Where’s my baby?
Tony reached across the bed in his sleep to hold onto Peter like he often did throughout the night but he didn’t feel Peter so he felt around the bed a bit and when he still didn’t feel for him, he was awake.
He sat up in bed and turned the lamp on, looking for Peter. His heart began to pound in his chest as he stood up and walked around the bed, thinking Peter fell off but he still wasn’t there and that’s when Tony lost it.
“Peter? Where’s Peter? Pepper, wake up! I can’t find Peter!” Tony raced into the bathroom, slamming the door open but he knew Peter wouldn’t be in there, he never got up to go pee throughout the night. “He’s not in here! Peter?! Peter?!”
Tony rushed out of the bathroom and scanned the hotel room, not finding Peter.
Pepper was immediately awake and looking around. “What do you mean? Where is he? Where is he, Tony?!”
Tony ran his hands through his hair and looked around. All he could think of was someone coming into their room and taking Peter from them… maybe it was Bucky… maybe it wasn’t anyone related to him at all. He looked towards the door and saw that the lock was off so he ran towards it and started running down the hallway, towards the elevators, definitely looking like a mad man.
“Peter? Peter?!” He didn’t care who he was waking up at 2am. That thought wasn’t even processing in his mind at that moment.
He heard whimpering or crying or something so he ran towards it and turned down a hallway, seeing someone at the end of it sitting on the floor. That had to be Peter but he didn’t relax until he knew it was in fact his child.
Tony ran towards him, completely sighing in relief when he saw Peter sitting on the floor and crying. “Oh god. My god. Peter. Peter. You scared me. What are you doing?”
He kneeled down and caressed Peter’s face but Peter moved away from him. “Noo! Don’!”
“Peter, it’s me. It’s dad, buddy.” Tony didn’t touch him, thinking that he was sleepwalking or something. Tony didn’t know, Peter didn’t sleep walk but he did get nightmares and had a hard time waking up from them.
Peter rubbed at his eyes, not really focusing anywhere. “No. Go ‘way. Leave me.”
“Did you find him? Oh god.” Pepper covered her hand over her mouth and leaned forward to try and calm down.
“He’s just confused. I think he’s sleeping…” Tony waved his hand in front of Peter’s face but he didn’t even react to it so Tony held his hands out for him. “I’m gonna pick you up.”
Peter didn’t say or do anything until Tony picked him up and stood up, looking at Peter’s face but his eyes were dazed and unfocused. It wasn’t the first time Peter was like this, although it definitely was the first time he left a hotel room. Whether he was aware of what he was doing or not, it was scary.
They got back to the hotel room and knocked, hoping someone opened it up for them. Peter was whimpering tiredly so Tony wanted to get him back into bed.
“Where was he?” Asked Harley who immediately opened the door.
Tony walked in with Pepper and went into the bathroom to wash Peter’s hands, having no idea what he touched and knowing his fingers were going in his mouth soon. “I think he’s sleepwalking.” Tony placed Peter on his feet and washed his hands then lifted him back up awkwardly and placed him on the bed. “Peter, can you hear me?”
Peter sat up. “Go to the elevators.”
“He’s sleeping, Tony.” Pepper sat down next to Peter so Tony gently pushed him back down then helped guide his thumb into his mouth. “I’m gonna call his Paediatrician tomorrow.”
Tony laid down next to Peter and watched his eyes shut. He was still trying to calm down from that whole ordeal but he wasn’t going to sleep. He wasn’t going to risk that.
He kept his eyes on Peter throughout the night, well, what was left of it. He didn’t want to fall asleep but that was fine because he didn’t think he could even get to sleep if he tried.
.
.
.
Peter was the first one to wake up, no surprise to Tony. He kicked the blankets off of him and rubbed at his eyes then looked for his dad, finding him in the mini kitchen.
“Hey, buddy. How did you sleep?” He whispered.
Peter yawned and rubbed at his eyes some more. “Mm, I’m hungry.”
“When everyone else wakes up soon, I’ll order some food up. Let’s go into the bathroom first.” Tony waited for Peter to move but he didn’t. “Are you still tired?”
With a sigh, Peter nodded. “I wanna sleep with you.”
Tony couldn’t say no to that. He laid down in the bed and pulled Peter against his side. “That better?”
“Mmhm. M’tired. Pat my bum.” Peter cuddled against his dad some more, sticking his thumb in his mouth and perfectly content to go back to sleep.
Tony didn’t fall asleep, he was up for the day but he stayed there anyways, not wanting to leave Peter. Peter didn’t fall asleep either, Tony could see that he was trying to but his eyelids kept fluttering open.
Morgan was the next one to wake up and walked over to look at Peter. “You’re awake. I woke up first.”
Peter sat up. “No. I did.”
“Pete woke up first, Morg. Maybe next time you will.” Tony sat up as well and looked over at Pepper. He wanted to eat and leave the hotel room to be in the safety of their home. “How about you guys go wake mom and Harley up so we can leave?”
Tony could tell Peter was still tired since he didn’t immediately get up to wake the rest of his family up. “Are you still sleepy, baby?”
“Yeah…”
“I’m gonna order some food then.” Tony grabbed the hotel phone and dialed the number for room service. Peter stayed close to him, moving onto his lap.
“Lift me up.” He whined, trying to move his dad’s arms so he was more comfortable on him.
“Come, Pete.” Tony was multitasking, as always. He ordered the food quickly and then stood up with Peter to carry him over to the couches.
Pepper walked out of the bathroom and held out a pack of wipes. “Tony, did he go last night?”
Tony nodded his head. “Yeah. I’ll do it though, Pep.” He took the wipes from Pepper and tried to get Peter into the bathroom but he was lazily lying on the couch. “Come, Pete. I’ll be quick.”
“No, I don’t want to because I wanna stay here. I’m hungry.” Peter laid down on the couch with a sigh and Tony wasn’t going to push it.
“After breakfast then.” He tossed a pillow at Harley. “Wake up. We’re eating then we’re driving home.”
Harley went into the bathroom so Pepper got started on some of the packing while they waited for the food. “Tony, can you tell Peter to pick out his outfit for the ride home?”
Tony put his phone away. “Pete, what are you wearing home?”
“Nothing.”
“You have to wear clothes.”
Peter covered a pillow over his head. “I’m gonna go naked.”
Tony shook his head at Pepper. “Just put out track pants and a long sleeve shirt.” He went to go help but there was a knock at the door so he wheeled the food in. “Peter, now you have to get off the couch.”
Peter plopped down in his dad’s lap and took a bite of his waffle. “Mmm. Yummy. Wanna bite?”
Tony moved Peter a bit so he could actually see what he was eating. “No thanks. I’m eating mine. See?” He took a bite of his sausage so Peter gagged.
“That’s yuckie.”
“It’s good.” Tony took another bite and shifted Peter a bit again so he wasn’t in his way although he did not mind Peter using him as his own personal seat one bit.
After breakfast, Peter grabbed his blankie and laid down on the bed, content to go back to sleep but Tony was patting his butt. “Hey, come into the bathroom with me. We’ll be quick.”
Peter shook his head. If his dad wanted him to get up, he was going to have to carry him.
That was exactly what Tony did. He lifted Peter up and set him on his hip, looking at his tired face. “Why are you still so tired? Are you gonna sleep in the car?”
Peter nodded and laid his head on Tony’s shoulder, never wanting to leave his arms. “I wanna sleep with you.”
“I gotta drive.”
Peter shook his head. “Don’t. Sit with me, daddy.”
Peter was pulling at his heart strings so Tony couldn’t say no to him. “Alright. I will if you come into the bathroom with me.”
“Fine.”
Tony grabbed his clothes and wipes and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind them and placing Peter on his feet. He sat on the closed toilet seat and gestured for Peter to move closer to him. “Come stand in front of me.”
“I’m still tired. When-how far away is home?”
Tony pulled off the pull-up and tossed it in the garbage then grabbed the wipes.
“About two hours. Maybe three with traffic.” Tony finished up and tossed the wipes in the garbage. “You’re probably gonna fall asleep in the car, right?” Tony was thinking out loud. He grabbed another pull-up and thought about it. “Wanna wear one on the way home. Just in case?”
Peter nodded. “Yeah.”
Tony didn’t know. “Pepper? Come in here for a sec.” he called out to her then the bathroom door was being opened. “Peter’s probably gonna fall asleep on the drive home, should I put a pull-up on him?”
“Um… it’s not that far of a drive. If he pees before we leave.”
“If he pees in the car, we don’t have any extra clothes unless he sits naked in the seat but he’s not doing that.”
Pepper walked in and looked at Peter’s face. “You’re gonna go to sleep, baby? You’re still tired?”
“Uh huh. I’m tired.”
“Okay. Sit on the toilet until you pee first. Then dad will put it on you.” Pepper pressed a kiss to his forehead and left so Tony got up and changed spots with Peter.
“Just try.”
Peter sat anyway. “I don’t even need to go.”
“That’s fine, just try.” Tony waited for Peter but as he did, a sudden sadness washed over him. He hadn’t potty trained Peter. Him and Pepper tried for a week when Peter turned three but he refused to sit on the potty and cried when they took off his diapers so they were going to do it when Peter was older but they never got that chance.
He was kidnapped before they could.
He potty trained Harley and Morgan and remembered watching them sit on the toilet until they did their business and here he was again, waiting for Peter to go pee but it wasn’t the same. He had that experience stolen from him.
Peter pulled him from his thoughts. “I went a little bit but I can’t go anymore.”
“It’s okay. Stand up.” Tony put the pull-up on Peter and handed him his pants. “I think we’re ready to go now.”
Peter put the pants on and walked out to join everyone else and grab his blankie. “Dad, can you carry me? I’m tired.”
“I’m carrying our suitcase. You can walk once we get to the car and then you can sleep.”
“I don’t want to sleep.” Peter fell backwards on the bed, looking at his dad.
“Okay… you don’t have to then.”
Pepper placed shoes in front of Peter. “Can you put these on? We’re leaving now, Peter.”
“No. I don’t want to put them on.”
Harley groaned. “Hurry up, Peter. I wanna get home so I can go out with my friends.”
Peter gave his brother a dirty look and grabbed his blankie to cover it over his face so Tony grabbed his shoes and put it on his foot but Peter kicked them off. “It’s too tight. I don’t like it touching me.”
“Your socks are touching you too. Just put them on until we get to the car.” Tony put them back on Peter’s shoes and stood him up on his feet. “Stand up.”
Peter whined but walked anyways although he didn’t get very far since he was taking off his shoes in the hallway so Tony had to carry them along with the luggage.
He opened up the trunk and placed the stuff in, almost tripping on Peter. “Woah. Watch out.”
“I want you to sit with me.”
“I will, bud. Go inside the van and wait for me.” Tony finished loading everything up then handed the keys to Pepper. “You’re driving. Pete wants me in the back.”
“Dad. Hurry.”
“I’m coming, Pete.” Tony climbed in and pointed to the back. “Go sit back there. I can’t sit next to you here.”
Peter hurried into the back and took a seat. “I wanna sleep with you.”
“Okay, buddy. You sleep. I’ll be here.”
Peter grabbed his dad’s hand and held it in front of his face. “Your hand is so big. It’s like twice the size of mine.”
Tony looked at the hand comparison. “I know. Because you’re still young.”
“And you’re big.” Peter tried to move closer to his dad. “You’re comfy. I love you.”
“I love you too, baby.”
Once they got home, Tony’s back was killing him so he got out of the van and stretched, leaving Peter in there for a few minutes while he could bring the suitcases inside. “Natasha came by and said the windows looked really good. I made sure she checked around the house.”
Pepper wanted to see for herself. “You get Peter. I’ll take the rest of the stuff in.”
Awkwardly, Tony had to climb into the back of the van and take off Peter’s seat belt to carry him out. He wanted Peter to stay asleep while they cleaned up a bit but Peter was waking up as soon as Tony walked into the house. “Hey, sleepyhead. Do you feel better?”
Peter laid his head on his dad's shoulder, looking around and trying to wake up a bit more. “Are we home?”
“Yeah… do you wanna go lie down for a bit? You can sleep for another hour if you want to.” Tony walked into the dining room to see the new window. “Look who’s awake?”
Pepper pressed a kiss to his check. “Hi baby. I’m gonna do some laundry. I need your clothes.”
Peter sighed, still tired. “What will I wear then?”
Tony went to place Peter on the floor but he whined so he continued to hold him. “Do you wanna sleep more or do something else?”
“I wanna… I wanna lie on the couch with you. Just you.”
Tony loved that idea. He held Peter up a bit so Pepper could grab his pants off of him. “Just pull them off, Pep. Pete and I are gonna go have Pete and daddy time, right?”
Peter gave a sharp nod, loving that idea. He felt like he wanted extra attention so he was going to take everything he could get.
“Give me your shirt too. I’m throwing a load in the wash and I don’t want any extra clothes lying around.” Pepper grabbed Peter’s arms then pulled his shirt off. “You boys have fun.”
Both Peter and Tony looked at each other and laughed. “Now I’m cold. Couch.”
Tony hoisted Peter up higher and walked into the living room, sitting down on the couch but Peter was crawling off of him so he grabbed his ankle. “Where do you think you’re going, mr. you stay with daddy.”
Peter giggled and grabbed the blanket. “I’m just grabbing a blanket so we can cuddle under the blanket.”
Tony pulled him back over and lifted him onto his lap, moving Peter’s legs on either side of him.
Peter sat up. “Cuddle time?”
“Yeah.”
Tony hugged Peter tightly and pressed a kiss to the side of his head. “I love you so much.”
Peter hummed. “I love you more.”
“Not possible, baby boy.”
The two of them didn’t fall asleep but had some time together for about an hour before Peter was getting restless and pushed himself up. “I’m hot now. My legs are sweaty.”
Tony didn’t want Peter to get up. “Yeah… how about I set up the sprinkler in the back? Wanna run through it with Morgan?”
Peter yawned. “No. I’m cold.”
“I thought you just said you were sweaty?”
Peter shrugged and slid off his dad, grabbing the blanket and wrapping it around his shoulders to go into the kitchen so Tony followed him. “I’m thirsty.”
Harley walked into the kitchen to grab a water bottle from the fridge for himself. “I’m going out with friends until later tonight. Don’t wait up for me.”
Tony looked at his oldest son, confused. “Uh no you’re not. We never agreed on you going out.”
Harley paused to look at his dad. “Well… I’m not Peter or Morgan, I’m twenty. I don’t need to ask for permission to go out with my friends.”
“Not tonight. You don’t need to hang out with your friends every night, they won’t disappear if you don’t hang out with them for one night.”
Harley started walking to the front door anyways. “I didn’t hang out with them for three nights, dad. I’m going out tonight.”
Tony placed the cup down and immediately followed Harley. “Don’t you walk away when I’m talking to you. Hey! Turn around and look at me when I’m speaking to you.”
Harley rolled his eyes so his dad couldn’t see then turned around. “What? I’m not gonna ask if I can hang out with my friends, dad.”
“Why do you need to see them tonight? I want you home tonight. You can go out tomorrow night.” Tony crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for Harley to argue with him.
“Dad. Oh my god. I feel like you just want control. What’s the difference between tonight and tomorrow night?” Harley dropped his keys by the front door table.
“There is no difference and yes I do want control. You’re twenty years old, you’re not forty so until you are living in your own house with your own wife and kids, I’ll be the one in control.”
Harley gave a slight nod then looked at his keys again. “Can I hang out with my friends for a few hours?”
Tony sighed. He did feel bad plus there was nothing for Harley to do at home. “I want you home by eight.”
“What? Eight? That’s so early.”
“Or you can stay home-”
“Nope. I’m going.” Harley didn’t waste another second before grabbing his keys and leaving.
Tony sighed and walked back into the kitchen with Peter and found him with chocolate chips in his hand. “No chocolate chips before dinner. Give me those.”
Peter smiled and turned away from his dad so Tony grabbed them, causing Peter to scream. “Fine. You can have five more. That’s it.”
To say he was anxious all night was an understatement. He didn’t want to hold Harley back from hanging out with his friends but it was one night and Tony didn’t understand why it was so hard for him to stay home.
Peter was being extra clingy that night which Tony loved but it also added a lot more stress because Peter insisted on going with him everywhere.
At bedtime, Tony wrapped him in a towel after his shower. “Can you stay with mom while I get ready for bed?”
Peter turned around to lift his arms up for him. “No. Pick me up.”
Tony picked him up and carried him over to Pepper. “Package delivery for Mrs. Stark.” He laid Peter down with her and placed his pyjamas on the bed. “I’ll be back.”
Peter reached out for his dad but he was already gone so he got comfortable with his mom. “I’m not even tired.”
“Oh really now.” Pepper caressed his face gently, shutting his eyes every time her hand passed over them. “How about if I do this?”
Peter leaned into her touch, lifting his thumb up to his mouth and turning closer to her, starting to drift off to sleep but he kept opening up his eyes until his dad arrived.
When Tony eventually walked out, Peter was close to sleeping so Tony quietly sat down and pushed his hair back, silently telling Peter he was there so he could sleep now.
He now had to watch the clock until Harley arrived.
.
.
.
Tony paced around the bedroom. Peter had fallen asleep thankfully and was wrapped around Pepper so she couldn’t even move.
He was lucky it wasn’t him because he was way too anxious. “It’s nine. Where is he? I told him to be home by eight. This is ridiculous.” He whispered.
“He’ll be home soon. Are you going to talk to him?”
“Yes. This is disrespectful.” Tony sat on the bed and heard the front door open so he turned to the cameras and saw that it was Harley walking in. He was beyond angry.
He waited until Harley got upstairs, watching the cameras in the hallway and then he went into his bedroom so Tony followed him, quietly shutting the door behind him so Peter stayed asleep.
Tony didn’t even bother knocking on Harley’s bedroom door. He opened in, walked in and shut it behind him. “What happened to eight? Huh? It’s nine fifteen.”
Harley put his phone and wallet on his desk. “I thought you were sleeping.”
“Oh. So that makes it okay to come home an hour and fifteen minutes late?”
“No. I didn’t think it mattered. My friends and I were just chilling and I didn’t want to leave.”
Tony was so angry but he tried to hold it together. “I told you to be home by eight. Eight, Harley. And if you got home by 8:05 or 8:10 or even 8:15 with a simple text saying ‘hey dad I’m on my way home now’.” Tony pretended to text on a phone. “But nothing. No text. No call. And you come home one fucking hour late.”
Harley’s eyes went wide and he held up his hands. “Hey, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”
“It’s the respect, Harley. I’m your father. If I say for you to come home at eight, you are home by eight. No expectations. A simple text or a phone call saying you’re gonna be a bit late for whatever reason would have been fine but no. It’s communication that you’re lacking here.”
“Dad, it’s fine. You’re overreacting so stop.”
Tony walked closer to his son. “I am not overreacting. I don’t understand how you think this is okay. An hour late, Harley. A fucking hour. If you were an hour late for a job with not a phone call or a text, you’d be fired. It’s ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.”
Harley groaned. “Dad, it’s not a job. I was with my friends. It’s not a big deal, man.”
“It’s not about who you were with or what you were doing. I told you eight, Harley. Eight. It’s nine twenty now and you just got home.” Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. “Give me your car keys. I’m taking them for a week.”
Harley’s jaw dropped. “What?! No. You’re not taking my keys.”
“You wanna show me disrespect, hell yes I can take them.”
“Oh my god, stop babying me.” Harley ran just hands through his hair, a nervous tick he picked up from his dad. “Do you not get enough of babying Peter so you want to baby me too.”
Tony stared at Harley. “Excuse me? I don’t baby you. It’s the exact opposite. Your mother and I try so hard to give you independence and freedom and you go and do some immature shit like this that shows me exactly why I shouldn’t give you that much independence and freedom.”
Harley groaned again. “My god. It was one time, dad. Oh my god.”
“I don’t care if it was once or five hundred times. You did it. I told you eight.” Tony waited for Harley to say something and when he didn’t, he opened up the door and left to go grab his car keys.
Harley followed him. “You’re not taking my keys, dad.”
“Be quiet because your brother is asleep.” Tony walked down the stairs and grabbed his keys off the table. “I pay for your car, I can take your keys whenever and for however long I want.”
Harley tossed his hands up in the air. “Oh my god. You’re so annoying. Oh my god. I’ll just go back to my dorm then.”
Tony didn’t want that but he knew Harley wouldn’t go, he had no car now. “As long as you are living under my roof, I control the air you breathe. You can stay out till early morning in your dorm, I wouldn’t know but I trust that you make good decisions because I raised you. You will not be driving anywhere for a week. End of discussion.”
“I feel so bad for Peter when he’s my age. You’re gonna be breathing down his neck every single second of every single day. Actually, who am I kidding, he’s probably still gonna be wetting the bed, sucking on his thumb and sleeping between you guys. Maybe at least by the time he’s my age he can actually grow some hair on his balls and act like somewhat of a man.”
Tony wanted to scream at Harley but he didn’t want Peter waking up. “And do you think you’re acting like a fucking man now, huh? Huh? Because you’re acting like a child. Grow up. You have no right to say those things about Peter. He’s been through more than any of us could even imagine and he’s doing pretty fucking fine despite everything. How do you think it is for him, he was told his whole life was an entire lie four years ago and then gets kidnapped again. How do you think you would be in his position then?”
Tony tried to calm down. “I’d rather he be sucking his god damn thumb then out having sex with random people and doing drugs to cope with everything. And your mom and I are the reason for that. We are trying to do everything we can for him and I ask one thing from you and you have to disobey me and come home, act like I’m crazy then say those things about your brother, claiming you’re a man.”
Harley was speechless. He stared at his dad, not able to even come up with a response.
Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. “Go to your room, Harley. I’m done talking to you tonight.”
Harley suddenly found his words. “Peter wasn’t the only one affected by his kidnapping. I went from having a brother to being an only child. I had to watch you and mom fight and cry every night for him. I watched you guys break up all while I suddenly had to live life without a brother. Peter wasn’t the only one affected by this.”
Tony was suddenly feeling really bad. “Harley. I know. I know that. You are incredibly strong and you’re an amazing brother… I don’t know why you said those things about Peter. Your mom and I are trying our best.”
“I think you baby him. And it’s hard to jump from babying him to talking to me like an adult. So you baby me too.”
Tony shook his head. “I don’t baby you. I’ll agree that I baby him… maybe it’s because I lost so many years of his life… but I do not baby you. I asked you to come home by eight. That was reasonable. I compromised with you and let you go out at all tonight.”
“I don’t understand why I just couldn’t stay out until I wanted to-”
“Because my fucking son was taken from me. Peter was taken and raised by a complete stranger and stole seven years of his life that I will never ever get back and then you’re coming home an hour and fifteen minutes late so sorry for being a bit paranoid.” Tony whisper yelled. “I’m not gonna be like the other parents because my kid was kidnapped from me. I at least deserve the respect from you to listen to me.”
Harley looked down at his feet and sighed. “Okay. I’m sorry. Can I have my keys back?”
Tony felt like everything he just said went way over Harley’s head. “Absolutely not.”
Harley snapped his head up to look at his dad. “Are you kidding me?” He turned and started walking up the stairs so Tony followed him. “Peter’s sleeping in your room, right?” Harley walked past the room and banged on his bedroom door then walked away.
Tony could not believe what he just did. He heard Peter wake up and wanted to yell at Harley so badly but he held back. Before he dealt with Peter, he walked into Harley’s bedroom and unplugged his computer, taking the cord so he couldn’t play, then he held up his pointer finger firmly in Harley’s face. “Stop fucking acting like a child. Peter barely gets enough sleep as it is and you had to wake him up to get back at me. Your car is gone until you start school again.” With that, he left his bedroom and shut the door behind him.
He walked into his bedroom and saw that the lamp was now on and Peter was looking wide awake looking out the window.
He placed the cord and the keys on his dresser and shook his head at Pepper who was trying to get Peter to lie back down.
“Who banged on the door? It woke Peter up from a deep sleep.”
Tony was still pissed off. “Harley. He’s mad I took his car and wanted to wake Peter up to get back at me.”
Peter looked between his parents then crawled over to grab the remote. “I’m gonna watch something funny.”
Pepper grabbed the remote from his hands. “It’s bedtime, Peter. Go back to sleep.”
“No. It was already bedtime. It’s morning.” He stood up and looked around then walked over to the bedroom door to leave so Tony held it closed with his foot.
“It’s late. Go back to bed.”
“It’s morning. Let me go.”
“If it’s morning then why is it dark out?” Tony picked Peter up and laid him on the bed but he sat right back up.
“It’s a different morning. Tomorrow morning.” Peter crawled towards Pepper and slid off the bed again, opening the bedroom door and leaving.
Tony collapsed on the bed. He was so exhausted. He didn’t sleep the night before and now Peter wasn’t going to go to bed. “Harley is in so much trouble.”
Pepper rubbed his back. “What did he say?”
“Oh god. He said some awful things. It’s honestly so ridiculous and disrespectful. I don’t even know what to do.” He sat up to go get Peter. “Now he's taking away sleep from Peter who already barely sleeps.” He left his room and went to walk downstairs but he spotted Morgan’s bedroom light and his heart dropped. No. Putting two kids to bed would be even worse than one.
He walked in and saw that Peter had dumped Morgan’s toy bin while Morgan was sitting up in bed, half asleep and extremely confused. “Peter. Why did you wake Morgan up? It’s the middle of the night.”
Peter looked over at Tony. “I’m not tired. You woke me up.”
“I didn’t.” He walked over to him and took the toys out of Peter’s hands then lifted him on his feet. “Leave these. It’s time for bed.”
“No. Noooo. I’m playing.” Peter tried to reach back for the toys so Tony lifted him up.
“Sorry, Morgan. Go back to sleep.” Tony shut the door and carried a screaming Peter back down the hallway and into his bedroom then shut the door. “Stop screaming. It’s too late.”
Peter refused to believe that. “No. It’s morning.” Tony grabbed his phone and showed Peter the time that read 10:03pm. Peter reached for the phone to play on it but Tony took it from him and caused Peter to start crying so Tony got into bed and pulled Peter over to him.
“Peter, it’s bedtime.” Pepper shut off the light and rubbed Peter’s back but Peter pushed her hands away and sat up on his knees.
“It’s not.” He already slept so he didn’t understand why it was time for him to sleep again.
Tony let him cry. He grabbed Peter and made him lie down then rubbed his stomach while the crying only got louder. He looked at Pepper. He was going to scream at Harley for this.
Peter didn’t stop for the next ten minutes so Tony grabbed him and flipped him onto his stomach and began patting his butt which immediately caused Peter to stop crying. Both parents sighed with relief for their ears and sanity.
Tony could see that Peter had his eyes open and was looking around so he covered his eyes with his hand. That only worked for a few seconds then Peter grabbed his hand and looked at it.
With another sigh, Tony pulled both hands away from Peter but then he was sitting up again. “Do you want to suck your thumb then?”
“Yeah.” Peter brought his thumb up to his mouth so Tony pushed him back down.
“Then you have to lie down. No getting up. And close your eyes.” Tony didn’t want to be like Steve, encouraging the thumb sucking but Peter wasn’t anywhere near stopping that habit and if it got him to sleep, Tony would encourage it.
He waited patiently for Peter to slowly get sleepier and fall asleep but as soon as that was happening, the bedroom door burst open and Morgan walked in, waking Peter up again.
“I can’t sleep. I wanna sleep with you guys.” She climbed onto the bed and looked for a spot for her to crawl to.
Peter sat up and moved closer to Tony so she could lie down. “Are you gonna sleep here too?”
“Yeah.”
Tony pushed Peter back down and continued to pat his butt. “Then you guys have to sleep. No talking.”
It was a complete nightmare to put Peter to sleep and then it was hard for Tony to fall asleep himself. He ended up actually falling asleep at close to 4am.
.
.
.
Tony wanted to sleep in but Peter was waking him up as usual.
“Pete. Go back to bed.” Tony rolled over and checked the time, seeing it was 10:14am. He sprung up in bed, having never slept that late in a very long time. He looked over at Peter. “It’s so late.”
Peter was half sliding off the bed. “Let’s go downstairs, dad. It’s time for breakfast and I smell pancakes. Mom is trying to wake us up with the smell of pancakes.”
Tony could easily go back to sleep if he had to but Peter was up which meant he had to get up as well. “I’ll meet you downstairs. I’m gonna get dressed first.”
While Tony went into the bathroom, Peter made his way downstairs. He followed the smell of pancakes into the kitchen and climbed on a stool, making grabby hands for the stack of pancakes sitting in the middle of the table. “Mom, I want.”
“Oh. Good morning, Peter. Breakfast is almost ready. What do you want to drink?”
Peter saw the glass in Pepper’s hand and shook his head. “Noo. Not in that. In my water bottle. Please.”
Back upstairs, Tony was changing into a different shirt when Harley walked into his closet, knocking on the open door. “Hey. Uh, can I talk to you?”
Tony honestly briefly forgot about his huge fight with Harley last night. He put his shirt on and sat down on the sofa in the walk-in closet. “Yeah.”
Harley crossed his arms, refusing to sit down. “So… I’m sorry about last night. I’m sorry that I came home at 9:15 when you said eight. I should have come home or at least texted you. I just figured that you were too busy with Peter… so I stayed out. Sorry.” Harley avoided Tony’s eyes.
“I’m also sorry for waking Peter up. That was a dick move for me. I heard you awake with him all night so… I’m sorry.”
Tony knew Harley was still young and learning and he had a hard life. He understood that. “I’m glad you apologized. Next time, let’s talk it out instead of fighting.” He stood up and hugged him. “You’re still not getting your car keys back and maybe I should make you put Peter to bed tonight so you know how hard it is.”
Harley backed off. “Nope. You’re pretty good at it.”
“I’m only joking.” Tony smiled but he was glad Harley owned up to what he did.