Always Be My Baby

Peter fell asleep on the floor as the plane started to land. 

Tony didn’t even bother moving him. He had zero energy left and was going to let Pepper drive to her parents house. He was always the one who drove, but he was a danger behind the wheel with his current headspace. 

When the plane landed and the doors opened, Tony stood up, stretching and glancing down at Peter. He was still passed out, whimpering every so often. 

He looked back at Pepper. “I’ll carry him out so you need to hook up his car seat. If he even stays asleep. I don’t care at this point.” 

Tony stayed up with Peter, dealing with the crying all night. Pepper tried to help but after she was useless too, Tony told her she should get some sleep. One of them had to have a head on their shoulders in the morning. 

Without caring if he woke or not, Tony scooped Peter up, carrying him bridal style off the airplane. 

Their car was waiting for them off the tarmac and was already being loaded for them. Tony looked back at the plane. Their poor pilots had to put up with that screaming. They even came out twice to check on them but nothing could be done and having strangers near Peter just set him off even more. So Tony would be giving them a massive tip for this ride. 

Once Pepper got the car seat hooked up, Tony sat Peter in it, got him buckled in and waited for him to wake up. But he didn’t. 

“I’ll say this for all of us, no one wake him up.” 

Even Aiser seemed annoyed with Peter but he still hopped in and laid down by his feet.  

Tony shut the door and got in on the other side, reaching out to hold his sleeping hand. Morgan sat in the back seat this time, and Harley in the passenger seat so Pepper could drive. 

They’d get there in no time if Peter didn’t wake up. 

But that was wishful thinking. 

From the airport, it was about an hour and a half drive. Tony did everything in his power to keep Peter asleep. He kept his hand on his face, giving him the illusion that he was still laying on someone’s chest, which usually seemed to help him sleep. 

The conversation was down to a minimum. Morgan was watching a movie on her iPad with her headphones in, stopping to look out the window or over at Peter every once in a while. 

They were fifteen minutes from their grandparents house when Peter began waking up, grabbing his left ear. 

“Shh. Go back to sleep.” Tony tried to shut his eyes, pushing his head back down. “Shh shh it’s okay.” 

Apparently it wasn’t okay. Nothing was okay. Peter was in too much pain. His pacifier fell out of his mouth when he started crying and when Tony leaned down to grab it, Peter almost kicked him in the head  “Peter. You need to watch out. You almost smacked me.” 

“Nooooo!” 

“Yes you did.” Tony pushed the pacifier past his lips, spotting something on his car seat. “What’s… let me see your ear.” It looked like blood on Peter’s car seat, where he was resting his head. And upon further inspection, Tony could see blood coming out of Peter’s left ear. “Pepper, Peter’s ear is bleeding.” 

“It’s what?” 

He knew she heard him and he didn’t want to repeat it and freak Peter out. Tony grabbed some wet wipes from the bag to wipe his ear but Peter pushed him away after the first wipe. “I’m sorry but let me just clean you up.” 

“Don’ touch me!” 

“Okay. Alright.” He wanted his happy, smiley boy back. Not this miserable, moody and in pain Peter. But he would fix that and take him straight to the doctors. Tony looked out the window, putting his hand on Peter’s thigh to try and comfort him but he pushed it right off, crying even harder. 

They arrived in the gated community, Pepper approved her visit with security and drove through the gates. Five minutes of crying later, they pulled into the driveway and Alice and Mike were already standing outside, having no idea what they were in for. 

“My babies! Long time no see.” Alice raced up to the car, frowning. “Oh no. I hear crying.” 

“That’s Peter, mom. He’s having some pain with his ears. Just give him some space, he’s in a bad mood.” Pepper warned her as she got out of the truck. They didn’t have a flight booked back home yet and especially with Peter acting this way, they needed the extra help with everything. 

Tony had to exit the car through the other door and walked around to get his miserable boy out. “Come here. We’re going to the doctors soon.” 

“Dr. Robins?” 

“No, baby. She’s in New York. We’re going to a new friend.” Tonys never met the doctor they’re going to. Her name was Dr. Rossi and she apparently is one of the best paediatricians in Malibu with a very long waitlist but Tony had the right pulls so he got Peter in for a same day appointment at 4pm. 

And it was currently 2:30pm. So they would leave shortly. 

“Not a new one.” Peter sobbed as Tony unbuckled him from his car seat, looking at his ear without him knowing. 

“I think he has an ear infection. He has blood coming from his left ear.” He showed Pepper but Peter covered a hand over it so no one could see. “Let mommy see.” 

“Noooooo. Don’t!” His pacifier fell out of his mouth, rolling along the concrete. “No. Get it.” 

“I’m taking him in to put him in proper clothes then we’re going.” Tony wiped the tears off his face. “It’s okay, we’re leaving soon, baby. Shh shh.” 

“I’m going to come. My mom and dad can stay with Harley and Morgan. I don’t want to leave you with him when he’s like this.” 

That would actually take a lot of stress off of him. He appreciated that. “We should leave in like 15 minutes then.” He swung the diaper bag onto his shoulders, putting Peter on his feet when he wiggled. “Pete, we’re going to the doctors soon. Let’s go pee and change.” 

“Noo.” 

“Petey. Don’t be sad. Can I see your ear? Maybe you cut-owwwww! He hit me!” 

“Morgan. Please just… go inside with grandma.” 

“But he hit me.” 

Tony didn’t know what she expected. She got in his face when he’s clearly not in the mood for anything other than crying apparently. “Come here, Pete. We can go really quick.” But Peter wasn’t going to make this easy for anyone. He sat on his butt, hesitating before crawling a few feet away, towards the end of the driveway. “This is ridiculous. Let’s go.” 

“I want my baba!” He sobbed, reaching his arms out. 

Tony and Pepper looked at each other. Tony made the decision to buy those bottles and he didn’t regret it. Peter would’ve forced the plane to land with the screaming he would’ve done. Note to self, no more plane rides until Peter’s off the pacifiers… well… they still had to get home. 

One more plane ride. 

“No. Remember I told you. They’ll go in the garbage. It was only for the plane ride.” Tony grabbed the three bottles out of the diaper bag and handed them to Pepper. “Can you throw these out?” 

“Yes. I’m going to throw them in the garbage now.” She spoke like a robot so it was clear to Peter what she would be doing. As soon as she left, Peter screamed, throwing himself down onto the floor. 

“Nooo! No! My baba… daddy… get it!” It was so hard for him to see his mom walk away without his bottles. Urg! He was in so much pain. “Baba! Daddy!” 

“I know.” Tony expected this but they had other things to worry about. He lifted him up, carrying him away but Morgan followed. 

“I don’t want to stay here. I want to come with you guys.” Morgan chased after her father and screaming brother. After being with them for two weeks nonstop, it was going to be hard to see them leave. Plus she was so worried about her brother. 

“Morgan, not right now. Peter needs to go to the doctors.” 

“I can come.” 

“No.” 

“Daaadddd.” 

Tony sighed, looking at Pepper to do something. He had one kid crying in his ear and the other whining. “I’ll be ten minutes. Then we’ll go.” He quickly raced upstairs and into their bedroom, sitting Peter on the bed. “Don’t go anywhere.” 

“I can!” He cried, beginning to crawl off the bed so Tony laid him on his back, not knowing this position made the pressure in his ears make his head feel like it was going to explode. “I wan’ baba!” 

“No baba. I know. It sucks. I’ll be quick then we can go. Do you want to pee in the toilet before we leave?” He didn’t even know why he was asking because Peter just screamed, but at least he gave up his fight and let Tony manhandle him into proper clothes and a fresh diaper. He offered him an unwanted pacifier then he carried him downstairs. “Pep. Let’s go.” 

“Morgan just walked into the glass door and has a nosebleed.” She explained as she rushed past Tony with a wet cloth in her hand. Fucking great. 

Why was their family put through so much? Why couldn’t they have one peaceful day? 

“Is she okay?” He set Peter back on his feet, feeling a bit bad when he let out a loud sob. But he wanted to check on his daughter. “How did this even happen?” 

She wasn’t crying but she was clearly scared and was holding onto her mothers hand like her life depended on it. Tony knew she was playing it up so Pepper wouldn’t leave. “Are you o-” 

“Aiser! Get off of him!” Tony turned around when he heard a smack and saw Peter lying on the floor, crying, with Aiser trying to lick his face. This poor boy. “Okay. Let’s go. Pepper, I’ll take him by myself. I’ll keep you updated.” 

“Are you sure, Tony? Do you have extra pacifiers?” 

“I have them all. I’ll text you when we’re there.” He combed the hair out of Peter’s eyes with his fingers, his heart breaking at his baby’s poor, miserable face. He looked absolutely wrecked. His eyes were red and watery, his cheeks rosy red and his lips puffy from the pacifier constantly rubbing against it. 

Tony strapped him in, offering a juice box he snatched from the fridge. “Do you want this?” 

“No. My ears hurt.” 

“What does it feel like?” 

“Like… pain.” 

Tony kissed him. A two year old could explain that better than him. “Is it a sharp pain? Or a dull pain? Or…?” 

“It’s… bad pain.” 

“Okay.” Tony didn’t question it any further. He opened the juice box for him but Peter looked away from it. 

“I want milk.” 

“I have some in a sippy cup.” 

“In my baba. It’s in that bag. I saw it.” He pointed at the diaper bag, knowing it was in there. It made him feel safe on the plane when no one else could help him. He tried to forget that his bottles got tossed to the side like they meant nothing. 

Tony was afraid of this happening but at the moment he didn’t have much choice. He didn’t regret giving Peter a bottle. “No, they’re broken now. They only worked on the plane for you.” 

“I wanna see.” 

“I’ll show you later.” He placed the sippy cup in the other cup holder and shut the door, hopping into the driver's seat. “The doctor will make you feel so much better. She’s going to look into your ears and see what’s wrong with them.” 

He didn’t get a response and looked in the rearview mirror, seeing him drinking his milk. Tony was thankful for the silence blessing his ears. The car ride went smoothly. Peter stayed silent, telling Tony occasionally his ears hurt and whimpering every so often. Tony felt so bad but he was helpless and needed to bring him to the actual doctors. 

He pulled into the underground parking of the building, getting out and opening the back door. The love he had for this boy was so strong he didn’t know what to do with it all. It hurt him to know his child was hurting. “Let’s go make you feel better.” 

“Dr. Robbins is coming.” 

Tony didn’t know if it was a question or not. He unbuckled him as he responded. “No, baby. She’s not here. She’s in New York. Dr. Rossi will be here and she’s so nice.” Once the diaper bag was on his shoulder, Tony took Peter’s hand, leading him through the parking garage and into the elevator. He knew his boy wasn’t feeling well when Peter didn’t ask to press the button. “Awww, don’t worry, you’ll feel better soon. How’s your ears now?” 

“‘Urts.” 

“Can I take your paci until we get into the room?” He held his hand out for it, not expecting Peter to hand it over to begin with. 

“No.” 

Tony had other things on his plate than worrying about being judged. 

“Hi. Peter Stark for Dr. Rossi. I have an appointment for 4pm.” 

The receptionist typed something into her keyboard quickly. “Okay. Please have a seat. Dr. Rossi will see you in approximately 15 minutes.” 

Great. They had to sit with others and wait. 

Tony brought Peter over to some chairs, pulling him onto his lap. “We’ll go in soon.” While they waited, he texted Pepper, sending her a selfie of Peter looking miserable on his lap and Tony giving a fake, stressed out smile. 

Not even ten minutes later, Peter gagged and threw up milk all over himself. “Ohhh. Okay. You’re okay. Just…” He picked him up, sitting him on the opposite chair so Tony could wipe the milk vomit off his face. 

“Do you need wipes, sir?” 

“Oh. No thank you. I uh, I have some.” 

“Peter Stark. The doctor will see you now.” 

Tony had milk spit up on his leg and it was all over Peter who looked seconds away from crying. “Okay. Come, let’s go see the doctor.” 

And now the crying started. 

He held off for so long. 

Tony led him down the hallway and into the room, sitting Peter on the exam table, stripping him of his shirt and pants when the doctor walked in. She had all of Peter’s files transferred over so Tony felt comfortable with her helping his son today. 

“Good afternoon, Mr. Stark.” 

“Thank you so much for seeing him at the last minute. He just threw up… so, and he’s in a lot of pain. He’s been complaining about it the whole car ride over.” Tony didn’t know how this would play out, Peter was looking at this woman like she was about to take him away from his dad. 

“Alright, so when did the pain in his ears start?” 

“We’ve spent the last two weeks in the Maldives. The day we left he started acting cranky. That was two days ago. We’ve been on airplanes during that time too. Which has been hard to say the least.” 

She typed away on the computer. “Okay. And is it both ears?” 

“Yeah. His left ear was bleeding about two hours ago.” 

“Okay. I’m going to take a look.” She stood up and snapped gloves on, approaching them slowly. “Hi Peter. My name is Dr. Rossi. And this,” She pointed to a tiny teddy bear attached to her lab coat. “is Ollie. He’s a bear in training. Do you think he can take a look in your ear?” 

Peter sniffed, looking between the bear and the doctor. “I know he’s not real.” He spoke around his new pacifier. 

Tony combed his hair back. “Don’t let Ollie hear you say that. How about you let him look in. Just to see.” 

“Just Ollie? Not you.” 

“Just Ollie. I’ll just hold him close so he can get a better look.” The doctor told Tony to have him face him then she walked to his other side and grabbed an otoscope, looking inside. 

Peter was obviously uncomfortable and leaned away from the touch but didn’t cry. Thank god. 

“Okay. So I can actually see that he has a tiny shell in his ear.” She put the instrument down. “It’s small but it’s in there and it needs to come out immediately.” 

“A shell? An actual shell?” Tony couldn’t believe that. How does that even happen? He had a feeling Peter had something to do with that. He probably wanted to save it for later. This child. “How do you remove it?” 

“I’m going to call my physician assistant in. He’s going to help remove it. It’s very easy and shouldn’t take longer than five minutes. If his ear was bleeding then that means there’s likely some damage. I’m going to have a better look once the shell is out.” She stood in front of Peter now. “I’m going to check your other ear now. Is that okay?” 

Peter looked like he was still trying to process the fact that he had a shell in his ear. Tony knew he put it in there. He did stuff like that. “Turn this way so the doctor can look. Maybe you have another shell in there.” 

“I don’.” He covered a hand over his right ear so Tony gently took it in his, squeezing it. 

“It’ll be done soon. Then you’ll feel better and we can get ice cream on the way to grandpas and grandma's house.” Tony promised, stroking his soft cheek. He hoped he didn’t have a double ear infection again. That was not fun. He still had two more molars that needed to break through his gums, that’s what caused it the last time. And that was an awful two weeks. 

“Okay. I’m going to blow some air…” 

Peter whimpered, trying to move his head away but Tony held it in place, causing him to cry out. “It’s okay. It’s almost done.” 

“It’s not okay. It hurts.” He whimpered, attempting to pull his fathers hands away. He didn’t like to be told things were okay when they weren’t okay! He was hurting. And he wanted his mom. 

“I do see some fluid buildup so I can confirm he does have an ear infection.” Dr. Rossi told Tony, putting the medical instrument back down. Tony was hoping he didn’t hear those words. But deep down, with all the excessive crying, he knew Peter was going to get diagnosed with an ear infection. Likely two. 

“Oh god. Okay. Okay. So he’ll be put on antibiotics then? For how long?” 

“Five to seven days on average. I would like to look in his other ear first. But we’re likely looking at a double ear infection.” 

At this point, the physician assistant walked in, briefly introducing himself to Tony before approaching Peter. “Hey little man. I heard you have something in your ear that shouldn’t be there. How about we get it out.” 

“I’m not having medicine.” Peter told the new face, just so everyone knew and didn’t expect him to accept any medicine that was handed to him. He hated feeling so groggy and not in control of his own body. 

“The medicine will kill the infection in your-” 

“Noooo! No.” 

“Pete. You don’t have to take medicine right now. Let the doctors take the shell out of your ear.” Kissing his temple, Tony tried to help him stay calm even though he was clearly uncomfortable and in pain. The biggest problem would be trying to get him to take medicine later on. 

The doctors told him to have Peter sit straight up right and look straight ahead but with them putting those medical instruments in his ear, Tony knew he wouldn’t sit still for that so he had to sit Peter on his lap and press his head into his chest, holding him still. 

He did pretty well considering everything. Although Tony knew it had something to do with the fact that Peter literally had no energy left in him to put up much of a fight. 

Tony was proud of him and feeling pretty confident he would be told Peter had another ear infection but then he’d give him medicine and he’d sleep it away. Until the doctor spoke. 

“He has a ruptured eardrum.” 

Tony blinked at her. 

Did he really just hear that correctly? 

“He has a ruptured eardrum? From the shell?” 

“The shell tore the eardrum, but if he hit his head on anything, that could’ve caused it to worsen.” 

Tony remembered Peter throwing his head back on the plane and crying about it. That probably made it worse. Or caused the actual rupture. Because after that, he was inconsolable. 

“Oh my god. Okay. Um… how do I… how do we fix it?” 

Dr. Rossi patted Peter’s back and put the instruments down, moving to sit at the computer. “I’m going to prescribe him Ofloxacin otic. It’ll treat the canal ear infection. I’ll also prescribe ear drops. And I highly recommend children’s Tylenol. The pressure from the airplane definitely wouldn’t have been very pleasant for him.” 

Covering a hand over his face, Tony shook his head and squeezed Peter a bit tighter. “I’m so sorry, baby. Let’s get you this medicine so you’ll start to feel better.” 

“I don’t want to take medicine.” Peter said again but it went unheard as his dad stood up and sat him back onto the exam bed so he could get him dressed in comfortable clean clothes. “Dad.” 

“Yes, baby?” 

“I don’t want to take medicine.” He repeated himself. 

“You need to. Lift your arms up.” 

“Here’s his prescription. I put a rush on it so the pharmacy will prepare it for you straight away.” 

Tony thanked the doctor, genuinely appreciating her for seeing them so last minute and helping his boy out. He got Peter dressed and placed him on his feet. “Let’s go pick it up. We have to go to floor seven.” 

“I’m not taking any medicine.” He said again until his dad knew he was being serious. 

“Baby. You won’t get better without medicine.” He held open the door for him, walking out behind him. “I’m sorry I didn’t know sooner and that the plane rides were hard for you.” 

“Yeah.” 

Tony pressed the button for the elevator, looking down at his boy when he leaned against him, sighing in exhaustion. “You’re so strong. And I love you so much.” 

“Up.” 

“Sleep if you want.” He scooped him up, holding him tightly in his arms. “We can do whatever you want when we go home?” 

“Home or to grandma grandpa's house?” 

Tony forgot that it was never Peter’s home like it was for Morgan and Harley for many years. It was basically the house Morgan grew up in. “Grandma and grandpa's house. We’re going to stay there until you’re feeling better.” 

Nuzzling against his neck, Peter hummed. “Good. Cause I don’t wanna go on a airplane again.” 

“You don’t want to go on an airplane again?” Peter shook his head. “Right now we won’t. But we will have to fly home on one. And go on more trips.” 

“Okay.” He yawned, wrapping arms around Tony’s neck so he didn’t go anywhere in case he fell asleep. 

Tony needed to give him a bath, he smelt like an airplane. He missed his signature baby scent he needed to bring back with a nice bath. After getting the prescriptions, Tony left, walking down to their car and getting Peter carefully in his car seat but when he placed him in it, he saw that he was awake. “Did I wake you? I thought you fell asleep.” 

“M’still awake. Want mommy.” 

That stung a bit. He understood Peter needed his mom for different reasons but still, Tony selfishly only wanted Peter to choose him. “Let’s go see her then.” 

.

.

.

The poor boy fell asleep holding his ears. 

Tony texted Pepper what was going on while he waited fifteen minutes for the medicine and so she already had the bed set up for him to sleep in once they arrived. 

The hard part was going to be getting medicine in his system. 

“Oh my sweet boy. Did he cry?” 

“Barely. He’s been pretty good.” Tony unbuckled him, not too worried about trying to get him to stay asleep. He needed him to wake up actually. “He was asking for you.” 

“Aww. I’m here now, sweet boy.” She reassured him in his sleep. Combing the curls off his face with her fingers. “Where’s the medicine?” 

“In the passenger seat. One of them needs to be refrigerated but there’s no lock box here.” Tony voiced his concerns. Morgan wouldn’t touch it if they seriously told her not to. But Peter, he’d throw it out or take it all at once to feel better. No matter what they told him. 

“We can hide it in the back. Just don’t let him see it’s in there.” 

“While he’s sleeping, let’s put the ear drops in now. He’s going to fight us on the other medicine.” Tony didn’t know what the plan would be but putting the ear drops in while he slept would probably be the best idea. 

“Tony. How did it go? I heard he has two ear infections and a ruptured eardrum. Oh my.” Alice approached them, looking afraid to touch the boy. “Pepper told us how difficult the plane ride back was.” 

“Hmm.” Tony hummed. He really didn’t want to relive that. “He’ll feel better soon. Let’s just… Pep, let’s try to give it to him in a syringe and if he doesn’t take it, we’ll put it in a sippy cup.” 

“Actually,” Pepper rushed over to the kitchen and pulled something out of a bag, showing Tony. “We went out and bought this.” 

Tony took it from her, looking at it. “Frida Baby.” It was a syringe with a pacifier on the end so you could administer the medication that way. “This might actually work.” Although he first needed to take Peter’s current pacifier. 

After walking over to the couch, he gently set Peter on it and took the pacifier from his mouth with a pop. It was only a matter of seconds before he woke up now. As predicted, Peter briefly felt around for it, his mouth searching before his eyes opened up and a whine escaped his lips. 

“We’re back at grandmas and grandpas. You can go back to sleep soon.” He explained to him, waiting for Pepper to wash the pacifier and fill it with the correct dosage. Once Tony had it in his hands, he looked it over. “You’re positive it’s the correct dosage?” 

“Tony. Yes.” 

“I just want to make sure.” Him and his overprotective self. “Here, Pete. Special medicine in your pacifier.” 

“What’s it?” He went crossed eyed trying to look at the strange pacifier coming near him. “S’broken.” 

“It’s not broken, baby.” Tony pulled it back so he could see. “It’s a special one just for you.” He pushed it past his lip when Peter let him, and slowly pushed the medicine in, loving this invention. Why didn’t they discover this sooner? Absolute game changer. 

Peter didn’t complain once and after all the medicine was gone, Tony quickly switched it out for his actual pacifier and smiled. That went better than he ever could’ve hoped for. He gave Pepper a silent high five. “Excellent idea, Pep.” 

“My ears still hurt.” Peter let them know, tugging on his left one. “Mmmm.” 

“The medicine will make you feel better soon.” He knew Peter’s struggle with ‘medicine’. Steve used to drug him, calling it medicine. For years. So Peter tried his best to stay away from it, not wanting to fall asleep and feel ‘fuzzy’ as he put it. Tony wanted to reassure him. “Even if you do fall asleep, your body needs to rest and I’ll be with you the whole time.” 

“I… I wanna… wanna…” He trailed off, deep in thought. 

“You want to what, baby?” Tony prompted him. 

“Wanna… sleep on the couch.” 

“Okay. You can. How about I get you some blankets and a pillow from up-” 

“Noooo! No blankets or pillows. Don't say that!” To both Tony’s and Pepper's surprise, Peter began crying. Tony had no idea what he said to make him cry, offering blankets and pillows to be more comfortable?

 Note to self, don’t offer Peter those things anymore. “Okay. I won’t. How about you just lie down with nothing? Would you like that better?” 

“Yes.” He forced out, laying down on his stomach and getting comfortable before sitting up to cry again. “I don’t like-urggg! I don’t like my clothes on. It’s… I wan’ it off!” Kicking his legs out in frustration, Peter cried harder. He tossed himself back onto the couch, attempting to get his pants off. It wasn’t like it was hard to do, Peter was purposely making it difficult. 

Pepper took his hands in hers, getting closer to his face. “Honey. Take a breath. You can take your clothes off but huffing and puffing about it isn’t going to help you.” She spoke calmly. 

“‘Den you do it!” 

“I’ll help you. Just take a breath.” Pepper tried again. She wasn’t going to tolerate this bratty behaviour like Tony did. Peter needed to understand that this was no way to behave. Peter took a calming breath, taking his pacifier out briefly to breathe easier. “Better. Now I’ll help you. Do you want your track pants and shirt off?” 

“Yeah… and my socks. I don’t want to wear socks.” He almost started crying again but Pepper shut that down. She understood he was more emotional right now than he usually was. 

“And that’s okay. Just use your words to communicate that to me.” 

“No socks.” He whined, kicking his feet towards his mom once his pants were off. Pepper took them off which he was grateful for. Once his clothes were no longer sticking uncomfortably to his skin, he laid his head back down and shut his eyes only to re-open them again. “Dada. Sit there.” 

“Where?” 

Peter pushed himself up, pointing to the chair across from him. “There. Sit there and watch me sleep.” 

So demanding. He probably got that from me. Tony didn’t know how to feel about that. It wasn’t his favourite trait about himself. “I’ll be here, bubs. You rest your eyes. You’ll feel better when you wake up.” 

“I need help.” He admitted, looking at Tony. He needed him to pat his bum so he could sleep. It always grounded him and the motions helped him fall asleep quicker with no nightmares. 

Thankfully his dad knew exactly what he wanted so he sat on the couch with him, rearranging both of them so they were comfortable and started putting him to sleep. He turned his head so their eyes met, blinking softly. He hoped Tony knew how grateful he was. He was having a hard time today, the doctor's visit took a lot out of him, so he was glad he had his father here with him now. 

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.

.

Tony kept checking up on Peter as the hours passed by. He sat with him for the first hour but eventually had to get up and do some things. 

He stayed close by though, making sure to be there in case he woke up. But hour 3 turned into 4 and 4 to 5, he remained asleep. Tony said goodbye to their sleep schedule although they were all jet lagged and didn’t have one much to begin with. 

It was around 11pm when Tony decided to move Peter to bed. He didn’t even budge, Tony had to keep checking to make sure he was still breathing because he never slept so peacefully before. 

It was an awful reminder why Steve used to drug him. He didn’t want him waking up throughout the nights and needed him docile. Peter’s never been a good sleeper but Tony had to believe that getting kidnapped didn’t help that matter. 

It upset him to think about, it ripped his heart out at the thought of what his baby went through. Things Tony didn’t even know about yet, things Peter tried to forget what was done to him. 

He walked upstairs, looking into Morgan’s bedroom. Well, what was supposed to be Morgan and Peter’s bedroom, there were two beds in there but only one was used. As it’s always been, it was Morgan’s room when they lived in Malibu. 

“Hey, pretty girl. Time to get ready for bed.” 

She snapped her head to look back at him and once she saw Peter in his arms, she stood up to lol at him. “He slept all day. I wanted to play in the backyard with him.” 

“Maybe tomorrow. He’s not feeling well.” Tony looked down at his peaceful son in his arms. He was completely passed out. His pacifier was just sitting in his mouth, not being used. That’s how Tony knew he was in a deep sleep. “You know his ears hurt him.” 

“Yeah. I know. Cause mom said he has a ruptured eardrum or something. And that’s why he was crying on the airplanes.” She went on her tippy toes to get a better look at him. “So he’ll feel better tomorrow morning?” 

“Maybe not tomorrow. But we’ll wait and see. For now he just needs rest. Lots of rest.” He would hug her but his arms were full. “You go lie down. I love you. Sleep well.” 

“I’m not tired yet.” 

“Okay. Go read your book then. I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“What time tomorrow will Petey wake up? Cause I think I wanna wake up with him.” 

Tony paused in the doorway, Peter wasn’t heavy per say, Tony could easily hold him with one arm but he was deadweight right now and was 88 pounds so that eventually got heavy after a while. He wanted to set him down somewhere he could hopefully stay asleep. 

“I’m not sure, Maguna, he’s not feeling well so I don’t think he’ll be up for playing tomorrow but let’s see. Goodnight, princess.” 

“Okay. Wait! Let me kiss him goodnight one time.” She raced over, getting on her tippy toes and pressing a kiss to Peter’s forehead. “There.” 

“You’re the best sister. Sleep well.” He left after that, walking down the hallway and into their bedroom, laying Peter in the middle of the bed then shaking his arms out. 

“He getting too heavy for you?” Pepper commented. 

He gave her a dirty look. “Never. He’s perfect. But Morgan took an hour to say goodnight to him.” He over exaggerated, grabbing a diaper from the box on the floor. 

“What? I tucked her into bed thirty minutes ago.” She shook her head but wasn’t phased by it. She was old enough and mature enough to put herself to sleep when she was ready. Most of the time anyways. 

Tony took off his wet diaper, rolling it up and placing it on the side for now. “She wants to play with him tomorrow. It’s such a shame he’s feeling so sick. I feel awful. When the doctor said he had- oh shit.” Tony quickly grabbed the diaper to cover the stream of pee then both laughed at Tony almost getting pee on his face. “That was close.” 

“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Pepper laughed, trying to keep quiet. 

Peter stayed unconscious for the whole thing. If Tony told him what happened, he’d laugh and find it amusing. But he wasn’t feeling well and would probably ignore Tony or get upset with him for no reason in particular. Tony cleaned everything up, grabbing another new diaper and getting it on him with no fuss. “We need to put his ear drops in. And he needs another dose of medicine in two hours. I don’t know if we should wake him for that.” 

Pepper watched him throw out the garbage and wash his hands. “I think it’s important that he has the medicine. We can wake him up, quickly give it to him then he’ll fall back to sleep shortly after. Hopefully.” 

“Yeah…” Tony wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. He wanted Peter to not be in any physical pain, and mental pain for that matter. He grabbed his toothbrush to brush his teeth while he thought about it. He already had a shower after putting Peter down for a well deserved couch rest, he needed to get all that grime off of him. 

When he walked back into the bedroom, Pepper was finishing up with putting the ear drops in. It was just easier to do while he slept or else he would be screaming. “Let’s wait to give him medicine. He doesn’t need it right now.” 

“The doctor recommends every 6 hours, Tony. We should follow through. I’ll do it, you should rest.” Pepper was already moving forward with getting the syringe filled with antibiotics. 

“Well I’m obviously going to help. Just…I hope he doesn’t put up a fight.” 

Pepper chuckled. “This is Peter we’re talking about. It wouldn’t be him without a bit of fight.” 

Tony hummed. It was like he was constantly in survival mode, unable to fully relax and let things happen. Maybe it was his hyperactivity, his age, his trauma playing an effect here… Tony wasn’t sure. But if he had to take a bet, he would bet on the trauma with a little bit of everything else. 

Peter must have been completely exhausted, his poor little body needed the rest. When they woke him up, it took a few moments, they gave him the medicine and he immediately went straight back to bed after, rolling onto his stomach and passing right out before Tony could even switch the pacifiers. 

Tony was preparing for a fight. 

Oh. 

Well then. 

.

.

.

“And you were the one who was afraid to flush the toilet.” Mike laughed, patting his oldest grandchild on the back. “You had to have someone in the bathroom with you to flush the toilet. Every time.” 

“Hey. Your toilets here still make that gurgling sound. My fear was reasonable.” Harley argued back. 

It was a beautiful day outside. Everyone, including Aiser went for a morning hike to the waterfall but Tony stayed back with Peter who was still sleeping in the bed. 

It was 12pm now and he was still asleep. Tony had to call the doctor and ask if he should be worried but she told him it was normal and expected, especially after the difficult airplane ride and to just check him for a fever every so often. 

So Tony checked up on him every twenty minutes. 

The day would be even more beautiful with Peter by his side instead of looking at him through the baby monitor. 

It reminded him of the picture he used to carry around of Peter when he was gone. But he wasn’t gone, he's upstairs. Just a few feet away. He’s not gone. Tony focused back on the conversation. 

“Even I wasn’t afraid. Maybe cause I’m tougher than you.” Morgan sized Harley up. Tony chuckled. 

“Sure sure. I’ll knock you to your feet in a second but keep dreaming.” 

“Petey can even knock you to your feet.” 

“Peter’s two pounds. He’s not knocking anyone to their feet.” He laughed, making eye contact with Tony to make sure he didn’t upset his father but he was hiding a faint smile with his hand. He looked bored and withdrawn from the conversation. 

“Well, I’m going to go check on said boy.” He stood up. “I’ll be back.” 

“You just checked on him.” She grabbed the monitor, turning it around. “He’s sleeping, Tony.” 

“Yeah. And I’ll be right back.” Everyone knew better than to argue with him. Plus Tony wouldn’t listen anyways. He got to the top of the stairs and walked into the bedroom. It was hot. He opened up a window to let some fresh air in. 

Peter was on his back, his right left straight out and his left leg bent out with his arms at his sides. He looked pretty peaceful but Tony hoped he wasn’t feeling any pain or was having any nightmares. 

Sitting down next to him on the bed, Tony rubbed a hand down his face. “Get better soon, baby. I miss your smiley face.” He whispered before leaning down to kiss his forehead as he checked his temperature. He wasn’t too hot but he was always a sweaty sleeper so that could have something to do with it. 

He pulled away to check his diaper, deciding to wait a bit to change him. He’d prefer for him to be awake for that but if he wasn’t in an hour, he would do a quick change. 

And like all the other times, Tony got up to let him sleep. 

He went back downstairs to join his family outside, sitting back in his seat and thinking about Peter. How did he even get a shell in his ear? And why didn’t they notice this sooner? It had to have been the day they left. Tony took the kids outside for a few hours while Pepper packed up everything. But Peter was being difficult even then. 

He didn’t know. He just wanted his baby better. 

“So I’m thinking we set our flight for Friday.” Pepper directed that at Tony but he wasn’t even looking at her. “Tony?” 

“Huh? Yes?” He forced his eyes to peel away from the baby monitor. 

“I was thinking that we should fly back on Friday morning. That way Peter will be done with his medicine by then and is hopefully feeling better.” She was thinking out loud at this point but they had obviously discussed this while he was upstairs. Or on the hike. 

Tony did kind of want to go home. The extra help was nice but being in their own house where all their stuff was, was way better. “Yeah. Are you guys okay with that?” He looked to his children, seeing Morgan’s unimpressed expression. She struggled to leave her grandparents more than any of them did. Then again, she was raised by them. 

“We could leave on Sunday. But then you have to go back to school on Monday, Morg.” 

“Will Petey go back too?” It helped that she wasn’t at school alone. Even if they went to completely different schools. 

“If he’s feeling better, he will.” Speaking of the devil, Tony heard crying coming from the monitor so he was up in an instant and made his way upstairs. He opened the bedroom door, finding Peter laying on his back, looking around disoriented. “Hey, baby.” 

Peter’s eyes landed him on, blinking lazily. He looked ready to pass out again. 

He approached the bed, sitting next to him. “Hi. How are you feeling?” 

Ignoring him, Peter yawned, putting his fallen pacifier back into his mouth and rolled onto his side, shutting his eyes again. 

Tony had to hold back a chuckle. “Baby. Are you with me? Peter.” 

His boys eyes snapped open, squinting up at him. “M’no ‘wake.” 

I’m not awake. That’s the translation Tony was grateful for understanding. “You’re awake. I’m talking to you,” He reached out to rub his sticky back. “I’m touching you. Let’s change your bum then go downstairs and eat some food. You’ve been asleep for quite a few hours.” 

“How… is…wh’e we?” 

“We’re at grandmas and grandpa's house in Malibu. Everyone is.” 

“My… my d’ars don’ ‘urt.” Tony only understood what he was saying because he sat up and grabbed his ears, a peaceful look on his face. 

“I’m so glad you’re feeling better. Do you want to eat something?” It wasn’t a question Tony would listen to if the answer was no. Peter was eating. End of discussion. 

Tony caressed his baby cheeks. “Lie back down. I’m going to get a diaper quickly.” He was quick, cleaning him up and getting him in some comfortable pyjama shorts and a t- shirt. He carried him downstairs, grabbing a sippy cup of milk from the fridge then walking outside. 

As Tony expected, everyone was so happy to see him. Morgan jumped up from her chair to greet her sickly brother. “Hi baba boo boo bear!” 

Peter turned his head towards her, feeling like he had no energy in him to cry about it or explain that he didn’t like being called bear. He huffed and rested his head atop of Tony’s shoulder. 

“Hi baby. You had such a long sleep. Are you feeling better?” Pepper stood up to greet him. It’s been almost seventeen hours straight of him sleeping. Tony said he got up a few times during the night but he was easy to get back to sleep. 

“He said his ears aren’t hurting him-” 

“Noo. They are.” Peter lifted his head up, whining. 

“Oh. Okay. I guess they’re hurting now.” 

“Nooo. They never weren’t.” 

Okay. Tony didn’t know what he said wrong but he did not want to make this little boy with the big lungs start crying so he handed him to Pepper once she sat down. “Okay, Peter. Sit with mom. What are you hungry for?” 

“Nothing.” 

“There’s some avocado I left out on the counter. Mash up that with some bananas and I boiled carrots. It’s in the fridge.” Tony thanked Pepper before walking inside. “You had such a long sleep. I bet you’re feeling a lot better.” 

Although Peter was already looking over her shoulder for his father. “Where’d he go?” 

“Daddy’s just gone to make you some food. He’ll be back.” She pulled the pacifier from his mouth, not wanting him to have it right now. It probably wasn’t the best time but they needed to start taking them away. They kept pushing it off. 

Sure, Peter was sick so it wasn’t the best moment but they had to start somewhere. 

Peter didn’t even notice it was gone, he was more focused on where his father went. He slid off his moms lap, walking into the house. She sighed. Peter refused her comfort most of the time and it kinda hurt. But there was nothing she could do about it. 

Tony heard the pitter patter of bare feet on the floor, already knowing who was coming in before turning around. “Hey, you.” 

“Daddy.” Peter sounded pitiful. 

“Oh, what happened? Don’t cry. What’s wrong?” He pulled him against his chest, running his fingers through those curly but knotted locks of hair. He knew it was probably just because he left him and maybe his ears were starting to hurt but he needed some food in his body. 

“You went inside and didn’t say I could come.” He whimpered, fisting Tony’s shirt in his hand. “I’m feeling… sleepy.” 

The fact that Peter acknowledged he was tired and was aware of that was huge. Usually he cried and pushed people away. “Your body is healing. You need lots of rest. But you also need to eat.” Tony mashed up the avocado, feeding Peter a spoonful. “Is it yummy?” 

“Yeah. More.” He opened his mouth like a baby bird for more, gratefully accepting the second  spoonful. He stood on his tippy toes to watch Tony Nash up a banana into the avocado then grab a handful of crackers, adding it onto the tray. 

“Come back outside.” He held his hand for him. “Come.” 

“Is that mine?” Peter was eying the silicone section plate of food. He was hungry and it was filled with delicious food he wanted to put in his belly to fill it up. 

Setting the plate down at the table outside, Tony pulled out a chair, gently pushing Peter into it. “All for you, baby. Then you need to take your medicine again.” 

“Are you feeling better, Petey? Cause we wanted to visit that new park on top of the hill. It overlooks the ocean and everything!” Morgan squeezed into the gap he left on the chair, then started patting his knee. 

“Stopppp. Don’ touch me.” He wasn’t feeling up for any kind of physical contact from anyone. Besides his dad. And maybe Aiser if he was nice. He began crying, sitting up on his knees to reach out to Tony. 

“What? I didn’t even do anything. What do you hate me?” Morgan was hurt, Peter was her best friend and even though he wasn’t feeling the best, he could still be nice to her. She was being nothing but kind to him! “You’re acting like a baby! A rude baby!” 

“Morgan. Peter’s not feeling well. Stop that.” He lifted his crying child into his arms, reaching a hopefully comforting hand out to Morgan. “He’ll be better soon then you guys can go back to playing together.” 

“No. I’m not his friend anymore until he apologizes to me.” Stubbornly, Morgan sat back on Peter’s abandoned chair, her arms crossed. Peter’s foot accidentally touched her so she kicked it, causing Peter to scream into Tony’s ear. “Don’t!” 

“Morgan! Enough. Go sit on the other side of your mother.” Tony snapped. He knew Peter was older than his sister, but Morgan knew better than to be behaving like this and Tony wasn’t going to tolerate it. “Get up and go.” 

“No!” 

“Morgan. It’s either you move or I’ll take you to your room.” Pepper used her stern voice, leaving no room for argument. Morgan was old enough to understand that Peter wasn’t feeling well and she was making it more difficult for him. 

Once she moved, Peter grabbed the spoon and began feeding himself, gobbling the food down. Probably the biggest hit ever, why didn’t they try this combination sooner. 

With Peter with him, he completely zoned out on the conversation happening around the table. Peter was eating the food a bit too fast, Tony was afraid he’d vomit. “Can you slow down a bit. Your food isn’t going anywhere, bubs.” 

“Yeah but… I’m too hungry.” His spoon was taken from him and replaced with a cracker so he leaned against his dads chest, sucking the salt off. 

“I don’t like him anymore.” 

“What?” Taking his attention off Peter, he realized Morgan was standing beside him. “What did you say?” 

“I said I don’t like him anymore. He’s being so rude to me and it upset me. My feelings are hurt.” To prove her point, she stuck her tongue out at her brother. 

Tony sighed. He should’ve expected his other children to have some resentment towards Peter. Peter took their father away from them, Peter was the reason Morgan didn’t have a father growing up for the first six years of her life. And now, most of his attention went to Peter anyways. 

“How do you think Peter feels after hearing you say you don’t like him? He loves you so much.” Although it didn’t look like it now, he was on his second cracker, sucking the salt off until it dissolved in his mouth. 

“Yeah but… I don’t like his recent attitude towards me. It’s mean. It hurt my feelings.” She leaned closer to Peter. “You hurt my feelings, Peter. And I’m not happy with you at all.” 

If only Peter could be so open with his feelings like Morgan, Tony thought. He reached out to caress her face. “I love you so much and so does Peter. But he’s really sick, Morgan. His ears are hurting. Remember how sad he was on the airplane?” 

Crossing her arms over her chest, she let out a huff, realizing Tony was looking at her with that concern expression on his face like how he always looked at Peter. “I remember. But I pretended he was my baby brother on the plane.” 

Tony didn’t blame her. He was crying like that. They’d wait a few years before taking another big trip like that. “He has a double ear infection and a ruptured eardrum which is very painful. He’d really appreciate it if you helped mom and me out with him.” 

“Like how?” 

“By being extra kind to him, being gentle, and by grabbing things when mom and I need it for him.” 

“I do that anyways. Harley doesn’t.” 

“What? I heard my name.” The conversation at the table stopped and now everyone was looking at the three of them. “What are you guys talking about?” 

“We’re talking about you being a bad brother to our little brother. I’m the one who always helps out. You never even change his diaper.” 

“Yeah. I’m not doing that. And he’s my little brother and your older brother. And maybe if you guys stopped treating him like a baby, he wouldn’t need his diaper changed. Because he wouldn’t be wearing diapers. Besides for at night.” He added at the end. It took Harley awhile to come to terms with his brother being so badly affected by what was done to him. But then again, who wouldn’t be. Steve put his brain in a blender then glued it back to the way he wanted. 

It was hard to imagine the boy Peter would be if he was never kidnapped. Morgan probably wouldn’t even exist. Or at least not their Morgan. 

Who knows. 

Peter reached for the spoon again, finishing off his food. He felt so much better now with his belly full. 

“How about we all stop talking about him as if he’s not sitting right here listening to us.” Tony wasn’t okay with that. Although Peter wasn’t saying anything, Tony knew he was taking it all in. He listened to everything. 

“I’m going to give him medicine and get him back to sleep. Morgan, did you want to come?” Tony thought including her would be good for her to feel involved. He needed to spend more one on one time with her without his attention being taken away from Peter. 

Although despite everything and the resentment Morgan must be feeling, seeing her holding his foot as Tony carried him up the stairs and Peter allowing it, made everything worth it. 

.

.

.

Tony double checked on his kids outside. They were still building mud pies in the garden, like they were the last five times Tony checked on them. 

Throughout the last five days, Peter spent 90% of it sleeping and only woke up to eat something light before passing out again. Tony was grateful he was awake now and had enough energy to play, but he just hoped he wasn’t over doing it. 

They got him off the ear drops and were down to one dose of medicine a day instead of every six hours, so that was likely why he wasn’t sleeping the day away anymore. 

He had a talk with Morgan and explained to her that she needed to be extra gentle with him, meaning if he took her toy, to immediately come and tell Tony or Pepper so they could handle it instead of anyone being hit or bit. He was pretty confident she would listen and that’s why when he saw her running towards him, he assumed it was because Peter took her toy. 

“Dad. Peter grabbed the shovel I was using. He has a blue one and he took mine and won’t give it back but I don’t want to use the blue one. I was using the red one.” Yep. I was right. 

Good thing he wasn’t doing anything important anyways. He was literally sitting there answering emails on his phone as he watched them from the distance to give them the illusion of privacy. 

“Okay. Let’s go talk to him.” 

She grabbed his hand, pulling him along. “Peter. Dads here so you’re in trouble now.” 

“Peter. Can you tell me what the problem is?” 

“There’s no problem.” 

Tony leaned down and took the pacifier from his mouth. “You don’t need this right now.” Besides the dirty look Peter gave him, he didn’t protest and went back to gathering mud in his bucket. “Morgan said you took her shovel. Is this true?” 

“Yeah. But-but-but-but I-I actually-I-I actually-but I had it first than her.” 

Tony wondered if they should get him extra help for his speech. Was that because of the pacifier, Tony briefly wondered. “You’re using the blue one. Morgan has the red one. So you need to give it back.” 

Peter looked down at his shovels. “No. I’m using both. You can use that one.” 

“It’s not bof and dat. Urg! Don’t make me take it from you.” She was frustrated by his speech because it made it hard to understand him. 

“Noooo!” 

“Okay. Guys. You need to solve these problems yourselves. Peter, what should you be doing?” 

“Ummmm…” He put the end of the shovel into his mouth to chew on so Tony pulled it out, replacing it with the pacifier. This boy. “I should be diggin’.” 

“No dummy.” 

“Morgan. Don’t call your brother a dummy. How about you help him make the right decision because remember he can’t think about how consequences for his actions work like you do. So help him.” 

Morgan got on her knees next to him. “Peter. You’re being bad so you need to listen to what I say.” 

“Okay. No.” What the hell. “Peter, you cannot take the shovel from Morgan,” 

“But I need it.” He hugged it protectively to his chest. 

“Then you can ask her if you can use it.” 

“Can I use it Morgan? Please and thank you? I’ll love you if you give it to me. And if you don’t, I’ll stop loving you-” 

“No. Peter.” Tony pulled him onto his lap. “That’s manipulation. You don’t say those things to the people you love just to get them to do what you want. It’s cunning.” 

“But…” He sucked on his soother, deep in thought. “You said that to me.” 

“No I didn’t. I never have.” Tony knew Steve did that to Peter. Peter never flat out said he did, but his actions told them Steve used to do that. Because Peter learned it somewhere and it wasn’t from them. It was from that manipulative monster. 

After thinking about it for a few seconds, Peter smacked Tony’s chest. “Yes you did! Now you’re lyinggggg!” 

“Hey. I never said that. Steve did. Not me.” 

Oh. Peter immediately froze. He stared at the ground for a few moments, deep in thought, or trying to forget, then he started digging again. “Who’s Steve.” 

Oh baby. Tony couldn’t seem to get him past this stage. He sighed, pushing the hair off his face. “I love you. Just know, I’ll never withhold my love for you, my sweet boy. Now, how about you ask Morgan if you can use her shovel.” 

“Can I use your shovel?” 

She seemed to be taken out of the trance she was in while watching that interaction and seeing her brother hurting. “Okay.” 

It wasn’t fair to both of them. Morgan wouldn’t have given it up but she felt bad for Peter, and Peter would’ve put up more of a fight if Steve was never brought up. 

Tony silently thanked her by squeezing her arm. He stood back up, watching them play for a few minutes then going back to sitting in his chair, continuing to watch from a distance. 

After a few minutes of silence, Morgan spoke, a bit hesitant. “Do you really not remember who Steve is?” 

Peter shrugged, sucking harder on his pacifier. 

“He’s the one who took you when you were a baby. And then from school again.” She watched his face for any reaction but he remained neutral. “Peter?” 

“You don’t know anything and I’m not going to talk to someone who lies.” 

“Don’t call me a liar. I’m not lying.” 

“You are!” 

“Am not.” 

“Are too!” He picked up some mud, about to throw it at her but he spotted Tony looking at him so he put it down, turning his back to his sister. “I’m trying to build my mud pie and I don’t need any distractions from you.” 

“But… I just want you to know I didn’t mean what I said days ago. About me not liking you. I love you. You just made me sad.” 

This conversation was making him sad. He fisted the shovel in his hand, feeling his heartbeat pick up. He was getting angry and didn’t have the communication skills to express that. 

But Morgan continued. “I don’t like it when you’re mean to me. It makes me-” 

Peter turned around and bit her on the arm. He was done listening. Morgan started crying, pulling her arm away from his teeth. 

“Morgan! Don’t hit him! I’m coming!” Tony saw the bite happen but was too far to stop it. Now Morgan was going to hit him and he’d have two kids crying. He raced over to them, stopping Morgan from smacking him but the bite broke skin and there was a little bit of blood. “Peter. Nope. No, you’re not going anywhere.” He grabbed his ankle to prevent him from crawling away. 

“He bit me!” 

“Cause she upset me!” 

“I didn’t do anything!” 

Peter rolled his eyes. “See? You’re lying again.” 

“I’m not!” 

“Okay. Take a breath. Let’s go get this cleaned up then we’ll talk about this.” Tony helped Morgan to her feet, not taking his eyes off of Peter. “Come help me.” 

“No.” 

“I wasn’t asking. Stand up and walk with us to the house.” 

Peter tried to stop his grin. He took this as an opportunity to test his father and see how far he could push him. “No.” 

Oh. So this was how it was going to be. Tony leaned down and grabbed the pacifier from his mouth. He wanted to tell him he’d buck them all up if he didn’t come, but it would work and it wasn’t the way to go. He stayed at eye level with him, remaining firm. “You do not talk back to me. You do not bite. You use your words. Your actions have consequences so stand up, walk into the house, and help me.” 

“I don’t have to and you can’t make me.” He turned around and started crawling away from Tony, heading towards the stairs that led to the ocean. 

Tony stood up, taking four large steps until he was standing over Peter. He had to remember Peter was testing him and was only acting out to see how far he could get away with things. He was learning and developing. “Enough. If you do not stand up and walk inside that house in five seconds, I will physically bring you inside and you will sit on timeout for five minutes. I know the decision you should make.” 

He let Peter think it over, giving him extra time than he would his other two children. He was lying on his back, his feet prepared to kick Tony in the crotch so Tony changed his position to standing beside him instead of standing with Peter beneath his legs. 

“If I get down to one, and you haven’t moved, I will be very upset with you.” Peter blinked up at him, remaining silent. So Tony began counting. “Five, four, three, two… one… zero… okay…” Tony grabbed his arms, lifting him up. “You will get a five minute timeout.” 

“Nooooo! No no! Ahhhh! AHHHHHHHH! AHHHH! NOOOO!” 

“What the hell is going on?! Tony?!” Pepper came running out into the backyard once she heard the screaming like someone was dying. She had been upstairs packing with her mom since they leave tomorrow but she couldn’t ignore the screaming. 

Tony had Peter thrown over his shoulder as he screamed and thrashed in his arms, and Morgan added to the crying because she wanted more attention. 

“I’ll be with you in a second, Morgan.” Tony grabbed a chair from the dining room, dragging it over to a wall and placing Peter on his feet in front of it. “For disobeying me, you will sit here on timeout for five minutes.” 

“Nooooo! No! I’ll be good! Nooo!” Peter was freaking out. He hadn’t had a timeout in so long and it killed him to have to sit in one like this. “Daddy! Don’! Sorry! I’m s-s-sorry! PLEASE!” 

This was difficult but he needed to follow through. Peter was overdramatic, that’s all it was. “I have you a warning. Think about this next time you want to misbehave. Five minutes.” He sat him on the chair, trying to ignore his breaking heart as Peter sobbed in it. 

“Paci! PLEA-” He sobbed so hard he gagged, leaning forward. 

Tony pushed the pacifier past his lips, hating the way Peter looked at him with those wet, Bambi, oh so trusting eyes of his. How the hell was he ever supposed to discipline this kid? He hoped Peter would be a well behaved teenager when he’s older. Because this was harder for Tony than it was for Peter. 

After the five minutes were up, Tony walked over, kneeling down in front of him. “Do you know why I put you in timeout?” 

Peter nodded. 

“Tell me why.” He pointed outside. “No. Tell me. Can I have paci?” He shook his head, sniffling. “You can’t come off until you tell me why I put you here.” 

“Nu’z i dnn’ lis’em.” 

Tony had no idea what he said. He pulled the pacifier from his mouth. “I’m going to give it back. But I can’t understand you with it in there.” 

Peter desperately reached for it. “WELL I CANT CALM DOWN WITHOUT IT!” He screamed in Tony’s face, reaching for it again as his breathing picked up. 

Oh. 

Oh. 

Tony let him take it back. Oh. Now what the fuck was he supposed to do? Fuck. 

Tony was on his feet in an instant, picking Peter up to squeeze him against his chest. “I know. I know you need it. And I’m sorry. I’ll help you. I know, baby. I know you’re struggling but I’ve got you. I’ll always be here for you.” Tony didn’t know if he was crying or if the wetness on his face was from Peter’s tears. He was hurting so badly. 

“I put you in timeout because you weren’t listening to me. Okay? Do you understand why I put you in a timeout?” 

Peter nodded, remaining silent. 

Great. Now Tony felt like an awful father for putting him in a timeout and an even worse father for making his child cry like this. 

He felt like they took one step forward and five steps back. Tony was way over his head here.