Always Be My Baby

Tony was so stressed. 

Peter was going back to school after being at home for the past few weeks. It was going to be such a tough transition for all of them, mainly Tony and Peter though. 

They had long conversations with Peter, explaining to him what’s going to happen and how he’s going to be back to school but can call Tony anytime he wants, even if he wants to come home. 

Peter agreed but Tony knew the difficulties would come the morning of. 

And now, that day has come. 

Tony and Pepper have been working on potty training Peter for about a week now and Peter’s been pretty good at going pee when asked but no one was going to ask him in school. So there’s that. 

Tony held a diaper in one hand and a pull-up in the other, trying to decide if there was any way he could send Peter to school in one. 

“What are you doing?” Pepper walked into their bedroom and asked. She was currently trying to do Morgan’s hair as well as have Peter sit on the toilet one last time before they go. 

“I’m scared he’s going to have an accident at school today. I mean the stress alone.” 

“He’ll be fine, Tony.” 

“This isn’t kindergarten. He’s fourteen. Kids can be so cruel, you know.” 

Pepper grabbed underwear off the bed for Peter. “He’ll be fine. He can’t wear diapers at school. He stayed dry all day yesterday. He’s doing pretty well with the potty training.” 

All of that went straight over Tony’s head. “A diaper will hold more but it’ll be obvious he’s wearing one. The pull-up will still be obvious but if he doesn’t use it, no one will know. I’ll just tuck his shirt in.” 

“Tony. Listen to yourself.” Pepper had to stop him from overthinking. “If you put him in one, he’ll use it, and we’ll be back to square one. He’ll be fine. Plus he’s wearing black pants, if he does pee, no one will see it. We’ll go and pick him up and no one will know.” 

Tony took a breath. “Okay. Okay. You’re right. I just really hope he’s fine today. I can’t… he’s been put through so much. Sending him to school when he’s crying for me just feels like complete torture.” 

Pepper squeezed his arm. “I know. But it’ll be okay, this is all temporary. Once he gets back into the routine of school, he’ll be fine.” 

“Daddy.” 

Tony turned around to look at Peter standing in the doorway. He placed the diaper and pull-up on the bed and walked towards him. “Yeah, baby?” 

“I went pee.” 

“Good job. Come put some underwear on and then we’ll get going.” 

Walking over to the bed, Peter climbed on top and grabbed the underwear his mom handed him. He got it on by himself then reached for his jogging pants. “Are you gonna come home after dropping me off?” 

Peter wasn’t looking at him but Tony knew Peter was talking to him. “Yeah, and I’ll be right by my phone all day just in case you call me.” 

“Oh.” Peter got off the bed and looked at Tony before walking out of the room and towards the stairs, leaving Tony standing there, confused and lost. 

“Did you see that look he gave me?” 

“What? No, Tony.” 

“He looked so betrayed.” 

“You’re in your head too much. Peter’s fine, he’ll be fine. He needs to go back to school, Tony.” 

Tony ran his hand through his hair. He was freaking out about this. “No, I know. You’re right. This is just so hard for me. And I feel awful. We’ve had such a good time at home, just him and me. I’ll admit I’m going to miss that.” 

“I know, but you’ll pick him up today at lunch and his normal school days are 2:30 so it isn’t that late anyways.” 

Tony knew that but that still didn’t help the anxiety he felt. It was ranging. Anything could happen to Peter at school and Tony wouldn’t be there for him. At least not right away. 

Why did this have to be so hard? 

Eventually they got in the car where Peter shoved a pacifier in his mouth and looked out the window, quietly watching the scenery pass by. They got to Morgan’s school first and drop off was simple, as it always was. 

Tony and Pepper wished her a good day, hugged her bye and she was gone, happily running into the playground to join her friends. 

Now the hard part. 

Peter’s school wasn’t too far, about ten minutes away with no traffic but the morning rush hour caused the ride to be just over twenty minutes. More time to sit in the car and dread drop off. 

Tony kept glancing at the rearview mirror to check on Peter but he hadn’t moved. He sat still, looking outside. 

When they pulled up, Tony parked the van in a further parking space than he usually would and tried not to let his anxiety show. “We’re here. You ready to head in?” 

Peter didn’t respond. “You get to see all your friends.” 

“Wanna stay home with you.” 

Tony got out of the van and opened up the back door. “You’re going to have so much fun. I promise you.” He reached in to start unbuckling him but Peter tried to push his hands away. “Buddy.” 

“Nooo. I wanna go home with you.” 

This was breaking Tony’s heart. He managed to unbuckle him but didn’t pull him out of his car seat. “I’m sorry but I have to take your soother.” As soon as he plucked it from Peter’s mouth, the waterworks started. 

“I don’ wanna go! I wan-wanna stay with you. Daddy!” Peter cried as Tony lifted him out of the car and into his arms. He clung on like his life depended on it, unaware that his mom grabbed his backpack for him. He didn’t care, he just wanted to go back home and cuddle on the couch all day with his dad. 

“I’ll pick you up before lunch and take you home. I promise you, baby. Please. Just try. It’s going to be fun.” 

Tony didn’t even believe that himself. 

“You’re going to have so much fun, Peter.” Pepper tried to make him feel better. “Pretty soon, you’ll forget all about us because you’ll be having so much fun.” 

Those words meant something else to Peter. He lifted his head up to look at his mom then started crying even harder. 

“Maybe not the best choice of words to use.” Tony admitted. He typed in the password to enter the school and walked in, cringing at how Peter’s cries echoed in the empty hallways. 

“Sorry. I just meant that you’re going to have a really fun time, honey. I know it.” 

Tony walked into the office, feeling Peter cling onto him even harder. 

“Good morning. How are we feeling this morning?” 

Tony knew the receptionist meant well but he currently had a child screaming in his arms so how did it look like it was going. 

“Not too well. I’ll be picking him up at noon. But if he needs more earlier, I’ll come.” Tony pried Peter off of him and placed him on his feet, kneeling down in front of him but Peter was jumping on him, sobbing uncontrollably. “Peter. I’ll be back. You’ll only be here for a few hours.” 

“Nooooo! I wanna g-go home. Daddy!” Peter sobbed, not wanting to leave his dads side. He hated school. He hated sitting in classes with people his age, dealing with the same homework and school problems but having extra trauma on top of that that no one else had to deal with. And most of all, he missed his daddy. “Don’t go.” 

“Buddy. I’m going to see you so soon. I promise. But you’re going to have so much fun today. And you can-” 

“Noooo. No no no. I wanna go home. I-I-I don-don’t wanna be here.” 

That crushed Tony. He stood up, lifting Peter up with him and kissing his neck. “I’m going to see you at noon. Okay? Can you be a brave boy and go to class?” 

“No. I’m not brave. Take me home.” Peter cried into him. 

“I can take him, Mr. Stark. I’ll bring him to class.” 

Tony turned around and saw one of Peter’s teachers. As if Peter would willingly go to him. “Let me talk to him for a minute, give him a moment to calm down.” 

He took Peter into the hallway, aware that Pepper had followed them out but was keeping her distance since he was the one Peter was after. Tony sat down on one of the benches and forced Peter to stand between his legs, holding his arms firmly. 

“Hey. Stop it. You need to calm down or you’re going to make yourself sick. Take a breath, Peter.” 

“Don’t leave me!” Peter cried out, stomping his feet and trying to attach onto his dad, his safety blanket. 

“I’m not leaving you. You’re going to school for a few hours and then I’ll pick you up again.” 

“That’s leaving me!” Peter all but screamed at him. 

“Hey. Enough. Take a breath, Peter.” Tony gave him a firm shake, hating how he had to be anything but gentle towards his baby but Peter was going to vomit if he didn’t calm down. 

Peter took a few shaky breaths. It helped him to calm down and think clearly a bit but it was then that he realized Tony wasn’t staying and he definitely wasn’t going to bring him back home. Out of anger, Peter ripped himself away from his dad and wiped the tears off his cheeks, leaving Tony sitting there and having to slowly lower his arms. 

Tony knew Peter was hurting. Badly. 

“Are you okay?” 

“What do you think?” 

Tony didn’t take offense to that. It was a stupid question. “Are you going to be okay if I go now?” 

Peter tried so hard not to cry. He wiped the snot off his face and shrugged. “No but you’re gonna go anyway so what’s the point.” 

“Peter. Please. You know you need this, you have to go back to school. And I’m just a quick text or phone call away.” Tony stood up and walked the few feet distance between them then kneeled down. “I’ll always be here for you. I’m not sending you to school to punish you, baby. You know that.” 

“Well, it doesn’t feel that way.” 

“I’m sorry. I love you. And I’m right here if you need me,” Tony handed Peter his phone. “Got it?” 

Taking it, Peter pocketed it and sniffled. “O-okay. I guess. So… I’ll see you at twelve?” 

“Yep. I promise you.” Tony stood back up and ruffled Peter’s hair. “You’re so strong and I’m so proud of you.” 

“Alright.” Peter didn’t believe him or even know why he was saying that but he had no energy to question it so he simply shrugged and tried to get his feet to walk away but he couldn’t. He sniffled. 

“I just… I really… I’m gonna miss you.” 

“I’ll see you in a few hours.” Putting a fake smile on his face, Tony caressed his boys cheek. “You got this. 

“Okay. See you later then.” Peter tried so hard not to cry as he turned and began walking towards the doors that led to the staircase. He already missed his dad more than anything, it physically hurt. 

As soon as Peter disappeared from sight, Tony let out a loud sigh. 

“God. That was rough. His day better be better than that drop off.” 

.

.

.

Peter stood in the line up with his group, waiting to be called. 

It was only second period so he was feeling a bit better but he still felt sad and of course still missed his dad. 

But his class was going to do something fun, hopefully, so maybe it could distract him from wanting to cry and see his father. 

His class were going to be going on a nature walk through the park and the forest which he was excited about because he didn’t want to sit still in a classroom and then after their walk, he got to go for lunch which he was really excited about too. So today was going to be a good day. He hoped. He was trying to think positive. 

He played a game of thumb war with his friend for the third time as they impatiently waited to be called into the hallway to get their snowsuits on. They were the second last group so they had to wait for a long time while everyone else was already outside in the freshly fallen snow. 

“Group three. Let’s go, boys. Go use the bathroom and then come out here to get dressed.” Their group teacher called to them so Peter immediately started getting dressed. “Peter. Use the bathroom first.” 

Peter took his shoes off and sat down. “I don’t need to pee.” 

“You need to try because we’re going to be on our walk for an hour and a half. Go use the bathroom.” 

Peter didn’t need to go. “I said I don’t need to. I want to go outside.” He pointed at the doors and looked up at his teacher, well, he wasn’t actually his teacher, he was a grade twelve teacher who was tasked with watching them for some extra hands. 

He kneeled down to be closer to him. “Then I don’t want you telling me or anyone else you need to go pee once we get outside. Capiche?”

Peter frowned at not being able to let anyone know if he needed to go once they were outside. He looked up at him. “What’s capiche mean?” 

The older man rolled his eyes. There was a reason he didn’t want anything to do with the grade nines, he preferred the mature adults, not nose digging children. “It means do you understand me.” 

Peter smiled. “I understand.” He got his feet through the holes of his snow pants and stood up to get it on and zipped up as the other boys walked out of the bathroom so he crawled over to his friend, Dylan. “Let’s make a snowman when we go outside.” 

Dylan immediately started getting his snow gear on, already ahead of Peter. “And then we can destroy them!” 

Their group teacher looked at them. “Peter. Get ready. We’re leaving with or without you.” 

Peter grabbed his boot to get it on and pulled the elastic over it then dug in his coat for his mittens. “I can’t find them.” 

Dylan walked up to their teacher. “Mr. Can you zip it up for me? Zip it only to my neck. Not to my chin.” 

Peter looked at him and the other three boys who were already dressed so he sat there and tried to find his mittens. 

“Peter. Why are you so slow? Do we need to send you back to elementary school to learn how to dress yourself?” He groaned. 

“No. I’m fourteen.” 

“Then act like it. Get dressed. You’re holding everyone up.” His teacher gathered the students that were ready and ushered them outside to join everyone else. “You guys go ahead. Peter is taking extra long so we’ll catch up to you.” 

He walked back into the school and grabbed Peter, picking him up and placing him on his feet then grabbing the jacket and manhandling him into it. “Hey, is it true about you?” 

“Is what true?” Peter asked as the teacher put his jacket on him, zipping it up. 

“That you were kidnapped twice by a crazy man?” He asked then placed Peter’s hat on his head, covering his eyes so Peter removed the hat and narrowed his eyes at him. 

He didn’t like to talk about it with anyone. “Yeah. Why?” 

“No, I’m just wondering.” He stood up and grabbed Peter’s arm, pulling him out of the school now. “I saw your face on the news. Twice. Once when you were a toddler. Then not too long ago again. My wife and I followed your story for quite some time before we eventually assumed you were dead. Man, I can’t imagine what your parents must have thought.” 

Peter tried to yank his arm out of his grasp. “Ow. Owww.” The teacher loosened up. “What’s your name again?” 

“Mr. Goodwin.” 

Peter gave him a dirty look. “Well then it’s none of your business, Mr. Goodwin. So stop talking about it.” 

Mr. Goodwin smirked down at him then the light turned green so he pulled Peter across the road. “You talk to your parents with that sass? Who am I kidding. You probably get away with everything after all that.” 

Peter lifted the hat out of his eyes so he could see. “No. I don’t.” 

“Oh. Do you still get grounded, kid?” 

“Timeouts. Only if I bite my sister or act naughty.” He told his teacher. 

Mr. Goodwin chuckled but Peter didn’t understand why. “I know you’ve got your parents wrapped around your baby finger.” 

Shrugging, Peter wiped the hair out of his eyes. “Huh?” 

The man only laughed at him and tugged him forward. 

So Peter tried to yank his arm away which caused him to lose his balance and he would have fallen on his butt but his teacher held him tighter and lifted him up by his arm, carrying him across the road then placing him on his feet. 

“You’ve got some nice boots there.” He observed. “Those cost about three hundred dollars. I also know that your father’s rich. You know my brother works at his company?” 

Peter tried to keep up with him. He looked down at his boots but he didn’t know why the price mattered. He walked faster to keep up with his arm being tugged. “My brother does too.” 

Mr. Goodwin grumbled. “My brother worked for it. It was handed to your brother. I also taught Harley, you know that?” 

“I didn’t know that.” 

“Yeah well, who am I kidding? You know nothing. Grade nines don’t know anything, why do you think I refuse to go near them.” 

Peter almost tripped for the fifth time. “Ooof.” 

“See? You don’t even know how to walk.” 

“Cause you’re walking too fast and literally grabbing my arm! My legs can’t go that fast.” Peter moved his hat away from his eyes again. “Mr. Goodwin. Can you slow down?” 

The group was seen up ahead about to walk into the forest but Peter was already so tired from being forced to walk so quickly. “You know, I am looking forward to having you in my class in four years. I can imagine by then you’ll be mature. Am I right?” 

Peter nodded. “Uh huh. My dad says when I’m older I can go on the jet skis in Malibu.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah. I couldn’t go the other time and I was sad cause Harley and grandpa went so me and daddy got ice cream instead.” He kinda missed the heat, he was cold now. 

“Wow. That sounds rough.” Mr. Goodwin pulled Peter to the group and let go of his arm, causing him to fall on his butt so he lifted Peter back up. “Oops. Don’t start crying now.” 

Peter gave him a dirty look but he wasn’t looking so he walked ahead so he could hang out with Dylan. “Hey. You guys got so far.” 

“Hi Peter. Yeah, we stopped for like two seconds but I didn’t see you.” He bent down and picked up a handful of snow then made it into a ball and hit Peter on the chest with it. 

Peter laughed and bent down to make his own snowball to hit him with it and they continued that until they reached the park where the teachers let them run freely for a bit. 

Peter and Dylan ran off together and found some fresh snow to lay down in. Peter looked up at the sky and the fresh snow falling down at him. It was his favourite time of the year, right before Christmas, he loved it. “Stick out your tongue.” 

Peter laughed with his friend, enjoying this time with him. He liked school, but he liked being at home more so he found it a bit difficult to be back and away from his dad. 

He wished school could be like this all the time but unfortunately it wasn’t and most, if not all of the time was spent in a classroom. 

Dylan threw a snowball at Peter’s face, pulling him from his thoughts. The boy shook his head, taking a few moments to gather his bearings. He looked to Dylan who was smirking at him. “Snowball fight.” He said, his voice mischievous and leaving no room for arguments, not that Peter was complaining. 

He gathered some snow in his mittens and made it into a ball then tossed it at his friend's face. Peter watched his face carefully, waiting for him to react. He wasn’t sure how Dylan would react, he threw the snowball pretty hard at him but then again, so did Dylan. 

The two of them continued their mini snowball fight for some time, then Peter grew tired and laid down in the snow with a loud sigh. “I love the snow but I really miss the beach.” 

“Oh. Cause you went on vacation?” 

Peter nodded and kicked some snow. “Yeah…” 

He squeezed his legs together as Dylan threw more snow at him. 

Peter laughed and tried to ignore the fact that he was starting to really need to pee now. He sat up and looked towards his teacher that was sitting on a bench in the distance. He debated on telling him but he immediately got rid of that idea. He didn’t want to get in trouble. Even though it had already been over half an hour since he was asked if he needed to go. 

“What’s wrong?” Asked Dylan. 

Peter sat on his knees now. “I need to pee.” 

“Go ask Mr. G. He’ll probably take you to go.” Dylan licked the snow and Peter would much rather be doing that so he ignored his need and laid on his belly to lick the snow as well, forgetting about his urgent need for a bit. 

After a while, Peter was starting to get concerned now. 

He sat on his bum in the snow and looked at the other teachers he could potentially ask for help but he knew he wasn’t allowed to so he whimpered and caused Dylan to look at him again. 

“What’s wrong, Peter?” 

Peter whimpered again. He couldn’t hold it and he wasn’t used to having to hold it. “I’m peeing.” He looked down at his lap, feeling his pants and underwear getting warm and soaked in the process then when he finished, he looked at Dylan. 

“Dude. Why’d you do that?” Dylan moved closer to him. “Your balls are going to freeze off now.” He laughed. 

Peter shoved him. “Are not. And I couldn’t stop it. Mr. Goodwin said I’m not allowed to tell him or anyone if I need to pee.” He stood up and cringed uncomfortably. 

“Are your parents going to be mad at you?” Dylan asked, looking at his snow pants to see if they were wet then he stood up. “Once I peed my pants at my grandma's house because I didn’t want to stop playing video games. Then my grandma took my video games away for a week!” 

Peter cringed again. “My parents won’t be mad. But now I’m going to get in trouble.” He tried not to cry but it was hard. He wanted his dad. 

“Yeah. My older sister has him. She said he drinks blood from young children because he’s so evil.” Dylan shrugged. “You should tell him so he can take you back to the school to change.” 

Peter whimpered again. 

“I’ll come with you.” He grabbed Peter’s hand and pulled him towards their group teacher who was sitting on a bench by himself still. He looked at the two boys once they made their way to stand in front of him. 

“Yes?” 

Peter looked down. “Um… um… I peed. I’m sorry. D-don’t be mad. I-I know you said not to tell you if I need to go but-but I went and… I’m sorry.” 

Mr. Goodwin shook his head. “What am I supposed to do about that? Huh? You went pee in your pants? Is that what you’re saying?” 

“Yeah.” Peter quickly said. 

“You’re mean. That’s why he couldn’t tell you!” Dylan yelled but their teacher wasn’t even phased about it. 

Mr. Goodwin stood up and grabbed onto Peter’s arm then led him towards the group of teachers. “So, this one decided it was a good idea to take a piss in his pants.” 

Everyone stopped talking and looked at him. Peter looked down. Not only was he terrified but he was also about to die from embarrassment. 

“Well, we’re not leaving the park for another twenty minutes. He’s going to have to wait.” Said one of the other teachers. 

Mr. Goodwin patted him on the shoulder. “Alright then. Go play for twenty more minutes.” 

Peter hesitated but left to go play anyways. He didn’t know what he expected to happen. He didn’t actually want Mr. Goodwin to bring him back to the school but he also didn’t want to stay in wet, now cold pants that were starting to itch. 

He wished he was wearing a pull-up. 

Walking back was the worst because he was irritated and uncomfortable and cold and he tried not to cry but it was hard. He saw the school coming into view so once they got across the road and approached the school, his teacher grabbed his arm and tugged him into the office. 

“Peter peed his pants. Do we call his parents or…?” 

The principal put down the papers he was shredding. “How did this happen?” He sighed. 

Peter looked at all the eyes looking at him but now he was sweating in all of his snow gear. “Uh… Mr. Goodwin said not to tell him if I need to go… so I couldn’t hold it anymore.” 

“I didn’t expect him to actually go. C’mon.” 

Peter pulled his arm from his grasp and stepped a bit away from him. 

“Do you have a change of clothes, sweetie?” Asked the nurse as she gently pulled Peter into the other room. 

Peter shook his head. “No.” 

“That’s alright. I’m going to call your dad. Wait right here.” 

In the main office, the principal was pissed off. “You’re supposed to be responsible for him. That was your one job. We’ve already been on the Starks' bad side one too many times and now this? How am I supposed to explain this to his father who is going to walk in here, confused and pissed as hell?” He whisper yelled. “It’s his first day back and this happens.” 

“Who knows what’s going on at home. I’m not responsible for that boy acting like he belongs back in elementary school.” 

“I’m going to let him chew your ass out.” 

“Can you guys please be quiet so I can call his dad?” The nurse shook her head and put on her fake, kind voice. “Hi, is this Tony Stark?” A pause. “Yeah, Peter’s okay. He went on a walk with his school and had a little accident so if-” She nodded, responding to Tony. “Oh. Just a small pee accident. He needs new underwear and pants. Yeah. Okay. I’ll see you soon then. Okay. I’ll tell him.” 

She hung up and looked at both men. “He’ll be here in fifteen minutes.” 

“They live like twenty minutes away. I never know how he gets here so fast.” 

“Well, he sounded extremely confused and angry on the phone. Someone better explain this to him.” She walked back into the room and shut the door behind her.  

Peter was still standing there in his snowsuit so the nurse approached him. “Let’s get you out of this, yeah? It’s hot in here.” She helped him get his snowsuit off then placed it neatly on the nurses bed and tried to ignore Peter’s black coloured pants, she knew they were wet but it wasn’t too obvious if you weren’t looking for it. 

Peter didn’t even care anymore. He just wanted his dad. “When will my dad be here?” He asked her again. 

“Oh. Any minute now. I need to go grab my file-” 

“No. I’ll come.” Peter followed her into the office and ignored all the eyes staring at him. She let go of his hand so he stood there and watched her dig in a bunch of folders on the desk. 

“Okay. Just come here. You wanna get out of those clothes?” His teacher asked him like the answer was obvious so Peter looked up at him and nodded. He reached his hand out reluctantly for the awaiting hand and he was about to be pulled into the room but his dad walked in. 

Tony didn’t expect this. He didn’t expect to be getting a call like that and he definitely didn’t expect to walk into the office and see Peter standing there with wet pants without anyone doing anything about it. He walked right in, ignoring everyone else. “Peter. What happened?” 

Peter turned to look up at his dad then grabbed onto his arm. “I’m sorry.” 

“How did this happen?” Tony asked. He wasn’t mad at Peter. 

Peter looked at his teacher as Tony walked into the nurses office and shut the door behind them, locking it. He only brought clean underwear and pants with wipes but no bag to put his wet clothes in. “Did you forget to go pee, bud?” 

Peter shook his head. 

Tony sat on the rolling chair and pulled Peter to stand in front of him then he pulled down his pants and underwear in one motion and helped him step out if it then tossed it on the floor for now. “Peter. What happened?” 

“Are you mad at me?” Peter mistook his dad’s anger for the situation for him. 

Tony paused to look at Peter’s face. “What? No, baby boy. Never. I’m just… I’m concerned and I want to know why you went pee in your pants at school. I thought we were getting better at holding it and going pee pee in the toilet, baby.” 

Peter looked down at him and scratched his thigh. “Itchy.” 

“I know. Move your hand so I can wipe.” He grabbed another wipe and continued. “Did someone do something to you?” 

Peter nodded and Tony’s heart dropped. “What? What happened, Peter?” His heart was beating so loudly in his chest that he felt like he could hear it. 

“Mr-Mr. Goodwin… he said that if I don’t go pee, then I better not tell him or-or anyone else I need to go.” 

Tony nodded. “And you didn’t go pee?” Peter nodded now. “Then you were scared to tell him and you went in your pants at the park?” Another nod. Tony sighed. 

“I’m sorry.” Peter rushed out. “Daddy.” 

“Baby. I’m not mad at you. I never will be for something like this.” He pulled him into his arms. “I love you. I’m just angry at your teacher and the situation.” He pulled away then grabbed Peter’s clean underwear and held it out but Peter shook his head. 

“Put cream on.” 

“I didn’t bring it. I was in a rush. I’m sorry.” He leaned down to get Peter to put his feet through the underwear holes then pulled it up on him but Peter cried out. 

“I wanna wear a diaper.” 

Tony sighed. “I didn’t bring one, baby.” 

“It hurts. Daddy.” 

Tony felt so bad. “I know. Once we go home, we’ll go straight upstairs and put rash cream all over. Okay? But we have to go home first.” 

Peter whimpered but let his dad get his pants on followed by his boots. There was a knock on the door so Tony unlocked it and looked at the nurse walk in. “I’ll get you a bag for that.” She said then grabbed a plastic bag from the cabinet so Tony could put the wet clothes in. 

“Thanks.” Tony appreciated that. He grabbed Peter’s hand and his snowsuit then walked out of the room and approached the front desk. “I’d like to set up a meeting with the principal to discuss today’s events.” 

“Absolutely. Does tomorrow after school drop off work for you?” 

“Yep.” He looked at Mr. Goodwin and left. That was enough for today. He didn’t want to stay and talk about it in front of Peter and definitely not while Peter has a painful rash. 

Peter lifted his arms up for him once they left the office. “Up. Dad.” 

Tony scooped him up and left the school. He honestly didn’t want Peter to go back tomorrow so he didn’t think he would be sending him back. He didn’t trust the teachers and he didn’t know if the education he was getting at that school was even worth it anymore. 

He opened up the van doors and sat Peter in his car seat. “Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark!” 

He groaned and turned around to see the principal running out after him and tossed Peter’s bag, snowsuit and wet clothes into the van. “Our meeting isn’t until tomorrow.” 

“I would just like to personally apologize for today’s events.” 

Tony grabbed the car seat buckles and put Peter’s arms through then did up the chest buckle. “Alright then.” 

Peter looked at his principal and made awkward eye contact with him as his dad did up the crotch buckle and made sure it was on properly then he shut the van door. “Every week it’s something. Every single week. I kept him home for personal reasons and his first day back, this happens. I’m not sure this school is giving my child the proper care and attention anymore.”

“Is this because he was kidnapped in our care?” 

Tony shook his head and laughed at the question. “I don’t blame you guys anymore.” He looked off into the distance at the exact spot Peter was kidnapped from a few months prior. “We were being watched for quite some time so it was only a matter of time before it happened. Although really? I asked one thing from you. Do not let Peter leave with anyone but the people on. The. List.” He sighed because he wasn’t getting into this right now. 

“We take full responsibility and I am deeply sorry for what happened in our care-” 

“Yeah. Blah blah blah. I’ve heard that before. I know you’re reading from a script. It’s in the past now. I want to know why my fourteen year old child is forced to pee his pants at school because he was too scared to ask for a bathroom.” 

“Sir-” 

“No. We’ll be talking tomorrow.” Tony hesitated before he got into the car. “Besides for the teachers, do any of the students know about this?” 

“No. Just his friend Dylan. We brought him into the office as soon as his class got back.” 

Tony opened up the driver's door. “Well, you did one thing right today.” 

He started the car and drove off, looking in the back seat at Peter. “Hey. Don’t worry. We’ll be home soon.” 

Peter nodded then sighed. “I don’t wanna go back tomorrow, dad.” 

Tony agreed with that. “Alright, Peter. You can come to work with me. I’ve got one meeting so you can hang out with mom then I’ve got you for the rest of the day.” 

Peter was relieved to hear that. 

“Thanks.” 

.

.

.

“And I can have chocolate for dinner?” Peter asked, knowing he wasn’t going to get any but he was testing his dad while he was busy folding laundry, trying to get it done while Pepper was working in the office. 

He was supposed to have a meeting today for work but she took over for him so he could be with the kids. The least he could do was finish the laundry. Although they had three kids, the laundry was never actually done. 

“You want chocolate for dinner?” Tony asked, folding Peter’s tiny underwear as he talked with his kid. 

Peter shrugged. “Yeah. I do.” 

“Okay, well, I don’t think so.” He tossed underwear at him. “You’re already hyper, I don’t need to be adding to your natural sugar high.” Peter whipped the underwear at Tony and slid off the bed. “How bout you go clean up your toys downstairs while I finish up here. Think you can do that?” 

Peter didn’t necessarily like the idea of cleaning up, even if it was his own toys but he agreed anyways. “Okay.” He left the bedroom and walked downstairs, walking into the living room but then he decided to go to the kitchen so he made his way over there. 

Spotting something on the kitchen counter, Peter tried to reach for it but he couldn’t so he grabbed the stool and dragged it to the spot and reached across the counter to grab the orange-ish container. 

Inside were little white candies that looked like tic tacs. He popped one into his mouth and went to put another one in his mouth but Tony walked over. 

“What’re you doing?” He asked, confused but once he saw the pill bottle and something in Peter’s mouth, he raced around the counter to him and shoved his fingers in Peter’s mouth to get it out. “Spit it out. What- how many did you eat?” He looked at the one pill in his hand he just took out of Peter’s mouth and the other one in Peter’s hand. He grabbed it from him. “How many did you eat?” 

“One hundred!” 

“Peter. Tell me how many you ate.” Tony picked up the pill bottle. How the hell did Peter get it open and why the hell was it left out. 

Peter tried to grab it again. “It’s candy.” 

“It’s not, Peter. These are medicines. It’s medication and it’s not for you.” He looked at him seriously but he didn’t think he would get an answer from him. “How many did you eat?” He asked again. 

“Ummmm…” Peter chewed on his pointer finger so Tony pulled his hand away from his mouth. “Ten!” 

“Okay.” Tony wasn’t going to get an answer from him. He lifted him off the stool and onto the floor, walking into his office to pull up the security footage in their house. “I need to see how many you actually ate to see if I need to take you to the hospital.” 

Peter sat on his lap, the seriousness of the situation going way over his head. 

Tony pulled up the camera in the kitchen and went back ten minutes ago. He watched Peter walk into the kitchen and drag the stool up but the pill bottle was already open. Peter pointed at the screen. “Hey. That’s me.” 

Tony watched Peter put one in his mouth and then he walked into the kitchen and spotted him. He sighed in relief. He walked in just in time. “Hey! And that’s you!” 

“Yeah.” He pressed a kiss to his cheek. “There’s cameras all around the house.” 

Peter gasped. “Just outside.” 

“No. Inside too.” 

Peter gasped again. “No. Why?” 

“Cause I need to see what’s going on when I’m not here.” That was part of the truth. The other part was why he put cameras up after they got Peter back; just in case Steve tried to take him again. Which he did, just not at their house. They had cameras outside their house but only inside since they got Peter back. Tony felt safer with them. 

“So there’s cameras in the bathroom?!” 

Those were the only places Tony didn’t have cameras. That would be a bit weird. “Yep. Even in the bathrooms.” He joked. 

“So you watch me shower?!” 

“Well… I don’t need a camera for that since I’m always in there with you.” He grabbed his legs to turn him around. “Come face me for a second. I need to talk to you.” 

Concern spread across Peter’s face. “Am I in trouble?” He asked, not looking into Tony’s eyes while he shifted on his lap so he was facing him instead. 

“No. But I want to talk to you about the pills on the counter. You thought that was candy but those aren’t candies, Peter. They’re pills for adults. If you weren’t sure about it, you have to come ask mom or me. Or even Harley.” 

“And Morgan?” 

“No. She wouldn’t know either.” 

Peter thought about that. “And-and but it’s like a tic tac. One time when we went to a restaurant, I got a candy at the end and it looks like those medicine.” 

“Okay. But I want you to understand how important it is for you not to just put random things in your mouth because you think it’s candy. Do you understand?” 

“Uhhh…” He picked at the button on Tony’s shirt. “Yeah. I understand.” 

“Good.” He lifted him off his lap and stood up to go talk to Harley about it. “Do you wanna go play with Morgan in the playroom while I get started on dinner?” 

He brought Peter to the basement, making sure the two of them were good, then he went upstairs and knocked on Harley's bedroom door. 

“Yeah?” 

Tony walked in and sat on his bed. “What’s up?” 

“Uhh…” He turned on his desk chair, eyeing his dad sceptically. “Nothing. What’s up with you?” 

“Your brother found pills on the counter and tried to eat them like candy.” 

Harley whistled. “Yikes. That sucks.” 

Tony really wasn’t happy with that response. “Yeah. It would have sucked. Because if he had more than two of them then he would have overdosed and I’d have to probably take him to the hospital.” 

“You’re over exaggerating. You wouldn’t have to take him to the hospital.” 

“Over exaggerating? Harley. He’s fourteen and he weighs eighty seven pounds. Those pills are for adults. One every twelve hours. What do you think three pills or more would have done to his tiny body?” 

Harley looked away from him. 

“No. I’m serious. What do you think would have happened?” 

“So what? He’s overdosed before. He’s literally fourteen and he’s already done drugs. That must drive you crazy.” 

Tony really didn’t appreciate Harley's attitude. “He didn’t do drugs. He was drugged with sleeping pills by his kidnapper.” Tony stood up to walk over to Harley's desk. “What’s wrong with you? You seem to have something against Peter or something. Why are you so rude to him?” He was heartbroken to witness it but Harley seemed to have some hatred or something towards his little brother. 

Harley didn’t think he did. He just didn’t really get along with him because he always cried or whined. “I’m not rude to him. He’s just… I don’t know, it’s difficult for me to get along with him when he acts like a literal toddler.” 

“Oh, c’mon.” Tony paced the room. “That’s not fair and you know it.” 

Harley didn’t respond. He didn’t realize he was doing it until Tony had to point it out. 

“You left the pill bottle on the counter. If Peter ate them and if he got hurt, that would be on you.” 

“It’s not my fault he doesn’t know the difference between candy and fucking pills!” He was angry. Harley stood up and walked towards Tony, breathing heavily. 

“It is your fault you left those pills on the counter with the lid open. Part of me thinks you did it on purpose because I’m having trouble understanding how you could do something so stupid.” Tony would regret saying this later but he felt that way in the moment. 

“Oh. Oh. Okay. So Peter pops pills like candy and I’m the stupid one.” He sat down on his bed. Yeah, that made sense. “Didn’t Peter literally piss his pants at school today. Maybe you should be more concerned about why he’s fourteen and still in diapers! And not concerned about me making a little mistake!” 

Tony wanted to walk out of Harley’s room and leave. Harley was being unfair and it hurt Tony to hear him talk about his little brother that way, his little brother who’s been through so freaking much. 

“That’s unfair and you know it.” He pointed a finger at him. “You have no idea what Steve did to him! You don’t know the half of it, that man messed with his head beyond repair!” He took a calming breath. No, Peter would recover from this, it would just take time. “If you went through what Peter went through, if you were kidnapped and taken from your family like he was, you’d be the one struggling to keep the bed dry at night or not understanding the concept of white pills on the counter looking like tic tacs.” 

“I do understand that! You act like you’re the only one who lost Peter! Who-who’s the only one who had to grieve for him! I did too!” 

Tony knew Harley would never understand but he didn’t expect him to. He shook his head and looked down. “I know you grieved him. I know that, Harley. But you need to understand that just because we have him back doesn’t mean everything is okay. It doesn’t mean we’re gonna go back to how it was before. There was no before to even go back to.” 

“I know that.” 

“No. No you don’t.” Tony argued. “Because if you did, you wouldn’t be saying he’s still in diapers as if you’re using that against him or something. You wouldn’t be leaving accessible pills on the counter for him. Or Morgan.” 

Harley looked at his lap. “I thought he’d know better.” 

“We had to hide those things from you until you could understand the difference between what a pill is and how it isn’t candy.” He tried to explain that to him. “Same with Morgan. Same with Peter. There’s a reason we have the knives locked in a drawer, or the pills locked away, or even your mom's makeup because Peter seems to think it’s okay to make a mess of it.” There were so many other things they kept locked away from Peter’s and Morgan’s prying hands. 

One day the locks would come off. But that wasn’t anytime soon. 

“Okay. I didn’t mean it like that.” Harley admitted, shamelessly. 

Tony nodded. He tried to understand that. 

“Are you mad at Peter or something? You just seem… so angry towards him.” 

Harley looked away because he didn’t realize that’s what he was doing. He hated himself for it. “No. I don’t hate him. I love him.” 

“But do you like him?” He asked seriously. “I know it’s hard for siblings to get along sometimes.” 

“Of course I do. He’s my little brother. I just… I don’t know. I guess I just feel like I don’t understand what he’s going through and… it just kinda bugs me when he cries over something so dumb. Like mom gave him the blue plate the other day for a snack and Peter absolutely flipped out as if it were the end of the world. I don’t understand that.” 

Tony nodded. He didn’t either. “I know it’s hard. You think I wanna listen to those temper tantrums? But it’s just a phase. Peter is… he’s working on it with us. He doesn’t know how to control his emotions. He has zero self regulation.” 

“What does that mean?” 

Tony didn’t know how to explain it. He didn’t even really understand it himself but Karen explained it to him that it was normal behaviour for what Peter’s been through. He sighed. Where to begin. 

“When you and Morgan were younger, and you’d get upset over something. I don’t know, toddler and little kid stuff, your mom and I worked with you to find an answer to your problems or just be there for you guys while you cried over not getting what you wanted.” He explained to the best of his abilities. “So as you got older, like now, if you don’t get your way or whatever, you aren’t going to throw a fit on the floor and start crying. Well, Morgan does sometimes but she’s only eleven. You guys learned how to self regulate.” 

Harley nodded, showing he understood. 

“When Peter was with Steve, and he cried or didn’t get what he wanted, either Steve would give in to not listen to the crying which taught Peter he can get whatever he wants, hence why he freaks out when he’s told no, or, Steve encouraged him to suck his thumb to calm down or gave him a bottle. So when Peter’s upset, he associates a bottle with the only thing that can calm him down. Also because it is.” 

“Ohhhhh.” Realization hit Harley like a truck. “Wow. So that’s why he always wants a bottle.” 

Tony shrugged. “Well… that and other reasons.” 

“Wow.” Harley thought it over. “So that’s why Peter throws tantrums then? Because… Steve didn’t teach him how to like, self regulate?” 

“I mean… that’s part of it. But yes.” He sat on the bed next to his oldest son and placed his hand on his thigh. “When I say you don’t know the half of what Peter went through, you don’t know the half of it. Peter… he doesn’t know what was done to him was… unfair. Wrong. He doesn’t understand that yet. When he does, it might be hard for him to come to terms with it, so the last thing he needs is for you to be judging him for his trauma related side effects.” 

Harley nodded at that. He felt so bad now. But he was still confused. “But… I thought bed wetting and like, peeing your pants only happened to kids who were like… sexually assaulted. Peter wasn’t. Right?” He didn’t think his brother was but their dad said he didn’t know the half of it, maybe Peter was, oh god. 

“No. No, he wasn’t.” It took awhile for Tony to believe that himself. He couldn’t come to terms with the fact that a grown man would only want a powerless and innocent child to raise as their own and nothing else. He was grateful to Steve for not being fucked in the mind in that way. “Thank god he wasn’t. But he’s been through trauma. That can show up in a bunch of different ways. Anger out lashes, insomnia, bed wetting, peeing randomly like what happened today but Peter… he doesn’t know how to hold his bladder, he just lets go,” That was something else they had to work on, hence why they asked Peter if he needs to pee every thirty minutes. 

Harley nodded. He understood a lot more now. And it made him feel incredibly awful for the things he said and thought but it also made him have so much more hatred towards Steve. 

Why did Steve have to pick Peter? Why couldn’t he have destroyed another family so Harley didn’t have to have that thing that you think only happens to other people until it happens to you. 

He let out a sigh. “I feel bad now. I’m sorry. I didn’t leave the pills out on purpose. My head was hurting. I grabbed some water and… forgot.” 

“Can you please be more careful next time? It’s not going to be like this forever. Okay? I promise you. But for now, please be more careful. And maybe spend some time playing with your siblings. I know you don’t want to play dress up or build legos with Peter but they would really appreciate it if you do.” 

Harley sighed because his dad was right. 

“Alright. Where are they?” 

“In the basement. Let’s go see them.” 

The two of them made their way down there and when they walked into the play room, Peter was standing there with his pants and underwear around his ankles and was peeing into one of the play kitchen bowls but of course he couldn’t aim and it got everywhere. 

“Peter! What are you doing?!” Tony couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Peter jumped and turned around to face him. “What are you doing?” 

“Morgan told me to.” He pointed at his sister and Morgan was laughing with a hand covering her mouth so Tony definitely knew she told him to. 

“You were the one who peed in a bowl. Do you think I’m happy with that decision?” 

Peter squatted down and picked up a Barbie doll, pretending to play with it. “I dunno.” 

“I’m putting a diaper on you then you’re going to help me clean this up.” He walked over to him and pushed him onto the bean bag chair behind him so he could pull off his pants and underwear and stood up, pulling Peter up with his hand. “Let’s go.” 

“Daddy. You’re going too fast! I’ve got little legs!” 

Tony tried not to smile. Dammit. He was so cute. 

“Peter. You can’t be doing that. That’s gross.” He let go of his hand once they got to the living room then grabbed a diaper from the box and sat down on the couch with a sigh. “Come stand in front of me.” 

“I… I just wanted to try it. It was funny!” 

“It wasn’t.” 

“Morgan laughed. So did me.” 

Tony slid the diaper between his legs. “Because both of you knew it was really naughty to do.” He pointed at his member. “This only pees in the toilet.” 

Peter grinned. “And diaper.” 

That was true. Tony knew he shouldn’t put one on him but Pepper wasn’t home and he was alone so he did it. He knew one of them often just put one on Peter because it was easier to do that than to have to constantly ask him if he needed to pee, only for Peter to say no and pee on the floor not even seconds later. 

Although Peter was getting better at it. And this was a step in the wrong direction. Oh well. It was already on him…

Tony patted his butt. “You’re done. Go play before dinner.” 

“Okay!” Peter stood up and walked into the family room across the hallway to see what Morgan was doing. There were dolls laid out on the couches and floors, wrapped in blankets and Peter’s box of diapers half empty next to her. He walked over and pointed to the box. “Hey! That’s mine! Don’t use it.” 

“I can if I want. Dad said. If you’re going to help, you have to be the baby because I’m the nurse.” She grabbed Peter’s leg and pulled him down, causing him to lose his balance and fall on his butt. 

“Owww! I’m telling on you!” Peter crawled into the hallway then stood up to run into the living room where his dad was folding clothes and watching tv so he climbed over the back of the couch. “Dad! Morgan pushed me down and I landed on my butt.” 

“Oh no. Are you okay?” This wasn’t new to Tony, Morgan could look at Peter the wrong way and he would come running to tell on her. 

Peter rubbed his butt. “Yeah. Can you put her on timeout?” 

“No, you go work it out with her. No biting.” 

“I didn’t.” 

“Good boy.” 

Peter ran back into the playroom and grabbed Morgan’s doll, hitting her on the arm with it. 

“Oww! Dad!” Morgan grabbed the doll back from Peter and was about to smack him with it but Peter ducked just in time and crawled over to hide behind the couch but Morgan grabbed his ankle and tried to drag him back but Tony walked in and she immediately let go of Peter. “He smacked me with my doll!” 

“Is this true, Peter?” Tony already knew it was true. It was such a Peter thing to do. “Peter?” 

“Ummm… yeah.” He chewed on his pointer finger, looking up at his dad. 

“Do I have to separate you two? I don’t want to see that you’ve hit your sister again. Otherwise you’re going to be separated.” Tony held his hand out for Peter. “Do you understand?” 

“Uh huh.” 

“Good. Now let’s go put pants on you.” Peter immediately pulled away from his hand. “Let’s go before we go eat dinner-” 

“Nooo. I don’t feel like it.” 

“Fine. Do what you want.” Tony wasn’t in the mood to argue with him anyways. 

Pepper walked downstairs and stopped to look in the family room. “Dinner will be ready in five minutes. Go wash your hands and sit at the table.” 

Tony snapped his head to look at her. “When did you get home?” 

“Just now. I just went to go change. I see you cooked dinner. Thank you.” 

“What’s for dinner?” Peter got up to follow her into the kitchen. “Mom?” 

Pepper did a double take at her son, seeing that he was wearing a diaper. She looked at Tony who looked like he definitely knew what she was about to say next. “So we’re back to putting him in diapers?” 

Tony sighed. “Force of habit.” 

“Tony.” 

“Fine, Pep. What do you want me to say. He peed in a bucket downstairs.” 

Pepper shook her head, clearly upset. But it was aimed at him. “We worked so hard to potty train him. Please. No more diapers. We can’t get him used to that again.” 

Peter tugged on his moms shirt. “Mom? What’s for dinner?” He had to ask once again. 

Pepper squeezed his chubby cheeks. “It’s chicken, corn and mashed potatoes.” Pepper grabbed a sippy cup from the cabinet and went to fill it with juice but Peter stopped her. 

“No! I want blue.” 

“Alright. Go wash your hands.” 

“No.” 

Pepper wasn’t going to allow that. She dropped what she was doing and grabbed Peter’s arm, turning him around. “I am telling you to go wash your hands and you do not say no to me. Go wash your hands so we can have a nice dinner together.” 

“Fine.” Peter ran to the bathroom and poured way too much soup on his hands and rinsed it off with warm water, staying there longer because the water felt really good. 

“Peter.” Peter looked at the bathroom door to see Morgan standing there. “Come. Look at this.” 

“Let me dry my hands first.” He dried his hands, dropping the towel on the floor and walking out to see what his sister wanted to show him. Morgan was standing in front of his potty chart. “What is it?” 

“Now you have to start all over again.” She pulled his three stickers off the chart and ripped them in half, throwing them at Peter. 

“Noooo!” Peter sank to the floor and began sobbing. He looked up at Morgan, heartbrokenly. How could she do that? All his hard work was thrown away and not to mention Morgan doing that to him. “Why?!” He sobbed, barely audible. 

“What happened?” Pepper rushed over first but no one looked hurt so she didn’t know what happened. “Peter?” 

Tony was upstairs taking a minute to himself when he heard the crying. He rushed downstairs to find Peter lying on the floor and balling his eyes out. It didn’t look like he was in any pain and the way Morgan was standing there, looking at him, led Tony to believe that Morgan did something to cause this reaction from Peter. 

“What’s wrong?” Tony immediately picked Peter up and consoled him. “What happened?” 

He was crying so hard that Tony was worried he was going to actually vomit from the way he started coughing. “Just breathe and tell me, Peter. Do you need to drink some water?” 

Peter nodded and attempted to wipe the tears off his face but it resulted in him smearing snot and tears everywhere. Gross. 

Tony filled up a sippy cup of water and shut the lid, handing it to him. “Can you tell me what happened?” He wiped Peter’s blotchy face dry. “Did Morgan do something to you?” 

Peter nodded and dropped the cup on the floor when he was done then resumed crying. 

“You have to stop crying so you can tell me so I can help. What did she do?” 

Tony bent back down to pick it up for him. 

“She-she,” He continued crying. “Took my stickers off!” He cried some more. “And-and ripped ‘dem up! And throw ‘dem at me!” He broke off into sobs but at least now Tony knew what happened. 

Tony walked over to the potty chart and saw the ripped up pieces on the floor. He sighed and held Peter tighter. Tony knew how important this was for Peter and for Morgan to do something like that to him, must be so hard for Peter. 

It’s not like Peter could easily brush this off or tell Morgan he didn’t appreciate that. This was the only way Peter knew how to act and it was exactly how he felt. 

Probably betrayed and heartbroken. 

“I’m going to go talk to her and then we’ll put more stickers on your chart to replace them. You can pick any stickers you want.” 

Peter nodded, taking his sippy cup again. 

Tony walked into the living room and stood in front of Harley. “Can you keep Peter company while I go talk to Morgan? She took the stickers off his potty chart so he’s a bit upset.” He placed Peter on the couch next to Harley and Peter immediately cuddled up against him. 

“A bit?” Harley got a look from his father so he shut up. “Okay. Come here, Petey. I’ve got you. Big brother to the rescue.” 

Peter stuck his thumb in his mouth to suck on and be able to calm down. 

Now Tony had to go talk to Morgan. Pepper must have taken her to their room since that’s where Tony found them. He sat on the edge of the bed. “Do you want to tell me what happened, Morgan?” 

“She won’t tell me.” Pepper shrugged. 

“No! I don’t! You’re mad at me.” 

Tony wasn’t going to deny that. “I am. Peter told me what happened. He told me that you took off his potty chart stickers, ripped them up and threw them at him. Is that true?” Morgan nodded. “Sit up and look at me.” 

Morgan pulled her face out of the blankets and sat up to face her dad. 

“Tell me why you did that?” 

“Cause-cause…” She didn’t know why. It was fun to make her brother cry sometimes because it was so easy. And he hit her. But it wasn’t really because of that. She wiped the one tear that fell. “Cause if I took the stickers off, he would wear underwear again like he did before Steve took him time number two.” 

Tony sighed. “Morgan. Peter will wear underwear again one day and stay dry but what you did was extremely wrong and there’s no excuse for what you did. You hurt your brother’s feelings very badly. He worked so hard to get those stickers and what you did was mean, don’t you think so?” 

“Yeah.” 

“So how are you going to make it up to him?” 

“Um… say sorry. And… help him put as many stickers on as he wants.” 

“Good. But only three stickers for now. Let’s go do that then let’s eat dinner.” He gave Morgan a hug and then walked with her downstairs and into the living room where Peter was right where Tony left him. “Go on.” 

Morgan hugged Peter. “I’m sorry for ripping your stickers. I’ll help you put new ones on.” She pulled his thumb out of his mouth to hold his hand and Peter whined, pulling away from her. 

“Leave his thumb in his mouth, Morgan.” 

“Okay.” She took his other hand. “I’ll help you. Let’s go.” 

Peter let her pull him up and walked over to his potty chart, taking the bin of stickers his mom handed him so he set it on the floor and squatted down to dig through it with one hand. 

Tony saw him struggling and knew he probably shouldn’t do this but he really did feel bad for what happened to Peter today. He grabbed a pacifier from the kitchen counter and handed it to Peter. “Use this instead.” 

“I think this one looks cool, don’t you?” Morgan sat down next to Peter, rubbing his back and despite the situation, Tony couldn’t help but turn to Pepper and coo. 

He was forever grateful that he got to watch his two youngest kids grow up together and even though they were just fighting, he knew that was a part of it and he loved it so much. Not so much the fighting but the fact that he got to be a part of that and help them through it. 

Peter and Morgan both worked together to pick and choose three stickers and then Peter put it on his chart and smiled, turning to look up at his dad. “Look. Now I have three again.” 

“You do. Now how about we go eat.” Tony gently pushed Peter towards the dining room and took a seat down next to him. The food was already on the table with plates covering everything to keep it warm after that fiasco.  

Tony just wanted to eat. He was a bit moody himself due to Peter keeping him up all night by kicking and sleeping all over him but then of course he had to wake up at 5am when Peter woke up. 

It was a busy day. 

Tony was ready to eat and then hopefully be in bed within the next two hours. He grabbed Peter’s plate and a small piece of chicken, cutting it into a bunch of tiny pieces then putting the mashed potatoes and some corn on it. 

“Here. Eat.” 

“I want a blue fork. Not yellow.” 

“It’s a fork. It doesn’t matter what colour it is.” 

“Yes it does.”  

“Just get him a blue one if it’ll make him eat.” Pepper told Tony, taking a bite of her meal. 

Sighing, Tony stood up to go get one but Peter got up with him and opened the fridge, pointing at the milk. “No. You’re not having milk.” 

“I want it.” 

“We’re eating dinner, Peter. Let’s go.” 

“Milk. Dad. I’m not hungry.” 

Tony ran a hand through his hair. “So then you don’t need milk.” 

“I do! I’m thirsty.” 

“There’s juice at the dinner table-” 

“Not juice! Milk!” Peter stomped his foot for good measure. “Daddy.” 

“Peter. We are eating dinner. I am going to count to five and if you’re still standing there, then you will go straight to bed after dinner. No tv. No playing.” 

Peter looked curious and Tony regretted using that as a punishment. 

“Will you be there?” 

Tony hesitated. “No. Not if you aren’t behaving.” 

“Then you can’t sleep either if I’m not there so you aren’t going to leave me.” Peter said, a bit too sassy for Tony’s liking. 

Wow. 

Tony didn’t expect Peter to know that. It was obvious but the fact that Peter caught onto Tony not being able to be without him was a bit… concerning. 

Now Peter had leverage. 

“Do you need a timeout? Stop talking back to me and get into the dining room to eat your dinner. Right. Now.” Tony used his firm voice, letting Peter know that he wasn’t messing around. 

“Fine!” Peter miserably stomped his way into the dining room and sat himself down on his chair. He crossed his arms over his chest, looking at his dad. “My blue fork.” 

“Here.” Tony tossed it on his plate, knowing he was going to use his fingers anyways. Tony didn’t care how he ate, as long as he did. “Do you want gravy?” 

“Uh huh.” 

“You do?” 

“I said yes.” 

Not responding to that, Tony grabbed the gravy dish and started pouring it over Peter’s chicken and mashed potatoes but he should have known better. God, he should have known better. 

As soon as he started pouring, Peter screamed and tried to stop him. “NOOO! In the square! Noooo! It’s all over everything now!” He began crying and pushed the plate away from himself. “Now it’s yucky!” 

“Oh, Peter.” Tony groaned. “It’s fine. Just eat it.” 

“Nooo! I can’t!” Peter pushed it further away. 

“Peter. It’s not a big deal, how about you just get more chicken?” Pepper suggested because she was seeing that Peter and Tony were clearly overwhelmed and frustrated. Peter was frustrated at… nothing in particular and Tony was frustrated at Peter. 

“I can’t! It’s yucky!” He bounced on the chair, crying harder. 

So Tony picked up the plate and tried to wipe the gravy away. “Look. I’m going to clean it for y-” 

“Nooo! No! It’s bad!” Peter cried but Tony couldn’t take it anymore. 

Tony grabbed the plate and fork and walked into the kitchen. “Then don’t eat it! That’s fine. It’s garbage. You can have no dinner tonight then.” Tony dumped his plate into the garbage and tossed it in the sink. He needed to walk away from the situation. “I’m done. I can’t do this.” 

Tony walked upstairs and went into his bathroom, shutting the door behind him and locking it. He leaned against the counter, his hands bracing the edges as he tried to hold it in but he couldn’t and began crying. 

Why was parenting so fucking hard? 

Why couldn't raising tiny human beings that you created actually be easy for once. 

Tony felt like he was failing. 

He felt like he was holding the whole world on his shoulders and he couldn’t do it anymore. 

It was so hard. 

He wanted to give Peter everything but Peter seemed to be testing his limits more and more everyday. 

Downstairs, Peter was still crying but he was more confused now. He was leaning over the back of the chair and chewing on his fingers, pointing towards where his dad went. “Daddy?!” 

“You scared him off with… yourself.” 

“Harley.” Pepper snapped before Peter could get even more upset. “Peter, daddy needs some alone time. Would you like me to get you another plate?” 

Peter wiped his tears but continued to cry. “My plate!” He sobbed, pointing to the garbage can. “It’s gone!” 

“I can get you a new one. Would you want some?” Pepper stood up to sit beside Peter now. He was clearly confused about Tony’s reaction since usually Tony has a lot of patience when it comes to him, but clearly everyone has a limit. 

Peter just hit Tony’s today. 

“No. I need milk.” He cried and tugged on Pepper’s shirt so she stood up to get a bottle. Both because she wanted Peter to calm down and because she knew Peter would be seeking Tony out soon and she wanted to give Tony some time alone. 

Peter was after him all day everyday. And night. So Tony needed some alone time. 

Pepper wanted to give that to Tony. 

Following her into the kitchen, Peter watched eagerly and closely for his bottle to be made as he held onto the bottom of his mom’s shirt. 

When it was ready, he took it hungerly and turned for his dad. “Daddy?!” 

“Honey. Come sit with me on the couch.” Her dinner now forgotten, she led Peter over to the couch for him to sit with her. “You guys can eat without us.” 

Peter was pulled onto her lap and he cuddled against her, leaning his head on her chest. 

“I think you upset daddy, Peter. Do you think so?” 

Peter sighed. “Yeah…” 

“Do you want to talk about it?” She brushed the curls off his forehead. “Hmm? How are you feeling?” 

Shrugging, Peter continued to drink. 

“Would you want to talk about it with daddy instead?” Peter nodded. “Okay. How about you wait here until he comes down.” 

Peter nodded. He slid off his mom’s lap to let her get up and go back into the dining room but Peter wanted to see his dad and apologize to him so he took his bottle and went upstairs to go find him. 

Tony was sitting in the bathroom on the floor when Peter walked in. He honestly didn’t expect Peter to come find him first and although Tony needed more time alone, he was grateful it was Peter out of everyone. 

“Daddy?” Peter hesitated by the doorway. 

“Come here.” 

Peter immediately went into his arms, sitting on his lap with a leg on either side so he was facing him. Tony could tell he had continued crying after he left. And judging by the half full bottle, Peter was going to fill up on milk tonight. Again. Great. 

“You mad at me?” 

“Not mad.” Tony wasn’t going to lie to him. “I got a bit overwhelmed. That’s all. Sometimes daddy needs a break to himself too.” 

Peter nodded but Tony didn’t know if he understood or not. 

“I’m not mad at you. I just had a lot of big emotions. Like you do sometimes.” A lot of the time.  

Peter placed his hand on Tony’s cheek. “You’re crying.” 

“I was. I’m better now.” And that wasn’t a lie. Seeing Peter and getting to hold him made everything okay again. Always. No matter what. 

If only Tony could have had Peter walk through the door all those years he was grieving and crying for his boy. 

He hugged him tightly. 

“I love you so much. Never forget that.” 

“I know. I love you too.” Peter pulled away. “I’m sorry for… being… crying. And… crying.” 

Despite Peter’s awful attempt at trying to apologize, Tony forgave him. “I know, baby. But don’t ever apologize for crying or feeling how you feel. It’s okay to feel your emotions. Okay? Remember that.” 

“But… I made you cry.” 

It wasn’t the first time and it won’t be the last. 

“We all have emotions. No one should ever have to apologize for that. Okay, baby?” 

“Yeah. Okay.” 

“Okay.” Tony kissed him. “Let’s go finish our dinner.” 

Just as long as Tony had Peter, he would be okay.