After half an hour of impatiently explaining to the hospital staff that they were not trying to kidnap the baby, Tony and Steve walked out to a waiting car with Peter strapped into a car seat someone had left unattended in the children's ward. Perhaps stealing the car seat was a bad move, but at least they hadn't stolen the baby, right?

Tony opened the car door for Steve who carefully slid inside, hoping that if he moved slowly enough, he wouldn't wake up Peter. He set the car seat down on the seat next to him and then stared at it blankly.

"Tony? Isn't this thing supposed to strap down?"

"Yeah, here let me show you." Tony got in on the other side of the car seat and leaned over it quizzically. "Well, I think it has something to do with the seatbelt…" Tony pulled the seatbelt around the car seat like he was strapping in a person. He and Steve looked at it for about 10 seconds before Steve shook his head.

"I don't think that's right. Shouldn't you know how to hook in a car seat?"

"Shouldn't you?"

"When I grew up, car seats didn't exist. I came home from the hospital on my mother's lap."

"So you're saying we should just hold him?"

Steve stared at Tony, completely horrified, "What if we crash?"

"Oh c'mon! Your arms are definitely stronger than a car seat."

"No, Tony."

"Um, excuse me? Mr. Stark?" The driver had gotten out from behind the wheel and was now standing at the side of the car, looking in at the bickering heroes. He gestured at the baby. "May I?"

Tony looked at Steve and shrugged, so Steve got out of the car and let the driver attempt the complexities of the car seat. He finished in about 5 seconds.

"There we are. Ready for the road." He got back into to seat and turned to look at Tony in back. "Where to?"

"Woah, woah, woah. Hold up. How'd you do that?" Tony pointed his finger at the car seat the way you'd point at a dog that could bite any second. Steve sat next to the seat staring in awe.

The driver laughed. "I'll show you later, boss. Where are we going?"

"Stark Tower."

The engine began to purr and the car started up. And somehow, despite having slept through the saga of the car seat, the faint noise of the engine jolted Peter awake.

"Well shit." Tony muttered

From the front of the car, the driver laughed. "Welcome to parenthood."

Steve stood awkwardly in the center of the main living room in Stark Tower. He looked around and then looked down at the baby carrier. He brushed several beer cans aside and set it down on the table carefully.

"Uh…Tony? We have a problem."

"What? Already?" Tony rushed over to the table and looked down at Peter, "I don't see a problem."

"Tony, he's sleeping in his car seat on a table next to some beer cans. Where are we gonna put him?"

Tony lifted his finger, an idea crossing his mind, and then almost instantly dropped it with a frown. "That, Cap, is an excellent question."

After 5 minutes of the two of them staring blankly at the baby, Tony smiled. "Wait here, be back in an hour." Tony ran out of the room and flung the door shut behind. Peter started to cry.

"Dammit Tony," Steve sighed. He sat down on the couch and picked Peter up to rock him back to sleep.

Just as Steve had lulled Peter to sleep, Tony rushed back into the room. Steve shot him an angry look as he put one finger to his lip and whispered, "If you wake him up, I will murder you."

Tony smiled and gestured for Steve to follow him. He picked Peter up out of the car seat and followed his now sawdust-covered husband out of the room.

Tony brought them to one of the rooms previously used to store old paintings that he no longer wanted. The paintings were still there, but now, in the middle of the room, was a crib. The "crib" was part metal, part wood, with several band tees lining the bottom as blankets.

"I know it looks like crap but I figured he just needs to sleep in it for a few days until we get a better one."

"Tony, it's beautiful." Steve carefully lay Peter down on a Black Sabbath tee and smiled. He put one arm around Tony and kissed the top of his head. "Welcome home, Peter."

When he was 3 years old, Peter got his first bed. Tony had a blanket made from the band tees that he'd slept on for his first 3 years. The metal and wood crib stayed in his room as a toy bin for the next seven years.

And then it became a tool box.

They never did get rid of it.