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When he woke up, Tony knew it was not going to be a good day. His legs were sore and didn’t want to move. Plus, it was a month since he had moved in, it was about time he got shifted on to the next place. He knew his social worker was coming to visit today, it was the perfect time for Phil and Clint to say that it just wasn’t working out, that Tony was too much work, or (Tony’s personal favorite) they were having a baby and just needed to focus on their real family. Whatever the reason, Tony had stayed up late packing – which was also why he was so tired and sore.
When he finally managed to get himself sitting up, Tony just stared at his feet for a minute, wondering if he should just buck up at use the wheelchair in the corner of the room. He hated the wheelchair even if it was easier and less exhausting than his crutches and got him made fun of less than using his cane. The problem with the wheelchair was that it didn’t fit in the bathroom, so it was pointless to use in the house.
“Alright, let’s do this,” sighed Tony to himself, hoisting himself up with his crutches, biting back a moan as his legs protested.
He finished his morning business and then crutched into the kitchen to get breakfast. By the time he got there his socks had fallen down below his braces and rubbed his already raw shins, making them start to ooze blood.
“Stupid socks,” muttered Tony, reaching down and unhooking his braces, sliding them off to try and fix his socks properly.
“Ouch, that looks like it hurts,” said Phil, entering the kitchen with a full mug of coffee. “Here, I’ll get you the first aid kit and get you fixed up. Maybe you should use your chair today, give your legs a rest from the braces.”
“No thanks, the chair is kinda big,” said Tony as calmly as he could. “And it doesn’t fit in the bathroom, so that’s a bit awkward.”
“Hm, I’ll talk to Clint and see what we can do about making the bathroom bigger,” said Phil, sitting on the floor and starting to clean the wounds on Tony’s legs. “We’ve been talking about redoing that bathroom for years, might as well do it now.”
“No point if I’m leaving soon,” muttered Tony.
Phil didn’t say anything. He knew that Tony was afraid of being moved again and they were meeting with his case worker today, so he was just going to let Tony see that he was staying since no amount of words would change anything. Instead, he finished cleaning and bandaging Tony’s legs and then stood up.
The cereal was already on the table, a habit they had gotten into after the first morning when Tony had dropped his entire bowl on the floor trying to carry it from the counter to the table. Phil added the milk to the table and continued on with making his own toast. Tony helped himself to a bowl and ate in silence, still thinking about his meeting. Maria usually liked to visit him in the mornings so if he had to move she could have all day to take him to his new home, which also meant she took him out to get burgers because she knew he liked them. Maria was pretty cool for a lady.
Phil deposited the wheelchair next to Tony but didn’t move the crutches, giving Tony the option, for which Tony was grateful. He levered himself into the wheelchair when he was finished and took himself to the living room, where he got on the couch and stretched out so his legs could not be bent for a bit. Bucky was already out with friends and Steve slept late on the weekends.
The doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it!” called Clint.
“It should be Maria, just show her into the living room,” Phil yelled back.
Tony sat up with a groan and tried to make himself look presentable. Luckily Maria never expected him to get up to greet her, which would have been impossible today.
“Good morning, Tony,” said Maria almost thirty minutes later. “Clint and Phil said you’ve been doing well and haven’t had any problems in school. Has anything come up since my last visit?”
“Nope,” said Tony. “So like, should I get my bag now or do we have to have an entire talk about why I’m leaving?”
“Do you want to go?” said Maria, looking surprised.
“I mean, I don’t really get a choice do I? If they’re all done having me then I have to go.”
“I mean, I did just talk to Phil about his plans to expand the bathroom to better accommodate your chair,” said Maria. “But they have two other bathrooms, so you don’t need a place to stay while that happens."
“Yeah, but, don’t they want me to go?” asked Tony, confused.
“Go? Tony, Phil and Clint don’t want you to go,” said Maria, sounding equally as shocked. “The reason we were talking for so long was because they were wondering if this was the best house for you or if they needed to move. Not if you needed to move, if they needed to get a different house for all of you to move into so you could get around easier. Honey, these people adore you. They’re willing to uproot themselves for you, they are doing everything in their power to make sure you get to stay with them for a long time.”
Tony blinked at her, not really sure what he was hearing.
Phil and Clint came in with a tray of mugs, coffee for the adults and hot chocolate for Tony.
“You guys are thinking about getting a new house?” said Tony, shocked.
“We’re exploring the option, yes,” said Phil. “We could expand the bathroom but we also thought if there was a house on the market that would have a more open layout it would be better. We’re exploring the options for what’s best for everyone in this family. And yes, that includes you.”
Tony blinked at them, tears welling up in his eyes and he wasn’t even sure why. Maybe they really did want to keep him. If he thought about it, no other family he had been with had welcomed him in quite so warmly. Bucky and Steve always hung out with him, even though he was so much younger, Clint had started dropping them off and picking them up from school so Tony wouldn’t have to deal with the bus steps, and Phil always helped him with his homework, even though Tony didn’t like to ask for help, he just sat down and helped anyway.
“I’ll be back for another visit soon,” said Maria with a smile. “Phil, Clint, keep me updated on what you decided about getting a new house or expanding on this one.”
“Will do, I’ll walk you out,” said Clint with his big grin.
When they were out of the room, Phil moved to sit next to Tony on the couch.
“Do you really mean to keep me for longer?” asked Tony softly, for once sounding all of his eight years.
“We mean to keep you for forever if you’ll let us,” said Phil just as softly. “Promise.”