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Tony was kinda freaking out. In his defense, it wasn't his fault. He didn't know that a weird sorcerer guy would invade their city and blast a de-aging spell at Peter. At least they caught the guy. But now they were stuck with a two year old Peter Parker.
Bruce was working on an antidote, but said that it would probably take weeks to complete. That made baby Peter start pouting and whining.
So Tony was stuck looking after a two year old, who's supposed to be fifteen. Luckily, Pepper stepped in to help. She was the one who told Tony that he had to tell May what happened, instead of hiding it from her like Tony suggested.
So, Tony reluctantly called her. And of course, it ended up with May screaming down the phone in worry and fear. She demanded to see her nephew straight away, and she did.
She held Peter in her arms (who was wearing clothes that Sam leant them since he had little cousins) as he squirmed. "This is insane...he looks...exactly like he did when he was two." May said, bouncing Peter up and down on her knee to calm him down. "You can fix this, right?"
"Yeah...yep, yes. We can." Tony nervously rambled. "But it will take a while."
"So he's...a baby? Just like that? I mean, does he even know what we're saying?" May asks. She didn't need an answer from Pepper or Tony though, because Peter started nodding his head frantically.
Pepper responds anyway, "Yeah, he's still got parts of his fifteen year old brain. But he still has the emotional turmoil of a toddler. That means that he will act like one, whether he likes it or not."
"No!" Peter cried, his squeaky baby voice made everyone want to coo at him, but they held back from doing so.
"I'm sorry, Pete. We're going to fix this, okay, little guy?" Tony said, sitting down beside May to speak to him.
"No! 'M big! He said with a glare. Tony held his hands up in mock surrender.
"I'm sorry, you're right, big guy." Tony said, correcting himself. Although, it sounded very sarcastic.
"Is that the extent to his speaking? Has he said anything else?" May asked, looking back and forth at Tony and Pepper.
"He can speak as much as a normal two year old is able to. Peter's always been more intelligent than people his age, though. So he can speak a little more." Tony answered, running his hand up and down Peter's arm before the boy shoved him away with his tiny, chubby, baby hand. "Little guy is being really stubborn though."
Peter glared at Tony for calling him 'little' again.
"If you want me to call you 'big guy' instead, then you should stop acting like a cranky toddler." Tony said, making Peter pout and cross his arms.
"Has he still got his spider powers?" May asks in realization.
"No, he doesn't. It's like he's completely turned back in time, apart from the parts of his brain that's still fifteen." Pepper explained, also sitting down. Peter whined and squirmed at the words. He wanted to keep his spider powers. Now he's just a boring toddler.
"Actually, I wanted to ask if we could borrow Pete's baby stuff? If he's going to be like this for a while, then it would be really helpful. Especially a high chair and a car seat...things like that." Tony asked May. She winced and looked at the man.
"Yeah, about that. I actually had to sell them all when he didn't need them anymore. I was low on money..." She explained. Tony and Pepper sighed. Peter started getting fidgety again, so May set him down on the floor. He started crawling around the living room area, all the adults kept an eye on him to make sure he didn't wander off or injure himself. They also refrained from cooing, again. He was just so damn adorable. Tony was sure Peter was the cutest baby he'd ever seen.
"That's fine...we'll just go on a shopping trip." Tony said, looking at Pepper who nodded.
"I'm really sorry, guys. I would stay and help but I've got so many shifts..." May said apologetically before Pepper cut her off.
"Don't be sorry. We completely understand, besides, it's no trouble. Who wouldn't want to look after a little Peter Parker? He's adorable." Pepper cooed. Peter was currently sitting on the floor, drawing shapes and faces into the carpet with his finger. He instantly stopped when he heard what Pepper was saying, crossing his arms.
"Alright, Peter, I've gotta go." May said as she stood up and walked over to her nephew. "I'm really sorry, baby. We'll fix this for you, though, so don't worry." She bent down to kiss his head. Peter pouted at her Aunt, wanting her to stay. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Be good for Pepper and Tony." And with that, she left.
"Alright, buddy. Ready to go shopping?" Tony said with a smile and picked Peter up from the floor. Peter shook his head with a frown. "Oh, c'mon. You'll love it. Besides, we're gonna get you some toys to play with!" He said, making Peter grimace.
"Stop teasing him, Tony." Pepper laughed, walking over to them and kissing Peter's cheek.
They were soon in one of Tony's cars, Happy driving and Pepper, Peter and Tony in the back seats. They didn't have a car seat yet, and the seatbelt was too big for the two year old, so Tony had to hold him, extremely tightly, for the ride. The boy kept on squirming in his grip, wanting to sit in his own seat, but Tony wouldn't loosen his arms.
"Pete, I know this is really hard for you, but I need you to stay still, okay? You're really small now, so it's much easier for you to injure yourself." Tony reminded Peter. The boy whined a little, but he stopped squirming. Tony smiled and kissed his temple. "Good boy."
Pepper smiled at the both of them. "You should start thinking about what toys you might want, honey."
"'M no."
"No? You don't want any toys? No Legos?" Tony asked, knowing he would crack, and he did. The boy immediately perked up at the mention of Legos.
"...Otay." This time, Tony actually cooed at Peter, because that was the cutest thing he had ever heard. He blushed red and hid his face in Tony's shoulder. This was the exact reason why he wasn't talking much.
They soon got to the baby store they were looking for, and got out the car. Tony made sure to get out carefully since he had a baby in his arms. The man told Happy he could drive off and do his own thing for a while until they needed him again, which Happy was very glad to hear. They got to the front of the store and Pepper grabbed one of the large shopping carts, since they knew they were going to get a lot of things.
Tony placed Peter in the baby seat of the cart. He was a little afraid that he would slip out, even though he knew that would be impossible. Peter instantly started whining when he got placed in the cart. Both 'parents' frowned.
"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Pepper asked from beside Tony, who was pushing the cart into the store.
"Down!" He complained, kicking his legs in annoyance. Pepper smiled and shook her head, searching for the nicest car seat for Peter, whilst Tony looked for a high chair.
"Sorry, buddy. You gotta stay in the cart." Tony responded, not looking at the boy. His eyes fell on a dark red and white high chair and maneuvered the cart so Peter could also see it. "How about this one? You like it?"
Peter pouted, crossed his arms and looked away. He didn't need a high chair. He was fifteen, for crying out loud!
Tony sighed. "Fine, I'll pick for you, then." He said. Peter's expression broke and he looked back at Tony.
"No!" He exclaimed. Tony smiled, knowing he got through to the boy.
"Alright. See any others that you might like?" He asked, moving to the side so Peter could look at his options. Peter bit his lip in thought, looking back and forth until his eyes landed on a light blue one with fluffy clouds on. He liked it, it reminded him of Toy Story. He pointed to it, smiling brightly. It was the first time he smiled since he was de-aged.
Tony took notice of Peter's excitement. He reckoned that he was acting on the parts of his brain that were a toddler. He had been working with the fifteen year old parts throughout the whole day because of his stubbornness. The man couldn't really blame him, though. He also remembered Bruce saying that the longer he was a toddler, the more he would start acting like one.
He gladly picked up the high chair that Peter picked up and placed the box in the cart.
It had been about twenty minutes. So far, they had picked up a high chair, a car seat, a crib, baby proofing for the compound level they were on, baby clothes, diapers and other cleaning supplies, medicine for toddlers, food that's easy for the boy to eat, a stroller, cutlery, pacifiers (they thought it would be best to get them since Peter kept on sucking on his fingers) and many other things. The last thing they needed to get were toys.
Tony pushed the cart into the toy aisle, giving Peter an excited expression. "Look, buddy! Wanna pick some?" He asked, dipping down to kiss the two year old's head, hearing a sniffle from Peter.
The alarm bells in Tony's brain went off, and he instantly bent down to face Peter, who was crying slightly.
"Pete, what's wrong?" He asked, placing a hand on Peter's cheek. The boy didn't answer, he just whimpered and fidgeted in his seat.
"Baby?" Tony tried again. The nickname made Peter look up, his big brown eyes watering and wide. Tony gave him a reassuring smile. "Can you tell me what's wrong?" Tony wondered if Peter even knew what was wrong. He could just be crying for no reason, I mean, isn't that what toddlers do?
"Out." Peter whimpered, squirming again. Realization hit Tony like a ton of bricks. Peter had been in there for a long time (in toddler time) and he was getting fussy. He frowned in sympathy and bent down to kiss Peter's head again. As he did so, the boy wrapped his hands around Tony's collar and didn't let go. He was sending an unspoken message to him, saying he wanted to be picked up and placed down.
"Oh, buddy." Tony said, placing his own hand on Peter's tiny one, which was still latched onto the man's collar. "I'm sorry, Pete. We've only got a little bit more to go, okay? Then we'll be home before you know it." He reassured, but the boy cried more. He let go of Tony and rubbed his eyes with his knuckles. Tony pulled his fists away from his eyes, just in case he caused any irritation.
"Here." Tony said as he grabbed a rubix cube from the shelf, passing it to Peter to try and distract him. "Can you try and solve this for me?" The boy held onto the cube, suddenly forgetting about his crying and discomfort so he could concentrate on solving it for Tony. He would do anything to make him happy. Tony smiled in triumph.
Yeah, that only lasted a few minutes. Peter started whining and crying again once he solved the rubix cube, saying a string of words like 'out' and 'down' and 'please'. Tony sighed in defeat and looked behind him, in search of Pepper. She was searching for toys a little behind them, so he beckoned her over. She noticed the tears on Peter's face and instantly came rushing over.
"What's wrong, sweetheart?" She asked, placing a hand on the toddler's head.
"'Epper!" Peter cried out, making grabby hands at her.
"He's getting a little fussy in the cart. Do you mind walking with him?" Tony asked his fiancée. She smiled and nodded.
"Of course. Come on, little man." She cooed and picked Peter up and out of the cart. The two year old's crying instantly stopped and a smile spread across his face as Pepper set him down on the floor, holding onto his hand as they walked. "That better?"
"Uh huh!" The boy nodded. He waddled along slowly, happier than he was before, with his hand in Pepper's. Tony knew he was spoiling Peter, but at the same time, he didn't care. He hated seeing him so upset, and besides, he wouldn't be a baby forever, so it didn't really matter about spoiling him.
They picked out tons of toys for Peter before they finally finished with the shopping. Tony messaged Happy to bring the car back over before they paid. Much to Peter's displeasure, he had to be put back into the cart whilst they paid, since Pepper had to help with the bagging. He babbled to himself and swung his legs back and forth to entertain himself, which didn't really work.
They eventually got out of the store and into the car ten minutes later (it felt like years to Peter). Peter was sat in between Pepper and Tony, strapped into his new car seat. Obviously, being the stubborn toddler he was, he didn't like it. He wanted to sit in a normal seat.
"Come on, buddy. I got you these teddies so you could play with them! Look, they're the Avengers. Here's me." Tony said, passing the boy an Iron Man teddy. They were both sat in Peter's new playroom that they had set up for him quite quickly. It had been a few hours since the shopping trip and Peter was getting more and more stubborn. He was tired of being a toddler. "And here's you!" Tony continued, passing Peter the Spider-Man teddy.
Peter frowned and dropped them to the floor, not interested in playing. He ignored the way his toddler instincts screamed at him to pick them back up and play with Tony, and crossed his arms instead.
"B'uce!" Peter complained. He had been asking for Bruce all day, wanting to know if the antidote was synthesized. Tony reminded him every time that it would take longer than a day to perfect, but Peter wasn't having it.
"Okay, that's enough about Bruce. I've told you many times that the antidote isn't ready yet, and you know that. Now, are you going to play with your toys or am I going to have to put you to bed?" Tony warned. This was the first time that he was being stern with Peter. The boy got a little scared at the tone of his voice. He didn't know why. When he was fifteen and Tony used that voice at him, he would just shrug his shoulders or roll his eyes. But now he was a toddler, he was a lot more sensitive.
Tony waited for Peter's response, but all he got was a sad expression and wandering eyes. The man sighed and started packing away all the toys they got out. Peter wanted to stop him, but he didn't want to accept the fact that he was a toddler, with toddler needs. Not yet. He was also upset because he thought Tony was mad at him. His eyes started watering at the thought.
"S'oww'y." Peter whimpered as Tony walked back over. The man's expression softened and he crouched down in front of the two year old.
"Don't be sorry, baby. I can tell you're getting tired anyway, so let's get you to bed, yeah?" He said, standing up and picking Peter up with him. He began walking out of the playroom and towards his bedroom when Peter started whining again.
"No...'m not s'weepy." Peter said, kicking his legs. Tony shushed him as he set the child on his double bed to change him into pajamas. Pepper had already put him in a diaper, so he didn't need to do that. Peter complained about the diaper more than anything else. It took a lot of coaxing and compromising, but the woman finally got it on him. Peter wouldn't let Tony do it, which was understandable.
Peter was soon put in a dark blue onesie, with space patterns on. He then turned around to place Peter in the beautiful crib they got. Tony and Pepper decided to put the crib in their bedroom, so they were close if Peter needed him.
Peter whined, but Tony lowered him in anyway. He sat on the chair he had placed next to the crib and turned the mobile on (it was an Avengers one). Peter was still whining so Tony rocked the crib, side to side, in hopes it would lull him to sleep. He ended up being successful as Peter stopped whimpering and started to close his eyes. Tony smiled as he stared at the boy, his eyes full of love and adoration.
"Goodnight, Peter. I love you." He whispered and began to stand up until he heard a small voice answering him.
"Night Dada."
Tony's heart warmed and tried not to cry as he walked out of the bedroom, leaving the nightlight on and turning off the big light. He left the door open and walked to the living room, where he found Pepper. He sighed and sat next to her.
"Is it okay to like baby Peter more than teenage Peter?"