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Tony woke up to a sharp noise. He blinked a few times and it happened again. A cry. A baby was crying. "What the hell?" He climbed out of bed and froze. His lungs, his body...they felt better. He passed a mirror as he headed toward the sound and he paused for just a second. He looked younger, much younger. There was no arc reactor in his chest and no scarring. He wanted to marvel at his youth and lack of aching joints, but a baby was crying, he couldn't just let it go. It took him a few seconds to figure out which house he was in, but once he did, he opened his door and followed the sound into the room next to his.
Tony froze at the dim nightlights in the room. He'd swear this room was supposed to be his office, and yet...there was a crib and a rocking chair and a changing table and...a crying baby.
Peter.
It had to be Peter. It could only be Peter. His sleepiness and confusion lifted into alert concern. He needed to get to Peter, to his crying baby.
Tony rushed forward and looked down. There he was Peter, tiny, little Peter. He was all pink and wiggly and so, so upset. Tony's heart broke. "Sh, sh, Peter, it's okay. I'm here now. I'm here."
This thing was weird. Tony could sware he'd been in the tower just moments ago, in the medical ward with Peter and that strange lady, but now he was in his upstate home...with a baby version of Peter. It was disorienting, but he couldn't focus on that, Peter needed him.
"You're okay, come here." He was afraid, but the second his hand reached out, he found his arms new exactly how to hold the baby, as if he'd done it before, but he hadn't, he knew that. "What's wrong, underoos? They're literal underoos now, that's funny." He laughed.
Peter gripped Tony's shirt tightly and leaned in to his chest. Peter quieted, but kept crying.
"You hungry?" Tony wondered. "Let's try food." He walked with Peter for the kitchen and found Titania, standing by the sink with a baby bottle. "You...?"
"Me. My, he's such a cute baby." She sighed happily. "And a hungry tyke. Here, I warmed it for you." She held it out to him.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm going to visit you. I've granted wishes before and people have died just so they could stay in their dreams forever. That guilt is not something I like to carry and the world needs you and Peter. So I'll visit you every day in the real world time and we'll have a simple conversation, just like this." She took a deep breath. "Tony, you know this is a dream, right? That you have to wake up one day? That you both have to wake up?"
"Yes."
Titania stared for a moment, then nodded. "Good. I gave you a few...parental instincts, but um...after that you're on your own to learn stuff, just like most parents. I'll see you again soon."
As soon as the bottle was in Tony's hand, she vanished.
Tony nodded and sat down, holding Peter. Peter quieted right down the instant he had food. "Figured it out, didn't we?" Peter made a gurgle sound as he drank. "You're such a cutie." His eyes blinked open slowly. "Oh, that's not fair. You've always had puppy eyes." He sighed and just stared at Peter, at his son. He was so small, so beautiful. Perfect. "I'm sorry I wasn't there. I wanna do better though. I really do." Tony hoped this...thing might help a little. The mutant lady had promised Peter that he wouldn't remember his real life, not until he woke up. In a way, Tony was getting a re-do, but Peter was almost getting a reset. Sure, it'd all be a dream to both of them, but this was his chance to leave some good memories in his baby's head. Memories he wish he'd given Peter in real life.
It also gave him a lot of rope to hang himself with to. He could fuck up so much. What if he was bad at all of this?
"No." Tony shook his head. "Nope, I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you're happy. Because that's...that's all I want." He kissed Peter's head gently.
Peter continued to eat and his eyes became steadily heavier until he seemed almost asleep, only occasionally succeling on the bottle.
"You probably shouldn't eat and sleep, bud. I can't imagine that's safe multitasking." Tony knew he should get Peter back into his crib with his warm blankets, but he didn't want to let go...not yet.
-
Every time Tony closed his eyes to sleep, it was like Peter aged a week. It was weird, but it did make it easier. He was so attached to this tiny version of Peter and seeing time pass so quickly kept it firmly in his mind that he hadn't found a way to time travel. The way time changed reminded him that it was a dream. It also gave him time to see Peter at many different stages.
Today, Tony played with Peter's wiggling feet, thankful that Peter'd stopped crying. Every time Peter got fussy or upset it broke Tony's heart a little bit. The first few times Peter lost his cool, Tony was sure he'd done something wrong. But Tony was slowly starting to realize that sometimes, Peter was just upset and didn't have any other way to communicate what he needed. Hot, cold, hungry, tired, fussy, needing comfort, all Peter had was a cry to communicate that with. Tony was sure he could almost hear a difference in them after the few days he'd had with him.
"All better now, huh?"
Peter blinked up at him and kicked his feet.
Tony laughed and continued to play with his adorable feet. "Dad loves you so much, bambino. Getting stronger there, buddy. One day you'll be able to stop a bus. Not right now though, I think I'd panic if a bus came within a hundred yards of you." Tony laughed. Then he quietly sang to Peter.
Peter's eyes met his. The big, dark eyes stared in awe and he wiggled his arms and legs. He smiled toothlessly at Tony.
"Look at that big smile." Tony poked Peter on the nose and hummed.
"Ahha!"
Tony froze. "Did you just laugh?"
Peter, obviously, didn't respond.
"No, come on, you can do it again. That was amazing." A laugh, a first laugh. "Come on, Peter." He poked Peter again, lightly on the nose, but that didn't get a laugh. "But it was SO cute. You can do it again, I'll be listening. I'll be right here." Tony wasn't going to leave Peter's side. This was his chance to give them both good memories, he wasn't going to screw that up. "It's okay, you can do it again later, bambino." He sang again to Peter, because baby Peter seemed to really like it when he sang. It made sense though, Peter and Tony sang together sometimes in the lab.
"Hahmm. Ahahah." Peter laughed.
"Is this a statement about my singing voice? I feel like it's a judgement." Tony didn't care. He found that when he sang, he could make Peter laugh, and that was wonderful.
-
Tony walked, carrying Peter. He loved that, how tiny he was. He'd missed out on all of this. God, he wished he hadn't. He walked through the house until he got to Peter's room. "Alright, baby, time for a nap."
Peter didn't usually agree on nap time. He needed naps and he slept a lot. But when Tony saw the start of sleepy Peter, Peter'd tried to resist. Reading usually helped him go to sleep. He put Peter down in the crib and helped him settle in. Tony kissed his forehead and sat down in the rocking chair. He reached down for Winnie the Pooh and began to thumb through the book to look for a new story.
He started to read and when he glanced up, Peter was sitting up, holding the rail and staring at Tony.
"Bambino, I know you, you'll get cranky if you don't get a nap."
Peter made a gurgling noise.
"You'll never grow out of that stubborness. I think I've found the start of it." Tony laughed and got up. He helped Peter snuggle back down again. "I love you, Peter, time for nap."
Peter lay still for about three paragraphs of the story, before he'd rolled and grabbed the rail to help him sit up again.
"No nap? You're going to be cranky here soon. Don't say I didn't warn yah, bambino." Tony closed the book and put it back on the table. When he looked up, his throat closed up. Peter had one hand on the bars and one hand reaching through them, making gripping motions at Tony. "Yeah, cuddles are worth the fit you're going to throw. I'll risk it." Tony pulled Peter up out of the crib and held him close.
Peter giggled and grabbed Tony's shirt tightly. "Da!"
Tony'd felt this before, the first time the teenage Peter had called him Dad, but this was different. This wasn't a teenage superhero terrified of losing his dad. This was a baby learning from him, listening to him, reaching out for him. His heart melted. "Yeah. I'm dad." It was terrifying and wonderful.
"Dadada." Peter snuggled against his chest.
"Okay, you can nap with dad." Tony smiled and sat in the rocking chair.
It was only a few minutes before Peter gave into sleep, pressed against his chest.
-
Pepper and May looked down at the two boys. They were in seperate beds and looked like they were sleeping. "How do you really feel about this?" Pepper asked, turning away from Tony and looking at May.
May sighed. "It's bittersweet. Peter's lost so much, so I'm glad he gets to have this, but..."
Pepper saw the look on her face and frowned. Pepper had been wary of Titania at the start, but after all the research they'd done on her, she'd come up trustworthy. And Helen was watching Peter and Tony for any signs of distress and through the first day they were both healthy as could be. It was officially twenty-four hours since they'd gone to sleep. They were supposed to be asleep for twleve days. Twelve days for Tony and Peter to be in dreams together.
May must be worried.
"May, Peter loves you and that's not going to change. Trust me, he loves you."
"I know he does. I've just seen how good Tony is with Peter." May shrugged. "Maybe I am a little worried. Peter's needed a father, always has and it got worse when Ben... Well, Ben was the only male role model he had and he" May took a breath. "I'm happy for him, for both of them, I really am. But he's always been MY Peter. I'm not really used to sharing. He and I have been it for a while now. It's been hard letting him go so much. I mean, I knew it was coming, he's growing up, college soon and all that. It's just a weird. But I'm happy, because Peter gets to have memories with a father who loves him and still keep all the time with us too."
"His feelings won't change for you." Titania said from the doorway. "Promise you that. He loves you very much." She walked forward and touched Peter's head gently. She closed her eyes in focus. Then she nodded and walked over to Tony.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going to remind Tony every day that it's a dream. So you'll be seing me again at the same time tomorrow too. Second reminder for him now though." She gently touched his forehead. "Well, Tony still seems to get the picture. I'll be back soon." Titania vanished.
"She's weirder than the whole situation combined." May commented.
"Welcome to this crazy life." Pepper sighed. "You'll learn to roll with it."
May laughed. "Dinner?"
"Yeah, want to go out or pick something up? We could talk about how crazy our boys are."
"That'd be nice. What's your favorite?" May wondered.
"Italian or Japanese."
"Either's good with me." May nodded. She leaned down and kissed Peter on the forehead. "Sweet dreams, Peter...the sweetest for you."