Hey all

Sorry I didn't get this up yesterday. My mum had a fall and broke her arm so a lot of my time has been spent there helping out.

8. Night Feed

Tony woke slowly, drowsily, which was unexpected as each wakening for the past four weeks had come at the hands of his screaming daughter demanding attention. It felt strange to wake slowly, peacefully, and the absence of Morgan's bawling made him feel uneasy.

Worried he'd slept through it and left Pepper to deal with her, he rolled over and found Pepper sleeping soundly beside him.

Thinking perhaps Morgan had decided to stop her parental sleep embargo, he looked up and said, "Fri, is Morgan sleeping?"

His question woke Pepper, who snapped upright as if in response to Morgan's screams, tilted her head to the side, and frowned. "Uh, what's going on?"

"Miss Morgan is awake," Friday reported.

Pepper raked a hand over her face. "She's awake? And she's not screaming? No, I've got to be dreaming. This can't be real. Tony, you told me it'd be this way for another month. What's going on?"

Tony shook his head, and then an idea occurred to him, and he huffed a laugh. "Fri, is she alone?"

"No, boss. She's enjoying her breakfast."

Pepper's eyes widened, and she jumped out of bed. Tony quickly leaned forward and caught her arm. "It's okay," he said. "It's fine. She's with Pete."

Pepper turned back and frowned. "Friday, is Peter with her?"

She didn't look appeased until Friday replied, "Yes, Mrs. Stark. Peter arrived thirty minutes ago and was able to tend to Morgan when she woke."

Pepper breathed a sigh of relief, hand on her chest, and said, "Wow. Okay, that was a little scary."

Tony chuckled. "I told you about this. She used to sneak into his bedroom all the time in 2023. Obviously, Peter's now returning the favor. And letting us get some sleep." He pulled her hand towards her and kissed her palm. "She's fine."

Pepper nodded. "I know. And we should probably get some more sleep if he's taking a turn, but…"

"You want to see the kids?" Tony asked.

She smiled. "I do."

Tony swung his legs around the bed and pull on a t-shirt on. Pepper pulled on a robe and tied it around her waist, and they walked together, hand in hand, to the nursery where they found Peter sitting on the rocking chair, Morgan cradled in his arms and suckling a bottle with single-minded determination.

"Oh no, I woke you?" Peter said, looking up at them. "I wanted you to get some rest."

"No, for the first time in four weeks, we woke up without a screaming baby," Tony said.

Peter grinned. "Yeah, she's got some real impressive lungs on her, hasn't she? I got here early, and she was working up to a scream when she woke up, but I got her out of the crib, and she settled with a few butterfly tricks."

"Butterfly tricks," Tony laughed, pleased as a piece of his past and future slipped into place.

Peter nodded, and propping the bottle with one thumb, he flicked his fingers, and yellow butterflies fluttered out and surrounded Tony and Pepper. With a pop, Morgan pulled away from the bottle, and her eyes followed their path.

"Yep," Pepper said. "That'll do it."

Peter smiled. "Good morning."

"Good morning, honey," she said, rushing forward to kiss his cheek and then Morgan's. "How are you?"

"I'm great," Peter said cheerfully. "Mo was happy with butterflies and a diaper change, but then she got hungry. I obviously don't have the required assets to feed her—"

"You mean Pepper's breasts?" Tony asked with a smirk.

Peter scowled at him. "Yeah, thanks for making it weird, Dad. But I found some bottles in the fridge that I figured was your… you know."

"Breast milk?" Tony asked. "Freshly pumped?"

Peter's cheeks flushed, and Pepper turned and glared at him. "When you've quite finished embarrassing our son…"

Tony held up his hands. "Sorry, Pete. I'm done. Thanks for taking care of Morgan for us. Yeah, the night feeds followed by the day screams are kinda wearing us down. I forgot how hard it was. She's work as a five-year-old—"

Peter huffed a laugh. "No kidding."

Tony smiled fondly. "But the first months with her were an even bigger challenge."

As if in answer, Morgan began to whine, and Peter quickly created a new flutter of butterflies to surround her and tapped her bottom lip with the teat of the bottle. She opened her mouth and began to suck again, her eyes watching the butterflies which swooped around her.

"I can do more for you," Peter said. "I figured I'd come on weekends so you still had plenty of time to be a family without me."

"Peter," Pepper said softly. "You are our family."

Peter shot her a soft smile, his eyes shining with love. "I know that, I do, but I meant time with just the three of you. It's not like she's missing out with me only here for weekends as she's too young to understand, and I want you to have all the time you need with her. But I can totally take a few night shifts."

"When will you sleep?" Tony asked.

Peter shrugged, making Morgan squeak a protest, and he apologized and settled her again.

"I'll sleep," he said. "I have Monday to Friday to sleep between times with the others and going back to the compound. I'll make time."

"You don't need to do that, honey," Pepper said. "We love that you're offering, but we don't want you burning out taking care of us and everyone else. You need rest, too."

"And I'll get it," Peter said. "There's a way I can… tune in?" He tilted his head to the side and nodded. "Yeah, tune in to Morgan and you guys with Soul. I'll know when you need me, and I can come. Really, I'm not going to burn out with the Stones. Besides, I spent a whole year in my own head with them and occasional visits with BARF, and then watching. Now I'm up and about, and here, I'm going to make the most of it."

Pepper looked at Tony, her eyebrows raised in an inquiry, and he nodded. Peter could do this. They'd keep an eye on him, and he'd make sure Steve and the others at the compound did, too, so if Peter looked like he was getting run down, they'd step in.

Not only would it be good for him and Pepper to get some real, uninterrupted sleep for a change, but it would also be good for Peter and Morgan to spend time together. Though Morgan was nowhere near old enough to articulate her needs yet, it wouldn't be long until she was old enough to request Peter's presence more than just on weekends. Tony knew that for a fact as he'd experienced it in the future with his daughter's demands for Peter when he was away or otherwise incapacitated.

"I think that's a great idea, Pete," he said. "And we're both very grateful."

Peter beamed and looked down at Morgan, who was slurping the last of her milk and staring up at him. "Hear that, Mo? We get to hang out while you're being a night owl, and your Mommy and Dad can get some proper sleep."

In response, Morgan pulled away from the empty bottle and pawed her hands at him.

"You got some gas?" Peter asked. "Let's do something about that."

With practiced movements, he draped a cloth over his shoulder, positioned Morgan against him, and began to gently rub and pat her back.

"How do you know how to do that?" Pepper asked. "I don't think I've ever seen you burp her before."

Peter smiled over at her. "I spent months watching you guys with her when I couldn't be here properly. Sure, I've not had much practice, but I've seen enough burping and diaper changes to know what I'm doing."

Tony smiled, imagining how that must have split Peter's feelings. He would have loved to see Morgan grow, Tony knew, but he couldn't interact at all, which had to have hurt. He was an unseen observer to Morgan's life before, but now he had an active part in it.

Morgan let out a loud burp and spit up on the cloth. Peter lowered her and dabbed at her mouth, then said, "Wow, I bet that feels better. What do you say, Mo? Shall we do some more butterflies while Mom and Dad take a shower, and then we can make them breakfast?"

Morgan seemed to be listening intently to him, her tongue peeking out between her lips and her eyes focused, and Pepper said, "That sounds heavenly, honey, but you don't have to make breakfast. Your dad can take the first shower, then he can cook while I take mine. You and Morgan can keep me company."

"Sure, I've got my orders," Tony said, though he was smiling. "What do you want for breakfast? We've got all that sugary cereal crap you like, Pete, or I can do waffles."

"Ooh, waffles," Peter said.

Tony crossed the room to give Peter a swift hug and tousle of his hair, to kiss Morgan's cheek, and then he strolled out of the room headed to the shower, listening to Pepper asking Peter about their friends in the Soul Plane drifting away as he got further from them.

He was perfectly content, and well-rested for a change. He had a bright day with his family ahead of him, and he was looking forward to it.

Not for the first time, he sent silent thanks to the universe for allowing this to happen, for his son to be with them for these years of Morgan's life, and he sent a plea that it would not end in 2023.

If he could have one wish in life, it would be that his family would be together past that battle.

So… A little fluff. We've got a lot of family bonding now Morgan is here, but we've also got some time spent at the compound coming, too.

Until next time…

Jadey xxx