Run wild, run free
They had one more hour until their plane landed and Tony was more than ready to get off.
He had been keeping Peter busy the whole time by looking out at the ground below them from what they could see which wasn’t much. He had played catch with Peter but Peter didn’t understand the concept or didn’t care since he was more focused on trying to sit on it or bite it.
Right now, they were sitting on the plane floor while Peter used Tony as a climbing structure. Tony was used to it by now so he let Peter climb away to keep him happy.
Better that than Peter throwing a tantrum.
Peter went to go sit down on the ball but he missed it and fell onto his butt but instead of getting right back up like he had been doing the whole time, he started crying and crawled over to Tony.
“Aw, it’s okay, Pete.” Tony picked him up and stood up with the crying toddler in his arms. “You didn’t even hit your head, baby. Did that scare you?”
Peter nodded his head and continued to cry so Tony reached just his pacifier and placed it in the toddlers mouth. He sat down by the window seat with Peter in his lab and looked over at Pepper.
“We’re landing now so hopefully his ears don’t pop too badly.” Pepper and Tony both hoped that it wouldn’t be painful for Peter since they would both feel bad for the toddler but also because it would be loud for them.
Tony held Peter on his lap with the toddlers back to his chest as the plane started to lower. Tony could feel his own ears starting to pop but he was used to the popping by now so it didn’t bug him.
He kept a close eye on Peter and saw his suckling on his pacifier get more intense and then Peter was arching his back on Tomy and scrunching his face up before he started to cry.
Tony picked him up by his underarms and stood Peter up so he was standing on his thighs to try and get Peter to feel better but it wasn’t working. The pacifier fell from Peter’s mouth and bounced off of Tony’s lap then landed on the floor of the plane.
Peter was screaming now and it broke Tony’s heart because there was nothing he could do to take the pain away from Peter so he tried his best to comfort his baby the best he could.
He moved Peter so Peter had his head rested on his shoulder so Tony could patt his diapered butt.
Tony and Pepper shared sad looks but there was nothing that they could do about it until they were on the ground.
It was a long couple of minutes but once Tony felt the wheels hit the ground, he sighed in relief. It felt good knowing that they were in their new home, where they would be spending a huge portion of Peter’s life.
Tony stood up and began bouncing Peter in his arms a bit but Peter was still crying. Pepper gathered up all of Peter’s stuff and shoved it into the diaper bag then stood up with Tony.
It was an extremely long drive to the hotel because the car that they rented didn’t have a car seat in it like Tony had requested so he had to hold Peter on his lap for the whole car ride and for some reason, Peter refused to calm down which meant that he was crying right in Tony’s ear which topped everything right off.
Tony should have known that Peter was going to be difficult at some point during their travels since he was fine for the first half but now he was a raging monster who had the lungs of an opera singer.
Tony could tell the crying was getting to Pepper as well since she kept looking back in the rearview mirror as if to see how much more longer Peter planned on crying for.
By the time they arrived at the hotel that they were planning on staying in for the next few days, Peter was whimpering sadly in Tony’s arms and Tony knew Peter enough to know that he was ready to be put down for another nap but he didn’t know why since the toddler had already slept a whole lot on the plane although Tony wasn’t about to say no to a nap.
Maybe he would even join Peter.
“Do you want your pacifier?” Tony asked Peter once he got out of the car and stretched his legs out.
Peter shook his head and pointed to Pepper. “You want Pepper?”
Peter nodded and then started making grabby hands for her which surprised the both of them. Peter was a daddy’s boy. He always had been and always will be but now he was asking to be held by Pepper when Tony was holding him. Tony didn’t know how to feel about that but he didn’t like it very much.
It was true, he did get jealous over Peter being or wanting to be with others. He just didn’t like it. He remembers once when he had Peter for the full day and evening back when Peter was a teenager but then May wanted his back back for the night and Tony was so mad and jealous but he wasn’t able to do anything and it frustrated him to no ends.
“Fine. Be like that.” Tony handed Peter over to Pepper and felt a little bit hurt when Peter immediately stopped whimpering and stuck his thumb in his mouth. “You’re on diaper duty for the next week. I get bath times.”
Pepper rolled her eyes at Tony. Bath time was the best time because Peter loved the water and loved to play with his bath toys and splash Tony.
“Let’s get the bags out so we can check out our new home for the next week.” Pepper said with some irritation to her voice. Tony didn’t blame her, he didn’t want to live in a hotel for a week with a two year old baby.
“Don’t say that. As soon as Peter is settled, we’re looking for a house to buy.” Tony opened the trunk and pulled out the suit cases. “I don’t want to live in a hotel.”
Pepper gave him a boring look. “I once lived in a hotel with my father and sister for two months when our house caught on fire.”
Tony's eyes widened and he turned to look at her. “What? Your house caught on fire? I never knew that. Why didn’t you tell me that?”
Pepper grabbed her suitcase and started to pull it while Tony grabbed the diaper bag and the two other suitcases. “It never came up but now it did so there.”
“Is there anything else I don’t know about you?” Tony asked, curiously. He wasn’t sure he knew every single detail of Peppers life but that excited him in a way because it meant that they still had a lot to learn about each other although he’s sure that she knows absolutely everything there is to know about him.
“I’m sure there’s lots, Mr. Stark.” Pepper smiled at him and it got him weak in the knees. He loved her so much.
He walked faster to catch up to her and thought about how now he got to know every single detail of Peter’s life since he was going to be there for it all. From the time he learns how to ride a bike to when he learns how to drive a car.
Tony plans on being there for it all, no matter what.
He always hated not knowing anything about Peter’s life back when he was a teenager because he wanted to know everything and that frustrated him once again. Now he didn’t have to worry about that.
They got their keycard at the front desk, with everyone staring at them and taking pictures and videos which brought Tony’s mood down. Sometimes he hated his life and wished so badly that he could go somewhere without being judged or recognized.
He used to love the attention but then Peter came along and a lot of the attention went onto the kid and Tony hated that.
He knows that there will be pictures taken of them and uploaded onto the media and news and he knew he couldn’t hide this one. Pepper and him with a baby, yeah, that won’t bring any attention to them at all and won’t get people asking questions.
Fuck. That was another thing he had to deal with as well. On top of them moving across the country and finding a house.
They then went up in the elevator and went to their room. Tony unlocked the door and looked at Peter who was already trying to wiggle out of Pepper’s arms. She put the toddler down and watched as Peter cautiously walked into the room and looked at everything with wide eyes.
He turned to Tony and pointed to the bed and tried to say something but Tony couldn’t understand him since he had his thumb in his mouth so Tony bent down and pulled his hand away from his mouth.
“Dada jump.” Peter said again and pointed to the bed. He walked over to it and raised his arms up so Tony lifted his baby up and tossed him onto the bed which got a bunch of giggles out of Peter. He loved that sound.
Peter rolled onto his stomach and sat up on his knees. “‘Gin, daddy! ‘Gin.”
“Okay! Up you go.” Tony picked Peter up and tossed him back onto the bed while Pepper did some unpacking with their stuff.
A few minutes later, she threw down a bathing suit on the bed. Peter crawled over to it and picked it up to chew on it. Tony looked at Pepper, confused. “What’s this?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “A hat. It’s your bathing suit, Tony. Let’s go swimming.”
“Swimming? I don’t think it’s the best time to do that right now.” Tony sat down on the bed and pulled Peter onto his lap but Peter crawled away from him.
“Why not? Because people know we’re here? We can’t live life like that, Tony. You know that. We’re free from May. We’ll be with Peter the whole time and this is a very expensive hotel so not many people are going to care much that we’re here.” Pepper said to him and she did have a very good point, Tony though.
“And I bet no one is even gonna be there.” Pepper added.
Tony thought about it for a few seconds. He’s never taken Peter swimming before so this should be fun. “Alright. Pete doesn’t have a bathing suit though. Do you think we can take him in his birthday suit?”
“Absolutely not. We can get him swim diapers on the way down and change him in the change room.” Pepper turned and went to go walk into the bathroom with her own bathing suit.
Tony turned to Peter and smiled at his baby. “Are you ready to go swimming?”
Peter started making incoherent noises and spit dripped from his mouth and onto the bed. Tony cringed. He picked Peter up and debated on taking off Peter’s diaper now but that wouldn’t make much sense since he would be putting a swim diaper on him soon.
“Here.” Tony handed Peter to Pepper once she walked out of the bathroom. “I gotta go change now.”
Peter wiggled out of Peppers arms so she placed him on the floor while she put a few things away in her bag. Peter walked over to the bathroom door and tried to push on it then he reached up and struggled but he got the door opened and waddled into the bathroom.
“Daddy.” Peter held his arms up for Tony while Tony covered himself with his bathing suit.
“Pepper! Why is Peter in here?!” Tony yelled. The last thing he wanted was for Peter to see him naked. He knew two year old Peter wouldn’t care or think anything of it but Tony still thought that fifteen years old Peter made an appearance sometimes and that was what he was scared of.
Pepper walked into the bathroom while she was trying not to laugh. “Oops. Come with me, Peter. Let daddy change.”
Peter was lifted into Pepper’s arms and he waved bye to Tony.
“Good god.” Tony whispered to himself after the door was closed and he could finally get changed in peace without a wild toddler trying to see him naked!
“Okay. Give the little monster here.” Tony held his arms out for Peter and set him on his hip. He poked him on the nose. “You are too much. You little monkey.”
Peter giggled and the whole way down to the lobby to buy some swim diapers and kept smacking Tony in the face. “Do you want these, Peter?” Tony asked and held a blow up floaty out for Peter to see.
Peter bounced in Tony’s arms and nodded his head.
“Should we get him a life jacket?” Tony looked over at Pepper and asked.
“No. I don’t think so. We’ll be there the whole time anyways so it’ll be okay.” She told him and looked at some of the cute baby swim toys there.
The three of them walked into the indoor pool and Tony immediately scanned the area. There was a family with a young boy and girl swimming and that was it. Tony was glad that it wasn’t busy otherwise he probably would have left to go back up to the room.
Peter was screaming excitedly and bouncing on Tony’s hip while he walked with Peter and Pepper towards the family change room.
“I can’t put you down yet, bub.” Tony told the wild child in his arms. He pushed the door open to the change room and then they walked into a stall and Tony stood Peter up on the bench.
“Dada. Dada.” Peter said excitedly and bounced up and down on the bench while Tony put down the package of diapers and the baby pool floaty.
He unbuttoned Peter’s outfit and went to pull it over Peter’s head. “Lift your arms up.”
He handed the outfit to Pepper and unstrapped the straps off Peter’s diaper then pulled it from between his legs. “What do I do with this?”
“Well we’re not being it in the pool with us.” Pepper said then took it from Tony to put it in the garage.
Tony opened up the swim diaper package but Peter was trying to run on the bench. “No, stay in front of me, Petey.”
“No. I run.” Peter said then went to run along the bench but Tony grabbed him. “No. Dada.”
“Step into this.” Tony held the weird diaper lookin thing out for Peter but he wasn’t sure Peter could step into it with his two year old balance. “I thought they were diapers. What is this, padded underwear?”
Pepper grabbed the swim diaper from Tony. “It’s a pull-up, Tony. Peter will be wearing them while we potty train him soon.”
Tony didn’t want to think about that. As much as he hated diaper changes sometimes, Peter was still his baby and he always will be so no potty training going on in this family. “No thank you. Peter will forever wear diapers.”
Pepper playfully smacked him then lifted Peter up. “There. Now you can put it on him.”
Peter tried to kick Tony while Pepper held him which made the process almost impossible. “Oh thanks. He’s just trying to kick me.”
“He’s two. Are you really threatened by these chubby legs?” Pepper laughed and Peter went to kick Tomy again so Tony grabbed his ankles and put them through the holes and pulled it up on Peter’s waist.
Tony smiled at his accomplishment. “Perfect. Give me my baby.”
This time, Peter reached out for him so Tony held him against his side while they walked out into the pool area. Tony loved the smell of it, it brought back so many memories from when he was younger and his dad would drag his mom and him on business trips so his mother would take him down to the pool to swim.
Tony dropped the stuff onto a chair and smiled at Peter who was babbling happily over the pool since everything was so new to him.
“Are you ready to go swimming, baby?” Tony asked him and walked into the water. He expected it to be freezing but it was the perfect temperature although he was eyeing that hot tube but he knew Peter was too young to go inside.
As soon as the water hit Peter, he went still and his eyes went wide. For a second, Tony thought that Peter was going to start screaming but after about five seconds, Peter started to scream excitedly and hit the water with his tiny fists, getting Tony soaked in the process.
Tony looked over at Pepper who was taking pictures of them from the pool chair she was sitting on then she grabbed the baby floaty and joined them in the water. “Oh. It’s so warm.”
“Look at Pete’s face. He looks so happy.” Tony smiled down at his baby. Who would have thought that Peter Stark was a water baby? Not him.
“Aww.” Pepper cooed and swam towards them so she could squeeze the chubby rolls on Peter’s legs in the water.
“Are you having fun, Petey?” Tony asked and Peter splashed him which gave him his answer. “Aww. I want to hug him so hard but I know I can’t.”
Pepper laughed but Tony knew she was thinking the same thing.
They couldn’t help it, Peter just looked absolutely adorable right now. Well, he always did but this was something new for everyone so it was so fun to experience it.
“Where’s the thing?” Tony asked. “I wanna put Peter in it.”
Pepper grabbed the baby floaty which had a car steering wheel on it so Peter could play or pretend to drive in the water. Tony lifted Peter up and placed him inside then cooed at the sight.
His water baby was loving the best life.
Peter looked a bit spooked when he started to rock back and forth and almost leaned too far over and fell in but Tony was there to grab him. “I got you. You’re okay.”
Peter went back to rocking back and forth which was hilarious for both Tony and Pepper to watch him in his element just enjoying himself.
Tony grabbed the front of the baby floaty and pulled it so Peter could start swimming and when he looked down, Peter’s feet were kicking under the water.
Tony was 100% sure that he had never been so happy in his whole entire life than in that moment with the two most important people in his life right there with him. He felt so carefree and his face actually hurt from genuinely smiling so much.
After a few laps of the pool with Peter in his floaty, Tony wanted to hold his baby again so he lifted Peter out of it and held him on his hip. He couldn’t wait to swim with Peter once they got a house of their own with a pool.
“Up! Ready?” Tony lifted Peter up in the air and waited for Peter to say that he was ready in his toddler way then he dropped him into the water but still holding onto him since he knew if fifteen year old Peter couldn’t swim then two year old Peter 100% couldn’t swim.
He was there to always make sure Peter was safe though.
Tony didn’t even realize when the other family left and when Pepper got out of the pool. He was having so much fun with Peter, more fun than he could imagine having in a public pool since he was probably swimming in urine. Gross.
“I think we should head up now, Tony.” Pepper said as she walked back over with three towels. “It’s almost nine.”
Tony had absolutely no idea how that was possible. Woah. He lifted Peter up one more time then set him on his hip. “I had no idea.” Tony said while he got out of the pool and walked over to one of the pool chairs.
Peter laid his head on Tony’s shoulder and let out a yawn now that he was occupied by the fun, he realized how tired he really was.
Tony patted his bum and then stopped. They didn’t bring down any diapers with them and he didn’t want the wet swim diaper to soak Peter’s towel.
Pepper seemed to read his mind because she was laying out a towel on the chair. “Take that off and then we’ll just carry him up like that. No one will see him.”
Tony looked around the pool for a quick moment to make sure no one was around before he laid Peter on his back and pulled the soaked pull-up off of Peter and tossed it on the ground.
He wrapped the towel around Peter like a baby in a swaddle and cooed. “Aww, look at my baby, Pep.”
Tony picked Peter up and cradled him in his arms like a newborn. Just Peter’s chubby face was visible as he blinked up at Tony and Pepper. Tony was already taking a picture of that because what the fuck! How did he end up with such a cute kid.
Pepper smacked Tony on the arm and eyed him. “Our baby, Tony. We’re in this together.”
Tony blinked at her. “Uh… I know. I know, Pep.”
She smiled at him and leaned forward to press a kiss to his lips. “You better. Now let’s get this monkey bathed and into some clean pyjamas.”
One hour later, Peter was freshly bathed and in a clean diaper and a froggy onesie, sleeping between Tony and Pepper while Tony looked at Peter and Pepper looked at houses. Tony wouldn’t have it any other way.
This was their life now and Tony wouldn’t change that for the world.