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For Tony, Peter came first, always.
His safety was the most important thing. The one time he slipped up, his adorable child became a still adorable, but now radioactive child.
Which is why he had waited this long to organise a meet up between Steve, Bucky and Peter in the first place. He had wanted to make sure that he was certain that they would get along, before he even thought about bringing the topic up with Peter. His son may only be six years old, but he was smart, and Tony would be damned before he ever let a situation like Ty ever happen again.
What their reaction was when he told them about Peter would be the first test. He had gotten even an inkling of a doubt that they were not happy about this new information, then that would be the end of their slowly budding relationship.
It wouldn’t matter that Tony was slowly falling in love with them, that he had a whole hoard of butterflies erupting in his stomach whenever he was with Steve and Bucky, none of that mattered.
What mattered was Peter.
Luckily, Steve and Bucky had taken the news very well, and hadn't accused him of hiding something from the team - they had understood it was what Tony had done to keep Peter safe, it was nothing against them.
And even more luckily, in Tony's opinion, Peter adored Steve and Bucky, and they were great with him too. They were patient and kind and everything that Tony strove to be, everything he hoped Peter saw him as.
Nevertheless, that didn't mean everything was smooth sailing. Sometimes Steve didn’t explain something in a way Peter understood, and he didn’t come out of his room for a while. And on another particularly memorable moment, early on in the relationship, Bucky made apricot pie, not knowing Peter was allergic to it, and Peter had to spend the night in the medbay. Bucky wouldn’t let himself near Peter for a while after that, until Tony admitted that he blamed himself really, for not telling Bucky that Peter was allergic to the fruit.#
Safe to say, there had been a lot of tears shed that day.
Of course, they weren’t perfect, and they didn’t expect to be, but the important thing was that they were trying.
It was about Bucky teaching Peter how to play baseball, spending hours at a time outside in the garden, Bucky pitching and Peter attempting to hit it. Between the giggles there was serious progress being made, Bucky coaching Peter through a swing, and knowing how far to run. They honestly could probably stay outside forever, if it weren’t for Steve and Tony calling them in for food.
As Peter got older, Steve began taking point on the humanities side of school that Tony liked, but didn’t feel as comfortable helping Peter with. Tony loved science, and thankfully, Peter had inherited that same love (though, really it wouldn’t have mattered if he hadn’t, what actually mattered was that Peter was happy,
Thanks to both Tony and Steve, Peter is growing up fostering a love for both science and history fascinated by the past and how it is a lesson and can help shape the future.
All three of them know that he is going to grow up and do amazing things, and they can’t wait to see him achieve his potential.
But it’s not only Peter that has grown during the time that he has started dating Steve and Bucky, he himself has changed, for the better, and he can admit it.
It’s not just better sleep schedules and mandatory snack breaks thanks to Steve and Bucky’s enhanced metabolism. He used to hate them at first, hated being pulled out of his train of thought when he got down to the lab after Peter had gone to bed, but he slowly stopped minding them as much, and after a time, began looking forward to them.
For him, it was a reminder that he was loved, that he was safe. He knows just how much Steve and Bucky love him, and Peter for that matter, thanks to the I love yous that were so readily given these days (he thought that the novelty of those three little words would wear off after the first few times, but they still bring the same onslaught of butterflies that it did when they were first said), but sometimes, actions helped just as much.
Steve and Bucky have come a long way from the 40s streets of Brooklyn too.
After a lot of conversations and discussions, Steve had hung up the shield, metaphorically, choosing to hand it to Sam, who had taken up the roll like a duck to water and had hit the ground running, or more appropriate perhaps, flying.
What had maybe caused more arguments, was Bucky suiting up again and heading out as the Winter Soldier. But in the end there was an understanding that Bucky needed to reclaim the title, to begin to wipe the red from his ledger so to speak.
Tony, Steve and Peter would be there when he came back from missions, with hugs and kisses and baked goods. Peter would chatter away, catching him up on what Bucky had missed whilst he was away. Inevitably, the four of them would pile onto the couch for a movie night, and Peter would fall asleep against Bucky.
Bucky would pick him up gently, and carry him to his room.
“Night, papa,” Peter yawned, and Bucky froze for a second, before his brain rebooted, and he stroked Peter’s hair.
“Night kiddo,” he said softly, before backing out of the room and flicking the light switch.
“You okay, ice pop?” Tony asked, as Bucky all but flopped down next to him on the couch.
“Peter called me papa,” Bucky replied, dazed, but Tony didn’t even blink.
“Ah, yeah. Makes sense. I mean you basically are,” Tony responded, still watching the movie.
“But you’re his dad,” Bucky frowns, and that gets Tony to look at him, and he can easily spot the insecurity in Bucky’s eyes.
“Yeah I am. But you’re his papa, just like Steve is his pops. You’re not replacing anyone. You’re just filling another space in Peter’s life.”
Bucky glanced at Steve, who just shrugged and smiled softly. “He called me pops as he was running out the door for school and I gave him his lunchbox.”
This drew a smile out of Bucky. “You cried, didn’t cha?”
“Oh, like a baby,” he says unashamedly. “Tones wouldn’t stop laughing.”
“It’s not my fault you just turned to look at me and burst into tears,” Tony says mildly, before softening and turning to Bucky. “You’re family. Me and Peter have basically bagsied you and Steve, You’re stuck with us.”
Bucky smiled again, and pressed a kiss to Tony’s forehead, before letting his head rest on his shoulder. “I think I can live with that.”