Irondad Oneshots

a promise of hope is enough to feel free

{Title from Ready Now by dodie}

"Please," Peter murmurs, trying his best to blink back tears as he rocks the toddler in his arms from side to side. She wails in response, little fists gripping his sweater, and face pressing against his shoulder. "Please stop crying, baby. I love you, I really do, but I have to sleep before school tomorrow, honey. You know that. Please get some rest, okay? Close your little eyes."

She sobs some more instead of doing what Peter asked, cries getting muffled by Peter's sweater.

Adelina June Parker.

Ada for short, after Ada Lovelace the mathematician, or Addy or Lena as nicknames, and Adelina as a sort of homage to May's Italian Heritage. June was MJ's idea, because June comes after May. Peter tried to convince MJ into using Parker-Jones/Jones-Parker as their baby's last name, but she said she'd prefer for it to be just Parker.

They were fifteen when they had Adelina, way too young to even consider having a baby, but Peter said he'd support MJ in any decision she made, so they had a baby together.

But MJ's parents were stricter than they were hoping, and they didn't take it too well.

MJ was in California by the end of the month, leaving Peter with Ada all by himself. Her parents blamed him for her pregnancy no matter how much Peter and MJ and even May tried to argue. They wouldn't let it go and said that it was Peter's fault, so he'd have to deal with the consequences.

MJ flies up every summer for two weeks to hang out with Ada and give Peter a bit of a break, but otherwise, Peter's alone in taking care of their baby.

Babies aren't easy, Peter's long since realized. He has a part-time job, has an account set up for donations to Spider-Man to try to cover as much of her costs as he can. He has to balance interning for Tony, working, schooling, patrolling, and Adelina. That means, his own health has been pushed to absolute last on the list of things to worry about.

It hasn't been easy, but Peter still loved Adelina with everything he has, he would do anything for her, she'll always come before him.

Peter's seventeen now, making Adelina two years old. She's starting to understand how sad Peter leaving her all day makes her. It breaks Peter's heart, but he can't start taking the toddler to his high school or to his part-time job or out patrolling whenever he can swing it.

"Please, baby, please. I need you to calm down. Pretty, pretty please. I love you, I just need you to calm down and sleep," Peter begs, squeezing Adelina just a little bit tighter against his chest.

"No!" she shouts, little fist hitting his chest. "If I sleep, you leave."

"I'm not going anywhere, honey. I'll be right here when you wake up," he says even though it's a lie. He has a shift from two until seven before school starts at eight. "I'm sorry, baby, but we both need to sleep, okay? You don't want to be cranky with May tomorrow, do you?"

"Not cranky!" she says, pouting as tears fall down her rosy cheeks. "Don't wanna sleep!"

Peter sighs, pressing a long kiss to her forehead. His head pounds and the room swims around him. "What do you want instead?"

This throws her off. She probably didn't think she'd be winning this fight. Normally, Peter will put his foot down, but he's had a headache for as long as he can remember, he has to be up for work in less than four hours for a twenty-four-hour day ahead of him.

"Wanna go ou'side," she says confidently.

"It's night-time, kid, we're not allowed out at night-time," he argues. She looks ready to throw another tantrum, so he quickly continues. "I'll take you out onto the fire escape, though. How does that sound?"