Tony did not like being a dad at all. Not when he was running low on coffee and sleep and his kid decides to start crying in the middle of the night. Here he was trying to shush him down while warming his milk in the kitchen. Peter continued to whine and wailing as he clutched his father's shirt with his chubby little hands, whimpering when Tony moved him to take a look at him. Tony frowned at him, raising his hand to check his temperature and cursed finding his body to be a little warm.
It has been a month since Peter entered his life and he was four months old now. Tony hugged his kid to his chest and looked at the ceiling, muttering softly. "JARVIS, run body scan." He patted his back humming a little, feeling his throat clog with building emotions. He heard footsteps and saw Pepper walk towards them a frown on her face as she caressed Peter's forehead gently. "scan complete. Yonge master seems to have started teething, sir. Mild fever is normal." Tony nodded looked at Pepper who was rubbing Peter's back as he whimpered against his chest.
"Oh, my poor baby." Pepper whispered, looking at Tony, slight pain in her eyes, mirroring his own emotions. Tony sighed and passed Peter over to her and she hugged him close to her before he looks back up and says, "JARVIS, monitor him. And Call Dr. Cho and ask if she can have a look at him." He gets the milk from the microwave and gives the bottle to Pepper who smiles at him and turns to coo at his kid while feeding him.
"I want you to be his mom." The words escape his mouth before he registered it, making him blush just a little. Pepper's head snapped up and her mouth gapes open as she looked at him in surprise. "You don't have to marry me or anything to be his mom but I want you to be. You... you are good with him Pep and if to want someone to have that title it's you. I mean look at you, up in the middle of the night taking care of my kid, so... yeah. I want you to be his Mom." Tony stared into her eyes, showing he was not joking and was momentarily amazed to see tears in them.
"I... I would love that Tony. Thank you." She kissed him in gratitude and leaned against him as they both watch their kid now almost asleep. She wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled at the little bundle in her arms. Her baby.
One thing that Tony, Pepper, and Rhodes forgot was about the Avengers. Since they decided that they would keep Peter away from the media for as long as they could, they didn't think it was important to tell the Avengers. It didn't occur to them that after Ultron it was the go-to place for the Avengers when they were in the city.
It was a simple start of the day after Tony and Pepper had finally gotten Peter to sleep and had time to close their own eyes for some time before they had to get up. When Tony entered Peter's room after dressing up he couldn't keep the grin off his face as he watched his son with his feet in his mouth, drooling and looking at him. He took the foot out of his mouth delicately and smiled as Peter waved his arms and legs around in the air. "Good morning Sweetheart." Tony ran his finger on his nose and pinched it making Peter giggle and Tony's grin to widen.
"Time to get up and get ready." Tony picked him up and carried him to the bathroom, happy that Peter was feeling slightly better this morning. He laughed as Peter splashed water while he gave him a bath, giggling when toy brought out the rubber duck and placed it on his chubby tummy. "Come on spider-monkey. Let's get you dressed up." Tony wrapped him in a towel and wiped him dry before putting on a diaper and talcum powder before dressing him in a onesie and socks on. "There you go." Tony kissed his cheek and carried him to the kitchen. He got a pleasant surprise when he saw Rhodes sitting on one of the stools, a cup of coffee in his hand.
He smiled at both of them and pinched Peter's nose, "Hello Pete. How are you~" Peter gurgled and hit Rhodes face lightly making the man chuckle. "The little man is teething." Tony passed him his kid and quickly took the yogurt out of the fridge and added bananas to it and grabbed a small spoon. Rhodes put his hand out and Tony rolled his eyes before giving to yogurt to him. He watched him feed Peter and looked at his watch sighing. Pepper almost ran into the kitchen, her purse in hand and phone on the ear. " Mr. Hydes, we talked about the deal and if you want to make the deal work you have to follow the conditions the company sets for you, so call when you decide. Thank you."
"Good morning boys." She kissed Tony on the lip, Peter on the cheek and smiled at Rhodes who wiped the yogurt off Peter's face. Tony turned to grab two cups of coffee for himself and Pepper but stopped when Peter coughed and looked over his shoulder for a second, seeing that Pepper was rubbing his back and got back to what he was going.
"You didn't give him cold yogurt, did you?" Pepper looked at Tony frowning and Tony scoffed. "JARVIS said to give cold food while teething. It soothes the gums." He handed her her coffee and took a sip of his own, mentally sighing at the taste. "You guys are taking him to the doctor?" Rhodes smiled as Peter dipped his finger in the cold yogurt and looked back at him with surprised, big brown eyes before doing it again.
"Yeah, just to see if he is okay and everything is normal." Pepper took Peter's finger out of the yogurt and wiped it before shaking her at him. Once they fed him, Pepper picked him up and took his arm in hers and said, "Say bye-bye to Uncle Rhodes." grinning as Peter babbled making the man chuckle. "I will be here when you are back." Tony patted the man on the back and followed his girlfriend to the elevator. Since Med-bay was a few floors below the living floors so Tony didn't have to worry about taking Peter out of the tower so soon. He put on his paparazzi face as soon as they get out and walk to Dr. Cho's office and opens the door for Pepper who smiled at him.
"Good morning Mr. Stark, Miss Potts." Helen greeted the couple professionally which slipped once she saw the curious Peter looking around his surroundings before his eyes settled on her. " Oh, my... he is adorable," Tony smirked at the comment and nodded his head kissing Peters nose. "Well JARVIS told me he is teething so I am quickly going to check for infections and give him his vaccination then he is good to go." Helen pointed at the small bed where Pepper set Peter down making him sit, supporting his back. Tony stayed clear so the Dr. could work and his face pinched when he saw tears in Peter's eyes when Helen checked his ears and he almost snapped when Peter let out a wail and tried to move out of the doctors reach.
"I am sorry sweety," whispered as he wiped the skin with antiseptic before giving him the vaccination making Peter shriek and cry and almost crush Tony's heart. He gave Pepper a look and moved to pick him up shushing his baby, rubbing his back and rocking him a little while Pepper talked to the doctor.
"So I have prescribed him a medicine for cold and for the pain while he teethes. You could give him a chewing toy to sooth the pain and try to only give him cold food, soft not too solid or fluids." She wrote on a piece of paper and handed it to Pepper who nodded and thanked her, looking at Tony who was wiping the tears of his son's face and whispering soothingly at him. He nodded at the doctor and leads towards the elevator, leaning against it and taking deep breaths, still rubbing Peter's back.
"That... that was hard." Pepper whispered and Tony nodded in agreement. He hated to see Peter cry. His phone blared in his pocket and he almost cursed when Peter whines and quickly takes it out to see Rhodes name making him glare at the screen. 'Almost there anyways.' He puts the phone back in his pocket and bounces the distressed baby, "Its alright sweety. Daddy got you."
When the elevator opens and Tony steps out he feels his heart jump out of his chest and vaguely remembers a 'shit' come from Pepper. His team was right in front of him and he meant all of them, even Sam, Wanda. He saw Rhodes look at him in slight fear and surprise.
He saw Clint and Natasha look at Peter who was looking at the new people in the room with curiosity and saw Steve Bruce and Thor just stand as still as a statue.
"Hey guys." He finally managed to say, catching the attention of everyone in the room. 'shit'
