Pictures and Back Story
Bruce smiled as he watched Jane from across the expanse of the luxurious hotel suite as she played a video game of some sort with Skye and Sam.
"Does she have a lot of friends?" Tony asked, breaking through his thoughts. He turned and looked at the man sitting at across from him at the square dinette.
Bruce shook his head. "Not really. She has a few, but not really many she can really talk to about her interests which are mainly science," he said with a small laugh. "In case you haven't noticed. That's why I brought her along. I think she needed this. To see that there are others who share her, uh, obsession."
Tony gave a nod of understanding. "I remember those days. Especially as an only child. Not that it always means much. Skye has a younger sister that's good at robotics, but their personalities are a little different. They're at that clashing age, I guess," he said with a shrug. "And one of my sons is pretty good with engineering, but he's 9 so you can imagine the lack of similar interests there," he added. "But they do go to a great school, S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy that approaches learning based on interests. There's the core of course, but the kids get to focus on their interests with other students interested in the same. It helps."
"I've heard of S.H.I.E.L.D. actually," Bruce replied. "I was looking into it as a potential school when I was considering the SUNY position. Seems like a very nice school, but was out of my tuition range unfortunately."
"Well, I don't think that would be a problem now if you're still interested," Tony said in reference to the position he'd offered Bruce no doubt. "I would at least recommend it for Jane if she's your scientist."
"I have two others who are into science, Peter and Jemma. But one is eight and the other is six so they're not exactly where Jane is," Bruce commented as he looked back over at Jane.
"You know, I'm fascinated by how you came to have seven kids. Must be a hell of a story," Tony said, taking him by surprise.
Bruce snorted as he looked back. "It is. Some people don’t quite believe me when I tell them. But…" He hesitated. "I'd actually love to hear about your kids too. You've done a great job keeping them out of the media so I'm sure people don't always quite grasp the visionary magnate vs. the father, am I right?"
Tony smiled so he knew he was right. "I have an entire legal team just for making sure the press plays nice. I like to call the shots on most of what gets shared. Doesn’t always go well, of course. It was… There were a lot of problems after my wife died and then again when…"
"I've read the stories," Bruce offered when it was clear Tony was struggling.
He did recall the stories and the tabloid spreads. Tony Stark had been accused of being an unfit father, something Bruce was familiar with, with problems ranging from PTSD to alcohol abuse. He couldn't begin to imagine what that must have been like. He couldn't be sure he wouldn't have fallen to pieces in a similar situation. He shivered slightly at the very real fear that he might have become violently angry in that scenario.
"I'm sorry," Bruce offered weakly.
"No, I'm sorry. I'm still sorry that I almost got to the point where I couldn't hold onto them. That would have been the end for me I think."
"But it wasn't and you didn’t," Bruce said reassuringly, admiring Tony's conviction. "So why don't you tell me all about them if you're up to it."
Tony smiled in clear gratitude. "Okay, but I have to warn you," he said as he reached for his elaborate phone, that Bruce knew was probably his own model called a Starkphone, "the spiel comes with photos."
Bruce laughed at that, but the amount of trust from the, by all accounts, guarded man was not lost on him. "Well, if you still want to hear about my kids when you're done, so does mine. I have one of those obnoxiously excessive photo wallets."
"Nice." Tony did something with the phone and, to Bruce's slight surprise, the screen projected upward into a holographic screen. He recalled that being a feature and he knew the Starkpads in the labs at Culver did that, but this was his first encounter with the phone up close. It was truly remarkable. "You're drooling over my tech," Tony said knowingly and Bruce flushed guiltily. "No, no. That's the kind of reaction I like. Okay, so this is my oldest, Clint. He's 16." Bruce studied the picture of the sandy haired boy. "The second thing that should have tipped me off that Maya was different was that she already had a kid and I didn't go running for the hills."
"Oh?" Bruce couldn't hide his slight surprise at that. The Tony Stark he had heard about back in his college days would definitely have run for the hills. "So he wasn't quite a year old yet then when you met her?"
Tony smiled as if pleased by his easy deduction. "Seven days shy of a year actually. You can imagine my surprise when she told me. The story still makes me furious. That project she was working on that you mentioned…" Bruce's eyes widened, wondering where he could possibly go with that point. "The head of an old think tank called Advanced Ideas Mechanics was interested in that research and wanted a guinea pig. Wanted to test it on a newborn." Bruce's breath hitched and he clenched a fist. "Yeah. Exactly. See, Maya, didn't know that at the time. So when she was lured into getting involved with him and he got her pregnant she didn't realize what was really going on. She was preparing for grad school, still very young obviously, and naïve. But the guy got sloppy and Maya intercepted intel that he was planning on weaponizing a drug she was working on with the research and selling it to the highest bidder, terrorists included. When she tried to leave and take the research with her—"
"Oh god." Bruce suddenly felt his chest tighten and pain bloom down his arms. He took several breaths and Tony looked at him in concern. "Oh god, I'm sorry… I… It's just my mother was…" He bent his head down and took several more breaths.
"Jeez, I'm sorry. I didn't even think… I mean, I didn't know, but I shouldn't have just started spouting off about this. I… I have nightmares sometimes about it so I really should have known better," Tony was rambling and Bruce listened to each word, grabbing for the other man's warm voice for grounding. "I'm sorry. I won't say anything else," the genius said as Bruce found his stability again.
"No, it's… I just wasn't expecting it. So that's why she gave up the research. Please tell me this guy isn't still out there." Bruce looked at him in slight dread.
"He injected her with the drug. It could have killed her and our son. Clint was born deaf in his left ear. Needless to say the guy would have been doing life in prison if she hadn't shot him. It was clear self defense."
Bruce breathed out a sigh of relief. He didn't like the idea of people being killed for a lot of personal reasons, but in this case he was glad that Dr. Hansen had had the opportunity to protect herself and her son and get away. He still wished his own mother had been as lucky.
"And also needless to say," Tony continued, "she wasn't exactly as starry-eyed after that. But she was a fighter. She destroyed the majority of the research, save the theoretical papers like you read, and then made it her new agenda to promote stronger ethics in science. She wouldn't let what happen to her stand for nothing. She wanted to help people, not destroy them."
There was a pause in the conversation. "Was she the reason for the Stark Industries shut down of weapons manufacturing?" Bruce then asked curiously.
"Not entirely. I was already on the fence after taking over my father's company. I was trying to make our company more accountable, weapons more precise to reduce civilian casualties. But it still didn't sit right with me when I was sober, you know? She supported me and was the grounding force I needed to follow my gut." Tony then sighed. "Of course, had I realized that Obadiah Stane would grow to resent that decision until he finally just snapped, I just… I don't know if I would have done it."
Bruce looked down at the table and frowned. He didn't know what to say to that. He could say something callous like, 'Oh well, I'm sure your wife wouldn't have wanted it any differently' or he could say something sympathetic like, 'I'm sorry that she had to die for that cause' but it all seemed futile. The man had lost the love of his life and the mother of his children because of greed and the worst side of scientific progress. There was no way to soothe that away.
"I've been there," he finally said instead. "I mean, not there specifically. But wondering if you shouldn't have chosen differently or wishing there was just something you could have done to prevent someone you love from a fate they don't deserve." He took a deep breath. "My father killed my mother. Right in front of me. I was eight years old."
Tony's eyes widened in horror. "Fuck. Seriously? I mean, no, not seriously, but… God, that's horrible."
"It is. And all because she was trying to leave him so he wouldn't be able to hurt us anymore. Honestly, sometimes I think had I just run away like I'd wanted to so many times, things would have turned out differently. It was me he hated, not my mom. He used to call me all kinds of names like freak and monster just because I was so smart." Bruce sighed before pressing on, trying to avoid Tony's intense gaze. "You can imagine I was a pretty troubled kid after all of that. I was angry, wanted to kill others, kill myself. It wasn't pretty. I decided to use my genius to build a bomb when I was sixteen. I was going to detonate it in the basement of my school. I wanted to kill every single person who had ever called me a freak or a monster or a fa—" He shook his head, cutting himself off from that particular slur. It didn’t bear repeating with kids in the suite. "I just couldn't take it anymore. Thankfully, the bomb didn't go off."
"That's some heavy shit for a kid to deal with," Tony said when he paused. "My childhood wasn't great, trust me. But it wasn't anything like that. I'm glad you made it to the other side because nobody deserves that and clearly you least of all."
Bruce blinked. "That's not usually how people react to that story. I… I don't actually go around telling that story at all. The records are sealed since I was a minor and I got lucky with a caring judge. Given the situation and my history, I was put through therapy and ordered to do intense community service. That's really what helped me. Helping other people instead of hurting them. I realized I had a choice. I can't always control what happens, but I can control my reactions. I didn't have to be my father. I didn't have to be the monster I felt doomed to be."
"Glad it worked out," Tony offered.
"Well, I can't say it was perfect after that. I nearly slipped up again several years later when I was working for the military post-grad, but I won't bore you with that and it's not anything that can't be found with a little digging. Also I just realized here you're supposed to be spieling about your kids and I'm spilling my guts about my troubled past instead. Sorry."
"Nope. Don't apologize. And for the record, I don't think any less of you because of that," Tony said and he sounded so earnest that Bruce blinked again. "Hey, I get it. I'm in no position to think less of you. And I sure as hell wouldn't call you a monster. It's a shame we weren't friends sooner," he then said so casually that Bruce almost wasn't sure he hadn't imagined it.
Then as if nothing had just happened, no somber derailment of the conversation, the holographic screen changed and Skye's picture was there. "Well, you've met Skye so I guess the picture is unnecessary, but she's the second oldest." Tony glanced over towards Skye with an endearing smile. "Mine and Maya's first together. She's turning 14 in July. God help me."
Bruce laughed in spite of everything or maybe because he needed to laugh after all of that and Tony just had this way about him that encouraged laughter… among other things, he realized with growing dread.
"I have a 15 year old daughter. I can relate," he said, pushing that thought aside.
Tony winced. "Maybe you can give me some pointers." The image changed again to a boy and a girl. "These are the twins, Pietro and Wanda. They're 12. Wanda is the one that's good with robotics. Pietro, he's my thrill seeker. They're adopted, but they might as well have been ours as much as they took after us in different ways."
"Oh?" Their having been adopted interested Bruce for obvious reasons. "Domestic or foreign?"
"They're Sokovian, but it was a domestic adoption since they were born here," Tony answered. "Back in 2003, Maya and I funded a children's asylum for the orphaned and abandoned children of immigrants or deported parents in my mother's name. We visited for, well, for publicity purposes and the twins were part of the first group of children taken in. Their mother had come over from war-ravaged Sokovia, having lost her husband, and was staying in another asylum, but she died shortly after the children were born. Wanda and Pietro were about seven months old and the director of the home said there was interest in them individually, but none yet for both of them together."
Bruce nodded in understanding. "They were likely going to be separated and you couldn't have that."
Tony smiled. "Not at all. I wasn't as sure of course. We already had Clint and Skye and then as luck would have it in the middle of the adoption process Maya became pregnant with our fifth child." He shook his head in amusement. "But I'm glad Maya wouldn't take my uncertainty for an answer."
"I'm sure," Bruce said knowingly. Tony's enthusiasm about his children was endearing. It was such an unexpected side of the man and Bruce decided right then and there he was the kind of man he would like to work for.
"So then that brings us to the fifth." A new picture came onto the screen. "Darcy, my second with Maya. She'll be 11 next month. She's my little ball of energy. She just got glasses on Saturday," he said pointing to the screen, "and apparently it's the end of the world." Bruce snorted and self-consciously moved a hand to his own glasses. "I'm half expecting there to be an," he air quoted, "'accident' before I get back home."
Bruce laughed again. "Well, she has my empathy," he said. "But at least they have better frames now than when I was a kid."
"She had her heart set on contacts."
"Ah. The four eyes thing?" Tony nodded. "Then she definitely has my empathy." Tony suddenly smirked and Bruce wasn't sure why, but something about it made him squirm. Maybe it was the unreadable gleam in Tony's eyes. "So, uh… Then there was one?"
Tony nodded again and the picture changed. "This is Harley. He's 9. Also mine and Maya's. He's something else. He's my engineer. He's not as into robots as Wanda is, but he can still manage all kinds of other gadgets and he likes helping me with my cars in the garage. He's also my troubled child at the moment," Tony added with a slight sigh. "His principal suspects bullies."
Bruce frowned. "Well, I'm sorry to hear that. But at least he seems to be in a good environment to deal with it. You obviously care about your kids."
"Sometimes I feel like I'm treading water," Tony confessed and sounded like he meant it and was begging for a helping hand.
Bruce tried to squash the urge to reach across the table and offer that helping hand. The man was as attractive in real life as the magazines had always insisted; only it was so much more than physical. Yes, the man was achingly handsome, the kind of handsome that made Bruce take careful precaution not to openly admire his appearance lest it make Tony uncomfortable. There'd been enough of that when he'd run into him earlier that morning.
But beyond the physical, the man was brilliant, as the whole world knew, seemingly kindhearted in spite of the self-confidence and ego and riches, and above all a loving father. It almost felt like he'd fallen into some impossible romance novel. Natasha's taunts about his finding a prince charming rang in his ears because Tony Stark, the man as a whole and not just the media image, was certainly close to how Bruce could imagine a prince charming. And that was a little dangerous to consider.
"I think I understand that feeling," he said, pushing aside his attraction and picking up the thread of conversation. "Some days you can only do so much before it just gets to be overwhelming. Some days you just feel like you're not getting through or you're not doing well enough. It's hard."
"That's exactly it," Tony replied. "I haven't met many people who get that."
Bruce smiled. "What? No other geniuses out there with six kids?"
Tony smiled back and Bruce thought it was just a little too blinding. "No. Apparently seven is the new six. That's why I kidnapped Sam over there."
"I heard my name!" Sam shouted back and they both laughed. "Seriously, better not be talking about me unless you're praising my devilish good looks and track record. Hey, by the way, kind of getting hungry over her."
"Yeah, dad! Did you order the pizza yet?" Skye called over next and Bruce looked over to see the shake of Tony's head.
"We're in Germany, I'm a billionaire, I could literally afford anything and they still want pizza."
Bruce had to admit it was rather amusing. "I guess it's nice to know that wealth doesn't change everything. Pizza is universal," he said with a quirk of his lips and Tony laughed. It was a nice laugh.
The pizza finally arrived and the video game was paused just long enough for the kids to eat at least one slice at the table before heading back over to play. Tony explained to Bruce his preference that the kids at least eat some of their meal at the table when he was around since that was something Maya had been into. Bruce just smiled and said it sounded like a nice tradition and eating together was something he encouraged too whenever possible.
"Maybe it's just me, but pizza in a luxurious hotel suite in Germany does taste a little nicer," Bruce said with dry wit once the kids hurried back over to their game.
Tony snorted. "It does, doesn’t it?" He had to admit to himself that there was something equally gratifying in sharing that kind of unique luxury with someone else his own age for a change, someone who wasn't freaked out by the kids and the back story. "So, I think you still owe me pictures and back story," he said then as it occurred to him.
Bruce smiled thinly. "Okay, well, brace yourself. It's gripping stuff," he said and Tony also had to admit he could get used to the other man's sense of humor. "Before I turned into the angsty teenager and then again after I got over that, I always wanted to be a father because, well… It might have been Freudian. Not sure."
"A sort of fuck you to your own father?" Tony guessed.
"Pretty much. I even dated this wonderful girl my first couple years of college. She's still my best friend. I was finally on the up and up and I started wanting the rosy sort of life as a family man with a nice house. That sort of thing. The only problem, it wasn't with her. Or, well, any her." He shrugged. "And I hadn't really found a him that I wanted that with at that point so I figured the whole family man thing would have to be put on hold. Figured it was just as well since I was planning on going for my doctorate."
Bruce paused and took a drink of the fancy brand of bottled water the suite was stocked with. Then he continued. "It was the summer of 1998. I decided to work under a Dr. Abraham Erskine in his humanitarian clinic in Brooklyn. I was interested in working with him because he had also done some research on cellular repair which is what my Master's Thesis had been about. While working with him a sickly woman came into his clinic in labor. Dr. Erskine called for an emergency OB, but she was already close to giving birth so he delivered the baby before the other doctor got there."
"Sounds a little like a nightmare," Tony interjected.
"The medical system is in general, yes," Bruce said with sigh. "She probably didn't have insurance and was afraid to go to the hospital and she didn't want to terminate in spite of being sick. She died shortly after from complications, but not without begging for someone to take care of the baby since she had no family and for Dr. Erskine to do anything to save him. The general things you'd expect a dying mother to say." Bruce's matter-of-fact tone told Tony that he'd clearly seen a lot of that sort of thing in his time doing humanitarian work that Tony had never truly seen firsthand for all of his philanthropy. "The baby, Steven, he was very sickly. Dr. Erskine worked closely with the OB and the first two weeks it seemed like he might not make it. He lived, but he was still very sickly in his early years. There was a lot of medicine and physical therapy."
Tony listened to the man recount the story and finally he had to ask. "So where do you fit in?" He could tell by the emotion on his face that Steve was one of his kids.
"I was afraid that whatever children's home that took Steve wouldn't give him the intense medical care he desperately needed and Dr. Erskine couldn’t keep him under his care indefinitely without legal guardianship or permission from the state. I had been helping out and had already gotten attached to the baby so I decided to try my luck applying for legal guardianship as a foster parent. The judge granted it given the special circumstances. I postponed my doctorate for a few years and stayed in New York so Steve could remain under Dr. Erskine's care, which I think was really the key in his getting better. In the meantime I got another Master's at Empire State University and started trying to make some connections in the scientific community. I already had several philanthropic ideas, but that requires funding and…"
"Nepotism," Tony said knowingly.
He was a product of it himself. He had hated how much of his own genius was constantly weighed against his father's. He had hated not knowing if people treated him the way they did because of his genius or because of his last name.
"That's how I ended up in Bern the following year. As Dr. Ho Yinsen's guest."
"Or almost guest," Tony reminded him.
"Aha, yeah. And sons two and three are part of the reason I didn't make it," Bruce elaborated and Tony blinked in surprise. "I left Steve in Dr. Erskine's care and traveled to Bern. There I met Dr. Yinsen at an orphanage he was offering pro bono care at for a few weeks while he was in the city. There were two brothers, Jakob and Loren. Jakob was born strong and healthy, but his mother had become pregnant again too soon and it was a difficult pregnancy. She gave birth to Loren four months prematurely. She didn't make it and the boy almost didn't either. The father abandoned them at the hospital which is how they ended up at the orphanage. The day I was there with Dr. Yinsen, Loren fell dangerously ill. He wasn't a year old yet and still very small and sickly. I just couldn't leave him." Bruce gave a broad shrug of his hands. "So I told Dr. Yinsen to go on to the conference once Loren was stable again and I would come find him if Loren regressed. He didn't regress thankfully and I filed for adoption the next day for both of them. It was definitely one of my more spontaneous decisions. But it worked out."
"You weren't kidding when you said your story's a little hard to believe," Tony finally had to say. It sounded like something straight out of fiction. It was even more intriguing than Tony could have imagined.
"Even I can't believe it sometimes. I wanted kids, but I never expected to become the father of three boys within two years." Bruce shook his head and there was a break in the conversation as they seemed to recall their pizza at the same time.
"So what made you want four more? Did you catch an adoption bug? Or was there someone else in your life at some point who wanted kids with you?" Tony knew he was firing off questions at the speed of light, but he was genuinely curious.
Bruce gave a small, somewhat self-depreciating smile. "No, I've never been too lucky in the romance department I'm afraid. I've had a few steady relationships, but at the end of the day, they just never seemed as invested in my kids as I thought they should be or it just wasn't really right between us in other ways. Even had one guy I'd been seeing for a few months break up with me because I was considering adopting another kid."
"Guy must have been an idiot," Tony offered and meant it. "Hope he didn't get to you because clearly it was his loss."
Bruce looked at him as if shocked by the sentiment. "I, uh… It stung a little. But only until I realized it never would have worked if that was his general attitude. The other four didn't come along right away. After finalizing the adoption of Jakob and Loren a few months later, I decided to go ahead and file for adoption of Steve too. That was a little bit trickier, but with the approval of my adoption of the other two and Dr. Erskine as a reference, I managed it. Soon after I moved to California and got my doctorate in nuclear physics at CalTech."
"Okay can I just say I'm in awe of you? Seriously, I just have to say it. Single father of three kids pursuing a doctorate?" Tony was truly amazed by the prospect and well aware the man had likely managed to do it on scholarship no less and at an accelerated pace given the timeline and his obvious genius.
"Thank you. It wasn't easy. And then there was the issue of post-grad. I couldn't manage to find any funding for my work so I decided to take a job for the military in New Mexico." Tony saw the way Bruce's face darkened slightly. "I won't get into the details, but it didn’t end well. It was fine at first and I was even working with my best friend from college again since her father was the general who commissioned the project I was on."
Tony's brow furrowed. "Wait. General with a daughter who's also a scientist." Tony's eyes then widened. "Don't tell me you worked for that asshole General Ross?"
"Guilty," Bruce answered and he sounded thoroughly ashamed.
"No wonder that didn't end well. We had a weapons contract with him and I think he actually thought my shutting down our weapons production and terminating contracts was a personal offense to him specifically. Guy's certifiable."
Bruce snorted in response to his assessment.
"Yeah. I worked on the project for two years. During that time I guess you could say the adoption bug had bitten me because Steve and Loki… I mean Loren, sorry, nickname," he stammered adorably, "were much healthier than they'd been and I felt like with the steady income from the military, it might be a good time to consider it. Instead Betty, that is Dr. Ross, asked me if I had considered surrogacy. I hadn't, but it was an interesting notion. And maybe there was little bit of weird male pride at the idea of having a kid who shared my genetics." He hitched a shoulder. "So 11 months after she suggested it, Jane was born and the adoption finalized."
Tony smiled and looked over at the girl. "I was wondering if she was one of yours. But she's not your fourth oldest?" He then said with a curious glance back at Bruce, having done the math in his head.
"I would say you're astute, but we both know you're a genius," Bruce replied with a laugh. "You're right of course. She'll be 13 next month. My 15 year old didn't arrive until several years later. Actually, Jane was my last for a handful of years. The thing with the military happened and I really wasn't in any position to think of any more children. There were a few rough years. A lot of moving from job to job before I settled in at Culver, at Betty's referral since she was already working there," Bruce explained. "Then in late 2007 I decided I wanted one more kid, magic number five I guess. So I opted for surrogacy again and my youngest Jemma was born late in 2008."
"Okay I'm on the edge of my seat here," Tony teased, although he had to admit he was curious about kids six and seven.
"My 15 year old, Natasha is courtesy of my extended family. My cousin is an attorney and my uncle is with the LAPD. They were involved in taking down a crime ring and my cousin was fatally wounded and needed a transfusion. I was actually visiting with my kids that summer since they hadn't seen Jemma yet and since I was also set to receive an alumni honor from CalTech. It was a lucky thing since I'm a blood match."
"That's awful," Tony said sincerely and had to wonder at how both of their lives had been filled with violence at some point.
"She's fine now," Bruce said, sounding genuinely relieved. "Wonderful lawyer in New York actually. But when my uncle took down the ring, it was learned that there was a girl they'd abducted fairly recently after killing her parents. I don't want to talk about what they were planning on doing with her," Bruce said darkly.
"It's okay, you don't have to," Tony assured him. He had no desire to hear it and instinctively looked across the room to make sure Skye and Jane were still safe. Bruce followed his gaze as if he shared the same urge.
"Natasha was given to my aunt and uncle's custody for a while since she was a key witness in the case and they wanted to keep her under protection. Over the summer I got attached to her and her with me and my other children. So as soon as I was free to do so and knew it was what she wanted, I filed for adoption. It was a longer process since I was given temporary guardianship first, she had to undergo intense therapy, it had to be proved that it was in her best interest given her experience, and then the case had to be moved to an agency in Virginia, but in the end it worked out."
There was silence for a moment as the story sunk in.
"And then there was one," Tony then echoed Bruce's previous statement and the other man smiled.
"That would be Peter. He came into my custody in 2011. When I was at ESU I was good friends with his father Richard. I was also friends with his brother and sister-in-law by extension. They babysat Steve, and then Jakob and Loren, sometimes. I kept in touch over the years and I guess that made some kind of difference because Peter's father's will nominated me as desired legal guardian should his brother and sister-in-law be unable to care for the boy and they amended their own wills to nominate me according to his wishes. Maybe he thought with all my kids, I'd be a good father." Bruce paused for a moment and then sighed. "Peter's parents died when he was a baby and his Uncle Ben and Aunt May took him in. When he was almost five there was a fatal break-in of their home. Ben was killed on the spot and May died later at the hospital. So that left me to decide if I would take him. I could have said no and I had to move to a bigger house to keep him let alone finalize the adoption of him, but after what he'd been through in just five years there was no way I was going to let him go so long as he wanted to be with us after the trial guardianship period."
"Jeez, your poor kids," Tony hissed.
He wanted to give each and everyone one of them a hug and then maybe build them a castle and fill it with unicorns and puppies and anything else to make up for their troubles. At the very least, he was considering nominating Bruce for sainthood. He briefly wondered if Bruce's own troubled past was why he had somehow become a magnet for children who needed some kind of impossibly strong superhero to fight for them.
Bruce smiled ruefully. "My friend Leonard has likened my home to the Island of Misfit Toys. I'm not offended by that notion because I love them all and wouldn't trade my uniquely blended family for the world. There aren't any roses or a picket fence like I'd once idealized and there's still no him in the picture, but it's still good." He paused. "Yeah, still good," he repeated.
"Did you just quote Lilo & Stitch?" Tony asked with a small smirk.
"Probably?" Bruce said with an uncertain laugh as he scrunched his face as if considering it. "Oh, yeah, yeah I did." He laughed more openly. "Sorry. That one's a favorite in our house for obvious reasons."
"That's adorable," Tony said with a genuine smile. "Pictures?" Bruce held up a finger before pulling out his wallet and opening it. He unfolded the picture flap until 7 photos were revealed that all looked to be the most recent year's school photos."Wow." Tony literally felt a little special being invited deeper into the sanctuary of Bruce's Misfit Island. He took the wallet reverently to study the photos. "Whoa, that first one is Steve?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, he's the picture of perfect health. He's taller than me… Well, to be fair most of my kids are," he added with a laugh. Tony could relate to the height issue. "He runs every morning and he's on the track team. He wants to go into the military and hopefully let it pay for art school."
"Nice. And damn, your second son… Jakob?" Bruce nodded. "Talk about point break."
Bruce snorted. "Yeah, he's built like a rock. His jock friends have taken to calling him Thor since his brother is kind of into the dramatic, hipster, whatever they call it crowd and took Loki as a nom de plume of sorts. That and because, well, Thor seems fitting."
"I'll say," Tony said with a nod. "And Loki you said? Yeah, I can see what you mean by the dramatic hipster. Hey, nothing wrong with that."
"Well, he's my most riddled with teen angst right now so some days it gets to be a little trying," Bruce confessed.
"I'm so glad none of mine have reached that stage yet. Clint is just too chill. Skye though…" He gave a small quirk of his face.
"Good luck," Bruce offered playfully.
"Thanks. So then there's Natasha," he said aloud as he went through the photos. "That's some seriously red hair. And she looks like a heartbreaker."
"You have no idea," Bruce replied. "She's incredibly athletic. She could quite literally pirouette and put a person in a headlock before you even see the transition in time to dodge. And all of the guys are crazy about her. And she started dating recently," he said it with a sigh.
Tony offered him a sympathetic look and then quickly moved on. "Then of course lovely Jane. And Peter. Isn't he a handsome little—"
"Mischief maker," Bruce interjected. "He's brilliant, but lacks focus right now. Unless it's to do with spiders. He could focus on anything spider related for hours. It's mildly disturbing, but I guess that's what makes him special."
Tony smiled at Bruce's encouragement of his children. It was immensely attractive and the longer they sat there talking the more he wanted to ask him out on a date. They wouldn't even have to do the long, sordid back story to this extent. They could just focus on the small, every day sorts of things and Tony thought that sounded nice.
"Last but not least Jemma," he said looking down at the small girl. Maybe he was just being a little sentimental over the fact that none of his kids were that small anymore because Tony's heart warmed immediately and he couldn't not smile at how adorable she was. "She's an absolute cutie."
"She really is. A little shy and a perfect little angel. Follows every rule that she can. Even makes her own rules and follows those. Very, very smart too."
Bruce's face was lit up once more as he talked with abandon about his daughter and then started talking a little more about some of his other children without prompting. As Tony listened intently he couldn't help but be reminded of a feeling he'd only felt once before. It had been at a science conference a little over fifteen years before.