I choose you
“Are you gonna go give him a bath now?” Pepper asked as she started cleaning up the kitchen from all the paints.
Tony was struggling to hold Peter in his arms so he didn’t get any paint on him.
“No. I think I’m gonna let him run around like this and have him cover the house in butt prints” Tony joked as he had to hold Peter with his hand between his legs to stop the kid from squirming everywhere.
Pepper looked over at Tony and rolled her eyes at him. “Alright then, Mr. Stark. You have fun cleaning that up while I go hang this beautiful new painting”
Tony followed her into their bedroom where she decided on a place to hang in while Peter continued on babbling in Tony’s arms and was biting on his fingers.
“Where should I hang this?” Pepper turned towards Tony to ask but he was too busy tossing Peter into the air then catching him. She smiled at the sight of her two boys wishing that she could stay in this moment forever. With the sounds of Peter giggling every time Tony caught him and seeing Tony so happy, she wished things could stay like this forever.
“‘Gin! ‘Gin!” Peter demanded once Tony stop and held him in his arms again.
“No, it’s bath time for you” Tony’s arms were getting tired plus he just wanted to get Peter washed off so he could hold him without getting paint everywhere.
Peter started kicking his feet so Tony could put him down but he didn’t. “Sink! Sink baf, daddy!”
“No sink bath tonight. You’re having a bath in a proper bathtub tonight” Tony began walking into his bathroom when Peter started screaming and kicking to get out of his hold. He grabbed onto the bathroom door frame and held it tight grip before Tony pried his tiny hands off of it. “What are you doing?”
“No! No baf, daddy! No!” Peter cried out. Tony was confused because he knows that Peter loves baths no matter what so he doesn’t understand why he’s screaming like this.
“Yes, Peter. Bath time” Tony said then put Peter on the floor so he could turn the bath on but once he placed Peter on the floor, he ran off into the bedroom. Tony rolled his eyes as he turned the water on then stood back up to go get his kid.
He found Peter trying to crawl under the bed but he only got his head under so Tony grabbed him by the ankles and pulled him out.
Pepper was trying to hang the painting up over the nightstand table as she watched the whole scene going on with amusement.
Tony picked Peter up and held him at arm's length as Peter continued to kick and squirm. “Why is he acting like this?” Tony asked Pepper.
“He’s two years old, it’s normal” Pepper shrugged. She knew all about the terrible twos, not from experience up until now.
“But he’s not actually two, Pep. He’s fifteen” Tony tried to argue. Peter was actually a fifteen year old and not a two year old so he didn’t understand why Peter was acting this way but then again he has been acting more of a two year old and he hasn’t seen fifteen year old Peter in quite some time.
Pepper turned to look at the two of them. Peter was crying loudly and kicking his feet out, trying to kick Tony while the man held him at a distance.
“Look at him, Tony” Pepper said then turned back to the wall. “He’s a toddler right now so you have to treat him like one”
“I am but he’s-” Tony cut himself off because Peter started to pee right on his shirt and almost in his face as well. Tony shut his mouth and turned his head just in case any pee got in his mouth which it didn’t. Thankfully.
Peter started giggling once he realized what he was doing. “What? Oh you’re laughing now are you? I swear I’m never leaving you out of a diaper again”
Peter started giggling some more and same with Pepper. “Both of you guys find this funny, huh?”
Both of them nodded their head so Tony just rolled his eyes and decided to continue doing what he planned on doing all along. Giving Peter his bath.
When he started walking back into the bathroom Peter began to cry loudly once again which was expected. Tony shut the door so Peter couldn’t make a run for it this time and placed Peter on his feet as Tony had to empty some of the bath water because it was too high.
Peter ran to the door and tried to open it but he was too short to reach the handle so he started banging on it as if he was about to get put in an ice bath or something.
“Peter, stop” Tony warned but Peter didn’t listen to him as expected. He finished with the bath water and stood up to pick Peter up but once Tony got near him, Peter started kicking his legs and screaming louder if that was even possible.
“I wan’ sink” Peter cried out. Tony had no idea why Peter was making such a big deal about whether he was getting a sink bath or an actual bath in the bathtub.
“I don’t care. Stop crying because I’m gonna get a headache and you’re gonna put me in a bad mood” Tony said. He knew Peter was listening as he lay on his back and kicked the bathroom door weakly.
Tony picked him up despite the continuous kicking and cries coming from his kid. He walked over to the bathtub and dumped him inside.
Peter stopped crying as if a switch was turned off. He started patting the water slowly then stood up and began reaching for Tony to take him out of the tub. When Tony didn’t take him out, Peter’s cries only became more persistent and louder but Tony still didn’t give in.
Tony kept sitting on the bathroom floor and leaned against the bathtub as Peter tried to get out by lifting his leg up but he was too small so it was causing Peter to grow frustrated.
“Stop. I’m gonna wash the paint off your butt then you’re going to bed early tonight” Tony grabbed a washcloth and dipped it in the water before holding Peter by the arm and wiping the paint off his butt.
Peter was trying to push him away the whole time but Tony didn’t let him since he wanted to get Peter out of the bath so the crying would stop.
“Go ‘way” Peter sat down and crossed his arms once Tony was done wiping the paint off of Peter’s butt.
Tony sighed but at least the crying had stopped. “Why are you crying, Peter?”
Peter kicked out his foot. “Not crying!”
“Uh, yeah you were” Tony rolled his eyes. Peter has officially showed him how to hold your cool and not lash out at a two year old.
“No!” Peter kicked out his foot again and Tony wasn’t about to argue with a naked toddler right now so he grabbed the body wash and put it on one hand so he could use the other hand to hold onto Peter without him slipping away. “Time to wash everywhere now”
“No, wan’ sink baf!” Peter cried out again and at this point, Tony was really regretting putting Peter in the sink because he had no idea why someone would prefer that over an actual big bath. Tony ignored him as he held him with one hand and washed him everywhere with the body wash.
“How’s it going in here?” Pepper walked in and asked. She could hear Peter crying and screaming from inside the bedroom with the door closed and when she walked in she could tell that Peter was really not enjoying the bath.
“Peter won’t stop crying for some reason and I don’t know why” Tony said annoyed as he began rinsing all of the soap off of Peter’s body.
Peter tried to reach out for Pepper and was making grabby hands for her so she sat down next to Tony and reached into the tub to hold onto one of Peter’s tiny hands. “You don’t like the bath today, Peter?”
Peter continued crying as he shook his head. “No! Bad daddy!”
“What?! Why am I a bad daddy?” Tony asked with fake hurt in his voice although it did hurt a little bit hearing Peter say that. “I’m the one giving you a bath so you don’t have a blue butt”
“Bad daddy” Peter cried out again. Tony ignored him and continued on finishing up with the bath then he grabbed a clean towel, reached in the tub to pick Peter up and placed him on his feet but before he could even think about running away, Tony wrapped him in a towel and stood up with him in his arms.
“Let me take him” Pepper held out her arms and said.
“It’s fine-”
“You’re covered in pee still so I’ll take him and put his diaper and pyjamas on” Pepper held out her arms again gesturing for Tony to hand the crying toddler over so Tony sighed before handing Peter over to Pepper.
“Make sure to put his diaper rash cream on and I’ll be fast so don’t worry” Tony said quickly. He was so grateful for Pepper because he has no idea how he would have washed himself with Peter acting like this.
Pepper gave Tony a knowing look that said ‘calm down I got this’ but Tony was too focused on Peter who was trying to wiggle out of his towel and reach for Tony desperately while making intense grabby hands.
“No daddy! Don’ leave!” Peter cried out. Tony was so confused about what was going on. Less than a minute ago Peter was calling him a bad daddy and was fighting him and now he was wiggling around so much in Peppers arms just to get to him.
“Yes, Peter. You peed on me so I’m going to shower and I’ll see you later” Tony ruffled Peter’s curly hair that he decided not to wash because it was still clean and he didn’t want to do that when Peter was in this mood.
Pepper waved bye to Tony and carried Peter out of the bedroom. Tony’s heart broke as he watched Pepper carry his kid away from him while Peter so desperately didn’t want to leave him.
Tony made sure to take a fast shower so he could get to his kid faster.
Pepper carried Peter into his bedroom while the toddler tried his hardest to get out of her hold and he was strong for someone was tiny as him.
“I wan’ daddy” Peter cried out.
“Your daddy will be here soon but first I have to get a diaper on you” Pepper explained. She pulled out a clean diaper out of the box and grabbed the diaper cream before setting Peter on the bed.
Peter immediately sat up and crawled away from Pepper to the top of his teenage bed.
“Come here, Peter. Please” Peter shook his head and Pepper sighed. She then reached onto the bed to pull Peter down by one of his legs which Peter started screaming at but it was only a matter of time before he had another accident and Pepper didn’t want that to happen right now.
She got Peter lying down in front of her and she tried to hold him still while undoing the lid on the cream but it was too hard to manage so she let go of Peter’s legs for a second so she could get the lid off but once she did that, Peter was crawling back to the top of the bed.
“Peter, don’t you want to see Tony again?” Pepper asked in hopes that Peter would come down and let her put a diaper on him.
Peter shook his head. “Wan’ daddy”
Pepper thought that was weird. Why did Peter shake his head when asked about Tony but said he wanted ‘daddy’ which actually was Tony. “Where’s daddy now?”
Peter pointed to the hallway which Pepper guessed he was pointing to the other room. “Where’s Tony?”
“Wan’ daddy” Peter said again.
Wow. This is really weird, Pepper thought. It was almost as if Peter didn’t know that ‘daddy’ was actually Tony and he was confused.
She decided to test that theory more when Tony actually got here. Until then she had a toddler to put a diaper on.
“Do you want me to put your diaper on you, Peter?” Pepper asked. Peter shook his head and crossed his arms.
“No. Wan’ daddy. Please”
Pepper sighed. This was not working.
She knew the only way to get Peter to actually lie down and let someone put a diaper on him would be if it was Tony so Pepper sighed and decided to wait for Tony to come to them after his shower.
Pepper sat down at the edge of the bed and started waiting on Tony to walk in but then Peter walked over to her on the bed and tapped her on the shoulder. She looked over at him and couldn’t help but smile at his big brown eyes and chubby cheeks looking down at her.
“Where daddy?” Peter asked.
“He’s in the shower, remember? We’re gonna wait for him to come” Pepper explained slowly but what she was not expecting was for Peter to drop onto his butt, roll onto his stomach and slide off the bed before running out of the bedroom and into the hallway towards where Tony was.
“Peter! Peter, get back here!” Pepper stood up and followed Peter into hers and Tony’s bedroom. She found Peter banging on the bathroom and screaming. “Peter! Stop that.”
Just as Pepper was about to pick Peter up, the bathroom door opened and Tony walked out now fully dressed. “What are you doing?”
Tony leaned down and lifted Peter up off the floor when he made grabby hands for him and set him on his hip. Tony turned to Pepper. “Where’s his diaper?”
Pepper sighed. “He wouldn’t let me change him so good luck with that. I have a meeting to go to and I’ll be back later tonight. Bye Peter! Be good for daddy!”
Tony watched Pepper walk out of the bedroom. He knew she didn’t have any meetings to attend because she was dressed in a baggy top and ripped jeans but he wasn’t complaining because he got to spend some time with his kid now.
Tony hoisted Peter up on his hip more as he walked into Peter’s bedroom and set him on his feet. Peter ran off to his corner where all his toys were and sat down on his teddy bear as he pulled a book into his hands and began sucking on it.
Tony rolled his eyes at the sight. He grabbed Peter’s diaper cream, a new diaper and some comfy clothes to put on him. It was a yellow long sleeve bodysuit with Winnie the Pooh pants.
Tony sat on the floor and watched Peter amusingly for a few minutes. Peter had his back to him but Tony could still see Peter with the book in his mouth as he chewed on it.
“Peter, come lie down in front of me now” Peter turned around to look at Tony and shook his head before turning back around. Tony wanted to laugh at what Peter just did but he couldn’t have Peter act like that. “Peter. Now.”
This time Peter didn’t even acknowledge him so Tony got up and grabbed Peter by the arm, lifting him to his feet so Peter could stand up but Peter only started crying and let himself go lax in Tony’s hold so he carried Peter over to the changing spot on the floor and held Peter down in front of him as he opened the lid for the cream in the other hand.
Peter was crying and squirming around too much but Tony managed to hold him down to start applying cream to Peter’s front half but that only caused Peter to start reaching down there with his hands and almost touching himself and getting cream on his fingers.
Tony looked over to see Pepper walk into the room handing a bottle of milk to Peter who took it from her immediately and put the bottle in his mouth and began suckling from it.
Tony felt his ears ringing from the sudden silence in the room. He looked up at Pepper gratefully. “If my hand wasn’t covered in diaper cream I’d hug you right now”
“He’s overtired and just wanted his daddy to change his diaper, not me. Isn’t that right Peter?” Both adults looked down at Peter who was drinking his bottle and watching Tony. Tony found it weird how every time Peter drank his bottle, he always stared at him.
“Well thank you” Tony said before Pepper left the room. Tony got back to work on putting the cream on Peter. He lifted Peter’s chubby legs up to put cream on his bum and was extremely thankful for the bottle otherwise Peter would have still been screaming.
Tony placed Peter’s legs back on the ground so he could wipe the cream of his hands with the baby wipes. He then grabbed the diaper and put it on Peter with him still drinking his bottle and keeping his eyes on Tony the whole time.
Tony then grabbed the bodysuit and debated how he was going to pull it over Peter’s head with him drinking his bottle. Tony decided to just do it quickly so he grabbed the bottle from Peter and ignored the cries that immediately followed as he pulled the clothes over Peter’s head and put his arms through then handing Peter back his bottle. It was almost amusing to watch because Peter could change his moods extremely fast.
Peter went back to drinking his bottle as Tony did up the buttons between his legs and pulled on his pants. Tony then grabbed some socks out of his drawer and put them on Peter.
Tony picked Peter up, standing with him in his arms while Peter continued with his milk. It was still pretty early for Peter to be going to bed so Tony decided on putting Peter down for nap time since the toddler was clearly exhausted and had to get some sleep for at least two hours.
Tony grabbed Peter by his back with his hand between his legs so he could lower him into his crib and lay him down but as soon as Peter was in his crib he removed the bottle from his mouth and started crying.
“Go to sleep, Peter. It’s nap time” Tony tried to push Peter back down but Peter wasn’t having it. He stood up and tried to reach for Tony but since Tony wasn’t picking him up, Peter then started trying on reaching for the top of the crib to lift himself out of it. He was too small to reach the top so it resulted in a very upset toddler demanding to be picked up by Tony.
Tony felt horrible but there was nothing that he could do about it. He had to let Peter cry it out on his own and then eventually fall asleep.
Tony felt his heartbreaking as he turned around and left Peter’s bedroom without the toddler in his arms.
As he shut Peter’s bedroom door closed and started walking into the kitchen to make himself a coffee and maybe an Advil or two for his headache he had, courtesy of Peter, he tried to think about how he was doing this for Peter. He was trying to help him sleep and he knew if he stayed with him then Peter wouldn’t go to sleep and if he brought him out here then he would play with his toys.
Tony pulled out his phone out of his pocket as he was waiting for his coffee to make and saw that he had three missed calls from May.
That slightly scared him because the last time May had Peter, she tried to keep Tony from him and Tony was not about to let that happen again.
He called her back. “Hello? Tony, I was just wondering what you and Peter are up to today because I’m not working and I want to come by and see my kid?”
Tony hated the way he felt mad and jealous at how May called Peter her kid. Technically he was her kid because she raised him and Peter technically still lived with her but Tony hated that. He wanted Peter to be his.
“Yeah, sure you can come by. We’re not doing anything today” Tony didn’t even know if he wanted May to come by. He’s worried that Peter would pick May over him.
“Alright. I’ll be there in a few minutes because I’m at the grocery store near the tower” May said before hanging up the phone.
Tony sighed because he really didn’t want her to come. There was no way he could have said no but he’s still scared that she was going to take Peter from him again.
Tony sipped his coffee and popped two Advil’s into his mouth and went to go sit on the couch to wait for May to come.
It didn’t take long for FRIDAY to announce that she was here and coming up in the elevator. Tony got up and went to greet her. “Hey May! What’s new with you?”
May sighed and sat down on the couch as she looked around the living room confused. “Where’s Peter?”
“I put him down for a nap in his crib” Tony pointed down the hallway as he sat down on the couch, across from May. “Can I get you anything to eat or drink?”
May waved Tony off. “I’m fine. So how’s it been with a toddler running around?”
Tony sighed and took another sip of his coffee. “A lot of diaper changes. No but Pete’s been good. He’s a good kid. Well, a good baby”
May smiled. “Yeah. He’s always been so well behaved”
Tony thought about the tantrum that Peter threw today and how that sentence from May could be argued but he decided not to.
“So how long ago did you put him down? When can I see him?” May asked eagerly.
Tony checked the time on his phone and saw that it was just passed 1:30pm so Peter had been put in his crib just over thirty minutes ago. He had no idea whether Peter was sleeping or not.
“I put him down about a half hour ago but he didn’t want to sleep so I should go check on him” Tony said as he already started getting up to go see Peter.
Tony walked down the hallway towards Peter’s bedroom and immediately heard his cries, as he got closer they got louder.
He felt so bad for leaving Peter to cry like that the whole time but he was more amazed at the kids lungs.
Tony opened the bedroom door and Peter immediately looked over at him with red eyes and tears falling down his face. He started crying louder and started jumping up and down on the bed to make grabby hands for Tony.
Tony wasted no time in reaching in and picking Peter up before setting him on his hip. Peter continued to cry so Tony grabbed his bottle for him and put it in Peter’s mouth which caused Peter to immediately stop crying as he placed his head on Tony’s shoulder and lifted one hand up to hold his bottle.
He bounced Peter on his hip a bit to get him to stop hiccuping sadly.
When Tony walked into the living room, May immediately stood up and quickly walked over to the two of them excitedly. Peter didn’t acknowledge who was there which Tony hated that he was grateful for.
“He looks so cute. Hi Peter! I like your outfit” May poked Peter in the stomach but Peter didn’t even react as he continued to drink his milk and lay his head on Tony’s shoulder while he watched May.
“He’s not in the best mood today” Tony said. He leaned his head on Peter’s head. “Pep and I painted his feet and hands and placed them on a board then he got mad when I gave him a bath in the bathtub instead of the sink.”
May sighed sadly and placed her hand on Peter’s knee. “You gave him a sink bath before?”
Tony nodded. “Yeah. He loved it”
“That’s good” May said sadly but Tony didn’t want to ask what was wrong.
Peter’s milk finished so he lifted his head up from Tony’s shoulder to look at the bottle confused then once he saw that there was no milk in it, he threw the bottle and started to cry loudly.
“I’ll get you some more milk, Pete. Just wait a sec” Tony said tiredly. He needed those Advil’s to kick in.
“I can take him” May said and held her arms out so Tony handed Peter over to May but once Peter was in her arms, he started to kick and cry even louder as he reached out for Tony.
“No! Wan’ daddy! Wan’ daddy!” Peter screamed and kicked out.
Tony was trying to hide the smile on his face from Peter wanting him over May but then Peter called him daddy and he knew that May did not know about that yet so he was a bit scared about how she would react.
He looked up at her face and saw that she looked extremely surprised but he couldn’t tell if she was mad or not.
“He calls you daddy?” May asked confused.
“Uh, yeah. It started a little while ago. I don’t mind” Tony said awkwardly. He had never said anything awkwardly in his life before but in this moment he felt very awkward.
May struggled to hold Peter in her arms as he continued to kick and scream to get out of her hold. “I um… I didn’t know that. It’s been Uh, awhile since I heard him say that”
Tony nodded his head, not knowing what to say. He unconsciously held his breath because he just knew that May was about to walk out at any moment with Peter with her.
“I think that’s good that he calls you that. You know, that he has you there for him when I’m not” May said. Tony let out a sigh of relief. He did not expect that.
“Yeah, you know I’ll always be here for him, May. Even when you are” Tony looked at Peter struggling to reach out for him and May struggling to hold him until May placed him on the floor.
It took a few moments for Peter to find his balance but once he did he wobbled over to Tony and ran into his legs as he reached up for the man to pick him up. Tony didn’t waste any time in reaching down to scoop Peter up and place him on his hip like usual. Peter continued to cry but he looked at Tony with his big brown eyes as if he wanted Tony to fix all his problems.
His problems included getting him some more milk so that’s exactly what he began to do. It wasn’t long before Peter had a new bottle of milk in his mouth and his head was back on Tony’s shoulder.
Tony, momentarily forgot that May was watching him the whole time. “You’re really good with him. I mean you always have been even when he was a teenager but seeing you hold him and move around the kitchen so easily with him is amazing to watch”
“I’m just so used to it because he either wants to be held all the time or fights you if you try to even touch him” Tony knows, he’s dealt with both today.
“Apparently he only wants you to hold him” May said sadly.
“No, May. He’s just used to me because I’ve been here with him every day” Tony tried to reassure May but he apparently did the exact opposite.
Mays eyes widened and she crossed her arms. “Are you saying that it’s my fault because I’m too busy working to be with him?”
Tony sighed. “No that’s not what I meant and you know it”
May sighed. She put her head in her hands. “No, I know. It’s just so hard. I spend so many years raising him and now he’s back to the start but only now he prefers you over me”
Tony didn’t know what to say to that. He was horrible to feel happy about Peter wanting him over May but he still felt bad.
“Would you like to hold him now. He has his milk so he should probably be fine” Tony asked. He stepped closer to May but she only shook her head sadly.
“It’s fine. He’s content with you so I’ll hold him after his nap” May then began to walk back to the couch so Tony followed her.
“Do you want to stay here or go back to your crib, Pete?” Tony asked the toddler in his arms but Peter didn’t react to the question at all.
Tony decided to keep Peter here with them. He wasn’t sure if Peter would go down for a nap but at least he wasn’t crying right now.