IronDad/SpiderSon One-shots

Cotton-bunny-itis

Third Person POV:
Word Count: 1,482
Spooktober Day Seven: Fever

Peter paces back and forth in the living room of Tony's house. He glances between Morgan, who's currently asleep on the couch, and his phone, which is currently showing Peter and Tony's text messages. He is waiting for Tony, who is taking an ungodly amount of time, to respond. Well, not truthfully. It's only been two minutes since Peter sent his text, but he needs a response from Tony, like, now.

For context, Peter is babysitting Morgan. Tony and Pepper were going out for dinner and they asked him if he'd watch her. He, of course, said yes. He'd watched Morgan plenty of times before and he was fine with doing it. But, when he got here, he noticed something was off with Morgan. She looked tired but was fine otherwise, so they said goodbye to the parents and started to play.

Now, she was asleep on the couch. She had fallen asleep mid-tea party, which was already abnormal for her. What was even worse was when Peter transferred her from the floor to the couch, he could only focus on how warm she was. After he got her settled down, he checked her temperature. Sure enough, she was running a fever of 100.4° F. It wasn't exactly high, but, according to his google research, it was considered a mid-grade fever, a low-grade fever cutting off at 100.3° F. He urgently sent Tony a text, asking him what to do. The man hadn't responded, hence Peter's stressed pacing.

As he continued to wait, he searched around for a lighter blanket. He remembered May always making him use a light blanket when he had a fever. That felt like so long ago to him. He finally found a light blanket he thought would keep Morgan warm, and placed it gently over top of her.

When he placed the blanket on top of her, he felt his phone vibrate in his hand. He immediately opened the message, reading what Tony said.

Tony @ 8:22 p.m.: if she's asleep just let her be. if she still has a fever when she wakes up, give her some of the children's tylenol from our bathroom cabinet. if she fights, mix it in with some juice.

Peter sighed in relief. He had a plan. He sent a quick 'thanks' back before making his way to the kitchen. Morgan already had dinner, but he wasn't hungry at the time. He was starving now. He opened the fridge and got the leftover soup they had earlier today. Pepper was in what Tony called her "Fall Soup Phase." ("This happens every fall. The second a leaf changes colour and a chilled breeze comes our way, Pepper wants soup. So, she'll make six different soups, only to be over it in a week.")

He poured some of the chicken noodle soup into the bowl and put it in the microwave. As it started to heat up, he grabbed a package of square crackers from the cabinet (A/n: the superior kind to have with soup, thank you). He pulled a stool up to the counter and sat down, waiting for his soup to finish microwaving.

When the microwave went off, he grabbed his soup from the microwave and put it on the counter, grabbing a spoon and starting to eat it. It felt nice, warming Peter from the slight shiver he felt. He knew it was kind of basic, but he loved chicken noodle soup. It was his favorite kind.

Just as he was finishing up, he heard Morgan's feet hit the ground staring to make their way toward the kitchen. Peter looked up to see her. She had a tired look in her eye. "Morgster. How was the nap," he asked as he took the spoon out of his mouth.

Morgan gave Peter a smile. "It was good. I was tired," she said as she pushed a stool over beside Peter, climbing up it and sitting beside him.

Peter smiled back. "You definitely were. Mr. Pickle's was surprised you didn't fall asleep sooner," he said with a simple shrug of his shoulders. Peter's smile dropped slightly as he noticed a small flush on Morgan's cheeks. "Hey, let's play a game."

Morgan perked up. "Oooo! What game," she asked excitedly.

Getting off the stool, Peter held his arms out and picked up Morgan, who laid her head on his shoulder. "I think we should play doctor," he said as he walked out of the kitchen.

"Shouldn't you clean up your dinner before we play? Daddy said it's the rules," Morgan asks, staring back at Peter's empty bowl on the counter.

Peter starts climbing the stars as he shakes his head. "Eh, he'll never know unless you tell him," he says. He'd probably explain to Tony later that he was more worried about her health than he was his dirty dish. Besides, Tony always told Peter that the best way to avoid worrying Morgan was to make everything a game. Tony told him how one time he was picking up Peter at the hospital and he told Morgan they were going on a secret expedition to find the treasure being kept by a rascal teenager. It distracted Morgan from being stressed about Peter and it even helped Tony too.

When Peter was upstairs, he brought Morgan to the bathroom and had her sit on the side of the tub. "Now, where's the thermometer," he muttered to himself. He had used F.R.I.D.A.Y. to get Peter's temperature, but he figured that an actual thermometer would give a little bit more accuracy.

"I thought we weren't supposed to play with the real-" she started, but she was cut off by Peter putting the thermometer into her mouth.

"Under your tongue," he instructed. He put on a play face. "Doctor's orders," he said with a fake French accent.

After a giggle fit from Morgan, she did as she was told. They both waited patiently for it to beep and after about thirty seconds, it did. Peter pulled it from her mouth and furrowed his eyebrows. "What is it? What am I," she asked with concern.

Peter gave her a small smile. "Well, uh, I think you might have a very bad case of..." Peter trailed off, trying to come up with something. After a second, his face lit up. "Cotton-bunny-itis," he exclaimed, using the fake French accent again.

Morgan couldn't help but laugh again. "What even is that," she asked, tilting her head.

Peter, while she had been laughing, had grabbed the medicine from the cabinet. He knew how much she hated taking it. He slowly backed up toward the door. "It's a very, very contagious disease that makes people laugh uncontrollably," he explains.

Morgan laughs out again, and Peter flinches back, which makes Morgan laugh even harder.

"Oh no! She's too far gone! The only cure is through... Apple Juice! Yes, Apple Juice!" Peter starts running down the hall and down the stairs. "Wait there, Morgan! I'll save you," he yells as he starts down the stairs.

Morgan's laughter can be heard all throughout the house, which was good news for Peter. When he rechecked her temperature, it said she was 100.6 now, which was slightly higher than before. That's why he was giving her medicine. The best way to disguise the medicine was through home sort of juice, at least that is what Tony told him. So, apple juice being the cure it was.

He took a few seconds to make the drink mixture before he was able to bring it back up to her. He could still hear Morgan laughing as he climbed the stairs and walked back to the bathroom. He looked at Morgan and gasped. "Oh my goodness. It is much worse than we thought. Here, let's try the antidote to fix it," he said, handing her the juice and backing away.

Morgan, of course, laughed again, but was able to drink her juice. When she finished, she handed Peter back the cup. "Do you think it worked," she asked him.

Peter felt relief inside because Morgan didn't realize the medicine was in there and she didn't spit it out. He shrugged. "I don't know. Do you still feel like laughing," he asked.

After pausing a second, Morgan shook her head. "It worked," she exclaimed and jumped back into Peter's arms. "I was so scared! I thought I was going to laugh forever," she explained.

Hugging her back, Peter responded. "I was so scared too," he admitted partially. He picked her up and started walking downstairs. "How about a movie?"

Morgan smiled. "Frozen 2?"

"Frozen 2 ," he confirmed, walking back down the stairs.

(And, two hours later, when Tony and Pepper returned home, they found Peter's soup bowl and a cup stranded on the counter and both Peter and Morgan passed out on the couch, the credits of Frozen 2 rolling down the screen.)

That's it for this chapter! Remember to drink some water, eat something, take medicine (if you have to), and rest today. You did a good job and I am proud of you :)
Till next time
- Storm