Camping with you
It was Pepper’s idea.
She wanted to have more one on one time with her kids and instead of picking which ones because she honestly didn’t care, she just wanted more time with them one on one.
Since the house break in a week ago, they mainly spent time at home, hanging around the pool and not doing very much which everyone enjoyed and since they were planning on flying back home in a few days, she wanted them to do one more special thing.
So she came up with the idea of picking names out of a hat.
Tony used to be a gambler but not anymore.
“Okay, but whichever names we get, you can’t switch.” Pepper wanted Tony to know that. So in other words, if Tony didn’t get Peter, he couldn’t trade or fight Pepper to get him. “Got it?”
“Yep. Who’s picking first?”
“Do Rock Paper Scissors!” Peter exclaimed. He was sitting up on his knees between his siblings, being the middle child and all. He was just excited to go camping so he didn’t care if he got his mom or his dad but when it came to nighttime and comfort, he would have a preference for his dad.
Tony held his hand out for Pepper. “On shoot. Rock Paper Scissors, shoot!”
Tony put rock and Pepper put scissors so Tony went first. He closed his eyes and was silently praying in his head that he picked out Peter’s name. He opened the paper. “Morgan.”
“Yay!” Morgan jumped up running into her dad’s arms for a quick hug.
“Are you excited, princess? It’s gonna be fun.” Tony pressed a kiss to her cheek, feeling a bit anxious now.
“Rock Paper Scissors again.” Pepper held her hand up for Tony. Tony put a paper and Pepper did scissors again so Pepper went next, pulling out a paper. “Harley.”
Tony needed to win this round.
“Maybe I’ll have my son’s. That would be nice.” Pepper would love to have some time spent with both her son’s. “Again.”
Tony’s heart was beating so fast. First, they both did rocks then Tony put scissors and Pepper put paper. Tony almost screamed in excitement. He pulled the paper out, holding Peter’s name and Peter ran into his arms, cheering. “Yay, daddy! I get to go with you.” Peter wrapped his arms tightly around him, kissing his cheek like Tony’s done to him so many times. “When do we go? Now?”
“Soon, baby.” Tony was so relieved that he got to have Peter go with him. He honestly didn’t know what he would do. Probably hope Peter threw a tantrum and got to switch with Pepper. He stood up, lifting Peter up with him. “All we have to do is pack then we’ll leave in about two hours. Do you want to go pick out two toys each you want to bring with Morgan?”
Peter wiggled to be put down and then he ran off.
“Are you excited, Harls? I know I am. It’s been so long since you and I got to spend one of one time together. You go get your stuff packed. We’ll leave soon too.” Tony helped her to her feet. “I know there won’t be actual toilets out there, should we keep Peter in diapers or still pull-ups?”
Tony didn’t think they’ve gotten very far with the pull-ups. Peter only peed in the toilet twice. “I’ll ask him what he wants. For the car ride maybe a pull-up in case we stop somewhere, but once we’re there a diaper will be easier for me to change him anyways.”
“Alright. Just try to continue asking him to go.” She walked with Tony into the kitchen so he could grab a bunch of bottles and fill them up with milk so they would be ready for the cooler. “This might be far-fetched, but would you want to bring the training potty?”
Tony didn’t even think of that. “Do we have one here?”
“We do. There’s a brand new one in the storage closet from when Morgan was being potty trained but she didn’t even need it, she was so quick with it.”
“If he doesn’t sit on the actual toilet, I doubt he’ll sit on that.” Tony thought so. He filled up a water bottle with apple juice for Morgan for the car ride and then a sippy cup of grape juice for Peter for the car ride, leaving both out on the counter.
“You can always bring it to try.”
“I’ll ask him if he’ll want to.”
Tony walked upstairs to get the Peter bag packed with everything they’d need. He first walked into Morgan’s room and what once was and will be again Peter’s room here. Unless he starts puberty first then he’ll probably go share a room with Harley.
But Tony hoped that didn’t happen any time soon.
“Woah. That’s a lot of toys.”
Peter grinned at him. “Yeah. I like it. I can’t decide what one I want to bring. So I’ll take them all!”
“As much as you can carry anyways.” Tony fondly shook his head at him. “Hey, Pete, do you want to wear diapers or pull-ups while we’re camping?”
“Diapers.” Came Peter’s quick reply.
“Okay but you’re wearing a pull-up on the car ride there so when we stop, you can go. And you need to sit on the potty before we leave.”
Peter didn’t respond to him but Tony knew he heard him. “You too Morgan.” He said, not to make Peter feel better but because she needed the reminder too.
“I will before we leave.”
Tony left the room to go pack the Peter bag but found that Pepper had already beaten him to it. “I want you to bring the potty.”
Tony forgot to ask him. “I’ll bring it but I’m not fighting with him if he doesn’t want to use it.”
“Just try.” She put the potty on the bed and he was seeing this for the first time, a hard reminder that he wasn’t present all that much during those seven years.
“I’ll try. If you’re packing this, I’m gonna get him to sit on the toilet and hopefully he’ll go.” He walked back into the bedroom which was now basically a playroom and found Peter sitting on the bed frame. “Peter. Off. Come sit on the toilet.”
“No toilet.”
“Come sit on the potty.” He tried and got a side eye from Peter.
“No thanks.”
“Potty is a baby word.” Morgan told their father.
Tony was well aware of that. Mainly that’s why he used it with Peter. And partly because it just slipped out. “It’s just a word to describe a toilet, Morgan. It doesn’t mean anything babyish.”
Peter got off the bed frame and picked up a toy he wanted to bring with him to the toilet with. “Can you stay with me? It’s boring to go alone.”
Tony silently cooed at him. “I will. Let’s go.”
Peter pulled down his pull-up and climbed onto the toilet, getting himself comfortable so Tony pulled up a stool and sat in front of him. “Point yourself into the actual toilet or you’re gonna pee on my face.” Still wouldn’t be the first time.
Peter giggled but did it anyways. After about ten seconds, he gave up. “I don’t need to go anymore. Can I get off?”
“Peter, it hasn’t even been one minute.”
“Mmm but-”
“Can you tell me what you plan on doing when we get to the camp grounds?” Peter was easy to distract. Tony took advantage of his innocence sometimes, not feeling bad about it because it made things easier for him.
“Umm… is there a… pond there?”
“Maybe.” He placed his hands on Peter’s knees. “We have to stop at the store to get…”
“Marshmallows!”
“And?”
“Chocolate!”
“And?”
“Milk!”
Tony chuckled. “Sure. What else? What else do we need to make s’mores?”
“Ummm… gram crackers.”
“Good job. Anything else you can think of to get?”
Peter thought about it. “Maybe… chips? Like… Yummy ones. Like… pickle chips. Or-or Doritos.”
“I like Doritos.”
Peter grinned. “I know. And you also like barbecue chips. Yuck.”
Tony playfully poked his stomach, getting a giggle out of him. “Aright. Did you go?”
Peter looked between his legs. “I don’t think so…?”
“I want you to be aware of when you need to go. So you can go in a toilet. Okay?”
Peter gave a small nod and got off the toilet, lifting his pull-up back up but Tony pulled it off of him instead. “I’m putting a new one on you. I want it to stay dry until our first stop.”
Peter nodded, knowing he couldn’t do that. Well, wouldn’t.
“Can we leave now?” Peter jumped in place, causing Tony to grab his arm to get him to hold still down so he could wipe him clean. “I really really really-”
“Baby. Hold still. I can’t wipe your clean if you keep moving.” Tony turned him around, still holding his arm and quickly wiping his butt then grabbing the rash cream. “I’m almost done.”
“I don’t want cream.” Peter saw it and backed away immediately. “It feels funny.”
Tony grabbed him and stuck his finger into the cream, moving his legs apart a bit. “You have a rash already and it’s not going away. I don’t want it to get worse.”
“Ba ba ba ba ba!” Peter randomly said, waiting for his dad to be done so he could at least walk around the house and not be confined to the bathroom. “You’re done now. I’m bored in here.”
Tony let him go, watching him run away and then he washed his hands, feeling Pepper walk up behind him and slowly crawl her hands towards the front of his pants. “Oh. Hey.”
“Too bad I didn’t pull your name out of the hat. Leave the kids to their own camping trip. Just us and a bed.” Pepper whispered into his ear, sneaking her hands down into his pants and underwear.
“Where is this coming from?” Don’t get him wrong, he was always down to make love to his wife but this wasn’t the best time. He kissed her on the lips, pulling away. He looked towards the open bathroom door where someone could literally walk in at any time.
“What? I’m just giving you something to look forward to once you come back.” Pepper followed his eyes towards the door and took her hands out of his pants.
The camping trip could wait twenty minutes. “Screw this.” Tony shut the bathroom door, locking it. “Just be quiet-”
Pepper pulled his pants and underwear down, freeing him from them. Tony didn’t waste any time lifting Pepper onto the bathroom counter and taking off her own pants and underwear, tossing them onto the floor.
He kissed her passionately, trying to be quiet but Pepper let out a rather loud moan. “Shh shhhh.” Tony kissed her to make her be quiet but I didn’t work. “The kids.”
Pepper wrapped her legs around Tony’s waist to try and slow down his pace but it didn’t work so she muffled another moan. “Ow. Slow down. It hurts.”
Tony slowed down his pace, wanting to enjoy the rare time alone they got but also knowing anyone could come looking for them anytime soon. “Sorry.” He looked down, trying to slow his pace. “Better?” It was a rather quick moment, knowing they didn’t get any time to simply make love to one another very often.
The moan was answer enough.
Once they were done, Tony handed a wipe to Pepper. “It’s better for more than wiping butts.”
She laughed, wiping down her stomach and thighs while Tony got on his underwear and pants. “We should go. Everyone is probably looking for us.” Pepper took off her shirt and tossed it in the hamper, getting back on her underwear and pants.
Tony opened the bedroom door, relieved to see no kids or even a dog in there. Perfect.
He went to finish packing and Peter walked in, holding a teddy bear. “Dad, why were you hurting mom?”
“What?”
Peter climbed onto the bed. “Did mom get an ouchy or something?”
“What do you mean?”
“I come into the bedroom looking for you and I heard mom saying ow. You hurting her?”
Tony’s face probably turned about three shades of red. He looked back at Pepper who walked out of the bathroom, looking from Peter to Tony.
Tony debated on telling the truth but he really didn’t want to have a conversation about sex with Peter right now. “Oh, I was just helping mom pull a splinter out of her foot.”
Peter looked at his mom. “Oh.” He laid down on the bed, sticking his feet in the air. “Does it feel better now, mom?”
Pepper nodded, sharing a look with her husband. “Much better. Did you pee on the potty, baby?”
Tony answered for him. “He tried but nothing came out.” Holding a hand out for Peter, he lifted him off the bed. “Are you ready to go?”
Looking up at his dad's face, Peter tried to touch it. “Why are you all sweaty?”
Tony was so uncomfortable. Why couldn’t they have locked the bedroom door too. There was literally no privacy with these kids. “Oh. The bathroom was really hot.” He pulled his hand, leaving Pepper to get her shirt on so he and Peter went downstairs, letting Peter run to the front door to meet everyone there.
“Dad took a splinter out of mom's foot. They were making funny noises in the bathroom.” Peter told everyone and Tony wanted to hide in a hole. He wasn’t necessarily embarrassed but the fact that now Pepper’s parents and Harley knew what they were literally just doing.
“What kind of noises?” Morgan asked, not understanding either.
Peter went to imitate it so Tony pinched his cheeks. “Alright, you. How about you get Aisers leash? Huh? He’s gonna come with us.”
“Yay!” Peter ran to go do that, while Tony avoided eye contact with his parent- in- laws.
Alice, of course, had to say something. She pinched Tony’s cheeks just like he’d done to Peter. “I’m glad you guys got time to yourself. I’ll watch Peter and Morgan for a few hours when you get back. Good?”
Tony forced a smile. “Yep.”
“And when do you plan on giving Peter the talk?”
Tony didn’t want to think about this. “I already did. He made farting noises the whole time.”
“Did you talk to him about puberty? Because you know he’s going to start it sooner or later and I don’t want him to be scared when he has a wet dream or finds hair growing down there.”
They were literally about to go camping. Tony didn’t want to talk to her about this. “Pepper spoke to Morgan already and I spoke to Peter about it. He knows he can come to me if he’s curious about anything.” God knows he will, Peter asked him why he couldn’t breastfeed like his mom could. Tony wasn’t worried about shyness with Peter.
Peter ran up to him. “Found it. Can we go now?”
“Can you put shorts on? Or are you gonna go in a pull-up only?”
Peter didn’t even put shoes on as he walked outside. “Just my pull-up. It’s too sticky for clothes.” He was wearing a top after all. He ran out to the front with Morgan and Aiser then he opened up the drivers door to the truck and climbed in, looking for the car keys. “Daddy?! Where are the keys?! I want to drive us there!”
Tony walked over to the truck and dangled the keys in front of Peter’s face, teasing him. “Looking for these?”
Peter attempted to snatch them but failed at it. “Gimmie.”
“Just try and touch the gas.” Tony knew he wouldn’t be able to reach.
Peter leaned down in the seat to be able to touch it, grinning.
“Now do you see the bear in front of you?”
“What bear?” Peter sat up, looking out the window. “There’s no bear, dad.”
“Exactly.” Tony pinched his chubby thigh. “Ask me to teach you to drive in five years. Scoot out.”
“Five years?” Peter whined. “But Harley started driving when he was sixteen. That’s only two years from now.” Peter did have a good point but Tony didn’t care.
“No. Ask me again in five years.” He lifted Peter out of the truck, squeezing his chubby cheeks. “Stay young forever for me.”
With a shy smile, Peter agreed and climbed into his car seat. “If I have to stay little forever and ever then you need to let me wear diapers forever. Okay?”
Tony kissed him. “You’re too cute.” He got him buckled in, making sure Morgan was buckled in too then they all said their goodbyes and left. Even though Tony would much rather prefer going with his whole family, he did like the idea of spending this time with his two youngest.
Peter drank his juice, happily kicking his dangling feet. He looked over at Morgan and pointed to her water bottle in the car seat cup holder. “Drink yours too.”
“I’m not thirsty yet though.”
Peter didn’t care. He wanted to share with her. “Can you please?”
“Fine. Three sips.”
“Three and a half.”
“Fine.”
Peter waited for her to start drinking so he joined her then tossed his cup onto the floor. “Done.”
“You’re not getting that back until we pull over, Peter.” Tony saw him do it in the mirror and knew he wouldn’t be giving in to him so quickly if he wanted it… maybe.
Peter tried to reach for Morgan’s. “Can I see it for a second?”
“No cause I know you’re gonna throw it on the floor.” Morgan moved hers to the other cup holder so Peter couldn’t reach it even if he tried. That still didn’t stop him from whining about it though.
“Dad. Morgan isn’t giving me her water bottle.” He leaned forward in his car seat but the straps prevented him from doing that so Peter tried to scoot down, still getting blocked from the buckle between his legs. “Dad!”
“Peter. That’s hers. You shouldn’t have thrown yours on the floor then.” Tony turned onto the highway, having to get used to kids screaming in the backseat while he drove and tried to concentrate.
Peter tried to scoot down further in his car seat but now the buckle between his legs was rubbing against his bare skin and it hurt. “Dad. My car seat is hurting me. It’s too tight!”
Tony briefly checked behind him. “What do you mean?”
Peter attempted to tug on it but it didn’t work. “It’s rubbing my skin. And it’s hurting. I need to get out.”
“Because the buckle is rubbing against your leg. Put it over your pull-up so it presses against that and not your skin.” He didn’t want to have to pull over for this.
Peter tried but it wasn’t working. “Daddy!”
“Morgan. Can you quickly help him? Can you reach?”
She reached over and grabbed the buckle, moving it over a bit. “Yeah. I did it. Is that better, Petey?”
“Uh huh.” He wiped the one tear that fell and moved onto the next thing. “Daddy. I’m so thirsty. I feel like I’m gonna die if I don’t drink anything.”
Tony rolled his eyes. “Okay, drama queen.”
“Hey! I’m a boy!” Peter yelled, although more amused than angry.
“Alright alright. Drama king. Better?”
“I’d be better if I had my juice. My throat is just so dry. Can I please have it? I can’t reach.”
Tony checked the time. They had only been on the road for barely fifteen minutes and it was two hours away. What fun. “Peter, no. You threw it on the ground. I saw you.”
“Noooo.”
“Dad?”
“But I want it!” Peter cried.
“Yes, Morgan?”
“Please.” Peter yelled again.
“I need to pee.” Morgan announced so Tony sighed. Of course she did. At least he actually knew she did and wasn’t just saying that.
“Didn’t you go before we left?”
“Yeah. But I need to go again.”
Tony was already pulling off the highway to find a rest stop. Luckily, the closest gas station was five minutes off the highway, but not lucky that it was a gas station. “Let’s be quick. The less time we spend in here, the faster we can get to our campground.”
Peter arched his back while Tony pulled off his seat buckles and held his hand for him to jump out. “Hold my hand in the parking lot.”
“I need to pee too. Can I go?” Peter asked, skipping alongside Tony on the way to the trunk.
“Of course you can. If you actually need to, then you can sit on the toilet inside.” Tony grabbed shorts from the suitcase and bent down to help Peter get them on. “Let’s try not to hang out here. We need to put our tent up before it gets dark out.” It was still early in the afternoon and Tony would prefer to be there in the next hour and a half. He didn’t want to make any more stops but with two young kids, that was inevitable.
They either got bored and needed to walk around, got bored and pretended they needed to pee, actually needed to pee or simply got really cranky.
Peter was the worst at car rides though.
He couldn’t last longer than a twenty minute car ride before he got impatient and needed to get out of the car and do something else.
So Tony just hoped they could get there before dark.
Tony opened up the family restroom and brought both kids inside. He didn’t trust Morgan to go into the female one alone and he didn’t want to bring either of them into the male washroom so this one would do.
There were two toilets with a half wall for privacy between the two so Morgan ran over to one and Peter looked at the other one and immediately shook his head. “I just remembered, I don’t need to go anymore. Can I get candy? No! Chips!”
“If you actually need to go, go in this so I can change you before we go.” Peter hesitated but went. “Tell me when you’re done.”
“I’m done.”
Tony placed his sweater on the change table in the bathroom and lifted Peter onto it.
“Why did you put your sweater?” Peter asked, lifting his hips to help his dad pull his shorts down to his ankles.
“Because this thing is filled with millions of germs and I don’t want it to get on you.” Tony pulled off the pull-up and grabbed a bunch of wipes out. “This is the last time we’re stopping until we get there, guys. You can get whatever snacks you want here.”
Morgan went to wash her hands, fixing her hair in the mirror. “Dad. I have a big knot. Can you brush it out?”
Tony hated doing that. Plus he sucked at it. “Uh, how about I put it in a ponytail for you? Then mom can brush it when we get back tomorrow.” He pushed Peter’s knees to his chest but Peter was trying to straighten them. “Can you bend your legs. What are you doing?”
“It hurts.”
Tony grabbed the cream and opened it. “I know. I’m gonna put this on but I need to wipe first. Okay?” Peter let out a loud sigh that Tony chuckled at. He wondered if Peter got that from him for sighing so much. “What snacks do you wanna get?”
“Uhhh… chips! Yummy chips! Good ones.”
Tony laughed and Morgan stood by Peter’s head, patting it. “You’re so cute. I wish I could pick you up.”
Peter tried to push her away. “Nooo. Only dad can pick me up.”
Tony grabbed a diaper and secured it onto him, lifted him off the change table and pulling his pants up. “Wash your hands, Pete.”
“But I didn’t touch myself.”
Tony thought he had a good point and at home he’d let it pass but not here. “I know but if you’re going to stick your fingers in your mouth, you have to wash your hands.”
“But then I’m gonna be touching everything outside so there’s no point.”
“Peter. Just wash your hands please.”
“No.”
Tony washed his hands and grabbed Peter’s arm, standing him in front of the sink to do hand over hand. “Don’t start with this behaviour, Peter. Otherwise I will turn that car around and drive right back home.”
“Home home or grandma and grandpa's house?”
Tony found that as Peter got older, he was becoming more and more like a teenager, always talking back and testing his parents, especially Tony.
“We’re not driving to New York.” Tony rolled down his sleeves and grabbed the Peter bag and opened up the bathroom door. “Come guys, let’s go.”
Peter ran out first and went for the chip aisle so Tony followed him, watching him decide what bag he wanted and hugging it to his chest. “This one!”
“Don’t crush them all, kid. Do you want anything else? Chocolate maybe?”
He saw the grin spread across Peter’s face and then Peter was grabbing an Aero bar and tucking it underneath his arm. “I’m ready.” He walked down the aisle to find Morgan but came across an aisle that had baby stuff and he turned down it, pointing at the pacifiers. “Can I get one?”
Tony didn’t tell him that he had one packed already. “No, Pete. You have your snacks.”
“I’ll put them back. I want this instead. So if I want it when I sleep.” Peter placed the items he got on the rack so Tony grabbed them and kneeled down to be at Peter’s height level.
“You don’t need to put them back. If you need help sleeping, I’m going to be there. Okay?” He brushed the curls off his forehead, tucking them behind his ears. “There’s nothing to be worried about.”
Peter leaned against him, touching Tony’s hair as he did so. “But… I just really like them.”
“I know you do. If you really want one when you’re trying to sleep, I will give you one, okay?”
Peter wrapped his arms around him. “Yeah.”
Kissing his cheek, Tony stood up, making Peter let go of him so he ruffled his hair and joined Morgan at the front of the store.
After getting their snacks and going back to the truck, the three of them drove the rest of the hour and a half until they arrived at the campgrounds. Tony locked the car doors so none of them could get out while he set the rules.
It was only him with Morgan and Peter. Both of them together could be extremely stressful and worrisome at times since Peter did whatever he wanted and Morgan often followed him.
He turned around to look at both of them, noticing that Peter’s thumb had been in his mouth since the gas station stop.
“Let’s go over some ground rules. Rule number one, you must always stay in my sight. Both of you. There’s a lake close by and if I see any of you even going near it without me, we’re immediately packing up and going home. Once we’re inside the tent for the night, no leaving it. Morgan, if you need to use the bathroom, you wake me up and I’ll take you.”
Peter pulled his thumb from his mouth. “What if I need to?”
Tony looked at him. “Are you saying you don’t want to wear a diaper to bed?”
“Yes.” Peter grinned.
“No. You’re wearing one.” Tony unlocked the doors and got out to unbuckle Peter then he felt between his legs to see if he needed a change but he was completely dry. “Do you need to pee?”
“No.”
“Okay. Let me know if you do.” Tony grabbed the tent out of the back and looked over at his kids already running around and playing together. They were chasing each other and laughing so Tony placed the tent on the floor. He couldn’t help it. He wanted to join them.
He walked over to them and lifted Peter off his feet, flipping him upside down.
Morgan giggled, running up to him. She saw the opportunity with Peter’s shirt exposing his belly so she started tickling him, causing Peter to tense up and start laughing but he was laughing so hard that he wasn’t breathing so Tony flipped him back onto his feet, laughing when Peter fell onto the thick green grass beneath them.
Morgan fell down with him, the two of them rolling on the ground and causing each other to laugh even harder.
Tony wondered what it would have been like to have watched the two of them grow up together from babies and toddlers. Peter was four when she was born and although they are extremely close now, he wondered if growing up from the start together would have made their relationship stronger or less stronger at all.
It would definitely have changed it.
.
.
.
Tony didn’t want to pay any attention to the time.
When he was getting tired and could see that Morgan and Peter were too, he decided to start getting them ready for bed.
“Let’s go get our pyjamas on now.”
“But it’s not bedtime yet.” Peter said, looking towards his dad who was seated beside him.
“Not yet. We still have to get ready and tell some scary ghost stories but inside the tent.” Tony stood up and kicked some dirt into the fire pit until it went out and it was pitch black around them. Tony should have thought of that before turning their light off.
Peter grabbed onto Tony’s hand. “Daddy. It’s dark. Clowns are gonna come out of the forest and eat me.”
“That’s zombies.”
“What?!” Peter held on tighter.
“There’s no zombies. Or creepy clowns.” He led them towards the tent, following them in and turning on the small lamp so they could see. It was actually extremely cozy.
There were two double sized beds that the kids insisted be pushed together so they could all sleep together but Tony would probably separate them throughout the night if Peter became too restless.
There was even a small carpet on the floor, making it extra soft and cozy then their suitcases were in the corner along with the potty that Pepper insisted they bring but Tony didn’t want the job of dumping it out so he’d rather change all the diapers.
Morgan flopped onto the bed with Peter following her and giggling. “Daddy. You too.”
Why not. Tony flopped onto the bed, causing both of them to go up a bit. He would love to launch Peter in the air with a slightly less deflated mattress. Maybe they could do that at home where it was safer.
After doing that for a few minutes, Tony eventually grabbed Peter’s ankles and pulled him to the end of the bed. “Pants off.” He said as he tugged his track pants off, tossing them onto the floor. “If you need to pee, go now because I don’t want to have to change you again right after.”
Peter looked up at him. “Mom says go in the toilet.”
“There’s no toilet here. Do you want to go outside?”
“No.”
“Then go now.”
While Peter was going, Tony grabbed a diaper, wipes and cream. “Morgan, get your pyjamas on too. We’re gonna get into bed after.” He took the straps off the diaper but didn’t pull the front down yet. “Done?”
“I don’t know.”
“How do you not know?” Tony pulled down the front, confirming he was in fact done. “Did you go?”
“Yeah…”
“Alright. Just be aware of it, okay? Because when you wear underwear, you have to stay dry.”
Peter nodded, yawning. “I know. But not at nights, dad. That doesn’t even matter.”
“I know.” Tony didn’t want to talk about it, he finished wiping him clean and waved his hand to try and help him air dry while he looked over at Morgan attempting to put her hair in a braid. “Morg, just leave it down.”
“No. I want it up.” She stomped her foot in frustration. “Can you do it?”
“I can after I’m done changing your brother.” Tony felt his skin and decided it was dry enough so he applied cream and got a clean diaper fastened onto him then cleaned his hands with a wipe. “Put on your pyjamas, Peter.”
“Dad?” Peter asked.
“Hmm?” Tony sat down on the bed and pulled Morgan to stand in front of him.
“Are you putting a diaper on her too? Or just me?”
Tony rolled his eyes and started braiding Morgan’s hair to the best of his abilities. “Just you, Pete.” As Tony thought about it, he thought that he would only feel comfortable doing that to Peter. He didn’t think it was appropriate with his other children. Maybe because he saw Harley as much older, obviously because he was, and Morgan as more mature. Peter was his baby.
“Dad?”
“Yes, baby?”
Peter took his shirt off and put his dad’s pyjama shirt on. “Can I wear your shirt?”
Tony glanced over at him, cooing at the most adorable sight. Holding a hand out for him, Tony pulled him closer. “You’re adorable. Give me a kiss, cutie.”
Peter squealed, kissing his dad and jumping onto the bed, throwing his legs up in the air. “Can you jump us again?”
“Jump you.” Tony smiled fondly at the name Peter gave it. It was cute. He waited until Morgan jumped onto the bed then Tony threw himself on it, enjoying the squealing laugher coming from both his kids.
He stood up again but only to take pictures of them. “Smile! This picture is going on the wall at home.”
Peter made a silly face, making Tony’s heart soar.
He finished up and threw himself onto the bed again, patting Peter’s butt. “Get under the blankets.”
Peter listened, helping his sister get under, then he pulled her pillow out and smacked her with it, ducking just in time for her to attempt to hit him. He stayed with his face on the bed with his butt up in the air. “Dad. I need to poo.”
Tony really hoped this didn’t happen here. “Right now?”
Peter nodded, sitting up to rub his sore belly. He couldn’t remember the last time he went and he really didn’t want to go here but he felt a bit of cramping.
“Alright. Want me to take you outside or would you rather just go in here?” Tony would prefer Peter to go in here but Pepper didn’t need to know that.
“Outside there’s a clean toilet?”
“No… you squat.”
Peter suddenly didn’t need to go anymore. “Okay. I don’t need to go. Can we play a fun game?”
Tony rubbed his back. “Let me know if you do need to go. You don’t need to go outside but you can’t hold it in, okay?”
Peter nodded and sat up to face Morgan and Tony made sure to keep an extra eye on him. Peter laid on his back, kicking his legs out of the blankets. “I wanna play a fun game.”
Morgan agreed with that, jumping next to him. “Yeah! Can we play truth or dare?”
Tony wasn’t sure about that but he would like to see what these two monkeys came up with. “Alright but no dangerous dares. Got it?”
The game started off fun and innocent enough but like everything, Peter and Morgan found a way to be extremely mischievous about it and try to get each other to do something dangerous or bad.
Morgan was thinking long and hard. “I dare you to jump into the lake naked!”
Peter jumped off the bed and already started taking off his shirt so Tony grabbed his arm to stop him. “No. No ones jumping in the lake.”
“Awwww. But that means I lose the dare.” Peter threw himself onto the bed, whining since he wasn’t going to get his way. “I don’t wanna lose.”
“No going outside, especially in a lake at night.” Tony pulled him back into the bed. “How about we play something else?”
“I need to poop.” Peter sat up and tugged on his diaper. Tony couldn’t exactly help with that. He grabbed a bottle of milk from the cooler and handed it to him.
“Try drinking some liquids, baby. Does your tummy hurt?” Tony asked, rubbing his belly once he laid down to drink the bottle. Peter shook his head. That was good. “Do you need to poo still?”
“Uh huh. My stomach hurts.”
“You just said it didn’t hurt.”
Peter tugged on his diaper. “No. It doesn’t… just… I just need to go.”
Tony really didn’t want to have to deal with this by himself in a freaking tent. “Do you want to try going outside in a bush?”
Peter pulled the bottle from his mouth. “No. I want to stay here.”
As long as he wasn’t in pain, Tony was fine although Peter was clearly uncomfortable. He rubbed his belly. “Just tell me if you want to try going outside.” He told him even though he knew Peter wouldn’t.
Morgan rubbed Peter’s belly too. “Can I help him, dad?”
“Thank you. But he’s fine. Let’s try to get some sleep, guys-”
“No!” Peter sat up. “I still wanna play!
Here we go.
Tony had to handle this carefully. He laid down and patted the mattress. “Come lie down. We don’t need to sleep. Let’s just relax.”
Crawling over to lie down, Peter put his bottle back in his mouth. “I don’t wanna s’eep. Not tired.”
Tony knew he was. “Okay. We don’t have to. Let’s just lie here.”
“Do I have to sleep?” Asked Morgan, looking over at her dad then pulling down Peter’s shirt for him.
“If you don’t want to. We’ll just rest our eyes.”
.
.
.
Morgan fell asleep first. As Tony expected.
Peter was on his second bottle but seemed wide awake. Tony tried to get him to fall asleep but Peter was more content to just drink his milk and blink at the ceiling or stare at Tony, whining when Tony attempted putting him to sleep.
Tony was drifting off to sleep himself then Peter was hitting him on the chest to wake him up. “Mmm.”
“Baby. Why’d you do that?” Tony looked at his half empty bottle lying on the bed. “Are you tired now?”
“No. My bum hurts.”
Tony rolled onto his side, feeling his diaper. “Okay. I’ll change you. Try closing your eyes after. You need sleep.” Boy was it ever going to be a long night.
“Not sleepy.”
“You are-”
“Am not!”
“Shhh. Morgan is sleeping.” Tony grabbed his phone to use his flashlight to find the supplies he needed then handed his phone to Peter. “Hold it so I can see what I’m doing.”
Peter aimed it at the ceiling.
“At yourself, kid.” Tony finished changing him quickly and decided to put pyjama pants on him so he would be warmer since his bare legs were quite cold. After he was done, Tony grabbed a pacifier from his bag but made sure that Peter didn’t see it when he climbed back into bed. “Do you feel better?”
Peter whined, pushing himself up and looking around. “I don’t wanna sleep. I wanna go for a walk.”
“Do you want me to hold you?”
“I wanna walk!” He whined again, skidding out of bed and starting to cry. Before he could wake Morgan up, Tony held the pacifier out for him to see in the small bit of moonlight shining in.
“Want a soother? How about you take this for tonight.”
Immediately, Peter crawled over to him, putting the silicone nipple into his mouth and falling face down on Tony’s chest, content to finally sleep.
.
.
.
Tony opened up the back door and lifted Peter out of his car seat, carefully making sure he didn’t wake up.
The two of them didn’t sleep the best last night but that wasn’t any different from any other night.
So Tony was used to it.
Pepper and Harley hadn’t gotten home yet, which was a big surprise considering that Tony had two kids with him and Pepper had one adult, so he was winning and was proud of it even though it wasn’t a race.
He brought Peter upstairs where he laid him on the bed and covered him with a blanket then he went into the bathroom to take a long shower.
Peter slept on him all night and his diaper leaked, causing Tony’s shirt to get wet and all he did was take off his shirt, so now he wanted to wash off and shower. Plus camping made him feel gross.
When he got out of the shower, Pepper was sitting on the bed, lying next to Peter. She turned to him at the sound of the door opening. “Hey. My mom said you guys got back about five minutes before us.”
Tony sat on the bed, looking at Peter’s sleeping form. “Yeah. I had to shower. He didn’t have a good night last night.”
“I could tell from the pacifier in his mouth.”
Tony looked at her, trying to see if she was upset or not. “I was a bit overwhelmed. He was crying a lot and was complaining that he needed to poop but couldn’t. I think he’s constipated.”
Pepper cooed. “Awww. Poor baby. I’ll make him something for when we wakes up.”
Tony laid his head on the pillow. “How was your time with Harls?”
“It was so amazing. It felt really nice to have one on one time with him. We didn’t talk about you, or Peter, or any type of stresses in our lives going on. We simply talked about his life, he supposedly really likes this girl in his friend group so who knows where that will go.”
Tony smiled. He liked to hear that. “I’m glad. I didn’t even know about the girl he likes. Maybe I need more one on one time with him.”
“I know he’ll like that.”
Tony looked at her. “I can’t do an overnight trip without Peter.”
“Well you couldn’t bring Peter with you. He’ll take all your attention.”
“I know. I’ll even just go for a walk with Harley along the beach.” That would have to wait for another day because Tony was too tired today.
“Did Peter pee in the potty chair you brought?”
“No. Him and Morgan peed outside the tent once then the rest was in his diaper. To be fair it was mainly nighttime.” Tony sat up, looking back at Peter and seeing the soother bobbing up and down in his mouth. “I’m gonna let him sleep for a bit. I don’t think he’ll last until 8pm if I don’t.”
“Alright but he’s going back into a pull-up when he wakes up. I want to get him back in underwear.” Pepper told him, once again.
Tony didn’t see the point in doing that. Peter was clearly going through something mentally that needed to be worked on before they got him into underwear again.
Although he could probably do without changing so many diapers a day. He just didn’t want to go through the stubborn sitting on the toilet phase.
To be fair, Tony never did experience this with Peter so maybe this was his chance to.
He decided to stay with Peter, being on his phone and answering some emails for work until Peter either woke up or the two hour mark passed.
Since Peter didn’t wake up, Tony put his phone on the bed and gently shook him awake. “Hey, baby. Time to wake up.” Peter moaned, rolling onto his back. “I know, you’re still sleepy.” If only he was this tired at bedtime last night. Tony kissed his cheek, the imprint of the blankets on it. “I’ll make you whatever you want for lunch.”
Peter grinned and stretched. “I need to poo.”
“Okay. Let’s go sit on the potty.”
“No. I don’t want to go.”
“Let’s just try.”
“No. After lunch. I’m hungry.”
Tony thought about it. “Alright. Let me change you first.” He got out of bed and grabbed a diaper and wipes with cream then pulled Peter’s ankles to the end of the bed, causing him to giggle. “Silly boy.” He tapped on Peter’s pacifier. “Can you give that to me?”
Peter whined. “No. I still need it.”
“Alright. But when you eat, you need to give it to me.” Peter pouted but didn’t say anything. He didn’t agree with that. He undid the straps and pulled the front down. “Your rash is getting better.”
“Okay.”
Tony chuckled, wiping him clean. “Does it feel a bit better?”
“No. It feels the same.” He looked down to watch his dad apply the cream then reached over on the bed to grab the phone closest to his face. “Mine. I wanna play Hay Day.”
“Alright. I’m almost done though.” Tony grabbed a fresh diaper and instructed Peter to lift his hips to slide it underneath him then he fastened it onto him. “All done. Let’s go eat.”
“Hungry hippo.” Peter rolled off the bed and made his way downstairs, heading into the kitchen.
“Hi, baby. I’m glad you’re awake. Your sister was telling me how much fun you guys had.” Pepper filled up a bottle of milk, not handing it to him yet. She looked at Tony and tapped her lips, signaling him to take the pacifier away from him.
Peter hopped onto one of the chairs, nodding. “Uh huh.”
His eyes were on that bottle though.
“Did you change him?” Pepper asked Tony as she walked around to see that Peter was still in a diaper.
“I did.”
“He’s supposed to be in a pull-up, Tony.”
“Oh yeah. I honestly forgot. Next time I change him, I’ll put a pull-up on him.”
Peter shook his head, climbing onto the counter to sit there instead. “I don’t want to wear a pull-up.”
Tony walked behind him to lift him off the counter and press a ton of kisses all over his face. “Let’s just eat first. We barely ate any breakfast.” And by we, Tony meant Peter. Tony made eggs and toast but Peter absolutely refused to eat it so Tony gave him a bottle instead which Peter devoured.
Now, he wanted him to get in actual food.
“Hmmm what do you want for breakfast? You thinking a handful of crickets? On a bed of lettuce?” Tony teased him, brushing the curls out of his face.
“Noo.” The boy nuzzled his nose into his fathers neck, giggling. “Not that.”
“A pig foot? That sounds yummy.”
Peter put his hands on his hips then wiggled his legs, telling Tony he was done being held and wanted down. Once Tony put him down, Peter walked around the island and over to the fridge, pulling out the jug of milk and placing it on the counter then opening up the bottom drawer which was filled with a bunch of bottles and sippy cups.
He grabbed his favourite bottle, Nuk, and handed it to his dad. “Fill it up, please?”
“I will but this will be your third bottle of the day and you have no food in you. You need to eat something first.”
“Nooo! While.”
“Peter. You need to eat some food, look at your skinny little body, we need to put some chub on you.” Tony walked over to the fridge and tried to decide what to make him but Pepper was already on it. “Oatmeal?”
“With chopped up fruit.”
Tony looked at Peter, seeing that he didn’t look impressed. “What do you want, Pete?”
“Milk.”
“After you eat food.”
“Nooo. Just want just milk.”
Tony filled up a bottle of milk. He couldn’t do this arguing back and forth with Peter. “You can drink this now but when breakfast is ready, you will eat that too.”
Peter grabbed it and ran into the living room to join his grandma and brother. “Grandma. Look. Milk.”
“I can see that. How about you come sit with me and tell me all about how much fun you had camping.” Alice held out her arm for Peter to get comfortable beside her. “Your hair looks like it got longer overnight. Tell your daddy to cut it.”
Tony walked over with a coffee and a bowl of yogurt with strawberries in it, not hungry for anything too heavy. “I’m keeping his hair long. He looks cute.” He sat down on the couch across from Peter, happy to watch him but feeling like he wanted some personal space right now.
He took a sip of his coffee, putting it on the table and then taking a bite out of his yogurt then Peter was getting up to check it out. So much for no child sitting on him. “What are you eating?”
“Yogurt and strawberries.” Tony held a spoonful up to his mouth, letting Peter take a bite. “Good?”
“Uh huh.” He opened his mouth for more.
“Here.” Tony gave him another spoonful and Peter ate that too, basically taking Tony’s food. Tony didn’t really mind though, as long as Peter was eating.
“What did you guys do last night?” Alice asked, not surprised that Peter was back on his fathers lap.
“Pete, tell grandma what we did. Did we… roast marshmallows?”
“Uh huh.”
“What else did we eat with it?”
Peter opened his mouth for another bite so Tony fed him the last bite. “All done. You are it all.”
“I want more.”
“Yogurt and strawberries?”
“Yeah.”
Tony plucked him off his lap to go get more and grab a washcloth for his messy face. “Pete loves strawberries and yogurt. He actually asked for more.”
“Don’t give him too much more because if he’s having trouble pooping, he’s going to have diarrhea. And I’m not cleaning that up.” Pepper gave Tony a pointed look, chopping up more strawberries.
“I’ll change him if he does. At least he’s eating.” Tony took the bowl and left, going back into the living room and finding Peter taking up someone else’s lap. “Here, bud. Eat it then we’ll go get you dressed.” He leaned down to wipe his face, much to Peter’s protests. “I’m done, I'm done.”
There was literally no point in doing that though since Peter’s first bite was going all over his face. Tony just fondly shook his head and sat back down.
“Mmmm!”
“What?”
“Sit with me.”
“Pete, you come here. I’m not sitting on grandpa's lap.” Peter laughed but got up to sit with Tony, taking his bottle and forgetting about the yogurt bowl. “Don’t you want your yogurt too?”
“No. I’m full. I need to poop.”
Tony was waiting for that. “Alright. Let’s go.”
“Noo. Not on the toilet.”
“Pete, you aren’t going in your diaper. Let’s just go try to sit on the toilet.” Peter cried out as Tony lifted him off the couch and stood him on his feet, bringing him to the bathroom in the hallway.
“I can’t sit on there!”
“I’ll be here the whole time.” Tony took off his diaper, folding it up and tossing it in the garbage then lifting him onto the toilet seat and sitting on the stool in front of him.
“Dad.”
“Don’t be scared. If you need to go, just go.” Tony pulled his phone out of his pocket for Peter to watch some YouTube on while they waited.
Peter looked between his legs to see if he went. “Dad. I can’t go. I-it’s not there.”
“Just try.” Tony didn’t know why he was so scared to go. He looked visibly terrified. “Does it hurt?” Peter nodded. “Where?”
“I don’t know. I want off.”
Tony sighed. “Can you try to tell me so I can help you?”
“No. I want off. I don’t want to sit here.”
“Baby-”
“Dad. I want off.” Peter arched his back, tears filling his eyes so Tony held his hand out for him, helping him get off. “I hate that.”
Tony felt bad but he didn’t know what to do. “If I put a diaper on you, would you want to go in there? Will that make you feel better?”
“No. I don’t wanna go ever.” He tried to walk out of the bathroom but Tony grabbed his arm. “No!”
“Baby, one second so I can put rash cream on you.”
“I don’t want it.” Tony stood up and grabbed it but Peter was running out of the bathroom and going into the kitchen to hug his mom. “Tell him to stop.”
“What happened, Peter? Does your tummy hurt?”
“No! I don’t want to sit on the toilet anymore. Dad’s being mean to me!” He rubbed his tired eyes, not able to stop himself from crying a bit.
“Baby. Just tell me what’s wrong? You look so uncomfortable. Is it your belly? Your bum?” Tony came into the kitchen with the supplies, stopping to lean against the counter.
Peter turned his face into his mom’s stomach, trying to pull down her shirt to hide in it.
“When was the last time he went poop, Tony?”
Tony couldn’t even remember. “I don’t know. Three days maybe.”
“Alright. I’ll make him some prune juice and we’ll see.” Pepper pulled her top back up. “Baby, go with your dad to get cream on your rashes. You’ll feel better.”
“Daddy.” Peter cried, letting Tony take his hand to lead him out of the kitchen. “Not in the bathroom.”
“That’s fine. I’ll do it right here.” He placed the supplies on the floor and grabbed wipes first. “I’ll be quick. Then do you want something to make your tummy feel better?”
Peter nodded, wiping the tears out of his eyes.
Alice heard all the crying and whining coming from the boy so she came up to see what was going on. “What happened, Peter?”
Peter was rubbing his eyes, paying no attention to her.
Tony stuck his fingers in the cream, applying a generous amount onto his rashes. “Let’s have a relaxing day today, buddy. Drink lots of liquids.” Peter just looked down, watching his dad apply the cream then he tapped his hip. “Turn around.”
Peter just sniffled so Tony moved to stand over Peter, finishing up with the cream. “Better?” He got a nod in response at least so Tony put a diaper on him and went to go wash his hands with Peter following his every step. “Baby? What’s wrong?”
“Pick me up.”
“Let me just wash my hands.”
“Daddy. Up.”
“What’s up with you today?” Tony lifted him into his arms so Peter cuddled into him. “You’re so whiny today, huh? Are you tired? Hungry?”
“My bum hurts.”
“I put cream on it, baby.”
“No. Inside.”
Tony just rocked him side to side and went to go grab his phone to look up what it could be while Pepper brought over some dark looking juice in a bottle. “This should help with his constipation. Make sure he drinks it all.”
Both Tony and Peter looked at it disgustingly. It looked very gross. But if it helped Peter and his constipation then so be it. Tony sat down on the couch, rearranging Peter on his lap and poking the bottle at his lips. “Yummy. Drink it. It’ll make you feel better, baby.”
Peter whined, moving his head away. “Mmm. No. It looks yucky.”
“It’ll make you feel better. Just try it.” Tony poked it at his lips again and this time Peter was drinking it and he must have thought it was good because he didn’t stop drinking it so Tony went onto his phone to look up what this could possibly be.
He couldn’t find anything.
With a sigh, he looked down at Peter who had been staring at him this whole time and making his adorable cooing sounds as he drank. Tony caressed his beautiful face. “I love you, baby. I want you to feel better soon.”
Peter didn’t reply but Tony knew he heard him.
.
.
.
Despite not going to the bathroom yet, Peter was in a much better mood.
He was playing with Morgan in the playroom while Tony sat with Alice and watched the two of them play.
They weren’t really playing anything in particular together but they both found each other’s company comforting.
Tony was mainly watching Peter, waiting for him to make any signs that he needed or was pooping but that never came. He was slightly concerned but not so much anymore since Peter was smiling and moving around a lot.
He grabbed a bin of toys from the shelf and dumped them out, digging through them to find the best ones.
“When Pepper was a little girl, I used to hate the messes and I would tell her to clean it up before moving into a different toy, but now, I appreciate the messes because I know this stage won’t last forever.”
Tony agreed with her. “I never minded the messes but I definitely do appreciate them a lot more now. It makes the house feel so lived in. I love it. Besides for stepping on Peter’s legos.”
“Oh. That will definitely be painful. I don’t even want to experience that.” Alice laughed and watched Morgan take one of Peter’s action figures to put them with one of her Barbie dolls. “Oh.”
Peter hadn’t noticed yet and Tony debated on telling her to give it back but he didn’t want to interfere with their play. “They’re fine.”
Peter turned and saw that his action figure was in the doll house so he crawled over to Morgan’s side and grabbed it back, accidentally knocking down two other barbies. “Don’t take my stuff.”
Morgan crawled to the other side of the doll house, seeing the mess of Barbies on the floor. “Hey! You ruined it. They were waiting in line for the spa and now I have to stand them up again.” Morgan pushed him and when Tony didn’t say anything, she grabbed his ankle to pull him down then sat on top of him.
Peter screamed, unable to get away so Tony had to stop her. He stood up and lifted Morgan off of Peter. “You need to play nicely, Morgan. That was very mean of you.”
“He ruined my barbies!”
“You took his action figure first.”
Peter took what was his and went back to the book shelf to play in front of it, his back to Morgan.
“So? I wanted to make them date.”
“If you want to play with Peter’s toys, you have to ask Peter if you can.” Tony sat back down on the couch, wondering at what age he could leave them unsupervised to play with each other without having to worry about one of them getting into trouble or both of them. He looked over and saw Peter trying to climb the bookshelf now. “Peter, don’t climb that. Come down.”
“I want to get something but I can’t reach.”
“Tell me what you want and I’ll get it for you. Come down.”
“The blue book.”
Peter didn’t even have time to climb down since the whole bookshelf was falling down with Peter still on it. Tony jumped to his feet and put his hand out to catch the bookshelf with one hand and grab Peter with the other before he fell onto the floor.
The books came down on them, one smacking Peter right in the face and he started screaming.
Tony let go of him to stand the bookshelf back up then picked Peter up, his hands shaking. “Are you okay?” He pulled Peter back to look at him and Peter was holding his eye, crying. “Let me see. Let me see, baby.”
He forced Peter’s hand away from his eye, fearing the worst but all there was was a red bump just under his eye. That would definitely bruise and turn into a black eye. Great.
“You’re okay. Let’s go put some ice on your eye. C’mon.” Tony carried him into the kitchen, seeing Pepper turn to them at the sound of the crying.
“What happened to him?”
“The bookshelf almost fell down on him. He got hit in the face with a book.” Tony explained, still shaken up himself. He sat Peter on the counter and grabbed an ice pack from the freezer.
“What? How did that happen? It just fell?”
“No. He was climbing on it. I told him to get off but it came down before he could actually get off. I had to catch it. It would have crushed him, Pepper.” Tony moved Peter’s hand and put the ice pack on Peter’s face but he looked at Peter’s thigh and saw that there was blood. “You’re bleeding. Where is he bleeding from?”
Pepper saw Tony’s hand. “You’re bleeding.”
Tony looked at his hand and saw the gouge. “Oh. I didn’t even feel it…” He was holding Peter on his hip when he brought him in here and touched his thigh so his blood must have rubbed off onto him.
Peter saw it and cried harder. “You’re hurt?”
Tony rinsed his hand in the sink and wrapped a dishcloth around it. He hoped he didn’t need stitches. “No, I’m okay. But you see, that’s why we can’t climb on bookshelves, baby. You could have gotten really hurt.”
Alice walked into the kitchen with Morgan. “Is he okay?”
“He’s fine.”
“Daddy! Your hand!”
“I’m fine, Morgan. It’s just a small cut.” Tony lifted Peter off the counter and kissed his head. “I’m gonna take him upstairs to get his leg cleaned off.” And he just needed to calm down with him since Peter was the only one who could calm him down.
Tony shut the bedroom door with his foot and placed Peter on the bed, grabbing wipes to clean his leg but Peter moved to the edge of the bed, thinking Tony was going to change his diaper. “Does it hurt?”
“Just a little. Does your eye hurt?”
Peter smiled weakly. “Just a little.”
“You’re so cute. But you scared me. That’s why you have to listen when daddy tells you something.” Tony wiped the blood off his leg, smiling when Peter automatically put his legs up for Tony to take his diaper off. “I’m not changing you now, Pete. You don’t need one yet.”
Peter put his legs down. “Oh.”
“I’m gonna go to the bathroom. Stay here.” He shut the bathroom door and grabbed the box of bandages under the sink then unwrapped the dish cloth from his hand, washing out the blood again and trying to see how deep it was. It stung but it didn’t look too deep so he put a large bandage on it and walked out of the bathroom, finding Peter in the same position but with his thumb lodged in his mouth.
He lifted him up, kissing his cheek. “Let’s go downstairs and sit outside by the ocean. Maybe you can nap if you want, huh?”
Peter nodded. He laid his head on his dad’s shoulder, liking that idea.
He just wanted to be close to his father.