He did notice the change of protection on Peter. “I saw that. Have you used the toilet yet?” Peter shook his head and it wasn’t a surprise to Tony. “Do you want to try and go?”
“No. I want to play.”
“Just let me know if you need to go then.”
Peter didn’t respond so Tony didn’t push it. He felt that it was already used so he knew they weren’t going to have much luck with that. Especially since they were ending the bottles. One thing at a time.
Tony played with them for close to an hour.
He was just happy to watch the two of them play and how Peter took charge of the game, wanting to make sure it was being done his way. Even if his way included all the dolls fighting together through a boxing match.
After the hour was up, Tony decided to have Peter go sit on the toilet but the doorbell rang and Tony knew who that was. He was slightly excited to catch up with Natasha though, despite not wanting to have company.
Peter gasped and turned to him. “Who’s here? Monsters?”
“No, baby. Natasha’s here.”
Morgan squealed and stood up to run downstairs and greet her. Morgan basically grew up with Natasha in her life, she was around for as long as Natasha’s been in their life so she was close to her. Plus she helped bring her brother home so she liked her.
Peter became suddenly shy.
He hid behind his dad’s legs when they walked downstairs.
“Hi Peter. Wow, your hair is getting so long.” Natasha commented. It was such a crazy feeling for Natasha because she spent seven years of her life going non-stop in finding a boy she hadn’t ever met before. And only four years actually knowing him.
Tony pulled Peter to stand in front of him. “Don’t be shy. It’s just Nat.”
Peter was in fact shy. And he was feeling a bit exposed. He turned to lift his dad’s shirt up and tried to hide under it.
“Let’s go talk in the living room. Would you like a tea? Coffee?”
“Tea please.”
While Pepper was making that, Tony sat down across from Natasha. She was one of the very few people who Tony fully trusted. She saw him at his absolute worst. Sometimes worse than what Pepper’s seen, and more often. He told her things he couldn’t bring himself to tell Pepper, things that he feared was being done to Peter and where they had to look to find him.
He also felt comfortable with his house looking like this in front of her.
Peter was climbing on him so Tony pulled him onto his lap, bouncing his leg up and down. “What have you been up to?”
“Office work. Nothing interesting.” She was currently on a case of another missing boy but she knew his mother moved away with him to escape an abusive relationship so she was working on that. “How’s things here? How are you, Peter?”
Peter gave her a shy smile. “Good.”
“That’s great. I heard you were playing in your sister's room before I came. Your mom said you were having lots of fun.”
Peter nodded.
“We were! Petey was trying to make my dolls fight. I said no.”
Pepper returned with a tray of mugs, one plastic cup and one sippy cup along with a container of brownies she made earlier.
Tony took the sippy cup for Peter, handing it to him but Peter pushed it away. “Not a bottle.”
Tony didn’t respond and instead he sat up straighter, standing Peter up. “Thanks for getting the rash cream for him, Nat. I’m gonna go apply it onto him now so we’ll be back.”
He took the cream from her and took Peter’s hand, taking him upstairs. “You don’t need to be shy with Natasha, baby. She’s a friend.”
Peter shrugged. “I’m not.”
“You’re adorable.” He pulled him into the bedroom and grabbed a diaper and wipes then placed them on the bed. “Lie down.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s special stuff.”
Peter was curious. “What does it do?”
“It’ll get rid of your bad rash.”
Peter watched his dad carefully. “Will it hurt?”
“Not at all. It’s supposed to take away the hurt.”
Tony pulled the pull-up off of him, wiping him clean and getting rid of any traces of the other cream then waving a hand over him to help the area air dry.
Peter giggled. “It looks like you’re trying to swat a fly away.”
“You’re so cute.” He stopped doing that so he could read the directions on the cream but Peter put his legs straight. “Put your feet flat on the bed so it dries quicker. Then we can go back downstairs so we don’t miss out on any fun.”
Peter lifted his legs back up, bending his knees and placing his feet apart on the bed while he waited patiently. “We can have our own fun here.” Tony looked at him. “We can have a wrestling match in Morgan’s room. Or-or you can be the referee while me and her fight.”
“I don’t think so.” He read the directions, knowing he had to apply it on every change and use as much until all the rashes were covered. They would definitely need more. He also wasn’t sure if it would sting or not. He hoped to god it wouldn’t.
He applied a fair amount onto his finger and started applying it, watching Peter’s face to see if it hurt at all. “Does it hurt?”
“No.”
Tony continued, making sure all the red areas were covered then he secured a diaper onto him and wiped his hands off with a wipe. “Done. Ready to go downstairs?”
Peter nodded and sat up, cringing at the slimy feeling like he always did until he got used to it. “I want to stay with you though.”
“You can. I want that too.”
Peter rubbed his tired eyes. “Pick me up.”
So Tony lifted Peter up, setting him on his hip and walking downstairs to join everyone in the living room again. He sat down in the same spot he was sitting in before and placed Peter next to him so he could wrap an arm around him.
“How is school, Peter?” Natasha asked, she knew he barely went but he had reasons as to why he didn’t go.
Peter was too shy to answer. He sat up on his knees to whisper in his dad’s ear. “I want milk.”
Of course. Tony patted his butt. “In a cup or sippy cup?”
Peter looked down. “Baba.”
“Baby. No bottles. Cup or sippy cup?” He knew Natasha being here wouldn’t prevent Peter from throwing a tantrum so that thought didn’t help him much.
With a sigh, Peter gave in. “Sippy cup. But-but I want to pick what one.”
Tony was okay with that. He stood up to go do that and Peter followed after him. The sippy cups were in the cabinet with the bottles and when Tony opened it, Peter spotted them and began whining, making desperate grabby hands for them. “My baba! I want it! Daddy!”
“I told you you can have a sippy cup.”
Peter grabbed onto the kitchen marble counter and began jumping up and down, throwing his head back and screaming now.
Tony shrugged in the direction of Natasha and Pepper. He didn’t know what to do. Hell, Morgan was so used to this that she was watching her show still as if Peter wasn’t throwing a massive fit.
“Do you have any advice?” Tony asked Natasha, extremely hopeful. She used to be a social worker so he hoped she knew some stuff about this behaviour.
Natasha stood up and walked over to them. “He’s trying to push you to see how far he can go until you give in. He sees when you’re close to breaking and he pushes it all that further.”
That didn’t do much to help. He looked down at Peter who had stopped screaming and was now looking between him and Natasha, chewing on his finger.
“Kids are smart, they can read people like a book and he is definitely reading you.”
Peter made eye contact with Natasha and then gave her a dirty look and lifted his arms up for his dad. “Up.”
“I’m not picking you up, Peter-”
“Noooo!” He collapsed onto the floor and laid there, looking between the two adults. “Ahhh!” He screamed to see what his dad was going to do then screamed again. “Ahhh!” Tony was just looking at him so he screamed even louder. “Ahhhhhhhhhhh ahhh ahhhhh-”
“Peter. Stop it.”
“I want bottle. Daddy.”
“I told you you can pick what sippy cup you want.”
Peter pointed at the cabinet. “The b’ue one.”
“Blue?” Peter nodded. “Nuk transition bottle.” Tony grabbed it and filled it to the top with milk then shook it down at Peter. “If you want it, you need to apologize to me for screaming at me.”
He walked into the living room and sat down, waiting now.
He could see Peter looking at him from the kitchen then hiding back behind the island. Tony was so tired. He just wanted his head to hit the pillow and sleep.
After about ten minutes, Peter walked over to them and sat on Tony’s knee, touching his face with both hands and putting on his best puppy dog eyes. “M’sorry, daddy. I screamed at you. M’sorry.”
Tony kissed his cheek. “Thank you for saying sorry. Please don’t scream at daddy again. Are you ready to have milk now?”
It wasn’t a bottle but it was good enough. He took it, sucking on the silicone spout and trying to suction his tongue around it but the shape didn’t allow for that so he kicked his legs out in frustration. “Mmm! Can’t.”
“What’s wrong?”
Peter pulled it out and touched the spout. “Can’t drink it. It’s broken.”
“It’s not broken. It’s brand new.” Tony could see that Peter was frustrated so he grabbed him and turned him to a new position so he was lying down in his lap and his head was cradled in the crook of his arm. “I’ll hold it for you, you drink.”
Peter tried but it was no use.
“Daddy.” He kicked his legs out, crying. “I don’t want this.”
Tony ran his fingers through his hair. Even though he already napped, well for twenty minutes, Tony either wanted him to have another nap or he would be putting him to bed at 6pm. If Peter could hold off that long.
“What’s wrong with it? It’s milk, baby.”
Peter sat up and pointed at the spout. “It’s not mine, daddy.”
“Then whose is it?”
Peter looked around. “I don’t know.”
“You’re the only one who drinks from these, bud.”
Peter looked at Natasha. “She brought it here. It isn’t mine.”
“Natasha didn’t bring this here, Pete. How about we go upstairs and watch a movie or a tv show?” Peter shook his head but when Tony stood up, Peter didn’t want to be without him so he lifted his arms up, wanting to go with him.
Tony didn’t know if he would see Natasha again tonight so he said his goodbyes and left.
Pepper was waiting for them to leave to start talking about them to someone who understood. “Sometimes I think Tony is more attached to Peter than Peter is to him.”
Natasha could see that but it was already obvious before she saw Tony interact with Peter. “I already knew he would be from the way he was so determined to find him.”
Pepper struggled with losing their son. She didn’t necessarily give up but she didn’t actively look for their son like Tony did. But she had two other children to raise. One of them had to do it.
“I want him to talk to a therapist. I think it’ll help. He won’t let Peter go.”
“Do you expect him to let him go? Tony has separation anxiety to Peter. And probably the rest of you too. You can’t expect him to be okay with letting Peter go. He’s his little boy.”
When she put it like that, it made Pepper feel bad. “I know he has separation anxiety from Peter. Definitely not us. He can be without the rest of us. He can’t be without Peter.” That much was obvious.
“It’s okay that he feels this way, Pepper.” Natasha reasoned. “He just got him back. All of you did. Just two months ago. Peter needs to continue seeing Karen. It’ll help him.”
Pepper nodded at that. They were going to keep up with it. “I know. We will. It’s sometimes hard though, Tony encourages a lot of the bad habits that I want to stop.”
“Such as?”
Pepper didn’t even know where to begin. “The bottles. It’s only the second night and it’s already impossible. His poor little face every time he asks for one and we have to tell him no,” Pepper hated it but it had to be done. “And the diapers, we bought a potty chart,” She pointed to the empty chart on the wall. “but he hasn’t used it. He doesn’t even sit on the toilet anymore. Today,” Pepper leaned closer to Natasha so no one close by could hear. “he went poo in it. Alright. He actually went.”
Natasha showed no reaction to that. “Who changed him?”
“Well… Tony.”
“He probably did it because he wanted attention from Tony. And it probably makes him feel safe. That’s what happens when, well, when he’s been through what he’s been through.”
“But he has Tony’s attention all the time. He didn’t need to do that.”
“He can probably sense that Tony finds his own comfort in that connection with Peter, so he does that.” That was Natasha’s best guess.
Pepper looked over towards the hallway when she heard footsteps and sat up straighter when she saw it was Tony. Without Peter. “Is he…”
“Yep. Out like a light.” He was so relieved. He sat down on the couch with a loud sigh and placed the baby monitor on the table. He could make out Peter’s sleeping face, still sucking on his thumb in his sleep.
“Wow. How’d you manage that?”
“I just flipped him onto his stomach and patted his butt for like an hour straight.” He’s done it for longer before.
Natasha picked up the monitor to look at it. “Does he know you can see him?”
Tony honestly didn’t know. “Maybe. I never told him but I’m not hiding it from him.” To be honest, they never used to have this. It wasn’t until Peter was sick and Tony wanted to make sure he was still breathing while he slept. And now it was just to ease Tony’s anxiety.
“You should tell him. It could be an invasion of privacy.”
Tony waved her off. “Maybe if he was eighteen. But he’s not. It’s fine. He’s fine. I’ve seen it all.”
Natasha couldn’t argue with him.
“So what are you two ladies talking about? Peter and I, I can assume.” Tony already knew.
“Actually yes.” Pepper wasn’t going to lie to him.
“Yeah? What about?” Tony popped a brownie into his mouth then he heard whining coming from the monitor and his heart dropped. “No.” He turned it around and saw Peter sitting up in bed and looking towards the door.
“I’ll go this time, Tony.” Pepper offered.
Even though Tony was relieved, he knew she wouldn’t be able to do it.
He leaned back on the couch with another loud sigh. “I got more sleep when he was a newborn than I do with him now. That boy does not sleep. He just won’t.”
“Sometimes kids his age go through a sleep regression.”
Tony scuffed. “And how long do those last?”
“It depends. Sometimes two weeks, sometimes four months.”
Tony started laughing. “I’ll never sleep again.” And he probably never would.
“You will. Just let him get out of this phase.”
“It just seems to be getting worse and worse.” He watched the monitor and could see Pepper trying to calm Peter down but he was crying out for him. He stood up to go help her out. “Come along, the shows just starting.”
The two of them walked into the master bedroom and when Peter laid his eyes on Tony, he reached his arms out for him so Tony took him from Pepper and lifted him into his arms.
“Baba!” Peter cried.
Tony wasn’t even sure if Peter knew what he was crying for at this point. “No, baby.”
Peter just collapsed into his arms. He laid his head on Tony’s shoulder and sucked on his thumb, crying every now and then.
Tony walked over to the nightstand drawer and pulled out a pacifier, holding it up so Pepper saw but Peter didn’t. She shook her head so he tossed it at her, too tired to feel bad about his childish behaviour.
Natasha sat at the bottom of the bed, just watching Tony rock side to side with Peter crying every so often in his arms.
After a few minutes of that, Tony’s arms were starting to hurt so he laid Peter down on the bed and the miserable sobbing started. “Peter. I don’t know what you want.” He did know, he just couldn’t give him what he wanted.
Peter kicked his legs out and continued crying then he pushed himself up and tried to get Tony to pick him up. “Carry me! Carry me!” He cried out but stopped immediately after Tony stood up, pulling him into his arms with him. “Baba!”
Tony didn’t even reply. He just continued on holding Peter and rocking him in his arms, hoping that helped like it usually did but not without a bottle.
Pepper walked into the bedroom and laid out two towels on the bed. “What are you doing?”
“He’s going to sleep naked from the waist down tonight so his rash can heal faster.”
Tony knew they would need more than two towels. “No. He sleeps on me… I don’t want to get peed on.”
Pepper handed him a towel. “Then use this. He has a bad rash, Tony. This will help.”
“No it won’t. He’s gonna be peeing up in the air and it’ll rain down on us.”
Pepper stared at him at that example. “Tony. He won’t.”
Tony sighed because he had to do what she said, even if Peter would in fact pee on him multiple times tonight. It was fine. It was something he was used to at this point. He turned to Natasha. “It’s like being a fly on the wall. You get to see what it’s like here.”
“I doubt it’s like this all the time.”
Tony shook his head. It wasn’t really. “No. It’s extra worse tonight because he wants something he can’t have.” He laid Peter on the bed and sat down, rubbing his belly. “Want to watch some tv?” Peter shook his head so Tony looked at him. He was out of ideas with what to do with him.
He turned to Natasha after some time. “Thanks for coming but you don’t need to stay. He’s not going to go to bed for at least the next hour.” Probably more.
Natasha stared at him for a few moments then stood up, rubbing Tony’s back and then Peter’s. “Good luck. I’ll catch up with you later.”
He gave her a weak smile and turned back to look at Peter.
This was going to be an extremely difficult night.
Again.