All The Stars Align

Tony watched the time count down until their order came in.

He ordered a bunch of crafts for him and Peter to do while he was awake which wouldn’t be for very long each day since he still needed lots of rest.

Tony checked the delivery time once more before putting his phone on the dresser and walking over to Peter with a pair of track pants with a stretchy bottom to fit it over the cast. He tried everything and if this didn’t work, he was going to order new pants for Peter.

Peter was lying down on the bed and playing with the bandage on his lower abdomen so Tony moved his hands away from it for what felt like the thousandth time.

“My underwear first.” Peter weakly announced but Tony shook his head.

“You can’t yet, Petey. You have to wait until your kidney heals because otherwise it’ll put too much strain on them and cause more problems.” Tony explained to Peter but Peter looked down and sighed.

“Put it over.” Peter said, gesturing to his lower half but Tony wasn’t even going to try that.

“It’s too small to fit over your cast and won’t be comfortable over your pull-up. It’s just for a little bit, Pete.” Tony bent down to get it over Peter’s cast and felt the material rip a bit but he got it over and smiled. “It fits.”

“Yay.” Peter cheered then pushed his hips up so Tony could get it on him fully. “Now I wanna watch tv.”

Tony moved to grab Peter’s shirt. “Not yet. You have to wait until your concussion goes away, Petey. I’m sorry.”

“When? I’m bored.” Peter hated this. He couldn’t walk or run or get up when he wanted to. He only had one operational hand and he couldn’t even go to the bathroom. It was annoying.

“I know, baby. But we get to spend all this time together. I don’t want to go anywhere and neither do you.” Tony knew Peter would like that, he liked it as well although he wished it was under different circumstances.

“Not this top. I don’t want to wear a top.” Peter pushed Tony’s hands away from him and shook his head so Tony immediately put the top away.

“Okay. No shirt then but you can’t shake your head like that, baby. You have to heal.” Tony felt so bad with all of these rules that Peter had to follow because it seemed like he wasn’t allowed to do anything.

He held out his arms for Peter and lifted him up, setting him on his hip which was the easiest way to carry Peter with one arm. As he began walking out of the room, FRIDAY spoke.

“Boss, Happy is here and requesting access onto the floor.”

Tony couldn’t remember the last time he saw Happy. He knew the man was here while Peter was in a coma but he hadn’t let anyone come down to see Peter, only a few people.

“Send him up.” He announced then walked down the stairs just as the elevator doors were opening up. Tony walked over to it with Peter but he wasn’t expecting to see what else came out of the elevator.

A bunch of balloons floated out and a huge balloon that read ‘Get Better Soon Peter!’ Tony looked at Peter’s face to see his reaction and saw that he was chewing nervously on a finger with a faint smile on his face.

“Woah, Petey. Look at that.” Tony bounced him a bit then Peter was tucking his face into Tony’s shoulder and looking at everything.

Tony stepped closer to the elevator and towards Happy who had a card in his hand and a gift bag. “This is from all of us and this,” He held up the gift bag towards Peter. “is from me.”

“Thank you.” Peter reached his bad hand out but then realized and switched hands so he could grab the bag from Happy. “Can I open it?”

“Obviously. It’s yours.” Happy reached out to pat Peter’s head but then stopped and lowered his hand. Tony frowned, he didn’t want anyone treating Peter differently but he already knew that he was.

Peter already started opening it before Tony even had the chance to put him down. He unwrapped the wrapping paper and pulled out a box that was a science kit. Peter gasped but struggled to hold it in one hand so Tony held it for him. “Woah. What do you say, Pete?”

Peter wrapped his arms around his dad’s neck because he was feeling shy but he didn’t know why. Tony just patted his back awkwardly because he was holding the toy in his hand. “Thanks, Hap. He’s tired so he doesn’t really have much of a reaction.”

“I know. It’s okay.” Happy glanced down at Peter so Tony tugged up the back of his pants that were falling down but he failed at it.

“Are you gonna stay? You can hang out with us for a bit.” Tony wouldn’t mind some company after Peter falls asleep shortly.

“I just came to check up on Peter and you. I’ll be back later this evening for dinner though. I know Steve’s cooking for everyone.” Happy was already walking towards the elevator so Tony walked into the living room and set Peter down.

“Are you hungry? I can make something light on your stomach.” The doctor had wanted him to make sure Peter ate healthy, light meals and slowly introduce other foods just so it wasn’t suddenly too much at once and cause Peter any pain.

Peter nodded. “Chicken fingers?”

“How about I make some soup. I can make chicken to put inside it.” Tony suggested since it was a lighter option and Peter just nodded.

Tony wanted to cry. He felt so bad for Peter. “Oh baby. This is all just temporary, okay? I promise you, you’ll get better soon. Tomorrow, we’re gonna go to see the doctor again to see if your concussion is gone. Then he’ll check your bandage and your wrist.”

Peter pointed at his leg. “And my ankle too right?”

“Um… not yet. Because it was a bigger break, it’ll take a little bit longer for it to heal.” Tony rubbed at Peter’s leg and when Peter nodded, he pressed a kiss to his face then stood up fully to start cooking.

As Tony was getting everything set up in the kitchen, he looked over at Peter who was just sitting on the couch and playing with the string on his pants and his heart broke. It wasn’t fair for Peter to have to suffer like this but he was and it was killing Tony to watch.

He walked towards the living room and saw Peter’s face light up when he saw him. “Hey. Wanna come watch me cook?”

“Yeah.” Peter lifted his arms up, knowing he was going to be carried which he always loved so this was one good thing that came from his injuries. “Can I sit on the counter to watch?”

“Do you think that’ll be comfy?” Tony asked because he wanted Peter to be comfortable but he could always move him.

“Yeah. I always sit there.”

Tony rolled his eyes. He always stopped Peter from sitting up there. “You’re not allowed but I’ll allow you just this once.” He sat Peter on the counter and grabbed a bowl to put beside him so he could help out. “There. Can you help me add everything in?”

“Yes. I’m probably a better cook than you actually.” Peter teased and picked the empty bowl up to get ready to help.

Tony raised his eyebrows at Peter. And there was that sass he missed so much. “Oh. You sound pretty confident there but who’s the one who’s sitting on the counter and who’s the one with the oven mit?”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Whatever. You’re just jealous that I get to do the easy work.”

Tony placed the bag of flour onto the table and playfully shoved Peter but he never let go of him just in case he lost his balance. “Scoop this into here for me? Can you do that or is that too hard for you to handle?” He teased Peter, seeing as Peter was in a sassy mood.

“I can do it.”

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Tony had a huge headache.

Peter had a huge crying fit after they ate lunch because he wanted to watch tv but Tony couldn’t let him watch tv so he cried himself to sleep but now he was awake and was extremely hyper which was not a good thing.

It was hard for Tony to try and keep Peter calm when all he wanted to do was run around and let all his energy out that way. “Pete, just tell me what you want to do.”

Peter kicked his good leg out at Tony. “Watch Craig of the creek.”

“Okay. You know you can't, so how about you pick something else.” Tony picked at the stain on Peter’s pants but it was crusty and wouldn’t come off. “Do you wanna go change?”

Peter whimpered. “I don’t need to.”

“I’m talking about your pants. Look how nasty these things are.” He picked at the other stains but they weren’t going to come off like that.

“No other pants will fit me.” Peter sadly said. He looked down at his cast and then up at Tony with his best puppy dog eyes. “I want my cast off.”

“Guess what. We’re going to see the doctor tomorrow so maybe then you can get cleared to watch tv and get your wrist cast off.” Tony hoped so badly that Peter would get cleared for those two things.

Even cooking dinner was frustrating since Peter couldn’t do things that needed two hands which was practically everything in the kitchen.

Peter grinned. “Yeah. Hopefully I can so maybe I can play with my toys.”

Tony hoped so too. Everyone had bought Peter get well soon presents but he wasn’t able to use any of them with just one hand and it was frustrating so Tony had put them away for now so it didn’t mock Peter.

“Yeah, bud. I’m gonna go get you some new pants to change into. Give me these so I can wash them.” He grabbed the front of the pants and tugged them down in one movement, making a funny sound and causing Peter to laugh.

“Are we gonna do something fun? I’m bored?” Peter asked, lifting his good leg up onto the back of the couch.

“Yeah. You know what we can do together tonight,” Tony paused for suspense and waited for Peter’s face to light up. “We can paint together.”

Peter gasped and sat up. “Yeah! Can we paint each other pictures?”

Tony was already standing up. He knew it was a great idea so he was glad he ordered a bunch of painting crafts. “I can’t wait to see how yours turns out. My little artist. Let me grab the boxes quickly.”

Peter watched him from the couch. He wanted to chase after him so badly and was trying so hard not to. He absolutely hated how he couldn’t move. It was killing him.

“Now me.” He said desperately. Tony smirked at Peter’s grabby hands for him, knowing he was Peter’s only way of travel but he knew that Peter would attempt to hop or crawl on the floor if he wasn’t there. He also knew it was only a matter of time before Peter started doing that whether he was there or not.

“I’m coming.” He easily lifted Peter into his arms and walked over to the dining room table where he brought the boxes over to. He had bought all washable paints so he hoped they actually worked since he really didn’t want to be washing paint stains out of clothes and the furniture all night. “Lift your arms up so I can take this off.”

Peter lifted his arms up for Tony to take the shirt off that Tony put on him before he fell asleep and then he was reaching for the pack of brushes. “I’m gonna put them here so you can sit next to me.”

“Put them in the middle so I can sit across from you. We need to be able to look at each other, bud.” Tony thought better of that. He still wanted to be close to Peter so went to go sit at the head of the table. “Okay, I’ll sit right here.”

“Yay. Paints!” Peter watched Tony set all the paints up on the table and then placed the canvas for them to choose one. “I want this one. And I want you to have… this one.” Peter placed the canvases in front of himself and his dad and grabbed a brush. “And-and water to rinse the brushes. And can I have my water bottle but with apple juice?”

Tony was already making his way into the kitchen to grab those things for Peter. “Coming right up.”

Peter was already pouring the paint into the trays but he couldn’t stop himself from dipping his finger into it and looking up to see if Tony saw him. When he saw that Tony wasn’t looking, he dipped his finger in it again and dabbed it on the table.

Tony should have known that Peter would have gotten into the paint while he wasn’t watching but the point of painting was to get messy. Even if he had to clean up paint stains all night.

“Do you know what colours you want to start off with?” Tony set down a bowl of water and handed Peter his bottle of juice as he sat down.

Peter looked around at all the options while he drank his juice then set it on the table to reach for the brown paint. “This colour. I’m gonna start with the ground first and then after that I’ll do the sky.”

The two of them got to work on their painting which was a lot harder than Tony planned on it being. He was glad he decided to paint Peter since now he had an excuse to keep looking at him and got to watch him try to concentrate with his cute expression that always appeared on his face.

That continued for the next half an hour or so but Tony slowly started to watch Peter’s mood change and him starting to become tired and irritated.

“No! I didn’t want you to use that brush.” Peter reached over to grab the brush from Tony but the paint fell onto his lap and made a mess. He looked down but he didn’t care about that because Tony used the wrong colour in his painting.

“What did I do?” Tony had no idea what he did wrong. He went to go rinse the paint brush out but to Peter, that was the end of the world.

“Noo! No! You put in the wrong place!” Peter tossed his own paintbrush and looked at Tony with tears in his eyes, threatening to spill over at any wrong movement from Tony.

Tony didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what he did wrong but he had to understand what Peter was currently recovering from, on top of everything else. “Okay. Do you want me to fix it? Even though it’s my painting.”

Tony watched Peter and it looked like he was about to scream but he had no idea what upset him so badly. “Yes! You ruined it! Now-now you made me look ugly.”

“Peter, I’ll fix it. Just tell me what I ruined.” He didn’t know why it mattered because it was his painting anyways but apparently Peter didn’t like it.

Peter rubbed at his eyes and pointed to the white block on his foot. “That. You-you put my cast and I don’-don’t want it t-there.”

Tony looked down at the paint and felt so bad. He wasn’t trying to paint Peter’s cast but he could see how much that would bug him. “Oh no. I’m sorry, Pete. I wasn’t going to paint a cast on you anyways, I was going to mix the paint colours in. I’m sorry, bud.”

“Fix it.” Peter sadly said and handed a new brush over to him as he rubbed at his eyes.

Tony took the paint brush from him but he hesitated. Peter was clearly over tired and his body was begging him to get some sleep but Peter being Peter was fighting it the best way he could.

“Are you tired, Pete?” Tony asked then put the paint brush down but Peter was freaking out again so Tony picked the paint brush back up to remove the freakin white paint and stood up. “It’s time for you to go to sleep now.”

“No! No no.” Peter was not going to sleep now. He still had to finish his painting and Tony had to fix his.

Tony took the tray off of Peter’s lap but it didn’t matter since he had to change anyways. “Shh, stop crying, Pete. We’ll finish our paintings after you wake up and feel better.”

“It’s not dark out.” Peter pointed to the windows as Tony took both paint brushes from his hand. “Stop! Stop it.”

“I’ll stay with you. Do you want that?” Tony was exhausted and wouldn’t stop himself from falling asleep if he stayed with Peter.

Peter immediately stopped freaking out and lifted his arms up for Tony to pick him up, ignoring the paint getting onto his own clothes in the process but he was way past that at this point.

“We just need to change and then we can take a nap.” He began making his way towards the stairs and felt Peter lean his head on his shoulder with a content sigh.

“Together.” He quietly said.

“Yeah, baby.” Tony carried Peter into his bedroom and grabbed a pull-up from the box next to the bed then went into the bathroom. He made quick process of everything, including changing his own shirt before he was placing Peter in the bed.

When he went to grab some pants to try and fit over Peter’s cast, Peter whined. “No pants. M’too tired.”

“Okay.” He was grateful because he really didn’t want to go through that whole process of finding pants that fit. “I’m gonna grab your comfy pyjama top instead.”

Peter sat up and watched Tony grab him a pyjama top to make sure it was the one that he wanted. He then lifted his arms up to have it put on him and fell back onto the bed out of pure exhaustion.

“Come.” He weakly held his hand out for his dad, wanting to have him close so he could cuddle him.

“I’m coming. Let me just shut the curtains and the lights so we can sleep.” He knew he was messing up his sleep schedule but it wasn’t like he had much of one anyways since Peter needed him 24/7 so he had to work around his kids crazy schedule right now.

He manually moved Peter over in the bed and crawled in. “You sleep, baby.” He was about to get comfortable but then remembered the monitor so he sat up to grab it off the nightstand table and turned it on. “I’m just gonna put this on your foot.”

Peter watched him and let Tony place it on his foot. “What is it?”

“It’ll just monitor your breathing and heartbeat for me.” Tony explained, getting comfortable in the bed again and draping an arm across Peter. “Shut your eyes, Pete. I’ll stay here the whole time.”

Peter couldn’t resist fighting it anymore so he fell into unconsciousness and Tony was quickly behind him.

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Pepper walked into the bedroom to check on the two of them.

She turned the lamp on just to get a good look at them and melted at the sight. Peter was lying on his back with his arms above his head and his good leg stretched out into a bent position while Tony was lying on his side, facing Peter with his whole arm wrapped around him, keeping him close to his side.

She pulled out her phone to snap a few pictures of the two. The blankets were kicked off of them but since it was hot in the room, she didn’t want to overheat the two since they were currently sharing each other’s body heat so she left them as is.

After sending the pictures off to Tony’s phone, she shut the lamp back off and left the father and son rest.

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Peter woke up feeling refreshed and a lot better.

He stretched his legs out and went to rub his eyes with both hands but couldn’t because he had a cast on his other wrist so he kicked his good leg out in frustration.

Peter looked down at himself and since his pyjama shirt was rolling up from sleeping, he could see the bandage from where he was stabbed. It didn’t hurt but he always looked away when Tony cleaned it so he didn’t know what it looked like.

He couldn’t really remember what happened during the attack but maybe that was a good thing. He knew he would be having awful nightmares if he remembered it in more detail.

All he remembers is how scared he was and how badly he wanted his dad to come and then he did but he doesn’t remember much after that. Everything was just kinda a blur.

He turned over in the bed to see his dad still asleep so Peter grabbed his dad’s hand and placed it on his stomach so his dad could be touching him and keeping him relaxed.

Peter looked down at his casted foot. He wanted it off more than anything so he could go back to running around and jumping on countertops and all over his dad. He missed doing that. He missed being active.

With a sigh, Peter turned to look out the window but it was blocked by the curtains so he sighed again because he was bored.

The door was being opened so Peter turned his head and saw Pepper walking into the room with his water bottle so he immediately reached out for that and started drinking it.

“Hi Peter. FRIDAY told me you were awake.” She walked to the side of the bed so she could climb up onto it and onto Peter’s other side. He turned his head to follow her movements since he was glad for some company now. “Did you sleep well?”

Peter nodded his head and continued to drink his juice and lifted his good leg up in the process, bending it so he could lift his foot up.

Pepper scanned his body and looked over at Tony before shifting so she was lying on her side and supporting her head with her arm. “I saw your paintings on the table downstairs. They look good so far.”

Peter pulled his water bottle from his mouth and placed it randomly in the bed. “Yeah. Maybe we’re gonna finish when dad wakes up.”

Pepper was surprised that Peter hadn’t woken Tony up yet. She knew that every time Peter woke up first, the first thing he would do was to wake Tony up so she tried to get up to the bedroom as soon as possible to prevent that and actually made it this time.

“That sounds like fun.” She reached out to brush the curls off his forehead, realizing how much she cared for Peter. She had always cared a lot about Peter, ever since Tony met the kid and started changing the way he viewed life.

It was impossible not to like Peter but she loved him now and after the thought of losing him had been so possible, it made her open her eyes and realize just how much she loved Peter.

He grabbed his apple juice again and continued to drink it then turned his head to see if his dad was awake yet. “Wake up.” Peter pushed on him then rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself up so he was sitting, facing the headboard with his legs stretched out in front of him.

“Wake up, dad.” Peter pushed him again which had Tony immediately sitting up and looking at Peter before running a hand through his hair and yawning. “I need to pee.”

Tony looked at Peter and shook his head. “Just go. You have been this whole time.” He looked over at the other person in the bed and flinched. “Oh my. You scared me.”

Pepper sat up and leaned against the headboard. “Sorry. I just came to keep Peter company for a bit.”

Tony lied back down on the bed. He was still exhausted and he knew Peter was too because otherwise he would be begging him to carry him off the bed and somewhere fun.

“I’m so tired. Come cuddle with me, Pete.” He reached his arms out for Peter but Peter moved away and tried to crawl to the end of the bed. “Petey.”

“No. I’m not tired anymore.” Peter pushed himself up on the footboard of the bed and went to swing his other leg over.

“Peter.” Tony warned. This kid was something else and maybe Peter wasn’t actually tired anymore.

Peter turned to look at him and then at Pepper before stopping and sighing. “I wanna go downstairs.”

“And do what? Bedtime is fun time.” Tony turned onto his side, chuckling at Peter’s sassy face looking at him. “Come. I wanna tell you a secret.”

That got Peter crawling over to Tony. Once he was close enough, Tony grabbed his arm and hugged Peter close to his chest. “I love you.”

Peter tried to push away from him but Tony didn’t let him go, he used no strength, knowing that he could potentially hurt Peter but Peter barely made any effort to actually get away. “That’s not a secret.”

“Fine. It’s a reminder that I love you.” He pressed a kiss to the side of Peter’s face and pulled his leg out so he was lying flat on his back.

Peter grabbed his arm and attempted to bite him, causing Tony to start laughing and pull his hand away from Peter’s mouth. “Ow. You’re crazy.”

Peter grinned. He pushed himself up and swung his leg up so he could sit on Tony’s stomach. “I wanna go downstairs.”

“Nope. Get comfortable here. Let’s ask Pepper to tell us a story to entertain us.” Tony looked over at Pepper but then Peter was putting his good hand on his cheek.

“Downstairs.”

“Bedroom.”

“Down. Stairs.” Peter whined, hoping to be able to get carried down.

Tony gasped. “Nope. We’re staying here.”

Peter crossed his arms. “Fine. I’ll pee on you then.”

Tony looked down and chuckled. “Go ahead. Nothing will get on me anyways.”

Peter groaned at him. “Dad. I wanna go downstairs.”

“Peter. I wanna stay in bed.” Tony whined back. He was comfortable in bed and didn’t want to get up until he absolutely had to.

“Please.” Peter weakly hit Tony’s chest but when Tony didn’t acknowledge him again, Peter sighed loudly and shifted back so he could lay his head on his dad’s chest. “Tickle my back.”

Smiling, Tony began to tickle Peter’s back. He loved this kind of lazy time with his kid. It was definitely his favourite thing to do.

Pepper watched the two from the other side of the bed then decided to give them some space now. “Alright you two, I’m gonna clean up a bit and do some laundry so you guys have fun.”

Tony poked Peter’s side as he spoke. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I know but I know you’ve got your hands full so I’m just gonna collect the laundry.” She grabbed a basket and looked around the room but there wasn’t much to grab. “Is this everything?”

“Uh… yeah. Well, Pete isn’t wearing underwear for now and he barely changes so yeah.” Tony moved his hands down to lift Peter up a bit and reached his hand out, he was way too lazy to get up. “Actually, can you just grab me a pull-up?”

Pepper pulled one out of the box and handed it to Tony. “You guys have fun. I’ll see you later.”

Peter let out a content sigh and moved his cast up to look at it. “When can I get this off? I hate it so much.”

“I know, baby. We’re gonna go down to the MedBay tomorrow to see if you can get it off or if you need to keep it on for longer.” He rubbed Peter’s back as he spoke.

“It’s just… I want it off. And my cast on my foot.” Peter hated both casts. “Especially the one on my foot. It’s annoying.” He rolled off of his dad so he was tucked against his side.

“I’m sure you can’t wait to be running wild again.” Tony couldn’t wait for that. As much as he knew Peter loved to be carried and have that closeness, he knows that Peter misses his independence to some extent. Although, he doesn’t think the word independence and Peter should be used in the same sentence.

“Yeah.” Peter laughed and turned into him. “And I’m excited to watch Craig of the creek with you.”

Tony didn’t miss that show. It was relaxing but boring as hell. He didn’t know why Peter found it so interesting. “How could I forget that masterpiece. Silly me.”

“I don’t know. You’re a poo poo head.” Peter pushed himself up and reached across his dad to grab his phone off the nightstand table, dropping the wipes into the floor in the process.

“What’re you doing?” Tony snatched the phone away from Peter. “No screen time.”

Peter hit Tony’s chest. “I just wanted to know the time.”

Tony turned his phone on to check. “It’s three in the morning.” Woah. They slept for eight hours. There goes their chance at a proper sleep schedule. Not that he was trying to keep one now.

Peter gasped and smiled. “Woah. That’s so late. I haven’t been up this late in twenty years.”

Tony bursted out laughing. “You weren’t even alive twenty years ago. You weren’t even a thought yet, kid.”

“Yeah I was. I was just up in heaven but I didn’t come down yet.” Peter leaned forward so he could lay his head on his dad’s chest.

Tony couldn’t possibly love Peter anymore than he did in this moment, his baby was way too precious for this world and he was absolutely terrified at the thought of losing him again. “And then you came down here to be with me.”

Peter gave a sharp nod. “Yeah.”

Tony rubbed his stomach and leaned down to press a kiss onto Peter’s head. “Do you really wanna go downstairs?”

“Uh huh. Yeah, cause I wanna finish our paintings.” Peter sat up and crawled towards the end of the bed so Tony could carry him downstairs but Tony sat up and grabbed the pull-up first.

“I have to change your pull-up first. Lie down.”

After that was done and after Peter managed to fit one of his pyjamas over his cast, hoping it was the last time he had to do that, the two of them headed downstairs and Peter pointed towards the table.

“Go that way.” Tony ignored him to head into the kitchen. “Dad. That way.”

“No. I want something to snack on. What do you want?” He opened the fridge and hoisted Peter up in his arms more, extremely grateful for his light weight because otherwise he didn’t think he could just carry Peter so effortlessly and multitask at the same time.

Peter looked at his options. “Um…” He glanced towards the dining room table so Tony directed his head back to the fridge. “No.”

“Pick something or I will.” His arm was falling asleep from holding Peter for so long since Peter wasn’t making it easy for him and was trying to make his legs go straight.

“Chocolate.” Peter pointed to the chocolate bar in the fridge but Tony shook his head. “Chocolate.”

“No. That’s unhealthy.” He grabbed a yogurt drink and some carrots then handed it to Peter who refused. “Just hold it so I can shut the fridge.”

Peter took both things in his hands and eyed the table that he wanted to go paint at so badly. He wasn’t even hungry and definitely didn’t want to eat any carrots. “Go there, dad.”

“I am. Just relax for two seconds.” Tony checked the expiration date on some dip but it was old so he threw it in the trash, no wonder he hadn’t seen it in the fridge until now. It must have gotten pushed up to the front. “Do you want something else?”

Peter sighed and laid his head on his dad’s shoulder. “No.”

Tony didn’t know what else he wanted so he walked over to the dining room table and placed Peter in a chair then grabbed the carrots from him. “Eat two.” He placed two in front of Peter but Peter pushed it away. “Then just eat one.”

“No. I’m not hungry. I just want to paint.”

With a sigh, Tony sat down and started eating the carrots himself. It was weird to be painting at half past three in the morning but their sleep schedule was so messed up at this point it wasn’t even funny.

If someone were to see that he had Peter awake and was painting at this time of night and not know the full story, he would most likely be getting a social worker called on him.

“I want to use that brush.” Peter pointed to the paint brush that Tony was using so he handed it over to Peter, not understanding how the difference between the brushes were. “Once- once when I was little and I was in school, and um… the teacher let us paint and so the whole class had a paint fight. And then… um, and then I got paint everywhere, back when Uncle Ben was still alive and he told me to stay in the bath until all the paint was gone.”

Tony smiled at the story. He loved hearing stories from when Peter was younger but he’s just sad that he doesn’t have any to share. “Did Uncle Ben help you get all the paint out of your hair?”

Peter dipped his brush into the blue paint and smiled. “Uh huh. And it was so much.”

“How old were you?” He asked, curiously. He wanted to be the one helping Peter do that. Even though technically he already has done that with Peter but he wants to have done it at all ages.

Peter thought about it. “Um… maybe like eight or nine.”

That would have been a cute age, Tony thought. If he could go back in time, he would definitely go back to meet aged five Peter or aged eight Peter. Those were the two ages he was dying to know what they were like and video evidence just wasn’t enough.

He looked at Peter and watched him concentrate on his painting but he wanted to hold his kid. Just a few days ago, Peter was in a coma and Tony had no idea if he was going to be able to hold his child again so he wanted to hold Peter just because he could.

He stood up and pulled Peter’s chair back so he had better access to grab him. “Come sit with me.”

Peter looked up at him confused but shook his head. “No, I wanna paint still.”

“You can but I wanna hold you.” Tony reached his arms out for Peter so Peter didn’t hesitate to lift his arms up, waiting to be picked up which is exactly what Tony did.

Tony sat back down in his own chair and sat Peter comfortably on his lap so he could have Peter close to him. He didn’t really care about the painting, he was just glad he had his baby in his arms.

Peter pulled his canvas over to him and continued to paint. “I’m almost done. Then I want to paint another one.”

“Not tonight. We have to go to sleep after.” He ran his hand through Peter’s curls, feeling that he needed to have another shower soon but hopefully it would be the last time without his shower chair in there.

Peter kicked his good leg out in annoyance but then stopped so he could get more comfortable and continue to paint but taking his time so Tony didn’t send him back to bed.

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Tony was trying to dig through the clean laundry to look for day time pants for Peter to wear today. He ordered a few pairs of pants that were going to be worn just for a few weeks until Peter can get his cast off then Tony would throw them out because he didn’t want anything that reminded him of Peter’s horrible accident in the house after he heals.

He looked over at Peter who was just starting to wake up, judging from the way he was stretching and rolling onto his back. He waited for Peter to open his eyes and look at him before he was greeting him. “Good morning, Pete. Did you sleep well?”

Peter stared at his dad and rubbed at his eyes then lifted his good leg up to put his foot on the headboard.

Tony wasn’t surprised that Peter ignored him since he often did when he was just waking up, as well as many other times throughout the day. He gave up trying to find some pants for Peter to wear since all of the pants were too small to fit over the cast.

“Since we couldn’t have dinner with everyone last night, Steve is cooking up a really big breakfast for everyone so after you shower we’ll head down there.” Tony walked to the footboard of the bed and looked at Peter.

He always looked so cozy and cuddly when he first woke up but now he was looking even more cuddly. “You slept for a long time, do you feel better?”

Peter nodded his head and rubbed at his eyes again then rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself up. “I want-I want to finish my paints.”

Tony chuckled. Of course Peter would be asking that first thing in the morning. “We have a busy day. We’re gonna eat breakfast with everyone and if you need a nap, we’ll come back up for a nap but if not then we’re gonna go see the doctor and he’s going to make sure everything is okay.”

Peter smiled. He wanted to watch tv and have both of his hands back. Never mind the whole ten pound cast on his leg that was extremely annoying since he couldn’t walk on it or anything.

“And then I can watch tv.” Peter turned around but his cast was getting stuck in the blankets so he groaned but Tony was already there to pick him up and take him into the bathroom.

“Let’s get you showered first. I think Pepper’s gonna bring you new pants because none of them fit over your cast.” Tony picked Peter up, setting him on his hip but he almost forgot his sock monitor so he took it off Peter's foot and tossed it on the bed before walking into the bathroom.

Showering was always the hardest thing to do since he couldn’t set Peter on his feet so that made getting him changed and cleaned so much harder. He managed to hold Peter against his chest with one arm and rip the pull-up off of him with the other before stepping into the shower and sitting him down on the plastic chair with a heavy sigh.

“Okay. Arms up so I can take your pyjama shirt off.” He instructed and easily pulled the shirt off of Peter’s upper body. “You wash up while I go- sh- oops, I almost forgot to cover up your cast and bandage. Okay.” He grabbed two bags and the rubber cover bands and bent down so he could put it over Peter’s casts and change his bandage so it was waterproof, noticing that it was basically fully healed.

He grabbed two face cloths and turned the shower on, handing Peter the handle and putting the soap onto the built in stone shower chair for him to wash his body the best he could while sitting in a chair with one hand. Tony felt so bad for Peter and how difficult everything must be but it was all temporary.

“I’m gonna be right back. Call me if you need me and then I’ll come back to do your hair.” Tony left after that to go grab a few things he needed to bring into the bathroom for after Peter’s shower.

Pepper walked into the bedroom with a basket full of laundry and set it on the bed. “Where’s Peter?”

“In the shower. I’m gonna go help him in a sec but I need to grab a few things first and my mind isn’t working today.” Tony sighed. He came out to grab something but he had no idea what that was.

“Well, I have clean clothes in here and towels-”

“Yes. A towel. That’s what I came out here for. I need like all of them because I’m going to get soaked again.” He grabbed five towels from her and set them on the bed then bent down to grab some underwear for Peter, only to remember that he wasn’t wearing underwear right now so he stood up and went to go grab a pull-up from the box. “I keep forgetting he’s not wearing underwear.”

Pepper dumped the clothes onto the bed to start folding them. “He will soon but he doesn’t seem too mad about not having to wear his underwear right now.”

Tony laughed dryly. He didn’t even know what he would do if Peter fought him on the pull-ups because there would be a lot of crying and fighting throughout the day. “Yeah, he’s fine with it as long as it’s a temporary thing. I’ll ask the doctor about it today.”

He grabbed a shirt for Peter as well and went back into the bathroom. “I’ll be back.” After setting everything down on the counter, he opened up the shower door and took the handle from Peter. “Close your eyes so I can wet your hair.”

Instead of closing his eyes, Peter looked up at him. “It’s too cold.”

Tony touched the water and felt that it was barely warm. He felt awful, Peter couldn’t even get up to change the temperature himself and he wasn’t even there to help him. “Aw, baby, I’m sorry. That’s my fault. Is that warmer?”

Peter felt the water and nodded so Tony began wetting down his hair and started the process of cleaning it with his favourite apple scented shampoo that always reminded him of Peter.

The hospital smell was slowly leaving Peter’s skin and being replaced by his own scent again which Tony loved and missed so much. He wished he could somehow bottle up Peter’s scent and smell it whenever he wanted but at least he had something better and that was the real thing.

After Peter was all freshly cleaned and the bathroom floor was soaked, Tony wrapped a big, fluffy towel around Peter’s shoulders and lifted him out of the shower. He had gotten soaked as well so Tony had to now change his clothes but he expected that.

“Are you warm?” He asked Peter as he moved to grab another towel to dry his hair.

Peter chewed on the edge of the towel and nodded. He was content to stay wrapped up in his father's arms all day but he was really excited to eat with everyone and visit the doctor.

Tony grabbed the pull-up off the counter while Peter watched him. “Can you balance on your good leg while I put this on you?”

Peter nodded, more than happy to be able to stand on his feet again even if it was just one foot. “I think so.” He was slowly placed on his good foot, testing out his balance just to make sure he could do it. “I’m good.”

Tony tried to be quick. He opened up the side tabs of the pull-up and put it through Peter’s legs then held it there as he tried to get it strapped up properly but it was hard and he was about to just take Peter to the bed to do it but he eventually got it. “Phew. That’s a tough one.”

Peter watched his dad the whole time then pushed the wet curls out of his eyes. “Yeah.”

“Is it on comfy?” Tony asked, hoping the answer was yes because he was about to rip it off of him and buy a different brand or something.

“Yeah. I guess.” Peter looked over his shoulder at his top that was on the counter so he went to step to get it but Tony was picking him back up again and setting him on his hip. “I need to put my shirt on. I’m cold.”

“Okay, grab it and let’s go back into the bedroom.” He thought Pepper would have been gone by then but she was still folding clothes on the bed. Tony placed Peter next to the pile of clothes and handed him his shirt to put on then took off both cast coverings. “I gotta go change so I’ll be right back.”

Peter watched his dad go into the closet and shut the door so he crawled over to Pepper to see what she was up to. “My pants don’t fit me anymore.”

Pepper smiled at the boy she grew to love so much. “I know. It’s okay though because it’s all temporary.”

With a sigh, Peter nodded and moved to grab some of his clothes that Pepper hadn’t folded yet so he could sniff them. “Mmm. I love the smell of laundry.”

Pepper wondered if Peter had gotten that from Tony since he was always smelling the fresh laundry after doing it, who didn’t? It was just the way Peter did it, his mannerisms reminded her so much of Tony. “Yeah, your dad likes it too. Are you hungry? We’re all going down to eat some breakfast together.”

Peter nodded and moved to crawl closer to Pepper. “Yeah, dad said after we’re going back down to the doctors as well. Are you coming with us?”

She folded one of Peter’s pants as she thought about it. “If you want me to, I’ll come.” Playfully throwing a shirt at Peter and getting a giggle out of him, she asked her next question. “Where are your pants?”

Peter shrugged because none of his pants fit him so he was just going to have to go to breakfast dressed how he was, not that he cared that much anyways. “I don’t have any. Wanna see something really cool?”

Pepper sat down on the edge of the bed, just where the bed rail stopped. She watched as Peter went to do a weird flip but Tony was walking out of the closet and immediately stopping his wild kid.

“Peter. None of that. Remember I told you, you have to be careful.” Tony shook his head at Peter who was trying his best to look innocent. “Are you ready to go downstairs?”

Peter nodded and crawled across the bed to be carried down but Tony stopped him. “I swear I’m gonna rip this off and buy different pull-ups.” He undid the tab at the side since it was coming undone but it was so hard to line it up perfectly again because it folded over.

“Practice makes perfect.” She patted him on the back but he rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, as soon as I get the hang of it, back in underwear he gets.” Tony lifted Peter into his arms but groaned when he realized he still had to get pants on his kid. “You don’t have any pants.”

Peter shrugged and continued to play with the gift that the nurse had given him. He didn’t know where it came from but it was on the bed so he took it. “Oh well. I don’t need pants.”

Pepper was shaking her head fondly at the child as she stood up, off the bed. “C’mon. A box got delivered a few hours ago with some clothes and other things.”

The three of them went downstairs but when Tony went to set Peter on the couch, he screamed. “Ow. My ears. Why are you screaming?”

Peter tried to lay his head on his dad’s shoulder. “Because I love you.”

“I love you too, bud, but how about you look a little bit more decent before we head downstairs and eat?” Tony kicked one of the boxes over to the living room and waited for Peter to unlatch from around him like the little Koala bear he was.

He wanted to make this a quick process so they could go eat and see the team.