You Can Let Go Now Daddy

Being Sick Isn't Fun Pt. 2

8:00pm
Peter's usual bedtime was 8pm. Once Pepper had thrown some new sheets onto the bed and Tony had thoroughly washed the small sick boy, he was placed into the bed and immediately fell asleep.
Pepper was on first watch duty for the hour. She knew after 10 minutes that this wasn't going to be easy. Peter had shoved his blanket off because he was too hot but was now shivering. She reached and pulled the blanket back up but only a few minutes later, the 5 year old was sweating up a storm and pushing it off.
She sighed softly.
Parenting really wasn't as easy as it looks.

9:00pm
Tony had wanted to take two slots of watching but Pepper refused. She insisted he needed sleep and the other Avengers had been eager to help.
He walked around the room, fingers brushing over toys and straining his eyes through the slight darkness to read picture book titles.
Giving Peter everything he wanted was a privilege for him but it also reminded him of his own father.
Howard Stark was the coolest dad for everyone else, but for Tony the parenting was lacklustre. He simply bought Tony toys and sent him away, ignoring him for most of the day.
He didn't want to be that kind of parent for Peter. He sat on the bed, turning to look at the boy. His covers were off and his face was pressed slightly into the pillow. He smiled softly as he curled in on himself.
All of this was definitely worth it... He thought turning to look at the model train they'd been working on. Every single bit.

10:00pm
At 10:10pm, Peter woke up and whined that he was thirsty. Bruce smiled softly.
"I'll be right back." He patted the boys head and turned towards the bathroom. The small cups were quick to be filled and he brought it back to the sick child.
Peter looked around the room as he drank quietly.
"Bwuce. Can you lay too?" The boy asked placing the cup on his bedside table.
Bruce hesitated. He didn't want to get sick but how could he resist that pout?
"Fine. But I have to go soon..." He slipped in beside the shaking boy.
"Night Bwuce."

11:00pm
Natasha poked her head into the room for her shift and saw Bruce cuddling the boy. "He's really clingy." Bruce chuckled and Natasha smiled.
"How do you feel about all of this? Peter. Tony raising Peter. Tony allowed to be within 100 feet of a child." She snorted, crossing her arms.
Bruce smiled softly. "He's been doing fine so far. And Peter loves him. With Pepper to keep him in check I think it'll be fine."
Natasha smiled. She sat in the plastic chair next to the bed and watched Bruce and Peter quietly. The two talked but mostly sat in silence watching Peter sleep.

12:00am
Clint didn't mind taking care of Peter for an hour. His own kids and wife were on holiday with his in-laws so he had time to kill around the compound. Plus an added bonus that he knew how to take care of sick children. He had propped Peter's head up and rubbed some medicine into his chest for the sniffles.
He woke Peter up halfway through to hopefully get some food into him and then he read a book when Peter found it too hard to return to sleep.

1:00am
Vision stood in the corner, head tilted, eyes watching the young Stark. He hadn't come into contact with many children in the short amount of time he'd had here. They were loud most of the time.
Sometimes Peter smelled weird and he cried for no reason.
Now that he was sick, he breathed loudly. But he was also "cute" and he liked to listen to Vision's facts.
He was nice most of the time and Vision liked him. The boy slept peacefully during his hour.

2:00am
Thor and Peter were jumping on the bed. It had been Thor's idea. They'd decided that maybe, if they bounced enough, Peter's sickness would go away.
There was no science behind this but the two were enjoying it anyway.
"ITS 2AM!" Pepper's voice rang through the halls and Peter giggled.
They must've been laughing louder than they thought. Oops.

3:00am
Wanda sent Peter back to bed once she came in and saw what Thor had done. The boy had insisted on being read to again.
They read the Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar five times before Peter finally fell asleep. She smiled softly glancing around the room. The toys and bed sheets gave her a familiar pang. She still missed her brother and the child reminded her a lot of him, if only because he seemed to be into a lot of similar things as her brother had been when he was little.
She looked down at Peter. "Sleep tight, little guy."

4:00am
Pepper smiled softly as she returned to the room. They had reached a full rotation. She reached down to kiss the boys forehead and check his temperature.
"... The fevers almost broke...."
"Really?" Tony came up beside her, wrapping his arms around her. She chuckled and nodded.
"Whatever the rest did it seemed to work... Come on, he's fine. We'll check on him in a few hours..." The couple turned back to look once more before they left the room.

"He'll always be fine here." Tony noted as they climbed back into the bed and Pepper smiled softly.
Tony sounded so sure and she liked that.
He was so determined to take care of Peter properly and she was so proud.
"Good night, Tony."