Make me well again
Pepper was booking their flights back home and setting up the times for their private plane to take them back home.
As much as she was going to miss her parents, she was really looking forward to getting back home and getting back on a schedule and getting things done.
They all needed some consistency.
Tony walked into the living room with Peter following behind him, wearing nothing but a T-shirt and whining. Like he has been since he woke up this morning.
Pepper looked at him. “Anything?”
“Nothing.” Tony sighed and sat down on the couch then Peter was sitting on his lap but Tony didn’t wrap his arms around him. “No. Grab a pull-up from the box. I’m not getting peed on again today.”
Whining, Peter got up and grabbed a pull-up then handed it to his dad who got it on him then he lifted him onto his lap again. Tony was so tired and so was Peter.
Tony’s been peed on three times today and he was tired of it. Plus he felt incredibly bad because it’s been six days since Peter’s gone poop and Tony was really concerned and wanting to take him to the hospital.
“Should I order a laxative?” Asked Pepper, putting her computer away.
Tony ran a hand through his hair, not even remembering if he washed his hands after putting cream on Peter five minutes ago. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll call his Paediatrician.”
“We can take him to a walk-in clinic here. Maybe they can take a look at him.”
Tony rubbed Peter’s back. “I don’t want to take him to someone he doesn’t know.” Tony pulled out his phone to look up what they could possibly do. He’s been looking up some things for the past two days and everything they tried didn’t help one bit.
He would try one more thing and if that didn’t work then he would take Peter to a doctor but he hoped it didn’t come to that.
“Dad, can I take grandpa's car out and drive down to the beach before we go home?” Harley was already dressed in a bathing suit and had a towel thrown over his shoulder.
Tony stood up to get Peter some more water and Harley followed him. “When?”
“Now. Until it gets dark.”
Tony dumped Peter’s bottle in the sink and stood by the fridge to fill it up again. “It’s grandpa's car, Harley. So you have no car insurance on it. Can you just go down to the beach here? We literally live a one minute walk from it.” Tony handed Peter his bottle. “Drink more water.”
“Please, dad. Grandpa already said yes. If I go now, I’ll drive safely like I always do and make it back before dark.”
Tony took the bottle back from Peter when he didn’t want anymore. “Your brother hasn’t pooped in six days so my focus is on that right now. You can go to the beach but I want you back before dark. Don’t make me chase you down, Harley.”
“I know. Thanks, dad. Good luck with Peter.”
Harley left after that and Tony walked into the living room to pick up his phone again. He sat down on the couch and searched for the best remedy. After coming across a few, he found a suppository and turned his phone so Pepper could see it.
“I’m gonna order this. It’ll be here in about two hours.” Tony said.
“A suppository?”
“Yeah. I’m ordering it.”
“What's a supp-supp… suppy?” Peter asked, looking at the picture of the medicine on Tony’s phone.
“It’s medicine that will help you.” Tony would explain to him where it goes once it comes. He put his phone down and moved Peter’s leg over his lap so they were both more comfortable.
Sticking his thumb in his mouth, Peter nodded against his chest. His bloated stomach kept him up last night so he was feeling really tired and just wanted his stomach to stop feeling so full.
As Peter rested his eyes in his dad’s arms, Tony had a conversation with Pepper.
“So, if we leave tomorrow morning, we’ll get home and have all weekend to rest and adjust, then Morgan will start at school again on Monday and Peter will go visit Karen.” Pepper told Tony her plan. She was making a list of the things that they needed to get done. Number one on that list was to get Peter back in underwear during the day.
“Morgan might need a bit longer to adjust than Monday. That’s three days away.”
“Okay. We’ll play it by ear then.”
Tony leaned his head against Peter’s. “Sounds good.”
He felt like he was going to fall asleep against Peter, maybe he did, they were sitting there for a long time, when his phone buzzed with a delivery notification so Tony patted Peter’s butt. “Hey, baby. Your medicine is here. I’m gonna go get it then I’ll give it to you.”
Peter was placed on the couch beside him but he didn’t follow after his dad. Instead, he sat there and looked over at his mom who smiled at him so he smiled back weakly.
“How are you feeling, Peter? Did you go poop yet?” Alice carried a laundry basket over, dumping it on the couch next to Peter.
“Not yet, mom. Tony ordered a suppository. He’s getting it at the door now.”
Alice grabbed Peter’s face gently in her hands. “I hope it makes you feel better.”
“Me too. My stomach feels hard.” Peter stuck it out for his grandma to see.
“I know. Poor baby.”
Tony walked into the living room and ripped open the package to read the instructions. “Okay so… it seems pretty straight forward.” He pulled out the package of the medicine then looked at Peter. “Come with me. If this works, you’ll be running around again in no time.”
Peter stood up and grabbed his bottle of water. “Are you gonna put it in my milk?”
“No, baby.”
“Oh. I eat it?”
Tony held his hand out for Peter. “Let’s go upstairs to our bed and I’ll tell you, okay? Want to have a bottle of milk first?”
“Uh huh.”
After getting the milk, Tony and Peter went upstairs to their bedroom and Tony shut the door then grabbed a towel from the bathroom and laid it on the bed. “Come lie down on this.”
Peter listened, putting the bottle in his mouth and feeling between his legs. “I’m still dry, dad.”
“I know, buddy. Do you need to pee?”
“No.”
Tony leaned down to kiss his head. “Okay. I’m gonna take off your pull-up because this medicine is special. Do you know why it’s special?” He asked, tossing the pull-up onto the floor and sitting down next to his feet.
“I don’t know. Why?”
“Because, it’s designed to make your tummy all better and for you to go poop.” Tony gently explained, having no idea how Peter would react. “But instead of eating it, because it tastes really really yucky, it goes inside your bum.”
Peter’s face scrunched up. “No. It doesn’t. That’s silly.”
“It’s not silly. It’s special medicine. So that way it gets there faster. Because if you swallowed it, we would have to wait days.” Tony exaggerated that, gently poking Peter’s side who looked worried now.
“But… it’ll hurt.”
“No, baby. I promise it won’t. It’ll make you feel better.”
Peter sat up and pushed Tony’s hands away from him. “No. Just put it in my bottle. I don’t want it.”
Tony sighed. “Baby. This will make you feel better.”
Peter shook his head.
“Do you want a paci?”
“Yeah… but I still don’t want that.”
Tony held his hand out for him but Peter didn’t take it so Tony drew it back. “Do you want me to get mom?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. Stay here.” Standing up, Tony opened the bedroom door and walked to the top of the stairs. “Pepper, can you come help me.” He called down to her and turned to see Peter running away but Tony grabbed his arm before he could get anywhere. “Not so fast. Peter. Baby. Don’t be scared. You know I’d never do anything that would hurt you.”
Peter wrapped his arms around his neck. “My tummy hurts.”
“I know. This medicine will make you feel better.” Tony walked back into the bedroom with him, standing in front of the bed. “Then I promise you, you’ll feel so much better, baby. It won’t hurt. I promise you.”
Pepper shut the door behind her and sat down by the towel on the bed. “Hi, baby. Is the medicine gonna make you feel better?”
Peter shrugged then Tony laid him back on the towel so he could go wash his hands. Pepper decided to try and distract him. “You know what I saw outside?”
Peter picked up his bottle and turned to her. “What?”
“A baby bunny.”
“Really? How-how small?”
“He was so small I could barely see his head poking out of the grass.”
Tony walked out and grabbed the medicine, taking it out of the packaging. “It’ll feel a bit uncomfortable but I promise it won’t hurt.” Tony grabbed Peter’s legs to move them a bit and looked at Pepper to distract him.
“And then guess where I saw him hopping to?”
Peter was looking at his dad so Pepper scratched his skull to get his attention on her. “I saw the baby bunny hop behind the shed where there were five other baby bunnies with their mommy and daddy.”
Peter sucked in a sharp breath of air so Tony shushed him and kept his hand there. “It’s in. Just relax now. So where did you see the bunnies go after, Pep?”
“Well, grandma told me she put out some old carrots last night. So they must have been eating those. You know how much bunnies love their carrots.” She caressed his soft chocolate curls, looking into his scared yet relieved eyes. “Maybe after you go poop, we can go looking for them again.”
“But they probably won’t be there still. They hop too fast away.”
“We can still try.” Tony checked the time on his phone on the bed. Five minutes passed. It was supposed to take fifteen minutes to an hour but Tony wanted to get Peter either in a diaper or on the toilet in ten minutes. “If we don’t find them, do you think we should leave more carrots out for them?”
Peter tried to sit up.
“No, ten more minutes. Just lie there.”
“But- it’s boring. And it hurts.”
“Pete, it doesn’t. Look, nine more minutes now.”
“I hate this.”
Tony looked at Pepper. “I hate this too. How about you poo so we don’t have to do this anymore.”
Peter crossed his arms over his chest. “Or we can just put it in my milk.”
Shaking his finger at the boy, Tony smiled. “It doesn’t work that way. Eight more minutes, buddy.”
Peter looked over at his mom and engaged in conversation with her until his dad was telling him he could move but instead of wanting to go play downstairs, he decided he needed to sit on the toilet so that’s where he and his dad went.
Peter put his feet on his dad’s knees, laughing as he did so. “Ew. Get those stinky pigs off of me.”
Peter giggled. “Can you-are you gonna take the medicine out now so I can go?”
“There’s nothing to take out, Pete. It dissolved. Now it’ll help you poop.”
Now they just had to wait.
.
.
.
Forty minutes later, Peter ran downstairs, happier than ever. “Guess what!” He ran into the living room where his mom, grandma, grandpa and sister were.
“What?” Pepper asked excitedly but judging by Peter’s excitement and the way he was jumping around, she knew. But still, she wanted Peter to give the news.
“I pooped!”
Morgan jumped onto the couch. “Yay! Petey pooped!”
Peter joined her and then the two of them started jumping around together and Tony didn’t think he would ever be so happy that someone pooped yet here he was, a wife and three kids later, sitting in front of someone and encouraging them to poop for almost an hour then wiping said persons butt and cheering for them.
What a life.
But Tony loved it more than anything.
“Are you proud of me, dad?” Peter asked, falling into his arms from the couch.
“I’m so proud of you, baby. I knew you could do it.”
Peter grinned. “I love butt medicine.”
“What’s butt medicine?” Morgan asked, confused.
Tony laughed, looking at Pepper but Peter was more than willing to share this information. “Dad put medicine up my butt.”
“Ewww.” Morgan laughed and Peter laughed with her.
“Okay you two. Go play.” Tony placed Peter on the floor. “And Pete, tell me if you need to go pee or poop. Got it?”
“Okay! Come on!” Peter grabbed his sister's hand and ran with her into the playroom. “You put the red blocks on that side. That way, if we separate from colours, it’ll be easier to build it.”
“Build what?”
“A tower.”
Morgan didn’t want to build a tower so she moved to where her Barbie dolls were. “Help me undress them first so I can give them a bath then I’ll help you.”
Peter narrowed his eyes at her. “But… fine.” He crawled over to her and peeled off one of the Barbie dresses. “Ahhh! She has no nipples!”
“Don’t be gross.” Morgan snatched it back from him.
“And why aren’t there any boy barbies?” Peter pouted, leaning against the couch.
“There are. It’s called a Ken doll.” Morgan handed one to him so Peter took off his pants.
“He has no boy parts. He isn’t actually a boy.” Peter explained, continuing to take the rest of the clothes off and adding him to the pile of other barbies but Morgan took him out.
“Hey. Boys use the other bin. Girls use this one.”
Peter didn’t understand why. He placed the Ken doll back. “He doesn’t want to shower alone.”
“No, Petey. He’s a boy.”
Peter groaned. “Then how am I supposed to play?”
“I told you to undress these ones so I can give them a bath.” Morgan grabbed one Barbie who was blonde and had blue gunk in her hair. “Gross. See?”
Peter took it from her and tried to pull the sticky stuff out but it was stuck. “I think it’s gum.”
“Yeah, probably your gum.”
“I rarely chew gum.” Peter defended himself then pulled the shirt off the Barbie and grinned, putting his mouth on the plastic breasts and Morgan screamed.
“Don’t! I’m telling on you! Why’d you do that?!” She grabbed the Barbie doll and ran out of the room, heading straight for her parents. “Mom! Dad!”
“What’s wrong? Where’s your brother?” Tony looked over towards the yelling and saw Morgan running over looking distraught. “What happened?”
She climbed onto the couch beside him. “Peter took off my Barbies dress and put his mouth on her boobies!”
Tony couldn’t help but laugh.
That was so Peter.
“Hey! It’s not funny! Dad!”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He tried to stop but failed at it. “Peter! Come here!” He took a breath. “Morgan, that’s what Peter does, okay? I’m sure he didn’t mean anything wrong.”
“But still! I didn’t like that!”
Pepper tried not to laugh. “Morgan. Honey. How about you tell your brother you didn’t like that. I’m sure if you explain that to him, he won’t do it again.”
Peter walked ever so slowly into the living room, standing by the edge of the couch.
“Peter. Come here.” Tony said. Peter took a tiny step closer. “Closer.” One more step. “Closer.” Peter stepped in reach so Tony grabbed his shirt and pulled him to stand in front of him. “Did you put your mouth on Morgan’s barbies, boobs?” He couldn’t believe he was asking this question.
Peter sank onto his dad’s lap. “Just to see.”
“See what?”
“If there was milk.” Peter lifted his head up. “I knew there wasn’t but… I wanted to double check.”
Tony didn’t know whether to laugh at that or not. Strange behavior. But not surprising. “Peter. That’s yucky. Don’t suck on Morgan’s Barbie dolls. That’s strange. Do you want a bottle?” Peter nodded so Tony patted his thigh to have him get off. “Morgan, you tell your brother not to do that.”
“Peter. I didn’t like it when you did that. Don’t do it aga-ahhhhhhh!”
Peter grabbed her arm and bit it, hard.
Tony separated the two of them, automatically picking up Peter instead of his hurt child. “Peter!” He grabbed Morgan’s arm to look at it and could see that it was bleeding which meant that Peter broke the skin. Again. Great.
Morgan was crying loudly, definitely making a bigger deal over it. Definitely to get attention.
“Come here, let’s go wash it out and you can pick what bandage you want.”
Morgan smacked Peter’s foot and Peter screamed, wrapping his arms around Tony’s neck.
“Not with him!” She screamed.
“Okay. Okay. Peter will stay with mom-”
“Nooooo! No no no! Nooo!” Peter began crying but it was more of a scream and now Tony had two kids screaming at him so he hoisted Peter up higher and looked at Pepper for help. “I’ll stay with him. You take her.”
“You need to explain to him that what he did was wrong. He needs to have alone time for fifteen minutes after.” She told Tony to make sure he did just that while she took Morgan into the kitchen to get her sorted.
Well, that started off comical and ended with screams. Typical day in the Stark house.
Tony carried Peter away from everyone else and sat down, sitting Peter on his lap so he was facing him. “Shhh shh. Take a breath. You’re okay. Don’t get yourself worked up.”
Peter pointed towards the door. “She-she-she… she-she-”
“Breathe, Peter. Just breathe.”
“She-she told on me!”
Tony nodded. “I know. But that’s okay. You did something that she didn’t like and came to tell mom and I so we could help you guys work it out so no one fought. Then you bit her. Can you tell me why you bit her?” Tony asked, wiping the tears off Peter’s cheeks.
Peter took a shaky breath but coughed, spitting on Tony’s face. “Cause-cause she was talking… she was saying words that I d-didn’t like at all!” He wiped at his eyes, crying harder.
“Okay. What words didn’t you like?” Tony was trying to get to the bottom of Peter’s biting. Usually it was Morgan. Sometimes Peter bit him and his classmates, rarely ever Pepper or Harley. Aisers been bitten once but Tony didn’t think Peter did it to hurt him, he honestly didn’t know why he did.
“Um…” Peter looked towards the door. “She said… she said the words I-I did not like.”
“Yeah? Can you tell me?”
“She says not to. She says that she’s not happy with me.” Peter explained and broke off into hysterics again.
Tony pulled him against his chest, rubbing a soothing hand up and down his back. “She was just telling you how she feels. She wasn’t trying to hurt your feelings, buddy.”
“But she did!”
“I’m sorry. Do you want to go talk to her and tell her how that made you feel?” Tony was trying to teach Peter about communication and how to share his emotions with others rather than lash out at them.
It wasn’t going too well so far.
Peter nodded so Tony stood up and placed Peter on his feet then walked hand in hand with him into the kitchen where Morgan was sitting on the counter, an ice pack on her arm.
Tony lifted Peter onto the counter so they were sitting next to each other. “Tell her, Peter.”
“I don’t like how to said that to me. It made me sad.”
“You bit me. I didn’t like that.”
Peter looked at his dad for what to do next. “Peter, tell Morgan that you’re still trying to work on using your words. And that’s why you bite.”
“Yeah.”
“Tell her.”
“I bite cause I’m still trying to use my words.” He told her, chewing on his finger. Tony pulled his hand away from his mouth. “So… sorry.”
Tony was so proud of him. He didn’t even ask Peter to say sorry and he was. This was a huge accomplishment for Peter. “Very nice of you, Peter.”
“Okay. But don’t do it again.”
Peter lifted his arms up for his dad so Tony lifted him back into his arms. “Would you guys like to finish playing nicely again? We’re leaving tomorrow so we have one more night here. Go enjoy it.”
He placed Peter on his feet and held his hand out for Morgan to jump off. She gave Peter a half hug and then grabbed his hand and brought him to the other room, out of sight.
“I hope they get along. I don’t wanna listen to anymore whining and crying today.” Admitted Tony. He was tired of the demands and needed some time to himself with no one touching him and calling for him.
“Aren’t they so good at communicating. So cute.”
Tony didn’t know if Pepper was being serious or not. He chuckled and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and went to go sit down on the couch without anyone sitting on top of him for once. He loved Peter more than anything, but that kid was always on him and Tony felt so touched out.
And of course Peter didn’t see that so he attached himself onto Tony.
Pepper sat down beside him and Tony wrapped an arm around her. “Look, alone time.”
“I’m still here so don’t get too nasty.” Alice warned, not even looking up from her book.
Rolling his eyes at that comment, he pressed a kiss to his wife’s lips and unwrapped his arm from around her. “I was talking about my devils.”
“Which one?”
“All three of those brats.”
Pepper slapped his chest. “Don’t say that.” She said, amused with a spark in her eye.
“What?” He shrugged. “They’re all brats.” Tony wasn’t denying it. They were whiny brats and he loved it. “Did I mention they’re incredibly cute too.”
Peter ran into the living room, squeezing between his legs. “Daddy! I need to pee!”
“Oh!” Tony quickly jumped to his feet. “Come to the bathroom.” He quickly turned the light on and put the toilet seat cover on it then pulled down Peter’s pull-up and sat him on the toilet seat. “Point yourself down.”
He felt his pull-up that was dry and smiled. “I’m so proud of you, Peter. You stayed dry.”
Peter was trying to concentrate. He looked down at himself, willing it to happen and when he started going, he smiled at his dad to see his reaction. “I did it!”
“Wow, Pete! Good job. I’m so proud of you.” Tony was unbelievably proud of him. It took over two weeks but he was finally telling Tony he needed to pee and actually went on the toilet. Tony felt like crying. Peter was growing up and accomplishing so much.
“Yeah.” Peter got off the toilet after he was done and turned to flush the toilet. “Bye pee pee. I’m gonna tell mommy!”
“And you get a sticker. Doesn’t it make you feel so good to go pee in a big boy toilet?”
“Uh huh.”
“Pull up your pull-up then wash your hands first. It’s like your underwear, right?”
Peter pulled his pull-up back up and shook his head. “No. It’s different. Underwear you aren’t allowed to pee in. Pull-ups are underwear diapers.” He clearly explained and washed his hands then ran into the living room. “Mom! I peed in the toilet!”
“Ahh! Congratulations, Peter! I’m so proud of you. Go get a sticker.” She pulled him into her arms to hug him.
“Come get a sticker, Peter.”
Peter ran into the kitchen where his potty chart was. “If I go pee again, can I get another sticker?”
“Yeah. But you have to tell me and go in the potty.”
Tony grabbed the box of stickers and passed them down to Peter, letting him sit on the floor and dig through what one he wanted.
Tony watched him, leaning against the counter. It was five minutes later when Peter decided on two stickers that he wanted. Talk about indecisiveness.
“Can I have these two?”
“But you just did pee in the potty once.”
“But… it was a big pee.”
Tony laughed. “I’ll tell you what, you can put both those stickers beside each other so they count as one. Go on, put them on.”
Standing up, Peter skipped to the chart and put them next to the only other sticker on there. “I have three now. How many until I get to pick out a toy?”
“One full week. That means you need to tell me you need to pee and actually go in the toilet for one week.”
“Straight?”
“No. Because I don’t think you can do that yet.”
Peter grabbed the sticker box off the floor and handed it back to Tony. “I need to pee again.”
“Do you actually?”
“…yeah.”
“Then go sit on the toilet and go.”
“Watch me.”
“No, buddy. You go by yourself and let me know when you’re done.” He ruffled his hair, gently pushing him off towards the bathroom but he knew Peter didn’t actually need to go.
Peter went anyway and sat down on the toilet, deciding to unroll all the toilet paper while he was at it. After sitting there for some time though, he got bored so he kicked the pull-up off and got off the toilet, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a carrot that Tony was chopping. “I didn’t go.”
“That’s okay. Maybe wait an hour.” Tony handed him another carrot and looked down at him. “Can you go put your pull-up back on?”
“I don’t want to wear it.”
“Do you want to wear underwear then?”
Peter looked up at his dad to try and decide if that’s what his dad wanted him wearing. “No. I don’t want it.”
“Then go put your pull-up back on.”
“I don’t know how.”
“It’s literally like putting on underwear, Pete.” He looked down at him and saw the pout so Tony sighed. “Go get it and I’ll put it on you.”
Peter slowly walked back into the bathroom, grabbed it and walked out then stepped into it when his dad held it out for him. “I’m gonna go draw with Morgan.”
“Alright, please keep the drawing on a paper. I don’t want to see any colouring on any furniture or walls.” Tony warned him and watched him run off. He smiled to himself, watching his patted butt run away then sighed to himself.
As stressful as these days were, Tony was going to miss them when his kids were all running off with friends and doing their own thing. He wanted these days to last forever.
“Penny for your thoughts.” Alice walked into the kitchen, noticing her son in law's thoughtful face. “Hmm?”
“Just thinking.” He picked up the knife to continue chopping up the carrots.
“About… a certain curly headed boy?”
He smiled. “Always.”
“Is there ever a minute that goes by where he isn’t on your mind?”
There honestly wasn’t. “Not really. But I’m not complaining. He’s cute to look at anyways.”
“He is a cutie, that’s for sure. And you’re taking him away from me tomorrow. How dare you.” She shoved him gently but enough to cause him to shift on his feet.
“Well, he is mine after all. You can always come to visit us.”
“Maybe I might have to soon.” She grabbed a bowl from the cabinet so Tony could wash the carrots in. “I’m always scared the next time I see him he would have grown up during that time then I would have missed more time with him being… like this.”
“What's like this?”
“You know? So… baby.”
“So baby?” Tony chuckled. Although he knew what she meant. He liked it too.
“Yeah… so innocent and young and so precious you just want to hold him in your arms and never let anything hurt him.”
“Yeah… he does have that affect on people.” Tony smiled warmly. “Just wait until he’s waking you up every two hours and it’s noon and you’ve already changed seven diapers and been peed on twice. It’s sometimes like having an infant that can backtalk and give you dirty looks.”
Alice gave him a knowing smile. “But you’re gonna miss this one day. Five, ten years from now. You’re gonna want to change a diaper and wake up every night with him.”
Tony didn’t think of it that way. “Okay. I think those are the two things I won’t miss the most but I get your idea.” He thought about it. “It’s so weird to think that he will be the last diapers I change out of all my kids. And here we were thinking that would be Morgan.”
“That’s a funny way to look at it. I mean, he is the baby of our family after all. Even if he isn’t the youngest.”
“That he is.”
He put the bag of carrots back into the fridge and grabbed some fruits to wash and cut up, putting them into two separate plates for Peter and Morgan to munch on.
He took both the plates into the family room that they turned into a playroom and placed them on the table but saw Peter looking rather guilty. “What’s up, Pete?”
“Nothing.” Peter put a carrot in his mouth and that’s when Tony saw the marker on the floor.
“Peter. Did you do that?” He didn’t even know why he was asking, of course Peter did.
Peter tried to cover it with his foot. “You said don’t colour on furniture or walls. I didn’t.”
“Peter.”
.
.
.
“Do we have everything?” Pepper came to the bedroom to double check.
“As long as we have Peter’s teddy bear and blankie, we’re good.” Tony personally double checked that he had those items.
“Okay. Grab Peter’s bag and we’ll go.”
Tony already had it. He carried the bags downstairs and didn’t even get to the bottom of the stairs before Peter was running up to him.
“Dad! I need to pee!”
“Okay! Go go go!” He dropped the bags by the stairs and rushed into the bathroom and put the toilet seat cover on it. “Pull down your pants and pull-up.”
Peter quickly did that then he sat on the toilet and went.
Tony was so proud of him. “Wow, Pete. Give me a high five. That’s another sticker for you. Look at you go.”
“Yeah.” Peter smiled. He was happy his dad was proud of him. “I stayed dry all day.”
“You did.” It was only 9am but Tony was still proud of him either way. Tony knew he peed his diaper when he first woke up but he didn’t blame him, they stayed in bed for about twenty minutes after first waking up. Now Tony hoped he kept this up at home.
“When we go home, I’m gonna get a toy.” Peter got off the toilet and flushed it then washed his hands.
“You just have to decide what you want.” Tony grabbed his pull-up to pull it up but Peter screamed.
“No! I do it!”
“Okay. You do it.” Tony walked out of the bathroom but the potty chart was already packed away so he grabbed a paper from the cabinet and wrote down a note so Peter knew he wouldn’t forget. “Pete, once we get home, you’ll get a sticker but for now you have this, okay?”
Peter took the paper and put it in his pocket and raced to the car outside. “My car seat isn’t in there. Oh no.”
“That means you’re gonna have to stay with me.” Alice hugging him from behind, picking him off his feet but Peter wiggled to be put down and ran to Tony, lifting his arms up.
“I want to stay with you, daddy.”
“You are.” Tony lifted him onto his hip without even thinking about it. “Pep, where’s Morgan’s car seat?”
“But grandma says I’m staying here with her but I don’t want to.” He wrapped his arms around Tony’s neck and tried to get higher up on his hip but he was falling. “Daddy.”
“You’re coming home with me, baby. I can’t carry you right now though. I have to get the car packed.” He placed Peter on his feet so Alice went to stand with him while his father got his car seat secured into the truck.
She brought him over to the bench to sit on it. “What are you going to do first when you go home?”
“I’m gonna put Spider back in my room.” Peter looked on the floor by the house where his pet fish was. He loved him and loved feeding him and watching him swim around. “He loves my room.”
“Are you going to sleep in your room tonight?”
“No. I sleep with daddy. And I’m gonna pee on the big toilet at home. No more in my pull-up.”
“Wow, Peter. Look at you growing up. Don’t let your dad know you’re growing up too fast or he’ll be sad.” Even though Alice didn’t mean anything by that, Peter took it a certain way.
He thought his dad wanted him to stay dry and pee on the toilet but he didn’t want to do that and make his dad sad. It brought back too many memories. Now he felt bad. He stood up and walked over to Tony, tapping on his back. “Dad? Daddy? Daddy?”
“Peter. One second, I’m trying to hook your car seat up.” Tony was half lying in the truck, trying to find the latch for the darn thing. God, he hated this part of car seats.
Since the driver's door was open, Peter walked around and climbed into it then sat on the centre console. “Dad, when are we going?”
Tony hooked it in. “Now.” He got out of the truck and moved the buckles on the car seat so he could get Peter into it. “Climb in.”
“I wanna do it.” Peter pushed Tony’s hands away once he was in the seat.
“No, I’m doing it.” Tony didn’t want him to know how to do it so he could unbuckle himself while they were driving. Part of the reason he was sitting in a car seat and not a booster seat at this age. “Do you want a bottle?”
“Yeah.”
Tony grabbed it from the bag and placed it in his cup holder. He wanted to say their goodbyes quickly so Peter didn’t start crying but of course when the last hug was given and Alice cried after saying goodbye to Peter, he started crying.
It only lasted for five minutes though and once they were on the road, Peter was happy again.
Mike was dropping them off at the airport since he was immediately going for a golfing trip with his friends and so it worked out perfectly. And Tony got to sit beside Peter on the way to the airport so it worked out.
“Dad?”
“Yeah, Morg?”
“What time will we be home at? Will it be dark?”
“Uhh…” Tony put Peter’s bottle back in the cup holder. “We’ll be home in about five hours. It’ll probably be dark but it won’t be bedtime. Unless you want to sleep.”
“Dad.”
“Yeah, Pete?”
“I’m peeing.”
Tony nodded. He kinda expected that and he didn’t feel like having to pull over so it was fine. “It’s fine, Pete. We’ll be on the airplane soon.”
“I’m not sitting on the airplane toilet. I’ll fall through.”
“How about we see once we’re on there.” Tony patted his thigh and looked out the window, excited to be going home. They were there for quite a long time so it was going to be really nice to be at home in his own bed with his own things.
It started to rain just as they got onto the plane and took off just in time. Peter was sitting next to Tony and was nursing on a bottle while Pepper sat across from Tony, a cold cloth over her eyes.
“How’s your head feeling?”
Pepper sighed. “Still pounding. I don’t know what it is, usually I’m fine with flying.”
“Let’s hope you aren’t getting sick.” Tony hoped not. He didn’t need to take care of three kids, a dog and the house all by himself plus attend the meetings at work. It simply wasn’t possible.
“No, I’m fine. I just need a power nap.”
Peter looked at Tony and pointed at his mom. “Mm.”
“Yeah, let mommy rest.”
Peter got up and straddled his dad’s lap, laying his head on his chest. “Are you sleepy?”
Peter shook his head even as he shut his eyes so Tony rubbed his back and shut his own eyes but they didn't stay shut for long because Harley sat down in front of him.
“Should I go back to school next semester? I’ve been thinking of it.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. I feel weird leaving. Like… I need to be here right now.”
“Because of your brother?”
“Yeah. I guess that’s part of it.”
“What’s the other part?”
Harley looked at Peter on his dad's lap, thinking deeply about it. “I don’t know. I feel like we haven’t been a complete family for a long time. We were always a broken family. And I feel by me leaving doesn't help with that.”
Tony agreed with Harley to some extent. “I understand that. But if you have a passion to study and go to school, don’t let that hold you back. We’re always going to be a family and we’re always a car ride away. A quick fifteen minute plane ride if it came down to it.”
Harley rolled his eyes. “That’s extra.”
“I'm being serious. If you want to go to school, don’t let anyone or anything stop you.” Peter lifted his head off Tony’s chest and looked at him, his face looking oddly sickly. “What?”
Tony felt it before he heard it. Peter farted on his hand through his pull-up and pants and then Tony heard it.
“Eww, that was wet.” Harley cringed and so did Tony because he was the one who had to clean it up.
“Are you done?” Tony asked him then lifted Peter onto his feet before waiting for a response. He pulled back his pants and pull-up and almost got it on his fingers so he snapped it back and stood up. “Nice. Harley, can you do me a favour and bring me the bag.” Tony grabbed Peter’s hand. “Come over here.”
The awful part was that Tony couldn’t do this in the bathroom because it was so small so the airplane floor would have to do. He pulled down Peter’s pants and noticed it leaking down his legs and he cringed. Why did this have to happen on the plane?
Tony turned around to see where Harley was with the bag. “Harley. Hurry.”
“I can’t find it.”
Tony groaned and stood up, grabbing the black bag from the back of the plane and walking back to Peter. He kneeled down and grabbed the mat up, laying it on the floor and patting it so Peter laid down.
“Does your tummy hurt?”
“No.”
“Good.” Tony grabbed the wipes and prepared himself to untape the sides and pull the front down. “Oh god, Peter. What did you even eat? I swear you had two pieces of strawberries for dinner last night.”
“Ow.”
“Sorry. Just… hold your legs up.” Tony pushed them open and tried not to gag. “Harley, can you grab me a diaper?”
“I don’t know where they are.”
Tony groaned again. He put all the garbage into a plastic bag and used another wipe to make sure Peter was all cleaned down there. “There’s none in the bag. Grab one from the box.”
“There’s no box here, dad.”
Tony stood up. “Don’t move, Peter.” He walked to the back where all their stuff was and started looking around but there were actually no diapers there. He walked over to Pepper and shook her awake. “Pepper. Did you pack any extra diapers for Peter?”
“What? Yeah, I put the box in the truck.”
“Well they aren’t here.”
“Oh. We’ll be home soon. What time is it?”
“No, Peter just had diarrhea. I need a diaper.”
Pepper stood up and saw Peter lying on the floor next to the black bag so she picked it up and started digging in it. “There should be some in here.”
“I checked. There isn’t.”
“Then what do we do?”
Tony looked down at Peter. “Can you tell me if you need to do that again? Or go pee? I don’t have a diaper for you.”
Peter grabbed between his legs. “A pull-up.”
“No. I don’t have anything.” Tony pulled out a spare pair of baggy pants for him out of the bag. “Put these on and then you have to tell me if you need to use the bathroom.”
Peter kicked his legs. “Nooo. Not on here.”
Tony didn’t know what to do. He lifted Peter up and sat down on the plane chair, sitting Peter on his lap and trying to bend his legs up to get the pants on him. “Peter. I don’t have any diapers. You need to tell me if you need to go pee.”
“Not on here.”
“Then where?”
“My diaper!” He cried.
“Peter. I don’t have any. We forgot them in Malibu. As soon as we go home, I’ll put one on you. Okay?”
“Land the plane now.”
Tony sighed. He reached for the bottle but thought better of that. He really didn’t need an accident out of any end on him. “I can’t. We’re gonna be home soon.” Tony held his hand out for the towel in the bag. “Pepper, can you hand me that? I’m gonna put it between his legs, just in case.”
To say it was a tense trip home was an understatement.
Thankfully, for Tony and Peter, Peter stayed dry and no messes had to be cleaned up. As soon as they stepped foot into their house, Tony carried Peter straight to the toilet and sat him on it. “If you go, good, if you don’t, that’s okay. I’m gonna go bring everything inside.”
Peter kicked his legs, whining but his dad didn’t come back for him so he got off the toilet and walked outside, practically freezing when the cold air hit his bare legs and feet. “Dad! It’s freezing.”
“Peter. I said I’d be back.” Tony lifted him onto his hip and grabbed the last suitcase from the trunk then walked inside, slightly frustrated over everything in general. “Did you use the toilet?”
“No.”
“Go grab me a diaper from upstairs and I’ll put it on you.”
Peter didn’t move from his spot. “I don’t wanna go upstairs by myself. It’s dark up there. Who knows who moved in while we were gone.”
Tony grabbed Peter’s hand and led him upstairs. He wasn’t wasting another minute and risking an accident. Nope. He turned on the light to his room and realized in that moment how much he missed home and missed his bed. God, he was excited to sleep tonight.
“Go lie on the bed. I’ll grab some cream.”
Peter climbed onto the bed, jumping on it. “I forgot how bouncy it was.”
Tony looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. He looked like a mess due to the lack of sleep and having zero personal space. Tony thought going to Pepper’s parents house would have helped and it did but not in terms of getting lots of time to himself.
Peter was literally attached to him at every second. He was his shadow and Tony loved it but he wished his shadow actually slept.
He grabbed cream and walked into the bedroom, grabbing a diaper from the box. “Lie down now.”
“Hold it out so I can jump into it.”
“It’s a diaper. Not a pull-up.”
“Oh.” Peter stopped jumping and laid down, scooting close to the edge of the bed. “What are we going to do today, dad?”
“You say today like we just woke up. I’m going to do laundry and then we’ll eat dinner and settle down before bed.” They were all jet lagged so Tony was taking that into consideration too. Especially Peter.
Peter tried to roll onto his stomach but Tony grabbed his hip to stop him. “Why are you always trying to roll away? You know I’m not done yet.” Tony touched his face then realized it was with the finger he had cream on. Peter laughed at him.
“You got cream on your face.”
“I wonder why.”
Peter stopped laughing. “Cause you touched it.”
“Oh. Wow, I didn’t even notice.”
Peter scrunched his nose up adorably. “Are you being sarcastic?”
Tony sometimes forgot that Peter didn’t understand sarcasm and it went way over his head. “Yes, baby. I am.”
“Oh.” He sighed. “Are you done yet?”
Tony wiped the cream off his fingers with a wipe and grabbed the front of the diaper, securing it onto him. “Now I am. Please don’t run around too crazy. Do you want pants on?”
Peter looked down at his legs and was about to say yes but the house was really warm so he ran out of the bedroom instead. “Mom?”
He walked into the kitchen and found his mom digging through the cabinets, a bunch of medicine on the counters. “Mom? What are you doing? Mom?”
Pepper rubbed her eyes. She had a massive headache and her chest hurt. “What, honey?”
Peter reached onto the cabinet and tried to grab the first bottle of pills that he saw but Pepper grabbed it from him and then Peter was grabbing another one. “Peter. Please go find something to do. Mommy’s not feeling well.”
“I can make you feel better. I’ll make you some food.” Peter walked around the kitchen island and climbed up on the stool then he grabbed another bottle of pills.
Tony walked up behind him and grabbed both bottles out of Peter’s hands. “What's all this, Pepper?”
“Hey. I was using that. Dad. Give it back.”
Tony looked at Peter. “Are you allowed to touch these?”
Peter shrugged. “Yeah…”
“No. You’re not. Go find something to do.”
“Nooo. Pick me up. I want you to carry me.”
Tony grabbed him, a bit too roughly and held him on his hip. “Why did you empty the medicine cabinet? Spring cleaning?” Tony teased.
“I can’t find the Advil and my head is killing. We’re also out of children’s Tylenol and Morgan says she feels like throwing up.”
Tony looked at the mess on the counter. “Are we out? We might be out.”
“I’m not sure.” Pepper opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. “Can you go to the store and get some? My head is killing. It’s a migraine.”
“Yeah. I can go.” Tony started cleaning up the mess of pill bottles first. “Just gotta clean these up so Peter doesn’t get them.”
“No. Can you take him? I need to rest.”
Tony looked at her. She must be really sick. He hoisted Peter up higher on his hip. “Yeah. Sure. Let me get some pants on him and then we’ll go.” He carried Peter into the hallway and opened up his suitcase, pulling out the first pair of long pants he saw.
“Am I gonna wear a pull-up out?”
“No. A diaper. We don’t have any pull-ups here.” Tony would have to buy some.
“Oh. Are you going to buy me some?”
“Uh,” Tony stood up to look for his keys. “Maybe. We’ll see.”
Peter got his boots on and stood up, pulling his pants down a bit when it rode up a bit too uncomfortably. “Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I sit in Morgan’s seat?”
“No, baby. You’ll sit in your own car seat.”
Peter stomped his foot. “Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“What store are we going to?”
Tony grabbed his wallet. “Uh, Target.”
“Oh. Daddy?”
“Yes, Peter?” Tony tried not to show his annoyance at his name being called so much.
Peter hesitated. “Are you mad at me?”
“No, baby. We just have to go because we gotta get back to give mom and Morgan medicine.” Tony opened up the back door and lifted Peter into his seat, not waiting for him to climb in.
“Can I get medicine for my bum again?”
Tony shook his head fondly. “If you don’t need it, then no.”
Peter arched his back once the door was shut then Tony got in, started the van and drove away.
“Daddy.”
“Yes, Peter?”
“I’m peeing.”
“Thank you for telling me. That’s okay.” Tony ran his hand through his hair. He was actually scared that he was going to be stuck doing all of this by him if Pepper got sick. He couldn’t do all this, potty train Peter and take care of everything else. He just couldn’t.
They arrived at Target and Tony grabbed Peter’s hand and took him to the medicine aisle to look for what they came here for while also trying to keep his eye on Peter at the same time. “Can you help me look for Advil and children’s Tylenol?”
Peter was squatting down and looking at the gummy vitamins. “Can I get these? They look yummy.”
“You have vitamins at home.” Tony told him. He was stressed and just wanted to find the medicine and leave.
“But I want these ones. Please, dad.”
“No, Peter.”
“Daddy.” Peter whined, a bit too loud for Tony’s liking. “I want these ones. Mine at home at nasty.”
Because Tony couldn’t deal with the whining and fighting, he gave in. “Fine. Alright. Get them.” He ran a stressful hand through his hair and grabbed the Advil he found.
“You shouldn’t be giving in so easily.”
Tony turned to the voice. It was an old woman with a gray Bob haircut and deep wrinkles. He gave her a dirty look. “Excuse me.”
The older woman gestured to Peter. “I’m just saying, from one grandparent to a parent, don’t give in. It teaches him that he can get whatever he wants.”
“How about you spend more time focusing on your life rather than trying to tell me how to raise my son.” Tony held his hand out for Peter, grabbed the children’s Tylenol and left the aisle.
If he wasn’t in such a bad mood, maybe he wouldn’t have given that response but that lady stepped out of line.
“Why did she say that?” Peter asked because of course he did.
“Because some people are incredibly nosy.” Tony pulled him to the diaper aisle, thankful that the store wasn’t too busy. He let go of Peter’s hand and tried to find the diapers they used but he couldn’t find them. “Do you see the Lion King ones?”
Peter looked at all the boxes. “Um… I don’t see any.”
Tony looked for another one that would fit nicely too. “Okay. We’re getting these.”
Peter looked at the design and shook his head. “Noo. Not those. Those are ugly.”
“It’s Mickey Mouse.” Tony looked at the box. “You love Mickey Mouse.”
“Since when?” Peter grabbed another box off the shelf. “I want this one. It’s Cookie Monster and it might come with free cookies.”
Tony put his box back to keep looking. “No. I’m not getting Pampers.”
“Why?” Whined Peter, sitting on the floor and refusing to move until he got what he wanted. “I want Pampers.”
Tony took the box from him, causing Peter to throw his head back and almost smack the shelf behind him. “Look. Lion King. I found it and your size. Grab wipes and legs go.”
“I don’t want Huggies.”
Tony grabbed Peter’s arm and lifted him onto his feet, leaning down to be in his face. “None of this whining or I’m going to put you in timeout when we go home.”
“No!”
“Then stop. Grab four packs of wipes and let’s go.”
Peter gave Tony a dirty look but grabbed four packs of wipes and pointed at the creams. “I need this too.”
“Grab the blue one.”
“This one?”
“Yeah. Grab two.”
“My arms are small. I can’t carry everything, daddy.”
Tony grabbed the creams and started walking out of the aisle but Peter didn’t. “Come, Peter. We have to go home.”
Peter froze and looked down between his legs and Tony knew exactly what that meant. “No.”
“I farted… and it came out.”
Tony walked behind him and put the box on the floor to pull back his pants to see, sighing. “Okay. Um…” He didn’t want to change him here but he couldn’t wait until they got home. “Okay. Let’s just go into the bathroom quickly and get this over with.”
Peter wasn’t walking so Tony grabbed his arm to pull him along. “Dad. Don’t go so fast.”
“Pete, we have to get home. We’ve been gone for an hour now.” Tony walked into the hallway and already cringed. There was a family bathroom and Tony was going in there, he wasn’t going into the men’s room.
“Excuse me, sir, you can’t bring the merchandise beyond the red line.”
Tony placed the items on the floor but he ripped open the box of diapers. “I need one. And wipes.” He didn’t care what they said. He took Peter’s hand and brought him in. “What the hell.” There were two toilets and no freaking changing table because it looked like it was ripped off. Great.
“Okay. Let’s go quick.” Tony bent down in front of Peter and pulled his pants down that were thankfully clean. He opened up the package of wipes and pulled a bunch out to bed ready to use then pulled off his diaper, placing it on the floor and almost vomiting.
“Ewww.” Peter said.
Tony agreed. “Yeah. Ew indeed. I swear, kid,” Tony wiped between his legs, cringing when he got some on his hands. “you are going to appreciate this so much one day. Or be embarrassed. Maybe both.”
“Yeah.” Peter agreed, not really listening to him. “I want to lie down. I’m gonna fall over.”
“You’re not. Turn around and touch your feet now. Then we’re done.”
“This is uncomfortable.” Peter complained, trying to keep his balance so he didn’t fall over.
“Almost done.”
“Oww.”
Tony patted his lower back once he was done, letting Peter know. “Come wash your hands.”
“Is my face all red from being upside down? I feel dizzy.”
Tony rolled his eyes fondly but at least he was in a good mood. “Is your tummy hurting at all?”
“No. It feels fine. Why?”
“Why? Because I just had to wipe you clean of explosive diarrhea.”
Peter bursted out laughing. “That’s funny.”
“It really wasn’t. I want to get some really good cuddles from you tonight to make up for that. And the airplane one.” Tony meant that, Peter owed him after that.
“I’ll think about it.” He smirked and waited so Tony could put the new diaper on him before pulling up his pants and leaving. “Now I feel better. I feel so clean and brand new. Like a brand new car.”
“I’m glad. Let’s go pay for these things quickly and then we’ll go home.” Since Tony couldn’t hold Peter’s hand, he had Peter walk in front of him but he was moving painstakingly slow. “Any day now, kid.”
“Can we get McDonald’s on the way home?”
“After that episode, no.”
“What episode?”
Tony ruffled his hair and moved behind him to pay. He wasn’t going to spell it out for Peter with all these people here. Once they had everything, Tony carried the bags and diaper box in one hand then held Peter’s hand with the other. “Walking feet. Remember the parking lot rules.”
“I need to pee.”
Tony sighed because of course he did. “Can you hold it until we go home?”
“No. I can’t.”
“Okay. It’s fine if you go now.”
“But…” Peter stopped by the van and looked down at himself while Tony loaded the trunk up. “We don’t have any pull-ups. I can’t go pee to get a sticker.”
“We’ll work something out. Hop into your car seat.”
.
.
.
“Dad?”
Tony put the last dirty dish into the dishwasher and grabbed the soap to put in. “Yeah?”
“My stomach hurts.” Morgan walked over to him, holding onto her stomach. She looked a bit pale and she was sweating a bit.
Shutting the dish washed and rinsing his hands, Tony felt her forehead. “I’m gonna take your temperature.” Tony opened the cabinet and dug for it, accidentally dropping a bunch of things on the floor. “Shit.”
“You swore.”
“Sorry.” Tony grabbed it. “Put this under your arm until it beeps. I’ll get you some water.”
“Daddy!”
Tony looked down the hallway and saw Peter standing there.
“I’m peeing!”
Tony sighed and grabbed a paper towel to go clean it up. “Why aren’t you wearing a diaper?”
“I took it off so I could pee in the toilet.”
“But you peed on the floor, Peter. Keep your diaper on.” Tony got onto his knees to clean it up when Morgan was calling him.
“Dad. It’s beeping.”
“Can I see?” Peter took the thermometer from her and tried to read it. “Oh no! You’re 101 pounds. That’s so heavy.”
Rolling his eyes, Tony grabbed it from him and looked at the number. “You’ve got a fever, Morg. Go lie on the couch. I’m going to get you some medicine and water.”
Peter grabbed onto Morgan’s hand to help her get comfortable on the couch. He moved some pillows so she could lie down then he covered her with a blanket. “Do you want me to sing you a song?”
Morgan nodded.
So Peter sat down on the floor and thought of what to sing. “Lay your head on me, as I fall to sleep, put your arms around me. Stay here by my side. We’re the lucky ones-”
“What’re you singing, Pete?” Tony asked, walking back over with a bottle of water and a syringe of medicine. He sat down on the couch by Morgan’s side, smiling down at Peter. He’s heard Peter sing before and loved his voice because he could actually sing.
Tony knew Peter got that from him because he could sing too. He just never sang with Peter unless it was in the car, screaming to Disney songs.
“I dunno. Just a song.”
Tony ruffled his hair and turned to Morgan. “Take this medicine. Try to rest, Morg. You’ll feel better soon.” He pushed the medicine past her lips and handed her some water, caressing her face then Peter did the same. “Come, Pete. Let’s go get you into a bath and ready for bed.”
“I don’t want to take a bath.”
“Then a shower.”
“Shower with me.”
Tony grabbed his hand and led him upstairs. Morgan’s bathroom door was closed and the light was on underneath it so Tony walked over and knocked on it.
“Yeah?” It was Harley.
“Hey. Are you okay in there?” Tony was concerned as to why Harley wasn’t using his own bathroom.
The door opened and Harley walked out in only his underwear. “I’m sick. I probably got it from him and his nasty airplane diarrhea.”
“He’s not sick. He just ate something bad.”
“Well I’m throwing up and I feel like crap.” Harley walked into Tony’s bedroom and into the bathroom so Tony followed him, still holding Peter’s hand. “Where’s your Advil? I know mom brought it in here.”
Tony looked into the bedroom at Pepper. She never slept when she wasn’t feeling well so the fact that it was nine at night, 6pm their time, was a big sign she wasn’t feeling well at all.
Tony walked into the bedroom and grabbed the bottle, handing two pills to Harley. He would have to lock the pill bottle away so Peter didn’t get to it. “Do you need anything else?”
Harley practically whined and Tony rolled his eyes. Something about the boys in this family and being sick compared to the girls. The boys all exaggerated their sickness while the girls fought through it.
He just hoped he didn’t fall sick.
Tony took off Peter’s shirt and opened the shower door so Peter could get in. “Just be quick.”
“Come in with me.” Peter whined, moving to hide behind the counter. Tony walked over to him. “No. Dad.”
With a sigh, Tony stripped down to his underwear and held his arms out for Peter, lifting him up and stepping into the shower.
“Hotter. It’s too cold.” Peter shivered, leaning his head against his dad’s chest. “You have hair to keep you warm.”
Chuckling at that comment, Tony turned the water a bit hotter and set Peter on his feet. “Don’t get your hair wet. I’m not blow drying it tonight.”
Squatting down, Peter grabbed one of his bath toys that formed a crusty spot on the shower stone floor. “Can I play?”
“Are you going to stay in here by yourself then?”
“No.”
“Then not tonight because I have to go check on your sister.” Tony grabbed body wash and squeezed some onto his hand, bending down to rub it all over Peter.
“That tickles.”
Tony rinsed his hand after and pulled Peter to stand under the water spray. “Don’t get your hair wet. Move your head.” He ended up pulling down the shower handle and just rinsing him down like that.
“Am I gonna wear a diaper after?”
“No, I'm gonna let you sleep in my bed without one tonight.” Tony sarcastically said but of course it went way over Peter’s head.
“Noo. Why?”
“I’m being sarcastic, buddy. Of course you’re going to.”
“Yay!” Peter made sure all the soap was gone and he opened up the door. “Can we go?”
“You can. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“No. I wait.” Peter sat on the shower stone bench and watched Tony, waiting patiently until he was done, showering the best he could in wet underwear. “Are you done yet?”
Tony didn’t have any other choice, he shut the water off, opened the door and grabbed a towel to wrap around Peter then wrapped one around himself, taking off his wet underwear underneath it.
“Up.”
“Alright. Up you get.” He held him a bit uncomfortably against his side and walked into the bedroom, holding his fingers up to his lips so Peter knew to be quiet.
Covering a hand over his mouth, Peter nodded, pointing at his mom on the bed and looking at Tony. “She’s sleeping.”
“Yeah shhh.”
“Okay.” Peter whispered way too loud. Something about Peter, he didn’t know how to whisper even if his life depended on it.
Tony laid him down on the bed and opened up his towel, grabbing a diaper from the box and rash cream. “Do you want to put on pyjamas now?”
“My race car ones-”
“Shhh.”
“Oops.”
Tony looked around for them, finding them in a pile on the floor. “Here. Put these on. I’m gonna go check on Morgan but you need to be quiet.”
Peter got the pants on and stood up. “I wanna follow you.”
“Okay but quietly.”
“Let’s pretend like there’s zombies downstairs that we have to hide from.”
“How about you go lie down and be quiet while I go downstairs then come right back up.” Tony patted the spot beside Pepper but Peter lifted his arms up for him.
“No, dad. I wanna go with you.” Peter stood up on the bed and went into his dad’s arms before Tony could even stop him.
Since he fit so perfectly there, Tony lifted him up and took him downstairs to pour a bottle of milk that he managed to do without putting Peter down. He then walked into the living room and shut the lights off. “Morgan. Let’s go to bed. Come on.”
The eleven year old yawned, looking up at Tony with groggy eyes. “Mmm. Can’t walk.”
Tony should have expected that. He shifted Peter onto his hip and held his arm out for Morgan. “Stand up and come here.”
She stood up on the couch and went into her dad’s arms, not as gracefully as Peter did just minutes before.
Tony walked over to the stairs after and paused. “Pete, shut the light off, will you.” Peter shut it off and leaned his head against Tony’s shoulder. “You two are heavy to carry now, you know that?”
“Not me. I’m little.” Peter pointed out, wrapping his arms around Tony’s neck and kissing his cheek then deciding to lick his face.
“Okay, Pete, that’s gross.”
“Mmm. Yummy.”
Tony rolled his eyes and laid Morgan down on her bed, sitting down on it and letting Peter climb off of him and start looking through her toys. “Peter, stop it. Don’t make a mess. Morgan, sleep well. If you need me, just call me and I’ll come.”
Peter dumped out a basket of her toys so Tony stood up before he could do more damage. “Let’s go. Bedtime.”
.
.
.
Tony felt someone tapping his back so he rolled onto his back and saw Peter sitting up in bed, his face distorted in disgust.
“What’s wrong?”
“I did… a poop.” Peter opened his legs, looking between them at the mess on his inner thighs and bedding.
Tony reached over and turned the lamp on, both of them squinting at the brightness then he looked down and saw the mess. “Uh, Peter.”
Peter tried to move but he made it worse and whimpered.
“Uhh don’t move.”
“Daddy.”
Tony got off the bed and walked into the bathroom to grab a towel and a pack of wipes. “I know. I’m coming. Does your tummy hurt?” He laid the towel on the floor and lifted Peter up, laying him on it.
Peter reached down and got it on his hands. “Eww. Daddy.”
“Peter. Don’t touch.” Now Tony had to wipe his hands clean then he prepared himself to undo the straps and pull the front down, trying not to gag. “Does your stomach hurt?”
“No. Just… weird.”
“Okay.” It took half a pack of wipes to get him cleaned up, trying to be gentle but thorough and thankfully Peter was cooperating with him. “Almost done. Open your legs. Keep them open.”
Peter whined, rubbing his eyes. “My legs are tired. I can’t.”
Sighing, Tony pushed them to his chest so he could put cream on. “I’m almost done. I-”
Pepper ran out of bed and went into the bathroom, vomiting into the toilet.
“Pepper? Are you okay?”
Tony listened to her throw up a few times, cringing. He was literally cleaning diarrhea in the middle of the night and listening to someone throwing up. Nice.
Peter tried to look at her. “Moms sick?”
“Pepper? Honey?”
Pepper took off her pyjama shirt and wiped her mouth with it then walked into the bedroom after rinsing her mouth with tap water. “I feel awful.”
Tony put a diaper on Peter and stood up, grabbing the disgusting garbage. “Peter’s sick too. But it’s coming out the other end.”
Pepper looked at the folded diaper in his hand and looked away. “Don’t mention that right now. I’m gonna be sick again.”
Tony threw everything out and washed his hands then walked back out. “Are you sick sick or… nausea sickness?” He was curious. They had unprotective sex a few times recently.
“Flu sick. I’m not pregnant.”
Peter crawled onto the bed to approach her so Tony grabbed a tank top from the drawer and handed it to her. “Here.”
“No. I’m sweating right now.”
Peter grabbed her hair, running his fingers through it. “Mom, you’re sick?”
“Yeah, baby. Mommy’s not feeling well.” Pepper laid down and smiled at Peter looking over her. “Want to lie down with me?”
Reaching behind him, Peter grabbed his bottle and handed it to Pepper. “Do you want milk?”
“No, baby. I just need to rest.”
Tony finished cleaning up and changing the blanket on the bed with the bodily fluids then he laid down and sighed. He was so tired and so ready to go to sleep. “Come cuddle with me, baby. Let mommy rest.” Tony knew why Peter was preferring to cuddle with Pepper now.
“He’s fine, Tony. I just need to shut my eyes.”
Tony moved closer to them, patting Peter’s back and closing his eyes just as he heard running and Morgan crying out.
“Mommy! Daddy! I threw up!”
Tony sat up in bed. He wasn’t getting any sleep tonight.