Archive of Our Own ^beta

Dad: I expect to see you at the tower tonight. Don’t think I won’t come get you from May’s apartment.  

Peter nearly dropped into his headspace just from reading that text.

See, Peter hadn’t been to the tower in a week. He hadn’t had an argument with anyone and wasn’t avoiding his caregiver on purpose; he just had exams all week. 

It was benchmark week, and he had tests in all of his classes that were worth a lot of points for his grades. Even PE had a test!

And rather than go home where he knew the Avengers and his dad would be keeping an eye on his sleeping and eating habits, he decided to stay at May’s apartment. 

He knew she would be working nights most of the week and wouldn’t notice if he was staying up until 2 am and eating as much candy as possible to keep him awake (she did notice but didn’t have the heart to burst his bubble). 

On top of neglecting his basic needs, Peter had also been neglecting his headspace. He knew that if he were to drop during the week, May or Friday would have ratted him out, and he would instantly be back into Tony’s care, ruining his study plans for the week. 

Now it was Friday and he had no way of getting out, going to the Tower as he knew by Tony’s text that he was coming over one way or another.

Peter: Yes, Dad. I promise I will be there tonight. Please don’t be mad! 

Dad: I’m not mad bambino. Just eager to see you. Love you and see you soon.  

With that reassurance, Peter leaned back in his desk and let the minutes pass by in his English class. 

Before he knew it, the bell rang signaling the end of a long week. As Peter walked out of the front doors and onto the busy New York streets, MJ and Ned were there to greet their friend on the front steps of the school. 

“Peter hey!” Ned yelled as Peter joined the duo. 

“Are you free tonight? MJ and I were thinking of ordering pizza and watching a movie to celebrate surviving benchmarks? I don’t know about you but I am wiped!” Ned said exasperated. 

MJ rolled her eyes. “They weren’t that bad Ned, but I’m always down for pizza and a movie.” MJ drew Peter into her side, drawing him in for a hug as she hadn’t seen him since lunch. 

“Well it was to me!” Ned sighed heavily. “So what do you say Peter? Movie night” 

“That soun-“

“Sorry to be the bad guy, but Peter has strict instructions to be at the tower this evening.” A voice rang out from behind them. 

Peter turned around to see his Uncle Happy standing there. His expression unreadable, but deep down inside Happy felt bad to interfere with Peter’s plan. But he had strict instructions to bring Peter back to the Tower.  

“Aw come on Happy! Can’t I just go home after the movie?! I promise I will be at the tower by 8!” Peter said, giving the man his best puppy dog eyes. 

“No can do mini boss. Sorry kids, maybe you can work something out for later this weekend. Come on Peter.” Happy said unmoving as he began to open the back seat for him to sit in. 

“Uggghhh sorry guys. Maybe we can do something Sunday. Mr. Stark is mad cause I haven’t been home in a week” Peter sighed, frustrated that he couldn’t have a fun night with his friends. 

“No worries dude. I’ll text tomorrow evening and see about another time. Go enjoy your time with your dad.”  Ned said, and MJ nodded her head in agreement. 

Peter smiled at his friends and pulled them into a group hug. How did he get so lucky to have such great friends? 

“Come on Peter.” Happy called. 

Peter waved goodbye as he walked to the car and climbed into the backseat. He looked up to see a surprisingly familiar face smiling back at him in the front passenger seat. 

“Uncle Clint?” 

“The spider baby lives!” Clint exclaimed. 

Peter scowled at the nickname as he began to buckle up since Happy had begun the traffic-filled drive back to the Stark tower. 

Glaring, Peter asked. “What are you doing hereUncle Clint?”

Clint smirked. “Well, I came as back up in case you decided to give Happy here trouble. Since you’ve been avoiding us for a week.” 

“I have not been avoiding you! I just had exams and needed to focus!” Peter countered.

“And by focus do you mean not sleep and ignore your headspace?” 

Peter deflated and looked out the window. There was no way that he was going to be able to justify to anyone why he did what he did. But at least he had the grades to show it worked, so that has to count for something! 

Seeing the agitation and slight anxiety rising in his nephew, Clint knew he had to reassure the young little. “I promise you’re not in trouble Pete. We were all just worried about you. You can start dropping if you need to.” He explained softly. 

“Well there was no reason to be worried and I don’t feel little.” Peter grumbled, his thumb fully in his mouth now and determined to stay awake just to prove a point. 

Happy and Clint gave a knowing look to each other. The precious baby was on his way to the surface, no matter what Peter felt. 

“Whatever you say buddy.” Uncle Happy said as Clint texted Tony to let him know they were on the way home with Peter. 

Between the rumbling of the car and the warmth of the car, Peter began to doze off. 

———————-

Weird… sleeping in the car was never this comfortable…

And why is he lying on his side?

What happened to the seat belt? 

Peter slowly opened his eyes and, to his surprise, he was in the living room on the communal floor. 

Lying on the couch with a blanket tucked around him, Peter looked around the space with bleary eyes, trying to remember when and how he got home. 

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of pots and pans moving in the kitchen, along with hushed voices he couldn’t make out. 

Deciding to investigate, Peter slowly trudged his way to the kitchen with his thumb in his mouth, noticing that he had been changed from his school clothes to comfier clothing. 

Standing in the doorway, Peter noticed that Tony was cooking some sort of dish and chatting with Bruce, who was sitting at a small table, eating some sort of snack.

Peter was unsure of what to do. He wasn’t fully in his headspace, but some part of him was craving physical affection and comfort. 

He was tired of making decisions and having to be big. He needed a break, but the words felt so far away. Anxiety was slowly starting to form in his stomach, if only- 

“Hi bambino” 

Peter was broken out of his mini spiral as his caregiver had abandoned his meal to attend to his sweet boy. 

“I’ve missed you. It was such a long week and I’m so happy that you are back home.” Tony cooed as he picked up Peter and cuddled him into his chest. 

He could tell that his baby was in between headspaces and needed intervention before it all became too overwhelming for him. 

Whispering in his ear, Tony asked Peter.“Are you hungry?” 

Peter only grunted as he felt himself sinking further into his daddy’s chest. The combination of his dad’s cologne and being held had brought him a sense of peace that he had been missing all week. 

“You’re such a sleepy little one. Daddy has to go finish dinner and I can’t do that with you in my arms. But once I’m done I can hold you, you can even sit in my lap for dinner.” Tony whispered calmly. 

Peter, unfortunately, wasn’t taking the bribe. He had been away from his chosen family, specifically his dada, for a week. He wasn’t going to let go of him now, curling his fingers into the material of his father’s shirt and burrowing further into him.

“Hey Pete,” Bruce whispered, moving from his spot to slowly join the duo. 

“I know you’re probably having a lot of strong feelings and wanna be with your daddy. As a compromise, what if you come sit in my lap while he cooks so you can keep an eye on him?” Bruce inquired. 

Peter thought about the offer. 

Even though he wasn’t daddy, Bruce was a nice cuddler…

Peter slowly reached his arms towards Bruce, showing his compliance with the arraignment.

Tony mouthed a thank you to Bruce as he went back to cooking, now with Bruce and Peter there to keep him company. 

To help hold him over till dinner, Peter was given an applesauce packet to snack on. Lying in his uncle’s arms as he patted his back, Peter drowsily watched his dada as he enjoyed his snack.

“He seems wiped. Was he able to sleep at all this week?” Bruce asked.

Tony sighed. “Not really. From what I heard from May, he was getting maybe 3 to 4 hours of sleep a night, and he pulled at least one all nighter.” 

“Poor guy. I’m sure your daddy will cuddle you all weekend and have you caught up on sleep in no time.” Bruce cooed to his nephew as he hugged him tighter.

The room fell into a comfortable silence as Tony finished making a chicken pasta dish and Bruce held Peter.

“Jarvis, let everyone know that dinner is ready.” Tony called as he began to head to the main dining room, Bruce and Peter following close by. 

“Right away sir,” the A.I. replied

“Alright bambino, you can come back to me. Are you ready for dinner?” Tony asked as he took his sleepy bundle from Bruce. 

Blinking slowly, Peter replied, “No din.”

All Peter wanted was to sleep. He had gone this long without having a proper meal, he could survive. 

“Yes, dinner.” Tony said as he bounced to get Peter a little more awake. “Just a little dinner and then it’s bath and bed time for you.”

Peter whined and looked his caregiver in the eyes. It was obvious that he was holding on by a thread, and as tempting as it is to give in, Tony knows he needs to stand firm.

“Have a few bites off my plate and then you can relax. I know you haven’t been eating properly either.” Tony said as he kissed his forehead.

Tony sat down with Peter in his lap right as Natasha, Clint, Bucky, and Steve all walked into the dining room. 

Ruffling Peter’s hair as he sat down, Clint smiled at the duo and addressed the young man. “Hey there champ.” 

Everyone was aware of Peter’s absence and were just glad to see the teenager was back. 

“How is he Tony?” Steve inquired as he served himself and his teammates the dinner Tony had prepared for everyone.

“He’s really tired. The poor guy just wants to sleep. I’m gonna try and get a few bites of food into him and then take him straight to bed.” 

Sensing that Peter was minutes away from falling asleep or a complete meltdown, Tony cut up some of the chicken and pasta on his plate and began to feed Peter.

Dinner was a quiet affair. Everyone chose to converse through whispers as they could sense that their little friend was feeling vulnerable. 

Turning away from a bite of dinner, Peter looked at the person to the right of them and saw that it was his uncle Bucky. 

Bucky winked at Peter, drawing a small giggle out of the boy. 

After a few more minutes, Peter tugged on his daddy’s shirt and whispered “sweep” through unshed tears that were threatening to drop. 

While he wishes he would have eaten a bit more, Tony can tell that Peter is on the brink of collapse. 

Kissing his forehead, Tony whispers. “Alright bambino, let's get ready for bed.” 

Rising from the table, Peter said a quiet goodnight to everyone while Tony promised to return in time for a movie as he slowly moved down the hallway towards his room.

Unbeknownst to Peter, Tony had set up a bassinet in his bedroom.

While he wouldn’t admit it, he needed to have Peter close after not seeing him for so long. Sure, it was only a week, but his caregiver instincts were going crazy by Tuesday afternoon and he needed the presence of his baby to reassure him. 

Giving him a quick wash in the tub, Tony diapered and had Peter dressed in his favorite spider-themed pajamas. 

“Look who missed you,” Tony whispered as he held up Peter’s most trusted stuffed animal, Socks.

Peter grabbed Socks and cuddled him into his chest as Tony sat in the rocking chair and saw a bottle had been dropped off at some point by one of his friends, as they knew Tony was still worried about Peter’s food intake.

Peter latched on immediately and enjoyed the close contact with his caregiver. His eyes began to droop as the combination of warm milk and rocking was quick to relax him. 

“That’s right bambino, have sweet dreams. I love you.” Tony whispered, softly kissing Peter’s cheeks as he drifted off to sleep.

—————————

“Sir, I am sorry to interrupt. But it seems as though young Peter has awoken and is in distress.” JARVIS announced. 

Breaking his spell from the movie playing on the screen, Tony immediately moved from his spot on the couch to his bedroom as the team promised to pause and wait for him.

Walking into the room, Tony could see Peter wriggling around with a confused look on his face.

“Hey baby, it’s okay. Let’s get you back to sleep.” Tony whispered as he picked up the slightly distressed Peter. 

Once in his arms, Peter began to calm down, but his uneasiness about being awake was still lingering. 

Before he could ask what was wrong, Peter’s stomach let out a loud growl, slightly startling him as he was sleepy and finally in his headspace.

“Are you hungry? Dada will fix you a bottle. Let’s go sit with your aunt and uncles while dada prepares it for.” Tony asked as he walked out of the room, slightly bouncing, not waiting for a response from the young boy. 

When he reached the living room, the TV had Toy Story pulled on the screen. 

“We figured that this would be a better movie to have on than a scary movie.” Bruce quipped as he could see the confusion in Tony’s face. 

“Why’d he wake up?” Natasha asked 

A whine emitted from Peter as Tony had stopped bouncing. “He’s hungry, I’m gonna go make him a bottle if one of you doesn’t mind holding him for a few minutes.”

Before anyone could react, Natasha had Peter in her arms and was lying back on the couch. 

“Awwww I wanted to hold him!” Bucky pouted.

“You can have a turn tomorrow. It’s my turn to have sleepy baby cuddles.” Natasha said as Peter lay his head in her neck and she began scratching the back of his head.

Tony soon returned with a bottle and took his baby back into his arms. The Avengers started the new movie as Peter began to nurse the bottle.

As Peter lay in his father’s arms, he couldn’t help but think of how terrible his week had been. He missed being with Tony and the other Avengers. The comfort that they brought him far outweighed the need for an A… maybe not for all classes, but for the most part, this was better.

“Shhhh bambino. Close your eyes, dada’s here.” Tony whispered as he kissed his forehead.

Yeah… this was better.