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As much as Tony loved the city, even he could admit that escaping the bustling streets and a demanding work life was needed every once in a while.
Now that he had Peter, a weekend away sounded perfect for the both of them. His adopted son had never really been on a little vacation before as his family could never afford it, so with May’s blessing, Tony was looking forward to taking his kid to the luxurious villa he had bought beside the sea.
The building was a similar architecture to his mansion in Malibu, only this home was a few minutes from the beach and was about a three hour drive away from the city.
A couple of days beforehand, Tony fast tracked orders for equipment and some new toys for Peter. He hoped the boy would settle there and see the place as another home alongside their shared floor at the Tower and May’s apartment.
Essential items for the Little headspace included a crib, changing table, high chair, bibs, powder and cream and a rocking chair and the billionaire hoped that his kid would be relaxed enough to settle.
On the Friday afternoon, Happy picked the teen up from school and drove them back to the Tower to meet up with the others and finish packing their bags.
The Starks would be joined on their small vacation by Steve, Bucky, Bruce, Sam and Nat. Clint and his family were driving there on Saturday morning. There was plenty of space in the villa for all of them and everyone was looking forward to their time away from regular duties.
When Peter and Happy arrived on the right floor, the elevator doors opened and the teenager beamed when he spotted his father hauling a couple of bags and placing them next to the sofa to be moved down to the car.
“Hey, Petey,” Tony greeted warmly, opening his arms for a welcome hug, which his kid didn’t hesitate to run into.
“Hi, Daddy,” Peter spoke sweetly, clearly very ready to drop after his long week at school. He couldn’t wait for their little vacation, especially because his honorary second aunt and uncles would be there too.
“You wanna go grab your going away bag for me?” Tony asked, pulling back and sweeping a hand through his son’s fluffy curls; Peter nodding eagerly. “Good boy, off you hop.”
Tony had already packed most of his son’s items for him, letting the boy decide which stuffie he wanted to bring and any other toys which he took a special liking to in the moment of deciding.
Once they were all ready to go, they took the elevator down and met the others in the garage where a couple of shiny black Audi e-trons were parked. Happy opened the boot and began packing their bags away, whilst the Avengers decided on where they all wanted to sit.
“Hey, little spider,” Nat greeted, her own affectionate nickname for her pseudo nephew sticking like glue ever since she murmured it after first encountering a crying Peter firmly set in his Little headspace.
“Hi Natty,” Peter giggled, melting into her embrace.
“Hey, kiddo,” Bruce said, clapping him on the back warmly. “You’ve gotta help us here with a very important question, cause I’m not sitting next to this guy for three hours of war stories.” He gestured towards Steve, who was too busy setting the sat nav up to notice.
“That makes two of us!” Sam chimed in, reaching over to ruffle the kid’s unruly hair.
They were just playing around of course, but they had a strong fondness for the youngest member of their team and loved to dote on him whenever they found the chance. It was worth it to see his shining smile.
“Is it even a question? Of course he wants Nat,” Bucky pointed out, smirking at the group from where he was packing the last of their bags in the opposite car.
Black Widow and Spider-Man: no body could compete with that and Natasha just happened to be really good with Peter too, no matter what headspace he was in.
“Ahh fair enough, bud,” Bruce said, smiling at the bashful look on the teen’s face.
“Seya at the first stop off, kid,” Sam added and the group separated into the two cars.
Tony went about settling his son into his car seat, which he had specially designed himself. It was black with red trimmings and a small Spider-Man figure swinging from a web was stitched into the fabric at the head.
Peter usually kicked up a fuss at being strapped in, but his kid was too excited about the upcoming trip to linger on bad thoughts and he remained compliant as he was fastened in.
“You wearing a pull-up, buddy?” Tony murmured as he made the last click with the fasteners. Natasha and Happy had both witnessed Peter in his headspace several times, but the teen could be quite shy about his classification and definitely wouldn’t appreciate his business being announced to everyone.
Peter blushed, gaze fixed on his fidgeting hands as he fiddled with the booster seat straps. He nodded mutely.
“Nothing to be ashamed of, Pete,” his father reassured, stroking his hair back and leaning in to kiss his cheek. His son loved receiving plenty of hugs and kisses on a daily basis, so he wasn’t surprised when the unpleasant frown which didn’t suit his youthful features, transformed into a small smile.
Tony walked round the back of the car and climbed into the middle seat, with Natasha sitting beside him and Happy in the front. They were the first car to pull out and the group were soon travelling on the highway out of the city.
About thirty minutes passed by when Peter strained against the seat straps for his backpack on the floor between his feet. Tony helped him by taking out his flask full of milk, as well as the Iron Man stuffed toy his son had packed and handed both to him.
Peter smiled in appreciation and immediately began drinking the contents of the bottle, his other hand clutching the teddy close and stroking the soft fur every now and again.
It wasn’t long after that, with a belly full of soothing milk and a drowsy head, that Peter was ready to take a nap. His Dad had been observing him and smiled knowingly when his boy yawned and gazed at him with tired eyes.
“Gonna take a nap, baby?” Tony asked quietly, tenderly stroking a lock of hair away from his son’s fore-head.
Peter nodded and his eyes drifted shut, cuddling his stuffie close. A few moments later, his father reached into the front pocket of the backpack for the Iron Man pacifier, after noticing Peter’s lips moving in a sucking motion. He gently pushed the soother into his son’s mouth, satisfied when it began bobbing rhythmically.
Tony doted over him a little more by pulling out his kid’s soft blue baby blanket and draping it over him, tucking it around his body to keep him warm. Peter snuffled a bit in his sleep, but didn’t stir.
They drove in a comfortable silence for the next hour, only speaking in whispers to avoid waking the baby. When Tony detected the recognisable waking snuffles beside him, he indicated to Happy to pull over at the nearest gas station.
He was pleased with his decision as Peter clearly wasn’t at his best when he blearily opened his eyes, shifting restlessly in the car seat and whimpering behind his pacifier. He needed changing and if they didn’t get to a restroom soon, they were bound to have a very unhappy boy on their hands.
Peter weakly lifted his arms towards his father, his little mewls of discomfort intensifying as he began to cry.
“Hey, kiddo. Shh, I know, I know,” Tony soothed, wiping at the steady flow of tears on his son’s cheeks. “We’ll get you out and changed in a little while, okay?”
His poor boy was too far gone to really understand the reassurance and he only continued to sob in the most heart-breaking way.
It was difficult to comfort him in their current positions, but Peter had the best Caregivers around him; his father stroked his hair with warm coarse hand and Natasha reached across the space to hold her pseudo nephew’s hand and murmured kind words to him.
Peter calmed somewhat under the loving care and it was enough to get them through the next five minutes as they finally arrived at their first stop. Natasha was quick to climb out the car to let her friend out and allow him to tend to his son.
Happy had taken them to a quiet gas station where there would be no prying eyes on the crying Little. Tony didn’t waste any time in unbuckling his distressed baby from the seat and scooping him up into his waiting arms, cuddling him close and rocking him gently.
It was no wonder Peter was so upset as the distinct squish of a heavily saturated pull up against the man’s arm was more than enough justification for his tears.
“Shhh, baby, we’re gonna get you all cleaned up now,” Tony promised, not sparing the others a second glance as he was the first to enter the store to locate the parent and child room.
Peter was still crying as his father locked the door and set down the changing table, before carefully laying him on it.
“I know, honey. We’ll get this icky pull up off you,” Tony spoke softly, leaning down to quickly kiss his son’s flushed cheek and then worked the boy’s pants and underwear off.
He rummaged in the diaper bag Happy had passed to him outside for some wipes and efficiently cleaned his kid up down there; finally taping a new fresh diaper on him. He sprinkled on some baby powder specially made for Littles and completed the change.
Peter had quietened considerably during the process, big puppy dog eyes welled with tears but no longer falling in huge amounts. He sniffled as he passively watched his Daddy, fingers reaching up to push aside his pacifier so he could chew on them as well.
Tony smiled at his sweet boy, heart aching with so much unconditional love. “There we go. All better now, my little Spider-Baby,” he murmured affectionately, leaning down to rub his nose with Peter’s which earned him plenty of cute giggles in the process.
Peter removed his fingers from his mouth and sloppily poked the man’s cheek. “Dada,” he spoke his first word since waking and his tone held all the love he had for the billionaire above him.
“There he is.”
Tony, who was too far gone to be disgusted with the slobbery fingers against him, took his son’s hand and placed a kiss on top. He would never get tired of hearing this precious boy address him like this. It never failed to melt him inside and make him want to wrap his baby up and protect him from all the bad things in the world.
Tony lifted his son and indulged in another quick cuddle, before making his way out to meet the others.
Both Bruce and Sam were happily munching on hot dogs with plenty of mustard and ketchup on apiece, whilst Steve and Bucky were snacking on their own bags of potato chips. Natasha was just finishing an apple when she saw father and son return, smiling at the visibly calm and content baby in his Daddy’s arms.
“How is he?” She asked, smoothing a hand down the boy’s back when they approached her.
“He’s fine, nothing a quick change couldn’t fix,” Tony chuckled. “Hey, cutie, Auntie Nat wants to see you,” he directed at the curly head that was still nestled in his broad shoulder.
Peter peeked out from his favourite hiding place and beamed at her. “Natty!”
“Hi, sweetheart,” she cooed, stroking his soft cheek with her finger. “You being a good boy for your Daddy?” She tickled his neck playfully and he squealed, laughing brightly at his silly Aunty.
He babbled noncoherently back, always happy to be in the warm doting presence of his Aunty Natty.
Happy soon joined them after making his own trip to the men’s toilets, brandishing a colourful bag of cookies. He figured his honorary nephew deserved the sweet treat for being so good.
“Hey, buddy. Fancy a cookie?” He addressed the boy, taking one out and breaking it into smaller pieces to avoid a choking hazard.
Peter’s eyes lit up and he looked to his Daddy for permission, who smiled and gently pulled the pacifier out of his mouth. Happy fed the boy little bites until it was all gone and he shared the rest with the others.
Soon, the team were bundling into their separate cars and hitting the road once again. Peter was content holding his stuffie and taking another nap once he was strapped into his car seat. Both Tony and Nat weren’t far behind after that.
…
It was dark by the time they reached their destination and all were quite restless to get unpacked and in nice, new beds for the night.
Peter was dozing, but he was shifting in his seat slightly at the uncomfortable wetness underneath him. He was complaint as his father unclipped him from the seat and carried him to the garage lift.
The interior of the villa was modern and elegant, basically a carbon copy of the Malibu mansion, with the main living area and several bedrooms along with a swimming pool and FRIDAY was programmed throughout the building.
Tony gently hushed Peter when he began to weep tears he had clearly been doing a fine job at holding back before in the car. He pushed his wet face into his Daddy’s neck and wailed in distress at the awful damp feeling around his crotch.
“Shh, I know, baby, I know,” Tony murmured, rocking him the best he could as he walked towards the designated nursery.
He lay his son on the changing table and was saddened that he couldn’t do much about the boy’s tears as he had neglected to bring the bag which contained his stuffie in with them from the car.
He couldn’t stand it when Peter cried, it was like every distressed sound tore at his heart more and more. He tugged his son’s pants off and worked on removing the soiled diaper, wincing when the boy’s sobs increased at the cold air against his private regions.
“Shh, it’s okay, baby, it’s okay. Daddy’s here,” his father soothed, leaning over to kiss the flushed cheek, before rummaging through the drawers for a clean diaper and powder.
Tony was quick to complete the change and he suspected that Peter’s continued crying was simply tiredness, despite the on and off naps during the journey. He never was good with long journeys anyway, even before the billionaire knew he was a Little.
Peter clung to him when the man brought the kid up to hold and comfort him, snivelling and whimpering into his neck.
Tony knew exactly what would calm the boy and he didn’t waste any time in taking them back to the kitchen to prepare the formula. He couldn’t be more grateful when Happy made an appearance, dropping the bags by the elevator and taking one look at the two, before moving over to help his best friend and give him the space to comfort the boy.
Tony smiled his thanks whilst subconsciously rocking Peter, nuzzling into his baby soft curls and whispering sweet nothings in his ear as Happy prepared his milk. It was truly heart-warming to see his boss embodying such a doting paternal role so flawlessly and the way Peter put so much unconditional trust in his Caregiver.
The boy was gazing at Tony as if he could do nothing wrong, sticking a couple of fingers in his mouth and sucking innocently as he listened intently to his Daddy’s words. The older man pulled the sleeve of his shirt down over his hand to tend to his son’s tear stained cheeks, thankful that he seemed to have calmed down considerably now.
After a few minutes of waiting for the bottle to heat up, Happy took it from the steamer and tested the temperature by dropping a little on the inside of his wrist. “Yep, all good to go, Boss.”
“Thanks, Happy. I’m going to let him sleep in my room, so will get him down for the night and be out to unpack in about ten,” Tony said, taking his kid back to the room he had chosen as his own, just beside the nursery.
As he made his way down the corridor, he heard the familiar voices of Steve and Bucky as the others finally finished gathering their bags and locking everything up.
“Turn on bedside light, FRI,” Tony requested as he walked into his bedroom, sitting in the beige rocking chair and settling his son comfortably in his lap.
“That’s it, buddy,” the man praised when Peter began drinking enthusiastically. “Have as much as you want and then night nights for you, kiddo.”
Peter cooed back, causing a bit of milk to dribble down his chin and his father mopped it away with the thumb on his free hand.
He wasn’t surprised that his kid drank the whole bottle since he hadn’t had a proper meal since lunch at school and the cookie Happy gave him, but it had the desired effect of making him drowsy.
Tony raised his son’s head to prop him up against his shoulder and burp him, then carried him to the changing table to quickly change him into a soft onesie, before beginning to rock them and hopefully coax Peter into accepting his body’s need to sleep.
It didn’t take much, just the continuing rocking motion and the quiet humming of ‘You Are My Sunshine’ and the teen was out like a light.
His father carried him over to the bassinet on the floor beside the king sized bed and placed him in. There was an Avengers themed mobile attached to it and Tony only just realised what was missing when Natasha tiptoed in, holding Peter’s beloved Iron Man stuffie and matching pacifier.
She smiled conspiratorially, gaze drifting to the sleeping baby with one arm raised above his head and the thumb of his other hand lodged firmly in his mouth. She carefully replaced the thumb with the pacifier and settled the toy next to his head.
Tony smiled. Peter certainly had the best extended family around him.
…
The night was peaceful and uneventful all the way up until six o’clock in the morning, which was Peter’s usual feeding time.
He woke up in blissful comfort, stretching the stiffness from his arms and legs and sucking lazily on the pacifier in his mouth, wondering idly how it had gotten there.
There was soft golden sunshine escaping through the small gap underneath the window blind and the room was a perfect temperature because of it.
The boy lay there quite pleasantly until he felt a rumble in his tummy and he suddenly realised how hungry he was. He wriggled in his cocoon of blankets, but the pain in his belly didn’t go away and a high pitched whine escaped him before he could stop it.
There was movement from above him and a very familiar figure came into view, crouching down beside the bassinet and reaching over to stroke the hair back that had stuck to Peter’s fore-head.
“Morning, sunshine. Let’s get this belly all nice and full, hm?” His Daddy murmured, smoothing his hand over the boy’s stomach. It felt nice and distracted him from the hunger ache.
“Daaaa,” he drawled out, clumsily reaching his hands up to pat at his father’s cheeks in greeting.
“Yeah, Spider-Baby, I’m all yours,” Tony chuckled, catching one of his son’s hand to kiss his palm, before gently lifting him to head for the kitchen.
The elder Stark could never predict where his kid’s headspace would be every day and he found that it was usually best to assume the youngest of under one year old just to be on the safe side.
One time he had put Peter to bed in the double bed in his normal bedroom, only to get an alert half way through the night that the poor boy had toppled out having dropped in his sleep and with there being no crib bars there…
It was safe to say that Tony took extra precautions now and it was better to have his son in a bassinet beside him in a new, unfamiliar place, so he wouldn’t be very far away when he woke.
The billionaire let Peter doze on his shoulder as he prepared the milk. It was too early for anyone else to be up and about yet, so the whole villa was quiet as they moved back to the bedrooms.
Tony made himself comfortable against the headboard to feed his son and then burp him, before settling them down underneath the covers.
“Come on, baby, let’s go back to sleep for a little bit,” he spoke gently, wrapping his arms around his boy and rubbing his nose against Peter’s in their own private game. He cherished the sweet sound of his little one’s giggles at the gesture, as well as the way Peter instantly cuddled close and nuzzled his cherub face into his chest.
When Tony woke next, the sun was brighter and his own stomach was rumbling in need of breakfast. He rubbed the lingering sleep from his eyes and sat up, fumbling to feel Peter beside him and was surprised to find a knee instead of a shoulder.
His kid was also sitting up, perfectly mobile, playing Animal Crossing on his Nintendo Switch. “Hey,” Peter greeted quietly.
Tony cleared his throat, rubbing comforting circles on the teen’s knee. “Hey, buddy. Feeling big?”
“Yeah, I woke up about twenty minutes ago. I got changed,” Peter said, face twisting in disgust as he recalled the wet diaper he’d had to dispose of.
He wasn’t in the onesie his father had clothed him in last night and had dressed himself in some cargo shorts and a navy t shirt with a nerdy science pun on it.
Tony chuckled. “Looking good, kiddo. Fancy some breakfast?”
“Sure.”
Peter went ahead first to the kitchen, whilst his Dad got dressed into some red and orange swimming trunks and a plain black t shirt.
When he wandered towards the kitchen, he heard familiar voices coming from a few metres away. Bruce and Natasha were cooking up several helpings of pancakes with bacon and blueberries, whilst Steve, Sam and Bucky were already tucking in to their own portions.
Peter was laughing at a joke Nat had just shared with him, whilst taking his own plate of pancakes and one for his Dad, turning and grinning brightly at the man.
“Feels great to be having actual solids again,” the teen quipped, tucking in by starting with a big bite which barely sat on his fork.
“Careful, Spider-Baby, you don’t wanna choke,” Sam warned lightly.
“Let the kid enjoy his freedom,” Bucky said, squirting plenty of whipped cream on his own pancakes.
“Fancy a swim once we’ve let all this settle, Peter?” Steve suggested, eating a much more sensible portion compared to the others.
“Definitely!”
“When are Clint and his family arriving?” Bruce asked from the stove.
“Around eleven, or something close to that anyway,” Tony said, taking a swig of black coffee and pouring some orange juice for Peter.
They didn’t want to go swimming in the pool or at the beach on full stomachs, so the group branched off to entertain themselves for the next couple of hours whilst they waited for their final members to arrive.
“Dad, can I go with the others to the shops?” Peter asked, slipping on his sandals by the sofa.
“Of course you can, Pete. As long as you’re definitely feeling up to it though?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. I mean, I don’t really feel fifteen, but not…you know…” He trailed off, blushing slightly.
Peter’s tendency to regress to under a year old meant that he barely remembered the times when he was fully in his headspace, only being able to recall some images and feelings.
He also found it slightly embarrassing to speak openly about his regressions, even after his father assured him that it was completely normal and he shouldn’t ever feel ashamed about his classification.
“It’s alright, buddy,” Tony reassured, pulling him into a warm hug and kissing the side of his head. “Stick close to Aunty Natty, okay?” He whispered in his ear.
Peter nodded and before he left with the others, Tony ensured that his kid’s special bag went with them just in case he dropped whilst they were out. The billionaire honestly wouldn’t be surprised as his son hadn’t been Little for just over a week, so he was certain that this sudden age up couldn’t last for much longer than a day.
He’d installed another workshop down in the basement beside the garage, so he had plenty of tinkering he could be getting on with whilst the others were out. He headed down the stairs and started looking into new suit upgrades and became so immersed in his work that he hadn’t even realised three hours had passed.
“Hey, Tony!” Steve called down the stairs. “We’ve got a little one up here who’s desperate to see his Daddy!”
Tony smiled knowingly and shut down the project he was working on, before skipping up the steps to the kitchen. The others were placing a couple bags on the island and rummaging through their buys, but all Stark could focus on was his kid in Natasha’s arms.
“Look who’s here, little spider,” Nat cooed.
“Daddy!” Peter brightened instantly on seeing the man walk towards them, squirming in her arms to be transferred.
“Hey, how’s my handsome boy doing?” Tony took him into his arms and kissed the side of his head. He could feel the distinct crinkle and puffiness of a pull up under his hand.
“Good,” the boy said, shyly hiding his face in his father’s neck.
“He dropped when we took him to the LEGO store,” Natasha spoke, pulling out a couple of boxes from one of the white plastic bags. “He was fixated on these.” There was a small trainset with numbers on in one box and animal figures in the other.
“Hmm, what age range we talking?” Tony asked. Peter couldn’t really play with those toys if he was under one seeing as they could be a choking hazard and, like many Littles in his age range, Peter had a strong oral fixation.
“He’s definitely dropping right now,” she mused, eyeing the boy in amusement as he began chewing on his father’s shirt. “He was about three in the mall, but he got to under two in the car just now.”
“Definitely need to get that swim diaper out then. What do you reckon, honey? We going for a swim?” Tony directed towards his son, whose gaze seemed quite hazy until he realised he was being addressed and a slobbery grin spread across his face.
“Swim!” He echoed in his excitement.
“Oh hey, Tones. Clint called. He and Laura are on their way,” Bruce said. “They just stopped off for brunch, apparently Cooper and Lila were craving McMuffins.”
Tony rolled his eyes in amusement and turned to make his way to the makeshift nursery set up to get his kid changed. The swim diaper was the colour of the sea with little sea turtles and seaweed pictures on.
His kid was happily settling into a more comfortable headspace, lying passively as his t shirt and shorts were removed. He giggled up a storm when his Daddy tickled down his ribcage, before the diaper was securely fastened around his waist.
He wriggled a bit when sunscreen was rubbed over every inch of visible skin, but allowed the man to slip a matching swim vest over his head.
“There we go, little fish. Just one more thing.” Tony lifted him and popped a sunhat on his head. “Perfect.”
“Dada, swim! Swim now, Dada,” Peter babbled.
“I know, kiddo, but Dada’s got to get ready too, right?” His Daddy gently reprimanded, tapping him on the nose and carrying him through to the kitchen.
Bucky, Sam and Steve were rubbing their own sunscreen across their chests and Tony placed Peter in his high chair so he could apply his own. He fussed a little about being parted from his Daddy, but at that moment Natasha walked in and placed a little toy boat with a penguin in front of him.
“Hey, sweetheart. Don’t cry, Percy doesn’t like seeing Peter cry,” she soothed, stroking his curls.
Peter was pretty enamoured and was kept distracted long enough for everyone to prepare for a lazy afternoon in the sun. He stuck the toy into his mouth to chew on.
“Right then, let’s swim!” Tony beamed, hoisting his restless son up and led them out to the pool.
Happy was outside and had already inflated the shark float for Peter, which was floating in the shallow end.
“Dada, Dada!” Peter shrieked in excitement, pointing towards the floating object bobbing about.
“Oh yeah, Petey, whatcha saying?” Tony cooed, bouncing his little boy playfully and nuzzling into his baby soft curls.
“Shark!” Peter exclaimed proudly, grinning from ear to ear.
“Clever boy,” Tony murmured, proceeding to take pretend bites out of his son’s neck and making his way down to his stomach. It was his favourite harmless little game to play; he loved hearing his kid squeal in the cutest way and that smile. It was like the sun itself.
“No, Dada, no!” Peter yelled, giggling and squirming about at the tickly sensation of his Daddy’s prickly facial hair.
“Mmm, Peter’s very very tasty,” Tony fake growled, nudging against his neck and leaning up to blow a small raspberry on his soft cheek.
Peter grinned in a blissed out way which young children often did and his fingers splayed over his father’s lips, an incoherent baby noise leaving him.
“Yeah, baby, you ready to swim now?” Tony cooed back, always pretending that his kid was speaking coherent sentences. He usually had a bit of fun with it to keep the boy distracted when there appeared to be the beginning of a meltdown, only to keep him calm and entertained instead.
Peter gave a happy little bounce at that, clearly recognising the word ‘swim’ and they were finally wading into the water. Peter loved it in the float, looking extra sweet in his sunhat and kicking his legs eagerly for the first few minutes, causing Tony to have to swim around him and keep a hand on the inflatable.
The others soon joined them, including Clint and his family. The pool was big enough to accommodate all of them and Peter soon came out of his shy shell to play with the kids. Cooper and Lila were quite happy to entertain the little ones by splashing about with some toys, whilst Tony kept a close eye on them.
After a few hours of bobbing about in the pool, Peter was due a nap – that much was certain if the huge yawn that escaped him a couple moments ago and the half lidded eyes were anything to go by.
Tony, who had been leaning against the far wall chatting with his science bro and drinking a can of Coke, smiled fondly at the sight and placed his tin on the side.
“Aww, he’s dropping off, Tones,” Bruce remarked softly.
“Yeah, we’re gonna have forty winks on a sun lounge,” Tony said, wading over to the shallow end and crouching to his son’s level to card a hand through his wet hair. He’d lost his sun hat about twenty minutes ago from all the playing. “Hey, kiddo. You wanna take a nap?”
Peter nodded, head almost falling backwards with an exhausted effort to keep it up.
“Alright, come up to me, sleepy boy.” Tony stood to full height and carefully lifted his son into his arms, the boy becoming a dead weight as he rested his head on the man’s shoulder and his legs naturally looped around his waist.
Stark grabbed the nearest white towel and swaddled his baby in the thick cotton, using a corner to ruffle over his hair and dry it. The warm sunlight would help them dry off more and would definitely make for a perfect napping station.
The water dripped off of his own body as he manoeuvred them to the cushioned sun lounger. Peter needed a towel more than he did to dry off and get warmed up as his skin was more sensitive being a Little, along with lacking the natural ability to thermoregulate due to the spider bite.
Tony settled them down on the lounger and cuddled his son on his lap, their legs splayed on top of each other and Peter instinctively nuzzled his cherub face into the man’s bare chest. He loved listening to his father’s heartbeat, big or small, but the skin to skin contact was especially good for him when he was in Little headspace.
His Daddy wrapped the towel more securely around him and pressed a kiss to his temple, rocking them gently back and forth. It was the final push he needed before he allowed sleep to claim him.
The sun was at the perfect height where it wasn’t too hot or cold and it was too low to burn them. Tony could feel the wonderful sensation of the muscles underneath his skin slowly warming as he dried off and snuggled with his baby.
Peter made the sweetest little snuffles in his sleep, but his thumb had snuck its way into his mouth and the older man didn’t want to risk removing it to disturb him.
Luckily, Natasha was getting out of the pool and wrapping her own towel around her bikini clad body, gaze softening when it lingered on the pair. “Paci?”
“Yep. Thanks, Nat.”
She slipped on her sandals and disappeared inside, coming out a few minutes later with a blue and white pacifier. Tony took it with a smile of gratitude and replaced his son’s thumb with the soother, Peter taking to it instantly and nursing for comfort.
They stayed dozing on that lounger for twenty minutes. There was no reason to move, no worries and nothing bad could happen – just bliss.
Peter woke up once when Sam dive bombed into the pool without realising the duo were lazing beside it. He began apologising profusely when he resurfaced, knowing sudden loud noises could be the worst on the teen’s sensitive ears, but it was all perfectly fine.
Peter raised his head a little, blinking sleepily and lazily sucking on the soother as he looked towards the source of the noise. He was clearly unfocused and oblivious to Sam, before turning his head and coming face to face with his father, who was observing him with warm eyes.
Something akin to recognition and adoration lit up in those deep brown orbs. “Da,” Peter mumbled behind his paci, fingers spreading across the man’s face and bumping into his nose.
“Shhh,” Tony hushed, catching his wrist and placing a kiss to the inside of his palm. “Dada’s here, honey. Sleepy time now,” he murmured, rocking him from side to side again and pressing his lips to the boy’s hairline.
Peter cooed happily when his Daddy squeezed him and his face was back nestled in the man’s neck, asleep in seconds. Tony, warm and content, his arms full of his whole world, was soon drifting off into blissful peace along with him.
The weekend was going to be perfect, he just knew it.