When It’s Meant To Be

“Daddy. Up, daddy.” Peter sat on Tony’s chest and poked him in the eye to try and get Tony up.

“Is he still sleeping, Peter?” Pepper asked as she walked over and scooped the toddler into her arms.

Peter pointed at Tony who was still passed out in the bed. “Daddy.”

“How about we get you dressed for the day and then we can wake him up. Sound good?” Pepper asked even as she took Peter over to where their suitcases were so she could grab a diaper and some clothes.

“Daddy sleepin’.” Peter said and tried to wiggle out of Pepper’s arms so she set him on the floor but he was running back over to the bed.

“Wait, Peter. Come pick your outfit for the day.” Pepper told him and that got Peter’s attention so he walked back over to Pepper and looked at the pile of clothes.

“‘Dis!” Peter pulled out light blue pants with a train on the butt and then Pepper grabbed a white bodysuit with short sleeves for him. “Mine.” Peter grabbed the bodysuit from Pepper and tried to run away but Pepper grabbed his arm.

“Not yet. Lie down so I can change your diaper and then you’ll wake daddy up.” Pepper told him so Peter did as he was told.

After his diaper was changed and he was dressed in his outfit for the day, Pepper lifted him onto the bed so they could leave the hotel and go to their house showings.

Once Tony was up, the two of them drove to the first house showing. Tony was grateful that the car seat he ordered was brought to their hotel so he didn’t have to ride in the backseat with Peter although it was a lot of fun.

Their realtor, Hazel, was waiting for them at the house when they arrived. Tony wasn’t so keen on the outside. It looked too… open. Anyone could drive by their street and see the house and that was red flag number one.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts. And who do we have here?” Hazel bent down to look at Peter who had a teddy bear in one hand and his bottle in the other that Tony knew he was going to get stuck carrying once they got inside the house.

“Baba.” Peter shook his bottle in the realtor's face and she smiled at him.

“This is Peter. Say hi Peter.” Tony said and cupped the back of Peter’s head.

“Bye bye.” Peter said and then grinned at the woman then buried his face in Tony’s legs.

“You’re so silly.” Hazel poked his nose which caused Peter to start giggling then she stood up and pulled her skirt down. “Shall we head inside now?”

Tony picked Peter up and set him on his hip then they walked through the house.

Tony didn’t like it.

He knew that from the moment they first walked in but he wanted to give it a chance and he still didn’t like it. He couldn’t see himself raising Peter here. It was cold and just the layout wouldn’t work for them.

He walked off with Peter into one of the bedrooms. He placed Peter on the floor and waited for Pepper and Hazel to finish up with the showing.

Tony loved the way Peter’s pudgy stomach stuck out with his cute little white bodysuit that was tucked into his pants. He couldn’t resist grabbing his tummy and tickling it which made Peter start giggling so Tony continued.

“Dada!” Peter giggled out and fell onto the floor with a thud. Tony picked him up and pressed a bunch of kisses to his face then stood up and grabbed Peter’s bottle and teddy bear before leaving the room.

He found Pepper and the realtor outside in the front of the house. “How did it go?”

They both turned to him and Pepper shook her head. “I didn’t like it and I know you didn’t so we’re going to the next showing.”

Tony buckled up Peter in the car and climbed into the driver's seat. “This is going to be harder than I thought.” Tony admitted.

He knew it wasn’t going to be easy but he just wanted to move into a house already so they could start buying furniture and getting Peter’s bedroom painted and decorated which he was actually really looking forward to.

“It won’t be easy. A modern house which I know is what you want, just doesn’t fit any child proof houses in the area we want to live in.” Pepper told him as she scrolled through her phone to try and find some more potential houses.

“I don’t care about it being modern, Pep. I just want it to be safe for Peter.” Tony told her. He felt like they had the same conversation over and over again. “I mean obviously we’re going to baby proof everything.”

“I know. I just want us to both be happy.” Pepper put her phone down to turn to look at Tony. “This is where we are going to raise Peter for… I don’t know, maybe until he goes off to college.”

Tony didn’t want to think about that. “Don’t talk about my baby boy growing up. He’s staying little forever, Pep. There will be no college or anything like that.”

Pepper smiled but shook her head. She knew it would be hard for Tony to watch Peter grow up. She could already see how big he’s gotten in the pictures from the very beginning of the de-aging. It was crazy how small he used to be compared to now.

“Of course, Tony. Hey, when should we start looking for nanny’s?” Pepper asked as if she had been thinking about it for a while.

Tony cranked his head to stare at her before he forced his eyes back onto the road so they wouldn’t crash. “Excuse me? A nanny? What makes you think I’m letting a random stranger raise my son?”

“Our son, Tony.” Pepper corrected and Tony wanted to tell her that no Peter is his son and no one else’s but he knew he was in this together with Pepper. “And she wouldn’t raise Peter. She would watch him maybe a few hours everyday while you worked at the company.”

Tony was shaking his head. His grip tightened on the steering wheel while he continued to listen to Pepper speak. “You could still see Peter for most of the day and be there to wake him up and put him to sleep.”

“Yeah and then the hours I’m working at the company get longer and longer because more meetings get called and then I’m talking on the phone, filling out papers, responding to emails and then I miss dinner time with Peter and then bath time and bedtime and then next thing I know it, someone else is raising my son. Potty training him.” Tony took in a shaky breath and glanced back at Peter who was drinking his milk and looking out the window.

Tony missed out on Peter’s life one time and now he was getting a second chance and he didn’t want to mess it up.

“Tony, okay. Can we talk about this later? We’ll be at the house in two minutes.” Pepper placed her hand on Tony’s thigh but it did little to relax him.

Tony knew what he wanted and he knew what the right thing to do was.

They pulled up to the next house and Tony liked it a lot. The front was covered in trees and brushes and it had a long driveway up to the house so it couldn’t be seen from the road.

He parked the car and shut it off then got out to take Peter out of the car who was now sucking on his thumb so Tony took his thumb out of his mouth and put his pacifier in there instead.

“I know this one is a lot more private in the front.” Hazel said and typed in the password to open the front door. “There are six bedrooms for potential more little ones to make this one a big brother.”

Tony felt like he just got slapped across the face. Woah. He couldn’t imagine another little Peter running around. He doesn’t really want to think about that though. He just wants Peter to be his own baby and if him and Pepper did have another baby by any chance, Tony wanted it to be a girl so that Peter could forever remain his little boy. His only daddy’s boy.

Tony didn’t even realize they had walked into the kitchen that had a beautiful view of the ocean from the big bay windows.

He walked over to the glass with Peter and looked out. “Can you see the ocean, baby?”

Peter lifted his head off of Tony’s shoulder and pointed outside while he babbled something but Tony couldn’t understand what that was. He set Peter on his feet and watched as Peter ran to the toys that must have been left behind by the owners.

“I have to point something important out,” Hazel began, which had Tony looking up at her in interest. “the backyard has a staircase that leads down to the ocean but before that, there is a huge drop down to the beach, about fifteen feet that is not blocked off.”

Tony gasped. “Yikes. That’s not good for Peter. He’s always running somewhere.” Tony said and stood up.

“Yeah. I would suggest blocking it off but kids always find a way through something so that’s something to think about.” Hazel said and started walking towards the back door. “I’ll show you guys.”

Tony leaned down to pick Peter up but Peter lifted the truck up with him so Tony took it out of his hands and then all hell broke loose.

Peter threw his head back and started screaming which caused his pacifier to fall out so Tony picked it up since it was dirty now and he put it in his pocket. “Peter, what’s wrong? That isn’t even your toy.”

Pepper and Hazel were looking at him while Tony tried to hold Peter in his arms but the toddler was thrashing like crazy and crying at the top of his lungs.

“Sorry, let’s just go see it.” Tony spoke over the crying and stepped towards the two.

“No worries.” Hazel smiled at him. “He’s two correct? They call it the terrible twos for a reason.”

“No… he’s always so happy and rarely cries.” Tony told her but it was partly a lie. Peter just always had reasons to cry when he did which was understandable.

Peter was crying for no reason now.

Hazel shrugged. “Well, all kids are different but maybe his terrible twos started later for him. Have fun when he’s three then.”

Tony didn’t laugh. His baby was an angel but now Peter was acting like the devil.

They walked down to the cliff and Tony stopped a few feet away from it. It was a huge drop and he could see it from where he was standing so this house was a definite no.

“He needs his diaper changed so I’m gonna head to the car while you guys finish up here.” Tony told the two of them and turned around to start walking back to the car.

He tried to bounce Peter in his arms to try and get him to stop crying but it wasn’t working. “Shh, Pete. Why are you so upset?”

Of course Peter didn’t answer but Tony didn’t expect him to. He opened the back door and laid Peter down on the back seat but Peter was rolling onto his stomach and crawling over to his car seat so he could sit inside.

“Peter, we’re not going anywhere yet. I need to change your bum.” Tony grabbed a clean diaper and wipes and walked over to the other side of the car to take Peter out of his car seat.

Once Tony did that, Peter started screaming again but Tony ignored it and opened up the driver’s door to change Peter there.

He laid Peter down but Peter was trying to roll onto his stomach again so he could get away from Tony. Tony held him down with one hand on his stomach while he pulled down Peter’s pants with his other hand and undid the bodysuit button so he could roll it up but he had no idea what set Peter off so badly.

He was fine one second and screaming the next and Tony was at a loss.

He took off Peter’s diaper and lifted his legs up but he saw the time on his phone in the cup holder that lit up and saw that it was 1:37pm which meant Peter was over an hour and a half for his nap time which was not good.

Plus they were all jet lagged so his poor baby. “Oh Pete. Okay, I’m almost done and then you can sleep.”

Tony should have known. Peter had drunk his milk and then started sucking on his thumb which was always his way of telling Tony he was ready for nap time and Tony ignored his baby’s signs. He felt like a horrible father.

He put the clean diaper on Peter and fully took off his pants so Peter could have his nap in just his bodysuit. Tony lifted Peter into his arms and held him as if he was holding a newborn baby. He walked around the driveway while he waited for Pepper and Hazel to walk out.

“How did it go?” Tony asked them as he gently bounced Peter in his arms.

“Not for us.” Pepper told him, rather sadly. She then walked over to them and rubbed her hand over Peter’s leg. “How did you get him to calm down?”

“I didn’t even realize the time. It’s way past his nap time.” Tony told her and opened up the back door again to place Peter in his car seat. As Peter was being moved around, he started to whine but once he was in his car seat and buckled in, he stopped which all adults were thankful for.

“He’s going to be up all night if we let him sleep for two hours.” Pepper told Tony but it wasn’t like Tony didn’t already know that. He had been doing this a lot longer than Pepper has.

“Then I’ll just have to wake him up before two hours is up then.” Tony said with attitude and started the car.

“What is wrong with you? I’m just trying to help.” Pepper said, annoyed and Tony just shook his head. He didn’t want to fight today.

“Nothing. Are we going to the next house?” Tony asked although that was the very last thing he wanted to do right now. Peter was in a bad mood and he was in a bad mood now as well and Pepper just didn’t seem to understand that.

Pepper sighed. “No. Let’s just go ho… back to the hotel I mean.” She sighed and put her head in her hands. “I’ve got a headache and I know you’re not into this right now.”

Tony pulled out of the house's driveway and turned to look at Pepper. “Not into it? What are you talking about? I don’t want to live in a hotel for any longer than we have to, Pepper.”

“Yeah well you haven’t even looked at any of the houses fully. You’ve just been off with Peter.” Pepper said as she was texting someone on her phone. Tony assumed it was her texting the realtor they were done for the day.

“What? I have been. I didn’t like either of the houses we looked at so I put most of my attention on Peter.” Tony argued back. His voice was raising a bit but he didn’t notice it.

“Maybe Peter shouldn’t come with us to look at the next house.” Pepper admitted in a whisper and Tony felt like he got slapped in the face.

He started laughing with no happiness behind it. He was furious. “I knew it. I knew it, Pepper. You don’t want anything to do with Peter. You just want… I don’t know what you want but you don’t want to be a part of his life. Really be a part of his life.”

“Are you serious right now, Tony?!” Pepper sat up and turned to glare at Tony the best she could in her awkward position on the seat.

“I’m being serious.” Tony didn’t know what Pepper wanted or what made him think that Pepper wanted this life with him but Peter was his and there was nothing anyone could do to change that. “As a family we do things together but I don’t think we’re much of a family. We were just playing a part, right?”

“How dare you, Tony. I can’t believe you.” Pepper sat forward, her face set.

Tony didn’t say anything so the car was silent for a few long minutes with just the sound of Peter occasionally sucking on his thumb in the backseat.

Pepper then turned to Tony and started whisper yelling. “I have been with you right from the start. As soon as I found out, I have been with you and Peter because I love you and I love him and I thought we were already a family without having to put a label on anything but I guess that wasn’t the case, right?”

Tony didn’t say anything. He pulled up to the hotel and parked the car. He didn’t want to fight with Pepper with his son in the back.

Pepper followed him out of the car because she wasn’t done yet. “You don’t get to walk away from me, Tony. Talk to me.”

Tony opened the back door and unbuckled Peter from his car seat then lifted him into his arms and shut the door.

“Tony.”

“I don’t know what you want. We weren’t… playing a part. You think this is some kind of temporary thing? This is my kid and I’m choosing him over you and I always will.” Tony told her but to his surprise, she didn’t look hurt or upset about what he said.

“I don’t expect you to.” Pepper admitted. “But that’s the problem here, Tony. You keep referring to Peter as your son. Your kid. If we’re doing this then he’s ours.”

Tony took a step away from her. “If we’re doing this?”

Pepper didn’t say anything so Tony turned around and started walking away. He didn’t know if him and Pepper were done but it sure seemed like it.

“Tony?” Pepper called after him so Tony stopped and turned around to look at her. “I’m Uh, I’m gonna go spend the night at a friends. Can I have the keys?”

That was it. Tony at least expected her to say sorry but now they were done. He simply tossed the car keys at her and turned around to walk to their hotel room.

Once he got upstairs, he dropped Peter’s bottle and teddy bear on the counter and gently laid Peter down on the bed so he could finish his nap.

Tony didn’t have any baby monitors or FRIDAY to watch over Peter for him so he couldn’t leave Peter’s side which resulted in Tony sitting on the window ledge and looking down at the ocean view.

He couldn’t stop himself from breaking down and silently crying into his sleeves because he didn’t know what just happened. Pepper was the most important adult in his life and they were supposed to be happy and spend their lives together, raising Peter by the beach but apparently that was never her plan.

He didn’t know what was since Pepper seemed to be on her own now. There wasn’t ever a point in the past few months where he got suspicious of her and what her intentions were.

Tony wasn’t sure why this was all coming out now.

If only it happened right in the beginning then maybe, maybe he could have made a life with just him and Peter in New York or in Malibu just the two of them.

The simple life. Simple but missing one person.

Tony knew he couldn’t do it without Pepper in the long run. He needed someone on his side. Someone to talk to at the end of the night about how cute or evil Peter was being that day.

“Dada?”

Tony quickly wiped the tears off his face and looked over to see Peter sitting up in bed with his hair sticking up everywhere. “Hi baby. Did you sleep well?”

Peter made grabby hands for Tony so Tony forced himself to get up and pick Peter up then sit back down with Peter on his lap on the window ledge.

Peter was looking at Tony’s face with concern in his eyes and in that moment he looked a lot older than two years old.

He reached out and poked Tony in the eye. “Is sad daddy?”

Tony smiled weakly at him. “A little, baby.”

Tony didn’t want to lie to Peter and tell him he was okay when he really wasn’t. He wanted to raise Peter to feel free to share his emotions and for Peter to feel okay crying around him.

Peter frowned and tried to pat Tony on the head. “Daddy sad.”

“Yeah, baby.” Tony was already feeling a lot better. He didn’t know what he did before he had Peter and he got sad. Oh yeah, that’s right, he drank himself practically into a coma.

Then this beautiful little ball of energy came into his life.

“Why dada?” Peter asked and sat up a bit so he could look at Tony’s face more.

Tony rubbed Peter’s back with one hand while the other was gently squeezing his ankle. He wasn’t about to tell a two year old what just happened and the reason why he was crying at three in the afternoon.

“Daddy’s just a little bit hurt, Petey.” Tony told him which wasn’t a lie.

Peter frowned and seemed to think about the answer. “Daddy boo-boo?”

Tony chuckled and nodded his head. “Kinda but it’s on the inside.”

Peter was staring at him for a few seconds before he rested his head on Tony’s chest and sighed. Tony just held his baby and hoped that everything would be okay.