Please don’t go
Tony held Peter closer to himself and held out the box of diapers for Peter. “I didn’t know if you had any so I brought some.”
May took the box and looked at it. “Oh, thank you. I was going to go get some but now I don’t have to.”
Tony shifted Peter from one hip to the other one but Peter must have thought he was putting him down so he let out a loud whimper and shook his head. “It’s okay, baby. I’m still here.”
As May and Pepper were talking about who knows what, Tony was trying to calm Peter down by bouncing him lightly on his hip. Peter was looking around the room with wide eyes and sucking aggressively on his thumb.
“Thank you for bringing all this stuff, Tony, but I think I have it from here.” May placed the diaper bag on the couch and stepped towards him.
“Okay, well, Peter has his stuffed rabbit in there. His name is RoRo and he won’t sleep without it, his pacifier is in there as well. Um,” At this point he was just trying to stall but he didn’t care. “he picked out some toys so that’s in there as well and he has a bunch of extra clothes but if you need anything else then just call me and I’ll drop it off. Day or night.”
May nodded. “Alright. Thank you. Um, before you go, did he eat lunch yet and is milk okay for him because when he was a teen I know it hurt his stomach?”
“Uh, he ate a bit but maybe feed him something else before dinner so he doesn’t get too hungry and yeah, he loves his milk but I only give it to him before bed or if he asks for it during his lunch or dinner.” Tony answered as he patted Peter’s butt to try and calm him down. He knew it was no use though.
“Okay, come here, Peter.” May smiled and held her arms out for Peter but Peter saw that and shoved his head into Tony’s neck again and started whimpering.
“I love you, baby. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Tony kissed Peter on the side of his head and reluctantly pried Peter off of him and handed him to May.
Once Peter was out of Tony’s arms, he let out a loud scream and grabbed onto Tony’s thumb with both of his hands. “No! Daddy, noooo!”
“It’s okay, baby. You’ll have fun with your Aunt and I’ll see you tomorrow.” Tony promised him. It hurt so freaking bad to watch Peter cry for him.
May pulled Peter away from Tony so Peter lost grip of his thumb and then Peter started to throw himself around in Mays arms like a fish out of water to try and go back to Tony.
Tony was so worried that May would drop him again. She managed to grab ahold of Peter’s kicking legs and she held them tightly against her body. “It’s okay, Peter. It’s May.”
If anything, Peter started crying even harder at that. “I love you, Peter. Daddy loves you.”
“Don’ go! Daddy! No! Nooooo!” Peter reached out for him desperately and that was the last thing Tony saw before him and Pepper left the apartment.
Tony leaned against the door and grabbed his shirt over his heart to try and help himself breathe. He felt his heart beat pick up and his vision blur a bit. He could still hear Peter screaming for him on the other side of the door and it took everything in him to not walk in and take Peter home with him.
“Tony.” Pepper said quietly and Tony wanted it to make it ground him enough to get out of the apartment and head home.
“I’m fine. Let’s just-let’s just go home.” Tony pushed off the wall he was leaning on and walked down the hall with Pepper following close behind, getting further away from Peter.
Inside the apartment, May tried to get Peter to calm down by bouncing him on her hip and patting his butt like she saw Tony doing with him not even two minutes ago but it wasn’t working. If anything it was actually making Peter even more angry so May placed Peter on the floor.
Peter immediately ran towards the front door where he saw his daddy leave and he tried to reach for the door handle but he was too short so he looked towards May desperately while still crying hard.
“Daddy! Wan’ daddy!” Peter cried and banged on the front door but May only shook her head sadly at her nephew.
Peter only started crying even harder if that was possible when May stepped towards him. “Come with me, Peter. Let’s go into your old bedroom.”
Peter shook his head and continued to bang on the front door and May knew she couldn’t get Peter to stop so she walked into the kitchen defeated where she watched Peter bang on the door and cry for his daddy for the next two hours.
She thought that Peter would have eventually calmed down but he didn’t until well over two hours after Tony and Pepper left.
Peter was sitting in front of the door and still crying but not as loud, just quiet sobs every now and then. He was looking at the door as if it would open at any second and reveal his dad.
May had enough. She dug in Peter’s overnight bag and pulled out Peter’s pacifier then handed it to him. “Here, baby. How about we go do something fun together?”
Peter looked up at May with red rimmed and puffy eyes. His face was all wet and blotchy from crying so hard as well.
Peter saw his pacifier and grabbed it quickly then placed it in his mouth and started sucking on it aggressively but at least he wasn’t crying anymore.
May smiled down at him and held her hand out. “Come with me.”
Peter stood up and grabbed her hand then walked with her into his old bedroom. She let go of his hand and Peter turned around to wait by the door again but May stopped him by shutting his bedroom door.
“No. You stay here. No more waiting by the front door.” May said to him but he just looked at her with big eyes. She sat on his bed and pulled out a box of legos.
Peter walked over to it like the curious two year old that he was. May smiled at him. “Do you miss your legos, baby? I miss you playing with them.”
Peter didn’t say anything but May held her arms out for him so he walked over to her and lifted his arms up and she could place him on her lap so that he was facing her.
“I miss you so much, Peter. Do you miss me?” She asked but Peter only stared at her. “Your Daddy isn’t very nice. He’s keeping you away from me, baby. He doesn’t want me to see you, he’s a very bad daddy, Peter.”
Peter shook his head and spoke around his pacifier. “No’ bad daddy.”
“He is, Peter. You know he is because he won’t let me see you but you have to ask him to see me. Say ‘I want Aunt May, let me see Aunt May’. Can you say that?” May spoke slowly so Peter understood.
“Wan’ daddy.” Peter said but May didn’t say anything. She placed Peter on his feet with an annoyed sigh and grabbed his tiny wrist then pulled him out of the bedroom and over to his box of diapers.
She put her hand down the front of his pants to feel if Peter needed a diaper change and he did so she let go of Peter’s hand and opened the box, pulling out a diaper and then grabbing a package of wipes from the overnight bag.
“You need a diaper change. Lie down.” May was not in the mood. She spent thirteen years raising this kid and now he was back to the very beginning again and after everything, Peter only wanted Stark.
Peter shook his head. “Don’ wan’.”
She sighed. “Peter. I don’t care what you want right now but what I want is to change your diaper so we can do something fun after.”
Peter shook his head and looked desperately towards the door.
“Get over here. Please baby.” May stood up and grabbed Peter. She laid him on his back and pulled his shoes and pants off but he was moving around and kicking too much for her to change his diaper so she gave up. “Okay. Enough. You don’t want me to help you so I won’t.”
She stood up and grabbed Peter by the underarms, ignoring his cries and placed him on top of the kitchen island. “We’re going to bake some brownies together, baby. Sound fun?”
Peter sat on his knees but the counter was cold on his bare legs since he was just in his sweater and diaper so he went to stand up but May stopped him.
“Stay on your bum, baby, or you’ll fall off and hurt yourself.” She explained and made sure Peter was sitting back on his bum. “Are you excited?”
Peter only stared at her for a few seconds before shaking his head slightly. “Wan’ daddy.”
May sighed. “How about this, we have fun and bake some brownies for us to eat and then after I’ll call him to come pick you up. After brownies are done.”
Peter nodded his head and pointed to the door. “Daddy come?”
“Yeah.” May nodded. “After we bake brownies together.”
Peter took his pacifier out of his mouth and handed it to May who placed it on the counter next to her, away from any of the ingredients.
She placed a big bowl out and handed Peter a wooden spoon that he immediately put into his mouth and started sucking on it. “No, baby. We stir with it.”
Peter nodded his head and tried to sit back up but May stopped him. “On your bum, baby.”
May let Peter stir in some of the ingredients and lick the spoon after which Peter loved but when he tried to stick his hand in for more he got yelled at so he stuck his thumb in his mouth and watched May do the rest of the baking while he sat there quietly and watched.
After it was done and in the oven, May cleaned off Peter’s face and hands and placed him on the floor.
“Daddy now?” Peter asked but May ignored him so Peter took his thumb out of his mouth and tugged on May's pant leg. “Daddy now?”
“Peter, you’re staying with me tonight, okay? Your daddy needs a break from you for a bit and I just miss you so much.” May explained to the toddler. She finished putting the dirty dishes in the sink and walked into the living room with Peter following her.
May dumped Peter’s bag into the couch and held up RoRo. “What’s this, baby?”
Peter reached for his bunny but May put it on the other side of her so Peter couldn’t grab it. He lowered his arm slowly. “Tha’ RoRo.”
May lifted Peter onto the couch and looked at everything else Tony packed. As May was looking at the outfits, Peter whimpered. “Whe’e Daddy?”
May hummed. “Look how cute this onesie is, Peter. You should put this on.”
Peter shook his head, his eyes filling with tears. “Wan’ daddy. P’ease.”
“Peter, no more asking for daddy. It’s time to be with me now, okay baby?” May explained to the toddler only for Peter to burst out in tears again and very loud sobs.
May stood up from the couch and went back into the kitchen to finish cleaning up while Peter calmed down. She thought it was ridiculous, Peter was spending time with her so he should just forget about Tony. It was driving her insane.
She tried to remember Peter at two years old before but all the memories just seemed to combine together throughout all the years.
The brownies were done and Peter was still crying so she turned her music on and started cooking dinner.
About thirty minutes later, Peter was waddling into the kitchen and tugging on Mays pant leg again. “I hung’y.”
“Not yet, Pete. You’re gonna have to wait because dinner isn’t ready yet.” May glanced down at the toddler but she didn’t even see her Peter in him anymore. She saw Tony’s Peter and she hated that.
Her nephew was spending way too much time with Tony when he was very impressionable and he was being a spoiled toddler.
“I hung’y.” Peter cried out sadly but May ignored him so he fell into his butt and cried on the kitchen floor until May was lifting him up and walking towards his bedroom.
She opened his old bedroom door and put him inside a playpen. “Stay here until dinner is ready. I can’t deal with this right now.”
May turned and shut the bedroom door, walking back into the kitchen to finish cooking dinner.
.
.
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Tony sat in his lab by himself just staring at the floor while he occasionally untangled a batch of wires that he was going to throw out anyways.
It was just past seven in the evening and Tony couldn’t stop thinking about Peter and what he was doing. If he had calmed down and if he was happy or not.
Despite Tony’s jealousy, he hoped that Peter was having a good time with May. He hoped Peter was giggling away at something while him and May bonded.
He wanted his baby to be happy unlike how he was currently feeling.
He had a raging headache and he felt like crying but he wasn’t going to cry which made his jaw ache for some reason.
The phone was laying right in front of him on his work desk and he was so tempted to call May and ask how Peter was but he didn’t do that.
Instead he stared at the floor and thought about his baby boy.
.
.
.
Peter sobbed loudly and tried to climb out of his playpen but he couldn’t get out of it. He wanted his pacifier and RoRo but May was keeping those from him and she wasn’t letting him see daddy.
Peter looked around the room, it was still bright outside so he could make out the figures in the room but it looked like scary monsters. He tried to cover himself with something so the monsters wouldn’t eat him but there was nothing to save him. He whimpered and shoved his thumb in his mouth.
The bedroom door was being opened over twenty minutes later and in walked May. She picked Peter up and set him on her hip then sat him at the kitchen table on one of the chairs but he was too small to reach his plate so she grabbed a stack of her magazines and put them on the chair and sat Peter on top.
Peter was still crying loudly as he watched what May was doing with wide, watery eyes. He kept looking back at the door to see if daddy was coming for him until May moved his chair so he couldn’t see the door anymore.
“I made your favourite, baby. Mac and cheese with some chicken on the side.” May made sure to cut the chicken up really small so Peter could eat it.
She began eating her own plate and tried not to freak out at the constant crying coming from Peter. It was unbelievable how much he could cry. “Peter. Eat your food.”
Peter continued to stare at her while he cried and took in big breaths. May picked his fork up and put some chicken on it then held it to his mouth for him to eat it but Peter pushed his fork away and turned his head to the side.
May sighed and let him do whatever he was doing. She didn’t expect her time with Peter to go like this and it was killing her that her baby didn’t want to be with her.
Halfway through the dinner, Peter reached forward and grabbed a handful of the Mac and cheese and shoved it in his mouth and chewed on it in between his crying. He did that a few more times but it wasn’t nearly enough food to be considered dinner.
When May noticed that Peter wasn’t going to eat anything else, she grabbed his plate away from him and wiped his hands and face down then placed him on his feet.
Peter crawled towards the front door and sat there while he cried by it. May did the dishes and finished cleaning up the dining room and the kitchen when her phone rang.
She checked who was calling and saw that it was Tony so she sighed. She debated ignoring the call but she knew that would only make him drive all the way to her apartment so she answered it.
“Hi May. I’m just checking to see how- why’s he crying? What’s wrong?” Tony could hear Peter crying loudly in the background and that worried him.
“Um, he’s fine. He’s just upset because I have to change his diaper which I’m about to do right now so I have to go-”
Tony cut May off. “Can I talk to him? Let me just-”
This time May cut Tony off. “No. That’s not a good idea, Tony, and you know it.”
Peter stopped crying a bit after he heard the name Tony then he was crawling over to May and looking up at her. “Daddy?”
May turned around from him and walked into the kitchen only for Peter to crawl after her. “Does he cry when you change his diaper?”
“No. He doesn’t care.” Tony answered but he was worried. Peter only cried when he got his diaper changed when he was in a bad mood but that was rare. It was also a totally different cry from what he was hearing now.
“Yeah, he’s fine but I really have to go now, Tony. I’ll see you tomorrow.” May hung up the phone before Tony got the chance to say anything else.
Peter was looking up at her desperately. “Whe’e Daddy?”
“Your daddy’s at home, Peter.” May kneeled down so she was closer to Peter’s height.
“I wan’ go home.” Peter said sadly and it broke Mays heart. Peter wasn’t having fun with her and she hated that but it also made her extremely angry. Peter was her kid and he would rather be with Tony.
“No, Peter. You’re spending the night with me.” May said then lifted Peter and stood up. She placed Peter on her hip but Peter started crying harder and tried to get out of her arms.
“You need a diaper change, Peter.” May knew that Peter was sitting in that diaper for far too long but in all honesty she just forgot to do it. Teenager Peter wasn’t in diapers and could use the bathroom no problem so she wasn’t used to having to change diapers. It totally slipped her mind.
She laid Peter on the floor but this time he didn’t fight her and only cried as she undid the straps and pulled the front of the diaper down.
She sighed in sympathy at seeing the diaper rash covering Peter’s front part and inner thighs then she lifted his legs and saw that he went poo but she hadn’t even smelt it. She knew she should have changed him before.
May grabbed the wipes and lifted Peter’s legs up to start wiping him clean but as soon as the wipe touched Peter’s bum he started crying louder and tried to kick his legs away from her.
“Let me clean you, Peter.” May said sternly.
“W-wan’ d-d-dada!” Peter said brokenly then covered his face with his hands as he continued to cry and flinch every time May would wipe him down.
She finished cleaning him and put a new diaper on him then lifted him up by the arms so she could pull his shirt off and put him into a onesie. The onesie was white with grey and dark blue and light blue stripes. She thought it was cute but Peter didn’t seem to like it.
If Peter wasn’t so miserable and crying like his world was ending then May would have taken a bunch of pictures of him.
She stood up and left Peter laying on the ground while she went into her bedroom to let her ears stop ringing. She was going crazy but she was not about to call Tony. No. No way.
That would make him win and then he wouldn’t ever let her see Peter again.
Peter sat up and tried to pull the diaper from between his legs because it was hurting his rash but he couldn’t so he let out a loud sob in response.
He stood up and reached across the couch to grab his RoRo but before he was able to reach for it, May was grabbing him by the underarms and carrying him away. Peter threw his head back in her arms and reached an arm behind him for RoRo but May was too oblivious to notice.
She put him down in his playpen and ran her hand through his hair but Peter wasn’t calming down. He was pointing desperately to the door as May hushed him.
“Shh. Shh. Go to sleep, baby. It’s really late. Tomorrow will be better.” May pressed a kiss to Peter’s temple then shut the light off and shut the door.
Peter screamed and threw his head against the playpen rail repeatedly then threw himself onto the mat and kicked his arms and legs out.
May could still hear Peter in his bedroom even with his door closed. She went into her bathroom and took two Advils out of the medicine cabinet to help with her aching headache and went in the shower. She made sure to take her time because she hoped that when she got out then Peter wouldn’t still be crying.
However she was proven wrong.
As soon as May stepped out of the bathroom, she could hear Peter crying loudly still. She sighed and walked into his bedroom, throwing open the bedroom door.
“What do you want, Peter, and don’t say daddy.” She couldn’t deal with this anymore. It was too much.
Peter sat up and stared at her while he cried for a few seconds then lifted an arm up and pointed to the bedroom door. “RoRo an’ baba.”
May ran a hand through her hair. “I don’t know what baba is, Peter. I’ll go get your rabbit.”
Peter watched May leave the room and then appear a few seconds later with his rabbit that he immediately reached out for and hugged it tightly to his chest once May handed it to him.
He then looked up at her with wide eyes. “Baba?”
May shook her head. “No. Go to sleep now.”
Peter stuck his thumb in his mouth since he didn’t have his pacifier to calm him down. He watched May leave the bedroom then sat down and hugged RoRo to his chest.
The toddler fell asleep only seconds later but he only slept for two hours before he was waking up again.
Peter looked around but was confused since he didn’t recognize his surroundings. “Dada? Daddy?”
Peter stood up in his playpen and tried to peak over the rail but he couldn’t see anything but darkness. “Dada, I sca’ed.”
“Daddy? Daddy! Daddy!” Peter started crying loudly again and bounced up and down in his playpen to try and get out of it.
May woke up to Peter crying again and then she checked the time. It was 3:34am. She wasn’t ready to deal with the toddler yet so she covered her head with her other pillow until she drifted off into a deep sleep again.
The next time May woke up it was to Peter crying again but it was a lot earlier so she decided to get up for the day. Before she went into Peter’s bedroom, she had a quick shower, brushed her teeth and then made herself a coffee.
After her coffee, May opened Peter’s bedroom door and turned the light on. Peter looked awful. His face looked sunburned; it was so red from crying and the constant rubbing at it. He had dark under eye circles, if that was even possible for a baby to have.
May stepped closer to the playpen and her heart broke when she looked further inside. She had forgotten to give Peter a pillow and a blanket meaning that the poor baby slept with nothing all night.
Peter raised his arms up for May to pick him up so she reached down and lifted him onto her hip as Peter continued to cry loudly.
“Dada? Dada?” Peter cried out desperately and looked around the room but he didn’t see Tony anywhere. At this point, May was actually excited for Tony to pick Peter up because his crying was driving her insane and Peter clearly didn’t want her around.