Always Be My Baby

Peter woke up first. 

He stretched on the bed and rubbed his eyes then rolled onto his back to stretch again. Tony was sleeping next to him, his arm draped over his body so Peter pushed it off and yawned. 

He had a good sleep and felt well rested. 

When he looked towards the curtains, he could see the sunlight peeking through which meant it was in fact morning. “Mm.” Peter needed to pee but he was way too comfortable to get up so he relieved himself there and felt much better. 

Now he just wanted his dad to wake up. 

Peter pushed himself up and grabbed Tony’s phone on the bed, unlocking it and going onto his Hay Day farm to feed his animals. He completed a few tasks but he was already bored and wanted his dad to wake up with him. So he sat up on his knees and leaned over Tony. 

“Dad. Dad. Dad. Wake up. I’m awake and I’m bored.” He checked to see if Tony was waking up and he still wasn’t so he got off of him. He went to climb on top of him but Tony’s phone started ringing. 

It was his mom. 

“Peter speaking.” 

“Hi baby. I knew you’d be awake. How did you sleep?” 

Peter laid back down, lifting his legs above his head. “Good. Yesterday when me and dad got here, then the power goes out and we were gonna go in the pool but the power went out so we go in the bath. It’s massive. I’ll send a picture.” 

“That sounds like fun. I’m hoping your father took pictures for me.” 

Peter didn’t think he did. “Maybe. Cause I think his phone was in the bedroom charging. We were in the bathroom.” 

“Oh. Can you put your father on the phone, honey?” 

Peter looked back at Tony. “He’s still sleeping.” 

“Alright. Can you tell him to call me when he wakes up?” 

Peter turned onto his stomach. “Okay. But why?” 

“Because I wanna see what’s going on. I don’t know when you guys are coming here.” 

Peter shrugged. “I don’t know.” 

“Sweetie. That’s why I want to talk to your dad.” Pepper laughed. “I’ll see you soon, okay. I love you so much.” 

“I love you too. Bye.” Peter hung up the phone and tossed it at the bottom of the bed. “Daddy. Wake up. I’m bored. Daddy. Daddy. Dadd-” 

Tony moaned and pushed his way too hyper kid off of him. “Go away. Trying to sleep.” 

“But I’m awake.” Peter whined and when he saw Tony wasn’t going to wake up, he slid out of bed and thought about what to do. He didn’t have any toys or anything to play with so that meant he had to go and explore. He grabbed the key card and unlocked the front door, opening it and walking out. 

Tony immediately got out of bed and grabbed Peter by the arm, taking him right back to the room before the door even closed. “Peter.” Tony groaned. “It is way too early for this. Seriously.” He laid back down on the bed but he was definitely awake now. 

“What? I just wanted to explore.” Peter shrugged and sat on Tony’s knee, bored out of his mind. “I wanna play but I have none of my toys here.” 

Tony didn’t say anything. 

“Do you think we can stop by Walmart on our way to the airport?” 

Tony remained silent. 

Peter turned to face him. “I need to pee.” 

“Then go.” 

“I need help.” 

“Just go in your diaper. I don’t care.” Tony was so tired and his heart was just starting to calm down from having Peter try to run away. Again. 

Peter sighed. “Well… I need to go poop.” 

“Peter. I don’t care. Go wherever. I’m tired.” He couldn’t fall asleep last night for the life of him and then Peter woke up almost immediately after Tony finally fell asleep and it took almost an hour to get him back to sleep. Tony struggled to fall asleep after that so he slept awful. 

Peter groaned. He didn’t actually need to go. He slid off of Tony’s knee and crawled to the other side of the bed. “My bum hurts.” 

Tony ignored him. He was trying to rest his burning eyes a little bit longer. 

“Dad. My pee pee hurts.” Peter tried although it wasn’t a total lie. He whimpered in Tony’s ear and Tony knew he had to wake up for the day. 

“Okay. I’m up. What is it?” 

Peter squeezed between his legs. “Hurts.” 

“I need coffee before I do anything else.” Tony rose from the bed and looked for a coffee maker but there wasn’t anything strong enough so he called down, ordering breakfast while he was at it. 

While they had to wait for the room service, Tony grabbed wipes and clean underwear for Peter. “Would you rather go in a shower actually?” 

Peter shook his head and moved to lie down at the edge of the bed. “Next time I go in water, I wanna be in grandmas and grandpas pool. No showering.” 

“Fair enough.” He untapped the sides of the diaper and pulled the front down, sighing at the redness of his sensitive skin. “Baby.” Tony felt bad for him. “This is because you’ve been wearing one all day yesterday too. You need to put on underwear now. Or else it won’t heal up.” 

Peter closed his legs. “No underwear.” 

“Well, then-” 

“Noo!” Peter turned on his stomach and crawled across the bed, running straight for the door and getting it open but Tony grabbed his arm and slammed the door shut. 

“Stop trying to leave!” Tony yelled, a bit too aggressively because Peter flinched at the sudden yell. “Peter. It’s not safe. What were you trying to do, run naked in the halls?” 

Peter pushed his way out of his arms, sticking his tongue out at him. “You’re a poo poo head! I don’t have to listen to you.” 

It was way too early for this and Tony hadn’t even had any coffee yet. He walked back towards the bed and pulled two wipes out. “Honestly, you do what you want. Just let me wipe the pee off of you.” 

“No.” 

“I’m not asking for your permission.” 

He picked him up to lay him back down but Peter screamed and tried to get away. “Peter. Stop acting like I'm trying to hurt you. I'm trying to prevent you from hurting more.” 

“I want mommy! Not you!” Peter turned to sobbing to get his dad to stop but then a painful wipe was being run over his sensitive skin and he cried harder, not even bothering to stop it. “Go away!” He cried once it was done. 

Tony sighed but he had to. “It’s over.” He threw out the garbage and when he walked back into the room and saw Peter crying in the same position, he had to push away his own feelings of exhaustion and zero patience to comfort him. 

He lifted Peter up and opened the curtains to look out. “Shh. Shh. Look, remember the lake? You were looking at it last night.” Peter cried into his ear. “Baby. What’s wrong? Why are you crying? Huh?” 

Peter cried harder. “My bum hurts!” He sobbed into Tony’s ear and so Tony grabbed the cream and walked back over to the bed. 

“I’ll put this on. It’ll make you feel better and then when we go to Malibu, mom will put the special special ointment on.” 

Peter wiped his snot on Tony’s bare shoulder. “You put it on now.” 

“I don’t have it. Mom packed it.” Tony was cursing Pepper for taking it with her but they didn’t plan for a night away from each other. 

Peter whimpered but let Tony lay him back on the bed. He grabbed the cream just as his phone rang and he was going to ignore it but he saw that it was Pepper so he answered it and placed the phone on the nightstand table. Her face popped up on the video. “Aww. I called to see how it’s going but it doesn’t look like it’s going well.” 

Tony dipped his finger into the rash cream. “Peter’s not feeling the best.” 

“Aww. What’s wrong? Is he sick?” 

“No. He has a bad rash. And you took the ointment.” 

“Ohh. I did. Didn’t I. I’m sorry.” 

Peter rubbed his eyes, taking relief from the burning pain he felt before. He stuck his thumb in his mouth and let out a tiny whine. 

There was a knock at the door and Tony groaned. Worst timing. “Great. Stay here please.” He wiped his fingers on a wipe and opened the door. “Hi. Thank you. I’ll take this in. I’ve just got my kid indecent in there.” 

The man was nice and stayed outside the room so Tony shut the door once the food was inside and couldn’t resist taking two large sips of his coffee, hoping the caffeine kicked in soon. 

“I need more.” Peter said, pointing to the container. 

Tony picked it back up, talking to Pepper while he applied it. “So we’re gonna eat here and I’m gonna get in contact with the pilots. See what time we can leave here. I think it’s an hour and half flight to Malibu from here.” 

“We’ll pick you up from the airport. Actually I think just my dad will. Probably my mom too since she misses Peter so much. She probably won’t be able to wait any longer.” 

Tony chuckled. He understood that feeling but he also knew once they arrived, Peter would be stolen from him by Pepper’s mom. He wiped his finger again and put a lid on the cream but Peter whined. “You’re all creamed up. No more.” 

“No underwear.” 

Tony wasn’t going to. He wasn’t staining anything. He grabbed a diaper and Pepper sighed over the video call. “Tony. Can you at least put a pull-up on him. At least so he can pull it up and down to sit on the toilet.” 

“I didn’t bring any.” 

“What? So we have no pull-ups for the whole trip?” 

“Nope. Don’t bother buying any. He’s fine with these.” 

Peter liked the sounds of that. Once it was on him, he sat up and walked over to the food tray, lifting the top off. “Dad. My milk?” 

“Yep. I’ll get it. Uh, Pep, we’re gonna go now. I’ll text you when we’re leaving the hotel.” 

“Alright. Tony, please make him pee in the toilet. I can’t deal with anymore bad habits forming.” 

Tony nodded, not entirely agreeing. He hung up the phone after and turned to Peter. “Are you hungry?” 

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Peter was almost jumping with excitement, well, he would have been jumping with excitement if he wasn’t strapped into his seat on the airplane. 

He watched the plane come in for a landing and when it came to a complete stop, Peter looked out the window and could see his grandma and grandpa standing outside their pickup truck. Peter squealed. 

“C’mon c’mon c’mon! Dad! Let’s go.” He stood up, jumping excitedly on his feet so Tony stood up with him and waited for the stairs to open then he grabbed Peter’s car seat and walked out with him, letting go of his hand once he was on the ground. 

Peter made a beeline for his grandparents, jumping into their arms. Tony knew how good that felt. He loved it when Peter did that to him. 

“Oh hi, honey. We missed you so much. Let me look at you, did you grow?” Alice cooed, ruffling his long hair. 

Tony saw him every day so he was curious. “Does he look bigger?” 

“His hair definitely grew a lot longer since we’ve last seen him.” Said Mike, patting his grandson on the back. 

Tony hugged his mother in law first. “Hi Alice. I missed you. We’re glad to be back. Peter has been talking about swimming in your pool non stop.” 

“Guess who's in there now.” 

Peter squealed. “Spider!” 

“No, silly boy. Your brother and sister are.” 

Peter was so excited to see them. He walked towards the truck and opened up the back door. “I wanna go there now.” 

“Alright. Let me get your car seat in before we go.” Tony climbed in to get that safely secured in but he didn’t see Morgan’s car seat in here. “Who put Morgan’s car seat in?” 

“Oh. We brought her booster. She didn’t want to sit in her one from home.” 

“Okay but it’s not about what she wants. She hasn’t reached the height limit yet so she can’t sit in a car without it.” Tony was annoyed at that. He thought Pepper would have backed him up. 

“Don’t worry, Tony. She still sat in one.” Alice was always one to try and calm Tony down before he got worked up. It worked this time. He double checked Peter’s car seat was in right then turned around and held his arms out for him. 

“Come, baby. The faster we get you in, the faster we can go.” 

Peter tugged on his track pants. “Off now? You said once we get to Malibu I can take it off. I’m sticky.” 

“I meant to the house but sure.” He pulled it off of Peter and tossed them onto the seats beside him, quickly getting him buckled in. “Comfy?” 

“Uh huh.” Peter gave a sharp nod. “Wait! My bottle.” 

Tony was hoping he didn’t mention it but they weren’t even on the road yet and it was being mentioned. He grabbed it from the bag and placed it in his cup holder. 

“Tony, you’re sitting in the front. I am sitting back here with my grandson.” Alice climbed in the other side before Tony could even say anything. “Peter, what happened to your pants?” 

Peter giggled shyly. “Dad takes them.” 

“He takes them?” 

“Alice, you have to correct him. Don’t repeat the wrong pronunciations he uses.” Tony was trying to work on that with Peter, it was an ongoing progress. 

“Oh. Okay.” She was barely listening to Tony and was more focused on Peter. “So… tell me about you. What’s new?” 

“Uhhh…” Peter looked out his window and looked down at the cars next to them. “We’re so high up. Dad’s car is low to the ground. And he lets me sit in the front seat when he drives it.” 

“Oh?” 

“That was only a few times. I think I like you in the back better.” Tony turned around to see Peter putting his hands behind the buckles. “Move your hands, Pete.” 

“Okay.” Peter placed them on his lap instead. “I’m gonna jump in the pool as soon as we get there. How many more minutes?” 

Alice heard what was going on at home but she didn’t know how things were going. “Does Pepper know he’s wearing a diaper, Tony?” 

Tony didn’t want to talk about this in front of Peter. Pepper did know. He told her he was putting one on him and while she wasn’t happy, she couldn’t do anything about it. “Yeah. She knows.” 

“Daddy? How many more minutes? Daddy? Daddy?” 

“Yes, Pete. Um, maybe forty minutes.” 

“Urg. That’s too long.” Alice grabbed his bottle but Peter whined. “Nooo.” 

“Oh. Here you go. I’m not taking it, just looking.” She watched Peter quickly take it back and start drinking from it, trying to wiggle down on his car seat but the buckles prevented him. “You’re too cute.” 

“Mm!” 

“Pete, stop.” Tony fondly rolled his eyes and reached back to flick his knee. 

“Mmm!” 

“Well, I have not seen you since before your Bali trip. I want to hear all about it.” 

Peter was too busy drinking his milk. “Pete, take that out of your mouth and answer grandma.” Peter only stared at him. “Alright. Take your time.” 

“Does he still nap, Tony?” 

Tony groaned. They didn’t say that little three letter word around Peter. 

“Yeah. I wanna take a nap.” Peter tried to sit forward. “Dad. When it’s after lunch, I need to take a nap.” 

Tony looked at him. “We just woke up, baby.” 

“But daddy!” 

Tony zipped down his window to take a breath. Peter really knew how to push his buttons. “How about you play in the pool and the garden before we talk about naps. We didn’t even get out of the car yet.” 

“Mmmmm!” Peter kicked his legs and grabbed his bottle, taking a few sips to calm down. He just wanted to see the rest of his family and go swimming and he was sick of staying in the car and travelling now. 

When they pulled up to the long driveway, Peter made grabby hands for his dad. “Take me out.” 

“I will. Let me come out to get you.” Tony was quick in getting Peter out and he didn’t take even a second before he was sprinting off around the side of the house, towards the backyard with the open pool so Tony immediately chased after him just in case no one was there and Peter jumped into the water. 

Pepper spotted Peter run out from nowhere and she screamed in excitement. “Peter! My baby! When did you get here?!” She pulled him into her arms, kissing his face. “I missed you so much.” 

“I missed you too.” Peter pulled away from her and ran towards the pool. “Morgan! Harley! I’m here!” 

“Hey, Pete. Finally. It’s so quiet without you.” Harley greeted his brother with a playful shove and couldn’t help but pick him up, pretending to throw him into the pool. “Don’t worry. I won’t. Yet. Go get your bathing suit on.” 

“Petey!” Morgan took her goggles off. “Hi! You’re finally here! Jump in!” 

“I need my bathing suit on first.” Peter bent down to feel how warm the water was. He was itching to go in. 

Tony walked up to Pepper. “Hey.” 

She didn’t hesitate to pull herself into his arms and press a kiss to his lips. “Hey. I missed you.” 

Tony deepened the kiss. He really needed her in his life to stay sane. “I don’t wanna fight. Can we leave it for another time?” 

She giggled. “Yes.” 

He didn’t have long with her because Peter was tapping his butt. “Hey. What?” 

“I need my bathing suit on.” 

“Show mom your rash.” Tony pulled him closer and untapped one side of the diaper, pulling it down so Pepper could see. “Does it look bad?” 

“Aw, baby.” Pepper felt bad for him. She knew how easy it was for that to happen to him. She couldn’t even imagine the pain. 

Peter shrugged. It didn’t hurt right now. “Dad. I wanna go swimming.” 

“Okay. Okay. Let’s go get you changed into a bathing suit.” He took Peter’s hand and walked into the house, seeing Mike bringing in their luggage. “Oh. Thank you. You didn’t have to do that, Mike.” 

“Alice would have had my head if I didn’t. You can take it upstairs though.” Tony had to let go of Peter’s hand to grab both but Alice stopped him. 

“Where are you guys going?” 

“Upstairs. Pete wants his bathing suit on.” 

“Oh. I’ll take him.” Alice stopped him and grabbed Peter’s hand, pulling him upstairs. 

“I’m coming anyways since these need to come up either way.” Tony followed them up. This was going to be the start of Alice taking Peter away from him. He saw them walk into Morgan and what’s supposed to be Peter’s bedroom but Peter ran out. “He’s sleeping with Pep and I still, Alice.” 

“Oh, I didn’t know. Let’s go into here then. I’ll have to get this room ready for you. I got the other room ready for you.” 

Tony thought it was strange that Pepper didn’t tell her. “Pep didn’t tell you?” 

“She didn’t. Well, not exactly. It’s okay. I got him from here, Tony.” 

Tony rolled his eyes as he opened up Peter’s suitcase to find his bathing suit. “You can’t get rid of me that easy, Alice.” 

“I want some time with him, Tony. Don’t be a Peter hog again.” She turned to Peter. “Do you think your daddy hogs you?” 

Peter grinned and sat on the edge of the bed. “Yeah.” 

“I think so too. He’s silly, right?” 

“Yeah.” 

Tony was so in love with him. He tossed the bathing suit at his face. “Here. Stand up so I can take your diaper off.” 

“I can, Tony. I don’t get to do anything with him with you here. Let me be on grandma duty.” She shoved Tony out of the way and held her hand out for Peter to take him into the bathroom. Peter obediently followed. 

Tony followed after them with a package of wipes. “He’s still my kid.” Tony felt like he needed to point that out. 

“Oh really? I didn’t know that. Did you know that, Peter?” 

Peter was more focused on the package of wipes. He crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t need those. Put them in the garbage.” 

Alice took them from Tony and opened it up so Peter backed away until he hit the wall and there was nowhere else for him to go. “Daddy.” He pleaded. It hurt and he didn’t want to do that again. 

“Alright. Just leave the wipes, he’s going into the pool after so it doesn’t matter.” He held his hand out for the wipes but Alice just looked at him and she looked so much like Pepper. Tony sighed. “He has a bad rash, Alice. His skin is so sensitive.” 

“I can help with that.” She handed Tony the wipes and walked over to Peter, taking off his diaper. “Oh, honey.” 

Peter looked at his dad. 

“Oatmeal baths help with this. Before he goes to bed, I’ll make him one. What time is his bedtime?” Asked Alice, rubbing Peter’s lower back as she spoke. 

“Uh, here,” Tony handed her his bathing suit. “8pm. He’ll probably be going to bed a bit earlier today since he woke up for about an hour last night.” 

“8pm?” She turned to Peter, surprised at such an early bedtime. “Why do you go to sleep so early?” 

“Cause I like to. Sometimes then when I get tired, that’s my time to go to sleep. Dad too.” 

Tony chuckled. Peter had a funny way of saying things. “Put your bathing suit on now, buddy. I gotta apply sunscreen.” 

“I’ll do that, Tony.” 

Of course. Tony handed it to her and decided to go get his own bathing suit on while she was helping Peter out. “I’ll be right back.” 

Peter watched his dad leave, a pout forming on his face. He pointed towards the door and looked at his grandma. 

“He’ll be back soon. Is your daddy your best friend?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Why’s that?” Asked his grandma as Peter stepped into his bathing suit. 

“Cause he smells good.” Once his bathing suit was on, Peter pulled on the front to get himself situated then he walked out of the bathroom to find his dad. “Dad? Where are you?” 

So much for taking five minutes to himself to change. 

Tony opened up the closet door and walked out. “I was just changing in here.” 

“Look. We’re twins. You’re wearing a blue bathing suit and I have blue stripes on mine.” Peter was excited about that and bumped into his dad so their bathing suits could touch although Peter’s waist didn’t quite reach Tony’s yet. 

“You’re too cute. Come here.” He lifted his kid up, setting him on his hip and walking back into the bathroom. “Alice, I’m gonna put sunscreen on him quickly. We’ll meet you downstairs.” 

“Tony.” She sighed in annoyance. “I can help out too. I never get to see him anymore. You guys live across the country.” 

Tony didn’t know what she wanted him to say about that. “That’s our home. We send pictures and videos almost everyday for you.” 

“It just doesn’t do justice.” 

Tony understood that. He placed Peter on his feet. “Alright. I’ll meet you guys downstairs then.” He saw Peter giving him a dirty look as he left but at least Peter didn’t chase after him. Tony went downstairs and went outside, walking into the pool where the rest of his family was. “Where’s Aiser?” 

“He’s rolling around in the mud over there.” Pepper said. 

“I bet mom twenty bucks that Peter’s gonna join him within the hour.” Harley knew his brother so well and he knew that’s where Peter was headed as soon as he got down. 

“You don’t think he will?” This was interesting. Tony turned to see what Pepper had to say as he got onto the pool float and laid there. He knew Peter was going to be jumping on him as soon as he came down. 

“He can’t. He has a diaper rash, Tony. He can’t be rolling in the bacteria infested mud.” 

Tony didn’t even think of that. “Your mom says she’s going to make an oatmeal bath for him. Something like that.” 

“I want an oatmeal bath, dad.” Of course Morgan did. 

“Not tonight, Morg. Your brother needs one.” 

“Dad?” 

“Yeah?” Tony turned to face Harley. 

“Tomorrow can we go to the jet skis? Just us.” 

Tony honestly didn’t feel like leaving everyone (Peter) tomorrow but he knew that was what Harley wanted. “We can plan for that. Around lunch time will probably be the best time.” 

“Sweet.” 

Tony heard the sound of running feet so he turned and when he saw Peter, his face lit up. “Hey, you.” 

“I want to come on with you, daddy.” 

“Then jump.” 

Peter squatted down but he couldn’t reach. “Harley. Lift me onto there.” He went into his brothers arms and tried to keep himself as dry as possible. “Mm.” He immediately cuddled into his dad’s arms. “Your chest is hairy.” 

He went to pluck a hair but Tony slapped his hand away before he could. “I don’t think so.” 

“So are your nipples.” Peter went to grab the hair there but Tony grabbed his hands, flipping him around and tickling his sides. 

“How bout I do that to you.” He teased him, poking his sides. 

Peter squealed. “Noo!” 

He tried to get away so Tony let him go, helping him get into the water but Peter didn’t even try and swim and just went under so Tony grabbed his arm to pull him back up. “Swim, Pete. Don’t just drop like a log.” 

Peter wiped the water out of his eyes. “I wanna wear a life jacket.” 

“You don’t need one, bud. You know how to swim.” 

Peter groaned. “Noo. I want one. Get it.” 

Tony looked at Pepper so she got out of the pool. “I’ll get you one. Come with me, Peter.” Tony hoisted him onto the pool ledge so Peter walked over to join his mom in the pool storage. “Do you want water wings or a life jacket?” 

“Life jacket.” He pointed at the blue one he wanted and when it was handed to him, he got it on, tightening the straps. “I never want to swim without one.” 

“You always do, Pete. We didn’t have any life jackets in Bali.” 

Peter gave his mom a dirty look. “Yes we did!” He then ran back to the pool and walked in, sitting on the second step. Tony could tell he was tired but they were cutting out naps. 

“Peter, you look so tired.” Alice pointed out, swimming over to him. Tony sighed because now Peter was going to milk it. 

“I am.” He rubbed his eyes and sank down to the third step but his life jacket prevented him from sitting and made him float up, which Peter wasn’t happy about. He threw himself back but he smacked his face on the step and started screaming. 

Tony knew he had to comfort him now. He got off the pool float and swam over to Peter. “Come here. You hit your face?” He lifted Peter into his arms as he sobbed into his ear. “That’s why you can’t just throw yourself like that.” 

Morgan and Harley were used to their brother’s outbursts so they paid him no mind. Alice on the other hand was concerned. “He looks so tired, Tony.” 

Tony obviously knew that. He got out of the pool and went to set Peter on his feet to get the life jacket off of him but Peter clung onto him tighter. “Nooo! Hold me!” 

“I need to put you down for a second so I can take this off of you.” He quickly did that then lifted Peter back up, rocking him side to side. 

“How did he sleep last night, Tony.” Pepper needed to know. She stood in front of them, rubbing Peter’s back. 

“He went to bed at around 8:30. Woke up for an hour at around 2am and then was up for the day at 5am.” It was their typical night. 

Pepper sighed. “Okay. Maybe he should have a nap. He’s miserable and over tired.” 

That was a waste of time. Tony would have planned the day better if he knew Pepper was going to give in and let Peter nap. Tony was grateful for that at least. He hoisted Peter up higher. “I’m gonna take him to the bed swing by the water and strip him so the fresh air will help with his rash.” 

“Alright. When he wakes up we’ll all eat lunch.” She pressed a kiss to Peter’s hand and silently cooed at him. 

“You want to take a nap, baby?” Peter nodded against him. “Okay. Let’s get you a bottle then let’s go sleep.” Tony was quick to fill up a bottle of milk then he said goodbyes to everyone and walked down to the water with Peter. 

He knew this was what Peter needed since he had already stopped crying, knowing he was getting a nap and a bottle. 

Tony laid him on the swing bed and tugged off Peter’s bathing suit. “Do you need to pee before you sleep?” 

Peter shook his head. “My diaper.” 

“No, not right now. The fresh air will help you heal.” Tony got on the bed with him, handing Peter his bottle and letting Peter get comfortable on him. He knew he was going to get peed on but Tony accepted his fate. 

The two of them were asleep in under fifteen minutes, the ocean waves being their natural sound machine and the warm breeze cooling them down. 

About thirty minutes later, Peter woke up. He felt the cushions under him soaking wet so he tried to move away from it but there was nowhere for him to go so he grabbed his bottle and put himself back to sleep. 

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“And just put that into the bowl and stir it up.” Pepper directed Morgan, making sure she added the correct amount. 

“Like this?” 

“Exactly like that. Good job.” 

“Do you always help your mom out in the kitchen, Morgan?” Asked Alice, taking a seat on the kitchen stool to watch them. She loved having such a full house. 

Morgan grabbed juice from the fridge to fill cups up. “No. Petey does. He likes to cook. I have to take over his place though since he’s napping.” 

“Yeah, so Peter helps you cook?” 

Pepper started cutting the chicken up. “Not so much anymore. Before…” Before he was kidnapped he did. “Um, before he did. Not so much recently.” 

“Before what?” Asked Alice, not aware of the reason. 

Pepper didn’t want to say it but Morgan did. “Before he was kidnapped by his fake dad. The second time. Not the first time. The first time he was a tiny baby.” 

Everyone was silent. No one talked about the elephant in the room and danced around the topic. Maybe they shouldn’t but it was so hard. 

“Where’s Peter’s spill proof cup? Or should I put it in a bottle since he’s still allowed to use one?” 

Pepper shared a look with her mom and grabbed a spill proof cup from the drawer. “Can you pour it in this? I’m gonna go wake the boys up.” 

“Oh. I will. I miss Peter. He’s only been here for a few hours and your husband is already stealing him from me.” 

Pepper laughed because she knew Tony would do that. “I know. Just tell him you want time with Peter and he’ll back off.” 

“No he won’t.” 

Pepper laughed again. “Maybe not. Oh. Can you take a picture of them before waking them up. I like the memories.” 

Alice took Pepper’s phone and left, making her way down the beach. She walked up to the swing bed and cooed when she saw them. Tony had his arm swung over Peter’s torso, keeping him close even in his sleep. Peter was sprawled out like a doll, arms above his head and his bottle lodged in his mouth still. She knew he fell asleep drinking it. 

After taking a bunch of pictures, she shook Tony awake first. He was up immediately. “Yeah? What? Oh. Hey.” He looked at Peter to make sure he was still there. “What time is it?” 

“Just after 1pm. Lunch will be ready in five minutes.” 

Tony removed his arm from Peter and looked over at him, just as he began peeing. Great. He knew that was going to happen but it just proved that Peter did in fact do it in this sleep and not just when he woke up. 

“Ohh.” Alice stifled her laughter. 

Tony sat up and shook Peter a bit harder. “Hey. Pete. Time to wake up. It’s lunch time.” He pulled him towards the edge of the swing bed. “Petey. C’mon, time to wake up.” 

Peter moaned and stretched and Tony waited until he was done before picking him up, already knowing what he wanted from him; more cuddles. 

Tony wasn’t complaining. 

He began walking back to the house with Alice. “I was thinking we could have a movie night on the beach tonight. Mike and I have been planning some things for a while now for when you guys come. I think it’ll be fun.” 

“That sounds fun. But the sun doesn’t start to set until eight and Peter’s bedtime is eight…” 

“Well, he can stay awake for a bit longer, no?” 

Tony would have to see. “We’ll play it by ear.” 

He went to place Peter on his feet once they got back to the backyard but he whined so Tony hoisted him back up. “I’m gonna get some clothes on him, we’ll be back.” 

He took Peter upstairs and wasn’t surprised to find Alice following behind him. “Yeah?” 

“Nothing. Since you won’t leave his side, I’m gonna be glued to you too.” 

Tony rolled his eyes. “We have a routine with this stuff, Alice. He’s extra clingy when he wakes up. Just give him a few minutes to actually wake up. Right, Pete?” 

Peter stretched again once he was laid on the bed. He was fine until he saw the wipes. “No.” 

“Just your legs. Nowhere else.” Tony promised, he wiped where he said he would, getting his stomach while he was at it. “See? That didn’t hurt.” 

Peter only stared at him. 

“Alright then.” He went to grab underwear from the suitcases but it was gone. “I’m assuming Pepper unpacked.” How didn’t he expect her to do that already. Tony opened up the drawers until he found Peter’s, pulling out underwear and handing them to Peter. 

Only Peter pushed it away. “Stop it.” 

“Then do you want to put your bathing suit back on?” 

Peter faked a few cries and turned onto his stomach to sink off the bed. “Noo.” 

“Well then I don’t know what you want.” He threw his arms up, annoyed. He thought the nap was supposed to help with this whiny behaviour that drove Tony crazy at times. 

Peter kicked his legs on the floor so Tony ran a hand through his hair and looked at Alice. “You wanna be with him so badly. You deal with this.” He grabbed clothes from the dresser for himself and walked into the bathroom. “I’m showering because I’m covered in piss.” 

Alice didn’t exactly want to deal with Peter in his moods. She wanted Tony to do the hard part and she does the fun stuff. She sat on the bed. “Can you tell me what’s wrong, Peter?” 

Peter screamed through his teeth. “No!” 

“Well maybe stop crying and you’ll feel better.” 

Peter mumbled something that Alice couldn’t understand so she grabbed the underwear and tried to get it on Peter but he was crying and kicking too much. “I don’t know what you want, honey. Try telling me so I can help you.” 

“Nooo!” Peter screamed. He turned on his hands and knees then began crawling away from Alice. He stood up once he was out of the room and made a beeline for his grandparents' bedroom. 

Alice gave up. She didn’t know how to deal with Peter so when Tony walked out of the bathroom, she wanted to hug him and appreciated him a lot more for what he puts up with. 

“Where is he?” 

“He ran into my bedroom. I don’t know how you deal with him. He does not listen.” 

Tony began walking down the hallway to go into Alice’s bedroom. “He’s taking advantage of you. He knows exactly what he’s doing.” He pushed open the door and found Peter sitting on the bed, trying to get the tv remote to work. 

“Peter Stark. I am not happy with you. You get your clothes on right now.” 

Peter flinched. 

“I’m going to count to five and you better get off that bed and go get your clothes on.” 

Peter sat up straighter, trying to see if Tony was actually being serious. 

“One, two, three, four… five-” 

“Nooo!” Peter quickly got off the bed and jumped in front of Tony. “I’m listening! I’m listening!” 

“Show me that you’re listening and go get dressed. You’re not eating lunch naked, Peter. Let’s go.” He grabbed his arm and pulled him back into the bedroom but Peter began crying. “Hey! Enough.” 

Peter sniffled. “I need to go poop.” 

“No you don’t. Put your leg through your underwear. I’m not playing with you, Peter.” 

Peter whimpered but he knew he was in big trouble and he had to listen so he shut his mouth and lifted each leg up, letting his dad get underwear on him. Tony got him in shorts after that and a tank top then pulled him downstairs. 

Pepper took one look at Peter’s face and knew he got in trouble. She looked at Tony, grabbed the salad off the table to take outside. 

“Dad.” 

“What?” 

Peter whimpered. “My bum hurts.” 

Tony nodded in understanding. “Pepper, where’s the Vaseline? The Sudocream stains.” 

“In my bag upstairs on the bathroom counter. The pink bag.” 

“Stay here, Peter. I’ll be right back.” 

Peter leaned against the kitchen counter with a sigh. He hated being in trouble and on top of that, he was hungry and he really did need to poop but he’d rather eat first. He saw Harley walk into the kitchen with his grandpa. “Hey.” 

Harley walked over to him. “What’s up?” 

“Nothing. Wanna go find cool shells on the beach after lunch?” 

“Sure.” Harley walked past Peter to ruffle his hair. “Lunch is ready, you coming?” 

“I’m waiting for dad.” Peter saw him walking downstairs, still looking upset so Peter looked down. 

“Come, Pete.” He tugged the back of Peter’s pants and underwear down, dipping his finger into the Vaseline to apply it quickly. 

Harley looked away, although he was used to this by now. “Uh, I’ll meet you guys out there.” 

Peter waited for it to be done. “Are you mad at me?” 

“No. I’m not happy with your behaviour though.” Tony felt bad, he knew Peter couldn’t control it, but he didn’t want Peter to be throwing temper tantrums and thinking it’s okay. 

Peter pulled away from him. “I’m not being bad.” 

“Peter. I didn’t say you were.” Tony dipped his other finger in to apply to the front now. “You just need to learn how to use your words when you get upset. Instead of throwing temper tantrums.” 

Peter whined loudly. “I do!” 

Tony finished up and washed his hands, watching Peter march into the backyard. He was right behind him though, making eye contact with him and going to sit next to Morgan and Pepper. 

Peter thought his dad was choosing someone else over him so he started crying. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“You didn’t wanna sit with me.” Peter sobbed. 

Tony rolled his eyes and got up to switch places with Harley. He didn’t know where the hell Peter got this whole being extra behaviour from. “Because there wasn’t a seat available, Pete. Okay. I’m sitting next to you now. All good?” 

“Yeah.” Peter wiped his dry eyes. “I need to go poop.” 

“Okay. Can you go by yourself, Pete? The bathroom is right in the hallway there.” 

Peter whined against him. “Mm. Come.” 

With a sigh, Tony stood up to take him, not even able to take one bite of his food yet. He pushed open the bathroom door and leaned against the counter. 

“I like this bathroom. There’s fish on the wall.” 

“I know. Guess who put that up?” 

“Who?” 

“You and me. When you were three. You picked it out.” 

Peter reached out to touch it and almost fell off the toilet. “Woah. I almost felled.” 

“You almost fell?” Peter nodded. “Okay. Just finish going.” 

Peter stared at Tony, waiting to go and when his dad looked at him, Peter looked away. Tony chuckled. “You’re too much, kid. You know that.” 

“Yeah. I’m just trying to poop.” 

“I know. Hurry up.” He felt bad for rushing him but Peter dragged him into the bathroom every single time to go poop. 

“I’m trying.” After he finished going, Peter quickly stood up to pull his pants up but Tony stopped him. “No. Where did that even come from?” 

Tony grabbed two wipes out of the package. “They’ve been here this whole time. Turn around.” 

“No!” 

“Then do you want to do it?” 

“I don’t need to.” 

Tony sighed and ignored the cries from Peter, finishing up then washing his hands. “Baby. All done, okay. Let’s go eat.” 

“Cream.” 

Tony felt like he was Peter’s personal assistant with all these demands. Hell, he was basically his personal assistant. He didn’t actually mind it but sometimes Tony wanted to feel like his own person and not just Peter’s father; then he felt guilty for thinking and feeling that way.

Once they were done, they both made their way back outside. Tony was about to take a bite, but Peter pushed his plate in front of him. “Dad. Cut it please.” 

And now Tony had to do that. 

.

.

.

Tony could see his kids on the beach from his spot on the pool chair. It was a far distance but Tony was trying to give them space, especially Peter. 

He took a sip of his tea, he wanted coffee but Pepper forbade him from drinking it. “Hey.” 

Tony looked over and saw Pepper sitting down next to him. “Hey. You look good. Did you change?” 

“I’ve been wearing this outfit all day.” She chuckled. 

“Oh. I’ve been so busy with Peter I hadn’t even gotten a chance to look at my beautiful wife.” He reached over, running his hand up her thigh. 

“I know. I saw.” She looked down sadly. Peter was so attached to Tony, too attached. “So, let’s talk about this. Because I want to be on the same page. Do we give Peter bottles here or continue with what we were doing back home and try to break the habit?” 

Tony sighed, removing his hand. “Honestly… I don’t want to ever take them away from him. Why can’t it be his choice? He needs them still, Pep.” 

Pepper started playing with her hair, a sign she was stressing. “Because I don’t think he’ll ever stop, Tony. We talked about this. I think if we don’t take them, Peter will continue to drink from a bottle even when he’s sixteen. I want to stop them now.” 

“We have to come to an agreement together. I don’t think he’s ready to stop the bottles.” 

“Okay.” Pepper was trying to be patient. “When do you think he’ll be ready?” 

Tony tried to think. “I don’t know… maybe when he stops wetting the bed, gets out of this… phase he’s in a constant my way or the highway attitude.” 

“That’s all kids his age, Tony. Honestly, teenagers are brats. Ask anyone who has one.” 

Tony didn’t remember Harley being this difficult. “Harley wasn’t. He was so much more mature.” 

“Hardships force you to grow up. Harley was forced to grow up at a young age. Peter… he’s a teenager plus he’s been through hell and back. Twice.” 

“Exactly. So why are we taking away his comfort item?” 

Pepper sighed loudly. “Because, Tony, he needs to learn how to self comfort. If I gave him the choice, he’d probably still want to breastfeed at this point, Tony. He needs to stop with the bottles. It’s too much now.” 

Tony didn’t think it was. “I want it to be his choice.” 

“Then let’s talk to him about it.” 

“Alright. But not here. Let’s wait until we go home.” 

Pepper sighed again. “Tony. I feel like I’m talking to a child trying to push back bedtime. If we don’t stop it now, we’ll just keep pushing that date further and further back until he’s twenty and still needing a bottle to sleep.” 

Tony rolled his eyes. “A child? Okay, Pep. I’m the one trying to have an actual conversation with you about this. We’re in this together. We have to come to decisions together with him.” 

Alice walked over to them, unaware of their important conversation. “Such a beautiful evening out, isn’t it?” She saw her daughter sighing so Alice turned to Tony. “What did I do?” 

“Nothing. We’re just talking about Peter.” 

“Oh? What about?” 

“Just about his bad habits that Tony is encouraging.” 

“Encouraging? How many times do I have to tell you that I’m not.” 

Pepper turned to Alice. “Do you think Tony is encouraging him? With the bottles?” 

Alice thought about it for a moment. “Well, I think he knows, you both know what’s best for Peter. If he decides that Peter wants a bottle, it should be his call. I don’t think Peter’s… ready to have them taken away from him. I mean, that boy really loves his milk. Always has.” 

Tony felt a huge relief now that he knew Alice was on his side. 

“I’m trying to stop bad habits, mom.” 

“I’m just saying, I’ve done some research too, I think he’s coping pretty well considering everything he’s gone through. I mean, would you rather him be doing drugs in a back alleyway or-or sneaking out late at night. Or hell, having underage sex with older men. Who knows.” 

The images Alice put in Tony’s head almost made him sick. “Older men? Why do you automatically go to that?” 

“Yeah, mom. That’s oddly strange.” Pepper didn’t like the thought of it either. 

“Well, I mean because he was kidnapped by an older man.” Was all Alice said to explain it. 

“But Steve… he-he didn’t… sexually assault Peter or anything. He may have been fucked up in the head but not in that way.” Thank god, Tony thought. 

Alice looked between them. “I know. But Peter likes to please older males. Don’t you see it? He’s always after your approval, Tony, not Pepper’s. He always tries to please Mike. Not me. Same with Harley.” 

That silenced both Tony and Pepper. 

Tony was trying to think of past examples of that and now that it was brought to his attention, he could think of so many scenarios of just this past week. It was true, Peter tried to please older men, trying to make sure they were proud of him and not upset with him. 

That’s why Peter always asks him if he’s upset with him, why he’ll always do what Harley wants to do first and with Morgan, Peter tries to call the shots, not caring about pleasing her. Or pepper. Tony thought about it, just a few hours ago when Peter was trying to build a bigger sand castle than Morgan’s to get Mike to complement it. 

Even at school, Peter always turned to his male teachers for praises, wanting to impress them. 

Tony was going to have a panic attack. What did this mean for when he’s older, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty even. Tony stood up to try and calm down. What did this mean for Peter’s future? 

“Oh my god.” He whispered. 

“Tony. It’s okay, it doesn’t mean anything-” 

“It doesn’t mean anything!” Tony yelled. “You heard your mom, she’s right! I didn’t-I didn’t even realize it. Oh my god.” 

Pepper stood up to try and calm him down. “Tony. Just breathe-” 

“No. How did I not notice this! It’s so obvious.” He ran his hand through his hair. “What the fuck am I supposed to do about this?! Is Peter gonna let some random guy fuck him when he’s seventeen just to please them?! You know how many sick fucks can take advantage of him for this, Pepper.” 

Pepper flinched at Tony’s horrible thoughts. “No. Just stop. He’s not going to… do that. Okay? Let’s just-” 

“Alice is right. How-how am I supposed to protect him from that.” Tony wanted to scream. “I wanted to kill him. I wanted to kill Steve. He-he fucked up my kids mind so much, Pepper. He fucked up his poor little mind. My poor baby.” He was openly crying now. He couldn’t get the disgusting image out of his head at the thought of some older man hurting his boy. He felt sick. 

“Tony. Just breathe. Okay. Peter’s okay. He’s on the beach right over there with my dad and his siblings. He’s okay. Let’s not think about that scenario because it’s not going to happen. Karen is here to help. We’ll talk to her about this and we’ll discuss a plan to talk to Peter about it. It’ll all be okay.” 

Alice was at Tony’s side too. “Tony. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to start… this. I thought you guys were aware of it. I thought it was obvious.” 

Tony wiped his wet cheeks. “No. It is obvious. I just- I didn’t realize it.” He turned to Pepper. “I’m not taking anything away from him. Okay? I don’t fucking care. I don’t care if he’s fucking thirty and still exactly like this.” Tony wiped his face again then walked towards the house, probably to clean himself up before going to his kids. 

Pepper sat back down. “Oh mom. I don’t know what to do.” 

“Virginia. My darling. I’m here.” Alice was rubbing her daughter’s back. “Don’t take the bottles away from him. Not right now. And Tony’s just… overwhelmed right now. He doesn’t mean it, he won’t allow Peter to be thirty and still like this.” 

Pepper shook her head. “No. He will. Tony can’t let him go. He’s terrified of Peter growing up, why do you think he encourages the diapers, bottles, all that. He doesn’t want Peter to grow up. He still sees him as his three year old toddler he lost.” Pepper took a breath. “I’m trying to get Tony to go to therapy. I think… I think it’ll help. But… he refuses to go. Scared to open up, I guess.” 

“Losing Peter hit him the hardest. I saw it break him down a little bit more every time I saw him walk through that door with no idea where Peter was.” She admitted. “When Peter was taken, he took the other half of Tony’s heart with him.” 

Pepper saw it. She had to stay and be a mom but Tony couldn't do it, he couldn’t stay to be a dad without Peter. She had to threaten him with a divorce if he didn’t get on a plane to come see the two kids he did have left. 

And she saw the way he forced a smile on his face and tried so hard to be there, to be happy, but it was never anything more than hidden pain behind a forced smile. 

“Those two are each other’s half.” Pepper laughed wetly. “Tony’s still hurting from losing Peter though. It’s all… still so fresh. We just got him back two months ago. We’re… he’s trying. All of us are.” 

She turned around when she heard a door open and saw Tony walking out of the house. Pepper didn’t bother calling out for him, she knew he was walking down to the beach to see Peter. 

Tony just needed to see Peter. 

He walked down the steps to the beach and saw Peter standing in front of Mike, talking to him and waving his arms around wildly. Tony tried to forget about what Alice said and continued on walking towards his boy. 

When he got close enough and Peter still didn’t see him, Tony called his name. “Pete.” 

Peter turned his head and once he saw who it was, he squealed and happily skipped across the sand towards him. “Hi daddy.” 

“Hi baby. Come here.” Peter squirmed away so Tony tried to grab ahold of him. “Let me pick you up.” He laughed, grabbing Peter bridal style and pressing kisses all over his face. “Are you having fun?” 

“Yeah. Where were you?” 

“Oh. Just drinking tea with your mom and grandma.” 

Peter wiggled to be put down. “Wow. That sounds so British. Like tea with the queen or something.” 

“Definitely.” Tony placed his wiggly boy on the sand. “What have you been up to?” 

Peter shrugged. He turned around to face his grandpa. “We’ve just been playing in the water. Grandpa says that he used to take me here when I was a baby.” 

“Yeah. He did. So did I. To this exact spot.” 

Peter fell to his knees. “Do you think I touched this exact piece of sand before?” 

“Maybe not that exact piece.” Tony chuckled and held his arms out to pick him up. He just wanted to hold him. Apparently Peter didn’t want to be held though. 

“No. I wanna go back to play with Morgan. We’re rescuing the animals from the water.” 

“What animals?” Tony asked, thinking it was actual animals. 

“The monkeys! And the tigers. And one lion.” 

Figures, Tony should have thought of their active imagination. “Wow. You better go rescue them. Be quick because we’re gonna have a movie night tonight.” 

Peter ran off. “Alright!” He fell to his knees by Morgan. “Dad says we have to be fast. Something about a movie night.” Peter grabbed a shovel to start making their hole bigger. He looked up when Tony’s shadow stood over him. “Hey. You’re blocking my sun.” 

“Sorry.” Tony stepped to the side. “Are you guys having fun?” 

“Can’t talk! Important stuff going on!” Morgan tossed sand on his feet in her attempt to help make the hole bigger and while she was doing that, Peter was using that sand to make a barrier. “Faster!” 

“No. I’m going as fast as I can.” 

Aiser ran over to them and started to help them dig. 

“Good boy, Aiser.” Peter praised him. 

Tony watched the three of them for the next few minutes until they were done. He then led them back to the house to join everyone else. Alice and Pepper were getting out blankets and a big black bin which was what Tony assumed was the movie projector. 

“Oh good. You guys are back. Go get pyjamas on because we’re setting the movie up outside on the beach.” Said Alice. 

Mike popped up in the kitchen. “And come hungry since I’m making popcorn.” 

Peter walked towards him at the mention of popcorn but Tony pulled him back. “Let’s go get ready.” He followed Peter upstairs and into their guest room where Peter stripped from his bathing suit. 

“Pyjamas!” 

“No, let’s go shower. Let’s wash all this sand and chlorine off your butt.” 

Peter turned to attempt to see it but he just looked like a dog chasing his tail. 

“Come on, we’ll be quick.” Tony turned the water on, making sure it was the right temperature then he turned to look at Peter. “What’re you doing?” He asked, finding Peter standing in front of the mirror and looking at himself. 

“Nothing.” Peter hopped like a bunny into the shower and sat down. “Come in too. You’re wearing your bathing suit anyways.” 

“I was already planning on it. I know grandma said she was going to do an oatmeal bath for you tonight but it’ll be late after the movie so she’s going to do it tomorrow morning with you.” He explained to Peter as he poured body wash into his hands. “Come here. You have to stand up, Pete.” 

Peter scooted closer and stuck his arms out first. “That tickles.” He gasped. “Oh! I need my bottle for the movie, okay?” 

Tony looked at him. He wondered if Peter still thought they were trying to take it from him. 

When Peter didn’t get an answer, he stepped away from him. “Or else I’m gonna cry and be so angry. Okay?” 

Tony yanked Peter towards him. “Watch it. I don’t wanna hear any ultimatums from you.” 

“What’s ult-ult-that word?” 

“An ultimatum. It’s basically like you do this or else.” 

Peter nodded. That’s exactly what he was doing. “It’s… bad?” 

“It can be. I don’t want you saying stuff like that, understand me?” 

Peter thought about it and nodded. “You mad at me?” 

Tony thought back to what Alice said. Peter tries to please older men. He shook his head. “Never. Not at you. But… what would you do if I was?” He wanted to know. 

Peter thought carefully about it. “Uh… I’d… be… sad. Cause I’ve been bad. I never mean to.” Peter sighed and stepped closer to Tony, reaching out to interlock their fingers together. “But I’m not bad anymore. Not in awhile.” 

Tony felt so bad for what was implanted in his baby’s mind. He pulled him closer. “You never were bad, baby. Sometimes you do naughty things that I may get upset about but it doesn’t make you bad. You’re still young and learning.” 

With a nod, Peter pulled away from Tony. “I know. Hurry up so we can eat popcorn.” 

“Me? You’re the one who’s stalling.” Tony playfully pinched him and they got finished up in the shower. Tony wrapped Peter in a fluffy towel then waited for him to leave the bathroom so Tony could take off his wet bathing suit and put on pyjama pants along with a black tank top. 

He grabbed cream and left the bedroom. “You know what time it is?” 

Peter playfully screamed and hid himself under the blankets so Tony pulled him back out and flipped him onto his back. “You’re too silly.” 

Peter giggled. He opened his mouth to say something but the bedroom door opened and Harley walked in. “Hey. Oh. Didn’t mean to walk in now but look, Pete, I rinsed off that cool rock you found, it looks kinda like a fossil.” 

“Let me see.” Peter took it from his brother, closely examining it. “Hmm. Dad. Look.” 

“I’ve got cream on my fingers, Pete. I’ll look after.” 

Peter held the rock up to his dad. “Put cream on the rock.” 

“No.” 

He attempted to roll onto his stomach to show Harley again but Tony held by the hip so he couldn’t move. “Hey!” 

“Pete, I’m almost done. Where are you even trying to go that can’t wait like three minutes.” Tony wiped his fingers on a wipe and opened up the diaper. “Do you know what movie we’re watching, Harls?” 

“Don’t know. Probably some cartoon movie.” Harley was okay with it, he accepted the childish movies at this point. 

Once it was secured onto him, Peter turned on his stomach and pushed himself up to his knees. “Now look, dad. It’s from a dinosaur.” 

“Okay, let me take a look.” He took the rock from Peter, examining it closely. “Wow. Keep it. That’s so cool.” He gave it back to him and grabbed pyjamas for Peter but Peter crawled away from him. “Pete. Let’s get this on you.” 

“No. Nothing else.” 

“It’s not as hot as Bali here at night, it’s not cold but you still need to wear pyjamas over that.” 

Peter shook his head and walked out of the bedroom so Tony sighed and followed him, placing the shirt over his head. “Put your arms through.” He sat him on his butt and quickly managed to get his pyjama shorts on so he was at least wearing something. 

Peter gave Tony a dirty look and stood up, walking down the stairs. Tony had no idea what was up with Peter recently and giving dirty looks. It was kinda cute at first but now it was annoying. Tony followed him downstairs, bumping into Pepper. “Hey. Pete’s ready. Where’s Morg?” 

“She’s just using the bathroom before we go out. Did you sit Peter on the toilet?” 

Tony looked away from her. “You know he wouldn’t have gone even if I did.” 

Pepper gave him one of her looks that showed she wasn’t impressed and when she saw Peter run by, she called him over, feeling between his legs for the patting. “Tony.” 

Tony honestly didn’t care. “What? It’s easier this way. He’s going to be sitting on me for the movie, like he does every movie, and I don’t wanna get peed on.” 

She grabbed a bottle from the cabinet and filled it up with milk. “This is what I mean by encouraging it.” 

Tony honestly didn’t care. “Okay. There’s nothing wrong with putting it on him a few hours early.” 

Alice walked into the kitchen to grab the tray of smoothie drinks she made. Tony counted seven on there. “Oh, Pete won’t drink it out of that glass, Alice.” 

“So he won’t want it?” 

Tony took one of the glasses off and grabbed another bottle from the drawer, pouring it in. “Then I just cut the tip and it’s perfect.” He explained, making the hole of the bottle bigger. 

Alice looked at him. “So he won’t drink out of a cup either?” 

“At dinner, he will. Mostly. Not if he’s anywhere else.” Pepper explained. 

“He’s a spiller. Our little mess maker. I can’t tell you how many messes I’ve cleaned up from him alone.” Tony added with a chuckle. He watched Peter run by and stop in front of him, holding up a pin. “Where did you get that? Give it to me.” 

“It’s mine.” 

“It’s not a toy, Peter.” Tony grabbed it from him and Peter forced cries out. 

“What did he have, Tony?” 

Tony showed Pepper. “A pin.” He took the bottle with the smoothie in it off the counter. “Here. Drink this.” 

“No. I don’t want that.” 

“Do you want milk?” Peter nodded. “Then put that attitude away.” 

“I don’t have any attitude.” Peter uncrossed his arms, taking a step closer to his dad. “Just gimmie milky.” 

Tony bursted out laughing. Peter always had a way to make him laugh uncontrollably with his ways. “You’re too much.” He ruffled his hair and the three of them made their way outside, Peter running ahead and making his way towards the movie set up. 

Tony wrapped an arm around Pepper, pulling her closer. He just really appreciated her support and being on his side, even though he knew she didn’t fully support his decision.