Tom Hiddleston one shot/drabble collection

First time parents

A/N: Thank you to Anonymous for being the first prompter for this time around of prompts! (July 8th - July 21st 2024)

I hope this meets expectations for you and I enjoyed writing it too. I definitely enjoy the team up between Holland and Hiddleston, they never seem to fail for good prompting. 

Prompt request by Anonymous on Tumblr: Tom Holland and Zendaya are having a baby and Tom feels unprepared, so Hiddleston brings his toddler son over so Holland can get used to it. Hiddleston is a hands off teacher instructing Holland as he feeds, changes, sooths and bathes the boy. Also during the changing holland almost gets peed on.

Summary: Tom Holland is anxious about being a first time parent and seeks advice from his friend Tom Hiddleston. However Hiddleston talks his ear off, while not being allowed to do anything physically, only watch him to see how things are done.

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"Hey, thanks for coming man and helping me out." Holland says, as soon he opened the door to Tom, who was holding his toddler son on his hip and a changing bag hanging off the opposite shoulder.

"Hey, no worries. First time parenting isn't easy." Tom replied, then Holland stepped to the side to allow the older man inside and closed the door as soon as he was inside.

Holland took a calming breath before he showed Tom and toddler Hiddles into the living room where he had already pushed all the furniture back before they arrived. He wasn't sure how much space they'd be needing and it gave him something to do while waiting for them to get there, as he was feeling uneasy about being a first time parent, especially with Zendaya only being a month away from her due date. Even though he knows he could go to his own parents for advice and has done so in the past for other things, however with this he didn't want them to think he was unprepared, especially this late on in the pregnancy. He was just grateful Tom was available to give him some pointers that afternoon while Zendaya was out spending the day with her Mum.

"This enough space?" Holland asks, whilst nervously fidgeting with his hands, as Tom takes the changing bag off his shoulder and places it down beside his feet.

"Yeah, plenty...look I got you, okay?" Tom says, noticing Holland's nervousness and the way his body tenses up.

"I just...I thought I had it, you know? You read the books and you think easy enough, until you realise how much you have to put locks on everything, baby proofing things and making sure to cover up sharp corners...I didn't even realise how much stuff around the house could have sharp corners before." Holland says, as he throws his arms up exaggerating his points across.

"Hm...no, I get it. For now let's focus on a few simple things." Tom suggests, sitting his son down on the cream rug and Holland nods in agreement. "We could start with some flashcards. Helps a toddler learn words, sounds and allows them to become familiarised with different topics, as well as learning what things are and do." He adds while taking off his son's jacket before his own and lays them down on the couch.

"Okay, I think I can handle that." Holland replies, before comfortably joining the older man down on the rug with toddler Hiddles.

Turns out Tom was actually a pro with the flashcards after the older man showed him the best way to use them. The time spent on the flashcards did give him a boost of confidence, despite him worrying that his dyslexia might go against him while he was on a nervous high. However it wouldn't last for long, things seemed to get worse from then on, putting an extra weight onto his shoulders than he already had felt.

Later on during feeding time Tom sat his son on his lap, feeding him small chunks of food, while he spat out a lot of information at him all at once. Advising the younger man on the different stages of when a child should move from one source of sustenance to the next. Beginning with breastfeeding, which the mere mention of it made Holland uncomfortable, a hint of pink crept up on his cheeks even. He wasn't very good at discussing it as it turned out, at least not about breastfeeding, but he used to be able to joke about breasts and other womanly parts as a teenager with his friends. Of course Tom also covered formula being an alternative if Zendaya couldn't breastfeed or chose not to. Then he ranted on about pureed foods and when the best time was to switch to solids.

As Holland listened he picked up a small cube of cheese out of the lunch box Hiddleston had brought with him, as he was about to feed the piece to the boy he looked up at the older man, seeing the serious glare reflecting back at him and made him pause. For a moment there was an uncomfortable silence as Holland was being stared at, he then swallowed hard, dropping the piece of cheese back into the lunchbox before sliding back to the other side of the couch.

"Sorry..." Tom says sheepishly, crossing his arms to show he was keeping his hands to himself, while looking away briefly then back towards the older man with his son on his lap still.

"Now then..." Tom says, going back to talking a mile a minute, acting calm again like nothing ever happened. Holland thought it was a bit strange, yet decided not to mention it, thinking that maybe Tom is a bit tired and cranky.

When it came to changing toddler Hiddles later on Tom unfolded and laid out a changing mat on the rug of the living room. Then he placed his son down gently on his back, making a few goofy noises as he spoke to his son, before talking Holland through important pointers. Tom soon gingerly takes off the toddler's pants in order to change him. Removing the nappy next which seemed fairly easy to Holland as he kept watching Tom. He proceeded to ready and then passed Hiddleston the wipes when Tom needed them.

"Make sure you really clean everything up otherwise it can get uncomfortable for them." Tom instructed, as he finishes up with the wipes and then lightly drying the boy too with a small cloth. "Right now putting on a clean one is the same principle as taking one off only in reverse." Tom adds, as he goes to take a clean nappy from Holland's hand as he's being given it.

"Why's he making that face?" Holland asked, both men pausing with the clean nappy being passed between them, Tom looking at what face his son is pulling simultaneously.

"Oh, watch it he might..." Tom began to say before a stream of pee started shootings upwards.

"Oh god!" Holland squealed, managing to snatch the nappy out of Tom's hand and hold it down over the boy before he could get peed on.

"Ehehe, I almost forgot to mention that part about having to change a boy." Tom says, unable to help cracking a smile seeing the glare from the younger man for not being told sooner.

The rest of the day consisted of playing and learning more about parenting. By the end of it all toddler Hiddles was exhausted and falling asleep in Tom's arms, being cradled against his chest, toddler Hiddles' head resting on his shoulder. Not long after the boy had fallen asleep Zendaya returned home, by that point it was already late evening.

"Hey, how did today go?" Zendaya asks, kissing Tom's cheek as soon as she sees him.

"Hi, lovely...erm...yeah it-it went pretty good." Holland replied, glancing over towards Tom to see what his reaction would be.

"He did good." Tom says, playfully nudging his arm, surprising Holland in the process especially as he didn't really get to be hands on like he thought he would be.

After Tom gathered everything up and packed it away he delicately carried his sleeping son in his arms out. Zendaya and Holland showed them out, but as soon as the door closed he spun around to face her.

"Parenting makes you grouchy, please make sure I don't get like that!" Holland says, shaking Zendaya slightly as he spoke, only to receive an odd look from her in return. After which he goes onto a full rant about how being a parent has changed Tom and his behaviour when his son is around. Leading to Zendaya having to calm him down.