You’re something beautiful
Tony turned away from Pepper and started the car.
He checked the rearview mirror to see Peter’s face light up once the engine roared to life. If someone had told him just a week ago that this is what his life would be like, he would have punched them in the face for playing with his emotions and hitting him right where it hurts the most but now, this was his life.
Peter’s big eyes were staring back at him and it just didn’t seem one bit real.
“Dad, put on Frozen.” Morgan leaned forward on her seat to say.
“Do you wanna build a snowman!” Peter screamed excitedly and brought his legs up to his chest and bounced in his seat.
Morgan looked over at Peter with a huge smile on her face. “Peter knows Frozen too!”
“Yeah.” Tony laughed and felt the tears burn his eyes again because of the memories hitting him hard. Peter used to come over to the tower and demand to watch Frozen with him almost every night for a month straight. “Alright. Here we go.”
The first song started playing which was Frozen Heart but that one always scared Morgan for some reason so Tony automatically pressed the second song on the track which was-
“Do you wanna build a snowman!” Peter yelled excitedly again once it started playing.
Everyone was singing along to the song but Tony just enjoyed hearing his family singing all together. It was so beautiful.
By the time they arrived at the store, Tony didn’t think the sound of his family singing wasn’t so beautiful anymore because Peter had requested to play the song over and over again and each time he seemed to get louder until he was singing in a high pitched voice and it hurt his ears.
“Okay, we’re here. Car off.” Tony quickly put the car in park and shut it off, killing the music.
“Aww! I wanted it louder!” Peter whined very loudly.
“It’s okay, Peter. Daddy will play it for us on the ride home.” Morgan reassured Peter but it did little to make Tony feel better.
He got out of the car and opened up the back seat to grab Peter. “Hi Petey.”
Peter was grinning at him and tucking his head into his shoulder blade, it made him look so adorable that Tony couldn’t help himself but lean into the car and kiss Peter on his chubby cheek.
Morgan ran over to the other side of the car and waited for Tony to unbuckle Peter from his car seat. Tony then picked Peter up and placed him on his feet where Morgan was so he could shut the door.
“Come hold my hand, Pete.” Tony reached his hand out for Peter but he was already trying to run into the parking lot. Tony ran forward and grabbed Peter by the arm then lifted him up onto his hip in one motion. “Okay. Looks like you’re gonna be a runner.”
Peter grabbed onto the back of Tony’s shirt and was sticking it tongue out at Morgan who was running from side to side behind Tony to make Peter laugh.
“Watch where you’re going, Morgan. There are cars everywhere.” Pepper grabbed Morgan’s arm until they crossed the parking lot and went inside the store.
Tony put Peter down on his feet and went to grab a buggy while he kept a close eye on Peter.
The store was fairly empty considering everything that is going on but maybe that’s why it’s so empty.
“Stay close to me, Peter.” Tony warned him but it didn’t look like Peter was listening. He was holding onto Morgan’s hand and giggling about something.
They went into the fruits and vegetable section first because while they’re there, they might as well do grocery shopping as well. Peter and Morgan were running wild but they stayed in front of the shopping cart so it was okay.
“Morg, cut it out. Bring Peter over here and I want you guys to pick two veggies each.” Pepper said as she stood in front of the wet section of vegetables.
Peter shook his head. “Me no like veggies. They yuckie.”
Peppers face softened. “They aren’t yuckie, Peter. They’re healthy for you so I want you to pick two.”
Morgan grabbed broccoli and peppers then put them into the bag and into the shopping cart but Peter crossed his arms with a pout on his face.
“What are you gonna pick, Peter?” Pepper asked him but Peter shook his head. She sighed and walked over to him, picking him up and putting him on her hip so she could show him all the options. “There’s zucchini, corn, carrots-”
“Carrots. The Easter bunny eats ‘dem. He goes num num num.” Peter mimicked a bunny eating and both Tony and Pepper cooed at him.
“That’s good, Pete. What else do you want? One more.” Pepper walked him down the section a bit and then Peter pointed to some mushrooms.
“What’s that? It like baby umbrellas.” Pepper placed Peter on his feet so he could go grab it. Peter picked up the mushrooms and squeezed them then placed them in the shopping cart.
They continued to shop some more but Morgan and Peter were both getting too crazy and running out of sight. “Morgan. Keep Peter over here where we can see you.” Pepper warned her.
Peter ran ahead and bumped into an old lady who gave him a dirty look. “Watch where you’re going, you brat.”
Peter looked up at her. “I sorry.”
She scoffed at him then looked at Tony and Pepper. “Keep an eye on your kid.”
Tony could not believe how miserable some people could be. He walked over to them and grabbed Peter’s hand. “Scared he’ll knock out your oxygen tube. Have some decency you old bat. He’s five.”
The old lady gasped in shock then walked away from Tony and Peter.
Pepper pushed the cart over to him with Morgan. “What was her problem.”
“Who knows.” Tony said then kneeled down so he was at Peter’s height. “You can’t keep running around like that because then you bump into people like that.”
Peter looked down. “I sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s okay. Just don’t do it again.” Tony stood back up and took the cart back from Pepper. They started to walk into the snack aisle now which Tony knew both of his kids loved. “Morgan, do you wanna help Peter pick out some snacks?”
“Yeah! Come, Peter. The best snacks are always high on the shelves for some reason so I’ll help you get it.” Morgan grabbed Peter's hand and started running with him down the aisle to get to the good stuff. She picked Peter up and he attempted to reach for the goldfish but they still couldn’t get it.
“Almost. Lift him up higher.” Tony cheered them on and then Peter knocked a package onto the floor. “Teamwork.”
Peter picked up the package and placed it in the cart. “I wan’ um, the ones that go like the dip.”
Tony tried to think about what Peter was saying. The dip? “What dip, bud?”
Peter walked over to him and started tapping him on his crotch so Tony quickly moved his hands. “Okay, not there.”
Peter moved his hands to the side but he didn’t stop tapping him. “The-the ones. Go go in the… the tubes.”
“Ohh! You mean the yogurt tubes?” Tony asked him and remembered when him and Peter used to eat one after another in the lab. It was so hard because for Tony, that was ten years ago but for Peter it was two days and ten hours ago.
“Yeah! I wan’ that.” Peter clapped his hands together excitedly.
“We’ll get you that but we have to go to the dairy section first.” Tony told him and then Peter was grabbing more snacks with Morgan.
They started walking through the store but once again, Morgan and Peter were running off and running out of Tony’s and Peppers sight.
“Peter. No more. Come here.” Tony warned him after Morgan realized Tony was getting angry and she went back to his side.
Peter was still running around and going where Tony or Pepper couldn’t see him so Tony left the cart to go grab Peter. “No more. I told you to stop and you didn’t listen so no more.”
Tony lifted Peter into his arms and carried him over to the cart. “No! I sorry. Daddy.”
Tony loved hearing Peter call him that but he wasn’t going to give into that. “You can stay with me.” Tony placed Peter into the shopping cart seat and he fit perfectly. He missed the days when Morgan fit.
Peter threw his head back and struggled to get out but then Tony tried to distract him. “Look, Peter, we’re gonna get you some pull-ups. Do you wanna pick?”
Peter looked at Tony and then smiled and nodded his head. “Yeah. I want red.”
Morgan perked up at that. “Peter’s getting diapers? Yes! I get to help you change him and Aw he’s gonna be so cute like my dolls.”
Tony looked over at Pepper to laugh with her at Morgan’s excitement. They finished getting all the food that they needed, including Peter’s yogurts and Tony was glad that Peter liked sitting in the shopping cart seat. It was making things so much easier.
They then walked into the baby section where the diapers were. “Yay! I’ll help decide what ones to get him.” Morgan started looking at the baby diapers without knowing that they wouldn’t fit Peter.
“Morg, those are too small. Come over here.” Tony told her so she walked over to where everyone was and grabbed a bag of newborn diapers. “No, bug. Look, three to five years old. He needs those.”
Peter pointed to the box with the blue monster from monsters inc. “I want that one. It has Sulley! I wan’ Sulley!”
Tony saw the box and checked for the proper size then held the box out to Pepper. “Do you think these will fit him?”
“Um,” Pepper checked the size then looked at Peter. “Yeah, he’s quite small too so they should fit him. Plus they’re stretchy so yeah, they’ll be perfect.”
“And these too?” Morgan grabbed a bag of pull-ups which was probably the same thing anyways.
“Yeah, throw it in.” Tony said so Morgan excitedly tossed the diapers into the cart along with the box. “Can you grab a bunch of packages of wipes for me?”
“Yes.” Morgan ran to get the Pampers wipes and threw that into the cart then they were moving to the next aisle. “What’s next on the list?”
“Uh, let’s see,” Pepper pulled out the shopping list. “Potty seat, step stools and a toothbrush.”
Tony pushed the cart through the store while Peter was trying to lick his face the whole time. Tony moved his head back each time but Peter was determined.
“Hey, Pete, Wanna pick out your potty seat? Look at all these options.” Tony pointed at the aisle that had a bunch of seats for Peter to pick from.
Peter looked over at where Tony was pointing to and looked over all the options before landing on one. “I wan’ that one.”
Tony grabbed it off the shelf. It was green and had little bears on it with two small handles on the side. He grabbed another one then put it in the cart.
“How many stools do we need?” Morgan asked. She was standing in front of the bathroom stools so Tony pushed the cart over to her.
“Just two of them. One for upstairs and one for downstairs.” Tony answered her then watched her grab two of the plastic stools and put them in the cart.
Tony then saw a booster chair and thought that it would be perfect for either the kitchen stools or the dining room chair so he grabbed a box and put it at the bottom of the cart since there was barely any room left.
“While we’re here we should get him a bathing suit.” Pepper remembered. Even if they didn’t plan on going swimming tonight since it might be late by the time they actually got home, they would have all day tomorrow and a whole lifetime ahead of them.
After getting everything that they came for, plus a lot more, they were walking to the cashier to go pay. Peter was holding onto his new toothbrush which was a Winnie the Pooh one as well as his strawberry flavoured toothpaste.
The guy at the cashier was staring at Peter in the cart seat as if he was trying to solve a complicated riddle. Tony pushed the cart forward so Peter was blocked by the sign.
“Daddy, when we go back, we goin’ swimming?” Peter asked Tony who was paying with his card. He tried to do both at once.
“If you guys want to then we can.” Tony told him.
Morgan grabbed the box of diapers and put them in the shopping cart as well as the stools and potty seat while Pepper grabbed the bags.
They made their way out of the store and across the parking lot to the car which Tony was grateful for Peter being in the seat the whole time so he didn’t have to worry about Peter running off.
Tony kept Peter in the seat while they unloaded everything into the truck. “What about me?” Peter asked sadly.
Tony smiled. “Did you guys hear that? That was weird. Let’s go.”
“No! I still here!” Peter yelled and tried to reach out for Tony and Tony immediately felt bad. How could he even joke like that.
He reached for Peter and lifted him out of him out of the shopping card, hugging him to his chest. “I’m just joking, baby. I’d never leave you.”
Peter wrapped his arms around Tony’s neck. “I was scared.”
“I’m sorry, baby. That was rude of me.” Tony opened the back door, laughing when Peter started nodding his head. “How about I make it up to you with some swimming?”
Peter nodded his head. “Yeah. I go swimming.”
Tony loved the way that Peter spoke. It was so pure and innocent.
He sat Peter in his car seat and did up the buckles then pressed another kiss to his cheek before getting into the car and starting it.
Their very first outing as a family was a success but he could already tell that he was going to have his hands full with Peter on future shopping trips.