Little Flame

6

Tony watched Nick make a bottle for August with milk from the fridge and a protein powder he'd packed for August. He popped it into the microwave and looked at Tony. "How in the hell has a little been living alone?" Tony asks in a sort of whisper yell. "He was kicked out of his dads at 16. He got here, begged to stay and pay everything he needed, and the landlord agreed." Nick said lowly. It hurt him just as much to think about it as it did Tony.
Tony watches Steve playing with Auggy and they just warmed his heart. He huffs. "And you found him just because Peter got him on his suit cam?" Nick sighs and nods as the microwave beeped. "Yeah. It was really lucky. Kid hasn't properly regressed in a couple years. He defiantly is not in a 1-2 year old mind set. This really set his regression age farther. I'd say he's about 6 months." Nick smiles after he shook up the bottle, and handed it to Tony. "You were looking for one on the younger side."
Tony shook his head as he walked back to Steve. Auggy looked at him and tilted his head. It's like he hadn't been bottle fed before. Tony smiled and handed the bottle to Steve. "Papas just gonna feed you, ok little guy?" Tony said ruffling August's hair. August leaned into the touch and looked to Steve when he saw the bottle. Steve cooed at him and took his binky. This defiantly caught Auggy off guard. His eyes got big and his bottom lip trembled as tears welled in his eyes. "Hey shhh it's ok. Look." Steve offered the nipple of the bottle and August took it immediately. It surprised Auggy when he started suckling and milk quickly filled his mouth. It tasted amazing. He happily drank the bottle while the three adults talked. Nick filled them in on how August got to this point, and it made both Tony and Steve's hearts ache. Once August was finished, he made sure to let Steve know. He squirmed and started kicking his legs to get their attention.
Steve looked down at him with concern and pulled the bottle away. He sat August up and started patting his back and hushed him. Tony smiled. Steve's a natural. Once August burped, he was so happy. Just babbling and sitting up. The three adults sat watching him. He slowly got to a crawling position, and crawled to Tony. "Hey buddy." Tony cooed as he held his hands out to him. August wobbled as he got closer to Tony, and he was quick to scoop him up from under his armpits to prevent any falling and tears. "Whatcha think about daddy, huh?" Tony asks in a sweet tone as he sets the boy in his lap facing him. August stares at Tony as if he's studying him. He notices the light under Tony's red t-shirt, and his eyes glisten with curiosity. He looks back at the caretakers face with his hand making it's way to his mouth.
"Mm" August gurgled as he sucked on his mitt  covered hand and with his free hand touched Tony's chest. His hand fell right next to the ark reactor. Steve and Nick knew how Tony felt about the reactor being touched, and held their breaths. Tony's face was sort of neutral, he locked eyes with Auggy and took a deep breath. "You wanna see baby boy?" He asks with a gentle smile. Auggy tilts his head. Tony shifts and lifts up his shirt. Augusts eyes light up when he sees the beautiful shiny thing in the middle of his "daddy's" chest. He put his hands on Tony's stomach to brace himself and he looked closer at the strange new glowing thing. Everyone was silent except for Auggy's little coos of amazement. He lays sideways in Tony's lap, leaning his head on Tony's shoulder as he looked at the pretty light. Tony looked up at Steve and Nick with a smile. "Pretty, huh baby?" He asks looking back down at the boy. August gives a sort of nod. Steve smiles at the two and moves onto the couch. "So, can we take him home now?" Nick smiles at the two and looks around the living room. He'd cleaned up everything before the two got there, so all he had to do was pack up the playpen and help them get Auggy ready for going outside in the slight September cold. The three all stand up. "I think we can start to get things ready to go. I'm not even sure this furniture is the kids anyway."
  Auggy had started to close his eyes and was just enjoying hearing Tony's heartbeat. He felt the vibration of Tony talking, but it seemed to lull him further into sleep. Next thing he knew, he was laid in the playpen again and he wasn't too happy about that. He whined and curled into a ball on the playpen floor. His pacifier was put in between his lips and his blue blanket was tucked around him, and this got him content to fall back asleep.
"You guys are taking Peony too, right?" Nick asks while he leaned down to scratch the sweet kitten behind the ears. Tony and Steve share a look, with Steve basically saying please with those damn blue eyes of his. Tony let's out a sigh. "I guess we are." Nick chuckles as he picks her up, placing her in the pen with the sleeping boy. Peony curls up next to the boys stomach and takes a nap with him. Steve looks over the pen side and his heart swells with love for his new baby boy.
Tony comes over and hugs him from the side and kisses his cheek. "C'mon babe. Let's get our little guy home." Steve nods in response. They take stuff down to the cars, with at least one of them staying up in the apartment to make sure Auggy and Peony were still content. Once everything they needed but the playpen had been packed up, including August's little stash of little stuff, Steve picked up the small boy still wrapped in the blanket. He was dead asleep and just took the movement to snuggle into Steve's soft chest.
Tony and Nick packed up the playpen once peony jumped out, and took it down to their car. Steve looked around the nearly empty apartment and smiled down at Auggy. He was swaying unconsciously and smiled at the boy. His baby. He kisses his forehead tenderly. When Tony and Nick came back up, Nick pulled this little blue beanie out of his jacket pocket. It had the captain America 'A' embroidered in white on the front. Tony and Steve both awed and Tony pulled it over August's head. He just looked so precious bundled up in his blue blanket and suckling on his binky lazily.
"He sure is tired." Tony comments in a low voice as he stood over Steve's shoulder. "He worked about 10 hours last night so it's completely understandable." Nick shrugged it off. With one final look through, they leave the building, and while Steve and Tony get August and Peony in the car comfortably, Nick talks through the whole situation with the landlady. Once August is comfortably in his rear facing car seat, Peony lays in his lap. The new caregivers close the door and chat outside the car with Fury. They agree to meet at the tower and get into their separate vehicles. Tony keeps looking in the review mirror of the blue minivan to check and make sure August is still peacefully asleep. Steve takes his hand and gives it a reassuring smile. "He's ok, Tony. He'll make noise if he needs us." Tony looks at Steve and sighs with a small smile. "I know. I just—" he cuts himself off, looking towards the road again. "I don't want him to get upset. I want to keep him happy. And safe." Steve nods. He knows his husband's anxieties for their new little boy. He had them too. He squeezes Tony's hand again and kept his optimistic smile. "We got this Tones. August is gonna love being with us, I know it." Tony smiles at Steve's encouragement. The rest of the car ride was spent in a comfortable silence.