Trip to the Park
Tony woke up once more in the playpen, and he instantly felt claustrophobic. He sat up slowly, and looked towards the window. It was dark outside, so he figured it was probably too early to be awake, but there was a heavy feeling building up in his chest, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could stand being alone in the crib. Softly, he whispered the archer's name somehow hoping to both not wake the man up so he could sleep till a more godly hour, but also wake him up so he could provide him with comfort. After a few moments of watching Clint's unmoving body he felt tears building in his eyes.
"Cwint!" He whimpered a little louder this time. Pressing his hands against the netting and shifting up onto his knees. By this point there were tears running down his face. He whimpered a few more times before the archer suddenly snapped up in his bed. Tony's crying slowed immediately when he saw the archer was awake.
"Sorry babe," Clint stood up and made his way over to the playpen. "have you been awake long? Stupid baby monitor was supposed to alert me if you cried. He referenced a thick black bracelet he had snapped around his wrist. It must have been one of those vibrating monitors for deaf parents, which meant that Clint didn't have his hearing aids in. Tony hadn't even thought about that before, but now that he was paying attention he noticed that Clint was speaking with a slight slur. He knew that Clint preferred to sign when he didn't have his aids in, so he decided to attempt to use SEE, feeling a little bit nervous about how it would go with his current hand coordination skills. He used the rim of the playpen to pull himself up to standing, and signed,
"Up, please." feeling grateful that those were literally the two easiest signs in the world. Clint smiled as he picked him up and planted a kiss on his head. Pretty soon Tony's crying ceased completely. Clint sat him down on the bed, and signed to him,
"You feel better?" Tony sniffed a little, but nodded. "Good. Will go shower now." Tony signed that he would be fine by himself, and tried not to reach after the archer as he went into the washroom. He couldn't afford to look anymore clingy and childish than he already did. Clint returned a few minutes later wearing pants but no shirt, with his hair still damp from the shower. He pulled on a shield t-shirt that he found in one drawer, then opened another drawer and pulled out a diaper and baby clothes. He popped in his hearing aids and sat the baby monitor bracelet he was holding on the nightstand before he went over to Tony. "Figured that if you're sleeping in my room, I might as well keep your clothes and stuff in here." He explained. Tony lay back on the bed, and mumbled incoherent babble as he waited for Clint to finish changing him. Clint held in a laugh at the sound, figuring that Tony probably didn't know about it, and not wanting to embarrass him. After he was finished he helped him to the ground, and held his hands out for Tony to steady himself with as they walked towards the elevator. While on the elevator, Clint picked Tony up, and placed him on his hip. Tony reached up his hand, and latched onto the neckline of Clint's shirt. Tony was less connected to his adult side than Clint had ever seen him. He barely spoke except for the same unintelligible garble, and his hands were wandering like he wanted to touch everything. At one point, he even reached up and tapped Clint's hearing aid as though he was curious what it was. Clint gently swatted the hand away from his ear, and used the hand that wasn't supporting Tony to hold the tiny child's fingers in his. "You in there Tones?" he asked teasingly as he ran his thumb over Tony's knuckles. The little boy twisted his head to look at Clint with his big brown eyes, and it took a moment for Tony's face to shift from curious toddler to embarrased adult.
"Yeah. Sowwy." Clint smiled softly at him, feeling a little bit bad about making Tony self conscious.
"It's okay. Probably just the spell's effects getting stronger huh?" He kept Tony's hand in his as he carried him into the communal kitchen. By the time they'd gotten over to the island where bruce was pouring himself a bowl of cereal, it seemed Tony had slipped entirely back into his toddler mindset, because he reached out greedily for the scientist the moment he saw him.
"Bwuce!" Bruce looked surprised as he accepted Tony from Clint.
"I think the spell got stronger overnight, because he's acting more like a toddler than I've seen him before." Bruce raised his eyebrows at Clint as he tugged Tony's hand out of his hair.
"Yeah, I'd say so." Bruce sat back down, as Clint poured bowls of cereal for both him and Tony. The toddler still looked a little bit frustrated when Clint buckled him into his highchair, but made no verbal complaints, and got over it pretty quickly when he was handed a sippy cup of apple juice. Tony still had a hard time feeding himself, but he was able to as long as the cutlery was small and plastic, and he was wearing a bib. Natasha entered the kitchen a few minutes into their meal, and Tony started bouncing excitedly in his seat. He threw one of his hands in the air in a wave and subsequently knocked over his cereal bowl, spilling cereal down his front. At first tears flooded to his eyes, but then it was as though the shock of the event sent him back into an adult mindframe, and he suddenly looked less upset and more embarrassed. "Hey, it's okay Tones! No need to cry." Tony looked away from the scientist as he collected him from the seat and cooed.
"No' gonna' cwy." He mumbled weakly. Bruce looked relieved as he returned him into the seat.
"You back adult Tony?" It was the strangest question he'd ever heard the scientist ask him. He nodded, swallowing down the mortification when the scientist redid the buckle over his lap. Thankfully, because of the bib he didn't need to be changed, but Bruce insisted on feeding him the rest of his cereal so they wouldn't have any more spills. Throughout the whole meal Tony continued to bounce impatiently in his seat, till finally Clint commented on it. He signed to Bruce, probably assuming for some reason that Tony wouldn't understand him.
"I think Tony getting restless in tower for so long." The toddler huffed in denial, and Bruce took it as an opportunity to spoon more cereal into his open mouth. He munched angrily as he signed
"No no no no no!" The archer laughed and ruffled his hair,
"I was just thinking maybe we could take you to the park." Tony's eyes widened, and he whipped around in his seat to look at the archer.
"Pa'k?" Clint laughed more at Tony's pronunciation,
"Yeah bud, pa'k. Nat and I can take you. Bruce, you can come to if you want, I just figured you'd probably be busy with some project." Bruce nodded to the archer,
"That I am, but I can take him another time. The only one here who can't take him to the park is Steve." He smiled apologetically at the Captain, who'd just entered the room. "The media would have a field day if word spread that Captain America has a kid." The scientist wiped the milk moustache off of Tony before releasing him from the highchair. Adult Tony was in no way present, and the toddler was bouncing excitedly and clinging to Clint's pant leg.
"Go pa'k!" Clint reached down and patted Tony's head,
"Patience bud, I've gotta go set up the stroller." Tony shrieked in surprise as two unwelcomed arms wrapped around his stomach and lifted him off the ground, but he calmed instantly when he realized i was just the other resident spy, and even let out a giggle as she bounced him.
"Come on Малыш, let's go pack you a diaper bag." Natasha left the room carrying an excited Tony in her arms, and returned a few minutes later with an Avengers themed backpack stuffed with the necessary changing supplies along with a soother, a sippy cup, and a box of animal crackers. Clint thought his partner was a shockingly competent babysitter, and was highly impressed that she knew what one should bring along in a diaper bag, let alone what a diaper bag even was. Tony seemed compliant, eager even, to be carried around by the spy as she tugged tiny shoes and a coat onto him, and got him ready for the park. However, the moment he saw the stroller, his facial expression shifted completely, and it was obvious he was back to his adult mind set.
"No stwo.. stowah!" He struggled to wrap his mouth around the word. Clint shook his head sympathetically,
"Sorry, but it's not an option." Tony whined,
"No!" He huffed and kicked his little feet, nearly sending his shoes flying, "No' ac' wike baby!" It took Clint a moment to piece together what the toddler was trying to say,
"I know you're not acting like a toddler now, but we both know you're gonna' shift back in a few minutes. Besides, it doesn't matter what you're acting like, because you won't be able to walk all the way to the park either way. Tony whined, and kicked rudely at Natasha as she sat him in the stroller, but settled once she gave him a stern look, knowing when he'd lost a fight.
Tony was still whiny on the way to the park, nearly having a fit when one lady passing by told Natasha that she had the cutest baby. What upset him even more than the comment was the way she just rolled with it, thanking the lady as though Tony was in any way shape or form her child. Tony very childishly decided that he hated that lady. He continued compiling a list of things he hated as they proceeded to the park. At the top of that list was the strap in between his legs that pressed awkwardly on his diaper every time he moved, and reminded him he was wearing one. A very close second on his list was diapers themselves, which he often grumbled about in mumbled baby language that he didn't realize no one could understand. By the time they got to the park, he'd made it all the way to item number 16 which was stupid Clint who wouldn't stop taking photos of him with his stupid camera.
"You're cute when you're angry." Clint announced teasingly, "But, you don't need to whine anymore, because we've finally made it to the park." He stretched out his words dramatically in an impressive impression of adult Stark. Surprising both spies, Tony only looked excited for a moment, before his face contorted in fear. "Come on buddy," Clint tickled Tony's tummy gently as he undid the clasp to the straps that were restraining his movement. "don't you want to go meet some other kids?" He helped the little boy out of the stroller, and expected him to go running towards the playground, but instead he flapped his hands in a movement that vaguely resembled the sign for scared, before reaching towards the archer with wide eyes. Clint scooped him up, placing him on his hips so that he could see the whole park instead of facing the child towards himself. "Did you ever go to the park when you lived with your parents bud?" Tony ducked his chin, and shook his head.
"No, bu' Ja'bis and me would pway in the house." Clint hummed,
"So, I guess you didn't get to play with a lot of other kids your age, huh?" Tony nodded again, this time a little more sheepishly, and his expression held more adult remembrance than was usual displayed on a two-year-old's face. "Well then it's good you have Natasha and I here!" Clint sounded more cheerful, and was bouncing the baby a little. "Let's go over to the playground. You'll see it's not scary." Clint carried Tony over to the nearest playground equipment (a kiddie slide), and set him on the ground, hopeful that he'd approach it on his own. But, Tony just looked at it warily like the plastic slide might bite him. Clint sighed, realizing he was probably going to have to go on the playground if he wanted to convince Tony it was fun. His kids had been a lot more independent in their play by this age, but he figured that was probably because the didn't have the same neglectful and damaging childhood as Tony. The pity made his heart ache, and it motivated him to take the little boy by his hands, and guide him up the stairs towards the slide.
He looked around, and saw natasha lingering at the edge of the park, right where the cement met the wood chips with her face twisted in a strange half smile. Clint realized that his partner had probably had less experience in playgrounds than Tony did. He ignored the second wave of pity that washed through him, because she was an expert at reading faces, and she'd be able to catch any hint of pity on his face. Besides, they had an unspoken agreement between them that they never pitied each other. In Natasha's words, pity was a useless emotion that only succeeded in getting in the way. Still, he couldn't keep himself from waving her over.
"Come on Nat! He needs someone to catch him at the bottom." Nat raised his eyebrows at him, but walked over to the pair with her face void of any negative emotions.
"Okay Tony!" Her face brightened exponentially as she reached her arms towards the toddler who was looking less scared every moment. "I'm ready when you are!" Clint gave Tony a gentle pushed, and watched as he slid right into Natasha's waiting arms, shrieking with laughter. He smiled to himself when the kid hopped out of Nat's hold, and began climbing the stairs on all fours. He felt an odd sense of pride at how quickly Tony was getting this whole playing at the playground thing. Yeah, the kid was gonna be alright.
Natasha and Clint spent the next half an hour showing Tony around the playground before the little boy finally toddled over to a sandbox where a girl around a year or so older than Tony was playing with the toys scattered in the box. He seemed captivated by the toy robot that the girl was playing with. Clint lifted him up over the edge of the sandbox, and sat him down close to the girl, who turned out to be very hospitable and instantly asked him to play. Once Tony seemed to be fully over his nerves of playing with another child, the two adults settled on a bench nearby.
"Admit it," Clint poked his partner in her side, "you're having fun." She pursed her lips, but it shifted into a smile.
"Who said I wouldn't? You know I love kids."
"I thought you just love my kids." Natasha shrugged at that,
"I thought so too. But, there's something special about Tony, you know? I thought he was gonna be a bratty child, but he's actually much more well mannered than he is as an adult."
The two assassins proceeded to do something that they hadn't done in a long time; they just talked. They laughed about jokes only they understood, and Clint caught Natasha up on how his kids were doing by showing her the photos on a hidden file on his phone. They'd both peer over to Tony every few minutes, making sure he was still alive and all, but it was in a moment that neither of them were looking that disaster struck. Natasha was sitting on the bench swiping through photos of Cooper in a boy scouts uniform, and Clint was over by a coffee stand getting drinks for himself and Nat, when a piercing scream rang out from over by the sandbox. Natasha sprung into action, immediately recognizing the voice, but froze momentarily when the child she saw lying face flat on the ground called out the single solitary word that couldn't be used to describe her.
"Mama!" Clint caught up to her.
"I think he wants you mama bear." He was obviously teasing her, but she still wasn't quite ready to move yet. Clint must have seen that she was in no rush to go console the child, because he stepped in front of her with a slight sigh, and collected the child into his arms. It wasn't until Tony pulled his face out of where he'd buried it in Clint's shirt, and reached out for her with his face twisted in anguish, that she finally snapped out of it and accepted the sobbing baby into her hold.
"Mamama." Tony was repeating the same two letter over and over again, though it was muffled because he'd nuzzled his face into her shoulder.
"I know Anton. It's okay." The spy continued to murmur gently to the child as she carried him over to the stroller. "You're okay." He'd pretty much stopped crying by the time she'd gotten him situated in his seat. "Such a handsome boy," she commented as she marveled at his big doe eyes, "though I'd never tell adult Tony that, cause it'd go straight to his head." Baby Tony just continued chewing on his knuckles, and staring at her like he didn't quite understand. Clint passed her a pacifier, which she coaxed into the baby's mouth. When she looked back at her partner, she noticed he was looking at her with the same look plastered on his face that she'd had moments ago when she was looking at Tony. Yeah, he deserved to be punched in the nuts for that one, but instead she settled for flicking him on his head before she returned her focus to clipping in Tony. The toddler let out a defiant whine when she reached in between his legs fishing for the clip to buckle him in, and she paused for a moment, noticing while her hand was under his butt that his diaper was definitely used. She sighed, and much to Tony's complaint, picked him up out of the stroller, and with a telling look at Clint, carried him over to the public washrooms nearby.
Once inside the washroom, Tony's complaints grew in volume when he realized the changing table wasn't in a stall, but out in the open.
"Shhh Tony," Natasha cooed at him as she did the straps over his tummy, "you're a baby, remember? No one's in here, but if anyone was, they wouldn't care." Natasha laughed at Tony, whose fingers had been making their way up to his mouth, before being stopped by the pacifier, and leaving him with a confused look on his face as he tried to remember what was in his mouth. He shot her a nasty look, telling her that he was definitely at least partially adult at the moment. For that reason, she changed his diaper quickly, choosing not to patronize him like the others did by praising him while changing him. She grimaced when she realized that he was developing a diaper rash, and that baby powder wasn't going to cut it. Tony hated it when they put diaper cream on him, last time she'd tried he'd cried about how cold it was, and she wasn't ready to have a crying baby on her hands again. Pulling the tube out of the backpack, she decided to try warming it up a little by keeping it on her fingers for a few moments before applying it, and it must have worked a little, because while he whimpered and squirmed, he didn't cry like last time.
Natasha carried him back out to Clint, and smiled as she realized that he was fighting off sleep in her arms. She settled him in the stroller once more, placing a blanket she'd tucked in the backpack around his shoulders, and lowering the hood of the stroller without any complaints from Tony, who was already asleep.
"I think that any drastic changes in emotion are what's causing him to shift mindsets." Natasha informed her partner thoughtfully. He nodded, with that stupidly proud smile still plastered on his face.
"Remind me to tell Bruce, he'll probably want to record that or something." He elbowed her as they began to leave the park. "You did good today Nat." Natasha ducked her head at the praise, mainly because it was stupid. Anyone could take a baby to the park. Well, maybe not anyone in her line of work.
"Shut up."