Little Peter had been waiting by the sliding door and staring out at the ocean for quite some time. Every time someone would enter the room, he'd turn towards them, point at the ocean, and babble something incomprehensible. Afterwards, he'd stick his fingers back in his mouth and turn back to the door, shifting his weight on his chubby little feet as he admired the view. He was no more than a year-and-a-half old.
Tony didn't take him out—it's not that he didn't want to, necessarily, but it's not as if they were in Jamaica for a vacation. Negotiating weapons deals wasn't exactly something that should be celebrated with a visit to the beach. Normally Tony wouldn't bring Peter along with him to these events, but there were very few people he trusted enough to leave Peter with, and at the time all of them were involved with their own non-negotiable engagements. Thus, little Peter took his first trip out of the country, and spent the vast majority of it admiring their private stretch of beach through the glass sliding door.
Nat had been checking in on Peter most often. The ocean view seemed to endlessly entertain him, but he had other toys. A little teddy bear, a push cart, stacking rings, and even a small peelable banana. His little fingers fiddled with the rubbery peels for quite a bit, but he always seemed to go back to looking at the ocean.
"Hey, little bug," Nat greeted as she entered Peter's line of sight.
Peter smiled as soon as he saw Nat. "Hi!" he replied, holding up his hand and closing his fingers against his palm in an attempt at a wave.
Nat crouched down next to the boy, folding her arms over her knees. "What'cha doing?"
"Arr-ra-ba-aa-ba." He held out his toy banana in Nat's direction. "Dah."
"Is this for me?" she asked, before taking the banana. "Thank you."
Peter screeched with laughter. "Tak yoo," he repeated.
Nat peered out the sliding glass door before returning her attention to Peter. "Hey, little bug," she started. "Do you wanna go out and see the ocean?"
Peter blinked, looking up at Nat. "Oh-sin?" he asked.
"Yeah, the ocean!" Nat smiled at the baby, pointing out to the ocean.
Peter's gaze followed where Nat was pointing before he grinned. "Oh-sin!" he repeated excitedly.
Within the next five minutes, Nat had placed a little olive-green bucket hat atop Peter's head, and the two were descending the warped wooden steps leading down to the strip of beach. Peter went down the steps on his hands and knees, but once he reached the bottom, darted off towards the sea with a speed Nat hadn't expected from a toddler. Peter ran giggling towards the water, arms flapping in excitement.
"Hold on!" Nat called after him, quickening her pace to keep up with him.
Peter slowed, though not because Nat had asked him to, but because he'd reached the water's edge. He laughed and looked down at the waves washing over his feet. Peter jumped, splashing the water around his feet before breaking out into a fit of laughter. A wide smile on his face, he turned to Nat to see her reaction.
Nat had chuckled at this. "Is that funny?"
In response, Peter had giggled and then jumped again, creating another splash. Once again, he looked to Nat for approval, and once again Nat had laughed. Peter seemed to enjoy that—making people laugh.
Peter had played around at the water's edge for a bit before he crouched at the edge and plucked something from the sand with his chubby little fingers. After admiring it for a short while, he stood and brought the object over to Nat.
"What did you find, little bug?"
In response, Peter held up a perfect pink seashell. "Nee-nee," he said.
"You wanna show it to Tony?" Nat had asked. Peter hadn't quite perfected Tony's name—though Tony secretly liked the nickname Peter had given him.
"Ya," Peter said, still holding out the seashell. "Hohd."
"You want me to hold it?" Nat asked before taking the seashell. "Tony's gonna think it's so pretty."
"See-sell," Peter said before turning and darting down the shore once more.
Nat could only laugh, holding onto the seashell and following him down the shore.