Tony watched fondly as Peter sat at the table barely able to see over the top of it devouring his fifth pancake, he had put a cushion down but it hadn't really helped. He had briefly wondered whether Peter still had his spider powers, with the amount the kid was eating it certainly looked like he still did, how such a tiny body could eat so much was honestly astonishing.

"Can I have 'nother daddy?"

Tony turned to look at the toddler raising an eyebrow at him, "what's the magic word Pete?"

"Pwease Daddy, can I have 'nother pancake"

Tony ruffled the boy's hair, it was quickly becoming his favourite thing to do to be honest and gave him another. Several boxes of supplies for the boy had arrived not ten minutes before and he really wanted to look through them but always eating at the table was a rule for big Peter so he had to ensure little Peter followed it too, and leaving the boy alone obviously wasn't an option. He also didn't want to distract Peter from eating, teenage Peter could be excitable and easily distracted he didn't even want to consider what toddler Peter would be like.

Ten minutes later Peter had gone through another two pancakes and finally seemed to be finished eating. "C'mon little man let's go get you some clothes on," Tony told the boy who just pouted at him.

"I wike this daddy."

Tony couldn't help but sigh as he kneeled down so he was eye level with Peter. "I know you do Pete but there's lots of clothes here you can choose from you can't walk around in just my t-shirt."

"S'not fair daddy. I wike this." Peter said crossing his arms over his chest. Tony was sure the boy thought it made him look intimidating but it was just cute.

"Peter, we aren't arguing over this, you need to change you can't wear just a t-shirt and you've got bits of pancake on it."

Peter stomped his foot on the ground and opened his mouth to argue but Tony held up a hand to stop him.

"Peter. I just said we aren't arguing over this. You don't stomp your feet when you don't get your way okay. And if you keep arguing you'll have to go and stand in the corner. So are you going to be a good boy for me and put on some of these clothes Pepper got for you."

"Pepp'r?" Peter asked with a smile as he pointed at the clothes excitedly.

Tony rolled his eyes, "yes Peter, Pep bought these so will you put them on."

Peter nodded all arguments forgotten now he knew Pepper bought the clothes. Tony had no idea why that would make a difference to a toddler but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

Pepper blinked when she entered the lounge unable to comprehend what she was seeing. Tony was kneeling on the floor hair a mess from running his hand through it in frustration holding a green t-shirt with a skateboard on the front in his hand. Peter was stood looking at the man arms crossed over his chest, wearing nothing but a pair of underwear.

Hearing her entrance Tony turned to look at his fiancée beseechingly. "Help me, he refuses to put clothes on. It's been ten minutes."

Pepper walked into the room fully and knelt down to be eye level with the boy she saw as her own. "Hey, Petey whats the problem? It's not nice being difficult for daddy, he's trying to help you, you can't walk around dressed in only your shorts baby." Her heart melted as Peter immediately looked down ashamed and dug his foot into the floor, his answer was so quiet she hardly heard him.

"Don't wike it."

"The t-shirt?" At the boy's nod she turned to look at her lover. "Did you let him choose Tony"

"I just took the top one! He's three Pep!" The man spluttered confusion all over his face.

Turning back to her boy she looked into his eyes "Okay, you can choose what you wear Peter, I'll give you three shirts to pick from. But if you have a problem you have to use your words okay darling? No sulking." She pulled him into a hug at her words and almost missed his response.

"Yes mummy. Sowwy." She made eye contact with Tony over the child's shoulder and saw tears in his eyes. She gave the child in her arms an extra squeeze before letting him go.

Five minutes later Peter was dressed. He had on soft black sweatpants and a light blue t-shirt with a dinosaur on the front, Tony's face when Peter had chosen that shirt over the Iron Man one was priceless!

While Pepper dressed Peter Tony called Bruce and Nat up to the penthouse to give him some help unpacking Peter's new toys and clothes. The two had wanted to stay afterwards but Bruce had to get in contact with Thor and Nat had been called into a meeting at SHIELD.

"What do you want to do then Pete?" Tony asks the adorable child sitting next to him on the couch.

"Paint"

"Good choice bambino. Let's go to the table then, and you need an apron you don't want to ruin your new clothes after all."

Peter nodded and sprinted into the kitchen where Pepper helped him put an apron on, she had taken the full day off to be with Peter and reduced her meetings for the next week to make the most of the time they had together.

Within minutes Tony regreted allowing Peter to paint, the child was a menace! Sure Peter looked to be having the time of his life but he was covered in paint, thank god for that apron. The boy even had paint in his hair. Pepper had decided not to join in with the painting and Tony couldn't help but envy her slightly, she stood a bit away from the table camera in hand and notably totally paint free. Tony on the other hand was covered in the stuff, Peter had tried to hug Tony while covered in paint but hit the man in the face in his excitement. The little monster just giggled too!

Peter was in his element. He loved to paint, he had more paint here than May had, he had blue, red, yellow, green and pink but he didn't like pink so didn't use it…apart from in his picture for mummy because she wears pink shoes so must like it. He had done three pictures already, one for mummy with pink flowers, one for Dr Buce an' one for daddy, his one for daddy was his favourite it had mummy an' daddy an' Peter in it!

Tony looked at the painting which was still slightly wet that Peter was trying to force into his hands. He suddenly understood why some of his scientists had pictures drawn by their kids in their labs or on their desks, Peter's picture was a work of art. He knew he was probably grinning like an idiot but he couldn't find it within himself to care. "Let's leave this to dry Pete, then I'll put it on the fridge, how does that sound?" The child threw himself into his arms, he'd take that as a 'that sounds good'. He turned to glare playfully at Pepper as she let out a laugh seeing Tony's high-end shirt covered in bright yellow paint.

"How about you two take a bath and I'll make us some lunch."

Tony nodded and stood up still holding his son in his arms…he didn't want paint over the entire penthouse which he was sure would happen if he left Peter to walk to the bathroom. "C'mon then Peter Pan, let's get cleaned up then we can have PB and J sandwiches," he told the child as he jiggled him around in his arms slightly making him giggle loudly.

If Tony had known bathing a toddler would be so difficult he would probably have asked Pepper for help. Here he was, still covered in paint and sopping wet as his boy laughed at him from inside the tub. "Peter stop splashing me, you need to get washed so I can get clean after"

"Daddy in." The child demanded laughing.

"No Peter I'm not getting in, I will after"

Unsurprisingly Tony did eventually fall victim to his son's doe eyes and ended up joining him in the tub still wearing his boxers. Peter looked adorable, he had been attempting to copy Tony's goatee with bubbles before trying to give the man himself a bubble beard.

"Come on you little monster, let's get washed up"

He grabbed the children's shampoo Pepper had ordered for them and gently washed the boy's curls being careful not to get any in his eyes. He made quick work of washing the child's hair but that then led to Peter wanting to return the favour and Tony trying not to swear when the kid got shampoo into his eyes.

"Hold out your hands Pete" he squeezed shower gel into the boy's hands as he took some for himself. "Go on then get washed Bambi, I don't want to see any paint on you at all." His eyes crinkled as he watched Peter mimic Tony's movements, he had never felt more like a dad than he did in that moment as his son copied him.

Her boys had been in the bathroom now for over half an hour, it was getting ridiculous, how long did a bath take? She had made their lunch and even cut up some carrots and left them in the fridge should Peter want a snack later. Sighing to herself she made her way to the bathroom knocking once before walking in. She was still holding her phone in her hand and snapped a quick photo at the scene before Tony could react to her presence and stop her.

Her fiancé was in the bath with their son playing some sort of war game with toy boats and rubber ducks. Both of them looked carefree and laughed without worry, she felt bad having to break it up to be honest. "Come on boys, lunch time" She grabbed a towel and pulled Peter from the bath laughing as we groaned in frustration at her actions. "Don't be like that Pete, you can have your lunch then we can call Aunt May, how does that sound?"

"May, May" the boy screeched trying to run from her arms still sopping wet.

"Let me dry you first baby, we have plenty of time to call May"

Peter hardly sat still throughout his lunch he was so eager to speak to his Aunt May but Pepper was firm and made sure he ate at least two sandwiches and a yogurt before he left the table.

Two minutes later the family of three was sat on a couch in the lounge facing the TV. "Call May Parker Fri"

May answered as soon as her phone rang and immediately brought a hand to her mouth in shock. There was her Peter, a toddler again. Sure, Tony had told her what had happened but seeing it with her own eyes was something else. The child looked adorable, his curls making him look angelic, but she had raised the boy from the age of four and knew he could be an absolute terror when he wanted to be. "Hello, Petey what have you been up to?"

At his aunt's question Peter began to babble. "I woke up in the funny room an' Doc Buce looked in my eyes an' mouth. And he had a needle May! And I had pancakes with daddy…"

At the boy's words May looked at Tony who was avoiding eye contact clearly uncomfortable. "Tony, Tony I spoke to him a few days ago about it. I don't mind if he calls you dad. I know my place in his life, it's fine, the same for you Pepper, Peter loves you both. He would have called you those names soon anyway this incident just sped it up." She told the pair calmly, they deserved this and she did not want them feeling uncomfortable or guilty about it.

Peter huffed, he was supposed to be talking to May! She was meant to look at him! Why was she talking to Daddy? "I'm still hewe May" he whined making the woman chuckle and turn back to him.

"Of course you are baby, sorry I shouldn't have interrupted you, what did you do after breakfast?"

"Painteded"

"Painted" Pepper corrected the boy smoothly, it didn't matter if Peter would only be a baby for a week she would make sure he spoke correctly, who knew if there would be some sort of carry over into his teenage life if she didn't?

"That…and I painteded Daddy, me an' Mummy. An' flowers an' Doc Buce.. Then I had a bath. An' played war boats ducks with daddy."

May nodded along as he spoke relaxing as he did so. Teenage Peter could be so solemn at times, he had a lot on his plate what with Spiderman, school, his internship…sure he loved all those things but sometimes she wished he took more time to just have fun. She looked up at the clock in her room and sighed, she would have to go unfortunately her shift started in half an hour.

"Pete, it's time I have to go, I'll call again in a few days."

Peter's face dropped at her words, she felt horrible but didn't really have a choice. "Now be a good boy for mummy and daddy okay?" After she received a nod from her boy she turned back to the two adults either side of him. "Thank you so much for this, I don't know what I would do without you. Take lots of photos and don't let him walk all over you he can be a terror at mealtimes, if you have any problems I'm just a call away."

The small family spend the rest of the afternoon playing with Peter's new toys just enjoying each other's company. By quarter past seven Tony and Pepper were both exhausted and thrilled Peter seemed to be as well. He went down easily without a fuss which surprised them both, he had been running around all day, they expected him to be too excited about his new situation to go to bed. But he willingly climbed into his bed wearing his new Iron Man pyjamas….this time all three choices were Iron Man and settled down as Tony read him a story.

Tony had barely read five pages when he looked up to see his child sound asleep clutching a small tiger to his chest. He stood up to leave wrapping his arm around his fiancée as he did so, they would have time for a movie or something now Peter was in bed. With both of them working so much it was honestly rare to get an evening just the two of them, they weren't too bothered about dates but sometimes a romantic evening was needed. "Tell me if Peter has any problems Fri" he ordered as he left the room ensuring the bedroom door was left open a crack in case Peter woke up scared of the dark in the night.

ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ-ʘ

"Boss, Mr Parker appears to be in distress"

Tony took a moment to register the words which roused him from his sleep but as soon as he realised what his AI had said he sat bolt upright in bed. He swung his legs out the bed and practically ran to the child's room terrified of what he would find. Was someone else in the tower? Was Peter hurt? Was something wrong with the de-aging?

He burst into the room and immediately saw the problem. Peter was covered in sweat and tangled in his duvet crying out in his sleep. "Nooo…leabe me 'lone, it's dark…hurts…scared…"

Tony rushed over to his child and perched on the edge of his bed before beginning to run his fingers through the boy's sweaty locks. "Hey, Pete, it's just a bad dream, daddy's here. Wake up." It broke his heart seeing the boy in such distress, how long had this been going on? Peter was often tired, was it nightmares that kept him awake? Peter soon woke up but didn't fully register his surroundings as he began sobbing in terror. Sighing to himself Tony lifted the child up onto his lap pulling his head against his own chest so the kid could hear his heartbeat. "C'mon underoos, you'll make yourself sick if you keep crying like this." He practically begged as he rubbed the toddlers back gently, murmuring reassurances into his ear, within five minutes the heart-breaking sobs had died down to the occasional hiccup and he knew he would have to question Peter.

"Peter, what was that? Do you get nightmares a lot?" He sighed as the boy nodded into his chest refusing to meet his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?" He asked genuinely confused.

"Not a baby" The child muttered into his arms quietly, so quietly Tony had to strain to hear him.

At those words Tony pulled the child away from his chest and looked into his eyes. They were red and swollen from crying, the child looked pathetic and it was amongst the worst things he had ever seen. This was his child, who had been having nightmares for god knows how long and hadn't told him. How often did teenage Peter wake up screaming and then lie in bed crying with no one to soothe him? How could he have not realised?

"Peter, listen to me. Having nightmares doesn't make you weak, I have nightmares, you've seen scary things, it's understandable. But you need to tell me when you have a problem, okay buddy? Daddy can't make anything better if you don't tell me what the problem is."

The little boy nodded again and put his thumb into his mouth as he burrowed back into the elder's chest. Tony knew he would probably have to speak to teenage Peter about this, the best way to reduce nightmares was to talk about them after all. He would also have to get FRIDAY to monitor the boy's sleep every night and wake him if Peter was in distress. If his son was in trouble, he wanted to be there for him, whether it was trouble as Spiderman or trouble in his sleep.

He stayed sitting on Peter's bed for another ten minutes rubbing circles into the boy's back to keep him calm. "What were you dreaming about?"

He thought the boy was going to ignore him at first but then he heard him take a deep breath, undoubtedly to steel himself for what was to come. "Vulture…big meanie…building falled on big me, scared, dark, all 'lone daddy. No one there…no help." Peter spoke into the man's chest and he could feel tears on his bare chest.

"Peter…I'll not let that happen again, that was my fault, okay. You should have had help, and I wasn't there for you. I'm sorry baby boy, listen to me, I won't let that happen again." He spoke directly into the boy's ear as he gently rocked him in an effort to calm him down. His back hurt from the uncomfortable angle he was sitting at and he could see the goose bumps on his arms from the cold air but he would stay in that position all night if that was what his son wanted.

He looked down at the boy in his arms, Peter's arms were wrapped around his neck tightly as if he was afraid Tony would disappear if he loosened his grip. He moved his own arm to slide it under the child's bum to pull him closer and sighed, he had been so preoccupied with calming the boy he hadn't noticed he had wet himself in his sleep. Tony knew it was from the nightmare and didn't know how to address the topic. The child would be embarrassed but he needed to get him clean and into dry clothes before letting him go back to sleep.

"Pete, you've had an accident, you'll need to have a quick bath okay" As he expected Peter sniffled as he nodded, he was clearly embarrassed at what had happened, he could see the tips of the boy's ears redden after all. "Hey there, no need to be embarrassed, it's normal Bambi, you had a scary dream." He knew Peter probably wasn't taking his words in but he would repeat them as often as he had to for the child to understand.

Pepper entered the room at just that moment, she hadn't been woken by FRIDAY's alert but had woken up cold not long after as Tony's body heat was no longer there to keep her warm. She had thrown on a dressing gown over her pyjamas and headed to their son's room. One look at the scene in front of her and she knew what to do. "Tony, go and get him washed up, I'll change the sheets." She told her fiancé as she ran her hands through Peter's hair and pressed a kiss to his forehead when the sleepy child turned towards her upon hearing her voice.

Ten minutes later Tony had managed to wash the toddler, which had been extremely difficult as he had quite literally stuck his hands together to prevent Tony letting go of him. He walked back into the boy's bedroom and easily caught the pyjamas Pepper threw at him. He couldn't help the small laugh that escaped him at the Iron Man pyjamas, it was probably very egotistical of him, but the boy was just too cute and that only increased when he was wearing Iron Man themed clothing.

Tony walked over to the newly clean bed and tried to put Peter in it but the child refused to relinquish his hold on Tony. "C'mon Peter, it's time you got back to sleep, I'll be right back if you have any more bad dreams okay." No matter what he said the child wouldn't let go though and kept muttering "don't leave me" into his ear.

"Peter I won't fit in your bed, it's for little boys. I promise I'll be back if you have a bad dream bud" He now regretted buying the toddler bed for the child, they had been worried the usual one teenage Peter used would be too high and he could be hurt falling out of it. There was no way Tony could fit onto the tiny bed they had bought for the boy, just perching on the edge was difficult. He felt like a monster as the boy sobbed into his chest, Peter yawned but he knew trying to let go of him would probably result in a meltdown, he turned to look at his fiancée with a raised eyebrow to see if she had any idea what to do.

"Hey Petey, do you want to sleep in mummy and daddy's bed?"

Tony openly gaped at her words, he didn't have a problem with Peter coming into their bed, he would hardly take up any space after all, he was just surprised.

Peter nodded at the offer. He knew big him would have said no, but he was scared and tired and wanted mummy and daddy.

At the boy's agreement Tony once again tightened his grip on the child and walked back towards his own bedroom. Entering the master bedroom he walked straight over to the kingsize bed and was surprised when Peter loosened his grip on him without needing to ask. He dropped the child down in the centre of the bed, and gosh did he look cute. The boy was dwarfed in the massive bed and he couldn't help the grin on his face as he watched Pepper climb in next to the toddler.

Pepper sighed in contentment as she felt the bed dip when Tony got into bed on the other side of Peter and immediately threw his arm over the boy and her.

"Night Pep, night Petey" he mumbled after several moments of quiet but all he got in response was the deep breathing of the two most important people in his life, asleep in his arms.