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A piercing cry caught Peter’s attention and he stopped swinging. He looked around, using Karen and his HUD to find the source of the crying. It was a cold night, and the cry sounded like an infant, so Peter knew he needed to find them quickly. His HUD picked up the heat signature of a small bundle and Peter swung over to it, landing lightly on the balls of his feet. He reached into the dumpster and found the screaming baby.
“Oh, you poor thing,” Peter cooed. “Karen, call Tony.”
He held the child to his chest and rocked back and forth. There was a blanket wrapped around the baby, and Peter pulled it tighter around them to try to keep them warm while he waited for Tony to answer.
“Hey, baby, what’s up?” Tony asked when the call connected.
“Hey, love, I need your help. I found a baby while on patrol and I don’t know what to do,” Peter said.
“Ah, let me call child services and get back to you. I’ll have FRI get your location, but try to get inside if you can,” Tony said.
“Will do, thanks, love,” Peter said and the call disconnected.
He hummed softly to the infant and looked around for somewhere he could go while he waited for Tony. Recognizing the building beside him as a cafe, he ducked inside and sat at a booth in the back corner. A waitress came over and she started to greet him, but then she gasped when she realized it was Spider-Man and that he had a baby.
“Hi, Miss. I’m waiting for Iron Man, he’s contacting child services,” Peter said.
“Oh boy, did you find the baby outside?” the waitress asked.
“Yeah, poor little thing was screaming in the dumpster in your back alley. You haven’t seen anyone back there recently, have you?” Peter asked. She shook her head. “That’s okay, thank you.”
Peter held the small bundle and rocked his arms, cooing softly, and it seemed to work to calm the baby down. They were no longer crying, and Peter counted that as a win. By the time Tony arrived, the waitress had returned with a bottle for the baby and Peter was feeding them.
“Hey, Spidey,” Tony said when he walked in.
Peter looked up and spotted Tony coming towards him with a woman in a suit. Tony had come in jeans and a tee shirt, obviously deciding this wasn’t an Iron Man emergency. He smiled at Peter and Peter smiled under the mask, knowing Tony would recognize the way the eyes moved.
“Hey, Tony,” Peter said.
“This is Jessica, she’s with social services,” Tony introduced, waving his hand at the woman.
“Nice to meet you, Jessica,” Peter said and they sat across from him.
“Nice to meet you as well, Spider-Man,” Jessica said and Peter chuckled. “So I can see the child you found, can you tell me where you found them?”
“Yeah, the dumpster in the alley behind this building. They were screaming and freezing, so I called Tony and brought them in here to warm up,” Peter told the woman. She nodded and wrote something down in her notebook.
“That was the best thing you could do if you didn’t have a way to contact us yourself directly,” she said. “The problem is that we don’t have many foster homes rated for an infant right now.”
Peter looked at Tony who rolled his eyes.
“Spidey, that’s a baby, not a cat. You can’t claim them like a stray animal,” Tony said lowly.
Peter whined and looked down at the baby. His omegan instincts were demanding that he care for the baby himself. Tony looked around and pursed his lips. They didn’t want to out Peter’s identity as Spider-Man so he needed to find somewhere more private they could have this conversation.
“Jessica, can we take this somewhere more private?” Tony murmured.
“Oh, sure, let’s go to my office,” she suggested.
“I’m going to take the baby with me and get my boyfriend; unless you need Spidey for anything further?” Tony asked.
“No, you’re free to go, Spider-Man, thank you so much,” Jesica said.
Peter didn’t want to let the baby go but knew he had to. And if he was going to give the baby to anyone, it was going to be his alpha. So Peter reluctantly handed the baby to Tony and slipped out of the booth, hurrying to the door so he wouldn’t turn around and snatch the baby back.
Tony and Jessica followed him out and Peter slipped around the corner. He found Tony’s car and deactivated the suit. He was glad he’d worn the nano one and that Tony’s upgrades meant he could wear street clothes underneath. He stood by the passenger door and waited for Tony and Jessica.
“Pete, there you are, baby,” Tony called.
“Hey, what’s going on? Is that a baby?” Pete asked.
“Spidey found them in a dumpster,” Tony said.
“Oh, you poor thing,” Peter gasped and came closer.
Tony held the baby out and Peter took the little bundle back in his arms. He nuzzled the baby and began to purr. Jessica agreed they could take the baby with them, seeming to realize Peter wasn’t likely to let them go any time soon. They followed her to her office and Peter turned his head to look at Tony.
“Please?” Peter asked. A gust of air left Tony’s lungs and his hands tightened on the steering wheel.
“Baby, this is a human being, not a stray animal.
If
we’re allowed to take them, how are we going to care for them?” Tony asked.
“Tony, we have more than enough money to buy an entire baby store tonight if we wanted to,” Peter said.
“I’m not talking about financially, Pete. Emotionally, can you handle fostering a child? Are you ready to adopt? Because I know you, Pete, you won’t want to give them up if you keep them for much longer,” Tony said.
“I already don’t want to give them up,” Peter admitted softly. “My instincts are screaming at me to keep this child safe.”
Silence reigned in the car for a long time, neither speaking again until they pulled up outside the Department of Children and Families office. Tony put the car in park and shifted to look at Peter.
“Are you ready for a child, baby?” Tony asked.
“We’ve talked about this, Tony. The only reason we don’t have kids is because I’m worried about passing on my mutated DNA,” Peter said.
Tony nodded, they were still testing Peter’s DNA to see if it was safe for him to have children. The results had been so far inconclusive, which was frustrating to them both.
“Okay, if they’ll let us, we can foster them and go from there. I can’t promise they’ll let us keep them, Petey,” Tony said softly.
“They will. Tony, you’re Iron Man
and
Tony Stark. We’ve had a stable relationship for half a decade, you’re a billionaire, there is no reason they would say no if we wanted to keep them,” Peter reasoned.
“Alright, let’s go inside,” Tony said.
In the end, Peter was right. Jessica was more than happy to allow them to foster the baby, who turned out to be a little girl, for as long as they needed to decide if they wanted to adopt her. They left her office and headed straight for the nearest children’s store. They made it just before closing and the employees helped them get everything they would need for the night and promised the rest of their purchases would be delivered the next day.
They got home and Peter settled the little girl in the new bassinet they had bought for her and stood there, just looking at her, for a while. Tony came up behind him and wrapped his arms around Peter’s waist.
“We have a baby, now, don’t we?” Tony murmured his lips brushing Peter’s neck.
“I think so,” Peter said. “What should we name her? Jessica said we could.”
“Hmm, how about Mariah? It’s similar to both our mother’s and May, but still unique to her,” Tony suggested.
Peter’s breath caught and he nodded. He loved the name.
“Mariah Antonia,” Peter breathed and Tony’s arms tightened around his waist.
“We can name the next one after you,” Tony whispered against Peter’s ear.
“I’d like that,” Peter said, leaning back into Tony and watching their new child sleep.