Potty training
Tony stared at Peter on the other side of the couch.
He was honestly scared about today.
Him and Pepper had a talk with Peter a few days ago and let him know that it was time to say goodbye to the diapers during the day. For good.
They wanted to do this sooner. But then they went to Disney and of course they couldn’t possibly have Peter in underwear there.
They’ve been back for a few days now so today seemed like the perfect day to start.
Honestly, Tony was having mixed emotions about it. On one hand, he was going to be happy to not have to change diapers all day but on the other hand, it meant his little boy was growing up. These moments he would never get back again and it would all be a distant memory one day to look back on.
But they had to do it.
Peter was becoming way too dependent on the diapers during the day and it was getting a touch worrying. So today was going to either be an awful day or a successful day.
Tony hoped for the latter.
Him and Pepper agreed that at home, Peter would stay in underwear only no matter how many times he peed in them and when they would leave the house, he would be put in pull-ups to avoid any accidents in the car or in the middle of a grocery store. At least until he got the hang of it.
Tony had the underwear ready in a basket he got ready with Peter last night. There were about twenty pairs of underwear and Tony fully expected every single one to be used today.
Potty training day one commences.
Tony was so scared…
He lifted the basket up and placed it next to Peter on the couch, sitting next to him so the basket was between them. “Hey. So, are you ready to put your big boy pants on?”
Peter shook his head, pushing the basket away from him.
“Remember what we’ve been talking about, Petey? It’s time to say bye bye to the diapers during the day.”
Peter whined and rolled onto his stomach, sliding off the couch. “Noooo. I don’t want to.”
Tony wasn’t going to give up. He reached forward and picked him up, setting him on his lap. “Baby.” He kissed his cheek. “Don’t you want to be a big boy? Huh? You can wear big boy underwear like Harley does and me. You don’t want to go pee pee in a diaper anymore, right?”
Peter thought about it. “But… but I’m not big yet.”
“I know. But it’s still time to put underwear on during the day. Okay? And you’ll go pee and poo in the potty. Not in your diaper.”
“But… will I wear a pull-up?”
“No. Only when we leave the house but it’s for accidents only.”
Peter seemed to think about it. Despite the many conversations they had with Peter leading up to this day, Peter still didn’t seem okay with the idea of wearing only underwear just yet. But it was time.
“Oh. But-but I-what if I have an accident in my underwear?” He asked, voice going slightly higher at the panic he seemed to be feeling.
Tony caressed his soft cheeks. “If you do, then we’ll get you cleaned up and back in clean underwear. It’s not a big deal, okay? I won’t be mad. We can clean it up together.”
“I-I don’t want to have an accident.”
“I know. Accidents aren’t fun. So you have to pay attention to when you need to go pee and run to the toilet. Alright?”
Peter nodded hesitantly. Tony gave him one last hug then he grabbed the wipes off the couch and had Peter stand between his legs so he could take off his dirty diaper and wipe him clean. “What underwear do you want to wear today?”
“Ummm…” Peter dug in the basket. “This one! It has Blippi on the front. Look!”
“Yeah, it does. Can you get those on yourself or do you need help?”
“Um… help. I can’t do it by myself.”
Tony held it out for him to step into. “You can do it by yourself. Remember you used to get dressed all by yourself?” Before you were kidnapped again…
Peter nodded and let his dad pull the underwear up onto him but stomped his feet. “It’s uncomfy! I want it off!”
“Peter. Hey. Take a breath. Where is it uncomfortable?”
Peter tugged down the front, stretching the material. “Here. I hate it!”
“Okay. Just calm down and make it comfortable.” Tony encouraged him, knowing he had to learn to do these things himself since he wasn’t always going to be there for him. After a few moments though, Peter calmed down. “Is that better?”
Peter nodded. “Yeah.”
“Good.” Tony sighed a breath of relief.
Morgan was back at school again and it was time for Peter to go back after his long hiatus. If it were up to Tony, he’d keep his kid home all day everyday and potty train Peter when he’s ready but Peter clearly wasn’t ready now and likely wouldn’t be ready any time soon so this would have to work.
It was only him and Peter home this morning. Harley went to study at the library with a group of friends and Pepper was at the Tower attending meetings all day.
So it was just the two of them.
Tony checked the time. 9:20am. He was going to sit Peter on the toilet every thirty minutes. Yep. This was going to be a difficult day. Hopefully successful though.
He left Peter to chill on the couch and finish watching his cartoons while he went into the kitchen to clean up, do the daily bottle washing and get started on lunch. It was only nine in the morning but they’ve both been up since 5am and Peter would have to eat before going down for a nap at around noon.
When his phone buzzed, Tony finished putting the bottles away and walked over to the couch, looking at Peter’s blue underwear that looked dry. “Time to go sit on the toilet, buddy.”
“No.”
“Peter, you aren’t wearing a diaper. So you need to try and do a pee pee on the potty. Let’s go.”
“I don’t want to.” He leaned over to see the tv that Tony was blocking.
So Tony pressed pause and held his hand out for Peter. “Let’s go do it together, okay?”
With a groan, Peter lifted his hands up, allowing Tony to lift him off the couch and onto his feet. He slowly dragged himself into the bathroom and looked at the offending toilet. It’s been so long since he sat on one and he was not looking forward to using one in the slightest.
Tony put the toilet seat on it then held his hand out for Peter. “Come have a seat.”
Peter walked over and sat down but Tony chuckled, making Peter glance up at him, questioningly.
“Pete. You need to pull down your underwear first, buddy.” Tony explained, lifting him back off the toilet and gesturing for him to pull them down. “Just tug.”
Not looking happy, Peter pulled his underwear down to his ankles and allowed Tony to lift him back onto the toilet. Peter looked between his legs to see if he was going but nothing came out. “I don’t need to go.”
“Try for a bit longer.” Tony knew he’d be here for a while so he pulled up the stool and got comfortable. “What are you most looking forward to for Christmas this year? It’s coming up in a bit.”
“What day is it?”
“It’s Monday.”
“No. What day is Christmas on?”
“Oh. Um… I actually don’t know. Let me see.” Pulling out his phone, Tony checked his calendar. “It’s on a Thursday.”
“I don’t want to go to school on Christmas.”
“You don’t have to, buddy. It’s Christmas. There’s no school or work on Christmas.” Even Stark Industries has a very flexible work schedule on Christmas. Of course the Tower is open to a selected few who want to come in to work that day, as many do, but those with families get paid time off for three weeks to be with their children. Something Tony only had implemented after Harley was born.
“Yay! Is grandma and grandpa coming here for Christmas? Or will we go there?”
“I think they’ll come here. That way we can make snow forts outside.” Tony was glad to be having this conversation with Peter to distract him a bit and help him to not want off the toilet so quickly but it’s been ten minutes and he still hasn’t peed yet.
Tony continued the conversation with him, wanting to know what he wanted for Christmas when he heard water hitting water.
It’s not a lot, barely a trinkle. But it’s there. Tony’s grateful for it. “You went pee. Good job, buddy. You did it.”
Peter looked between his legs into the toilet. “I did it!”
“I’m so proud of you, buddy. That’s your first pee pee in the toilet.” Tony stood up and grabbed some toilet paper off the role, handing it to Peter. “Just dap.”
“Dap dap dap. Like that?”
“Yep.”
Peter tossed it in the toilet after and stood up, shuffling over to the flush. “Bye bye, pee pee.”
“Let’s wash our hands and put a sticker on your chart.” Tony kicked the stool over to the sink for Peter, washing his hands as well even though for once, he didn’t touch anything.
“Oh. I actually forgot about my chart. Do you have Dino stickers?”
“I do. Let’s go see what we have.”
.
.
.
Tony was cutting up Peter’s chicken nuggets while he served him a small portion of broccoli Mac and cheese, making sure to make his sectioned plate presentable so hopefully Peter would eat.
He was on the phone with Pepper while he was doing this, holding the phone between his shoulder and his ear. “Mm yeah, no he actually did. Yep. Twice.”
“No way. Did he do a poo on the toilet or just pee?”
“No poo. Just pee. I mean, it was barely a pee but it’s a step in the right direction. He’s peed in his underwear three times so far. But we’re getting there.”
Tony poured grape juice into a sippy cup and closed the lid.
“That’s progress. I’ll admit, I’m a bit disappointed. I thought there wouldn’t have been already three accidents before noon.”
“I expected about as much. At least he’s not fighting me on using the toilet.” Tony looked behind him at Peter who was cleaning up his mess.
Tony would help him but Peter dumped every single toy bin he had downstairs so he had to clean that up himself.
“I don’t want to clean up anymore.” Peter sat down, complaining. Tony knew he was getting tired, that’s why they were having lunch at 11:30 instead of 12:00. He grabbed the two plates and brought them over to the living room.
“That’s fine. You can clean it up after nap time. Come eat. I gotta go, Pepper. I’ll call you once I get him to sleep.”
“Okay. Talk to you then.”
Tony hung up the phone and placed the plates down but Peter was reaching for his sippy cup first. “Don’t fill up on juice. Eat some food. Look. It’s yummy.”
Peter whined.
So Tony filled a fork of Mac and cheese and fed it to him, happy when Peter opened his mouth for more. “You feed yourself now.”
“I want you to feed me.”
Tony fed him one more time then handed him the fork. “Your turn. I’m going to eat my lunch.”
Peter sat up on his knees to look at Tony’s bowl. “Yours is big.”
“Yep. Because I’m a grown man. You need to finish that and I’ll give you more.” Tony knew how Peter was, if he saw too much on his plate, he got overwhelmed and didn’t eat it.
“No. Just this. And-and I get milk after?”
“Yep. Finish your food first.”
Peter took another bite of his Mac and cheese then grabbed a piece of his chicken nugget, dipping it into his ketchup and licking it off. “It’s yummy.”
“I’m glad. But how about you use a fork?”
Peter looked down between his legs and Tony already knew what that meant. He looked down in time to watch the front part of his underwear soak with pee and drip onto his legs and the blanket he was sitting on.
Peter looked up at him after he finished. “Uh oh. An accident.”
Tony took another bite of his lunch. He was so hungry and just wanted to eat. “That’s okay.” He grabbed one of the many wipes on hand and opened them up, pulling some out. “Take off your wet underwear and toss them in the wet blanket.”
Peter tried but it was wet and stuck to his skin so Tony ended up doing it himself, bundling the dirty blanket up and leaving it for now.
“Lie down.”
“Diaper time?”
Peter looked excited, Tony wished he could but that would be giving up so he shook his head. “Not yet. I’m just wiping you.”
“Then diaper?”
“No diapers anymore, Pete. You’re a big boy now.” Tony tossed the wipes away too, going back to his lunch before the next pee accident came along.
“Oh. Why no diapers?”
Tony fed him another forkful. “Because you can wear them at nighttime’s only. And pull-ups when we go out.” He looked over and saw Peter’s devastated face. “Look, baby, I know this is a hard adjustment for you. But you’re doing a really good job so far. And I’m proud of you.”
Peter smiled slightly. “Okay. But… I don’t like underwear. I miss Lion King.”
Tony knew he was referring to the design on his diapers. If Tony was being honest, he missed them too. But they needed to do this.
“You’ll still wear them at night. Lion King isn’t going anywhere.” Thankfully. Tony selfishly couldn’t totally drop the diapers yet, he needed Peter to still need them and stop growing up so fucking fast.
Peter yawned, almost as if the mention of sleep was reminding him how tired he was.
Tony fed him another fork full but realized Peter was ready for a nap desperately. So he stood up, knowing he’d have to come back to his food later. “Milk and nap time?”
Peter nodded, lifting his arms up. When Tony lifted him onto his hip, he caressed his cheek. “Don’t pee on me, naked boy. I’ll sit you on the toilet one more time before taking a nap, okay?”
Peter didn’t respond. He stuck his thumb in his mouth and laid his head against his dads shoulder, watching as he made his bottle. Peter took it with both hands once it was made.
Now all he wanted to do was sleep.
.
.
.
Tony was enjoying the peace and quiet.
He had the baby monitor sitting on his desk so he could watch it, glancing over every couple of minutes to see what Peter was up to but he was right where Tony left him, fast asleep with his pacifier bobbing up and down in his mouth.
He felt a smile form on his lips as he went back to doing some work, skimming a few meeting debriefs that Pepper sent over to him yesterday evening.
After being home with his kids and basically being a stay at home dad, Tony hates work. It takes him away from his kids, and it’s boringly exhausting.
He almost wishes Peter would wake up so he could have an excuse to leave his desk. But he doesn’t get so lucky as Peter sleeps through the entire two hours. And at 1pm, Tony went upstairs with a bottle of milk in his hand.
He opened his bedroom door and opened up the curtains fully, bringing the sunlight into the room. He then sat on the edge of the bed and shook Peter's sleeping body. “Hey. Sleepyhead. Time to wake up.”
“Hmmmmmm.” Peter moaned, rolling onto his back to stretch his arms and legs out. When he opened his eyes, he saw that his dad was there so he smiled behind his pacifier. “‘addy.”
“Hi baby. Did you have a nice nap?”
Peter nodded, still smiling up at Tony.
“I’m glad. I have some milk for you. But first, I need you to do a pee pee in the potty.”
Peter shook his head and spoke around his pacifier, mumbling something to Tony that he didn’t even understand. “What?”
“I said… I already went. In my diaper.” Peter kicked the blankets off his body to point to his diaper. Tony looked at him. He couldn’t be upset since it was exactly what he expected but he still wished Peter could actually go in the toilet instead of being lazy.
“That’s okay… but you need to sit on the toilet. Not pee in your diaper anymore. Alright?”
Peter nodded, obviously not caring. “Can I have my milk, daddy?”
“Here.” Tony handed it to him then got up to grab wipes and a fresh diaper but then remembered that Peter didn’t need to wear another one. He sighed. Back to changing wet pants.
He pulled Peter towards the edge of the bed and untapped his wet diaper, pulling it off him and wiping him clean then hesitating.
“Okay. New plan. You’re gonna stay naked from the waist down until you’re potty trained. Got it?”
Peter nodded.
Tony smiled, proud of himself. He could do this.
He could do it.
.
.
.
Tony could so not do this.
He didn’t remember potty training ever being so hard. Granted, he never potty trained Morgan and Harley basically potty trained himself once he turned two.
If Tony wasn’t cleaning up pee, he was reading articles online on how to potty train a stubborn child. Because that’s exactly what Peter was, stubborn. Tony would sit him on the toilet, bending over backwards to entertain him and not a drop of pee. Then as soon as Peter got off, he’d pee.
Tony was ready to bang his head against the wall.
He just finished walking downstairs from changing his jeans for the third time after getting peed on when he found Peter standing by the back door, looking outside as it was wide open.
“Close the door. It’s freezing and you’re naked.”
Peter turned to him. “I’m wearing a sweater.”
As if that made it all better. Tony rolled his eyes and shut the back door. “Did you let Aiser out?”
“Yeah. But he wants to go on a walk, dad. A walk to the park.”
“Oh yeah. Aiser wants that?” He gave his son a knowing look but how could he say no to those beautiful cinnamon eyes.
“Uh huh. And he wants to go on the swings. And the slide.”
The park meant putting Peter in a diaper or risk him inevitably wetting himself in the freezing cold. Unless he put him in a pull-up and encouraged Peter to tell him when he needed to go and have him water down a tree. But he knew Peter wouldn’t tell him.
“We have to pick Morgan up from school in an hour.”
“So? We can go to the park for thirty minutes then drive the rest of the thirty minutes.”
Tony squeezed his chubby cheeks together. “You’re adorable. We’ll go after dinner if you’re good.” He walked away and Peter followed him, standing in front of Tony once he sat on the couch.
It looked like Peter wanted to sit in his lap so Tony put his hand on his chest, stopping him. “If you peed in the toilet as much as you peed on my lap today, I’d think I successfully potty trained you, kid.”
Peter blinked at him.
“Do you need to pee?”
“I dunno.”
“Peter. You know what it feels like to need to go pee. You just need to hold it. And run to the toilet immediately.”
“No. I want my diaper.”
Tony sighed. “No more diapers.”
“Yes diapers. I want it.”
Leaning forward, Tony lifted Peter onto his lap and kissed his cheek. “You know I’ll be proud of you no matter what?” Peter didn’t respond. “And think of all the fun things we can do when you can hold your pee and keep your underwear dry?”
“Like what?”
“Well… we could go to the park right now. We can go on hikes with grandma and grandpa in Malibu, no more sore bums from dirty diapers.”
Peter stuck his thumb in his mouth, giving it a few soothing sucks. “Morgan wears underwear.”
“Yep. And so does Harley.”
“Yeah. But I don’t.” Peter stated sadly.
“Don’t worry, you will. We’ll work on this together.” Tony held his hand out and Peter high fived it. “I love you.” He kissed his cheek.
“I love you more.”
“Mm. Not possible.”
“Cause your hearts bigger. Cause you’re older than me. How old are you again?”
Tony chuckled. “43.”
“Oh. That’s so old.”
“I’m your dad, I’m supposed to be old so I can take care of all my babies.”
Peter kicked his legs out playfully, giggling. “Just I’m your baby.”
“Oh. You are?”
“Uh huh. Cause I’m the youngest.”
“Oh really?”
Peter giggled some more, smiling up at Tony.
“Well, you may be the baby of our family but I still need you to pee on the potty. So how about we try again? Hmm?” Tony caressed his soft cheek, hoping Peter didn’t fight him on this.
“I don’t need to go now. I can go later. After the park.” Peter insisted. He really didn’t feel like sitting on a cold toilet when he could stay with his dad and hopefully watch some Netflix with him.
Resisting the urge to sigh, Tony didn’t push it. “Alright. But you know we’re not going to the park until after we pick up your sister from school?”
“That’s fine.” Wiggling off his dads lap, Peter grabbed the Apple TV remote. “Can we watch Wild Kratts?”
“Yeah, put it on where we left off.” It was a boring show in Tony’s opinion but Peter was obsessed with it and if it made his kid happy, we’d watch paint dry even.
Forty minutes later, Tony was washing some bottles in the kitchen while Peter was playing on his iPad in the living room. Since waking up from a nap, Peter’s had zero accidents but also hadn’t gone pee once. So Tony was just waiting for it.
Peter ran towards the kitchen but stopped halfway, squeezing his legs together. “Dad! I need to go!”
“Oh.” Tony turned around and saw him standing like that. He dropped the bottle he was washing in the sink and rushed over to him. “Let’s go then. Come on.”
Although Peter had already started going before Tony could even sit him on the toilet, he still counted that as a win.
“Good job, buddy. You almost made it.”
“I did make it.” Peter corrected, proud of himself.
“You got the last part in the toilet. I’m proud of you.” Tony still had to clean up pee off the floor but at least Peter knew when he needed to go and tried to go.
“Now I’m potty trained so we can go to the park.” Peter stated, getting up off the toilet and stepping on his stool to wash his hands.
“Well,” Tony hesitated. “It’s a start. Let’s continue to work on it. You’ll get there eventually. And aren’t you excited to wear underwear during the day instead of diapers?” He asked, grabbing cleaning supply and paper towel.
Peter paused to think. “Umm…” He lifted his glaze up to Tony. “Are you?”
“I’m asking you, Pete. It doesn’t matter what I want.”
“Oh.” Peter didn’t know what to think about it. He didn’t really have an opinion and did what he wanted at the time. “I like Lion King. But if-if I-I’m potty trained like Morgan and Harley, we can go on funner adventures.”
Now Tony felt bad. Why did this have to be so hard?
It would’ve been so much easier to potty train three year old Peter because that’s what you do. Not having to do it now because his child’s been through so much trauma that he unpotty trained himself.
Tony hated the world.
“Yep. And I’ll get you underwear with Lion King on it. Okay? Would you like that?”
“Okay! And-and underwear with Lego man on it?”
“I can get that for you too.” Leaning down, Tony kissed his cheek and grabbed his arms to lift him off the stool and onto his feet. “ we gotta go get Morgan now though so… diaper or pull-up?”
“Diaper!” Peter was all too excited to answer but Tony didn’t show his disappointment. He followed him into the living room where he grabbed a diaper from the basket and got that on him as well as cozy track pants.
“I don’t want to wear my coat, dad. Just my sweater.”
“That’s fine.” He shut the front door behind him and watched Peter run to the van as he locked the door.
“The cars locked, dad!”
“That’s because I haven’t opened it yet. Patience my child.”
Once the van unlocked, Peter opened the door and climbed into his car seat. “I’m gonna tell Morgan I did pee pee on the potty.”
“She’s going to be so proud of you.” No one could be more proud than him though. He got Peter strapped in and shut the door, quickly getting into the driver's seat.
“Can we get McDonald’s? And go inside to play in the play place?”
“Uhh, we’ll see.”
“We’ll see always means no. That’s not fair.”
“If we go to the play place, we can’t go to the park because there’s no time to do both.”
“Oh. Then I’m gonna ask what Morgan wants to do.”
“Good idea, baby.”
The conversation drifted off into comfortable silence as they drove the rest of the way to Morgan’s school. Peter had found a pacifier in his car seat cup holder and was sucking on that, most likely why he wasn’t talking, but one thing at a time.
When they arrived, Tony drove into the longer than necessary pickup lane and put the car in park. They might be there awhile.
“There she is! I see her! Morgan!”
Tony lifted his head up from his phone in time to see Morgan walking out of the school and towards their car with her backpack. She looked upset and Tony noticed a teacher trailing behind her.
“Dammit.” He mentally cursed and got out of the van, walking around to the other side. Once Morgan saw him, she ran into his arms, jumping to be picked up. “Hey. What’s wrong?”
“Today sucked.”
Morgan rarely hated school so today really must’ve sucked. He put her on her feet once her teacher approached and he opened up the back door.
“Hi Morgan. Wanna go to McDonald’s or the park?” Peter asked, brightening up her mood just a bit.
She shrugged and climbed into her car seat.
“Get buckled up, Morgan. I’ll be in in a minute.” Then he shut the door so neither of them could hear the conversation. “So she had a bad day?”
“It started off good. But then before lunch she started acting up. Then her mood seemed to have gotten worse throughout the day.” Her teacher explained. “I tried talking to her but she wouldn’t tell me. Perhaps she’ll talk to you.”
“Okay.” Tony sighed. “Did you notice anyone picking on her at all? Any fights with her friends?”
“Not that I noticed, no.”
“Alright. I’ll figure it out. Thank you for letting me know.”
“Of course. Have a nice evening, Mr. Stark.”
“Thank you. You too.” Tony walked around the van and got into the driver's seat, having to decide how to handle this. Morgan was so different from Peter and needed space. Being harassed about her bad day right after her bad day wasn’t going to work for her.
“So did you guys decide where we’re going?”
“What’re the options?” She asked.
Peter groaned, taking out his pacifier. “I told you like ten gazillion times but you aren’t listening to me.” He put his pacifier back in his mouth.
“Peter suggested the park or McDonald’s play place. He wanted you to decide.” Tony let her know, pulling out of the school parking lot and towards McDonald’s, he already knew what it would be.
“Oh. Cool. McDonald’s then. I’m hungry.”
“And we get to play!”
“Yeah.”
Tony felt bad. He hated seeing his kids so upset and not knowing what was wrong but also not being able to ask.
So he didn’t ask.
He drove to McDonald’s, ordered them food and let them go play in the disgusting play place that probably hasn’t been cleaned since it first opened up. And to top it off, his son put his fingers in his mouth, so that was good. He tried not to think about that and pulled his phone out of his pocket to text Pepper.
Tony: Hey. We’re at McDonald’s. The kids wanted to play here for a bit
Tony: Morgan had a bad day at school today. I’ll talk to her about it later
Pepper's text came back seven minutes later.
Pepper: I’m leaving work now. I’ll meet you at the play place for a bit
That was fine with him.
He looked up and saw Peter climbing one of the netted sections then waited at the top for Morgan. Then the two disappeared into the play structure.
“Ew. I just touched something wet. Did you pee?” Morgan turned to look at Peter accusingly.
“No. I didn’t. I’m wearing my diaper.”
Morgan pulled down the back of his pants to check. “I thought dad potty trained you today?”
“He did. I am!”
“Clearly not if you’re still wearing diapers.”
“I. Am.” Peter kicked her leg. “I peed on the potty today. Dads proud.”
“Whatever. Race you to the top.”
“Hey! You got a head start. No fair.”
“Gotta keep up.”
Tony watched them come down a slide one after another then run back to the patted stairs. He shoved three fries in his mouth and looked over at Pepper walking in so he got up to kiss her.
“Hey. How was work?”
“Good. Long. I’m not going in tomorrow, I decided.” She sat down next to him.
“Oh. Why not?”
“Because,” She unwrapped the chicken burger Tony got for her. “you’re at home with Peter potty training him and I’m at work doing the work that I can get my assistants to do. I hated that today.”
“I mean, he didn’t get very far on potty training. He’s in a diaper now and I can see from here that it’s already full.” He shrugged, kissing her again. “You don’t have to go to work if you feel that way, Pep.”
“I know. I do. It’s just hard to manage both.”
“I know, and-”
“Mommy!” Peter spotted her and ran over, climbing onto her lap. “You’re here!”
“Oh my baby. So perfect.” She hugged him tightly. “Daddy didn’t tell you I was coming?”
“Uh Uh. It’s a surprise. You staying?”
“Of course I’m staying. Did you eat your food?”
“No. He didn’t.” Tony answered for him. There was a half full bottle of milk on the table which Peter had been drinking.
Pepper saw it but didn’t comment. “Well, you need to eat your yummy food, baby.”
“I’m full. I had a bite of daddy’s cheeseburger.”
He went to slide off of Peppers lap but she stopped him. “Your diaper is full, Peter, what happened to using the toilet?”
That ruined Peter’s mood. “Oh. I forgot.”
“Yeah.” She reached over and grabbed the bag on the other side of Tony. “You stay with Morgan. I'm going to go change him in the washroom.”
“I can go.”
“No. I got it, Tony.” Pepper stood up and took Peter’s hand in hers. “Did you have fun with daddy today?”
“Uh huh. We played and watched tv. Are we going into the girls bathroom?”
“No, the family one.”
“Oh.” Peter walked in after his mom and looked around, spotting the changing table and walking over to it. “Up up.”
“Nope. Just stand there.”
“Stand? No, I wanna lie down.” He whined, trying to jump onto the changing table. “Daddy let’s me. Up up.”
“No, honey, you can stand up. You don’t need to lie down.” Pepper grabbed the supplies and tugged his pants down, taking his diaper off and tossing it in the garbage.
“Noooo. Don’t! I wanna go on here.”
Pepper wiped his skin clean, ignoring his whining then she put a pull-up on him, tugging his pants back up. “See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
Peter gave her a dirty look.
“Oh stop it. Don’t be so upset, Petey. Let’s go back out to play some more than go home.”
“Not home. To the park.”
“Says who?”
“Says me and daddy.”
She pushed open the door, letting Peter walk in first. “Alright, let me ask him then.”
“No! I will first!” Rushing over, Peter climbed on the seat next to his dad. “Daddy, you said we can only go to park or play place, right?” He asked, quietly so his mom couldn’t hear.
“Yeah. Why?”
“Just asking. See?” He turned to face his mom. “Dad said that’s what he said.”
“Hmm. Okay then.”
“Okay then.”
Tony pulled back his pants. “You put him in a pull-up?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Nothing. I just don’t see why that’s necessary since I don’t want him sitting on public toilets.”
“It’s good to get him used to the feeling of pull-ups on so he can actually pull them up and down. Diapers are tight around the waist because they’re meant to stay on.” Pepper told him, a bit passive aggressively.
Tony wasn’t going to fight with her in a McDonald’s play place. “Okay. You’re right. Let’s leave it at that.”
“Okay.”
Peter, totally oblivious to the argument about him, slid off the seat. “I’m gonna go find Morgan. Bye!”
“Fifteen more minutes then we’re leaving.”
.
.
.
Tony walked into the living room and sat down on the couch, not even bothering to take a sip of his coffee that was likely cold now.
“How did it go?”
Tony leaned back on the couch, looking at Pepper. “Same as always. Shove that bottle in his mouth and he’s out like a light.”
“Tony.”
“What?” He shrugged. “It’s true. Bottle, then pacifier. He’s addicted.”
“Well… let’s focus on potty training first. Tomorrow’s a new day.”
Tony nodded and checked the time. “We should go talk to her. You ready?”
“Yeah. Let’s go. I’ll take the lead though. You tend to baby and you know she doesn’t take well to that.”
Tony felt like he was getting attacked. “I mean… I think I’m pretty good at talking to our kids. I definitely don’t baby them.” Pepper gave him a look. “Okay. I baby Peter. But… I mean… I’ve got nothing.”
“Exactly.”
Tony stayed quiet. They walked up to her bedroom and Pepper knocked, waiting for permission to enter.
“Hi, Morgan. Dad and I would like to talk to you about today.” Pepper took a seat on her bed so Tony pulled up her desk chair and sat on it even though it was too small for him.
Morgan sat up and put her book away. “Well… sure. But there’s nothing to talk about.”
“You teacher told me you had a bad day. Want to tell your mother and I what happened?”
“Oh. Well… nothing happened. She just sucks at handing out assignments and I’m not doing it.” Morgan grabbed her book and laid back down. “You guys can go now.”
“Morgan. Let us help. What was the assignment about?”
“Something stupid. I already told you. Shut my door on your way out.”
Tony and Pepper looked at each other. “Did this assignment have something to do with Peter?” Tony asked because there was no way a simple assignment would get Morgan so upset.
And it wouldn’t be the first time something like this upset her. And Peter for that matter. School assignments can sometimes bring up bad memories for them.
Morgan shrugged. So the answer was yes in that case.
“Can you tell us what the assignment is about so we can help you?”
Morgan tossed her book to the end of the bed and turned to look at her parents. “It’s stupid. We have to write one thousand words about our favourite family picture. All my friends are showing baby pictures of their brothers and sisters but we don’t have any of those. That’s so stupid and I hate it!”
Tony listened carefully to her word vomit. Of course she had a right to feel that way, Morgan was struggling along with Peter, just in different ways.
“You don’t have to show a baby family picture, honey. You know, you guys weren’t all babies at the same time anyways.” Tony tried to comfort her, despite his heart hurting badly. He knew exactly what she was feeling.
Morgan threw her arms up in frustration. “But I don’t have any baby pictures with Peter! Harley does. And so do you guys.”
Pepper shifted closer to put her arm around her daughter who was hurting so badly. “Honey. I know. I know. And it sucks. That’s all I can say. It’s not fair. But you need to look on the bright side, your brothers back now, and we have so many family pictures we can use.”
“No! I want to use a baby picture. All my friends are.”
“Morgan, how about you use a bunch of different pictures from when we were all babies?” Tony suggested since they didn’t really have any options to work with here.
“That’s dumb. No.” She rubbed a fist over her eyes, tired and emotional.
“Look, I know it’s hard. And like your mom said, it’s unfair but Peter’s just in the other room down the hallway, there’s no need to miss him anymore, honey.”
Morgan nodded, trying to stop crying. “I just want him to be a baby.”
Tony looked at Pepper, he felt that way all the time. But he didn’t want Morgan to feel that way with him. “It wouldn’t be fun if he was a baby. You guys wouldn’t be able to play like you do now.”
Morgan shrugged then yawned. “Yeah…”
“Get some sleep. You’re tired. We’ll talk more tomorrow.” Tony leaned forward and kissed her forehead, leaning back and looking in Peppers direction. She looked distraught, Tony couldn’t blame her.
When they left her bedroom, they walked back to the master bedroom in silence but Tony knew that they were both thinking the same thing.
Life wasn’t fair. But Peter coming back to them surely was a miracle.
.
.
.
Pepper tossed some dirty paper towel in the garbage and put the cleaning spray bottle on the kitchen counter then turned the tap on so she could wash her hands.
It was 1pm and so far Peter’s had four accidents and peed on the toilet twice. Both times with Pepper.
Tony didn’t know why Peter wasn’t using the toilet when he took him, he was doing everything right yet Peter never peed with him and only with his mom. It made Tony feel defeated but also he understood why.
He took a sip of his coffee, smirking at his wife. “You look really sexy cleaning pee off the floor.”
Pepper tucked her hair behind her ears. “Oh do I?”
“Yeah. I’m thinking we put him down for a nap in his bedroom.” Tony winked but Pepper only chuckled.
“No more naps, Tony. You know it. He needs to get used to staying awake all day. He doesn’t nap in school, you know?”
“Oh really. Huh. I didn’t know that.”
Walking away, Pepper hit him on the butt. “Okay smart guy, just for that, you can clean up the next pee accident.”
Tony followed behind her. “No problem. By the looks of it, he’ll be potty trained by the end of the day. You’re a potty training genius.”
Pepper heard the hurt in Tony’s voice. She sat on the couch and sighed. “Tony. Don’t feel defeated. Peter… you know how he is,” She looked over at their son who was chilling on the floor, lying on a pillow, sucking on a pacifier and watching tv. “He’s… he’s your little boy and he knows it.”
Tony leaned back. He smirked. That was definitely true. But he still felt a bit defeated. Why couldn’t he get Peter to pee on the freaking toilet? It was frustrating as a father.
“We’re both potty training him. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, Tony. Please.”
“I know. I know.” And he was trying to believe that but it was easier said than done. “Peter?”
“Mm?” Peter tilted his head back to look at his dad behind him. “What?”
“Nothing. I just love you.”
“Okay.” He turned back to his cartoon.
“What? Do I not get an I love you too dad. I love you so much dad. My favourite person in the whole wide world.” Tony teased him.
“You’re so annoying.”
“But you love me.”
Peter nodded, rolling on his stomach to look over at his parents.
“Then come give me a hug.”
Peter grabbed his blanket and crawled over to his dad, getting lifted into his arms.
“Don’t pee on me though.”
“Kay” Peter said, as if he could prevent it at this point.
“How about we take this out of your mouth.” Tony gestured to the pacifier but Peter shook his head and turned away. “But I want to hear your voice.”
Peter laid his head on his shoulder instead. “No, you don’ need to.”
Chuckling, he looked over at Pepper, shaking his head fondly. Peter was too much.
.
.
.
They were on day four of potty training and it was going pretty much how Tony expected it to go.
Peter would sit on the toilet for a bit, no pee, then get off and immediately pee on the floor. It was frustrating for everyone involved.
Although Peter didn’t seem all that annoyed that he couldn’t get the hang of it which led Tony to wonder if he was doing it on purpose or simply didn’t care to try.
Either way, they weren’t giving up.
Peter was going back to school on Tuesday and Tony needed him to not pee in his pants by then.
Tony leaned against the bathroom counter, waiting for Peter to pee while he scrolled on his phone, occasionally looking over at Peter.
It’s been fifteen minutes of them in there and still nothing. “Kid. Just try to pee.”
“Huh?” Peter looked over at Tony.
“I said, just try to pee. We’ve been in here for like fifteen minutes.”
“I don’t need to go.” Peter shrugged then went back to swinging his feet.
“Tony, we need pull-ups. And wipes.” Pepper popped her head into the bathroom, car keys in hand.
Tony looked at her, face scrunched up in confusion. “We have a whole box of pull-ups in our bedroom.”
“Not anymore. We used the last one today when we went to drop Morgan off at school.”
Tony sighed. He really didn’t feel like going to Target right now. “Well we have diapers in the living room. And a whole box upstairs.”
Pepper stepped in closer, trying to be quiet but Peter was clearly listening to them. “And we decided he would only wear diapers to bed. And pull-ups during the day when we need them.”
Right. They did decide that. He just didn’t want to leave. “Alright. I’ll go quickly. Uh,” He looked back at Peter.
“We’ll be fine.” Pepper could sense his separation anxiety picking up at having to leave Peter. Even just to go to the store. “He’ll pee on the toilet and be ready to go back to playing.”
“Right. Okay. Well, I’ll be back then. Probably about thirty minutes.” Tony walked over to Peter and leaned down to kiss his forehead. “I love you. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay. Bye.”
Tony froze. That’s all he got? He’s been sitting in this bathroom for hours on end waiting for his kid to pee then all he gets is a simple bye. He chuckled. Of course, that pretty much sums up being a father.
“Bye, kid.”
Peter watched his dad leave then looked up at his mom. “Are you staying?”
“Do you want me to?”
“Uh… yeah.”
“Then I’ll stay. How about you go pee.”
Peter didn’t respond. He heard footsteps and looked towards the door to watch Morgan walk in, holding her iPad in her hands.
“Mom, my iPad died but dad took the charger. Where is it?”
“Did you do your homework?”
Morgan shuffled from foot to foot. “Well… not yet. But-”
“No buts. Homework first.”
Groaning, Morgan handed her iPad to her moms awaiting hand and walked in to look at Peter. “Did you pee yet?”
“No.”
“Oh. Why?”
“I dunno.”
“You should.”
Peter scrunched his nose up. “Go away.”
“Why?”
“Cause… I don’t like your face.”
“Peter, be nice. And Morgan, please give him some privacy.” Pepper gently ushered her out of the bathroom and then pulled the stool up to sit in front of Peter. “Peter, you need to go pee. Is there a reason you aren’t?”
Peter shifted and looked away from her eyes. “No… just don’t need to, mom.”
“But you do. Because you’ve been peeing on the floor once you get up from the toilet.” Pepper placed her hands on her knees, trying to think of ways to help him. “Would you like to stand up and pee?”
Peter shook his head.
“Then tell me why you aren’t peeing on the toilet?”
Peter shrugged. “I dunno. Just cause.”
“Tell me, sweetie. I can help you.” She pushed on. There had to be something. A fear, simply not wanting to, more attention. Peter was a smart kid, he used to be potty trained before the trauma of getting kidnapped again overtook him.
Peter just didn’t know how to explain it. “Cause… cause I don’t like toilets.”
“Well, you don’t need to like them. You just do your business on them then get off. Simple as that.” Peter didn’t look convinced. “You can’t wear diapers forever, honey.”
“Yes I can.”
“No. You can’t. And your dad will say the same thing.”
“No. Daddy wants me to wear diapers. He doesn’t want me to pee on the toilet. So I shouldn’t.”
“What are you talking about, Peter? Daddy has been trying to get you to pee on the toilet all week.” Pepper felt confused as ever. If only she knew Peter was really talking about his life with Steve and what that man did to him. It wasn’t Peter’s fault his brain was mixing memories of the two men.
Peter was persistent. “No. He gets mad if I use the toilet so I shouldn’t.”
“That’s not true, Peter. Daddy will be so so happy to find out you did a pee on the potty. I promise you.” Pepper held his face in her hands. “There’s nothing to be scared of. I know you can do it, you’re more capable than you give yourself credit for.”
Peter found that hard to believe. He shrugged. “But… my diapers.”
Pepper knew this would be another issue. Peter likely formed an attachment to them, likely feeling safe and comfortable, knowing his dad couldn’t be too far in case he needed a change so it was going to be quite an adjustment for Peter. For them all, really.
“And your diapers aren’t going anywhere. At nighttime you’ll wear them, and during the day, you’ll be a big boy and wear underwear.” Pepper tried to make it sound exciting but Peter didn’t look one bit excited.
Fair enough.
She was trying though.
The bathroom door opened and both heads snapped to see Harley standing there.
“Has he peed?”
“Not yet.”
“No wonder. With an audience like that, he’s probably pee shy.”
Pepper laughed. Peter? Pee shy? The same boy who peed on Tony’s lap numerous times during the past week. “No, he’s good. Are you looking for me?”
“No. Where’s dad?”
“He went to buy pull-ups and wipes.”
“Well he took his car. And I was going to ask him if I could take his car to hang out with my friends.”
“You can call him but I’ll tell you right now, the answer is no. What’s wrong with your car?”
Harley groaned. “No gas.”
“Well, here’s a thought. How about you go fill it up like an adult, Harley.” Pepper watched him roll his eyes and leave the bathroom. Figured. She could only work with one problem at a time though.
Peter looked between his legs and then started peeing. Pepper was so happy she could’ve screamed but stayed quiet until he was done.
Peter looked up at her, unsure.
“Good job. You did it. I’m so proud of you, my baby. My perfect boy, so so happy.” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek then grabbed some toilet paper for him. “Now wipe then wash your hands.”
“Do you think daddy will be proud?”
“Oh, honey, I know he will be.”
“Okay! Good. Now I’m gonna go play!” Peter ran off, going back to his place on the floor in the living room, feeling a lot more confident coming out of that bathroom than going in there.
Maybe he could do this.