When It’s Meant To Be

Tony woke up to Peter sitting on his head.

He pushed the toddler off of him and rolled around to face the other way to try and get more sleep. He was exhausted and even though he wasn’t keeping track of how long Peter cried for yesterday, he knew it was past the amount where it wasn’t even possible anymore yet Peter still continued to cry.

“Dada.” Peter crawled over him to try and pry his eyes open but Tony pushed him away with a groan. Peter sat on the bed for a few seconds. He picked up his pacifier to put it in his mouth before he decided to go on an adventure by himself.

He slid off the bed and ran out of the bedroom to go find something interesting to play with.

Peter got to the stair gate but it was already open so he walked through it and sat on his bum so it was easier for him to go down the stairs.

The toddler started giggling at the feeling of sliding down the stairs on his butt so when he got to the bottom, he was about to crawl back up the stairs to do it again but he spotted a toy so he walked out of the other baby gate that was also open and made a run for it.

Peter grabbed the toy keys and popped his pacifier out of his mouth to start biting on the keys while he looked around the living room for something else to play with. He traded the toy keys for his pacifier and ran down the hallway, into the kitchen.

Everything already had child safety locks on it so after a few attempts to open it up, Peter gave up and moved onto the next thing that caught his eye which was done of his toys outside.

He ran towards the glass back door and banged on it. “Dada.” Peter called out for his dad, turning around to see if he was there. When he didn’t see his dad there, he banged on the glass dome more, wanting to be able to play with the toys that were outside.

Peter looked up at the door handle that he’s seen his daddy open up so many times but he couldn’t fully reach it so he ran into the living room to grab a toy that he could step in to help him reach it.

After getting the door unlocked and opened, Peter squealed in excitement and stepped outside onto the grass, bouncing on his toes in his excitement.

He went for the toy that caught his eye which was a toy lawn mower that he loved so much but didn’t get a chance to play with all that much because his mommy went away.

Peter pushed it down the lawn and across the grass, towards the pool.

He let go of the lawn mower when he got closer to the pool and spotted one of his toys floating by the edge. The toddler walked to the edge of the pool, curiously and squatted down at the edge so he could reach in and grab his toy.

Back upstairs, Tony slowly started to wake up.

He moved his arm over on the bed so he could cuddle Peter’s body close to him but he didn’t feel any warm tiny body beside him.

Opening his eyes, Tony looked over on the bed but it was empty. He sat up to move some of the blankets over but he still couldn’t find him. “Pete? Where are you, bud?”

Tony got out of the bed to go look for his baby. He really hoped that Peter wasn’t hiding from him since he had a habit of doing that, the last thing Tony wanted to do was to have to go look for Peter’s hiding spot. Although he knew Peter wouldn’t be hiding from him. The two year old didn’t have the patience to wait in a spot for more than ten seconds so he couldn’t be hiding.

“Peter?” Tony looked around the bedroom and in the bathroom but still no Peter. He even checked under the bed and in the closet but Peter was in neither of those places. “Peter?! Where are you? Daddy doesn’t want to play hide and seek.”

He walked out of the bedroom and was about to go look in Peter’s room for him since maybe he got into his toys but then he spotted that the stair gates were opened. “Fuck. No no no.”

Tony ran down the stairs, expecting to find Peter unconscious on the bottom but he still couldn’t find the toddler. “Peter?! Peter, where are you?!”

The father was starting to freak out now. He was going over every single possible as to where Peter could be and what Peter could have gotten into while he was asleep and not watching his kid. Pepper was going to give him the lecture of his life.

Tony looked around the main floor, checking all of Peter’s favorite spots to play in and just as he was about to go back upstairs to look there, he spotted the back door open and his heart dropped.

He had never ran outside so fast in his life.

All he could think of was the not yet baby proofed backyard with an open pool, a walk to the ocean and an open pathway leading to the front of the house.

Tony scanned the backyard for his kid and then ran straight for the pool, getting prepared to jump in and pull Peter’s body out but he found Peter squatting on the edge of the pool, reaching in and seconds away from falling into the pool.

Without saying anything, Tony yanked Peter back from the pool and pulled the now crying toddler into his arms.

He didn’t have it in him to scold Peter for doing what he did right now. Maybe he never will, it was his own fault for not being a responsible enough father to stop what just happened from happening.

He just misses Pepper so much. He feels like he’s been living these past few days trying to balance a million things at once but everything is quickly falling apart.

If this mornings wake up call was anything to go by.

He has no idea how much longer he can go without Pepper since he feels like he’s completely losing his mind. He misses the balance they had with everything.

Peter misses that too.

Once he got inside the house, he placed Peter into his playpen and let him cry. He had to take care of something very important first.

Clearly he didn’t have enough safety measures around the house and that needed to be taken care of right away.

He couldn’t have this happen again. Maybe next time he would be too late and instead of finding Peter about to fall in, he could be pulling Peter’s lifeless body out of the water. Tony shivered at the thought. No. That was not going to be happening.

This was the wake up call that he needed.

It didn’t take him long to call up some guys to come and install a pool alarm as well as put up a fence around the pool, blocking it off from any wild toddlers.

He also ordered more child safety locks to install around the house, starting with the back door.

Once he was done, he walked over to Peter’s playpen where he was standing inside and peering over the edge but had stopped crying because he found a soother to calm himself down with. Tony didn’t hesitate to reach into the playpen and pick up his child, hugging him close to his body and being incredibly grateful that he arrived just in time.

“Shh, it’s okay now, Pete. You’re okay.” Tony was trying to calm himself down more than Peter. He knew Peter had no idea what was going on and was simply crying because he sensed Tony’s stress so Tony needed to reassure himself that his kid was in fact okay.

He walked into the living room with his toddler and laid him on the couch, pulling off his pyjamas and making quick process of changing his diaper and setting him back onto his lap.

“Mama. Mama.” Peter cried out for Pepper who wasn’t there. She was still halfway around the country and wasn’t coming back home just yet. His heart broke for his child.

“I know. I miss her too. She’ll be home soon.” Tony pressed a kiss onto the top of Peter’s head and smiled, despite the situation.

He was really getting a second chance to raise Peter and giving the boy the life he always deserved. A life filled with nothing but love and two parents who loved him more than it was possible, more than anything they have ever loved before.

Tony looked at Peter and could still see his teenage self in him. Not so much his personality anymore but those two big brown eyes that held so much magic in them, his brown curly baby hair and those chubby cheeks that never seemed to disappear even throughout the beginning of his teenage years.

He loved that he was the one who was going to raise Peter.

It was what was always meant to be. Peter deserved to live a life without the hardships of losing both his parents, Uncle and later on, Aunt. He wasn’t going to have to suffer through that this time around.

Tony wasn’t going to let it happen.

He pulled out his phone, missing one more person in this beautiful family of his. “How about we give mommy a call and tell her how much we miss her and that she has to come home now?”

Peter simply nodded his head and sucked on his pacifier.

Standing up, Tony placed Peter on his hip but decided to grab a bottle for Peter before calling Pepper, since Peter hadn’t had breakfast today yet.

After they were back on the couch, Peter sat comfortably on Tony’s lap, getting ready to see his mommy. Tony positioned the phone up and waited for Pepper to answer which was right on the second ring.

“I was just about to call you.” Pepper said as soon as the FaceTime connected. She smiled widely at Peter who was slapping his knees in his excitement. “Hi Peter. Are you being good for daddy?”

Tony shook his head. “We had a bit of a scare this morning. Yesterday I was exhausted and so I guess I forgot to lock up the baby gates on the stairs so this morning he woke up and went downstairs, somehow got him outside and I found him about to fall into the pool.”

Tony didn’t want to tell her, especially with Pepper being thousands of miles away but he had to, especially when she came home and saw the fence that was going up around the pool.

“Oh my god. Tony, where were you?” Pepper asked, fear in her tone.

“I was sleeping. I didn’t even know he could get off the bed himself, Pepper.” Tony dreaded the past few hours so much but maybe they were supposed to happen so they were better prepared for anything else that might happen in the future. “I called a company to come and put a fence up around the pool. They’re actually here right now so at least we have that now.”

Pepper nodded. “Just… keep an eye on him. I know it was an accident but… it’s a huge eye opener.”

Tony couldn’t agree more. “I know. So… how’s New York? Just two more days and then you’re coming home to us. Pete keeps asking for you.”

“Aww, I’ll be home soon, Peter. But… actually, the reason why I was going to call you is because I have some bad news.”

Tony shook his head. He already knew what this was going to be about and he didn’t want to hear it. “No. Don’t say it. Just come back.”

“Tony,” Pepper sighed. “I’m sorry. More stuff came up so I need to spend a few more days in New York. I’m sorry.”

“How many days is a few days?”

“Five.” Pepper answered. Tony hated that. He couldn’t go another five days. It was just too much. “I’m sorry. I can’t say no because then I’ll just have to come back for those five days anyways so I might as well get it over with now.”

“No. Just say no. I own the company, Pepper. And I’m saying no. Just come back, Peter misses you and I miss our family.” Tony admitted. He didn’t like being so vulnerable with his emotions but ever since Peter came into his life, he started opening up with himself more. He was still working on it.

“This was our agreement, Tony. You didn’t want to work anymore but I still want to. This is just a part of what we decided together.” Pepper was making sense but Tony wasn’t okay with that. He knew he agreed to it but for how long?

Pepper was constantly needed at the company, whether that be in New York or Malibu. She was always going to be needed.

“I know, but until we get more settled, Peter needs his mom here too. Not just his dad.” Tony sighed in frustration. He wanted to give Peter the world. “I just… I want Peter to have two parents in his life. A dad and a mom and that's you, Pep. It’s time to come home.”

Pepper was silent for a few seconds as she stared at Peter on his lap. Tony didn’t want to give her an ultimatum but that’s exactly what he was doing. She can’t give 100% to two things at once so it was time that she made a choice what was more important to her; family or work?

“Alright, Tony. I’ll take the first flight out this evening and I’ll be home before the sun sets tonight.” Pepper promised him and he couldn’t be more happy.

“Yay! Hear that, Petey? Mommy’s coming home to us tonight.” Tony made Peter’s arms cheer up in the air but Peter was already cheering himself and trying to reach for the phone to grab Pepper.

“Mama come home.” Peter’s bottle rolled off his lap as he tried to grab the phone so Tony reached forward to grab it for him. Peter held the phone and looked down at Pepper’s face through the screen, getting drool all over it in the process.

“Hi baby. I’ll see you and daddy so soon. Mommy loves you. Bye, baby.” Pepper sent air kisses to the two of them before hanging up, but as soon as her face was gone from the screen, Peter started to cry, leaving Tony to comfort him.

“Aw, it’s okay, baby boy. Shh, mommy’s coming home tonight and then we can see her.” Tony wiped his phone off and put it in his pocket then stood with Peter in his arms to get him some breakfast. He knew a routine was extremely important for Peter but it was hard with their life.

It was also incredibly harder without Pepper with him.

He missed her. Seeing Peter miss her was also hard to watch since he couldn’t give Peter what he wanted and it was hard to explain to the toddler that she would be coming home later on.

It was also nice to get to witness the two of them bonding together and the fact that Peter missed Pepper so much was a good thing.

Tony didn’t want her to leave again but he knew it was inevitable. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, he’s always known that but was always too immature and partying around to really know it.

Now he did.

Seeing Peter and Pepper together, told him everything he needed to know.

He was going to ask Pepper to marry him.