The Home That Built Me

Peter waddled into the living room to search for Pepper, making grabbing hands. 

Tony followed him with a diaper, wipes and cream in his hands. He found Peter’s already made bottle on the kitchen table and grabbed it for his breakfast but it looked like Peter had other plans. “We have to pick Harley up at twelve. It’s a half day.” Tony reminded Pepper. “I promised him we’d all go for ice cream then for a hike near the ice cream shop.” 

“That’ll be fun. It’ll burn all the energy out of this little money so he sleeps tonight.” Pepper ruffled his curly hair. 

Tony picked Peter up and laid him on the living room carpet to change his diaper before breakfast. He tugged off his pants and undid the diaper tabs, pulling the front down as he spoke. “Your parents called this morning, by the way. I didn’t answer because I was changing Peter.” 

“And because you didn’t wanna talk to them.” Pepper added with a chuckle. 

Tony applied the cream next then shrugged. “Well, they act like we don’t have a baby and another kid. We don’t have all day to talk to them about the person who stole a pack of bubble gum from the store.” He wiped his fingers and secured a fresh diaper on Peter then padded his belly. “All done.” 

“All done.” Peter repeated, then rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself up, making desperate grabby hands for Pepper’s milk. “Mommy up. Mommy milk.” 

Tony handed Pepper the bottle and picked up the dirty diaper. “Here.” 

Peter saw the bottle and shook his head. “Daddy no.” He turned to Pepper and pulled her shirt down, sticking his head in it so she gave in and pulled her shirt down, Peter immediately latched onto her nipple and closed his eyes. 

Tony took the bottle back. “Alright then… no bottle today.” 

He sat on the couch and poked Peter’s foot to get a reaction out of him but Peter only moved his foot away. Pepper moved Peter to get him in a more comfortable position but Tony was poking his foot again. “Tony, don’t. Let him eat first before you start bugging him.” 

Tony tickled the bottom of Peter’s foot again which had Peter pulling his knees to his chest to protect his feet. He opened his eyes and looked at Tony, giving him a dirty look. 

“Did you see that?” Tony laughed. “He just gave me a dirty look.” 

Peter sat up and tried to hit Tony, waving his hand out. “Daddy no, I-I drinkin’ mommy milk.” He laid back down to latch on again and both parents laughed. 

“Okay… we have to leave in ten minutes so drink fast.” Tony told him even though he knew Peter didn’t understand. He also didn’t expect him to drink faster so he didn’t know why he just said that. “Do you want to come with me to get Harley or do you want to stay with Peter?” 

Pepper looked down at him but it didn’t look like he was going to finish anytime soon. “Um… we’ll go when he’s done then we’ll go for our hike and hopefully he’ll burn some energy out.” 

Tony nodded. He was used to waiting on Peter to finish nursing before they could do anything so he sat next to them and went on his phone, trying to pass the time by quicker. Usually Peter nursed anywhere from five minutes to over an hour, depending on his mood but since it wasn’t a morning, nap or nighttime feed, it was quick. 

Peter unlatched and used Pepper’s hair to pull himself up, causing both adults to laugh. “Dada.” 

“Come, baby. A diaper change and then we’re gonna go pick up your big brother from school.” Tony stood up and lifted him onto his hip to go up to Peter’s nursery and get him changed quickly. 

“Dada, out’ide.” Peter pointed a chubby hand towards the front door as they passed by it. 

“Yeah, we’re going to go outside soon but first I need to change your diaper and get some proper clothes on you.” He walked into the nursery and laid Peter on the changing table. “Do you want to wear shoes or sandals?” 

It was hot out so Tony didn’t want Peter to overheat but he also didn’t want him to get too cold. Geez, he was overprotective. He thought after the first kid, you were supposed to be a lot easier going on the second but he was ten times more overprotective now with Peter. 

Peter rolled onto his stomach to push himself up. “B’ue!” 

“Blue shoes?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Blue it is then.” Tony laid Peter back down and undid the straps of his diaper but as he pulled down the front, Peter was peeing all up the front of Tony’s shirt. He covered him back up with the diaper and looked down at his boy's giggling face. “You think that’s funny? Huh? Going pee pee on your daddy?” 

Peter giggled harder and when Tony was sure he was finished, he took the diaper off and placed it in the diaper genie. “Maybe we should potty train you now. Huh? You want to sit on the big boy potty like Harley does?” 

Peter grabbed onto his feet and lifted them up, a forced frown on his face. Tony cooed. They attempted to potty train him when he turned two although it lasted a week before they gave up and decided Peter simply wasn’t ready yet. 

Not that Tony cared, he didn’t actually mind the diaper changes, besides for the blowouts. 

He kept his hand on his belly to prevent him from rolling off as he bent down to grab a plain white bodysuit, a fresh diaper and diaper rash cream then placed it all on the side. 

“Dada?” 

“Yes, baby?” 

“Dada, go pa’k?” 

“We’re gonna go on a hike with mommy and big brother.” Tony wiped Peter clean then opened up the cream next. “How about we go to the park this weekend?” 

Peter nodded excitedly. “And-and Ha’ls come. And play on swing, dada.” 

“Yeah, baby.” Tony fastened the diaper on him and got him dressed into his bodysuit. He loved how Peter was learning new words everyday. He was behind on talking but over the past few weeks, new words were spilling right out of his mouth. 

Tony loved watching Peter grow up. He couldn’t wait to see where he was in terms of vocabulary a year from now. And he couldn’t wait to watch him reach that point. Along with all the other milestones he will get to witness him accomplish. 

He lifted Peter onto his feet and grabbed his pacifier out of his crib. “Here. Do you want paci?” 

Peter never said no to that request. He grabbed it and placed it in his mouth to walk downstairs, holding onto his daddy’s hand. 

As long as Peter had a pacifier in his mouth, another one in his hand and a bottle in his other hand, he was all set to go for car rides. Tony would never forget how difficult it was to get Peter into his car seat even just a few months ago, now, he was getting older and could understand more so it was a lot easier. 

When they pulled up to the elementary school, Tony parked the car and opened up the back door, taking Peter out and setting him on his hip until they walked across the parking lot to wait in the schoolyard for the bell to ring. “Down. Down.” 

Tony placed Peter on his feet and carefully watched him waddle around. “Stay close to me, Peter.” He warned. 

As soon as the bell rang, kids started pouring out the doors and making their way towards their parents or talking with friends. Peter ran over to Tony and grabbed onto his legs, overwhelmed by all the kids running out but as soon as he spotted Harley, he ran towards him. 

“Peter!” Harley picked his little brother up and spun him around. “Hi.” 

Peter squealed excitedly. 

“Mrs. Mill. Look at my little brother.” Harley walked over to his teacher to show her. “He’s three.” 

“Wow. Hello, cutie. It’s nice to meet you.” She cooed. “Will you be joining us here next year?” 

Tony and Pepper were immediately at their side. Tony smiled. “Yeah, he’s going to be in kindergarten next year.” That was so crazy to think of. Next year, Peter will be four and in school. 

“I can’t wait to hopefully have that cute face in my class one year.” She cooed. 

Tony smiled. No one could resist Peter. “How was school, buddy?” 

Harley placed Peter on his feet so he walked over to his mom and made grabby hands. “Mama! Milk! Milk!” 

“It was good!” 

“We’re going to go on a hike now.” Tony said, lifting Peter onto his hip to distract him from wanting milk. “Aren’t you excited, Pete?” 

Harley’s teacher waved bye to the toddler and left so Tony turned to start walking back to the car with his family. 

“Daddy?” Harley latched onto Tony’s hand. “After we go for a hike, can we get fruit smoothies?” 

Pepper loved that idea. “Yeah, let’s do that. It’ll be so refreshing.” 

After a car ride filled with the abc’s and a song on how to learn your colours, they arrived at the hiking trail. It was kid friendly so it was simple plus it wasn’t too long. You could choose to go on the hour long hike but they were only going to go on the twenty minute long hike and Tony knew he was going to have to carry Peter more than half way through it. 

Peter grabbed his bottle as he was lifted out of the car and ran over to his mom. “Mama, up. Up up up.” 

“No, baby, we’re going to go on our hike now. Hold mommy’s hand.” 

Peter stomped his feet at being told no. “Mama! Up. Milk. Milk.” 

Pepper sighed and looked over at Tony then lifted Peter up, holding him on her hip as he helped himself. Tony felt bad for her, he would carry Peter if he could but he didn’t have milk so that was one thing he wasn’t good for. 

That was why they were thinking about weaning Peter off daytime feeds but it was really hard when Peter asked for it about twice an hour and got it twice an hour. 

They started the hike so Tony stayed back with Pepper and Peter while Harley ran up ahead, burning some energy off. They wanted Peter to as well but he wasn’t leaving Pepper’s arms until he was satisfied. 

“You done yet, Petey?” Tony cooed, gently pinching his chubby leg. 

Peter pulled off to look at his dad. “Dada run.” 

“You come run with me.” 

The toddler shook his head and latched back on so Tony waited and once Peter was done, Tony placed him on his feet and ran ahead to get Peter to chase after him. Of course Tony was barely running and was actually going slower than walking to get Peter to have a chance to catch up to him. 

Peter tried to run as quickly as he could but since he couldn’t stop laughing, he was wobbling so just as he went to face plant, Tony caught him and threw him into the air, causing the toddler to have a laughing fit. 

It was one of the best memories Tony had. It was so simple with him, his boys and Pepper, all together and having a spontaneous hiking trip. 

After they got out of the trail, the four of them walked over to the smoothie stand and ordered four drinks before taking a seat on a picnic table. Tony placed Peter on his lap and pulled his pacifier from his mouth to feed him a spoonful of the smoothie. “Is it yummy?” 

“Yeah. Dada has b’uebe’y.” 

“I do, want to try?” 

Peter shook his head. “No.” He picked up the spoon to take another bite of his and effectively got it all over his bare lap so he wiped it off and looked towards Harley, holding his strawberry smoothie covered hand out to him. “Ha’ls have.” 

“Ew. Not on your fingers, Peter. Can I have a spoonful?” 

Peter stood up on Tony’s lap to pass his bowl over to his brother. “It ‘ed!” 

“It’s red.” 

“‘ed!” Peter bounced up and down excitedly. 

“No.” Laughed Harley. “Red. With an r.” 

“‘ed!” 

Tony chuckled. “He can’t say r yet.” Peter couldn’t pronounce a lot of words yet but he understood everything. “Peter, say car.” 

Peter pointed at their car. “Ca’!” 

“Good job. Say… tree!” 

“Cee!” 

“Oh. Close enough.” He sat Peter back down on his lap to finish up his smoothie bowl but he only ate a few more bites then he pushed it away and put his pacifier back into his mouth and turned around to cuddle against his dad’s chest. 

Tony thought it was cute then he felt Peter fart on him followed by the dreaded daily blowout. Tony cringed. “Oh. Ew.” He placed his smoothie down and looked at Pepper. “He just pooped. Wanna take it?” 

Pepper laughed. “Nope. There’s wipes and diapers in the car. Have fun.” 

Tony stood up and lifted Peter onto his feet, taking his tiny hand in his. “What? I did it like the last five times.” He laughed because he didn’t actually really mind with Peter. Peter made it funny anyways. 

“Hey. I breastfeed. I’m doing my part. Have fun daddy.” She waved them off, watching Tony open up the trunk, pick Peter up and lay him down. 

Pepper licked her smoothie from the spoon and turned to Harley. “Your brother is lucky he’s cute.” She was only kidding, they loved Peter more than life itself, plus he was adorable and all theirs. 

“Can we come back here this summer and play in the lake here? Maybe Peter can learn how to swim by then. Or I can teach him.” Harley shrugged and took a bite of his smoothie. 

Pepper loved that idea. At first, she was a bit worried about the age gap between her two boys but watching the two of them play with each other and getting to witness Harley being a big brother to Peter, it was the most beautiful thing in the world. 

She couldn’t wait to watch the two of them grow up together and see their special relationship grow stronger every day. 

Peter squealed from the car so she looked back and laughed, she wasn’t able to see what was going on but she knew Peter was making it difficult for Tony and laughing about it. 

Tony was trying to hold Peter’s legs up while also trying to keep Peter’s tiny hands away from touching himself down there where it was covered in poop. He groaned as he grabbed more wipes. “Stop moving.” 

Peter giggled harder at Tony’s misery. “Oh you find this funny, huh?” He tossed the dirty wipe into the dirty diaper and grabbed a clean one. “How about I potty train you? You won’t find that too funny.” He laughed. They tried the potty training thing a year ago and Peter wasn’t having any of it. 

The toddler shook his head. “Potty ‘yary.” 

“Potty scary?” 

Peter nodded, his bottom lip sticking out. Tony smirked. He could see a glimpse of their future, Peter had him wrapped around his baby finger from the day he was born. Tony knew that wasn’t ever going to change and that little pout made him melt. 

“It’s okay. You don’t have to be potty trained yet. I’ll just keep changing your poopy diapers while you make it extremely difficult for daddy.” Once he put a clean diaper on him and did up the buttons on his bodysuit, he wiped his hands with a wipe then lifted him up, pressing a ton of kisses all over his face. “All clean. Mmm you smell so yummy.” 

Peter giggled. “Dada, don’. Dada go back.” 

“Go back to finish our smoothies?” Peter nodded and mumbled some incoherent words that Tony couldn’t understand. 

“Hey you.” Pepper greeted. “Finish your smoothie then we can head home.” 

Peter pushed his away, too busy jumping on Tony’s lap now to even eat so that’s when they decided to head home. 

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Later that night, Tony walked into the bedroom with a clean and freshly bathed Peter wrapped in a towel from his bath. 

He grabbed a diaper, rash cream and a onesie then laid him down on the bed. “He’s hungry.” He turned to look at Pepper. “Can you feed him before bed now?” 

“Yeah, let me just change my top.” While Pepper went to go do that, Tony got Peter ready for bed and pulled the pacifier from his mouth for now. 

“Mommy’s coming soon. You don’t need this.” 

Peter made his grabby hands for his milk, impatiently waiting for it. “Mommy.” 

“Soon.” Tony took a seat on the bed and pulled Peter to sit in his lap while they waited. “Are you excited?” 

“Mama milk.” He pointed behind him and tried to spot Pepper and once she walked out, he clapped his chubby hands and crawled off of Tony, making his way over to her. “Mama, sit.” 

“I am, baby.” She had to admit, it was a good feeling having Peter prefer her over Tony so she was soaking it all in. As per their usual nightly routine, Pepper laid down and pulled Peter onto her lap, pulling down her shirt so Peter could breastfeed. “Shh, close your eyes, sweet boy.” 

Tony leaned over to turn Pepper’s lamp off, only keeping his on so they could still see. “Harley told me today that he wanted to teach Peter how to swim, so they could go swimming in the lake.” Pepper said. 

“Oh.” Tony leaned onto his side. “That’ll be fun? Pete loves the water but he’s not going into that lake without a life jacket on. Neither is Harley.” 

Pepper looked down at her boy. He was looking up at her with so much admiration and trust. 

She moved him to get more comfortable so he could be full but she knew he was going to be waking up in the middle of the night, wanting to nurse again to fall back asleep. 

“That’ll be fun to do this summer.” Tony thought about it, Peter was getting older and he was starting to understand a lot more. The thought of him starting school this September was crazy to him. 

Little did Tony know at that moment that that day would never come for them. Peter was going to be taken from them that weekend…