Say bye
“Here you go, baby.” Tony handed Peter his pacifier that the doctor gave him with the medicine inside.
Pepper had filled it up with the right dosage for the toddler while Tony changed his diaper and dressed him in clean pyjamas.
Peter immediately put the pacifier in his mouth and rested his head against Tony’s shoulder.
“I’m gonna let him sleep with us tonight. I just want to keep him close.” Tony said to Pepper as she was brushing her teeth in their bathroom.
“Yeah, it’s best to keep him close.” She said and then finished up and walked out into the bedroom.
Tony was sitting on the edge of the bed with Peter cradled in his arms. She smiled at the sight in front of her and touched Tony’s arm gently. “Do you need me to bring anything back for him?”
“Uh, can you get RoRo and a fresh bottle of apple juice?” Tony asked and pulled the pacifier out of Peter’s mouth after all the medicine was home. “And a new diaper, the ones in here are all gone.”
“Of course. I’ll be right back.” Pepper pressed a kiss to Tony’s cheek before leaving the bedroom.
While she was gone, Tony picked Peter up so that he was standing on Tony’s legs but he could see that his poor baby didn’t look too good. He hated seeing his baby sick. Normally when he would hold Peter in this position the toddler would excitedly jump on him but now Tony was supporting Peter’s full weight.
“My poor baby. You don’t feel good, do you?” Tony asked Peter, not expecting an answer.
Peter stuck his thumb in his mouth and tried to rest his head on Tony’s shoulder so Tony stood up so he could rock Peter side to side while he waited for Pepper to come back.
“Here we go. I got another cold cloth for his face.” Pepper announced as she got into the bedroom. She placed a stack of diapers on the bed and handed Tony the bottle and RoRo to Peter who immediately hugged the rabbit to his chest.
“I have to shower, can you change his diaper while I do that? Do you think we should take his pyjamas off so he doesn’t overheat?” Tony didn’t want Peter to get any sicker than he already was. He didn’t think he could handle seeing his baby boy suffer anymore.
“Probably. Especially if he’s gonna be sleeping between us.” Pepper held her arms out and took the toddler into her arms. Peter started crying and reached an arm out for Tony. “Daddy’s just going to shower and then he’ll be right back.”
Tony quickly disappeared into the bathroom because the quicker he could shower and brush his teeth, the quicker he can get back to his kid.
“Wan’ Dada.” Peter cried out as Pepper rocked him back and forth in her arms.
“Daddy’s coming back so soon. He’s just gotta get cleaned up.” Pepper explained to the toddler and then laid him on the bed. Peter stopped crying and put his thumb back in his mouth, hugging RoRo to his chest while Pepper pulled off his pyjama pants and undid his diaper straps.
She was careful to be gentle with his sensitive skin while she wiped him clean and applied the cream all over him. Peter tried to move away from her when she touched a sensitive spot and her heart broke at the whimper. “I’m sorry, honey. Almost done.”
Pepper wiped her hand on a wipe before putting a clean diaper on the toddler just as Tony walked out. “How did you finish so quickly?”
Tony shrugged. He saw the dirty diaper on the bed and went into the bathroom to throw it in the garage before Peter grabbed it. “I just finished changing him.”
Tony picked Peter up and smelt his now clean diaper. “Mm, you smell so good, Petey. Did Pepper change you?”
Peter nodded his head and pointed at Pepper. “Yeah, that’s Pepper. She’s not as fast as daddy is at changing your diaper because daddy’s an expert, isn’t he?”
Pepper playfully smacked Tony on the arm and went into the bathroom to wash her hands. “Don’t worry about her. She’s just jealous that she’s not as good as me.”
Tony sat on the bed and placed Peter down so he could take his pyjama shirt off. He threw it somewhere on the floor and laid Peter down so that he was in the middle of the bed. “Where’s your pacifier?”
Peter pointed to the end of the bed so Tony reached forward and grabbed the pacifier before placing it into the toddler's mouth in replacement of his thumb. “Do you want your juice?”
Peter nodded his head, spitting his pacifier out and opening his mouth for his bottle which Tony held for him.
Tony was lying on his side and held his head up with one hand while the other was feeding Peter. He watched his baby’s eyes slowly shut but he knew that Peter wasn’t asleep yet since he was still sucking on his bottle.
Pepper walked into the room and shut the light off. “Is he sleeping?”
“No.” Tony whispered. “He’s drinking his bottle but he should be sleeping soon. I’m gonna have to wake up in about two hours to change his diaper so he’s not sitting in it for too long.”
Pepper climbed onto bed. “I can wake up if you want. I don’t mind.”
As much as Tony would want to sleep through the whole night, he had to wake up for other reasons as well. “It’s fine. I have to check his temperature again as well and give him more medicine.”
“Alright. You can wake me up if you need me, okay?” She told Tony and laid down so Tony and her were mirroring positions with Peter laying soundly between the two.
Tony smiled at her. “I know.”
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Tony woke up two hours later like he planned to.
Peter’s juice was completely empty so Tony dreaded having to change the diaper. He sat up in bed and saw that the diapers were still at the bottom of the bed so he reached down to grab them.
The cream and wipes were on his nightstand and table so he was feeling lucky that he didn’t even have to get out of bed.
Just to be sure, Tony reached his hand down and felt that Peter’s diaper was in fact full so he gently turned him around so that Peter’s feet were to him.
Tony touched his forehead and felt that it was a lot cooler now. It was no longer hot to the touch which was amazing. He undid the straps on the diaper and pulled the front down.
Peter stayed asleep through the whole diaper change which Tony was thankful for since he knew that Peter needed the sleep.
Either way Tony would have to get up to wash his hands, throw the dirty diaper out and get the thermometer and medicine so Tony reluctantly climbed out of the warm bed and went into the bathroom.
When he walked back out, Peter was sitting up in the middle of the big bed with his hair sticking up. “Daddy.” He reached his arms out for Tony so Tony walked over to the bed, sat down and pulled Peter onto his lab as he fiddled with the thermometer.
“Wha’ t’at, dada?” Peter asked and pointed to what was in Tony’s hands. Tony smiled because it sounded like Peter was a lot better.
“It’s a thermometer. I’m gonna check your temperature with it and this,” Tony showed Peter the pacifier that was filled with medicine. “is your pacifier. Here you go.”
Peter let Tony place it in his mouth and then he watched Tony lift his arm up and place the thermometer under there. Peter already looked so much better and Tony was so happy about that. When it beeped, he took it out and read the numbers. 99.1.
“Look at you, baby. Your temperature is going down. That’s so good.” Tony kissed Peter on the temple and then placed the thermometer on his nightstand table along with the extra diapers, cream and wipes.
He climbed back into bed and laid Peter down next to him. Tony placed his hand on Peter’s stomach and rubbed his thumb along his chubby tummy. He watched Peter’s eyes drift closed and then Tony fell asleep himself.
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The next morning, Pepper woke up and was surprised to see that Peter was already awake.
He was sitting up in bed and was playing with RoRo silently. She wondered how long he had been up for but he must be feeling a lot better if he hadn’t woken Tony up or wasn’t crying.
“Good morning, Peter.” Pepper smiled at him when he turned around to look at her.
Peter sat up on his knees and turned to look at her then he pointed to Tony. “Daddy sleep.”
“Yeah, how about we let him sleep in because he’s really tired. Let’s go get breakfast started.” Pepper got off the bed and waited for Peter to crawl across the bed to her so she could pick him up and place him on the ground.
She could already tell that Peter was feeling better by the way he was waddling down the hallway to his bedroom and how he actually had colour on his face and didn’t look sickly pale.
It just proved that all Peter needed was some loving attention and some liquids in his body; all the things that May had failed to give the toddler.
Peter ran past his bedroom but they had to make a stop there first. “Wait Peter. We need to change your diaper first and get you dressed.”
Peter stopped running and turned around to walk into his bedroom. “I get it.”
Pepper stood by the changing table while Peter grabbed two diapers from the box on the floor. She needed to tell Tony to order more since they were running out. “That’s all. You only need one diaper, Peter.”
Pepper lifted Peter onto the changing table and laid him down, she grabbed one of the diapers from Peter while he continued to hold onto one.
“Daddy do it.” Peter said and waved the diaper around.
Pepper really didn’t want to wake Tony up just to change Peter’s diaper since she knew that he had been worried sick about Peter and that took a lot out of him emotionally and physically.
“I’m gonna change you and then daddy will wake up and see you later.” Pepper explained to Peter and just hoped that he didn’t cry because she really wanted Tony to sleep in.
Thankfully the toddler didn’t cry and was actually giggling about something the whole time. The only time he showed his discomfort was when he had to clean a particularly sensitive spot but she could tell that his diaper rash looked a lot better already. Tony would be so happy to hear that.
Pepper pulled the front yo and did up the straps as Peter clapped his hands together. “All done!”
“Yeah, baby. All done.” Pepper picked him up and couldn’t help but kiss Peter on the cheek. “You’re feeling so much better, Peter. Do you feel better?”
Peter nodded his head and wiggled to be put down so Pepper placed him on the floor and went to grab some clothes for Peter to wear. She knew it would be another day inside the penthouse just because Peter may look and feel better but he’s still not ready to go outside with any germs just yet.
She grabbed a pair of grey track pants that said New York on them and an elephant top. “Come lay down in front of me.”
Peter listened to Pepper and did what she asked and pretty soon he was fully dressed with a tiny pair of Iron Man socks on his feet. She stood up and Peter reached for her hand to hold as they walked into the kitchen.
“Daddy up?” Peter asked when Pepper was strapping him into his high chair to feed him breakfast.
“Not yet, Peter. I think he’ll wake up after you eat.” Pepper told him and then started making some porridge with his bottle of apple juice.
Pepper had grabbed one of the kitchen stools and was sitting on it so she could feed Peter when Tony walked out. Peter spit out the spoonful he had in his mouth to smile at Tony.
“Daddy up!” Peter sequeled excitedly and reached his arms up for Tony in his high chair.
Tony was already dressed and showered, he woke up and was scared when he didn’t see Peter lying next to him but after he also didn’t see Pepper he just assumed that she took him and FRIDAY confirmed his suspicions. It was nice to sleep in and take his time getting ready without having to worry about a toddler demanding attention but he still missed Peter like crazy.
“Hey, baby.” Tony leaned down and pressed a kiss to Peter’s forehead since his cheeks were covered in food. “Did Pepper get you ready today?”
Peter nodded and pointed to Pepper who was sitting in front of him. “Daddy up!”
“No, you have to eat.” Tony walked around his high chair and stood next to Pepper. “I can feed him now. Thanks for taking him.”
Pepper stood up, “Of course, Tony. I’m gonna go get ready. His temperature is down too and his diaper rash is almost completely healed.”
Tony couldn’t believe the progress that Peter made. Just a day ago he was sick as a dog and was crying in pain and now here he is, smiling so wide and trying to reach for the bowl of oatmeal that Tony is about to feed him with.
“Are you happy today, Petey? Should we do something fun?” Tony laughed when Peter started banging excitedly on his high chair table while he was babbling something.
He saw Tony picking up the spoon so Peter opened his mouth and leaned forward so Tony could feed him but Tony couldn’t help but think that Peter looked exactly like a baby bird trying to get the worm that the mama bird brought back to the nest.
After breakfast, Tony lifted Peter out of his high chair and set him on the floor. “Daddy come.”
Peter reached up to grab onto Tony’s hand and led him over to the living room. Tony couldn’t get the smile off his face because his kid was feeling so much better. Even the colour on his face had returned.
“Want me to sit down?” Tony asked since sometimes, most of the time, Peter could be extremely bossy.
“Uh huh! ‘Dare.” Peter pointed to the spot that he wanted Tony to sit in so Tony sat down and then Peter was sitting in his lap.
Peter reached forward and grabbed his toy truck so he could hand it to Tony. “Daddy play ‘dat.”
Tony took the truck from Peter’s hand and couldn’t really play with it anywhere so he drove it up and down his thigh. Peter saw what he was doing and grabbed the truck from him. “I take.”
“Now I don’t have a car.” Tony pretended to be sad about that and Peter turned around to look at him.
“Uh oh.” Peter handed the truck back to Tony and pushed himself off of Tony’s lap to run and grab another car. He smiled at it but when he walked back to Tony, he tugged on his pants. “Wan’ off.”
“No, keep them on, Petey.” Tony reached forward for Peter to come sit on him again but Peter shook his head.
“Wan’ off.” Peter tried to pull them down with one hand so Tony reached forward and tugged them down for the toddler. Peter hated clothes on him, Tony learned that early on.
Peter smiled and stomped his feet on the spot then pointed to Tony’s pants. “Off daddy.”
“No, baby. Daddy keeps his pants on. Come sit now.” Tony reached forward and grabbed the front of Peter’s diaper to pull him towards himself but he was immediately letting go and regretting that because now Peter was trying to take his diaper.
“Off daddy.” Peter tried to pull it down so Tony stood up. Peter wasn’t going to stop trying to take every single item of clothing off.
“Let’s go get some apple juice in your bottle, Pete.” Tony stood up and walked into the kitchen with Peter chasing after him. He pulled a clean bottle out of the cabinet and went into the fridge to grab the apple juice.
Peter tried to grab onto Tony’s leg to climb up. “I do it. I do it.”
“You wanna pour it, Peter?” Tony asked and looked down at Peter nodding and lifting his arms up so Tony picked him up and sat him on the counter top.
Peter stood up then squatted down on the counter so he could grab the juice. Tony did most of the work but Peter didn’t need to know that.
Just as Tony was putting the lid on the bottle, FRIDAY spoke up. “Boss, Steve and Natasha are requesting access to your floor.”
Peter looked at Tony confused and tried to move closer to him. “It’s okay, it’s FRIDAY. Remember her?”
Peter didn’t say anything so Tony quickly debated with himself if he wanted any visitors. Since they weren’t doing anything it would be fine but he didn’t want them to stay long. “Yeah, tell them they can come.”
“They are on their way up now.” FRIDAY said so Tony lifter Peter off of the counter and placed him on the floor with his bottle.
“Let’s go back to the living room, Petey.” Tony grabbed his phone off of the kitchen counter and followed Peter into the living room.
Just as he was about to sit down, the elevator doors opened and out were walking Steve and Natasha.
Peter stopped what he was doing and looked at the newcomers walking into his house. He watched them walk closer towards his daddy and Peter didn’t know them so he started crying and running towards Tony.
Tony looked at Peter run towards him and crashed into his legs, demanding to be picked up so Tony leaned down to pick his crying toddler up and set him on his hip.
Peter put his thumb in his mouth and buried his face into Tony’s shoulder which Tony thought was weird because he knew that Peter met the Avengers before when he was a two year old.
“We just came to talk to you since you’ve been hiding yourself up here for the past few weeks.” Steve began and Tony couldn’t help but roll his eyes and walk towards the couch so they weren’t all standing up.
“Yeah, I’ve been busy.” He lifted Peter up on his hip a little bit to show what was keeping him busy as if it wasn’t obvious by the state of the penthouse.
“Well when are you coming back to work?” Natasha asked and sat down next to Steve, across from Tony and Peter. She sat up a bit and pulled a stuffed toy out from under her then tossed it on the couch next to her.
Tony leaned back and lifted Peter up so he was sitting on his lap. “I’m on my maternity leave. That’s about a year long right?”
“Tony, we understand you’re busy with Peter but when we get called to a mission and we need you, are you going to stay back for Peter?” Steve asked and that really got Tony thinking.
Tony had no idea what he would do. Right now, if he got called out to a mission then he would say no and stay home with his kid but a month from now or even a year, he doesn’t know.
“I don’t know, Cap. I hadn’t thought about it.” Tony said honestly.
Steve looked like he was expecting that, so was Natasha. “Are you done? Is it time you gave up Iron Man and focus on that family life that you were talking about?”
Tony held Peter just a little bit tighter. He didn’t know the answer to that question but it really hit him thinking.
This whole thing with Peter was permanent and sometimes that seemed to slip his mind. Peter was going to grow up in front of his eyes this time. He was going to be the one who potty trains him, teaches Peter how to ride a bike and send him off to his first day of kindergarten. Tony was going to be there for it all this time around so he wasn’t sure what to say to that question.
Steve seemed to understand that Tony wasn’t going to answer so he changed the subject and turned his attention onto Peter. “Hi Peter. Do you remember me?”
Peter heard his name being called so he turned his head a bit and peeked an eye out at Steve. He continued to stare at him.
“He’s shy.” Tony told them and patted Peter’s diapered butt. Peter lifted his head fully up off of his chest and sat on his knee as he continued to stare at Steve and Natasha.
“Hi Peter.” Natasha said and Peter threw his body back onto Tony’s chest again. “Well it looks like you two are busy here. We’ll get going.”
Tony waved bye to them. “Bye. Thanks for coming.”
Peter lifted his head up again and took his thumb out of his mouth to watch them leave into the elevator. Once the doors were shut, Peter climbed off of Tony and went back to his truck. “All gone. I play now.”
Tony laughed at his kid. He was something else. “What am I going to do with you. You’re too cute.”
Peter sat down and patted the floor for Tony to come sit with him so Tony reluctantly got up since he was so comfortable and he sat down.
Peter sat down in his lap again and they played for the next hour but then Peter started yawning a lot and trying to get Tony to pick him up while he was busy sending some emails on the couch.
“Up daddy!” Peter cried out and grabbed onto Tony’s hand to help him climb up. “Dada!”
“Okay, come.” Tony grabbed Peter and lifted him onto the couch then went back to his emails. He reached forward to grab Peter’s bottle that was now filled with milk and placed it on his mouth after Peter laid himself down on the couch and got himself comfortable.
Tony waited for Peter to grab onto his bottle to hold himself but he lifted his arms above his head and was fisting Tony’s shirt so Tony just held it for him. Peter was still recovering from his sickness so of course he would hold it for his baby.
Pepper walked out and smiled at the two on the couch as she sat down. “Where were you this whole time?” Tony whispered. He was still holding the bottle for Peter.
“I ran down to my office for a bit to make some calls.” She said and rested her head against one of the pillows. “I think I might take a nap with him.”
Tony laughed. “Well don’t ask me to hold a bottle for you. I will only be bossed around by my two year old.”
Pepper smiled at him and turned to face him while she was laying down. “You’re really good with him. I’m glad that everything happened the way that it did.”
Tony agreed with that. He didn’t want to think about this situation turning out any other way. He thought back to the conversation that he had with Steve and Natasha and everything that Steve said.
“So Steve and Natasha came to visit us today,” Tony started. Pepper sat up a bit to look at Tony more. “he asked me if I was going to come on the next mission.”
Pepper sighed. She always hated Tony being Iron Man but after so many years of trying to get him to give it up, he didn’t so she gave up trying. It was different now with Peter. He had to live his life differently now since he had a baby that depended on him.
“Are you going on the next mission?” She asked, afraid of the answer.
Tony looked down at his kid. “I don’t know. I don’t want to but I have to.”
Pepper sat up fully and shook her head. “You don’t have to though, Tony. It’s your own choice and you have to think of Peter when you make that choice.”
Tony knew that, Peter came first over anything and anyone.
“I couldn’t get you to give up Iron Man but maybe Peter can.” Pepper said and then lied back down. She knew she gave Tony enough to think about. He had a child he had to put first after all.