Keep me safe
Tony wanted to cut Peter’s punishment in half but he didn’t want to do that since the next time he inevitably has to punish Peter, Peter will think he’s a pushover.
In a way, he was.
Tony didn’t like the punishment he picked out for Peter. No tv meant a bored kid on his hands, add that to the list as well as no legos and early bedtime, Peter was waking up just past 6am and had nothing to keep him entertained.
Never again. Tony had to think of something else for punishment. It was a long week but now, they were back to normal and Peter was watching tv in the living room as he played with his long awaited legos.
Tony grabbed his coffee and walked into the living room, sitting on the couch. “Rose is coming today, don’t forget.”
“I already forgot.” Peter answered, not looking at Tony.
Tony raised his eyebrows at Peter’s sass as he took a sip. “Be nice to her. She’s trying to help us.”
Peter stopped playing. Even though his back was to Tony, Tony could still tell there was an angry frown on Peter’s face. “But we don’t need help. Nothings wrong. She just wants to make me sad and cry.”
“That’s not true, Peter. She’s here to help us with the separation anxiety.” Tony explained, once again but Peter still refused to admit he had it.
“No. Then she can go because there’s no separation anxiety here.” Peter turned to face his dad. “I don’t want her to come.”
“Peter-”
“No.” Peter cut him off. “She’s just gonna tell you to go away to make me cry and feel really bad.”
Tony put his coffee on the side table and held his hands out for Peter. “I promise you she’s here to help. Wouldn’t it feel so good to not cry and feel really bad when I have to go away for a little bit? Don’t you wanna be happy even without me next to you?”
Peter stood between Tony’s parted legs and played with his necklace as he listened to his dad speak. He then shook his head. He didn’t like that. “Nooo. I wouldn’t. I want you to stay with me all the time.”
“And I will. But what about when I have to go to work for a few hours, I want you to still be happy because it hurts me when I know you’re at home crying for me.” Tony wasn’t going to make Peter feel bad for feeling that way but if it got Peter to be open to change then so be it.
Peter hit him weakly. “Then that’s your fault. You shouldn’t leave.”
“Don’t hit me. And I try to stay with you but I have responsibilities like work and other things, that’s all part of being an adult.” Tony explained to Peter slowly, rubbing at his back.
“Mmm, then I don’t ever wanna be an adult.”
Tony couldn’t agree with that more. “I don’t want you to grow up either but everyone does. You can’t stop it but enjoy time right now.”
Peter shook his head and rubbed at his eyes some more. “I want to be little again, not grow older because then you leave.”
“It doesn’t matter how old you are, Pete. I’m not leaving you. Ever.” Tony reassured him but then FRIDAY was speaking. Horrible timing.
“Boss, Rose is here and is requesting access to your floor. Shall I send her up?”
Tony looked at Peter. “I love you always.” He pressed a kiss to Peter’s forehead. “Send her up, FRI.”
Peter watched his dad stand up and jumped on the spot, not wanting her to come up. “No! No no nooo.” He threw himself to the ground after that, crying when he heard the elevator doors open and watched his dad walk towards Rose. Peter hated her so much.
“Hi Rose.” Tony greeted her. “Pete’s having a hard time with you coming today.”
She gave him a warm smile and put her stuff down at the door. “That’s alright. Change is hard.”
“Can I get you anything?”
“A tea would be nice. Thank you.”
Tony went to go walk into the kitchen, leaving Rose to go over to Peter and potentially try to talk to him even though Tony knew he wouldn’t talk.
Rose walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. She could see Peter behind the table but she didn’t approach him. “Hi Peter. Are you having a bad day today?”
Peter didn’t respond. He crawled towards the end of the carpet then stood up and ran into the kitchen, crying to his dad. He lifted his arms up, wanting to be picked up but Tony had his hands full. “Up. Daddy.”
“What’s wrong, Peter?” Tony asked, finishing with the tea and giving Peter his full attention.
“I-I want her gone.” Peter cried, pointing to the living room.
Tony held his hand out for Peter to take. He knew what the plan was for today and he was not looking forward to it but he also wanted to see if it would work. The first time, Rose was going to make him leave, just for thirty minutes but the second time, she was going to tell him how to leave and what to do.
He walked with Peter into the living room and handed the tea to Rose and a water bottle to Peter but he didn’t grab it. “Do you want it?”
Peter pushed it away so Tony set it on the table and sat down. “Can you sit?” He asked Peter but Rose placed her hand on Tony’s knee.
“Ignore him. Let him do what he wants, don’t push him because that’ll only cause him to push away.” Rose instructed him.
Tony didn’t like to ignore Peter but if it helped then he would. He crossed a leg over the other and took a sip of his own coffee, having a small talk with Rose about nothing in particular when Peter decided to make an appearance and crawl over his lap.
“Can you sit next to me?” Tony patted the couch next to him but Peter shook his head. “Come sit,” Tony moved over a bit and made space for Peter, fighting him a bit as Peter whined and fought to cling into him.
“Nooo.” Peter whined louder and grabbed onto Tony’s leg, wrapping his arms under and over it so he couldn’t be taken off his fathers lap to sit without him.
Tony gave up and patted his back. “Okay, well, I have to go for a bit. Rose is gonna stay here with you and I’ll be back.” Tony told him but Peter started crying harder and held on impossibly tighter.
“Don’t go, daddy! Stay.” Peter cried then lifted his face up to look at Tony. Tony felt awful. Peter had tears and snot streaming down his face and was sobbing. After the last few days they had, Tony didn’t blame him but it was part of Roses tactics to fix the separation anxiety.
“I love you. I’ll see you soon.” Tony stood up and pried Peter off of him, sitting him on the couch but Peter arched his back and threw himself to the ground, sobbing. “Bye, give me a hug then, okay?” He kneeled down and accepted Peter into his arms.
“Don’t go. I want-I want-want you to stay here!” He cried, wiping his face on Tony’s shoulder, soaking it but Tony was used to it by now.
“I know. I have to go though. I’ll be back.” He pressed a kiss to Peter’s head and pulled away from him. He felt so bad having to do this. “Peter, please. It’s okay. I’m gonna be back.”
Tony was able to pull away from him and walk away a bit but Peter was crawling after him and grabbing onto his ankle. “Where do y-you have to go?!”
“I have to go down to my lab.” It wasn’t a lie, he was going to go down to his lab for thirty minutes and watch the cameras while his heart broke.
Peter rolled onto his back and kicked his legs out. “Take me with you! I don-I don’t wanna stay here!”
Tony sighed. He couldn’t leave Peter like this. He kneeled down and rubbed Peter’s stomach. “How about I stay for five more minutes? Would you like that?”
Peter nodded and wiped at his face. “Ten.” He insisted.
Tony sighed. “Fine. Ten more minutes. Let’s go sit.” He pulled Peter to his feet and walked them back to the couch to Rose who wasn’t judging but Tony knew she was going to have something to say to him about it later on. It was hard. He hated leaving Peter so he prolonged it as much as he could.
He sat with Peter, talking to him about his legos, trying his best to distract him before he had to try and leave one more time. “How about you tell Rose about your new lego set?”
“Mm!” Peter turned his face into his dad’s stomach. “Are you gonna stay now?”
“No, I have to go. It’s been ten minutes.” Once he said those words, Peter started crying again. “I’ll be back. It’s not like I’m going across the country again.”
“No!”
“I said I’m not going across the country. Give me a hug and I’ll see you soon.” Tony pulled Peter in for a quick hug and left, feeling his heart shatter as he stepped into that elevator and watched Peter try to chase after him.
He didn’t know how this was supposed to help without leaving permanent mental scars in Peter.
In the penthouse, Peter laid on the floor and cried. He weakly kicked the elevator doors because he knew if he damaged them then he would get in a lot of trouble and he didn’t want to get in any more trouble after he just finished his punishment.
Rose walked over to him and sat down on the floor next to him. “Why are you so upset, Peter? Your dad said he would be back.”
Peter didn’t know why he was so upset. He just didn’t like his dad leaving him and it was a force of habit to cry and scream when he said he had to go. Peter knew if he cried long and hard enough then he would get his way.
He rolled onto his stomach and pulled his knees to his chest. “I-I don’t know!”
“Sometimes your dad is going to have to leave you but he’ll always come back.” She reassured him but Peter didn’t care. She wasn’t Pepper or his dad so he didn’t want to take comfort from her.
“No.”
“You don’t think he’s going to come back?”
Peter never knew. May kissed him goodbye for the last time and neither of them knew it. Then he never saw her again. His real mom and dad kissed him goodbye for the last time and no one knew it. Things happen and people leave him. It’s just his luck.
“I can’t-can’t know that.” He explained.
“What do you mean, Peter?” She patiently asked.
Peter rolled onto his back to look at the ceiling. “I-I said bye to my parents and-and then they died in a plane crash. Th-that’s not even likely. Then-then Aunt May said goodbye t-too and-and she died. And now dad’s Iron Man and does dangerous things s-so if any one of them is gonna d-die, it would be him. Cause my parents and May were-weren’t even doing dangerous things and-and he can’t leave me! I-I don’t want him too!”
Peter couldn’t control the violent sob that wracked his body.
He was beyond terrified of losing Tony. No word even came close to describing how he felt at the thought alone of his dad dying and leaving him by himself.
“That’s very understandable. You’ve been through a lot and you’re allowed to feel all the emotions that you’re feeling but I want to help you so when your dad has to leave to go down to his lab, or for work or as Iron Man, that you don’t have to always feel so sad and lonely.” Rose gently caressed his forehead so Peter leaned into the touch and rolled over to face her.
“Well… it’s not m-my fault I feel so s-sad all the time.” Peter didn’t want to feel this way. He hated that he did, it made his chest feel tight and it almost felt like he was dying. He did die once and it didn’t feel as bad as this felt.
“No one is blaming you. I’m not blaming you. You can’t control the way you feel but I want to help you. I’m not trying to hurt you, Peter, or take you away from your dad. I’m only here to help.”
Peter still wasn’t so sure. Every time Rose came, he always cried and his dad often left so he still didn’t like her very much.
“Do you wanna go sit on the couch so it’s more comfortable or do you wanna sit somewhere else?” She suggested, giving him options.
Peter thought about it. “I wanna go to the living room.”
The two stood up and went into the living room but Peter still wanted his dad to come back. He peeked over the edge of the couch to wait for the elevator doors to open up but they weren’t opening so he felt tears leak out of his eyes again. “FRIDAY, tell dad to come up.”
“Boss is in his lab, Peter. He says he will come up soon.” FRIDAY answered him but that wasn’t good enough.
Peter threw a pillow. “No!”
“Would you like to build some legos or maybe watch some tv while we wait?”
“Nooo. Tell him to come up now. Please! I want him to.” Peter bounced on his knees, wanting to see his dad again and getting incredibly anxious.
He cried until Tony walked through the doors then he was making a beeline into his arms. He didn’t know how much longer he could have waited for. He just wanted to be held by Tony and now he finally was.
“I told you I’d come back. I just had to do a few things.” Tony lifted Peter up and pulled his head closer so he could kiss his face. It was so hard to sit down in his lab and watch the cameras, knowing Peter was hurting and wanting him but he couldn’t do anything but watch it happen. It was definitely one of the hardest things he’s ever had to do.
And to listen to Peter cry and explain to Rose why he felt the way he did and what was running through his mind whenever Tony had to leave him. Tony couldn’t do that again… it was way too hard but he knew Rose had another plan to do it again later today. He wasn’t ready.
Peter had calmed down significantly once Tony was back, much like he always did.
Tony was glad that Peter was so resilient for the most part. Such as Peter going back to his happy, bubbly self after he calmed down and Tony was able to distract him enough to go talk to Rose.
She walked into the kitchen, leading Tony along but Tony looked over at Peter and saw him looking at him and most definitely listening. “Hey, stop listening in. Play with your legos.” Tony warned, hoping Peter listened to him and didn’t listen in.
He turned so he could watch Peter and Rose had her back to him. “See how hard that was?” She asked, referring to Tony having to leave Peter.
“Yeah.”
“That’s because you’re prolonging the goodbyes. You’re telling Peter you have to go and then you’re leaving then you’re not. Five more minutes, no ten minutes. You’re giving him hugs and kissing him and letting him chase after you then giving in. You’re confusing him. He doesn’t know if you’re staying or going and that makes it harder on Peter. That’s why he’s acting out the way he is.”
Tony crossed his arms. He did do that but hearing it out loud sounded so much worse. “I don’t know what else to do.”
“Stop prolonging the goodbyes and making it a big deal. When you have to go, simply give him a quick hug and a kiss, tell him you have to go but you’ll be back, grab your things and leave. I can guarantee you that he will not act out.” Rose insisted but Tony didn’t think so.
“I’m not so sure. If I say I’m leaving, he freaks out.”
Rose shook her head. “No. You are making him freak out because of the way you do it. You’re scared that he’s gonna hate you if he cries because you’re leaving. Peter has to understand that you have responsibilities that you have to take care of and you can’t be with him all the time.”
Tony was getting uncomfortable because he wanted to be with Peter all the time. He ran his hand through his hair. “I’m trying but he freaks out all the time.”
“You’re letting him control you and the way things are run around here. You say you have to go and Peter says no and cries so you stay.” Rose pointed out and Tony could tell this was getting serious now. “If you say you have to go, he needs to understand that because his outbursts when you leave aren’t necessary and you can stop that.”
“I don’t understand what I’m even doing though. He’ll do that no matter how I say bye to him.”
Rose walked to the fridge and opened it. “He does that because he’s reacting how you’re reacting to you leaving. If I told you to cook with me and I’m going like this,” Rose started taking some items out of the fridge and placing them on the counter while pretending to freak out and dropping things on purpose and bumping pots into each other just to prove her point. “If I’m cooking like that, you’re going to feel extremely anxious and uncomfortable because I am. It’ll rub off on you. It’s the same thing with you and Peter. When you prolong that goodbye, you’re giving him a reason to freak out and that’s when the crying and screaming and kicking and all that starts, making it so much harder than it has to be on the both of you and everyone else.”
Tony couldn’t help but laugh at her example but mostly because she was right and he understood that now. “Okay. So what do I do to stop that?”
Rose began putting everything she took out away as she explained. “Don’t prolong goodbyes. A simple hug and a kiss, not too long, grab your things and leave.”
He looked over at Peter and nodded. He could do this. He had to try but he didn’t think it would work. “Okay.”
“I want to wait a few hours before we try it again. You just left so let’s wait and then we’ll do it again.”
Tony nodded. “Okay, well, it’s lunch time anyways so I’m gonna make him something.”
“As for him refusing to eat, I want you to let him choose what he has as a side, give him two options, for example ask him if he wants strawberries or blueberries as his fruit. Don’t give him too many options though because then he’ll never make a decision.” Rose explained to him and Tony did try to do that but… after Peter refused to eat the first thing Tony gave him.
“Okay. I’ll go ask.” He ran his hand through his hair and walked over to Peter. “I’m gonna make lunch, do you want to eat mango or strawberries with it?”
Peter thought about it. “Uhhh… can I have chocolate?”
“No, you have to have fruits. Chocolate isn’t a meal.”
“Then… um, I want… I want strawberries.”
Tony smiled, proud of Peter for choosing. He walked back into the kitchen to start making some chicken wraps with fruits and an oat bar. It was simple but that was the way Tony knew Peter liked it. Peter grew up with simple meals so that made it harder for Tony to get him to eat anything that wasn’t processed.
Plus Tony sucked at cooking so that was good for him.
He placed a cherry tomato on his plate and cut it into four, hoping to get Peter to eat at least one piece.
“What are your expectations for him for this meal?”
Tony looked at Rose, confused. “What?”
“Do you want him to eat it all? Just half? I know he’s not eating enough.”
“Oh, uh, well, he won’t eat it all so what I usually do is put a really small amount on his plate so he doesn’t think it’s too much and I end up tricking him into eating more.” Tony thought he was smart, it worked almost every time.
“I want you to put everything you expect him to eat on his plate. Tell him you want him to try to eat it all and give him praises when he takes a bite of something.” Rose grabbed another cherry tomato and put it on his plate. “He doesn’t have to eat both but at least one and he can choose if he wants the chopped up one or not.”
Tony knew it wasn’t going to work. “Alright.”
“So when he eats, you don’t wanna force him and give a negative experience when having to sit down for meals, or force him to keep eating even if he’s full, so encourage him to eat as much as he can but tell him what you expect him to eat, for example, all the fruits, the tomato or whatever.”
Tony picked up the plate and Peter’s juice to bring it over to him but he had no idea how this would play out. “Lunch time, Pete. Can you stop building your legos so you can eat?”
Peter squatted between the couch and the table, making grabby hands for his water bottle. “Juice! Thanks.”
“I want you to try and eat all your lunch. You need to put some more fat on that belly of yours.” Tony put the plate down and sat down next to Peter.
Peter lifted his shirt up. “Look, I can grab my fat.” He said, pinching the tiniest amount of skin then let go to pull up Tony’s shirt. “I wanna see your fat.”
Tony rolled his eyes as Peter smacked his stomach. “It’s all hard.”
“Because it’s muscle.” Tony pushed Peter off of him. “Can you eat? You didn’t even eat any snacks today so you must be hungry.”
Peter leaned his head back on the couch and stuck his tongue out at him but when Tony tried to put him away, Peter got that mischievous grin of his and sat up so he could lick his dad. “No. Stop, Peter- okay.” Tony wiped his now slobbery hand on the couch. “You licked me, now go eat.” Please eat.
“Okay.” Peter bounced onto his butt and debated what he wanted to eat first. He opened the chicken wrap and pushed all the chicken out then took tiny bites of the wrap. “Hmmm yummy.”
“Peter, you’ve taken out the best part. Eat the chicken too.” Tony took a piece and tried to shove it in Peter’s mouth but he turned his head.
“Noooo.”
“Tony,” Rose called him so Tony looked over and she was shaking her head at him. “Let him eat how he wants to eat it.”
He nodded and sat back. He remembered what she said about praising Peter to eat so he waited until Peter took a bite. “Wow! Good job, Peter.”
Peter turned to face him with his nose scrunched up. “Why did you say it like that? That’s weird.”
Tony couldn’t do anything right. He sat back and crossed his leg over the other. “Okay. Just… eat.”
It was almost painful to watch Petet eat. It always was. He was messy and sloppy and picked at everything. Tony watched him wrap a mango in with the chicken and take a bite so Tony had to look away. It was gross. Once Peter stopped eating, almost everything from his plate was gone but the tomato’s and some chicken.
Tony pointed at the tomato. “Can you eat those?”
Peter pushed his plate away. “No. I’m all done.”
“I want you to try. Just eat one, you don’t have to eat both.” Tony picked up a piece of the cut up one and held it to Peter’s lips so Peter opened his mouth, tasted it and spit it out right after.
“It’s yuckie.”
Tony picked up Peter’s plate. “I’m glad you tried it.” He looked at the plate, grateful that Peter ate everything, almost, and he didn’t have to force him to eat anything, well, besides the chicken and tomato.
Rose talked with Peter for a bit, not about anything important though, just to pass a bit more time so Tony could clean up the kitchen before Tony was going to have to leave again but this time using Roses’ tactics. He was curious to see how it was going to work out.
She walked into the kitchen to talk with him before they did it. “So what do I do?”
“Just walk in there, tell him you’re going to go down to your lab and you’ll be back up in thirty minutes. Give him a really quick hug and kiss and leave.” Rose explained. “Now, usually if you know beforehand that you have to leave, casually bring it up before you have to go so he can be prepared but don’t over exaggerate it so he worries, just bring it up calmly and move on. Reassure him that you’ll be okay and you’ll be back, tell him when you’re coming back so he knows and if you don’t know, just give him updates that it’ll be soon. If you plan on being two hours and it goes over, tell him before that two hours mark is up so he doesn’t worry.”
Tony tried to make mental notes on everything Rose was telling him but he knew he would eventually get the hang of it. That is, if it worked.
He took a breath to psych himself up and walked into the living room. “I’m gonna go down to my lab for thirty minutes and then I’ll be back.” Tony saw Peter snap his head up to look at him, preparing to start crying and argue but Tony leaned down and kissed his head. “See you soon.” He grabbed his phone off the table and left right after that.
He didn’t dare turn around but he didn’t hear Peter crying or chasing after him so he thought it was a win. He got into the elevator and glanced over at Peter, seeing him still sitting in the same spot as before.
Once the doors closed, Tony felt his eyes water with happy tears of pure and utter relief. He did it. They did it.
He didn’t expect it to work every time or for the long trips away but just a few hours ago, Peter was screaming and crying and begging him not to go and now, Peter wasn’t even trying to stop him from leaving. Tony counted that as a huge win.
Upstairs, Peter continued watching the tv show that was on. He felt really uneasy that his dad was gone but he knew he would be back and him saying goodbye didn’t give him as much anxiety as it usually did.
He grabbed his drink to finish it off then sat back on the couch. He briefly glanced at Rose as she walked over to him. “What’re you watching?”
Peter turned the volume up. “Craig of the creek.”
Rose got the hint that he didn’t want to talk but she was so proud of him for not crying or chasing after his dad.
When the thirty minutes were up, Tony made his way back upstairs. He was beyond proud of Peter but he didn’t want to make a big deal out of him. He didn’t want to accidentally give it away that he was testing Peter to see how he was going to react to him leaving using certain techniques.
He smiled at Rose, knowing she was thinking the same thing.
“I’m going to go now, Peter. It was so nice to see you again. I’ll see you again in a few days.” Rose patted Peter on the head and Peter offered a tiny wave. “Can you walk me to the elevator, Tony?”
Tony knew she wanted to talk with him without Peter. “Thank you for everything. I’m still in awe that that actually worked. Wow.”
“Just keep it up whenever you have to leave. Remember, Peter will react how you react, even if you don’t notice you’re doing anything wrong.” Rose said.
Tony understood that now.
“I want you to try and give Peter more choices. Simple things, do you wanna take a bath or a shower, do you want to wear a red top or a blue top. Things like that. I want Peter to make choices for himself instead of you making those choices for him so he can grow his independence and doesn’t depend on you for every little thing.” Rose rubbed at his arm. “You can do it. It’ll get easier.”
Tony thought it made sense. He really did make all of Peter’s choices for him but it was definitely easier said than done. “I’ll try. Thanks for coming and helping today.”
“Of course. I also want you to sit down and talk with Peter about starting online school. Sometime in the next week or two. Getting a routine down is very important. Especially now.”
Tony nodded. “I’ll talk to him.” He had mixed feelings about Peter starting online school. It was at home but it was going to take a lot of time out of their day, of course not as long as actually going to school but Tony knew it was going to be hard on Peter.
He said bye to Rose and walked over to the couch where Peter was still sitting and had been for the past hour. He sat on the couch and went onto his phone for a second but he had to say something. “I’m so proud of you, Petey. Just with everything you do.”
Peter chewed on his water bottle straw and handed it to Tony. “Okay. Can you fill this up please?”
Typical Peter. Tony placed his phone on the couch and took Peter’s cup. “I’m gonna go upstairs to change my clothes first. Apple juice or grape?”
“Fine. Grape.” Peter watched his dad walk away out of the corner of his eyes then looked over and saw his phone on the couch. He picked it up and grinned as he went onto his dad’s Instagram. He frowned when he didn’t see any photos of himself but he knew his dad liked to keep him private, Peter was even following him from his account but his dad wasn’t even following him.
He clicked on the screen but accidentally went live and before he could turn it off, he got distracted by the numbers going up from all the people watching and commenting.
“Hi guys.” He grinned, holding the phone right in front of his face. He read some of the comments and responded to them. “How old are you? Uh, I’m fourteen… where’s Tony Stark? He’s um… upstairs… can you… oh I lost the comment.” Peter searched for it. “Oh! Found it! Can you give us a house tour? Umm… well, actually no because I’m too lazy to get up.”
Peter sat up to get more comfortable so he could talk to everyone. “Did you guys know that I drove a car before? My dad let me but… I wasn’t even that good.”
He rubbed his eyes and yawned, sitting up again to read some more comments but everyone was either freaking out or asking him weird questions. “Um, how old are you guys? Is anyone my age?”
A bunch of numbers started coming through but most were in their forties or fifties. “Woah. Bob… Bob t-I-z-a, I don’t know how to say that word, is sixty-three. You’re old.” He gasped. “Oh, Mandy… um, b, is fourteen. We can be friends. Where are you from?”
Peter yawned again and rubbed at his eyes, completely exhausted from his breakdown a few hours ago over Tony leaving. “Why is everyone asking for a house tour? Maybe on a different day when I’m not lazy.” He yawned again and found Mandys comment. “You’re from Miami. Oh, that sucks. I don’t live there but maybe when I go again you can come over.”
Peter didn’t know what was taking his dad so long. He was thirsty. He looked towards the stairs but he didn’t see him so he groaned. “I’m so thirsty but my dad is taking too long.” He kicked his legs out and accidentally dropped the phone. “Oops. I’m gonna read more comments. Ummmmmm… what's your number? That’s creepy. I’m not allowed to give my number away to anyone I don’t know. Umm, what’s Iron Man’s number… it’s…” Peter grinned. “I’m just joking. I’m not telling you. I’ll give you a hint, it has numbers in it.” Peter grinned again.
He read off more comments but they were getting really weird. “Uh, why do you want to see my feet? That’s nasty.” Peter giggled at a few of the comments, read some more weird ones in his head like someone asking what his blood type was. He read one comment and gasped. “You wanna see my underwear? That’s so weird. I’ll tell on you but actually I’m not wearing any,” Peter pulled the front of his pants down to check. “Oh actually I am. But I’m not gonna show you-”
“Show who what?” Tony asked, walking down the stairs and over to Peter. “Who’re you talking to, bud?”
Peter looked at the phone to read more comments. “I don’t know. People on the phone.”
“What? Who?” Tony took the phone from Peter to see and his jaw dropped once he saw that Peter was doing a live on his Instagram. He was terrified that Peter said, did or showed something that no one should be seeing. Peter was full of surprises. “Okay, well, I’m breaking up the fun. Say bye to everyone who was watching the live.”
“Bye.”
Tony ended it before Peter could say bye. He put his phone in his pocket and glared at Peter. “Can you get me my juice please. I’m thirsty.”
“Peter, did you do anything you weren’t supposed to?” Tony was scared of the answer. He was going to have to somehow find that video and see what Peter said and did.
Peter stuck out his bottom lip. “No. I was just talking to everyone.”
“I’m not mad, I just don’t want weirdos out there talking to you or looking at you.” Tony simply explained but sighed when Peter crossed his arms with a pout. He sat down next to him and rubbed his foot. “What’s wrong?”
“You don’t let me do anything. I wasn’t doing nothing wrong and you’re acting like you’re mad at me.” Peter complained. Usually he liked it when his dad was protective of him since it made him feel safe and loved but sometimes it was too much and he wanted to do what he wanted.
Tony knew he was too overprotective but he couldn’t help it. Peter was his baby. “It’s because I care about you and I love you. If I didn’t, then you’d be running wild, getting into all kinds of trouble with the wrong people.”
“But… I wouldn’t. I’m not gonna be bad, dad.” Peter looked down at his lap and thought about where he’d be if he didn’t have his dad with him or if Tony didn’t take him in. He would most likely have ended up in the foster system and either live with people who don’t love him or keep getting tossed around until he turned eighteen.
He didn’t like that thought. He knew he would be so sad and he would have no one to hug or comfort him and no one to sleep beside to make all the nightmares go away.
“Aww, I know. I’m not saying you would be. I just want you to be safe and going on my Instagram live isn’t very safe, Pete, is it?”
Peter shrugged. “Why not?”
“Because I don’t want people seeing you, I like to keep you hidden from the media. I grew up in the spotlight and it’s not easy. I don’t want that for you, Petey.” He explained, trying to get Peter to understand.
“Well…” Peter stretched out on the couch. “I was just making friends.”
“But you can’t even see their face. How do you know if they’re your age?” Tony asked. He wasn’t mad at Peter, he just wanted to make sure Peter understood the dangers of the internet, which was also why he blocked certain websites.
“Uh, I dunno. He just said he was fourteen.”
“Oh, Peter. You’re so naive.” Tony pinched Peter’s leg which caused Peter to let out a loud scream. “Don’t trust anyone on the internet, even if they say they’re fourteen. They could be lying just to trick you. Maybe they’re an old man.”
“Why would an old man want to trick me?” Peter slid off the couch, looking up at his dad.
Tony knew Peter knew why. “Because there’s a lot of bad people in this world who will try to take advantage of little boys and girls. And older men and women too. I just want you to be safe and understand why I don’t want you on the internet.”
“Oh. Then is that why you don’t post any pictures of me on your Instagram? I follow you from my account but you don’t follow me.” Peter crossed his arms over his chest. He never used his Instagram and hadn’t even posted on there in almost a year since his Aunt got mad at him for getting it without her permission since he was too young.
“I don’t post you because there’s only a total of like four pictures out with your face visible and I want it to stay that way.” Peter nodded, showing that he understood. “Same goes for me following you.”
Peter knew why his dad was only trying to protect him but it made him a bit upset. He lifted his arms up. “I understand but I’m sad and the only thing that will make me feel better is if you pick me up.”
Tony rolled his eyes but picked Peter up anyways. He carried him into the kitchen and placed him on his feet but Peter slid off of him and landed on his butt. “I’m gonna make a cake.”
“No, no cake. I’m cooking food.” Tony grabbed the bag of chocolate chips and handed on down to Peter who was sitting by his feet. “Open.” He pushed the chocolate chip at Peter’s lips so Peter opened his mouth, not even knowing what it was.
He chewed it and his eyes lit up. “Mmm! More.”
Tony placed another one in his mouth and did that periodically for a few minutes. He then went to go place another one in Peter’s mouth but it fell onto the floor before it could get in. Tony looked down but Peter didn’t even seem to notice it and still chewed nothing so Tony pretended to grab another chocolate chip and put it in Peter’s mouth.
Peter accepted it even though Tony didn’t even give him anything. He did it again, trying not to laugh but this time Peter grabbed onto his hand and looked at it. “Where is it?”
“It’s right here. Open your mouth.” Tony teased him and pretended to put the chocolate chip into Peter’s mouth again and Peter fell for it. Once again.
“Nooo. Hey. It’s not there.” Peter pulled his hand away to look for the chocolate but he didn’t see it. “Another one.”
“Okay. Here you go.” Tony handed him one this time, laughing at how funny Peter was. He really didn’t know what he would do without him.
.
.
.
Peter sat on his dad's bed and waited for him to finish in the bathroom. He finished getting dressed in his pyjamas then jumping into bed after that.
He wasn’t that tired even though it was way past his bedtime. He didn’t know why he wasn’t tired since Rose came today and usually when she came, he cried and crying took a lot of energy out of him.
Tony walked into the bedroom and turned all the lights off but left his bedside lamp on. “You look wide awake.” Tony pointed out, not liking the fact.
Peter gave a sharp nod. “I am. I’m not even tired.”
Tony sighed. He was going to be in for a long night. He debated trying to get Peter to sleep and risked crying and kicks or taking Peter for a potential drive somewhere to get him tired. He ran his hand through his hair. “Can you try to sleep?”
“No.” Peter stood up on the bed and ran to the headboard to lean against it. “Can we play a game or something fun? I don’t wanna sleep.”
Tony checked the time on his phone. It was just past 11pm and he always tried and mostly succeeded in getting Peter into bed by nine. He didn’t know why tonight was any different but if he had to guess, it would be because Rose came and that messed up their routine a bit.
Not that they even had much of a routine. It was constantly changing day to day.
He crawled into bed and turned the lamp off. “Just try to sleep. We’ll both try.” Tony knew he didn’t get any sleep unless Peter was sleeping. That was going to be the next thing they had to work on. Tony wanted to drag that out for as long as he possibly could since he was having mixed emotions about the whole co sleeping thing.
He knew it wasn’t healthy and that he had to get Peter to sleep by himself in his own bed so Peter could learn how to put himself to sleep and not depend on him for that but also how to self soothe himself back to sleep once he wakes up in the middle of the night.
It was going to be hard.
That is why Tony wanted to wait so long. Plus he loved sleeping with Peter. It made Peter happy and both of them actually slept. It was for the better… but Tony knew they had to stop it. Soon, not yet.
He wanted to focus on one thing at a time and that one thing was getting Peter used to him having to leave without throwing a temper tantrum and crying until Tony came back.
Then the next thing was starting school and getting into a routine. Tony still had to talk to him about that. That would be for a different day. Possibly tomorrow.
Peter crawled up to lay his head on his dad’s chest. “The skys still bright out.” He whispered.
Tony looked over at the closed curtains but even through it, he could tell the sky was dark out. Especially all the way up in the sky where they were since there were no city lights or buildings to shine on them.
“What sky are you looking at? It’s dark, kid.” Tony looked down at Peter but the angle was uncomfortable so he went to pull Peter off of him to hold him closer but Peter whined.
“Nooo. You don’t want me sitting with you?” He asked sadly, sticking out his bottom lip.
Tony raised his eyebrows at Peter. “You’re practically sitting on me, Pete. Lie down next to me.”
Peter bounced on his knees, letting out a loud sigh. “You don’t want me too?”
“I do but it’s time to sleep now-”
Tony didn’t have time to finish as Peter jumped on top of him and grinned down at him. “It’s not time to sleep if I’m not tired.” Peter insisted and scooted forward. “Can we please do something fun.” He groaned dramatically and fell backwards. “I’m awake and bored.”
“You’re bored because it’s time to sleep. Come lie back down.” Tony sat up and grabbed Peter’s arms, pulling him into a sitting position but Peter just flopped back down, bending his neck back. “Peter, sit up.” Peter still let his neck flop back and it looked painful. “Okay fine, can I have a hug then?”
Peter gasped and sat up so he could wrap his arms around Tony’s neck. “I love your hugs. You’re the best hugger.”
“So are you, Petey. You’re definitely my favourite person to hug.” Tony admitted. He never liked hugs, in fact, he hated them but then Peter came along and he suddenly loved hugs.
“Really? Even like, better than Pepper even?” Peter asked, wanting the answer to be yes.
“Obviously. You’re my baby, baby.” Tony pulled Peter closer so he was lying next to him now. “Are you tired yet?”
Peter pushed his hands away from him. “No. I’m awake, dad. Can we please go do something fun?” Peter knew he would start getting frustrated if Tony tried to put him to sleep. “Please? I don’t wanna be bored.”
Tony laid on his back and stared at the ceiling. He was so tired and he didn’t feel like going for a drive like he originally planned on doing.
He turned over so he was on his side and holding himself up with one arm to make it easier to put Peter to sleep. He placed his hand on Peter’s eyes to shut them but Peter forced out a fake cry.
“Nooo. Don’t.” Peter cried out.
He flipped Peter onto his stomach, knowing he fell asleep faster that way. “Shhh, just close your eyes. We can play tomorrow.” Tony patted Peter’s lower back rhythmically to hopefully put him to sleep.
The reason why Peter wasn’t sleeping was because he was already overtired so Tony just hoped he could actually get Peter to sleep so he could sleep himself. He was exhausted after today but not just today, the past few weeks had been wearing him down.
Being a parent was hard. Especially when the kid he had was a spider child with enhanced abilities that he had to worry about.
He continued patting Peter’s back, hoping it was working. He stopped just to see but then Peter was pushing himself up so Tony pushed him back down and continued doing it. Peter whined for a bit but eventually stopped once he realized Tony wasn’t going to let him get up.
Tony wondered if May ever had to do this to get Peter to sleep. He had no way of finding out unless he asked Peter but he was still a bit worried to bring her up since her death was still so recent. It hadn’t even been a full six months yet.
He didn’t think May had to do this, and even if she did, it was only once and awhile since Peter’s severe separation anxiety didn’t really start until after they became super close. Tony knew that Peter depended on him a lot for a male figure to look up to but it was a slow build up to where they were now.
Tony looked down at Peter’s face, trying to make it out in the dark. He saw that he was asleep so he carefully lifted his hand off of him and covered Peter with the blankets more.
Now Tony tried to fall asleep but he couldn’t.
His mind was racing with a million different things and as he would be close to drifting off, Peter would kick him or roll over on top of him so he had to roll Peter to the other side of the bed, hoping Peter kicked the bed rail instead of him.
Of course Peter was rolling back over to him and kicking all the blankets off himself and Tony was well.
Tony went to move over but he was all the way on the edge of the bed. There was nowhere else for him to go. He got out of bed, picked Peter up and walked around to the other side of the bed to comfortably lay Peter down. He wrapped him in a blanket and blocked him off with pillows so Peter couldn’t attack him in his sleep.
He laid back down and sighed. He was so tired but it was like sleeping with a fish out of water.
Peter rolled back over to him and stuck his butt in his face. “Peter.” Tony groaned. He wasn’t getting any sleep tonight. It was like Peter was a magnet and was constantly attracted to him, even in his sleep.
He pushed Peter’s butt away from him and stared at the ceiling. It was going to be a long night.