You better run
Tony wasn’t used to this.
He had only ever taken Peter to talk to Karen and spoken to her with Peter but he’s never gone for himself before.
It was hard.
He felt uncomfortable and exposed.
They were on the topic of everything that happened yesterday and how difficult it was for Tony but not only because his patience was running low but because he felt extremely guilty.
“I just…” He sighed and shook his head, not knowing how to describe it. “I feel guilty for feeling exhausted and drained with Peter. I feel guilty for wanting a break from him and I feel guilty for losing my patience with him because four years ago I didn’t have him and I would pray for moments like this.”
Karen nodded. “Do you feel like you’re taking him for granted?”
“Yes.” Tony thought back to life before Peter and how difficult it was to wake up every day without him and go through the day without his boy but now, it was still really difficult because Peter was really demanding and wanted a lot if not all of Tony’s attention.
“It’s just… I used to promise myself that when… if, Peter ever came home to us again, I’d never take any moment with him for granted and now, yesterday I was so overwhelmed that I couldn’t take it anymore. I was so stressed with the two of them so I had to leave the house and let Pepper deal with it.”
“It’s okay to feel overwhelmed and stressed out. Being a parent is the hardest job in the world and it’s non stop. You don’t start at eight in the morning and finish at six in the evening.” Karen said and it did make Tony feel a lot better. “Your job never ends. And that includes the 2am wake up calls.”
Tony chuckled at that. It was more like every two hour wake up calls with Peter.
“Yeah… do you know why he’s waking up so much? He never used to, it just kinda started up again.”
“It could be a lot of things. He’s probably nervous or anxious about a lot of things that he’s not fully aware of but it’s keeping him up, it could be he’s going to bed over tired or not tired enough. Is he sleeping throughout the day? What’s his sleep schedule?”
Tony knew Peter’s sleep schedule was extremely messed up. “He falls asleep throughout the day or is incredibly cranky and miserable so we let him sleep usually thirty minutes to an hour.” He rubbed his forehead. “Well… when Harley was fourteen, his bedtime was ten and when he was fifteen it was ten thirty or eleven but he was old enough and mature enough to go to sleep when he wanted, Peter isn’t. We would let him stay up till nine but he’s asleep by eight, eight thirty.”
“And what time is he waking up at?”
“Around five thirty, six for the day but throughout the night he’s waking up about three times minimum.” Tony knew that was bad. “But he falls asleep so early, he would fall asleep at seven if we put him to bed.” Tony added.
“When he goes back to school, that’s going to be a difficult adjustment with his sleeping schedule and the fact that he wants to take naps during the day.”
Tony was well aware of that. “Yeah… I don’t want him going back to school just yet.”
“Why’s that?” Karen asked with zero judgment.
“I know it’s selfish of me but I like having him at home with me. I don’t want him going back to school but I know he has to go… he’s not ready and I don’t want to rush it.”
“Why don’t you think he’s ready?” Asked Karen.
Tony honestly didn’t know why. There were a lot of tiny reasons. “Mentally, he’s still healing. He still sleeps with Pep and I every night and shows zero signs of stopping and I don’t even mind that. I can’t…” Tony trailed off, having a hard time just thinking about it. “I can’t drop him off at school and not see him for seven hours. I just can’t.”
“Are you worried that it’ll be the last time you see him?”
That question took Tony by surprise but it was true.
“I’m scared to leave him. And yeah, Steve’s dead. Bucky is… who knows where, he could have gotten out again and is watching us for all I know. I don’t feel comfortable sending him to school.”
“He’s been home for close to two months now. Would you consider homeschooling him so he doesn’t fall behind?”
“No. I know he needs to go back, I just don’t want him to.” Tony once again felt guilty. “I feel awful for saying that. I’m not… okay, if he told me he wants to go back to school tomorrow, I’d say yes. I’m not gonna prevent him from going back, I’m just not gonna encourage it until I know he’s ready. I don’t wanna go backwards in our progress.”
“Has he asked you and Pepper about school and if he’s going back? Does he have any way to contact his friends?”
Tony leaned back in the chair. “He told Pepper once but he wasn’t anywhere near ready then. He was just thinking out loud. And yeah, he lost his phone when… yeah, so we have to get him a new one but he talks to his friends on his iPad and Pepper talks to his best friend's mom every now and then.”
“Perhaps he wants a new phone. Did he ever ask for one?”
Tony and Pepper got Peter his first phone when he started high school and since then, he’s lost three of them and it hadn’t even been six months. The fourth phone he lost was not his fault, obviously, but he never showed an interest in having a phone and rarely used it.
“Never. We’ll get him one when he goes back to school, he doesn’t want or need one right now.” Tony wasn’t being controlling, him and Pepper had long talks about Peter getting a phone. Tony blocked inappropriate websites on his iPad and phone, same with Morgan. He blocked it on Harley’s until he was sixteen but only because he wanted Harley to satisfy his curiosity online and not do certain things in real life.
“You and Pepper will have to decide that together.”
Tony knew that. He was also itching to see Peter so when he saw that the session was over, he stood up. “Thanks for everything but I really wanna see my kid-”
Tony didn’t even get to finish his sentence because Peter was opening the doors and running in, jumping up to be lifted into his dad's arms. “Dad! Me and mom went to the paint store and bought tons of paint for today.”
Tony pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Woah. That’s so cool. I can’t wait to see them all.”
Peter nodded. “Can me and Morgan paint in the backyard? We got body paint too!”
Tony looked at Pepper. “Body paint, huh?”
She shrugged. “I thought it would be fun to do before we go up to my parents house in a few days.”
“I’m excited.” Tony looked at Peter and went to place him on his feet but Peter clung onto him and yawned. “Hey, no sleeping. Are you gonna nap on the way home?”
Peter nodded shyly so Tony playfully plugged his nose to try and wake him up a bit. “No napping. Let’s go then. Say bye to Karen.”
“Bye. And it’s funny cause-cause dad always waits for me but this time me and mom went shopping while you talked to my Karen.”
“Yeah, that’s true, bud. You ready to go?” Peter gave a sharp nod and put his thumb in his mouth but Tony pulled it out. “Nope. Can you hold my phone for me instead?”
Peter grabbed the phone and went onto it but Tony put him on his feet so he was forced to walk to the car.
“I’m going to order food for us tonight so we don’t have to cook and can just stay outside and eat.” Pepper told Tony, grabbing onto his hand on their walk to Tony’s car.
“I want chicken balls!” Peter yelled excitedly. He was suddenly really hungry and craving them.
“We’ll get those too.” Tony opened up the back door. “Get in.” Peter climbed into his car seat and grabbed the seatbelt.
“I want my car seat in the van as well.”
Tony made sure he was buckled in properly and got into the driver's seat. “We took your car seats out of the van, bud. You’d only need it for a long car ride.” For the most part, they didn’t have the car seats in the van but Tony would happily put them back if he had to.
Peter and Harley had car seats at the same time but then Peter went missing and Harley didn’t use a car seat anymore so when Morgan was born, Tony thought he would never have two car seats in the car again for his kids but he did and every time he saw the car seats in the car, it always reminded him that he had Peter back and how he got to experience what he thought he would never have again.
Plus it was a little reminder for him that he didn’t miss out on Peter’s entire childhood.
As usual, Peter was passed out by the time they got home. Pepper tried to interact with him to prevent him from falling asleep but it didn’t work for very long.
Tony opened up the back door and took off his seatbelt then lifted him into his arms. “Peter, Peter, Peter,” He playfully sighed. “Time to wake up. You can’t sleep all day.”
When they got inside, Tony walked to the back door to get started on the painting while they waited for the food to arrive. “Morgan. Come here. Peter has a surprise for you.”
Morgan walked out of the house, setting her doll aside to see what was going on. “What is this? Is it like… a gusher painting?”
Peter pulled off his shirt to paint his chest. “Body paints!” He grabbed the red and blue paint and poured some in his hands then put it all over himself. “That’s funny. And it’s kinda turning purple. Dad? Dad, look. Dad?”
Tony dumped out the rest of the paints. “Wow. I can see that, Pete. Keep going.”
Pepper laid out sheets of paper for the both of them but the two of them were better off just painting themselves. Peter sat down on the grass and pulled off his pants to paint his legs. “Dad. Can you paint my other leg? Draw something funny.”
Tony dipped his finger into the mixed up paints and drew a sun with a tiny person under it. “I’m drawing you. I think it looks identical.”
Peter giggled and continued.
.
.
.
“Then tomorrow we can do something fun.” Pepper reassured Peter to get him into bed. It was late and everyone knew Peter was exhausted but he refused to go upstairs, shower and put his pyjamas on but now that they got all that out of the way, all they had to do was get Peter into bed but he was pouting just beside the bed.
Tony walked up behind Peter and scooped him up, dropping him onto the bed so Peter faked a cry. “Hey. Stop. It’s bedtime and we’re not going to convince you to get into bed.”
Peter laid there and gave his dad a dirty look then rolled over and laid his head on his mom's chest. “Mm. Tickle my back.”
Pepper automatically started rubbing at his back as Tony got into bed and turned the lamp off on his side. He looked over at Peter, knowing what he was trying to do, Peter always seeked comfort from Pepper if Tony was firm with him or didn’t let Peter have his way, also he tried to make Tony jealous and it worked every time.
Peter knew Tony liked to get extra cuddles in at night. He turned to look at his dad to see if he was watching and once he saw that he was, he laid his head back down on his mom's chest.
“Come, Pete.” Tony held out an arm for him. “Let me get some cuddles in before you fall asleep.”
“Mm-mm.”
“Please. I’ll get you ice cream tomorrow. Just you and me.”
Peter thought about it. “Mm-mm.”
Tony reached forward and tugged the back of Peter’s pants. “Come, daddy’s turn.”
Peter couldn’t help but smile. He turned and cuddled against his dad's side, sticking his thumb in his mouth and closing his eyes. “Pat my bum.”
A smile appeared on Tony’s face as he began the rhythmic patting of Peter’s bum and as always, in no time, Peter was asleep.
.
.
.
Tony was woken up to the loud sound of a window breaking and then the alarm was going off.
He sat up in bed and immediately looked over to make sure Peter was still there and let out a huge breath of relief when he saw that he was. He got out of bed and grabbed his phone.
Peter woke up and rubbed at his eyes, looking around in alarm. “Daddy?” He pushed himself up and covered his ears, feeling like he wanted to cry. The alarm was loud and he was scared.
“Tony. What’s going on? Is someone in the house?” Pepper pulled Peter against her side, holding him close. She was terrified that someone was here to take Peter again.
Morgan bursted through the door and was almost attacked by Tony. “Daddy? It’s loud.” She covered her hands over her ears and looked panicked.
“Come, Morgan.” Pepper held her arms out for her daughter and Morgan wasted no time running and jumping onto the bed.
Tony walked into the closet and opened the safe, pulling a gun out. Only him and Pepper knew the code, and the only other person who knew it was there was Harley. He turned the safety lock off and walked out of the closet. “Take the kids and hide. Don’t come out no matter what you hear.”
Harley walked into the room and spotted the gun in his dad’s hands. “I called 911. Someone’s in the house, aren’t they?”
Tony pointed towards the bathroom door. “Go in there and don’t come out.”
Peter saw his dad walk out of the room and screamed. “Nooooo!” Harley was quick to cover his hand over his little brother’s mouth to shut him up and pick him up, carrying him into the bathroom with his mom and sister then locked the door.
Pepper took Peter from Harley to help calm him down but Peter was in hysterics. “Shh, daddy will be okay. Everything’s going to be okay.”
Tony held the gun and slowly walked downstairs. It was pouring rain outside and even though he couldn’t see the broken window, he could hear the rain pouring into the house and the wind howling.
He turned the corner, trying to listen for anyone in the house but he couldn’t hear anything but the alarm and the rain so he quickly walked towards the window and saw a whole tree in their dining room. He put the gun down and looked outside, seeing that the tree snapped in half from the storm and fell through their dining room windows.
He was glad it happened at night and none of his kids were downstairs.
Tony was going to go upstairs to get his family but there was a knock at the door and someone yelling police on the other end so he opened it, realizing he was holding a gun in his hand. “Oh, everything’s okay. A tree fell through our window and set the alarm off.” He placed the gun on the table and looked upstairs.
“Can we come in to check the house, sir?”
Tony stepped aside for them. “Yeah.” He made his way upstairs and ran into his bedroom, grabbing his phone to set the alarm off and then knocked on the bathroom door. “It’s dad. Everything’s okay.”
He opened it, already able to hear Peter crying through the door and was immediately greeted by Peter throwing himself into his arms. “I’m okay. A tree broke through the window from a storm.”
Pepper leaned against him, rubbing at Peter’s back. “A tree broke through the window? What window? Is it bad?”
Tony nodded. “Yeah, we’re gonna go to a hotel until someone can come tomorrow to get it fixed.”
Peter finished crying and was sucking on his thumb, content to be back in his dad’s arms and he refused to leave him. “Blankie.”
“I’ll get it for you. Let’s just pack a quick bag with clothes for tomorrow.” Tony held onto Morgan’s hand and walked into the bedroom but saw a police officer standing at the bedroom door.
“The perimeter of the house is clear. For safety reasons, I suggest you take your family somewhere else for the night.”
“Thank you. We’re leaving for a hotel now.” Tony told him and set Peter on the bed so he could quickly get a bag packed but Peter refused to be put down.
“I’ll pack a bag.” Pepper said, already getting out a suitcase and tossing clothes for everyone in there. “Let’s go now. I wanna get out of here.”
Peter clung onto his dad and looked down at Asier who was walking around, clearly stressed at everything going on. “Can you get the leash on the dog, Harley?” Tony walked downstairs and grabbed shoes for Peter but didn’t bother to put them on him. “Put your shoes on, Morgan.”
Pepper quickly put a sweater on over her tank top and some track pants then followed her family downstairs.
Tony ran to the van, sitting Peter in the seat and letting Morgan and Harley in before shutting the door. The rain was coming down hard and even though they would most likely have to rip up the floors due to water damage, Tony didn’t care. He was just glad that his family was okay.
Peter fell asleep in the car on the way to the hotel. Tony wasn’t surprised but he was grateful Peter was still getting some sleep in tonight. He saw Morgan nodding off once they arrived but he had to keep her awake. “Wake up. You can sleep once we get to the room.” He took off Peter’s seatbelt and picked him up, making sure his thumb didn’t slip out of his mouth and his blankie didn’t fall from under his nose.
“I’m gonna get us a room.” Pepper grabbed their card and walked over to the front desk. It wasn’t every hotel that allowed dogs but there was no way they were going to leave Asier alone at the house. He was a good dog, he wouldn’t be a problem anyways.
Tony waited with his kids by some couches, feeling really anxious. He just wanted to be in a room together plus his arm was numb from holding Peter.
“Is the house broken, daddy?” Asked Morgan, wiping the raindrops off her cheeks.
“No, Morg. A tree fell through the window so hopefully it’ll be fixed by tomorrow and we’ll go back home.” Tony hoisted Peter up higher and turned around to see if Pepper was done, he still saw her talking to the front desk so he groaned. “Peter is heavy when he’s sound asleep. Plus I’m scared he’s about to pee on me.” Tony knew Peter wet the bed when he fell asleep with a lot of stress but he currently wasn’t in a bed…
“I got a room together with three beds.” Pepper held up the key card and walked over to them. “Let’s go. Floor 58 room 507.”
Tony made sure Harley grabbed the suitcase and then they were walking into the elevator. The good thing about checking into a hotel at three in the morning was that there weren’t any people around.
In the elevator, Tony hoisted Peter up again. “Did you pack extra pyjamas for Peter?”
Pepper looked at him. “Yeah. Why?”
“He’s peeing on me.”
Pepper nodded. “Okay. We’re almost to the room. I’ll take out his pyjamas.”
“Alright.” Tony checked and saw that Peter was still sleeping so he wanted to get to the room before he woke up. “I knew he was going to. I just had a feeling.”
The elevator opened up so Pepper took the suitcase and Harley grabbed the leash. They walked down the hallway, trying to find their room number but Morgan was rubbing at her eyes and walking slowly. “Keep up. We’re almost there.”
“Here.” Pepper opened the door and opened it for everyone to walk in. “Go to sleep, Morg. Don’t worry about- oh, okay.” Morgan just walked over to the bed and collapsed onto it, falling asleep. “Wake him up, Tony, I’ll get his pyjamas.”
Tony shut the lights off by the two beds and looked around for the bathroom. It was a large hotel room with two beds close together then a bit further into the room was another bed next to the small kitchen and then there was a small hallway and at the end of it, was a bathroom so Tony walked down it and shook Peter a bit. “Hey, buddy, wake up really quickly so you can change then go back to sleep.”
Peter moaned, rubbing at his eyes and lifting his heavy head off his dad’s shoulder. “Mm.”
“Let’s change your pants then you can go back to bed.” Peter shook his head, still delirious with sleep. Tony placed him on his feet, ignoring the whining from Peter and waited until he was steady before letting him go to tug off his pyjama pants. “I’ll be quick. Then you can sleep.”
Peter stumbled a bit and rubbed his eyes with his fist then with his other hand, he gripped onto his dad’s shirt, not wanting to tumble over.
“I have pyjama shorts for him. It’s hot. He’ll be more comfortable in these.” Pepper walked into the bathroom and handed Tony the shorts and a package of wipes. She brushed the curls off Peter’s forehead. “I know, I know you’re tired. You’ll be in bed in two minutes.”
Tony wiped Peter quickly but thoroughly, wanting to make sure he was clean before he put the pyjama pants on him.
Peter leaned against his dad fully, barely lifting his foot up to put it through his pyjamas so Tony had to do all the work. “All done.” Tony easily picked Peter up and walked into the main room, pulling the blankets back and laying Peter on the bed.
Peter was asleep before his head even hit the pillow so Tony tucked him in and took off Morgan’s shoes then got her into the bed properly.
He looked over at Pepper. “I need to change my shirt.”
Pepper already had a clean shirt for him to wear so he quickly washed up then got into bed. There was an extra bed for them to sleep in so Peter and Morgan could sleep together but Tony didn’t want to be without Peter.
The bed wasn’t nearly as big as their bed back home but they could squeeze in together.
“Dad, do you think someone broke in though? How do you know for sure?” Harley laid out a few pillows and blankets for Aiser to sleep and even filled up a water and food bowl for him.
Tony ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know for sure right now. Don’t worry. I’m gonna go over there tomorrow morning with Natasha and have a look.” Tony was worried that someone cut the tree down to break their window to use it as a way in without being seen.
They had cameras inside and outside the house so Tony was going to check those while everyone else went to bed. “Don’t worry, Harley. There’s cameras, okay? I’ll check them soon but we’re here and everyone is safe so just try to get some sleep.”
Harley still felt unsure but he was tired and trusted his dad to make sure they all stayed safe so he went into bed and attempted to fall asleep, leaving Tony and Pepper the only ones awake.
Pepper took off her top over her pyjamas and got into bed. “Are you gonna stay up?”
Tony laid down next to Peter, moving his head a bit so the pillow was preventing his thumb from falling out of his mouth and waking him up. “Yeah… I’m too anxious to sleep. I’m gonna call Natasha once the sun comes up.”
Pepper shut the lamp off. “Don’t leave without waking me up first to tell me what you’re doing.”
“I won’t. Don’t worry. Try to get some sleep.”
Pepper fell asleep so it was just Tony left awake but he was wide awake and didn’t plan on going to sleep. He checked the house cameras on his phone and replayed them back from the inside and outside and nothing looked suspicious but he wanted to be sure with Natasha.
After about an hour, he put his phone away to let it charge and debated on going to sleep but he couldn’t since he moved his hand and felt something wet. He knew exactly what that was and sighed. Peter wasn’t supposed to be doing that anymore, he was supposed to be getting better and not falling back on old patterns.
He turned the lamp on and dimmed it then pulled back the blankets on Peter’s side and touched the front of his pants just to see. “Aw, buddy,” Tony sighed.
He patted Peter’s chest. “Wake up, Pete. Wake up for me.”
Peter rubbed at his eyes and stretched then opened his eyes, looking at Tony with a blank stare. “I’m wet.”
“I know. Sit up. Go change your pyjama pants and I’ll clean this up.” Tony had no idea how he was going to clean it up. They weren’t at home and when it was the first time happening at a hotel for them, at least being unprepared and it happening at a hotel.
Peter got out of bed and disappeared into the bathroom while Tony tried to figure out what to do. He just decided to lay a towel over it when Peter walked out.
“I don’t have any other pyjamas, dad.” Peter rubbed at his eyes, way too tired to care about anything at that moment.
Tony sat down on the bed. He had a feeling this was going to happen again and they weren’t at home so it wasn’t like they could just change the sheets and pyjamas. He reached out to pull Peter in front of him. “I know you don’t want to, but I’m gonna go downstairs and buy some protection for you to wear tonight.”
Peter pulled away, tears immediately filling his eyes. “No.”
“I know you don’t want me too but you’ll feel better and you’ll actually get to sleep without having to worry about it happening again.” Tony explained, understanding how frustrating it was for Peter. He rubbed at his back a bit. “I’m gonna go, I’ll be back up in like ten minutes.” Peter wiped at his cheeks but didn’t say anything. “Do you want me to wake mom up to help you clean up or do you want to do it by yourself?”
“Wake mom up.” Peter quietly admitted so Tony patted his back and stood up to shake Pepper awake. “Pep, Pete wet the bed. I’m going to the lobby to buy pull-ups for him. I’ll be back in like ten minutes but he wants you to help him.”
Pepper was immediately up. “Aww. I hope that isn’t starting again.” She looked for Peter but he wasn’t in the room. “Where is he?”
“Bathroom. I left the wipes on the counter. I’ll be back.” Tony grabbed his card and put his shoes on then left.
Peter was sitting on the closed toilet seat when his mom walked in. He wiped at his face and looked up at her.
“Hi baby.” Pepper walked in and kneeled down in front of Peter. “Your dad told me what happened.”
Peter nodded. “I-I want- I don’t want to start doing this again. Do you think I will?”
Pepper rubbed his knees. “I hope not. Let's take it one day at a time.” Peter nodded again. “Dad will be back up soon,” Pepper grabbed the wipes off the counter. “can you take off your wet pants?”
Peter stood up and took them off and rubbed at his eyes. “What-what will I wear to bed? My other ones are wet too.”
“It’s just for one night. Hopefully we’ll be back at home tomorrow.” Pepper wiped at Peter’s thighs. “I’ll be quick.”
She finished up and put both of his wet pants into a bag just as Tony walked into the bathroom suddenly, causing the both of them to jump from the sudden movement. “Oops. I didn’t mean to scare you. How’s it going in here?”
“Good. I just finished clean-”
Peter looked at the bags in his hands and whimpered. “I don’t want to wear those.”
Tony placed the bags on the floor and pulled Peter into his arms, kneeling on the floor. “Shh. Shh. I know, it’s frustrating but it’s okay because tonight was super stressful and scary, right?”
Peter nodded. “Uh huh.”
“Yeah, so we know that your body reacts to stress this way. Tomorrow night will be different.” Tony really hoped it was.
“What-what if it isn’t? What if-what if I pee again?” Peter knew his dad would make it all better, he always did no matter what and he always knew the right things to say.
“If you do then that’s okay, you will stop again just like you did last night, last time you weren’t sleeping and you were extremely stressed out, do you remember?” Peter nodded. “And it’s different this time.” Tony grabbed the bag off the floor, careful not to scare Peter away. “This is just temporary. I know it’s uncomfortable and you don’t like it but in order-”
Peter saw the bag and pushed it away, crying into his dad’s shoulder, leaning over him. He didn’t want to do that again and seeing the protection made it so much more real. “Nooo.”
“I was just saying, hey, listen to me. In order to not get over tired and get insomnia again from waking up with a wet bed every night, multiple times a night, we have to prevent that now with these.” Tony pulled a pull-up out and held it, just a bit behind Peter so he couldn’t see.
Peter whimpered and put his knees together. “I don’t want too still. I-I daddy.”
Tony’s heart was breaking. He knew how hard this was for Peter so he stood up and picked him up, trying to calm him down first. “If you wear these tonight, you can sleep for the rest of the night, then you won’t be over tired tomorrow night, when you’re overtired, you wet the bed. Let’s stop that now, baby.”
Peter couldn’t stop crying. He was so tired and worried about this. “I-I don’t want Mor-Morgan to laugh. Or-or Harley. And-and I don’t want them to bring it u-up again.”
Pepper decided to say something then. “Oh baby. They won’t. They love you and they only want what’s best for you. They just want you to be safe and happy.”
Peter wiped his nose over his dad’s shoulder and sniffled, pulling his head out to lay it on Tony’s chest. “I’m not happy.”
That was hard to hear for any parents. “You’re not?”
Peter wiped at his eyes. “I was yesterday but I’m not happy right now.”
Tony looked at Pepper. He felt a bit better at hearing that it was just this moment Peter wasn’t happy. “It’s because you’re tired. Let’s put this on and then you can sleep.” Peter covered his hands over his face and agreed so Tony put him on his feet and quickly put the pull-up on him then grabbed his hand. “Come, baby boy. Let's go to sleep.”
Peter followed his dad out of the bathroom and climbed into bed. “Can you stay with me?”
Tony didn’t plan on getting any sleep that night but he would for Peter. “Of course.” Pepper shut the lights off and got into the opposite bed, next to Morgan on the dry side.
Peter whimpered. “Daddy?”
“Yeah, baby?”
Peter stuck his thumb in his mouth. “Nothing. I just love you.”
Tony pulled Peter even closer and patted his butt. “I love you too, Petey.”
.
.
.
Tony barely slept for three hours and when he woke up, he immediately looked for Peter to make sure he was still there and he found him sleeping pressed up right against him with his arms and legs spread out.
He carefully got away from Peter but he knew Peter was going to be waking up since he was gone so he went into the bathroom and quickly got ready then got out, finding Peter sitting up in bed and looking at him. He tried to be quick in the bathroom so Peter wouldn’t wake up but he was wrong.
He walked over and laid Peter back down, patting at his back to hopefully get him back to sleep without talking to him, knowing all too well how to do it.
Peter laid on his stomach and stuck his thumb back in his mouth, his eyes falling shut again. The room was still dark which made it seem like it was nighttime still even though it was eight.
Pepper woke up and looked over on the other bed, seeing Tony patting Peter back to sleep. “Are you leaving?”
“Yeah,” Tony whispered. “Can you come over here and do this? I gotta go.”
Pepper walked over and took Tony’s spot. “Are you going to meet Natasha at our house?”
“Yeah… she’s going over there now. The tree guys are coming to take the tree out of our window and check the trees around the property.” Tony got his shoes on. “I’ll call you when I have any other information.”
Tony left so Pepper was left alone with the kids. She expected Peter to be the first one awake but it was Harley who woke up first. He went into the bathroom then came out and looked around. “Did dad leave already?”
Pepper nodded, her hand still on Peter’s back to get him to stay asleep. “Yeah, he left about an hour ago.” Harley took a seat next to Peter. “Actually, can you put your hand on him so I can go to the bathroom? I don’t want him waking up.”
Harley took over for his mom but as soon as she wasn’t there anymore, Peter woke up and rolled onto his back, looking at his brother. “Hey.”
Peter rubbed at his eyes and yawned. He kicked the blankets off himself and stretched his legs out, looking towards the bathroom door for his mom to make an appearance. “Where’s mom?” He knew his mom was just with him so he sat up but still felt so tired so he laid back down.
“She went to the bathroom.”
Pepper took that time to walk out and approached her two sons. “Where’s dad?” Asked Peter.
“He went home to get the window fixed.” Pepper sat down and placed wipes and underwear on the bed. “You ready?”
Peter rolled onto his back so Harley looked at his pull-up and over to his mom, silently asking a question. Pepper sadly nodded. “Peter had an accident last night so dad got him these. It’s just temporary.”
“No it’s not.” Peter whimpered into his pillow. He wanted to wait for his dad anyways. “Where’s dad?”
“He’s at home, remember? He’s gonna be back here soon so I’m gonna order some breakfast.” Pepper left Peter for a bit to calm down. “Can you go take Aiser outside to go to the bathroom, Harley? Take your phone.”
Peter sat up in bed and frowned. He looked over and saw Morgan still sleeping so he got out of bed and shook her awake. “Morgan, wake up. You’re sleeping too long.”
The ten year old moaned at the sudden light and opened her eyes, remembering that they were in a hotel. “I forgot we weren’t at home.”
Peter nodded. “Yeah… we have to find all the secret spots.”
Morgan got out of bed to jump onto Peter’s bed so Peter followed her, sitting on the edge. “Why did you sleep here? We could have slept together.”
The two of them usually slept together when they went to hotels but Peter didn’t mention what happened last night so he shrugged. “I dunno. Dad went back home to fix the window and he’ll be back later.”
Morgan looked down and pointed to his lower half. “Why are you wearing that?”
Peter shrugged again. “Just am.” He stood up and ran over to his mom to lean against her. “I’m hungry.”
Pepper put the phone down. “I’m ordering food right now. Can you go change?”
Peter jumped back on the bed with Morgan and tried to kick her off. “I want to go check out the pool with you. I didn’t see one but we haven’t been here before I don’t think.”
“After we eat, we can go swimming.”
“We don’t even have any bathing suits though.” Peter frowned and slid off the bed but the door was being opened and at first Peter thought it was his dad but it was Aiser running in followed by Harley. “Harley? Take us swimming.”
Harley barely walked in before Peter was demanding that. He walked towards the bed and picked Peter up, gently slamming him back onto the bed to wrestle him. “Oh yeah, beat me first and then I’ll take you.”
Peter loved wrestling with anyone so he kicked Harley and tried to tuck his feet into his chest to have better angles to kick him but Harley grabbed his legs and pinned them down. Peter screamed, unable to breathe from all the laughing.
He kicked out of Harley’s grip and pulled his knees to his chest to kick Harley again but he was being picked up and carried bridal style over to his mom. Peter reached out to her. “Mom!” He laughed. “Help me!”
Pepper smiled at the two. “I’m on the phone. Sorry, Pete.”
“No one can help you now.” Harley tossed Peter onto the bed again but Peter crawled away so Harley stopped to give him a break. “Okay… I’m done.”
The giggles slowly left Peter’s body while he laid on the bed laughing, waiting for Harley to come at him again but he never did.
Pepper walked over to them and grabbed Peter’s underwear and wipes. “Come into the bathroom with me, Peter.”
Peter tried to run into the small kitchen they had but Pepper grabbed his arm, struggling a bit since she wasn’t Tony and couldn’t just scoop Peter up so easily. “No, we’ll be quick and the food will probably be here when we’re done. Come.”
Peter reluctantly followed his mom into the bathroom but while they were in there, Tony FaceTimed her so Harley picked up the phone. “Hey, dad. How’s everything over there?”
“Good so far but can you put your mom on the phone? Where is she?” Tony was sitting in the van, waiting for an update on the property assessment around the house.
“Uh… she’s in the bathroom like changing Peter or something.”
“Can you hand the phone to her?”
Harley knocked on the bathroom door then opened it up. “Mom, dad’s on the phone.”
“Oh, can you hand it to Peter? My hands are busy.” Pepper wiped the cream off her hands while Peter grabbed the phone and grinned at his dad’s face.
“Dad! When will you come back here? We’re gonna get food from the lobby people.” Peter brought the phone close to his eye.
Tony wanted to be back with them so badly but he had a few other things to do first. “I will soon, buddy. Where’s your mom?”
Peter flipped the camera to show his mom. “Hi Tony. Is everything going okay there?”
Tony rolled his eyes at the view but responded anyways. “Yeah… the tree guys are just checking all the other trees. So far so good and the tree that fell through the window was apparently dead on the inside so that’s why it fell. The only problem is we’re gonna have to spend another night at the hotel. We can’t get a new window until tomorrow afternoon.”
Pepper stood up to wash her hands. “That long? No one can come tonight?”
“Peter, flip the camera up.” Tony fondly shook his head at Peter’s antics. “They’re coming now to take the window measurements but they need to customize the window for it to fit which won’t be ready for a day.”
Pepper took the phone from Peter and handed him his underwear. “Put your underwear on because I think breakfast is here.” Peter quickly put it on and ran out of the bathroom to join his siblings.
“What are we going to do all day here? The kids are gonna go crazy.”
Tony didn’t know but they would figure something out. “I’ll bring our bathing suits so we can go swimming once I get back.”
“Okay, Morgan’s gonna need more clothes and Peter needs more pyjamas.”
In the hotel room, Peter grabbed a pillow and smacked Morgan in the head with it. “Owww! I’m telling on you!”
Peter didn’t see his mom or dad around so he pushed Morgan down and smacked her on the head. “I wanna fight you.”
Morgan tried to get away from him but Peter grabbed his face and pushed it into the mattress. “Ahhhhhhh! Help me!” She was heavier than Peter so she turned and grabbed his leg, sitting on it so Peter let out an ear piercing scream.
Pepper ran out of the bathroom to see what was going on. “Hey, what are you guys doing? Morgan, get off your brother.”
“He attacked me first!”
Pepper put the phone down to grab Peter’s arm. “Leave your sister alone.”
Peter ripped his arm away from his mom. “No!”
Pepper grabbed Peter’s arms firmly and forced him to stand still. “You do not tell me no when I ask you to do something. Do you understand me?” Peter whimpered and nodded his head, never having gotten used to being yelled at. Pepper let him go so Peter ran to the bed and hid his face in a pillow.
“I want daddy!”
Pepper picked the phone back up with a sigh. “He wants you.”
“I can hear. I’m sorry, I’m trying to come back to help out soon.” Tony was really sorry, it was hard to do the whole parenting thing alone with Peter and Morgan constantly fighting with each other and Peter having a breakdown every time he was told no.
“It’s fine. I gotta go now though. Let me know when you’re coming here.”
“I will. I love you. Bye.”
Pepper placed her phone on the bed and pulled the blankets off of Peter that he hid in. “Look at me.” Peter peeked an eye out at Pepper. “You have to be nice to your sister. Sometimes she doesn’t want to wrestle you and you have to take no for an answer.”
Peter struggled a lot with consent. His whole life with Steve he told the man no, that he didn’t want to do something and he was never listened to. That was just whole life and he didn’t know any better until he learned the truth and went home to his real family but by then, the damage was already done.
Then he was kidnapped for a second time for just a few days and four whole years of progress was completely erased and it just went to show how much control Steve had over him.
Peter whimpered and rubbed at his eyes. “You-you yelled at me.”
“I didn’t yell, I was speaking firmly so you listened to me.” Pepper rubbed at his back. “Do you want to say sorry to Morgan or let it go?”
Pepper and Tony always tried to give Peter that choice, a forced apology didn’t mean anything and therefore made the word useless.
Peter had the choice to make that decision on his own.
“I wanna say sorry.” Peter stood up and walked over to Morgan, giving her an awkward hug. “Sorry.”
Morgan pulled up a chair for him to sit next to her. “You can sit here. Harley said the food is here.”
Peter squatted down to pet Aiser. “He’s hungry, mom. What will he eat?”
“He has his food bowl. Look,” Pepper pointed to a food bowl next to his water bowl. “Come sit and eat, Petey. Dads gonna be here before we eat lunch so we can all eat together.”
Peter was excited to see his dad, he was also looking forward to spending another night in the hotel.