I want you to be okay
Tony had managed to get Peter to stop crying but the sad whimpering that he was doing was even worse.
He carried Peter into the kitchen and poured some apple juice into a bottle for him to get some liquids in his system. “Want some of your apple juice, baby?”
Peter looked at the bottle, deciding if he wanted it or not before shaking his head and leaning his head back down on Tony’s shoulder. “That’s okay. I’ll just take it with us into my bedroom.”
When they were walking towards Tony’s room, Tony could feel the heat radiating off of Peter’s tiny body. When Pepper got back he knew they would have to check his temperature again since Tony was sure that it went up.
Tony laid Peter on the bed and sat down next to him while he ran his fingers through his curls to try and calm him down. His forehead was so hot and Peter looked so miserable, it made Tony hate May even more for doing this to his baby.
They were on the bed for about five minutes when Peter’s whimpering came to a sudden stop. “What’s wrong-”
Tony was cut off by Peter’s body violently throwing up so Tony lifted Peter into a sitting position so he wouldn’t choke on his vomit. “It’s okay. Let it out. Let it out.”
Tony patted Peter’s back and winced in sympathy at Peter’s vomiting. It was so scary to watch someone so small shake uncontrollably while they threw up the little bits of food they had in their system.
After about three vomiting sessions, Peter was done because the crying came back and Peter was looking towards Tony and holding his arms out for him.
“Okay. Um… I’m gonna…” Tony stood up and picked Peter up with him so that he was holding him at arm's length. He went into the bathroom and stood Peter up on the counter while still holding onto his waist in case he tumbled over.
“Let’s get you out of these dirty pyjamas.” Tony was more speaking to himself than he was to Peter who was crying too loudly to even hear what Tony was saying.
Tony pulled the shirt over Peter’s head and tossed it onto the bathroom floor. He pulled down Peter’s pants and lifted him up a bit so he could take them fully off then tossed them on the floor with his top.
Peter was still trying to reach for Tony but he had to clean the toddler off before he picked him up.
Tony grabbed a washcloth and wet it with warm water then cleaned Peter’s face off and then the rest of his body where the vomit got on. He then went to pull his phone out of his pocket but he remembered he threw it at the wall.
With a sigh, Tony picked Peter up, placing him on his hip then walked to the laundry room to find his probably now broken phone.
He found the phone right where he threw it and picked it up seeing that it wasn’t even dented. Stark Tech. He dialed Peppers number.
“Hello?” Pepper answered.
Tony lifted Peter more comfortably onto his hip, “Peter threw up a bunch of times so can you get something to help with that too?”
“Yeah, I will. Is he okay now? I can hear him crying?” She asked.
“Yeah, I’m just gonna change him into new clothes now. I’ll see you when you get home.” Tony didn’t have time to chat with her so he hung the phone up and tossed it onto the pile of stuffed toys then grabbed some clean pyjamas out of Peter’s dresser.
When he went to lay Peter down on the carpet, Peter started whining and grabbing onto Tony’s shirt. “Pete, I’m not leaving you but I have to put some clean pyjamas on you.”
It took a lot of reassurance but eventually Tony got Peter off of him and laid down in front of him so he made quick work of getting Peter into some clean pyjamas and then he lifted him back into his arms again.
Tony didn’t want to rock Peter back and forth because he wasn’t sure if that would make Peter sick so he just walked around the penthouse as he rubbed Peter’s back up and down. It was breaking Tony's heart to listen to Peter’s tiny whimpers because he knew his baby was in pain and hurting but he couldn’t do anything about it until Pepper got home.
He hoped that Peter would fall back asleep so at least then his baby wouldn’t be in any more pain but Peter refused to close his eyes and actually fall asleep.
By the time Pepper got back, Tony had been sitting on the couch with Peter cradled in his arms as he attempted to feed Peter his bottle of apple juice but Peter wasn’t in the mood for that.
Tony stood up and followed Pepper into the kitchen. He used one hand to dig through the bags of medicine and other things that she brought.
He was about to ask her what Peter needed when Peter was jerking in his arms so Tony looked down and saw that he was about to throw up. He quickly held Peter over the sink and helped him through his vomiting by holding him comfortably and patting his back.
Pepper watched in sympathy and pulled out two bottles of medicine.
“It’s okay, Peter. Let it out.” Tony grabbed a paper towel and wet it so that after Peter was done he wiped his face and lifted him into his arms more just as Peter started crying again. “Okay, what do we give him?”
Pepper shook the medicine bottle and pulled out a syringe. “This will help bring his fever down. We have to check it again now and then in an hour and if it doesn’t go down or if it went up then we need to take him to the doctors.”
Tony took the syringe from her after she filled it with medicine. He went to go sit Peter down on the counter but Peter clung to him and cried harder. “Okay. This isn’t gonna work. I’ll hold him and you’ll give him the medicine.”
“Alright. Turn him around.” Pepper said then took the syringe back from Tony and waited for him to turn Peter around then she placed the syringe in his mouth and went to push the medicine in but Peter immediately spit it out.
“Peter, baby. It’ll help you feel better.” Tony knew it was useless and that Peter was in too much pain to be able to understand him.
“Try one more time.” Tony told Pepper who used the same amount of medicine and put it into Peter’s mouth again but Peter spat it out once again. Peter was crying too hard for them to do anything so Tony held Peter against his chest and walked into the living room, placing Peter on the couch.
Pepper knew what Tony was trying to do so he left to go get some cold face clothes while Tony stripped Peter of his pyjamas so that he was just in his diaper.
“It’s okay, baby. Peps coming soon.” Tony told him. He could feel the heat radiating off of the toddler's small body and Tony didn’t feel good about it at all.
When Pepper came back, she handed Tony the face cloths and started fiddling with the thermometer. “I’m gonna take his temperature again. Can you pick him up?”
Tony placed the cold cloths to the side for a second so he could hold Peter on his lap while Pepper placed the thermometer under Peter’s arm. Peter was crying louder and trying to lift his arm up but Tony held it down, feeling horrible.
After it beeped, Tony lifted his arm up and Pepper checked it. “104.1.”
“We should take him to the doctors. He’s not taking his medicine and it’s only gonna get worse.” Tony was trying not to panic and he was always good under pressure but this was his kid. His kid was sick.
“Peter is a fifteen year old kid though, Tony. What’s gonna happen when we bring in Peter Parker and a two year old baby shows up?” Pepper asked. Tony knew that she was thinking realistically but he didn’t care.
“We can’t sit here and wait for him to get better. What if he doesn’t? He needs medical help.” Tony reasoned. He knew Pepper had a point. “Okay… you drive and I’ll sit in the back seat with him and I’ll log into the hospital records and transfer all of Peter’s old files from newborn until two years old so they see that. I’ll change his name to Peter Stark.”
Pepper looked at him. “Are you sure, Tony?”
If Tony wasn’t so worried about his kid and was actually thinking straight then he would have said no and thought of another plan but they didn’t have that kind of time. “I’m sure.”
Tony stood up and gently picked Peter up to go get him dressed in some clothes so they could drive to the doctors. Tony was already thinking about how there’s going to be a million pictures taken of them.
He could deal with all of that after his kid is okay.
Tony got Peter dressed in some more pyjamas but had to put a jacket on him since it was still cold out even if Peter was burning up.
Tony grabbed his pacifier and RoRo on the way out of Peter’s bedroom and thankfully Peter had stopped crying so Tony put the pacifier in his mouth.
“We’re ready. Um, I think we got everything. I don’t know.” Tony was already grabbing his car keys and walking towards the elevator when Pepper grabbed the diaper bag and joined them.
That didn’t even cross Tony's mind.
Pepper got in the driver's seat and Tony got into the back seat with Peter and put him in his car seat but as soon as he was placed inside, he spit the pacifier out and started crying again.
Tony tried to calm him down but Peter didn’t like being in his seat. Tony grabbed the blanket that was on the seat from their trip a few days ago and he covered Peter with it but Peter kicked it away.
It was a long and stressful drive to the hospital with Tony hacking into their system through his phone with the help from FRIDAY while he half held Peter’s hand.
When they got to the hospital, Tony quickly unbuckled Peter from the car seat and lifted him into his arms. He wrapped the blanket around him to try and cover his face from the public but with him crying how he was, Tony was sure they were going to be getting lots of attention.
He held Peter on his hip once he got out of the car and grabbed the rabbit and the pacifier for later. Pepper grabbed the diaper bag and they made their way inside.
Immediately, all eyes were on them.
Tony tried to ignore everyone’s faces staring at them but Peter’s crying kept bringing everyone’s attention to them.
Immediately, people were taking out their phones and snapping pictures and taking videos of them so Tony tried to gently push Peter’s head onto his shoulder but Peter refused. He was watching his surroundings with wide, watery eyes.
Tony just wanted to get out of the lobby.
The entire walk to the pediatricians office was a blur. Tony was following Pepper as he tried to calm Peter down but it was hard to do so when Peter had a skyrocketing fever and was probably about to throw up at any minute.
When they got into the office, Tony unwrapped Peter from the blanket and held him in his arms as he paced around the room. He didn’t even have time to look around or do anything before the door was being opened and a female doctor was walking in.
“Hello, my name is Dr. Robbins.” Tony didn’t bother to introduce himself because he didn’t think it was necessary and because his main focus was on his crying baby. “Can you lay him on the table and take off all his clothes to his diaper please.”
Tony did as he was instructed, he laid Peter on the doctors table but as soon as he did that, Peter’s crying only got louder. Tony tried to be as gentle as he could as he removed all the clothes from Peter and Peter didn’t like it one bit if his screaming and scrunched up face was anything to go by. Tony really hoped this room was sound proof.
“He’s been throwing up and he has a really high fever,” Tony explained and then looked at Pepper. “what was it? 104 point something. I can’t remember.”
The doctor waited for Tony to finish undressing Peter before she grabbed some type of thing and was standing beside Tony. “If I could just have you stand by his head please.”
Tony moved towards Peter’s head and his heart broke when Peter’s arms tried to reach desperately for him.
“Hello Peter. My name is Dr. Robbins and I heard you’re not feeling too well so I’m going to see what’s wrong and then I’m gonna make you feel all better.” The doctor said in a baby voice and then she pulled out the white device. “This is a really cool thermometer. I’m just gonna put it on your forehead for ten seconds.”
Peter watched as the doctor went to place the thermometer near his face so he started crying louder and shaking his back back and forth. “Can you hold his head still for this?”
Tony reluctantly grabbed his kids head and held Peter still, his heart breaking just a little bit more as the seconds passed by. He could feel Peter trying to move his head away and Tony just hoped he wasn’t hurting his kid.
“Alright. Let’s see, he has a temperature of 104.3. How long has he been like this for and what are his symptoms?” The doctor asked and then sat down on a chair and pulled out an iPad.
“Uh, since yesterday but he’s gotten worse. He’s been throwing up and he’s extremely hot. He also hasn’t stopped crying and he’s never fussy. He’s always happy and laughing about something.” Tony explained to the doctor and for some reason he felt like crying. He just wanted his baby to be okay.
“Alright and have you given him anything? Any medicine?” She asked and Tony was about to speak but Pepper started pulling the medicine from the diaper bag and speaking.
“We tried to give him this but he kept spitting it out and we didn’t know any other way to give it to him.” Pepper handed the medicine to the doctor and they waited for her to read it over.
“From how high his temperature is I want to prescribe something a bit stronger. I’m going to check some more things such as his heart rate and to make sure his lungs are clear. Things like that.” Dr. Robbins explained and then stepped towards Peter again, she held her hand above him, gesturing to pick him up and then turned towards Tony. “May I?”
“Of course.” Tony stepped back and watched as the doctor picked Peter up and sat him in a sitting position. Tony could see it in Peter’s eyes that he was exhausted and in pain.
He watched as the doctor put the air pressure pump on Peter’s arm and it started pumping full of air. It was so tiny to fit Peter’s arm and it was hurting Tony to watch it because Peter was scared and was trying to get it off.
Once it was off, Tony was back at Peter’s side and trying to get him to stop crying again but he knew it was no use.
Dr. Robbins pulled out a pacifier from inside the cabinet and then she was filling it with some liquid. Tony guessed that it was some type of pacifier that tricked the kid into getting the medicine. Smart.
“I’m giving him one tablespoon of toddler’s tylenol in a pacifier and hopefully he’ll drink it.” The doctor explained and then walked towards Peter and Tony and held it out in front of Peter.
Peter immediately saw a pacifier and reached for it, putting it into his mouth and sucking on it aggressively. All three adults almost melted in relief when the crying came to a sudden stop.
Peter had a frown on his face as he stared straight ahead and sucked on his pacifier. Tony was sure that Peter tasted the medicine but he wasn’t taking it out of his mouth which was good.
“You can take that with you. If you decide to give him his medicine through his pacifier then just make sure that you give him the correct amount.” The doctor paused. “You might have to take it from him to fill it up but if it gets the medicine in his system. You can also mix it in with some water or juice but it’s not guaranteed that he’ll drink it all so this is your best bet.”
“Okay. So just give it to him as instructed then.” Tony nodded. He was mainly grateful for the fact that Peter wasn’t crying right now.
Dr. Robbins pulled out a stethoscope and put it in her ears before gently picking Peter up and laying him down. She placed it on Peter’s chest but the toddler was grabbing it so he could look at what was being placed on him.
“This is to listen to your lungs, Peter.” The doctor explained but Peter was still grabbing it and looking at it in his hands.
“Let her listen, baby.” Tony said and then Peter was looking up at Tony and reaching for his face so Tony let Peter touch his face so the doctor could listen to Peter’s lungs.
After she pulled away, she smiled. “Everything sounds good.”
Tony sighed in relief. He couldn’t handle something being wrong with Peter’s lungs after everything else.
Peter spotted the stethoscope and reached for it so the doctor let him play with it. “I’m going to prescribe you with toddler medicine to help bring his fever down as well as some flu medicine but just make sure that you are giving him lots of fluids, he is a bit dehydrated so always keep a bottle of water or juice with him. I know he may be a bit fuzzy about it but at least try and he’ll eventually drink it. Try to keep cooling his temperature with a cold cloth or a lukewarm bath, it’s also best to just keep him in a diaper and don’t put heavy blankets on him so he doesn’t heat up.”
“Alright and he uh, he has a really bad diaper rash. We put cream on him but I don’t know if we should put something more.” Tony mentioned. He’s never seen Peter with anything more than a little redness on his bum so seeing the diaper rash that he has now, all over his bum and his penis is a bit scary to see.
“Alright. I’ll have a look. Can I take his diaper off?” Dr. Robbins asked and Tony nodded his head.
No one besides him and Pepper and barely May had taken Peter’s diaper off so he hoped that Peter didn’t freak out. The doctor undid the straps and then pulled down the front of Peter’s diaper.
Peter looked down to see what was happening and lifted his legs up out of habit from when Tony changes his diaper. Tony was trying to watch the doctor's reaction to see if it was bad but she didn’t even flinch. Tony wonders if that’s because she’s probably seen a lot worse.
“So… is it bad?” Tony asked, scared of the answer.
“No.” She pulled the diaper out from Peter and folded it up before tossing it in the trash. “It’s not good but it’s not bad. Keep applying the cream, change his diaper every time he goes pee, especially poo and if you can, let him air dry. Do you have any diapers? If not I have some to give you.”
“Oh, we have everything here.” Pepper said and stood up to pull out a diaper, cream and wipes.
Peter saw his diaper and then looked over to Tony but he looked confused since Tony was standing on the opposite side of him.
“Dada.” Peter said around his pacifier and tried to reach for Tony.
“Shh, I’m here, baby. Daddy’s here.” Tony rubbed Peter’s stomach gently to calm him down before he started to cry again.
Dr. Robbins stepped away from Peter and picked her iPad back up so Tony grabbed the diaper wipes and wiped his hands down first so they were clean before he was wiping Peter and putting the cream on him.
Peter didn’t like what Tony was doing judging by his face scrunching up and the way he was squirming but Tony tried to go as gentle as he could.
After his diaper and clothes were on, Tony lifted him into his arms and rubbed his back.
“Here you go.” The doctor handed Pepper the prescription. “I hope he feels better and if he doesn’t then bring him back here.”
“Thank you.” Tony said and then they were leaving.
On the way home, Tony sat in the backseat with Peter who was still sucking quietly on his pacifier and holding onto Tony’s thumb with his tiny hand.
Pepper went into the store to grab what they needed while Tony stayed in the car with Peter.
He hoped that Peter would get better soon so he could have his happy boy back.