My darling boy
Tony was so stressed since the makeup wasn’t coming off the wall with soap and water. Pepper brought out her makeup remover but Peter dumped the whole thing into the bucket of water when no one was looking and so now all they had were Huggies wipes.
Peter took about twenty out and tried to clean off the dresser. “Look, dad, I’m cleaning.”
“I can see that. Make sure you get it all.”
Tony was helping them but wanted Peter and Morgan to do most of the work so they could learn from their mistakes. Tony also knew that Morgan did in fact know better than to draw on the walls but she did these things with Peter. Whereas Peter would do something like this with or without Morgan, she would only do it with Peter.
But he was still trying to teach them a lesson here.
Peter sighed and fell back onto the carpet. “My arms hurt. This is so much work.”
Tony smiled. “Good. Keep going. If you make a naughty mess like this, you will suffer the consequences and clean it up.”
“I don’t like consequences, daddy.”
“No one does. That’s the point. Common. Keep cleaning.”
“But… I’m tired. I want to go build a fort with Morgan.”
“Yeah. I’m tired too.”
“Alright. How about this, I’m going to go change into comfortable clothes and when I come back, only once I come back, you guys can be done. But you need to keep cleaning until then.”
“Okay. We can do that. Right, Petey?”
Peter nodded. “Yeah. We can.”
“Good. I’ll be right back. Keep on cleaning.” Tony purposely took an extra long time so he could get alone time from the crazy night ahead of probably making a bed in the living room for everyone to sleep and also to let them clean some more of the ridiculous mess of the wall.
Tony knew it would come off and even if it didn’t, a simple paint job would fix it. Something Tony would do when the house was empty because the idea of Peter and Morgan hanging around him with an open tray of paint was a scary thought.
Paint getting onto the white carpet upstairs would be a nightmare.
Tony eventually walked back over to them and saw that the wall looked the exact same. Figures. “Good job, guys, you worked hard cleaning up the wall. Do you think?”
Peter put the sponge back in the water bucket. “Yeah.” He looked back at his cleaning job then up at Tony. “I think it’s better now.”
“I don’t think it is. It’s still messy. You should do it, dad. You’re stronger than us.”
“Not me.” Peter shook his head and stood up, grabbing onto Tony’s arm. “Can we go build our fort now? Please. I want to.”
“Okay, we can, I think mom already brought all the blankets downstairs.”
Peter began walking towards the stairs, making sure Tony and Morgan were following behind him. “Me and Morgan are going to make our own bedrooms in our fort. So we can sleep in it tonight.” He stopped to look at Tony. “But don’t worry, you can still sleep in my room with me. I’ll make it big enough because your body is big.”
Tony didn’t know if Peter just called him fat but sure, he’d sleep in the freaking tent. “Wow, Pete, so kind of you to make room for me.”
“But, Petey, I don’t want adults in our fort. I just want it to be a fort for kids.” Morgan told him seriously, stopping in the top step to have this conversation.
“It’s okay, Morgan. Dad can come in if he only brings candy. Is that okay?” Peter reassured her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
“I guess. But we’ll have to decide what candy we want.”
“Sure. We can decide in ten minutes.” He explained then proceeded to walk down the stairs while Tony was trying to recover from that cuteness overload. Absolutely adorable.
Peter walked into the living room and went straight for his mom who was taking some tags off their new pillows and blankets. “Mom?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you help us build our fort?”
“I can help but dad might need to take over since I need to finish cleaning up the kitchen.” She looked down at him still in a diaper and a shirt. “Can you go put some pants on? I don’t want you walking around in just a diaper with no electricity for heat.”
Peter didn’t feel like it plus he wasn’t cold. “Not now.” He sighed as if he just worked a ten hour shift, then approached Tony, grabbing his hands to swing from. “Daddy?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you help me make our fort?”
Tony scooped him up. “Hmm I don’t know. I was thinking I might take a nap. I’m feeling kinda sleepy.”
Peter wiggled out of his arms. “You don’t need to sleep, dad. It’s not bedtime yet. Let’s just build the fort, okay?”
Tony let him go and grabbed a pile of blankets off the couch. “Alright, kid. But I’m not doing all the work here.” He watched Peter drag some of the living room furniture around like he knew exactly what he was doing and where he wanted things to go. Tony supposed he does, Peter loved to build forts, especially on nights with a snowstorm outside and all the power out in the house.
It didn’t take them long until the fort was built. Peter insisted that he and Morgan have a secret hiding spot that Tony had to build but then pretended like he didn’t know where it was.
Overall it was a fun evening until it was time to go to bed.
Since there was a storm outside and all the power was off, the Starks decided to spend the night in the living room to stay warm. Morgan was already sleeping on the bed that Pepper had made, Harley was either sleeping or trying to fall asleep and Peter was seconds away from waking everyone up.
“You need to lie down, Pete, this is too much now.” Tony placed the empty milk bottle on the floor but Peter whined for it again. “Shh. Enough.”
“I’m not doing anything. Give it back.”
“I don’t want you waking anyone up, bud, please lie down and sleep.” Tony knew this was going to be a long night. He debated taking Peter upstairs to sleep where he wouldn’t wake anyone up but that was unlikely since it was freezing up there with no heat.
Tony mentally prepared himself to get zero sleep that night.
.
.
.
Pepper peeked in the bathroom to see if Peter was done on the toilet yet but he was still sitting there so she went back to the kitchen to get the bag ready.
“Are you sure you don’t want to put him in a diaper?”
“No, Tony.”
“Pull-up?”
“He’s potty trained. I highly doubt he’ll have an accident. He’s been doing so well with it.” Pepper poured some goldfish into a container and shut the lid. “Plus, we’re going out for lunch then to the pottery place. And they definitely have bathrooms there.”
Tony watched her pack a few extra outfits of underwear and pants. He knew it was for a just in case scenario but he would feel more comfortable if Peter left the house in a diaper and not in underwear. Especially with how cold it is outside. If he peed, he would be extremely uncomfortable.
“Just making sure. And remember his appointment with Karen is at 2:45. So I’ll pick Morgan up from school early and Harley agreed to watch her.”
“We’ll meet you at her office. So we’ll go straight there after our date.”
Tony nodded. He suggested this but he also didn’t feel in control without having Peter with him. “Sounds good. I’ll be there. I’m just going to go check up on him.” Tony walked into the bathroom and saw that Peter unraveled a whole roll of toilet paper. “Kid. What’s this?”
“I was gonna roll it back up.”
“Are you finished peeing?”
“Yeah. I went like a million minutes ago.”
“Okay then wipe and pull up your underwear and pants then wash your hands. You know the drill.” Tony kicked the stool up to the sink for him and waited for Peter to pull up his pants. “Are you excited for today? You’re going to have lots of fun with mommy, I heard.”
Peter poured more soap than necessary on his hands. “Uh huh. I’m going to paint you a special surprise today, daddy.” He grinned then hopped off the stool to dry his hands. “And you gotta act surprised when I show you, alright?”
“Promise. Be good today, you promise me that?” Tony asked as he followed him out of the bathroom and towards the front door where Pepper was waiting.
“Pinky promise.”
.
.
.
Peter was nervous to see Karen. It’s been quite a bit since he’s had a session with her and now he was probably going to be encouraged to talk about Aiser and that made him sad. He was in such a good mood, he really didn’t want to get upset after such a good day.
His mom and him had such an amazing time. Plus, Peter knew his mom was proud of him for staying dry all day and he didn’t even cry once. That is, until now.
He walked into the building, hand in hand with his mom. He was told Tony would be there but he didn’t see the man so he whined, leaning closer against his mom.
“Where’s daddy?”
“He’ll be here soon.” Pepper knew he wouldn’t miss this for the world. He was so supportive of Peter in everything he did.
She sat them down on the chairs outside Karen’s office where they always sat to wait for Karen to come out but after a few minutes of waiting, Tony walked out.
Peter jumped up, raising his arms up to his father. “Daddy! You’re here.”
“Hey. Of course I’m here. Where else would I be?” Tony kissed his cheek a bunch of times as he lifted him up.
“I dunno. At home sleeping in bed.” Peter giggled then wrapped an arm around Tony’s neck. “I want a paci.”
“No, you don’t.” Pepper came up behind him and rubbed his back. “He didn’t ask for one all day.” She shook her head at Tony, getting a look from him. She let it go. “How about we go in and get you settled, honey? But first, you need to go pee on the potty.”
“With dad. Not you.”
“I can take you. I can’t wait to hear all about your day with mom. Did you have fun?”
“Yeah.”
Tony placed Peter on his feet in the bathroom then shut the door. He grabbed the potty seat that he wasn’t entirely sure if it was only for Peter or other children as well. But it’ll do.
He placed it on the seat then lifted Peter onto it once he got his pants and underwear pulled down.
Immediately, Peter started going and Tony gave him a fist bump. “Wow, bud. Look at you. Turning into a big boy right in front of me.”
Peter’s smile fell a bit. “I want to wear a diaper now.”
“No, buddy. I don’t have any for you.”
“Oh.” Peter grabbed some toilet paper to wipe then he got off the toilet. “Bye bye pee pee. Go to the drain now.”
Tony was so freaking proud of him. In everything he did. It was impossible not to be proud of Peter.
After finishing up in the bathroom, Tony brought Peter out and sat down on the family couch, pulling Peter to sit in between him and Pepper but Peter immediately decided it wasn’t close enough and crawled onto Tony’s lap.
“I did a pee in the potty.”
“Wow, Peter. That’s incredible. Very good job.” Karen congratulated him but it wasn’t news to Pepper.
“Yeah,” She looked at Tony. “He’s been peeing in the potty all day today. No accidents.”
“Well he’s in the same pants as he was this morning so I assumed as much.” Tony didn’t appreciate Pepper talking to him like he’s the problem here.
Peter was oblivious to the snarky remarks but Karen wasn’t. “Alright. Well, I spoke with Tony beforehand so I’m all up to date. I’d like to have a talk with you now, Peter.”
“With my dad?”
“Just you.”
“Why?”
Tony kissed Peter’s forehead. “I’ll be right behind that door, as always.” He slipped Peter into the seat next to him then stood up and walked out with Pepper, leaving Peter on the couch by himself. He looked so small, peeking his head over the back of the couch as he watched them leave. Damn. That was always so hard.
At least he was close by.
“How have you been lately, Peter? It’s been awhile since our last session.”
Peter sighed then turned around.
“I heard that you’re getting very good at peeing on the toilet, how do you feel about that?”
“Daddy said I’m growing up too fast and he doesn’t like that.”
“Your daddy loves you very, very much. He just doesn’t want to see his youngest son grow up too fast.”
Peter stuck his finger in his mouth to chew on it.
“Today… I would like to talk about Steve with you. Is that something you’re okay talking about?”
Peter switched his finger for his thumb.
“Your daddy told me that Morgan said some things the other day that bugged you.”
“Yeah. Her upset me.”
“She upset you? What did she say?”
“Umm…” Peter thought about it then shrugged. “Her said… said… ummm… her said that-that… umm… why I like soothers. Her said if-if-if-if S-Steve gives me soothers.”
Karen nodded, taking note of his stutter. Peter often had a stutter as his brain ran faster than his mouth could keep up with, but when they discussed Steve, it intensified.
She also noticed that Peter was still talking to Steve in the present tense, as if he was still alive and in Peter’s life.
“Why do you talk about Steve in the present tense?”
“Umm… present tense?”
“Do you know what present and past tense means?”
Peter shrugged.
“Present tense is used like this, Peter is in my office. And past tense is what was, Peter was in my office.” She let Peter process that. “You talk about Steve like he’s still here. Why?”
“Um… cause he’s in New York.”
“Where is he in New York?”
“In-in the… in the jail house.”
Karen took note of that. She was trying to understand why Peter wasn’t accepting that Steve was dead. “Peter, Steve died. When he kidnapped you from your school, after your dad got you back and you went to the hospital, Steve went to the same hospital and he died there.”
“Oh. But he didn’t. He went to jail.”
“No, honey. Steve died. He’s not coming back.”
“Yes he is!”
Karen put her book on her side table. Peter’s thumb had left his mouth and his hands were in fists at his sides. She spoke in a calming voice. “Peter. Steve is dead. He died the day you went into the hospital. Do you remember going into the hospital?”
“He’s not dead because then where is he?”
“What do you mean, Peter?”
Peter groaned. He meant what he said. How was he supposed to explain this to her? If she wasn’t sitting so far, he’d bite her for being so dumb.
“I mean… then-then he then urggggg! I don’t know! You made my brain hurt. I don’t like you anymore!” Peter stood up and ran to the corner of the room, curling onto a ball and grabbing a blanket to cover himself up in.
Karen wrote that down and continued sitting there for a bit but Peter was by far her most difficult patient. He was impossible to read. His mind was like building a puzzle with no reference picture and every piece was the same shape yet somehow was supposed to fit together.
That also meant she had to get Tony to help but she knew Peter long enough to know he wouldn’t talk to her in this state but he would talk to his father.
So she opened the door, spotting Tony looking bored and anxious as Pepper read a magazine. Tony immediately stood up.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. He just shut down when I brought up Steve.” Karen spoke with the intent for Peter to listen in. He was a part of this conversation too. “Peter is trying to tell me something but he’s having trouble finding the right words so I was wondering if you could help him.”
“Yeah. What’s it about?” Tony walked into the room and over to the lump underneath the blanket.
“Well, Peter believes that Steve is still alive and is in the jail house. I asked him if he remembers the day in the hospital, but he keeps insisting that Steve is alive because he doesn’t know where he’ll be if he’s dead.”
Tony understood that. He’s had a few conversations with Peter before and he knew how difficult it was for Peter to express himself through words.
He walked over to the lump and sat down with a groan, spotting an eye peeking out at him. Karen sat down on a sofa a few feet away, staying quiet but observing.
“Come out so I’m not talking to a blanket.”
Peter just removed the top of the blanket and moved closer to Tony.
“What are you trying to tell Karen, bud? You having trouble finding the words?”
Peter reached a small hand out. “Paci?”
“No, I need you to talk to me. Why do you think Steve is still alive, baby?”
“Cause he is.” Peter whispered.
“Remember we talked about how he died that day in the hospital, then they took his body to the morgue where they cremated him.”
Peter didn’t say anything for a few moments. “But… then where is he now?”
“You mean his soul?” Peter nodded. Tony didn’t know how to answer that. They weren’t necessarily a religious family. They didn’t go to church or pray together but Tony has begged god a few times when faced with desperation and his prayers were answered so maybe there was something out there. They were also raising their children, at least the two youngest, to save themselves for marriage, mainly because Tony didn’t want to see them get their heart broken or have them give themselves away too easily. So he wasn’t entirely sure how to answer that question.
“Well, I don’t have an answer for that, Pete. I don’t think anyone does until you die. Uh,” He tried to think of something to say for Peter to understand.
“But-so then… he’ll be here still?”
“No, he’s gone, Peter. I think…” Now Tony was at a loss for words. “Steve died and since he was a very bad man, he doesn’t get to be with the ones he loved wherever he is now.”
Tony hated how this was something Peter had to worry about when most other boys his age were worrying if they could buy the next best video game that came out.
He hated this for his child.
“He loved me.” Peter said quietly, barely audible to Tony.
“That was fake love. You were never his. You’re mine. I love you. Your mother loves you, your brother and sister. And your grandparents love you. That’s love, Peter.”
Peter stuck his thumb in his mouth with his free hand.
When Tony looked over at Karen, he realized she probably couldn’t hear everything since they were talking quietly. “Peter was trying to tell you that he’s worried if Steve is dead, where does he go. He was worried that Steve would watch him and be with him in the afterlife.”
Karen gave a short nod. “I think he’s done for today but I would like you to encourage him to use his words. Look for opportunities to have him struggle then help him through it. That’s why he’s biting and wanting a pacifier to soothe him in these situations.”
Tony sighed. She was right. But it was easier said than done.
They needed to do something about that. And soon.
“I’m also noticing his speech is changing slightly from the prolonged use of a pacifier, Tony.”
Tony nodded. He noticed that too. He thought it was cute but the reality of it was it really wasn’t cute, it was dangerous. “I know.”
“You and Pepper need to work on that.”
Tony was more ready to leave than Peter was.
.
.
.
Peter jumped onto the next platform and giggled when he made it across, turning around to watch his friend make it across as well, bumping into Peter.
“You almost pushed me off.” Peter laughed, stepping onto the balance beam next.
They were paired up and had to complete each obstacle course set out for the class by the time the buzzer went off. Then they would each compete as a group in front of the whole class to see who the winner is. Peter wanted to win, he hated losing. But he was also having fun just goofing around.
“That’s cause I’m faster than you are.”
Peter shook his head, running across the balance beam. “Nope. I am. My dad says I’ve got fast legs.” He turned and watched Ryder attempt to run across the balance beam but ended up slipping and falling onto the mat underneath it. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m good. I just really wanted to make it across.”
Peter walked over to his side. “It’s okay. You still can. Just try it again.” He encouraged and walked alongside his friend, holding onto his hand as he walked across. Once they made it to the end, Peter cheered for him. “Yay! You did it!”
“Yes!”
The buzzer sounded throughout the gym, letting them know their five minutes were up and they had to move onto the next obstacle.
It was two yoga balls with pylons they had to maneuver through. Peter rolled onto the ball first. “Weeee!”
“Looking good, Peter. Now try to roll through the pylons without knocking them down.” Their gym teacher came over and said, standing with the whistle in his hands, ready to use it.
Peter rolled forward but knocked over two pylons. “Oops.” He looked up at his teacher to make sure he wasn’t angry with him.
“That’s okay. Pick them up and try again.” He waved a bee out of his face. “What’s a bee doing in here?”
“I didn’t see a bee.”
“Where did it go?” Asked Ryder.
“I’m going to go close the gym door. You two keep up the good work.”
Peter finished putting the pylons back up and rolled on the ball again, bumping into Ryder and falling on his butt in a giggle fit. “You moved into my lane.”
“No.” Ryder laughed, picking up his ball that was bumping into Peter. “You did.”
“I actually didn’t.” Peter stood up and rolled his ball back to the starting point. “It’s hard to control these balls anyways. Me and my sister used to have one in our playroom but my dog popped it.”
“When did you have one?”
“When I was littler. Like… ten. Or eleven.” He spotted the bee out of the corner of his eye and moved away from it. “Do-do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“Nope. Just me.”
Peter didn’t even want to imagine what it would be like to be an only sibling. Well, he did know what it felt like but he was trying hard to block those years out of his memories.
“Oh. That must be lonely. What do you even do on trips?”
Ryder shrugged. “Swim. Or walk around London when we go. It’s cool. I once ate a whole cake with my dad. Then I had diarrhea.”
Laughing, Peter bounced on the ball. “Once when I was on vacation, I had diarrhea in my car seat.” Ryder started laughing so Peter joined him. “Then my dad got it on his hand. It was so funny.”
He sat down on the ball, bouncing on it.
“That’s so gross. I never want to be a dad. That means you have to do gross things like that.”
Peter agreed. “Yeah. Me too.” He moved forward on the ball and watched the bee land on his leg so he yelped and shook it off but felt a sharp sting of pain. “Ow.”
“What?”
The bee flew away and then his leg felt like it was on fire. He leaned down to rub the reddening spot but it only hurt more so he fell to his butt and let out of sob of pain.
“Peter! What happened?!” Ryder dropped to his knees by his side, concern written across his face for his friend.
Peter screamed something inaudible, grabbing at his leg that felt like it was on fire.
“Did you get stung by the bee?”
Peter leaned forward, trying so hard to stop the pain but it wouldn’t let up.
“I’ll go get Mr. Rossi! Stay here!” Ryder stood up and bolted to the other side of the gym. “Mr. Rossi! Mr. Rossi! Help! Peter’s been stung by a bee and he’s crying!”
The music playing in the gym was so loud and with the added talking from all the children, the teacher hadn’t heard one of his students' cries until it was brought to his attention. He ran over to the sobbing boy on the floor and kneeled down, looking at his leg where he was holding it and rocking back and forth.
“Peter, take a breath. Let me see.”
Peter removed his hands and lifted them up to his face to cry into. “I-” He coughed from crying so hard. “I wan’ my daddy!”
Peter’s teacher examined his leg and could still see the bee stinger in it. He determined that there was nothing he could do about it here so he stood up and looked down at the crying boy.
“Ryder. Can you go run to the office and tell the receptionist that Mr. Rossi needs a teacher in the gym asap.”
Ryder didn’t waste any time and began running out of the gym. Thankfully the office was just across the hallway so not too long after, he was running back in with the receptionist.
“What happened to Peter?” She asked, jogging over to them. Peter was sitting on the floor and crying like he just lost a limb.
“He got stung by a bee. I need you to watch the rest of the class so I can take him to the office.” Mr. Rossi explained and leaned down to help Peter to his feet but he was too scared to put weight on his left foot and just needed the comfort right now so he lifted his arms up desperately, wanting to be carried.
Thankfully, his gym teacher didn’t hesitate to lift him up and carry him out of the gym and across the hallway, pushing open the office door.
The principal walked out once he heard the crying then sighed once he saw it was Peter. “Please don’t tell me another child did this to him.”
“No. He got stung by a bee.”
He sighed in relief. “Thank god. His father would’ve had a field day with us otherwise. Bring him into the nurses office.”
“We’ll need to call his father.”
The principal held the door open for him. “I’ll call in my office so he doesn’t hear him crying in the background. Keep the door shut, will you.”
The nurse walked in through another door and didn't even look up at Peter as she opened the cabinet and began putting gloves on. “I feel like his parents, I can recognize his cry from the other room.” She snapped the glove on. “What happened?”
“He got stung by a bee. I left the gym door open since it was so hot in there. My fault.” He explained and set Peter on the examine bed.
“I wan’ my daddy!” Peter cried, looking down at his leg that was red and swollen. He was in so much pain and wanted two things, his dad and a pacifier.
“He’s on his way, honey.” She reassured him. “Don’t blame yourself. You didn’t sting him. And word of advice, don’t say it’s your fault in front of his dad. He isn’t quick to blame but he likes to have all the facts.”
Peter sniffled. “How long?”
“Five more minutes, honey. I’m going to take a look at your leg now, okay? Can you lie down for me?”
Peter shook his head. “Nooo.”
“I just need to take a look at the sting. I won’t touch it.”
Peter moved his leg protectively against himself. “I wan’ daddy!” He cried out, feeling his face soaked from both tears and snot.
He just wanted his father.
.
.
.
Back at home, Tony was having a boring but nice and relaxing day.
He didn’t have to go into work today since Pepper had offered to go in for him so he was grateful for that. He never expected to be the one to step down from work after having kids. He used to love working, well, it was more of an obsession. But now, he hated when he had to go into the office. Thankfully he owned the company and he got to set his own hours. Most of the time anyways.
So now, he was enjoying the peace and quiet as he folded laundry in the living room and listened to his music on the tv. It was quiet and relaxing with two of his kids at school and one at his internship.
Sometimes the quiet bored him and even gave him anxiety at times but right now, it was nice. Peter had a really bad meltdown this morning because Tony gave Morgan the blue cereal bowl instead of him which resulted in a lot of tears and a bite mark to Morgan’s arm.
Tony was almost eager to drop them off at school today. Even if that made him feel incredibly guilty for it.
He needed time to himself too. At least that’s what his therapist told him. He was just working on trying to believe it.
His phone rang and it interrupted him from his thoughts. When he picked it up and saw the caller ID, he sighed and tossed the shirt he was folding. “This is Stark.”
“Hi Mr. Stark. This is principal Mortia calling on behalf of Peter. During gym class today, he got stung by a bee.”
“I’m on my way. Is he okay?” Tony knew he wasn’t. But he needed to hear that he wasn’t having an allergic reaction to it or anything.
“He’s crying. But otherwise he’s fine.”
Tony grabbed his car keys and left the house. “He’s never been stung by a bee before. I don’t know if he’s allergic. Please keep a close eye on him. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
Principal Mortia hung up and rubbed a hand over his face then got up to go check on Peter.
“His dad is on his way.”
Peter looked up at him. They managed to get him to lie down but he refused to let them look at his leg. “My daddy?”
“Yes, Peter.” He looked at the nurse and gym teacher. “Someone needs to write an accident report and have it ready by the time his father comes. And he needs to stop crying too. It doesn’t look good for us.”
“I’ll do the accident report but we can’t exactly get him to stop crying. His dad will understand.” Mr. Rossi opened the cabinet and grabbed a report.
He had just finished filling it out when the principal walked back into the room. “His dad is here. Wipe the snot off his face.”
Peter looked towards the door just as a Kleenex was wiped all over his face. He whined and moved his head away but the door opened up again and Peter sat up, holding his arms out and crying even harder, knowing he was safe because his dad was there.
Tony’s heart broke at the sight. He crossed the distance between them and lifted Peter into his arms, kissing his head. “Baby. Did you get stung by a bee?”
Peter sobbed. “Yeah.”
“Where?”
“On his left thigh.” The nurse told him then handed Tony an ice pack. “I put this on his leg but he won’t let me take the stinger out.”
Tony sighed and tried to place Peter on the bed but he screamed and held onto him tighter. “Peter. I need to look at your bee sting.” He fought Peter and placed him on the bed, having to let him cry it out but he needed to get the stinger out.
It wasn’t hard to miss now that he was looking at it. His whole left thigh was red and swollen and he didn’t know what he needed to look for in case of an allergic reaction. “He’s never been stung before. What will an allergic reaction look like if he is allergic?”
“Similar to his allergic reaction when he eats fish. I don’t think he’s allergic because it would have kicked in by now and we’d start to see signs. But definitely keep a close eye on him. And if you still aren’t sure, definitely take him to see his pediatrician.”
Tony nodded then kissed Peter’s forehead. “Daddy needs to take out the stinger. I’ll be gentle.”
“Noo! It’s gon’ hurt!” Peter pushed Tony away a bit, not wanting anyone near his boo-boo.
Tony washed his hands and grabbed the tweezers off the table. “It’ll just feel like a tiny pinch. I promise I won’t hurt you.”
Peter started crying again so Tony used that opportunity to find the stinger and pull it out quickly but apparently painfully for Peter. Great. Peter screamed and lifted his arms back up for him but now that the stinger was out, Tony lifted him up.
“Shh shh see, I told you it would be quick.”
The nurse used soap and water to clean the area and wipe the bit of blood off his leg and Peter barely noticed. “I suggest giving him children’s Tylenol for the pain. Give him a warm bath when you get home too to help with the pain.”
Tony nodded. Morgan got stung by a bee when she was two years old and although Tony wasn’t there, Pepper knew how to deal with it so she would know what to do with Peter.
Peter cried into his ear. “Wan’ milk.”
“Okay. When we go home, baby. Alright?”
Peter cried into his shoulder. “Mommy’s.”
Tony didn’t comment on that, knowing how it must sound to the nurse and principal standing in the room. He hoisted Peter up higher and kissed his head, hating the slippery material of his blue and yellow gym shorts making him slide down on him.
“I have his accident report for you to sign before you go, Mr. Stark.”
Tony followed the principal out and walked over to the receptionist's desk. “It’s just an explanation of what happened to keep on file.”
Tony started reading it but his phone rang so he shifted Peter and pulled it out of his pocket then answered it. “Hi Pep. Peter’s okay, just emotional.”
“Mommy?” Peter lifted his head up.
“Aww my poor baby. I’m leaving work now. I’m just getting on the highway. We’ll probably get home at the same time.”
Tony hoisted Peter up higher again when he started to slip. “Good. I’m leaving his school soon. I’ll see you at home.”
“Can I talk to him?”
“Pete, mommy wants to talk to you.”
Peter took the phone while Tony finished reading the paper.
“Hi my sweet boy. Did you get a bad boo-boo?”
Peter nodded and cried some more, mumbling something that Tony couldn’t even understand.
“Okay. You’ll be home soon and I’ll give you whatever you want to eat. Okay my sweet boy?”
“Yeah. My ‘eg hu’wr.”
Tony signed the bottom of the paper and handed it over. “So he got stung at 12:15, right?”
“Yes. Then we called you appropriately seven minutes later.”
Tony checked the time on his watch. “Okay.” It was 12:51pm so the times were adding up. He nodded. “Thank you principal Mortia and nurse Ana. I’m going to keep him home tomorrow but he’ll likely be back the following day.”
“Thank you for keeping us updated. We hope he feels better soon. We will see you on Thursday, Peter.”
Peter didn’t respond to them and instead stuck his thumb in his mouth and handed the phone back to Tony when he reached for it. “Wan’ milk.”
“Here’s his backpack and your copy of the incident report.”
Tony took both from the principal, thanked him again and turned to leave.
As soon as they left the office, principal Mortia turned to the nurse. “I’ll bet you $100 that boy breastfeeds.” He chuckled.
The nurse rolled her eyes at him as she gathered Tony’s signed incident report. “He’s fourteen. He definitely doesn’t. Don’t be weird. He sucks his thumb, sure. But he doesn’t breastfeed.”
“He said it himself. ‘I want milk. Mommy’s. They baby him. I wouldn’t be surprised.”
She shook her head at him. “Don’t be so insensitive. He was kidnapped and they had to mourn him for seven years. Then he was kidnapped again two months ago. That’s trauma I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. I have two girls, and let me tell you, as a parent, if my child was taken from me, I’d burn the whole world down to find them. Their behavior is acceptable.”
Mortia shrugged. “Maybe so. They never treated Harley like this. Now that boy was independent. I enjoyed having him in my school. It will be interesting to see how they act with the other one. What’s her name?”
“I don’t remember. She’s their youngest and only girl, so likely the same as Peter.”
Mortia took the paper from her and looked at Tony’s signature. “I could probably sell this signature and get some money out of it. Tony Stark. Billionaire. Entrepreneur. Owner of Stark Industries.”
Nurse Ana walked back into her office. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
Outside, Tony carried Peter to their van and opened the door, trying to balance his phone and Peter in one hand and Peter’s backpack and the accident report in the other.
“Daddy.” Peter whined. “M’ slippin.”
Tony placed Peter inside the van then tossed in his backpack and the accident report. “Because your pants are like oil.”
Peter whimpered. “Hurts.”
Tony knew that and he felt awful. He wished he could take Peter’s pain away. He always did. But he couldn’t. So he reached down and grabbed a pacifier, pushing it past his lips. “Mommy’s gonna be home soon and I’ll give you a nice warm bath. Okay?”
“Baba.”
“Yeah, I’ll make you one as soon as we get home.”
Tony reached forward and grabbed a diaper from the bag on the floor. He didn’t feel like taking off Peter’s pants and putting one on him but he also didn’t want to risk him peeing in his car seat so he laid the diaper down in the car seat and had Peter sit in it instead.
The car ride home was silent. Tony thought he was going to be crying the whole time but he didn’t even make a peep.
As soon as Tony pulled into the driveway, he mentally cursed when he saw that Pepper wasn’t home yet but he continued on.
The diaper was dry underneath him but Tony didn’t mention it and just lifted him out of the car and onto his hip, grabbing his backpack and the accident report with his other hand.
“Baba.”
Tony unlocked the door with his fingerprint and opened it, then shutting it behind them. “Yeah, baby. I’ll get you milk. Let’s just walk inside the house first.”
Peter lifted his head off Tony’s shoulder to look in the direction of the kitchen and eagerly waited until he was walking that way. When Tony did, Peter took the pacifier out of his mouth. He watched Tony grab a bottle, fill it up with milk, screw the cap on and hand it into his awaiting hands.
At least he wasn’t crying from the bee sting anymore.
Although with a glance down at it, Tony could see how puffy his leg looked. He felt bad for him, wondering how these things always seemed to happen to his son.
He walked upstairs and passed by his bedroom to see if Harley was home. His car was in the driveway but that didn’t mean that he was home. So Tony peeked in his room and found it empty.
“Looks like it’s just you and me home, buddy.”
Peter lifted his head off his shoulder. “Mommy?”
“She’ll be home soon. Let’s get you in a bath.” Tony carried him into his bedroom and saw Aiser lying on the bed, fast asleep. Tony wondered what their dog did when they weren’t home, they had cameras all over their house, including in their bedroom but it wasn’t like Tony ever checked them. Maybe he should now. He walked into the bathroom and placed Peter on his feet, making him whine.
“I need to make your bath. Wait please, baby.”
“Bath with me.”
Tony turned the water on and made sure it was the right temperature then added some essential oils that Pepper insisted he bathe in. “I’ll stay in the bathroom with you but I won’t come in the bath with you.”
“Why?”
Tony pulled him to stand in front of him as he sat on the step leading up to the bath. “Because I don’t want to take a bath. You need to.” He tugged down his pants, careful not to touch his swollen leg too much. “Step out.”
“But-but I can’t.” He cried. “My leg hurts me.”
Tony tugged down his underwear and pulled him onto his lap so he could pull the clothes off his legs and toss them onto the floor. He kissed his cheek after. “I’ll make you feel better. I know it hurts but that’s why I’m running you a bath.”
Peter didn’t reply and instead used his free hand to rub his eyes.
Tony stood him back up and took his shirt off after.
“Hi honey. Did my baby get stung by a bee?”
Both boys’ heads snapped to the doorway where Pepper was standing, dressed in a skirt and a professional blouse. Tony knew she probably left a meeting early to come home.
Peter walked towards her, his arms outstretched. “Yeah. He stung my leg. It hurts, mommy.”
“Aw my poor baby. Did daddy give you any medicine yet?” She cradled his head against herself, looking to Tony for the answer.
Peter nodded. “Yeah.”
“No. I didn’t. I wanted to give him some food first so he isn’t taking it on an empty stomach. But I guess milk will do.” He stood up and walked over to them, pressing a quick kiss to Pepper's lips. “I’ll go get him some medicine. Be back in a second.”
Peter spotted him leaving. “Daddy!”
“I’m going to go get you medicine in the kitchen. I’ll be back in two minutes.”
“One minute.”
“Okay. One minute.”
He left the bathroom, rolling his eyes at Aiser snoring softly on their bed.
Tony unlocked the medicine cabinet and searched for the children’s Tylenol, reading the back of it. He debated on giving Peter liquid or a pill but Peter struggled with swallowing pills so it’ll have to be liquid.
He made another bottle and grabbed the medicine then went back upstairs. He left the second bottle on the bed and grabbed a pacifier instead then walked into the bathroom. “How’s your bath, baby?”
Peter yawned. “My leg hurts.”
“I’m going to give you medicine.”
“Sleeping medicine?” Peter was curious. He wasn’t sick. But he also was never sick every time Steve gave him medicine in his milk to go to sleep.
Tony froze. He knew why Peter was asking. “Um… no. It’s medicine to help you feel better.”
“But… I’m not sick. I don’t want it.”
Tony turned to look at him. “I know you’re not sick. But your leg is hurting. And Tylenol will help.”
Peter looked at his leg in the shallow water. “It’s hurting. But I’m not sick. And… I don’t need medicine cause I don’t wanna feel all fuzzy.”
Tony and Pepper shared a look. Whenever they had to give Peter medicine, he was always too sick to argue. But now that he was only getting medicine from being in pain, he was aware of it.
Tony sat down on the bath step next to Pepper so they were both facing Peter. Tony took a moment to decide if he wanted to dance around the whole getting drugged on purpose topic or to come straight out and talk about it.
He took a breath and looked at Peter’s concerned face. “Baby. Peter. Your mom and I would never give you medicine to make you feel bad. Steve… he drugged you to make you fall asleep and that wasn’t very nice of him.”
Peter looked down. “Who’s Steve?”
Tony’s whole body sighed. He looked over at Pepper, both never knowing how to respond to that. He hated Steve so much for causing his child so much pain. Tony sometimes wished he was still alive just so he could kill him. “The man who took you away from me.”
“Tony.” Pepper warned him, placing a hand on Tony’s arm.
But Tony was waiting for Peter’s reaction. He looked up at Tony through his eyelashes then his face turned dark. “I’m not taking any medicine. I don’t want to go away.”
“Baby. You’re not going to go anywhere.” Tony reached into the bath to hold his tiny hands in one of his. “Medicine is a good thing to help make people feel better.”
“But… it’ll make me float away.”
“It won’t. I promise you. The medicine will just make the pain go away and stop the swelling. You’re in pain, baby boy.” Tony hated how Peter would rather be in pain than take medication in fear of what will happen to him.
Peter was still against it. “No.”
Then Tony got an idea. “I’ll take the medicine first so you can see that it doesn’t do anything.” It wouldn’t do anything to Tony anyways. This was children’s tylenol and he weighed almost twice as much as Peter so it wouldn’t have any effect on him.
“But… then you’ll go to sleep?”
“None of us will go to sleep.” Tony promised him then held out the bottle and the medicine syringe, squeezing the grape flavored liquid into it. He showed Peter. “See?” He then put it in his mouth and swallowed down the sweet flavored medicine. He hadn’t had fruit flavored medicine in decades.
Peter carefully watched, almost like he was waiting for something to happen to his dad. After nothing seemed to happen, he seemed to relax so Tony filled the syringe with more medicine and gave it to Peter, handing him his milk right after.
“There. Now you’ll start to feel better soon.”
Peter looked down at his leg. “It’s still swollen and hurts.” He turned his eyes on his dad, wanting him to fix everything.
Tony would do everything in his power to take Peter’s pain away from him. He couldn’t physically do that but if providing him the comfort he requested, then Tony would do whatever he asked.