Alternative Ending
Tony pulled Peter out of his car seat slowly as to not wake the sleeping toddler.
He knew that Peter had drifted off to sleep a few minutes ago and he didn’t want to wake him up so he could let Peter sleep a little bit longer while he got some dinner ready for the toddler.
Tony lifted Peter carefully into his arms and held him with one arm under his diapered butt. He grabbed the diaper bag from the back and walked into the elevator with Pepper.
“I have to go to my office for a few hours to do some work. Will you be fine?” Pepper asked. She pressed the button to her office floor then turned to Tony.
Tony glared at her. “Did you really just ask me if I’d be okay with Peter. You don’t have much faith in me but yes. I’m okay with the kid, Pep. You do what you gotta do.”
Pepper jokingly rolled her eyes at Tony as the elevator doors opened and she stepped out.
Tony gently laid his head on Peter’s as he waited for the elevator to bring them up to his floor.
Tony then stepped out of the elevator and dropped the diaper bag so he could use two hands to place Peter on the couch. Peter moved a bit once Tony placed him down and Tony got scared that Peter was gonna was gonna wake up but thankfully he didn’t so Tony grabbed a thin blanket and covered Peter with it before walking into the kitchen to start cooking some dinner.
Tony felt his phone vibrating in his pocket for the third time in the last hour but he ignored it once again since he had a more important task to do which was to cook dinner.
Tony knew he was a horrible cook but he was actually really good at making grilled chicken and Pepper taught him how to make mashed potatoes. The corn was easy to make because it just came out of a can and all he had to do was heat it up on the stove.
So basically Tony had dinner covered and he was happy about that.
It took less than an hour for Peter to wake up and hear his daddy in the kitchen so Peter stuck his thumb in his mouth and walked over to where Tony was.
Peter stood under Tony’s legs and waited for the man to see him there. It took Tony a few minutes to see Peter standing under his legs since he was busy trying to mash the potatoes, he didn’t want to bring out the blender since he thought Peter was still sleeping so when Tony felt something sit on his foot, he was surprised to see Peter awake and sitting on his foot.
“What’re you doing, bud? Did you have a good nap?” Tony asked amused.
Peter only looked up at him and lifted both arms up to be picked up so Tony leaned down and lifted his kid into his arms.
Peter looked at what Tony was doing on the counter then tried to reach for the half mashed mashed potatoes in the bowl.
“I wan’” Peter said as he pointed to it and looked at Tony. Tony shook his head.
“It’s not dinner time yet, Peter. You can eat it at dinner with us” Tony explained but he knew that wasn’t the end of it for Peter.
Peter smacked him in the face and started to cry. “No! I wan’!”
Tony sighed as he stuck his finger into the bowl and held his finger in front of Peter’s mouth for Peter to eat the mashed potatoes off of.
Peter grabbed Tony’s hand to bring his finger closer to his mouth and ate all the food off of it then once there was none left, Peter pushed his hand away and pointed to the bowl again.
“More?” Peter asked as he looked at Tony but Tony shook his head. “Yes! I wan’”
Tony shook his head again. Then turned his attention back on the potatoes but Peter smacked him in the head again. “Ow, Peter. Stop it. That’s not nice”
Peter tried to reach for the mashed potatoes again. “Wan’ more daddy! P’ease”
Tony sighed once again as he gave in to Peter’s demands and dipped his finger into the bowl one more time to give Peter some more.
Peter began to eat the mashed potatoes off of Tony’s finger and even after it was all gone, Peter didn’t stop so Tony tried to take his finger away but Peter bit him hard and it actually really hurt.
It was like tiny teeth going into his skin. He’s never gotten bit by anyone with adult teeth but he’s pretty sure that baby teeth hurt a whole lot more.
“Peter, stop. Dinners gonna be ready soon” Tony laughed as he tried to pull his finger away from Peter and once he did Peter just glared at him. “Go play while I do this.”
Tony placed Peter on the ground and smiled at him as he ran off into the living room.
He watched Peter take out a bunch of his toys from the box that was next to the couch and sit with them on the floor as he got back to his cooking.
For the next twenty minutes Tony continued to cook the food while he would glance back at Peter to make sure he was okay every so often.
Peter ended up carrying his toys into the kitchen one by one so he could be close to Tony while he played.
“Daddy play?” Peter crawled over to Tony’s foot and tried to hand a toy over to him but Tony’s hands were full so he couldn’t grab it which caused Peter to start to whine.
“Daddy’s hands are full, baby” Tony said while he continued to stir the corn on the stove. Peter ignored him while he continued to try and hold the teddy bear up to Tony. He could see that the front of the bears head was soaked so he assumed that Peter had been sucking on the bear.
The elevator doors opened up and Tony heard the sound of high heels walking on the floor towards the kitchen.
“you’re cooking dinner?” Pepper asked amused.
Tony nodded his head and smiled at her. “Don’t look so surprised. You know I can make a good grilled chicken.”
Pepper smirked at Tony then leaned down to pick Peter up, settling him on her hip as she showed him what Tony was cooking. Peter immediately tried to reach for the mashed potatoes so Tony had to move the bowl away.
“No, don’t show him. He was putting up a fit earlier because I wasn’t giving him any” Tony looked at Peter who was struggling to get out of Peppers hold so he could eat the food.
“Sorry. Peter, no. We’ll eat soon” Pepper went to go put Peter down but Tony stopped her.
“Can you go change his diaper while I finish this off? His wipes and stuff are in the living room.”
“Yeah, of course” Pepper smiled then turned to look at Peter who was still on her hip. “Let’s go change your diaper, Sweetie”
Tony watched Pepper carry Peter into the living room while he finished setting the table and getting the food ready.
Pepper set Peter on his feet and grabbed the package of wipes then sat down on the ground. She was worried that Peter would start crying once she tried to change him so she really hoped that that wouldn’t happen.
“Peter, can you grab a diaper please?” Pepper pointed to the box of diapers that were beside the couch and watched as Peter toddled over to the box of diapers and pulled two out with both hands. He held them up for Pepper to see then toddled over to her.
“Fo’ you” Peter handed one diaper to Pepper and kept the other one in his hand.
“Thank you, Peter, but I don’t need one. You do” Pepper patted the ground in front of her and thankfully Peter sat down with a giggle and shook his head.
“Not me. Daddy” Peter pointed to where Tony was in the kitchen with a serious look on his face.
“Tony needs diapers?” Pepper asked with fake confusion.
Peter shook his head and pointed to the kitchen again. “No. Daddy”
“Oh yes. I forgot” Pepper realized that she totally forgot about the fact that Peter doesn’t know who Tony is anymore and all he knows is that Tony is daddy. “Can you lie down for me now, please?”
Peter nodded his head and lied down on the floor so Pepper could change him. He grabbed the wipes from the side of his head and started to pull them out as Pepper pulled down the front of his diaper.
“Can you pass me a wipe, Peter?” Pepper held out her hand for Peter to pass her a wipe but Peter only threw it off to the side.
Pepper sighed as she got up to grab the package of wipes but while she was getting the wipes, Peter stood up and ran into the kitchen where daddy was.
“Peter! Come back” She called out as she followed Peter into the kitchen.
Tony looked down to see Peter trying to reach up for him so Tony picked him up in one motion and held him with one arm as Pepper walked in behind Peter looking flustered.
“Nice job on changing his diaper,” Tony said sarcastically. “I really like this pellucid looking diaper.”
Pepper rolled her eyes. “He tricked me.”
“Wow. Tricked by a two year old. Nice one, Pete.” Tony held out his hand for Peter to high five then transferred him to his other arm as he grabbed the wipes from Pepper. “I’ll finish changing him if you wanna finish here.”
Pepper nodded her head and finished with what Tony was doing as he took Peter back out into the living room to finish off with his diaper change.
“Let’s take this off. We don’t wear tops while we eat, right, Pete?” Tony laughed as he pulled Peter’s top off of him and grabbed the wipes from the floor.
“We don’ wear ‘dem!” Peter repeated and stomped his foot.
“That’s right now lie down” Tony laughed then waited for Peter to lie down so he could wipe him and put a diaper on him.
Once he was done Peter ran off into the kitchen again and Tony followed him so he could wash his hands. “Come here, Pete. I gotta wash your hands too.”
“Bah bah bah bah!” Peter went to run past Tony but he grabbed him just in time and lifted him up to the sink. Tony held Peter’s hands under the water and started rubbing them with soap but Peter was trying to climb into the sink. “No, Pete.”
“Ba’f’?” Peter asked confused and looked up at Tony.
“No. Just washing your hands so we can eat.” Peter kicked his legs on the counter and let Tony continue to wash his hands before setting him on his feet.
The table was already set by Pepper and she had already sat down and was waiting for Tony and Peter to come sit down as well.
Peter was trying to climb up onto the dining room table chair as Tony walked in and dragged his high chair over so he could place Peter in there instead. Even if he wanted to have Peter sit next to him on the chair, he wouldn’t even be able to see over the table never mind eat his food.
Tony lifted Peter up and placed him in his high chair, sitting down and dragging Peter next to him.
Pepper noticed the lack of clothing from Peter and commented on it. “Where did your top go, Peter?”
Peter looked at Pepper and pointed to Tony. “We don’ wear ‘dem!”
“That’s right, Pete.” Tony smiled at Peter while he put chicken onto his high chair table and started cutting it up then putting some corn and mashed potatoes. One thing he loved about giving Peter food was that he never had to use any dishes after, although Tony supposes he makes up for that by having to wash the whole freaking child after any meal. It was totally worth it though getting to watch Peter eat and make a mess of himself.
Peter immediately started to eat the chicken and corn with his fingers, shoving his whole hand into his mouth unnecessarily to get the food in there, Tony was glad that he washed the toddlers hands before he started eating.
As Tony started to eat his own food, he couldn’t help but watch Peter amused. He barely heard anything that Pepper was saying to him but he figured that after a few failed attempts at trying to talk to him, Pepper gave up.
Tony noticed that Peter was eating everything but his mashed potatoes which Tony thought was odd considering that Peter wanted to eat them so badly while Tony was cooking them.
Figures that the toddler would want something when he couldn’t have it but as soon as he could, he didn’t even touch it.
Tony sighed and pointed to the mashed potatoes but Peter screamed and tried to move Tony’s hand away, thinking that he was going to take his chicken away from him. “No daddy! Mine!”
Tony looked at Pepper and laughed then looked back at Peter. “I don’t want your toddler-handled chicken so don’t worry about me taking it. Why don’t you eat your mashed potatoes?”
Peter only looked at Tony as he drank from his sippy cup that was filled with apple juice. He followed Tony with his eyes as the man walked into the kitchen and returned with one of Peter’s baby forks.
“Do you want to try and use this-” Tony stabbed a piece of cut up chicken with the fork but Peter let out a blood curtailing scream which caused Tony to drop the fork onto the tray and look at Peter with a shocked expression.
“No!” Peter picked up the fork and threw it across the room then immediately calmed down and shoved a piece of chicken into his mouth and began chewing it.
Tony looked back at Pepper with a confused expression on his face because he had no idea what had just happened. Peter sure was protective over his chicken.
“Peter, no. We don’t throw things like that.” Tony spoke in a firm voice as Peter looked up at him with puppy dog eyes. His brown eyes shined brightly into Tony’s and Tony immediately wanted to lift him into his arms and hold him forever.
“I sowwy daddy” Peter lifted his hand up to Tony that was covered in chicken, corn and baby drool. He held a piece of chicken up to Tony as a sorry gift and Tony immediately forgave him. There was no way he could stay mad at his perfect kid.
“It’s okay, baby. I forgive you but you eat your food, I have my own” There was no way Tony would be eating Peter’s chicken after it was played with for at least twenty minutes. He’s also sure that that piece was in Peter’s mouth for a few seconds before Peter took it back out for some reason. Weird.
Tony pointed to Peter’s mashed potatoes again, this time Peter didn’t scream at him. “Are you gonna eat your mashed potatoes, Pete? You wanted them so badly earlier.”
Peter grabbed Tony’s hand and dipped his finger into his now cold potatoes then tried to bring Tony’s hand to his mouth so he could eat them off of his finger like before. Tony shook his head and laughed at the scene going on in front of him.
Why Peter felt the need to eat his mashed potatoes with his finger and not his own was a mystery to Tony.
Both adults laughed at the scene going on in front of them before Tony’s phone vibrated in his pocket for like the tenth time that evening.
He stood up and wiped his finger on his pants as he pulled his vibrating phone out of his pocket, seeing that it was Bruce he turned to Pepper.
“I have to answer this but I’ll be back. Can you watch him?” Tony left the room, already knowing that Pepper would watch Peter either way.
Once he knew he was out of earshot, Tony answered the phone, putting it up to his ear. “Hello?”
“Tony, I’ve been trying to call you all afternoon.” Bruce said with some annoyance to his voice. “I have some news about Peter.”
Tony subconsciously held his breath as he waited for Bruce to speak. He was scared as to what the next sentence would be from Bruce.
“I’ve done a lot of testing and between Cho and I, we think we found a way to change Peter back into a teenager. We’re pretty confident this will work” Bruce explained with some excitement to his voice.
Tony wasn’t sure how to feel about that. He loved how his life was with Peter right now. He knew it was selfish of him to want this life with Peter but that’s how he felt.
Ever since Peter got de-aged, Tony felt as if he was happier. He had a reason to smile all the time with Peter and he loved his daily routine with his kid.
He wasn’t sure how to feel about this information. Tony knew that Bruce and Cho were working on reversing the de-aging effects but he thought he had more time with Peter. He thought he could live this life just a little bit longer.
“That’s good, Bruce. Are you sure it’s going to work?” Tony asked. He wasn’t sure what else he could be saying.
Bruce was silent before speaking. “I don’t know. We ran a lot of tests on a lot of different serums but nothing worked, Tony. It was nearly impossible to get this one so I’m not sure.”
Tony sighed. He leaned his head against the wall and ran his fingers through his hair. “Well we have to try. For Peter. And his Aunt.”
Tony wanted to say to try for himself as well but he wasn’t sure if he wanted this. He knew it wasn’t fair for Peter if he said no and didn’t let Bruce at least try for his own selfish reasons so he would try. For his kid.
“If it doesn’t work then I’m not sure what else to do, Tony. I am confident that it will work though” Bruce said with confidence to his voice and Tony found himself nodding. “Is tomorrow morning at ten good?”
Tony thought about how he would have less than one day with Peter as a toddler but he agreed anyways. “Yeah, it’s fine. I’ll see you then.”
As Tony put his phone back in his pocket, he felt his eyes burn with unshed tears. He didn’t know why this was hitting him so hard.
He loved Peter as a teen as much as he loves him now as a toddler.
Tony didn’t know why but he was scared. He was scared that once Peter turns back into a teen that he wouldn’t want to see him anymore and that terrified Tony more than he thought.
Tony took a deep breath to try and calm himself then he walked back into the dining room where Peter was whining and trying to climb out of his high chair.
He immediately rushed forward and grabbed Peter under the armpits so he could lift Peter out of the high chair.
“He got mad after you left and wanted to follow you.” Pepper explained and looked at Tony defeated. He smiled weakly at her.
“It’s okay. I’m here now, Pete. Daddy’s here.” Tony ignored the grubby hands that were all over his shirt as he held Peter on his lap.
Peter seemed to recover fast since he was laughing and trying to stand up on Tony’s lap while Tony held his waist with one hand and the other one was holding Peter’s chubby arm.
Tony thought about how he might not be getting to do this with Peter tomorrow if the serum that Cho and Bruce made works.
“Do you want to go in a bath now, Petey?” Tony asked, thinking about it being the last time he would be asking Peter that. He tried not to think about that right now because he wanted to enjoy his time with his kid.
Peter nodded his head and tried to bounce on Tony’s lap as he giggled like crazy which was Tony’s favourite sound in the whole world.
He stood up and placed Peter on his hip as he started walking towards Peter’s bedroom. “I’m gonna give him a bath but don’t worry about cleaning this up because I’ll do it later.”
Pepper nodded her head but got to cleaning anyways as soon as they were out of view.
When Tony walked into Peter’s bedroom he placed the toddler on the floor and watched him toddle into his corner where his toys were and sat on his teddy bear that he always sat on while Tony grabbed a diaper, wipes and diaper rash cream from the changing table.
“You ready for bath time now, Pete?” Tony waited for Peter to stand up and walk with him but Peter stayed where he was. Tony walked over to him and leaned down to gently lean his head back so that Peter was looking at him. “Are you coming, Petey?”
Peter giggled at his daddy and stood up on chubby legs then started running into the hallway and into Tony’s bathroom where he knew where his bath was taking place.
Tony laughed at his kid but then his laughter stopped because he knew that Peter would soon be a teen and wouldn’t need his help for baths anymore.
He tried to think about life with Peter after they want through this together. Would Peter remember it? He didn’t know if he would want Peter to, he obviously does just so Peter will remember how close they have gotten but he also doesn’t just because he doesn’t want Peter to run away from him and not want to see him.
Tony wasn’t able to worry about anything for long because he was walking into the bathroom with Peter trying to climb into the empty bathtub. Tony quickly made his way over to Peter and lifted him off of the edge and placed him on his feet. Both of his hands were free since he left all of Peter’s diaper items on his bed before walking into the bathroom.
He began to fill the bathtub to the appropriate temperature and height for his kid. After all of their bath times together, Tony was an expert at filling up his kids bath to the perfect height and temperature for him.
“Come here, Pete,” Tony called Peter over. He turned around from where he was sitting next to the bath and saw Peter with a bottle of soap in his hands. “Bring that here.”
“Da?” Peter held up the bottle in his hand and Tony nodded his hand, holding his arm out for Peter to come to him. Once Peter got in grabbing distance he pulled Peter by his arm and dragged him so that he was standing in front of him so he could pull his diaper off.
After Tony took Peter’s diaper off, Peter tried to run out of the bathroom but Tony shut the door before he got the chance to go anywhere. Tony tossed the diaper into the counter of the bathroom until he had time to throw it out. He was too lazy to walk to the other side of the bathroom to throw it out.
He picked Peter up and placed him in the bathtub but Peter had a change of mind and no longer wanted to take a bath because he was trying hard to get out. “Out! Daddy, out!”
Tony grabbed a duck from the ledge of the bath and placed him in the water.
“Hey, Peter. Can you take a bath with me because I don’t want to be alone? Please, Peter.” Tony said in a low pitched voice to pretend to be the duck.
Peter turned towards the duck in the water and sat down in the water so he could pat his rubber head. Tony smiled at Peter thinking that Peter was going to play with the duck but Peter grabbed it from Tony’s hands and tossed it out of the bath. Tony looked at Peter confused because he had no idea why Peter suddenly liked to throw things.
“Peter, you hurt your duck. He didn’t like that very much” Tony got up to grab the duck from across the bathroom but Peter screamed at him when he tried to put it back in the tub.
“No, he no wan’ ba’f, daddy.” Peter tried to explain which Tony rolled his eyes at then grabbed another bath toy which was a dolphin and placed him in the tub.
“Does he want to take a bath?” Tony asked as he made the toy swim towards Peter. Peter giggled at the action then tried to lean down to press a kiss to the dolphin but he lost his balance and fell face first into the water.
Tony’s heart immediately fell into his stomach as he reached in and picked Peter back up with both hands and once Peter came up, he started to cry loudly which echoed in the bathroom.
“You’re okay, Peter. It’s okay” Tony reassured him. Peter was trying to reach for him but Tony grabbed a towel from the floor that was there and dried Peter’s face off with it. Peter stood up with Tony grabbing onto his arm just in case he fell again.
He tried to reach for Tony and was quietly calling for ‘daddy’ so Tony gently wrapped his arms around Peter and decided to give him a hug instead. He knew that if he took Peter out of the bathtub then he wouldn’t be getting back in and Tony still didn’t wash him yet.
“You’re okay, Peter. Let me see your smile now” Tony said but Peter still cried sadly for him as he stood in the bath. Tony tried a different approach. “Fine then, don’t smile. Don’t smile, Peter.” When Peter started to smile at Tony, Tony couldn’t help but reach over and pinch his chubby cheeks.
“No, I don’t want to see your smile!” Tony joked with fake annoyance as he got Peter to smile. As he continued to do that, Tony grabbed the baby soap and put some on his hand to start cleaning Peter’s body.
After he was done soaping up Peter’s whole body, he got him to sit down and rinsed him off, quickly washing Peter’s hair and rinsing all the soap off of him.
“Ready to come out now?” Tony asked. He waited for Peter to nod his head then picked him up and laid him down on the towel that was laid out on the floor. Tony quickly dried him off then picked Peter up off the floor and carried him into his bedroom to lay Peter on his bed.
As Peter was laid down, his thumb immediately went into his mouth while Tony unwrapped him from his towel to let him air dry for a bit.
He smiled down at his kid sadly because as happy as he was in this moment, he knew it wasn’t going to last and that this would be the last time he would be drying Peter after his bath.
It was a scary thing to think about for Tony, a day from now everything was going to be so very different and there are so many outcomes that could happen. Tony was terrified for every single one.
As sad and scared as he was, Tony didn’t want to think about that right now because he wanted to enjoy his last night with his baby.
Tony grabbed the diaper cream and started rubbing it onto Peter before grabbing a clean diaper and lifting his legs up to get it on him. Tony realized that he hadn’t brought in any pyjamas for Peter so he picked him up in just his diaper and carried him back into his bedroom.
Peter continued to suck on his thumb as laid is head on Tony’s shoulder all the way into his bedroom. Tony didn’t want to let his baby go, he was comfortable holding him in his arms right now but he needed to dress Peter in some pyjamas. His last time doing it.
Tony laid Peter on the floor gently, no matter how badly he wanted to continue holding his kid in his arms and never let go. He dressed Peter in a white pyjama top with dinosaurs on it and blue striped pyjama pants.
Peter had already been reaching up for his daddy so Tony wasted no time in picking him up and holding him in his arms.
He carried him into the living room but when he glanced towards the kitchen and dining room, it had already been cleaned up. Tony smiled in relief because that meant he got to spend more time with his baby.
Tony didn’t see Pepper anywhere so he decided to carry Peter into the kitchen to make him his bottle for bedtime.
Even though Tony was still holding onto his baby, he couldn’t stop thinking about not doing this anymore. He didn’t want to think about life without his baby boy in it how it is.
“Do you wanna sleep with daddy tonight, baby?” Tony asked Peter.
“Yeah” Peter said then reached for the bottle that Tony held towards him. As Tony carried Peter back to his bedroom, he made sure to take in every last moment with his kid.
Tony knew that he still had to call May and tell her that her nephew would possibly be getting his life back as a teenager tomorrow but he wanted to wait a bit.
He still had to tell Peter the news.
Tony had no idea how Peter would react or if he would even know what he was talking about but he had to try.
Tony sat Peter so that he was sitting up and leaning against a pillow then Tony sat next to him. “Peter? Look at me, bud. I have to tell you something.”
Peter looked at Tony as he continued to drink his milk. Tony saw that he had Peter’s attention so he started to speak. “Tomorrow Bruce will be coming over. He thinks he can change you back into a teen again, baby.”
Peter didn’t say anything. He continued to drink his milk and stare at Tony with tired eyes.
“Do you understand what I’m saying, baby?” Tony asked. He wondered if he would continue to call Peter baby after he became a fifteen year old again.
He knows that he only started calling Peter baby after he got de-aged so Tony wondered if the name would stick. That is if Peter even wants to see him after everything that happened.
Peter took his bottle from out of his mouth and then stuck his thumb in and lied down on the bed. Tony looked at him defeated.
Peter didn’t understand what he was saying and there was no way to make him understand.
Tony sighed as he lay down next to Peter after getting both of them comfortable under the blankets. He lifted Peter’s pyjama top up to tickle his belly gently to help him fall asleep easier.
Tony didn’t sleep himself, he watched his kid drift off into a peaceful sleep and stayed for a few minutes longer just taking in everything that was happening.
After staying for a little while, Tony got out of bed and decided to go call May.
He really didn’t want her coming and possibly taking his kid away from him but he had to. He knew she had the right to know.
Tony sat on the couch and dialed her number. She picked up on the third ring. “Tony? Is Peter okay?”
Tony was silent for a few seconds before speaking. “Pete’s fine. He’s sleeping in my room. I’m Uh, I’m just calling to tell you that Bruce thinks he figured out how to get Peter back into a teen. He’s coming over tomorrow at ten.”
May gasped excitedly through the phone. “Really?! I can’t believe this! I’m so happy, Tony! Finally it’s figured out! I get to bring my baby home now.”
Tony tried not to say anything rude to May on the phone because at the end of the day it was up to her whether or not Peter stays with him.
“Yeah.” Tony said sadly. He hated this.
“Thank you so much for taking care of him, Tony. I couldn’t have done it without you but now you don’t need to change his diapers anymore because he’ll be able to do that himself,” May paused then laughed. “Well, I mean he won’t need to wear diapers anymore and he can go to the bathroom himself.”
Tony wasn’t laughing with May. He wanted to hang up on her. “I enjoyed taking care of him, May. It was nice”
May was silent for a few seconds as if she was surprised that Tony enjoyed taking care of her two year old nephew. “Well, I’m sure it was hard and you don’t have to worry about it anymore because I’ll be taking him home with me tomorrow.”
Tony fisted his hand hard. He wanted to yell at May so badly right now. He took a calming breath and spoke. “We’ll see what happens, May. I have to go back to Peter now so I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
Tony then hung up the phone and tried his best not to throw it into the wall across from him.
He hung his head in his hands and fought back the urge to scream. He hated this so much and wished that he had more time with Peter. He hated this so much.
Just then, the elevator doors were opening and Tony didn’t bother to look up. He knew it was Pepper.
She walked towards him then paused when she saw him. “Tony? Where’s Peter? What’s going on?”
Tony didn’t look up at her. He knew he looked awful. “He’s in my room sleeping”
Pepper sat down next to him and put a comforting hand on his knee. “What’s wrong?”
Tony removed his face from his hands and leaned back on the couch as he looked up at the ceiling. “Bruce called. He thinks he knows how to change Peter back into a teen again. He’s coming tomorrow at ten.”
Pepper nodded her head in understanding. She knew how happy Tony was with Peter living the life they had been living for the last few weeks.
She knew how hard it was for Tony to now have to say goodbye to this life after being so unbelievably happy.
“I’m sorry. I know how happy this life with Peter made you, you fit into the dad role really well but this doesn’t mean it’s over forever, Tony. You loved him as a teen and you love him now so nothing will change between you two” Pepper explained slowly. She wanted to say that it was going to be okay but she wasn’t sure what was going to happen.
Tony let out a loud sigh. “No, Pep. I don’t know what’s gonna happen, after everything that’s happened, he probably won’t want to see me anymore and now his Aunt says she’s going to take him home with her.”
Pepper always knew what to say but right now, in this moment she didn’t know. “Tony, I think we just have to wait and see what happens tomorrow. Right now, you need to be with Peter.”
Tony nodded his head. He knew he would have to wait and see what happens but he wouldn’t stop worrying about it. With another nod, Tony stood up and made his way back to where Peter was.
Peter was sitting up in bed, drinking his bottle and Tony couldn’t help but smile at his baby.
He laid on the bed and waited for Peter to crawl over to him. “Daddy.”
Tony smiled at the name, unsure if he would ever hear it again. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and pressed record so that it was facing Peter with the bottle in his mouth.
“Peter, who am I?” Tony asked. Peter pointed at him. “Yeah, who am I?”
Peter took the bottle out of his mouth and pointed at him again. “Daddy.”
“Yeah, baby. I’m your daddy and I love you so much, Pete. No matter what.” Tony said, he tried not to let his voice crack. Peter let out a loud squeal and crawled over to Tony, throwing himself into his arms.
“Daddy! Daddy.” Peter started pressing slobbery wet kisses to Tony’s face then Tony turned the video off and placed his phone on the nightstand table.
He hugged Peter back then sat him on his chest and poked him in the stomach. “Let’s go to sleep now, baby. Okay?”
Peter grabbed his bottle and laid down on Tony’s chest to sleep. It wasn’t the most comfortable position for Tony but he loved it either way because he had his baby in his arms.
.
.
.
When Tony woke up it was to a heavy weight no longer on his chest.
The sun was shining through the windows which caused Tony to squeeze his eyes shut once he opened them. He looked over to where Peter was still sleeping and smiled at the sight.
Peter had his thumb in his mouth and was facing Tony with his arm above his head and his legs stretched out in front of him as he lay on his back.
Tony wanted to stay like this forever but he knew what today was so he knew that wasn’t possible.
He quickly got out of bed to go pee and brush his teeth while Peter continued to sleep. When Tony walked into the bedroom, he sat on the edge of the bed and watched his baby sleep for a few seconds before gently shaking him awake.
Peter let out a whine as he opened his eyes and immediately smiled once they landed on Tony’s.
“Hi baby. Did you sleep well?” Tony asked with a smile on his face.
Peter sat up and reached his hands out for Tony. “Daddy! Daddy!”
Tony wasted no time in picking Peter up and hugging him tightly to his chest. He felt that Peter needed a diaper change and he felt bad for not waking up in the middle of the night to change him. He hoped he didn’t give Peter a diaper rash.
Tony stood up with Peter in his arms and carried him into his bedroom, placing him on his feet. Peter immediately ran over to where his stuffed animals were in the corner and sat on the teddy bears face.
Tony laughed at him seeing as Peter always does that whenever he’s in his bedroom.
Tony grabbed a diaper, baby wipes and diaper rash cream before sitting on the ground to change Peter.
“Come here, Pete. You can bring your bear” Peter picked up his teddy bear and carried it over to Tony as he laid down in front of him.
Tony pulled his pants off of him and undid his diaper straps, pulling down the front. He saw that Peter did have a diaper rash and Tony felt bad since that was his fault. He should have changed him last night.
Tony got to work on wiping Peter with the wipes but he decided to let Peter run with no diaper or pants on to let the fresh air do some good to his rash.
Peter rolled away from Tony once he realized that he didn’t have to wear a diaper and he lifted his arms up towards him.
Tony picked him up in one motion and settled him on his hip as he walked into the kitchen to feed Peter.
He placed Peter on the ground so he could fill his sippy cup up with apple juice and then chopped up a banana with some toast and jam.
He put everything on a plate and carried it over into the living room where Peter was sitting on one of his teddy bears, Tony had no idea why he loved to sit on his teddy bears so much.
Once Peter saw him he tugged on his shirt and started whining. “Daddy, off!”
“You want your shirt off?” Tony asked as he pulled the pyjama shirt off of Peter. He picked up the baby fork and held it out to Peter with a banana on the end.
Peter grabbed his sippy cup and began drinking out of it before opening his mouth to let his daddy feed him the banana.
The elevator doors opened and Tony felt his heart race as he turned to see who it was.
He let out a sigh of relief at seeing that it was only Pepper carrying two cups of coffee.
“I got you this. How is he?” Pepper asked and sat down as she smiled at Peter.
“Thanks. He’s good. I’m not. I tried to tell him last night what was going to happen but he didn’t even know, Pep. He didn’t understand what I was saying” Tony held another banana out for Peter.
“He doesn’t understand.” Pepper nodded. It didn’t surprise her one bit. “Where’s his clothes?”
Peter grabbed the toast from off the plate and began eating it while both adults watched him. “He has a diaper rash so I left him like this until he eats.”
Pepper looked at Tony sadly. “It’s gonna be okay, Tony. No matter what happens.”
Tony looked at Peter while he spoke. “I’m not so sure, Pep.”
Tony knew there was only a matter of hours now that he got to spend with Peter like this and the worst part about this whole thing was the fact that Tony didn’t know what was going to happen. There was no way for him to know.
Tony fed Peter his last piece of banana and waited for him to chew it before he walked with him into his bedroom. “Come on, Pete. Let’s go put a diaper on you and get you dressed.”
Peter grabbed onto Tony’s hand with his sticky one, Tony would have to wash both his and Peter’s hands now.
When he got to Peter’s bedroom, he picked Peter up under his arms and sat him on the bathroom counter so he could wipe his face and hands down as well as his own before placing Peter on the ground. “Lay down for me, Pete, so I can dress you.”
Tony pulled out an outfit for Peter to dress him in which was a white plain top with black track pants. He grabbed the diaper rash cream and diaper that was still there from before and called Peter over.
“Peter, come.” Peter came walking over to Tony and fell onto his butt with a giggle. Tony quickly put diaper rash cream on him then placed a clean diaper and dressed him in his outfit for the day.
“Daddy up” Peter said before sticking his thumb in his mouth and reaching his free arm up for Tony to pick him up.
Tony lifted Peter onto his hip and then walked back into the living room but when he got there, he heard two more voices. May and Bruce had arrived.
Tony wanted to turn around and run away with Peter but he couldn’t. He had to walk out there and give Peter his life back.
May spotted Tony and Peter first so she stood up and quickly made her way over to them. Tony already wanted to push her away because he knew that she was going to try and take Peter away from him.
May held her arms out towards Peter and smiled at him. “Hi Peter. Can I hold you?”
Peter lifted his head off of Tony’s shoulder and for a second Tony thought that Peter was going to go into her arms but he shook his head with his thumb still in his mouth. Tony tried not to smile at that and walked past May. “Sorry, May. He’s a little extra clingy today.”
Tony went and sat down on the couch and held Peter on his lap as he turned towards Bruce. “So how does this work?”
Bruce had his bag with a bunch of papers lying around. He pulled out a medical box and held it up. “This is the serum that Cho and I managed to create. It’s a needle so once I inject it into him it should start to work within one to two minutes.”
Tony nodded his head in understanding as he held Peter tighter. He had a strong feeling that he wasn’t going to like the outcome of what happens today.
Pepper sat down next to Tony and patted his knee in support. She knew this was hard on him.
“Will it hurt him?” May asked concerned.
Bruce shrugged his shoulders and put his glasses on. “It shouldn’t but I have no way of knowing for sure. It’ll only last about one to two minutes.” Bruce explained then stood up with the needle in his hand. “Are you ready, Tony?”
Tony went to yes but he wasn’t. He wasn’t ready for this and he just wanted to have a little bit more time with Peter before everything changed.
“Um, yeah. Yeah. Let me just hold him for a little bit longer.” Tony felt his eyes burn again for the second time in less than two days. He wanted to be selfish and pull Peter away from everybody right now and not let Bruce inject the needle into him but the only reason he’s not is because he knows that wouldn’t be fair to Peter. “Okay. Okay, we’re ready.”
“Can you take off his clothes, Tony.” Bruce asked. “I don’t know if they’ll grow with him and I know how uncomfortable it is to have your clothes ripped off of you like that.”
Tony got to work and started to pull Peter’s top off of his head and then tugged his pants down so that he was just in a diaper. He debated taking that off as well but he decided against it.
“Okay, I’m just going to put the needle into his leg now so can you lay him on his back?” Bruce asked once again and Tony felt his heart beating extremely fast.
Tony pressed a kiss to Peter’s head as he laid him on his back and hated the way that Peter was looking up at him with so much fear. “Daddy, no. Daddy!”
“It’s okay, baby. Daddy’s here.” Tony pressed one last kiss to Peter’s forehead before standing up and walking beside Pepper.
He didn’t look at May but he knew that she was watching nervously from the side. He could see Peter reaching out for him and crying for him and Tony had to hold back from running over to him and picking his baby boy up.
He watched as Bruce put the needle into Peter’s leg and heard the loud scream that came after that.
Bruce took a step back as all adults watched on.
“Daddy! Daddy, hurts!” Peter cried and tried to reach for Tony.
That was the last thing Tony saw before there was a bright light surrounding Peter that looked to be glowing and spinning at the same time. Tony tried to watch what was happening but he had to look away because it was too bright.
All the adults in the room looked away from the bright light surrounding Peter.
The light and spinning continued for another minute before it slowly started to go away. Once it did, Tony immediately turned to look at where Peter was and once the light was gone, his heart almost stopped beating.
Right there, lying on the couch was his kid. Peter. Only now he was back to his fifteen year old self.
Tony found himself smiling as he immediately went to his kids side and hesitated before touching his face. Once Tony touched him, Peter’s eyes shot open and landed on Tony’s eyes.
“Daddy?” Peter asked in a small voice.
Tony felt tears rush to his eyes but he didn’t let them fall. He nodded his head. “Yeah, baby. It’s daddy. Are you okay? How do you feel?”
Peter sat up with the help from Tony and blinked a few times before looking around the room with wide eyes.
Bruce quickly came over and was shining a light in Peter’s eyes. “Move over, Tony. I have to check him and make sure he’s okay.”
Tony moved over but he still stayed by Peter’s side as he watched Bruce check Peter’s pupils, vitals and reflexes. Once he was done he started asking him questions.
“Can you tell me what your name is?” Bruce asked.
Peter looked over at Tony then back at Bruce. “Um… Peter.”
“Good. Good. Do you remember anything, Peter?” Bruce asked as Tony held his breath.
He wasn’t sure if he wanted Peter to remember anything or not. Peter looked over at Tony again and kept his stare for a few seconds then looking away back at Bruce.
May came over and kneeled down so she was at Peter’s level as he sat on the couch. “Peter, baby? How do you feel? Are you hurting anywhere? Do you remember anything?”
Tony glanced at Pepper who was watching on with wide eyes. When he looked back at Peter, Peter was still looking at him. Tony glanced down to between Peter’s legs and saw that he was still wearing the diaper from before.
Peter followed Tony’s gaze down to between his legs and let out a quiet sob so he lifted his hands up to his mouth to try and stop himself from making any noises.
Tony saw that Peter was about to start crying… but maybe he wasn’t. Tony wasn’t sure because he wasn’t dealing with a toddler anymore. He was dealing with a teenager. His teenager.
“I think we should stop with all the questions while Peter goes and gets out of… that… and into his clothes.” Tony awkwardly said. He stood up and didn’t miss the way that Peter’s hand immediately went onto his leg like he used to do when he was a toddler before letting go. “Do you wanna go change, Pete? You remember where your room is.”
Peter didn’t nod or say anything to show Tony that he heard him but he did stand up on shaky legs. Tony grabbed onto his arms to support him while he took a few shaky steps as May got up and stepped forward.
“I’ll take him, Tony.” May tried to say as he went to grab onto Peter’s arm but Tony stopped her.
“I got him, May. We’ll be right back.” Tony said, he looked down at Peter to make sure that Peter was okay with it before walking with Peter down the hall.
Peter’s first few steps were slow and shaky but he eventually got the hang of it and started walking without Tony’s help.
Tony wasn’t sure what to say, he wanted to talk to Peter but he didn’t know what to say. It was almost awkward and he hated it.
When they got to Peter’s bedroom, Tony, out of habit went to grab a clean diaper and the diaper rash cream but when he turned back to look at Peter he hung his head and tossed the items onto the floor as Peter watched him awkwardly with wide brown eyes. The same wide brown eyes that he was so used to looking in but now it just felt… different.
“Um, I’ll get some of your clothes for you.” Tony announced as he dug through the drawers to find some teenage sized clothes. It was hard to find but he eventually found a top, pants and underwear. It felt so weird for Tony to be handing Peter underwear instead of a diaper. And actually handing it to him to put on himself instead of doing it for him.
When he looked back at Peter, he was looking around at everything in the bedroom. His eyes landed on the crib that was against the wall and Tony watched him stare at it for a few long seconds before looking over at Tony.
“You can Uh, go change in the bathroom and I’ll be here if you need help… well I mean of course you don’t need help. I’m here either way.” Tony handed the clothes off to Peter and watched him slowly take them and walk into the bathroom.
Tony sat down on Peter’s teenage bed and put his head in his hands. He hated this so much. Peter wasn’t saying a word, for all he knew, Peter didn’t know how to speak. It was awkward and he didn’t know what to do about anything.
It took a lot longer for Peter to come out of the bathroom but when he did walk out, Tony really got a chance to look at him and noticed that he looked… younger.
He looked younger than the teenager that he was used to. A lot younger and that scared him.