The world is better with me in it
“I wan’ go to the beach, daddy.” Peter chased after Tony and tugged on his pant leg, looking up at his dad with his big brown eyes.
Tony felt Peter at his feet but the house was a disaster mess. Pepper was out for a girls night so it left Tony to take care of their three year old son and clean the whole house.
Cleaning the house with a toddler running around waa like brushing your teeth while eating Oreos.
“Give me an hour, Pete. Go watch Peppa Pig or play with your trains.” Tony told his son and grabbed all the sippy cups and bottles to toss them into the sink so he could wash later.
Peter tugged more aggressively on his pant leg. “No, daddy! I wan’ go beach now.”
“Peter, look how messy the house is. I have to clean it because if mommy comes home and sees that daddy didn’t clean up, I’m gonna be in trouble.” Tony grabbed Peter’s hand to gently guide him out of the kitchen but Peter turned back to look at him.
“And-and ‘dens you’re goin’ in the naughty spot?” The toddler asked, appearing right next to Tony once again.
Tony chuckled. He loved Peter’s personality that was showing more and more everyday. “Exactly. So go entertain yourself so I can get the house clean.”
The billionaire was well aware that he wasn’t going to be able to clean the whole house in time for Pepper to get home but he wanted to at least make it look like he did something.
There were toys, bottles, dirty laundry and random junk scattered all around the house. It looked exactly what you would expect a house to look like with a three year old running it since that’s what was happening in the Stark household.
Tony kept glancing over in the living room, watching Peter chew on something as he put some dishes in the dishwasher but then it hit him, he didn’t give anything to Peter to eat.
“What’re you eating?” Tony asked, very suspiciously as he quickly made his way over to Peter but Peter was grinning and jumping off the couch to run away from Tony.
Tony knew all of Peter’s little tricks so he went the other way and trapped Peter so he could grab onto his arm and pick him up. “Hey. What’s in your mouth? Open.”
Peter tried his best to turn his face away from Tony and squirm in his arms but Tony was stronger. “Let me see.” He forced Peter’s mouth open and saw a piece of broken plastic so he grabbed it out of Peter’s mouth. “This is not food. You don’t put this in your mouth.”
Peter wasn’t listening to him. He leaned back in Tony’s arms so he was bent over and giggling at the position. Tony rolled his eyes. “Okay… I think I’m done cleaning now.”
It was almost impossible to clean with Peter running around and he didn’t fit in his bouncer anymore so Tony was out of options.
He could put Peter in his playpen or his crib but he tried to stay away from doing those things unless it was absolutely necessary and it almost never was.
Peter started kicking his legs, a tell tale sign that he wanted to be placed on his feet so he could run off somewhere he’s not supposed to go and make Tony chase after him.
It was fine, Tony got the exercise he needed without having to spend hours in a gym.
“Come hold daddy’s hand and we’ll go upstairs to change into your bathing suit.” Tony held his hand out for his three year old as he walked towards the bottom of the stairs. Peter stopped and turned to look at him, his big doe eyes staring up at Tony in thought.
Tony eyed him. He found that every stage was his new favourite stage in Peter’s life but he found that this stage was exceedingly difficult.
Peter was old enough to understand right from wrong for the most part but he was also at a testing limits stage and liked to go out of his way to do something he wasn’t supposed to do, just to see Tony’s and Pepper’s reaction.
Tony always thought Pepper would be the more strict and disciplining parent but it was the other way around. He was the one who was strict and did mostly all of the timeouts while Peter could get away with more when with his mommy.
Maybe it was because Tony was with Peter more, he was with Peter about twenty three hours of the day almost every single day while Pepper worked on and off.
Tony loved it. It drove him crazy at times but he loved it and wouldn’t change being a father for the world. He now believed that he was put on this earth just to be Peter’s dad.
He was more than okay with that.
Now, though, he was having a stare off with Peter.
“I’m not coming to get you so you can hold daddy’s hand and we’ll go change or we’ll stay here and be bored. Your choice.” Tony waited. It was important for him to follow through with his word. Otherwise Peter would think he could get away with everything.
Tony hated putting Peter in timeout though.
They only recently started doing it. Tony tried once when Peter was only two years old and he practically cried with Peter the whole time. Back then, Peter could barely talk so he didn’t see how he would understand punishments.
As soon as Peter was able to decipher right from wrong and say yes or no to things he wanted or didn’t want, that’s when the timeouts started.
He didn’t want to give any today so thankfully Peter ran towards him and reached up for his hand. Tony fell in love with the way Peter’s tiny fingers wrapped perfectly around his hand.
“We goin’ to the beach, daddy.” Peter said, taking one step at a time while holding onto Tony’s hand.
“We are. Do you wanna pick your bathing suit?” Tony asked him. It usually took Peter hours to decide what he wanted to wear during the day but he always went for the same bathing suit.
Peter gave a scarp nod. “Yeah, dada. My sharks one.”
Tony opened the baby gate at the top of the stairs and helped Peter get up the last step before he was shutting it behind him.
His and Pepper’s bedroom was basically Peter’s room as well since he slept between them every night and only went into his bedroom to get dressed… most of the time.
Now, Peter was running into Tony’s bedroom and digging in the laundry basket to try and find his bathing suit. When he couldn’t find it, he turned to look up at Tony. “Daddy, where it go? I can’ fin’ it.”
Tony bent down and pulled out the bathing suit that was right in front of Peter. He dangled it in his toddlers face and watched Peter’s toothy grin light up as he reached for it. He lifted his arms up so Tony could help him get undressed and into his bathing suit.
Tony quickly pulled his shirt off and sat down on the carpet to get Peter’s pants and diaper off. “Is super sunny out today so you gotta wear your hat.”
Peter shook his head. “No hat. I-I’d wear it last time.”
“You did wear it last time because it was sunny out so you gotta wear it now too.” Tony took off Peter’s diaper and rolled it up to put off to the side for now.
Peter went to run away but Tony grabbed his wrist so he didn’t go anywhere. “Can you go grab the sunscreen? It’s on the chair there.”
Peter turned to look where Tony was pointing and ran to grab the bottle as Tony groaned to reach across the floor where the box of swim diapers were. “Do you want Nemo or Dory?” He asked, letting Peter make a choice.
He loved watching Peter grow older and getting to teach him new things. Even something as simple as Peter making his own simple choices, Tony could see his little brain working and he loved it so much.
He just wished time wasn’t moving so fast.
One minute Peter was bouncing in his toy jumper and the next he was barely fitting in it. Tony knew he had to get rid of it, Peter didn’t need it anymore but he hated the thought of his not growing up so fast. It scared him.
Tony was once again pulled from his thoughts as Peter yanked the Dory bathing suit from his hands and started to put it on so Tony stopped him. “Wait. Don’t get too excited yet, Pete, I still have to put your sunscreen and swim pull-up on.”
Peter stomped his feet on the spot, getting impatient. “Hurry, daddy. I wan’ go swimmin’!”
“We will. Can you stand still so I can apply it on your body?” Tony always had Pepper apply the sunscreen since he always felt like he missed a spot and because she somehow managed to keep Peter still. Unlike now how Peter wanted to be anywhere but there.
“It’s all ‘da s’imy.” Peter smacked his arm and giggled when it made a funny noise. Tony rolled his eyes fondly at his kid so he could grab the pull-up and hold it out for Peter.
“Step in.” Peter did as he was told and soon, the two of them were ready to head outside and down to the beach.
Even though they’ve been to the beach thousands of times in the last year, Tony still gets a nagging, overprotective feeling when he takes Peter.
He’s either terrified of the ocean sucking Peter under or someone walking up to his baby and taking him or hurting him.
So when he’s at the beach, he never fully relaxes. No matter how hard he tries.
That’s okay though, he’d rather him be a paranoid freak if it meant Peter staying safe. He would do anything if it meant Peter staring safe. Because that’s all that mattered at the end of the day.
Peter sat himself down in the sand and started to dig with his shovels, glancing up at Tony every so often to make sure his dad was still sitting there.
Tony watched Peter. He loved watching him but lately, Peter’s noticed his staring and often comments on it. When he does, it gives Tony a flashback to teenage Peter because teenage Peter always commented on Tony’s staring.
He was allowed to stare. Peter was his kid.
After a few minutes of them playing on the sand, Peter was standing up and pointing towards the ocean. Peter knew he wasn’t allowed to even go near the ocean without an adult with him.
Tony had drilled it into his mind after he looked out the kitchen window one day and saw Peter making a mad dash towards the waves. To this day, he still had no idea how Peter managed to get so far without anyone noticing but he knew he was to blame.
He still had to make Peter understand that that was not tolerated at all.
“Ocean, dada.” Peter pointed again, more desperately this time.
Tony was getting quite bored of sitting in the sand so he stood up and grabbed ahold of Peter’s tiny hand to let the kid lead him towards the waves.
Peter let go of Tony’s hand, feeling safe and brave enough to walk into the water up to his ankles and let the waves crash up against his feet.
Every time the water hit, Peter would squeal loudly and clap his hands excitedly, turning around to see if Tony was watching him.
“I see you, baby, jump again.” Tony encouraged Peter.
Him and Pepper tried to teach Peter how to swim over the past year but they struggled with it every time. Their plan was to put him in swimming lessons when he’s potty trained and hopefully he could make some friends as well.
The only friends that Peter had lived all the way back in New York and that wasn’t where his life was anymore. Sure they could hang out once or twice a year but you can’t make enough memories with only two visits a year.
Peter needed to make friends where they lived.
Peter fell onto his butt and started to smack the water. “Come sit, daddy. I wan’ you sit with me.”
Tony didn’t hesitate to join his kid in the water. Before he even fully sat down, Peter was jumping onto his lap and grabbing up at him. “Daddy, when mommy come home? I-I wan’ to play with her at beach, dada.”
Tony ran a hand through Peter’s long curls. He missed Pepper too and as often as she had to leave, they still never got used to it. It was a difficult challenge and sometimes he felt like a single father raising Peter by himself but that was what him and Pepper agreed to.
“I miss her too but she’ll be home in a few days. Then we can tell her all the fun we had together.” Tony didn’t want Peter to be upset and thankfully Peter’s mood could change in 0.3 seconds at any given moment.
Tony stood up with Peter in his arms and walked further out into the ocean until he was at his waistline. “Wait for a wave to come.”
When a wave came, Tony lifted Peter above the water, laughing when he heard Peter’s giggles escape his mouth. Peter didn’t even seem phased as the salt water went over his head after Tony was a bit too late to pull him above the wave.
They weren’t that far out but Tony learned that sometimes, a wave would come in and it would go over even Tony’s head sometimes. At first, Peter would cry and demand to be taken out of the water but he found that he didn’t mind so much now. For the most part.
“Go ‘gin, daddy!” Peter squealed, wanting Tony to let a wave crash over him one more time but Tony refused. He never knew how Peter would react to certain things and he especially didn’t want to make Peter cry.
“Do you wanna go build some sandcastles on the beach before lunch?” He asked. Peter shook his head and wiggled in Tony’s arms to be placed on the ground but since Tony was still waist deep in, he turned and started walking to the shore.
He was planning on going to sit in their beach chairs while he kept his eyes on Peter but Peter had other plans for them.
“Sit in ‘da sand, daddy. We buildin’ sandcastles!” Peter tugged on Tony’s bathing suit and almost pulled it down so Tony was quick to grab it. That was a sight he never wanted Peter to see.
“Don’t tug so hard on my bathing suit, kid. Sit your bum down and I’ll sit down after you.” He chuckled when Peter sat himself down in the sand but then a wave was crashing into them. It wasn’t enough to go over Peter’s head but it knocked him onto his back.
Tony felt his breath hitch until he saw a smile appear on Peter’s face. “You good?” He asked before sitting down next to the toddler and pulling him back a bit but that caused his bathing suit to roll off.
“Daddy, it fall off.” Peter pointed out and tried to stand up to kick them off fully. Tony let him since it was almost lunch time and nap time soon anyways.
He didn’t plan on spending too much time at the beach.
Peter on the other hand could spend a full day at the beach and still not want to leave after.
When it was time to go inside, Tony poked Peter in his pudgy stomach, earning a slap to his hand and a giggle. “Dada, noooo!”
Tony grinned. “You’re just so cute. Stay this small for me, okay?”
Peter shrugged, too concentrated on his Sandcastle to look up at him. “I can’ help it. I grow when mommy feeds me.”
“What? Daddy feeds you too.” Tony faked his hurt which had Peter looking up at him and smiling. Tony sometimes thought that Peter was so smart for his age. Maybe it was because he was technically a fifteen year old, well, now sixteen.
Peter could be in his fifteen year old mindset and pretend to be a toddler and Tony wouldn’t see any difference. His kid was incredibly smart.
“One day you’ll work with daddy in my lab, you baby genius.” Tony was sure if it, he had a lab built in their house now but he rarely goes down, maybe one day soon he’ll take Peter down there.
Peter responded by grabbing a handful of sand and shoving it in his mouth. If that was any indication that Peter wasn’t quite ready yet to go down to the lab, Tony would take it.
“Stop eating sand. That’s yuckie.” Tony moved his sandy hands away from his mouth and tried to wipe his face off but Peter was whining and turning away from him.
Tony stood up and grabbed Peter’s bathing suit then held his hand out for the toddler to take.
Peter shook his head, refusing to move so Tony bent down to pick him up and set him on his hip. “I’m not asking you. It’s lunch time and then nap time.”
Peter crossed his tiny arms over his chest and stuck out his bottom lip. “No nap.”
“Yes nap. You get cranky without one, kid.” Tony knew how Peter got. It made him lick himself in the bathroom more times than he would like to admit.
Peter absolutely despised him so things. Sitting in his car seat and going to sleep.
That’s why Tony tried to avoid going in the car as much as possible but he couldn’t avoid nap times and bedtimes, those were inevitable.
He opened the back door and placed Peter on his feet so he could lock up and get Peter washed and changed into some comfy nap time clothes. “Don’t go too far.” He warned Peter but the toddler was already running down the hallway to hide from Tony.
Tony dropped the wet swimsuit and his phone by the back door then hurried to go catch Peter.
One lesson he definitely learned the hard way from becoming a parent to a toddler that already knew how to walk, never mind run, was that he had to know where said toddler was at all times because Peter could get into anything in a matter of unsupervised minutes.
He found Peter trying to hide under a blanket in the living room so Tony grabbed his ankles and pulled him out. “Not so sneaky, kid. Stand up because it’s nap time.”
Peter tried to kick him so Tony stood up straighter and lifted Peter into his arms, setting him on his hip. “You’re not getting out of nap time today so stop.”
“Wan’ mommy, daddy. Not you.” Peter crossed his tiny arms over his chest and stuck out his bottom lip.
Tony paid no attention to Peter’s antics. He knew the toddler would do anything to get out of nap time. Including trying to throw himself down the stairs when Tony was too slow to close the baby gate.
He went into the kitchen to fill up a bottle of milk for Peter and started walking towards the stairs but Peter was making grabby hands for his bottle. “Not yet. You can have your bottle when you're in bed.”
That started the tears for the afternoon and Tony sighed.
Great.
He was quick to get upstairs and into his bathroom to start a quick bath, missing Pepper even more now that Peter was crying over nothing.
Tony was okay with the agreement that they had. He knew he had his responsibility as a full time dad and Pepper had her responsibility as a full time mom and a full time CEO of the company but she can’t give 100% to two things at once, no matter how hard she tried.
Tony didn’t want to cause any fights when she did get to come home so he didn’t say anything most of the time but it was at times like this, with Peter crying or in a bad mood and Tony left to do everything on his own. It was hard.
He placed Peter on his feet and took off his swim diaper, tossing it in the garage and starting the bath to get all the sand and dirt off Peter.
Peter leaned against the bathtub to look in while he continued to cry. Tony watched him. He knew Peter was more than ready for his nap so he didn’t understand why Peter couldn’t just go down easily. He always had to make Tony work for it.
“Time to go in.” Tony went to pick Peter up to lift him in but Peter made a run for it out of the bathroom, causing Tony to have to stand up to chase after him. For the millionth time that day. “No. Come here.”
He managed to grab the runner before Peter left the bedroom. He was not looking forward to the day Peter’s legs grew because then he wouldn’t be able to keep up with him. He just hoped that this running away phase was over by then.
Tony lifted Peter into the bath and sat down on the ground so he could stay with him like he always did during bath times. It was still one of his favourite times of the day. No matter the day they had, good or bad, Tony loved spending bath time with Peter, it was something that he knew he was going to miss the most once his kid moves out and grows old, Tony never wanted that day to come.
As soon as Tony’s phone started ringing, Peter stopped crying and looked towards the bedroom eagerly. “That’s probably mommy. Stay here.” Tony stood up to go grab his phone off the charger in the bedroom but when he turned around, Peter was trying to climb out of the bathtub. “Hey. Get back in.”
“But I wan’ say hi to mommy.” Peter stomped his foot in the bath, making water splash everywhere.
Tony answered the FaceTime call and sat down next to the tub again. “Hey, Pep. Pete wants to say hi to you before nap time.”
“Alright. Let me say hi to my baby.” A smoke broke out across both of Peter’s and Pepper’s face when Tony turned the camera around so they could see each other. “Hi baby. Are you in the bath?”
Peter nodded. “Uh huh and me daddy went Uh… beach! And ‘dare waves too, mommy!”
“Wow. I can’t wait to see my boys when mommy comes home.”
“Yeah. When yours comin’ home?” Peter asked, trying to give Pepper his best puppy dog eyes. Tony hoped it worked because he wanted his wife home.
“Tomorrow morning when you wake up I’ll be home. Then we can do whatever you want, baby.”
Peter clapped his hands excitedly. “Yay! And I wan’ daddy to play with me too. I love my daddy.”
Tony felt his heart swell. As hard as it was to be a parent at times, times like this made it all worth it.
“Say bye bye to mommy, Petey. Daddy has to help you with your bath and then nap time. Say good luck to me, mommy.” Tony teased and turned the camera towards himself but Peter wasn’t ready to say goodbye yet.
“No! I didn’t yet! Turn it back!” Peter started to cry again so Tony quickly turned the camera back to face him and it immediately silenced the cries. “Bye bye mama. I’m gon’ play with my train after bath.”
Tony shook his head. “No you’re not. You can do that after nap.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No!”
“Alright. You’re all done.” Tony hung the phone up and put it on the counter so he could grab the soap bottle and get bath time over with as soon as possible.
He was an expert at cleaning off a slimy and slippery kid so bath time was finished off in no time. He wrapped a towel around Peter and carried him into his bedroom where he grabbed a fresh diaper and a bodysuit for Peter.
Tony grabbed a random one but when he read the front, he smiled, despite the loud whining Peter was doing. It read the world is better with me in it and that was the most truest thing ever in Tony’s life.
Without Peter, he would be extremely unhappy and living a useless life. Peter completed him. Peter was his everything. He loved this boy more than anything, more than he even thought it was possible to love someone.
He laid Peter on the bed and leaned over him, trapping him between both hands. “I love you so much, baby. Daddy’s gonna stay here with you while you fall asleep. Do you want that?”
Peter wiped at his eyes and nodded. “Wan’ milk.”
Tony grabbed his bottle at the end of the bed and gave it to Peter who immediately started to drink from it. Tony grabbed the diaper rash cream and put that on Peter before securing the diaper and dressing him in his bodysuit.
He could already see Peter’s eyes start to shut which was a good thing. It meant a break for Tony and some rest for Peter.
Tony wasted no time in picking Peter up and getting him settled in the middle of the bed with RoRo and his blanket.
He told Peter he would stay until he fell asleep but he found himself right next to Peter even long after his baby fell asleep.