Always Be My Baby

“Can you go pick Morgan up from school?” Tony was on the phone with Pepper while waiting for Peter to pee on the toilet. He’s been sitting there for fifteen minutes and still nothing. 

It was frustrating. 

“I can’t, Tony. I have a meeting in ten minutes and then I need to go pick up the photo shoot outfits but they won’t be ready until 5.” 

“I really don’t want to have to take Peter off the toilet.” Tony walked into the hallway and looked into the bathroom, finding Peter off the toilet seat and sitting on the stool, reading a magazine. “Hey. Get back on that toilet.” 

Peter quickly jumped back on. 

“Just put a diaper on him to go pick Morgan up then take it off him.” Pepper told him. 

Tony sighed. They’ve been at this potty training thing for five days now and so far no luck. Peter sat on the toilet and only peed once he got off and was put into a pull-up. 

“You know he’ll use it.” 

“I know. We’re trying our best. We can’t wait for him on the toilet all day.” 

Tony knew she was right. “I’ll do that. Try to come home early then. It’s going to be a full house.” He said his goodbyes and hung the phone up, putting it in his back pocket. There was a jar of diaper rash cream on the counter so he grabbed that. “We have to go pick your sister up from school now. We can try sitting on the toilet when we get home if you want.” 

Peter stood up. “I don’t want to.” 

“That’s fine. Face me.” Tony leaned down to apply cream onto him then tapped his hip. “Butt now.” 

Turning around, Peter waited patiently until his dad was done so he could walk around. He didn’t want to be stuck in the bathroom all day. 

After washing his hands, Tony led Peter into the living room. “What’ll it be?” 

“Diaper. And after school- after we pick Morgan up from school, I don’t wanna take it off. Okay?” 

Tony knew it was tiring and frustrating for Peter. Hell, it was for him too. “Are you done with it today?” He asked, sliding the diaper between his legs and securing it onto him. 

Peter nodded. “Yeah. I’m done for today. When we get home, can me and Morgan play in the playroom, dad?” 

“You can but only until your mom gets home because then we’re going to have our family photo shoot.” Tony held out track pants for him to step into. 

“But-but-and we have a photo shoot here?” 

“Yeah, remember I told you? The photographer will come here at six to take pictures of us. That’s why I washed your hair today.” He kissed his nose and stood up. “Come get your boots on.” 

“No. Carry me to the car.” 

“Fine. But you still need to put a jacket on.” 

“No I don’t. Body heat.” Peter grabbed his dad’s car keys from the table and handed them to him. “When can you teach me to drive the car?” 

“Hmmm do you think your car seat can hook up to the driver’s seat?” He asked, digging in the closet for a jacket for Peter. 

Peter stood behind him. “Yeah. I think so.” 

“No. It doesn’t. Put this on and ask me that again in five years.” 

“What?! I don’t wanna learn how to drive at 19, dad! Harley learned at 16. So should I.” 

Tony knew Peter didn’t want to drive so he didn’t know why he was asking him to. He ruffled his hair and lifted him up, kissing his rosy cheek. “Let’s get you out of diapers first, huh?” 

“Fine. Can I play on your phone in the car?” 

“Sure. Hay Day?” He opened up the back door and sat Peter in his car seat, pulling his arms through the buckles. 

“Yep.” Peter took the phone that was handed to him. “Can we get McDonald’s for dinner?” 

“Let’s see,” Tony pretended to think about it and shut the car door, getting into the driver's seat and starting the car then reversing out of the driveway. 

“You didn’t answer me.” Giggled Peter. 

“Oh. Didn’t I?” 

Peter laughed harder. “No.” 

“Huh. I thought me slamming the door in your face was answer enough.” 

Peter laughed. “No, dad. That’s silly.” 

“Silly me then.” 

When they got to the school, Tony got into the pickup lane but he got a message from the school asking him to come inside to pick Morgan up. He sighed. That wasn’t good. 

He left the lane and parked the van. “Alright, buddy. It looks like we’re going inside.” 

“Why? Why can’t Morgan just come out like she always does.” Groaning, Peter threw his head back. 

“I don’t know, but we have to go in so out you get.” Tony was really regretting not putting shoes on Peter right now. He unbuckled him and lifted him out of the van, sitting him on his hip and grabbing the iPad from the car floor to keep Peter entertained while they were in there. 

Tony walked into the school, scanning his entrance card and walking into the office. He saw Morgan sitting on one of the chairs with her bag on her lap and her head down. 

Tony sighed. “Morgan. What happened?” 

She looked up at him, looking at Peter then shrugged. 

“Mr. Stark. Thank you for coming in.” 

Tony turned to her principal and held out his hand to shake with hers. “What’s going on?” 

“Can you come into my office to talk? Your kids can wait here, the receptionist can watch them. Ten minutes tops.” 

Tony walked over to Morgan and placed Peter on his feet. “Stay with your sister. I’m going to go talk to Morgan’s principal quickly.” 

Peter looked back at him nervously before sitting down and pulling the iPad onto his lap. “Dad said we’re getting McDonalds for dinner.” Peter lied. 

“Not me. I did something bad.” 

“Oh. You’ve been bad?” Peter was curious now. 

“Yeah.” 

“Did you talk to someone you weren’t supposed to?” 

Morgan sighed. “No. I did something worse.” 

Peter patted her head. “I’ll give you some of my McDonald’s then. Are you gonna sit on timeout at home?” 

“I don’t know. Probably.” 

“Oh. I’ll sit there with you. Not because I’ve been bad. I’ve been good today.” Peter made sure he cleared that up. 

Tony was nervous. He had no idea what the hell Morgan did. He took a seat at the desk and leaned back. 

“So, I’m not going to sugarcoat anything and get straight to the point,” The principal started. “Thirty minutes ago Morgan was in gym class with the grade eights and she got into a fight with one of the older boys. The teacher witnessed Morgan punch him in the face and kick him in the privates. When we asked her what happened, she refused to tell us, and told us that her brother taught her how to do that.” 

Tony let out a frustrated sigh. “Her older brother play fights with them. All my children also took self defense classes so she knows how to fight.” He couldn’t believe this. “Morgan wouldn’t punch someone just for punching them, the boy must have said something to her that upset her.” 

“We have asked her multiple times but she isn’t telling us. Perhaps you can get it out of her.” 

“Well, what about the other kid? Have you asked him?” 

“His parents took him home and refused to let us talk with him.” 

Great. “Sounds like a lawsuit coming in.” Just fantastic. 

“We will let you know what’s going to happen as soon as the child’s parents contact us. As for your daughter, she is going to be suspended for five days. We will also need to make a follow up appointment with you, Morgan and your wife to discuss what happened.” 

Tony nodded, he couldn’t believe Morgan. He knew it had to be something to do with Peter. “I’ll talk to her. My wife and I. Anything else I need to know?” 

The principal looked hesitant. “I know what happened with Peter is hard, I know your family is going through a lot trying to come out on top, I can understand that to the best of my abilities, I have also heard the story on the news that Steve Rogers… your son's kidnapper is dead. But Morgan is telling some of her friends and teacher that he’s still alive. I think she must be confused.” 

Tony ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah… we’ve been telling her he’s dead. She doesn’t seem to understand that and is telling Peter he’s still alive. Thank you for letting me know. I’ll talk to her.” He stood up and left the office, walking back into the area where his kids were and making eye contact with Morgan then kneeling down in front of her. 

“Your principal told me everything that happened and what’s been going on.” 

She shrugged. 

“We’re going to go home, have a snack and then you and I are going to talk.” 

“Dad, was Morgan bad today?” 

“She got in trouble, yes.” 

“Are you gonna make her sit on timeout or send her to her room?” 

Morgan nudged Peter. “Stop it.” 

“She said she was bad, daddy. Does that mean- mmmmmm!” 

Morgan grabbed Peter’s head and covered a hand over his mouth and nose, holding it there. 

Tony quickly pulled Morgan away from Peter. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing right now. Peter started crying of course and Morgan looked down at her lap. 

“Morgan Stark. You are already in trouble, I suggest you be very careful with how you treat your brother right now. This behaviour is unacceptable. Stand up, we’re going home right now.” Tony stood up and grabbed Morgan’s backpack, swinging it over his shoulder but Peter was trying to be picked up too. 

Tony lifted Peter onto his hip and turned to leave but the receptionist stopped him. “Mr. Stark, you just need to sign Morgan out since you’re picking her up from the office.” 

Tony turned back around, knowing how much of a mess he currently looked. One child in trouble for punching a kid and another crying in his arms. Very put together. 

“Dad.” Morgan was about to start crying now too. She sniffled. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt him.” 

Tony hoisted Peter up higher. “Let’s talk about this at home, Morgan.” 

He walked outside and headed for the van, opening up the back door and tossing in Morgan’s backpack then sitting Peter in his car seat but Peter arched his back. “Not right now, Peter, let’s just get home.” 

“Paci!” 

Tony dug around on the messy floor of the van and found one, wiping it off then placing it in his mouth. “Alright. No more.” 

Tony was more worried than upset with Morgan. He wanted, no, needed to know the full story before he did anything else. 

When they got home, Morgan immediately got out of the car and made a beeline for the front door, typing in the password and running up to her bedroom. 

Tony walked in after her and placed Peter on the floor, dropping the bag and iPad on the floor too. Peter pulled off his pants and jacket, running down the hallway. 

“Are you wet?” 

Peter didn’t bother looking at him as he climbed onto the back of the couch, sitting on it. “No.” 

He walked over, taking off his own jacket and throwing it over the side of the couch then leaned over it to feel between Peter’s legs. “I’m going to make a snack then change you, don’t go anywhere.” 

“Can I go play downstairs with Morgan?” 

“Not right now. I need to go talk to her about what happened today at school.” Tony grabbed juice from the fridge along with a cup and a sippy cup, placing it on the counter. 

“Oh. What happened at school?” 

“I don’t know, that’s why I need to talk to her.” He poured Peter’s juice. “Come and get this.” 

“I want milk.” 

“You can have milk after dinner. You get juice now.” 

“But-” 

“Peter.” Tony looked at him. “It’s juice or water. I’m not fighting with you.” 

Peter groaned. “Fine. Juice.” He took a sip of it and looked towards Tony to see if he was watching him. “Now can I have milk?” 

“Pete, not right now. Before bed you can.” 

“When is bedtime? I’m tired.” He whined and pushed his cup away. 

Tony ran a stressful hand through his hair, checking the time on the stove. Peter wasn’t the only one wishing it was bedtime. Tony wanted to get him to sleep so he could have some peace and quiet to himself, finally. “Not yet. We’ll have our family photo shoot soon. Are you excited for that?” 

“Yeah. Can I have milk?” He asked once again, leaning his head back to look up at his father. 

Tony was used to giving in at this point so he agreed. He took the sippy cup of juice and walked back into the kitchen to fill a bottle up with milk and bring out the snack he prepared. A cheese string, crackers, and chopped up grapes for Peter and whole grapes for Morgan. 

“You stay here to eat your snack and watch tv while I go upstairs to talk to your sister.” 

“About how she was bad today?” Peter was curious to know, curious to see how she got in trouble for misbehaving compared to him. Although he never would have run upstairs to be alone. 

“Yeah, you stay here.” He kissed the top of his head, taking a sniff of his green apple scented shampoo in his hair then he went upstairs with a plate for Morgan, knocking on her bedroom door. “It’s dad. Can I come in?” 

“Whatever.” 

Tony slowly pushed open the bedroom door and shut it behind him then took a seat on Morgan’s bed, deciding how he wanted to go about this. 

Morgan was only eleven but acted more like a teenager than Peter did and teenagers were like a wild rabbit, if you make the wrong move, they run away. 

“I made you a snack. We have our family photo shoot at six. Then we’ll eat dinner. So hopefully this’ll tie you over till then.” He sat back on her bed, his back against the wall. “Let’s talk about today. I need to know what happened. I know you’re in trouble with your school, and I know that you know that. But I need to understand what happened, Morg. I can’t do that if you don’t tell me.” 

Tony was looking at Morgan but she was staring at her sheets, not looking up at him. 

“If you just explain to me what happened, then I can help. I can’t help if I don’t know.” He waited but still nothing. “Does it have something to do with Peter?” 

Morgan nodded. 

Okay. They were getting somewhere. 

“Did that older boy you hit say something about your brother?” 

Morgan looked up at him. “A rapist is someone who hurts another person, right? Steve was a rapist cause he took Peter and hurt him? Or he’s just a psychopath?” 

Tony understood what happened now but this was a very heavy topic and he wanted to take it seriously although he hated how he had to have this conversation with his child not because of curiosity but because of something that happened to their family member. 

He leaned back to face Morgan a bit more. “This is a very hard topic. Something that isn’t to be joked about or discussed lightly, okay. I’m going to answer your questions to explain this to you. A rapist is… someone who forces someone, against their will, to have sex with them. That is rape and that makes that person a rapist. Steve… he kidnapped Peter. But he wasn’t a rapist.” Thank god. “He was still a very bad person though. He was mentally ill. You could call him a psychopath but there are more… better words to describe him.” 

Morgan slowly nodded. “Oh. So Steve isn’t a rapist or a psychopath?” 

Tony tried to make her understand but he had to remember her age in account here. “Not a rapist. A psychopath can be a word to describe him, yes. Does that answer your questions?” 

“Yeah. I guess.” 

“Okay. Can I ask you something now?” 

“What?” 

“What did the older boy say to you?” 

Morgan looked back down. “I forget.” 

“Morgan. I can help you.” 

She sighed. “Fine. We were just playing soccer. Not together. We had to split the gym to share it. Then he was laughing at me with two of his other friends so I walked over to him. I didn’t do anything wrong! I wasn’t going to hit him! But I wasn’t thinking!” 

“What did he say?” 

“…He said… he said that my brother's kidnapper is going to come back for him. Then he laughed. And he said that Steve Rogers is a rapist and that his parents said psychopaths always get away with it.” 

“Then you punched him?” 

“Then I kicked him in the balls and punched him when he bent over.” Morgan shrugged. “I didn’t really mean to.” 

Tony honestly wasn’t mad at her but he had to teach her right from wrong. “Okay. Thank you for telling me. I want to say firstly, I don’t blame you for punching him. You were standing up for your brother and I appreciate that. But, I also have to say that there are other ways to go about something like this.” 

“No. Because the teachers don’t care! If I told them, they would just tell Bradly not to say that and say sorry. Saying sorry means nothing if someone tells you to say it! It just makes it a stupid five letter useless word!” 

“I know. Okay.” Tony waited a few moments for her to calm down. “You’re right. It’s stupid. But unfortunately hitting someone still isn’t the right thing to do in this situation. Even if he deserved it. Okay? What you can do differently is, tell an adult, if they don’t listen, tell your mom and I because we always will and then we’ll handle it. Because now you’re suspended for a week.” 

“So? School is stupid. It’s useless. I don’t care about math or how many apples Sammy bought and gave to Max. I. Don’t. Care. It’s dumb. What’s the point in getting a stupid job anyways and getting married and buying a stupid house to have kids in if they just get taken from you. It’s all stupid.” 

Wow. Tony hadn’t realized how affected Morgan actually was by this. 

“Princess, I promise life isn’t like that.” 

“Yes it is! You don’t understand.” 

Tony actually laughed. “I understand more than anyone. Trust me. I do.” 

“No. You don’t. Because all my life I grew up and Peter was just a picture on the wall and a repeated bedtime story. He wasn’t even a real person. But then he was. And you were happy and you lived at home. And mom smiled. And none of my friends had to go through this. So why do I? It’s not fair. Peter cries cause he’s sad cause Steve brainwashed his mind. That’s not something you can fix. Ever. So life is stupid.” 

She was making really good points that Tony often thought of himself. “Life isn’t stupid, Morgan. It’s called life for a reason. Yeah, we had to go through something many others don’t. But we get a happy ending. And a lot of others don’t get that either. So we’re the lucky ones.” 

“How can you say we’re the lucky ones when Peter is so sad?” 

“He’s not sad, Morgan. He’s a happy boy. He’s healing. Sometimes that’s hard for him and he doesn’t know how to process that.” He explained then thought of a better way to say it. “Look, what happened sucks. It does. But you can’t think of it like that. Do you think we would be as close of a family if Peter hadn’t been taken from us?” 

Morgan shrugged. “Probably not. I don’t know. Maybe I wouldn’t have been born if Peter wasn’t taken.” 

Tony honestly didn’t know. Morgan was conceived doing grief sex. Just sex to feel anything other than the constant ache. So maybe she wouldn’t have. 

“You made our family so whole. I don’t know for sure if you would have been born exactly at the time you had if he wasn’t taken. But you were. And I’m forever grateful for you. My only daughter.” He leaned over to kiss her forehead, causing a small smile on her face. “Do you want to talk about this anymore?” 

“No.” 

“Okay. You’re not in trouble. I’m not going to ground you or take your toys away because I understand what you did and why you did it. I want you to understand though that there are other ways to deal with something like this.” 

“Telling my teacher and if they don’t listen, tell you or mom.” 

Tony kissed her head. “You got it. I’m going to go check on your brother, do you want to stay here or come down? Your mom should be home any minute now then we’ll get dressed for our photo shoot.” 

“I’ll come down.” 

“Okay. Oh, and Morg, if you can, please don’t tell your brother about what that boy said. I don’t need him thinking about that, okay?” 

“I understand, dad.” 

“That’s my girl. Let’s go.” The two of them walked downstairs and Tony looked over at the couch immediately to check on Peter who was lying down with his plate full and his bottle empty. Great. “Hey, little man, why didn’t you eat?” 

“I’m full.” 

“Yeah. You’ve got a tummy full of milk.” Tony walked around the couch and grabbed a diaper from the box and wipes, patting Peter’s face with the diaper. “Mom will be here soon with our outfits so we need to get ready.” He sat down on the couch. “Sit up so I can take your shirt off.” 

“Why?” 

“Because it’s stained and you’re wearing a nice outfit for our photo shoot. Sit up.” He grabbed his arm and pulled him into a sitting position then lifted the shirt off, tossing it onto the floor. “Can you not lie down and flatten your hair? I want it fluffy for the shoot.” 

“I want it flat like Harley's hair.” Peter giggled, lying back down. 

“Harley's hair isn’t flat.” 

“It isn’t curly.” 

“True.” Peter was the only one with curly hair. Tony’s was wavy. Morgan’s could be wavy some days and Pepper’s was straight. He honestly didn’t know where Peter got the curls from but Tony wasn’t going to complain. He grabbed the diaper cream off the floor and pulled down the front of his diaper, opening up the pack of wipes. “After this, you need to eat something so we can go get ready.” 

“But mom isn’t home yet. You said after she comes home.” 

“She will be any minute-” 

“Ow! That’s cold!” Peter flinched as the cold wipe touched his skin and tried to roll onto his stomach. “No more.” 

“Pete. If you don’t want to sit on the toilet and wear underwear, you have to put up with this.” He grabbed his leg to try and flip him back over but Peter refused to move. 

“No. Put it in the microwave first.” 

Tony chuckled. “It doesn’t work like that, kid. I’ll be quick.” 

“No. Can you fill up my milk?” 

Tony stared at him. He wanted to laugh and cry at the same time with this kid. “Lie down or stand up. Choose one or I’ll choose for you.” 

“You’re mean.” 

“Choose.” 

Peter laid back down on the couch, closing his legs shut. 

“Peter. Common. You’re making this so much more difficult than it has to be.” 

Peter shrugged. “You told me to choose so I did.” 

Tony shook his head at him. “Open your legs.” 

“Mmhm.” 

“Alright then.” He pushed his knees to his chest to allow him access to get the job done quickly and fastened a diaper onto him, leaning down and kissing his pouty face. “Daddy always wins so don’t even try to outsmart me.” 

Peter got up to follow him. “You just win cause you’re stronger. That’s not fair. If I was stronger, I would win cause I’m smarter.” 

Tony filled up another bottle for him. “True. Oh, look who’s here.” He pointed to the camera at Pepper pulling into the driveway. 

“Mommy!” Peter made a dash for the front door with his bottle and waited patiently by it so as soon as it opened, he could be the first one in his moms arms. “Mommy! You’re back! What did you get me?!” 

“Hi baby. Let me get settled in first.” She kissed the top of his head and looked relieved to see Tony coming to her rescue. “Can you take these? My boobs are killing and I need to take my bra off.” 

“Oh. Sure. Need me to do anything else?” He took the bags with the outfits from her. “Pete, just give mom a second.” 

“Mom. Morgan got in trouble at school today. Dad had to talk to her principal.” Peter blurted out before Tony even got the chance to. 

“What?” 

“I was going to tell you. You literally just got home. I have it handled. Just… settle in. I’ll take this one.” He lifted Peter onto his hip and walked into the living room to lay the outfits out. “Morg, you’re wearing a dress so I need you to go upstairs and put on tights and an under shirt then come down to get your dress.” 

“What is Peter wearing?” 

“A dress shirt and dress pants.” Tony placed Peter on his feet but he ran upstairs to get his mom, having missed her all day. 

He walked into his parent’s bedroom and found her in the bathroom, digging in a pile of clothes. “Mom?” 

“Peter, can you give mommy a little privacy right now?” She didn’t know why she was asking him that. The word privacy didn’t exist in Peter’s vocabulary. 

Instead, Peter took a seat on the edge of the bath tub. “Why do your boobs hurt? Did dad hurt them last night when he grabbed them in the kitchen?” 

Pepper snapped her head around to look at her son. Of course Peter saw and was repeating it. Thankfully he wasn’t in school right now so he wasn’t telling anyone else. “No, honey. He didn’t. How about you go find your dad and ask him to change your diaper.” 

“He already did.” 

“Well, go and ask him to change it again.” 

“But I’m dry.” 

Pepper sighed and thankfully Tony walked in. “Tony. Take your son somewhere. Anywhere else.” 

Tony eyed her and took Peter’s reluctant hand. “Milkshakes really do bring all the boys to the yard, Pep. Come, Pete.” 

Pepper rolled her eyes. “You’re ridiculous.” She foldly said, shutting the door behind them. 

“Don’t be weird.” Tony told him, leading him out of his bedroom and back downstairs to get him dressed in his outfit. “Do you need to poop before I get you dressed? Because I’m not taking this off you until I take it off for bed.” 

“But I’m wearing my diaper.” Peter gestured to it. 

“For pee and pee only.” 

“Then no…” 

“Good. Please try and stay clean at least until the photographer gets here-” 

The doorbell rang, cutting Tony off and when he pulled out his phone, he saw that it was in fact the photographer on the camera. She was early. 

He left Peter and walked over to let her in. 

“Hi Mr. Stark, I’m so sorry I’m late. The traffic is horrendous.” 

Late? Tony checked the time. It was 6:07pm. He had no idea. “Oh, don’t apologize. Come in. Actually, we’re running a bit behind, we aren’t even dressed yet.” 

Peter walked over slowly, looking shyly at the new face in the house. 

“Hello there. Aren’t you just the cutest thing. What’s your name?” 

Peter ran to his dad’s side. “He’s really shy. His name is Peter. Uh, if you don’t mind, I just need about ten minutes to get him ready.” 

“Of course.” She smiled but was looking at Tony weirdly. “Excuse me, but I think you have something on your face. Some white stuff…” 

Tony turned to the mirror in the hallway and saw a smear of diaper rash cream. Wow. Typical. “Oh. That’s cream. Thanks, we’ll be ready soon.” 

“Take your time. I still need to set up. Where would you like me to set up?” 

“In the family room. I cleared some space. If you need more, I can move the couches out.” He pointed her in the direction of the family room they barely used, different from their living room. 

He then grabbed the outfits and brought them out stairs, giving one to Harley and Morgan then taking the two into his bedroom and laying it on the bed. 

“Why didn’t you tell me I had diaper rash cream on my face, Pepper?” He asked, embarrassed but it was comical. 

“I didn’t even notice. Do you have my dress?” 

“Yeah. Here.” He took off his shirt and grabbed Peter’s arm to stand him on the bed. “Stay here so I can get ready then do your hair. Pep, what do you think of a messy look or slick it back?” 

“Slick it back. We can do messy after.” 

Tony grabbed a comb and gel then sat Peter down but he was moving, trying to crawl away so he grabbed a pacifier from the nightstand table and pushed it past his lips. “Stay still or I’ll take it from you.” 

Thankfully it worked. 

He slicked his hair back and cooed at how adorable his little face looked. “Look at me. Oh my god. Pep. Come look at how adorable he looks. Just look at that face. We made that.” 

Pepper caressed Peter’s cheek. “Yeah. He’s our little creation. So handsome.” 

Tony kissed his cheek, not able to help himself. He then got himself dressed, putting on dress pants with a white dress shirt and when he was about to get Peter dressed, he realized he forgot his outfit downstairs so he had to go get that. 

“I come.” 

“Then give me paci.” 

“Why?” 

“Because you don’t need it anymore.” 

“No. I do.” 

“For pictures?” 

Peter nodded. 

“Buddy. I want to see your cute smile. Not a silicone rubber blocking it.” Tony took it from him and he whined so he lifted him up to take him with him and bumped into the photographer downstairs. “Sorry. We’re almost done.” 

“Are you going to get him dressed now?” 

“Yeah. I forgot his outfit down here.” 

“Wait. Before you do, let’s take some pictures like this. It’ll look so perfect. Father and son. Memories you’ll cherish forever.” 

Tony looked at Peter. He did look freaking adorable with his hair slicked back. Why not. “Yeah. Of course.” So he followed her into the family room where the set up was. There was a stool with a white background. 

“You sit on the stool then just sit him in your lap.” 

Tony did as he was told, sitting Peter on him but Peter was too busy staring at the new face in his house. “Pete, don’t be so shy. I told you Izzy was coming to take pictures of us.” 

Peter put his finger in his mouth. 

“Tony, face him so he’s facing you.” She instructed and so Tony lifted Peter up to do that and Peter automatically laid his head on his chest. “Perfect. Peter, sweetie, can you lift your head up and look into the camera?” 

“Mm.” Peter faced his head the other way. 

“Buddy. We need to take good pictures.” Tony tried. He rubbed his back but Peter didn’t move. “If you cooperate now, I’ll let you have paci after.” 

Peter lifted his head up and faced the camera. 

After taking a few pictures, the flash stopped. “Finger out of your mouth please. And be serious. I want a serious look.” Izzy chuckled. “It’s a good thing he’s already looking at me like that.” Tony laughed with her. “Tilt your head down a bit. And Tony, look at Peter. Perfect, boys.” The flash started going off and Tony already couldn’t wait to frame these pictures in their home and look at them everyday. 

The photos started off good, Peter was cooperating, making for adorable poses, him, Harley and Morgan got amazing sibling photos together with Peter in the middle smiling so adorably. 

Tony especially loved the extra pictures he got with just him and Peter but after about two hours into their shoot, Peter started complaining about his clothes being too tight and annoying him. 

“One more. One more. Hold that pose.” Izzy tried but Peter was crawling out of the frame and sitting at the edge, kicking over a foam block. 

“No more.” He told her, wiping his eyes. 

“Okay, do you want to take some with no clothes then?” Tony suggested, getting up to pick him up. “How about I change you? You’ll feel better.” After all, it’s been two hours of him sitting in a wet diaper. He carried him into the living room and stripped him from his outfit so Peter grabbed it and threw it away. 

“No more pictures.” 

“Just a few more. Please. You look so cute and you’re only getting older and I want to remember you being this young. Please, buddy. I’ll give you a pacifier all day tomorrow. But you need to take just a few more pictures.” 

Peter wanted to say no but the promise of having a comfort item all day tomorrow made him agree. “Fine. Just a few.” 

“I love you.” 

Tony took off his diaper and wiped him clean and was about to put a new one on him but Pepper stopped him. “Before you do, just hold him like that, it’ll be such a cute picture of you two together.” She took a brush to comb the stray curls back on Peter’s forehead. 

Tony wasn’t going to say no to that cute photo idea. “Don’t pee on me. Do you need to go?” 

“No.” 

“Good. Tell me if you do.” 

He lifted him up, setting him on his hip and walking into the set up once more. 

“Oh so cute. These memories will last a lifetime! And you are such a good poser. The camera loves you.” She gently squeezed Peter’s cheek and moved the chair from the set up. “Okay, Tony, stand in the middle and face sideways. Hold him in front of you.” 

Tony shifted Peter to hold him in front of his chest and Peter laid his head directly on him. He was tired and comfortable in his favorite place in the world. 

“Peter, turn your head to face me and Tony put one hand supporting his bottom and your other move to move the hair off his face for the picture.” 

Tony did as he was told and the movements came so naturally to the both of them. 

Automatically, he kissed Peter’s cheek and Peter grinned and pecked his lips. “Okay. Now I need to pee.” 

Tony didn’t even get the chance to put him down before he was being peed on all over the front of his shirt, the stream almost hitting him in the face. “Pete, you didn’t even give me a chance to bring you to the bathroom.” 

“I told you.” 

Tony put him on his feet. “I guess we’re done here.” He laughed, taking off his shirt and grabbing a pack of wipes from the shelf to wipe his chest. “Pete, come here.” 

“Those will be funny pictures.” The photographer laughed and Pepper couldn’t help but look at them and laugh at Tony’s face in them. 

“Let’s just take one last good family picture then we’re done.” Pepper needed just one more. 

“My shirt is covered in pee now, Pep.” Tony reminded her as he wiped Peter down. 

“So what. Let’s take one more quickly. We already have great ones, let’s do a silly one.” 

Tony stood up and lifted Peter back into his hip. 

“Three, two, one, say pee shirt!” 

That got them all laughing. 

.

.

.

Tony collapsed onto the couch with a sigh. 

“That was fun today.” Pepper said, putting her hand on his thigh. “Is he down for the night?” 

“He’s asleep, yeah, probably not for the night though.” He just needed to enjoy this time while he could. “But me too. I had fun today. I can’t wait to get the pictures back, I already know what ones I’m framing immediately.” 

“Does the whole family get to be in it or just your little shadow?” Pepper teased. 

“The second one.” He teased back. They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments before Tony brought up what happened today again. He already had a talk with Pepper about it and Morgan refused to talk about it again, Tony understood that. It was in the past now and Morgan learnt her lesson. “I should go check on Morgan one more time before I go to bed.” 

“She’s fine, Tony. Let her be. I checked on her and she was reading a book. Don’t hover.” 

Tony leaned back. “Okay… you’re right.” He yawned and knew he needed to go to bed since Peter was going to have another 5am wake up call. “I’m-” 

“I was just thinking, oh, sorry, what were you going to say?” 

Tony yawned again. “No. You go.” 

“I was just going to say when we should send Peter back to school. He needs to start wearing underwear again. It isn’t because he can’t, it’s because he’s lazy now. I know it.” 

Tony knew it too, even if it was easy to not admit to that. “Yeah… I’ve been trying all day. Literally. I sit him on the toilet for twenty minutes then he gets off after not peeing and immediately pees.” 

“Then try teaching him how to stand. He should be anyways.” 

“I did. A long time ago. He doesn’t want to and I’m not going to be the one to force him to, Pepper.” Tony sighed. “I’ve been doing this for five days now and still nothing. Maybe we should take a different approach, I don’t know.” 

“Like what?” 

Tony was way too tired to think about this right now. “I’m not sure. Can we talk about this tomorrow? I need to sleep.” 

“Alright. Sleep well, I’ll be up soon.” 

After giving her a kiss, Tony walked as quietly as he could upstairs. Peter was an extremely light sleeper so he tried not to be too loud. He went into the bathroom and stripped down to clean boxers then pulled back the blankets on the bed and got in but that caused Peter to wake up and sit up in bed. 

“Shh. Go back to sleep.” 

“It’s morning?” 

“No, it’s midnight. Lie down.” He pushed him back down and grabbed the pacifier off the pillow, pushing it past his lips and sticking his hand under the blankets to feel if he was dry, which thankfully he was. 

Now Tony could sleep. 

He moved to lay on his side, facing Peter but the movement caused Peter to whine. 

“Mmmm. Stop moving.” 

“Okay. Go to sleep.” 

“How can I sleep when you keep moving? You woke me up.”

Rolling his eyes, Tony felt around for the bottle and handed it to him. “Want this?” 

“No.” Peter sat up, kicking the blankets off. “I wanna play on your phone.” 

“It’s time to sleep.” 

“I’m not tired. I want to play.” 

Tony reached up and grabbed the pacifier from his mouth. “Then you don’t need this.” 

As expected, that caused him to start crying so Tony turned the lamp on and watched him. “If you aren’t tired, you don’t need a pacifier. But I’m tired so go cry somewhere else.” 

Peter threw himself back. “Give me paci! I go to sleep!” 

“Lie down.” 

Doing as he was told, Peter laid down so Tony placed the pacifier back in his mouth and turned the lamp off. “Try to sleep in tomorrow morning. We don’t need to wake up before the sun, okay, baby?” 

“Pat my bum.” 

“Close your eyes.” Tony was just grateful for the silence. It was a worry of his of the power the pacifier held over Peter, it got him to sleep and stay asleep, stop crying. Tony was scared to take it away. 

He had to decide if he should take the bottles away first or the pacifier but taking one comfort item away might make him even more dependent on the other comfort item. 

Yikes. 

.

.

.

“I’m bored.” 

“Me too.” 

Tony checked the time. 

It was only 9am. 

Pepper and Harley went to the tower and would be there until dinner and since Morgan was suspended, Tony was in charge of taking care of them and he was already losing his mind. 

“You have a million toys in this house. Go entertain yourselves.” 

“But it’s boring here. Can we go to a hotel?” Peter asked, sitting on his dad’s thigh in the living room. “Please. You can drop us off then leave so you don’t have to watch us.” 

“A hotel isn’t a daycare, if I could drop you two off at daycare, I would. But unfortunately you’re both too old for daycare.” Although watching them was basically like daddy’s daycare. 

Morgan pulled Peter’s arm. “We can pretend we’re in a daycare. And I’ll be the teacher.” 

Peter shoved her. “I’m not going to pretend to be your stupid baby again. I want to do something fun, daddy.” 

Tony sighed. “Fine. How about we go to a jungle gym. I’ll drop you two off and you can climb until you fall asleep.” He grabbed his computer to find one close by and check if it was open. “If you two both go get dressed in track pants and a T-shirt then we’ll go. Peter, don’t put pants on because I’m going to put you in a pull-up before we go. And you need to sit on the toilet.” 

“No. Diaper.” 

“If we’re going out, then it’s a pull-up so you can use the bathroom there.” Tony ordered two tickets and stood up to go with him. “Let’s go sit on the toilet now.” 

“No. Noooo. I don’t need to go cause I already went.” 

Tony hated this. He hated the back talk because it broke his heart that Peter didn’t want to do any of this. He grabbed his hands and knelt down in front of him. “How about you try to sit on the toilet and just try to go. I’ll be proud of you either way.” 

“But I just want to play! Morgan doesn’t have to sit on the toilet all the time.” 

“Because she’s wearing underwear because she’s a big girl. You need to wear underwear too, like a big boy.” He stood up, pulling a reluctant Peter behind him and up the stairs. 

He pulled him into his bathroom, pulling the used diaper off of him and lifting him onto the toilet. “Point yourself down and just go. Just try.” 

“I already went!” He cried out, getting frustrated now. “I want off!” 

This was so hard, especially seeing Peter cry. Tony knew he was frustrated because his body wasn’t working the way he wanted it to. He pulled up the stool to sit down in front of him. “Peter. Just breathe. If you don’t go, that’s okay. But I need you to try. So point yourself down so you don’t pee all over daddy’s face and just try.” 

“I won’t go. I told you. You’re really hurting my feelings.” 

And that shattered Tony’s heart. 

He pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I’m trying, Peter. I want you to wear underwear again so you can go back to school and do fun things without having a diaper rash and accidents.” 

Peter thought about his words. “But… you put cream. It doesn’t hurt anymore. I don’t want to wear underwear, daddy. Okay?” 

Tony didn’t understand why. “Peter.” 

“I want off. Please.” 

Tony lifted him off and grabbed wipes. “Alright. But if you need to go at the play place, you need to tell me. Okay?” 

“Then why am I wearing a pull-up? I don’t need to tell you then, dad.” 

“Peter, it’s just for accidents so you don’t wet your pants and make a mess. Especially in public.” He brought him into the bedroom and sat down on the bed, pulling Peter to stand in between his legs. “I’m not doing this to hurt you, I want you to get better and heal.” 

“I’m not hurt.” 

“Not physically. But… Peter, you were… taken from us just under three months ago. It happened recently and it’s a bit harder to get back to normal now. So we’re all trying.” 

Peter clenched his jaw. “You think I’m… hurt… in my head? Like… my brain is broken.” 

“Not broken. No part of you is broken. Just healing. I want you to be okay. For us to be okay.” He grabbed his hands to pull him closer. “I love you so so much, Peter. I just want what’s best for you.” 

“Then stop making me sit on the toilet. I hate it!” Peter pulled away from him and grabbed a diaper from the box. “Put it on me.” 

“Would you rather me get you a training potty? So you don’t have to go into the bathroom to pee? If you want that, I’ll get you one.” 

“No. I don’t want any of it.” 

“Peter.” Tony practically begged him. “Please just talk to me. Tell me why you won’t pee on the toilet. I sit you on it and you don’t pee then I get you off and you immediately pee on the floor or in a diaper. Talk to me, buddy. Please.” 

Peter threw the diaper in Tony’s lap. “You say too many things at once. I don’t know what you want!” 

“What do you mean?” 

“You say… go pee in the toilet. And I do then you make me feel bad about it… so I don’t again. Just put my diaper on. Daddy.” 

Tony knew what Karen said to them about this. He was still trying to process it himself. “Peter. You’re confused. I never said that, buddy. Steve did.” He gave Peter some time to process that. 

“No. No. He didn’t. I-I don’t know who you’re talking about.” 

“Peter. Look at me.” He waited until brown eyes met his. “I would never be angry at you or make you feel bad for accomplishing something so big. Never. That wasn’t me. You’re confused, baby boy. And that’s okay. How about we talk about this before you sit on the toilet again. We should talk it out.” 

“Talk about what?” 

“About what you’re scared of.” Tony lifted him onto his lap and held him close. “Just talk to me. You know you can.” 

“I’m not scared of anything.” 

“Peter. I know you better than anyone. Tell me why you won’t pee on the potty.” 

Peter sighed, sticking his thumb in his mouth. “I dunno.” 

“Yeah?” 

“I guess… I’m just scared… that like-like… then… when you always say I’m your baby so-so when I wear underwear, then I won’t be your baby anymore.” He finally admitted and it definitely felt good to get off his chest although it was still scary. 

“Oh baby. That’ll never happen. You’ll always always be my little baby. Always. Even when you’re thirty and have your own family and kids. You’ll still be my baby then. I just won’t be still wiping your butt then. Hopefully. But I don’t mind it.” He nuzzled his ear, getting a giggle out of the boy. 

“Even… even if I-I pee on the potty and-and wear underwear… you’ll still say I’m your baby then?” 

Tony’s heart broke a little at the thought of Peter dealing with these thoughts alone. “Not only will you still be my baby but I’ll be so incredibly proud of you. Just for trying.” He kissed his cheek. “Do you want to try now or maybe later?” 

“Later. Am I going to wear a diaper to the play place or… underwear?” 

“Well, let’s get you staying dry at home first before we put you in underwear. How about you wear a pull-up there, then if you need to go, you can just pull it down.” 

Peter gave a shy smile. “Alright.” 

“Alright. Go grab me one and some cream and wipes.” 

Getting off his dad’s lap, Peter grabbed the supplies and stood in front of him, waiting for it to be done. “Can I open the lid for you?” 

“Yeah, don’t get it anywhere though.” Tony dipped his finger into it, applying it on. “Wait. Keep it open. One more scoop. Okay, turn around.” 

Peter closed the lid, facing the window now. “I’m going to try and stay dry all day.” 

“Good job, buddy. I know you can do it.” Tony honestly didn’t think he could. Peter was used to feeling the need to go and simply going. It wasn’t going to be that easy to break. “Okay. You’re done. Get pants on and go check on your sister.” 

“Why check on Morgan?” 

“Because I need to go get ready too. I’m still in my pyjamas.” Tony patted his butt, watching him run off. He hoped their small little conversation helped even just a little bit. 

.

.

.

Tony let go of Peter’s hand once they were in the gates of the jungle gym. They’ve been to a few before, not this one though so Tony hoped that made it more fun for them. 

He placed the diaper bag on the floor and kneeled down to get Peter’s shoes off as he went over rules with them. “Okay. Both of you listen. Some rules. Morgan, sit on the bench with Peter.” 

“Rules are made to be broken.” She grinned and Peter high fived her. 

“Some rules are. Mine aren’t. So listen. No leaving this gate. I’ll be here so if you need to go to the bathroom, tell me and I’ll take you.” 

“Why do we have to tell you?” Morgan asked. 

“Because the bathrooms are outside the gates and down the hall and I can’t see down there.” Tony was definitely overprotective but he knew first hand how cruel some people could be. 

“Is Peter going to go to the bathroom? Is he wearing a diaper?” Morgan touched the front of Peter’s pants. “Oh. He is wearing one.” 

“Morgan, don’t touch your brother there please.” 

“But you do.” 

Tony blinked at her. “Because I’m his dad. It’s my job to change him. So your hand doesn’t need to touch there.” 

Peter didn’t flinch and maybe that scared Tony. He was always overthinking everything. 

“Anyways, don’t leave the gates and don’t talk to strangers. I’ll be right here if you need anything.” 

Peter jumped up. “I already knew the second rule. I’m always good, dad. Can I go play now?” 

“Yeah. Go have fun.” He watched them both run off and sat down on the bench. They both disappeared as they climbed higher up the foam stairs so now Tony had to try not to panic at having Peter out of his sight. 

Peter climbed over to the slide and was about to go down but Morgan grabbed the back of his pants, stopping him from sliding down. “Don’t go. Let’s climb higher to go down the big slide.” 

“No, this one looks fun!” 

“It’s for babies. The blue one is taller and drops into the ball pit.” Morgan pulled him out and pushed him to crawl ahead of her. “Go.” 

“Hey. Don’t push me.” 

“Or what? You’ll bite me? Just crawl.” 

Peter gave her a dirty look but started crawling anyways. He made it to the fifth level and turned around to look back at Morgan but she was going to the other slide. “You go down that one and I’ll go down this one.” Peter explained excitedly but Morgan was the one calling the shots here. 

“We’re going down together. Do you want to sit on my lap?” 

“No! Stop saying that like I’m a baby cause I’m not! I want to go down by myself.” Peter tried crawling to go down but Morgan grabbed his track pants and yanked them back, making Peter hit his face on the side of the slide. “Owww!” 

He was about to start crying but Morgan didn’t let him. “No. Shhhh it’s okay, Peter. Here,” She grabbed his thumb and tried to shove it in his mouth. “Suck your thumb. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. It’s okay, see. You’re okay.” 

“You made me hurt myself. I’m telling on you!” He tried to crawl towards the slide again but Morgan pulled him back. “Let me go! Stop it!” 

“Don’t tell on me. I already got in trouble once yesterday. You’re not even bleeding.” She let go of his arms but blocked the side of the slide so Peter couldn’t go down. “Let’s just climb one level higher.” 

“I don’t want to play with you.” He farted and the frown was replaced with a grin. “Oops.” 

“Ew.” 

“What?” 

Giggling, Peter started crawling in the other direction so Morgan crawled after him and he farted again, laughing, pretty soon, he forgot all about his hurt lip and Morgan bossing him around. 

After some time though, Morgan was back at it and wasn’t letting him do what he wanted which was frustrating Peter. 

Morgan felt like she had to care for him and Peter wanted to do his own thing. 

“Don’t go that way. This way is easier.” 

“I want harder.” He rolled over a rolling pin but Morgan grabbed his legs, pulling him back over and he was tired of it. 

Frustrated, Peter started crying. 

He pushed her out of his way and made his way back down, sobbing by the time he got out of the play structure and he ran straight for Tony. 

“What happened?” They hadn’t even been there for thirty minutes and Peter was already crying. 

“Mo-Morgan- she-she-she-she-she-” 

“Hey hey hey. Breathe, Peter.” Tony handed him some water. 

“She’s being mean!” 

Tony saw Morgan hiding behind the stairs. 

“What is she doing?” 

“She’s te-telling me-me what to do! And I don’t like it!” He sobbed, clinging onto his dad. 

“Then you need to use your words and tell her you don’t like it.” 

“I did!” 

“Morgan. Get over here.” Tony grabbed her arm once she was close enough. “What happened?” 

“Nothing! I just want to play with him. I’m trying to take care of him, dad. That’s all!” 

“Are you bossing him around?” 

“She is!” Peter pointed his finger at her. 

“…maybe.” 

“Morgan, if he’s telling you to stop, you need to stop.” 

She shrugged. “Fine. Petey, want to play with me still?” 

“Okay.” Wiping his tears, Peter walked towards the stairs and Morgan followed him, waiting until they were out of their dad’s sight before she grabbed Peter’s arm, pulling him towards the stairs. 

“We’re going up this way.” 

“No. Dad said listen to me when I say no.” He yanked himself out of her grip, falling onto his butt. “Oof.” 

“Dad isn’t here.” She sighed. “Look, it’s my job to take care of you when dad isn’t here. And he isn’t here so you have to do as I say. And I say we’re going upstairs to the top level.” 

Peter sat up on his knees, feeling his stomach twist. “I-” He farted again but didn’t laugh. “I need to poop.” 

Morgan sighed. “So go.” 

“Dad said not in my pull-up.” 

Morgan sighed again. “Do you want me to go get a diaper from the diaper bag?” 

Peter sat up on his knees so he was squatting. “…yeah. But don’t tell dad I’m going.” 

Morgan groaned. “Fine. Let’s go up to the other level in the corner so no one sees.” 

“Wait.” Peter grunted, feeling extremely uncomfortable now. “I’ll just wait here.” 

“Fine. I’ll be right back. Stay here.” Morgan crawled out of the play structure, going down a slide and walking over to her dad. “Hi dad. I just need to get something out of the bag for no reason.” She dug inside, pulling out a diaper. 

“Hey. Wait. Why do you need a diaper?” 

“Uhh… for a baby I found. That’s all. Bye.” 

Tony grabbed her arm, pulling her to stand in front of him. “Don’t lie to me. Look me in the eye and tell me why you need a diaper.” 

Morgan sighed. “Fine. Peter pooped.” 

“What?” 

“Peter pooped in his pull-up. He doesn’t want to get in trouble so I was going to help him.” 

Tony stood up. “Go get him and tell him to come to me right now.” He wasn’t upset, well, he kind of was. Peter literally just said he would try to stay dry and was now pooping himself and telling his sister to change him in a freaking play structure. 

He waited until he saw Morgan appear again but without Peter. “Where is he, Morgan?” 

She pointed beside her but it was blocked by the wall. “Right here. He won’t come.” 

“Peter, get out.” 

Morgan grabbed his arm, pushing him out and almost making him fall down the foam steps. 

“Morgan. Be careful. Peter, come with me.” 

“No.” 

Tony crawled up half way and grabbed his ankle, pulling him the rest of the way down. “Let’s go.” 

“Home?” 

“To the bathroom.” 

He grabbed the bag and Peter’s arm, pulling him along. “Morgan, can I trust you to stay inside the gates?” 

“I want to help.” 

“I don’t need help.” 

“But I can help you.” 

Tony sighed. “Fine. Let’s go.” 

He pulled Peter down the hallway and pushed on the family bathroom door but it was locked so he pushed open the other one, getting his kids inside and locking the door behind them. “Can you hold the bag, Morgan?” 

He grabbed the changing pad out of it and laid it on the changing table, looking down at Peter. “Didn’t you just tell me you were going to stay dry?” 

“Yeah… but Morgan-woah!” Peter was suddenly lifted up and laid on his back, his track pants tugged off. “Morgan told me to!” 

Tony looked at her. “Is this true?” 

“I just told him to go cause he said he needed to.” 

Tony shook his head in disbelief then took the diaper off, pushing Peter’s legs to his chest. “Hold them up.” 

“It’s uncomfortable.” 

“Then don’t poop yourself.” He grabbed wipes out of the bag and started wiping him. “And Morgan, I expected better of you. Why would you tell Peter to do this when you know he’s been trying to use the potty?” 

She didn’t respond to that. “Ewww! It looks gross.” 

“You wanted to come.” 

Peter tried to put his legs down but Tony pushed them back to his chest. “Are you mad at me, daddy?” 

“No, baby. But I’m confused as to why you did this. Now you’ve got another red, sore bum.” 

Peter sighed. “Oh. I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t apologize to me. You’re the one who has a sore bum now.” 

“Oh. Oh no.” 

“Yeah. Oh no.” 

Tony grabbed cream from the bag to apply some on. “Can you try to stay dry now? Otherwise we’re going to go home.” 

“I’ll help him stay dry, dad. I can help.” 

“Morgan, helping means not telling him to use his pull-up.” 

“Then put a diaper on him so he can.” 

Tony sighed. “Morgan. It’s the same thing.” 

He finished up and lifted Peter off the table so they could wash their hands. “No. I didn’t touch myself. You did.” 

True. “You still need to wash your hands.” 

“No I don’t.” 

“Do we need to go home-” 

“Noo!” Peter quickly washed his hands. 

“Please tell me if you need to go pee or poo, Peter. Please.” 

“Okay, daddy.” 

Tony was so overwhelmed. 

He sat back down on the bench and not even five minutes later, Peter was walking in front of him, about to climb the stairs when Tony watched Morgan grab his arm and yank him back. 

Tony’s seen enough. “Morgan! I did not just see that. What do you think you’re doing?” 

“He won’t listen to me.” 

“He doesn’t have to. We already had this conversation. Go sit on that bench for five minutes and we’re going to talk.” 

Tony helped Peter up. “Are you okay?” 

“Uh huh. She’s telling me what to do. I don’t like it!” Peter stomped his foot for good measure. 

“I’ll talk to her.” He sat down next to her. “What’s going on with you? You’re acting very aggressive. Bossing your brother around… look, I know you’re younger than him but you’re stronger. You can’t be taking advantage of him.” 

“I’m not. I’m just trying to help him. He doesn’t know any better, you said it yourself!” 

Now she was using his own words against him. He leaned back. “Morgan. I say that for different reasons. You’re bullying him. Dragging him around, pushing him, taking advantage of your strength compared to his. I don’t want to see that anymore. Do you understand?” 

“I’m just trying to protect him.” 

“Okay. I get that. But not here, there’s a time and place for that. Be siblings. Let me be his parent.” 

She groaned. “I’m just trying to help you take care of him, dad.” 

“I know you are and I appreciate you but you don’t have to. That’s mine and your moms job. Okay?” 

“Fine. But can I help if you need it?” 

Tony knew she would be an amazing mother one day. “Yeah. You can. Now go play for thirty more minutes.” 

.

.

.

Both of them were past out for the night at 7pm. 

Tony wasn’t even going to try to keep them awake. After putting them both to bed, Tony collapsed on the couch next to Pepper. 

“I’m so tired.” 

“I’m having Déjà vu.” She chuckled. 

Tony was too tired to laugh. “Today was exhausting for all of us.” 

“Seems like it.” 

“So, I’m a bit worried about Morgan. Today, she was showing really aggressive behavior towards Peter. She was bossing him around.” 

“Oh. I mean, she can get controlling with him.” 

“Yeah,” Tony agreed. “But I’m worried that because she seems to be maturing faster than Peter, it worries me that she’s going to get really aggressive and controlling with him. Peter’s… sensitive and tells her to stop but she doesn't always listen. That worries me.” 

Pepper thought about it. “I know. We just have to watch them extra carefully then. I’m sure it’s nothing, Tony. Morgan just gets like that. They are both very hard headed.” 

“You’re definitely right about that.” 

Tony was always worried about his kids but he knew Morgan meant well, she was just looking out for Peter. 

Just like he was.