Regrets

“Excuse you, he’s my godson! I already have his wedding toast written: sober and drunk version!” Clint’s accused voice rang out, head popping up behind Rhodey, before the two parents had time to even register Rhodey’s words.

“Oh God,” Steve huffed faintly, even though the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

“Who’s having a wedding?” Peter whispered into his dad’s ears, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Tony chuckled, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

“No one, honey. You just rest now,” Tony replied, smoothing Peter’s hair back gently. Peter continued to frown but obliged, resting back against the bed and letting his dad tuck him in.

“You guys, Peter does not need this right now,” Steve addressed the two team members before turning back momentarily to the nurse and offering an apology and a promise that he would have them out of there. Rhodey and Clint tried took their chance when Steve had his back turned to them to slip by him but they were caught quickly and shooed out of there.

“You’ll see him upstairs, I promise. He’s a little nauseated and just threw up. Just give him a little space, okay, guys?” Steve reasoned with them and after fighting a few objections the two men went back to their waiting room, fighting on who was going to get Peter the better ‘get well’ gift.

“Sorry about your Uncles, sweetheart,” Steve murmured when he walked back towards his son, leaning down to press a kiss to the boy’s cheek.

Peter just smiled up lazily at him, not wanting to risk moving again in case his body decided to do another round of vomit.

It was relatively quiet by the time Peter got moved upstairs. Unfortunately, the team could not come see him as soon as they hoped as it took a while for Peter to be settled into his room and for the surgical nurse to give report to the floor nurse. And by the time the team could finally come up and squeeze their way into the room, the teen was fast asleep.

“Dang it. I hoped squirt would still be awake,” Clint grumbled as he walked in first before throwing a humongous teddy bear, almost half his size, down onto the floor.

“Clint, where the hell did you get that?” Tony gawked and his eyes widened as he saw his own wallet flying towards him.

“The gift shop, courtesy of your card by the way. Thanks,” Clint replied, giving the billionaire a wink.

“I tried to stop them,” Natasha warned as she walked in next, Bruce following her with a sheepish grin on his face while holding a single ‘Get Well Soon!’ balloon in his hand.

“Them?” Steve questioned quietly, a hint of worry in his eyes.

“Captain America! Man of Iron! I have many gifts to bestow upon your precious lad!” Thor’s voice boomed as he marched into the room with a wide grin, arms filled with what looked like to be half of gift shop.

“Also courtesy of you,” Clint pointed out to Tony who gave him an exasperated look.

“Oh God. You guys, this is too much,” Steve said at the same time Rhodey walked in with a handful of gift bags.

“And keep it down. He needs all the rest he can get,” Tony urged, even though he knew with the combination of pain medications and being a heavy sleeper, Peter wasn’t going to be waking up anytime soon. He scooted closer to the bed and laid a gentle hand on top of his son’s head as the noise around him dwindled.

Steve kept fussing over all the gifts that had been brought in, trying to figure out where he would place them in the meanwhile, while each Avenger came over to the other side of Peter’s bed one by one.

“Poor thing,” Natasha murmured, letting her composure slide away as she leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to Peter’s cheek.

Clint, Thor and Rhodey all came forward at once, frowns mirroring on their faces as they peered down at the teenager. Bruce had tucked himself away in the corner, waiting for his turn but Tony could see him momentarily glancing with a careful eye, every once in a while, at the monitors attached to Peter. He imagined his friend was going to be worse than him and Steve when it came to pestering and asking questions to the nurses and doctors.

Once all the team members had kissed and murmured their love to their little boy, Steve and Tony urged them to get back to the tower. It was nearing midnight and they were all exhausted at this point.

“Happy is already on his way with anything that we need, so none of you guys are volunteering for that job,” Tony responded when everyone had offered to go home and grab anything that the couple needed.

Steve nodded. “Go home. Rest. You can see him tomorrow when he’s actually awake.”

With a little more grumbling, but a few scattered yawns, the team said their goodbyes.

Steve closed the door behind them and then made his way over to sit next to Tony, letting out a huge sigh before grabbing a hold of his husband’s hand.

“You’re exhausted too, Tony. You need to sleep. You can take the couch and I can have the recliner,” Steve murmured, pressing a kiss to Tony’s knuckles.

“We both know that’s not going to happen,” Tony pointed out as his fingers kept a steady rhythm running them through Peter’s hair. He wasn’t going to take his eyes off his son for even a second.

“Tony, we both need the rest in order to take care of him tomorrow. We’re no use with little sleep,” Steve lectured, earning a glare from his husband. It was back and forth between them before Tony finally relented.

“Fine, but I get the recliner,” Tony demanded. Steve relented, knowing that Tony was planning on moving the recliner closer to the bed, holding Peter’s hand throughout the night. He needed the physical connection more than he needed the air around him to breathe.

“Okay. Deal. I’m going to go ask for a couple blankets and pillows for us,” Steve told him, pressing a kiss to the top of his husband’s hand before leaving to hunt down the nurse.

Tony nodded, watching him leave before going back to Peter. He smiled warmly, taking the hand that wasn’t running through Peter’s hair, to gently stroke his cheek.

“God, you scared me today, baby,” Tony whispered, yet the anguish in his voice could be heard from miles away.

Steve came in a moment later, armed with a stack of blankets and pillows. After getting themselves situated into their respective sleeping areas, they murmured a soft ‘goodnight’ and gave each other a kiss on the lips.

“Wake me up if he does,” Steve instructed before throwing the blanket over himself and curling around on the couch.

Tony promised before reclining back in the chair, throwing the blanket over his legs before reaching out to grab a hold of Peter’s hand. He sighed, leaning back, letting his eyes drift close.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Early in the morning, the two were woken up by a stampede of medical students following the doctor into the room. It was evident from the look on their faces that this was more of an opportunity to meet the one and only Captain America and Iron Man than it was to learn about an emergency appendectomy post-op patient.

Steve had to hold Tony back from throwing punches, but it did little to stop his tongue from lashing out, threatening to ruin the lives of every.

“My baby isn’t a fucking show pony. Get them out of here and I want a new doctor! Now!” Tony demanded, eyes blazing with fury until each and every one of the medical students scurried out of there.

“Mr. Stark, this is just a teaching moment-” The doctor began to argue back.

“Doctor,” Steve warned, voice hard and stern, leaving no room for argument. Tony had dubbed this the ‘Captain America has no time for shit’ tone.

“I think it’s time for you to leave and get another one of your colleagues,” Steve demanded before Tony cut in.

“Fuck it, I’m just calling Bruce in. He can take care of Peter.”

“Mr. Stark, that is hardly necessary and practically impossible. He is in our care and has to be taken care of one of our hospitalists or doctor contracted with the hospital. As far as I know, while Bruce Banner is a genius, he is no medical doctor, none the less a pediatrician.”

Tony scuffed, “He’s earned his medical degree; just for the sake of having a paper that stated it even though he’s had years of medical practice and more medical knowledge and compassion for his patients on the tip of his pinky finger than you had for my son. He just had no reason to pronounce it to the rest of the world. We’ll make it work with the hospital. Now, leave.”

The doctor left gobsmacked while Tony raced over to his phone to start making calls to Bruce, Pepper and anybody else that he needed to get the job done.

Peter had started stirring awake a few seconds ago and Steve stood by his side, waiting for him to wake up.

“Papa?” Peter groggily called out as his eyes fluttered open.

Steve smiled and nodded his head, leaning down to press a kiss to the teen’s forehead.

“How do you feel, honey?” Steve questioned, watching as Peter gingerly grabbed onto his right side.

“It burns a little, but not like yesterday,” Peter told him and Steve considered that was to be expected following surgery.

“Uncle Bruce is going to be here in just a few to check you over, honey,” Tony said as he walked over, leaning down to press a kiss to Peter’s cheek. Peter smiled and nodded his head before taking a good look around his room.

“D-did you guys buy out the gift shop by chance?” Peter asked, eyebrow raised and his parents threw themselves into a laughing fit.

“Your uncles decided to steal dad’s wallet and go on a shopping spree for you,” Steve explained and Peter giggled at the image that created in his mind.

“Maybe we can hand most of the gifts out to the rest of the patients in the hospital?” Peter suddenly suggested. He knew he would not be able to take home all the multitude of stuffed animals, balloons, and other scattered gift shop items home once he was better.

Steve’s eyes lit up at the suggestion and he pressed a kiss to the side of Peter’s head.

“That’s a brilliant idea, kiddo and so generous of you too.”

Peter blushed and smiled sheepishly up at his Pops after that statement.

Tony chuckled and ruffled his hair before calling the nurse in, in order start arranging for all of that.

They had gotten most of the items out of the room and ready to be donated to the other patients by the time Bruce arrived.

“The others are here too, but I made them wait until after I checked the little tyke over,” Bruce said after greeting the two parents.

“Hey there, kiddo,” Bruce greeted with a smile as he walked over to Peter’s bed, grabbing a gentle hold of his hand. Peter grinned up at him, closing his eyes as Bruce leaned down to kiss his forehead.

“How do you feel right now, buddy?” Bruce asked, taking a seat on the side of the bed and thus began the series of questions before checking the surgical site for signs of infection, listening to his heart and lungs, checking general vital signs before finally getting him to sit up in bed.

“That hurt, kiddo?” Bruce asked, keeping a careful hold of Peter, with the added protection of having Steve and Tony on both side helping holding him up as well.

“A little, but I think it’s because I’m pulling at my stitches.”

“That’s normal then. Do you think you feel up to standing up?”

Peter took a few deep breaths, looking over at his parents for courage before nodding his head. His parents helped him swing his legs over the side of the bed and he waited until Steve got a pair of socks on his feet before all three started to help him off the bed. Peter groaned, gritting his teeth as pain shot out from his side from all the movement but in what felt like minutes but in reality was a few seconds, his parents and uncle got him standing up. He wasn’t standing up by himself, but nonetheless it was progress.

“Atta boy,” Steve praised, pressing a kiss to Peter’s head.

Peter couldn’t help but smile, accepting kisses from Tony as well. He let himself relax a little, knowing his family wouldn’t let him fall.