This feels wrong
As Tony waited for his coffee maker to fill his second cup, he heard someone walking down the stairs and his heart dropped into his stomach.
Please don’t be Peter. Please don’t be Peter. Please don’t be Peter.
He was incredibly relieved to see Pepper walking down the stairs dressed in a thin silk robe. He gave her a weak smile. “Hey. Did the crying wake you up?”
“No. I never went to bed.” She stood in front of him, leaning against the counter. “Although the crying was loud.”
Tony grabbed his coffee as soon as it was ready and took a big gulp, feeling it burn his throat in the process. “Yeah. That kid’s got a good set of lungs on him.”
Pepper didn’t find it funny. “I knew it was going to be hard for him but I didn’t know it was going to be that hard.”
“Yeah.” Tony took another sip and checked the time. It was just past four. “I expected that.”
He always knew it was going to be absolute hell. He knew Peter. He knew Peter better than Peter knew himself and his kid was god damn stubborn. If he didn’t want to do something, he was going to put up one hell of a fight.
Tony couldn’t do what he did today every night.
He would go absolutely mental and so would Peter. It just wasn’t going to happen. And on top of everything else, he was getting back into the habit of letting Peter wear pull-ups which was another thing he had to worry about but he couldn’t handle two battles in one night.
It was a good thing Rose didn’t see since Peter had already been under the covers by then.
Tony took another sip and pulled out his phone to check the monitors on Peter’s sock that he designed.
When he saw that Peter was awake, he cursed. No. No. He worked so hard to put Peter to sleep and now he had to go do it again.
“What’s wrong?”
“Peter woke up.” He practically cried out and left to go back upstairs. He couldn’t be doing this every night.
When he opened his bedroom door, he found Peter sitting up in bed and rubbing at his eyes so Tony got into the same position as he was before and helped Peter lie back down which started the crying again.
Tony didn’t want to hear it. “Okay, come here.”
He sat up and put a pillow against the headboard then lifted his kid onto his lap, rearranging Peter’s legs so they were on either side of him and leaning his own head against Peter’s when he rested against his shoulder.
Peter immediately stopped crying once he was in his arms so Tony stayed there, rubbing soothing circles into his back.
After about twenty minutes, Tony had no idea if Peter was asleep but he wasn’t moving so Tony carefully stood up and planned to carry Peter downstairs and onto the couch for the rest of the night, well, morning.
Pepper watched him walk down the stairs and walked over to them.
“Are his eyes open?” Tony asked.
Pepper checked and shook her head. “No. He’s sleeping. Are you keeping him down here?”
Tony thought about it. He was planning on it but he wasn’t thinking straight. “Uh… actually no. I’m just gonna grab my phone and I’m going back up.”
Tony placed Peter in his bed and ended up accidentally falling asleep with him a few minutes later.
.
.
.
“Hey, put that down. I told you to go into the kitchen and wait for me.” Tony grabbed the knife from Peter and tossed it into the sink.
Since Peter barely slept at all last night, he was not to be messed with this morning but of course, Tony was the one who had to deal with everything.
“No. Nooooo! I was holding that.” Peter screamed and went to reach into the sink but Tony was grabbing him by the arm and pushing him out of the kitchen.
“Go away. I’m trying to clean up in here and I don’t need you tripping me.” Tony went to push Peter again but Peter went dead weight in Tony’s arms so he carefully laid him on the floor and made sure his head didn’t smack the floor. “Okay. You cry there then. I don’t care anymore.”
Tony tried to tone Peter out but his headache was making itself known again. It was still early and there was no way he could deal with Peter acting like this all day so he dried the last dish and picked Peter up in one motion, forcing him to stand up but Peter didn’t use his legs so Tony picked him up, holding him with one arm.
“Enough. You’re all done, Peter. I don’t even know why you’re crying now.” Tony turned the tv down and pushed a bunch of toys off the couch.
“‘Cause you-you hate me!” Peter smacked his leg when Tony was close enough and despite the situation, Tony chucked. Yep, he hates Peter. That’s why he can’t be without his kid and feels like he can’t breathe until he’s with Peter again but of course, he hates him.
“Stop being ridiculous. I don’t hate you. Stand up.” Tony laid down on the couch and held his arms out for Peter who crawled towards him.
Peter then got onto the couch and sat himself on Tony as if it was the most normal thing to him and it was.
“Put your head on my chest and close your eyes. You’re over tired so we’re both gonna nap.” Tony guided Peter down so his head was on his chest and his legs were stretched out. “Make your legs straight.”
Peter lifted his head up and made grabby hands towards the kitchen. “I need my water bottle.”
“No, you don’t. Lay down and shut your eyes.” Tony forced Peter’s head down again and sighed. He was so tired and so ready for this nap but then he remembered something and lifted his head up. “Are you wearing a pull-up?”
Tony pulled back the back of Peter’s pyjama pants and sighed. He was too lazy to move from the position anyways. “Just don’t pee on me.”
Peter lifted his head up again.
“Kid.”
“But I need my pull-”
“Shh. No you don’t. Close your eyes.”
Tony rubbed at Peter’s back, grabbing a blanket that was thrown over the side of the couch and covering Peter with it.
It didn’t take Tony by surprise when Peter fell asleep in a matter of minutes. Unlike last night. Over three hours only for Peter to wake up shortly after that.
Tony didn’t give up. He was a Stark and Starks simply didn't give up but he wanted to.
He wanted to so badly because Starks were also stubborn as hell and Peter was a Stark meaning he was stubborn. Tony realized how stubborn Peter was way before he was a Stark.
It was obvious to anyone who met Peter and tried to get him to do something he didn’t want to do or to get him to stop doing something.
Tony remembers the first night Peter had slept over at the tower when he was thirteen and he tried to tell the kid it was time to get ready for bed but Peter refused. Tony gave into his puppy dog eyes and let him stay up until he ended up falling asleep on the couch.
The next day Tony did a paternity test to see if Peter was biologically his son somehow because the stubbornness was uncanny.
The test came back negative but that didn’t matter because Peter ended up becoming his son anyways.
Before Tony even realized what was happening, he was drifting off to sleep as well.
.
.
.
When Tony woke up next, he had no idea what day or time it was. That was all irrelevant now anyways.
He blinked his eyes, trying to get the sleep out of them then concentrated on the weight that was on his chest. Peter.
The next thing he tried to notice was if his lower shirt was wet since Peter’s lower half was lying on him there. He couldn’t really tell but he was positive he would have noticed if it was since he wasn’t used to randomly getting wet in his sleep unlike Peter.
He also didn’t want Peter to sleep for so long so he rubbed at his back. “Hey, baby. Wake up. Nap time is over.”
Peter rubbed at his eyes and whined before lifting his head up.
“Hey, my handsome boy. Did you have a nice nap?” Tony asked, reaching to run his fingers through Peter’s bed head curls.
Peter was suddenly more awake. “I want to eat chocolate.”
Tony chuckled. “Chocolate right after you just wake up? That sounds nasty.”
“Not for me. Maybe because you’re old. An old man.” Peter giggled, pointing at Tony’s chest.
Tony fake gasped. “An old man? Well, then I guess I’m too old to pick you up and carry you anymore. Hop off in that case.”
Peter was quick to wrap his arms around Tony’s neck, sliding closer to him. “No. I’m just joking. You can still carry me into the kitchen. Okay?”
“Okay.” Tony smiled fondly and patted Peter’s butt. “I love you so much.”
Peter hummed in agreement.
“How about I carry you to the bathroom first?” He suggested, sitting up and not giving Peter much of a choice.
Peter tested to see if he needed to go and then wiggled out of his dad’s arms to run to the bathroom so he made it. “I gotta go now!”
The father watched his kid run off, mixed between feeling proud and amused by the situation. It was always something new with Peter, never a dull moment.
Tony heard a bang so he looked over to see Peter trying to walk towards him while pulling up his pants. “You know, kid, usually people do that in the bathroom. Not on their way out.”
Peter didn’t respond but instead climbed over the back of the couch. “Can I have chocolate now?”
Tony pulled out his phone to check the time but he saw a bunch of missed calls and emails which made his heart speed up. That was never a good sign. “Uh, yeah. You go wash your hands in the kitchen and I’ll be in there in a sec.”
Thankfully Peter didn’t argue and ran into the kitchen so Tony could skim some of the emails but he hated what he read.
He had an important phone conference that he had no other choice but to take it. Fuck. That meant he had to leave Peter. Fuck fuck fuck.
Tony wasn’t going to worry about that right now. Pepper had to be on the video call as well so she couldn’t watch Peter. Hopefully Steve wasn’t busy and was okay with babysitting for a few hours.
He walked into the kitchen and spotted Peter digging in one of the drawers where the chocolate stash used to be. “Kid. It’s not in there. Close your eyes so I can grab it.”
Peter lifted himself up onto the counter and covered his hands over with his eyes with a cheeky smile on his face but Tony saw him peeking. “I can see your eye. Cover it up.”
Tony made sure Peter wasn’t looking so he could grab the chocolate from the highest cabinet in the kitchen. He would let Peter eat half a chocolate bar but nothing more.
“Open.”
Peter opened his eyes and gasped, reaching for his Oreo Hershey chocolate bar. “Gimmie gimmie gimmie. Mmmmmm.”
“Hey, what do you say?”
“Thank you.” Peter happily reached for his chocolate bar then jumped off the counter to go eat it in the living room so Tony followed him.
He was going to wait until after Peter finished enjoying his chocolate to tell him. “Can I have a piece?”
Peter handed Tony a piece but it was all melted in his hands. “Ew. One that actually looks like chocolate please.”
Peter went to look in the pack but he melted all the chocolate.
“It’s fine.” Tony fondly shook his head. It was cute but he also really wanted some chocolate.
When Peter was done, Tony sighed. It just had to rip the bandage off. “Hey, Pete. I have to have a video conference that’ll take a few hours so I’m gonna get Steve to watch you.”
Peter turned to him with tears already in his eyes. “No. I wanna stay with you. No. No no.”
Tony gave him a reassuring smile. “It’ll be okay. I’ll just be in my office with Pepper. I’m not going anywhere.”
Peter leaned his head against his thigh. “But I want to stay with you.”
“I know, baby. But it’s just for a little bit and then we have the whole night to ourselves.” Tony pulled out his phone to send a quick text off to Steve, asking him to come to his floor to watch Peter while he patted his kids back.
By the time Steve came up to his floor, Peter was attached onto his side and not letting go. Tony pressed a kiss to his head and let Steve take him. “I’ll see you in a few hours. Go have fun with Steve.”
Peter aggressively shook his head and clung harder to his dad. “No! No no nooooo-”
“Peter. I’m not leaving the tower. I’ll be right in my office the whole time so you don’t need to worry. I’ll see you soon and I don’t want to see any tears.” Tony wiped at the one year that fell down Peter’s cheek.
He knew Peter was only doing it for the attention and guilt him into not going to work but Tony had to. He was a stay at home dad for the most part but he still worked and he didn’t trust Peter to be alone for over an hour by himself since he always got into stuff.
“Fine.” Peter wiped at his eyes and let go of his dad to turn to Steve. “Can we go outside then? I wanna go to the park like last time.”
Steve looked up at Tony for permission. With a sigh, Tony agreed. “Fine. Make sure he dresses warm and watch him.”
“Of course I will, Tony.” Steve told him then turned around to face Peter who was already making his way towards the closet to get his stuff on. “Let’s get ready, Peter. Do you need to go pee first?”
Peter shook his head. He needed to go a bit but he was too lazy to go so he would hold it. “I have new blue mittens that dad bought me. Can I show you?”
Steve took a seat on the bench and laid out all of Peter’s stuff. “Sure but how about you get dressed first then you can show me.”
Peter was already crawling over to the basket and digging in it but he couldn’t find it so he pulled out his red ones. Steve grabbed his leg and pulled him closer. “Put your snow pants on.”
“I need to find my blue ones first. I think… maybe they’re upstairs.” Peter thought about it. He couldn’t remember where he'd seen them last.
“You don’t need those. Put your snow pants on or we can’t go out in the snow.” Steve opened up Peter’s snow pants to help him slide his legs in but he didn’t make any move.
Tony walked in and walked over to Peter, bending down to pull the back of his pants back. “I knew it. You’re not wearing any underwear so go put some on.”
Peter didn’t respond so Tony grabbed his arm and forced him to stand up. “I have three minutes before I have to be on the call so let’s go quickly.”
Tony dragged Peter upstairs but just as he dug in the laundry basket for clean underwear, his phone was ringing and he groaned. “Don’t talk, Petey, because it’s my work so shh.” Tony pressed the answer button and held his phone between his ear and shoulder as he sat on the bed and gestured for Peter to stand in front of him. “This is Stark.”
He tried to multitask while he listened to his co worker on the other end while he tugged down Peter’s pyjama pants and held his underwear out for him, shaking them to silently tell Peter to hurry up.
“No. I didn’t approve of anything. Tell them to put a stop to it.” Tony said into the phone and yanked Peter’s underwear up. “Okay. Yes.”
Peter went to turn around but Tony grabbed him before he could and quickly pulled his pants on, having no time or patience to wait for Peter to do it himself.
He continued with his phone call as he dropped Peter back off with Steve and left him to do the rest.
Peter turned to see where his dad went but he was already gone so he decided to get dressed now. “I need help though.”
He managed to get Steve to get him ready while he barely moved a muscle.
When they went down to Steve’s floor so Steve could get ready, Peter saw that Bucky was also there and ready to go as well. Peter made his way into the kitchen and opened the fridge but his gloves were preventing him from grabbing food so he took them off.
“Can you keep your gloves on, Peter?” Steve walked over to Peter and pulled him by the arm to lead him back towards the elevator. “Put your glove on.”
Peter pushed it away from him. “No.”
He knew he couldn’t get away with that with his dad so he was taking full advantage now.
“Well… you have to before we go outside so you might as well now.” Steve had grabbed Peter’s hand and forced his glove on him so Peter let him.
He felt a little bit odd leaving the penthouse without his dad and it made him feel a tad uneasy but he had to remember that his dad was safe at home so he didn’t have to worry about if he was okay that much. That still didn’t stop him from worrying though.
He would much rather be with his dad right now.
By the time they arrived at the park, Peter’s worries disappeared a bit. Now, all he could think of was running into the field and eating some of that fresh fallen snow. He vibrated with excitement in the back seat.
“Stay close to Bucky and I, Peter. Remember what your dad said.” Steve reminded him as he helped Peter climb out of the car and not fall over in his thick snowsuit.
“I know. I wanna go that way.” Peter pointed to the forest and tugged on Steve’s hand. “Come.”
“I’m coming. You can run if you want.” Steve allowed Peter to run across the field although he wasn’t moving very fast because of all the snow and his thick snowsuit preventing him from moving by himself all that much.
His breath caught in his throat when he saw Peter trip and make a dash face first into the snow. Once he saw Peter roll onto his back, he knew he was okay but Peter was unable to get up on his own.
“Do you need help?” Steve asked, kinda amused by the situation. Tony didn’t leave Peter’s side after his accident so it was hard to spend one on one time with the kid like this and he missed it.
He was also really surprised that Tony even let him take his kid out of the penthouse.
Peter lifted his arms up and whined out. “Yeah.”
With a chuckle, Steve lifted Peter onto his feet and watched him run off again.
Peter purposely fell onto his hands and knees this time so he could stick his face in the snow and start eating it. He heard a scream so he turned in the direction it came from and spotted the park in the distance so he stood back up and made his way over there.
“Where are you going, Peter?” Bucky asked him, appearing at his side.
Peter simply pointed towards the park but then something else caught his eye so he turned his attention to the low dangling tree branch that might be fun to swing him.
“Now where are you going?” Bucky asked him again, watching Peter turn in a different direction.
Peter pointed towards the forest. “To swing from the tree branch.”
He made his way towards the forest when he felt the sudden urge to pee again. He stopped walking and turned back to look at Steve. He looked down at his snow pants. They were black so no one would know. Plus it wasn’t like he would have time to free himself with all his layers and it wasn’t like he could just pull down his snow pants to free himself since they went up to his chest and strapped around his shoulders.
Peter just decided to go. He couldn’t hold it for much longer anyways. “I’m peeing.”
Steve walked closer to him. He wasn’t sure if he heard that right. “What?”
“I’m peeing.” Peter said again and waited to finish before he was turning around to look at the tree branch again.
Steve glanced at Bucky. “Okay, we should go back to the tower now.”
Peter whined. “No. I want to swing.”
“Yeah but you’re gonna get all cold and damp now.” Steve debated on calling Tony to let him know what Peter just did since he knew the man would want to know but he didn’t want to disturb him.
Peter shook his head. “No, it’s warm.” He lifted his arms up towards the branch but he couldn’t reach it. He also would have had no problem climbing it as Spider-Man but… he didn’t know if he wanted to be Spider-Man again. Not after what happened last time.
“I want up. Please.” He tried jumping but he still couldn’t reach it so he threw his head back and looked at Steve. “Pick me up.”
Steve sighed. “It’s too dangerous, Peter. We’re going to go back now.”
Peter threw himself into the snow. “Noooo. We just got here.”
“Yeah but… you just went pee in your snowsuit and if your dad finds out I let you keep playing after that, I’m gonna be the one getting an earful.” Steve also knew it wasn’t comfortable for Peter so he wanted to get back to get him changed.
Peter stuck out his bottom lip. He didn’t want to go, even if he was starting to get really uncomfortable and regretted peeing himself when he knew he could hold it. He was just used to it now.
He was about to stand up to leave but he suddenly got the urge to run away so he stood up and quickly ran into the forest but he didn’t get really far.
There was a stick that he tripped over and when he went to stand up, he saw a skunk standing a few feet away from him.
Peter knew that wasn’t good so he tried to stand up but he couldn’t get up by himself. He rolled over to bury his face in his hands as the skunk sprayed, immediately dialing Peter’s strong senses and making him choke and his eyes burn.
He didn’t even know what was happening. Someone was saying something and lifting him up but he couldn’t open up his burning eyes.
“Can you see? Open your eyes, Peter.” It was Steve but Peter couldn’t open his eyes. It hurt too much.
He spit to try and get the strong taste out of his mouth but he wasn’t able to get rid of it so he sobbed out.
As they got further and further away from the forest and more into the open field, Peter started to feel a little bit better but he still felt sick.
Stupid skunk.
“Open your eyes. Can you see?” Steve asked again.
Peter opened his eyes and blinked a few times, looking around. “Yeah, Uh huh. I want daddy.”
Steve began walking with him again, he needed to call Tony and let him know what happened. “I know. We’re going back now.”
.
.
.
Tony thought he heard it wrong.
Peter got sprayed by a skunk.
His kid was sprayed by a skunk.
He had no idea how that happened but he wasn’t surprised. If any kid was going to get sprayed by a skunk at the park, it was going to be Peter because Peter is a curious child that doesn’t know when to stop.
Tony had ordered ten bottles of tomato juice and was waiting for that to arrive as well as some other ingredients to get the skunk smell out.
He could smell it as soon as the elevator doors opened but he was surprised to see that Peter was laughing. “Your face looks funny.”
“You smell funny.” Tony winced. The smell was strong. He wanted to get Peter out of his clothes and into a bath right away.
Peter walked out towards him. “I got sprayed by a skunk. It burned my eyes but I’m fine now.”
Tony began taking off his snowsuit when Steve spoke up. “He also said he went pee in his snowsuit.”
Tony paused to look up at Steve then down at Peter. “You went pee?”
“Uh huh. It’s uncomfortable now so I want it off.” Peter tugged at his snow pants, waiting for his dad to help him.
Tony wanted to make an appointment with the doctor because he thought Peter’s kidneys were healed. He didn’t know why he was still wetting himself while he was awake and aware of what he was doing.
“Okay. Let’s get it off then.” Tony unzipped his jacket and took that off then looked up at Steve.
“Do you need any help?” He asked, slowly backing away from them. Tony rolled his eyes since Steve was leaving him with this, he didn’t mind though.
“Uh, can you bring the supplies up that arrived? Bring them into my bathroom. Thanks.” Tony unzipped Peter’s snow pants and took the straps off his shoulders. “Lie down so I can get this off easier.”
Peter did as he was told so Tony pulled his boots off and then his wet snow pants. Both inside and out. He felt Peter’s pants that were soaked. “Why didn’t you tell Steve you needed to go pee?”
Tony didn’t know how that would have helped. He honestly would rather Peter pee his snow pants then potentially have someone see Peter’s member but he still wanted to know why.
Peter lifted his arms above his head. “Uh, I just needed to go so I went.”
That’s what Tony didn’t like. Peter knew what he was doing and could hold it in but preferred not to.
“I’m gonna take these off too so we can leave it down here.” Tony pulled off Peter's wet clothes and tossed them to the side along with his snowsuit that had to be washed. He would have someone gather it while they’re upstairs.
Peter sat up and lifted his arms up for Tony to grab his shirt as well. “Am I going in the bath?”
“Yep. Quickly because you’re hurting my nose.” If it were anyone else, Tony would run the other way until he wasn’t in the same room as them anymore.
Peter climbed up the stairs and waited for Tony to beat him at the top. “Hurry.”
“I’m coming. I’m not running.”
Tony made sure to grab a bunch of towels since he had a feeling Peter was going to be having more than one bath. He just hoped Peter didn’t get bored or he might have to bring a tv into the bathroom.
Peter leaned over the edge. “I need my bath toys, dad.”
“They’re under the sink.” Tony filled the bath with hot water since the tomato juice was going to be cold so hopefully the water would make it warm and comfortable for Peter. “Don’t touch the water because it’s hot. Wait until the stuff gets here.”
Peter squatted down to decide what toys he wanted to bring in with him as Steve walked in. “This is everything. Good luck.”
Tony chuckled. He definitely needed the luck.
He sat down on the side of the bathtub to add in all the jugs while he watched Peter open up the bathroom cabinet and grab the bubble bath. “No, we don’t need that.”
Peter turned to look back at him then closed it and went to go peek in the bath. “It’s like a stew. You’re gonna cook me.”
Tony laughed at that. How did he get such a cute kid? “Yeah, you’re my dinner.”
Peter leaned against him and reached for a jug. “Can I pour it in?”
“Sure. Just make sure it doesn’t splash too much.” Tony handed Peter the jug and watched him pour it in carefully while keeping his leg behind Peter so he didn’t fall back from the way he was standing on the step.
Once all jugs were in the tub, Tony stuck his hand in to feel the temperature and it was perfect. “Hold my hand and climb in, skunk boy.”
Peter grabbed onto his dad's hand and stepped in but it immediately felt weird between his toes so he definitely didn’t want to sit in it. He tried to climb out but Tony stopped him. “No. It feels slimy. I want out.”
Tony didn’t let him. “No, baby. It’s like a mud bath. Just sit down.”
Peter shook his head so Tony grabbed some bath toys and tossed them in. “I’m staying here the whole time. We can play with your bath toys together but you have to sit first.”
Peter hesitated but slowly sat down. Tony couldn’t help but laugh at the face he was making. It looked as if Peter was sitting in a pile of snakes and not just tomato juice.
“What if it goes up my butt and my poops red?” Peter asked so seriously that it had Tony bursting out laughing.
“It won’t. I promise, Pete.” Tony could tell Peter was going to ask him something else so he waited.
“What if it goes up my pee pee and I pee red stuff?” Peter asked as if it was a genuine fear which had Tony laughing again.
“That won’t happen. I promise it won’t go up any holes.” He tossed a face cloth at Peter for him to scrub his body with.
There was a knock at the open bathroom door which had both boys looking over at Pepper. “Peter got sprayed by a skunk while he was at the park.”
Pepper nodded. “I thought so. Can I come in?”
Tony looked at Peter for his permission since he was the one currently in the bath. Peter nodded and cupped his hands to make the tomato juice roll down his arms. “It feels so slimy, Pepper. Dad said it’s like a mud bath.”
Pepper took a seat on the bathtub step and smiled at Tony. “We went in a mud bath once together.”
Peter paused to look at his dad confused. “Why did you take a bath with Pepper naked?”
“Oh. Uh… well, we weren’t naked. We had our bathing suits on of course.” Tony lied. They were as naked as Peter currently was but Peter didn’t need to know that.
Pepper nodded. “Yep. It was actually a bodysuit which covered everything.”
Tony tried not to laugh. Peter was so gullible.
Peter sat up on his knees to reach for one of the jugs. “I want to play with one.”
“Here. Don’t stick your face in that.” Tony knew just kid all too well. He was also prepared for Peter to slip under once he gets more comfortable and starts moving around.
Peter stuck his foot in it instead and laughed. “Foot stew, dad. Lick my foot.”
Tony chuckled. “Absolutely not. That’s nasty. Move closer so I can wipe your face and hair.”
He stood up and grabbed Peter, sliding him closer to himself so he could lean his head back and pour the tomato juice over his head. “Lean back, Petey. Shut your eyes tight.”
Peter did as he was told, leaning all his weight onto his dad’s hands and putting all his trust into him.
Tony poured the tomato juice carefully onto Peter’s head, making sure to get none of it in his eyes or on his face. “Sit up now and we’ll let it sit for a few minutes.”
“Alright. I’m gonna go now so you boys have fun. Do you need anything before I go?” Pepper stood up and asked.
Tony was gonna say no but he didn’t want to have to get up and leave Peter. “Yeah, can you grab my StarkPad from my closet and bring it in here. We’re gonna be in here for a while and Pete’s gonna get bored. Right, Pete?”
“Uh. Huh.” Peter nodded at each word then sat up on his knees to lean over the tub. “I’m bored now. Come in with me.”
“I’m not the one who got sprayed.” Tony grabbed the StarkPad from Pepper. “Thanks.” He placed it on the closed toilet seat and turned on Peter’s cartoons for him.
Peter immediately turned around and his eyes were glued onto the screen.
Tony knew he could watch that show for hours. He didn’t understand why but Peter loved it.
Tony took advantage of Peter’s attention being on something else while he massaged the juice into his curls and wiped his face but Peter was pushing his hands away when he tried to do that.
“Can you lie down in the water more?” Tony asked and tried to push Peter down but he fought against him and whined. “Pete, the smell won’t go away unless you soak in it. Lie down.”
Peter let Tony push him down this time. It was a long process that took almost two hours. By the time they were done, Peter was all wrinkly.
Tony had Peter take two baths. One with tomato juice and the other with hydrogen peroxide and baking soda but the second bath wasn’t much of a bath. It was Peter just standing in the bath while Tony used a washcloth to wipe him down, hoping for the smell to go away.
Then Peter rinsed off in the shower with his body wash and apple shampoo that Tony loved so much.
He smelt Peter when he got out and he couldn’t tell if the smell was gone or if he was so used to it by now. Maybe he would have Pepper come up here and sniff his kid.
Peter ran into the bedroom and climbed onto the bed, pulling the blankets back and crawling under. Tony forgot for a second that Peter was supposed to sleep in his own bed tonight but no one had to know.
“Put some pyjamas on first.” Tony sat down on the bed and looked over at Peter who looked so freaking cute. He was pulling the blankets up to his face so just his big brown eyes were showing. Tony cooed.
“I’m sleeping in my birthday suit.” Peter rolled onto his stomach and pretended to sleep but Tony pulled the blankets off of him. “No. I’m cold.”
“I wanna blow dry your hair so you don’t get sick. Wrap a blanket around you.” Tony pulled Peter’s ankles and flipped him onto his back. “Let’s go, lazy bum.”
“Carry me.” Peter lifted his arms up and Tony rolled his eyes at his kid.
“It’s like two feet.” Peter continued to hold his arms up so Tony wrapped Peter in a blanket and gave in.
He stood Peter in front of the mirror and pinned his leg against him so he couldn’t run away. “I’ll be super quick. Like three minutes.”
Tony loved when he blow dried Peter’s hair because it was always super curly after and made Peter look impossibly younger.
Once he was done, Peter was running back into the bedroom and crawling onto the bed. “Can I have milk?”
Tony pulled off his shirt so he could shower but now Peter wanted milk. “Do you want it warm?”
“No. Cold. And-and in my water bottle not with the lid with nothing.” Peter told his dad and to anyone else, it would be confusing but Tony knew exactly what Peter wanted. He wanted his water bottle with a spout so he could chew on it.
“Coming right up.”
Tony got downstairs and bumped into Pepper doing the dishes. “It smells good down here.”
“Yeah? I put a bunch of natural air fresheners in to get rid of the skunk. Don’t worry, it’s all natural so no chemicals.” Pepper smiled at Tony, knowing he didn’t want any chemicals like that around Peter.
“Oh. Thank you. I just came to grab Peter’s water bottle.” Tony opened up the cabinet and looked for one Peter might want.
“Sippy cup.” Pepper corrected.
Tony turned to look at her. “No. Water bottle.”
She handed him the one Peter wanted. “It’s cute. It’s not a bad thing. It comforts him.”
Tony filled it up with milk and thought about it. He called it a water bottle because Peter did but Steve also called it a sippy cup. Either way, Peter liked it.
“Well, sippy cup. Whatever. Goodnight, come stop by to smell Peter before you go to bed.” Tony ran a hand across her lower back and left after that.
Peter was waiting eagerly for his water bottle so Tony handed it to him. “Why do you like that so much?”
Peter pulled it from his mouth to get more comfortable as he answered. “Just do.” It was then going back in his mouth so Tony stood up to shut some of the lights off and turn the volume down on the tv. “No. Turn it back up.”
“No. It’s bedtime soon so it’s time to relax now. No more silliness for tonight.” Tony grabbed clean pyjamas out of the laundry hamper and placed it on the bed. “Put pyjamas on because you’re not sleeping naked.”
Peter pointed to the box of pull-ups on the floor and looked at Tony. Tony stared at him. He didn’t know what to do because it wasn’t just about giving in, Peter actually needed them still.
Maybe.
“Why do you want to wear one? The doctor said you don’t need to.” Tony was curious to see what Peter had to say.
Peter took his water bottle out of his mouth and pointed at the box again. “Because I need it. Give it.”
Tony didn’t argue with him. He wanted to know if Peter was just going pee because he could or if he actually couldn’t feel it. He grabbed one from the box and opened it up for Peter to put his ankles through. “Lift your butt.”
Peter did as he was told and then stretched his legs out now that it was on and continued to drink his milk. “Mm. Lie with me.”
“I need to shower first. I’ll be quick. You watch your show.”
Peter watched his dad make his way into the bathroom and then his attention was back on the tv but Pepper was walking in a few minutes later. Peter looked over at her but didn’t say anything.
She climbed onto the bed and laid down in Tony’s spot. “You look comfortable.”
Peter nodded and moved closer to her so she could run her fingers through his hair but she didn’t get the hint so he sat up. “Play with my hair.”
“It’s kinda early. Are you and your dad going to bed now?” It wasn’t even eight yet and usually Peter was in bed by nine.
“What time is it?” Peter honestly had no idea. It started getting dark when he came home but it got dark super early so he had no idea.
Tony walked out at that time. “Dad, what time is it? Not bedtime yet. I wanna go play downstairs if it’s not bedtime yet.”
“It’s bedtime.” Tony looked over at Pepper then glanced at his watch, lying about the time. “It’s 9:43. It’s so late. Lie down. Do you want pyjamas on or no?”
Peter laid back down and stretched his legs straight then put his feet together. He was feeling tired but not as tired as he would like. “Lie down.”
Tony rolled his eyes at Peter’s impatience. “I’m coming. Relax, kid. The bed isn’t gonna fly away.”
Peter rolled onto his stomach so he could crawl towards the end of the bed so Tony was grabbing him and holding him against his side to turn off all the lights so the only light was coming from the tv screen. “Does he smell better?”
Tony dipped Peter’s head down towards Pepper which had Peter giggling like crazy. He loved that sound so much and hoped it didn’t change as Peter got older.
He would have to tickle him and record the sound so he could listen to it forever.
Pepper smelled Peter’s hair. “Yeah. What did you use?”
Tony lifted Peter up so he could hug him against his chest. “Tomato juice!” Peter yelled, right in Tony’s ear.
“I saw that.” Pepper smiled and rubbed Peter’s leg. “What did you use after that?”
“Uhhh…?” Peter turned to look at his dad but he was tired and didn’t want to talk anymore. “I want to lie down now.”
“We used baking soda and Hydrogen Peroxide. I just wiped his body down with it then he took a shower after.” Tony placed Peter on the bed and plugged his phone in while Pepper sat up.
Peter smacked the bed, waiting impatiently for Tony to lie down. Once he did, Peter was crawling on top of him, laying his head on his chest and letting both legs rest on either side of his dad’s body with a content hum.
Tony could stay in this position for the rest of his life.
Until Peter was rolling off of him and sitting up. Tony tried to lift him back onto himself but Peter whined. “Come lie on me. What do you want?”
Peter grabbed his water bottle that was on the other side of the bed and he lifted it up to his lips. “Turn it louder.”
“Okay. I will but you have to come cuddle with me first.” Tony held his arm out for Peter and lifted him up once he was close enough. He knew he should be putting Peter in his own bed tonight but he couldn’t. He didn’t have it in him.
So tonight, Tony would enjoy falling asleep with his son safely in his arms.
.
.
.
When Tony woke up, he looked over since he didn’t feel Peter next to him anywhere and saw Peter with his back pressed up against the bed rail and his arms and legs stretched out in front of him like he was trying to make the letter F with his body.
Even though Tony was just waking up, he smiled at the position and carefully got out of bed so he could sneak into the bathroom to brush his teeth and use the toilet before changing into clothes and sneak downstairs so as to not wake Peter up.
He went downstairs and immediately made a dash for his coffee but remembered that he forgot his phone upstairs so he couldn’t even go on that as he waited. So, he stared at the kitchen counter.
After his coffee was ready, he grabbed it and took a sip, making a beeline for the couch to try and enjoy some child free time by himself before Peter woke up.
They went to bed fairly early so Peter should be waking up in the next two hours. If that. It was already 9am but he was going to let Peter sleep in for as long as possible.
He went on his computer to answer a few emails when Pepper walked down and took a seat on the sofa next to him. “How did you and Peter sleep?”
Tony took another sip of his coffee, preparing for Peter to wake up with so much energy. “Good. Peter didn’t wake up once.”
Pepper pulled her legs up on the couch and wrapped a blanket around herself. “Does he usually wake up?”
“Yeah. Like five times a night.” Tony usually got woken up by Peter so he had to put him back to sleep each time, or else he would wake up himself and find Peter either staring at him or sitting up in bed and looking at something in the room.
Another one of the many reasons why Tony didn’t want to put Peter in his own bed.
“Do you know why he wakes up so much?” She asked. Tony looked at her. It seemed like she was going to engage in a deep conversation and it was too early for that.
“I don’t know. He just does.” He pulled his computer onto his lap again and tried to focus on the emails he had to respond to but he couldn’t concentrate now. He always struggled to get back into work after being off for so long.
He wanted Peter to wake up so he could hang out with him. Peter was the only person in the entire world that he never got sick of. He even gets fed up with Pepper and Rhodey at times. He can live without them but he physically cannot live without Peter.
He wanted that tiny human around him at all times.
So when his alarm that was connected to Peter’s foot monitor beeped on his phone, alerting him that something was wrong with Peter, that was not what he meant by wanting Peter to wake up.
Pepper looked at him, concerned. “What is that?”
Tony stood up and started walking towards the stairs but FRIDAY was speaking up. “Peter’s oxygen levels are concerning. It appears something is blocking his airways.”
Tony sprinted upstairs.
Peter couldn’t breathe and every second counted. He threw the door open and saw Peter on the bed. He was lying on his back with his blankie wrapped around his whole face.
He leaned over the bed rail and tried to pull it off Peter’s face but it was wrapped right around his neck and head so Tony had to force Peter to sit up a bit to unwrap the blanket then he gently shook Peter to get him to wake up. “Peter. Open your eyes for me.”
Peter moaned and lifted his arms up to rub at his eyes. “Mmm. Mmmhmm.”
“You scared me, bud.” Tony lifted Peter off the bed and rocked him side to side, grateful that he had Peter with him now and that he was actually okay. Making the sock monitor was probably the best idea he’s ever had.
Peter rubbed at his eyes and dropped his head onto Tony’s shoulder. “Mm. What?”
“I know you’re still sleepy but no more sleeping, okay? Let’s go downstairs and eat some breakfast.” Tony turned off the sock monitor and turned to look at Pepper who was watching them from the doorway.
“Is he okay?”
“Yeah, his blanket was just wrapped around his face. He’s okay. Right, Pete?” Tony bounced him a bit in his arms. “Wanna try going pee first? In the toilet.”
Peter shook his head and rested it on his shoulder again. “I don’t need to go anymore.”
Tony sighed. That meant Peter already went and he didn’t know if he was encouraging bad habits or not but he didn’t want to ask Rose what she might think since he knew what she would say. He had a different opinion however.
He set Peter on his feet, well, tried to but Peter clung onto him. “Let go. You can walk.”
“No. The floor is gonna be cold on my toes. Can you carry me?” Peter tried to give Tony his puppy dog eyes but his dad wasn’t even looking at him so he put his head on his dad’s shoulder again. “Can we eat waffles? And I want my water bottle for breakfast too.”
“Your water bottle is plastic. You can’t eat plastic for breakfast.” Tony teased him on the way downstairs.
“No. Not to eat it. Just to drink my juice from it.” Peter laughed and once they got downstairs, Peter looked towards the windows and saw that it was snowing out so he kicked his legs to be put down and ran over to the windows to look out.
“Are you cold, bud? I can turn the heat up if you want.” Tony asked, already making his way to the thermostat to turn up the heat since he felt how cold Peter’s legs were when he carried him down.
Peter sat down on the ledge of the window to try and see the ground. “Can we go swimming in the hot tub after breakfast?”
Tony turned to Pepper to see if she wanted to join them. “Yeah. If you want to, bud. We have to eat first though.”
“I have a meeting so I won’t be able to join you guys but don’t let me stop you from having fun.” She smiled at Tony, silently telling him sorry for not being able to join but Tony waved her off.
He loved spending time with Peter alone. It was definitely his favourite thing to do and he wasn’t going to pass up on a relaxing hot tub. Although it wasn’t going to be relaxing with Peter since he knew his kid was going to be climbing all over him.
Once they ate breakfast and changed into their bathing suits, Peter ran ahead of his dad and tried to open the back door. “Hurry! Hurry! I want out!”
Tony placed both towels on the table by the door and typed in the code that he most definitely did not want Peter seeing. “It’s cold out so slow down.”
Peter took one step into the snow and immediately ran back in, running on the spot. “It’s cold. Carry me out.”
“You lazy bum.” Tony picked Peter up, holding him with one arm against his chest as well as holding up his leg awkwardly so he still had one hand free to press the button for the top to come off before he was tossing Peter in. “Stay on the step until I get in.”
Peter grabbed onto the ledge and jumped on the step. “Why?”
“Because you’ll go under.” Tony simply explained since Peter was unable to touch the bottom yet. He stepped into the hot tub and playfully splashed Peter which resulted in Peter splashing him back.
“I win! I got you wetter.” Peter pointed a finger at his dad so Tony chuckled.
“Okay. Don’t say that. Come in before you turn into an icicle.”
Peter carefully sat down and made sure the seat was there so he could crawl across it until he was at his dad's side and climbed into his lap, putting one leg on either side of him. “Hi.”
“Hi.” Tony placed his hands on Peter’s hips to stop him from floating up which had Peter laughing.
“Fat floats. That’s why I’m floating.”
That had Tony laughing. Peter still had baby fat on him but besides that, there wasn’t one ounce of fat anywhere on his kids body. “You’re not fat. I wish you put on some more weight, bud.”
Tony had spoken to Peter’s paediatrician since she had some concerns over Peter’s weight. Tony did too but Peter was an extremely picky eater and then would burn it all off by running around so much.
Peter grabbed onto his chest to pull at Tony’s chest hairs. “Ow. Why do you always do that?”
“Because it’s funny. Only hair is supposed to be on your head and eyebrows but you have hair on your chest and underarms too.” Peter tried to reach for Tony’s underarms but Tony grabbed his grabby hands. “I wanna see.”
“Oh, kid. If those were the only places I had hair.” Tony chuckled at himself and shook his head fondly but then Peter was reaching again. “You don’t need to see.”
Peter bounced on his dad’s lap and laughed. “Am I heavy?”
“No. You’re light.” Tony was incredibly grateful that Peter was so light and small for his age, otherwise he didn’t think he would be able to carry him around so much and pick him up as often as he does which is a lot.
Peter bounced again, getting a lot of his energy out. “But-but if I got fat then you wouldn’t be able to carry me anymore.”
Tony fake gasped. “Are you calling me weak?”
“Maybe.” Peter gave Tony a look that melted his heart completely. The way he raised his eyebrows as if testing Tony to see how he would react to that.
Tony was so in love with Peter.
“You better not be.” He playfully pinched Peter’s side but he didn’t want his head going under the water so he held him up. “Don’t go under the water on me, Petey. Then your hair will freeze. And you’ll probably get sick.”
Peter shrugged and slid off his dad’s lap to sit on the seat next to him on his knees. He reached for Tony’s hand and locked their fingers together. “Now you’re stuck with me.”
“That’s fine with me.” Tony admitted. If it were up to him, he would keep Peter at his side at all times. Well, technically it was up to him but he didn’t want to add onto Peter’s separation anxiety right now.
“Okay. Then I’ll sleep with you tonight.” Peter said. He looked up at his dad’s face for his reaction but didn’t find much of one.
“It’s not even noon yet, let’s not talk about that right now.” Tony didn’t know if he was going to allow Peter in his bed or have him sleep by himself. That was far in the future right now.
Peter didn’t drop it. “If you make me sleep by myself tonight then… I’ll hate you forever.”
Tony rolled his eyes. “Stop it.”
Peter continued. “Or… if you make me sleep by myself tonight then when you go to wake me up tomorrow morning, I just won’t wake up because I’ll die. And-and you won’t even get to say bye to me and it’ll be all your fault.”
Peter knew what his dad’s biggest fear was.
It was why he had to sleep with the sleep monitor on every night and he usually didn’t mind it but it was a little bit uncomfortable but he wore it for his dad’s peace of mind so he hoped he wasn’t sleeping by himself tonight.
Tony tried not to show that Peter was getting to him with that graphic description. He turned to Peter and grabbed onto his arm roughly. “You watch what you say. Why would you even think of that? Huh?”
Peter tried to pull away from him but Tony held tightly. He watched Peter lean down to try and bite him so Tony grabbed onto Peter’s arms and forced him onto the hot tub step, standing in front of him.
“I’m cold!” Peter yelled, bringing his legs up on the seat since he was only sitting in about an inch of water.
“You watch your mouth. If you ever say something like that to me again, I will never let you sleep with me again. Do you understand me?” Tony never planned on using Peter’s separation anxiety against him but he didn’t know what else to say to get Peter to understand that he couldn’t say things like that. Especially after him almost dying in front of Tony’s eyes.
Peter wiped at his eyes. “Okay! I’m sorry. Don’t be mad at me.”
Tony grabbed Peter and pulled him back into the warm water. “I’m not mad at you.”
Peter nodded against him then pulled away, still rubbing at his eyes. “I just…” He let out a puff of air and continued to rub at his eyes so Tony pulled his hand away from his face.
“Stop it before you hurt yourself. Talk to me, Pete. What’s going on in that head of yours?” Tony asked, knowing he had to be extremely patient with Peter now since he found it hard to get his emotions out into words.
Peter frowned, sticking his bottom lip out as he tried to think of the right words to use. “I… I just-I want to die before you do.”
Tony sucked in a breath of air. He was not expecting that one bit and he didn’t like it because it had been so close to being true.
“Why are you saying this?” Why are you even thinking about it?
Peter looked down at the water so he didn’t have to make eye contact with Tony. “Because… because I don’t want to ever be without you and-and…” He was too scared to admit it. “I just don’t want to ever be without you, okay?”
Tony pulled Peter easily onto his lap. He was almost three decades older than Peter, twenty nine years older than Peter to be exact and so he was going to die before Peter. That was how it was supposed to be. Kids burying their parents and never parents burying their children.
Tony would lie down in the casket next to Peter’s body if that was the case.
He rubbed Peter’s back and pulled him against his chest, feeling his stomach rising and falling against him with each breath he took. Alive.
Tony didn’t want to talk about this anymore so he laid his head on top of Peter’s. “Okay. Let’s not talk about that. You can sleep with me tonight so we’ll have a good day together, okay? Okay? What do you wanna do? Anything you want.”
Peter liked the sounds of that. He concentrated on Tony’s beating heart in his chest. “I um… I wanna stay here. It’s warm. And I like you here.”
Tony nodded against Peter. He liked the sounds of that plan. It was something he could happily do and the fact that Peter was actually lying still and not jumping all over him for the time being felt pretty good too.
The two of them stayed there for a long while. Tony was pretty sure that Peter fell asleep but he looked down and saw his eyelashes moving.
A little while later, Peter was lifting his head off his dad’s chest and smiling. “Can I tell you something?”
“Yeah.” Tony brushed a curl off Peter’s face, waiting for him to tell him.
“I just peed on you.” Peter admitted with a giggle.
Tony wasn’t expecting that but knowing Peter, he was not surprised. “You are too much sometimes, you know that?” He started tickling Peter’s sides. “Huh? You know that?”
The sound of Peter giggling in his ear was the best sound Tony has ever heard. He stopped his tickle attack and pressed a quick kiss to Peter’s cheek. “You ready to go inside?”
“Uh huh. Can you carry me?” Peter asked as he slid off his dad and went to pull off his bathing suit but he hesitated. “Can I take these off too?”
“Yeah, just don’t leave them in here.” Tony took his bathing suit from him and pointed to the hot tub seat that was half out of the water. “Come sit here while I quickly go inside to grab the towels.”
Peter waited for Tony to lift him onto the seat then he pulled his knees to his chest, wanting to be wrapped in the towel as soon as possible.
“Stay on this step. Don’t go into the water because I’m getting out.” Although Tony wasn’t taking his eyes off of Peter and was only going to be a few feet away from him, he knew an accident could happen in a matter of seconds.
Peter gave a sharp nod.
Tony grabbed one of the towels, not wasting any time wrapping one around himself just yet even though he was freezing. He held it out and walked over to Peter. “Stand up, bud. Let’s go inside quickly.”
Peter stood up and turned around, leaning down so Tony could wrap him in the towel and carry him in. He wrapped his arms around his dad’s neck, trying to get as much warmth as possible from him. “Mmm. Cozy. Can we lie on the couch now? I don’t want to leave your arms because you’re super duper warm.”
Tony was currently in a soaking wet bathing suit so he didn’t find that comfortable since Peter didn’t have that problem right now. “Let’s get dried off first and dressed in warm clothes then we can cuddle on the couch.”
“‘Kay.” Peter grabbed the corner of the towel and pulled it in front of him so he could bite on it.
It was something Peter did every time he got out of a bath or shower and Tony thought it was adorable so he let him. He switched Peter onto his other hip so it was easier to carry him up the stairs but he paused halfway up when he heard Pepper call him.
“Yeah?” He asked, trying to cover Peter more but Peter had pulled the whole towel into his arms.
“Are you guys just getting out?” She asked and Tony heard the hesitation in her voice which always meant something was wrong.
“Uh. Yeah. Yeah, Pete’s just too lazy to walk so I’m carrying him up.” He eyed her, waiting for her to say something.
Peter wiggled in his arms so Tony hoisted him up higher. “Stop moving or I’ll drop you down the stairs.”
Pepper nodded. “Alright. Can we talk later? After you get changed?”
“Sure. I’ll meet you in my office then.” He had a feeling it wasn’t good news but he didn’t want to worry Peter so he put Peter on his feet since he clearly didn’t want to be held anymore. “Quickly quickly.”
Peter turned to look up at his dad. “Don’t rush me. Your legs are longer than mine so you can move faster.” Peter tried to measure his leg against his dad but Tony picked him up, holding him against his side and tossing him on the bed once they got into the bedroom.
Tony was quick to dry off and put on jeans and a sweater then waited for Peter to get dressed in some pyjamas even though it was the middle of the day.
He was able to distract Peter with a yogurt drink and tv so he could go talk to Pepper.
Judging by her face, it wasn’t good news. “What is it?”
He shut the door behind him and waited for her to talk.
“You have to go to Switzerland for a week in a few days.”