Chapter 3
Tony’s son was born on August 10th, 2001, at 9:57 am, and weighing 4.8 pounds. He was everything Tony could have hoped for and more.
The doctors had to take the baby to the NICU sooner than Tony would have liked, and when the bundle was drawn from Tony’s arms, he actually had to hold back a whimper of protest. He had only gotten to hold him for eight minutes.
Eight minutes and Tony had grown to love that child more than anything in his entire life.
Now, Tony sat on one of the plush armchairs set up close to Mary’s bed. She had been moved to a recovery suite -- Tony’s influence got her the upgrade -- and was told she would be discharged from the hospital the next day.
She looked exhausted, and Tony didn’t blame her one bit. Tony would be tired as well if he had just delivered the most beautiful thing in the world.
God, he couldn't believe how much he loved that child.
“So, Tony,” Mary starts, “you gotta give your baby a name.”
“What?” Richard asks sarcastically, “You weren't gonna stick with Baby Boy Stark? Oh man, I thought that really rolled.”
Tony chuckles, and he thinks about how it’s moments like this where he might be convinced that Richard doesn't totally hate him. Mary gives her fiance a playful smack.
“No, I got some picked out,” Tony says, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees.
Tony had started a list of names a week after he agreed to keep the baby. He didn’t have as many ideas for if the baby was a girl -- he did really like the name Ava, though. Ava Stark had a really nice ring to it.
His boy list had quite a few more; he thought about James, after his best friend. But Rhodey vetoed that idea as soon as he heard it. He said that only his parents called him that anymore and that hearing his nephew being called that would be slightly jarring.
Tony contemplated Edwin, after the man who practically raised him, but he already had JARVIS, and the name Edwin did feel dated.
Finally, he found the name Peter in a baby name book Pepper had bought him after flipping through the pages one late night. Tony had instantly taken a liking to it; it felt young and playful, but mature and strong at the same time.
He thought about when he was a kid and his mother would tell him the stories of Peter Pan. The boy who lived in a world of magic and pirates. The boy who never wished to grow up.
The name instantly went to the top of his list. And right now, after holding his child and growing to know him, it was the only name that seemed to fit.
“His name is Peter,” Tony says, his eyes distant. He refocuses his vision and looks to Mary and Richard as if in approval he didn’t need. “Peter Stark.”
“It’s perfect,” Mary says with a sleepy smile. “A perfect name for a perfect boy.”
----
Tony makes his way towards the NICU soon after Mary had fallen asleep. Richard had let him go with nothing more than a smile, and Tony was itching to see Peter again.
He feels nervous when faced with the door to the nursery, but with a shaky breath and the promise of seeing his son, he pushes through.
The inside of the NICU was nice and quiet, which was a refreshing change of pace from the rest of the hospital outside these four walls. Rows of incubators fill the room, each one hooked up to heart monitors and respiratory machines.
A few nurses walked the room, each one wearing a glowing smile while they tended to their work. Tony stood by the door for a couple of minutes before someone stepped into his field of vision.
“Mr. Stark, hello.”
Tony recognizes the woman as Allison, the nurse who showed him to Mary’s room a few hours before. There are circles under her eyes, but despite her obvious fatigue, she still smiles like nothing’s bothering her.
“Allison,” Tony says, “I didn’t expect to see you here. Thought you had desk duty.”
“One of the nurses called in sick. Just covering a shift. I didn’t think I'd see you here, Mr. Stark.”
Tony puts up a hand, “Please, call me, Tony.”
She nods, “Okay, Tony, I’m gonna assume that your child is in here?”
Tony nods, “Yeah, um… I guess he’s just marked under “Baby Stark””
Allison reaches for a clipboard sitting close by and scans the page till she reaches the bottom, then nods. “Of course, your son is over here.”
She leads him towards the back of the room, until they are standing over an incubator housing Peter. Someone had put a yellow hat on his head that was obviously meant for a full-sized child, so on him, it dwarfed his head and made him look even cuter than he should be.
Jesus, this should be illegal, Tony says to himself. How did he come from me?
A tiny heart monitor was taped to the baby’s chest, and a tube was connected to one of Peter’s nostrils. Tony’s heart skipped a little when he saw it.
“Is he okay?” He asked Allison, trying to keep his panic subsided.
She just nods. “He’s fine. Perfectly healthy. That’s just there to help his breathing, but in about a week, he should be okay to go.”
Tony lets out a sigh of relief. “Alright, thank you.”
“I’ll leave you alone then,” Allison pulls a chair over so Tony can sit. She starts to walk, when Tony calls after her softly.
“You can change his name.”
She spins around and gives him a quizzical smile. “Huh?”
“Where it says, Baby Stark, you can just replace the first part with Peter. That’s his name now.”
“Sure. It’s a great name,” she says and turns back to continue on wherever she was going. Tony wondered if her cheeks ever hurt from smiling.
Now that Peter was all cleaned off and dried, Tony could see the dark hair that covered the top of his head, and how it peeked out from behind the hem of his tiny hat. The hair looked incredibly soft to the touch; like the downy feathers of a duckling.
Tony just sat and stared at his son as the baby dozed. Most of him still couldn’t believe that a child like this had come from him. From a man that was still convinced he was damaged goods.
But Tony wondered how bad he could really be if he was gifted with a baby as amazing as Peter.
“Hey, Bubba,” Tony says, the nickname escaping before he could hold it back. Something in him knew that he was going to be the type of parent to give their kids many different obscure nick-names. “Hey, baby.”
There were spots on the side of the incubator for people to stick their hands through, and he knew that he was probably allowed, but a new fear blossomed. Last time he touched Peter, there had been a monstrous blanket providing a barrier between skin to skin contact.
So instead, Tony opted for placing his hand on the mattress next to Peter.
The inside of the incubator was nice and warm, and Peter’s itty-bitty arm raised up in his sleep to nuzzle his nose, small snuffling noises filling the air, and then he lowered his hand back to his side.
Tony’s heart filled with love. He watched his baby breath; his tiny chest going up and down; breaths coming in and out. In and out. In and out…
“Oh my God, Peter,” Tony whispers, despite none of the nurses paying them any mind. “You are so beautiful.”
Tony can feel himself become misty-eyed once more. His chest clenches, but he knows he needs to keep talking.
“I can’t believe how much I love you. I love you so much, and I’ve only known you for an hour.”
A few tears roll down Tony’s cheeks, and he laughs wetly to himself. He keeps his one hand next to Peter, while his other wipes at his eyes shakily.
“So much for me being heartless, huh, baby?”
Tony laughs softly once more, but then his laughter falls short when his mind brings up Howard once more.
“Petey,” Tony leans in closer because this is something he only wants his son to hear. “I promise that I will never act heartless to you, Bubba. I will always be there for you, no matter what. I will never give you anything less than love…”
He wipes at a few more tears.
“You are everything to me. I didn’t know it a few hours ago, but I know it now. You are perfect, Peter.”
The softest of sobs catch him off guard, and he tries to smother in his palm. Peter shifts slightly, and the baby’s hand moves so his little clenched fist is now sitting on top of Tony’s finger.
That was all it took for all of Tony’s emotions to break through that dam he had built up, and the tears poured freely. He tried to catch them at first, but they overpowered him, and it took all he had to keep the sobs down to a reasonable volume.
His palm clamps over his mouth, and he watches Peter sleep, completely unaffected.
“Tony?”
Tony’s head whips to the side, and he sees Allison standing close by; her expression concerned. He also realizes that they are now the only two adults in the room.
“Are you alright?” She asks.
Tony nods. He was alright. He was more than alright. He hadn’t been this happy since… God, he can’t even remember when. He hadn’t been this happy since… forever.
This child was his saving grace.
“I’m okay,” he finally said, his voice quiet. The tears have slowed down. “I’m very happy.”
Allison smiles in understanding. Without prompting, she grabs a chair of her own and sits down next to Tony. “You know,” she starts, “my son was a preemie as well. I was told that there were very slim chances of him making it post-delivery, and well… I was crushed. Before he was even born, I was head over heels in love with him. The thought of losing him was an idea worse than death.”
Tony watches her with interest but makes no move to interrupt. Peter continued to make those sleepy, snuffly noises.
“Um, so, when he was born almost five weeks early, I was certain I was gonna lose him. He was taken as soon as he was born, and it was hours before I was allowed to even meet him for the first time. They had to cover a lot of medical stuff that would take too long to explain. But when I did meet him, I realized how much of a fucking trooper my son was. He weighed three pounds and kinda looked like a raisin,” she chuckles to herself. Tony notices the mist in her eyes. “But was here, and he was surviving.”
She was quiet for a minute before Tony says softly, “So did he?”
“Did he what?”
“Did he survive.”
Allison gives a smile that would envy the sun. “Of course; I did tell you he’s a trooper, didn’t I?”
Tony smiles himself and nods shortly.
“He’s five now, and I get prouder of him every day. He’s so smart, and…” she trails off, grinning to herself as she obviously thinks about her son. “I better get back to work. You are very lucky, Tony. Your boy is doing great.”
She starts to walk away, but Tony stops her. “What’s his name? Your son... what’s his name?”
Allison pauses before saying, “Peter.”
----
Pepper finally lures Tony out of the NICU with a text promising a fresh cheeseburger and large coffee. Happy also has a new outfit for him, which Tony is starting to appreciate considering this shirt wasn’t that clean in the first place.
“Thought you’d never leave,” Pepper says when Tony walks into the waiting room.
“Oh, sorry for wanting to spend time with my son,” Tony retorts.
“No, no, that’s fine. You’re just starting to smell a little rank, Tony. When was the last time you showered?”
“Uh, yesterday.” Pepper raises an eyebrow in his direction, and he sighs. “Okay, a few days ago.”
“Figures,” Pepper gestures to the seat beside her. There is a paper bag adorned with the Burger King logo, a tall travel cup of coffee, and a tote bag that must be holding his new change of clothes. “Happy brought some deodorant along as well.”
Tony takes the bag and escapes into the waiting room washroom. He had expected something formal, but Happy must have been feeling funny, because Tony just finds a second pair of jeans waiting for him, along with a band tee-shirt for Queen, and an MIT hoodie. He made sure to apply extra deodorant.
"Looking like a real dad, Tony," he mumbles as he changes. "A dad who still has yet to learn to dress his age. All courtesy of, Happy the Comic."
The waiting room was empty when he returned, save for an older woman sitting in the far corner. Tony assumed a grandma-to-be waiting for the exciting news. The woman flips through a magazine, but he can tell that she’s not really reading it.
“These are also for you,” Pepper says, handing him a paper file. She doesn't look up when he sits down. “Paperwork, for your baby. Parental rights, hospital forms, birth certificate… speaking of, does he have a name yet?”
“Peter,” Tony says, opening the file. “Peter Stark.”
“It’s lovely, but does he have a middle name?”
Tony pauses. “Hmm, never really thought of that.”
“What about Parker?” Pepper suggests. “A way to honor his mother, in some way or another.”
Tony smiles. Peter Parker Stark. Peter Parker Stark. Peter Parker Stark.
“It’s perfect,” Tony says, writing the full name down on the birth certificate before Pepper can change his mind.
“Rhodey’s coming soon,” Pepper says, watching Tony’s hand as he scribbles down information.
Tony pauses, looking up with excitement. “He is?”
“Called me about half an hour ago. His plane just landed.”
“I didn’t think he would be able to get off; especially on such short notice.”
“I’m pretty sure he told them it was a family emergency.”
At that moment, both of their attention was drawn when the double doors swing open and a tired-looking man walked into the waiting room. Despite the fatigue in his eyes, he seemed to beam.
The older woman instantly stands from her seat and they rush to meet each other.
“They’re both here?” The woman asks.
“They’re both here,” the man confirms with a smile.
The woman immediately bursts into tears, the man wrapping his arms around her tightly. He gives a wet laugh. They hold each other in the middle of the waiting room for a few long minutes, both of them crying happily.
“Let’s go meet them,” the man finally says, pulling back.
The woman nods. “Seventeen hours is quite a long time to keep a grandma waiting.”
They start to walk out of the room, Tony’s eyes following them until the doors are swinging shut behind them.
“How sweet,” Pepper says with a fond grin.
“Tones?” Someone asks to Tony’s right, and he turns his head to see Rhodey standing close by, looking both confused and excited.
“Platypus,” Tony gasps, jumping up from his seat and running up to his best friend. They meet in a hug, Rhodey holding him tight.
“How much did I miss?” Rhodey asks.
Tony laughs, “I’m a goddamn father.”
“God,” Rhodey says, taking in a deep breath and letting it slowly. “What the hell happened?”
“Honestly, I’m still trying to figure out what I ate for breakfast this morning,” Tony says.
“That would be nothing,” Pepper says, suddenly beside them.
“Hey, Pepper,” Rhodey greets.
“Rhodey. I understand you’re an uncle now.”
“I guess that also makes you an aunt.”
Pepper shakes her head, laughing under her breath. “Don’t remind me. I’m still trying to sink into this whole situation.”
“You seem to be doing a great job.”
Tony watches his two closest friends converse, the idea that they are now his child’s aunt and uncle making him very happy.
“So, are we gonna meet this kid, or not?” Rhodey asks, his gaze suddenly on Tony.
“Come on,” Tony starts pushing them towards the doors. “And be prepared to meet the new light of your lives.”