So show me family
Tony placed Peter on the ground once they got to the car so that he could help Steve with the car seat.
In hindsight they should have learned how the car seat works before they had to place a toddler in it but everything was all happening so fast so it wasn’t really their top priority although now they can see how big of a problem that really is.
Peter started jumping up in front of Tony and making grabby hands at him. “Up! Up!”
“Okay, Peter. Up you get” Tony lifted the demanding toddler into his arms and held him on his hip with his left arm supporting his butt while his right arm tried to help Steve with the car seat.
“Okay! Got it!” Steve said proudly, clapping his hands together.
Peter started clapping his hands together as well “Yay! You did it!”
“I did it, bud. Come here” Steve proudly took the toddler from his husbands arms and went to place Peter into the car seat but as soon as Peter saw where he was being placed he started screaming and kicking Steve. “Hey, Peter. Stop that, I’m just trying to get you in your car seat so you’re safe”
“No! I don’ Wanna!” Peter tried to grab onto Steve’s shirt so he wasn’t placed in the car seat but Tony helped Steve get him off and into the seat. It was hard but eventually Steve got Peter buckled into the car seat and sighed. “Okay. That’s done”
Steve turned towards Tony who looked just as exhausted as Steve felt.
“No! Don’ weave me! Please!” Peter cried out. When Steve turned back around he saw Peter’s tiny arms making grabby hands for him and his big brown eyes were looking up at him. Steve’s heart melted on the spot.
“We’re not leaving you, Peter. Look I’ll get in and sit beside you” Steve walked around to the other side of the car and sat down next to Peter who immediately reached his hand out for him to hold.
Tony made sure that all fingers and toes were in the car then he shut the door, got into the driver's seat and drove off.
Steve made sure to hold Peter’s hand the whole car ride. Peter eventually calmed down and started pointing out the window at all the different cars he was seeing. Steve couldn’t help but think of when the last time Peter was in a car like this. Maybe that’s why he was so scared to get inside.
When they arrived at the store, Tony got out first and got Peter out of his car seat as Steve rounded the car and joined them.
Tony carries Peter on his hip the whole way to the diaper section of the store. He had only passed by this section and never actually went inside or looked at it asides from glancing so seeing all of the diapers and wipes and creams and everything you can possibly think of, is really crazy. It’s a lot to take in.
Tony places Peter on the ground because he can tell that they are gonna be here awhile.
“No! Up! I wan! Up!” Peter once again demanded and made grabby hands up at Tony. Before Tony could even react, Steve was picking Peter up and holding him on his own hip as they looked for the right diapers to buy.
“Hey, what kind of diapers do you wanna where, Pete?” Tony asked Peter. He knew Peter wouldn’t really actually care because he probably never got a choice before.
Peter pointed to a package of Pampers so Tony grabbed it off the shelf and saw that it was definitely too big for him judging by the size of the kid on the package. What was that kid, like ten?! Nope, Tony was not about to judge that.
“How are we supposed to know what size will fit him?” Tony asked Steve rhetorically. He knew Steve was just as confused as him. That’s when Tony saw a worker walk into the isle so he called out to the women.
“Excuse me, Ma’am,” Tony called out to her. She was an older lady, short with white hair. “could you help my husband and I pick out diapers for our son?”
The lady made her way over to the new family, glanced between them and a huge smile broke out across her face. “Of course I can help you. How old is your son?”
“He just turned four but… he’s a little smaller so maybe we should try something for a three year old?” Steve answered. He was kinda speaking out loud at this point since he wasn’t sure what Peter needed.
“I four!” Peter said excitedly. Definitely too loud but no one seemed to mind. The lady smiled at him as she pointed to a box of diapers.
“Wow! You’re a big boy now, aren’t you?” The lady smiled at Peter then looked at Tony. “I think these ones should fit him but if you’re also getting pull-ups then you should definitely get a size smaller”
“Thank you so much. We really appreciate you helping us” Tony thanked the lady then grabbed a box of diapers from the shelf. He turned to Steve “We need to get pull-ups too right? Maybe some creams…?”
“We should get everything just in case we need it” Steve then walked over to some pull-ups “What ones would you want, Pete?”
Peter looked at all the options as if his life demands on what choice he makes. He then pointed to a Thomas the train pack of pull-ups. “I wan’ tat!”
Steve was happy with the package that Peter had chosen because it was cute and Steve was sure that he would have picked the same ones for Peter as well.
Peter kicked his feet so he could be placed on the ground and once he was placed back on his feet, he ran out of the diaper aisle, giving both Steve and Tony a heart attack as they dropped everything and chased him out.
“Peter! Peter!” Tony yelled. He looked in the direction that Peter ran in and felt a weight get lifted off his shoulders once he spotted Peter hugging an elephant teddy bear close to his chest.
Both the husbands ran over to Peter, Steve lifted him into his arms and hugged him close while Peter was completely oblivious to the scars he had just given both of his new dads.
“I wan’ him! He mine!” Peter said excitedly and hugged his new stuffy close to his chest.
“You can’t run away from us like that, Pete” Steve warned. He didn’t want to seem too angry at Peter but he had to let him know that it is not okay for him to run away like that. “It’s dangerous so you have to stay in our sight at all times”
Peter’s bottom lip started to wobble as he looked down. “I sowwy. I donno”
Tony patted Peter’s head with his hand “It’s okay, buddy. Now you do know for next time”
“I still get stuffy?” Peter asked. He looked up at Tony and Steve with hopeful big brown eyes. Neither of the husband’s could say no even if they wanted to.
“Of course you can, Peter” Steve held Peter’s head in his head as if he was holding the whole world and really he was because Peter is his son. He is his baby.
The husbands walked back to the diaper aisle and picked back up the diapers, pull-ups and rash creams that they had left on the ground in their haste to get Peter before he got hurt after leaving their sight.
They stopped by to get some special soaps for Peter for his sensitive baby soft skin. Tony knew they already thought ahead of time and bought everything that Peter needed but he didn’t want to argue with Steve. He knew the man meant well and was worried that when they got back home they would realize they forgot something important and everything would come crumbling down.
Getting Peter back in his car seat was a whole mission. Tony loaded up the car, mentally reminding himself to shop for a bigger car when he has the next chance. Although he knows that he probably won’t be getting a free moment to himself anytime soon but that doesn’t worry Tony.
Steve had the task to wrestle Peter into his car seat and then promised him to sit beside him the whole way back to the tower.
Once Tony started driving however, Peter stopped his crying and was content to look out the window while he held his stuffy tightly on his lap. Halfway through the drive, Peter reached his tiny hand out and reached for Steve’s much bigger one to hold.
The action melted Steve’s heart but he didn’t say anything because he wanted to stay in the moment and not ruin it.
“We’re here” Tony announced as he pulled the car into his private garage that was filled with all his other cars. Tony shut the car off then got out to get Peter out of his car seat before he had another meltdown, thinking that he was gonna get left behind in the car by himself.
“I’ll get the bags” Steve said. He rounded the car and grabbed all the bags out of the trunk. There weren’t a lot of bags so he carried them up himself while Tony held onto Peter’s hand.
“I wan’ up” Peter paused his walking and made grabby hands up at Tony so Tony smiled and leaned down to pick Peter up, settling him on his hip. Peter held onto stuffy with one hand while his other hand sucked on his thumb. He looked around at everything with his wide brown eyes.
“This is an elevator, Pete” Tony explained. He wasn’t sure if Peter knew what they were getting onto or not so he wanted to explain to Peter so he didn’t get scared. “It’s gonna take us up to our private floor where you will be living with us”
Peter looked around with wide eyes at the elevator. He then took his thumb out of his mouth so he could talk. “It gon’ take us to the sky?”
Both Steve and Tony laughed at how adorable the question was. “Kinda. We’re really high up, on the eighth floor”
“Woah! That high” Peter nodded in agreement. He shoved his thumb back in his mouth and continued to look around at everything with childlike amazement.
When the elevator doors opened, letting them out on their floor, Tony set Peter on the ground and the husbands watched him closely.
Peter took a few steps forward into the open space but then ran over to Steve’s legs and hid himself behind them. Steve set down the bags on the floor next to them and leaned down to scoop Peter up into his arms.
“It’s not scary, Pete” Steve explained “See, we’ll give you a tour of your new house”
The new family walked through the downstairs part of their floor. Showing Peter the kitchen and the living room then they moved onto the upstairs. Steve was grateful that Tony remembered to buy baby gates to put at the bottom of the stairs and at the top because he wouldn’t be letting Peter out of his arms if those weren’t there.
When they got to the top of the stairs, Steve walked into Peter’s bedroom and slowly pushed it open “And this is your bedroom”
Both of the husbands looked at Peter and watched as his eyes looked around the room as if he was deciding what to do with the new information. He then kicked his tiny legs meaning he wanted down so Steve set him on his feet and Peter immediately ran over to a rocking chair that was in the corner of his room with a huge smile on his face. He climbed up on the chair and began pushing himself back and forth on it the best he could.
Steve and Tony walked over to the rocking chair and leaned down to be at eye level with the toddler. “Do you like your bedroom, Peter?”
Peter immediately nodded his head over at Steve. He pushed himself on the chair again and giggled. “Stuffy loves wocking chaiw too”
Tony brushed Peter’s curly hair back. “We’re glad that stuffy loves it. It wouldn’t be a proper bedroom if he didn’t like it”
Peter nodded his head, agreeing with Tony. He then lifted his arms up to Steve so Steve picked him up and held him on his hip. He walked over to Peter’s crib and showed it to him.
“This is your bed. Do you like it or do you want a big boy bed?” Steve asked. He knew that Tony had said that Peter should be in a toddler bed but Steve just couldn’t have Peter in one. He wanted his kid to be safe in his crib. Unless Peter didn’t like it.
“No!” Peter crossed his arms and shook his head. “No big boy! I baby!”
Tony and Steve laughed at him out of adoration. They adored their baby boy so much.
“Yeah, Pete.” Steve agreed, “You are our little baby so you can stay in your crib.”
Peter nodded his head seeming content with that answer. He then tried to lean down to be placed in the crib but Steve didn’t let him. He wanted Peter to be clean first before he went to sleep.
“Not yet mr,” Steve hoisted Peter back up in his arms “Let’s go show you our bedroom now”
Peter held his Stuffy tighter to his chest as they left his bedroom to go to the next bedroom.
Tony led the way to their master bedroom which was only two doors down from Peter’s room. The two doors are a bathroom and a laundry room so they couldn’t get Peter’s bedroom any closer than it already is.
“And in here we have our room,” Tony announced as he opened the door to reveal the master bedroom. The bed was a special made bed for them so it was bigger than a king sized bed. Tony likes to cuddle while falling asleep but during the night he doesn’t want to be held and wants to sleep untouched while Steve likes his space so this is the best way. “Wanna test out how high you can bounce on the bed, Pete?”
Peter immediately screamed in excitement and nodded his head, reaching out of Steve’s arms so he can be handed over to Tony.
Tony gladly took Peter from Steve and placed him on the bed. Peter began jumping as high as he could while he held Stuffy in his hand, which wasn’t very high at all while he let out loud giggles that both Tony and Steve were falling in love with.
“I go to the moon!” Peter screamed as he tried to jump as high as he could on the bed, lifting his arms up.
“Look at you go, bud!” Tony cheered him on. Peter was going pretty high for someone with such small little legs.
“I think it’s time for someone’s bedtime soon and that means bath time” Steve towards Tony, giving the man a look that meant that they had to work together to handle this. They both had no idea how Peter would react to anything that they did yet since everything was still so new.
They knew that Peter hates being put in the car seat but didn’t mind it after he was placed inside and when they started driving. As for bath time, Steve really hopes that Peter loves it.
“Ba’f’ time?” Peter asked. He stopped bouncing on the bed a bit then fell onto his back dramatically.
“Bath time” Tony confirmed. He reached forward and pulled Peter by the ankles then lifted him up into his arms. “Are you excited for bath time?”
Both of the husbands were terrified of the answer and when Peter nodded his head excitedly they both sighed in relief.
Tony brought Peter into the master bathroom since it has a bigger bath than the bath in Peter’s bedroom. They assumed that this is going to be the place where Peter does everything until he’s a bit older. He set Peter on the toilet seat and let Steve take over while he went to fill the bathtub up with warm water and put some of the new bath toys in it.
Peter held Stuffy on his lap and watched the husbands curiously. Steve then came over to him and kneeled down in front of him. “Stuffy is gonna sit on the bathroom counter and watch you, okay?”
“No, Stuffy stay wif’ me” Peter poured and held his elephant tighter.
“It’s not Stuffys bath time yet, it’s your bath time” Steve explained softly “Look, I’m gonna put him right here. That way you can still see him and he can see you”
Peter slowly let go of his Stuffy and let Steve place it on the counter where Peter kept his eyes on him.
“I’m gonna take your clothes off now, Peter” Steve announced. Again, they weren’t sure how Peter would react to anything so they just wanted to be sure that they didn’t do something to freak Peter out although Steve knows that young children don’t really care who sees them naked to some extent.
Peter nodded his head and slid off the toilet seat then lifted his arms up for Steve to take his clothes off. Steve lifted the top off of Peter and then tugged his pants down, leaving him in just a diaper.
Tony turned around and saw how skinny Peter is. They knew he was a really small toddler but they couldn’t see what was under his clothes and he was really skinny which the husbands did not like. They would have to work on getting his weight up. Although Tony could also see that Peter still did have a lot of baby fat on him and he hoped that it stayed forever.
Peter looked towards the bath and excitedly started bouncing on his toes. He just wanted to go in already. He pointed to the bath and whined hoping that Steve would get the idea and take off his diaper faster.
“Okay, okay” Steve smiled “I’m going as fast as I can”
Steve pulled both of the straps of Peter’s diaper off and grabbed the now dirty diaper from under him, folding it up and tossing it to the side for now.
“Now you can go in” Steve lifted Peter up by the underarms and carefully placed him in the tub.
Tony made sure not to fill it up too high since it was more like the size of a pool to Peter as opposed to a bath. Peter excitedly started splashing around and playing with the bath toys, a rubber duck and a toy boat.
The husbands played with him for a few minutes in the bathtub, talking with him and the occasional splash that Peter would start until it was time to wash his hair.
“Time to clean your smelly hair” Tony plugged his nose to over exaggerate it.
Peter stood up and crossed his arms over his chest with a pout. “No! You smelly no’ me!”
“You guys are both smelly. Now sit down, Peter, so I can wash your hair” Steve said gently. Peter listened to Steve and sat back down. He let Steve carefully wet his hair with a special cup that they bought just for this to prevent any soap from getting in the babies eyes. Steve made sure to be extra careful anyways.
After Peter’s hair was all wet and Steve was getting the shampoo ready, Peter looked between the two males. He watched both of them carefully then asked the question that he has been wondering all day.
“Are you my daddies?”
Steve stopped rubbing the shampoo on his hands and Tony paused in putting the bath toys away. They looked at each other quickly and then back at Peter.
They are in fact Peter’s legal… dads but it was an unexpected question.
Tony decided to answer it. “We are your daddies, Peter. We adopted you and we love you so so much”
Steve nodded along. “That’s right, Peter. Me and your daddy love you so very much”
Peter still looked confused and that scared Tony and Steve because they took that as something bad that maybe Peter didn’t want them but then Peter spoke up and pointed to Tony.
“You daddy but then you…?” Peter then pointed to Steve and looked confused.
“I’m your Papa, Peter. He’s your daddy and I’m your Papa” Steve explained. He smiled over at Tony to make sure that Tony was okay with that and the man smiled back at him.
Steve loves the idea of Peter calming him Papa. It already sent butterflies into his stomach.
“My daddy and my Papa!” Peter yelled excitedly. He slapped his tiny hands over the water, splashing both Tony and Steve in the face and soaking their shirts but they were way to in love with their son to care.
“Yeah, baby boy. We’re your daddy and Papa” Steve gently cupped Peter’s cheek and picked back up the shampoo bottle to add more shampoo to his hands since he rinsed then in the tub after he was just caught off guard there. “Now let me wash your curls”
Peter giggled and leaned his head back to let Steve put soap into his hair. Steve remembers the way his mother would wash his hair in the bath when he was a young boy. She would hold his head up with one hand and used the other hand to gently massage his scalp to get the blood flowing.
He tried to mimic the same movements that his mother used on him to Peter. He seemed to be getting the hang of it since Peter’s eyes started to drift shut and Steve felt his body getting heavier under his left arm.
Steve made sure to not get any water in Peter’s eyes as he rinsed all the shampoo out of his hair and then sat him back up in the tub. Tony handed him a wet washcloth with banana smelling body wash on it to clean the toddlers body.
“Can you stand up for me, Pete?” Steve asked gently but Peter shook his head and rubbed his eye.
“I ti’ed” Peter whined. Steve had made him really sleepy with that hair washing.
“I know, baby but bath time is almost done and then you can go to sleep” Steve explained gently. He could only imagine how tired Peter is after the long and stressful day that they had.
Peter nodded his head and let steve help him into a standing position. Steve handed the soapy washcloth over to Peter to clean his body with but Peter just looked at it confused. “I dunno how. I need help”
Steve smiled at Peter. He was more than happy to help his baby. Steve made sure to be gentle as he cleaned Peter’s soft baby skin with his banana soap. He cleaned in all the necessary places and then sat Peter back down to rinse him off.
Tony got a towel ready for Peter when he got out of the bath. He could tell that Peter was minutes away from falling asleep which was actually pretty adorable to witness.
“Time to get out, Petey” Steve whispered softly.
“Kay Papa” Peter mumbled. He lifted his arms up so steve could do all the work of lifting him out of the warm water. Steve’s heart absolutely melted when Peter called him Papa. It’s by far the most precious thing that Steve has ever experienced in his entire life.
Steve laid Peter on the blue and white towel that Tony laid out on the bathroom floor. He started drying Peter off the best he could but the angle was really hard so Steve places his hands under Peter’s head and around his lower back to scoop him into his arms and lead his two boys into their bedroom.
“I’ll just um, change him here I guess” Steve said to Tony. He was standing at the edge of their large bed, still cradling Peter in his arms.
Both husbands weren’t really sure where the best place to change Peter is. Tony suggested buying a changing table but Steve felt that it is unsafe for Peter since he can roll off easily.
“I’ll go get a diaper and his pyjamas” Tony called out already making his way back to Peter’s bedroom to get a pair of pyjamas that they washed beforehand and going into the living room to get the bags that they bought.
Steve continued to hold Peter in his arms and rocked him Back-and-forth until Tony walked back into their bedroom with the supplies.
“Do you know how to put a diaper on because I don’t” Tony said in a panic. He dropped the bags on the bed and pulled out the pull-ups first. “Does he needs these or the other ones? What’s the difference even?”
Steve has never changed a diaper in his life either but he has more experience than Tony does because he used to help his mom change the neighbours two babies, and by help he means sat close and watched while he handed over the wipes.
“It’s okay, Tones. We’ll learn as we go but he needs the diapers and not pull-ups” Steve pointed to the other bag then Tony reached inside and dumped out the stuff inside. Tony opened the package already making a mental note to buy more considering how small the package is. He handed one over to Steve. “Do you need the creams?”
“Um,” Steve thought about it but he wants to do more research on the creams first so they could do without for tonight. “No, it’s fine”
“Are you sleepy, Peter?” Steve cooed. He laid Peter on the bed in front of him and used the top of the towel to dry some of his hair.
Peter weakly nodded his head and lifted his hand up to his mouth to begin sucking on his thumb.
Steve opened the towel up and grabbed the diaper from Tony, trying to figure out what way it was supposed to go on. It’s not like it had a back to the front tag on it. Once Steve figured it out he used one hand to lift Peter’s legs up and the other to slide the diaper under his butt.
“There we go! I figured it out” Steve gently poked Peter in the tummy causing the toddler to let out a giggle.
“Pretty impressive, Steveo” Tony patted him on the back lovingly. He’s proud of Steve for figuring it out and making it look so easy. He’s pretty sure he would still be trying to figure out how to open the diaper.
Steve smiled at Tony and finished pulling up the front part of the diaper and putting the straps on. The pyjamas that Tony brought back were green and white strips with a shark on the side of them.
He found it harder to get Peter dressed in the onesie than it was to put a diaper on him because it required lots of moving around and Steve tried to be as gentle as he could with Peter.
“Papa” Peter whined. He reached his arms out for Steve to lift him up and that’s exactly what he did. “Daddy! Dada”
Peter then reached his other arm out for Tony once he was in Steve’s arms and let his daddies hug him.
Steve and Tony were beyond happy right now with their new son and they just hoped that Peter would stay sleepy until they can get him in his bed.