Take my hand
The last week has been going fairly well.
They weaned Peter off the bottles two weeks ago and so far he’s asked for a bottle every night but when he’s told no, he accepts the answer and settles on his pacifier.
Tony was scared to wean him off the pacifier and so was Pepper. He had one in his mouth pretty much every second of every day unless he was eating.
Like right now, he was sitting on the couch with a pacifier and was chewing on it as he concentrated on the show he was watching on the tv. It was morning which usually meant he’d be having a bottle right now and then a diaper change but since they dropped the bottles, Peter was holding his sippy cup of milk that he actually was drinking, just more slowly.
Tony looked at the blue wet indicator on his diaper. He needed a change but he was too tired to move. They slept pretty decent last night. Peter went down fairly quickly but was then awake from 12-2:30. Which was exhausting for Tony considering he had to stay up with him. Eventually, Peter fell asleep after Tony patted his butt for about twenty minutes.
But then he slept until 5am. So at least there was that.
Tony took a sip of his second coffee that morning and set it back on the side table. He went to finish typing his email but Peter was crawling over to him on the couch, stopping to lean against him and see what he was typing.
“Discuss some aspects of… what’s that word say?”
“None of your business. You done with your cartoon?” Tony changed the tab on his screen because his children didn’t need to know about the business and keeping them far from it was always Tony’s and Peppers plan.
“Yeah…” He chewed on his pacifier, still looking at Tony’s computer.
“I need to change your diaper soon. Then you need to go sit on the toilet and try to pee.” Tony looked around for underwear but they needed to bring some more down. Tony was sure he put a fresh load in the wash last night but he couldn’t remember.
Peter moved so he was slowly pushing Tony’s computer off his lap and replacing it with himself. “Can I have ice cream?”
“It’s not even 9am yet. No.” They’ve been up since 5am so they’ve been up long enough to have some ice cream so there really was no reason Peter couldn’t have any despite the fact that they were all out of ice cream.
“Can I have some chocolate then?”
“If you go into the pantry and grab the Areo chocolate bar, I’ll share it with you.”
Peter’s eyes widened and he jumped off his dads lap, running into the kitchen and into the pantry. He grabbed the stool, already knowing exactly where the chocolate was kept.
He reached in blindly and felt around for the chocolate bar, grinning at it in his hands. “Found it!” Running back to the couch, Peter climbed onto Tony’s lap, straddling him. “This is probably my favourite chocolate. I mean, smarties are pretty good too. Just not as… bubbly.” Peter broke off a piece, giving one to his dad before taking one for himself. “Mmmmm.”
“Hits the spot.” Tony took another piece. He loved chocolate. It was definitely his go to for a treat. Peppers was anything sour, she had really bad pregnancy nausea with Peter so eating sour candies helped, Harley’s was bbq chips and Morgan’s was lays chips while Peter’s go to was a bottle of milk. Every movie night, they settle with their snacks, and Peter always goes for milk. Although that was probably going to change now.
They finished the chocolate bar together, Peter putting his pacifier back into his mouth and Tony patting his back.
“Let’s go into the bathroom so I can take this diaper off and you can sit on the toilet.”
Without complaint, Peter slid off of him and ran into the hallway bathroom, flicking on the light. He had a box of pull-ups in there so he pulled one out. “I got one for you.”
“Thanks, bud, but we’re not going out so you can wear underwear today.” Tony put the potty seat on the toilet and grabbed the wipes. He took off Peter’s overnight diaper, wiping him down and having him sit on the toilet.
Peter swung his feet, waiting for the pee to come. “Are we staying home all day today?”
Tony looked at him, raising his eyebrows.
“What? I was just wondering if we could do something fun.”
“Like what?”
“I dunno. Like… go… swimming. Ice swimming.”
“Ice swimming, huh?” Tony leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest as he waited for him to finish up.
“Yeah. That sounds fun. Aiser can join us.”
“What about Spider?” Tony asked about Peter’s fish. They moved him to the master bathroom since Peter was rarely ever in his room anymore. Although they were in no rush to move him back just yet.
Screw all the co-sleeping articles.
Although Karen would beg to differ.
“Maybe not. He’ll get so cold and turn into a fish popsicle.” Peter finally peed and grabbed some toilet paper, standing up to wipe. “Bye bye pee pee. Go to the drains now.”
“Good job. Come wash your hands.”
Tony kicked the stool in front of the counter for him to wash his hands. His phone rang in his pocket so he pulled it out, seeing that it was Pepper. “Hey. What’s up?”
“Hi Tony. I’m going to be done with work in about an hour but my assistant just told me my car has a flat tire. So I need you to come pick me up.”
“Yeah. We can do that. I’ll change the tire some time this week. I’ll just have it moved to my workshop.” Tony saw Peter putting way too much soap on his hands. “Enough with the soap, Pete.”
“Alright. I’ll see you two in an hour. I love you. Bye.”
“Love you too, bye. Pete, that’s enough soap, did you touch a plague or something.” Tony took the soap from him pushing Peter’s hands under the warm water. “We’re going to pick mommy up from work.” The drive was usually around 40 minutes but by the time they actually left, they’d get there in an hour.
Tony grabbed a pull-up after all and held it out for Peter to step into, tightening one of the sides. “I need you to go upstairs and put on pants and a shirt. Can you do that?”
“Yes.” Peter skipped down the hallway and upstairs, stepping over their sleeping dog and made his way into his bedroom. He walked into his closet and looked around. He couldn’t decide if he wanted to wear track pants today or maybe he wanted to wear pyjamas out. That sounded cozy.
He opened up his dresser drawer and pulled out all his pyjamas, trying to decide what he wanted to wear. He couldn’t decide and that was the hard part so while he thought about it, he grabbed his basket of legos and dumped them out, clumsily stacking pieces together.
“What are you doing? You’re supposed to be getting dressed.” Tony put his shirt on and walked into this bedroom, stepping over the Lego. Stepping on those were a torture method.
“I couldn’t decide what I wanted to wear.”
Tony grabbed joggers and a red hoodie. “We’re going to be in the car the whole time, it doesn’t really matter what you wear.”
“Then I want to go naked.”
“No.”
“Fine. Then I’m not going.”
Tony knew Peter was just testing him. “Okay. You stay here all alone and I’ll go-”
“NO! I’ll go.”
“Then get dressed. Make it snappy. I’ll going to pee. Do you need to go?”
Peter tested it. “No.”
“Good. Keep that pull-up dry.”
“Okay.” Peter rolled his eyes but quickly got his pants, socks and sweater on before his dad could go downstairs without him. He waited for him at the bathroom door then lifted his arms up. “Carry me down.”
“How can I possibly say no to that cute little face of yours.” He kissed him on the cheek after lifting him up so Peter took out his pacifier to kiss him back. Tony could’ve sworn there was a family video lying around somewhere of Peter as a toddler removing his pacifier just to give kisses. He's always been so affectionate, something that even Steve couldn’t take away from him.
Although Tony didn’t want to ask, he’s sure that Steve showed some affection to Peter. The thought that another man touched his son boiled his blood.
“You have curly hair on the back of your head but not the front. Why?”
“You have curly hair all over your head. Why?”
Peter grinned behind the pacifier and Tony wished so badly he could take that out so Peter could actually smile at him. Another problem for another day. He got his shoes on and went to place Peter on his feet but Peter clung to him like a koala bear. “For a second, Pete.”
“No.”
Tony sighed but straightened up. “Fine,” Tony grabbed his show boots off the floor. “Carry these then.” He grabbed his jacket and Peter’s, then left.
He locked the door and turned around, bumping into Clint. “Oh. Hey, Clint.”
“Hi Tony. I didn’t mean to catch you at a bad time.” He handed Tony a pink envelope. “Lila’s birthday party is this Saturday and I was wondering if your children wanted to come. No pressure, all ages are invited and she’d love it if your kids could come.”
Peter took the envelope from Tony’s hand, looking it over.
“Thanks for the invite. We’d love to come, I’ll talk to Pepper about it and she’ll get back to your wife.” Tony hoisted Peter up higher when he began slipping. He was currently holding his child, boots, jackets, a diaper bag and his keys in his hands.
“Sounds good. You look busy so I’ll let you guys go. Hey, little man.” Clint offered a fist bump up to Peter and ruffled his hair when he got one.
Tony hated people touching his kid, he knew Clint meant no harm and had good intentions but why did everyone think it was okay to touch somebody else. Sure, Peter was cute and irresistible to some, but that didn’t give them the right to suddenly touch Peter.
And the worst part was that Peter didn’t care.
Tony unlocked the car and placed Peter in his car seat, tossing the jackets and boats down then getting his arms through the straps. “Wanna open the card now?”
Peter handed it to Tony so he ripped open the envelope and it started singing happy birthday. Peter giggled. “Dear Stark family, Lila’s 16th birthday party will be held at Robot City Arcade at 11am on Saturday November 20th. We hope to see you there.”
“What’s robot city?”
“It’s a massive arcade with games and a climbing structure, like the one you and Morgan like.” They’d probably go but then that meant they needed to go shopping for a present at the mall today while they had time.
“Oh. Is Morgan going too?”
“Of course.” Tony folded the card back into the envelope. “Fingers and toes in the car.” He warned before shutting the door and getting into the driver's seat, starting the car and blasting the heat.
Tony turned the music up, tapping away to Frozen songs. Every time he looked in the rearview mirror, Peter was looking out the window, looking deep in thought.
“What’re you thinking?”
Tony’s voice startled him, he must’ve been deep in thought then. He opened his mouth to speak but his pacifier fell out, landing on the floor. “Uhhh uh uh.”
“Uh oh. Do you have another one in your cup holder?”
Peter looked but it was empty. He tried to reach down to get it but he couldn’t budge an inch. “Nooo. Uh uhhhh! Uh!”
“Alright, well we’ll be at the tower in fifteen minutes.” To Tony’s surprise, Peter began crying. His cries sounded a bit forced but they were tears nonetheless. “Buddy. It’s just a few minutes. Suck your thumb in the meantime.”
“Soother!”
“Peter.” Tony sighed. Why was this such a problem? He put his turning single on and drove off the next exit of the highway as Peter’s cries got more desperate. “I’m pulling over. Just give me a second.”
Peter cried something to him that Tony couldn’t understand but he was pulling into a gas station parking space and getting out of the car. He opened the back door, immediately searching on the ground for that darn silicone plug.
“Where’s it?” Peter cried, trying to look on the ground for it too the best he could. He wiped the tears from his eyes, feeling like he was dying without it. He needed the comfort.
Tony found another pacifier. Not the one Peter originally had but another one. He placed it in Peter’s mouth after wiping it off and it instantly shut him up.
“Buddy. You’re okay, there’s no need to cry like that.” How the actual fuck was he supposed to wean him off of those. Peter was going to put up the big fight known to man.
He reached out to wipe a tear off his cheek. “I worry about you. You’re too obsessed with pacifiers.” Peter blinked at him then shook his head. “Yeah. You are.”
“Mm mmm.”
They stared at each other for a few moments. Tony wondered how the fuck they could take his pacifiers and Peter probably thinking about ways to make it impossible for them to take the pacifiers.
They might just become enemies by the end of this fight.
.
.
.
“Mommy.” Peter spotted Pepper in the hallway and ran up to her, hugging her immediately.
“Hi my sweet boy. I’m just going to finish my conversation then I’m all yours. Promise. Tony?” Pepper looked at him to take him from her so Tony took Peter’s arm, feeling a bit bad about taking Peter away from his mom after not seeing her all day.
He scanned his finger print at Peppers office and walked in, shutting the door behind them. “I think mom has some candies in here somewhere.” He went to search the cabinet while Peter made a beeline for the desk chair, climbing onto it and spinning it around. “Found her stash.” He pulled out some gummy worms, ripping open the pack and handing two to Peter then walking to the other side of the desk and taking a seat.
Peter opened up Pepper's desk drawer and pulled out a file then opened it up so Tony reached over to close the file. Peter didn’t need to see it. “Close the drawer.”
“This is my meeting.”
“Hmm.” He tossed another gummy worm at the kid.
“Does-do you and mom have meetings in here?”
“No. My office is on another floor. But we have meetings in the conference rooms.”
“Oh.” Peter picked up his pacifier to put it back in his mouth but looked at his dad then put it back down on the desk. “Will this be my office when I’m Harley’s age?”
“No. Why? Do you want it to be?”
Peter shrugged. He didn’t even know what he wanted for dinner. How was he supposed to decide what he wanted as a career? “No. That just seems like way too much work. Mom can keep working here forever and I’ll stay at home with you forever.”
Tony wanted that too. Not so much the Pepper working forever but he wanted Peter to himself forever, was that too much to ask for? Probably. It was probably unfair to Peter to want that, but Tony couldn’t bring himself to care.
Peter was his best friend, his heart beat for Peter.
It was hard to imagine him growing up. “We should go back to Bali, now that would be fun.”
“Yeah. Bali was fun.”
They celebrated Peter’s first birthday back with them there and although he was still so new to their family, he fit in like their missing puzzle piece, just like how it always should’ve been.
The door clicked and Tony turned in his seat to see Pepper walk in. “Okay. Sorry for the wait. Brady was talking my ear off. But I’m finally free.” Tony stood up, ripping the head off a gummy worm. “Just you and Brady?”
“Tony.” Pepper warned. “He’s a business partner.”
“I know. I’m just asking if it was just you and him.”
“Yes. Just him and I.” She took off her heels and walked past Tony, shaking her head at him.
“Dad says we’re going to Bali.”
“Oh really? Did he now?”
Giving Peter a look, Tony focused back on Pepper. “I mentioned it once. The kids twisting my words.”
“Am not.”
“Hush.”
Peter crossed his arms over his chest, slumping down in his chair.
After getting her running shoes on, Pepper walked over to finally greet her son. “Hi my sweet boy. Have you been good for daddy today?”
“Of course.” Peter grinned.
“Don’t listen to him. He definitely has not been good for me.”
“He’s lying. I’m always good.” He gave his mom an innocent look just to prove it then grabbed his pacifier off the desk and stood up. “We’re going to a birthday party this weekend. Lila’s.”
“Oh. Did you talk to Clint?”
“Yeah,” Tony leaned down to feel between Peter’s legs. He was still dry. “Go sit on the toilet before we go.”
“She’s sixteen, right? We can stop by the mall on our way home and pick something out for her while we have time.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” Tony stood at the doorway of the bathroom, watching Peter struggle to get his pants down. “You good?”
“Yeah.”
He sat down on the toilet but Tony walked in before he sprayed the wall in front of him. “Push yourself down, Pete, don’t forget that.”
“I’m gonna fall in again!” He whined, unable to do that while holding both sides of the toilet.
“You won’t. I’ve got you.” He grabbed his upper arm to hold him still although he was sure he wouldn’t fall in, it’s happened before and it was funny but it scarred the poor boy.
He peed into the toilet, much to Tony’s delight, then the three of them walked down to the garage where Tony got Peter buckled in and drove out of the garage.
“I’m going to let you take point on this because I have absolutely no idea what a 16 year old girl likes.”
Pepper laughed at him. “Of course you don’t.”
“I do!”
“Oh yeah?” Tony chuckled at his boy in the back. “What’s your ideas?”
“Ummm… a Barbie dollhouse like Morgan has at grandmas and grandpas house. Or… lots and lots of makeup. Like lipstick and mascara.”
“He probably has a point about the makeup thing.” Pepper concluded.
“I don’t want to get her makeup. She’s 16, isn’t that a bit young for that? I mean, I don’t want Morgan wearing makeup at 16.” Tony didn’t like the idea of his daughter feeling like she needed to put makeup on herself.
“Really? 16 is usually the age girls start. It’s fun to experiment with it.”
Tony felt a knot form in his stomach. Why the fuck did children have to age? Really, why couldn’t they stay young and innocent and dependent forever.
He sighed, shaking his head and looking in the rearview mirror as Peter sucked on his pacifier. Yeah, they really needed to take those away. Urg, it was so overwhelming to think of all this stuff.
.
.
.
“I want to go in the candy shop.” Peter whined, tugging on Tony’s arm. He was tired and hungry, Tony could tell.
Pepper went off to find a present herself once Peter started getting cranky. Tony had to be patient with him, bottles got taken from him and he didn’t have his pacifier in the mall so he was having difficulties with self soothing right now.
Tony pulled his sippy cup out of the bag and handed it to him but Peter pushed it away and squatted down in the middle of the mall walkway. Tony leaned down and lifted him up, setting him on his hip and walking over to a corner with some couches. It was a Tuesday morning so there weren't many people in the mall to begin with.
He sat down, sitting Peter next to him. “Hey. Stop for a second. Tell me what you need. I can’t help you if I don’t know.”
Peter threw himself down on the green leather sofa, tears leaking from his eyes.
“Peter, use your words so I can help you. I’m not going to guess. You need to communicate what you’re feeling with me.” Tony spoke patiently, reaching over to pat his belly. “Just take a breath.”
“Noooo. Wan’-wan’…” Peter cried, grabbing his shirt and lifting it over his head so Tony pulled it back down. “Don’t!”
“Tell me how you’re feeling. Can you do that?”
Peter grabbed Tony’s hand and bit it. Hard. Fuck. Tony yanked his hand away, rubbing the embedded teeth marks. He bit hard and Tony hated that his son was a biter.
“It’s not okay to bite, Peter. Use your words.”
“I want paci.”
Tony sighed.
He had one in his jacket pocket and Peter knew it.
“Talk to me-”
“Soother. I want soother. Give it to me. Daddy.” Peter cried, making grabby hands for Tony.
Tony let out a breath but there wasn’t anything else he could do. Peter knew they were going to take the pacifiers away from him soon and since he didn’t have bottles, he attached onto them even more.
So, there wasn’t anything Tony could do or Peter would start crying next. He pulled the pacifier out of his pocket that read lucky on it and placed it in his mouth.
He watched him for a few moments, feeling like a failure even though Peter was currently looking at him like he had just given him the whole world.
Eventually, Tony held his arms out for him. “Come here,” It was easy to lift Peter onto his lap, he fit so perfectly on top of him, wrapped in his arms where Tony could keep him safe.
By the time Pepper finished, Peter was passed out in his arms, his body limp against Tony with his arms wrapped around Tony’s neck, but as soon as he stood, they fell to his sides and he jerked. “Shh shh. Go back to sleep.” Tony hoped this hyperactive boy slept for at least two hours.
“He was so close to throwing a temper tantrum earlier. So close.”
“Yeah, I was surprised to see the pacifier in his mouth. Taking him to the mall while we’re still weaning bottles from him definitely doesn’t help.” She held up the bags she got. “I got Lila some things, and I found the most adorable pyjamas for Peter and Morgan. Matching ones. Onesies. You’re going to love them.”
Tony had a love hate relationship with onesies. They looked adorable but it was hard to change diapers with them on so yeah, Peter would look cute but it’s a hassle. “I can’t wait to see them.”
“Were you serious about wanting to go to Bali? And did you tell Peter?”
“It’s just a thought I had. And I brought it up to him. But it’s obviously not the best time to go.” Tony hoisted Peter up higher but his mouth bumped against his chest and his pacifier fell out, landing on the dirty floor. “Great.”
Pepper was quick to pick it up but it wasn’t going back in their son's mouth so she dug in the bag for another one just as Peter started shaking his head against Tony’s chest, about to wake up.
Peter lifted his head up, looking around but Pepper quickly placed another pacifier in his mouth and he laid back down. It was scary. No, scratch that, it was terrifying how dependent Peter was.
“Maybe going away would be the perfect opportunity to get rid of the pacifiers.”
“How? A new place, new bed, new country, he needs consistency.” Tony argued.
“Yes. But if we go away and just get away from everything, we can sit down and explain to him that the pacifiers don’t come on the trip.” Pepper explained but Tony was already thinking of all the ways this wouldn’t work.
“No way. We aren’t going cold turkey on vacation. Imagine him screaming and crying the whole time. Not a good idea.” Tony admitted and cringed at the thought alone. “I need to do more research but we can start slowly. Taking the pacifiers away during the day and only give it to him for night time and naps. If he needs a nap.”
Pepper considered that. They discussed a few ways to wean Peter once they got rid of the bottles and it’s been just over two weeks since he’s had a bottle, he still asks for one every night and doesn’t cry after being told no so they were getting somewhere.
“Where would we even go?”
“Maldives. I’ve always wanted to take the kids there.”
“I thought you wanted to take the kids to Costa Rica.”
Tony pulled the keys out of his pocket once they got to the car. “I do. I want to travel the world with them. But when they’re older.”
“You mean when Peter’s older.” Pepper corrected him, putting the bags into the trunk while Tony got Peter situated in his car seat, leaning it down so his head didn't flop forward.
“Imagine taking him to Europe right now. We’d be banned from Europe.” He joked, wishing Peter was awake to hear his joke. He would’ve given him the dirtiest look he could muster.
Tony turned the music completely off on the drive home since the Frozen soundtrack was making him want to murder someone and Peter was sleeping so he couldn’t complain.
Once they got home, Tony backed into the driveway and opened up the back door, surprised to find brown eyes looking at him. “You’re awake. When did you wake up?”
“Five.”
“Five minutes ago?”
Peter nodded.
“Okay. Hop out then.”
“Hi mom.” Pepper answered the FaceTime call, walking around the side of the car.
“Hi honey. Where are you?”
“We’re just getting home from the mall.”
“Is Peter there?”
“Yeah. He actually just woke up. Peter, say hi to grandma.” Pepper held the phone in front of his face but Peter was too busy trying to get Tony to pick him up, so Tony scooped him up and took the phone from Pepper.
“Hi Alice. How are you?”
“Oh, I’m good, Tony. We just miss you guys so much. We were wondering if you wanted to take a flight to see us soon?”
Tony unlocked the front door, getting greeted by Aiser. “Uh… I’m not too sure. We can discuss it.” He turned back to look at Pepper. “Did you grab the diaper bag from the car?”
“I’ve got it.”
“It’s just been so long since we’ve seen you guys. And Peter, ohh, we’d love it if you could come for a visit. Even five days.”
Tony set Peter on the couch, going into the kitchen to make a bottle out of habit before stopping himself. Right. No bottles. “Are you thirsty?”
“Milk.”
“Okay, I’ll get you a sippy cup.”
“Noo. In a bottle.”
“No bottles, buddy.” Tony felt like he was punishing him. He was doing this to help but he truly did feel like he was hurting him instead. “We can talk about it tonight once the kids are in bed, right now just isn’t the right time with Peter awake.”
He could tell Alice was disappointed but she had to understand how crazy busy their life was. “Alright, Tony. Let me know, it would be so great to see everyone again. You know, before my grandchildren grow up too fast.”
“Oh, trust me, I know.” Tony screwed the lid on the sippy cup. “I do have to go though. We’ll talk to you soon.”
“Let me say bye to my baby first.”
Tony knowingly shook his head and handed the phone to Pepper, knowing Alice really wanted to talk to Peter but he wasn’t her baby, Peter was his baby.
“Tony. Give the phone to Peter.” Alice called through the phone's speaker.
“Ohhh. You mean my baby. Sure.” He handed Peter the sippy cup and the phone. “Say bye to grandma.”
Since he was currently busy drinking, he waved bye then rolled onto his stomach, whining for Tony to sit with him. He went to sit up but he lost his balance and fell off the couch, smacking the back of his head on the coffee table.
There was a loud smack followed by Peter crying out.
“Oh no. Is he okay?”
Tony tossed the phone on the couch and lifted Peter up, holding the back of his head to check for any blood or bumps. “Awww, you’re okay. Yeah? You just fell back.” Tony had no idea how that even happened but Peter and Morgan were always falling in the weirdest of ways.
Peter sobbed into Tony’s shoulder, looking around for something so Tony leaned down to grab the pacifier off the couch and gave it to him for comfort.
He stopped crying almost immediately but continued to whine, fisting the back of Tony’s shirt. Reaching down, Tony picked up the phone again. “He’s okay, he just hit his head. I have to go, I’ll talk to Pepper tonight and we’ll talk with you tomorrow.”
Tony hung up the phone, tossing it back onto the couch and turning Peter around in his arms to hold him easier. When he felt the back of his head, he could feel a bit of a bump so he walked into the kitchen and opened up the freezer, searching for an ice pack.
There were a few old teethers in there from when Peter’s molars grew in and he was in pain, Tony pushed them aside in search of the ice pack but then got an idea. A teether wasn’t exactly a pacifier but it was still something Peter could chew and suck on to give him some sort of comfort instead of having nothing.
He pulled one out along with an ice pack and handed the green teether to him.
“Here.”
“Hmm?”
“I’ll take this,” He pulled the pacifier from his mouth, getting a loud whine right in his ear as Peter tried to reach for it. “Yes, you take this.”
“Noo. Paci.”
“Kid. You’re too much. Just let go of your pacifier for half a second.” Tony knew that this probably wasn’t the best way to go about doing it but Peter was a cranky mess who apparently needed a longer nap than a car ride home.
He placed him on the couch, watching as he went to throw himself off of it, he probably would’ve smacked the other side of his head if Tony hadn’t grabbed his arm, holding him up. “Peter. Enough. Can you just sit nicely for half a second.”
“I want paci.” He begged, standing up on the couch and sitting on the back of it. Tony just waited for him to fall off, him and Morgan always sat on the back of the couch and at least one of them fell off once a week. It was mostly funny but nothing about this moment was funny. “Daddy.”
“Tony. I’m going to go pick Morgan up from school now.”
Tony nodded and held the pacifier out to Peter, waiting for him to take it. He needed a break. He hated feeling like he needed breaks from Peter, it was like he was given a second chance at life with him and then feeling like he didn’t want to be with Peter, made him feel incredibly guilty.
But he sometimes really needed a break.
Being a parent was a 24/7, 365 days a year job. There were no breaks, no calling in sick, no vacation days. And so finding time for yourself was important. Even if that included driving to Morgan’s school to pick her up. It’ll take less than an hour but then they could both reset.
“Do you mind if I go? And you stay with him?”
“Oh.” Pepper seemed surprised to hear that. And really, Tony was surprised to be asking her to do that. But he desperately needed some time away from the crying. “Of course. I’ve got him. You go, okay?”
“Yeah… yeah, alright. I’ll be right back.” He grabbed Peter and sat him on the actual couch so he wouldn’t fall off the back of it. “I’m going to get Morgan from school, I’ll be back.”
“Noo. Stay here. Daddy. Stay. Daddy.” He stood up to follow, falling to the floor when Tony didn’t listen to his cries. “Daddy. Stay here. Daddy?!”
“Baby. Mommy’s staying with you. I’ll be back.” It was hard to leave but Tony really needed to get away from the crying. It was just too much. Peter was after him all the time. Tony felt like his body wasn’t even his anymore, Peter was either wanting to be carried, sitting in his lap, holding his hand, climbing all over him, and Tony loved it, he did, but he was still human too. He was a father, and that was his favourite title but even he needed breaks.
Peter stood up and followed him to the door so Pepper had to help him calm down before falling into a full blown panic attack. “Come on, honey. Daddy’s going to be back soon. Let’s go in the living room.”
“Daddy. Daddy. Come back. Daddy.”
Tony felt awful. He felt disgusted with himself when as soon as the front door closed and blocked out the crying, he felt instant relief. It wasn’t Peter’s fault, of course it wasn’t. But he was going through some shit and that was hard for everyone.
.
.
.
Tony didn’t know whether to feel jealous or relieved to walk in after being gone for an hour and Peter was laughing in the kitchen with Pepper, baking what smelt like cake.
“Hey.”
“Hi, dad. We're making French vanilla cake. Want a lick.” He held the spatula up, cake batter dripping all over the counter.
“I’m good.” Tony wondered how he was after he left. He looked around and saw five pacifiers sitting on the counter so he wondered what that was. Although none was in Peter’s mouth so that was a win.
He walked around to stand by Peter, who was sitting on his knees on the messy kitchen island, licking an empty bowl of cake batter. It was also all over his face, in his hair and on his naked chest. Now that Tony looked at him, he noticed he was wearing nothing but underwear. Dry underwear at least.
“What are you baking, Petey?” Morgan dropped her book bag on the floor and walked into the kitchen, pulling a stool up to get a better view.
“French vanilla cake.” He handed her the spatula. “Want some?”
“Yeah.”
Peter handed her a small bowl they saved for her then patted her head. “How was school, Morgan? Did you learn anything new?”
Tony’s heart combusted at how adorable that was. He leaned against the counter to watch their interaction, a grin stretched across his face.
“Good. My team won at dodgeball. And this guy came into our class today and we got to see a real live alligator.”
“What? You didn’t tell me that.” All Tony got in the car was a ‘good’ when he asked about Morgan’s day.
She shrugged, dipping her finger back in. “Oh. I forgot until now.”
Kids, man. That’s all Tony had to say.
.
.
.
“Stop it. Right now.” Tony grabbed Peter’s arm, forcing him onto his feet. He told him to clean up his mess and meet him in the bathroom for his bath but Peter made an even bigger mess and just threw his iPad at Morgan’s head.
His biggest mistake was leaving them alone when Peter was clearly in a mood.
“Are you okay, Morgan?”
The iPad thankfully only hit the side of her head so it wasn’t too hard. “Yeah. He’s being bad, dad. Spank his butt.”
Tony grabbed the iPad off the floor. “No ones getting spanked.”
“I’ll spank him then.” Before Tony could stop her, she smacked his butt, making Peter fall to the floor in screams. It couldn’t have hurt that bad, he was just dramatic.
“Morgan. I didn’t ask you to do that. No one should be spanking anyone.” He placed the iPad on the table but it fell and landed right on his big toe. “Ow! Fuck.”
“You just swore!”
Tony ignored Morgan’s comment and lifted Peter up on his feet but he refused to stand so Tony took the pacifier from his mouth. He wasn’t dealing with this behaviour.
“Noooo! Give it back! Daddy!”
“Then stand up and walk to the bathroom like I told you to do twenty minutes ago. Right now.” He immediately straightened his legs, accepting his pacifier back and letting Tony pull him into the master bathroom. “Take off your clothes. I’ll be back.”
“Mm!” He stomped his foot but didn’t get a reaction from Tony so he did it again. “Mmmm!”
“Watch it. Get undressed and wait for me here. Right now, Peter.” Tony snapped, not taking that nonsense from him. He left the bathroom to get the new box of diapers downstairs that he was too lazy to bring up earlier.
Harley just walked in from walking Aiser around the block and his paws were covered in mud. “Harley. Why’s the dogs paws full of mud?”
“Oh. He ran across someone’s lawn. I guess it was muddy.” He kicked off his shoes. “It’s dark outside, I can’t even see.”
“Well now he needs a bath before walking through the house.” Tony shook his head. He was tired from being an adult after today. “You carry this up.” He handed Harley the box of diapers and wipes and leaned down to pick Aiser up.
He groaned, Aiser weighed almost double than Peter does. He was a big dog and awkward to hold. He got him carried upstairs and into his bathroom, finding a pile of clothes there but no Peter.
“Peter!”
He set Aiser in the shower, stretching his back out. “Sit. Good boy. Peter!”
“I’m here.”
Turning around, Tony saw him walking in with an empty bottle in his hand. “Hey. Can I have that?”
Peter hugged it to his chest. “I found it. It’s mine.”
“Where did you find it?”
“Somewhere… in my room.”
“Hmm. Can I have it please?” He held his hand out for it. This was how they fail at the weaning, Peter finds a bottle and wants it then they’re back to square one.
“I want you to fill it up with milk.” He said, handing it over to Tony then looking up at him expectantly. Tony wished he could. He wished so badly he could.
“You don’t need a bottle anymore, remember?” He caressed his face, gently squeezing his chubby cheeks together. “Now how about you and Aiser get a wash together.”
Peter gasped and spotted his dog sitting in the shower. “Aisers here! He’s such a good boy, I want to take a bath with him.”
“No, he’s dirty. You’ll take your bath and I’ll wash him in the shower.” He started running the bath, making sure Peter didn’t step into the shower that would need to be scrubbed down later. “Come here. Take your socks off, kid.”
“Oh yeah.”
Tony sat down on the step of the bathtub, holding Peter’s hand to help him climb in. He was an active boy but he was also clumsy and the last thing Tony wanted tonight was to go to the hospital.
“It’s cold.”
“Sorry. It’ll warm up soon.” While the bath was filling up, Tony turned the shower on and used the hose to spray Aisers paws down. It was so satisfying to watch the dirty water drip off.
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Can Aiser come in the bath after he’s not dirty?”
“No, I don’t want you to bathe with a dog, Pete.”
“Why not? He’s family.”
Peter did have a point but Tony didn’t like the idea of a dog in the bath with his naked son. All Tony could think about was Peter smelling like a wet dog or getting sick or something. He’ll pass on his son smelling like a dog. “Because he’s still an animal and I don’t want him bathing with you.”
Also the fact that Aiser could unintentionally drown Peter by jumping on him. It just wasn’t a smart idea.
“Then can you? It’s boring in here by myself and-and Morgan doesn’t want to take a bath with me anymore.” He looked down at his lap, sighing heavily.
“I’m right here. I’ll keep you company.” He turned the shower off once their dog was cleaned and wrapped a towel around him. “Oh, and Aisers going to hang out with us I think.”
Peter moved to the corner of the bath, tucking his feet up. “I made space for you, dad, come in.”
“Not tonight, Pete.”
“You don’t have to wear a bathing suit even. I’m not.”
“You’re so cute. But no, buddy, you have your bath then we’ll get you ready for bed.” He shut the water off and grabbed the body wash to make this quick. “No hair washing tonight.”
“I want my hair washed.” Peter went to lean down but Tony grabbed his arm so he didn’t wet it. Hair washing nights added an extra hour to their bedtime routine with the actual washing then styling after so it didn’t turn into a frizzy mess of curls if blow dried.
“Uh uh uh. Not tonight. I washed it last night.”
“Fine.” Peter looked over at Aiser who was currently staring at him. He sat up, reaching over the tub to pet him but Tony made him sit up straighter so he could wash his body. “Ow. You grabbed my arm too roughly.”
“Sorry.”
Bathing Peter when he wasn’t tired was always a mission but it was always so worth it when he came out smelling like green apples and the distinctive smell of Peter. Tony couldn’t describe it, maybe it was a parent thing, but Peter was his favourite smell.
“Aisers looking at me. I don’t want him to.”
“He loves you.”
“Stop it. I don’t want him to.”
“Pete. Nothing I can do about that.” Tony told him to stand up then he grabbed a fluffy towel and lifted him out, making sure he was wrapped up. Tony wanted to take a bite out of him, he was so adorable and he just couldn’t get enough.
“Stop looking at me, Aiser. I don’t like it.” Peter took off running into the bedroom, climbing onto the bed but Aiser mistaken him for playing so he chased after Peter and grabbed his towel like a chew toy, tugging on it and causing Peter to fall off the bed with a loud thud followed by crying.
Tony didn’t have his eyes on him for literally two seconds and something like this happens. That was so frustrating.
“What happened?” He shrugged, trying to figure out how Peter ended up on the floor. He lifted him up, feeling the back of his head for another bump. “Why were you on the floor?”
“Aiser!”
“He’s looking at you because you’re crying, Peter. Do you wa-” Shit. Tony had to stop himself from asking if he wanted milk. He brushed the curls away from his eyes, tucking it behind his ears. “I think it’s bedtime. Mm? Let’s get you ready.”
Peter sucked in a shaky breath. “I wa-wan-wan- baba.”
“You don’t need one. Let’s try to call down together, okay?”
“Noo! Baba!” He pushed Tony away, leaving Tony with no other choice but to set him on his feet where he threw himself to the floor, sobbing while looking up at Tony, waiting for him to do something.
Sighing, Tony opened up the box of diapers and ripped open the plastic, pulling a few out and then grabbing Peter’s pyjamas off the bed, kneeling on the floor to get him ready for bed. It made sense when Peter started kicking him to stop but Tony felt helpless.
“Come here.”
“No.”
Placing the diaper and pyjamas on the side, Tony gave Peter no choice and pulled him onto his lap. “Tell me what you’re feeling. I want to know so I can help you.”
Peter was chewing on his fingers, gnawing at them desperately so Tony pulled his fingers away from his mouth, putting his hand into a fist and guiding his thumb into his mouth. “Suck your thumb if you need to but don’t get into the habit of chewing your fingers raw.”
“Paci.”
“Not right now. Talk to me.”
“Paci, daddy.”
“Peter. I need you to talk to me so I can help you. Otherwise I can’t help you. Tell me what’s wrong.” Just please talk to me, kid. Tony was so desperate.
Peter reached for Tony’s hand, playing with his wedding ring like he often did. “Mmm… I… you… I don’t…” He threw his head back in frustration. “I want my paci.”
“I know you do but you need to communicate your feelings with me. You can’t get a pacifier every time you’re feeling upset, buddy. I know you want one but-”
“Go away.” Peter pulled out of Tony’s arms and crawled around the other side of the bed, grabbing his pacifier off the floor and putting in his mouth. “Mmm.”
“Peter.” Tony sighed. “I want to have a conversation with you.”
“Mmhmm.” He stood up, looking down at his dad.
“Come talk to me.”
“No.”
“Okay.” Tony defeatedly got up, picking up his bedtime outfit along with him. “Lie down on the bed so I can get this on you.”
Peter listened without any complaints, lying down and grabbing the tv remote from the left of his head. “We can watch a movie.”
“Not tonight.”
“But I want to.”
“It’s past 8 and it’s time for bed.” Tony was a bit upset that Peter didn’t talk to him, but he had to remember that he really struggled in the communication aspect of things. He just didn’t know how to get Peter to actually talk to him so they could work on things together.
He’s just lucky he didn’t get bit tonight.
“You sleeping too?”
“Yep.” Tony lied. He’d wait until Peter fell asleep then he’d go downstairs and clean up the kitchen if Pepper hadn’t gotten to that yet and talk to her about some stuff.
“Lie down here so we can sleep on you.”
That was dangerous. Tony loved it when Peter fell asleep on him but he couldn’t stay and it would be harder to get Peter off of him then. He still couldn’t say no to that request.
So twenty minutes later, Tony was ever so slowly trying to move his sleeping son off of him and lay him on the bed without accidentally waking him up. It took him about ten minutes to successfully transfer Peter onto the bed then he stayed for an extra few minutes just patting his butt so Peter stayed asleep even after he was gone.
Pepper was wiping down the counters in the kitchen, finishing up with the cleaning for the day. Tony looked on the bottle rack at all the sippy cups there. It was a bittersweet transition. “He’s asleep. He went down so easily.” He set the baby monitor on the counter. He could see Peter’s sleeping face, his peaceful sleeping face. “Although he’ll be up in two hours.”
He was always so beautiful when he slept but in about two hours he would wake up screaming for a bottle that he couldn’t have. Although that was slowly stopping, now, he just woke up for no apparent reason, sat up and looked around like he just came out of hibernation and sometimes woke up crying because he couldn’t find his pacifier.
“Remember when I used to breastfeed him?”
Tony didn’t know how he could forget that stage. “Of course.”
“And remember how he used to breastfeed on demand? Day and night?”
“Yes.” Tony wondered where she was going with this.
“Well, the nighttime feeds were getting to be too much because he would wake up about every two hours and want milk. Then in the mornings, he’d be cranky because he didn’t get enough sleep and we talked about weaning him off of nursing in the nights.” She paused to make sure Tony remembered. “What if it’s kind of the same thing that’s happening now. He’s waking up every two hours for no reason and he and you are waking up tired and cranky in the mornings.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I’m just saying, it’s the same thing, something is causing him to wake up so much during the nights. He has the sleep patterns of a one year old going through a sleep regression, Tony. His sleep is awful.”
Tony shrugged. He was doing everything he could. He looked at the monitor, watching Peter roll onto his back. “It’s awful but we’re doing everything he can. He’ll grow out of it.”
“I know. It’s just a lot and I feel like he’s waking up for something. Muscle memory. Who knows.”
“He won’t talk to me. No, he doesn’t know how to talk to me. It’s exhausting.” Tony shook his head. “I can’t believe we have a biter. I always hated the biters, now I understand the parents.”
Pepper couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her. “It’s really not funny.”
“I’m not laughing, you are.” Now Tony couldn’t stop the laugh from coming out of him. They had to have lighthearted conversations like this or they’d simply go crazy and their family was already crazy enough.
.
.
.
“Put your boots on.” Tony told Morgan while he added extra wipes to the diaper bag. Peter was sitting on the toilet with Pepper, trying to go one last time before they left for the Barton’s daughters birthday party.
It was funny because while Tony was loading up the car, he saw them getting into their car and leaving for the birthday party. They were going to the same place but because Tony and Pepper had two younger kids, one of them being difficult, they’d arrive at completely different times.
“I did it!” Peter cheered as he ran down the hallway, crashing into Tony’s legs. “I peed in the potty.”
“Good job. I’m so proud of you.” He pulled the back of his pants out. “Pep, should we put a pull-up on him?”
“Yeah. I need a pull-up.”
“I’m not asking you.”
“Maybe…” Pepper thought about it. “He’s been really good but, yeah. Let’s put one on him. It’ll be hard to ask him to take bathroom breaks when we aren’t with him.”
“How am I the first one ready?” Harley walked down the steps, looking at Morgan with one shoe on, Peter with his pants being pulled down and his parents who weren’t even ready to leave the house yet.
This family was a mess. But he kinda liked it.
“Harley, can you get Peter’s shoes from the mud room and his blue jacket. The thin one. Thanks. Step out.” Tony instructed Peter, getting off his pants so he could also take off his underwear then put the pants back on followed by the pull-up. “Okay. Get your shoes on then let’s go.”
Both Peter and Morgan ran outside before Tony could get his shoes on and if he found out any of them ran onto the road, there would be no birthday party today. That was a very strict rule they had.
He grabbed the diaper bag, walking out and saw that Peter was freaking sitting on his hands and knees in a fucking puddle. “Peter. How? Just how? I literally do not understand how this happens.”
“I fell.”
He walked over to him and grabbed his arm, pulling him up. Now his party pants were ruined.
“Peter. No no, honey. What happened?” Pepper spent an hour getting him and Morgan ready this morning. “Oh my.”
“He apparently fell.”
“I did fall!”
“I packed extra outfits in the bag.” Pepper told Tony. “Go inside with your father to change.”
“Let’s go, Pete. I’m going to have to put a leash on you.” He took his hand, leading him back inside the house where he quickly got his wet pants off at the door and had to change his wet pull-up that absorbed the dirty puddle water. “Oh my god, I left the diaper bag in the car. Kid. You’re too much for me.” He ruffled his hair so Peter knew he was only joking. Well, he wasn’t joking but he loved it nonetheless.
“Where did mom put the box of pull-ups?”
“There’s no more.”
Great. Besides for the ones in the diaper bag, they were out of them. Nice. He was going to grab a diaper but didn’t want to start that habit again, even if it was just for the car ride, so he just lifted Peter onto his hip, covering his butt with his hand the best he could as he walked outside the house and headed straight for the car. “We’re out of pull-ups.”
“I ordered two boxes to the house for later today.”
“We need them now.” Tony dug in the diaper bag, pulling one out and holding it out for Peter to step into. “I’ll put your pants on when we get there. Hop in so I can buckle you in.”
“Will there be cake there?”
“It’s a birthday party, Petey. Of course.” Morgan reached over to pat Peter’s lower back but he turned and slapped her hand. “Hey.”
“No fighting. Behave like the innocent little devil children you are. Peter. Sit in your car seat.” Tony had to physically pull him towards it, letting him climb in then he got him buckled up. “Behave, you two.”
“Harley’s the one who needs to behave.” Peter tugged on his buckles, trying to turn around to see his big brother in the back. “Are you going to play in the jungle gym with us this time?”
“If you don’t poop your pants again, I will.”
“Hey. I didn’t.”
“Yeah, no pooping in pull-ups, kid. I don’t want to change any more poopy diapers.” Tony didn’t necessarily mind it but when he was already changing so many diapers, it was too much sometimes.
“I won’t, daddy.”
“Good boy.” He reached his arm back to gently squeeze his bare leg, making Peter screech.
It was almost an hour car ride but once they got there, all three of his kids were ready to run a marathon it felt like. Morgan had unbuckled immediately and Peter was impatiently arching his back to get let out.
“Hurry hurry.”
“I’m trying. Patience, my boy.” Tony got him out but stopped him from getting out of the car. “Wait. Hold up, I need to get your pants on. Where’s your shoes?”
“You took them off.”
“No. When?”
“Inside.”
“I- fu- oh no. Pepper. Peter has no shoes.”
“Tony. Don’t tell me you forgot them in the house.”
“I forgot them in the house.”
“Alright. Whatever. Nothing we can do about it now. Just… it’s fine because he’ll be in socks basically the whole time anyways.”
She had a point. Guess he had to carry him across the parking lot now. He held his arms out for him, placing him on his hip and taking the diaper bag out. “Harls, can you grab the presents?”
“I wanna carry one.” Morgan took the smallest one and handed it to Peter. “You carry this one. Don’t drop it.”
They got Lila a necklace, a speaker and a VR game. All things she wanted that Pepper knew after talking with her mother. She was an amazing gift giver and wasn’t going to stop now.
They walked into the building and music filled their ears while disco lights assaulted their eyes. Children were running around, going from one game to the next. Off to the right side of the massive space was the jungle gym, they’ve been to a few before but never this big. Tony was already thinking about how he was going to get Morgan and Peter out of there. It looked like it had about eight levels, going all the way up to the roof.
Then off to the right, the rest of the room had all kinds of games, some that won prizes and others that shot out tickets. Tony spotted a game he wanted to beat Harley at.
Peter wiggled out of his arms so Tony set him on his feet but grabbed his hand instead.
“Stay here. We need to check in first.”
“Welcome to Kiddie Land. How many children and adults will be joining us today?”
“We’re actually here for Lila Barton’s birthday party. We have two children and three adults.” Tony pulled Peter closer to him when he tried to tug him back. “One second, Pete.”
“Yes yes welcome, the party room is down the stairs to the right, besides the ball pit. Can I get the names of each child?”
“Yeah, it’s Peter and Morgan.”
“Uhhh up up.”
Tony lifted him back onto his hip so Peter could see what was going on.
“Perfect. So these wristbands go on your child’s wrist, the only way to get them off is to have a staff member at the gate take it off. It’s only registered to the adults in your party you register it to so they won’t be allowed to leave the gates without one of the party members.”
“Wow. Okay. How does that work?” Tony wasn’t going to lie, that was pretty cool. He was impressed. Also relieved he didn’t have to worry so much about someone snatching up his child.
“Our most important thing we strive for is the safety of the children here. I add the child’s name to the computer and it’s connected to your wristband and your child’s. If he, for example, leaves with someone who’s not on the wristband, our system will beep, or if he tries to leave by himself.”
“No. I won’t leave.” Peter shook his head at the man.
“I know you, Pete,” Tony held out his wrist so the man could attach the Apple Watch looking thing. “Hold out your wrist.” He told Peter and once everyone had one on, they were free to enter the room.
“I’ll lead the way to the party.” Said Morgan, walking ahead but of course Peter wanted to join in so Tony put him down, watching him run off with her.
They ran around a corner and into a party room with just the Barton’s in it so far and two older people who Tony recognized as the grandparents. He walked over to hug Lila. “Happy birthday. How old are you now, eleven?”
“Tony. I’m sixteen.” She blushed red. “Thank you for coming.”
“Wow, sixteen already. We wouldn’t miss it for the world.” It was funny because they basically saw each other's family grow up. They moved in to their home when Morgan was around three or four years old so to watch each others kids grow up was such an amazing experience.
And now baby Nathan. Well, three year old Nathan. Tony knew Pepper was going to be all over him.
It was sad for Tony to look at toddler boys. It just reminded him what he missed out on with Peter. Especially since Nathan was almost exactly the age Peter was when he went missing.
Peter grabbed onto his hand, hiding behind him and acting sky. “Pete, say happy birthday to Lila.” He pulled him out from hiding, knowing he wasn’t actually shy.
“Happy birthday.”
“Thanks, Peter. I heard you love chocolate cake, so we have a big one over here.”
Peter grabbed onto her hand, letting her pull him over to the table where all the food was. Well, most of it anyways. Tony watched on, smiling. Why did Peter have this special ability to get anyone to adore him.
“Let me see the chubby baby.” Pepper picked Nathaniel up, making the toddler laugh. “Look at you, Mr, aren’t you the chubbiest.”
“He eats like a man.” Laura said and the two woman laughed.
“Peppo.” The toddler placed his hands on her cheeks, grinning. “I wan’ to go play.”
“Oh, his speech is really good now. Wow.” Pepper bounced him in her arms and walked over to show Peter. “Peter. Look. You were once this small.”
“Oh.” Peter poked the toddler's chubby leg. “Is he a baby?”
“He’s three. He’ll be four next summer.” Lila told Peter, reaching out to squeeze her little brother's cheek, chubby hands swatting them away.
“Go play.”
“He wants to go play.” Peter gasped, looking to where he was pointing. “He’s cute.”
“Do you remember being this age, Pete?” Tony came up to them and asked. He wanted to have another baby with Pepper, Peter would make an amazing big brother to a younger baby, he already was a pretty decent big brother to Morgan besides for the fact that he often acted like the youngest.
Peter nodded. “Yeah. When I was a little baby.”
“Yeah.” Tony cooed. Pepper handed him Nathan who slapped Tony’s cheeks together like he did with Pepper. It was nice to hold a toddler again… Peter was basically his toddler now but he had attitude. “What do you remember?”
“Ummm…” Peter looked around. “He needs milk.” Peter took Tony’s hand, leading them over to Laura, Clint and Harley. Tony held the toddler on his hip, holding him like he holds Peter but then Peter was reaching for Laura’s blouse, about to tug it down but Tony yanked his arm away.
“Oh my god, Peter. No.” Tony couldn’t have been embarrassed. Oh my god, this was the worst public humiliation he could think of. “Peter. You never do that. I am so sorry, Laura.”
Both her and Clint were laughing but Tony was dying public humiliation here.
“It’s okay, Tony, really. It’s not like he’s a grown man doing it. He doesn’t know.”
Tony handed her the toddler and pulled Peter off to the side, sitting down in one of the chairs. “Peter. Under no circumstances can you ever touch a woman like that that isn’t mom. That was very inappropriate.”
“But… he’s hungry.”
“Peter. Listen to me. You can never do something like that again. Do you understand me?”
Peter started chewing on his fingers while he thought about it. “Yeah… but then what will he drink?”
Pepper didn’t seem as embarrassed as Tony did. She took the toddler from Laura and replaced the seat Clint got up from. “He doesn’t understand this little thing called boundaries and personal space.”
Both women laughed. “Really, it’s okay. I get it, you guys are going through some stuff.”
Tony overheard part of their conversation but put his attention back onto Peter. He didn’t necessarily want to listen to it right now. He also explained to Peter why it was wrong and just had to hope he understood it.
“Here.” Lila handed Peter a fruit cup. “Morgan and I are going to go play Just Dance. Want to join us?”
“Yeah. But I wanna pick the song.” Peter handed Tony the fruit cup and walked out with the two girls so Tony followed behind them, knowing Peter was about to kick both their asses. He had pretty good dance moves and could move his body.
“It’s this one right here.” Lila grabbed the card out of her pocket and scanned it. “Okay. Are we doing teams or single?”
“What gives us the most tickets?” Peter asked as he clicked through the songs.
“Probably single if you’re any good.”
“I’m definitely good.” Peter pressed the song he wanted. “You pick your song, Morgan.” He bounced in front of Tony. “I’m so excited! I’m gonna win!”
“I don’t doubt it.”
“Let’s go youngest to oldest.”
Peter pushed Morgan onto the dance floor. “Okay you go. You got this, Morgan! Get loads of tickets so we can get a cool prize.”
Morgan chose the song Let Me Love You by Justin Bieber and was fairly good but she was really stiff and missed a lot of beats, only ending up with a score of 2 stars at the end. Peter still cheered for her and Tony knew at that moment that he won as a parent.
Next was Peter.
He chose the song Timber by Pitbull and Kesha. Tony was always amazed at where he learned to dance. He was a natural as if he had done dance classes since he was a child. The sad part was that he very well could have and he didn’t know, but Tony hasn’t seen any pictures of it and Peter never said anything.
He hit every single move perfectly and Tony couldn’t help but smile at him shaking his little booty. His little dancer.
Peter picked up on every move and did them spot on, earning himself a 5 stars at the end. He cheered, jumping up and down. “I got 5 stars! That’s gotta be like one hundred tickets!”
“Wow. Do you dance?” Lila asked as she prepared to get ready for her turn.
“Yeah! I just did.”
“She means do you go to dance classes.” Tony explained to him, chuckling.
“Oh. No. I play just dance at home sometimes.”
Lila chose Best Day Of My Life by American Authors and got 3 out of 5 stars. She was a pretty decent dancer but a bit too stiff still in Tony’s opinion. As if he was some kind of professional dancer himself, he was rating them in his head like he was. He high fived all of them and waited for them to gather their tickets then they went back into the party room. There were a few more people there, this looked more like a family friend party rather than an actual sweet 16 since there were mostly young children rather than 16 year old girls.
Pepper and Laura were sitting on the same chairs, looking to be deep in conversation that Tony had some idea what was about. This little dancer off to his left.
He shook hands with a few people he didn’t know and had a few young kids run by him, some looking to be around Peter’s age but were really probably around 10. Peter was just tiny for his age.
“Let’s go let’s go.” Morgan tugged Peter away from Tony.
“Go where?” Asked Tony. He wanted to keep his kids in his sight, well Peter at least, Harley already went off somewhere, probably with Clint’s oldest son to play some games.
“To the jungle gym of course.”
“Okay but wait. I need to tell you guys something first.” Tony pulled his kids out of the loud party room and kneeled down in front of them. “I know you can’t leave without mom or I getting you but if you need to go pee, you need to tell mom or I and we’ll take you. No going to the bathroom by yourselfs.”
“Why?”
“Because you need help.” Morgan said to her brother which was partly the truth.
“Because it’s not safe. So I’ll take you.”
“But I think there’s a bathroom in the jungle gym.”
Tony didn’t see one in there. “I still want you to tell me.” He didn’t trust anyone. He looked at Peter now. “And you Mr trouble maker. No biting. Absolutely no biting anyone. Got it?”
“I won’t bite.” Peter shook his head, bouncing his butt off the wall.
“Morgan, keep an eye on him if you can.” He stood up, placing his hands on both their shoulders. He walked them over to the gate and sent them in. Adults were still allowed to enter but Tony didn’t. He wanted them to have their freedom even though not having his kids with him meant interacting with adults. Not fun.
Peter followed Morgan into the play structure and they climbed as far as they could go which brought them to the third level. “Look how high up we are.” Peter pointed out as soon as they reached these balls they had to roll over.
“Do you think if we jumped we’d break our legs?”
Peter looked down. “No. I don’t think so. But maybe that’s a bad idea. I think that’s a bad idea to do that.”
“Good point. Follow me.”
Peter climbed over and under the balls, giggling when the spikes on them tickled his stomach. He crawled ahead of Morgan and climbed on top of a rolling pin looking structure with a leg on either side as he rocked forward and backwards, laughing. “This one’s funny.”
“It looks like a blue hot dog.” Morgan climbed over it, looking at her brother's feet kicking back and forth. She slid off, rolling to the side so he had space to climb down but then another kid jumped on it, knocking Peter on top of Morgan and smacking his forehead on her knee.
Peter felt the sharp pain and brought his hand up to his head to hold it while he began crying but Morgan really didn’t want to get blamed for it so she quickly comforted him.
“It’s okay. Don’t cry.” She covered a hand over his mouth but he cried harder so she started rubbing his back. “Don’t cry. Please don’t cry. I think you’re okay. You’re not even bleeding. Okay?”
“I want daddy.”
“Well… you can’t. He’s busy. Just don’t cry. Let’s…” Morgan looked around desperately while Peter tried to crawl back towards where they came from. “No!” She grabbed his ankle, sliding him towards her but to her surprise, Peter started laughing at the motion.
Morgan was relieved to hear that, now it wasn’t her fault her brother got hurt. She pushed him onto his back, seeing a small bump on his forehead. “Hmmm.”
“Do it again.” Peter giggled, rolling back onto his stomach, he completely forgot about his aching head. “Faster this time.”
In the party room, Tony was holding the Barton’s toddler while feeding him some cheese puffs, trying not to think about whether or not Morgan and Peter were okay, well, Peter. He knew he was, why wouldn’t he be. Tony was simply crazy.
“You want another one?” He popped a puff into the baby’s mouth, moving the container away when he reached for more. “Uh, chew that one first.”
“I’m going to hire you as my son's nanny if you keep this up.” Clint said as he walked up to Tony, squeezing his sons cheeks together.
“I’ve got enough kids to take on another one.” He offered the baby to his dad. “Wanna take him?”
“No, you keep holding him. I’m going to go find Cooper and Harley. I heard they’re killing it at Space Invaders.”
Tony watched him walk off and knew he should really be going to watch Harley but it’s been an hour and he hasn’t seen Peter or Morgan once, meanwhile a bunch of kids were filtering in and out of the room.
He handed Nathan another puff and felt him fart against his arm. “Excuse you.”
The toddler giggled then he made the signature poop face and Tony knew that was his cue to hand him back to his mom. It was nice to just hand the kid over.
“Someone needs a diaper change and I’m glad it’s not my kid.” Tony said, placing the toddler on his feet in front of his mother and Pepper.
“Speaking of diaper changes, where’s Peter? Have you taken him to the bathroom yet?”
“Nope. I haven’t seen him in over an hour.” He tried not to let his anxiety show. Pepper saw it but if you didn’t know Tony well enough, you wouldn’t notice it.
Laura dug in her purse, pulling out wipes, a blanket and a smaller bag, shaking her head. “I think I forgot diapers at home. Great. Do you think they sell them here?”
“I have diapers. Don’t worry. That’s the one thing we try to come prepared for.” Pepper dug in their bag, pulling out three of Peter’s diapers. “It’s a size six so it might be a bit big.”
“No, it’s perfect. Thank you, Pepper. Let’s go, Nate.”
“Try to find Peter, please. Love you.” Pepper smiled as she passed by Tony, going with Laura and Nathan to the bathroom. Tony was awkward and alone now but he didn’t show it. Plus he needed to try and find Peter so he walked out of the party room, moving past two dads talking but due to his luck, they stopped him.
“It’s Tony, right?”
Tony shook hands with both of them. “Yeah, nice to meet you.”
“How do you know the Barton’s?”
“We’re actually neighbours. So we’ve watched each others children grow up.”
“Ohh.” It was the look Tony got when they found out he had money. If these people knew Barton, they knew he was rich. He owned a company that made bow and arrows for archery. And the neighborhood they lived in was known for being rich. Tony mentally slapped himself for saying that. “That’s great. It’s good to have good neighbours. So which kids are yours?”
“My oldest son is somewhere playing one of the games and my youngest two are somewhere in there,” Tony pointed to the jungle gym. He wanted to go inside and look for Peter but now he was in a boring conversation.
“You know, my wife, well, my ex wife now, we co parent. Anyways. She writes a blog, and she posted some articles regarding the dangers of these jungle gyms for young children. It’s gross. Especially if you’ve got a kid with an oral fixation. The germ are insane.”
Tony really didn’t need to hear this. “Yeah, it’s a good way to tire them out though.”
“Well, actually, here, I’m just going to pull the articles out and show you guys. It’s incredible the amount of germs in here. And really, do they even wash it?”
“Daddy.”
Tony turned and saw Peter behind the plastic fence, pressing his face up against it and licking the rings. Tony cringed. Especially after he was literally having a conversation about that. “Peter. Stop licking that.”
“I’m so thirsty.”
“Okay. I’ll let you out. Nice to meet you two but I have to go.”
“Dad duty calls. We get it. Come find me later and I’ll show you the article.”
“Okay.” Tony laughed awkwardly. Yeah, no. Definitely not going to happen. He walked up to the gate and scanned his wrist band.
Peter was jumping up and down by the gate. “Hurry hurry hurry.”
“Uh, what happened to your head?” That’s when Tony spotted a red bump on him. “Peter. What happened?”
“My head?” He touched his hair, looking confused.
“No. On your forehead. Did you bang it? Did someone bang into you?”
“Uhhhh…” Peter felt the bump and Tony knew getting answers from him was going to be like pulling teeth. “Um… I don’t remember. Ummm… Morgan, she, we-me-I was on umm, a rolling pin. Like when grandma makes chocolate chip cookies!”
“Did you fall off the rolling pin?”
“Ummmm… look! There’s Morgan!” Peter excitedly pointed to his sister coming out of the slide. Tony sighed. Why was Peter so hard to get a story out of.
After scanning Morgan out, Tony asked her about it. “Morgan. Do you know what happened to Peter’s head?”
“Oh. Yeah. We were on one of the structures and I rolled off then some other kid jumped on and knocked Peter off then he fell and hit his head on my knee. He cried but I made him laugh.”
Tony appreciated her telling him what happened. He looked at Peter who was back to pressing his whole face into the fence. “Peter. Stop, let’s go get a drink. Actually it’s probably about time for lunch. Are you guys hungry?”
“Yes. I’m soo hungry.”
“I’m more hungry.”
“No. I am.”
“Noo. I am!”
Tony looked around the party room. It looked like everyone was setting the table for the food that was coming but Tony wanted to take Peter to the bathroom first. “Pete. Come with me.”
“Where are we going?”
“Can I come?”
“Sure, Morg. We’re going to the bathroom. Are you dry?”
“Um… I just did one pee. Just one.”
Tony was happy he knew that. Before, he wouldn’t be able to tell how many pees he did because he would never hold it in. He was so proud of him.
“Okay. Let’s go.” He grabbed the diaper bag and took Peter’s hand. The smell of pizza and wings filled the air as they stepped out and Peter felt his mouth water. He was picky at breakfast today so he hadn’t eaten much.
“Where’s mommy?”
“I’m not sure. She’s around.”
Morgan skipped ahead and pushed open the family bathroom door, gasping. “Mom. We found you.”
“Oh, were you looking for me, honey?”
“Petey was. Dads going to change his diaper.”
Tony looked in the bathroom. Pepper was washing her hands while Laura looked to be wiping Nathan’s bum on the change table.
“Hi mom.” Peter walked into the bathroom. “What’re you doing?”
“Pete. Let’s wait for them to finish or I’ll just take you into the men’s room.” Tony held his hand out for him but Peter clung to Pepper.
That’s when Pepper noticed the bump on his head. “What happened to his head?”
“Oh. Supposedly Morgan accidentally kneed him in the face.” Tony brushed the bangs off his forehead and tucked them behind his ears. “You’re fine, right?”
Peter nodded.
“Does he need a change, Tony?”
“He needs to pee and a change. I’ll do it. Come, Pete.”
“Dad? Can I go into the bathroom now?” Morgan was already slowly walking towards the woman’s bathroom.
“What? Uh, yeah. Yell if you need me.” Tony looked back at Peter, trying to get him to come out. “Buddy, let’s go sit on the toilet.”
“I can change him, Tony. We’re in here anyways.”
Tony sighed. He wanted to but he wasn’t about to argue about this so he handed her the diaper bag. “I’ll be waiting here.”
Pepper took the bag and hung it on a hook, pulling out wipes and a pull-up.
“Is he still in diapers?”
“Not anymore. Only at nights. He’s actually doing pretty well with the potty training thing, we just didn’t want to risk anything today.” She guided Peter over to the toilet and pulled down his pants and pull-up. “Take a seat and try to go.”
Peter was looking at Laura who was smiling nicely at him. He didn’t smile back.
“I should thank you for giving me one of your diapers for my son, Peter. So thank you.”
“Yeah. Cause he can’t talk yet.”
“Oh, he can, honey. He’s still learning though.”
“Yeah.”
Pepper guided him over to the toilet but Peter halted. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t need to go.”
“You haven’t gone pee in the toilet in two hours. You need to try.”
“Noo. No. I don’t want to sit on it.”
Pepper sighed, putting her hands on her hips. “Peter. Do you want me to get dad in here?”
“I don’t want to sit.” He looked down at the toilet, cringing at it. If he fell in, he’d slip into the drain and live underneath the building for the rest of his life. No thank you.
“Can you try for me?”
Peter looked at Laura through his eyelashes. She was looking at him and now that the baby was sitting up, he was also looking at him. Peter felt like he was in the spotlight so he lifted his shirt up to cover his face.
“No. I want my pull-up.”
With a sigh, Pepper grabbed a few wipes and wiped his privates then got a pull-up on him. “I’m going to tell dad you didn’t sit on the toilet.”
“No.”
“I will.”
“Nooo.”
“Come wash your hands.”
“I’ll sit on the toilet.”
“Too late, Peter. I asked you to before.”
Peter forced a fake cry that Pepper saw through. “Uh uh uh. Don’t try that with me. Finish washing your hands.”
Peter did as he was told but he was not a happy boy when the door opened. He immediately ran into his dads arms. “I don’t like mommy.”
“Oh no. Why? What happened?” Tony rubbed his back, trying to comfort him. He was wondering what took so long. He kissed his head as he looked up at Pepper. “What happened?”
“He refused to sit on the toilet to try and pee so after he eats, he needs to try again.”
Standing up, Tony let Peter slide off of him and land on his feet. “I don’t want you to have an accident, buddy, want to go try peeing in the toilet now together?”
“Um… after cake. Okay?”
“Okay. Lead the way then.”
The birthday party was a lot more fun than Tony expected it to be. Granted, he only went for his kids of course but he was dreading it a bit because he hated small talk with other adults and he was a tiny bit worried that Peter was going to bite a kid in the jungle gym but the day ended very well in fact.
They left around 4pm and Peter fell asleep in the car when they were ten minutes home, why did it always happen that way?