Always Be My Baby

They were all on their way to pick Peter up from school. 

The plan wasn’t to send Peter to school at all today as they wanted to leave for their trip in the morning but they fell behind and had to do two loads of laundry if they wanted clean clothes and so Tony decided to send Peter and Morgan to school for half a day to get that free daycare in. 

Now it was noon and time to pick them up. 

He had Morgan sitting in the backseat with Harley and Aiser with all of their stuff packed into the trunk and in the back seats with Harley. Pepper sat in the front, typing in the destination. 

“We’ll be there in three hours and forty minutes.” 

“Hold on. We still have to pick up someone first.” Tony thought she was getting too far ahead of herself. 

“Huh. Really? Who’s that?” She teased him so Tony responded by rolling his eyes at her then pulled into Peter’s school. 

He put the car in park and shut it off, handing the keys over to Pepper like he always did in case of an emergency and she for whatever reason needed to start the car and drive away. It never came to that but they couldn’t be too sure. 

“I’ll be right back.” With that, Tony walked towards the school, and now that he was closer, he was itching to see his baby boy and hold him in his arms. He opened the office door and walked in. “Hi. Can you call Peter down?” 

“Yeah, is he going home?” 

“Yeah. And can you tell his teacher to get him to go pee first since we’re gonna be sitting in the car for a while.” 

He listened to the receptionist call up to Peter’s class while he signed Peter out then waited impatiently for him to walk down. When he saw Peter’s smiling face, his heart melted and he pulled him into his arms. “Hey, baby. How was your day?” 

“Good. Are we going now?” Peter looked up at him with big, curious eyes. 

“Yep. Did you go pee?” 

“Is-is Morgan in the car?” 

“Yeah. Everyone is.” 

“Is Harley in the car?” 

Tony took his bag from him. “Yeah, bud, everyone is. Did you go pee, Peter?” 

Peter paused. “…no. But I don’t need to go.” 

Tony knew he did need to go. “Just try. We’re gonna be sitting in the van for a long time.” 

“No but I actually really don’t need to go. I’m hungry.” 

“You need to try and go because you’re gonna be telling me you need to go ten minutes into the car ride. I’ll wait here. You go pee.” Tony heard someone chuckle then he pushed Peter off into the office towards the bathroom there. “I’ll wait here.” 

Peter stopped to turn to look up at him. “No cause I need new underwear cause poop got in mine.” 

“Okay. Let me see.” Tony turned him around, not even caring about the audience he had watching them at this point. He pulled back Peter’s pants and underwear, seeing a poop smear in them. Great. “Peter.” He sighed. “Okay. You go pee and I’m gonna go get clean underwear from the car for you.” 

Peter went into the bathroom while Tony rushed back to the van. Pepper was a bit nervous to see Tony returning without Peter. “Tony. Where is he?” 

“He pooped his pants.” Tony explained then zipped open Peter’s suitcase and pulled out clean underwear but he saw the box of diapers and hesitated. 

“He what?” 

Harley started laughing. “Seriously? That’s so embarrassing.” 

Tony decided not to grab a diaper. They’d leave that. He didn’t want to encourage Peter to just go pee whenever he felt the need to. “No. He just has a poop stain in his underwear. I’ll be right back.” 

He marched back into the school and walked towards the bathroom door that he thought Peter was in. “Is he in here?” He asked and when the receptionist said yes, he opened the door and shut it behind him. Peter’s head snapped to him. 

“Look at my bellybutton.” He said, lifting his shirt up and trying to show his dad. 

“I know, I’ve seen it before. Did you pee?” 

“Look!” 

“Okay. Wow. I like your bellybutton. Did you pee?” He asked as he squatted down in front of Peter and pulled his shoes off, followed by his pants then his dirty underwear. “Pete. I asked you a question.” 

Peter sighed heavily then opened his legs to look into the toilet. “Just a bit. Like this much,” He showed Tony with his fingers, trying to show him how much although it wasn’t an accurate description. 

Tony only nodded and got his clean underwear onto him. “I wanna wear a pull-up.” Peter admitted, letting his dad lift him up onto his feet. He went to reach down to stop him from pulling the new underwear up but it was already too late. “Dad.” 

“I know you do, Pete, but not right now. You’re gonna wear underwear at least until after lunch.” He stuffed the rest of the stuff back into the bag and swung it over his shoulder. “You ready to go?” 

“What are we eating for lunch?” 

“McDonald’s I think. You want that?” He asked, holding the bathroom door open for him. 

“Yeah!” 

“Where are you guys going, Peter?” Asked one of the receptionists sitting there. 

Peter grabbed onto his dad’s hand. “To McDonald’s.” 

“Wow. But I mean for your trip. Where are you going?” 

“Oh. Uhhh… to-to the forest.” 

She turned to Tony for clearance. “We’re just getting away from the busy city for a few days. There’s this lake house we’re going to rent out and stay at. It’s about four hours away so we’re gonna be in the car for a while.” 

Peter turned to look up at Tony, having zero filter. “And I’m gonna pee in my car seat.” 

All the women chuckled at that. 

“Oh, you better not, baby.” He pulled Peter towards the doors to leave before he said anything else. 

“Yeah cause if I do then I’ll wear a diaper.” Peter grinned shyly, looking up at his dad for his reaction. Tony couldn’t suppress the gasp then pulled Peter against his side. 

“No. You’re being silly.” 

“You wear diapers, Peter?” Asked one of the women in the office who now stood there, leaning against the desk to watch Peter and his dad. She was amused at the situation and Tony couldn’t tell if they thought he was just being silly or not. 

Peter turned to her, a grin on his face. 

Tony pulled him away and spoke before he could answer and tell everyone their personal business. “You’re being silly, c’mon. Let’s go to McDonald’s. You wanna go see everyone in the car? They’re all waiting for you.” 

“Yeah! And I want fries and with Morgan.” He skipped along next to his dad on the way to the van and once the back door was open, he grinned at Morgan. “Hi! Did you miss me?” 

“Yeah. Mom says we’re going to McDonald’s. I want chicken nuggets!” She watched Tony strap him into the car seat, like he did every time they got into the car. They began talking about what they were going to do once they got to the lake house and Tony loved listening to their conversations. 

It wasn’t Bali or Hawaii and it was too cold out to be swimming in the lake but it was going to be such an amazing and well needed get away. To just take a break from the city life and the craziness of everything. 

Tony and Pepper were trying to stop the bottle with Peter and it was not working like they had hoped. They suggested it each night and Peter was having none of it which just resulted in Peter screaming until they gave in. 

And so they hoped having a different scenery would help, it was worth a shot. 

Otherwise they didn’t know what they were going to do. They’ve never done this before. 

They had parenting books on how to drop the bottle with older toddlers but they weren’t any parenting books on how to drop the bottle for a fourteen year old who had the sass and attitude of a teenager but the emotional state of a toddler. 

They were in a rut. No, scratch that. They were in a massive hole that they just couldn’t climb out of. 

Tony looked in the rearview mirror and saw Peter looking for something in the back. “What’re you looking for, bud?” 

Peter turned to look at him. “Nothing.” 

“Okay…” He could see right through his lie but he actually didn’t know what he was looking for so he pulled into the drive thru and got everyone’s orders but the plan was to eat it as they drove, in hopes of getting there sooner but it also meant more chance of a mess. 

“I want my Fruitopia.” Peter tried to reach forward but the straps stopped him. 

“Hang on. I’m pouring it into a cup so you don’t spill it. That’s the last thing we need right now.” Pepper raised her eyebrows at him then secured the lid onto the nuby cup, handing it back to him. 

“Thanks.” He took a few sips, pulling off to catch his breath after. “That’s yummy.” He turned to Morgan and tugged on the strap between his legs. “Did you get the same as me?” 

“Yeah but I don’t need mine in a sippy cup. I’m eleven.” 

Peter frowned. “So? No one likes a show off.” He waved his hand out to hit her but she was too far to reach so he decided to take a bite of his chicken nugget instead, tugging again on the strap between his legs. 

“Dad?” Harley called to get his dad’s attention. “There’s this Waffle House like thirty minutes away from the location. But it’s like fifteen minutes out of the way. Can we still go?” 

Tony turned to look at Pepper, having a silent conversation with her. “Maybe not today. We can go tomorrow for a late breakfast maybe. If you guys want to.” 

Peter wasn’t listening, too busy with the conversation he was having with Morgan to care. He felt his underwear become warm so he looked down to watch his feet track pants turn a dark gray with the wetness. He took another bite of his chicken nugget and looked at his mom but she was too busy on her phone to notice. 

He grabbed his juice to take another sip, not having even realized he had been peeing. He sighed. “Daddy?” 

“Yeah, baby?” 

“I peed.” 

Tony looked in the rearview then at Pepper, seeing her look back and disappointment appeared on her face. “Peter. We just started driving. How did that happen?” 

Peter shrugged and continued to drink his juice. 

“Peter. Why didn’t you tell us you needed to go?” Tony asked him, already pulling off the highway to find a parking lot or somewhere to pull off. 

Peter shrugged again and continued drinking. “I didn’t feel it.” 

That was concerning. Tony shared a look with Pepper. “You have to tell us, honey.” Pepper tried but she didn’t know what was going on with Peter, his accidents have started becoming more regular like when they first got him back four years ago. It was concerning but definitely not surprising. 

Morgan was watching Peter closely. “Why’d you do that, Petey?” 

With a sigh, Peter shrugged followed by a shiver. He was cold and wet and wanted to put on dry clothes. He looked at his dad for that. “Daddy.” 

“Yeah?” 

“I’m wet.” 

“I know, baby. I can’t just stop in the middle of the street. I gotta park the car.” Tony managed to find a Walmart parking lot and parked far away from the rest of the cars. He then shut the car off and opened up the back door, shaking his head at the mess. “What happened?” 

“I don’t know.” Peter looked down at himself then at Tony to carefully watch his reaction. He couldn’t tell if he was angry or not. Steve never was. He knew that Steve wanted him to only use the toilet before bed but he encouraged Peter to have accidents so he could help him change all while telling Peter he was just too young to hold it. Peter didn’t actually know what age wasn’t too young. 

Harley didn’t have any accidents. Neither did Morgan. And she was younger than him. 

He watched as Tony unbuckled him. “Was I bad?” 

“No, baby. Not for this. Mom and I just want you to tell us. You can’t just go pee whenever you feel like you need to.” He gently explained to him and sat on the floor of the van while he tried to clean as much of the pee off the car seat as possible. 

Peter watched him, leaning against the front seat. “But I didn’t feel it. It just came out.” 

That was concerning but Tony didn’t necessarily know what Peter meant. He nodded. “Okay. I’m putting you in a diaper then.” 

Peter was okay with that. He watched Tony dig in a bag for something then pulled out two packages of wipes, tossing one away. “Harley, grab me a diaper from the box there, will you?” 

Harley leaned down and dug in the box, pulling five out and tossing them forward. “Here. Four for each pit stop.” 

“Wow. Thanks.” Tony instructed Peter to strip from his wet clothes and pulled out three wipes, thoroughly wiping his privates and legs to get rid of any potential rashes. “Pete?” 

“Huh?” 

“Just because I’m putting this on you, I still want you to speak up if you need to pee. Okay? Then we will stop. This is just to keep you dry.” He explained to him, making sure Peter was listening then sliding the pull-up between his legs and taping it up at the sides. 

“I will. And tell Morgan to too. We can’t be stopping so much for you.” He scolded her, walking over to stand in front of her car seat. 

“I do!” 

“Peter. Morgan. No fighting.” Pepper weakly warned them but it worked. “Come here, Peter.” She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards her, pulling out the ruffles between his legs to help prevent leaks. “Are you excited to be there?” 

“Uh huh.” 

Once Tony was finished cleaning the car seat, he grabbed clean track pants and handed them to Peter to put on. “Come sit down and let her buckle you in.” 

“But it’s all wet.” He touched the fabric of the seat to see but it was just a bit damp so he grumbled and turned to sit himself down. “Are we there yet? I want to explore the haunted house with Morgan and Harley.” 

Tony rolled his eyes. “For the last time, it’s not haunted.” 

“Oh it definitely is.” Harley added his input. 

Ever since Tony and Pepper showed them the pictures of the house they would be staying at for a few days, the kids kept saying that it was haunted. Of course it wasn’t, well, most likely not. 

Tony got back into the driver's seat and continued on their journey. “I’m pretty sure it’s not.” 

“It is! I bet five people were murdered there!” Peter exclaimed, a bit too excited at that bit of information. “And then the ghost is going to kill us too!” 

“Don’t worry. If there’s a killer ghost in the house, I’ll protect you.” Tony promised. 

“You won’t be able to. They always kill the adults first then they come after the kids!” Peter gasped and Tony had no idea where he was getting this information from. 

He chuckled and turned to look at Pepper, maybe they would mess with the kids a little bit. “Actually, didn’t the neighbours across the lake witness something strange happening in the house last night?” 

The conversation carried on for the next little while, enough for Peter to start to drift his eyes shut, sleep soon taking over. Tony turned on the sleep music and instructed everyone else to be quiet so Peter could nap. It would save them all later so they didn’t have to deal with a cranky boy for the rest of the day. 

Peter stuck his thumb in his mouth and his head dropped forward, looking like it was at an awkward angle. At least he was sleeping. 

.

.

.

Peter didn’t even remember falling asleep. 

The last thing he remembered was talking and laughing with his family and then he was just out. He lifted his head up and stretched his stiff legs out, arching his back the best he could in his seat. “Are we there yet?” 

“Oh.” Tony hadn’t even realized he woke up, too busy in his own thoughts. “Soon. About one more hour.” He double checked the gps and the time. Maybe they should be pulling over soon to give the kids a break to stretch their legs. 

“I need to pee.” Morgan announced and Tony was already pulling over. He pulled into a random plaza that had a donut shop that he tried to prevent everyone from seeing and a Burger King so he headed in that direction. 

“I need to pee too.” Peter squeezed his legs together to try and hold it in like Morgan was doing. “Dad. Drive faster.” 

“We’re already stopped. We’re going into Burger King so do you guys want ice cream?” Tony didn’t even know why he had to ask, it was an obvious yes. 

He put Aiser on a leash and held it awkwardly with one hand so he could unbuckle Peter. “Are you dry?” 

“Yeah.” Grinned Peter. 

Tony double checked, feeling that he was wrong so he reached for the diaper box between the two seats, reaching in to pull one out and then grabbed the wipes. “Okay. Let’s go in. We’re gonna go to the bathroom quickly first.” 

“Do they have chocolate ice cream?” 

“I actually have no idea. I think they do.” He pulled Peter across the street and got Aiser tried to a tree out front then held the door open for everyone. 

Morgan ran in first. “There’s a play place here!” She exclaimed. “Petey! Come! Let’s go play in it!” 

“Guys. We don’t have time. We have to go.” Pepper also really didn’t like the germs that those play places had. It was disgusting and they most definitely never got washed. 

Tony looked inside the room, seeing that it was empty. The whole fast food restaurant was empty besides for an old couple that looked to be enjoying the peace and quiet. They were sitting across from each other and it made Tony think about how that was going to be him and Pepper one day when all of their kids were older and didn’t need them as much anymore. Although Tony secretly, or not so secretly hoped Peter would always need him. 

“Dad. Can we? I want to go play in there?” Peter tugged on his fathers hand, making puppy dog eyes to get his dad to give in. 

Tony sighed because he knew he was going to give in. Not because it was Peter but because he just wanted his kids to be able to burn off some steam so they weren’t too hyper for the rest of the car ride. “Okay but only for fifteen minutes then we gotta go pee and get our ice cream so we can go.” 

“Twenty minutes!” 

“Want me to make it ten?” 

“No!” Peter ran off with Morgan and surprisingly Harley went into the playroom to join them but he didn’t dare touch the germ infested plastic that smelt like diapers and sweat. 

Tony sat down at the table by the glass window to watch them with Pepper across from him, just like the older couple there. He nodded over to them. “That’s us in twenty years.” 

She turned to look at them. “Twenty years, that’s so weird to think of.” Harley would be forty and with a family of his own. Wow. Peter would be thirty four years old, she couldn’t imagine that. She couldn’t even imagine Peter at sixteen never mind him starting a family with someone. 

Pepper chuckled. “What?” Asked Tony, curiously. 

“Nothing just, I’m just laughing because when Peter starts to date, you’re gonna be so overprotective of him. Oh. And Morgan. I can’t even imagine them dating, never mind twenty years from now.” 

Tony looked through the glass window, he couldn’t see them but he knew they were in there. “That’s a given. I’m glad we’re not there yet. I’m not ready for Peter to start dating.” 

Pepper laughed. He didn’t remember when Harley brought home his first girlfriend. He was sixteen but Tony couldn’t remember how he reacted. He remembered when he had to give Harley the birds and the bees talk to him but he already knew all about that. Tony couldn’t really remember much from those seven years without Peter. 

Everything was basically a foggy memory. 

He didn’t want to have that talk with Peter. “When do you think we should give Peter the sex talk? And Morgan. Oh god, I don’t want to do that.” 

“I can’t remember telling Harley. Do you?” 

“Honestly I don’t know. I think he was sixteen. We were definitely extremely late with that though.” He looked down. He had other things on his mind. 

“Well I don’t think Peter’s ready for that yet. He probably thinks a girl seeing him naked will get her pregnant.” Pepper said and then they both started laughing. 

Tony honestly didn’t know. He didn’t talk to Peter about that kinda stuff but maybe he should. “Probably. He’s so innocent. I’m gonna keep him that way.” He knew that he probably sounded a bit crazy but he honestly didn’t care. “Oh. It’s been fifteen minutes. I’ll get them.” 

“Times up, guys. Time to go pee and get ice cream.” 

Peter saw him and went to try and climb up the slide but Tony was faster and grabbed his foot, pulling him down then lifting him up. “Not so fast, are you? I beat you!” 

“I wanna go down the slide one more time.” Peter made grabby hands for the slide but Tony carried him out. 

“Nope. You had fifteen minutes already. Let’s go pee.” 

“I already went in my pull-up.” Peter looked between his legs and Tony spotted the older couple looking over at them. At least they wouldn’t ever see them again. 

Tony placed him on his feet and pulled Morgan out of the playroom. “Okay. You go pee with your mom, Morg. I’ll take Peter.” He took the diaper and wipes from Pepper, then the five of them made their way to the bathrooms only to find out that the men’s bathroom was closed. “Really?” 

“The woman’s is open. I’ll take him and Morgan. You go get us ice cream.” She took the changing supplies from Tony. “But not in a cone. In a bowl. Cones are too messy.” When she saw that Tony was hesitant to let Peter go, she gave him a look. “Tony. I’ve got him. I’ll be quick. Come guys.” 

“Why am I in the girls bathroom?” Asked Peter, looking around as if he was in a magical world. 

“Because the boys bathroom is closed.” She gently pushed Morgan towards one of the stalls. “Morgan, you go pee.” 

“I want to go pee too.” When he tried to walk into a stall, Pepper pulled him away and into the wheelchair stall, hoping no one came while she was in there. She hated using one but a single stall just wouldn’t have been big enough for the two of them. 

Pepper placed the diaper and wipes on the mini rack in there then squatted down to pull down his pants. “Do you need to pee first?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Okay.” Pepper pulled the diaper out from between his legs and tossed it in the garbage. “Go quickly.” 

“Put the toilet seat on.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“The-the one so I don’t fall in.” Peter explained, referring to the one they had at home but it was then that she realized they forgot to bring it on this trip and now Peter was going to be afraid to sit on the toilet. Great. 

Morgan peeked under the stall. “Mom. I’m done. Hey! I see Peter’s butt!” 

Peter turned to give her a dirty look. “Stop looking at me.”   

“Morgan, go wash your hands.” 

“I already did.” 

“Well wash them again.” Pepper used to hate doing diaper changes in public bathrooms when Peter was little and now here she was doing it all over again although this time Peter had something to complain about. “Can you just stand and go-” 

“No! I don’t know how.” He refused to do that, even at home. “I want dad. Not you.” 

That hurt a bit to hear. Pepper knew it was because Tony always did this stuff for him but still, it still hurt to hear. “Dad is getting us ice cream. Can you just go pee-” 

“No. Not in there.” He looked towards the toilet like it would physically eat him alive and Pepper didn’t want to fight with him so she grabbed the wipes and wiped him clean. “Ow. That’s cold.” 

“Sorry. Stand still.” She quickly cleaned him up and got a fresh diaper on him, trying to be really quick. 

“Wait. Where’s my pull-ups?” Asked Peter, tugging on the side straps so Pepper tugged his track pants up to stop him. “Huh?” 

“We left them at home. If you aren’t gonna be trying to use the toilet while you’re wearing them, you don’t need them.” She briefly explained hers and Tony’s decision to have him wear diapers at night as opposed to pull-ups that leaked at times. That was their decision that was working pretty well and saved Tony from a few late night wake ups. 

“Oh. Are you gonna buy me more though?” He asked as he was pulled out to wash his hands. 

Pepper needed to use the toilet now. “No. We have a whole box in the car, baby. We don’t need anymore.” 

“Anymore what?” 

Peter turned to his sister. “Anymore pull-ups.” He peeked under the stall to see his mom but she was already opening up the door. “I wanna go see dad. Be faster. You’re so slow.” 

“Because I had to change your bum.” She teased, having to wash her hands quickly to follow her kids out of the bathroom. 

Peter ran out first like the room was on fire and saw Tony and Harley holding their ice creams for them. He saw the Oreo one and reached up for the cup. “Dad, I want this one.” 

Tony already knew that’s the flavour he’d be wanting so he hands the ice cream cup to him and hopes he doesn’t make too much of a mess in the car. They’re about an hour from the cottage forest house. It looked stunning on the website and they were paying good money to stay in it for the weekend so Tony knew it would be stunning in real life too. 

He turned the music down in the car to listen to Peter rambling about some story in particular, Tony lost the plot, it was either a dream he had or he was making up some elaborate story. Either way, Tony wasn’t really listening. 

They drove for about twenty minutes down a dirt road, totally isolated from everyone and everything else. “We’re looking for a driveway here somewhere.” He slowed down, not worrying about any cars coming up behind them. “It’ll say 3089 Parkview Way.” 

“I don’t see it.” Peter glanced out his window, trying to be of help. He watched the trees pass by while munching on some goldfish and one gummy worm his mom let him have. 

He switched colours with Morgan since his was green and yellow and hers was pink and purple, much sweeter. 

“It’s this driveway here, Tony.” Pepper pointed to a house on their left and Tony turned down the long driveway, appreciating the fact that there were no other houses around so they’d have all the privacy they could ask for. 

There was way more snow up here compared to the city. The snow hadn’t been plowed so it was still fresh and thick. 

“Wow. The cabin looks beautiful. Oh! And I see that it has a real fireplace.” 

Tony would think twice about lighting that with 2 young kids running around and a dog. Although Aiser would know better. Also, he’s completely healed but still taking daily medication to help with the longer effects from the dog attack which makes him a bit more sleepy and less active. 

Parking the SUV at the side of the cabin, Tony shut it off and got out, immediately opening up the back door to see Peter eagerly wanting out. 

“Can we build a snow fort?” Peter asked as Tony got him unbuckled, him pulling his arms out and arching his back in a stretch. “I took my boots off.” 

“I know. Get them on before you get out. Also put your jacket on.” 

Peter jumped into the snow with just his socks. “Ahhhh!” 

Tony didn’t even bother fighting with him. He rolled his eyes, grabbing his kids jacket and boots, tucking it underneath his arm so he could pull the keys to the cabin out of his pocket. “Let’s come back for the bags.” 

“Did we bring a sled, dad? I don’t see one in the trunk.” Morgan picked up some snow and formed it into a ball, whipping it at Peter’s back. 

“Hey!” Peter made his own snowball and whipped it at his sister's face. “Got you!” 

“Peter, you will get sick before we can even start our getaway. Go inside and get proper outdoor clothing on.” Pepper took his arm, having to pull the boy up the steps of the cabin. “Can you actually walk, Peter?” Pepper grunted when Peter squatted down to try and sit in the snow so Tony came up behind and lifted him up by his arm, carrying him that way all the way to the front door. 

He knew it looked bad, he was basically dragging his kid by his upper arm, but no one was around to see it and he knew it didn’t actually hurt Peter, otherwise he’d never do it. 

He unlocked the door with one hand then pushed it open, placing Peter on his bum inside. Peter crawled further in and Tony chuckled at his wet butt from the snow. 

“Wow! It’s so beautiful here! It looks like we’re in a fairytale princess movie.” Morgan rushed into the room, wide eyed. “And Peter’s Cinderella.” 

“Hey. I’m not a princess! I’m a prince, I’m going to be the prince that saves the princess by kissing her.” Peter said then stood up, walking further into the cabin to look around. 

“Uh,” Tony stopped him because his boy wasn’t kissing anyone. Ever. “And who are you kissing?” 

“I don’t know. A girl.” Peter shrugged, grinning up at his dad. 

“No you’re not. Don’t make me keep you locked up in the house forever to keep you mine.” Tony joked but there was some truth to that. He didn’t like the idea of his boy growing up. 

Pepper walked by Tony to smack his bicep. “Stop, Tony. He’s not going to know you’re joking.” 

Tony squeezed Peter’s cheeks together. “Because I’m not.” 

Rolling her eyes at her husband's possessive behaviour, she walked into the kitchen and turned on the tap to smell the water. Supposedly the water came from city pipes, even all the way out here so it was safe to drink. “I heard the master bedroom has a giant Jacuzzi.” 

Morgan sequelled, grabbing Peter’s hands. “We can take a bath together tonight in the Jacuzzi!” 

“And dad can join us.” 

“I don’t know about that but I’ll watch you guys.” The last time Tony took a bath with his kids, he came out with bruises from them climbing all over him. Never again. He’ll consider taking a bath with Peter when he’s sleepy and cuddly and not hyper and jumpy. 

“I found a creepy basement.” Harley announced. He was standing in front of an open door and looking down some wooden steps that led to a dark basement. “Someone was definitely murdered down here. Maybe kidnapped and held…” Harley stopped himself. He didn’t mean to say it like that. He looked at his dad to see if he picked up on that but of course he did. He looked at his brother but it seemed to have gone right over his head. Thankfully. Tony was also looking at Peter to see his reaction. 

“The house is not haunted, you guys.” Tony shut the door and looked around for a lock or something. He’d have to do a walk around and childproof the house soon. Or he should say Peter proof the house. That made more sense. 

“Let’s bring in the groceries so we can eat some lunch and then go exploring around the property.” Pepper pulled their attention away from the basement door. “Peter, I want you putting your snow boots and jacket on if you leave this house.” 

“Why? It’s cold in here too.” 

Tony chuckled at his sass then moved to turn the heat on. He had a point. 

“We’ll bring all the groceries in.” Harley told his parents as he helped his brother get his boots and jacket on then walked out of the house. Tony looked over at Pepper. 

“I’m going to do a quick walk around, just to make sure everything’s safe.” It wasn’t a big cabin, about ¼ the size of their house but it was old, built in the 1890 supposedly which meant there would be a secret area where Peter would find and potentially hurt himself, despite the few renovations that happened here. 

Tony went to begin his walk through when he heard Peter’s crying from outside. We’ve only been here for ten minutes, come on! Tony and Pepper raced out and found Peter lying on his stomach just at the bottom of the stairs on the front porch. He must’ve lost his balance and fell down the steps. 

Tony ran down and lifted him up, checking for any blood or knocked out teeth. “You’re okay. You just fell, huh?” 

Peter continued crying in his dads arms, trying to process what just happened. It didn’t necessarily hurt but it was scary. He stuck his thumb in his mouth and wiped the snow off his hand onto his coat. 

“See, you’re okay, little man. You need to be more careful where you’re walking.” Tony set him back on his feet and watched him stand there for a few moments, then Peter joined his siblings at the truck, thumb still lodged in his mouth. “I’m surprised he never asked for a soother.” Tony admitted to Pepper. They decided to take bottles away before the pacifier since they thought bottles would be easier. 

They tried one night then gave up. 

Harley and Morgan carried all the bags while Peter stood there, still seeming in a daze. “Pete? You good?” Tony began walking towards him as Peter opened up the back door and climbed in. “Peter?” He jumped out but with a pacifier in his mouth and Tony sighed. He should’ve known. Spoke too soon. 

Tony didn’t say anything. He held his hand out for him so they could walk back into the cabin and eat some lunch. 

Lunch consisted of grilled cheese with pickles for Peter and some corn and boxed mashed potatoes. It was a simple and yummy meal that all his kids enjoyed. Especially Peter. 

He had ketchup all over his face and his hands were sticky as he drank chocolate milk from a bottle, sitting on Tony’s lap. Tony picked at the food Peter didn’t eat, watching Pepper go over the map that she found while cooking. 

She was trying to make an exciting game out of exploring the property later and despite Peter being silent as he drank, Tony could tell he was still interested. 

“But why’s that part crossed off?” Morgan asked, pointing to the old map. 

“Cause ‘tis huanted.” Peter spoke around the silicone nipple. He was about half way done his chocolate milk but Tony could tell he was more focused on sucking the nipple rather than actually drinking it. 

“Maybe. We have to go and check it out.” Pepper closed the map. “But first, you Mr, need to have a diaper change and put on some thicker and warmer clothes.” Pepper stood up and held her hand out for him. 

“I can do it, Pep.” Tony insisted, holding Peter’s stomach. 

“He's coming with me, Tony. I need you to bring in all our bags.” She reached down and pulled Peter up, taking his sticky hand and leading him up the stairs. Tony sighed as he watched them go. “Are you so excited to go exploring?” 

“Yeah. We’re gonna go see the whole property.” 

“We’ll try. It’s pretty big.” Pepper brought him into the master bedroom where he would be sleeping with them tonight, as always. In the far corner was a crib along with a few baby accessories. Peter pointed to the crib. 

“There’s no baby.” 

“I think it’s just here just in case some families have a baby.” She pulled him into the bathroom to get his hands and face cleaned. 

Peter grabbed his bottle again once his mom was done then he walked back into the bedroom and over to the crib, looking in. “Aiser can sleep in here.” 

“He’s not a baby, silly.” Pepper tugged down his track pants, taking them off of him and then pulling his shirt off. “I’m going to ask you an important question, okay?” 

“What?” 

“Do you think you can go outside in underwear and stay dry?” Pepper asked him. It was extremely risky and she didn’t know if she should even try to risk him wetting himself in -3 weather. 

“Um, I think I can just wear a diaper.” 

“No underwear then?” 

“Umm…” Peter tried to decide what his mom wanted from him. But also his dad preferred him in a diaper, especially in the cold. “A diaper.” 

“Okay, honey. That’s fine.” She had to wait for Tony to bring the bags up before she changed him anyways. 

Peter leaned against the crib. It looked comfy inside. “Morgan can put her dolls in here. Remember that one time she brought her doll on vacation and someone thought it was a real doll?” He laughed. 

“I remember. Maybe you can ask her if she brought her dolls on this trip.” Usually Peter was Morgan’s live doll that she made him act as when they played house, despite Peter complaining about it. 

Tony walked into the master bedroom with the bags and patted Peter’s butt. “You claiming your bed for the night?” He teased, earning himself a dirty look from Peter. 

“No, dad. I’m just looking at it.” Peter stepped away from the crib and looked at the bags on the floor. “Is that one mine?” 

“Yours is always the biggest.” Tony ruffled his hair as he passed by. He took the bag from Peter and set it on the bed then sat down. If Pepper wasn’t going to let him change his own son, he’d stay to keep him company. 

“Don’t you have some sleds to find?” Pepper looked at him, but they both knew he wasn’t going anywhere. Tony took a seat on the bed and Peter stood between his legs, leaning against him. 

“Yeah. Aren’t you going to go find the sleds, dad?” 

Pepper opened the bag and pulled out a stack of diapers and some wipes. Since Peter was already standing up, she decided to just change him there. She pulled off his dirty diaper but shook her head once she saw that Peter had gone poop. “Peter. You cannot be pooping in your diaper.” 

“Oh.” Peter looked into Tony’s eyes, waiting for his reaction. 

“I didn’t even realize he did.” Tony said. 

“It was just a bit.” Pepper folded the diaper up and began wiping him clean from front to back. 

Tony tisked at him. “You’ll have a sore bum if you poo and don’t tell me.” 

“Oh.” 

“Yeah. Oh.” Tony tried to distract him until Pepper was done. “I wonder if we’ll find any fast hills to go down.” 

Peter grinned but didn’t say anything. 

“Maybe we’ll find a small hill.” 

“Not a small one. A big big one.” 

“I’m not sure.” 

“Stay here, Peter. I’m going to get some rash cream.” Pepper grabbed all the garbage and disappeared into the bathroom. 

“Turn around.” Tony instructed so he could see how bad his rash was. Peter just never learned. Slowly, Peter turned around and when Tony sighed, Peter turned back around to continue facing him. 

“It doesn’t hurt.” 

“For now. You need to tell mom or me when you need to poop so we can immediately take you to a toilet.” 

“Or we can just put him in underwear.” Pepper walked back over with rash cream, not happy with Peter at all. But mainly with Tony for encouraging this. “No more pooping in your diaper, Peter, you’re a big boy.” 

Tony watched the frown appear on Peter’s face as his mom applied cream all over him. “I am a big boy.” He insisted, stomping his foot for good measure. 

“Then act like it and go poop in the toilet. Because right now I’m not sure if you’re my fourteen year old or my four year old.” 

“Pepper.” Tony warned. That surely wasn’t fair to Peter. 

“Peter, you cannot poop in your diaper. You’ll get awful rashes again and I know you know what that feels like.” Pepper wiped the cream off her fingers in the clean diaper and slid it between his legs. “This is just so just in case accidents, honey. Okay?” 

“Okay, mommy.” Peter had his arms crossed at this point and was not happy. Once the diaper was secured, he climbed into his dads lap and wrapped his arms around him. “I want you to get me dressed. Not mommy. Also I want milk.” 

Tony looked at Pepper. Peter was sensitive and didn’t take well to Pepper saying things like that. Although Pepper would argue that Peter only acted that way since Tony babied him and encouraged it. But Tony didn’t see it that way, his little boy was stolen from him and returned with trauma, of course he had the right to baby him a little bit. Okay, a lot. 

It wasn’t like Peter was going to be twenty years old and Tony still treating him like a baby, no, he’d stop by then. Of course Peter would always be his baby but he would let actively treat him like one. 

Even if Pepper tells him to stop all the time. 

He can’t. 

Sue him. 

Tony looked up to find Pepper staring at him. “What?” 

“I’m going to finish getting him ready and you can go make him a bottle of milk.” 

Peter nodded, stepping away from Tony so he could go do that for him. “Yeah. And make sure I can take it outside with me.” 

“Then I’m making it in one of your small bottles. No reason you need to bring a big one out.” He squeezed Peter’s cheeks as he left, walking down the long creepy hallway and down the creaky steps. He heard talking in the kitchen and turned the corner to see that Morgan and Harley were all ready to go. “Your brother is almost done getting ready. Won’t be long now.” 

“That’s fine. We’re just talking about how we’re going to toss snowballs at Peter when he least expects it.” Harley teased, looking at their dad for his reaction. He would never actually do that to his brother but it was funny to think about. He’d probably do it to Morgan, at least he knew she wouldn’t cry. Peter was hard to read, he would either laugh and fight back to fall to the ground and start crying. He didn’t want to risk it. 

“Don’t you dare.” Tony warned but he knew his kids knew better than to attack poor innocent Peter. 

He dug in the bag they brought with all the bottles and grabbed some milk from the fridge, pouring some milk into one of the smaller sippy cups with a handle on it. Peter wouldn’t mind the difference in the spout considering he wasn’t using it for comfort and just wanted it. 

He held onto it as he waited for Peter to walk down the stairs, hand in hand with Pepper. Out of all his kids, Tony had to admit that Peter was the cutest in his snow gear. His cheeks were puffed out and his curls stuck out of his hat. He was the most perfect thing ever. 

“You look cozy.” He commented and waited for Peter to waddle his way over to him. “You ready to head out?” 

“Where’s my milky?” 

Tony chuckled, showing him the bottle. “Right here.” 

“Thank you.” He took a sip of it, trying to figure out how to hold it in his thick mittens. He was ready to go. He had his winter boots on, all his gear, and he was starting to sweat. The only one left to get ready was Tony, as always, since he was the one having to get Peter dressed. “Do you need help getting dressed, dad? I can help you.” 

“Thank you, baby. That’s so kind of you. But I’m good.” Tony grabbed his snow pants and jacket, getting everything on as fast as possible as everyone else started making their way outside, including Aiser who was dressed in his own snowsuit and boots. Tony thought he looked hilarious, they weren’t one for dressing up their dog but it was literally freezing out and it would be cruel to send him outside without proper gear. 

Peter was the first one out and jumped into the snow, falling to his hand and knees to lick up the snow. “It’s like cotton candy.” 

“Try the yellow flavour.” Harley teased and Peter tossed a handful of snow at him. 

“Shut up. I know that’s pee. I’m not an idiot, idiot.” 

“Peter. Don’t call your brother an idiot.” Pepper warned lightheartedly, walking past him, holding Tony’s hand but he let go to wait by Peter. “Let’s go you boys.” 

Leaning down, Tony scooped Peter onto his feet, chuckling at the right grip he had on that bottle. That boy wasn’t letting that go anytime soon. 

The six of them walked their way into the forest, apparently they’d know when they reached the end of the property because there were signs along the trees that read private property. And they’d been walking for twenty minutes and still no signs. Although those twenty minutes were full of stops for Peter and Morgan to look at stuff. 

Peppers phone vibrated in her pocket. 

“You get reception out here?” Tony was surprised. 

“Apparently.” She answered the FaceTime call. “Hi mom.” 

“Ohhh hi honey. I’m just calling to say hi to everyone. Where’s the kids? Where’s Peter?” 

Tony leaned into the camera view. “Hi Alice. How are you?” 

“Hi Tony. We’re good here. Mike went on a two day golfing trip so I’m all alone and wanted to see my grand babies. How’s your shadow?” 

Tony chuckled. “He’s good. I’ll get him.” 

While Tony went to go collect Peter, Pepper spoke to her mom. “We made it to the cabin in the woods. It’s stunning here. I wish you and dad were here.” 

“Oh me too. We have to plan to see each other again. Maybe next week?” 

“Mom,” Pepper wasn’t so sure about that. “That’s a bit too soon. We’ll need to plan better.” 

“I know. But no one’s getting any younger and I just know Peter’s grown about ten feet already.” 

“Don’t let Tony hear you say that.” She meant it to be funny but it was true, Tony genuinely got anxiety at Peter growing up which transferred onto Peter getting anxiety to grow up. It was a whole mess. 

Tony walked over with Peter in his arms, he was so puffed out in his window snowsuit, it was absolutely adorable. “Here’s the star of the show.” He announced, walking into view with Peter. 

Alice gasped. “Oh my goodness. Look at you. Are you having fun, my sweet, sweet boy? Grandma misses you so so much.” 

“Yeah.” Peter giggled in his dads arms. He was sliding down. “Come see us then. We’re playing in the snow and ‘dares a big mountain ‘dare.” He pointed off into the distance where there was definitely no mountain. 

“A mountain you say, in New York?” 

Peter nodded. Tony wondered if he knew how cute he was. “Yeah. ‘Dares mountains.” 

“There’s no mountains.” Tony corrected his speech then set him on his feet because he was heavy in his snowsuit. “Tell grandma what we’re looking for.” Tony took the phone from Pepper and kneeled down beside Peter. 

“Umm… the cave.” 

“A cave? Wow.” 

“It’s not a cave… it’s a…?” Tony prompted Peter but he wasn’t telling her anything. 

“When I step side to side I flatten the snow. Look.” 

Tony stood up, stretching his legs out. “Sorry, Alice. He’s got other things on his mind. We’re looking for a broken down stone barn. Supposedly there’s one on the property.” 

“Aww, how badly I wish I was there with you guys. Where’s my other grand babies?” 

“Harley and Morgan ran off ahead somewhere.” He could easily spot them in the white snow but he felt safer now that Peter was standing with him and not running up ahead with them. “Guys! Come talk to your grandma!” 

“Yeah! Come back!” Peter yelled back then squatted down by a log. Tony eyed him suspiciously. “What?” 

“Nothing.” 

Peter continued squatting down, still looking up at his dad even when he looked away. 

“I’ll talk to grandma.” Morgan snatched the phone from her dad. “Hi grandma. We’re staying at this really amazing haunted cabin in the woods. Harley says someone was kidnapped and held in the basement.” 

“Morgan. Don’t joke like that.” Tony hated talks of any kind about kidnapping for obvious reasons. He looked down at Peter to see his reaction and his boy was still looking up at him. 

“Anyways,” Morgan continued and flipped the camera. “Harley’s there, Aisers here, Petey brought a bottle with him, that’s mom and dad is there. I’m here.” 

“I hope you guys are having fun. You all look so cozy.” 

“Yeah.” Morgan handed the phone back to Tony and pulled Peter up. “Let’s go. Stop sitting down. We need to look for the treasure before the sun sets or we’ll all be lost for good.” 

“Don’t run too far ahead. If you can’t see me, I can’t see you. Harley, go with them and make sure they don’t get into any trouble.” 

“They’re leading the way. They’re the ones going to lead me into trouble.” He took Peter’s hand as he let them lead him away. “If we’re lucky, we’ll spot a bear.” 

“That wouldn’t be lucky. That would be the opposite of lucky.” Peter pulled his hand out of his brothers to run up ahead but he didn’t get very far. 

Morgan followed along. “We’d have to play dead.” 

“Only if it’s a black bear. Or a brown bear.” Peter thought for a moment, switching his bottle to his other hand. “I actually don’t know the difference and that’s why I’d die first.” 

“A brown bear you play dead and a black bear you gotta make a bunch of noise. I’m 99% sure.” Harley laughed, genuinely hoping they didn’t come across any bear. Poor Aiser couldn't be a chew toy to a bear and live. 

“I could definitely outrun a bear. I’m fast. I’m super fast.” Peter made his point by dashing ahead but only for a few seconds then he got tired and sat down. “See?” 

“Peter!” Tony yelled from way behind them, in a warning. 

“I’m not running ahead!” Peter yelled back, slightly annoyed. 

“Wanna race?” Morgan helped to pull Peter into a standing position. 

Peter looked in the direction they were walking in. “Maybe towards mom and dad instead.” 

“No, let’s go in the direction the map is showing us.” 

“Morgan. Don’t tempt him. You know better. He doesn’t.” 

“Hey!” Peter shoved Harley. “I do know better. I know most.” 

“Oh yeah? Then why are you carrying around a bottle and wearing a diaper?” 

Peter groaned, crossing his arms over his chest. “Because I’m allowed to. Mom and dad say so.” 

“Okay, little dude.” Harley knew better than to tease Peter, it wouldn’t be fair to him so he let it go. “You guys can race in that direction,” He pointed towards their parents. “or not at all.” 

“Okay, dad.” Peter mocked, making Morgan start laughing at him. “You’re acting like dad.” 

“Because I’m the one who’ll get in trouble if you guys act like brats. Especially you.” He gently kicked Peter with his boot. 

“Hey! Don’t kick me or I’ll kick you back.” 

“I dare you to.” 

Peter got that mischievous glimmer in his eyes before he charged at Harley but was immediately picked up and thrown over his shoulder. “Heyyy! Ahhh! Morgan! Help me! Help me!” 

By this point, Tony and Pepper caught up. They were walking hand in hand, enjoying the child free time. He walked behind Harley to look at Peter’s face. “What’s hanging?” 

“Dad. Help me! He’s gonna throw me.” Peter said between giggles, still trying to get out of Harley’s hold. 

“I think I’ll let him.” 

“Dad. No! Save me.” Harley spun around and flipped Peter over, depositing him into Tony’s arms. Peter grinned up at Tony immediately after. “Yay. Now put me down. I wanna walk.” 

Putting Peter on his feet, Tony fixed his hat then put his hands back into his pocket. The sun was starting to set so they unfortunately had about 45 more minutes out there before they had to start making their way back to the cabin. 

Tony would warn them at the 20 minute countdown. 

“Which way now?” 

Peter sighed heavily. “We don’t know. Maybe if we follow this path, we’ll find the treasure.” There was no path. But Tony let him lead anyways. “Maybe we’ll find a goblin and he’ll give us a hint.” 

“There’s a goblin!” Morgan grabbed Peter’s arm and pulled him towards a tiny hole in a tree, the two of them sitting in front of it but Tony didn’t want some animal to come out and attack them. 

“Guys. Come away from that hole.” 

“Where do we go, goblin?” Peter asked, sitting up a bit. “We don’t know which way to go… we already went that way. Oh! Past the glowing tree! Okay! Thanks.” After his imaginary conversation with the goblin, Peter was able to lead the way. 

“I didn’t hear the goblin.” Morgan pouted. “I only saw him.” 

“He spoke to me because he’s my friend. Not your friend.” 

Tony watched the conversation take place. He didn’t believe in goblins, of course he didn’t. But apparently, according to Peter they were real and he spoke to one. Quite interesting. “What are the chances that he was actually talking to a goblin?” 

Pepper laughed at his outrageous assumption. “Absolutely not. If he really was, we’d better get the hell out of here.” 

“Come on! We have to go this way!” 

“Guys, it’s starting to get dark out so we have to start making our way back to the cabin.” 

Peter threw himself to the ground. “Nooo. We haven’t found the treasure yet.” 

“We can look tomorrow.” 

Now Peter began crying, upset that he wasn’t going to get his way. He kicked the snow, waiting for Tony to come over to him. “I-I wanna stay outside.” 

“It’s getting dark and the sun is setting which means the animals will come out. So it isn’t safe.” He explained to him, knowing how hard this was for Peter. “So let’s go back to the cabin, have a warm bath then drink hot chocolate and watch a movie.” 

Peter sat up, taking a sip of his milk. “But… the treasure.” 

Morgan patted his head. “We can find it tomorrow. Plus I’m cold and want hot chocolate the way dad makes it.” 

Tony held a hand out for Peter. “Tomorrow. I promise.” 

“No. I’m staying here.” He crossed his arms, turning to face the other way. 

Tony was not going to tolerate that from him. He walked around him, grabbing his arm firmly. “You are going back to the cabin right now. I can’t control the sun setting so there isn’t anything I can do about it. Stand up and let’s go or you will go to the cabin and sit in timeout. Do you want that?” 

“No!” 

“Then stand up.” 

Peter gave Tony a dirty look but stood up, sticking the sippy cup back in his mouth to drink his milk. Tony hated when Peter was mad at him but the good news was that he would only be mad at him for 3 minutes tops then he would forget it. 

He watched Peter hike through the snow towards Pepper. “My milks so cold.” 

“Is it?” 

“Yeah. Colder than the fridge milk. Because it’s snow milk.” He held her hand the rest of he way to the cabin and at this point the sun had gone down so the sky was grey and almost seemed as though it was glowing. 

It gave Tony a warm feeling in his chest, walking behind his family as they made their way up the steps and into the cabin. Peter was no longer mad at him but he still hadn't come near him. Tony was okay with that, he’d get his cuddles in during the movie after a nice warm bath. 

“Don’t track snow into the house! All four of you stop by the front door. Uh, Aiser, sit.” 

“Yeah. Sit, Aiser. Behave yourself or you’ll go in a timeout.” Peter scolded as he sat down himself, waiting for someone to undress him. 

Tony stepped beside Pepper to make his way over to Peter. “Take off your boots.” 

“Uhh uhhh uhhh. I can’t.” He barely tried but Tony didn’t know one kid that actually liked to take off their own boots after playing out in the snow. Tony has vivid memories of his own mother taking his snow boots off of him and even when him and Pepper first started dating, it was winter and he used to help her take her snowy boots off after getting home from a walk so she didn’t have to touch all that slush. 

So he leaned down and pulled Peter’s boots off which also ended up dragging his snow pants and track pants off with it. Both of them were laughing. “What happened?” Tony laughed, tossing it to the side for now. He would have to hang it up to dry later. 

“It slipped off.” Peter giggled, looking at his foot that had no sock. “Ahh! My sock is gone too! The goblin stole it from me.” 

“Well he better bring it back. That’s not nice of him.” He joined in on Peter’s imaginary conversation while taking off his coat, leaving him in only a sweater and diaper with one sock on. 

“No, the goblin needs it because he’s cold at night too.” 

“Wow. That’s nice of you for giving him your sock then.” He held his hand out for Peter. “Let’s go have a bath.” 

Taking his hand to be pulled to his feet, Peter grinned, excited to play in the giant bath tub. “Are you going to come in with me?” 

Tony shook his head. “Not tonight. Maybe tomorrow I will.” 

“Morgan can join me.” 

Tony didn’t think they packed bathing suits so definitely not. Unfortunately they passed the age where bathing together naked was still okay. Although Tony would still milk it out as long as possible to still give his baby baths because the day could come any time where Peter doesn’t want him in the bathroom during bath times anymore. 

But not today. 

“Pepper, I’m going to give Peter a bath and we’ll all meet down here for a movie in forty five minutes?” 

“That works. I’ll shower in a few minutes too.” She picked up all the wet clothes off the floor and tried to find a place to hang them up. 

“The goblin lives in the drain sometimes. Maybe he’ll come in the bath with me and tickle my toes.” He hoped so. Peter walked up the stairs next to his dad but stopped at the top when he heard Morgan running up. “I’m going to take a bath.” 

“I’m going to shower. I’ll beat you.” She ran past him and Peter looked up at Tony. 

“It’s not a race if it isn’t fair.” He concluded, making Tony so amazed for saying something so mature. 

He was so proud of him. “Wow, baby. You’re very right. Let’s go get you in a warm bath.” He led Peter into the master bedroom and let go of his hand to go run the bath, setting it to the right temperature then grabbing a towel for him. “Pete? Come in here.” 

Peter waddled in seconds later with a pacifier in his mouth. Tony decided not to comment on it and instead pulled him closer so he could take off his shirt and diaper that was so full it was sagging. He was grateful he wore one out but frustrated he used it. “Take off your sock.” 

“I want to wear it in the bath.” 

Strange. “Okay.” 

The water wasn’t high yet and Tony wanted to go grab his phone downstairs. He debated on risking it but Peter should be fine for 2 minutes by himself. “I’m going to go get my phone downstairs then I’ll be right back. Be good.” 

“I will.” 

Tony got up and left, rushing downstairs and looking for his jacket where he left his phone. “Where’s my coat?” 

“I hung everything up in the mud room.” 

“Where’s that?” 

“Where’s Peter?” 

“In the bath. Where’s the mud room?” 

Pepper stopped to give him an unimpressed look. “Tony. It’s over there.” 

He walked into it, getting smacked with a broomstick. He was back upstairs in no time, walking in the bathroom to Peter sitting exactly where he left him. He pulled up a Makeup stool to sit on but kissed Peter’s head first. “You’re so perfect, you know that?” 

“Yeah. I know.” 

Tony chuckled. He wanted to scroll through the pictures on his phone from today so far. 

“Can I see?” 

“Look how cute you are in this.” He turned the phone around for Peter to see. It was a picture of him in his car seat, doing his signature grin into the camera that fucking melted Tony into a puddle of love and admiration for Peter. 

“Yeah. Take a picture of my sock.” 

He was still wearing that wet sock in the bath. Tony couldn’t think of anything more uncomfortable but he took the picture anyways. The rest of bath time was spent with Peter being adorable without even trying and Tony trying not to squeeze him too hard from cuteness aggression. 

He wrapped Peter in a warm towel and carried him into the bedroom where he planned on getting him into pyjamas but Pepper was there and looking to be getting ready for a shower. 

“Hi my sweet baby. Did you have a nice bath?” 

“Uh huh. And dad promised me a cookie.” 

“One cookie. I don’t want you having too much sugar before bed.” She kissed his nose then kissed Tony’s lips. “I’m going to shower. See you soon.” 

Tony didn’t know if that was an invitation or not but he was going to take it as one. The bathroom door shut so he looked down at Peter. “Want to go hang out with your siblings and see what they’re getting up to?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Come on.” He took Peter’s hand and led him downstairs, down the hallway that led to what looked like the playroom. Harley sat on some chair that looked like a throne and Morgan was sitting on a rocking horse. “Harley, I’m going to go shower. Watch your brother. Please watch him.” 

“I will, dad. Relax.” 

Tony smiled then ruffled Peter’s curls and left him, racing back upstairs and stripping from his clothes so quickly it would’ve been comical to watch. Since having kids, his sex life was at an all time low. Him and Pepper rarely ever found time to themselves, especially with Peter going through an age regression phase right now, it was hard. But Harley was old enough and mature enough to watch the two of them for a bit. 

He walked into the bathroom, locking the door behind him then opening up the glass door to the shower. Pepper's back was to him so she probably hadn’t heard him yet. “Call for maintenance?” 

“Oh!” She jumped at the voice and turned around, seeing Tony standing there, stark naked as well. “Tony. You scared me.” He walked into the steamy shower. “Where’s the kids?” 

His hands were already roaming all over her body like he was trying to memorize every inch. “Harley’s watching them. They’re fine. But we should still be quick.” He grabbed her neck, forcing her to turn her head so he could kiss her deeply. 

Pepper moaned, letting Tony do whatever he wanted to her. 

.

.

.

Downstairs, Peter is causing ruckus, as Tony expected but he still left. He needed some adult time and to be away from Peter for a little while. 

Harley isn’t struggling to handle Peter, him and Morgan are belly laughing as Peter is standing on the table, wearing nothing but a fireman's hat and a cape as he’s holding a whip they found in some old toy box. 

Harley knows exactly what it is and apparently so does Peter as he’s putting on a little show. 

“…and you’ll do as I say or you’ll be punished! Turn around so I can spank your butt.” Peter tried to use a deep voice as he’s standing on the table, his hands on his thin hips. “Bend over!” 

Harley couldn’t breathe, he was laughing so hard. “Where… where… where did you learn this?” He asked between breaths since he was bent over laughing. 

“No where.” Peter shrugged. “Don’t make me give you a spanking on your butt.” He whipped the whip on the table, making a loud slap. Then he aimed it at Harley. “You better watch your mouth or else you’re gonna get it the hardest.” 

“Who’s going to get what the hardest?” Tony asked, walking into the room with Pepper following behind him. He first noticed Peter standing on the table wearing some sort of red cape and a fireman’s hat. Peter turned around to look at him and then Tony noticed the whip in his hand. “Where’d you get that?” 

Peter saw him stepping towards him so he hugged the whip to his chest. “No! It’s mine. Stay away or I’ll whip you.” 

Tony tried to grab the whip from him. “Let go. Give me that.” Harley was dying laughing and even Pepper was snickering behind him. “Peter.” 

Peter let it go but pouted. “You took it.” 

“I did. This isn’t a toy.” He wanted to say a comment about it actually being a toy but he refrained from saying it. He also couldn’t help but laugh along with everyone else. “Where did you even find this?” 

Peter pointed to a treasure chest and when Tony turned to look, he snatched it back from him but Tony was faster. “Hey. That’s mine.” Peter used both hands to tug on it with all his might while Tony was still using one hand, not even trying. 

Peter was persistent though and didn’t give up, just like with everything else. 

“Stop fighting or you’ll fly backwards.” Tony grabbed his arm and slowly let go of the whip then scooped Peter up, sitting him on his hip then flicking off his helmet. 

“What’d you do that for?” Peter lifted his hands up, touching the top of his head where the hat once was. 

“Stop playing with whips and let’s go get you into pyjamas so we can watch a movie.” He never thought he’d have to ever tell Peter to stop playing with whips yet here they were, probably a first time for everything. 

Peter stuck out his bottom lip, still holding onto the whip. Tony knew Peter had no idea how much that thing hurt to actually be whipped with and he didn’t need his fourteen year old son finding out. Still, he let him hold onto it as walked them both back upstairs to the bedroom. 

He let Peter go on the bed and grabbed the bag full of all Peter’s supplies. “Stop jumping and come lie down here.” 

Peter didn’t listen. 

“Do I have to put you in the crib tonight?” He threatened but it would be way too painful to do. Even though Peter was fourteen, he was still that three year old toddler in Tony’s mind when he looked at him sometimes and he couldn’t stop seeing him that way. It would be painful to see him in that crib. 

Peter jumped onto his bum and laid down, giggling when Tony grabbed his ankles and pulled him down like he always did. “Not the crib. Aisers going to sleep in there. Not me.” 

“Oh yeah?” Tony grabbed a fresh diaper and slid it underneath his bottom. “Why not you?” 

“Cause… I’m not a baby. Aiser is.” 

“Technically Aiser is about 35 years old.” He explained as he tightened the diaper onto him then grabbed the pyjamas off the bed. They were pretty thin, white pyjamas with blue stripes on it. It was soft and one of Peter’s favourite pyjamas because he often stripped naked in bed if his clothes were too thick and it was cold up in this cabin. 

“No. He’s five. I know there’s dog years but he’s still only five so he’s a baby. Technically.” 

Tony got his pyjamas on then leaned over him on the bed, trapping him underneath him but making sure not to crush him. “Well in that case, you’re my little boy so technically you’re still a baby then.” 

Wiggling underneath him, Peter couldn't stop giggling. “Not a baby.” 

“But my baby.” Peter wiggled harder. “I’m not letting you go until you admit it.” 

“Okay!” He stopped trying to get away but didn’t stop his giggles. “I’m your baby. Now let me go.” 

“Good.” Tony kissed his cheek before letting him go free but Peter only stood up and jumped into his arms. “Geez. Kid.” 

“Carry me to the top of the stairs but then I want to walk down all by myself. Don’t follow me.” 

“Since I’m going downstairs as well, I am going to follow you but I will let you walk down.” It was another one of Peter’s strange requests that made no sense but it could very well be the end of the world if he didn’t get what he was asking for. 

He did exactly what Peter asked and set him on his feet at the top of the stairs. “Hold the railing going down.” 

“Okay!” The stairs were slippery wood and not carpet like at home so Peter took one step at a time, doubling his time to get down the stairs. “Mommy. Did you make me hot chocolate?” 

“I did. With extra milk.” Just the way Peter liked it. She actually just warmed up milk on the stove and added a tiny bit of chocolate powder to give him the taste of hot chocolate but not so sugary and he wouldn’t know the difference. 

“Thank you.” He took the bottle from her and took a sip. “Hmmm. It’s so yummy.” 

Everyone else on the other hand had actual hot chocolates but Pepper didn’t dare give all that sugar to Peter before bed or he’d be up all night. “You’re welcome, baby. Go join your brother and sister on the couch. They have a surprise for you.” 

“For me?” Peter ran past Tony, running to the cozy living room. The tv was placed on a stand in front of them with an unlit fireplace beside it. There were four couches creating an unfinished square shape so they could all sit around and watch the movie together. 

He squeezed his way in between them. “A box of cookies? For me?” 

“Here, Petey. It’s chips ahoy from Walmart but I helped mom put it on a plate for us.” 

Peter took one from his sister and took a bite. “Hmm. It’s yummy.” 

“It’s so good. Have another.” 

Tony walked over with his chocolate and Peppers. He set them both on the table. “Last cookie, Pete. You can eat more tomorrow.” 

“Nooo. I wanted to eat-” 

“Hey. Did you try your hot chocolate?” He sat down, picking up the bottle from the couch. “It has a secret ingredient.” 

Peter took the distraction. “What is it?” 

“A sprinkle of extra extra love.”

“That’s not an actual ingredient.” 

“Oh. But it is.” 

He grabbed his arm, dragging him closer to sit by him as they decided on what movie to watch. Usually Peter picked it and ended up falling asleep halfway through it. 

.

.

.

Tony laid awake. It was 3:27 in the morning and Peter slept from 7pm until 7:30 then again from 10:30 to 11:15. And now, he’s been awake ever since, apparently not even the slightest bit tired. 

Peter was sitting up in bed, telling some story to Tony about something. Tony was not listening to him. He was exhausted and Peter was not sleeping. 

“…and then he ran up and ate it. And-and then when he ran away, I ran so fast after him and caught his tail but it fell off. But it was actually supposed to fall off because it was a backwards parachute so I flew up up up up! Up all the way to the giant's house where I was the small one.” 

“Wow.” 

“Then I had to crawl in through the doggy door. And his cat was even bigger than me. So I had to run away from the cat even too.” 

“Wow.” 

“Yeah. It was so funny. And his cookies were the size of my body! So I ate it and ended up being 100% cookie!” 

“Okay. How about you lie down now?” Tony gave up on trying. Pepper was somehow miraculously sleeping through Peter’s late night rambles and he envied her. 

“No. Where was I? Oh yeah! After I ate the cookie, my stomach was full of cookie so when I burped, cookie came out!” 

Tony shut his eyes as Peter continued on rambling. How the hell wasn't his kid tired yet? He’s been going non stop all day, slept for 2.5 seconds and is suddenly full of energy. It made no sense to Tony. 

Peter’s ramblings kept going in the distance but he wasn’t listening. He just wanted to sleep, why was that so much to ask for with Peter. Tony really did love this age but he really couldn’t wait for the day Peter slept through the night and didn’t need so much help to fall asleep. 

He also kind of wished Pepper… Pepper… what was he thinking, oh yeah, he wished Pepper could wake up and take care of it. 

Yeah… then… then he could sleep… 

Peter watched his dad fall asleep. How rude. He was in the middle of a really good story. He slid off the bed and decided to go find something to entertain himself until everyone woke up. 

He grabbed his dads phone off the nightstand table and turned on his flashlight then he quietly walked out of the bedroom and shut the door, making his way downstairs. 

It was dark and so quiet. Also a bit scary. He walked over to the front door and tried to open it but it was locked. He sighed and looked around for a chair to drag over so he could reach the lock and stand on the front porch but then he found the door to the basement was open so he ran over and slammed it shut. 

No way was he going down there. 

Peter walked into the kitchen and spotted the cookies on the counter so he grabbed the box, smiling mischievously to himself. 

He left his dads phone on the counter and took a seat on the kitchen floor, pulling open the box of cookies and began eating it. Delicious. 

He was on his fifth one when the kitchen light turned on. 

“Peter?” 

Peter looked behind him at Harley. He looked like he just woke up and looked slightly annoyed. 

“What’re you doing? Where’s dad?” 

“Umm… he’s sleeping. Are you awake for morning?” 

“Uh… it’s 4am. So… no. Why are you awake?” Harley leaned down and took the box of cookies from him. 

Peter grumbled but stood up, shoving his pacifier back in his mouth. “I don’t know. I can’t sleep.” 

“Come on.” He held his hand out for his little brother. “I’ll take you back to sleep.” Harley knew it was hard for him to connect with Peter but he also knew one day, in a few years, he and Peter were going to be best friends and go on brother trips together and make so many memories. He couldn’t wait for that. But that also meant he had to step up and be a big brother now. 

“To mom and dads bed? They’re sleeping.” 

Harley walked him up the stairs, hand in hand. “No. To my room. Plus it’s kinda scary in there, all the way at the end of the hallway so you’ll keep me company.” Plus Harley wanted his dad to get a break. He saw how Peter was all over him today. 

“I’ll fight off the monsters for you.” 

Harley smiled lovingly at his brother. Little did Peter know that he was the one fighting off the worst monsters right now. But Tony was taking all of that on for him. As much as he could anyways… 

“I’ll punch them and kick them.” 

“Or you can pull out your whip. I’m sure they’ll run away from that.” Harley teased then led Peter into his bedroom and shut the door. It was a large room. There was a bed against the wall, a wardrobe across from the bed that freaked Harley out but if Peter was anything, it was fearless. 

Hence why he was sitting on the floor in the kitchen in the dark by himself eating cookies. 

“Yeah. I’m sure they’ll run far away then.” Peter jumped onto the bed. “I call wall. You get the open side.” He slipped underneath the blankets and laid down, facing Harley. 

Harley shut the lamp off and crawled into bed, lying down and facing Peter as well. Only the moonlight was coming in, shining on everything, lighting up the room enough so they could see each other's faces. 

They were silent for a few minutes until Harley spoke. “Why do you like pacifiers so much?” 

“Dunno.” 

“Isn’t it… uncomfortable? Like… how does it actually help you relax?” 

Peter didn’t know. “It just does.” 

Oh. Harley had so many things he wanted to ask him. Now that he actually could. 

“Do you want to use one forever?” 

Peter nodded. “And ever and ever.” 

“So you want to be my age with a pacifier?” 

Peter thought about it then nodded. “Yeah… I need it.” 

“You don’t actually need it. Dad just wants you to have it.” He saw his moms disapproving looks sent Tony’s way whenever Tony gave him a soother. But their mom never really fought Tony on it and just accepted it because she knew Tony would win when it came to Peter. 

Peter blinked. “No… actually so what.” 

“Okay.” Harley smiled a bit. “Would you hate me if I took it from you now?” He asked as his hand inched closer. 

Peter slapped his hand away. “I’ll bite you.” 

Harley immediately moved his hand away. He knew how hard Peter’s bites hurt. His top fang teeth weren’t fully grown in yet so he tended to dig in until the fangs reached skin. Much like an actual vampire. Interesting. 

“That’s what I thought.” 

“You know the pacifier will make you get braces again. And likely some cage on the roof of your mouth so you can’t suck your thumb.” 

Peter didn’t like the thought of that so he kicked Harley underneath the blankets. “Don’t say that. I won’t.” 

“It’s already changing your speech.” He concluded. 

“It’s not.” 

“Take out your pacifier and say Tony.” 

Peter took it out. “Tony.” He immediately put it back in. 

“See? You say it with a lisp almost.” He also said other words with a lisp and after some research, letters T, S, Z, D, I, N, all are difficult to pronounce for a thumb sucker/ prolonged use of the pacifier. An article that Harley sent to both his parents then heard Tony telling Peter to repeat some words, just to see for himself. 

Peter huffed. “No. I don’t notice it. Now stop attacking me with questions like this is a therapy session.” 

Harley wasn’t planning on upsetting Peter, that was never his intention. 

“Do you shave your face?” Peter asked, turning to sit up on his elbows. 

“Yeah. Like twice a week.” 

“I wish I could save my face like you and dad.” He admitted. He wanted to be like his dad in every way. 

“You really don’t. It’s so annoying and so hard to learn.” 

Peter sighed. “Still. Do you shave your stomach?” 

“Uh… no.” 

“Dad does. He has hair from his belly button down into his pants. Mom doesn’t though.” 

Harley laughed. Having conversations with Peter was always entertaining and funny. “That’s called being a grown man and having pubic hair.” 

“Like… private part hair?” Harley nodded. “Gross.” 

“It’s natural. You’ll get it when you go through puberty.” 

Peter never wanted to go through that. “No I won’t. Never ever.” 

“It’s inevitable. You will.” 

“Do you?” 

“I’m 20. I’ve had for years.” 

“Six years?” 

Harley thought about it. He honestly didn’t remember exactly how old he was. “About that. I was probably around your age when I went through puberty.” 

“Oh.” Peter sucked harder on his pacifier then laid his head down on the pillow. He didn’t want to go through that. It sounded scary and painful. “How old was dad?” 

“I don’t know. Probably around your age too. Ask him tomorrow.” 

Peter probably wouldn’t. He wanted to change the subject. “Want to hear about my dream about giants?” 

.

.

.

Tony woke up to the sun shining on his face. It seemed bright out. Too bright to be 5am. Then he remembered how last night Peter was awake and talking to him and Tony had fallen asleep-

Fuck. I fell asleep. 

He shot his eyes open and looked over on the bed but he only saw Pepper lying there. He patted around on the blankets, his heart racing. 

“Peter? Peter?” 

Tony jumped out of bed and checked in the washroom. Empty. He immediately opened the bedroom door and ran downstairs to see if he left the house or god, what if someone took him. What if someone came in the middle of the night and took his baby from him. 

Fuck fuck fuck. 

He saw that the door was still shut and locked but that did little to calm him down. He spotted his phone on the counter and the flashlight on so he flipped it over to see that it was 8:03am. What the fuck. Where was his child? 

He walked around the kitchen but kicked a cookie on the floor. What? 

“Peter? Peter, where are you?” 

Tony was feeling his heart racing so he placed his hand on his chest as if that would try to calm him as he ran back upstairs. He slammed open Morgan’s bedroom door but it was obvious just her still sleeping in there. 

Oh my god. Oh my fucking god. I’m going to lose my mind. I can’t breathe. 

He slammed open Harley’s bedroom door and immediately let out a breath of air. 

“Oh fuck. Okay. Okay.” He could breathe now. Peter was sleeping next to Harley, on his back with arms above his head and his shirt all tangled around his body. He stepped towards the bed, smiling down at him. My perfect baby. Don’t you ever fucking do that to me again. 

He took a calming breath and let it out then watched Peter cough and roll onto his side, his pacifier falling out of his mouth. Tony watched his mouth make a root reflex for it then his eyes opened and he pushed himself up into a sitting position. 

That was scary. How the loss of the pacifier brought Peter out of a sleep instantly. 

Peter startled when he saw Tony standing over them like that, then when he saw who it was, he lifted his arms up for him, placing the pacifier back into his mouth. 

He leaned over Harley and scooped Peter up, walking out of the room and quietly shutting the door behind him. “Why weren’t you in bed with me, Hmm?” 

Peter laid his head on Tony’s shoulder, not responding just yet. He just woke up, he needed a few minutes. 

Tony also needed a few more minutes for his heart to stop raving and his pending panic attack to go away. He made Peter a morning bottle then handed that to him, sitting him on the couch while he went to go pee and make himself a coffee. 

He took a seat next to Peter once they were both settled and rubbed his hand along his arm. “I’m sorry I fell asleep on you. Did you go to Harley’s room?” 

Peter shook his head. “No. I-I came down here.” 

“To eat cookies?” 

Peter nodded. 

“Well… next time, wake me up so I can help you fall back asleep.” Not only could Peter have gotten up to something dangerous but now Tony had no idea how long he slept last night. And the scare of waking up this morning and having no idea where Peter was. 

“Okay, daddy.” 

The two of them stayed there for the next half an hour. Tony still couldn’t stop the anxiety racing and needed Pepper to wake up so he could go and slap some sense into himself to calm down. Peter was okay and literally sitting beside him so why couldn’t he relax. 

He thanked god when Pepper appeared downstairs, wrapped in a robe. “Good morning, boys. How did you sleep?” 

“Uh, not good. Peter ended up sleeping with Harley actually and I woke up and he was gone… so… yeah.” 

Pepper turned to head into the living room instead of the kitchen where she was originally going. “Okay.” She could see that Tony was trying so hard to hold it together. “Peter, how about you come with me while daddy goes shower.” 

Tony appreciated that his wife saw him suffering without him having to say anything. He sat up a bit to get Peter to go with her. 

“I wanna stay with daddy.” 

“He’ll be right back.” Pepper gasped. “I have an idea. Follow me into the kitchen and I’ll show you.” She pulled Peter up then squeezed Tony’s arm. “Maybe call Addiline.” 

Tony hated how she suggested he talk to his therapist but she was right. He hated that because he hated admitting he had co dependency to Peter. He nodded and walked upstairs, changing into some comfortable clothes and grabbing his headphones and computer to set up by the window ledge. 

It was quite an amazing view with the sun coming in and looking out at the snowy forest. It was quite beautiful. 

He sighed and pressed the FaceTime call. He knew she would answer, he was paying her more than $500 an hour so she was the best. Still, he rarely ever had sessions with his therapist despite getting one a few weeks ago. He more so texted her every so often. 

She answered the call, looking like she was at home in her office and extremely happy to see him calling her. 

“Tony. I got to say, I didn’t expect to be getting a call from you but I’m happy.” 

“Yeah. I’m actually on a mini vacation with my family. We’re up in some cabin in the middle of nowhere. It’s quiet and beautiful here.” 

“That sounds lovely. How long are you there for?” 

Tony looked outside at the fresh snow falling. “We got up yesterday afternoon and we’ll be here until Monday afternoon.” 

“That’s lovely, it’ll be nice to have some family time in the snow. And how are you doing?” 

Tony was just as stubborn as Peter. Although at least Tony knew he had to talk about his feelings whereas Peter bit. 

“I’m doing amazing. As always.” He paused and Addiline didn’t say anything, knowing he needed a few moments to think first. “Last night was pretty rough with Peter. He wasn’t crying, but he refused to sleep. Anyways, I ended up falling asleep and apparently he left our bedroom and wandered around. Harley woke up or something and took him to bed. So when I woke up this morning, he was gone.” 

“He was in Harley’s bed?” 

“Well yes. But I didn’t know that. And I freaked out. Like I always do when I don’t have my eyes on him. I was running around like a lunatic. I still haven’t calmed down.” 

“What was running through your mind when you didn’t know where he was?” 

Tony looked back outside. What if Peter went outside and got lost. He’d be dead. Frozen. Or some animal’s dinner. He hated how he thought that. “I hate how he’s so… I hate how he’s fully capable of leaving this cabin and going walking through the forest. That boy has no common sense and I hate it.” 

“Typically children his age have a hard time weighing out the pros and cons of a situation. His brain isn’t fully developed yet.” 

“Yeah, but Morgan wouldn’t do something like that. And he would. And I hate that he would.” 

“But he didn’t.” 

“But he could.” Tony looked back at the screen. He was leaning against the wall with his legs stretched out on the window seat. It would’ve been relaxing if he was reading a book or something, not talking about his feelings. 

“That is something that he’ll grow out of but until then, you can’t control that and need to control the way you respond to his behaviours. Because you can’t control how he’s going to act.” 

He listened to her. 

“Tell me what you’re feeling now.” 

“Well… still freaking out at him for leaving my bed but I can’t be upset with him, I’m not. I’m upset with myself for falling asleep because if anything happened to him, that would be my fault and I’d never recover from that.” 

“Tony. I know you’re terrified of someone taking Peter from you or something bad happening to him but it stems from that one day at the park when he was three. You can’t change that.” 

“My mind always goes to that though. I can’t control that.” 

“You can. But you need to work on it with me and have regular sessions.” 

Tony hated how she was right. Again. “I don’t have time for that. Peter. Harley Morgan. My wife, I’ve got a busy life.” 

“You should’ve stopped at Peter. Because that’s why you aren’t coming.” 

He looked at the bed and chuckled dryly. “Peter’s the reason I’m even talking to you right now. He’s the reason I have anxiety and co dependency and why I’m so fucking crazy half the time.” 

Addiline nodded, listening to hkm with zero judgment. “You love him so strongly and love makes you crazy. But you’ll actually lose your mind over him if you aren’t careful. Tony, your attachment to him is not healthy.” 

“So what? I just want to keep him safe.” 

“You’re holding him back. If you don’t overcome your attachment to him, he can’t overcome his attachment to you. And he won’t unless you help him.” 

Tony sometimes regretted telling her these things. Because he hated how she was right. “Yeah…” 

“I’m not going to assign you ridiculous homework that I know you won’t even try. But you need to realize when you’re getting anxious over him and figure out why.” 

Tony nodded. He knew that. “I’m trying.” Not really. 

“Have you dropped the bottles and pacifiers yet? I know last time we were discussing that.” 

Tony laughed. “No. Not even close.” 

“Why not?” 

“He… I’m scared he’ll hate me. I’m also worried taking away his comfort will affect him in a way we won’t even notice or see coming until he’s older and gets introduced to drugs.” He admitted then thought for a moment. “I don’t want him to follow in my footsteps. When he was gone, I turned to drugs. All that fun stuff.” 

This wasn’t news to her but it wasn’t something they talked about before. 

“If that’s something you’re worried about, then you should speak to your wife about starting some conversations with Peter about this. Not now, as I understand it would be counterproductive, but in the future.” 

Tony opened his mouth to speak but the bedroom door burst open and Peter walked in with chocolate smeared all over his mouth. “Hi baby.” 

“Daddy. I came to ask if you want ten chocolate chips or twenty?” He climbed onto Tony’s lap, looking at the computer screen. “Are you talking or a YouTube video?” 

“Hi Peter. It’s nice to see you.” 

Peter turned his face into Tony’s chest, shyly. 

“This is Addy, my therapist. You’ve met her before.” 

Peter stuck his thumb in his mouth and turned to look at her again. 

Pepper walked into the bedroom and grabbed a stack of diapers, wipes and diaper rash cream. “Sorry, Tony. Peter, we just came up to get a diaper. Come on. I need to change your diaper.” 

“No.” 

“Go with your mom, bud.” 

“Nooo no. Come downstairs. Say bye to Addiline now.” Peter grabbed Tony’s hand to put it on the end button but Tony didn’t let him. “Daddy.” 

“I’ll be down soon. Go get your diaper changed.” 

Pepper walked over to grab Peter’s hand but he clung onto Tony and cried. “Noooo!” 

“I’m sorry.” Tony said to Addiline but it was probably important for her to see this side of life. Even though it was their more private but typical part of life. 

“Don’t apologize, Tony. Take your time.” 

Tony placed the computer down and stood up, kissing Peter’s neck. “I’ll be down soon. Go make me a chocolate chip pancake with twenty chocolate chips.” 

Peter cried harder. “It’s not a pancake. It’s a muffin.” 

“Oh. I thought you said pancake. Okay. Go make that then. I’ll be down soon.” He tried to give him over to Pepper but Peter screamed. Right into his ear. Great. 

“You change his diaper then, Tony, and send him down when you’re done.” Pepper placed the diaper supplies on the bed. “He’s been asking for you since you went upstairs anyways.” 

Tony sighed. Great. “Alright.” He waited for Pepper to leave then placed Peter on the bed. “You’re being difficult, Peter.” 

Peter wiped the tears off his cheeks. “I wanted you to cook with me. Harley’s not awake yet.” 

Tony grabbed the computer and placed it on the bed. “I’m just going to change his diaper real quick then we’ll get back to it.” 

“Take your time, Tony.” 

Peter laid down and Tony took off his pyjama pants and then realized Addiline could see so he turned the computer camera up a bit so she couldn’t see, wanting to give his son some privacy even though he knew Peter didn’t care. 

“What are you talking about, dad?” 

“Um… I’m talking about you.” He told him honestly and undid the straps, pulling the front down and happy to see he had no rashes. 

“Why?” 

“Because I love talking about you.” 

“But… did you say-did you say where we are?” 

“I did.” 

“Are you having a fun time, Peter?” Addiline asked, only able to see his legs and face from the camera angle. She didn’t know Peter personally like she knew Tony, she only knew what Tony told her about him. Which was everything. 

Peter impatiently waited to sit up again. “Yeah.” He responded then tried to flip over to his stomach so he could crawl away but Tony held him down. “Uhhhhhhh!” 

“Stop it.” Tony clumsily put the diaper on him and let him go. Geez. “Go downstairs and I’ll be there soon. Go on.” 

“Fine!” Taking a blanket with him, Peter left the bedroom, slamming the door behind him, leaving Tony alone to talk with Addiline. 

“He really tests my patience sometimes.” He shook his head as he threw out the old diaper. “I can’t complain though.” 

“You’re allowed to complain.” 

Tony didn’t like to. He picked up his computer and sat back down on the window seat. “I just feel like… when he was gone, I would’ve done literally anything to get him back, if I could’ve snapped my fingers and been placed in such a stressful moment with him, I would’ve appreciated it so much because it meant I had him back. So I feel guilty when I’m not enjoying these moments with him.” 

“I can understand why you’re feeling that way. But you need to try and get out of that mindset because you’re allowed to feel frustrated or overwhelmed with him and not enjoy every single moment. Parenting is the hardest job you’ll ever do.” 

Logically, Tony knew that. But it was still incredibly difficult for him. 

“It’s hard. I still feel like I have to enjoy every moment.” 

“I think it’s because you’re scared Peter will be taken from you again.” She said what Tony had been thinking but was too scared to say. 

He remained silent. 

“He was taken from you once, and then again, not even a full three months ago. So you have a right to feel this way.” 

Tony took a deep breath. Peter was downstairs. He was safe. They were under the same roof. 

“Yeah. I do think that. But it’s how my brain is wired to think now. It’s my job as his father to protect him and if I’m going to be ignorant enough to think it can’t happen again, then it does, that’s my fault.” 

“But it won’t happen again. Steve is dead and Bucky is behind bars.” 

“They were behind bars when they came again. But who’s to say someone else won’t take him. He’s a cute kid, he’s got that young, innocent look, big brown eyes, curly hair, and to top it all off he’s gullible as fuck and puts his trust into so many people.” Tony breathed out. “I am so grateful he’s a shy kid.” 

“You are going to drive yourself crazy thinking about that-” 

“But it happens. I see it all the time. There’s sick people in this world who pray on young children’s innocence. I have to be worried about it.” 

“But not to the extent that you are.” 

Tony stayed silent to let her speak. She maybe had a point. 

“If Peter leaves your sight, your first thought is that someone took him, when that’s not going to be the case.” 

“But it was the case. Twice. So it’s in my mind now and I can’t help it.” 

“You can help it. It’ll be hard but you can help it.” 

Tony looked away, back outside the window. He couldn’t wait to eat breakfast and take his kids out there. 

“But you don’t want to put in the work.” She admitted to him. “Tony, Peter is back in diapers. Last time we talked, he was potty trained and actually using the toilet. What happened?” 

“It’s just easier.” 

“You need to do what’s best for Peter. Because him wearing diapers during the day is out of laziness. Not a necessity. Take him out and put him in underwear.” 

Tony groaned because she was so right. He didn’t even think they packed underwear for him. He supposed Peter could go commando but he always felt more content with Peter in a diaper so he could pick him up without getting peed on and not have to worry about pee going on anything else. 

“You’re right. I don’t know why I find it so hard. He just… he looks so grown up in underwear.” 

“You just answered your own question.” 

He looked at her and chuckled. “I guess so. Well… thanks for this. I’ll go see about that underwear now.” 

“Anytime, Tony. Please try to keep up with our scheduled sessions, even if you can’t make it into my office, video calls work too.” 

“Yep. You got it. Thanks again, Addiline. Bye for now.” Tony hung up and shut his laptop, leaning his head back with a sigh. He let himself stay like that for a few minutes, trying to gather his thoughts. 

He eventually stood up and dug in one of the bags for a pair of Peter’s underwear then went to go find him. Hopefully this will be easy. 

.

.

.

Parent teacher night 

“We have to leave in five minutes if we don’t want to be late, Tony.” Pepper stood at the bathroom door while Peter was still sitting on the toilet. “Just put a diaper on him. He’s going straight to bed after we come back.” 

“He’s going poo. I’m not changing a poop diaper in the car.” 

Peter pushed one last time. “I’m done. Wipe now.” 

Tony pulled a few baby wipes out and wiped him clean, flushing the toilet after then washing his hands. “Okay. Go lie down on the bed and I’ll be there in a second.” 

“We’re going to be late.” Pepper told him. “It doesn’t surprise me.” 

“We’re not. Go wait in the car. We’ll be there in less than five minutes.” He grabbed a diaper and rash cream, walking back out into the bedroom. “We gotta be quick so lie still.” 

“Why do you have to talk to my stupid teachers? It’s so dumb.” 

“It’s called parent teacher night. And it’s not stupid. I like to know what’s going on with you.” He explained, grabbing pyjamas for him to put on. 

“But… I’m going to school.” 

“Not to learn. Morgan’s wearing her pyjamas too so then you guys can go straight to bed after.” Once the two were ready, Tony buckled him into his car seat and they were on their way. 

“Morgan, I bet your teachers are going to say you failed every test.” Peter teased. “And I pass all mine.” 

“At least I go to school.” 

Peter stuck his tongue out at her. “Dad? Dad? Dad?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Are we going to Morgan’s school first? Or mine?” 

“Morgan’s because her meeting is at 7:00 and yours isn’t until 8:15.” He doubted Peter would be awake by then even. 

Peter grabbed his bottle from the cup holder. “I’m gonna show you my old classes, Morgan.” 

“I already know them. I went to that school with you.” She took a sip out of her water bottle. “Dad, is Petey going to bring his bottle in the school?” 

“No, I have a different one for him.” Tony came prepared. 

“Oh. How long is the meeting?” 

“How about you guys don’t worry about the meetings and just relax.” Pepper told them because they were honestly getting on her nerves. Asking question after question. 

“Daddy?” 

“Yeah?” 

“I need to pee.” 

Tony sighed. “Can you hold it until we get to the school?” 

“No.” 

“Okay. You can just go now then.” He looked at Pepper. He knew they were sending Peter mixed messages but it was either this or a wet Peter and wet car seat. 

“I’m going.” 

“Thanks for telling me, buddy. I’m not going to change you when we get there because we’re already late. Do you mind waiting?” 

“Uh huh.” 

“Thanks.” Tony parked their car with only seven minutes to spare. He got Peter out, holding him up as he tried to get his boots on with the other hand. “Okay. Don’t go anywhere. And leave your bottle here.” 

“No! I take it!” 

“Leave it. I have another one for you.” 

“Okay.” 

Sighing, Tony grabbed the bag and Peter’s hand, walking into the busy school. There were parents with their children all over. Tony remembered both his kids attending this school, man, that felt like yesterday but also ten lifetimes ago at the same time. 

“I want to go in the library.” Peter tugged on Tony’s hand. 

“After. We need to go to Morgan’s class now.” 

They made it just in time. Morgan walked in first and waved hi to her teacher. “This is Petey. My brother. And these are my parents. My brother got in trouble today because he threw my moms makeup down the stairs and it went everywhere.” 

Her teacher chuckled but both parents felt embarrassed. “Okay, Morg, thank you for sharing that. Now I’m worried about what else you share.” 

“Oh she’s quite the sharer. If it makes you feel any better, I’ve heard it all from my students.” She warmly welcomed them in and over to a u-shaped table with three chairs. “Morgan, how about you show your brother over to our free play area.” 

Peter’s never had this teacher before so he didn’t know her and was feeling shy and uncomfortable in a new environment. He stuck his finger in his mouth and leaned against his dad, lifting his arms up for him. “Mmm. Up.” 

“No, Pete, Morgan, take him over there. Show your brother around. Go, Pete, go on.” 

“Come on, Petey.” Morgan tugged him over to the book centre and sat down in a bean bag chair, tugging Peter down to sit with her. 

Tony saw that they were settled so he focused on the meeting. 

“So, let’s get started. I just want to start off by saying that Morgan is the most caring child I have ever met. She takes care of her classmates and is the first one to console one of our students when they’re upset.” 

That made Tony and Pepper feel really good. “Yeah, she’s so kind-hearted. She’s always helping us at home with her brother.” Pepper explained. 

“It’s so nice to hear her new stories every day. Some… not so nice, I believe her and Peter play fight a lot. And Peter refuses to eat dinner, she tells me about that.” 

Tony hoped his face wasn’t turning red. He hoped Morgan didn’t tell her teacher everything. 

“Yeah, it’s definitely something we’re working on at home.” Tony turned to look at his kids to make sure they were still okay. 

“It’s normal. Kids her age like to… overshare.” The teacher said, “Academically, Morgan is a bright student. She does her homework on time, she completes her assignments with detail. I’m not concerned about her at all academically but I do have some concerns with her interactions with others. Morgan is quick to make friends, she’s definitely not shy in that aspect but she tends to get into fights with the older grades.” 

Tony squeezed Pepper’s hand. “Is this about the incident a few weeks ago? Because that’s settled, we talked to her about it.” 

“Not just that. Some students have a few questions regarding her brothers… situation. And they come to Morgan,” 

Tony sat up straighter. “What do you mean? She never told us any of this.” 

“Oh. I wasn’t aware of that. It’s nothing… harmful. A lot of curious students may have seen Peter’s face on the news, or hear their parents talking, and then they ask Morgan questions and some of her replies… aren’t friendly. She uses some, let’s say colorful words.” 

“What? Morgan? Well, what are these other kids saying?” 

“I’m not aware of all of it, a lot of it is just asking if Peter is her real brother, if he’s… dead…” 

Tony had to make sure he didn’t have an anxiety attack. “She’s been through a lot, we all have. So if these students are saying things to her, then she can shut them up.” 

Pepper placed a hand on Tony’s thigh. “We will talk to her about telling us but can you please have a discussion with your class to stop these questions directed at Morgan? We’re still dealing with her believing her brother's kidnapper is dead.” 

“I will. I can-” 

There was a bang and then Peter’s high pitched cry was heard so Tony waited for Peter to come to him. When Peter immediately went into his dad’s arms, he held his head protectively. “What happened? Let me see.” 

He moved Peter’s hand and saw a red mark that was shaped like the corner of a book. “What happened, Peter?” He showed Pepper. “Look.” 

“Oh my.” 

Tony looked back at Morgan. “Come here, Morgan. Now.” 

Morgan slowly made her way over. “How did Peter get this?” 

“She-she-she hit me!” Peter sobbed. 

Tony saw the red marks on Morgan’s hand and sighed. 

“He bit me!” 

Tony stood up, hoisting Peter onto his hip. “Did he bite your first?” 

“Yes.” Morgan pouted. “I was reading that book first and he took it from me.” 

“No! I was!” Peter sobbed harder. 

Pepper shook hands with Morgan’s teacher. “Thank you for your time. I’m sorry you have to witness this, these two can be a bit too much sometimes. And they’re both tired. Peter’s been up since 5am this morning, so he’s extra emotional.” Pepper felt the need to explain. It was one thing to deal with this at home behind closed doors but another to deal with it in front of an audience. 

Tony wiped the tears off his face and placed Peter on his feet. “Can you guys at least try to pretend to get along so we can get through tonight? Please.” 

“Pick me back up!” Cried Peter. Yep. He was tired. 

Tony lifted him back up only to stop the tears. “None of you touch the other for the rest of the night. Do you understand me?” 

“He bit me first.” Morgan pouted. 

“No! She took my book!” 

“Stop it. Both of you.” Tony waited until Pepper walked outside the door with the bag. “Can you grab the milk for him?” 

“Yeah.” As Pepper dug in the bag for it, she said, “I’m not happy with you two. We are here for a teacher parent meeting to see how you guys are doing in school and we can’t even do that. I expect better behaviour when we go to Peter’s school.” 

Peter grabbed his milk, content now. “Okay. I’m always good. Right?” 

“You weren’t just now.” 

Peter stopped drinking to look at him. “I was.” 

Tony knew he would make Peter cry if he continued so he stopped. “Okay. Let’s go to your school. Can you walk now?” 

“I want you to carry me.” 

“I don’t want to walk either, dad.” Morgan tried to get some attention even if she didn’t want to be picked up. 

“Well, we’re going to the car now so none of you will have to walk.” 

“You still will.” 

Tony looked at him. “How? I’m driving. You guys go nowhere without me.” 

Peter shrugged. “Cause you’re driving. So you walk to make the car move.” 

Tony hoped Peter never drove with that mindset of how driving actually works. But he knew Peter was just being silly. “I use the car petals. Just drink your milk.” 

When they got out to the van, Tony got Peter buckled first and grabbed his phone off the dirty car floor. “We really need to get this car cleaned.” Tony looked at the dirt and crumbs but also all the toys, markers, diapers and dried out wipes. 

“I’d rather take it in. We don’t have time to do it ourselves. Maybe if it was summer then the kids could help out.” Pepper tickled her son's leg. “Right? I think all this mess is yours.” 

“Not mine.” 

On the way to Peter’s school, Peter and Morgan made up, it wasn't a surprise, Tony wished he could bounce back that quickly after a fight with Pepper. 

“And it can turn all the way around.” Morgan explained how her Barbie doll worked to her brother who couldn’t care less but was watching anyways. 

“And if you pop her head off, you can put a new hairstyle on. See?” Morgan ripped the barbie's head off to show Peter. 

At the sight of destruction, Peter was now interested. “My turn.” 

“No. It’s not for you to touch. Just look with your eyes.” 

“I want to. I’ll be nice.” 

“Fine. But don’t ruin it.” She handed the doll to her brother and after he took the head off, he chewed on the rubber foot. “Nooo! Mom!” 

“What happened?” 

“Peter just bit my dolls foot.” 

Peter handed it back to Morgan. 

“Now there’s bite marks! Nooo!” She tossed it on the floor of the car and crossed her arms over her chest. “He’s so rude! He’s always ruining my stuff!” 

“Morgan, let me see. Maybe I can fix it.” Tony felt bad for his kids. He knew Peter didn’t know any better and Morgan still didn’t fully understand that. 

After parking the van, Tony walked around to Peter’s side and opened the door, grabbing the Barbie off the floor. 

“It’s ruined. See?!” 

He did in fact see the bite marks. “How about Peter buys you a new one tomorrow? Okay?” 

“Okay.” 

“But I don’t want to.” Peter squirmed in his car seat. 

“You ruined her toy, Peter, don’t you think the nice thing to do is get her a new one?” Tony asked, unbuckling him. 

“Leave him in the car and we’ll go inside.” 

“Nooo!” Peter cried and would have hit Morgan if he could reach her. 

“No one is staying in the car. You two stop it.” Tony unbuckled Peter but didn’t let him get out just yet. “Pepper, I’m going to change him before we go in. I’ll be quick.” 

“In the van?” 

“Yeah.” He climbed in and shut the door behind him. “Get out of your car seat and lie down here.” Tony instructed, padding the back seats where he was sitting. 

Getting out of his seat, Peter walked over and laid down. “I want more milk.” 

“Did you drink it all already?” He asked, pulling his pyjama pants down to his ankles and taking the wet diaper off. 

“Uh huh. Almost.” 

“Okay. But then just go pee if you need to go, don’t ask me because I don’t want anyone to know you’re wearing a diaper.” He explained, grabbing the rash cream. “Can you stop putting your foot in my face.” 

“But you say keep my legs up.” 

Tony pushed them to his chest instead. “Just keep them open.” 

“I want milk.” 

“Baby. I’m not an octopus. How many arms do you count on me?” 

“Uhhh…” Peter giggled. “Eight.” 

“You’re cute. Okay. I’m done. Get your pyjamas back on.” Peter pulled them up and sat up. “Please try to get along with your sister. How about you show her around your school?” 

“Fine.” He jumped out of the car and grabbed his dad’s hand. “Tell Morgan to actually listen to me and do as I say.” 

“Bud, how about you be nice.” Tony held the school door open for his family but Peter stopped in front of it. “Go in.” 

“Come with me.” Peter tugged back. 

“I’m just holding the door.” 

“Then I’ll stand out here with you.” 

Tony looked at Pepper. This was going to be a problem. Tony wanted to talk with Peter’s teachers but he didn’t want Peter there and it didn’t seem like Peter was going to want to be away from him. 

The four of them walk into the school, Pepper waving at a few parents she’s been mom friends with since Peter was in elementary school and Tony hoping no one comes over to talk to them. He was a bit antisocial. 

Peter was rubbing his eyes and yawning and when Tony checked the time, he saw that it was just past 8pm and Peter’s already been up since before the sun came up. 

“Peter, can you show us to your first period class.” Pepper asked, pulling the hair off his face and tucking it behind his ears a bit. “We’ll go home soon.” 

“I want milk.” 

“Okay. Okay.” Digging in the bag for it, Tony handed Peter his milk in a water bottle, hoping Peter had no complaints about it. “Is this your class?” He looked at the pictures posted on the wall of all the students in that class, smiling when he saw Peter’s grinning face. “Who’s this cutie?” 

“That’s Peter.” Morgan looked at it. 

“Yeah. That’s me.” 

“Good evening, Peter.” His teacher greeted them. “Can you introduce me to your family?” 

Peter nodded, leaning against his dad but not saying anything so Tony spoke up. He’s met all of Peter’s teachers before though. “It’s nice to see you again.” He shook hands with her, stepping aside to let Pepper do the same. 

“How about we step inside and begin. Peter, do you want to take Morgan and show her where you sit?” 

Morgan crossed her arms over her chest. “Hey. How do you know my name?” 

“Because your brother talks about you.” 

“Does he say good things or bad things? Cause he hits me at home and takes my toys.” Morgan explained. “And he got in trouble for ruining my mom’s makeup.” 

“Thanks, Morg. Go with your brother now.” Once again, Tony was a bit embarrassed. Why were his kids blabber mouths. 

Peter hugged Tony’s arm. “I’m staying with you.” 

“Buddy, I’m right here. Oh, look, how about you go show Morgan that cool artwork on the wall.” Peter looked over his shoulder. “Mines not up there. I wasn’t here that day.” 

“Okay. Go show her anyways and maybe we can make one at home.” He gave him a little shove and sighed, sitting down on the chair. Out of all of Peter’s teachers, this one was the one who witnessed the most of Peter’s separation anxiety because it was the first class after drop off. 

“Aww, I’m guessing he’s getting tired now. I know he was up early today.” 

Tony looked away from Peter who was just standing there, looking at the wall. He felt bad for sending him away. 

“Yeah, we’ll be putting them straight to bed after this.” Pepper said. 

“Let’s begin then.” The teacher pulled out some papers. “Peter is a very bright student. He excels on tests and quizzes, he knows his material. When it comes to homework though, he struggles. I can see he tries, but it looks like he gives up on it easily.” 

“We tell him to take all his homework out of his backpack when he gets home from school but lately he’s been hiding it or keeping it here.” Tony admitted. He knew after spending seven hours a day at school then coming home and doing possibly 3 more hours of homework isn’t reasonable. For any child. Not just Peter. 

“I see. Perhaps you can create a homework system with him.” 

Tony wanted to roll his eyes. This woman obviously didn’t have kids. 

“How is he with the other kids?” Pepper asked, slightly changing the subject. “Is he interacting with them?” 

“Yeah, he’s very social in the classroom. I actually have to tell him a few times during class to focus and keep the talking for later.” 

Tony was actually glad to hear that. He smiled. 

“It’s funny to watch actually, one of the students has a crush on Peter I’m guessing and he isn’t clueing into it or doesn’t seem to care in the slightest.” She chuckled. “I guess he’s just not at that age yet.” 

Tony was so shocked. He turned to Pepper who looked just as amused as he did. Although he was also feeling slightly protective. “I haven’t heard about this. Who is she?” 

“Her name is Betty. She’s a sweet girl. It’s quite funny to see.” The teacher laughed again then continued, discussing Peter’s academic skills a bit more. 

After the meeting, Tony pulled Peter into the hallway and leaned down, wrapping his arms around him from behind. “Can you show me who Betty is?” He asked, looking at the picture wall. 

Peter’s finger went into his mouth to chew on. “Ummm… ‘dare.” 

Tony looked at the picture of the girl who had a crush on his son. She had blonde hair and big blue eyes and a kind face. Tony was glad she wasn’t a crazy looking child but then again he didn’t know her so she could be crazy. 

“She’s cute.” Pepper pointed out. “Don’t you think, Peter?” 

Peter didn’t seem to care in the slightest. “No.” He turned to Tony. “Up.” 

“We gotta go to your next class now-” 

“Peter!” 

All heads turned to the voice and Tony immediately recognized him. “Hi Ned. How are you? You’ve grown so much since we last saw you.” It had been awhile, Peter and his childhood friend seemed to grow apart. Tony knew it was because Ned was more mature while Peter just wasn’t… so they couldn’t really get along anymore. 

“Hi Ned.” Peter shyly said. 

“My parents spoke to all my teachers. Now we’re heading home. I’ll probably get to stay up an extra hour past my bedtime.” 

Peter nodded. “Oh. We just got here.” 

“Good luck, Peter. I’ll see you at school next week. Bye. Bye Peter’s parents.” 

“Bye, Ned.” 

Peter watched him leave and lifted his arms up for his dad. “Pick me up. Daddy.” 

Tony lifted him up, feeling Peter desperately cling onto him after. “You okay?” 

“Mhmm.” 

“Okay.” As they continued walking, Tony couldn’t help but feel that something was bugging Peter. “What’s wrong?” 

“Mm. Don’t like Ned.” 

“Oh. Why, buddy?” 

Peter shrugged, moving his head so it was lying on Tony’s chest instead of his shoulder. “Cause-cause he… he reminds me of Steve. And-and-and going back to my-my old house.” 

Tony felt his heart break a little. He understood that. As much as Tony liked Natasha, whenever he saw her, it reminded him of how he felt when Peter was missing because he spent almost every single day with her. So he understood that completely. 

“I understand. It’s difficult to see him because of the reminders. You don’t have to be friends with anyone you don’t want to be friends with. But you can still be friendly with him.” 

That felt good to hear, Peter wrapped his arms around his dad’s neck. “I wanna go home.” 

“Soon, buddy. Then you can sleep.” 

He felt his dad trying to put him down so Peter whined. “Mmmmm! Hold me.” 

“I’m going to put you down for now so we can talk to your teacher.” 

“No.” 

“Baby. We’ll be quick. Morgan, can you help Peter. He’s feeling tired and a bit sad.” Tony pulled Morgan over so she could hopefully help Peter. 

“Sure. Come, Petey. Do you have books in your classroom? I’ll read you something.” 

Tony made sure they were fine before turning his attention to the teacher. It was Peter’s English teacher which was scary because of Peter’s struggles with reading and spelling. 

“It’s good to finally meet Peter’s sister. He talks about her a lot although I always thought he was the youngest. Does he have any other siblings besides Harley?” 

“No, that’s it, an older brother and younger sister.” 

“Well, we can definitely see who’s the most spoiled in the family.” The teacher said, not intending to be rude but Tony still thought it was a strange thing to say. 

“Yeah,” Pepper spoke for him. “he’s definitely our baby.” 

“You know, when my son's were his age, they struggled with sleep as well. I guess that had more to do with their mom and I getting a divorce, well, when my youngest son was twelve, he wet the bed, now, I know Peter struggles with that, I have some advice for that.” 

Both parents were taken back. “Oh. I mean that’s a bit of a personal thing, but how do you know that?” Pepper asked while Tony was still trying to wrap his head around this conversation. 

“Peter told me.” 

“He just randomly told you?” 

“Yes.” The teacher answered Tony. “One day in class he told me his butt hurt and I asked me why and he said because you didn’t change him that night. When I asked what he meant he explained to me that he wets the bed.” 

Tony shook his head, feeling like all their family secrets were getting exposed tonight. “Alright, I mean it doesn’t really surprise me that he told you but since you know, I can assume you’re a smart enough man to keep this private and not share it with anyone.” 

“Yeah, sure. Now, my advice, when I was dealing with this, because it’s more common than you may think, my wife and I put an alarm on him, so it wakes him up when he’s peeing. It’s difficult in the beginning but it’ll help.” 

Tony appreciated the help but he wasn’t sticking an alarm down Peter’s pants while he slept. It would be going off all night. “Thank you for the advice but we have it under control. Let’s get back to the meeting.” 

“Of course. So, English isn’t Peter’s strong suit. I know he’s doing extraordinary in his other classes, chemistry he’s taking grade twelve level, but English, he definitely needs to work on it.” He explained. “He struggles a lot with past and present tenses. I keep telling him but he keeps doing it. Does he do it at home too?” 

“Yeah. We’re working on that too.” 

“I want him to practice reading more. He’s struggling with a lot of words he should know now by his age. I can give you a workbook and if you do it a few hours a week, it’ll help him greatly.” 

“Do you think he needs extra help outside of school?” Tony was concerned about that. Between school and therapy, they wouldn’t have time. 

“Not yet. See where he’s at in a year. If you work with him, keep reminding him of the correct words when he messes up, he’ll start improving.” 

Tony squeezed Pepper’s hand. “Okay. We can work on that. And how is he with the other students?” 

Before he could answer, Peter walked over, rubbing his watery, exhausted looking eyes. “Daddy. I’m tired.” 

“Baby. We’ll be home soon. Can you go over there and wait for me?” 

“Noooo,” Whining, Peter climbed onto Tony’s lap. “milk.” 

“Can you take him?” He said to Pepper so he could finish the meeting. “Baby, go with your mom. I’ll be there soon.” 

Peter got off his dad’s lap and climbed onto his moms, putting his hand down the front of her shirt. “I want milk.” 

Embarrassed, Pepper pulled Peter’s hand out. “Peter. Here,” She grabbed the water bottle to have to him but Peter pushed it away. 

“No. Not this.” 

“Let’s go wait outside.” She stood up, taking Peter and Morgan with her. 

“Milk.” Peter said once again. 

“In the car. Let’s go.” 

Tony hoped his cheeks weren’t red from embarrassment. He knew what this looked like. “Sorry about that. It’s way past their bedtime so Peter’s cranky and Morgan is trying to be helpful.” 

“It’s okay, Mr. Stark. I'm a very understanding man.” 

“Okay…” Tony looked at him. “So, back on topic.” 

“Right. Yes. Peter gets distracted very easily. He’s talking away with his peers during quiet reading times, I tell him to stop talking or I’ll send him down to the office and he shrugs his shoulders at me.” 

Tony didn’t like the sounds of that. “Okay. Thank you for telling. I’ll speak to him about it.” He had a question but he didn’t want to ask but there was also only one way to find out. “This is random, but does he go to the bathroom a lot in class?” 

“Oh. Um… maybe once or twice. Not too much. Can I ask why?” 

“His mom and I are just keeping track of his toileting right now. I was just curious if it was any different in class.” 

“Okay. Yeah, it’s usually once or twice a class time.” 

That was good to know. Tony smiled. “Thank you. Is there anything else I should know?” 

“Peter’s listening skills. He needs to work on them. He chooses what he wants to listen to and I know it’s normal, he’s fourteen and he’s discovering where he fits in this world but the listening needs to improve.” 

Tony was not happy to hear that although it was the same problem at home. “Thank you, I’ll be talking to him about that too. We’re dealing with the same thing at home. Since he is still recovering from getting kidnapped, it’s been a lot harder for him to listen.” 

“I can understand. He does go to a therapist, yeah?” 

“He does.” 

“Okay, that’ll definitely help.” 

Tony smiled. He felt like they were done here. “Yeah, well, thank you so much for your time. I’ll be talking to Peter tomorrow and hopefully there will be some improvement.” 

They shook hands and Tony left, walking into the hallway and finding Pepper sitting on a chair with Peter on her lap and Morgan swinging her feet in the chair next to her. “Ready to go?” 

“Are we going home?” Morgan asked. 

“Soon. One more stop. Give him to me.” Tony leaned down and scooped Peter into his arms, pulling down the back of his top when his diaper showed. “You can go to sleep now.” 

“Dada.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Mm.” 

“Close your eyes.” 

“Paci?” 

“In the car I’ll give it to you. Just rest.” Peter’s thumb went into his mouth but the way his head was positioned made it so that his face was somewhat hidden from people so Tony didn’t tell him to stop. 

They walked down the hallway to go check out a few more things and ended up bumping into Harley's old teacher. 

“Mr. and Mrs. Stark. It’s so nice to bump into you. How is everything? How’s Harley?” 

Tony remembered this guy giving Harley a really good reference letter for his university. “Mr. Colleens, we’re good. We’re just here for Peter’s parent teacher interviews. Harley didn’t want to come, understandably, but he’s great.” 

“Tell him I said hi and to come stop by. I’d love to catch up. Maybe he can come pick up this little one and come say hi to me.” 

Tony didn’t want to mention the fact that Harley was afraid to pick Peter up from school alone, since the last time he did he was kidnapped. 

“I will.” 

“So how old is the next Stark I’ll be getting?” 

“He’s only just turned fourteen so it’ll be awhile before he’s in your class.” 

The man looked down at Peter. “Good. Let him grow up because I can’t deal with the younger ones. Wait until their mind actually matures somewhat before I get them.” 

Tony wanted to ask him why he became a teacher  but he didn’t. Some people didn’t like younger children and that was okay, but maybe he should’ve taught university instead. “Thankfully that won’t be any time soon then. It was nice seeing you. Take care.” 

As they walked away, Pepper grabbed Tony’s hand and laughed. “Why’s he a high school teacher then.” 

Tony laughed with her. “Who knows.” He kissed Peter’s cheek, trying to look down at him. “Is he asleep?” 

“Um… yeah. He is. Want to check out the gym again then go?” It wasn’t like they hadn’t seen it a million times before but while they were there, they might as well check it out again. 

“Yeah. Let’s go.” 

They were in and out quickly. Tony just wanted to get home at this point and get Peter in bed. He was tired as well, having been up since Peter’s been up. 

Getting home was simple. Peter stayed asleep even though the transfer from Tony’s arms into the car seat and out of it. 

“I’m gonna put him down, shower then go to bed.” He told Pepper after kissing Morgan goodnight. “You coming?” 

“Yeah. I’ll be up in a few minutes.” 

He took Peter upstairs, turning on the sound machine and the moon nightlight then he placed Peter in the bed. Peter’s arms automatically wrapped around him so Tony lifted him back up, bouncing him a bit to keep him asleep. 

This had always been the hard part of getting Peter to sleep. Ever since he was a newborn. 

Tony stood there with him a bit until he was sure he was asleep then he went to lay Peter back down but as soon as Peter was off his chest, he woke up and started whiny for him so Tony fumbled around on the nightstand table until he found his pacifier and pushed it past his lips. “Shhh. Shhh. Time to sleep.” 

It worked. 

Thankfully. 

Tony loved that thing and hated it at the same time. 

At least it got Peter back to sleep so he could shower. 

.

.

.

He wasn’t even done in the shower when he heard the crying. 

Finishing up quickly, Tony dried himself off and put on clean underwear then headed out of the bathroom to prepare himself for a night of no sleep once again. 

The thought of hiring a sleep trainer came to mind. 

He saw Pepper holding him, trying to soothe him but it wasn’t working. “Pepper.” He said, walking up behind her and at the sound of his voice, Peter cried harder, reaching for him. “Come here. Where’s paci?” 

As soon as Peter was in his arms, the crying stopped but were now reduced to soft whimpers. 

“I don’t know where he put it.” So instead, Pepper grabbed another one from Tony’s nightstand table, handing it to her son. “Do you want me to stay up with him tonight? You were up with him all last night. And the night before that.” 

“I want to. But I don’t know if he’ll let me sleep.” 

Seeing her husband’s exhaustion, Pepper rubbed Peter’s back. “Bring him downstairs and we’ll hang out a bit until he hopefully falls asleep. I’ll put some tv on.” 

It wasn’t like Tony had any other options, he needed to sleep.  

“Alright. Just make him a bottle.” He made sure to grab Peter’s teddy bear and Blankie before heading down. He laid a blanket on the couch, waited until Pepper was sitting down then placed Peter beside her, earning an ear piercing scream. “Shhh, time to rest.” 

“Daddy!” 

“Daddy needs to sleep.” He kissed his forehead. 

“Just go, Tony. He’ll stop crying soon.” 

Reluctantly, Tony left. He heard the sobbing continue until he was in his bedroom so he shut his door and went into the bathroom to turn the tap on, trying to block out the crying. 

It was so hard because he felt like he was betraying Peter by leaving him to cry like that. 

It hurt him to hurt Peter. 

But Tony needed to sleep. 

.

.

.

“Daddy! I wan’ daddy!” Peter cried, trying to squirm out of Pepper’s arms. 

“Peter, you need to let your dad sleep. He’s so tired.” Honestly Pepper didn’t know how Peter wasn’t tired. “Do you want to watch some tv?” 

“No.” 

“Do you want to drink milk?” 

“… no.” 

Pepper sighed, brushing the curls off his face. “How about we take a bath together? That way we can warm up a little and relax.” 

“A bath?” 

“Yeah.” She used to take baths with Peter when he was a baby and it helped to calm him down. Of course it was for different reasons but it was worth a shot. “Let’s go up. Do you want to bring your milk or pacifier?” 

“Paci.” 

“Alright, honey. Let’s go run a bath.” Pepper stood up and held her hand out for Peter, leading him upstairs and into the guest bathroom that was the furthest away from everyone else. 

It would hopefully help Peter relax a bit. 

“And daddy can come?” 

“No, honey, he’s asleep. You need to let him sleep.” Pepper got the bath ready then turned to Peter. She was going to leave him here so she could put a bikini on but if Tony found out she left Peter alone with running water, he’d never forgive her. 

“Come with me. I need to get changed but you can’t wake your dad up. Okay? Can you stay quiet?” 

“Yeah. I’ll be quiet.” He followed his mom into their bedroom and tip toed over to his dad. “He’s sleeping.” 

“Yeah, shh.” Walking over to the bed, Pepper looked at her husband. He must have been exhausted if he fell asleep without Peter. “Wait here while I change.” 

“Okay.” He climbed onto the bed, sitting next to his dad and peeking over at his face. He grabbed the blankets to pull them up higher on him so he could stay warm. “It’s time to sleep.” He repeated what his dad always says to him. 

“Let’s go, quietly.” Walking out in a bikini, Pepper held her hand out for her son, shutting the bedroom door behind them. 

“Why are you wearing that? It’s a bath. Not a pool.” 

Pepper smiled. She was looking forward to having some much needed alone time with Peter. “Because I’m not getting naked, silly boy.” 

“I don’t wanna wear my bathing suit. It’s sticky.” 

“You don’t have to. Let’s just take this off.” Bending down, Pepper pulled off his diaper and tossed it in the garbage then pulled off his shirt. “Let me see your rash.” 

“It doesn’t hurt.” 

“Wow, it’s almost all gone. It’s because you haven’t been wearing a diaper much anymore.” 

“Yeah,” Peter climbed into the bath. “I’ll wear one but I’m not gonna pee in it. Or poop.” 

“Underwear works fine too.” Pepper climbed in after him, soaking into the warm water and getting flashbacks to holding a tiny Peter on her chest while he slept and she watched his every movement, so in love with him from the beginning. 

Peter didn’t want to have this conversation now. Sitting up on his knees, he leaned over the side of the tub. “I have no toys.” 

“Because it’s a relaxing bath to get you sleepy. Where’s your soother?” 

Peter gasped. “I dunno.” 

“I think I see it on the floor there. Go get it and come lie down with me.” 

“It’s cold!” Peter shivered, grabbed his pacifier and went back into the warm water. He looked at his mom, confused as to why she never wanted him to have a pacifier and now she was okay with it. He didn’t understand that but he wasn’t going to complain now and risk getting it taken away from him. 

He sat up on his knees and tugged on the string of Pepper’s bathing suit. “I want milk.” 

Pepper shook her head fondly. Why didn’t she expect this. 

“No, honey.” 

“Why?” 

Pepper sighed and tried to distract him. “Come lie down with me.” Pepper pulled Peter closer and waited until he laid his head on her chest. “Just rest.” 

He sighed, trying to relax but he wanted his dad. His mom was comfortable but she wasn’t giving him what he wanted from her so now he wanted his dad. “I wan’ daddy.” 

“He’s sleeping, baby. Just relax now.” 

“Mm. Daddy.” 

“No. Time to relax.” 

Peter sat up to start crying but his mom gave him a little warning pat on his butt. “Uh. I’m not daddy. I’m not going to fall for it.” 

“No.” He whined, crossing his arms over his chest. 

The bathroom door opened and both their heads snapped to look at Tony. “Daddy. Come in the bath with us!” 

“I was wondering where you guys went. It was too quiet.” He walked over to them, squatting down and looking at Peter’s cute face. “Can I have a kiss? I missed you in bed.” 

“Tony.” Pepper was so perplexed to see him standing there. “You were literally just sleeping fifteen minutes ago.” 

Tony didn’t comment on that. He had separation anxiety from Peter and if Peter didn’t sleep with him, he didn’t fall into a deep enough sleep to actually stay asleep. 

Peter pecked his dad’s lips. “Yeah, I saw you sleeping. Now I’m in the bath with mom. Join us.” 

“I don’t think so. I think you need to start getting sleepy.” 

“He’s not. And he keeps asking for you. Maybe you want to try getting him to sleep now.” 

Tony didn’t think Peter looked tired. “Are you ready for bed with me?” 

“No! Never.” 

Tony and Pepper both looked at each other, feeling defeated. 

“Okay. I’m going to go back to bed, you can either come with me or stay in the bath with mommy.” 

Peter lifted his arms up for him. “You.” 

Although it hurt Pepper a bit to see that Peter always chose Tony over her, she understood why. 

After getting a towel, Tony lifted Peter out of the bath and handed another one to Pepper. “Thank you.” He kissed her. “She understood that he needed to be with his son. 

“But it’s actually time to sleep. Alright?” Tony warned him, laying him down on the bed and grabbing rash cream and a fresh diaper. “Do you want milk or just your pacifier?” 

Peter flinched as the first bit of cold cream touched his sensitive skin. “I wanna have it all day tomorrow.” 

“How about we see about that.” 

“Then if I do, I’ll sleep all night, okay?” 

Tony didn’t like how Peter was trying to bribe him. Sleep for a pacifier. Nope. Not going to work for him. “Peter. You will not try to bribe me to get me to give you your pacifier. You will sleep. And we will see how tomorrow goes. Do you understand me?” 

Peter covered a hand over his mouth, afraid Tony would take it from him. “Okay. I understand.” 

“Good.” Tony put a diaper on him and pulled the blankets back more so they could climb in. “Are you cold? Do you want to sleep in pyjamas?” 

“No. No pyjamas.” 

Tony was so ready for sleep. He let his head hit the pillow and felt like he was out in seconds but Peter wrapped an arm around his body so Tony’s hand went down to pat Peter’s butt and that’s when Peter farted. 

Both chuckled. 

“Daddy. I need to poop.” 

Tony sighed. He didn’t want to get up. “Do you want to go in the toilet?” 

Peter shook his head. “No…” 

Tony knew he couldn’t encourage this but it was so much easier for him. 

Just as he was about to tell Peter to just go, Pepper walked in. “Oh. Pep, can you take Peter poop?” 

“Yeah, come, sweetie.” 

Peter looked at Tony, betrayed. 

“What?” 

“I don’t want to go in the toilet.” He whined quietly. 

“You’re not going in my bed so come.” Pepper was close enough to hear that and she wasn’t having it. She pulled Peter into the bathroom, getting him all set on the toilet. “Tell me if you need help.” With that, she walked into the bedroom and took off her bikini top. “You know, if we can get him in his own bed soon, we can start having sex in our bed again.” 

As inviting as that sounded to Tony, he didn’t think he could sleep without Peter and he was scared to find out. “I don’t mind quickes in the bathroom or car.” 

“Tony. We’re not in college anymore.” Pepper walked into the closet and put pyjama pants on, walking back into the bedroom. “And Peter needs to start sleeping in his own bed soon.” 

“He’s fine for now. Let’s focus on keeping him dry during the day first.” 

“Mom! I’m done. Come wipe my butt!” 

“Duty calls.” She kissed Tony and walked into the bathroom, pulling out some wipes. “Stand up and touch your feet.” 

Doing as he was told, Peter waited until his mom was done. “Oww. That hurt.” 

“Sorry. Stay there so I can get cream.” 

“All the blood is rushing to my head!” 

Pepper rolled her eyes. “Don’t stand like that then.” 

Peter didn’t move until his mom was done, then he ran back into bed, sitting on his dad’s chest. “I went.” 

“I know. Good job.” 

“Can we play with my legos?” 

“It’s midnight, Peter. And you have school tomorrow.” 

Peter rolled off of him. “You’re boring.” 

“It’s time to sleep. It’s not time to play.” 

Peter kicked his legs in the air so Tony grabbed the pacifier from his mouth and tossed it in his nightstand table. 

“No! Nooooo!” Peter cried. 

“Nope. If you’re not sleeping, you don’t need a pacifier.” 

“Daddy. Okay. I sleep. Gimmie paci back.” He sat up in bed and cried. Looking at him, Tony gave him a no nonsense look then handed him his pacifier back. “Lie down. Lie. Down. Good. Now time to sleep.” 

“Dada.” Peter cried. 

“Time to sleep.” 

“I want milk.” 

Tony wanted to cry. It was going to be a long night.