My friend, this is the end
After Peter was asleep, Tony and Pepper quietly walked out of Peter’s bedroom and shut the door behind them.
It took Pepper to be the first one to speak “You should really talk to May and tell her what’s going on. She deserves to know”
Tony didn’t want to admit that Pepper was right. But he also didn’t want to call May and have to deal with her right now because he was honestly exhausted.
Between taking care of Peter and having to deal with all the stress of everything else Tony just wanted to sleep.
“She was really mad and I really don’t wanna deal with that right now” Tony admitted. He sat down on the couch and sighed bringing his hand up to his face.
Pepper sat down next to him and gently put her hand in his knee “I know you are but I also know that you have to call May and explain to her everything that is happening”
Tony sighed again.
Pepper continued “She deserves to know, Tony”
Tony loved Pepper. She was always right with everything she did and said and even if Tony hates to admit it but she was once again right about this as well.
“Okay, Okay” Tony stood up “You’re right. As always. I’ll call May and tell her”
Tony did not want to do this but he had to. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and hit the dial button for May’s contact.
May answered on the third ring “Tony? Is Peter Okay?”
Tony paused for a few seconds before speaking “Uh, yeah. Yeah, he’s okay. I’m just calling to tell you that I’m trying to deal with the pictures that got out of us at the park but it’s not that simple”
“How’s it not that simple? You’re Tony Stark! Can’t you call someone to fix this? ” May practically yelled into the phone “I don’t want Peter’s face to be on the news just because he’s associated with you”
Tony didn’t know what to say for a few seconds “May, please listen, I’m doing everything I can-“
May cut Tony off “Well, you’re everything isn’t good enough”
Tony had to pull the phone away from his ear for a second because that hurt. He knew May was just mad and she probably didn’t mean it but that still hurt Tony for her to say.
It’s not that he related it to the whole media thing but he related it to how he’s taking care of Peter and how hard it was for him to have gone from never changing a diaper in his life and not expecting to to then changing a diaper almost every hour.
It was hard work and Tony was already thinking if he was doing a good enough job and what May had said really hurt him.
“May I-“ Tony cut himself off because he had no idea what he was gonna say.
“Listen, Tony. I appreciate everything you’re doing but I think it’s best if Peter stays with me until you can figure out a way to get him back to being fifteen” May said almost sadly and Tony felt his heart break in two.
He didn’t understand why he felt so hurt at the idea of Peter leaving. He should be happy about it because no more dirty diapers no more messy meals no more baths...
Tony felt like he wanted to cry for the first time in so long.
“I, May, I can take care of him, you don’t have to” Tony tried to say.
“I’m sorry but I think it’s best if he’s with me” May said “I’ll come pick him up tomorrow”
Out of all the ways for this to go, Tony never expected it would be this bad. This was the worst way he could have expected it to go.
May hung up after Tony didn’t say anything and Tony felt his heart break.
He sat back down on the couch in shock and stared into the distance. He could feel Peppers sad faze on him but he couldn’t look up to see it.
How did things end up like this? He thought. He didn’t want to see Peter leave.
“Tony,” Pepper said sadly and rubbed his arm “What did she say?”
Tony took a few calming breaths before speaking “She-she’s coming to take Peter tomorrow morning”
“I’m so sorry, Tony” Pepper said and Tony could tell she was gently sorry.
As if on cue Peter started crying so Tony stood up but turned to Pepper before making his way over to Peter’s bedroom “It’s for the best. I can’t do this anyways”
He turned and left. Pepper watched him leave and she wanted to slap him in the face. How could he think that. From what she saw Tony was amazing with Peter and Peter loved him as well.
It wasn’t like just anyone would agree to taking care of a baby like that. Pepper knew that Tony really cared for Peter. Both as a teen and as a baby.
She wanted to follow Tony into the bedroom to get Peter but she decided to just leave him to go alone.
When Tony got to Peter’s bedroom he quickly opened the door just wanting to hold Peter in his arms already.
He saw Peter’s sad face with tears streaming down his cheeks and his arms reaching out to Tony as soon as he saw him. Peter looked like he had a nightmare because he seemed really scared.
Tony made long steps over to Peter’s crib and reached in to pull the kid into his arms. Tony held Peter under his butt to support him with one hand and the other he put around Peter’s back and held him close. Peter pushed his face into Tony’s neck and he quickly felt his shirt get damp with tears. It broke Tony’s heart whenever Peter cried because he hated the sound of it when there was nothing he could possibly do to get him to stop crying.
Tony was wrong because soon Peter had stopped crying and was letting out small hiccups. Tony continued to hold Peter tight and rock him back and forth while gently patting his back to get him to calm down enough for Tony to try and talk to him. Tony had no idea what he was doing and he didn’t know why it came so naturally to him but pretty soon Peter had stopped making all those sad noises and pulled away to look at Tony with sad wide brown eyes.
“What happened, buddy?” Tony asked and Peter just pushed his face back in Tony’s neck.
Tony felt tiny chubby arms wrap around his neck and little breaths hitting his neck. He smiled at that but then felt a bad feeling in his stomach at the thought of Peter leaving tomorrow.
Tony hated that. He didn’t know if she should tell Peter or not. Definitely not now but maybe before May comes tomorrow morning, he didn’t even know what time she was coming at. He didn’t even know if Peter would care at all.
He doesn’t really expect Peter to actually care enough to throw a fit because he knows or thinks he knows that Peter is probably gonna be better off with May or at least he thinks Peter would rather be with May instead of him.
Peter’s hiccuping died down and he looked at Tony with such sad, tired eyes. Tony moved his thumb to wipe away some of the tears that were still on Peter’s cheeks and tried to smile at him.
When Peter didn’t smile back Tony poked him in the side to get him to giggle or something but that didn’t work and clearly Peter was not in the mood for playing because he only seemed to want some cuddles right now.
Tony held Peter tighter in his arms and started walking with Peter into the living room where Pepper was. She looked up from her phone when she heard them walking in and once she saw the way Tony was holding a very tired and very clingy Peter in his arms she almost cooed.
It was something new to her to see Tony carrying around a baby and definitely something that she never expected to ever see. Even the way that Tony was now. He changed but it was in a good way. It was definitely in a good way.
He changed when teenager Peter first came into their lives for the better. He was more responsible and definitely more patient but he was just overall so much more happier than he had been in a long long time and it was refreshing for Pepper especially to see him so happy and taking care of himself.
Having Peter come around more and more and then eventually leading to sleepovers was really nice for Tony because he always had something to look forward to.
But now he was different. He changed again. He definitely changed in a good way and it was very obvious even to somebody who didn’t know Tony as well as Pepper did to see how how Tony cared about Peter.
She could see that he changed because he was just different and she couldn’t really pinpoint exactly what made him different but he just was, and it was in a good way.
Tony walked over to the couch still holding Peter in his arms as Peter still had his small chubby arms wrapped around his neck. Tony made eye contact with Pepper before looking away.
She couldn’t tell if he looked away because he was embarrassed for holding Peter like this and showing emotions the way he was or if it was for another reason but she didn’t say anything.
Tony sat down on the couch and tried to pull Peter away from him but Peter whined clearly not wanting to leave Tony just yet. Tony stopped trying to pry Peter away from him as he just settled for patting his back.
Tony sat in silence with Pepper but it wasn’t awkward because he was more focused on the baby in his arms and the fact that in a day he wasn’t gonna have this anymore.