Happy
Tony carried Peter down onto the floor in the most uncomfortable position but it was just a quick trip down so he wasn’t too worried about Peter being uncomfortable or in any kind of pain which was a good thing because that meant that he was healing nicely which Tony was so incredibly grateful for.
As soon as he walked out of the elevator with Pepper, Steve was greeting them at the doors and looked eager to take Peter into his arms.
“Good morning. Did you guys sleep well?” Steve asked, looking Peter over for any kind of pain or discomfort.
Tony knew Steve was protective over Peter, all the Avengers were but Steve was the one who came with him to find Peter and rip that bear trap off his ankle. Tony didn’t want to think about that right now. “Good. Wanna go with Steve, Pete?”
Peter was holding his arms out for Steve so Tony let the man take Peter from him, stretching out his arm that was straining having to carry Peter down in that uncomfortable position.
“My kitten. Where’s Mimzy?” Peter asked, looking around the room for his kitten. He missed him so much and hoped he wasn’t mad at him for being away for so long.
“He’s…” Steve looked around the room and saw the kitten curiously walking over to see who was there, almost as if he heard Peter and came to see his rescuer. “He’s coming to say hello.”
Steve carefully bent down and lifted the kitten up to hand it to Peter who immediately cuddled him against his chest and pressed a kiss to his fur. “Hi Mimzy. I missed you. I love you, baby kitten. You smell good.”
Tony smirked. He loved Peter so much.
Peter wrapped an arm around the back of Steve’s neck and pointed towards the kitchen so the man would carry him over there. “Did you make pancakes with chocolate chips?”
“I made pancakes but no chocolate chips.” Steve was well aware of Peter’s current diet and although he was now allowed to eat whatever he wanted, he still refused. He knew that the child was an extremely picky eater but now it was even worse which caused a lot of stress and frustration for Tony.
Peter groaned and tried to reach one of the cabinets as they passed by. “I need chocolate. I’m craving it and when you crave foods, that means that your body needs it.”
Steve shook his head. “I’m sure that’s true for actual, healthy foods but not chocolate.”
Tony squeezed Peter’s leg as he walked past the two of them. “Stop trying to get Steve to give you chocolate. Don’t fall for his puppy dog eyes, Stevie.”
Peter crossed his arms the best he could with his kitten in his arms and looked over his shoulder at his dad who was pouring juice into his water bottle. “Hey. That hurt and that’s mean. Steve can give me chocolate if he wants to. Right Steve?”
“I don’t want to give you chocolate.” Steve really didn’t. He wanted Peter to eat healthy but that was a losing battle. Everyone else always ate his food but Peter. Typical kids and always wanting junk food.
Tony walked over to the table where all the food was already set out and everyone was already sitting down but had their eyes all on Peter. He didn’t want them acting weird in front of Peter and treating him any differently but he knew it was bound to happen.
Hell, just a week ago, all of them, including himself, wasn’t sure if they would be getting to see Peter’s happy self running around in their lives again and here he was. So yeah, he knew they were going to be acting different around him but so was he.
Tony didn’t want to but he was. If he wasn’t babying Peter before, he definitely was doing it now.
“I’m not hungry anymore though.” Peter had said as Steve carried him over to the table to join everyone else. Tony was already silently panicking because Peter was going to be difficult now until he got the chocolate chips.
“Come sit next to me, Pete.” Tony moved the chair back so Steve could sit him down but the kitten was jumping onto the floor and Peter was going limp in Steve’s arms and throwing his head back. “Stop that. You can eat chocolate chips after you finish your breakfast.”
Steve managed to get Peter into a better position but Peter was making that extremely difficult for him to do. “No! I want chocolate chips right now and not after.”
Tony was starting to sweat. He never knew what to do in these situations since Peter controlled the house and got what he wanted. He thought back to Peter’s lifeless body laying on that hospital bed with a bunch of tubes and wires sticking out of him and how at that point, it didn’t matter if Peter woke up and asked for chocolate because that meant he was alive so why now was Tony saying no to that request. He shouldn’t be saying no to him, right?
So he stood up and walked into the kitchen to grab the bag of chocolate chips. “Alright. Fine. I’ll give you some chocolate chips.”
Peter peeked up at that and waited patiently for his dad to grab the bag for him but Pepper wasn’t okay with that. “Tony, Peter’s not going to eat chocolate before we all have breakfast together.”
Tony turned to her as he was opening up the bag to hand it to Peter. He knew he shouldn’t but he didn’t want Peter to start throwing a fit and potentially hurting his still healing injuries. “It’s fine. I’ll just give him a little bit.”
He went to pour some into Peter’s awaiting hand but Pepper was standing up and snatching the chocolate chips from him. “He can have some after he eats, Tony. Are you being serious right now?”
She gave Tony one of those looks that told him he better listen to her or else he wasn’t going to like the lecture that was about to follow. Although something told him that he was going to be getting a lecture either way.
“No! Those are for me.” Peter tried to reach for the chocolate in Pepper’s hands which had Steve quickly bracing his hand on Peter’s chest so he didn’t stumble forward.
“No. Peter, you will get some chocolate after you finish eating your breakfast. Until then, I don’t want to hear you asking for it.” She placed the bag into a random cabinet and went to sit down after giving Tony a dirty look.
Steve was next to place Peter in the seat next to Tony’s and hand him his juice but Peter was still looking at the cabinet where his chocolate was. Once Tony took a seat next to him, Peter was grabbing onto his arm and shoving his face into his chest. “I want the chocolate.”
Pepper was staring at Tony from the other side of Peter so he looked away from her. “Eat your breakfast, Pete.” He told him quietly, thankful that everyone else had started eating and talking in side conversations so the attention wasn’t all on him.
Peter shook his head and tried to sit up but his casts were stopping him from doing that which had Peter groaning in frustration. “I want these off now!” He tried to tug his wrist cast off with his free hand but Tony was stopping him, causing Peter to start crying in frustration.
“Stop, Peter. You’ll hurt yourself so don’t do that.” Tony tried to stop Peter from doing that with one hand then reached out to grab his fork so he could try and get Peter to eat. “Please eat. Please.”
Peter pushed the fork away from his mouth and threw his head back. This was why Tony wanted to give Peter the damn chocolate because he knew Peter. He knew his kid more than anyone else and he knew that Peter wouldn’t eat anything unless he got that chocolate but he didn’t even want to stay here anymore.
“Okay. Come here.” He stood up and held his arms out for Peter which had Peter immediately lifting his arms up so he could go with his dad. Tony grabbed the chocolate bag from the cabinet and walked into the elevator because he lost his patience and was not staying here.
Peter stopped whining once the chocolate was in his hands and instead started to open the bag up while Tony carried him out of the elevator and onto the MedBay floor.
He was greeted by one of the doctors that was there to help save his kid. “Mr. Stark, Peter, it’s so nice to see you guys again. Let’s go get settled in a room and we’ll check everything over.”
Tony followed the doctor into a room and set Peter on the bed. He wanted to hear good news but he knew that no matter what, the most important thing was that he was leaving here with Peter alive and that was all that mattered.
“Alright. Let’s check these bandages first.” The doctor washed his hands and put gloves on while Tony rolled up Peter’s shirt and tugged his pants down a bit so the doctor could check the wound. “Has there been any complications at all?”
“No. He’s actually pretty much healed.” Tony pulled up a chair next to Peter’s head and ran a hand through his curls.
He watched as the doctor pulled back the bandage and disposed of it. He looked at the wound that was completely healed and all that was left behind was a scar. “It’s completely healed. The scar should fade with time as well due to his healing factor. Is there any pain when you move at all, Peter?”
Peter shook his head and reached down to touch where the bandage was. He never looked at it before since he was too scared to see a bloody wound and get flashbacks back to when the knife went into him but now that he was looking at it, nothing was there.
A smile broke out across his face so he looked up at his dad. “It’s all healed now.”
“Yeah, buddy. I told you it was.” Tony leaned down to press a kiss to Peter’s cheek. He was so glad that it was all good news so far. He just hoped they got the casts off and that his head was all cleared.
The doctor moved his chair over to the other side of the bed where Peter’s cast was and he gently lifted it up. “Let’s see if this can come off today. Is there any pain at all? When you move it or just in general?”
Peter lifted his arm up and frowned. “Yeah. It’s annoying and I want it off so I can actually use both of my hands.”
“It doesn’t hurt him at all. He just gets frustrated with it.” Tony answered for Peter since he knew it never hurt Peter. The same with his other wounds, it didn’t hurt him but it was frustrating to have to have half of his body functions working.
“That’s good. I’m going to set up an X-ray scan to check how his wrist and ankle have healed and then I’m going to check his head and make sure that everything is looking good in there as well.” The doctor placed a gentle hand on Peter’s stomach and stood up. “I’ll be right back.”
Peter sat up once the doctor left and went to reach for the bag of chocolate again. “Is Pepper mad at you?”
Tony didn’t know where that question came from. Sometimes he overlooked how much Peter picked up on and just how careful he had to be when Peter was around. “Um… no. She’s just… I don’t even know, bud.”
Peter looked at him and shrugged. “She didn’t want me eating any of the chocolate. Neither did Steve.”
“I know. Just because it’s not healthy to eat chocolate for breakfast.” Tony wanted to ask Peter why he freaked out every time he didn’t get his way but he knew it was awful for him to do that. Peter was suffering enough as it is so he wasn’t going to make Peter feel bad for acting the way he wants to act.
Peter shoved some chocolate into his mouth just as the doctor walked back in with two nurses.
“We’re going to take you now, Peter, but you’ll be really quick and then you can see your dad again, okay?” The doctor asked as he was getting the bed ready to wheel Peter down the hallway but Peter immediately reached his arms out for his dad.
“Why can’t you come with me?” Peter asked and turned onto his stomach so he could push himself up the best he could with a cast on his foot and hand. “I wanna stay with you.”
“I can’t come in the room with you but I can walk you there if you want.” Peter was nodding his head like it was obvious what he wanted and it made Tony chuckle. “Alright, bud. Let’s go together.”
The whole process took about forty minutes which was a lot longer than Tony thought it was going to take. He was having his own separation anxiety and just wanted to hold Peter in his arms again but he was also worried about what the outcome was going to be.
Whether or not Peter was going to get his casts off and if his head was okay.
Once Peter was done and back in his arms, he waited for the doctor to enter the room again to go over what was going to happen next.
Peter was sitting on his lap with his back resting up against Tony’s chest while Tony held him closely, never wanting to let Peter go. He was content to hold Peter in his arms for the rest of his life.
“And I was running like, in a field or something. And you were there and there were a bunch of flowers around. It was so pretty.” Peter explained his dream to his dad while he played with his dad's hands that were resting on his stomach. He had taken off his pants just before he went to get an X-ray but he preferred them off anyways so he wasn’t in any rush to get them back on.
“That sounds so cool. Was the sun shining on us?” Tony asked, looking down to see Peter playing with his fingers. He loved it when Peter did that. It was all the little things that he loved so much and was so terrified to lose.
“Uh huh.” Peter nodded. “Maybe I’ll get my casts off and I can run in a field like that with you. And Mimzy of course.”
Tony smiled. “I’d love that. And I’m sure Mimzy would love that as well.”
Peter sighed loudly. “Can he come back up to our floor after? I want him to be with us.”
Tony lifted up Peter’s shirt a bit to rub at his belly. “I’m not sure. Steve has been babysitting him for us while…” Tony trailed off. He didn’t know what to say? While Peter was in a coma and Tony was going crazy with fear of the unknown.
Peter answered for him as if it was the most normal thing. “While I wasn’t alive.”
“Don’t say it like that.” Tony stilled his motions. To hear Peter say it like that, it was terrifying.
“Like what? I wasn’t alive because I wasn’t awake and I wasn’t dreaming.” Peter didn’t remember much. He actually didn’t remember anything at all, most of it was a huge blur from the start to the finish.
“You’re alive now and you’re okay and you and I are going to go upstairs after and do whatever you want to do. Just the two of us.” Tony didn’t want anyone bothering them. Not even Pepper.
Peter smiled. “Um… I wanna… well, if I can watch tv, I wanna watch a movie with you and then I wanna go swimming in the hot tub.” Peter really hoped he could leave here with two less casts on him.
“You’re so crazy, Pete. You don’t swim in a hot tub, you just sit. And relax. Although I know relaxing isn’t in your vocabulary.” Tony wished that Peter knew how to relax. He was either jumping on walls or crying because he can’t jump on the walls.
“I’m relaxing now.” Peter pointed out just as the door was being opened. Both of them expected to see the doctor walking in but it was Pepper and Rhodey. Peter looked up at them, giving a tiny wave.
Tony didn’t want them there. He didn’t want anyone there with him and his kid. “What?” He asked them but they were pulling out a chair to get comfortable so he sighed and held Peter a little bit tighter.
“We’re just here for Peter.” Rhodey had said, looking over Peter’s body and staring at both of his casts. Tony saw his eyes lingering so decided to speak up.
“We’re waiting for the doctor to come in and tell us if he can get them taken off today.” Tony had explained to them and looked at the door, hoping they didn’t have to sit here for much longer.
Peter yawned and looked between Pepper and Rhodey. “After, if I can get my casts off then me and dad are going to relax in the hot tub.”
Tony couldn’t help but smile at Peter emphasizing the word relax.
“Maybe after you should eat some breakfast, Peter.” Pepper said which had Peter shaking his head and trying to cover his face with Tony’s hand.
“And just for that comment, you’re not invited.” Tony added. He didn’t care if she was Pepper Potts and the love of his life, she wasn’t welcome to relax in the hot tub with them today. He just wanted to be with his kid.
Pepper stared at Tony so he looked away from her and towards the door as it opened up, revealing the doctor and the X-ray scans.
He greeted Pepper and Rhodey and then placed the X-ray scans into the box light and began. “Your healing factor is extremely impressive, Peter. Your wrist is completely healed and not even a fracture or break. I can take off your cast right now but it might be a little bit sore so I would keep from putting any pressure on it for a few days.”
Tony pressed a kiss to the side of Peter’s face. “That’s amazing, Petey. Your cast can come off today, baby.”
Peter couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his face. He was so happy that he could go back to having two hands again. That was going to be nice.
“Now,” The doctor pulled off one of the scans and left one up. Tony unconsciously held his breath. “As for your ankle, it is healing very nicely, both on the outside with the stitches and the bones that were shattered. However, there is a small hairline fracture but I can take the cast off today as well under certain strict restrictions.”
Everything else went over his head. All Peter heard was he got to take the cast off today and he was so excited.
“So if you take his cast off today, it won’t get any worse then? And he can walk on it without causing further injuries?” Tony asked because as much as he wanted Peter to get his cast off, he wasn’t so sure he wanted to have to deal with a wild Peter making his small hairline fracture even worse.
“It can. That’s why it’s important that he follows doctors orders,”
Tony moved Peter’s face to look at the doctor. “Are you listening?”
“And to make sure that he does not run, jump, do any flips or any physical activities. He can walk on his foot, so long as it does not cause any pain to do so. Short walks such as the living room to the kitchen or the bathroom to the bedroom.” The doctor explained to both Tony and Peter and then grabbed a piece of paper to hand over to Tony. “It’s important that he does physical therapy at least three times a week to strengthen his ankle the right way so I can set Peter up with Dr. McClain for later on today.”
Tony looked through her file. He trusted his team to hire only the best for his kid but that also meant another person knowing that Peter is Spider-Man to give him the right treatment he needed. More NDA’s that needed to be signed.
“Alright. So she’ll come here then. I’ll give her a call after Peter takes a nap.” Tony knew there wasn’t going to be any hot tub time because Peter was ready to pass out at any minute but was trying so hard to stay awake.
“How about we get these casts off then.” The doctor stood up to wash his hands and two more nurses walked into the room.
Tony was a bit scared to see the scars on Peter’s ankle but he hoped so badly there wasn’t any. His spidey powers should have taken care of that, right?
He stood up to place Peter back into the bed and grabbed onto his free hand while they moved about cutting his wrist cast off.
Peter watched them the whole time and once his hand was free, he clenched and unclenched it then continued to repeat the process again and again. “Look. Two hands now. Now I can build my legos since it was too hard to do it with just one hand.”
Tony grabbed Peter’s hand and looked at it. “Look at that, bud. I’m so proud of you. I know this hasn’t been easy for you but the casts are all coming off now.”
Peter continued to move his hand around but focused on the doctors moving to his ankle. He was scared. He didn’t know if he was going to be able to ever walk again. Or run around on the beach in Miami and jump on the bed or off the couch. He wanted to go back to normal and not have to spend the rest of his life being extra careful while he did things.
As they began taking the cast off, Peter shoved his face into his dad’s chest and whimpered. He didn’t want to look. He saw the bear trap on his ankle and felt how much it had hurt and how much blood there was. He didn’t want to see it.
Tony hoped so badly there wasn’t much scarring. He saw Steve when he had to rip that thing off of his kid and how there was a giant puddle of blood under him so he knew there was going to be a lot of scarring, even if he still hoped there wasn’t any.
He watched as the nurses pulled the cast off and wiped down Peter’s foot and ankle, like they did with his hand. He saw that the stitches were healed just like his abdomen wound but there was still scarring. And a lot.
“It’s important that Peter stays off of his ankle most of the time and to spend some time with Dr. McClain.”
Tony was already mentally preparing to get Peter ready for that. He was going to stay the whole time, of course he was but he was going to watch from a distance.
Peter picked that time to open his eyes and move his head away from his dad’s chest. He glanced down at his ankle and wanted to start crying. There were about five scars going around his foot and his ankle and it terrified him so he kicked his legs out and tried to turn into his dad’s body.
“What’s wrong, Pete? Does it hurt?” Tony was already freaking out himself. He thought that maybe now that the cast was off, it was causing a lot more pain to Peter’s foot.
Peter shook his head and released a huge sob. “No! Look! My foot is ruined. It’s-it’s all c-cut up!”
Tony looked back at Peter’s ankle. He didn’t think it was that bad but only because he’s seen the damage that caused it and this was hell of a lot better than that. “It’s not ruined. It’s still healing, baby. It’ll heal up and go back to normal soon.”
The doctor was bending Peter’s ankle and pushing his leg to his chest so Peter became focused on that. “Does this hurt at all, Peter?”
Peter shook his head so the doctor gently placed his leg back down. “Alright. That’s very good. Now, I know it’s kinda scary to look at but the scars will disappear along with the scar on your belly, over time. It may take a week or it may take a year. It’s hard to say but with your healing factor, it will go away.”
As scary as it was, Peter just nodded his head to show that he understood. He just wanted to hug his dad and get some well deserved cuddles from him.
“See, Petey? There’s nothing to worry about.” Tony reassured him and moved to sit back down. “What about his head? Can he watch tv and look at screens now?”
“Yes. His concussion is fully healed so he is all clear to look at screens and watch as much tv as he wants to although he should still be sleeping most of the day because his body is still healing. As for his kidneys, they are still damaged and are healing, until then, he needs to rest a lot and continue to drink a lot of fluids.” The doctor explained to Tony.
Tony was so happy with all the news that they got. He honestly didn’t expect to be leaving with no cast and given the all clear for Peter to watch tv, yet here they were. He was still extremely worried for Peter’s kidneys and the fact that they weren’t working the way they were supposed to so Peter wasn’t able to hold in as much urine as he was able to before so that meant more pull-ups for now which Tony didn’t mind because it wasn’t like a cast or something that kept Peter from doing something. Expect to use the toilet.
“That’s great news, did you hear that, Pete? Your concussion is fully healed.” Tony leaned down to press a kiss to Peter’s face once again but he was more concerned about the fact that Peter was still staring at his foot.
Peter pointed to his foot so Tony stood up to cover that. “It’s okay, Pete. We’re gonna go upstairs now.” He took the sock off of his other foot and put it on his right foot that used to have a cast, making sure to be extra careful while he was doing it and watching Peter’s face for any kind of pain. “All better now.”
Tony picked up his grey track pants to help Peter get them on but he then realized that he didn’t have to stretch it over anymore casts. “You don’t even need my help anymore, Pete. Your casts are gone now.”
Peter rubbed at his eyes and pointed to his foot. “I need your help still.”
It wasn’t like Tony was going to not help his kid out but he realized for the first time that it was going to be extremely hard to break this habit. He had been doing everything for Peter these past couple of days and now that Peter could walk on his own for the most part and he had access to both his hands and feet, he didn’t need Tony’s help as much.
That was a problem for another day.
“Do you want to try standing up and walking now, Peter?” The doctor asked him but Peter was looking up at his dad.
Tony knew that Peter hadn’t walked in almost three weeks. He was lying in a coma and then he was getting carried everywhere so this was going to be scary.
“Let’s put your pants on first and then you can try walking.” Tony easily helped Peter get his pants on and held his hands out for Peter to balance himself as he went to stand. “I’ll hold your hands. Just put all your weight on your good leg first and then your other leg.”
Peter hesitated. He wanted to say no and lift his arms up for his dad to carry him but he actually missed getting to move around on his own, even if he couldn’t run right now.
So he ever so carefully slid off the bed and grabbed onto his dad's hands tightly. Just as he was about to place his bad foot onto the ground, he stopped out of fear. “No. It’s gonna hurt and then I’m gonna have to put the cast back on.”
Tony squeezed Peter’s hands to reassure him that he was right there. “No, Petey. It won’t hurt because the bone is all healed, you just have to be careful and even the doctor said that walking is okay as long as you go slow.”
Peter wanted to try but he was scared. “No. I want up.” He pulled his hands away from his dads and lifted his arms up so he could get carried. He wasn’t ready to try and walk yet, way too scared of not being able to.
Tony didn’t hesitate to lift Peter back into his arms and pat his butt. “It’s okay, Pete. The physical therapist doctor will come by later and she will help you.” He grabbed his phone off the counter and walked over to the door, shaking hands with the doctor and thanking him on their way out.
He didn’t want to listen to Pepper’s lecture that was about to happen or to see Rhodey’s disapproving looks.
Was it too much to ask to just spend some alone time with his child? Apparently so.
As he was walking towards the elevator, he felt Peter rest his head on his shoulder. “I want my water bottle.”
“We’re going up right now. Do you wanna drink it on the couch or bedroom?” What Tony was really asking was where Peter wanted to nap but he knew Peter wouldn’t answer him if he knew he was going for a nap.
“Couch. With you.” Peter let out a yawn and turned his head to look at Pepper and Rhodey getting into the elevator with them before shutting his eyes.
“Tony, Rose is coming over today.” Pepper told him but he ignored her and walked out of the elevator on his and Peter’s floor. He wasn’t doing any separation anxiety talking or trying to get Peter’s separation anxiety fixed. That was so low on his list of priorities right now. “Would you like some help with anything before she gets here?”
Tony turned around to look at the two of them. “I’m taking Peter up to change and then we’re coming back down to sleep on the couch together. You can shut all the lights off if you want to help.”
He kicked the new box of pull-ups that had come in with the rest of his orders and held a hand out for it. “You could also open it up and hand me one please.” He really didn’t want to pull his back out by doing it himself.
Rhodey was the one who opened up the box and pulled one out, handing it to Tony then sitting on the couch. He watched his best friend and his nephew walk upstairs then looked over at Pepper who looked extremely worried.
“This isn’t going to be good.” Rhodey admitted. He saw what the thought of losing Peter did to Tony and now both of their separation anxiety and codependency was going to get so much worse, if that was even possible.
Pepper walked into the kitchen to grab Peter’s water bottle that he asked for and took a seat on the couch to wait for Tony to come back down with Peter.
“I’ll talk to him while Peter’s asleep. Rose should be here soon as well to talk with us and Peter later on.” Pepper really liked Rose. She was real and wasn’t sugar coating the reality of it. She said it how it was.
Tony walked downstairs with Peter in his arms again and dressed in his shirt that hung way past his waist when he was sitting up. He had placed the monitor on Peter’s foot and was ready to take a nice long nap with Peter but it looked like his friends had other plans for him.
“Tony, can we talk?” Rhodey asked as he laid Peter on the couch and took the water bottle from Pepper to hand to Peter.
“Nope. Come again when you don’t wanna talk. Until then, I’m busy so go away.” Tony sat down next to Peter’s head to brush his curls with his fingers.
He spared a glance over at Pepper but immediately regretted that so he looked down at Peter.
It took less than ten minutes for Peter to drift off into unconsciousness but Tony was dreading the conversation about to happen. “I don’t care what you guys have to say. I know it’s about the chocolate chips but I know Peter better than anyone. I know him better than he knows himself and he wasn’t going to eat without the chocolate chips.”
“Because he knows you’re going to give in if he cries long and loud enough for it.” Pepper told him but he didn’t want to hear it since it was the sad truth.
“You can call me a bad dad. I don’t care.” He looked down at Peter’s peaceful face. He was a bad father, it was his job to protect his kid and he failed. Again and again.
“You’re not a bad father, Tony, and I’m not saying you are.” Pepper said. “I’m saying that Peter had chocolate chips for breakfast. He wanted it because he’s a kid and doesn’t know any better. You’re the adult and you do know better so it’s your job to say no and make sure he eats actual food.”
Tony continued to stroke Peter’s hair as he listened. “He’s a picky eater.”
“What kid isn’t, Tones.” Rhodey added. “I don’t know a lot about kids and I don’t know Peter as well as you do but I do know that you let him miss out on an actual breakfast to eat chocolate chips.”
Tony looked up at the both of them. “Okay. I gave him chocolate chips for breakfast. I’ve gotten him dressed when he refuses to do it himself, I get McDonald’s when he wants it, I give in to what he wants so many times because that way, he’s happy and there’s no crying.” Tony didn’t think they understood, maybe Pepper did, but Peter was emotional and any little thing can set him off.
“If he’s tired and doesn’t get to have the remote, it’s the end of the world. Same with the chocolate chips.”
“But boundaries are good too, Tony. It makes Peter feel safe and he won’t run wild.” Pepper told him patiently and Tony hated how it sounded like he was the fourteen year old. He wasn’t a child and didn’t need to get talked down to as such.
“Alright. I’ll write that all down so I’ll remember for next time. While you’re at the whole parenting thing, wanna get him dressed after he wakes up and put him to sleep as well tonight?” Tony snapped at the two of them. He didn’t feel bad because they were being annoying. He was pissed and wanted them to leave.
Thankfully, Rhodey was standing up to leave. “I would if you would let him out of your sight for two seconds.”
“What are you trying to say?” Tony moved his hand away from Peter because he was pissed now.
“I’m saying that I’m worried for the two of you. Peter’s separation anxiety was bad before but you guys were working on it. You were trying to fix it but now, I’m worried you never will. You baby him, Tones. He’s fourteen and I know he’s extremely young but some of his behaviour isn’t normal. I know he’s regressed mentally but you’re giving into it instead of helping him. It’s just going to keep getting worse and worse until you’ve hit a point of no return.”
Tony wanted to punch something. He loved Rhodey as a brother but right now, he wanted the man to get the hell out of his face.
Rhodey was going to walk away but turned around to say more. “I don’t know what you’re going through, Tony, but I know you can’t let what happened, ruin what you guys were trying to fix.”
“Yeah, you have no idea what the fuck I’m going through.” Tony whisper yelled. “I watched my kid die in my arms and watched as the doctors shocked his heart over and over again until they got a heartbeat detected. My kid was dead. Right in front of me. And then I had to sit next to his unresponsive body for over a fucking week. Not knowing if I was going to get to see my son again so yeah, you’re right, you don’t know what I’m going through so if I want to baby my kid, then that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Rhodey just stared at him before turning and leaving into the elevator. Tony placed his head in his hands and sighed loudly but Peter was waking up next to him from all the yelling.
“Shh, it’s okay, Pete. Come here.” He didn’t hesitate to pull Peter onto his lap and pat his back, trying to calm himself down and get Peter back to sleep as well. “Shh, I’m here. Go back to sleep.”
Tony looked over at Pepper who had an unreadable expression on her face. He continued to stare at her so she stood up and sat next to them. “I’m not trying to tell you how to be a dad and how to raise Peter. I’m just saying that you’re doing it all on your own and you don’t have to.”
He shook his head. The only opinion that mattered was his own when it came to Peter. “He’s no one else’s kid but mine, Pep. I’ll take advice but I’m not going to stop treating Peter the way I do. It’s just not going to happen.”
She nodded. Tony knew Peter better than anyone but she knew Tony better than anyone. “I know. No ones asking you to, Tony-”
“Were you just listening to what Rhodey was saying? I don’t care, I almost lost Peter and during that time I was thinking of everything that I found so hard before, like bedtimes and getting him to eat, as well as a lot of other stuff but I just thought, none of that matters anymore, as long as Peter is happy and safe.”
Pepper nodded again. “That’s true. So if Peter asked you to go out as Spider-Man again, are you going to say yes just so he doesn’t start throwing a temper tantrum?”
The thought of Peter putting on that suit again sent shivers down his spine. “Absolutely not. He’s never going out as Spider-Man again.”
“Okay. So it’s the same thing. Going back into the chocolate chips, that’s for his own health and well-being. He needs you to put your foot down and say no chocolate until you actually eat something healthy. It’s the same thing, Tony. Even though Peter doesn’t like it, he needs you to say no to him sometimes.” Pepper had explained to him and he knew she was right. She always had a way of explaining things so he agreed with her. Unlike Rhodey.
“Yeah. It’s just hard.” He hated saying no to Peter. That’s why he gave in so much.
They were both silent for a few minutes before Pepper spoke again. “I know after what happened things are going to be different now. I know before, you and Rose were going to get Peter to sleep in his own bed-”
Tony cut her off by laughing. “Yeah. That’s not happening now. No way am I leaving him to sleep by himself. Absolutely not. I think I’ve decided to let him just grow out of it on his own.”
She gently smacked his knee. “No you won’t. He won’t just grow out of it. That’s why you have to work on it together and I was going to say, since things are different now, things will just have to be pushed back a bit.”
He didn’t say anything. He didn’t know how to explain it. He just really didn’t want to work on the whole separation anxiety thing since it didn’t seem all that important to him anymore.
All that he wanted to focus on was keeping Peter safe and happy. That was what was most important now.
Tony watched Pepper leave. He didn’t want her there right now anyways, he wanted to be alone with his kid and just enjoy some quiet time with him.
Peter was asleep again so Tony stood up to lay Peter down on the couch but he accidentally woke Peter back up and had Peter’s arm reaching out for him. “Don’ go.”
“Shh. I’m just moving you so we can lie down together.” Tony whispered and moved Peter up a bit then laid down next to him, turning his body to fully face Peter and wrap his arm around his body.
Peter was turning his head into his chest and let out a content sigh. “Stay.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Petey. I’m staying right here with you.” Tony lifted up Peter’s shirt, which was actually his shirt, so he could rub his belly to try and relax his kid. It also helped to calm his own anxiety that he was feeling regarding Pepper’s and Rhodey’s conversation.
Once Peter drifted off, Tony was soon behind him.
.
.
.
Pepper walked onto the penthouse floor with Rose. She wanted to check up on Tony and Peter to see if they were still sleeping since it had been over four hours now.
She didn’t plan on waking Tony up, since she knew that Peter would quickly follow and that he needed his rest so he could heal.
“Those two have been sleeping almost all day.” Pepper had told Rose as she made her way into the kitchen to make some tea. “Peter needs to sleep a lot after what happened and Tony is beyond exhausted from dealing with Peter… he refuses to let any of us help which is frustrating for everyone.”
“He doesn’t want any help with Peter at all? Not even to have an hour to himself?” Rose had asked, taking a mug from Pepper and lightly blowing on it after.
Pepper took her own mug and sighed. “Absolutely not. Especially now. The only time Peter leaves his sight is if Tony’s going to shower or use the bathroom.”
The two of them made their way towards the couches to sit down but when they got there, Peter was stretching and had his eyes open. Pepper walked over and looked down at him but Tony was still fast asleep. “How are you feeling, Peter?”
Peter yawned and rubbed his eyes but ignored Pepper and looked over at Rose who was sitting on the love couch. He moved his dad's arm that was draped over his stomach and pushed himself up onto his knees.
“Hi Peter. Did you sleep well?”
Peter nodded and then suddenly remembered that he didn’t have his casts on anymore. “Look. I got both of my casts off yesterday.”
“That was earlier on today, Peter.” Pepper told him.
“I can see that. Does it hurt at all?” Rose asked him, looking at Peter’s wrist that he was currently showing her.
“Uh… not anymore. Not even my ankle which I got off yesterday.” Peter told her and felt his pull-up sagging. He wanted to get it changed but his dad was still sleeping.
“No, Peter. That was all today. You’ve been sleeping for almost five hours.” Pepper told the boy who was staring at her. She didn’t know Peter as well as Tony did but she knew him enough to know that he was still sleepy.
Peter looked down at Tony who was still sleeping but then he thought about his other injuries and pulled his dad's shirt that he was wearing up to his chin. “And look. The doctor said this is all healed too. It wasn’t as annoying as um… as my Uh, my casts but it was still annoying.”
Rose looked over Peter’s body and the tiny scar he had on his lower abdomen. She wanted to ask about the pull-ups and when that was going to stop but she didn’t know if Peter wanted it to be brought up or not.
“I heard that you’re going to have physical therapy today as well. Are you excited for that?” Rose had asked Peter then took a sip of her tea. Peter tried to remember the conversation his dad had with the doctor but he was so tired, he couldn’t remember much.
“Maybe later. I don’t know.” Peter tried to pull his shirt over his knees and sighed. He wanted his dad to wake up because he missed him, even if he was right beside him.
He looked down at the monitor on his foot that Tony always put on him before he went to sleep but since he was awake, he didn’t see the need to have it on before so he pulled it off but then received a shock. “Ow.”
Suddenly, a loud alarm started to go off on Tony’s phone and then throughout the penthouse. Peter jerked and covered his ears, looking over at Pepper in fear. He had no idea what was going on but it was loud.
“Heartbeat not detected. Heartbeat not detected. Heartbeat not detected.” A voice from Tony’s phone started to repeat itself over and over again.
Tony woke up after the first alarm started going off. His own heartbeat was beating so fast it could beat for two.
He stood up off the couch, eyes and hands immediately reaching out for Peter who was in fact alive. He tried to calm his own racing heart now that he was seeing for himself that Peter was alive and okay, just a little bit freaked out.
“Alarms off, FRIDAY.” He ordered which was followed by the alarms going off, leaving a ringing in his ears. “It’s okay, Pete. You’re okay.” Tony was more trying to reassure himself.
He sat down on the couch, pulling Peter onto his lap and grabbing the sock monitor that was thrown onto the ground. “Peter, you are not allowed to take this off. I put this on your foot for a reason. What did I tell you about it?”
Peter tried to turn in his dad's arms so he could shove his face into his dad's neck.
Tony sighed. Peter was mumbling some incoherent words but he didn’t care. He was still trying to calm himself down from waking up to those alarms that he set just in case Peter’s heart stopped beating in his sleep.
He rubbed at Peter’s back and looked over at Pepper and Rose who were both watching the two of them. Pepper stood up to sit next to Tony and pull his hand into hers.
She could see how scared Tony was but she didn’t blame him one bit. “Peter’s okay. He just took off the monitor but he’s okay.” She rubbed at his hand but he was pulling away from her to stand up and lift Peter into his arms. “Tony, the physical therapist should be here within the hour. It’s already past lunch and Peter didn’t even eat breakfast so he should eat something before she gets here.”
Tony shifted Peter in his arms so he could hold him with one arm and rub at his eyes with the other. “Okay… he needs to change into actual clothes then. Are you hungry, Pete?”
Peter shook his head into his neck but Tony just patted his butt. “Yes you are. Let’s go change.”
Ten minutes later, Tony was walking down with Peter and gently dropping him onto the couch with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.
Rose stood up and grabbed onto Tony’s arm to pull him aside a bit, even though Peter could hear, there was no hiding from a nosy spider child. “Ask him what he wants to eat for breakfast and give him two options. Whatever he picks, he has to eat it all.”
Tony rubbed at his eyes. He didn’t want to do any of this right now. Or at all. He wanted to give Peter whatever he wanted. With a sigh, he turned to face Peter. “You have to eat breakfast. Would you rather have French toast or pancakes?”
Peter pulled his legs up on the couch and turned around so he could sit up on his knees and shove his face into the pillows, pulling the blanket over his head.
“Peter. I asked you a question.” Tony watched as Peter ignored him but it wasn’t anything new for them. Peter ignored about 50% of the things he said. He looked over at Rose but she was just watching him so he pulled the blanket off of Peter. “Stop. Answer my question because you need to eat.”
Peter stared whining but then stopped and looked at Rose. “Um… the chocolate chips from before. Where did they go?”
Tony really didn’t want any to have this conversation all over again. “I ate them all. Pancakes or French toast?”
“If I eat all my breakfast, can you get me more chocolate?” Peter tempted even though he knew Tony was extremely stressed out. He didn’t know why though since he wasn’t even being difficult.
With a little thought, Tony agreed since Peter was being too much right now. “Yes. I’ll get you chocolate.”
“French toast. And I want grape juice too.” Peter added, laying down on the couch so he could try and stretch his cast free arm and leg.
When he saw Tony walk into the kitchen, his eyes trailed over to Rose who was coming over to sit next to him. “Are you still feeling a bit sleepy, Peter?”
“No.”
“Your dad is going to cook you some breakfast since I heard you didn’t eat today, is that correct?” Rose asked him so Peter turned his face into the couch pillows because he didn’t want to talk about this.
Rose watched the boy avoid the question, obviously being extremely difficult about it. “It’s important that you eat, Peter. Your body is trying to heal but how can you do that if you don’t eat anything.”
Peter tried to push himself more into the couch pillows because he didn’t want to talk to Rose. He didn’t think he was being mean, he was just bored.
“Peter. I can’t see your face. Can you turn so I can talk to you?” Peter turned his head to face Rose so he didn’t get in trouble later for being disrespectful, even if he didn’t really feel like having a conversation with Rose.
“Yeah?” He asked but looked over at his dad to see him in the kitchen, talking quietly with Pepper. Usually, he was able to use his Spidey powers to try and listen to what they were talking about but for some reason, he wasn’t able to do that. He was starting to feel really tired even if he just slept.
“I thought that we could talk a little bit before you go eat your breakfast?” Rose tried to say but Peter wasn’t having it. He was tired and his dad was way too far from him so he shook his head and tried to reach out for Tony.
“Dad. Dad!” Peter called out for him, wanting so badly to get up and run over there but he didn’t know if he was going to be able to do that. He was too scared to even try.
“Coming. One second.” Tony washed the egg off his hands and made his way over to his kid. He knew Peter wasn’t in the mood to talk with Rose and he didn’t blame his kid. He didn’t really want Rose here anyways, he liked her, but he didn’t want her here.
He just wanted to take it easy.
Just him and Peter and that’s it.
Since Pepper was finishing up with the breakfast, Tony grabbed a clean water bottle for Peter, filled it with grape juice and sat him down in a chair in the dining room.
“Are you staying?” Peter asked, trying to sit up on the chair so he could squat down on it.
“Yeah, I’m gonna sit down right next to you so you can eat something.” Tony sat down in the chair next to Peter and put his head in his hand. He was so tired, even after sleeping for so long.
“Good. What are we gonna do after breakfast?”
Tony brushed some curls out of Peter’s face. “It’s almost dinner time actually but since you didn’t eat anything today, we’re eating breakfast. Then after, your physical therapist will be here.”
“When can we watch a movie together?” He asked just as Pepper placed his food in front of him and Rose sat down across from the two.
“Later. Eat now please.” He pushed the plate closer to Peter but he was pushing it away. “I’ll cut it up for you.”
Peter was staring at Rose while his dad cut his food up for him. He knew she was here to get him to eat but he didn’t feel like eating and she couldn’t make him.
“Hmm, look how yummy this looks, Pete. Take a bite.” Tony held a fork full up to Peter’s mouth but he turned his head and pushed his hand away.
“You try it first.” Peter ordered him but Tony wasn’t about to say no so he took a bite and exaggerated the taste. It was good but he had zero appetite.
“Your turn.” Tony held the fork up to Peter’s mouth, so grateful that he took the bite and actually swallowed it this time. When Peter held his mouth open for him to feed him again, Tony shook his head. He couldn’t start that habit.
“No, you have two hands not in casts anymore so you do it.” They already had a lot of bad habits so Tony didn’t want to start anymore, even if he would do anything Peter asked him to.
Peter threw his head back and slowly started to push himself away from the table. “Then I’m not eating.”
Rose decided to bud in now. “Peter, your body is still healing and even though you may not feel hungry right now, your body needs you to eat something so you can heal and start running around again. Wouldn’t that be fun?”
Peter thought about it while he rubbed at his eyes. “Well yeah but… I don’t want this. This is yuckie.”
“You asked for French toast, Peter. Are you saying you don’t want it now?” Tony asked him, already prepared to get Peter what he did want.
“That’s what I’m saying. Can we go to Wendy’s?” Peter turned on his seat to grab onto his dad's arm.
Tony groaned. “No. Peter. No fast food… just, you know what, if you eat this for dinner, just you and me will go out and eat some Wendy’s together, okay? But you have to eat all of your food.”
“Yay. Okay.” That got Peter eating but neither Pepper or Rose were too happy about that. He didn’t care, he just needed Peter to eat and be happy.