I'm Just Human

Chapter Five

"Tony?"

Rhodey's voice snaps Tony out of his frozen shock and the mechanic slowly turns toward his best friend with wide eyes.

"He shouted at my kid," Tony says, the words spilling from his mouth like someone turned the tap on at the sink. "He shouted at my kid and shouted at me and you punched him... You punched my father. He- He tried to apologize to me."

"I know, Tony. I shouldn't have punched him like that, I just lost control-"

"Thank you," Tony says, cutting Rhodey off. "Thank you... I don't know what I would've done. He deserved it. He never should've yelled at Peter like that. There's a reason why he's not allowed near my kid."

Carol opens the backdoor, still holding Peter in his arms. He looks worn out from the long morning, puffy eyes still bloodshot from when he tripped.

"Dadda?" Peter whines, big eyes finding Tony's easily. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. He's never going to see you again, okay? You're safe now," Tony reassures, taking Peter into his own arms.

Peter's smaller than the average four-year-old, still the size of a toddler. The doctors have said that his stunted growth is normal. He was born early, has always been tiny for his age. They've been told that Peter will grow to a regular height, just slower than the rest of his age group.

Peter immediately lets his head fall onto his dad's shoulder, little hands fisting the material of Tony's shirt.

"Do I get ice cream?" he asks quietly.

Rhodey laughs loudly at that, subconsciously hiding his bloodied knuckles behind his back.

"Yeah, kiddo. We'll get you some ice cream," Tony says, pressing a kiss into Peter's hair. "We'll go now, you can take a nap in the car if you're still tired."

"I have to work from home today, so are you okay to do it without me?" Carol asks.

"I have to catch the bus to work in a few anyway, so it'll just be the two of you shopping unless you want to put it off until tomorrow?"

"We'll be fine. I need some father-son time anyway," Tony reassures, pushing Peter's curls out of his face gently.

They say their goodbyes and Tony carries Peter out to their car.

*

When they get to the nearest grocery store, Peter is more hyper than ever. He lives for Grocery Saturdays. It's his favourite time to spend with his dad and occasionally his aunt or uncle whenever they can come along.

They walk into the store with their pre-set list of things they need to buy, hand-in-hand.

The grocery store is pretty empty other than a few familiar faces from Peter's school.

"Can I go say hi to Ned?" Peter asks, tugging at his dad's hand and pointing across the store to where a small, chubby boy stands with his mother. Tony recognizes him as Peter's best friend from their school.

"Go ahead, kiddie. I'll be down this aisle," Tony says, letting go of Peter's hand and ruffling his hair before sending him on his way. He isn't worried about letting Peter out of his sight for a few minutes. There are enough familiar faces in the store that he knows someone would question anything suspicious.

Tony's looking for the cheapest cereals when he hears someone call his name.

"Tony! I didn't expect to see you around."

He turns to the voice and comes face to face with Steve.

"Oh, hey!" Tony greets, smiling at the blond. The stress from the morning has all but faded and he's able to forget about it when Steve pulls him in for a kiss.