Pepper woke to the smell of rotten milk. No, it was more pungent... It smelt like the formula mix that she had made earlier that morning but it was different from that too. Like the formula had somehow gone bad. Slowly, the CEO opened her eyes to see Bruce rushing from the room, looking a little ill. Tony had somehow slipped out from behind her and hadn't disturbed her. The genius was standing in the middle of the living room with Steve. Both men looked a little lost. Natasha was closer to the kitchen, holding Clint who also looked a little ill.
"What happened?" Pepper slurred out, still trying to wake from her little cat nap.
"Clint threw up again," Tony replied, turning to face her. Pepper slowly got to her feet to see the mess was rather large. Larger than even the mess that Clint had made upon Karen. She frowned at the sight.
"Is he sick?" Pepper asked, moving to the hall closet to get some items in an effort to clean up the mess.
"Bruce says he thinks that the serum might be upsetting his stomach. If it goes on for a few more days or he shows a temperature then we should check with his pediatrician," Steve explained. Pepper nodded before looking over to Natasha and Clint. It was here that she noticed Clint had been stripped of clothes and Natasha was rubbing something over his body.
"Is he alright?" Pepper wondered, grabbing the items she needed form the closet. Natasha glanced over.
"Some of it got on him and when I picked him up again, he threw up all over his outfit," Natasha mentioned. Pepper adjusted her walk from the mess in the living room to Natasha and Clint. In doing so, she left the cleaning items behind the couch. Tony and Steve traded looks as they wondered if that meant what they thought it meant.
"He's gonna need a bath," Pepper stated, smelling the scent must stronger as she got closer to the duo.
"Uh, what about this mess?" Tony called, pointing to the rapidly drying spew in front of him. Pepper shook her head.
"You guys clean it. I'm gonna go set up a bath. Natasha, I might need help," Pepper ordered before taking Clint from Natasha. Together the women began to walk off. Tony gapped at them as they left.
"But... But," the genius stammered. Steve placed a comforting hand on the man's shoulder. Tony looked to him with a still stunned expression.
"Come on," Steve said. Slowly the two moved off to clean up the mess that the women were leaving behind. Down the hall, Pepper had already brought Clint into the main floor bathroom. Natasha had left to get clothes, towels and bath stuff, tugging Bruce with her as the doctor had been using this bathroom to stop from being sick himself. The water was quick to fill up, which was good as Clint kept trying to crawl away as if the water would poison him.
"Clint, no. Come back here," Pepper demanded before grabbing the baby by the waist and sliding him across the tile. Clint squealed and for a moment, Pepper couldn't tell why. She almost let go of the boy in surprise but was glad that she did hang on. When she turned to look at him, Clint had a huge smile on his face. Pepper raised an eyebrow even as Natasha came rushing back in.
"What happened? Is Clint okay?" Natasha hurriedly asked. Pepper and Clint looked over at her.
"Nothing, he's fine," Pepper answered. To prove such a fact, she released Clint and once he had crawled far enough away she reached out and grabbed him. Yet again, he squealed but Natasha could clearly see that Clint was enjoying this. The spy shook her head before dropping off the towel and clothes as Pepper began to strip the diaper off. Natasha quickly backed away.
"He has to be naked?" she asked. Pepper glanced up at her while nodding.
"How do you think I can wash his privates with the diaper there?" Pepper wondered. Natasha blanched making Pepper laugh. "Guess I'll be the only one doing bath time?"
"I may have seen Clint naked a few times on missions, but even I ain't willing to get into that," Natasha claimed, pointing to the situation as a whole. Pepper laughed lightly as she stripped the diaper off and quickly placed Clint in the tub. He cried out in anger at the water before slamming his hands down. The explosive splash covered Clint's head, the walls and most of Pepper.
"CLINT NO!" Pepper shouted as Natasha chuckled.
"Good luck," the spy called before turning around and leaving. Pepper sighed even as Clint did it again, now getting her even wetter.
"Clint, no splashing!" Pepper demanded. Clint glanced at her before making an evil little smile and splashing her again. Pepper squealed in anger before grabbing a rinse cup, filling it with water, and then proceeding to dump it over the babe's head. Clint spluttered in surprise before taking his revenge and sending a huge splash at Pepper. She was drenched in seconds. "Clint Barton! You do not splash! I know you understand me!"
Clint laughed as he shook his head no and splashed the water again. Pepper screeched before rapidly grabbing the bath soap and squeezing a bit into her hand. Placing the soap down, Pepper then slathered the soap from her hand onto Clint's head and over most of his body. Of course, Clint whined and tried to be an overall nuisance but Pepper had watched over little kids before. This wouldn't stop her. She was going to be as fast and as efficient as possible.
"Clint, listen to me. If you stop fighting this, it will all go a lot faster," Pepper bargained. Clint slapped his hands on the water again, sending a spray into her face. For a moment Pepper said nothing before nodding and grabbing the rinse cup again. She dumped the water over his head three times to completely clear the soap from his hair and by the end of it, Clint looked stunned. "There, all done."
Clint laughed before splashing her again. Pepper frowned.
"If you do that one more time, I will take you out of this bath," Pepper warned. Apparently, that's what Clint wanted as he quickly splashed her again. Frustrated, Pepper yanked the baby out of the tub and placed him on the mat just beside the tub and her. Clint smiled all the way up until Pepper dropped a towel on his head and began to vigorously dry his hair. In the mists of his outraged cries at the treatment, Pepper just smiled. "Well, next time, if you don't splash me, I'll be more gentle."
Well, Clint either didn't believe her and wanted revenge or he just couldn't control himself for in that moment... He pissed on her. Pepper's outraged screams drew Natasha back to the bathroom.
"What happened?" the spy asked. Pepper quickly picked Clint up in a towel and thrust him into Natasha's chest.
"You take him. I have to go shower," Pepper snapped. Natasha froze. She had been praying that she could keep on using various excuses as to not having to change Clint or even doing much of anything with taking care of him. But now... Now Pepper was leaving her with him and Natasha had no idea what to do.
"Wait, seriously? But... I don't know how to put a diaper on," Natasha whined. Pepper angrily turned and looked at her. Natasha hugged Clint closer in surprise at the amount of anger in the woman's face. Even Clint looked shocked.
"If I see his face for one more second, I may just strangle him," Pepper sneered. Natasha raised an eyebrow.
"What did he do?" Natasha wondered. Pepper pointed to her soaking wet body.
"He pissed on me," Pepper snapped before storming off. Natasha paused before looking at Clint. He gave her a guilty smile. Natasha's eyes narrowed.
"Don't you dare do that to me," Natasha muttered. Clint nodded before signing 'sorry'. Natasha snorted. "Ain't me you need to say that too."
Clint nodded before looking down the hall after Pepper. With a deep resigned sigh, Natasha headed into the bathroom only to find when she brought things for Pepper earlier; she had mistakenly left the diaper out. Perturbed at the lack of diaper, Natasha gathered up the clothes before returning to Clint's room. Thankfully Clint didn't need to pee or poop on the entire journey, so by the time they got to the room, Natasha was still clear. She laid him down on the changing table and paused.
"Uh," she whispered, glancing over at the diaper holder which was a good four feet away from the changing table. A mistake in design which would be later rectified. Clint laughed at her predicament. Sighing, she looked down at Clint. As much as everyone told her to treat Clint like a baby, she just couldn't. She trusted him. "Stay."
Clint nodded and watched as Natasha walked off. Well, he didn't stay that way for long. In order to watch her progression across the room, Clint had to shift his position in order to see her. His shifting put him on the dresser top and slid the changing table over. The sudden change made Clint flail his arms and legs making him fully tip over the side and drop heavily to the floor. Natasha heard the thud and spun around in time to see Clint look up at her before starting a pitiful cry.
"Jesus, Barton," Natasha cursed, rushing to the boy's side. She snatched him up off the ground and began rocking him, concerned about what could have happened to him. Clint continued to cry and just held tightly onto Natasha's shirt. "I told you not to move. Why did you move?"
"What happened?" called a new voice. Natasha looked up to see Steve slowly coming into the room. The spy paled. She had partly hoped that no one had heard what happened.
"He fell off the changing table," Natasha replied, embarrassed for allowing this to happen. Steve nodded before coming over to check on Clint. Slowly, he began running his hand over each of Clint's limbs. The sudden touches calmed Clint down enough to turn and watch what the soldier was doing. Steve smiled at him and continued the motions for an extra few minutes.
"Well, nothing seems broken. And he seems fine now," Steve pointed out. Natasha smiled back at Steve before gently laying Clint back down on the table. Steve moved to grab the abandoned diaper on the floor. He came back to the table, nudging Natasha up towards Clint's head before slowly beginning to dress him in the diaper. "Can you get some clothes?"
"Uh... Sure..." Natasha muttered, turning to the clothes she had dropped upon entering the room. When she returned, like Pepper that morning, Steve was already done. "How do you know how to change a diaper?"
"Well... During my mom's final days, she was really sick and weak. Too weak to even get up and go to the bathroom. So, I had to buy extra cloths to wrap around her body. Now-a-days you have the adult diapers and these nifty disposable diapers but they run on the same kind of design. Easy use and all," Steve babbled. Natasha nodded. He looked over at her even as he dressed Clint tried his best to help but really only got in the way. "Do you... Uh... Not know how to do a diaper?"
"No... I don't. Red Room sterilized their women. We were used for sexual conquest a lot and a pregnant woman was down and out for nine months. They couldn't risk us forgetting meds or anything," Natasha mumbled before lifting Clint off the table. Clint clung to her shirt once again. She said nothing about it. Steve frowned before placing a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry," he said. Natasha shrugged.
"Doesn't matter. This whole thing proves that I'm not fit to be a mother," she muttered. Steve shook his head.
"I don't believe that. All women should be a mother at least once," Steve argued. Natasha shrugged.
"I'd probably kill it," she grumbled before walking away. Steve almost laughed for as she walked away, Clint looked over her shoulder and gave the Captain a horrified look.
The rest of the day was pretty much uneventful. Clint mostly ate purees and didn't seem to have any issues with anything. It wasn't until night time came that he got another bottled formula. Yet again, he chugged it down like a champ and half an hour later, threw it all up again. Bruce still didn't seem concerned but Pepper and Natasha both knew something was wrong. They didn't really know what about the whole issue was wrong, they just knew something was wrong. Somehow, Clint was sick and they needed to convince Bruce of this fact.
"He has no fever, the serum reaction didn't last this long last time and he was fine all day until now," Pepper argued over giving the baby another bath. Clint was less active this time as it was getting close to bed time and Pepper had absently switch from normal soap to bedtime soap. Something that Natasha had evenly absently bought when she first went out shopping with Steve. Bruce shook his head. He was certain that his answer was right.
"His body did more changes this time. It may take longer to adjust. For all we know, it still might be aftereffects of his allergic reaction from the other day," Bruce mentioned. Pepper shook her head, knowing that wasn't true. Allergies wasn't necessarily something that one had a reaction from for an entire day.
"I have allergies to strawberries and my reaction time is over once I get my medicine. This is not his allergies. And I highly doubt it's the serum. I think it has to do with his formula," Pepper tried. Bruce shook his head again.
"Clint needs that formula right now. It could be that since he isn't used to it, his body it trying to expel it. Give it another day or two before we do anything," Bruce suggested. Pepper shook her head, not sure she wanted to agree with this or not. Natasha stepped up, having disappeared during the argument to make a quick call.
"I called his pediatrician. He agrees with Bruce. Give it another day and have us stick with one flavored puree. It might be the constant mixes that are throwing him off. If we stick with one then we'll lower the risk of the other purees giving him some type of problem," Natasha explained. Pepper frowned but nodded.
"Okay. Apples. He had those first and was perfectly fine," Pepper suggested. Bruce shook his head.
"That's what I first gave him before he threw up on Karen. I've seen adult Clint eat bananas. Let's stick with that. We know his older self isn't bothered with them so there should be a less likely chance of that causing an issue," Bruce ordered. Natasha and Pepper agreed. "I'll go make some more."
Slowly, Bruce tottered off toward the kitchen, leaving the two women and a cleaner and sleepy Clint behind. Pepper smiled gently when Clint let out a huge yawn as she finished dumping a cup of water over his head. Natasha snorted.
"Someone's getting tired," the spy laughed. Clint nodded before holding his arms up toward Pepper. The CEO chuckled before lifting Clint out of the bath and plopping him on his butt. As she promised earlier that day, she was much more gentle with the towel. Once he was dry, she laid him on the damp towel so she could put his diaper on. Natasha stopped her, realizing now that she'd never be able to fully escape changing Clint. "Can... Can I try?"
"Sure," Pepper said, moving aside so that Natasha could take her place. Smiling, Natasha moved over. Then she froze. Pepper laid a hand on her shoulder. Even though Clint had been changed perfectly while she was in the shower, Pepper assumed that someone had taken care of it. Apparently it hadn't been Natasha. Slowly, the CEO gave the spy directions. "Open the diaper." Natasha nodded and grabbed the clean diaper and worked on peeling it apart until it sat wide on the floor. "Grab his legs and pick up his butt. Once his butt is in the air, place the diaper below it." Natasha did such but then paused. Pepper chuckled. "You can put him down on top of it." Natasha blushed before gently placing Clint's butt back down. Clint dropped his legs down but left them open so that Natasha had room for the next step.
"You better not piss," Natasha warned. Pepper laughed as Clint smiled. As much as the little babe was tempted to, he had nothing in him currently.
"Grab the front of the diaper and lift it to spread over his stomach," Pepper continued. Natasha nodded and did such. "Now, grab the first yellow flap. Either one, doesn't matter. Unstrap it from its place and lay it on the yellow strip." Natasha followed the direction like a champ and before Pepper could say repeat, Natasha did the same with the other side. Both women looked at the work after wards. It was a little askew but not that bad. Pepper smiled. "Good job."
"Thanks," Natasha muttered. Pepper nodded before spinning Clint around and quickly dressing him. "Now we just need Bruce and Tony to do it."
"Steve changed him?" Pepper asked. Natasha nodded.
"After he pee-ed on you. Steve helped me then," Natasha admitted. Pepper blushed.
"Oh. I thought that was you," the CEO said, having only just realized recently that she was incorrect. Natasha snorted and shook her head.
"No. Steve came after... Well. After Clint fell off the changing table," Natasha mumbled. Pepper frowned. "We didn't tell you cause he was fine. He cried for a minute but nothing was broken and JARVIS even scanned him. Nothing happened!"
"Okay. Okay. But please... Next time, let me know," Pepper suggested. Natasha frowned.
"There won't be a next time," she half growled out. Pepper snorted.
"This is Clint we're talking about. There will be a next time."
That night, no one really paid attention to the time on the clock. Much like how they normally spent the days. Minutes ticked away as they all joined for dinner. A dinner that was an interesting event as Clint pretty much demanded everyone's attention in eating his banana puree. Everyone else enjoyed pizza (an easy enough meal to make). After eating, they convened into the living room. As they sat there watching a movie (Due Date), Clint began to drift off. Pepper was holding him safely in her arms and her body warmth was making him fall asleep faster. Part way through the movie, Pepper glanced down and noticed that Clint was almost out.
"Jeez, what time is it?" Pepper softly called out to everyone else. Bruce and Steve glanced over and also noted Clint was mostly asleep. The duo smiled lightly at it. Natasha looked down at her watch as Tony shifted to get a look at the sleeping baby, almost disturbing Clint as he moved Pepper a little as well.
"So the little punk fell asleep?" Tony asked. "And during such a funny movie!"
"It's almost eight," Natasha answered. She looked over at Pepper, Tony and Clint. "A little early, don't you think?"
"Well, I gave him that bath at 6:30," Pepper said. "Then we had dinner. He was also awake a lot of today."
"It just seems weird," Natasha mumbled. Pepper nodded and slowly got to her feet. Clint woke within an instant and began to cry. There was no way in hell he was going to go to bed right now. He wanted to finish watching the movie. Didn't matter to him that he had just fallen asleep moments prior. Pepper grimaced as she started to try and put the babe back out. Natasha smiled, wondering if Pepper would give up. Tony snorted, relaxing back into his seat. Steve shifted to watch them all while Bruce cleared his throat, praying that Hulk didn't try and escape in an attempt to help Clint get his point across.
"Shhh," Pepper cooed, rocking Clint in an effort to get him back asleep. But Clint was having none of it. He just kept crying.
"Pep, sit down. He's awake now," Tony demanded, pulling on Pepper's shirt. The CEO frowned but slowly sat back down. Once she had relaxed again, Clint stopped crying. Tony looked down at him. "Seriously? Crying about her standing up."
Clint responded by sticking out his tongue and relaxing back into Pepper's arms. Bruce shook his head. Natasha snorted and turned to watch the movie again. Pepper sighed and shifted slightly to get more comfortable. Tony rolled his eyes and also resumed watching the movie. Steve focused on Clint.
"Actually, I think we still need to put him to bed," Steve told the others. Pepper glanced over at him, slightly surprised. Natasha frowned and focused a glare on the soldier. Bruce paused to think about it and nodded in agreement but didn't speak up. Tony snorted.
"Why? He seems fine with us now," the genius stated. Steve nodded.
"I know. But babies need sleep and a set regimen to follow. If we give him baths every night at around 6:30 and then do an hour whine-down, by eight o'clock, he would be ready for bed. In fact, he would do what he's doing now, falling asleep on his own. By not setting a strike bed time, he will fight us each night," Steve pointed out. Everyone focused on him. Laughing lightly, Steve shrugged. "I did a bit of reading."
"Okay... Well, let's get Clint in bed then," Pepper agreed, once again standing. And once again, Clint began crying. Pepper looked to Steve for help. The soldier stood as well.
"The books said he'll try and fight it but we have to be forceful on the situation. We can't give in or he'll control us," Steve mentioned. Pepper nodded and together they began to walk off. Clint continued crying the entire time. Tony, Natasha and Bruce all looked at each other, wondering if they should go as well. In the end, they didn't move. About five minutes later, Pepper and Steve returned. Pepper was holding a small monitor. Through it, everyone could hear Clint screaming, desperately.
"Uh... That doesn't sound good," Tony mumbled, pointing to the monitor. Pepper shrugged and sat down, shifting the little item down onto the table before them. Tony struggled to get a good look at. Groaning, he called out. "J, put that on the big screen."
"With pleasure," JARVIS replied before the monitor went blank. A second later the movie shut off and was replaced with an image of Clint sitting in his crib, holding onto the bars and screaming like mad.
"He doesn't look pleased," Natasha pointed out.
"No, he doesn't," Pepper concurred. "Should we be worried?"
"Maybe... Clint is notorious for pulling pranks on people who upset him," Natasha answered.
"As much as he protests, he needs this. We can't do what we used to do before and stay up all hours of the night," Steve stated. Natasha nodded.
"Not arguing that. Just... Warning, really. Clint is never one to follow authority figures. Coulson was about the only one he did. And now..." Natasha trailed off. For a moment everyone was silent. Speaking Coulson's name was something that everyone silently agreed upon not doing. Why, no one really knew. It just bothered them too much to even hear his name. So, no one spoke it.
"It will be fine. We may have to suffer a few days or maybe week's worth of him fighting us, but his body will get used to it all eventually," Steve declared. Natasha nodded as the group continued watching Clint try and fight sleep. Suddenly, he produced a huge yawn. Steve smiled. "I think he's getting ready."
"We're asking for it come tomorrow," Natasha yet again warned as Clint restarted screaming as loud as he could. It was getting more desperate now, as if he was trying to claim he was in trouble. Bruce gripped his seat tightly, fighting to hold Hulk back. "We should just go get him now."
"He's fine, Natasha. Besides, I doubt he can be much trouble," Bruce countered. He would later come to curse those words.
4119 words. Whoot! I am now three chapters ahead in my editing! Makes me so happy. Not that I can slack off or anything cause that just means that I still have to edit the rest, finish this, and get to work on my next story. Ugh. lol.
Toddler Clint is doing well. Just had his first day in a new room at daycare and is going to be spending his first full week at daycare next week. Big changes for him. Sadly, no news on my husband. They still have no idea why he's sick and so he's getting no treatment and is officially now getting worse.
Anywho, review responses!
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Review Responses:
Niom Lamboise - I love that I have Clint allergic to peaches. Really I wanted him allergic to something generic and peaches was the first thing that came to mind outside of strawberries but I was like Pepper's allergic to strawberries, they wouldn't have those cause of her. I'm trying to fit in as many Baby!Clint and everyone moments as possible and still flow with the characters themselves. As for Thor, I can't write him to save my life... I have him show up in later chapters but I feel like he just falls flat and I don't like it really. Usually I tend to forget about him. Sorry. Thor tends to never feature in any of my stories...
sammygirl1963 - I based that on my own son laughing at that. Why he finds it funny I have no clue, but he does. You say it to him and he just chuckles at you. As for the allergic reaction, I wanted Clint allergic to something and peaches just worked. And Bruce being a medical person who did practice a bit with actually healing the sick would notice an allergic reaction.
MO-5431 - Thanks so much. Sadly, as mentioned it didn't pan out but thankfully the doctor we have isn't giving up.
amy. d .fuller .9 - Clint has all his adult memories but sometimes his baby... I guess, normal reactions one might say, just come out instead. He just gets those moments when the baby mind is stronger than his 30 year old mind.
Baby Hedgehog-Cute but Deadly - Well that's how some mothers tend to act as well. In fact, that's a little how my mother acted when I was young. Clint may brand her as evil, but his 30 year old mind my realize she is doing it cause she cares. We will see how things turn out once he becomes an adult again. lol.
Wholockian99 (Guest) - Thank you for reviewing twice this week. I'm glad you've been reading multiple times and have enjoyed it so immensely. I update every Friday unless otherwise mentioned. I do so, so that there is a consistent schedule kept for each update and everyone knows that they won't have to wait long periods of time between each update. Especially seeing as I am fighting to write between working, helping a ill husband and a now two year old son. As such, this story is almost completely finished being written, but I edit it before I post it each week and I'm working on two new stories as well. So my work load is pretty much jam packed. But, that just means more for all your enjoyment. lol.