Chapter 3
Once Steve had fed the banana slices to Tony, they moved into the living room where Steve set the boy down on a fuzzy blanket, giving him a bucket of blocks and some other toys to play with, before sitting down on the couch. Bucky and Bruce trickled in several minutes later – Bruce heading to his own lab, and Bucky sitting down on the couch as well. They spent the next hour and a half just hanging out and relaxing. Clint had finally gotten past that fire demon chapter, and was almost at the end of the game. Bucky and Steve watched him play, interested in the mechanics and getting caught up in the storyline. Tony, however, basically just sat on the blanket, stacking and unstacking blocks, not really causing any issues, but was bored out of his mind.
So, after that hour and a half, when it was about 11 o’clock, the boy decided he needed to do something – because these blocks just weren’t doing it for him. He looked up at his Daddy, who was laughing with his Uncle Bucky, and then looked over to the bookshelves that were a few feet away. He quickly crawled over to the wooden shelves, plopping down next to them, and running his fingers over the spines of the books. He was just pulling out a bright yellow and red novel when he heard his Daddy speak.
“No baby, leave the books alone,” Steve said, standing up and walking towards where Tony was clutching the bright colored book.
“Book, Daddy,” the boy pointed out, holding the thick story up to his Daddy who crouched down to be more on his level.
“I see, that is a book. But it isn’t a book for you to be reading, sweetheart,” the blonde stated, as he pulled the book titled “The Girl with All the Gifts” away from the baby, knowing that a zombie book was not something the boy should be reading in this headspace. “Do you want Daddy to read you something else?” the man asked, putting the book back, and looking into Tony’s eyes.
“No,” the baby whined out, running his fingers back over the books.
“No, thank you,” Steve prompted, hoping that the attitude wasn’t coming back, but Tony didn’t answer, and just turned his eyes to the shelves of paperback books. Steve sighed before speaking again, “Why are you over here anyways?”
“Bored,” the baby mumbled, pulling another book out, this time the last book in the Chronicles of Narnia series. “Pwetty,” the boy said quietly as he ran his finger over the glossy cover, which had a silver unicorn on it.
“You want me to read you the Chronicles of Narnia?” the blonde asked, having considered reading the baby the book series in the past, never sure if he would remember the story from one night to the next, given his young headspace. Tony, however, was too caught up with the pretty cover to answer, so instead he just looked at the picture, running his hands over the thin book. “Want me to read that to you?” the Daddy asked again a moment later, this time catching the boy’s attention.
“No,” the boy whined, looking back at the story.
“Okay, then put it back please,” Steve said patiently, watching as the boy struggled with the idea of putting it back and hanging on to it… it was just so pretty.
“Tony’s?” the brunette said quietly, looking up at his Daddy, who due to how he was positioned, was a good eight-inches higher than the boy.
“No, that’s actually Uncle Bucky’s, so you need to put it back,” Steve prompted, waiting for the boy to stick it back on the shelves. But he didn’t, and instead just continued to stare at it, so Steve took measures into his own hands. He carefully pried the book from Tony’s hands, and set it neatly back onto the shelves, causing Tony to start crying. “Shh, no need to get upset baby boy. Let’s go play with some blocks, alright?” Steve stated, lifting the boy up onto his hip, trying to distract him. The Daddy walked back over to the blanket that was spread out on the floor, something that was supposed to be a visual representation of where the baby could go. He set the baby down on his bottom, and kneeled down next to him, eventually sitting down across from the boy, legs crossed.
“No-o-o-o, no wanna pway with blocks,” the boy cried out, tears dripping down his cheeks as he slammed his hands onto the carpeted and blanket covered floor. Steve looked at the boy a bit confused, since blocks have always been the boy’s go-to toy, never getting bored of them.
“No more tears, shhh,” Steve cooed as he wiped the salty drops of water from the boy’s face, “What do you want to play with? Hmm? Do you want Daddy to get some cars?” Tony nodded in response to the question Steve asked, so the blonde man stood up and walked over to a smaller set of shelves that were across the room, shelves that held a variety of different toys. While he was pulling out some different cars that were younger age appropriate, since he didn’t quite trust him with hot wheels, Bucky leaned over the side of the couch to get a better look at the baby.
“Why are you crying, love?” Bucky asked quietly, but Tony simply kicked his feet up and down quietly, letting out some frustration, instead of verbally responding to his Uncle. Steve then walked back over, several cars in hand, getting an annoyed and mumbled comment from Clint as he walked past the TV screen, apparently causing him to lose a battle because he couldn’t see for a solid point 4 of a second.
“Someone doesn’t want to play with blocks,” the Daddy said as he sat back down on the blanket, putting the cars on the blanket.
Bucky looked confused at Steve’s statement, responding with, “That’s odd,” which prompted a nod from the blonde avenger.
“Here are some cars, do you want to race them?” he asked his baby, hoping that he could turn this day around.
“Daddy no play,” Tony said with a pout, making Steve mentally pop the p of a ‘nope, I guess not’ that he said in his head.
“Alright, I’ll be over on the couch, you let Daddy know if you need anything,” Steve said standing up, really confused as to what was up with Tony today. Normally he was very clingy, and would be begging Steve to play with him, it was very odd for him to flat out say he doesn’t want to play with the man. But alas, the man did as the boy wanted, and walked back over to his spot on the couch, taking a drink from a water bottle he had sitting on the table, exchanging confused looks with Bucky, before turning back to Clint’s game.
***
It was only about 20 minutes later when Steve glanced over and saw the boy lazily rolling some cars around on the blanket, not really into it, perhaps more in his head than reality. It was also at this time that Steve finished his own bottle of water, and realized that he should probably get the baby something to drink. So, he stood up, informed Bucky that he would be back in a minute, and walked into the kitchen, Tony never once looking up from his spot. The man quickly refilled his own reusable, plastic, water bottle with some water, and a squeeze of lemon, and then filled up a clear bottle with cool water for the brunette boy in the living room. Once he had dried it off, he stepped back into the carpeted lounge, and walked over to the baby. “I brought you some water. I want you to drink it, alright?” the Daddy said, knowing that big and little Tony were both notorious for getting dehydrated.
“Mkay,” the boy said not looking up at Steve, nor taking the bottle that the man held out for him.
“Are you wet Tony?” Steve then asked casually, thinking that it had been awhile since his morning change. The boy’s neck snapped up as he dropped the car that was in his hand, eyes wide.
“No!” the baby yelled, much louder than he needed to in order to get his point across.
“Are you sure?” the blonde said softly, setting the bottle on the carpet, which was followed by getting down on his knees so he could see the boy better, and be on his level. As previously stated, Tony wasn’t a fan of diaper changes, and he flat out hated when someone asked if he was wet, messy, or needed a change.
“No! Not wet!” he screeched again, sliding backwards.
“Can Daddy at least check?” Steve questioned, knowing that it was quite possible for the boy to be lying, and actually be wet. This had happened countless times in the past, and it normally resulting in a rash and tears, so the Daddy was trying to be more adamant about getting the honest answer and checking himself.
“No, no, no, no!” Tony continued to yell, pushing himself even further backwards. Steve ignored the outburst, and instead stood up, grabbed the boy by the armpits, and lifted him onto his hip.
“Calm down, Tony,” the man shushed, but the boy kept yelling ‘no’ and swung his feet, pushing his palms against his Daddy’s shoulder, trying to wriggle himself down and out of his arms. Steve then sent a quick and very light swat to Tony’s padded bottom, causing the baby to stop yelling and fighting, replacing it with dramatic tears, despite the fact it didn’t hurt at all.
“Owie,” the boy cried, starting to push against Steve again.
“There is no need to be so upset right now,” Steve said as he sat down on the far end of the sectional, on the opposite side of where Clint and Bucky were, ignoring the situation, instead chatting about the game. Bucky wanted to chime in, but he also knew that he needed to give Tony some space and time with his Daddy.
“No, Daddy!” the boy screeched as Steve brought his hand down to the diaper, slipping a finger into it to feel for wetness, but surprisingly, the boy was dry. “Not wet!” he yelled again.
“No, you aren’t, but Daddy was just checking,” Steve said as he brought his hand up to the boy’s neck. It really shocked the man that his diaper was dry, given the fact he was acting as if it was wet, only a lot more extreme. “Sometimes Daddy likes to check himself, because sometimes you don’t tell me the truth,” he explained to the boy who was still fighting to get off Steve’s lap.
“Bad Daddy!” Tony said sharply as he completely wriggled his way from Steve’s lap, something the Daddy let him do, since he clearly didn’t want to stay and cuddle. Tony crawled back over to his blanket, laying down on his stomach and grabbing a car, as tears continued to roll down his cheeks.
“I don’t know what is going on with him today,” Steve said as he sat next to Bucky, watching as the brunette rolled his car back and forth over the same six-inches of blanket.
“He certainly isn’t his usual happy self,” Bucky stated, turning his head to the boy as well, both of the men shaking their heads in confusion.
***
It was another 40 minutes later when Steve looked at the clock and saw it was a little after noon, meaning he should start making the boy some lunch, then put him down for a nap, and then hopefully, fingers crossed, have a happy, smiley, little baby wake up. “What do you guys want for lunch?” Steve asked Clint and Bucky.
“I’m good with anything,” Bucky answered.
“Same,” Clint stated, too caught up in his game to really register the question that was asked.
“Alright, I’m thinking about just heating up some of the chicken noodle soup from last night,” the blonde man said standing up.
“That sounds good,” Bucky said with a nod, making Steve officially decide to just make the soup for lunch. The Daddy looked over where the baby should have been lying, and saw him crawling towards the TV stand, completely off of the blanket.
“Uh, uh, Tony, you need to stay on your blanket, bud,” Steve chided softly as he picked the boy up and set him down on the blanket again. “Remember the rules: we stay on the blanket when we play in here,” he continued, the boy simply pouting and refusing to look Steve in the eyes. The blonde man then looked back down at the blanket, noticing that the bottle hadn’t been touched, causing him to sigh. “What did I say?” he asked the boy, holding the bottle up. Tony just shrugged in response, picking up his car again. “Can you please drink some of this while Daddy makes lunch?” he asked, not really making it an option, since he stuffed the nipple into the boy’s mouth, making him whine in response. “Be a good boy for your uncles, I’ll be keeping an eye on you as well,” he stated before standing up and walking into the kitchen.
Bucky watched the boy for a few minutes, noticing how he spit the bottle out almost as soon as Steve left, and kicked it away with his foot. “I need to go to the bathroom quick, you need to watch him,” the longhaired man said to Clint as he stood up.
“Yeah, yeah,” Clint said with a nod, as Bucky picked the bottle up from the floor, walking over to the brunette boy on the floor.
“I believe this is yours?” Bucky said holding it out for the baby, who simply shook his head, as if to say: ‘that’s not mine.’
“You’re allowed to have a bad day baby, but you don’t need to make it harder than it needs to be,” the uncle said with a sigh as he kissed Tony’s hair, before walking into the hallway and then into the bathroom. The baby didn’t even really notice that his Daddy and Uncle Bucky were gone, until he got really bored of these cars again, and looked around to see if anyone would catch him going somewhere else. When he saw that only Uncle Clint was around, and he was playing his silly game, well Tony decided he would have a little fun. Uncle Clint wasn’t that nice to Tony sometimes, he is always playing his own games instead of games with Tony, and that’s not nice… or at least the baby thought so. Not to mention the fact that the TV was so very, very loud, and it was hurting the boy’s head. So, he quickly got up on his hands and knees and crawled over to the TV stand, which was set at an angle that allowed Tony access to every single cord and wire. The baby peeked around it to see if Clint took any notice, but he hadn’t… Silly uncle. The baby wasn’t sure which cord went where, and in fact, they were all starting to overwhelm him more than he already was. But finally, after several moments of searching, he found that everything plugged into this white strip, and then that white strip plugged into the wall, so that must be what would make the TV stop working. The brunette looked around the stand again to see his Uncle holding back a yell due to the boss battle he was so close to winning, and then he put his fingers around the cord and yanked it out of the wall, causing the screen to go black.
“Steve!” Clint yelled almost instantly, making Tony wonder if this was actually a good idea. His Daddy quickly ran into the room, whipping his head around.
“What? What’s going on?” he asked confused, making eye contact with Clint.
“Your monster unplugged the TV right when I was about to finish the game!” Clint complained, causing Steve’s eyes to drift over to where the baby was sitting, clearly very guilty of the crime. It was at this moment that Bucky appeared in the room again, wondering what could have possibly happened during the three minutes he was going.
“Anthony Edward Stark,” Steve said, using the boy’s full name to get his attention, which he undoubtedly did, seeing as his eyes got wide when he heard his name. Steve took a few long strides and was instantly in front of the boy, picking him up and setting him down on his feet. He landed a quick spank to his diaper covered bottom, resulting in far more noise than pain, the Daddy mainly aiming for the shock of it. “What did I say about staying on your blanket?” he asked, and then waited.
“Not to?” Tony asked quietly, mentally thinking ‘not to leave’ but Steve didn’t pick that up, instead thinking he meant ‘not to stay.’
“No, I said to stay on your blanket, and be a good boy. But you didn’t listen, did you?” Steve continued on calmly. “That was very naughty of you to unplug the TV,”
“But-but-but, Uncle Clint always play with it and not Tony, and-and-and, so loud,” the baby said loudly, acting as if that justified the disobedience.
“Then we use our words to talk to Uncle Clint or Daddy about how we are feeling, we don’t act out and be naughty. You especially shouldn’t have been playing with the cords and electricity, that could have ended very badly, Tony,” Steve chided, looking into the boy’s eyes once again, wishing that he would just straighten up and behave.
“But then no listen to me!” Tony said loudly, trying to pull free from his Daddy’s grip.
“Excuse me, Daddy always listens to you, so that is not an excuse. I think you need another timeout,” the blonde said, the second sentence spoken more to himself than the baby.
“No! No timeout! No!” the boy yelled as Steve picked him up and brought him over to the corner of the room.
“Don’t talk back to Daddy,” Steve said coolly as he set the boy down, turning his nose into the wall, “You will be in timeout for five minutes, because you didn’t listen to Daddy and were very naughty by unplugging the TV,” he continued.
“No! Only thwee’ minutes,” the boy said starting to cry again, while turning away from the corner.
“Yes, you only had three minutes earlier, but clearly you need more time to think about how you won’t misbehave again,” Steve stated before pushing the lad back into the wall, turning away, and realizing that perhaps the worst was not over yet.