In this fic Evelyn is 3, Elijah & Henry are 10 months old and Jacob is three months old
When Jacob was three months old Pepper was called away for business, she'd avoided it as long as possible but ultimately it was something she had to do. Leaving her son in Tony's 'capable' hands, she made sure Clint and Natasha were there to lend a hand if (and when) it was required.
Clint walked onto the communal floor with Evie skipping behind him. He walked over to where Jacob lay on the changing mat; Tony stood beside him looking rather proud of himself.
"Don't you see what's wrong here?" Clint asked him
"What? That is perfect"
"Uncle Tony..." Evie began, but didn't tell him the obvious when her Dad shook his head; he wanted to see how long it would take him to figure it out
"Does anyone see whats wrong here?" Clint asked Steve, Bruce and Thor; holding the baby up
"Is that a trick question?" Steve asked over his cereal
"The diaper does seem secure" Thor added, making enough pop tarts to feed the whole team
Evie went to steal one from his overflowing plate. The large man winked at his niece; he would never let anyone else steal a pop tart from him but her; his beloved niece
Natasha entered the floor, one little boy in each arm as they chatted on in their baby talk that no one understood other than themselves.
"Clint, why does Jacob have his diaper on backwards?"
The four other men on the floor suddenly clicked
"Don't tell Pepper" Tony muttered to Clint, as he took his son back and quickly started fixing his mistake
XXX
Later that night Natasha's phone started ringing
"What do you want Stark?"
"Wow, someone's grouchy"
"Stark it is 2am. What do you want?"
"Please can you come help me?"
"Help you with what exactly?"
"Jacob. He won't go to sleep!"
"Gimme a minute"
"You don't have to get dressed on my account" he told her, his cheeky tone coming through loud and clear on the phone
"You know I don't have to help you Stark"
"Right. Sorry Natasha"
XXX
She went up to Tony's floor, wishing he'd paid more attention to what Pepper had been doing with their son over the first three months of his life, but then Clint was pretty useless with diapers and sleeping routines until Evie was one...
"Right Stark. What's the matter?"
"Jacob; he just won't go to sleep"
"Did you feed him?"
"Of course I fed him"
"When?"
"Before I put him to bed"
"Which was when?"
"Around 8"
"Tony, he wants feeding"
"Again?!"
"Yes again, where have you been the last three months?" Natasha asked sleepily, getting out a bottle to heat up for her nephew
She fed Jacob, before resettling him in his crib, turning to say goodnight to Tony she found him already asleep on the sofa.
XXX
A few days later; Natasha felt like she was spending more time looking after her nephew than she was her own kids
"Right Tony, you need to learn this stuff for yourself"
"I am learning"
"No, me and Clint are doing it all for you, mostly me. What are you going to do if you and Pepper have another baby?"
"Oh I seriously doubt that"
Natasha raised her eyebrows at him, she was sure they'd end up with at least one more child, just as she was sure her and Clint would have at least one more; as much as she insisted the twins were her last she knew Clint would win out.
"Never once in my life did I think i'd be receiving parenting tips from the Black Widow" Tony said with a smirk
XXX
"Tasha! Tasha please can you come back up here?"
"Tony, what do you want now?"
"Jacob is ill"
Natasha passed her own son over to Clint who already had Evie and Elijah snuggled up on his knee watching The Incredibles;
"I'll be right back" she told her husband with a sigh
Reaching Tony's floor she found him sat on the floor in the bathroom surrounded by medicine bottles
"You know Jacob is too young for any of this" Natasha asked him cautiously, picking up a bottle of asprin
"Well I know that now!" he told her sounding rather exasperated, having read the information on each and every one of the 23 medicine bottles in his and Pepper's bathroom cabinet
"Whats wrong with him?"
"He won't take his bottle and he's hot"
"How hot?"
"I don't know!" Tony said, he was starting to panic and when he panicked he didn't think straight
"Come on Tony" she said, helping him up and leading him down to Bruce's lab. Tony had built a small medical bay into Bruce's lab for minor injuries; it had also been stocked with medications suitable for children since Evie was born.
Bruce saw them approaching and got up from his work;
"What'd you do now Tony?"
"Shut it Banner"
Wow, he was worried; he only ever called him by his surname when he was really worried
"Bruce, can you take Jacob's temperature please?" Natasha asked, much more politely than Tony
"He's fine Tony, he's a little warm at 101; give him a tepid bath and put him down to sleep. Hopefully a bit of rest and he'll have his appetite back soon"
"Thanks Bruce. Thanks Tasha"
"You're okay now?" Natasha asked
He nodded, grateful he had his friends to rely on, praying Pepper would be home soon.
XXX
Pepper arrived back again the following morning; she picked Jacob up from his crib and gave him his bottle. His fever was completely gone by now. Natasha had snuck up to Tony's floor in the middle of the night to check on Jacob, and so had Bruce. Tony had been up several times as well; too worried to sleep. Now however, he was flat out on the rocking chair in Jacob's nursery.
Pepper woke him gently, intending to send him back to bed
"Pepper?" he asked quietly, slowing stirring and causing the rocking chair to tilt dramatically; that woke Tony suddenly enough
"What is it Tony?" she asked, trying to stifle a laugh
"Never leave us again!" he begged