Tony's Pov:
The sick little spider baby fell asleep by my side, and to be honest I was liking our snuggle. I've been really busy recently, and so has Peter with school so we haven't had much time to hang out. Maybe this illness would allow us both to have some much needed time off, Peter especially. He has to juggle so much with school and being a friendly neighbourhood Spiderman that he doesn't have a lot of time to do what teenagers do, that's why I was super happy for him when he was asked to go to the party last night. It just sucked that now that he was sick.
Peter whimpered and pulled the blanket up to his mouth, pain spread across his face.
"Peter, you okay?" I asked softly, I ran my hand through his curls as he slowly opened his eyes again. He shook his head and curled into my side.
"Still feeling pretty sick, aren't you Buddy?" I said, I knew he felt bad. He nodded.
"Do you need me to get you anything, a heating pad might feel nice on your stomach." I suggested, Peter smiled weakly to the thought.
"And a popsicle?" Peter asked for shyly, I should've seen that coming. Before the spider bite gave him his enhanced immune system, Peter got sick quite often and popsicles were the only thing we could get him to eat, it was sort of a comfort food for him now. But a popsicle would probably be a good thing right now, give him some fluids and help soothe his throat.
"And a popsicle, of course. I'll be right back, don't go dying on me now." I said as I got up from his bed, I gave him a little rub on his leg before leaving his room.
I made it to the kitchen, where I saw a massive pot on the stove with some raw vegetables and a chopping board on the side. I looked into the pot and saw a chicken carcass in some water, I think Pepper is making Peter some chicken soup. I opened the freezer door, rummaged around before finding the massive stack of fruity popsicles at the back, I remembered how much Peter likes the blue raspberry ones. I grabbed the frozen goodness on a stick and made sure to close the freezer, I made my way over to the couch where Pepper was sat.
"Pep, do you mind if Peter borrows your heating pad for a while?" I asked her, she looked up at me.
"I don't mind at all, how's he doing?" She asked me.
"Feeling pretty sorry for himself, poor thing. But he said he wanted a popsicle so I just got one for him." I told her.
"I hate when our little spiderling is under the weather. I'm going to make him some soup later, maybe that'll help." Pepper said.
"Oh yes, I saw the pot. What are you going to put in it besides the chicken?" I asked, I was just curious about the soup making process, I've never made soup that wasn't in a can.
"Noodles, veggies and a whole lotta love. Now go and give our son a popsicle before it melts!" Pepper reminded me.
"Don't worry, I'm on it. The heating pad is in our bathroom, in the cabinet under the sink?" I asked.
"Yep." She replied.
"Thanks, my love. See you in a bit." I told her, kissing the top of her head before making a quick detour to our ensuite bathroom to grab the heating pad. I took the supplies back to Peter's room, he was still in his little blanket cocoon but I think that he's willing to come out of it for the heating pad.
"I'm back, Kiddo." I announced, I plugged in the heating pad and turned it on before nestling it on Peter's stomach. He held it close to his body and curled in on the heat from it as I got him covered up with his comforter.
"And here's your popsicle, blue and cold just how you like it." I said as I presented it to him.
"T-Thanks Dad." Peter said as he took the frozen treat, starting to lick it without the embarrassment of deepthroating it. I chuckled to myself as I sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Peter, I remember when you were younger and you used to steal Mommy's heating pad and lie down in our bed, and you kept asking for chocolate because you thought you were 'on your period' whenever you were feeling grumpy." I laughed, remembering the days before Peter even went to kindergarten. He's grown up so much since then but I guess being sick and sucking on a popsicle just makes you remember how dependant he was on you, now he was becoming his own man and gaining independence. This just reminds me of the responsibilities I have as a parent.
"I n-never did that." Peter said in an effort to try and defend himself, acting as if he was too young to remember. I remember it very well.
"I think you'll find that you were our little drama queen." I told him.
"I-I'm not a drama queen, I'm a r-reality queen." Peter said, and I laughed. It was actually nice to have some time to talk together, we've been lacking that recently.
"Mr Stark, Peter's test results have come back. It is confirmed that Peter has mononucleosis , otherwise known as glandular fever. Mr Banner is on his way over." FRIDAY announced.
"Oh okay, thanks FRI." I said in dismissal.
"I-I got mono?" Peter said with dread in his weak voice.
"It appears so, Pete. Did you kiss someone at the party last night?" I asked curiously, they don't call mono the kissing disease for nothing.
"Well...no." Peter said with a sad sigh.
"What are you sad about, apart from being sick obviously?" I asked him, he wouldn't be sad like that about not kissing someone unless something upsetting happened.
"Me a-and my friend MJ...w-we had a moment. I went for it, Dad. B-But nothing happened." He told me.
"Aww Pete, don't worry. I'm sure you'll have a moment at some point, if it didn't go right this time then maybe it'll go alright next time. I believe in you." I told him, from what I heard Peter really like MJ and MJ seems to like Peter too. I think that there will definitely be something between them. Peter smiled as a way of saying thank you, I could read his face like a book. It was a page turner, alright.
"People don't get mono from nothing, Peter. Did you share drinks with someone?" I asked him.
"I dunno, I j-just drank Pepsi...then again quite a f-few people had soda. I might have p-picked up the wrong cup." Peter told me, it can be an easy mistake to make. All the cups look the same and many drinks look similar, it would have been very easy to pick up the wrong cup from the kitchen island.
"That seems very likely, assuming no one just spat in your face. Did they?" I asked, again with curiosity. Peter shook his head with a weak smile, I didn't think so anyway.
Bruce made a reappearance into Peter's bedroom.
"So, you got the Kissing Disease. Who was the lucky ducky?" Bruce asked in a very chipper manner.
"Not now, Greenie. Not now." I said as I grabbed his wrist in disapproval, not that he were to know about Peter's circumstances with MJ but the conversation would get even weirder should it continue.
"It looks like you've got mono, Kid. Obviously there is no magical cure that I can give you, but I would recommend regular doses of ibuprofen to ease the symptoms." Bruce explained.
"W-When will I get better, m-my immune system is pretty strong." Peter asked.
"That's the thing Peter, your immune system is really good at preventing illness but because you're sick right now it'll probably take its toll on you. You will be most likely out of school for two weeks, I believe." Bruce explained, I nodded and agreed with him. Peter needed to take the time to let his body heal.
"What about S-Spiderman, I gotta go h-help people." Peter said with a worried tone to his voice, tears starting to well up with tears. I rubbed his shoulder as I looked down on him with a sympathetic look upon my face.
"I'm so sorry, Petey Pie. I don't think you'll be able to be Spiderman for a while. We don't want you getting worse." I told him, as much as it pained me. A sad tear rolled down my son's face, over his little pink tinted cheeks, I wiped it away with my thumb.
"Your Dad's right, Peter. The last thing we want is for you to hurt yourself even more, I'm especially worried about your spleen rupturing. You need to let us take care of you." Bruce continued, Peter whimpered sadly as he nodded his head with acceptance before rubbing his eyes with his fist.
"I think a certain spider baby is sleepy?" I cooed softly as I started to tuck my son into bed properly. Peter didn't put up any sort of fight, he just laid back against his pillows and let be baby him. He was already dozing off again.
"Sweet dreams, Peter." I whispered before leaving the room with Bruce, turning the light off behind us.
"Thanks a bunch, Bruce." I thanked once we were both out in the hall.
"No problem, Tony. Poor kid looked devastated." Bruce said, the same sympathetic smile that had spread over all our faces today painting its way across his.
"I know, he just needs a long rest and hopefully he can be back to his normal self." I said, that's all that we could do.
"Exactly, see you later Tony." Bruce said as he made his way to the elevator, I which him leave before I headed back to the kitchen to make some coffee. Pepper was stood at the stove.
"Hey Tony, how's Peter feeling. I saw Bruce heading your way." Pepper asked as she stirred here broth.
"Not so good, he's got mononucleosis. We think he got it from drinking out of someone else's cup at the party last night. He's pretty upset because he won't be able to be Spiderman for a couple weeks until he's fully recovered. He's taking a nap now, he was absolutely exhausted." I explained to her.
"Poor little thing, I feel terrible for him." Pepper said, her voice full of empathy
"I think we all do, no one likes to see him in the state he is. Let's just do our best to make him comfortable and hopefully he'll start feeling himself soon." I said as I grabbed Pepper's hand, we were in this together as Peter's parents.
"I definitely hope so." She replied, squeezing my hand gently. We both wanted nothing more than our son to be happy and healthy, and we were going to have to help to make that happen.
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That was part 3, should have another chapter real soon. xxx