All The Stars Align

“Dad, where’s my shoes?” Peter asked as he sat on the ground by the front door, too lazy to move from his spot on the ground.

Tony ignored him since he told Peter ten times that his shoes were in the bedroom. He was not going to tell him again since Peter was choosing to ignore him.

Two can play at that game… although he knew that he should be the adult in the situation.

“Dad?” Peter called out for him again. “Dad!”

“Peter, I told you ten times that your shoes were in the bedroom.” Tony snapped at him, angry that they were leaving Malibu. He felt bad for taking it out on Peter so he took a calming breath. “Please go get them on. And go pee before we go.”

“I don’t need to go pee.” Peter stuck out his bottom lip and marched off to the bedroom.

“Please try.” Tony sighed and watched Peter leave just as Pepper walked out of the bedroom. He smiled weakly at her. They had a fun time, it was now Tuesday morning since they ended up staying two extra days just because they could.

Tony wanted Pepper to go back to New York with them but she couldn’t since she still had to do a lot of work with the company and it could only be done in Malibu. “When can you get off?”

Pepper sighed and stepped closer to him. “I have a responsibility, Tony.”

“I know. So do I but I take my responsibilities with me.” Tony gestured towards the bedroom where Peter was. His responsibility was a lot more fun than Pepper’s was.

“Tony.” She turned away from him. “My responsibilities don’t require bedtime routines and baths. I have an actual company to run. Your company, remember? How else are you going to make two hundred dollars a day?” She smirked at him, hinting back a few days ago when Peter said that he makes $200 a day.

He chuckled and pulled her closer so their bodies were pressed together. “I can survive a few days without that two hundred dollars. It’ll be tight for a few days but it’ll all be worth it.” Tony added on and looked at her, practically begging her to come with them.

“Peter’s therapist is coming later today and then this week we’re starting the whole sleeping in his own bedroom thing.” Tony was not looking forward to that for so many reasons. He slept better when Peter slept with him and he knew that Peter did too but it wasn’t healthy and they had to stop.

“I hope that goes well. Hopefully he’ll adjust quickly.” Pepper told him but Tony was shaking his head.

“I know it won’t. I’ll give up and let him sleep with me after two nights of crying and no sleeping.” Tony sighed. “Maybe I’ll just leave it until it fixes itself. You know, like if you never potty train a baby so they end up doing it themselves.”

Pepper shook her head at him. “Yeah and then they never learn how to fully make it to the bathroom every time. Do you really want Peter calling you when he’s twenty five for you to come tuck him into bed at his house or wherever he is?”

Tony knew that. He knew they were going to hit the point of no return soon and then it was going to be too hard to get Peter into his own bed. He is just so glad that they have Rose now.

That way, they can work on everything together and get things moving in the right direction. It’ll take time. Tony knew that but it would all be worth it in the end.

Part of him is extremely excited to hang out with twenty five year old Peter and go speed racing with him or taking a trip somewhere with him and do things that they can’t do at Peter’s age right now.

He also knows that he’ll look back on these times and miss his little baby boy so he wants to enjoy these times.

As if on cue, Peter walked out from the hallway wearing a completely different outfit.

He had on his pyjama pants and Tony’s oversized shirt that hung extremely low on him. With no shoes. Of course. That’s what he gets for sending Peter in there alone.

“What happened in there?” Tony asked him, shrugging his shoulders at his kid who was walking towards him.

“I’m comfortable now.” Peter walked over to Tony and was about to lean against him but he decided to climb onto the kitchen counter instead and sit there between the two. “I’m not going back home, dad.”

Tony looked at Pepper. They technically had no reason to go back home. Peter wasn’t in school and he hadn’t decided what he was going to do with that yet.

He had his options which were going to be homeschooling by him, online schooling or hiring a teacher to come every weekday. He didn’t know what he wanted yet. He would have to talk with Peter.

“Dad. I wanna stay. It’s warm here.” Peter tried to give his dad his best puppy dog eyes but Tony wasn’t even looking at him. “Please.”

Tony wanted to fly to Miami and stay for a year with Peter. Just him and his baby. Surely he could do homeschooling there as well as the whole codependency thing.

“Come, Pete.” Tony pulled Peter off the kitchen counter and held him in his arms with his hand supporting his butt. He pressed a kiss to his temple and looked at him. “You took off your underwear?”

“Uh huh.” Peter grinned and nodded his head. “I wanna stay here. It’s too cold in poo York.”

“Summer’s coming soon.” Tony tried to make him feel better but there was still a long time until summer arrived. A lot of cold and snowy days before that.

“I got an idea,” Pepper began so both males heads snapped to look at her. “In one week, if you and Peter figure out what is happening with school and get started on that, give me a call and we’ll go to Miami for a bit.”

Peter gasped and looked at his dad. “Yeah! And we can go swimming together.”

“It’s a deal.” Tony shifted Peter so he could hold out his hand to shake with Pepper.

“It’s nice doing business with you, Mr. Stark.” Pepper smiled at him but then Peter was sticking his hand out to shake with her as well. “It’s nice doing business with you too, Mr. Stark.”

Peter giggled shyly into Tony’s chest and wrapped his arms around his neck. He then kicked his legs to be put down so Tony let him go. “Go pee because we do gotta go.”

“I don’t need to go.” Peter crossed his arms and shook his head so Tony sighed and walked over to him.

“Just go try. I’ll be here.” He gently pushed Peter off in the direction of the bathroom and watched him go. He turned to look at Pepper who always had that fond smile on her face when watching the father and son due interact.

“I’m guessing I’ll see you in a week in Miami.” She walked over to Tony, making his stomach flutter.

“Hopefully.”

“School is really important, Tony. Whatever you guys decide, it’s important to get him into a routine. Well, even though we will possibly be going to Miami and ruining that routine but you can always get back into it once you get back home.”

Tony agreed with her. Well, now that they even had a routine to get into since before it was school, screaming, school, more screaming and temper tantrums. Not a life to live.

“It’ll take time.” She told him and looked towards Peter to see him running towards them.

“Did you go?” Tony asked, already moving towards the bedroom to grab Peter’s shoes.

“Only two drops came out.” Peter ran ahead to go jump on the bed when the two of them walked in. “Miami! I wanna go now. Please dad. I really want to.”

Tony grabbed some socks and shoes then sat on the bed to pull Peter’s feet onto his lap. “What did Pepper say?”

“Um…” Peter looked up at Pepper, wanting her to tell him what she said since he forgot. When she didn’t say anything, he rolled onto his stomach and tried to crawl away but Tony pinned him down. “Ow.”

“Stop moving and it won’t hurt.” Tony got one foot ready and moved to the next foot. “I shouldn’t even be doing this. I didn’t know that I was the father of a little baby.”

Peter stuck out his tongue at him and blew to create a farting sound. Tony finished up with his other foot and stood up. “All done now. You’re spitting everywhere.”

“I like when it falls back down on my face.” Peter did it again, causing both adults to cringe so Tony grabbed the suitcase and left the bedroom, knowing that Peter would follow him. “Wait! What about me?”

“Go grab your suitcase. Peppers driving us to the airport.” Peter ran back to grab his suitcase and then rolled it to the front door so he could sit on top.

The three of them went down in the elevator and into the car but Tony grabbed Peter before he could climb in and carried him over to the other side to mess with him. “In you go.”

“Not this side, dad. Car seat.” Peter pointed to the car seat that was in the way and tried to wiggle out of Tony’s arms. He let out a loud scream that echoed throughout the whole parking garage and ringing Tony’s ears.

“Shh, my goodness. I’m just joking, get in.” He tossed Peter into the car and shut the door. When he got in himself, he turned around to look at Peter who was already taking off his shoes. “Put those back on before we get to the airport and not after we get to the airport.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No!”

Tony looked over at Pepper who was finding the whole situation rather amusing.

When he pulled up to the airport, he shut the car off and sighed sadly. He did not want to leave. He loved spending time with Pepper and having his kid close by, not having to worry about sending Peter into his own bedroom or anything like that.

He didn’t want to leave and Pepper could sense that. “Get a routine started and I’ll see you in a week.”

Tony smiled weakly. He knew what she was doing. She knew that he needed a bit of a push to get Peter into a school of some sort and so she was basically giving him an ultimatum. Put Peter into schooling or no Miami.

“I’ll do that.” He turned to smile at her, letting his eyes linger for a few seconds before looking back at his kid. “Peter. Why are your feet naked? Put your shoes on.”

Peter started laughing and pulled his feet up on the seat to wiggle his toes since he took off his socks as well. “I wanna keep my shoes off.”

Tony got out of the car to walk around the other side since he knew he had to do it for Peter since he wasn’t going to do it himself. “Where are your socks?”

Pepper got out as well and went to go talk to the workers who went to go out the suitcases onto the plane then stood by the door of the SUV.

“No! I don’t want to put my shoes on!” Peter screamed rather loudly so Pepper looked in and saw Tony pinning him down to try and get his shoes on. “It’s too tight and it hurts my toes!”

Tony sighed and stopped. “Peter, you were wearing them yesterday. You did not grow that much overnight.”

Peter nodded his head and wiped at his dry eyes. “I did. I even grew an armpit hair like you.”

Tony gasped. No. That’s not possible. He didn’t know why that thought scared him so much. Once Peter started his delayed puberty then the stuff that Peter does around him would not be so appropriate anymore and that scared him. He wasn’t ready for it to end yet. No.

“Let me see.” Tony lifted up his arm and pulled his shirt up but Peter was already giggling. He checked his other arm and shook his head at his kid. “You little bugger. You know that. You’re not allowed to grow up. Ever.”

Peter stuck out his bottom lip. “But I wanna shave my face like you.”

Tony knew it was selfish of him to never want Peter to grow up but he missed out on so many years with Peter. He’s glad that Peter is delayed in his development, part of him wonders if that has to do with the spider bite.

It made sense. Peter got bit right as he was about the age to start puberty so maybe the spider bite sees it as his body changing so it puts a stop to it. It was either that it was super fast puberty like his healing but then Peter would have been a full on man now. Good thing it wasn’t. Or there is the possibility that he’s just a bit behind, Tony isn’t worried either way. Everything will come with time.

“One day. Hopefully one day not soon.” Tony reached for Peter’s shoe and went to put it on his foot again but Peter started to cry, showing Tony that this phase was not going to be over anytime soon and he didn’t have to worry about Peter growing up yet. “It’s just a shoe, why are you crying?”

Tony pushed Peter’s knees to his chest so he could sit in the back seat and talk to Peter. “What baby?”

“I don’ wanna go!” Peter coughed on his tears and pushed himself up so he wasn’t lying down. “I wanna stay!”

“You can come back anytime you want, Peter.” Pepper told him, feeling so bad for Tony’s kid. She knew how hard simple change was for him.

Peter looked at her and continued to cry. “I wanna-I wanna come back now!”

Tony stood up and pulled Peter into his arms. “Shh. Are you tired? Do you wanna close your eyes and try to get some sleep on the plane?”

Peter laid his head on his dad’s shoulder and looked over at Pepper. “I don’t wanna go.”

“I’ll see you soon, Peter. You’re gonna go back home with your dad now.” Pepper cupped Peter’s cheek that wasn’t leaning against Tony’s shoulder.

Tony turned around to face Pepper. “Does he look tired?” He mouthed to her and felt relieved when she nodded and mouthed back ‘very’.

“Bye Peter. Have a fun flight home. I’ll see you soon.” Pepper waved bye to him as Tony turned to leave but Peter lifted his head up and started to cry. He reached an arm out for Pepper because he didn’t want to leave her and he didn’t want to leave Malibu to go back to New York.

He liked the time he had with his dad and his friend here. He didn’t want to go back home.

“Aw, it’s okay, Petey. You’ll see her soon.” Tony gave a quick one handed hug bye to Pepper and started walking away towards the plane with Peter crying in his ear. “Shh, what’s wrong, baby?”

Peter didn’t respond to him and even though it was still morning, Tony wanted to try and get him to sleep on the plane. He knew how tiring it was for Peter whenever he had to have a change of routine but that was just his life now, although they were making memories while they were at it, the hard part of the memories like now was what made everything else so much more worth it.

Tony was getting closer to the plane but Peter started to wiggle his way out of his arms, wanting to be put down so Tony set him on his feet and grabbed his hand so he didn’t try to run back to Pepper.

“Say bye, Pete. We’re gonna see her later.” Tony tugged Peter onto the steps of the plane but he wasn’t moving and was too busy looking in the direction that they just came from so Tony grabbed both of his arms and lifted him onto the first step. “Up you go.”

As much as Tony had to pretend for Peter, he was sad that they had to leave as well. He was having a really great time with Pepper and showing Peter around Malibu since it was his first time there.

It was a nice few days but that was now coming to an end and as hard as it was, he knew they would all see each other again so it was fine.

He got Peter into the plane and waited for the doors to shut before letting go of him. “Let’s calm down, Peter.”

Peter shook his head and fell onto the floor so Tony calmly sat down on one of the chairs and watched Peter. “I’m not going to hold you unless you calm down so come over to me and use your words.”

Peter sat up and looked at Tony for a few moments before deciding that he wanted cuddles over crying alone on the floor. He sat himself down in his lap and let Tony pull him tightly against himself. “Tell me.”

“I didn’t- didn’t wanna leave.” Peter explained to his dad, not that Tony didn’t already know that.

“I know you didn’t but we’ll come back soon.” Tony rubbed his back but Peter was kicking his leg out and whining. “What now?”

“I don’t want to come back.” Peter pushed himself up and looked at his dad. He was mad and he didn’t know what he wanted.

Tony stared at him, not understanding what this was all about. “Okay. Now you don’t want to come back. Well, how about you shut your eyes. Do you wanna sit with me or on your own seat?”

Peter moved so he was lying with his back up against the seat rest and his head cradled in the crook of Tony’s arm. “Here.” Peter looked up at his dad and lifted his arms above his head to get more comfortable.

“Shh, you sleep, baby. I’ll be here.” Tony used his hand to cover Peter’s face so he could fall asleep faster which he learned worked most times.

Although not this time because Peter was moving his hand away from his face. “No. I don’t like it.”

Tony sighed. This was going to be a long flight.

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.
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For some reason, Peter managed to stay awake for the whole flight but ended up falling asleep a few minutes before landing so that was good, at least he could sleep a bit and wake up in a better mood.

Happy was there to pick them up and Tony actually really missed the man. Happy was always the one to go with him to meetings like what he was doing in Malibu and to not have the man there was odd. He was glad to be home now though.

“Hey, Hap.” Tony smiled at the man as he lifted Peter’s unconscious body up from the seat.

“How was the trip? I thought it was going bad when you said you were staying a few extra days.” Happy asked as he grabbed both suitcases from the plane.

“Uh, yeah, no, it was fine. Pete and I just didn’t want to leave so we stayed for a few extra days but everything is taken care of at the company.” Tony hoisted Peter up and held him with his hand supporting his butt. He had wrestled Peter into a sweater before they landed so he would stay warm until they got into the car.

The three of them headed down the steps and the cold air immediately hit Tony. It sent a shiver down his spine so he held Peter a tad closer to keep him warm.

“Rose is already at the tower.” Happy told him.

Tony mentally swore. “I forgot about that. Alright. Hopefully she doesn’t mind waiting too long.” As much as Tony didn’t want her to wait, he knew that she was going to have to work with his and Peter’s constantly moving schedule which was disclosed to her at the interview anyways so it was okay.

He opened up the back seat of the car to place Peter in but he wished that that car seat was in this car. It was so helpful to put Peter in when he was sleeping.

Once they got back to the tower, Tony debated waking Peter up now but he decided to do it once they got upstairs so he could settle in first.

“Thanks, Hap. I’m just gonna grab him.” Tony opened up the back door and easily pulled Peter back into his arms and went into the elevator where Happy put the suitcases. “I got it from here. Thanks.”

Tony shut his eyes and rubbed a hand over them on the way up. He was so tired after their flight. Peter was glad that he got to fall asleep wherever and get carried around. If only someone could do that with him.

When the elevator doors opened, Tony pulled both suitcases out and was met with Rose who was walking up to them. “Good morning. How was your flight?”

“Uh, tiring.” Tony laughed weekly and bounced Peter in his arms a bit. “Because of this one.”

“Did he sleep well last night?” Rose asked him, looking at Peter fast asleep in his arms.

“Yeah. He just, I put him to sleep because he was getting too emotional. Do you want anything? I hope you didn’t have to wait long.” Tony kicked off his shoes and walked towards the kitchen to make himself a coffee and get a snack ready for Peter.

“I’ll have a tea please and oh don’t worry about it. I’m a very patient person.” She gave Tony a warm smile and then continued. “Does he take naps often?”

“Yes. Probably more than he should but he doesn’t always sleep through the night or he’s crying during the day about something so I make him nap for a few hours and he’s always better after.” Tony got both cups ready and turned towards her. “I’m just gonna go upstairs quickly to wake him up and get him changed so we’ll be done in a few minutes.”

“I would like to come and observe how that goes if you don’t mind.” Rose spoke and it surprised Tony at first but this was what he needed her for. To help him with simple things such as how difficult Peter was about to be.

“Oh yeah. Of course. Hopefully he’s not too difficult but he didn’t sleep for too long.” Tony began leading her upstairs and into his bedroom then laid Peter on the bed. He tried to do things how he would normally do it if she was watching so she could help out and get an idea of what things are like.

He took off his own sweater and sat on the edge of the bed. “Hey, Pete. Wake up. Nap times over.” Shaking his kid a bit, Peter moaned and rolled onto his stomach. “Wake up, bud. If you sleep any longer you won’t sleep tonight. Up up.”

Tony patted Peter’s butt and then remembered he had no underwear on so he dug in the clean laundry basket to grab a pair of underwear and track pants.

“Peter, come on.” He rolled Peter into his back and pulled him up by his arms. When Peter opened his eyes, Tony smiled at him. “Hi. Go pee and get changed because look who’s here to see us.”

Peter fell back onto the bed and rubbed his eyes while he looked over at Rose.

“Hi Peter. How are you today?” Rose asked but Peter shook his head at her and started trying to crawl under the freshly made bedding.

“No. Peter. Come, let’s go into the bathroom.” Tony pulled Peter’s legs down and stood him up but Peter let himself go limp so Tony had to carry him into the bathroom. “Go pee pee.”

“No! I don’t need to.” Peter looked back at Rose and then slid onto the floor.

“Yes you do. You haven’t gone since we left. Just try.” Tony left the bathroom and shut the door so hopefully Peter would go. He sighed and went back to the bed to grab his underwear and pants.

“Is he going pee right now?” Rose asked and even with the door closed, Tony knew he wasn’t. Peter hated being woken up, especially from nap times.

“No. He’s not going to go.” He heard the door opening and looked over to see Peter walking out with just Tony’s long shirt covering everything. “Come put these on.” He held up Peter’s underwear but Peter just looked at it.

Tony grabbed his arm and pulled him on his side of the bed so Rose couldn’t see anything since the bed went past Peter’s waistline. This made him wonder if Rose would ever see anything since she was going to be around for bedtime routine soon and that was a whole show on its own.

There was no way Tony could cover Peter up from Rose and still get the bedtime routine down but she had to expect to see something and he can’t get mad at that.

“No. I wanna watch Craig of the creek.” Peter went to climb onto the bed so Tony grabbed his feet and shoved it through the holes then pulled up the underwear on him quickly. “Where’s the remote?”

“We’re not watching it now, Peter. Let’s change your top.” Tony didn’t let Peter do it himself since he knew with Peter being in this mood, he wouldn’t. Maybe he was making Peter depend on him too much but it was just faster when he did stuff.

Peter climbed onto the bed and looked over at Rose who was watching them the whole time. “Are you gonna watch Craig of the creek with me?”

“Maybe later but I want to talk to you about your trip.” Rose explained to Peter so he crawled over to that side of the bed and sat on the edge.

“It was fun.” Peter said and looked over at Tony who was walking over to his side with pants in his hands. “No! Ahh!” Peter turned to crawl away but Tony grabbed a hold of him first.

“Is this all the time? With him refusing to get dressed?” Rose asked while she watched Tony force pants onto Peter.

“Yeah. Usually, if no one is coming into the floor, I’ll just let him be however, but when people are over…” Tony paused to grab Peter’s arms to force him to stop moving. “Stop it. When people come over he has to put clothes on.”

“Okay.” Tony sighed. “All done. Are you hungry?” He asked once Peter was fully dressed and no longer acting crazy.

“No.” Peter stood up to run downstairs so he could get to the remote first so Tony sighed again and started following him.

“Sorry. He’s Uh, his mood changes pretty quickly and he’s extremely hyper.” Tony didn’t know why he was apologizing but he felt a bit awkward. The only other people to witness this was Pepper, Steve and some of the team but now this random woman was in his bedroom while his son was getting changed and it was a bit uncomfortable for him.

“There is no need to apologize. It’s important for me to see this so I have a better idea of what is going on so I can help you guys.” She placed a gentle hand on Tony’s arm. “That’s why I’m here.”

Tony nodded his head and walked down the stairs. Maybe he didn’t seem like it to someone who didn’t know him but he was very grateful for Rose.

When he got downstairs, he went into the kitchen to grab Peter a juice box and both mugs then walked into the living room to sit with the two of them. He placed his coffee mug on the table after handing Rose hers and then grabbed the remote from Peter without saying anything.

“No! I was watching that. Give it back.” Peter crawled over to where Tony sat down and tried to get the remote from him. “Dad.”

“Sit down because Rose is here now. Sit, Peter.” Tony wanted to beg him because it wasn’t that hard. They were just going to talk to Rose for a bit but Peter was being extremely difficult.

Peter turned back to look at Rose and then groaned but sat up on the couch beside his dad anyways. “Hi.”

“Hi Peter. Did you have fun on your trip?” Rose asked him so Tony sat back to let the two talk.

“Uh huh. I went to this um, like jungle gym indoors and it was fun.” Peter turned to Tony and started playing with the ring on his finger. “And then I had poo on me but it wasn’t mine.”

“Rose can’t hear you, Peter. Face Rose.” Tony moved Peter’s legs so he was facing the therapist but Peter whined and sat up on his knees to hug him instead. “Okay, buddy. We can cuddle later.”

Peter leaned his head against his dad’s chest and looked at Rose who was smiling warmly at him. “That sounds like a funny time. Did you have to change?”

Peter nodded and sat on the floor to grab his juice box. “It was on my shirt so I just took off my shirt but my dad said it was me and was like pulling my pants back to check but it wasn’t me. Maybe it came from the ball pit.” He explained then turned around so Tony could help him with the straw. “Can you help me?”

“No. You can do it.” Tony told him, not making a move to do the simple task.

“I can’t. I need help.” Peter sat up on his knees and placed the juice box in his dad’s lap. “Please.”

“No, Pete, you know how to do it by yourself-”

“No! I don’t.” Peter threw his head back so Tony grabbed the damn juice box to do it himself so Peter wouldn’t freak out. “Thank you.”

Tony looked at Rose who was watching them but showed no sign of judgement or pity or anything. Tony liked that.

As Rose continued to talk with Peter some more, Tony tried to stay silent to let the two talk but he started noticing that Peter was moving around because he needed to go to the bathroom but was too lazy to get up to go so Tony budded in and nudged Peter.

“Go pee and then come back. We’ll be here.” He told Peter who shook his head and whined at Tony’s foot that was touching him.

“No. I don’t need to go.” Peter put his juice box on the table and turned around so he could sit on his dad’s foot. “I’m gonna pee on you.”

“No. Go quickly. Do you wanna go in the downstairs bathroom or upstairs?” Tony asked him, knowing that Peter mostly always went when he got choices.

“Umm… downstairs bathroom.” Peter picked then stood up but waited for Tony. “Come.”

“You can go by yourself. I’ll be here.” Tony watched Peter run off and disappear down the hallway.

“How did you figure out to give him choices like that?” Rose asked him then took another sip of her tea.

“Um,” Tony tried to think back to when he figured that out. “I think it started with school but I learned that it works with almost anything.”

Rose looked proud of him. “That’s good. It’s a technique used with kids. It mostly always works.” Rose turned around to see if Peter was coming and then lowered her voice. “I would like to talk to you about a few things without Peter here so at the end if we could do that?”

“Oh absolutely. Um, I’ll just send him somewhere.” Tony was a bit anxious to hear what she had to say but he knew it was only going to benefit Peter and him. He looked behind Rose to see Peter pulling up his pants and walking towards them which told Tony that he didn’t flush as always and didn’t wash his hands. As always.

He had to buy Peter an aiming device because Peter’s aiming skills sucked.

“I went.” Peter told him then sat down on the couch to be close to his dad. “Um, what’s your last name again?”

Rose smiled. “It’s a long one so just call me Rose.”

“Okay. Rose, when um, when I was in Malibu with my dad, I went to a place for three hours without him and I didn’t even cry once.” Peter told her proudly. “Well, I cried once but because I bumped into someone and it healed now but I got cut. And it was bleeding.”

Tony was so proud that Peter was telling her this.

“Wow, Peter. And how did that make you feel after? Were you proud of yourself?” Rose asked him.

Peter turned to Tony and nodded his head. “Yeah. And happy when I saw my dad but also when we were there, one night I was in the shower and my dad was washing my hair and then we heard like banging and then I got really scared and my dad went to go look who it was.”

Rose became concerned from Peter’s awful explanation. She turned to Tony. “What happened?”

“These men broke into the apartment to try and get a souvenir or something but yeah, it was pretty scary. The police had to come and arrested them but,” Tony shook his head, remembering how terrified he was. “That was scary but everything was okay.”

He pulled Peter a bit closer to him to remember that nothing happened to his kid. They didn’t even see him. “Yeah. And I was naked. I had no clothes in the bathroom and dad couldn’t find a towel. But then he did.”

“How long were you in the bathroom for?” Rose asked Peter who shrugged and looked up at his dad.

“It was about thirty minutes. Then I dressed him and we left for a few hours. It was all fine but I was just scared, yeah.” Tony didn’t want to admit in front of Peter why he was scared because nothing happened and everything was okay but he knew that Rose knew why.

“And Rose?” Peter asked so she smiled at him, welcoming him to talk. “And we even went to the beach too.”

The rest of the talk was spent with Peter getting more and more comfortable in front of Rose and talking to her about their recent trip. Nothing deep was discussed but Tony didn’t expect that just yet.

He knew the process was going to be slow and he was okay with that.

At the end, Tony had to get Peter to go somewhere for a few minutes while Rose could talk to him so he turned to Peter. “Hey, bud, can you go pick out one of your new lego sets for us to play with? It’s in your room so go get the one with the boat.” Tony knew it wasn’t in Peter’s bedroom, it was in his own room, in the closet so that would keep Peter busy long enough.

“Yay! Okay! I’ll be right back.” Peter took off running upstairs so Tony gave his full attention to Rose.

“Alright. I’ll try to talk quick, so, next time I come, I would like to come late and just watch bedtime routine and how you do that because pretty soon we are going to have to get Peter in his own bed but I would like to see how you guys do bedtime routine first.” Rose explained to him and Tony nodded.

He wasn’t looking forward to that but he didn’t like bedtime routine any night since it was always stressful and lots of tears.

“Also, in the next few sessions I would like to try and have you stay for a bit and say you have to leave then go somewhere for a few minutes. Just so I know how he reacts and how you go about the situation.” Rose told him which Tony hated as well. This was not going to be easy.

She continued. “And, since Peter is no longer attending school, it is very very important for you guys to figure out what kind of schooling he will be doing and to make a routine. Wake up at the same time, breakfast, lunch, dinner. With your daily activities in between and then settle down for bedtime at the same time.”

That sounded nice. Tony was looking forward to that. He continued to listen to everything she was saying.

“Of course the routine won’t be exact everyday but it’s extremely important for kids and especially kids with separation anxiety. Weekends don’t have to have any routine because they’re weekends but during the week that is very important.” Rose had said. “What time does he go to bed at now?”

Tony chuckled and ran an uncomfortable hand through his hair. “Well… I start getting him ready at about eight and it takes two hours. Sometimes more and sometimes less but it’s… it’s not fun.”

“That’s okay. We’ll fix that.” She gave Tony a reassuring smile.

“Thank you. So um, tomorrow night then? Um, let’s say you come at seven?” Tony asked her just to make sure that’s what she wanted even though the schedule and times revolved around him and Peter.

As if right now, there was no set time for Rose to come at but once they get a few things settled and everything wasn’t so messy, the plan was for her to come every other day until Peter started to improve and then it would start cutting down, however long that would take.

“Of course. Seven on the dot.” Rose turned around just in time to see Peter running down the stairs.

“Dad, it’s not there. I can’t find it.” Peter jumped onto the couch just as Tony was standing up so Peter leaned against him and tried to wrap his legs around his waist.

“I’ll come help you but Rose is leaving now so say bye.” Tony put Peter on the floor.

“Oh. Why are you leaving?” Peter asked her.

“Because it’s my time to go but I’ll see you tomorrow at seven o’clock.” She smiled at him and grabbed her bag.

“Oh. In the night? Are you gonna sleep over?” Peter asked her, causing Tony to chuckle.

“I’ll stay for a few hours.” Rose told him then gave her final goodbyes and left. Tony counted that visit as a win.

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Tony sat on the uncomfortable ground and played legos with Peter which was what he had been doing for the last hour but he was trying to figure out the best way to bring up school with Peter since he knew it was a sensitive topic.

He decided to just come out and say it. “So, Pete, remember what Pepper said about a routine?”

Peter nodded his head but then moved Tony’s hands away. “No! You have to put the flag here. Not there.”

“Oh. Sorry.” Tony fixed the flag and continued. “So it’s important for us to start a routine and to do that, we have to talk about school.”

Peter stopped what he was doing and looked up at him. “What? No. You said no more school. No, dad.”

“I know, Peter. No more going to school but you still gotta get an education, kid. That’s how this works.” Tony put the lego down for now but he knew Peter had to keep his hands busy. “So, I have options that we are going to talk and think about.”

Peter kicked his leg out in annoyance but Tony ignored him.

“You can do online schooling so all of your classes would be online and you can spend a certain amount of time doing it each day, or you can have a teacher come to teach you everything, or I can but that won’t work for every subject since it’s important that you have a language teacher because I can’t teach that.” Tony also didn’t like the idea of a teacher coming to teach Peter everyday.

It was different for Rose to witness Peter having a temper tantrum since that was her job and she knew how to deal with it but Tony wouldn’t want a teacher witnessing that.

“You don’t have to decide right now.” He reached over to rub Peter’s knee. “We can talk about it throughout the week and have a decision by, let’s say Friday? Is that good?”

Peter thought about it. “Um… yeah. That’s good.”

He didn’t know what he wanted. He would want his dad to teach him everything so he never had to leave his side but he knew that wasn’t going to happen so he wanted to think about it and talk about it with his dad.

“Um, dad?” Peter asked, feeling the sudden urge to do something.

“Yeah?” Tony asked but when he looked up and saw Peter’s face, he knew exactly what Peter was going to ask.

“Could I go out as Spider-Man?” Peter looked down at his feet. He always thought better when he was swinging from rooftop to rooftop and he hasn’t gone out in awhile so he would really prefer if he got to go out so he could think.

Tony didn’t want Peter to go but he never wanted Peter to be Spider-Man. “I don’t know.”

“Please. I haven’t gone out in so long and I-I think better as Spider-Man anyways.” Peter kept his head down but looked up at his dad to see if he looked angry or not.

With a sigh, Tony spoke. “I don’t get you, kid. I really don’t. You cry bloody murder when I have to leave but you run out as Spider-Man without even a hug goodbye. I really don’t get it.”

Peter looked down and shrugged. He didn’t know why he did that. He just… he had control when he was Spider-Man. He knew his dad was safe at home and he trusted himself to be safe as Spider-Man. He also knew that his dad always had his back.

“I don’t know.” Peter shrugged again and waited for his dad to start yelling at him but he didn’t. “Are you mad at me.”

“No.” Tony said. He didn’t know how to feel about this. He wanted to stop Peter but he didn’t know if he could. “I just love you and it scares me when you go out.”

“Well… I’m fine. I can take care of myself.” Peter shot at his dad. He intended for it to come out more intimidating but it didn’t.

Tony laughed dryly. That was funny considering he literally had to get Peter dressed just hours before and open juice boxes for him. He wouldn’t mention any of that though. He knew Peter liked to depend on him to make himself feel safe.

“I’ll let you go out for two hours. That’s it.” Tony reluctantly agreed to let Peter go out even though he hated that he was agreeing to it.

Peter’s eyes lit up slightly. “Really?”

“Yeah. Of course you remember all the rules?”

Peter nodded his head eagerly and threw himself into his dad’s arms. “Thank you. I love you. Thank you thank you thank you.”

“Alright. I love you too. Be safe. Please. For me.” Tony stood up after Peter jumped up so he could take him down to the lab to go change.

As Tony watched Peter leave his sight, he wanted to give him some privacy to be Spider-Man but he also wanted to make sure he stayed calm since the last time he went out as Spider-Man, it didn’t end well.

So, he sat down on the couch and asked FRIDAY to pull up Peter’s baby monitor on the screen so he could watch him and get some work done on his computer while he was at it.

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Peter felt free like he always did when he was out as Spider-Man. He loved it so much.

He missed it.

The air was cold but the heater in his suit was working extra hard to keep him warm which he was incredibly grateful for. He couldn’t imagine being in his old suit and being out in the cold like this.

Peter perched himself on top of a roof top and walked to the edge to squat down and look below him. “Karen, do you got anything for me tonight?”

“There is currently no crime in the area, Peter.” Karen reported back to him and Peter sighed. He shouldn’t be upset that there was no crime to stop but he was. He wanted to help people and make a difference.

He groaned and stood up because even through his suit, he could feel his butt start to get cold. “Alright then. Where should I swing to?”

“I suggest you swing to Queens as you have not been there for quite some time.” Karen suggested but Peter didn’t want to do that.

“No. I Uh, maybe not today.” He thought of Ned. Ned was probably hating him right about now. Peter hadn’t been a very good friend to him over the past few weeks. Maybe even months so it makes sense but it's still sad for him to think about. “Karen?”

“Yes, Peter?” She replied in her caring voice.

Peter swung off the roof and onto a smaller roof then sat himself down. “Um, do you think that Ned hates me now?”

“Not at all. He’s your friend so he understands what you’re going through.” Karen tried to make him feel better but it didn’t work.

“Yeah but… he wouldn’t understand. No one understands but dad.” Peter hated that but loved it at the same time. He just wished that he met someone who he could talk to about everything who was his age. It was so frustrating because Ned tried to understand but he just didn’t.

“I’m sure that Ned will have a better understanding if you were to try and explain it to him more.” Peter shook his head as Karen spoke.

“No. He wouldn’t. He doesn’t take my side when I try to talk to him. He just… he’s just happy that I know the Avengers because he like, loves them.” Peter kicked his leg out in frustration and kicked apart the corner of the building by accident. “Oops.” It wasn’t a big piece but he still didn’t mean to damage property.

“Have you tried talking to your dad about this, Peter?” Karen asked him but Peter was too focused on the small piece he just broke so he tried to put it back then changed locations.

“Um, yes. No… I didn’t think about it until now.” Peter answered her and then sat down on another roof and pulled his legs to his chest. He looked up and could see the road that led straight to his apartment. “Is-is it bad if I don’t miss Aunt May?”

Peter didn’t wait for Karen to reply before he was correcting himself. “I-I mean I do! I miss her. A lot. But-but-but not as much as I should, you know? Like, I should be miserable and crying all the time because she’s gone but-but I’m not. I’m happy. Most of the time. When dad’s around I am but… maybe I’m just a bad person.”

“You aren’t a bad person, Peter.” Karen replied but Peter sighed. He hugged his knees closer to his chest.

“I just, I can’t remember the last time I cried over her.” Peter looked at the street again. “She didn’t even want kids. But then I came and ruined her life. Her and Uncle Ben wanted to travel. And my parents… I don’t know, I think they wanted me but, maybe I came too early because they still wanted to focus on their research.”

“You shouldn’t blame yourself for something that was beyond your control, Peter.”

Peter went to speak again but he heard a loud bang behind him so he quickly snapped his head to see what the danger was but to his surprise, it was the Iron Man suit.

“Dad?” Peter asked, turning around to watch the face mask lift up and his dad walk towards him with a concerned look on his face. “What-what’re you doin’ here?”

Tony sat himself down next to Peter on the roof and let his legs dangle over the edge while still sitting in his suit. “Hey. I’m sorry but I couldn’t not come. I know you’re talking with Karen but I think I’m a better listener.”

Peter smiled slightly behind his mask and shifted closer to his dad. “Yeah. She’s good too. You’re better.”

Tony looked down the street that him and Peter drove down over hundreds of times together. He knew where it ended up. “Wanna talk to me about it?”

Peter shrugged. “About what?”

“You know, about May. And how you’re feeling.” He said, hoping to get Peter talking to him. He didn’t know if by Peter coming to this roof got him thinking about all of this or if he was always thinking about it silently. Maybe Rose somehow got him thinking.

“I don’t know. I just… I’m just thinking out loud I guess.” Peter paused. “Uncle Ben and May didn’t want kids. But they ended up with me anyways. They wanted to travel together and see the world and stuff but then they couldn’t because of me.”

“That’s not because of you, Pete. Who’s to say that they would have ever gotten to travelling if you never came along. Usually people do that in their older ages anyways.” Tony didn’t think that May and Ben would have travelled anyways. It was just a dream, like many people have.

“You never wanted kids.” Peter admitted quietly.

That hurt to hear but it wasn’t true. “What? Now what Tony Stark fan page did you read that on? Because it is not true.”

“I just know. Then I came along and you got stuck with me too.”

“I didn’t get stuck with you. And let me tell you a little secret that only about one or two people know.” He paused to make sure Peter was listening to him. “I’ve always wanted to have a kid. I’ve always thought about it but I was scared that I would turn out like my father and fail and so I tried not to think about it. But then I met Pepper and for a long time, I thought we were going to have a baby together but it was never the right time even though things felt right, it just wouldn’t have worked out. And then came along this little boy who had the cutest little face with big brown eyes and curly hair and even before I admitted it to myself, I knew that I loved you. Way before you probably even knew it. I know that we were always supposed to end up together so don’t say that I got stuck with you because I didn’t. I love you so much, Peter, and I am so glad that everything happened the way it was supposed to.”

Peter knew that if he didn’t have his mask on and if they were out in public, he would have thrown himself into his dad’s arms. Instead, he smiled and leaned against him. “Who’s the other two people?”

Tony looked down at his kid, even though he couldn’t see Peter’s face, he knew he was smiling. “Pepper and Rhodey.”

Peter thought it was them. He sighed and swung his feet a bit in thought. “Do you think I’m a bad person?”

Tony knew that was far from the truth. “Why do you say that?”

Peter shrugged his shoulders, not really knowing why he was saying that. “I guess… I don’t know. Because I don’t miss Aunt May as much as I should and-and I think that makes me a bad person.”

It hurt Tony to hear his kid think this but it wasn’t the truth at all. “Just because you are happy doesn’t make you a bad person, Peter. It makes you strong because you can still be happy even after everything that happened to you.”

That did help Peter feel a little bit better. He smiled through his mask and leaned his head against the hard Iron Man suit. “I guess so. Were you happy after your parents died?”

Tony thought about what to tell Peter.

That was a whole different story. He was a way different person back then and he was raised differently than Peter so just from that alone there were going to be different outcomes. “Well, I was twenty one when my parents died so I was much older than you. Technically I was already an adult so I didn’t have to go live with anyone else. I thought I could take care of myself but I couldn’t.”

Peter already knew some of his dad’s history with drugs and alcohol. That never bugged him even before he met him because it was never important to him. It’s who his dad is now which is what he cares about.

“If I knew you back then, I would have taken care of you.” Peter admitted and looked up at his dad through his mask.

“Oh buddy,” Tony cooed at his kid. “You weren’t even born yet. Not even close but thank you. I would have liked that.”

Peter sat up on his knees. “Thank you. For coming so I didn’t have to be alone. I like Karen and all but… she’s not you.”

“I know. Do you wanna head back together? I’ll give you a ride.” Tony said, hoping to make Peter want to go back with him. He knew it was still a bit early but he didn’t want Peter staying out any longer.

“Yeah but I wanna swing back. If that’s okay?” He asked, making sure he was allowed first.

Tony stood up in his suit. “Of course. I’ll race you back.”

Tony waited for Peter to stand up and leap off the roof before he was flying through the air, following behind him. He was going slower than he usually would because he wanted to let Peter win but his kid was boogying so he picked up the pace.

In the end, Peter ended up winning, just like Tony wanted.