Always Be My Baby

It was a tad uncomfortable to begin with but soon it didn’t matter because it had been so long since him and Pepper found time for themselves so the feeling of complete bliss was all he felt. 

He collapsed on top of her, leaning down to kiss her lips, moaning into her mouth. 

“Tony.” 

He sat up, pulling out of her and laying down on the small bench, panting heavily. “That felt really good.” 

Pepper leaned onto her side, running a hand down his chest. “Mm, yeah. Who knew the pool changing rooms could be so much fun.” 

He ran a hand through his sweaty hair. “Want to go again?” 

“Mm yes. I’m thinking…” Pepper shifted over a bit, laying on her back. “We need to get away. A night somewhere. Just us.” 

Tony knew he couldn’t go a night without Peter but this was the one time he didn’t want to think about Peter so he pushed in at the same time as he leaned down to kiss her, basically telling her not to talk. 

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.

.

Tony felt like a teenager again. Being young and in love but instead of sneaking around behind his parents back, they were sneaking around behind his kids back. 

The two of them took their time walking upstairs to their hotel room, bodies pressed close together. 

No words were said between the two but the silence held all that was needed to say. 

Getting off the elevator, Tony squeezed Pepper closer to himself and kissed her temple. “You’re all flushed.” He chuckled. 

“And whose fault is that.” 

“I take full credit proudly.” He kissed her one last time, pulling the key card out of his pocket. “If we’re lucky, we can have sex in a Disney change room too.” He laughed then unlocked the hotel room door but as soon as he opened it, he was met with the loudest of cries coming from Peter. 

“Where the hell were you guys?!” Harley yelled, throwing his arms up in the air once he finally saw his parents. 

Peter was sitting on the floor, facing the door and immediately crawled over to them, lifting his arms up for Tony. 

“He woke up crying like forty minutes ago and hasn’t stopped since!” Harley told them, looking extremely stressed out. Fair enough. “I was texting and calling you guys! I was going to call the police! I thought you guys got kidnapped or something. What the hell!” 

Tony rocked Peter side to side. He felt awful. 

“I’m sorry, Harley. I really am. I didn’t get your calls. I’m sorry. I messed up.” He walked into the bedroom to grab his bottle and pacifier but found Morgan in there with a pillow over her ears as she watched a YouTube video, all the lights on. 

Tony didn’t comment on it and instead pushed the pacifier past Peter’s lips but Peter pushed it away, crying so hard that he gagged. 

“I know. I know you’re sad but you need to calm down or you’re going to be sick.” He stood back up, shifting Peter more in his arms and bouncing him to calm down. “Shh shhh. I’m here. Moms here. You’re okay. You’re okay, Peter. I’m sorry for leaving. Mom and I just needed to get something. We shouldn’t have left. But you need to calm down, just breathe. Shh shh shh shh shh.” 

He patted Peter’s back, using a towel to wipe the tears and snot off his face. 

Trying the pacifier again, Peter took it, sucking on it like his life depended on it. He wrapped his arms around his dad’s neck, whimpering against him. 

If Tony had known leaving would have caused this much chaos, he wouldn’t have gone, well, he would have but he would have done it differently. 

He continued to bounce Peter in his arms, holding him tightly. He continued doing this until Peter calmed down enough to stop crying and whimpering against him which was over twenty minutes later. 

“Morgan, iPad away. I’m sorry for leaving. I’m sorry that you got woken up. But let’s go back to sleep, okay? Can you put your iPad on the dresser.” 

He laid Peter down, untapping his diaper and pushing his legs to his chest. “Morgan, can you please grab me a diaper, wipes and cream?” 

“Okay.” She grabbed the diaper supplies and placed them on the bed next to Peter’s head, looking at him. “He woke up asking for you. But you weren’t here. Or mom.” 

Tony felt awful. “Did he?” 

“Yeah. He sat up and said ‘daddy? Where’s daddy? Then he went looking for you but me and Harley couldn’t find you guys anywhere.” 

Tony sighed. He felt so bad. “I’m sorry you guys. I messed up. It won’t happen again.” 

Tony got the diaper secured onto him and lifted him back up just as Pepper walked into the room with a new bottle of milk. “Harley’s really upset. You should go talk to him. I can take these two.” 

Tony sighed again. “Did we mess up?” 

“No. We didn’t but let’s talk about that later.” Pepper knew Tony was going to beat himself up over this. He got anxiety over being anything but a good father to his kids. She would have to talk to him about this later. 

Tony sighed, nodding his head and waiting for Pepper to lay down in the middle of the bed before putting Peter in his arms but Peter started crying when he was handed over. 

“Baby. Daddy’s just going to the other room. I’ll be right back. I promise you.” 

Morgan sat up. “He’s scared you’re going to leave us again.” 

That hurt. Wow. 

“I won’t. I promise.” He unwrapped Peter’s arms from around his neck and handed Pepper the bottle. “Don’t cry, baby. I’ll be right back. Mom will stay here with you.” 

Pepper looked sad. She shushed her son and caressed his face then pushed the bottle at Peter’s lips but he didn’t want it. He just wanted Tony and Tony couldn’t leave him like this. 

“Peter, I’m going to be right back. Okay?” 

Pepper sat up a bit, sitting so that Peter could be  cradled with his head against her chest. “You go, Tony. We’re fine.” 

Reluctantly, Tony left. 

He felt awful. 

He knocked on the other door, opening it when he didn’t get a response. Harley was lying on the bed, throwing a tennis ball up in the air and catching it then throwing it up again. 

“Let’s talk.” 

“I’m good.” 

Tony caught the tennis ball, sitting on the bed. “Harley. We need to talk. Look, you’re old enough for me to be honest with you. Your mom and I went to go be intimate together and I’ll admit that we should have told you we would be gone for a bit and kept our phones on. I’m sorry.” 

“You think?” 

Tony moved on the bed to lean against the headboard. How did he have this talk with Harley? “I’m sorry you had to deal with your little brother like that. I’m really sorry.” 

Harley didn’t reply so Tony thought of something else to say. “Are you upset because Peter’s upset? Or because your mother and I left?” 

“Both.” He snapped then sighed. “I’m just lying here, listening to music on my phone and Peter walks into my bedroom, asking where you are so I tell him you’re not in here then go look for you too, thinking you were in the bathroom or something. But you’re not anywhere. And neither is mom. Morgan is looking in the freaking cabinets for you guys. So I call you. And nothing. Then Peter decides you aren’t here and starts crying. He literally throws himself to the floor, screaming.” He took a breath. “Then Morgan tried to get him to stop by giving him a pacifier and a bottle but that didn’t work so after calling you again and again, I pick him up but he refuses and just sits there, crying like you guys were dead.” 

Tony nodded, yep, he messed up. 

But Harley continued. “And then I thought, what if you guys actually died. Like… what if you went to the store to get milk or diapers or something and you got in a car accident. Then I’d have to take care of them. And-and I know they wouldn’t survive foster care.” 

Tony knew where Harley got this over thinking from. He just sat there and listened. 

“Morgan’s tough. And I know Peter’s strong after everything he’s been through… but he would literally have a heart attack and die if you died. And-and I literally sat here trying to get him to calm down for forty minutes and nothing worked. I just kept waiting for the police to knock on the door and tell us that you guys died. And how I’ll be stuck raising them when I can’t even take care of Peter for forty minutes, never mind a lifetime.” 

Tony listened to all of that. He didn’t know if Harley was thinking about this all the time… he hoped not. “Do you have these fears regularly? Or just because of what happened tonight?” 

“Just tonight. I mean, like obviously I’ve never thought of it in detail like this. But yeah. Just tonight. You guys literally disappeared, dad.” 

“Harley. I’m so sorry. Your mom and I… we should have planned it differently and I’m sorry for that. I really am. And I know that Peter’s outburst scared you. It can be really overwhelming to not know what to do with him sometimes and I’m sorry I wasn’t here for that. I promise that’ll never happen again.” He patted his thigh. “As for your mom and I dying, I can’t control that, but I know that we’re all going to live a long and full life. I can promise you that too. You don’t ever have to worry about being stuck raising your siblings. Okay? I’m really sorry, Harley.” 

Harley shrugged. “I mean… it’s fine. It just… it was a lot. Peter… is intense.” 

Tony nodded. He knew that first hand. “I know. He’ll get better. I’m sorry you had to deal with that alone.” 

“But will he? Get better?” 

Tony honestly didn’t know. “I think… he’ll always have separation anxiety from me. I know that. I know it’ll get better, but how better, I don’t know. But he won’t be dependent on bottles and pacifiers or having daytime accidents when he’s older. Maybe in a year, he won’t need them. That’s the goal.” Is it though… 

“Will he always be a bed wetter?” 

Tony didn’t know that either. “It’s very likely. Not as much. But that’s something that we’ll worry about in the far future since we need to focus on getting him out of other habits first. One day at a time.” 

He looked over at Harley. “Do you want to talk to me about anything else, buddy?” 

“No, dad. I'm still… upset. But… it’s fine. I'm just a bit… overwhelmed. That’s all.” 

Tony squeezed his thigh. “If you need to talk, or if you ever have anything on your mind that’s bugging you, I am always here. No matter what it is. I know… I know your little brother takes up a lot of my attention and sometimes I don’t notice it, but if you ever need my attention and I’m not realizing it, please tell me Harley. I want to be here for you for everything. I’m sorry I’m not always available for you. I'm trying to do better.” 

“Thanks, dad. You’re doing a pretty good job.” 

Tony smiled and kissed his forehead. “My first baby, I love you. Please get some sleep.” 

“I love you too, dad.” 

Tony shut the light off and shut the door, feeling 100 pounds lighter from that conversation. 

He also didn’t hear crying so he counted that as a win. Tony headed into the bedroom, immediately making eye contact with Peter who made grabby hands for him. He took off his shirt and got in the bed, pulling Peter on his chest. 

He didn’t have a bottle or a pacifier in his mouth so Tony wondered how Pepper did it. 

“He drank about three ounces of milk then waited for you to come back. How did your talk go?” 

“Mm really well.” Tony pushed a pacifier past Peter’s lips. “I’ll talk to you about it tomorrow.” 

He fell asleep almost immediately after Peter did, both of them exhausted after today's events. 

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“Where’s the castle?” Peter immediately asked as soon as Tony unbuckled him from his car seat, less than three minutes after arriving. 

“Well,” He placed a hand on Peter’s shoulders. “If you walk around that corner, you’ll see it next to the garbage bins there.” He teased, hoping Peter understood his sarcasm. 

Peter hummed, turning to look up at his dad. “Noo. You’re just joking.” 

“Yeah, buddy. The castle is in the park. We’re in the hotel. But the hotel is super cool too. Wait until you see your rooms.” Tony picked it out based on their favourite Disney movie so he hoped he did a good job when booking this trip. 

He shut the trunk and lifted up the handle on one of the suitcases, pulling Peter’s shirt down to cover the diaper sticking out of his pants. “You need a change.” 

“No. I don’t.” He pulled away from his dad’s hands. 

“I’ll change you when we get up to our room.” 

“I don’t need a change.” 

Tony didn’t fight him on it. He was changing him either way. He took Peter’s hand and walked towards the elevators, pressing the floor for the lobby. “I wanted to press it.” Peter whined, leaning against the larger suitcase. 

“Okay. Next time you can. How about you press the one to our floor.” 

“I want to.” Morgan whined just as the elevator doors opened up. 

“Oh look! We’re here.” Morgan walked out first, followed by Harley then Pepper and Peter who insisted on holding onto his dad’s hand, making Tony have to shift hands to roll the suitcase. 

“There’s a mermaid in the waterfall!” Morgan dropped her backpack and ran over to the fountain, looking inside. “Look, Petey!” 

Peter pulled Tony’s hand, whining when he didn’t move fast enough. “I wanna go look.” 

“Can you go look with your brother and sister so I can go check in? Go on.” 

“Nooo. I wanna stay with you.” 

Tony took the booking papers from Pepper. “I’m going to take Peter to go check in. Stay here with the kids.” He left the suitcase and pulled Peter over to the front desk, getting a happy greeting from the woman sitting there. 

“Welcome to Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa! Are you here to check in?” 

Tony pulled his wallet out to grab his ID. “Thank you. Yeah. It’s for Stark.” 

“Of course. Let me pull up your reservations.” She began typing away on the computer, smiling at Peter who stood on a built in stool, peaking over the counter. “Hello, there cutie, what’s your name?” 

“Peter. Do you live here?” 

“Well, I do live in Florida but I don’t live in this hotel. Sometimes I wish I could. It’s beautiful. Wait until you see your room.” She brought up the confirmation on the screen. “Mr. Stark, could I just see-” 

“Do you live in the castle?” 

She laughed, genuine and kindly. “I wish I did but only the princess lives there. Have you seen her?” 

“No. Which one?” 

“Cinderella and her prince.” 

Tony smiled, happy that Peter wasn’t acting shy but also wanting to just get the key card so he could take his family to their room and get them settled. 

“Oh. But I thought Mickey and Mini live ‘dare?” 

Tony ruffled his hair. “I think we can go find Micky and Mini when we go to the park. Do you want to do that?” 

“Yeah.” 

“He’s a sweetie. But let’s get you into your room, I just need two pieces of ID.” 

Tony handed them over, watching her check it then handed them back with two keycards. “Have an amazing stay. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to call our front desk. We’re here to help 24 hours a day.” 

“Thank you so much.” 

“Dad. I wanna hold the cards.” Peter tried to reach for them but Tony put them in his pocket. “Daddy. I want to do it.” 

“I’m going to hold onto it for now. Let’s get settled first then go eat some lunch.” Tony took one of Peter’s hands to lead him off the stool, walking back over to the waterfall with the mermaid that Morgan was making her mom take pictures in front of. 

“Peter, go sit with your brother and sister. Harley, go sit too.” Pepper pulled Peter towards the fountain edge. “Go on. Go sit next to your sister. Don’t fall in.” 

Peter smiled, looking over at his dad. 

“Look at the camera, Peter. Smile!” He still looked off to the side at Tony so Tony stood behind Pepper, hoping that helped. “Perfect. So cute.” 

“I’m sweating. I need to change into shorts.” Harley stood up, eager to pee first then change and go eat. He was starving. 

Of course, Peter latched onto Tony’s side, lifting his arms up for the man. “Daddy. Please pick me up.” 

Not wanting to argue, Tony lifted Peter up, setting him on his hip and feeling the squish of his diaper. “You need a bum change ASAP.” 

“Nooo.” 

Tony didn’t know why Peter had been refusing diaper changes all day. Part of the reason why it was so full was because he refused to let anyone change him so his last change was almost five hours ago now. He didn’t fight with him in the elevator but one way or another, he would change him. 

Once they got to their floor, he placed Peter on his feet. “We’re in room 514. Who can find it first?” 

Peter stood there briefly, looking hesitant, then when Tony reached for his hand, he booked it down the hallway, stopping in front of the door. “I wanna open it!” 

“Can I?” Morgan pleaded as well but Tony knew he had to let Peter if he didn’t want him to start crying. 

“Morgan, I’m going to let Peter this time, but you can text time.” He handed Peter the card and he opened it but Morgan stomped her foot, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“That’s not fair. He got to last time too!” 

Peter took Morgan’s hand, pulling her into the room so Tony couldn’t respond to Morgan right now. He sighed, looking over at Pepper. 

“You need to talk to her. Be honest, Tony. It’s okay.” 

He just felt so bad but seeing his kid’s excitement, Morgan already in a happy mood, made him smile. He walked into the hotel room, leaving the suitcase by the door and admiring all the detail. Disney really outdid themselves. The detail was crazy. 

It really looked like they were in a castle. 

Even the furniture had every last detail down to a T. 

He followed the laughter down a hallway and turned the corner, walking into the room he picked out for Peter and Morgan. Whether Peter slept in there or not was up to him. 

“Look, daddy! It’s a Minion bed!” He said, jumping onto one. It was shaped like a cut out oval with a minions face on the front. Tony knew he would love it. 

Morgan joined him. “We can have a sleepover together every night!” She grabbed onto his hands, the two of them jumping up and down together. 

“So do you want to sleep in here tonight, Peter?” Tony asked, surprised and hating how he felt some anxiety kick in at Peter not sleeping with him. 

Peter nodded. “Yeah! A sleepover!” 

Tony didn’t think Peter had any idea as to what he was agreeing to. 

He ruffled his hair, making it even more messy since he didn’t stop jumping. “Okay. Let’s go eat. It’s hot here so Morgan, go change into shorts and a T-shirt and Peter, you come with me so I can change your diaper.” 

“I don’t want you to change my diaper.” 

“Do you want to wear underwear then?” 

“No.” 

Good. Because we don’t have any for you here. “Then I need to change you. I’ll be so quick. Then I’ll get you dressed in shorts and a T-shirt and we’ll go eat lunch somewhere.” 

Peter didn’t stop jumping even after Morgan started digging in her suitcase to get changed so Tony sat down on the mattress, getting jostled from the jumping. “Hey. Can I tell you something, Peter?” 

“What is it?” He asked, not stopping jumping as he held onto the bed frame for support. 

“You need to stop jumping so I can tell you.” 

Peter did a bum jump, facing his dad. “Yeah?” 

“If you want to go out and have fun, then I need to change your diaper. If you don’t want me to, then we have to stay in the hotel room while mom, Harley and Morgan go out and explore.” 

Peter thought about it. “But… I didn’t pee pee.” 

Tony grabbed his track pants, tugging them off and making Peter fall onto his back before Peter pushed himself up further. “It’s full. I need to change you.” 

“I’m done!” Morgan announced, spinning around to show her dad. 

“You look so beautiful, princess. Can you tell your brother that he needs a diaper change?” 

Morgan dropped to her knees in front of them. “You need to let daddy change you or else we can’t go eat lunch. I can help!” She turned to her dad, excitedly. 

“Thank you, beautiful.” He caressed her soft cheek. “But I think mom will change him so I can talk to you for a second.” He stood up, pulling Peter up by his arm and walking him into their master bedroom. The bed looked a bit girly for Tony’s liking but it was still incredible. It was designed to look exactly like a princess's bed. “Wow. This is incredible.” He couldn’t not think about the amazing sex he and Pepper could have here… 

“Isn’t it? It’s so amazing how Disney puts so much thought into their rooms.” Pepper concluded Tony’s previous thoughts as she laid out outfits for her and Tony to change into. 

Tony spotted the diaper bag on the bed. “Pep, can you change him?” He gestured to Morgan beside him with his eyes and she understood. 

“Of course. Come, my baby. Are you still refusing to let anyone change your bum?” She asked even as she pulled out the supplies from the bag. “Do you want to stand up or lie down?” 

“I want you to change me upside down.” Peter grinned so Tony wished her luck and took Morgan’s hand, leading her back into the bedroom they were just in. 

“So, Morg, I wanted to talk to you about something. And I know that you’re old enough now to understand why I’m telling you this,” Tony needed to be careful with how he explained this. “I know that you were super upset when I let Peter open up the hotel room instead of you, and I can understand why you were upset. But I picked Peter because he doesn’t know how to control his emotions like you do, so he would have cried and been very upset. Do you understand that?” 

Morgan shrugged. “Yeah cause he still uses pacifiers and I don't.” 

“Well,” She was right. But Tony didn’t want that to be the point. “Yeah, but he struggles with his emotions because he feels them so strongly. So sometimes I need you to help mom and I with that. Like sometimes letting him unlock the hotel room. Can you do that for me?”

“Yeah. Sure. I’m a better sibling than Harley is. He doesn’t even play with Peter.” 

“He does. But he’s a lot older, right? So sometimes he doesn’t like the same things that you guys do.” Tony explained. 

Morgan seemed to think about that, considering it. “I guess. So when Petey is his age, will he not want to play with me anymore then?” 

Tony honestly didn’t know. How could he. “You and Petey have a closer age gap. But even if you guys don’t enjoy the same things, I know you’ll still be super close. Just like right now.” 

“Yeah. Except when he bites me. And hits me. I don’t like that.” 

Tony kissed her hair and stood up. “He’s still learning and it’s your job to tell him not to do that or come and tell mom or I. Can you do that for me?” 

“I can do that, dad.” 

“You’re so perfect. Thank you. Let’s go see if everybody else is ready so we can go eat some lunch.” Tony took her hand and walked into the living room of the hotel, letting Morgan’s hand go when she joined her mom by the couch, patting Peter’s head. 

“Dad said we can go eat lunch now. Then can we go see the castle?!” 

“Food first. My stomach is actually growling.” Harley had been ready to go for the past hour but his siblings made everything take twice as long. 

Pepper sighed, holding out shorts for Peter to put on but he was sitting in front of her, not making any move. “We can go as soon as your brother puts pants on.” 

Peter smacked them away. “No pants!” 

Tony decided to do this. He took the pants from Pepper and lifted Peter up, pulling him to stand between his legs once he was sitting on the couch. “Everyone is wearing pants, so you have to too, okay? If not, Mickey Mouse won’t want to see you. He’ll see Morgan and Harley but he can’t come to see you if you aren’t wearing pants.” 

“Why?” 

“Well,” Tony was pulling this out of his ass. “because walking around with no pants goes against Disney's rules. And Mickey lives here. So of course he would follow that.” 

“But he doesn’t wear a shirt…” 

Good point. 

“Yeah. Only he can. So how about we get your pants on and then we can go.” He held them out for Peter to step in and thankfully Peter did without any problems and got his sandals on after, wanting to keep holding onto his dads hand. 

The walk to the restaurant was beautiful. 

There were palm trees everywhere, a small bridge they had to cross upon walking into the mini rainforest to get to the restaurant that had two fake elephants outside with fake monkeys hanging off them. 

Peter even grabbed a gecko, somehow, before Pepper screamed and made him let it go. 

“I want to sit beside you.” Peter insisted, grabbing onto Tony’s arm once they were brought to their booth. The restaurant had a rainforest theme and their booth was thankfully in a quiet corner with a waterfall next to it. 

Tony already knew what Peter and Morgan were going to do. 

“Alright, bubs.” Now he had anxiety over Peter falling into the mini waterfall pool but he took a breath and let it go. If he managed to fall in, Tony could just hop the wooden fence and pull him out. No biggie. 

He climbed in and then Morgan climbed in after him, then Tony but Peter pushed her. “I wanted to sit next to my daddy.” 

“He’s my dad too.” 

“He’s mine first.” 

Morgan crossed her arms over her chest. “Actually no. He’s Harley’s dad first anyways.” 

Peter narrowed his eyes at her. “Well he’s my dad before you.” 

“No, cause I was here when you weren’t anyways-” 

“Stop it, you two. Morgan, Peter said he wanted to sit beside me so how about I sit in the middle.” 

Peter climbed over Morgan. 

“Welcome to Rainforest Cafe, can I start you guys off with anything to drink first?” 

Peter kissed Tony’s cheek, grinning. “And now I can sit in the middle.” 

“Okay, buddy.” 

“Cause I wanna sit next to you and Morgan.” 

“Okay. What do you want to drink?” 

Pepper smiled at the waitress, hoping she was used to this. She worked at Disney after all. “I’ll have a lemonade please, no ice.” 

“Can I have ummm… a watermelon drink?” Morgan asked. 

“I have a watermelon virgin juice shot. It’s super sour. And a watermelon lemonade smoothie.” 

“Watermelon lemonade smoothie! Please and thank you.” 

“Of course. And for you, honey?” 

“What do you want, Pete?” 

“Ummm… ummm… I don’t know.” He looked around the room, his pointer finger going into his mouth like he did so often when he tried to make a decision. 

Tony helped him. “Do you feel like juice? Chocolate milk? Milk?” 

“Milk.” 

Once all their drink orders were taken, Peter leaned his head against his dad’s lap, yawning, so Tony tapped his cheek. “Are you tired?” 

“Yeah. I mean no. I’m not tired.” 

Tony and Pepper looked at each other. Since it was 1pm anyways, maybe they should save the castle for tomorrow instead of today. That way they could all be well rested and have a full day event of it. 

They would tell Morgan after. 

“Don’t fall asleep then.” He patted his back and realized he probably shouldn’t if he didn’t want Peter to fall asleep so he stopped when the waitress arrived with their drinks. 

“Woah! It’s a Minnie Mouse cup for me! Do I get to keep it?” 

“Yes you can. And your brother gets a Mickey Mouse cup to keep too.” 

Peter sat up, happily taking the cup. “Thank you.” He took a sip from the straw, titling it up like he would his bottle. “Yummy. It’s Mickey milk.” 

“Is it good? Don’t tilt it up though, bud. It’ll spill.” 

Peter looked at the corners. “It didn’t spill.” 

“Just in case then… don’t.” 

They ordered their food, Pepper getting chicken Alfredo, Harley and Tony both getting a cheeseburger and Morgan and Peter getting chicken fingers and fries shaped like Mickey Mouse. If Peter actually ate his food, Tony would pay a million dollars to have the same Mickey Mouse chicken fingers served at their house. 

“Mom, I heard that Mickey and Minnie come to the hotels to say hi to us. Will they come to our hotel?” 

“I think they do. If we’re up for a night swim then maybe they’ll come see us.” Pepper said. 

Peter budded in, sitting up on his knees. “No. They can’t swim.” 

“Yeah they can.” Morgan insisted. 

“No. They’re mousies. They don’t swim.” 

Morgan rolled her eyes. “They can. They just don’t like to. Just like cats.” 

Peter smacked her. “I know they can, but Mickey and Minnie can’t!” 

“Hey! Dad. He hit me.” She rubbed her arm, sticking her tongue out at Peter. 

“Peter. Do you have to sit on my other side?” Tony asked, moving him away from Morgan. 

Peter groaned. “No. I’m fine here.” 

“Then don’t hit.” 

Peter rolled his eyes, drinking his milk and ignoring his sister. When the food came, he grabbed a Mickey Mouse chicken nugget and made it walk along the table. “Look. He even has little feet.” 

“It’s neat looking.” 

Morgan made hers walk too, making Peter giggle then Morgan shoved it in her mouth, chewing it happily. 

“That’s so yummy.” 

“You try yours, Pete.” Tony tried, knowing it was always harder to get him to eat. 

He dipped it in ketchup, using his finger to make it look like a hat and smiled, showing Tony who snapped a few pictures. “Now put him in your tummy.” 

“How is everything here? Can I get you guys anything else?” 

“Very yummy, thank you. If we could just have a bit more napkins, please.” Pepper said, smiling at the waitress. 

Just then, Morgan reached over to grab the ketchup and accidentally slipped her juice on Peter’s lap, the lid coming off and spilling all over him. “Uh oh. Sorry, Petey.” 

Peter gasped and shivered at the cold ice against his lap, whining. 

“Oh. It’s okay, Morgan.” Tony grabbed his napkin to try and clean up as much as the juice as possible, imagining how uncomfortable it must be. And cold. 

“Here.” The waitress handed Tony a cloth napkin. “I’ll go get you another drink and some more napkins right away.” 

“Thank you.” Tony got out of the booth and lifted Peter out, watching the red juice drip down his legs. He was glad they had a diaper bag with them at all times. “Let’s go get you changed, buddy. I must say, you do smell good though.” 

Peter tugged on the front of his pants, wanting to pull them down. 

“Don’t take them off here, we’ll go to the bathroom to change you.” 

“But… it’s sticky.” 

“I know. Let’s go change.” 

“Here, Tony. Everything’s in there.” Pepper handed him over the diaper bag so Tony took it, swinging it onto his shoulder and taking Peter’s hand to walk to the bathroom. 

“Daddy. Look. A monkey.” 

“How did he get in here?” 

“That’s silly. It’s not real.” 

Tony laughed. “Oh. Silly me then.” The bathroom’s were very cute. You needed to walk over a tiny bridge to get in, designed to look like a safari. Inside, the walls were painted with realistic looking trees and even the doors were fake wood, designed to look real, like it was a tree trunk. 

Peter stopped to look at himself in the mirror. “Dad. It looks like I peed blood.” 

Another man in there laughed. “They always spill stuff.” He shook his head at Tony, giving him a smile then leaving the bathroom. Tony wished they were alone but they weren’t and wouldn’t ever be at busy Disney. 

“Dad, look at me. This mirror makes me look funky.” He lifted his arms up, laughing at his reflection that looked like a trick mirror. 

Tony put his hand on his boney shoulder, leading him towards a stall. “It does look funky. Let’s go change though. You’re all sticky.” 

“Yeah! It’s super sticky.” He stepped into the bathroom. “If-if I walked outside, one hundred bees would come and attack me!” 

“One hundred of them?” He loved Peter’s imagination. Tony opened up the bag and pulled out a diaper and wipes then handed them to Peter. “Hold these, will you.” 

“My diaper.” Peter took it, opening it up and showing his dad. “I want one with Mickey Mouse on it, dad. Not Pooh Bear.” 

“Your pull-ups have Mickey on them. Would you want to wear those and then try peeing in the potty?” 

“No. Not here.” 

Tony expected that answer. He squatted down and pulled down Peter’s pants, holding one of his hands so he didn’t fall over when he stepped out of his wet pants. “Are they garbage?” 

“No, buddy, I’m just going to put them in a bag to wash later.” He took off his diaper, tapping it up and putting it on the floor for now. “Can you stand with your legs apart more?” 

“I’m gonna fall.” 

“You’re not. I’ll hold your hand.” 

“It’s cold!” 

“I know. It always is.” Peter said the same thing to him almost every time. He made sure to get the juice off, knowing it would be incredibly itchy and uncomfortable if it was left on his skin out in the hot sun. 

Peter sighed when his dad still wasn’t done. “I’m hungry.” 

“I’m trying to be quick, bubs. I’m almost done.” Tony took the diaper from him but paused. “Did you want to try and pee first?” 

“No. I want chicken nuggets.” 

So Tony got him dressed again, washing their hands then joining everyone at lunch, finishing up their food, thankfully without any more spills this time. 

.

.

.

They were having a great first day. Although it was only a lazy half day, since after arriving and eating lunch, it was already 2pm and they were all too tired to leave their hotel but Tony was more than okay with that. 

So they lounged by the pool all day. 

He actually preferred lazy vacations more than busy ones. And Disney was probably the busiest vacation you could ever go on with kids. 

So he definitely had to get a handle on his anxiety while they were there. 

But it was all for the memories. 

Even if Tony got crippling anxiety every time Peter left his sight, Tony just had to learn to live with it. Which is basically what he’s been doing for the past fourteen years anyways. 

Tony stood by the edge of the pool. It was deep enough for Peter and Morgan to not be able to touch the ground but he still could. So he stood by the edge, watching his kids doing flips into the water. 

He yawned. He was getting tired and it was still quite early. He looked over at Peter, watching him do an underwater somersault then swim back to the surface, coughing on water. 

He looked pretty tired too. 

Although Tony would give it to Peter, he was putting on such a brave face and trying so hard to stay awake and happy even though Tony could sense his exhaustion creeping in quickly. 

He checked the time on his watch, seeing that it was just past 7pm. Not too late but late enough that Peter would be needing to sleep soon. 

“Fifteen more minutes, guys, and then we’re going to head up.” 

Morgan took her foggy goggles off to look at Tony. “No. Not yet.” 

“Fifteen minutes. Want me to take that ten?” 

“No. Fifteen is fine!” 

“Good.” 

Tony went back to watching Peter do more underwater somersaults then swim to the surface, coughing on more water. “You good, Pete?” 

Peter wiped the water out of his eyes and swam to the edge, grabbing on so he could catch his breath. “I’m okay. I just swallowed water.” 

Morgan swam over to him. “You mean pee.” 

“Ew no. Water.” 

She spun around. “Pool water is basically pee. I’m peeing right now.” 

“Morgan, that’s gross. Please don’t pee in the pool and add to it.” 

“So Petey can pee in the pool but I can’t?” 

“Petey isn’t peeing in the pool.” 

“Yes I am.” 

Tony narrowed his eyes at him but he didn’t expect anything less. He reached out and brushed the wet curls off his forehead. “Get away from me, you two gremlins. Go on. Get.” 

Both of them started laughing and swam away, going back to the corner of the pool they’ve been playing in. Tony looked away briefly to turn towards Pepper. “What’s the time, Pep?” 

“7:22. Should we head up now? I’m even tired.” Pepper had been lying in the pool chair for the past hour, reading a book while Tony watched the kids. Even Harley was looking tired, probably because he spent the last twenty minutes throwing Peter and Morgan into the air. 

“Yeah. Then they’ll be in bed by eight and not be cranky tomorrow.” Tony was already briefly wondering how he was going to keep Peter entertained when he woke up at 5am tomorrow morning. “Pete, Morg, time to head up.” 

“No!” Peter yelled across the pool. 

Morgan was quick to copy him. “We don’t want to!” 

Tony would not tolerate this. But it wasn't like he could start yelling at them across the pool for everyone to hear so he walked across the pool and gave them both a serious look. “I said fifteen more minutes and that was fifteen minutes ago. If you guys don’t get out of this pool right now, you can say goodbye to your pool time tomorrow.” 

Tony saw Morgan look at Peter, waiting to see what he was going to do. 

He knew Morgan looked up to Peter as her big brother, but Peter wasn’t the best role model, Tony would admit to that. And it wasn’t Peter’s fault. It was his trauma. 

So Morgan copying Peter wasn’t the best idea, although as siblings, it’s inevitable. 

Peter stood up on the ledge of the pool seat. “But… I’m still being a good boy, right?” 

“If you listen to me and do as I asked, then yes.” 

Peter jumped into the water again, splashing both Tony and Morgan and he started swimming towards the stairs. Morgan was quick to follow him. Success. 

“Wrap me in a towel, mom.” 

“Me too.” 

“Did you guys have fun?” Pepper asked as she wrapped both of them in towels, making sure to make it tight just like they liked it. 

“Yeah. I can swim faster than Morgan can. That means that I’m a better swimmer.” 

“No. Not true. We can swim the same fastness.” 

Peter shook his head, turning to glare at his sister. 

“Okay. You guys are both fast. Put your crocs on so we can go up to our hotel.” The last thing Tony wanted was to have to deal with fighting of all things. He loved watching Peter and Morgan get along and although they did for the most part, they still fought, just like every sibling does, but sometimes with Peter’s maturity levels, it can rub off on Morgan and that makes their fighting a bit more difficult than it should be. 

“Dad? Can I unlock the hotel room this time?” Morgan asked once her shoes were on. 

“Sure. Here.” He grabbed the room key card from his jean pocket and handed it to Morgan then spared a glance at Peter. Peter was looking at Morgan, his thumb lodged in his mouth. Thankfully he didn’t say anything though and remained silent, no doubt from the thumb in his mouth. 

“Yay! I’ll lead the way.” 

Peter walked alongside Tony for a few minutes until they got to the front entrance of their hotel then he turned and lifted one arm up towards him. 

“Mmmm.” 

Tony was waiting for that. He lifted Peter up and immediately his wet head was on his shoulder. 

They made their way up to their hotel room quickly and Peter kicked his legs to be placed on his feet. Typical, he just wanted a ride up. Tony didn’t mind at all though, he actually loved carrying his baby. 

“Showers, pyjamas, bed, you three. Get a move on.” 

Harley rolled his eyes but went into his room and shut the door anyways. Morgan and Peter however didn’t make a move. Tony gave them both a small nudge. “Go on.” 

“I need help.” Peter pulled out his thumb to say. “And I want paci.” 

“I’ll get you a paci. Morgan, go shower and come meet us in our bedroom after. We can watch some tv before bed.” 

“I want to shower with you and Petey.” 

“Would you like me to help you wash your hair, honey?” Pepper walked over and asked. She was still wearing her bikini and Tony couldn’t help but want to rip it off her. He was torn between wanting his kids to be independent enough to do things on their own so he and Pepper had more free time but then he also loved Peter’s dependence on him. He knew that was awful to feel… but it’s the truth. 

“Daddy’s gonna wash my hair.” Peter told Morgan and dropped his towel, grabbing onto Tony’s arm. 

“Moms gonna wash my hair.” 

Tony fondly shook his head at Pepper. “You two are too funny. Let’s go, Petey.” 

He took Peter into the master bed and grabbed the pacifier off the bed and pushed it past Peter’s lips. “Better?” 

“Uh huh. I wan’ ‘ou to go in ‘dare wif’ me.” He mumbled around the silicone, pointing at the bathroom. 

“I am, baby. I always do.” Tony walked in, shutting the bathroom door behind them and opening the glass shower door, turning the water on and setting it to the right temperature. He then sat on the closed toilet seat and pulled Peter to stand in front of him. “Did you have lots of fun today?” 

Peter nodded, letting his dad take off his bathing suit and swim pull-up and stepping out of it. “I ‘iked when Ha’ley th’ow us up.” 

“That looked like a lot of fun. I think you guys tired him out more than he did you.” Tony stood up and stepped into the shower, pulling Peter in with him. He would take advantage of wearing his bathing suit and getting to shower with his kid. 

“I don’t want you sleeping with wet hair so I’ll blow dry it after we’re done.” He explained as he massaged shampoo into his hair then rinsed it out. 

“Yeah. Cause I don’ wan’ get sick.” 

“We don’t want that.” Tony slathered body wash onto his hands and made sure to clean Peter up, not wanting any pool residue on his body. “Okay. Rinse yourself off now.” 

“I can ‘ush your hai’, daddy.” 

Tony only understood Peter because he was used to his pacifier speech but his words barely sounded like words so he knew anyone else would have a very difficult time understanding him. 

“Thank you but I can do it.” Tony was quick to get himself cleaned up and soon the two were in the bedroom, Tony wearing clean pyjama pants and Peter lying on the bed, swaddled in a cozy towel. 

Tony dug in their suitcase for pyjamas and diaper rash cream for Peter when Harley walked in. 

“Harls, it’s 95 degrees here. Are you sure you want to wear those pyjamas?” Tony chuckled at having seen what Harley’s wearing. 

“No. I sleep naked. But I’m not Peter so I’m not exactly going to walk around naked.” 

Tony chuckled again then cheered when he finally found the diaper rash cream. “Finally. Okay. Let’s get a diaper on you.” 

“Nooo it’s warm in here!” Peter whined when Tony opened up the towel, exposing his skin to the cool air. 

“Sorry, bud, but I need to put a diaper on you.” Tony opened up the container of cream and stuck his finger in. “Lift your legs up.” 

“No cream. It’s slimy.” 

“I don’t want you to get a rash while we’re here.” Tony didn’t give him a choice as he already started applying it on. 

“Dad, when are we going to race cars? Because I really want to go, I was looking at the race track and it looks sick.” 

Tony couldn’t remember what day he had it booked for. “I have the date on my phone but I don’t remember it off the top of my head.” 

Harley tried to hand Tony his phone. “Here. Check.” 

“Harley. Let me finish putting a diaper on your brother.” 

“What’s your password again? I’ll check.” 

“Wait. I’ve got diaper cream on one hand and I’m holding his legs up with my other. Pass me the wipes and give me two minutes.” He put Peter’s legs down and looked around for the wipes. 

“I don’t see them.” Harley knew Peter knew the password after seeing their dad type it in so many times. He did too but forgot it. 

“I’ll just wash my hands. Stay here, Peter. Don’t move.” Tony pointed a warning finger at him and left. 

“Pete, what’s dad’s password again?” 

“081009.” 

“Right.” Harley typed it in and went into Tony’s emails to look for the confirmation email. 

Tony walked back in the bedroom and grabbed a diaper off the dresser. “What’re you looking at?” He asked Harley, knowing he was snooping on his phone. Tony didn’t have anything to hide besides some work stuff that he didn’t want his kids knowing about. 

“I’m trying to find the date. I really want to go. It’s just going to be you and me, right?” 

Tony got the diaper onto Peter. At least now he didn’t have to worry about being peed on. “Yeah, it’s just us. Let me see.” He took his phone back from Harley and found the date in a few seconds. “The day after tomorrow.” 

“Yes. I’m so excited. I wish we could go now.” 

No matter what, Tony had to keep his promise and go with Harley. He was excited too, don’t get him wrong. But he also had separation anxiety from the little beast lying on the bed and looking up at him. So yeah, it was going to be hard. 

“I’m excited too, buddy. It’ll be fun just the two of us.” 

The door was kicked open and Morgan ran in with her hair in braids, holding a bottle of milk that she tossed at Peter’s head and it hit him right in the face, making him start crying. 

“Uh, Morgan. Why would you do that?” Tony lifted Peter into his arms and stood up. Geez. Peter was just lying there so peacefully and gets a bottle thrown at his face, the item that’s supposed to bring him comfort. 

“I didn’t mean to throw it at his face!” Morgan yelled but seeing that she hurt her brother, she began crying as well. 

“Hey. Okay. It’s okay. I know it was an accident. Come here.” He hugged her against his side with an arm, while still trying to comfort Peter in his other arm. 

Pepper walked into the room to see what was going on. “What’s all this crying? What happened?” 

Tony turned to face her. “Morgan accidentally threw a bottle at Peter’s face.” 

Pepper sighed. “Morgan. You need to be more careful.” 

Morgan cried harder. 

“Is he okay?” 

Tony pulled Peter away from himself to get a better look at his face. “He’s okay.” Besides for the tears and snot, there wasn’t any blood or bumps. He didn’t know where it hit him exactly but he looked fine. He picked up the fallen pacifier and pushed it past his lips which had the crying quiet down. 

Morgan sobbed against Tony’s leg. “I-I didn’t mean t-t-t-to! Don’t h-hate me!” 

“Morgan. I don’t hate you. I could never hate you.” Tony sat back down on the bed to pull Morgan onto his other leg. “It was an accident, but you just need to be more careful. That’s all. Can you apologize to Peter and do something to make it up to him?” 

Morgan wiped at her tears but still continued crying. “I’m s-s-s-sor-sorry, Peter! Don’t be mad at me.” 

Tony rubbed Morgan’s back. He knew Peter wouldn’t respond to her but he also knew he wouldn’t hold it against her. Tony kissed her forehead. “How about you think of something nice to do for him tomorrow. Hmm?” 

“Yeah.” Morgan used her shirt to wipe her tears away. “I-I can change his poopy diaper.” 

Tony smiled softly. “I can do that. You think of something else. Okay?” 

She nodded. “I-I want to sleep with you guys tonight.” 

Tony expected that. “Okay. You can. You get comfortable in bed. I’m going to be back with Peter.” 

Tony left the bedroom and sometime during that whole ordeal, Harley must have left because Tony found him in the kitchen making a sandwich. He hoisted Peter up higher on his hip. 

“Something tells me we aren’t going to be going to the race track on Wednesday.” 

“What? Of course we are. Why do you say that?” 

“Because… we can’t even have a conversation about it without Peter and Morgan ruining it. They always ruin everything.” 

Tony sighed. He hated how much attention Harley lacked but it was so so hard to give him the attention he needed with Morgan and Peter. Especially the latter. 

“Let me go leave Peter with your mom and I’m going to be right back. Please stay here.” Tony quickly walked back into the bedroom and tried to hand Peter over quickly but he didn’t want to go. “Please. Please let go, Peter. I’ll be right back.” 

Peter screamed. 

“I need to talk to Harley. Take him please, Pep.” Tony tried again but Peter still didn’t let him go. 

“Come here, honey.” 

Tony unlatched Peter from him and handed him over to Pepper, feeling bad at the distressed cry Peter let out. “Give him milk. I’m sorry. I’ll be back.” 

He rushed back into the kitchen and found Harley in the same spot. “Thank you for staying. Let’s talk. I hate that you feel like your siblings ruin everything but… I can understand how hard it is for you to relate to them.” 

Harley shrugged. 

Tony hesitated. He looked towards the hallway where Peter was behind the closed door. He wasn’t crying so he either had a bottle nipple in his mouth, his thumb or pacifier.

“Can I ask you something?” 

Harley glanced up at him. “Um… sure.” 

“Do you… ever wish we didn’t get Peter back?” That hurt to even ask. God, that hurt. “Because I know a lot of your moms and I’s attention is on Peter. So… I want to know.” 

“Are you crazy? Of course I never wish that. I love my little brother. And… I know that our family wouldn’t be a family without him. You’d probably be dead from alcohol poisoning or something to be honest. And… he’s pretty funny. It’s just… really hard seeing him… hurt I guess. Because he doesn’t even know he’s hurt.” 

Tony nodded, taking that all in. 

He knew Harley was mature but he was still only twenty years old and he’s been through hell in his lifetime too. Not just Peter. 

He crossed his arms over his chest and tried to process everything. Harley shifted uncomfortably across from him. “I’m so proud of you for everything you do. I know you don’t think so, but you’re an incredible older brother to your siblings. And I know it’s not easy being the oldest, and I’m sorry I don’t always give you the attention you deserve. I am trying. But thank you for being so amazing, Harley. I’m so glad you’re my first born. I’m so so proud of you.” 

Harley gave him a tiny smile. 

“As for Peter, he’s just… too young to understand what happened to him yet. But he will. And one day you guys are going to have a beautiful relationship and probably travel around together, visit different countries, go on road trips.” 

Harley smiled wider. “I’d like that. As long as I don’t have to change diapers. Because I’m not doing that.” 

Tony laughed out loud. A genuine laugh. “No. No. None of that. Don’t worry. He’ll be potty trained and out of diapers soon enough.” 

“I don’t envy you that.” 

Tony chuckled. Comfortable silence washed over them for a few seconds before Tony spoke. “Are you okay?” 

“Are we for sure going on Wednesday? Just us. No one else?” 

“I promise you. Even if we’re a few minutes late getting out the door, we’ll stay even longer. But I promise you were going. Okay?” 

“Okay. Thanks.” 

Tony took two steps towards Harley and wrapped his arms around him. It was so different from hugging Peter, with Peter, the hug was powerful and desperate. Like Tony was running out of breath and Peter was his oxygen. But with Harley, it just felt so right, a simple, yet needed hug. 

He kissed the top of his head and pulled away. “Do you need me to tuck you in?” 

“Maybe if I were fourteen. But no. I’m good.” 

Tony’s smile turned sad. He knew Harley wasn’t referring to when he was fourteen but rather Peter. But now all Tony could think about was when Harley was Peter’s age and how fucking difficult life was then. 

He forced a smile on his face, feeling a desperate urge to see Peter. 

“Okay. I love you. Get some sleep because we’re waking up early.” 

They both went in opposite directions. Tony pushed open the bedroom door and his eye’s immediately looked for Peter. He was lying on Pepper’s chest, one hand on her breast and the other holding Pepper's hand that was holding the bottle up to his mouth. 

He glanced over at Tony when he walked in and lifted the hand holding onto Peppers wrist, up and towards Tony. 

Tony took that as his sign to take over. He lifted Peter out of his moms lap and grabbed the bottle, walking around the other side of the bed and repositioning Peter in his lap. 

There’s some cartoon playing on the tv. Tony leaned over and can see that Morgan is passed out and Peter looks to be asleep soon too. 

“How did you get him to stop crying?” He whispered to Pepper. Peter looked up at him when he spoke. 

“Boobs and milk.” She laughed, causing Tony to chuckle too. 

It was comforting, Tony knew that. But it was also kinda comical. 

He looked down at his baby and smiled. He was so perfect. “Try to sleep in past 5am for me.” 

Peter didn’t reply and instead continued drinking his milk until it was empty and he was asleep. 

Tony was asleep shortly after him, excited for the next week to come.