Chapter 2
Steve rode up to the common floor, stepping out into the living area, and walking into the kitchen where the team was scattered about, chatting and cooking. Bruce was currently standing over a bowl, mixing together what was probably some sort of batter, eyes concentrating on the mixture. Natasha was by the fridge, pouring some pulp free orange juice into a few tall glasses, laughing at something Clint had said. Clint himself was sitting in his usual spot at the table, legs and feet propped up on the chair to his left, so then he was facing the two standing teammates. And Bucky was sitting in his usual spot, stirring a cup of coffee as he glanced up Steve and Tony.
“Well good morning Tony,” the longhaired man said with a smile, right before he took a long sip of his black brew. The baby didn’t respond however, instead just kicked his legs out and whined into Steve’s neck quietly, hiding his eyes and face from the adults.
“Morning sweetheart,” Natasha said as she walked past, bringing two glasses of juice over to the table, setting one in front of her spot, and one in front of Clint. But once again, the boy didn’t answer.
“Why don’t you say good morning to your Auntie Natasha and Uncle Bucky?” Steve asked the boy, as he bounced him on his hip, walking over to the highchair that was right next to Steve’s spot at the table.
“Noooo,” the boy dragged out, causing Steve to shake his head.
“Is that all you’re going to say today?” the Daddy questioned with a laugh as he used one hand to remove the tray from the chair.
“No,” the brunette said again, causing the adults to laugh.
“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the crib,” Clint said with a chuckle, before taking a swig of the cold juice.
“I think he’s just a bit tired and hungry, isn’t that right?” Steve said to the boy, as he tried to set him down in the highchair. This however, was proving to be quite a challenge. Tony wasn’t the biggest fan of the highchair in general, since it held him still, constricted him, and made him feel very little. Steve loved the highchair because it held him still, constricted him, and made him feel very little. Not to mention that it freed up Steve’s hands so then he was better able to feed the boy, without having to maneuver around a baby in his lap. But on this particular morning, Tony was even more adamant about not going in that highchair. He kicked out his legs and flailed his arms, whining out as he did so, making the biggest fuss possible, hoping Steve would give up and let him sit in his lap – or better yet go back to bed. “Tony,” Steve warned as he struggled to get the boy under control.
“Enough of this nonsense,” Bucky said standing up, and helping to push the boy into his highchair, grabbing onto the boy’s hips so then he could set him right down into it. Once the baby’s bottom was in the chair, Steve was able to quickly strap him in, and slide the tray into place, listening to the sharp click of the lock. “There was no need to make that so difficult, was there?” Bucky continued, looking the baby in the eyes. While Steve was the boy’s Daddy, and there was no denying the extremely strong connection the two had, Bucky and the Tony also had a very special relationship, and continued to get closer by the day.
“Do you want milk or juice, Tony?” Steve asked from his spot by the fridge, always wanting to give the boy some say in what he was allowed to do or have, but didn’t want to leave the question too open-ended.
“Want that!” he said loudly, pointing to Bucky’s mug of coffee that was sitting only a few feet away from him. While Steve was glad the boy said something else besides ‘no’ the baby knew he couldn’t have coffee when little, hell, he didn’t want him to have coffee when big.
“You can’t have coffee buddy, that’s for adults,” Bucky said as continued to stir the drink, not wanting the sugar to settle in it.
“Please Daddy? Can I please have some?” the boy asked, more annoyed than anything, thinking that if he used the word they were always prompting him to say, then perhaps at least one thing could go his way.
“Very nice manners, but you can’t have any. So, do you want milk or juice?” Steve stated as he pulled out a bottle from the cabinet, setting it down on the counter.
“Coffee!” the boy whined in response, causing Steve to sigh.
“Okay, then Daddy will decide for you,” the blonde man said as he pulled out a cartoon of almond milk, something they had been using instead of dairy milk, after realizing that Tony seemed to be a tad bit lactose intolerant. Steve poured a generous amount of the liquid into the clear bottle before screwing on the nipple, he debated warming it up, but was afraid it would make the boy even more tired, so he decided to leave it cold.
“Waffles should be done shortly,” Bruce mumbled as Steve walked past.
“Sounds great,” the Captain replied as passed the man, setting the bottle down on Tony’s tray.
“Want juice,” the baby snapped softly, looking up at his Daddy.
“Daddy offered you juice but you didn’t answer, so I decided for you. Maybe if you’re a good boy you can have juice later,” Steve said calmly as he sat down on his chair, which was between Tony’s highchair and where Bucky was seated.
“No, Daddy,” the boy pouted, twisted the bottle around in his hands before holding it over the floor, acting like he would drop it any second. Steve quickly pulled the drink away from the lad, setting it back on the tray.
“So, what are your plans for today?” Bucky asked as Steve turned his head to face the brunette that was speaking.
“Not sure yet, probably just hang out around here, maybe watch a movie and relax this afternoon, depending on how he is behaving. Inside Out just came in the mail, and he hasn’t seen it before,” the blonde man said as he took the bottle from the baby again, this time setting it on the main kitchen table, prompting yet another whine to flutter up from the boy’s throat, “What about you guys?”
“Nothing special planned for me, will probably work out later, and spend some time with my nephew,” Bucky said as he stood up to refill his coffee, ruffling Tony’s hair as he referred to him.
“I’m hoping to finally finish Uncharted 3, those goddamn fire demons are brutal,” Clint said as he fidgeted with his metal fork. Since starting their more domestic lifestyle, Clint had fallen in love with video games, and Steve couldn’t blame him, since they were practically interactive movies.
“Do you have the fourth one yet?” Steve inquired as Bucky set a cup of coffee down in front of him, “Thanks, Buck.”
“Yeah, I’ve had it for a while, I just need to get through the end of the third game so I can start it,” Clint said as he watched Tony kick his feet back and forth.
“Well I look forward to seeing the storyline, I heard the graphics and overall gameplay are amazing,” the Captain said. While Clint had fallen for playing the games, Steve couldn’t quite wrap his head around all the technical aspects of it, but found himself enjoying simply watching Clint play, it was somehow relaxing.
“I heard the same,” Clint agreed with a nod of his head, as Steve drank some of the hot liquid. Bruce then walked over with an arm full of items, setting them down one at a time in the middle of the table. Within seconds the center of the wooden surface had a bottle of pure maple syrup, sticky pancake sauce, a bowl of fresh strawberries, another bowl of washed blueberries, and a stick of softened butter (with a butter knife). He also set a small bowl with banana slices down in front of Steve, knowing that the baby might like to have them, since given how young his headspace was, blueberries and strawberries may not be the best idea.
“Thanks Bruce,” Steve said when the small bowl was placed in front of him, “You want some fruit, baby?” he then asked the boy, turned towards the brunette. Tony didn’t answer, which was not surprising, and continued to kick his legs back and forth, either in boredom or frustration, Steve could not decipher which.
“Waffles will be done in a few minutes,” the man said turned back to the two waffle irons that were sitting on the counter, oven on as well to keep the already cooked waffles warm, as more cooked. Steve took a small slice of banana in his fingers, and held it up to Tony’s lips, but instead of parting them and accepting the food, he simply turned his head away.
“Tony, don’t be fussy, you like banana,” Steve said coolly, thinking that the boy just needed some food in his system to help calm his attitude. But the boy didn’t budge, so Steve set the slice of fruit down on the tray and turned his head to look at Clint who was rambling on about a piece of the Uncharted storyline to Natasha, who had asked a question, and now seemed to be regretting it. Once the Daddy wasn’t looking at the boy, Tony picked up the piece of fruit and quickly squished it into his mouth, wanting to do it himself… he didn’t need his Daddy to feed him… or so he thought. “Good boy, want some more?” the blonde asked rhetorically as he set two more slices down on the tray, before standing up and walking over to a drawer in the counter. Inside the drawer were different things for little Tony, from random pacifiers that had found their way into the kitchen, to plastic plates, baby spoons, plastic keys, and several bibs. Steve pulled out the first bib he saw, which was light blue with dark blue binding. He took a few steps back over to the highchair, standing behind it as Tony ate another piece of the fruit “Let’s get a bib on you so you don’t make a huge mess, yeah?” Steve said, wanting to explain to the boy what he was doing, before he pulled the fabric around his neck.
“No,” Tony whined, as he tried to pull the fabric away from his neck, not wanting it on him at all, and was making that very clear by his actions.
“Shush baby boy, you’re fine,” Bucky said from his spot at the table, trying to distract the boy.
“Don’t want it,” he pouted as Steve hooked it together in the back with a little snap, before walking around the highchair and sitting back down at the table.
“But Daddy does want it, so you’re going to wear it,” Steve said with a bit of a smile lurking in his lips. A few moments later Bruce walked over with a stack of plates, and a large platter covered with steaming waffles.
“Wow Bruce, these look incredible,” Natasha said as Clint quickly pulled four onto his plate.
“Yeah, thanks Bruce,” Steve said, followed by Clint and Bucky thanking the man. Since starting ageplay and settling down a bit, Bruce had really picked up a love of cooking. Perhaps it was the scientist in him who loved the process of putting ingredients together and watching chemical reactions create something completely different – but whatever it was, the team wasn’t complaining, because his food was delicious. Steve pulled a waffle onto the plastic green plate that Bruce had already brought over, using a fork and knife to cut it up into small pieces so the boy could feed himself, he debated putting something on it, but decided to hold off unless the boy asked. “Here we go,” the Daddy said as he placed the plate in front of a pouting Tony, “Eat your breakfast,” he continued, before putting several waffles on his own plate, grabbing the butter and maple syrup as well. They spent the next several minutes enjoying the food and talking amongst themselves, but when Steve looked over at the baby, he saw that he hadn’t eaten a single piece. Instead he had been picking up a few of the pieces and dropping them to the floor. Steve held back a sigh, giving the boy some slack, in case he was just feeling too little to properly feed himself. “Why don’t we put the food in your mouth, I don’t think the floor is very hungry,” the blonde said, turning his chair so he was facing the baby better. He picked up his own fork and stabbed a piece of waffle, holding it up to the boy’s mouth, but Tony just clamped his mouth shut and turned away.
“Uh uh,” he protested through his shut mouth.
“Open up Tony, you need to eat,” Steve said firmly, but compassionately at the same time, tuning out the conversation about movies and videogames that was going down at the table.
“No,” Tony continued to whine as he pushed the fork away.
“Why not? Do you want some with syrup instead?” he asked, pulling the piece off of the fork, replacing it with a piece of his own food.
“No,” Tony repeated for the countless time that morning. He had been awake for 30ish minutes and had already said the two-letter word more times than he had in the past week.
“Let’s try using a different word, okay? Tell Daddy why you don’t want any,” Steve pried, hoping to understand why the boy was being a tad bit difficult.
“Yucky,” the brunette said as he flicked another piece onto the floor, making the Daddy sigh.
“Sweetheart, you love waffles, what’s going on with you?” the man said holding the fork away from his mouth, hoping that the boy would open up a bit.
“Not hungry,” the baby said after a moment of quiet, turning his attention to his Uncles and Aunt who were chatting away, acting as if Tony wasn’t there.
“Well you need to eat, so do you want Daddy to feed you, or do you want to do it yourself, because either way some of this waffle is going into your mouth,” Steve said firmly, thinking that perhaps the boy needed a firmer hand.
“I do it!” he said loudly, causing Bucky to look over. The boy then pushed Steve’s fork away from him, dropping his own hand onto the tray of the highchair, kicking his legs more forcefully.
“Okay, you let me know if you need help,” Steve sighed, popping the bite of syrup covered waffle into his own mouth.
“What’s up with him?” Bucky asked quietly.
“I don’t know, he’s been fussy since he woke up,” Steve muttered, glancing over at the boy who was just starring at the food in front of him. The team continued to eat for the next 15 minutes, conversation flowing smoothly from one topic to the next, discussions going from movies, to videogames, to weather, to workout routines, and back to movies yet again. Once the adults had all finished their food, Bruce stood up and started to collect dirty dishes, the team thanking him yet again for the meal and for cleaning up.
“I’m going to head out, I have some things I want to get done,” Natasha said as she drained the last of her orange juice, setting the glass in the sink. “Be good for your Daddy, you little monster, I’ll see you later,” she said to Tony as she headed out of the kitchen, Clint following not far behind, wanting to try and beat that chapter of the game. This left Bruce by the sink, and Bucky and Steve at the table, Tony still at his highchair, and food still untouched.
“Alright, I guess Daddy needs to feed you then,” Steve said to the boy, noticing that half the food was on the floor, and the other half was cold and untouched on the tray.
“No!” the boy shrieked, slamming his hand down on the wooden tray.
“Do not tell me what to do, mister,” Steve chided lightly, holding food up to the boy’s mouth, “Now I want you to open your mouth and eat your breakfast, so then we can move past this part of the day,” he continued to say firmly.
“No, no, no, no, no!” the boy continued to yell, pushing the fork away. This caused Steve to let out an internal sigh, knowing that today was not heading in a very good direction.
“Calm down please, you don’t need to yell,” the Daddy said, holding the fork in the air. Tony then decided that clearly no one was listening to him, so if his words weren’t going to be heard, then maybe his actions would be seen. So, he picked up the green plate that held the waffle pieces, and he threw it on the ground, watching the bready chunks bounce on the floor as the plastic plate clattered and crashed. Now that felt good, he could get behind throwing more things. However, when he looked up at his Daddy, a smirk on his face, he saw a face that was most certainly not happy. “Okay, that’s not acceptable, Anthony,” his Daddy said firmly, as he stood up, pulled the tray from the highchair, and quickly pulled the boy onto his hip – at least now he was somewhat getting his own way. The blonde man walked over to the far corner of the kitchen, setting the boy down on his sock covered feet, holding onto his shoulders as he looked into his eyes. “We do not yell at Daddy, and we do not throw food,” Steve said decisively and calmly, wanting to show the boy he was serious, but not wanting to scare him. “If we have a problem we talk to Daddy, we don’t act out. So, you’re going to stand in this corner for three minutes, so then you can calm down, and then talk to Daddy about what you are so upset,” the blonde continued as he looked into the boy’s dark eyes. Tony didn’t respond verbally or physically, so Steve turned him around and pushed his nose into the corner, before turning back around and walking to the table. The man then bent down and picked up the plate and food from the floor, throwing the pieces of waffle away before setting the plate in the sink.
“Hopefully this will straighten everything out,” Bucky said as he put his empty mug in the sink, turning on the hot water in order to help Bruce clean up.
“Hopefully,” Steve said, as he glanced over at the boy who was swaying from side to side, but not moving from his spot.
He waited the three minutes and then walked over to the corner, Bucky and Bruce busy washing dishes and chatting. Steve put his hands on the boy’s shoulders and turned him around to face him once again, “You were put in the corner because you yelled, didn’t listen to Daddy, and threw your breakfast on the floor, so you needed to calm down and think about that, right?” he said to the boy.
“Yes, Daddy,” Tony mumbled, tears welling up in his eyes. Steve held back a sigh at hearing the word ‘yes’ flow from his mouth, instead of the two-letter opposite that had been coming from his lips all morning.
“Say I’m sorry to Daddy,” Steve then prompted.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” Tony repeated, and as soon as the words tumbled from the boy’s mouth, Steve pulled him into his own arms, kissing the top of his head.
“Daddy doesn’t like it when Tony is naughty and he has to punish him, but he loves you very, very much. Do you want to tell Daddy what has his little boy so very upset this morning?” he spoke into the boy’s hair, but the brunette only shook his head. “Okay, but let me know if you want to talk about it, alright? Let’s go finish your banana,” he said pulling away from the boy, hefting him back onto his hip.
“Okays,” Tony said quietly as a tear fell down his red cheek.
“No need for tears baby, it’s all over,” Steve said as he sat down in his own chair, setting the baby on lap, realizing that perhaps today was going to be a very cuddly, hands on, kind of day for the boy. The blonde held up a piece of banana to the boy’s mouth, and thankfully he parted his pink lips, and allowed the fruit to be placed on his tongue. “Good boy,” Steve smiled, hoping that the attitude had melted away, and the worst was over.