When It’s Meant To Be

Tony had it all planned out.

He set up the proposal quite quickly but he was Tony Stark, he could make anything happen with the snap of his fingers.

Peter had a huge part in it as well, of course he did. He even picked out the flowers that were going to be used which were Daisys but Tony added in rose petals to make a pathway leading from the front yard all the way through the house and down at the beach where Tony and Peter were going to be waiting.

The plan was for Pepper to drive back from the airport to the house, Tony was going to call her just before she landed to tell her a little white lie saying that Peter was being impossible so he couldn’t come pick her up but he’ll see her soon.

Then, once she got home, she would see the trail of rose petals and lit candles leading from the driveway, into the house then all the way into the backyard and down the path to the beach. Tony had it all planned out and ready to go.

It looked amazing and even the photographer that was going to be waiting and taking pictures thought that it looked beautiful.

Tony was dressed in a suit, feeling extremely nervous.

He knew Pepper was going to say yes, of course she would but he couldn’t help but still feel incredibly nervous.

“Lie down so I can put your diaper on and get you dressed.” Tony ordered Peter, gently hitting him on the head with a clean diaper. He had given Peter a bath so he was freshly smelling and ready for the proposal.

Timing was key.

He just called Pepper and told her that he couldn’t come pick her up, meaning he had less than thirty minutes to get Peter dressed and to get outside and wait for her.

The problem was that if they went out too early, Peter would start planning in the sand and eventually wanting to go into the ocean so he had to make sure they went out at the perfect time.

Peter stood up on the bed and started dancing, completely oblivious as to what was about to happen. “Petey, we have to be quick because mommy’s going to be here soon and we have to be on the beach when she comes.”

“Mama come?” Peter asked, squatting down and picking up his pacifier to put in his mouth.

“Yeah, so let’s get you dressed.” Tony took that opportunity to pick Peter up and lay him on his back to put a diaper on him and then get him dressed into a white dress shirt with little navy blue boats on it and navy blue shorts with suspenders to hold them up along with a navy blue bow tie to tie the whole outfit together.

Once he was dressed, Tony thought that he looked adorable. He couldn’t stop himself from snapping a few of his own pictures of his kid and picking him up to press a bunch of kisses onto his face. “You’re so handsome, my little man.”

Peter giggled, pushing Tony’s face away from him and turning his neck. “Dada!”

After combing Peter’s curls back, Tony began walking down the stairs and headed outside.

The thing was, he already bought a ring for Pepper. A long time ago. A week after they started dating. He just knew that they were meant to be together, just like him and Peter were.

He felt his hands starting to sweat, he never got nervous to even go and talk on stage in front of thousands of people so this was something else.

Once they got to the pathway, leading down to the beach, he placed Peter on his feet, smiling at his toddler who immediately started to pick up the rose petals and play with them.

“Come on, Petey. Mommy’s almost here and we have to get into position.” He took Peter’s hand and started walking down the beach, towards the water where there was a bunch of Daisy’s laid out in the shape of a heart; Peter’s idea.

Peter took off running for the flowers and picked one up, handing it to Tony after looking at it. “For daddy.”

“Thanks baby.” Tony took the flower from him and held it in his hands to stop them from shaking. He was so nervous but having Peter with him was helping to calm him down. Like Peter always did for him.

The sun was starting to set which made the beach lighting a golden colour, adding to the romance of the whole scene. He looked down at Peter, seeing him put sand in his mouth so he quickly leaned down and brushed the sand out of his mouth and hands. “Don’t eat the sand, Petey.”

Peter looked over and spotted Peppe walking down the beach. “Mama!” He screamed and stood up to race over to her.

Tony looked over at her and stood up. He felt his heart speed up at seeing her beautiful face, even from a distance. She was dressed in a thin white dress that looked so simple and gorgeous. His heart began to beat faster with all the emotions he was feeling.

Pepper couldn’t believe her eyes. She had no idea what was happening. Once Peter reached her, after tripping in the sand a few times, she picked her boy up and pressed a bunch of kisses to his face. “Hi baby. Mommy missed you so much. What’s all this?”

Peter pointed towards Tony. “Daddy.”

“Yeah, Peter.” Pepper placed Peter back on his feet and continued walking over to Tony, having no idea what he was up to. “Hey.”

Tony smiled. “Hi.” He didn’t know where to start. His mind was completely blank now. He was aware that Peter was standing by his feet and eating sand again but he wasn’t going to stop him this time, mostly because his mind was focused on one thing. And that was the fact that he was in love with the woman standing in front of him.

He reached out to hold onto her hands, feeling the ring box poking out of his back pocket. “Pepper, I can’t wait anymore. I have loved you since the day I met you and I will always love you. Seeing you with Peter, and seeing how much he loves you and wants you to be around, I just, it’s my favourite thing to watch and it makes me fall in love with you even more. So,”

Tony let go of her hands and reached into his back pocket before kneeling down on one knee. “Pepper, will you marry me?”

Pepper gasped, wiping her hands over her eyes before nodding her head aggressively, struggling to get the words out. “Yes. Yes! Yes, I will! Oh my gosh.”

Tony immediately placed the ring on her finger then stood up to hug Pepper, lifting her up in the air and pressing a deep kiss on her lips. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” Pepper smiled into their kiss and just as Tony was about to go in for another one, Peter was screaming below them, demanding some of the attention that he was being left out of. “Oh, Peter.” Pepper laughed.

Tony leaned down and picked Peter up, setting him on his hip so he was between the two of them. “She said yes, Peter!” Tony cheered, pressing kisses onto Peter’s face now.

“Yay!” The toddler copied Tony’s excitement and started to clap his hands, the best way a two year old could.

“Now we have a wedding to plan.” Pepper said, pressing kisses onto Tony’s lips and Peter’s chubby cheeks.

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Two weeks later, the wedding was in process.

Neither Tony or Pepper wanted a long engagement. They didn’t want to be engaged for longer than a few weeks since they just wanted to be married.

It was extremely difficult, planning a wedding along with raising a toddler who was starting to get potty trained.

It was Pepper’s idea. Tony wanted to wait at least another year before they moved onto big boy underwear but Pepper had said that it was best to start now as it was going to take some time to get Peter potty trained since they had absolutely no idea what they were doing.

They had been at it for a total of two days but Tony was ready to give up and try again in a year. He didn’t necessarily mind the diapers that much. He also wasn’t ready for his kid to grow up just yet.

Although it had to be done. So they bought Peter a tiny potty training potty that was white and green and had a blue crown on the lid. It was cute so Tony expected it to work but he was so wrong.

“Just try and sit on the potty, Pete.” Tony tried. He had taken Peter’s diaper off after his nap and tried to sit him on the potty but Peter screamed and started crying as if it was the end of the world.

“No! Di’per.” Peter pointed weakly at the box sitting next to the couch in the living room but Tony tried not to give in. He picked Peter up again and sat him on the potty only for Peter to kick it away while he screamed and trashed in Tony’s arms. “No! Nooo! Dada!”

Tony let go of Peter and sat on the ground defeatedly while Peter laid down on the floor next to him and cried. He didn’t know what to do because he knew that Peter wasn’t ready for it yet and neither was he.

The time would come when the time came.

“Pete, just try because mommy wants you to try.” Tony didn’t know if that was the way to do it but he would see what happened.

“No! Wan’ di’per!” Peter sat himself up so he could stand then he ran off towards the box, pulled out a diaper and ran back to Tony to hand it to him. “‘Dis.”

With a sigh, Tony went to take the diaper to put it on Peter but Pepper was walking over to them. “How’s it going with the potty training?”

Tony gestured to Peter because that said it all. “What do you think? He’s not ready, Pepper. I don’t care what all the parenting books say. He’s not going to be potty trained yet.”

Pepper put her laptop on the kitchen table then walked over to them, picked Peter up and sat him on the potty. “Peter, listen to daddy. You’re a big boy so you have to use the potty now.”

That only got Peter to cry louder. “No! Noooo!” He screamed and threw himself onto the ground, kicking anyone who tried to get close to him. “Di’per.” He pointed at the diaper in Tony’s hands so Pepper was grabbing it from Tony and standing up straighter.

“No diapers. I have to go make some more calls for the wedding, Tony, so I’m gonna go up to our room for a bit.” Pepper said, leaving after that with the diaper in her hand.

Tony watched her leave. He then looked down at Peter and felt his heart break for his kid, he hated seeing him upset but he knew that this wasn’t the time for them. It was way too early because they were still adjusting to their new life together.

With a sigh, Tony held his arms out for Peter. “No more potty training. Let’s go put a diaper on you, okay?” Peter was immediately reaching his arms up and quieting his cries so Tony stood up and lifted Peter into his hip to go tell Pepper the news.

He walked upstairs and into his bedroom, not caring if Pepper was busy. This was way more important. “Pep, we’re not doing this right now. I told you from the start, Peter isn’t ready and we’re not ready so I’m throwing the potty out. We don’t need it.”

Pepper put her pen down and looked over at them sadly. “I know. I just didn’t want him to be behind but you’re right. He’s not ready yet.”

Tony was glad she agreed. Just as he was about to turn and leave, he felt a warmth spread across his side and immediately pulled Peter away from him. “Oh fu- no. He just peed on me.”

That had both Pepper and Peter laughing at him. If that was any indication that Peter was telling them he wasn’t ready yet, then it was the most Peter way of doing things.

“Alright. Let’s go get a diaper on you.” Tony placed Peter on the bed to take his shirt off then lifted Peter back onto his hip to carry him downstairs. “Do you wanna play with your toys after, Pete?”

Peter nodded his head. “Yeah, da-big one ‘dare, daddy.”

Tony didn’t know what he was saying but he understood what he meant. Peter wanted to play with the big train set in the backyard. So he sat down on the floor and laid Peter out in front of him, grabbing a diaper out of the box and putting it on a happy Peter.

Tony felt a lot better that Peter had a diaper on. He wasn’t ready for the potty training phase yet and neither was Peter, Pepper was the only one who seemed to want it but it was two against one so the boys won.

He was okay with waiting, he was in no rush at all and wanted everyone to be ready for potty training when the time did come.

They had bigger things to plan such as the wedding.

Tony was a part of the whole wedding planning process but not as much as Pepper was. In order for them to both be fully involved, they would need to hire someone to watch Peter and Tony didn’t want that.

He wasn’t working and had no excuse to not watch Peter. He didn’t want to be like Howard and handed his son off to the nearest person to look after his kid, no, he planned on being there 100% for Peter.

Well, 99%. He wanted to give 1% to Pepper.

Tony sat down on the grass and pushed a train in the grass, towards Peter, smiling at his baby’s smiley face looking at him. “Do you want your train, Petey?”

Peter fell onto his knees and started crawling towards him, reaching out for the train to play with. Tony let his chubby hands grab onto the train but instead of playing with it, Peter put it straight into his mouth and started to suck on it so Tony reached into his pocket to pull out a pacifier and replace it with that instead.

“Don’t put the train in your mouth, Pete. It’s dirty.” Tony told him, watching Peter stand up to run away from him with the train in his hand. Tony stood up to go follow him, feeling a lot better that there wasn’t anywhere where Peter could possibly go since he had the whole backyard baby proofed.

It looked quite ugly with all the gates and fences up but Tony didn’t care because it meant that Peter was safe. If the toddler somehow managed to escape into the backyard without adult supervision, Tony wanted to know that there was nowhere Peter could get to that would result in him getting injured or worse.

“What are you boys getting up to?”

Both Tony and Peter turned their heads to see Pepper walking out of the house with a sippy cup in one hand and a bottle of water in the other.

Peter crawled towards her. “Mama! Mama!”

She picked the toddler up and set him on her hip, taking out his pacifier and handing him a sippy cup. “Hi Petey. Mommy’s coming to see what you boys are doing.”

Tony stood up, taking the water bottle from her hand and thanking her by pressing a kiss onto her lips. “Just waiting for you. Wanna head down to the beach soon?”

Pepper deepened the kiss then pulled away. “I’d love to. I think we should celebrate.”

He raised his eyebrows at her. “Oh yeah? And what are we celebrating?”

She walked away from him, heading towards the ocean. “We’re celebrating the fact that we’re going to get married this month.” She paused to see Tony’s reaction. “It’s all set and ready to go. All our friends are flying in for the end of the month and everything is booked and ready.”

Tony pulled her in for a hug, kissing both of them. “Oh my god. I’m so happy right now. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy in my whole life. Actually, I can count the number of times I’ve been this happy before.”

She looked up at him, waiting for an answer.

“The day I met you, and the day I met Peter. And this moment right now because I love you so much and I’m so excited for our life together.” Tony could practically feel his stomach swimming with butterflies and he wasn’t even married yet. He was going to be a puddle on the floor for his wedding day.

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Their wedding day came extremely fast.

Tony didn’t want to stress about anything, he was trying not to stress anything but it was kinda hard when he was getting married and his flower boy, otherwise known as his son, had the case of the poops.

He was stressed. And it wasn’t funny… no matter how much Rhodey and Happy were laughing at him.

“C’mon. Hand me more wipes. This isn’t funny.” Tony held Peter’s legs up in the air, trying so hard to wipe him clean while also not getting any poop on Peter’s suit or even worse, his suit.

Happy was sitting in the furthest corner of the room and plugging his nose as if it was the worst smell in the world. Tony rolled his eyes at him and looked up at Rhodey for help.

“Hey, I’m the cool Uncle. Wiping butts isn’t part of my job description.” Rhodey handed him a clean diaper but that was it.

Tony groaned. They had to put the wedding on pause for this. And no one was helping him.

“You guys are the worst.” Tony tried to open the package of wipes with one hand but Peter was rolling over. “No, Peter. Rhodey, just hold his legs up so I can do this.”

Rhodey hesitantly grabbed onto Peter’s legs to let Tony finish cleaning him up and getting a fresh diaper on him then getting his tiny suit pants on. They were blue with white stripes and the dress shirt was an off pink with a matching blue vest and a tiny black bow tie.

Tony wanted to melt at the sight.

He knew his baby wouldn’t stay clean long enough so he hoped so badly that he made it to the pictures at the end. If not, he would be okay with that since the photographers that they hired would be getting all the pictures for them.

Happy stood up and patted Tony on the back. “Congratulations, Tony. I’m proud of you. You came a long way.”

Tony didn’t want to get emotional but Peter made him extra soft. “Thanks.”

Rhodey pulled him in for a one sided hug then pulled away to squeeze Peter’s cheeks. “Congrats, man. You know I love you and you’re gonna be an amazing husband but not as good as you are a father. That’s for sure.”

Tony rolled his eyes at his best friend but he was right. Tony would never do anything better than father Peter.

“Alright. Thanks.” He lifted Peter up to hold him in front of him so they were face to face. “Are you ready? I know you’re gonna steal the show.”

Peter gave a loud squeal and then they were on their way.

Tony had stood in front of millions of people before but he’s never once felt nervous. Now, he didn’t know if it was nervous or excitement but he was feeling all sorts of emotions.

It wasn’t until he saw Peter at the end of the aisle in his tiny suit, his curly hair gelled back but still showing his curls and him holding a tiny basket full of rose petals did he start to feel the tears burn his eyes. Happy tears.

Someone gently pushed Peter to start walking so he slowly started walking down the aisle while the audience cooed at him.

Peter stopped walking and squatted down to reach into the basket then pulled out some petals, letting them go and standing back up.

Tony waved to him when Peter looked up at him which had Peter running down the aisle towards him. “Daddy! Dada!”

He only stopped when he tripped over the basket and fell onto his face, causing the audience to gasp and one of Peppers friends picked him back up before sitting back down.

Peter dumped the rest of the rose petals out then slowly walked the rest of the way to the end of the row but he dropped the now empty basket and got onto his hands and knees to start crawling up the steps so Pepper’s mom had to stand up to pick the toddler up and sit him on her lap.

Tony loved watching his boy so much but the music started playing so his attention was drawn to the end of the aisle where Pepper was.

She was dressed in a long, beautiful white dress that made it look like she was floating as she walked towards him.

In that moment, it was as if it was just him and Pepper in the whole world and that was all that mattered in that moment.

He couldn’t believe that he was going to be marrying the most gorgeous woman that he’s ever laid his eyes on and raise their son together.

From the moment she walked in front of him to the moment they said I do and kissed, he knew his life was just beginning and he couldn’t wait to get to spend the rest of it with his two P’s. Pepper and Peter.

He took Pepper’s hand and walked down the aisle with her, trying not to get rice in his eyes that everyone was throwing at them. He loved hearing the cheers because he knew it was in celebration for his new life.

Tony felt like he was walking on a cloud the whole night.

He slow danced with Pepper to their song Unchained Melody by The Righteous Brothers. A song that meant so much more to them than the music everyone was hearing. It was a song that had played on a jukebox in an old diner they went to and had their first slow dance to.

Tony loved her. He loved dancing with Pepper but now he had a little man to dance with because Peter was running up to them and reaching his arms up, demanding to be picked up.

Tony picked his kid up and pressed a kiss to his face, loving his outfit change. Pepper’s mom, which was technically Peter’s grandma now, must have changed him. He was dressed in a white bodysuit with the words my parents just got married on the front and tiny black dress shoes to pull the whole outfit together.

“I’m so happy for you two.” Pepper’s mom, Alice had said. Pressing a kiss to their cheeks.

“Thanks mom.” Pepper hugged her back and Tony did the same. “Did you change Peter?”

Alice smiled and reached out to squeeze the chubby baby fat on Peter’s legs. “I did. A grandma has to spoil her grandson. Especially when he’s so cute.”

Tony was so grateful Peter had so many people in his corner. With him being his main support system and the person who would always love Peter the most.

“Peter!”

Tony turned his head to see Ned walking towards them, dressed in his own suit and staring right at Peter. Tony had flown his whole family out for the wedding but mainly because it was a perfect time for Ned to finally see Peter again.

“Congratulations on your wedding Mr. Stark and Mrs… Stark? Is it okay if I call you that now? I don’t know.” Ned asked nervously, looking between the two of them.

“It’s perfect, honey. Did you want to say hi to Peter?” Pepper asked, pulling the pacifier from Peter’s mouth but he was whining and reaching for it again so she placed it back in for him.

Ned stared at Peter, looking him up and down on Tony’s arms. “He’s so… chubby. He has leg rolls. I’m sorry, it’s just so weird to see him like this because you know, before he was so… skinny. But now he’s a baby.”

Tony couldn’t help but chuckle. He didn’t think Peter remembered Ned but Ned sure did miss Peter. “Would you like to hold him? You can go play with him for a bit if you want.”

Ned eagerly held his arms out for the two year old. “Yes please. I just saw him walking down the aisle but it’s still so hard to believe it’s really him.” Ned held his arms out for his best friend and held him awkwardly in his arms. “Hi Peter. It’s Ned. Your best friend. Do you remember me?”

Peter tried to turn his head to look at him. “Baba! ‘Dare!”

Ned looked at Tony for help deciphering what Peter just said. “He wants his bottle. You can give it to him if you want? Maybe spend some time with him.”

Ned looked like he wanted to give Peter back to Tony but he nodded and reached out for the bottle that Pepper grabbed from the diaper bag and handed to him. There was an area where some of the babies were playing so Ned walked over there and sat down with Peter on his lap while Tony and Pepper got some time together to dance some more.

Ned took the pacifier from him and placed the bottle in Peter’s mouth, holding it there for him to drink from. “This is so weird. If only your teenage self could see this right now.” Ned laughed, looking down at Peter’s face and still seeing the similarities between toddler Peter and teenage Peter.

“I’m happy for you, man. Uh… baby? Toddler? Just… I know you’re happy and I know Mr. and Mrs. Stark loves you so much so if I had to lose my best friend in the process… that’s okay.” Ned moved the bottle out of Peter’s mouth but the toddler was reaching for it again. “Even if I am feeding you milk from a bottle right now. Just don’t expect me to change your diapers, because I won’t do it.”

Tony chuckled. “He’s got me for that. Thanks for feeding him but I have it from here, kid.”

Ned looked both amazed and surprised to see him. “Oh. Yeah, here. I think he’s still thirsty.”

Tony took Peter from Ned’s arms and held him with one arm, letting Peter hold the bottle himself. “Thanks, kid. I know Pete really appreciates you feeding him. Even if it was only for a few minutes.”

Ned handed Tony the pacifier. “Thanks, Uh, for letting me.”

Both Tony and Pepper said their goodbyes to Ned and walked away together hand in hand, enjoying being together with Peter quietly sucking away at his bottle.

“I love you so much, Pep. This was… definitely up there with one of the happiest moments of my life.” Tony admitted, looking down at Peter who was looking up at him with big brown eyes. “Especially because we got to do this with our boy.”

Pepper stopped walking to press her lips onto Tony’s lips. “I love you two so much. I’m so excited to start our life together.”