Farewell for awhile, my child
It was just a few hours later. That was all it was.
Tony and Peter dropped everyone else off at the airport, including Aiser and Spider and said their temporary goodbyes until they see them again a little bit later on.
Peter had an appointment with Karen that Tony didn’t want him to miss since it was going to be a while until they saw her again. He already missed so many appointments with her.
Tony waited in the waiting room for the hour to be up, so he called Pepper. They should have all landed a few hours ago so he figured they got settled by now and were already at her parents house.
“Hey. We just got here. The kids are already in bathing suits and are going swimming.”
Tony smiled. He wished he was there with Peter now but he would be soon. “Wow. I wish we were there. Peter’s still talking with Karen. He should be done any minute now though.”
“Let me know how it goes. I’ll see you guys later tonight.”
Tony spoke with her for a bit longer and then the door was opening and Peter ran out, demanding to be picked up. That meant it didn’t go well. He sighed. “Hey, buddy. Did you have a nice talk with Karen?” Peter didn’t respond so Tony looked at her.
“He was resistant to open up to me. I think he’s having a bit of separation anxiety since everyone is across the country right now.”
Tony rubbed his back. Maybe he should have canceled this meeting. “Okay. Okay. Well, thank you, Karen. We’re not gonna have another appointment for a few weeks. I hope that’ll be okay.”
“Dropping the bottles is hard. You guys only just started, don’t give up on it yet.”
Tony wanted to. He wanted to so badly. “I know. We’re trying.” Tony pressed a kiss to Peter’s cheek and hoisted him up higher. “Alright. Say bye, Peter.”
Peter didn’t respond so Tony said bye for them both and walked to their car. “Mm.” Peter whined into his ear.
“What’s wrong?”
“I want milk.”
Tony sighed. Of course he did. “I can give you some in a cup-”
“No. Not a cup. A bottle.”
“Baby-”
“No. I want it.”
Tony sat him in his car seat and sighed. He didn’t know what to do. Peter hadn’t had a bottle in two days and to say those two days have been hell was a complete understatement. Peter screamed all hours of the night for it. Tony would have given in the first hour but Pepper always stood her ground.
Pepper wasn’t here though.
Tony sighed and Peter saw him giving in. “Daddy. Please.”
“Fine. I’ll give you a bottle once we get home, okay?”
Peter felt relief fill him. He nodded and stuck his thumb in his mouth to wait until they arrived at home.
Tony knew he was making a huge mistake. He should be sticking to it but he just couldn’t. He couldn’t deal with this alone and he knew once they got to Malibu, Peter would be asking everyone for it until someone caved and gave him one.
Once they arrived at home, Peter wasted no time in going into the kitchen and watching Tony. “Dad. Get me it.”
“I am. One second, Peter.” Tony got his hands washed first and then opened the cabinet, pulling out a bottle and filling it with milk. “Here.” He resisted the urge to say ‘don’t tell your mom.’
Peter looked like his life depended on that bottle. He grabbed it and ran off towards the living room so he could lie down and drink it. Tony carefully watched him.
He was a lot calmer with a bottle as opposed to how he was without one. Tony sighed. He didn’t want to take the bottles away from him.
He went to join Peter but his phone rang. Great. It was Pepper. Worse timing. “Hey.”
“Hi. How’s everything going over there?”
“Good. Peter didn’t have a very good session with Karen though.”
“Aww.”
“She said he’s resisting to open up. Something about him having separation anxiety over you guys leaving.” He explained.
“Aww. Can I talk to him?”
Tony looked at Peter. There was no way he was going to remove that bottle to talk. Especially after not having one for two days. “I don’t think he’s up for talking. He’s just watching tv on the couch and sucking his thumb.”
Pepper sighed again. “Aww. Did he ask for a bottle after his session?”
Tony’s heart sped up. “Yeah… I said no and he hasn’t asked again.” He lied and felt absolutely awful. He was lying to his wife about their son.
“Okay. Poor baby. Just, I know it’s hard but can you stick to it? We’re going to make progress.” Pepper sounded hopeful but little did she know that Tony just ruined it all.
“I know. I won’t give him a bottle.”
“Thank you. I love you. I’ll see you tonight.”
“Alright. I love you too. Bye.” Tony placed his head in his hands. He felt so awful and guilty. He should have just told her. Better yet, he shouldn’t have given Peter a bottle.
Tony walked over to Peter and sat down next to him. Peter immediately cuddled up right against him. “Mm. I love you, daddy.”
“Oh baby boy. I love you so much.” He pulled Peter onto his lap and kissed the top of his head. “Do you feel better with your bottle?”
Peter nodded and pulled it out to see that he had a little less than half left. “I need more after.”
“This is enough. You’re gonna be peeing too much.”
Peter shyly nuzzled into him. “I wanna wear a diaper on the plane. Not underwear.”
Tony rubbed his back. He didn’t know what to say to that. Maybe it would be easier if he did put him in one. He basically had one on at all times now, even if he didn’t necessarily need one. But it wouldn’t hurt to put one on him now.
“Baby. Maybe let’s just wait until you sleep.”
“Daddy. I just want to sleep soon. Not wait until bedtime. Okay?”
Tony sighed. “No, baby. No diapers. Okay? You don’t need to wear one if you’re awake.”
Peter groaned loudly. “Dad. Yes I do.”
“I gave you a bottle. Do you want me to take it-”
“No!” Peter slid off of him and leaned back down to happily drink it. “Mm. Hold it.”
Tony did as he was told, too busy thinking to focus on the cartoon playing in front of them.
Pepper was going to be so angry at him. Incredibly angry. Once she found out what he did. He was not looking forward to that. He would ask Peter to just not say anything but he knew that wasn’t fair.
Plus Peter would be asking for it again in Malibu. He wondered what Alice thought of it and who’s side she was on. That would be interesting to find out once Tony got there.
Tony sat there with Peter, holding a bottle in one hand and texting Pepper in his other hand. He pulled the bottle out of Peter’s mouth to take a quick picture of him but not even a second later, Peter whined and sat up. “Why’d you do that?”
“Sorry.” Tony gave it back to him and tried to sit up but Peter held him down.
“Nooo. Stay.”
“Buddy. We have to go to the airport. Our flight is soon.”
“No. Not yet.”
Tony ran his fingers through his hair. “I know, baby. But don’t you wanna go see everyone?”
Peter slid onto the floor. “They literally just left. Why couldn’t we have gone with them? It literally would have been so much easier to do that.”
“Because we cancelled way too many of your sessions with Karen.”
Peter groaned. “I don’t want to see her again. I wanna go back to Bali.”
Tony stood up and gently nudged Peter with his foot. “I’m gonna go upstairs to grab our suitcases. Then you’re gonna go pee in the toilet and we’re gonna go.”
Peter kicked his legs. “I don’t need to go pee though.”
“It’s a forty minute drive to the airport. You need to try.” Tony left after that, going upstairs and walking into his bedroom but it wasn’t long before Peter came running in after him. “Go sit on the toilet now, buddy, then we can leave.”
Peter ignored him and crawled onto the bed, going under the blankets to hide.
With a sigh, Tony didn't try to push it and instead, he made sure they had everything so they could leave. Pepper, the amazing wife she was, packed Tony’s suitcase and Peter’s before leaving. Tony wouldn’t have been able to do it, he wouldn’t be able to do anything without Pepper.
He grabbed a duffle bag and packed Peter’s Blankie and teddy bear along with other essentials in there. He zipped it up and walked into the bathroom, placing the toilet cover on it then walking back into the bedroom and grabbing Peter from under the blankets.
“Time to pee because we have to go. C’mon.” He tugged his pants and underwear down then sat him on the toilet. “You’re not getting up until you go.”
“I told you I don’t need to go.” He admitted, giving Tony a dirty look.
“I don’t care. You still need to try.” Tony pulled up the stool to sit in front of him, patiently waiting. He tried to distract him though. “What’s the first thing you’re gonna do when we get to grandmas and grandpa's house?”
Peter swung his feet back and forth. “Um… play in the pool with Morgan.”
It was going to be nighttime when they arrived but they were still three hours behind so Tony wouldn’t mind it if Peter and him went swimming for a bit. As long as everyone else wanted to too. Which they would.
“That sounds like fun.”
“Yeah…” Peter sighed. “There’s no pee, dad.”
“Okay. I’m glad you tried. Stand up.” Tony walked back into the bedroom and swung the duffle bag over his shoulder. “Can you carry your suitcase down or is it too heavy?”
Peter didn’t even try to lift it up. “It’s too heavy.” He sighed, leaning against the bed.
“Pete, pull up your pants. C’mon, we gotta go.”
“I wanna wear a diaper.” He whined, leaning over the bed so he was lying on his stomach.
“Pete. It’s not even 6pm yet. We didn’t even eat dinner. You don’t need to wear a diaper until bedtime.” Tony insisted but he also didn’t want to keep asking him if they needed to pull over and stop. They both stared at each other for a few moments then Tony broke the stare and placed the duffle bag on the bed. “This is light. Carry it down and I’ll carry the suitcases down.”
Peter threw himself onto the floor and forced himself to start crying. “Daddy! No! I want to!”
“Peter. Enough. Stop acting like this.”
“I just want to.”
“Your mother would be very upset if she found out you were wearing one and you weren’t even sleeping.” Tony already had to deal with the whole bottle thing. They agreed not to pack any to go to Malibu but Tony already planned on packing a few. He was going to be in so much shit.
“She’s not here! You are!” Peter yelled. He was so frustrated at everything happening to him and he didn’t like these changes trying to be made for him so he started crying.
Tony was taken back.
He didn’t expect that.
And he hated to see Peter cry, especially when it was his fault.
So Tony walked over to Peter. “Okay. Okay. Come here. Do you want to wear one then? Huh? Until we land in Malibu? Then I’ll take it off.”
Peter nodded and wiped his tears, happy that his dad gave in. He stood up and kicked his underwear and pants off. “With my cream.”
“I already packed it away, Pete. It’s in the bag.” Peter groaned but didn’t say anything. He laid down on the bed, waiting for his dad to be done. “Before we get to grandma's and grandpas house though, you need to put underwear on.”
Peter shook his head. “But you said it’ll be nighttime so I won’t need to.”
Tony made sure it was tightly on him then he handed him his track pants. “Get those on. And it will be but we’re going swimming first. Remember?”
“Ohh. I remember. Then I can wear it after.” Peter got his track pants on and slid off the bed, happily walking out of the bedroom but Tony stopped him.
“Wait. Carry this duffle bag down.” Peter took it from him so Tony grabbed the other two suitcases and about halfway down the stairs, Peter threw the duffle bag down. “Peter. Why would you do that?”
“Cause it’s easier.”
“What if there was something breakable in there?”
Peter shrugged. “What’s in there?”
“Everything for you, Peter.” Tony grabbed the bag and walked into the kitchen to put bottles in there. “Do you want a bottle now or on the plane?” He hated how he was asking him and bringing the habit back, not that it was gone to begin with.
“Now! And-and on the plane too.”
Tony didn’t respond. He ruffled Peter’s hair and dumped some bottles into the duffle bag, not able to stop himself from smiling at the way Peter was excitedly jumping up and down as if Tony was giving him candy.
He filled up one of the bottles of milk and handed it to him. “Alright. It’s just you and me, kid. Let’s go.”
He got Peter buckled into the car and then put the suitcases in the back. It was a bit weird leaving with just Peter but Tony actually really loved it and was kinda happy that he just got to have one on one time with his precious baby boy.
“Come sit in the back seat with me.”
“Then who will drive the car?”
“Uhhh…” Peter laughed and scrunched his nose up the way Tony loved so much. “Then you drive. Actually I’ll sit here.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Driving to the airport wasn’t an issue. Tony got the van parked and swung the duffle bag over his shoulder and pulling out the suitcases before getting Peter unbuckled.
“Dad! I’m still in here!” He tugged on his car seat buckles. “Don’t leave me!”
“Baby. I know you’re there, I’ll never leave you but you gotta give me a second.” He was doing all of this by himself. He definitely needed some extra patience from Peter but he knew that was a little bit too much to ask from him.
Peter continued to tug on the buckles until Tony slid the door open. “I wanted you to take me out first.”
“Well I’m taking you out now.” He got him unbuckled then leaned into the van to unhook his car seat. Tony hated this part of having car seats still. It was incredibly difficult to hook and unhook them and quite painful as sometimes he would clip his fingers in it.
“What’re you doing?”
“Getting your car seat out.”
Peter frowned. “I don’t need it. The airplane doesn’t say I have to. There’s no police on there!”
Tony chuckled to himself. “I know. It’s not for the airplane. We’re gonna land and there’s a car we have to drive in to get to grandmas and grandpa's house.”
Peter didn’t say anything. Instead, he looked towards the plane. “Hurry up. I wanna go on it. Is it the same airplane we took to Bali?”
Tony shut the van door, locking it. He was carrying Peter’s bulky car seat in one hand and the suitcases in the other. “What does it say on the side of the plane, kid?”
“Stark.”
“Because it’s our plane.” Tony managed to get everything on the plane and just wanted to sit down for the next four hours and relax. Geez. He definitely couldn’t deal with a tantrum right now so he would give Peter anything he wanted.
Peter took a seat next to him. “Look. I’m wearing different socks.”
“Wow.”
“Can I see your socks?”
Tony lifted up his jeans to show Peter. “Yours match. Mine don’t. I was wearing red underwear before. Now I’m not.”
“Wow, Pete.”
Peter grinned. “I have lion king. Look.” Peter tugged down the front of his pants to show his dad.
“I know. I saw.” Tony pushed him onto his butt. “Okay. Time to calm down now since we’re gonna be taking off.” Tony handed him his bottle. “Want this?”
Without saying anything, Peter snatched it from him but at least he was quiet for the next hour or so as he drank and watched YouTube videos on Tony’s phone.
Tony wasn’t sleeping.
He definitely wasn’t sleeping.
But he was resting his eyes.
He felt Peter nudge him so Tony opened his eyes. “Yeah?”
“Are you sleeping?”
“No. I was just closing my eyes.” Tony opened up the window screen and was surprised to see what looked like a snowstorm outside. That was slightly concerning. He shut it but Peter stood up to look out.
“Woah. Is that snow?”
“Yeah… it’s fine. I think we’re just flying through a snowstorm. Can you sit back down?”
“No. I was just trying to tell you that I need to go poop.”
Tony stood up. “Alright. Let’s go. Do you want me to wait with you?”
“Yes. I don’t wanna get sucked down into the plane pipes and get dumped out over the ocean!”
“That doesn’t actually happen, Peter.” Tony pulled him into the tight fitting bathroom and leaned against the wall while Peter went.
“Then where does it go?”
“They get rid of it at the airport. Imagine being on a boat and that rains on you.” He got Peter to laugh at least.
The plane started shaking suddenly with turbulence and Tony knew it had something to do with the snowstorm outside. “Daddy! What’s that?!”
“It’s okay. It’s just some turbulence.” He reassured Peter but his heart was racing. “Are you done yet?”
“No. I’m scared.”
The seatbelt light turned on and the plane dropped a bit, causing Tomy to lose his balance. “Okay. I’m sorry, Pete, but we have to go sit down.” He stood him up, getting the diaper back on him and pulling his pants up then sitting down, making sure Peter’s seatbelt was on first.
The plane was rocking side to side and Tony’s never experienced anything like this before. He had to remain calm for Peter though.
After about ten extremely long minutes, the turbulence stopped and one of the pilots came out. “Mr. Stark, we are entering a dangerous snowstorm so we are being forced for an emergency landing in Alberta. We will be landing in about thirty minutes. Please keep your seatbelts on.”
Tony looked at Peter.
They were landing in Alberta.
For some reason Tony wasn’t worried about the storm anymore. They were landing in Alberta.
He didn’t know if Peter remembered.
Alberta was where Peter spent the first year of his life after he was kidnapped.
This was the place where Peter likely forgot about Tony and the rest of his family.
It was going to be the first time he’s been here since…
Tony didn’t know if he should bring it up.
Peter was silent for the rest of the ride and once the plane came to a rough landing, Peter decided to speak up. “I don’t wanna be here.”
“Me neither but the storm is really bad. It’s not safe for us to fly right now.”
“Okay. But I don’t wanna be here.”
Tony looked at him. “Do you remember where we are?”
Peter gave him a dry look. “We’re in Alberta. I know my geography.”
“Okay. I’m just asking.” That didn’t answer his question.
He grabbed their stuff and walked into the airport, heading straight for an empty seating area. Surprisingly the airport was really empty but it was a rather small airport so maybe that was why. “Come sit over here. I’m gonna call your mom quickly.”
Peter plopped down onto the chair and crossed his arms over his chest with a typical teenage pout.
Tony didn’t say anything about that and dialed Peppers number. “Are you guys close?”
“No, so actually we had to make an emergency landing. There’s a really bad snowstorm.”
“Oh. Are you guys okay? When will you be coming here, Tony?”
Tony’s eyes remained on Peter for the whole call. “We’re okay. Uh, tomorrow sometime though. We’re in Alberta.”
Silence spread over them for a few moments.
“Tony. Does Peter know?”
“He hasn’t said anything about it. I think he does though.” His phone was about to die too. Great. “I gotta go. I gotta get us a taxi and a hotel for the night so I’ll call you once we’re in the hotel.” He hung up the call and walked over to join Peter. “So we’re gonna stay in a hotel tonight-”
“No. Let’s wait for the storm to pass so we can go.”
“It’s not going to pass until tomorrow afternoon. We can’t stay here.” Tony pulled up google to search a nearby hotel they could drive to before the storm got any worse. He dialed their number.
“Fairmont Château Lake Louise Hotel. How may I help you?”
“Hi. I’d like to book a room tonight.”
“Dad. I wanna go.”
Tony waved Peter off so he could talk.
“Of course. How many beds?”
“One bed.”
“Okay. And would you like a view of the lake or the mountains?”
Tony honestly didn’t care. “The lake.” He wasn’t going to be looking out of the window but he hoped the lake side was less windier than the mountain side.
“Daddy.” Peter cried. “I still need to go poop.”
Tony mentally groaned and thanked the lady on the phone then hung up, waiting for his confirmation number to come through while he called a taxi.
“Daddy. I need to go now.”
Tony looked around but he didn’t see any bathrooms plus all their stuff was here. “Pete. Can you hold it until we get to the hotel? It’s fifteen minutes away.”
Peter squatted down and held his legs. “I can’t.” His stomach felt weird now too.
“Okay. Let’s go find a bathroom.” Tony grabbed all their stuff, really not enjoying having to do this. It was extremely frustrating for him being alone with so much stuff plus with their least mature kid who was zero help.
Tony walked into a public bathroom and already cringed. Before having kids, he never used public bathrooms unless he was drunk off his ass. Now, when you gotta go, you gotta go.
He kicked open one of the stalls and lined the seat with toilet paper. “Come. Be quick. And don’t touch anything.”
Peter took a seat and tried to go but now he was rushed and couldn’t. “I wanna go back home.”
“I know, buddy, I know you don’t wanna be here but it’s just for one night and then we’re gonna get back on the plane and go see everyone.”
Peter wiped his dry eyes and finished going then stood up. “I need cream.”
Tony sighed. Of course he did at this moment. He grabbed the duffle bag and dug inside of it for wipes and rash cream. “Hey. I said don’t touch anything. It’s disgusting in this bathroom.”
Peter flinched at the coldness. “Ow. But you touched stuff.”
“I’m touching it so you don’t have to.” He finished up and wiped his finger on a clean wipe. “Okay. All done. Let’s get going before the storm blows us away.”
“Do you think that’s actually possible?” He asked seriously.
“Probably in some places. Not here though. You don’t have anything to worry about.” Tony just wanted to get to the hotel so he could relax. No. Scratch that. He wanted to get to Malibu with his family to be able to relax.
He still felt at home though. Whenever he looked at Peter, everything was okay.
Peter was his home.
He always had been and always will be.
He led him outside and to their taxi. The ride was quick.
The driver was nice and helped Tony pack their bags into the car and Peter would have loved not sitting in his car seat but Tony knew he didn’t like being here.
Tony didn’t blame him honestly.
They arrived at their hotel just in time too since Tony’s phone died and he had a massive headache.
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Can we go swimming?”
“Uh… let’s get up to our room first so I can charge my phone and call your mom.”
Peter sighed but didn’t complain. He was actually helpful as he rolled his suitcase upstairs to their floor. “I found our room! 674.”
“Good job. Wanna open it for me?”
Peter liked this part. He slid the key card into the door and opened it up, rushing inside and immediately running into the bathroom to see how big the bathtub was. “Can I take a bath? Dad?! Look! It even has jets!”
“Pete, let’s get settled in first. I need to call your mom and let her know where we’re staying.” He found a plug and while he waited for his phone to change, he walked around the room to hide anything that Peter could get into. Such as the bottle of wine and the glasses that go along with it.
“Dad?”
“Yes, baby? What is it?”
“I really wanna go swimming. And I want milk.”
“Uh… we’ll have to go to the lobby to buy some milk, bud. I don’t have any.” His phone charged so Tony pressed Pepper’s contact. “Okay. No more talks of bottles. I’m calling mom.”
Peter gave a sharp nod and went to go see what the view was, then got bored and began digging in his suitcase for his bathing suit.
“Oh good. You’re in the hotel. I was getting worried.”
“Yeah. My phone died. So we’re staying here for the night. I’ll send you the name and the info on it since I honestly forgot. I’m so tired.”
“I can imagine, Tony. How’s Peter? Where is he?”
Tony looked over at him stripping from his clothes. He didn’t want to flip the camera and show him since then Pepper would see that he was not wearing underwear. “He’s looking for his bathing suit. He thinks I’m taking him swimming but I didn’t say I was.”
“Hey. You didn’t say we weren’t going, c’mon, dad. It’ll be fun. I promise.”
“Oh. If you promise then I’m sure it will be.”
“Flip the camera. I wanna see him.”
“Come here, Peter. Mom wants to see you.” Peter shook his head so Tony stood up and scooped him into his arms then sat down, sitting Peter on his lap. “Say hi.”
“Hi mom. I wanna go swimming.”
Pepper cooed. She missed him. “Ask daddy. He’ll take you. Are you wearing your bathing suit or your underwear, silly?”
Tony’s heart sped up. “We’re trying to find it-”
“Neither! I have lion king!”
Pepper’s smile fell. “Tony. Don’t tell me he’s wearing a diaper. Tony.”
Shit. Tony was about to quickly pull it off of him but he didn’t want Peter seeing him lying to his mom. “Pepper. I’m by myself. We just flew through an awful snowstorm and now we’re in Alberta. He’s wearing a diaper. Okay? He also has an awful rash still so he needs to have cream on and it ruins his underwear.”
Pepper didn’t say anything and Tony knew she was mad at him.
“I’m trying to do this by myself. He has accidents, Pep. I can’t deal with that by myself travelling across the country.”
Peter was sucking on his thumb, not liking this conversation.
Pepper noticed that. “Okay. I know. It’s okay. Let’s talk later, okay? Call me when he’s asleep.”
“Okay. I will.”
“Bye, mom.” Peter mumbled behind his thumb and waited for the video call to end. “Is she mad at me?”
“What? No, baby. Never. Mommy just doesn’t want you to wear diapers during the day. I don’t either. You should only be wearing them at nighttime.”
Peter frowned. “But… I still need to wear them during the day time too, dad.”
“Pete. You don’t. You want to.”
“No.” He insisted. “You want me to too.”
Tony didn’t know what to say to that. It was partly true. Maybe. He didn’t know how he felt about it. He just didn’t want his youngest boy growing up so fast.
He pulled Peter’s hands so he could stand in front of him. “I want whatever you want. If you decide that you don’t wanna wear them anymore, then you don’t have to.”
Peter considered that for a moment. “And what if I want to?”
“Well… then let’s talk about it. I just don’t want you to get into a bad habit-”
Peter yanked himself away from him. “Liar! You’re… a liar. You just said you’ll want what I want and now you’re saying something else!”
Tony hated fighting with Peter. Deep down, he was still scared that Peter would choose Steve over him because Steve was a sick manipulator. He stood up and lifted Peter up, caressing his face.
“Peter. I’m not a liar. I’m trying to help you so you don’t develop any bad habits. You wanted to wear one on the plane and look, you are. See, I don’t lie.”
Peter narrowed his eyes at him. “You always follow what mom says. You say yes. She says no. You say no. I don’t like that. It makes me… sad. And super angry.”
Tony appreciated Peter sharing his feelings with him. He knew his sessions with Karen were helping him use his words instead of throwing tantrums over not being able to communicate.
“Thank you for telling me that. Mom and I love you so so much. And we only want what’s best for you. And sometimes we don’t agree with each other and we aren’t on the same page. That’s a normal thing for adults to feel when they’re together.”
He hoped Peter understood that.
Peter placed his hands on his shoulders. “I get a say too. It’s not fair if I don’t.”
“I know. And sometimes mommy and I have to make the hard decisions for you. Every parent does for their children.”
Peter started kicking his legs. “No! I say no. He didn’t give me no choices. And that’s not fair.”
Tony felt his heart skip a beat. “Baby. I know. He’s gone now. You’ll always have a say. You just have to use your words and tell your mom and I.”
“Then I’m telling you now. I don’t want you to take my bottle away.”
“Okay. Let’s talk about this with mom-”
“No. Put me down.” Peter wiggled out of his dad’s arms so Tony placed him on his feet, feeling like his heart was being ripped out of his body. He knew Peter was in pain. And bottles helped calm him. But Tony knew he couldn’t keep depending on them for soothing.
“Peter.”
“No.” Peter walked towards the hotel door and unlocked it.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m leaving you.” Peter got the door open and walked out of the hotel room, marching down the hallway so Tony chased after him.
His heart was beating so fast. “Peter. Stop this.” He grabbed him and lifted him back into his arms and turned to walk back into their room. “Where do you think you would’ve gone, huh?”
Peter tried to wiggle out of his arms. “Somewhere you’re not! You’re being mean to me!”
“Peter. Stop it. I want you to talk to me. Not run away.” When Tony tried to open up the door, it was locked. And he didn’t have the key card. “Just perfect. Now we’re locked out.”
“Not my fault.”
“You literally just walked out of the room, Peter.” Peter leaned his head against Tony’s shoulder and it made Tony feel a bit better. “I just…” He sighed. “Mom and I are only trying to take the bottles away from you because it’s not a healthy habit to have. We want you to be able to self sooth. And not depend on a silicone nipple.”
Peter didn’t say anything.
Tony knew he had to walk down to the front desk and get a new key. “Now we gotta go get another key.”
“I didn’t mean to run away.”
“Well… what you did could have been so dangerous. Especially considering you’re only in a diaper, kid.”
Peter looked down at himself. “I’m wearing socks.”
“Big difference.” Tony hoisted him up higher. “There’s dangerous people in this world who can hurt you. Especially if you’re wandering around alone in a hotel in a different country.”
Peter shrugged. “Steve is dead. So no one will take me no more.”
Tony hated how Peter was so naïve to the rest of the evils of the world. Maybe it was a good thing but not right now. “Steve… he… there’s other people who take kids for different reasons. Bad reasons. And they never see their parents again. Just because… Steve is gone, doesn’t mean there aren’t others who can hurt you.”
Peter shrugged again. “Okay. I won’t leave you again.”
“Thank you. I still think we should have a discussion with mom about the bottle.”
“Mm!”
“Buddy,” Tony rubbed his back and walked out of the elevator, heading towards the front desk. “Hi. We just got locked out of our room and need another key to get back in.”
“Of course. What’s your room number and name?”
Tony waited for them to get him a new key then he walked back into the elevator and placed a wiggling Peter on his feet. “Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Can we go swimming?”
Tony ruffled his hair. “Alright. Let’s go get our bathing suits on.”
Once they got back into their room, got their bathing suits on, and were ready to go, the lights began flickering.
Peter stopped jumping on the bed. “What was that?”
“What was what?”
“You didn’t see it? The lights. They like… flickered.”
Tony hummed. He didn’t see it. “Weird. You ready to go?”
“Uh huh.” He jumped onto the floor and grabbed onto his dad’s hand. “Maybe this hotel is haunted.”
“Woah. That would be some scary stuff.” Peter agreed. They were just about to leave when the power shut off, causing the room to be pitch black. Peter screamed and hugged Tony. “It’s okay. I’m here.”
Tony opened up the door and to his surprise, the hallway was completely dark besides for the emergency exits. He shut the door and locked it. “Okay. I guess no pool.”
“I can’t see!”
Tony tried to feel his way around to find his phone but tiny yellow lights came on in the room. It was dim but enough so they could still see.
“Oh. It is haunted! I knew it.”
“It’s not haunted. It probably has something to do with the storm.” Tony called down to the front desk to see what was going on. “Hi. I’m just wondering what’s going on with the lights?”
“The power went out due to the storm. Don’t worry, the emergency lights are on and all is under control. While the restaurants, shops and pool are closed here, we will still be serving our guests with anything they need. Just call down and we’ll help you.”
Tony looked at Peter. “Okay. Thank you.” He hung up the phone and held his arms out. “So, no pool but how about we fill that bathtub up?”
“Yay. You come in too! It’s big!” He raced into the bathroom and turned to wait for his dad to start filling the bathtub up, setting it to the right temperature. Peter was so excited. Once it was filled, he stepped in. “Dad. Hurry. Sit down.”
Tony couldn’t believe he was doing this. He was already wearing his bathing suit so why not. He got in and sat down, holding his arms out for Peter. “I have a feeling you aren’t going to sit still and cuddle with me, are you?”
Peter grinned but sat on his lap anyways. “We can turn the jets on and pretend like we’re in the wild ocean!”
Tony tugged on Peter’s bathing suit. “Take this off. Might as well have a bath while you’re in here.” He tossed it onto the floor and almost got a kick to the face when Peter put his feet up on the ledge to try and balance. “Okay. No doing that. That’s dangerous.”
“Dangerous is fun. You try.”
“No. Just come here. Let me hold you.” All Tony wanted to do was hold his baby while he could.
Peter sat back on his lap and leaned his head against his fathers chest, relaxing against him. “Mmm. You’re comfy.”
“You know when you were a tiny baby, I used to sit in the bath and hold you just like this.”
Peter smiled and Tony started playing with his hair. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. You were so tiny. You’d basically fit in my hands and now look at you.” Tony couldn’t come to terms with his boy growing up. He squeezed his chubby butt. “Still got your baby chub though. I’ll settle for that.”
“Hey.” Peter lifted his head up, forcing a pout but his smile was coming through.
“What? I can’t resist your cuteness. Look at you.” He pressed a kiss to his nose. “I love you so much, Peter. Do you know that?”
With a hum, Peter pretended to think about it. “Uhhh it’s not like you tell me a billion and one times a day.”
“You’re funny. I wonder who you got it from.”
“Mom!”
Tony chuckled. He pressed another kiss to Peter’s nose and then Peter grinned.
“I’m peeing on you.”
At this point, Tony wasn’t surprised. Or cared. “Wow. As long as you don’t poop on me, I’m good.”
Peter giggled. “I peed on your stomach.” He laughed again.
“Wouldn’t be the first time, kid.” Tony ran his fingers through the long curls that were falling in his face. “You need a haircut soon. Look how long your hair is getting.”
Peter pushed himself up a bit. “I don’t want a haircut. I want it to stay like this long.”
“Wow. That’s super long. It’s fine, I like your hair long too.” Tony was so comfortable, he could stay in this position forever but Peter wasn’t tired and he could sense that Peter wanted to move around.
“I wish I had my goggles so I could look under the water like a fishy.”
“Maybe save that for the pool at grandmas and grandpa's house. There’s pee in here.”
Peter shrugged. That didn’t bother him. “I pee in there too.”
“Really. That doesn’t surprise me.” Nothing Peter did anymore would surprise Tony. Peter sat up and moved to the other side of the bathtub but he had nothing to play with.
“I want toys.”
“I know. What a boring bath without them.”
“Mm!”
“Let’s get out in five minutes and order up some dinner. Come cuddle with me until then.” Tony held his arms out for him but Peter shook his head.
“I already cuddled with you for five minutes. Now I wanna play.” He stuck his finger in one of the jet holes. “Can you turn it on for me? I wanna see what it does.”
Tony reached over and found the remote. “I’ll turn it on for a minute. I don’t think you’ll like it.” He turned it on to the lowest setting and watched for Peter’s reaction, laughing at the way he jumped. “Told you.”
“That was so funny. It scared me at first.” Peter laughed and moved to sit with Tony again. “Can I see the remote? I wanna control it.”
“Here.”
Peter pressed the blue button, having no idea what it would even do. It apparently made the jets faster. “Ahh.” He screamed and tossed the remote into the water so Tony had to grab it out. “I wanna go swimming in the pool.”
“Baby. The storm turned all the power off.” Tony was ready to get out now anyways. He pulled the plug and sat up. “Come. I’ll wrap you in a towel.”
Tony wrapped a towel around his waist and held one out for Peter, waiting for him to stand up so he could scoop him into his arms and carry him into the bedroom. Without the power on, it was quite cold so Tony turned the heating system on, already feeling the heat. That felt much better.
“You always look so cuddly when I take you out of the bath.” Tony cooed, pressing a kiss to his kids temple before tossing him onto the bed. “Okay. I’m gonna order dinner. What’d you want?”
“Uhhh… chicken fingers. And-”
“French fries?” Tony already knew it.
“Broccoli.”
“Oh?”
Peter started laughing mischievously. “No. You’re right. Fries!”
“You little bugger.” Tony picked up the phone to call down. “Hi. I’d like to order up room service. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Chicken fingers and French fries with ketchup and chocolate milk. Yeah. And is there any chance there’s fish contamination in there? Yeah. No, my son has a seafood allergy. No, okay. And I’ll have a cheeseburger with fries and sprite. Yep. Perfect. Thank you.”
He hung up the phone and stood up to see where Peter went. He looked away from him for literally a second. “Pete?”
“Yeah?”
He followed the voice and pulled back the curtains, seeing Peter standing by the window. “Flashing everyone, are you?”
“There’s no one there. The lake looks frozen. Look!”
“Wow. That looks neat.” He patted Peter’s wet hair. “Can you come get some clothes on? Our food will be here in twenty minutes.”
Peter walked over to his suitcase and looked in it. “I’m gonna be going to bed soon…” He looked up at Tony, implying something.
“Yeah…”
“So then I wear a diaper.”
“Pete-”
“No. I do. It’s time.” Peter grabbed onto Tony’s hand to try and lead him over to the bag where everything was.
Tony sighed. He checked the time and figured why not. “Alright. Lie down. Can you do me a favour and tell me if you need to go pee though.”
Peter didn’t respond and climbed onto the bed, lying down. “I can’t wait for my chicken fingers! I’m so hungry.” Just as he said that, his stomach growled. Peter gasped. “Oh. That sounded funny.”
“Good thing our food will be here soon. It sounds like that monster in you is getting angry.” Tony grabbed a stack of diapers out, placing them on the bed for now and opening up the cream. “This is cold.”
“Can I feel?” He reached his hand out but Tony already started applying it. “Ow. That hurts.”
“It doesn’t hurt, it’s just cold.” He fondly rolled his eyes at him. “Are you excited for our food to come up?”
Peter nodded. “I’m so hungry. Last time I ate was in New York! That was so long ago.”
Tony wiped his finger on a wipe and grabbed a diaper. “Wow. So you must be ready to eat a whale, never mind a horse.”
“No. Just a potato cause I love French fries! With chocolate milk. Don’t confuse that with milk though. Cause it’s way different.”
Tony made sure it was tapped on tightly before taking a seat on the bed to wait for the knock on the door. “Is chocolate milk in your bottle the same as normal milk?”
Peter sat up to face him. “Obviously not. Have you not have chocolate milk before?”
“Not in a long time.”
Peter laughed and scooted closer. “Well, you can have a sip of mine. It’s yummy. Sometimes they make it too chocolatey though. You know?”
Tony laughed with him. He loved having normal conversations with Peter. Well, normal for him. This was as normal as they got. “I do know. You gotta get the right amount of chocolate and cream, right?”
“Exactly. Someone who finally gets it.”
Tony bursted out laughing. He barely missed hearing the knock on the door for how hard he was laughing. “Oh, buddy. You’re making me laugh way too hard and I gotta answer the door.”
Peter grinned then watched a man in a red vest walk into the room with a cart of food. The man looked at him, offered a tiny smile then looked away. As soon as he was gone, Peter slid off the bed to see the food. “Mmmm it smells yummy. Can I have a bite of your burger?”
“Yeah. Let’s eat on the bed. When do we ever get to do that.” Tony set the trays up on the bed and sat down, leaning against the headboard so Peter sat in front of him, his legs stretched out and his food sitting between them.
“Never. Mom hates it when we bring food upstairs. To be honest I wouldn’t mind having a rat as my roommate.”
“Considering you’re my roommate, I’d mind that a lot.”
Peter laughed then took a bite of his chicken fingers. “Mmm. Yummy.” He held it up in front of his dad’s face. “Wanna bite?”
“No, take a bite of this and try it. There’s a tomato in here.”
Peter immediately backed away. “Ew! No. Take it out so I can try it.”
Tony wanted him to try so he pulled the tomato out and held it up to his mouth. Peter took the biggest bite he could but he definitely preferred his chicken fingers. “It’s good. But mine is better. Cut them.”
“What's the magic word?”
“Please cut them.” He pushed his plate in front of his dad and ate his fries while he waited. “Let’s send a picture of our food to mom and everyone.”
Tony finished cutting up the food and pulled out his phone, taking a picture but he hesitated on sending it to Pepper since it was obvious Peter wasn’t wearing underwear like Pepper wanted him to. He pressed send anyways. He didn’t care. He knew it was a phase in their life where they were dealing with this so he tried to appreciate every moment.
Peter sat up on his knees. “Do you think the tv works so we can watch a scary movie together?”
“I don’t think you’ll want to watch a scary movie, kid. Especially if this hotel is haunted.” Tony teased him.
Peter paused his chewing. “No. Is it actually? Cause-cause if it is, one of us is getting possessed tonight.”
Tony didn’t know what kind of horror movies Peter was watching. “Geez, Pete. Very specific.”
Peter shrugged and Tony’s phone vibrated so Peter aggressively reached for it. “Mom said… it looks like you boys are having fun. We miss you here. Call me when Peter falls asleep to talk.” He looked at Tony. “Talk about what? Why do you have to wait till I’m asleep?”
“Because maybe mom wants to talk to me without a little monkey crawling all over me.” Tony was secretly sweating. Yikes. Pepper was going to rip his head off.
Peter texted back. “I’m gonna say… I miss you too.” He slowly typed it. “And the hotel is haunted. How do you spell haunted?”
They definitely had to work on Peter’s spelling. He was a genius when it came to chemistry and physics but spelling definitely wasn’t his strong suit. “Sound it out.”
“Haunted. Haunted. Auto correct.”
Tony rolled his eyes. Of course. “Okay. Put the phone away now. Everyone else can wait. We’re eating.”
Peter tossed the phone away and picked up his chicken fingers with his fingers. “What are we gonna do after?”
He flipped onto his stomach to reach across the nightstand table to grab his glass of chocolate milk and all Tony could see was it spilling on the bed. “No. Give me that. I’m gonna pour it in a bottle because I do not want you to spill it.” He carefully took it from Peter and got up to dig in the bag for another bottle. “Here. Now you can toss it around all you want.”
“You too.”
“No. I know I’m not gonna spill mine. I know you will, clumsy boy.”
Peter shyly grinned. He then sat up on his knees to hold his bottle of chocolate milk out to his dad, poking it at his lips. “Wanna try?”
“No, baby. You drink.”
Peter laid down, taking a few sips then sitting back up. “I love my bottles.”
Tony loved him so much. He felt guilty for the past two days. “I know you do. I’m glad they make you happy but eventually-”
“Stop. I don’t wanna do that. I just wanna eat and drink my milk. Actually my chocolate milk and then after my milk and-” Peter gasped and grabbed between his legs.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m peeing.”
Tony was shocked. “What do you mean? Peter. Didn’t you feel that you needed to go?” That was a tad concerning.
Peter went back to eating. “No. I forgot.”
“What do you mean you forgot?”
“Uh… I Uh,” He looked around the room. “Cause I wasn’t sitting on the toilet so I didn’t know I had to go.”
Tony didn’t really understand that. “But Pete, you aren’t always sitting on the toilet.”
Peter shoved a giant piece in his mouth so he didn’t have to talk.
Tony got the hint and finished his meal, changing the conversation with Peter into something else. To be honest, Tony didn’t want to question it right now. He knew sleeping in a new place and big changes was a huge factor in bed wetting and accidents for Peter that they discussed with Karen so Tony knew he had to expect it.
After cleaning up their empty plates, Tony collapsed onto the bed beside Peter. It was only just after 7pm their time but Tony was ready to put Peter to sleep if Peter wanted that. He knew they were going to have an early morning anyways. Tony just hoped the storm cleared up by then. He wanted to be in hot Malibu and go swimming with his family.
Peter looked up at him. “What?”
Just then, the power turned up and it startled the both of them. “Yay! The powers back on, dad!” He sat up and tried to find the remote. “I wanna watch tv.”
“Do you want to fall asleep for the night, baby. Are you ready for me to put you to sleep?”
Peter chewed on his empty bottle spout. “No. I just wanna watch tv.”
“Alright.”
“I need milk.”
Shit. They didn’t have any. Tony didn’t want to have to go buy any and get dressed just for that since all he had on was pyjamas pants. “Just lie down. I’m gonna call them to bring some up.”
Peter laid down but watched Tony, needing to know when he was going to receive his comfort item. “Can you tell them to be faster? I want it now.”
“Oh no. What’s gonna happen if you don’t get it right now?” Tony cooed. He laid down on the bed next to Peter, pulling him on top of him to kiss his face. Peter squirmed away.
“Then I’ll riot.”
“Oh. We can’t have that.” He poked his side. “How about you get you to bed. Huh?”
“I am in bed.” He smugly said.
“Okay, smart boy. How about I put you to sleep. Now that you have your milk.”
Peter pushed himself into a sitting position. “Welllll… I don’t even have my milk yet, dad.” There was a knock on the door and Peter gasped.
“Stay here. I’ll get it.” He took the milk container from the man and turned to walk back into The room, shaking it. “Look what I have.”
“Yay! I’ve been waiting for so long. Can you fill it? To the top. Please. I want a big milk.”
As Tony was filling up another bottle for him, he decided to ask Peter something that he knew Peter wouldn’t know how to answer but he was curious. “Why do you like milk in a bottle so much?”
Peter bounced. “Cause it’s yummy.”
“But what’s the difference between it being in a cup and here?” He asked, handing it to him.
Peter took it, concentrating on the question. “Uhhh… um… ‘dis.” He pointed to the silicone nipple.
Tony knew that, obviously. He just didn’t understand what was so comforting about it.
“Alright.” He pulled his legs down and went to cover him with the blankets but he noticed he needed a change first. “Pete. What did I say?”
Peter looked at him. “You just said alright.”
Tony covered him with the blankets. “Okay, then you go to sleep.”
Peter rolled onto his stomach. “Why? Cause you wanna call mom on the phone?”
“That’s one reason why. Another reason is because you need to sleep now since I know no matter what you’ll be waking up at 5am.”
Peter shrugged. He couldn’t control that. “So? I just woke up and I’m not tired so I can’t sleep anymore.”
“Yeah but daddy is still tired and I’d like it if you slept in.” He said, tickling his stomach. Peter kicked his legs out of the blankets, moving his hand down to tug on the front of the diaper, wiggling his hips so Tony knew he had to change him before he fell asleep. He wouldn’t be telling Pepper about that though.
Tony sat up but Peter pulled him back down. “Noo. Stay with me. Please. I don’t want you going anywhere.”
“Baby. I’d never leave you. But I do have to change you so you need to come here,” He dragged Peter to the edge of the bed. “I’m gonna put you to sleep after this and you’re gonna sleep so well.”
Peter tried to roll onto his stomach but Tony held him down with one hand. “Hey. Let me go.”
“I’m doing you a favour, kid. Just lie still.” Tony tapped his nose with a clean diaper. “Stop being silly.” He teased him.
“I’m not the one being silly. You are!” Peter giggled and tried to roll away again when he had the chance but his dad held him still. “Move your hand.”
“Then don’t try and get away.” He undid the tapes on the side then pulled the front down, tossing it to the side for now. “And I-Uh hey.” He caught the foot that almost went straight into his chest. “What’s this?”
“A weapon!”
Tony loved playful Peter but not right before bed. Although that was typically the time it happened. He pretended to tickle his stomach but stopped at the last second, making Peter squeal. He then leaned over him to blow raspberries onto his tummy, loving the giggles that followed.
“Daddy!”
Tony stopped to let him catch his breath, and give the poor boy a break from the giggles. “Okay. The tickle monster is tired and wants to go to bed.”
Peter looked up at him. “But I’m not tired. I’m wide awake.”
Tony knew that was a lie. He was rubbing his eyes and yawning every other minute. He just didn’t want to get to the point where Peter got over tired and refused to sleep.
“Okay, we’ll watch a tv show until you fall asleep.” Tony grabbed the cream, applied that on then tightly secured a diaper onto him and went into the bathroom to wash his hands. When he walked out, he almost bumped into Peter. “What’re you doing?”
“I was looking for you.”
“I just went to wash my hands, Pete.”
“Okay. Come back to bed.” Peter grabbed onto his dad's hand, tugging him back to bed. “And pat my belly. Gently. Not hard.”
“I’d never do it hard.” He shut all the lights off and turned the sound machine on, knowing that was going to help Peter sleep. “Want me to hold the bottle for you?” Peter shook his head. He watched Peter get comfortable then he turned on his side to pat his belly.
The only sounds were coming from the sound machine and the grunts Peter was making as he drank since the volume on the tv was practically on mute.
About ten minutes later, Peter’s drinking slowed down so Tony held the bottle for him and placed his hand over Peter’s eyes to shut them.
That was the special magic touch because within a minute or two, Peter was out.
No doubt from the crazy day they had.
He stayed in that position for a few minutes, just making sure Peter was definitely asleep before carefully pulling the bottle from his mouth but keeping it within reach.
Peter’s mouth moved so Tony led his thumb into his mouth. That would keep him asleep for a few hours at least.
With a sigh, Tony mentally prepared himself for the conversation with Pepper.
Tony took his phone out and took a picture of Peter sleeping. He had to tell her he gave in and gave Peter a bottle. So this way she would see it in the picture and he wouldn’t have to actually admit it.
He wanted to keep it a secret but Peter was going to tell everyone once they got to Malibu and he didn’t want any secrets.
He sent the picture off to Pepper with the text. I’m sorry. I gave in.
Now all he had to do was wait for the phone call that came less than five anxious minutes later. “Hey.”
“Tony.” Came Pepper’s tired and annoyed voice. “We agreed we weren’t going to give him bottles. We were trying to break this habit.”
Tony didn’t say anything.
“You give in to him every single time. How are we expected to take the bottles away from him, Tony.”
Tony walked into the bathroom and shut the door quietly behind him. “I’m doing this all alone. Okay. We’re in Alberta of all places. He’s away from the rest of his family, he’s in a new bed in the place he was kidnapped to… how did you expect me just to not give him a bottle when he cried for one.”
He was only half lying because he gave Peter a bottle back in New York. Not here.
“Let me look at that picture again…”
Tony listened to the silence as Pepper was supposedly looking at the picture.
“Tony. This bottle is from home. So you brought it, expecting to give it to him.”
Dammit. He didn’t even think of that. “Yeah… I didn’t know what else to do, okay. I’m alone with him. This situation is already stressful enough.”
“I know but we agreed not to give him a bottle. The two days of stress were literally all for nothing then. Because of you.”
“Don’t put this blame on me. You left us. You could have pushed your flight back a day and waited until Peter had his appointment with Karen but you wanted to go. You left us.”
“Oh. Don’t put this all on me now.” Pepper snapped back. “I asked if you were okay with us leaving and you had no problem with it. I asked you if you wanted to take Morgan and Harley to Malibu and I stay with Peter and you said no.”
“Because I can’t be without him!” He yelled a bit too loud and silently cursed. He opened up the bathroom door, relieved Peter was still sleeping. “You know I can’t be without him.”
Silence spread over them for a few moments.
“What happens when he moves out and goes to college? Get married? Have kids? He’s not gonna be with you 24/7 and wanting to sleep with you every night, clinging onto you all day.”
Tony wanted to hang up on her. “I know you’re saying this to get under my skin. Plus that’s not for like sixteen years. It’ll come and I’m glad I get to be in his life for all of that.”
“I’m not trying to get under your skin, Tony.” Pepper sighed. “You’re possessive of Peter. You’re also scared he’ll hate you if you say no to him. He can’t be napping and having bottles still, Tony. Can’t you see that.”
“Obviously I can. But…”
“But you still see him as your three year old boy who was taken from you.” Pepper read his mind.
Tony didn’t have anything to say to that. He couldn’t help it. He couldn’t let go of the toddler that was taken from him.
“He’ll always be your little boy but he’s not three anymore, Tony. You have to let go of the past.”
Tony still didn’t say anything.
“Are you still there?”
“Yep.”
“What’re you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that I’m here and you aren’t. So if he wants it, I’m giving him a bottle tomorrow for the flight to Malibu. I… Steve, he gave one to Peter and I just… I can’t be the dad that says no to him.”
“The dad? You aren’t one of two dads to Peter, Tony. You’re his dad. And his only dad.”
Tony sat on the closed toilet seat. “Peter called that man daddy for seven years. Peter only remembers calling me that for four years.”
“That’s not true. Peter may not be able to remember memories from the time before he was kidnapped but it’s all still there in his unconscious mind. He knows we loved him then, and cared for him and that were his parents. That you’re his dad.” She paused. “Plus he does remember some stuff from then. He’ll mention something every now and then.”
He ran a hand over his face. He was tired but now he was anxious and tired and that was never a good combination.
“I do not want to take bottles from him. Not right now. I want it to be his decision to make instead of something that is done to him.”
He hated during those two days when Peter asked for a bottle and he had to tell him no. Then the grateful look on Peter’s face when Tony finally gave in.
“Alright. Let’s talk about this when you guys get here.”
Tony loved Pepper for being so understanding. He just wished she was on the same page as him.
“Okay. I gotta go. I’ll text you tomorrow. I love you.” Tony waited to hear it back then he hung up the phone and walked into the bedroom, getting onto the bed and looking at Peter’s precious face.
He couldn’t be without him. That was concerning but for some reason, he didn’t have it in him to care that much.