Trouble in sibling Paradise
“Can I play now? It’s my turn, Harley.” Peter whined, leaning on Harley’s computer chair as Harley tried to concentrate on his game.
“No. I said you can after. I literally just started.” Harley tried to push Peter away from himself but Peter was hitting him. “Ow. Leave me alone, Peter. Go play with Morgan or something.”
Peter groaned. “I wanna play with you.”
“Well, too bad. I’m busy right now. Go.” Harley paused his game so he could stand up and drag his annoying little brother out of his room. “Stop. Go away. You’re so annoying.”
“Ahhhhh! Noooo!” Peter screamed, trying to grab onto anything he could as Harley dragged him out of his room. He was thrown into the hallway so he cried against the floor for a few seconds then bursted into Harley’s room again. He grabbed his computer wires and ripped it out of the wall sockets, making the computer fall onto the floor and crack.
Both of them gasped, not expecting that to happen.
“What the hell, Peter!”
Peter ran away before Harley could get to him. He ran into Morgan’s bedroom, scared of getting in trouble. He ran straight into her closet. “Don’t tell anyone I’m in here.” He told her, hiding at the back of her closet.
“Okay.” Morgan nodded. She continued to play with her dolls peacefully.
Harley ran downstairs. “Mom, dad.” He ran into the kitchen, anger radiating off of him. “Peter literally just smashed my computer on the ground. It’s broken.”
Tony put his phone down to look at Harley when he came storming in the kitchen. He was already getting up. “Why did he do that?”
“Because he’s so annoying.”
Pepper followed them upstairs but neither of them were surprised to not find Peter anywhere. “Where is he?”
“I don’t know.” Harley pushed open his bedroom door to show his computer broken on the ground. “He smashed it. He’s so annoying like I’m trying to play my game and he won’t leave me alone.”
Tony bent down to pick up the computer. The screen fell off and cracked in two. He sighed. “Aw, buddy, I’ll get you a new one. Where is he?”
Harley sat on his bed, feeling defeated. “He ran away. I don’t know.”
Pepper walked out of his bedroom to go look in theirs. She looked in all his hiding places, in the bathroom, closet, in and under their bed but nothing. “He’s not in here.”
“He’s probably in his room then.” Tony and Pepper both walked into Peter’s room and nothing. They looked at each other, panicking a bit since they have done this before. Tony knew Peter didn’t leave the house because they had alarms on the doors for going in and out. “He’s in the house somewhere.”
They walked into Morgan’s room, Spotting her on the floor and playing with her dolls. “Where’s Peter? Did you see him?”
“I don’t know.” Morgan briefly looked up at her parents. “I’m not telling you where he is.”
Tony walked into her room and kneeled down in front of her. “So you do know?” Morgan nodded. “Tell me where he is or you will go in timeout.”
“No. I’m not telling you.” She crossed her arms over her chest so Tony picked her up and carried her downstairs to put her in timeout. “You sit here until you tell me where he is.” He sat her down then walked away.
Pepper walked over to him, making sure Morgan couldn’t hear. “Are you sure she should go in timeout for this? I mean, we don’t want her to resent Peter when she’s older.”
Tony set the timer for six minutes. “Peter is hiding somewhere and we don’t know where he is but she does. That is not allowed and she has to understand that.” He sighed. “If we were outside and Peter went missing again but she knew where he was, she would be getting more than a timeout.”
“Tony. Don’t say that.” Pepper pushed him a bit.
“So? I don’t care. Are they forming some kind of kid alliance or something?” Tony didn’t care what he had to do. He waited until the timer went off and then he walked over to Morgan and kneeled down in front of her. “Are you going to tell me where he is?”
“No.” Morgan stubbornly said. A permanent frown on her face and her arms crossed.
“Then you can sit here for another six minutes.” He got up and walked away but Morgan started crying so he turned back to look at her. “Tell me where he is and you can get out.”
“He’s-he’s in my closet!” She cried and Tony marched up there. Morgan chased after him, trying to stop him. “No. No! Don’t hurt him! Don’t!”
Tony opened the closet doors and looked around. He spotted Peter under some blankets and grabbed him out. He roughly stood Peter on his feet. “You do not hide from us. Do you understand me?”
Peter broke down in tears, trying to push Tony away from him.
“Look at me,” Tony grabbed Peter’s face, forcing him to look. “If you hide from us again, you will be grounded. Do you understand me?”
Peter cried harder. “Yes!”
Tony stood up and grabbed onto Peter’s wrist. “You’re gonna have quiet time in your room. Let’s go.” He carried Peter in and slammed the door, sitting him on the bed and sitting down next to him.
They tried putting Peter in timeout but it didn’t work with him. They knew that Steve didn’t punish Peter for things he should have punished him for, instead Steve punished Peter for things such as talking to the neighbours without Steve present.
Peter turned onto his stomach and pushed himself up. He tried to stop crying but he couldn’t so he shoved his thumb in his mouth and held an arm out for Tony so he sat Peter on his lap. “Why did you break Harley’s computer?”
“I did on accident.” Peter explained, calming down some.
Tony rocked him a bit. “Did Harley tell you to leave him alone?” Peter nodded. “So when he tells you to leave him alone, you have to listen because that means he wants his privacy and wants to have some alone time.”
Peter nodded again.
“Are you ready to apologize to him? Then you and I are gonna go to the store and buy him a new computer to replace the one you broke.” Tony got a nod out of Peter so he stood him up and grabbed his hand.
They walked into Harley’s room and knocked on the door. Harley was picking up his broken computer, trying to put it back together but there was no point. “Pete, wants to say something to you.” Tony said, looking down at Peter and seeing his thumb still in his mouth so he took it out.
Harley sat there and waited.
“Uh, I’m sorry for breaking your computer. It was bad.” Peter quietly said. He then stuck his thumb back in his mouth and hid behind Tony.
“I accept your apology. But next time you have to leave me alone when I tell you too.”
Peter nodded against Tony but that wasn’t good enough. Tony pulled him out from behind him. “What do you say, Peter. Take your thumb out.”
“I’m sorry.” Peter repeated. He looked up at Tony for help so Tony squatted down so he was at Peter’s height level.
“Are you going to leave Harley’s room when he tells you to?” Peter nodded, wrapping an arm around Tony. “Say it.”
“Uh, I don’t know.”
Tony was patient. They were still working on Peter understanding that there were consequences for his behaviour. “Say that you’ll listen to Harley when he tells you to leave his room.”
Peter thought about it. “Say you’ll listen to Harley when he tells you to leave his room.” Peter seriously said, not getting the point.
“No, you have to say it-”
“I don’t know.” Peter whimpered against him and Tony didn’t want to push it. He stood up and lifted Peter into his arms. “Okay. That’s okay. Good job, Peter. Because our bedrooms are our private space, right?” Peter nodded. “So we have to respect other people’s private space.”
Peter leaned his head against his shoulder. Tony walked out of Harley’s room to go get ready to leave for the shops with Peter.
He was trying his best to teach him the right things everyday but of course it was easier said than done, trying to also reverse everything that Steve did to Peter was hard but not impossible.
Peter put his shoes on and ran into the kitchen to hug Morgan. He knew she got in trouble for him but he appreciated it.