IronDad/SpiderSon One-shots

popsicles

Third Person POV
Word Count: 1,412
Spooktober Day Nineteen: Melted

Morgan was your classic six year old. She was in love with Frozen 2, all her teddy bears, waking her parents up entirely too early in the morning, and chicken nuggets. But, there were a lot of things that made her different from most other six year olds. To start, her parents were Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. She was born during a time where the world was completely different, and she grew up around super heroes. But, that wasn't the biggest. The biggest thing that made Morgan different from every other six year old was her obsession with popsicles.

This wasn't a small obsession. This wasn't Morgan asking for a popsicle once a week because she suddenly remembered they existed. No. Morgan had to have a popsicle at least once a day or else she'd go feral. Some might call it an addiction rather than an obsession.

Tony didn't remember when this all started. All he knew is that one day, Morgan asked for "a juice pop," and it has since spiraled. As all things go, having an obsession with popsicles isn't the worst thing in the world to have. She was a perfect kid otherwise. She listened to her parents, ate her vegetables, and she even helped do chores around the house. She was quiet and knew how to behave in public. Really, Morgan was the absolute perfect kid. She just had to have a popsicle.

In Tony's mind, this was normal. It had become routine for the past three years—Morgan's obsession starting at the ripe age of three years old—so, he never thought twice about it. That was, until a certain spider-powered teenager came over.

It was Peter's first time out at the cabin. Tony was still pretty deep in recovery, but he had finally been cleared to come home a few weeks ago. Since then, he'd practically begged the kid to come over sometime. Peter didn't want to at first, insisting to Tony that he had to focus on healing. But, after some persuasion and incentive of meeting Morgan, Peter agreed.

Happy had come out to get Peter three days ago. In the three days that Peter had been out here, he'd learned a lot about the Stark-Potts family. Here were the things he'd observed so far:

One: Tony's the housewife. Even while recovering, he has done most of the cleaning, cooking and other house things. Pepper offers to, but Tony insists that he can still do them. Pepper muttered under her breath about him having control issues, but Peter decided the man was doing everything he could to get back into a somewhat normal routine. Plus, Tony's cooking is pretty damn good, so no one complained.

Two: The Stark-Potts house was quiet. Morgan was a fairly quiet child, which was something Peter hadn't expected. Pepper worked during the day in her office and Tony didn't do much other than talk to Peter, play with Morgan and play on the Stark tablet he had. Oh, and he napped. Morgan played in her room or outside a lot and when Peter wasn't playing with her, she'd play quietly in her room or she'd read a book. Everything about the Stark-Potts house was quiet. It was quite the change from the busy environment Peter lived in.

Three: Gerald, the alpaca, was the highlight of the entire place. He didn't know how to explain it, but there was something so... odd about having an alpaca. Peter had no problem with them having an alpaca, but it was just something that Peter never would have thought the Stark-Potts house would have contained. Gerald was very well loved, though. Morgan took Peter out to feed him every morning and every night, and Peter loved those times. It was fun.

Four: This was most definitely the weirdest of them all, but Morgan had a popsicle at least once a day. She had three popsicles the first day, one the second and two yesterday. So far, Morgan hadn't had one today, but Peter knew it was coming. He didn't know why. He just assumed.

Either way, Peter was enjoying his time there. He really was. He had nothing to complain about and he was, honestly, having the best time. He was relaxing and he was enjoying his time out here.

Him and Tony were currently sitting in the living room. Pepper was up in her office, working away and Morgan was lying down for a nap. "Hey, do you think I could go make some chicken nuggets or something," Peter asked out of the blue. He was suddenly very hungry very quickly and chicken nuggets sounded like heaven at the moment.

"Sure, kid. Want me to make them for you," he asked, glancing up from the tablet he had in hand.

Shaking his head, Peter got up off the couch. "No, that's okay. I've got it," he said. He walked to the kitchen and opened the freezer. He had to move the popsicles onto the counter so he could grab the chicken nuggets.

Closing the freezer, Peter grabbed a baking sheet and dumped the bag of frozen chicken nuggets onto the sheet. He spread them out evenly, preheating the oven with his free hand. He tossed the bag in the trash after the nuggets were evenly spread, knowing the directions to them by heart. He had a lot of chicken nuggets, especially since May had started working again.

He waited a few minutes for the oven to beep, scrolling on his phone to pass the time. When it did beep, Peter put the nuggets in and walked back into the living room. He set a timer on his phone and opened tiktok to pass the time.

Tony and Peter just sat in silence, each doing their own thing. It was nice, being able to recharge like that. Neither of them minded the silence. It was actually nice and relaxing, like much of the time had been. Peter snickered at his phone occasionally, sending a funny meme Tony's way so he could laugh as well.

It wasn't until they heard a gasp from the kitchen that their attention pulled away from their phones. Peter was up first, making his way quickly toward the kitchen. Tony was behind him, moving slower than Peter.

"Morgan? What's wrong," Tony asked, walking into the kitchen.

Morgan, who had tears in her eyes, pointed to the box on the counter. "My popsicles are melted," she whined.

The two followed her finger to the box of popsicles sitting on the counter. "Shit," Peter muttered under his breath, quickly walking over to the box. He picked it up, watching as a brown mixture of liquid dripped onto the counter. There was no saving those. Guilt spread through his chest. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry," he said.

Silent tears fell down Morgan's face. "They're melted," she repeated, broken-hearted.

Peter felt tears in his eyes. He glanced up at Tony, who was just watching with wide eyes. Peter dropped the box down onto the counter. "I can- uh- I can go get some more?" He gave Tony a 'what the fuck do I do' look before looking back down at Morgan. "I'm really sorry, Morgan. I feel so bad."

Morgan wiped the tears from her face and sniffled. "It's okay," she said, but everyone could tell that she didn't really mean it. "You didn't do it on purpose, right?"

"No! No, I'd never do that on purpose," Peter said quickly. He crouched down to the ground to get on Morgan's level. "I feel terrible. How can I fix it," he asked.

Thinking for a moment, Morgan wiped her face again. "You could dress up and have a tea party with me while dad orders more popsicles," she said, glancing over at her father.

Tony nodded. "That's a great idea, Morgan," he said with a smile.

Peter, who felt a single tear slide down his face, wiped it away and nodded. "That's a perfect plan. Can we have chicken nuggets at your tea party?"

Morgan nodded. "That's a good idea," she said.

That was the first day in three years that Morgan didn't have a popsicle. Tony didn't know how to react, and Peter felt guilty for the rest of the day. But, it was definite progress on Morgan's part.

Maybe. The next day, when the house was resupplied with popsicles, Morgan had five. Whether that is a good or bad thing, no one knows.

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