Chapter 2
The next time Tony woke up, it was to voices. A lot of them.
He sat up in bed, realizing where he was instantly. The room was a spare on their shared floor that they had decorated together with what Steve liked to call his "little things."
The bars to the crib were pulled high, telling Tony that he needed to wait for Steve to come and get him. But Tony wasn't little, not right then. He could feel the need pushing at the back of his brain, telling him to give up for a little bit. But he couldn't do that; too many things needed to be done for that right now.
As he was going through the list in his head, Steve popped in with a big smile on his face. "Good morning."
Tony looked up, rubbing his eyes. He must have been littler than he thought, because he had to pull his thumb out of his mouth to do it. "Steve, I know where you're--"
"Nuh-uh." Steve said, stoping him before he could go on. "You need time to distress. Don't try and fight it anymore, okay. Please? For me?"
Tony could hardly fight against those words. Not to mention the fact that his little side was pushing past all his defenses. But he still didn't want to.
Phil knocked on the already open door, pulling Tony's eyes to the agent. He was currently dressed in a t shirt with light jeans hanging from his waist. He smiled over at Tony as he asked, "You wanna join us for lunch? Clint's not gonna wait much longer."
"We'll be right out." Steve smiled, reaching for Tony to pull him out of bed.
Tony wiggled the whole time, not wanting to be picked up. But Steve held strong, pulling the smaller man from the crib and getting him down the hall before he sat him down.
Tony glared at Steve, but didn't knock away the hand he held out, holding it tightly as they made way to the kitchen.
"Tony!" Clint smiled. He was siting on his knees in one of the wooden chairs at the table, leaning into the table with his elbows as he colored. "Wanna color with me?"
Tony looked at Clint suspiciously, but nodded his head and took a seat next to the dark haired boy. He didn't really feel like coloring, but he picked up a crayon and worked on the picture of Black Widow pushing a Hydra agent through a glass window.
A few minutes later, Phil called "crayons up," which meant "clean off the table, it's time to eat." So Clint gathered the wax sticks and put them back into the box before setting both the box and the book on the coffee table for later.
"Mac's up!" Steve smiled, setting two plastic bowls down in front of the boys before spinning around to grab two more.
"Juice, please, daddy!" Clint asked, picking up the spoon and filling it with cheese and noodles.
"Good manners, baby." Phil smiled, grabbing a sippy cup with Hunger Games written across it and filling it with apple juice.
"Do you want anything, Tony?" Steve asked before sitting down.
Tony shook his head no, even though some juice sounded really good. A plastic bowl was one thing, a sippy cup was a whole different subject.
Steve nodded as everyone took their seat at the table, digging into the food. After several minutes of silence, Phil spoke up.
"So, I was thinking, since it's such a nice day, why don't we go to the park?" He asked, more to Steve than the kids.
Steve thought for a second before raising an eyebrow. That would be the perfect thing to put Tony in the right head space. "That sounds really fun."
Clint nodded his approval, pounding the air and he exclaimed, "Yes! The park! We haven't gone in forever!"
Tony was more hesitant. The park did sound fun. It wasn't a average park, either. It was made to be bigger for Tony and Clint to run-amuck on. It was also in the middle of nowhere, so prying eyes wouldn't be able to see what they were doing.
"Then we could stay in the cabin for the weekend, just us four." Phil suggested.
Really, "cabin" was an understatement. By a lot. The house was set into a cliff in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains, surrounded by trees and streams. The house it's self was three levels with a helicopter landing pad (the only way to reach the house) and a few ATV take off spots.
Maybe it would be nice to go out there, Tony thought.
It wasn't until Steve's hand was in his, lightly pulling the brunet's hand out of his mouth, that Tony realize his thumb had, once again, found its way into his mouth.
"Let's try eating before we do that, okay." Steve said softly.
Tony nodded, picking up the spoon and pushing it into his mouth. It tasted really good, and it only occurred to him how hungry he really was when he started eating.
When the bowl was empty, Tony pushed it towards Steve.
"You full, bud?" Steve asked as he got up.
"No!" Tony said, pointing to the pot still sitting on the stove. "Please?"
Steve smiled, "Oh, you want more. Sure, baby, give me a sec."
He got up to fill the bowl once more, surprised that Tony had asked. Thought, if he had to guess, he'd say Tony hadn't really eaten in a while, much as Steve tried to get him to.
"Hey, baby Tony!" Clint smiled from the other side of the table. "You wanna play cars?"
Phil smiled at his boy. Clint knew Tony had a hard time finding his space sometimes, but the boy always liked to help by playing with him and keeping his mind off other things. Even Steve had to admit that, since they found out about Phil and Clint, Tony wasn't so put off by his little side, embracing it more and more each time they played.
Tony looked up at Steve as he sat the bowl down, then back at Clint. He was already too far gone to come back now, so he gave in.
"Yeah! Cars!" His feet kicked out lightly as he dug into the half full bowl of mac, finishing most of it before he pushed it away. "Play now."
Steve smiled. He knew Tony couldn't push it off for too long, and it seemed like he stopped caring after Clint's question. "Yeah, baby, you can go play."
Tony wiggled out of his chair, chasing after Clint into the living room. Really, he was toddling more than running, the diaper making it a little harder, but not stoping him.
"Good idea with the cabin. Getting away will be good for all of us." Steve said, getting up once more to clean up from lunch.
"You should have seen Clint last night. I swear I've seen abused animals shake less than he was. That fight yesterday with those aliens really brought back some bad memories." Pill shook his head, trying to get the image of a sobbing, pee covered boy out of his mind.
"That bad?"
Phil let out a sigh and nodded his head. "Oh yeah."
"If you watch them, I can start packing. We'll be at the cabin in time for lunch." Steve suggested.
"Yeah, sounds like a plan." Phil got up and moved to the couch in the family room as Steve shuffled off to the nursery.
He pulled a bag out of the closet, filling it with diapers and wipes, then a few pairs of clothes. Next was Tony's teddy bear and a few blankets. The bag didn't look like it could hold any more, so he grabbed a different one before going up to Clint and Phil's room to back Clint's bag. To be honest, they all had clothes and the such at the cabin already, so everything they brought was just precautionary. But Steve liked to know they had enough of everything because you never know what could happen.
Once the two bags were packed, he made his way back into the living room where Clint and Tony sat in the middle of the floor with a plethora of toy cars. Phil was currently trying to work one out of Tony's mouth and replace it with a pacifier, but Tony didn't seem to be happy about it.
"Baby boy, you can put that in your mouth. It's icky." Phil coaxed.
Steve sat the bags down and walked behind Tony, quickly pulling the car out of his mouth. Phil replaced it immediately with a Caption America pacifier and Tony let out a whine.
"Sorry, baby. But cars don't go in your mouth." Steve kissed the top of Tony's head and turned to Phil. "I have everything parked. Why time is the 'copper going to be here?"
"Already on the roof and waiting for us." Phil smiled. "Clint, come on, it's time to go."
Clint looked up and whined. He didn't want to leave! He was having too much fun with his toy cars!
"None of that, now. Come on, we're going to the park, remember?" Phil helped Clint stand, covertly checking the boy's pull-up with his right hand. Dry.
Oh yeah, Clint thought. He held Phil's hand as they walked to the door, Steve carrying Tony and trailing behind.
They took the elevator to the roof, where a helicopter sat with a pilot checking systems. Steve ducked his head, more out of instinct than actual need, covering the top of Tony's head as he ducked into the cabin of the flying contraption. Phil followed with Clint's hand in his as the took the seats across from Steve and Tony. Phil slid the door closed and knocked hard on the door twice.
Tony let out a small scream as the rutters started up, creating a loud noise his little ears weren't used to at all. Steve came prepared, and pulled noise canceling headphone out, easing them onto Tony's head for the ride. When Tony took his hands away from his ears, he could hear the muffled sounds of an engine, more like purring with the headphones on, and looked up to Steve with a smile. Daddy always knew what to do.
He could see Clint had the same thing on his own head, his a deep purple with lines of black around it. Clint held up two thumbs and smiled, making Tony do the same.
The trip really wasn't that long, relatively, and they reached the cabin with plenty of time for the everyone to get settled. They waved goodbye to the pilot with instructions to pick them up the following night, and then walked into the house.
Steve was always blown away by the amount of money Tony had, more evident in the plethora of houses he owned. This one was all wood, from the floors to the counter tops and painted a warm orange. The furniture had wood ascents as well, tying the whole thing together. But it was perfect for a small amount of little time because, for as many hard surfaces as there where, it was all baby-safe. No sharp edges to run into like the tower, all of the sockets were well covered and the stairs were hardly used for anything more than a trip to the garage.
"Alright, boys," Phil started, heaving Clint's bag into the house and setting it in the living room. "Who's ready to go to the park?"
Clint cheered, running around the house with his arms out like a plane. He liked all of the room in the house that made it okay for him to run around a little more than normal. Tony followed with a smile on his face.
"What do you think about dinner being a picnic, huh. That would be fun." Phil smiled as the two boy;s faces lit up even more.
"Yes! Daddy, we have cookies on picnic?" Clint asked, eyes wide with hope. "And juice and Mac and goldfish and--"
"Hold up, bud. Not all of that but I'll see what I can do, okay?" Phil laughed, rustling the boy's hair lightly.
Clit cheered taking Tony's hand and pulling him around the living room. "We're gonna have a picnic, baby Tony! With lo'sa good stuffs!"
"I'll make the food and bring it down to you guys if you want to start killing off some of that energy." Phil said towards Steve with an amused smile.
"Sounds like a plan." Steve nodded, then clapped his hands, gaining the attention of both boys. "Come on , let's get to the park!"
Clint rushed over to the door, bouncing on his feet in anticipation as Steve scooped up Tony and they made way to the park.
It was only a small walk through the woods to where the clearing was, housing the larger version of your average children's park, with slides and swings and a sand pit. Clint ran right to the monkey bars, climbing the pole with ease and taking hi perch. It was his favorite spot on the whole play ground because it was high enough fo him to see things, but not too high so that daddy or uncle Steve would tell him to get down.
Steve, meanwhile, sat Tony up in the sand pit. The buckets and scoops were still lying about from last time and Tony immediately grabbed for a bright red bucket that would make the sand look like a castle when filled and turned over. When Tony seemed efficiently engrossed in his building, Steve made his way to Clint, reaching up to grab his feet playfully.
"Un'ca Steve! You can't see me! I'm visible!" Clint said with a slight wine.
"I think you mean invisible, bud." Steve laughed, but ceased his playful attack.
"That's what I said!" Clint smiled. "I gotta hide from the dragon!"
"Dragon!" Steve announced, looking over his shoulder. "What dragon?"
"The one trying to steal out picnic!" Clint laughed. "He's big and mean and hungry and he'll take it all if we don't stop him!"
"Well, we better not let that happen!" Steve exclaimed, reaching his hands out to catch Clint. The boy slid form his perch and into the blond's hands before his feet his the ground. "We gotta run!"
And so they did, around the slide, under the crossing bridge, through the swings, through the sandpit (taking care not to hurt Tony's castle) and up the stairs to go down the big slide. They yelled every-now-and-then through giggles, "faster!" "It's almost here!" "We's gots no food, mister dragon!" Tony watched, giggling away at his daddy running all around the park with no rhyme or reason with Clint.
"Daddy!" Tony laughed as they ran past once more. "No dragon!"
Steve turned around with an amazed look on his face. "Yes there is! Don't you see it! He's huuuuuge!" Steve reached his arms out in either direction to put emphasis on the word.
Tony laughed once more as Clint circled around, yelling, "He's gonna grab up baby Tony!"
"Oh no he's not! No one's gonna take my baby boy!" Steve declared, running back to the sand pit and picking Tony up before dashing once more to take cover under the walking bridge.
As they all ran around, Phil made his way to the playground, watching as the man and two kids ran around happily. He took a second to just enjoy the sight of Clint so carefree. That's the way it should always be, but adult life happened. and Phil knew better than anyone that things happened that no one could stop. So he'd savor these few moments, as rare and far between as they are.
He gave them a few more minutes to run before yelling, "Time for dinner!"
Clint's head shoot up at the sound of his daddy's voice and immediately took off for him, tackling him with a hug.
The rest of the night seemed to just fly by as the two men somehow managed to catch their littles and get them back to the house after dinner and a little more play time. They were both already yawning as their daddies's washed them in separate tubs. Droopy eyed, the boys made their way to the couch for a movie, neither making it even a quarter of the way through before they were out.