I choose you, my baby
Peter and Morgan came running down the stairs a few minutes later and Tony wasn’t about to worry about what was going on with the media and his son's face getting leaked. He didn’t want to stress about it in front of his kids so he put his worries away.
“Hi daddy.” Peter smiled at him and walked over to the living room. Tony looked at his kids outfit and was happy that Morgan had managed to get Peter dressed.
“Hi baby. You hungry for lunch now?” Tony asked him, already standing up to go feed his kid.
Peter nodded his head and grabbed Tony’s hand on the way to the kitchen.
“Are you hungry too, Morg? Do you want lunch now?” Tony asked his first born as they all walked into the kitchen. Morgan was nodding her head so Tony went to go whip up some lunch but then he remembered Peter’s booster seat chair. “Let’s go get Peter’s new booster seat first.”
Tony walked over to the doorway where there were still a bunch of bags that hadn’t been emptied yet. Both kids followed him and then Peter was squatting down to help Tony with the box.
“This for me.” Peter said happily.
“Yeah. It is, baby. Let’s open it and put it on the chair.” Tony lifted the box onto the kitchen island so Morgan climbed onto the chair to watch Tony open it but Peter was reaching up for him.
“Can’t see. Wan’ see it.” Peter desperately grabbed at Tony’s arm so Tony lifted Peter onto the counter so he could sit and watch him open it.
“Is this for me now?” Peter asked Tony while he helped Morgan pull the seat out.
“Yeah. It’s for you until you can reach the table.” Tony explained to him. They pulled the seat out of the box and placed it on the chair. It was a dark teal colour with white plastic on the sides. There were buckles on the inside but Tony didn’t think that Peter would need that if he listened and sat down.
Tony made sure the booster seat was secured to the chair before putting Peter in it. “Let’s put you in it now, Pete.” Tony lifted his arms out for Peter then lifted his kid off the counter and into the seat. “Do you like it?”
Peter nodded his head happily. “I love it so much. It goes like zroom zroom.”
Tony laughed at Peter’s imitation of a car. “It’s not your car seat, Pete.” Tony kissed Peter on the nose and then went to start making lunch for the two of them.
Pepper had already started boiling some kraft dinner so all he had to do was add the milk and cheese and fill up some sippy cups, well, one sippy cup and one glass.
“Lunch is served.” Tony placed the bowls in front of the two of them and then handed Morgan her glass and Peter his sippy cup.
Peter reached his arms out for Tony and made grabby hands. “I wan’ my baba.”
“No, you don’t need your baba. You have your sippy cup.” Tony told him and sat down on the stool next to Peter.
“No. I wan’ baba. It upstairs. I go get it.” Peter tried to climb off the stool but Tony stopped him.
“Eat your lunch,” Tony put a bunch of food on the fork and held it up to Peter’s mouth but Peter moved his head away. “Open up.”
Peter shook his head. “No, not this one. I wan’-I wan’ my baba!”
Pepper walked over to the kitchen island and leaned against the table. “What’s wrong, Peter?”
Peter pointed to the stairs sadly and made a sound of distress. “I don’t understand, you have to use your big boy words.”
“I wan’ baba.” Peter said, now close to tears. Pepper picked up Peter’s sippy cup and looked at it.
“Woah. I like this one. It’s so cool, don’t you think it’s cool, Morgan?” Pepper asked her daughter who was eating peacefully next to Peter.
“Yeah. I like it.” Morgan commented and then Peter was reaching out for it.
“I see.” Peter reached for the sippy cup and examined it for a few seconds before putting it in his mouth and sucking on it. Tony sighed.
He looked up at Pepper with thankful eyes. He had no idea how she was always so good at these kinds of things. He couldn’t get kids to do anything without bribing them.
Peter finished drinking and put his cup down then started to pick his fork up to eat. Tony stood up and caressed the back of Peter’s head. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom so I’ll be back in a second.”
Peter turned around to look at him. “Are you gonna go pee pee, daddy?”
“Yeah, daddy’s gotta go pee so I’ll be right back.” Tony laughed at his kid and then disappeared into the bathroom. After he was done, he walked out and back over to the kitchen island.
He saw that Morgan had finished eating and was now feeding Peter forkfuls of his food and as cute as it was, Peter wasn’t a baby and he had to feed himself otherwise he’d get depended on Morgan to feed him his food.
“Let him feed himself, Morgan.” Tony told her and sat down on the stool. Morgan reluctantly stopped feeding Peter but Peter was holding his mouth open for another bite.
When no one was feeding him, he shut his mouth and looked over at Morgan. “Feed me.” Peter demanded and picked his fork up to hand it to her.
“Nope. You can feed yourself.” Tony pushed his bowl closer to himself so he could eat. “Show me how you feed yourself.”
Peter shook his head and pointed to Morgan. “She feeds me.”
“No, Peter. How old are you?” Tony asked him but then he realized that Peter might not even know how old he is.
“I… I four.” Peter held up two fingers on his hand and Tony couldn’t help but laugh at that.
“Okay, that’s two.” Tony told him.
Peter looked at his hand offended. “I two?”
“No. You’re five years old. Hold up five fingers for me.” Tony loved the goofy look on Peter’s face but he was a bit concerned that he didn’t even know how old he was.
Peter held up five fingers and grinned. “I five!”
“Yeah! And five year olds feed themselves so show me how you eat.” Tony said with enthusiasm in his voice so Peter would get excited and start feeding himself which he did. “Good job, buddy. Look at you.”
Peter clapped for himself and then continued to eat until everything was almost gone. He handed Tony his fork with a smile covered in cheese. “All gone.”
“Good job my baby.” Tony lifted Peter out of the chair and grabbed both of his kids' bowls so he could put them in the sink. Peter ran off with his sippy cup towards the playroom where Morgan ran to.
“I’m gonna clean the kitchen before I go so do you wanna go watch them?” Tony asked Pepper since he felt comfortable if him or Pepper was there to watch Peter.
“I’m going there right now.” Pepper walked by to kiss Tony and then she was off to the playroom.
Peter was climbing on the box that his car seat came in while Morgan was playing with her dolls in the corner. Pepper walked over and sat down next to Peter while he climbed on top of the box.
“Look how high up I can go. I go all the way to the top.” Peter went to stand on the box but he almost fell over so Pepper held his hand.
“How about you just sit on the box for now.” Pepper suggested as she helped Peter back down.
“Yeah. Maybe I just sit. I too little.” Peter stood up and laid on the box on his stomach then started giggling at Peppers face.
After he was done he crawled over to Morgan and took one of her dolls away from her to bring over to Pepper. “Hey! No! That’s mine!”
Peter hesitated and still tried to bring the doll over to Pepper but Morgan grabbed him by the shirt to stop him. “Morgan, stop. You do not grab Peter like that. Peter, Morgan is playing with her dolls so give it back to her.”
Peter hesitated again before he handed the doll back to Morgan. Pepper felt bad since Peter didn’t have any of his own toys to play with yet. There were still tons of toys but not that many for him to play with.
“Peter, how about we play with some teddy bears together?” Pepper suggested but Peter shook his head. He looked around the room for something to play with and then smiled when he saw some foam blocks in the corner.
The two of them worked on stacking some blocks up but then Peter stood up and made his way into the corner and squatted down. Pepper knew that position all too well but she didn’t know why Peter was doing it.
“Are you going poop?” Pepper asked him and then Peter was grinning but shaking his head.
Pepper didn’t know what to do since she was still learning about Peter and everything that he did, such as pooping in the corner.
About a minute later, Peter crawled over to Pepper and squatted down there again. She tried to smell near him but he didn’t smell like poop. “Do you need to go poo poo?”
Peter shook his head. He grabbed some more blocks and continued to stack his blocks just as Tony walked in.
“What are you guys up to in here?” Tony sat down next to Pepper and saw the stack of blocks they were stacking. Morgan was in her corner playing with her babies and he knew she liked to be left alone to do that.
“I think Peter went poo in the corner,” Pepper admitted and looked over at Tony. Peter was watching the two of them without a care in the world.
“What? What do you mean? Like he went poop in the corner?” Tony looked around the room but he didn’t see or smell anything.
“No, he went poop in his pants.” Pepper said and then Peter looked away and looked down at his blocks.
Tony looked over at Peter who was trying so hard to ignore them. “Did you go poop in your pants, Peter?”
Peter looked up at Tony and shook his head. “I didn’t.”
“So if I check your bum then I won’t find any poops?” Tony asked him and Peter shook his head, probably not understanding the question.
Tony walked on his knees over to Peter and leaned down to smell his bum but he immediately smelt a poop so he moved his head away. “Yeah, he went poo. Okay. That’s nice.”
Peter shook his head. “I didn’t.”
“Stand up then and let me check.” Tony waited for Peter to stand up but he heard the cringe of the diaper. “Wait, are you wearing your diaper, Peter?”
Peter shook his head and Morgan was looking over. “I don’.”
“I can hear the crinkle. Let me see,” Tony tugged down the back of Peter’s pants and saw that he was wearing his pull-up. “Morgan. Why is Peter wearing a pull-up after I said no pull-ups?”
Morgan stood up and walked over to them. “Peter didn’t want to put his underwear on.”
Tony pulled back the back of Peter’s pull-up and saw that he went poop and now he had to go change him after he already went through the diaper stage but apparently that wasn’t done with just yet.
“Peter, why did you poo your pants? You go in the toilet because daddy doesn’t want to change dirty diapers.” Tony sighed and stood up.
Peter was looking up at him and slowly reached behind to grab onto his pants so Tony grabbed his hand to bring him upstairs so he could change him into some underwear. Peter ran to keep up with Tony.
“Daddy, I was playin’ with the blocks.” Peter told Tony as they walked up the stairs and headed into the bedroom.
“Yeah. Was that before or after you went poo?” Tony asked him, not expecting an answer from Peter.
“Um, maybe it was after.” Peter answered while Tony grabbed some clean underwear and wipes. He lifted Peter on the bed so he was laying down and pulled his pants off, hesitating before doing the same with his pull-up.
“You know, daddy really wants you to go poop in the toilet like a big boy.” Tony told Peter but then realized that his pull-up was really full. Tony grabbed the front and felt that Peter had gone pee as well. He sighed. “Peter. I thought you were five.”
“I am, daddy.” Peter said, innocently.
Tony couldn’t be mad at him. He knew this had something to do with the dusting and de-aging and maybe also the fact that Peter was potty trained at four years old according to May and video evidence.
“Okay,” Tony hadn’t done this in over six years. He pulled the sides off and slid the pull-up out, holding his breath and holding Peter’s legs up in the air with one hand while he wiped him clean with the other hand.
“Daddy, cold. It’s cold.” Peter tried to move away but Tony held him still until he could finish getting all the poop off so it wouldn’t go on the bed.
Tony didn’t know how it managed to get everywhere on Peter so it took awhile but he eventually got him all clean and let go of his ankles so he could throw the dirty pull-up up.
When he walked back into the room, Peter was trying to pull a pull-up out of the box. “No. You don’t need that until bedtime.”
Peter threw himself to the floor. “No. I wan’ it.”
Tony lifted him up and laid him back down on the bed to help him put his underwear on but Peter was kicking him. “Peter. Stop, everyone in this house wears underwear because we all use the potty like big people. Pull-ups are for sleeping.”
Peter kicked him again and tried to crawl away. “No! I don’ like it.”
Tony let go of Peter’s leg and sighed. He sat down on the bed defeated. “Please. I’ll give you some candy.”
Peter shook his head and pointed to the box on the floor. “I wan’ my pull-up!”
“No.”
“Yes!”
“No, Peter. Enough.”
Peter’s face scrunched up and then he started crying. Peter’s cries were so much louder than when Morgan was his age. It hurt his ears. Peter made grabby hands for him but Tony didn’t make any move to pick him up which only made Peter cry harder.
“I-I wan’... hold me, daddy. I,” Peter cried desperately for Tony and he felt so bad that he couldn’t help his kid but he couldn’t give in to him. He knew that but he really really wanted to.
“Are you gonna wear your underwear?” Tony asked him and held the Underoos up.
Peter shook his head and cried harder. “No!”
“Okay,” Tony stood up and moved to walk out of the room but Peter started crying harder. “I’m gonna leave and come back when you calm down and decide to put on your underwear.”
Tony left the room after that and shut the door. His heart was shattering into a million pieces having to listen to his baby boy cry. It was painful. He leaned against the door and felt tears burn his eyes so he left and went downstairs to pour himself a glass of apple juice which is what he did whenever he wanted to drink.
Pepper was already starting on dinner in the kitchen. “Is he okay?”
“He refuses to put underwear on because he wants his diapers.” Tony tilted his head back so he could take his sip of apple juice.
“Then wait down here until he calms down and try again. He’s just doing this for attention.” Pepper didn’t like it when Tony took his apple juice shots because she knew it was because it meant he wanted to take an actual shot.
Tony started pacing the kitchen. He could still hear Peter and it killed him that he couldn’t go comfort him. “I’ve waited ten years for my kid. Ten years. I didn’t know it would be ten years, I didn’t think I’d ever see him again and-and now I have my baby back and I’m letting him…cry. He wants me.”
“You can’t give him what he wants right now.” Pepper warned her husband but she could see that he already made up his mind. “Tony.”
“I can’t, Pep.” Tony put his glass down and rushed back upstairs to get his kid who needed him.
He opened the door and saw Peter in the same position on the bed with a red, blotchy face. Once he saw his dad, he was reaching out for him desperately so Tony leaned over the bed to pick his baby up.
“Daddy. Daddy.” Peter cried into his shoulder. Tony stood up and rocked him in his arms while Peter’s cries died down and turned into sad hiccups.
“Daddy’s here. I’m here. I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to upset you.” Tony continued to rock Peter side to side for a few more seconds and then he was sitting down on the bed and turning Peter on his lap.
He knew he shouldn’t but at this point he didn’t care what he should and shouldn’t do. He grabbed a pull-up and helped Peter into it then lifted him back into his arms to hold him again.
“Is that better?” Tony asked him, standing up and holding Peter on his hip. Peter nodded his head against Tony’s shoulder and wrapped his arms around his dad's neck.
Tony needed some alone time with his baby. He grabbed a blanket and threw it over his arm then made his way downstairs.
Pepper sighed sadly once she saw the pull-up on Peter but Tony didn’t care.
“I’m taking Peter in the bed swing for a bit. Can you tell Morgan that daddy needs his time with Peter and not to bug us.” Tony told Pepper and then walked outside with Peter cuddling against him.
Tony walked across the yard and crawled into the bed swing awkwardly since he didn’t want to let go of Peter. He laid down and brought Peter close to his side then covered them both with the blanket. He kicked off the side so they could swing a bit.
Tony looked down at his kid and saw that Peter had his thumb in his mouth and that his eyes were slowly closing.
Tony didn’t know why he asked his next question but he felt like he had to. “Pete, do you remember what happened before you… went away?”
Peter opened his eyes fully and moved his head so he could look up at Tony. He didn’t say anything so Tony spoke again, “Do you remember Titan? And when you helped me up after… after that?”
Peter still didn’t say anything. Tony didn’t know if it was because he didn’t remember or he simply didn’t understand what Tony was saying.
“Do you remember when we used to work in the lab together? And you used to fall asleep on your work desk so I would carry you over to the couch that I put in our lab just for you. I never admitted that though. Why didn’t I admit it?” Tony whispered the last thing to himself. He knew Peter didn’t remember, he didn’t think he did anyways and that kinda upset him but that was okay.
He’d make a million more memories.
Tony brushed Peter’s baby curls off his face. “My baby. I can still picture your teen face right now. Isn’t it weird that I know what you’re gonna look like when you’re older? That’s always supposed to be a surprise to parents.” Tony was just speaking out loud at this point and Peter was taking comfort in Tony’s voice.
“You know, one time, over ten years ago, when you were fourteen and you were sleeping over for the first time,” Tony smiled at the memory. “I was talking to Pepper over the phone and I told her that I just put my kid to bed instead of the kid and I just remember how right it felt.”
“I was already thinking of you as my kid for a while even though we just met but… we were just meant to be. We always were.” Tony tapped Peter on the nose and got a grin out of him.
“I love you so much my baby. So freaking much it hurts and I’m so happy I have you back.” Tony kissed Peter on the cheek and watched as Peter’s eyes started to flutter shut.