Chapter Text
It was only ever under extremely special circumstances that Steve and Phil could bring their littles with them on official SHIELD business. Apparently, this was not one of those times.
“Sir, I understand that this is important, but it’s not like we can leave them here by themselves,” Phil explained into his cellphone. “Yes, JARVIS can look after them but it’s not like he can keep them from physically getting into trouble.” Phil shot an apologetic look up toward the ceiling. JARVIS took no offence, he himself had made it clear before that it wasn’t a good idea for him to be left in charge of Tony and Clint when they were little. He could watch over them with the eyes of a hawk, but he had no means of physically caring for them. “Alright sir, yes. We’ll figure something out. Okay. See you soon.” Phil ended the call and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. Steve walked into the room with Tony’s pacifier that he’d just rinsed off after Tony had dropped it on the floor.
“Any luck?” he asked hopefully, though he had a feeling that he knew how the other half of that conversation had gone.
“About as much luck as you’d expect,” Phil said dryly. “What does he expect us to do? It’s not like we have a sitter lined up, our usuals are all coming with us.”
Steve hesitated for a second. “I mean, there is one person we could ask.”
Phil stared at him blankly before realization hit him. “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”
“It’s not like we have much else to choose from,” Steve said. Phil glanced over to Clint, who was napping on the couch, and then nodded slowly. Steve took his phone from his pocket and made a call. “Wade? Hey, I’m sorry this is such short notice, but do you think you could come over and watch Tony and Clint for a few hours?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Really? Thank you Wade, so much.”
“No problem, Cap. What, you got a hot date or something, and you need a sitter? Maybe an overnight sitter?”
Steve laughed. “Yeah, I wish. No, SHIELD’s calling us in for a meeting, and they’re not the biggest fans of having little ones running around headquarters.” Meaning Clint. They didn’t like having Clint running around headquarters. Or having Clint coloring on important paperwork. Or having Clint following Phil to all of his meetings, asking question after question after question . Now, that’s not to say that it was ideal having Tony there when he was little. It was more than a little difficult getting work done with a clingy, weepy baby.
“Yikes, sounds like you’ve got a fun day ahead of you. I’ll be right over.” And with that, Wade hung up.
Steve slipped the phone back into his pocket. “Well, Wade’s on his way.”
“Good,” Phil nodded.
It was good; as… reckless as Wade could be, he was actually a great daddy. He took such good care of Peter when he was little, and Clint and Tony loved playing with him when he’d bring Peter over.
Phil sat on the armrest of the couch, running his fingers through Clint’s hair while he slept. He’d had a late night, he’s been insistent on staying up late to finish the movie they’re been watching.
Steve knelt down in front of where Tony was sitting on a blanket on the floor playing. He pressed the pacifier to the baby’s lips and spoke in a gentle tone. “Did you hear that, honey? Uncle Wade’s gonna come over to play with you and Clint while me and your uncle Phil go to work.” Tony frowned and shook his head. “Hey, don’t give me that sad face. You always have so much fun with uncle Wade.”
“Wan’ you.”
Steve could see the tears already welling up in Tony’s eyes, and he scooped Tony up, cradling him to his chest. “Shhh, baby, it’s alright. I won’t be gone for very long, and when I get back we can cuddle up on the couch, just you and me.” Steve’s promise didn’t do much to comfort Tony though, and his breathing became rapid as he grew more and more upset. Steve cupped his hand on the back of Tony’s head while Tony nuzzled his face into his daddy’s neck. Steve knew that it didn’t take long to get from Wade and Peter’s apartment to the tower, so he didn’t have very much time to try calming Tony down.
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“Captain Rogers, Agent Coulson, mister Wilson and mister Parker are in the elevator coming up to this floor.” JARVIS announced.
“Peter came along?” Phil questioned, looking at Steve.
Steve shrugged, bouncing Tony on his hip. “I guess he didn’t have anything else to do today. Lucky for Wade, I think he’ll need all the help he can get.”
The elevator doors slid open and Wade stepped out with a diaper bag on one shoulder and a sleeping Peter on his hip.
“He woke up little today,” Wade explained before anybody even asked.
“Oh, I’m sorry, if I’d known I wouldn’t have asked you to come babysit,” Steve said sheepishly.
Wade waved him off. “Nah, it’s fine. What kinda daddy would I be if I didn’t let him have playdates, right?”
“That’s a good point,” Steve smiled and shrugged. Well, shrugged the best he could with Tony clinging to him like he was.
Wade let the diaper bag slide off of his shoulder and onto the floor. “What’s up with Tony, is he okay?” He furrowed his brow.
“He’s alright, just a little upset that I’m leaving.” Tony managed to cling even tighter, as if to emphasize just how upset he was.
Wade nodded sympathetically and gently lowered Peter onto the couch beside Clint. “Poor kid. Well, I can guarantee that we’re gonna have a great time today, Tony.” Tony said to nothing in response, he didn’t even seem to acknowledge that Wade was even there. Wade shrugged. “Then I guess I can guarantee that I’ll have a great time today, and I’ll try to maybe promise that Tony will too. I think that part’s up to him.”
Steve laughed. “He’ll be okay once he warms up a little.”
“Let’s hope he warms up soon,” Phil said, not unkindly. “We really should be going soon.” He ruffled Clint’s hair and stood up.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Steve agreed. “Phil, how long do you think we’ll be gone.”
“Normally it shouldn’t take more than a few hours, but honestly you never know how long it could go on for.”
“Well no matter what, you’ll more than likely be here around lunchtime, JARVIS can order in a pizza if you want. Tony was just changed not too long ago so he should be good there for a little while, but you’ll have to check with him if he does need a change because he won’t tell you himself.”
“No matter how much he begs, Clint isn’t allowed to have any soda,” Phil added. “Juice is fine.”
“Oh, and if-”
“Guys,” Wade interrupted. “This isn’t my first rodeo, I got this. Now go, before you’re late for your super important SHIELD stuff.”
Steve nodded. “Right. Okay Tony,” he said, gently patting Tony on the back. “Come on honey, daddy’s gotta go now.” He somehow managed to get Tony’s face out of the crook of his neck.
“No,” Tony whined as tears began filling his eyes again.
“I’m sorry baby, but I promise I’ll be back soon, okay?” Steve placed a kiss on Tony’s forehead, and was able to pry Tony off of him and set him down on the blanket on the floor. “Bye Tony, I love you honey.”
“Thank you again, Wade,” Phil smiled as they made their way to the elevator. As soon as the door closed and they were out of sight, Tony started wailing. His cheeks were soaked with tears and his pacifier had fallen out of his mouth as he sobbed. For once in his life, Wade had no idea what to say. He’d never seen Tony like this before. Sure, he knew that Tony was a baby, and he’d always been very clingy around Steve, but anytime Wade had been around Tony when he was little, Steve was always there too so he never saw what he was like without his daddy. And apparently without his daddy, Tony was very, very emotional.
“He likes hugs.” Wade turned around to see that Clint was sitting up on the couch, rubbing his sleepy eyes. “He cries a lot, but hugs make him feel better.”
“Yeah?”
“Mmm-hm,” Clint hummed. “You should hug him fast though.” Before Wade could ask why Clint thought so, he found out.
“Daddy,” Peter whined. Tony’s crying and carrying on must’ve woken him up. How could it not? “Make Tony be quiet.”
“I’m working on it, sweetheart,” Wade assured. He bent down and put his hands under Tony’s arms, lifting him. Instinctively, Tony wrapped his legs around Wade’s waist and buried his face into the man’s shoulder. His sobs were only quieted by being muffled against Wade’s shirt, but his crying wasn’t any less forceful. “Shhh, come on now kid, it’s alright.” Wade gently bounced Tony, swaying back and forth.
“He likes his pacifier too,” Clint added. “It makes him cry not as much.” Clint slid off the couch and looked at Peter. “Hey I got new action figures, wanna go play with ’em?”
Peter rubbed the last bit of sleepiness from his eyes and nodded with a wide grin. “Yeah!” He followed after Clint, running into the other room. Wade knew that JARVIS would keep an eye on them for him while he dealt with Tony.
“So, you like your pacifiers, huh?” Wade carefully grabbed the one that had fallen out of Tony’s mouth that was sitting on the blanket on the floor. “You know, Peter likes a pacifier sometimes too, which is good for me because that kid can just talk and talk and talk,” Wade said fondly. He looked at the pacifier and scrunched his nose in disgust when he saw the little pieces of fuzz stuck to it. “Although I think he prefers his pacis to be hairless, so I guess we should go clean this one up for you.” It wasn’t like Tony was responding to anything Wade was saying, but Wade hoped that talking to him in a gentle voice might bring him a little bit of comfort.
Wade carried Tony into the kitchen and over to the sink. He used one hand to turn on the faucet and the other to support under Tony’s bottom. He ran the rubber of the pacifier under the stream of water until it was satisfactorily free of fuzz. He looked down at Tony’s face nuzzled into his shoulder and he held the pacifier out for him. Tony turned and looked at it for a second before taking it in his mouth, his sobs now being replaced by soft suckling noises as he sucked on his pacifier. Tony was still very much upset though, his shoulders were still trembling and all of his crying had him hiccupping with every other breath he took. Wade, being super nosy, knew from pestering big-Tony with questions that the arc reactor made hiccups painful, instead of just annoying like they were on their own, and he found himself feeling just awful for Tony.
“Alright kiddo, it’s okay.” Wade rubbed his hand up and down Tony’s back, walking back into the living room. He could hear Clint and Peter giggling in the other room, running around and making sound effects for their action figures. It sounded like they weren’t getting into too much trouble, so Wade felt that he could take a minute to sit with Tony and let him relax. Before he sat down, he went to untangle Tony’s limbs from around his body so they could sit more comfortably, but Tony didn’t seem to think that was a very good idea.
“Nooo,” he cried in the tiniest voice, trying to wrap himself even tighter around Wade and his breathing immediately hitched. He thought Wade was going to try to put him down, and that’s exactly what he did not want to happen.
Wade stopped and began patting Tony’s back, quietly shushing him. “What’s wrong?”
“H-hold,” Tony said around his pacifier and hiccupped.
“Oh, kiddo I’m not gonna put you down, I was just gonna sit on the couch,” Wade explained. “I just needed to move you around a little bit, so I wouldn’t be leanin’ back on your feet.”
Tony sniffled. “Oh.”
Wade combed his fingers through Tony’s hair and adjusted how he was holding him. When he sunk down into the couch cushions, Tony was sitting across his lap with his sock-feet curled up beneath him on Wade’s legs. Tony huddled in on himself so he was as small as he could make himself, and Wade couldn’t help but think that he couldn’t have felt very comfortable sitting like that. He definitely wasn’t going to risk making Tony even more upset by questioning him about it, so he just let Tony lean against his chest and tried to help him even out his shaky breathing. He rocked Tony gently, and in a low voice he told him about his morning with Peter; anything to try to distract Tony from missing his daddy.
There was a pattering of running feet and excited giggling as Peter and Clint ran into the living room, each with a colorful action figure in their hand.
“Daddy!” Peter said with excitement, coming to a skidding halt in front of Wade. Wade instinctively pulled Tony closer to his chest, hoping he wouldn’t be upset by the sudden disruption. “Look how cool Clint’s toys are!” He held his action figure out, a little too close to Wade’s face, but he was excited.
Wade smiled. “So cool, kiddo.” Peter had been playing with a Hulk figure; by the looks of it, Clint had gotten the new ‘Heroes of New York’ toy set.
Clint had a Black Widow action figure in one hand, and the other was behind his back. He pulled his other hand out holding a Captain America toy, and he held it out to Tony. “Tony can have this one, ‘cause he misses his daddy. He doesn’t have to play with us if he doesn’t wanna, but he can still hold it.” Tony looked at the toy with curious, shining eyes, and he carefully reached out to take it. Clint handed it over with an ear-to-ear grin, and Tony gave him a small smile from behind his pacifier in return as he held the action figure in a tight hug. It was such a tender, heart-warming moment, so sweet that Wade could swear that he felt the beginnings of a cavity in one of his molars. Until, of course, that moment was interrupted by a loud voice.
“Daddy I wanna watch a movie,” Peter announced.
Clint bounced on the balls of his feet. “Oooh me too! Can we uncle Wade?”
Wade looked down at Tony. “What do you think, little guy, how does a movie sound?” Tony nodded up at him shyly, his pacifier bobbing in his mouth. “I guess it’s a plan then. Whatcha wanna watch, boys?”
Clint and Peter huddled together, whispering not as quietly as Wade assumed they thought that they were, like they were scheming something rather than deciding what movie to watch.
“Yeah!” Peter cheered, and Clint was beaming. Whatever Peter was agreeing with must’ve been Clint’s idea. “Daddy we wanna watch Big Hero 6!”
Tony just about squealed in excitement, looking up at Wade expectantly; apparently he thought that that sounded like a great idea.
“Alrighty then! JARVIS, can you get that started for us?”
“Of course, Mister Wilson,” JARVIS said, and the television turned on with the title screen for the movie appearing. Peter and Clint plopped down in the middle of the floor, sitting criss-cross and still holding their action figures.
“Uncle Wade, I’m thirsty,” Clint said, turning to look at Wade but not being able to take his eyes off of the screen.
“Me too, daddy,” Peter chimed in.
“Yeah? I’m pretty thirsty too.” Wade somehow had enough self-control to keep from snickering at his own comment, and he looked down at Tony. “I imagine you’re not gonna let me put you down long enough to get those drinks, huh?” Tony sucked on his pacifier anxiously, looking up at him with pleading eyes. “Yeah, I didn’t think so.” Wade sighed, not that he was annoyed, there was no way he’d ever expect to be putting Tony down at any time that day. He stood up, adjusting Tony so that he could hook his legs over Wade’s hips and he wrapped his arms tightly around his neck. Tony rested his chin in the crook of Wade’s neck, looking over his shoulder.
Wade carried him into the kitchen, rummaging through the cabinets with one hand until he found the one that held the sippy cups and bottles. Peter had his own cup, in the diaper bag sitting in the living room, but Wade really didn’t feel like going back to get it, and he was sure that Clint wouldn’t mind sharing one of his with his pal. He grabbed two cups, one purple and one red, and a bottle, and set them on the counter. He shifted Tony onto one hip with his arm under his bottom for support, and Tony stayed clinging to him. Wade opened the refrigerator and took out a jug of apple juice. It would’ve been a bit easier to unscrew the lids to the cups and bottle if he could use both of his hands, but he made it work. He filled both of the sippy cups with juice.
“What about you, baby boy, do you want juice?” Tony gave a small shrug. “Milk?” Tony shrugged again. “Come on kid, you gotta give me something here.” Tony cast his gaze to the floor and he shrugged once more. Wade sighed, and then poked his head out from the kitchen toward the living room. “Clint, my darling little nephew, does Tony usually have juice or milk in his bottle?”
“He always has milk before his nap an’ before bedtime,” Clint called back, still staring at the television. “but sometimes Uncle Steve gives him juice with a snack.”
Wade hummed in thought; that wasn’t exactly the most helpful explanation, but he’d take it. “Alright Tony, I have an idea, since you can’t decide. How about I fill your bottle halfway with apple juice, and the other half with milk? That sounds yummy, right?” Tony scrunched up his nose and shook his head, but he was smiling just the tiniest bit because of how silly his uncle Wade was being. “No, that’s not a good idea? Which one sounds better, then?” Tony furrowed his eyebrows, making the most adorable thinking-face that Wade had ever seen, and he pointed to the refrigerator. “Does that mean you want milk?” Tony nodded. “There we go kiddo, this is progress!” Wade wrapped Tony in a little hug, making him giggle. He opened the fridge and took out the milk, filling up the bottle. He put the milk and the juice away, and hesitated, not sure if he really wanted to ask Tony to make another decision. “Do you want this warmed up a little?” Much to Wade’s surprise, Tony nodded again, actually giving a straightforward answer. It was a miracle. Wade popped the bottle into the bottle warmer on the counter, just long enough that it’d warm the milk without making it so hot that Tony couldn’t drink it, and he screwed the lids on to the sippy cups. The warmer beeped and Wade took the bottle out, and put the top on that too. “Hey Tony, I have a super important favor I need you to do for me.” Tony perked up at hearing the words ‘super important’, and he looked at Wade expectantly. “I need you to carry your bottle, so I can hold Clint and Peter’s cups. Do you think you can do that? It’s a very special job.”
Tony’s eyes were shining with determination as Wade placed the warm bottle in his hands. Wade grabbed the handles of both sippy cups with his free hand and carried them and Tony back to the living room. He set the cups down on the floor between where the boys were sitting. Peter and Clint pulled their attention away from the screen just long enough to take their cups, and Wade laughed as they moved completely in-sync to put the spouts into their mouths.
Wade sat back down on the couch, and he sat with his legs up across the cushions. Tony settled down on his lap, leaning back against Wade’s chest. Tony pulled out his pacifier and let it drop into his lap as he brought the bottle up and stuck the nipple into his mouth. He closed his eyes and sighed as the warm milk filled up his tummy, and he found himself feeling better than he had all day.
Big Hero 6 was one of Tony’s favorite movies, no matter what headspace he was in, but only about ten minutes in he started getting sleepy. He could feel his grip on the bottle going a big slack, but then Wade took hold of it and tilted it so Tony could finish off what was left of the milk. When Wade could feel that Tony had stopped working the bottle, he gently pulled it from Tony’s mouth and set it on the floor beside the couch. Tony was mostly asleep now, but he still took his pacifier when Wade offered it to him, and he curled into Wade’s side, wedging himself between the caretaker and the backrest of the couch.
As Hiro was discovering Baymax’s personality-chip, Peter got up from his spot on the floor and shuffled over to the couch. He rubbed at his sleepy eyes with his fist, reaching out for Wade. Wade had to keep himself from grimacing at his new-found predicament; it wasn’t that little Peter could only fall asleep if his daddy was holding him, but he certainly slept a whole lot better if he was. The only issue? With Tony cuddled up to his side, Wade didn’t have much space to have Peter cuddle up too, at least not with how they were currently situated.
“Alright sweetheart, one second,” Wade told him. He took the arm he had around Tony’s shoulders and slid it down so he had a hold around his waist. He pulled Tony to his side and did his best to get up from the couch without waking Tony, which is of course, easier said than done. Tony whined, scrunching his eyes shut and clinging to Wade. “Come on kiddo, you’re fine,” Wade cooed as he sat back down on the couch, with his feet on the floor, and leaning against the back cushions. He patted the empty spot next to him and Peter gave him a sleepy smile as he climbed up on the couch. Peter nuzzled his face into his daddy’s chest and let his eyes slip shut. His hand began making its way toward his mouth, but Wade gently took his wrist in his hand. “Hey, little birdy?” Clint looked away from the movie, which was now coming to an end. “Can you do me a solid and get one of Peter’s pacifiers from the diaper bag?” Clint nod-nod-nodded and made his way over to the diaper bag, pulling out a pacifier with a blue shield and handing it to Wade, who slipped it into Peter’s mouth. “Thanks kid.” Wade looked from Peter, over to Tony, and then back to Clint. “So, are you gonna tell me that you need to be cuddled so you’ll be able to take a nap too?”
Clint gave him a look of disbelief. “I don’t need to take naps,” he said indignantly. “I’m a big boy, big boys don’t take naps.”
Wade winced; apparently Clint was the type of kid who felt that things needed to be said loudly to get the point across. “Well I’ve got two not-so-big boys here who do need to take naps so,” Wade couldn’t exactly tell a four year old to shut his trap and be quiet, so he hoped Clint understood subtlety so he could get his point across.
“But I don’t want Peter to take a nap,” Clint whined, crossing his arms. “I wanna play!”
“Can you play by yourself for a little bit, until they wake up?”
Clint sighed dramatically. “I guess so.” He disappeared off into the other room, and came back lugging a bin of crayons and a stack of printer paper. Aside from the was he unceremoniously upended the crayons onto the floor, coloring kept Clint relatively quiet for a little while, the only sound he was making was the little tune he was humming to himself. Clint sat hunched over the coffee table, with his legs folded up underneath him, and his tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth while he worked.
Wade craned his neck to see what Clint was working so diligently on, but the two little boys at his sides definitely limited his ability to move. “Whatcha coloring there, kid?”
“’m drawing a duck,” Clint told him, not looking up his paper. He wasn’t being rude, he was just very focused on his duck. “It’s for my daddy.”
“Oh, does your daddy like ducks?”
“Kinda. He likes me, and he calls me his little duckling sometimes, so he likes ducks at least a little I think.” Wade nodded, very impressed by how logical Clint was, especially for a four year old. Clint set his crayon down on the table and held his picture up for Wade to see. The duck in the drawing was yellow, and very fluffy looking. The only thing Wade found strange was its purple feet. Before he could ask, Clint pointed to them and explained. “I’m not good at drawing duck feets, so he’s wearing purple shoes. But I’m gonna tell my daddy that he’s wearing shoes so his feet don’t get muddy, because there’s mud sometimes near the duck pond at the park.”
“He sounds like a very smart duck.” Wade said, amused. Clint nodded and set his paper back down on the table and continued coloring on it. He added what Wade assumed to be the finishing-touches and he slid the paper off to the side.
“Is Peter done napping yet?”
Wade looked down at Peter, watching how his chest was steadily rising and falling. “Sorry kid, he’s still asleep.”
“Maybe you should wake him up and ask him if he’s ready to be done.”
Wade kept himself from rolling his eyes, and he couldn’t help but think that a good number of Tony’s naps were probably interrupted by a very eager-to-play little boy. “I’m not so sure he’d like that. But his naps usually don’t take very long, so I bet by the time you finish drawing another picture, he’ll be up.”
“Okay,” Clint resigned, grabbing a new sheet of paper. “But I don’t know what to draw now.”
“Well it seems like you’re pretty good at drawing your wing-ed friends, maybe the different kinds of birds you like?”
Clint nodded, deciding that that sounded like a good idea. “I’m gonna do a hawk first, ‘cause they’re the coolest bird. And then a pigeon, ‘cause I like them the second best.” And he went about coloring his new picture.
Sure enough, once Clint had finished his hawk and pigeon, and had started on a toucan, Peter was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and squirming to get down so he could play with Clint again. Wade figured he should wake Tony up- he’d been napping for almost two hours, and it was almost time for lunch.