Lucky Thirteen

Bruce was met by a round of greetings from his kids when he came into Leonard and Betty's home with Jane in tow. A round of greetings and a very ecstatic "Daddy!" from Jemma complete with flung out arms.

"I missed you!" The little girl said as he quickly picked her up into a strong hug.

"I missed you too, my little molecule," he said, giving her a big kiss on her cheek. "I know you were good while I was gone, weren't you. What about your brothers and sisters, hm?"

"Of course they were good," Betty assured as he sat down in an empty armchair with Jemma perched on his lap.

"Don't let her lie to you," Natasha interjected with a thin smile. "They were absolutely rotten. Every last one of them."

"Except you?" He asked with a raised eyebrow and she just shrugged.

"So, how was it?" Betty asked. Bruce left that to Jane to field.

"It was AH-MA-ZING!" The girl started immediately. "There were so many people there. And there were so many projects! I can't even remember everything, but I wrote down as much as I could in my field journal." Betty smiled at that and gave Bruce a knowing glance. "And I met so so so many people," Jane continued and Bruce's heart rate picked up. Jane had promised not to mention Tony until he was ready to tell all of them, but the girl was so excited it might just slip out.

"Did you meet Reed Richards?" Leonard asked from in the kitchen where he was working on some paperwork of some sort at the table. Bruce laughed as it was a little inside joke between them, Leonard liking to poke at Bruce's uncharacteristic short patience with the other scientist and insisting it was the ego Bruce kept buried showing itself.

"I did!" Jane exclaimed. "And his kids. But I also met Tony Stark!"

"No way!" Peter exclaimed and even Leonard stopped what he was doing and came over.

"Yes way!" Jane exclaimed again. "He was so nice. And funny. And I met his daughter Skye and her friend Sam and they invited me over to their huge hotel suite and we played video games and there was so much science!"

"Tony Stark, huh?" Leonard managed when Jane had stopped spieling in order to vibrate a little with excitement. "What's he like? I've always been curious."

"Oh, uh…" Bruce tried to push aside the descriptions of the man that were of no interest to Leonard, descriptions such as 'phenomenal kisser' for example. "He was really something," he started vaguely.

"I've heard a lot about his ego," Leonard said, piggybacking off of the previous inside joke.

Bruce considered it. "Well, I don't know. He seemed self-assured and he wasn't shy about his genius or accomplishments. But I didn't get the impression he was too bad. I just think he's had access to the things people like us don't and he more or less takes it for granted. He doesn't think twice about, you know, throwing down several hundred dollars on room service."

Betty raised an eyebrow at that and Bruce realized how that might sound. "We had dinner with him, Skye and Sam twice," Jane supplied excitedly much to Bruce's relief.

"Twice, huh?" Betty asked with enough lilt to her tone that Bruce's heart rate spiked again. "He must have been very nice then. And, hey, Bruce you should have told him about your application."

"Actually…" Bruce hesitated, but decided it wasn't a dangerous topic and it was one that needed to be out in the open as much as the other. "He approached me after my first day of lectures with a job offer. That's how we met." He immediately saw the way his kids looked around at one another with varying levels of trepidation. He did feel sorry for them.

Betty's eyes widened and she looked over at her husband who smiled in obvious congratulations. "Bruce! That's… That's amazing! And ironic," she added.

"Very ironic. I told him I had just applied Tuesday and he essentially said to consider the application accepted and that he'd have his hiring department send over the information for me to look over if I was interested," Bruce explained.

"Please tell me you accepted the job," Betty said warningly.

"Yes, although tentative at first. I explained to him the unique situation." Bruce paused. "I explained to him that for me to make a move to New York, I would need to be able to cover the cost of settling into a nice enough home."

"You told him you have seven kids?" Steve asked plainly.

"I did."

"I hope that didn't cause any problem with the negotiation," Leonard said in concern. They were all well aware of how thin the tightrope could be when trying to secure a new position or new funding.

Bruce smiled at how generous Tony had been even before anything had come of it and shook his head. Betty tilted her head curiously, but he ignored it.

"No. He was very understanding and said that it wouldn't be a problem. Said he would work moving costs into the incentives package. He also assured me that the starting salary would be good enough for a nicer home and to cover tuition for a nicer school. So that's why… Yes, I said yes."

The room was quiet for a moment and Bruce felt like all eyes were on him, which they were.

"What did you do, blow him?" Loki suddenly blurted out.

Bruce's eyes went wide and he felt his cheeks burn. "I… What?" There was laughter from Steve, Thor and Natasha, even as the last whacked Loki on the backside of his head. "I didn’t…"

"Blow him what, daddy?" Jemma asked in confusion as she craned her neck to look up at him. He felt himself flush even further as the others laughed, Betty and Leonard joining in. "A kiss?"

Bruce's eyes widened again and he saw Jane's widen too. "I… Uh… I really don't know why you would ask that, honestly. There was no…" He cleared his throat. "There was no that. He was just being a generous employer. There was definitely no, uh, blowing… Or uh…"

"Kissing?" Thor supplied unhelpfully because Bruce was a horrible liar and didn't like lying to his kids.

"Well, I…"

"Bruce Banner, if you get any redder somebody will slather you with butter," Betty said with a laugh even as she looked at him suspiciously.

Jemma hopped off his lap and looked at him cautiously. "Daddy, you are all red. Are you sick?" She was very concerned as she gripped at his cheek studiously.

"Maybe he's love sick," Natasha intoned, nudging Thor who actually beamed rather than snickered at that notion Bruce noticed in spite of the thrumming in his ear.

Bruce ducked his head and looked away and that was his downfall as Betty suddenly put all the pieces of her study of him together. "Spill, Bruce. Something happened at that conference."

Suddenly there was silence again and he looked to see his kids were now gaping at him in disbelief, the joke suddenly not a joke anymore.

"Dad?" Natasha spoke first, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know why everyone's so insistent that something happened," he deflected. "You… Your father comes home after four days away and has great news about a job offer and what do I get? I get an interrogation about hypothetical, uh, well, you know."

"He's right," Leonard stepped in. "Give the guy a break."

"I would," Betty said, "but it's written all over his face. Something happened."

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes tight. "Fine. I… I met somebody…" And even as he said it, his face betrayed him and he smiled at the thought of who he had met.

"Oh my god!" He wasn't sure which one of his kids said it loudest because half of them said it at once.

"I didn't actually think you'd take my advice," Natasha said in disbelief and he opened his eyes to see their reactions.

"Wait," Steve furrowed his brow, "you've been giving dad dating advice? Why would you do that? He's perfectly fine—"

"Oh please, just because you can't get off your ass and ask Peggy out doesn't mean everyone has to be a blushing virgin," Natasha snapped back before he could finish.

"I think it would be good for dad to find someone," Thor interjected. "If he's happy."

"Right, of course. I agree, but you don't just meet somebody on the other side of the world, Thor," Loki countered. "That rarely works out. And as if we don't have enough uncertainty in our lives as it is," he pointed out and Bruce winced.

"I don't want a mom!" Peter suddenly protested and there was a laugh from a few of the others.

"Dad likes boys remember?" Jane muttered at him. Peter sometimes forgot this point, between being the newest addition to the family and Bruce's lack of love life in that period of time.

"Men," Bruce corrected quickly. "Dad likes men."

Peter gave a considering look and then said matter-of-factly, "Well, I don't want another dad either."

"Bruce, now might be the time to say something," Betty coaxed gently. Bruce looked between her and Leonard a few times for support before taking a deep breath and nodding.

"Everybody stop arguing and listen to me now," he started and they immediately did so. "Yes, I met someone at the conference and Jane already knows this."

"And I'm happy for him," the daughter in question said sharply, crossing her arms indignantly.

Bruce smiled softly. "Thank you, sweetheart. There was kissing," he decided to clear that air since it had been such a topic of interest. "But only kissing. Okay? Great. Glad we've got that settled."

"He even chased dad down at the airport and asked him on a date!" Jane suddenly interrupted with a squeal as if unable to keep it all in now that they were discussing it.

He blushed a little as he watched everyone's reactions.

"That actually sounds really nice," Steve admitted sheepishly.

"Cute," Natasha said evenly.

"How exactly are you supposed to go on a date with him?" Loki asked dubiously. "Where does he live?"

Bruce's throat suddenly felt dry as the final revelation impended. "Um, New York."

"Is that why you want us to move there?" Thor asked next.

"No, not… No, that has nothing to do with this. Entirely," he added hesitantly. "I would have accepted that position regardless. I was offered that position before there was any kind of kissing and proposed dates."

"Bruce," Betty said gently and he looked over to see the suspicious twinkle in her eye. "What's this mystery man's name?"

Bruce blinked and looked down at his hands in his lap. "Tony."

"As in…?" Leonard was the first to respond in surprise. Bruce looked back up and nodded at him. "Well, damn."

There was a sudden outburst from his older children at once. There were things said such as "Isn't he a celebrity?" and "He makes those phones we can't afford, right?" and "He's really rich!" and even "I don't believe it."

He had to agree with that sentiment. "I know. It doesn't seem possible."

"Oh come on, dad," Natasha countered him. "You're like a hot nerdy professor type which is in right now." Betty laughed at the comment.

"Okay his being a rich celebrity aside," Steve said in a strong voice as if trying to take control over the situation. "You're saying that a man who already offered you a great job and knows you have seven kids actually chased you down because he wants to go out with you that bad?"

They all turned to look at him curiously and Bruce couldn't hide his goofy sort of smile in time. "Uh… Yeah. Essentially." He nodded, waiting for the next bomb to drop, the bomb that had made him not want to give into his interest in Tony.

"Is he certifiable perhaps?" Loki asked.

"No… Well, jury might be out on that one," Bruce corrected with a small huff of a laugh as he considered it.

"I don't think there's any gentle ripping off of this band aid, Bruce," Betty said knowingly and he saw the way she looked at Leonard and Leonard paled in sudden realization.

"Jane, uh, sweetie, why don't you tell your brothers and sisters everything you know about Tony Stark, hmm?" He looked over at her with a nod and caught a smirk from Betty.

"Well, he's super smart. He's like maybe the second smartest man in the whole world. Although I think dad is," she added and Bruce smiled. "He is really rich. Like a billionaire rich. Skye was telling me all about their house and said it would be cool if we came over sometime to see it." Bruce almost choked on nothing as he had not known about that invitation. "He doesn't just make phones and tablets like everyone thinks. He also has this tower that's run by an arc reactor." Bruce saw some of his kids look around at each other in confusion. "It's so cool what he's doing with clean energy right now. And like I said, he's so nice. But that's probably because he has six kids. And he—"

"WHAT!?"

It was like the Hoover Dam had burst and all of his kids that weren't already standing shot up at once, shouting and looking at him in horror. Jane's ramble was entirely forgotten and she startled back at the ferocity. Jemma and Peter also startled and Jemma promptly ran out of the room, with Leo on her heels, to avoid the confrontation that was sure to follow. They were shouting questions over one another and Bruce had to take a deep breath to steady himself against the barrage.

He stood up and held up his hand authoritatively and they stopped, knowing that if he had to speak his displeasure at the situation then punishment would follow. "Thank you. Question and answer session. One at a time. Oldest to youngest until we're all satisfied. Sorry for holding your home hostage for this," he aimed the last part toward Betty and Leonard, who had sat down next to his wife.

"Well, I'm pretty interested too," Leonard said. Betty just smiled warmly with a sparkle in her eyes that made it clear she shared that sentiment.

"Six kids?" Steve echoed when Bruce looked at him. "As in. Six? All under 18?"

Bruce nodded. "Yes. Six kids. All under 18. The oldest is 16. He also occasionally takes care of his best friend's teenage son when his father's away with the military. So for all intents and purposes, sometimes it's seven," he explained and then held up a hand, this time with a last warning glare, when they started to protest again. "Thor?"

Thor furrowed his brow and looked thoughtful. "Are they mostly adopted like us?"

Bruce hadn't expected this question, but realized it was actually a very good one. "Two of them are adopted. Twins. One is his adopted stepson. And the other three are his from his first marriage. He was married to a scientist, very clever woman, named Maya Hansen. She was killed seven years ago by somebody Tony, his wife and children trusted. It was a tragedy."

"I remember that," Betty said sadly.

Bruce saw the confusion on a few faces. "It doesn't bother me that he likes both men and women," he answered, guessing their questions. "And it doesn't bother me that he had a wife. Next question."

"Are you certifiable?" Loki asked with a hint of a smirk.

Bruce returned it with a thin smile. "I've never really claimed to be otherwise. And if I wasn't already entirely mad when I was younger, having seven children might have helped it along the way." Loki seemed satisfied by that answer so he looked at Natasha.

"I don't really have a question since it's your business who you get involved with. Like I said, you deserve to have your own life, dad." He was grateful for that much support at least. "But you do realize that aside from the money thing, a guy with six kids who used to have a wife isn't exactly prince charming, right?" She asked archly.

Bruce hummed and pursed his lips. "Well, it might surprise you to know that your definition of what makes someone interesting does change over the years. But, frankly, the fact that he does have six kids and seems like a wonderful father and was once deeply in love with and committed to another person only to somehow unfathomably want to get to know me better of all the people in the world… Yeah, that's very attractive. It's exactly what drew me to him." He coughed and reddened slightly before adding, "In addition to his brilliance and good looks."

"Oh, Bruce," Betty said with a laugh.

"Ew, dad, no," Natasha said in grimace to that and the sentiment seemed to be shared by some of the others.

"Oh, so you can make kissy faces at your boyfriend, but I can't discuss my attraction to a man in an adult way?" He asked with raised brow and slight amusement at his daughter. Loki and Thor snorted at the accusation.

"James and I don't make kissy faces," Natasha replied indignantly.

"Actually you do," Steve countered. "I'm his best friend. I've seen it firsthand. There are occasionally kissy faces."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Jealous much," she muttered and Bruce hurried on before this could turn into another argument.

"Jane? Do you have any questions or comments?" He asked.

"Is he a good kisser?" She asked it like she was watching some sappy romance unfold in real life and needed to know these things. The others looked at him expectantly.

"Oh god." Bruce scrubbed his hand with one face. A glance at Betty and Leonard told him he would get no sympathy from them. "Yes," he finally answered, letting his hand fall to reveal his smile. "He's a very good kisser. That's not really what's important. But I suppose it helps," he added with a small laugh. "Okay, Peter, your turn. Any questions?"

Peter looked down, his glasses falling on the bridge of his nose. He pushed them back up when he looked at Bruce. "Why?"

Bruce felt his heart tighten a little. "Why what?" He wanted to make sure he understood the question.

Peter shrugged. "Just why."

Bruce thought long and hard about it before gesturing Peter over and placing a hand on his shoulders. "Because I really like him and if I don't give him a chance, I'll always be asking myself what would have happened if I had. Does that make sense?"

Peter nodded and hugged him. To Bruce's surprise, his other children – sans Jemma of course – came over and hugged him as well.

Tony, Skye and Sam made their way into the massive Long Island mansion, the old family home of three generations – only Tony had definitely renovated it over the years so it would be luxurious enough for this century; scratch that: millennium. Tony laughed to himself when none of the kids came bounding out from their respective hiding places to greet him. He briefly wondered if Bruce's kids would be just as harsh, but then reminded himself Bruce's home probably didn't have a million different things cooler than dad to occupy their time.

Welcome home, sir, JARVIS intoned. Well, at least one of his children was programmed to greet him, he mused.

"What's with the goofy grin?" Happy asked as he and Pepper came to greet them. They always stayed at the mansion rather than unleashing that many kids on their apartment.

Sam and Skye shared a conspiratorial snicker and he shot them both a playful glare even as was aware Pepper's eyes were narrowed on him suspiciously. "Happy's right," she said. "You don't look like the man who left here a few days ago. You look better actually," she then said curiously as she tilted her head.

"As your head of security, please tell me you didn't shoot yourself up with something experimental at the conference," Happy said and Tony wasn't sure if he meant it seriously or not. It was hard to tell with the man where sarcasm ended and sobriety began.

"Skye, what happened?" Pepper turned her sudden interrogation onto the teenage girl who Tony knew would all too gladly speak up if not for the fact that he had told her very pointedly that this was his news to break to the entire family at once.

"Hey, J," Tony called out to the AI before Skye could betray him. "Assemble the team. Family meeting before dinner. And, you know, maybe throw in something about how their father is deeply wounded they weren't waiting eagerly for his return."

"This must be big," Pepper said with a laugh.

"It might be," Tony said with a hitch of his shoulder. "Did you get the email I sent you about Dr. Bruce Banner joining our team? Also, how has Harley been doing with the counselor?"

Pepper blinked a few times. "Oh. Yes. Yes I did. And I forwarded it to the hiring team to draw up the contract and send him the package. I was a little surprised. Didn't know you were looking to recruit anyone, but I have to admit he seems like a perfect fit."

"I'll say," Skye mumbled and Tony pointed toward the 'assembly' area which was the very large couch in the atrium lounge where they usually sat when Tony needed to round them all up to speak to them at once.

Pepper watched her go, Sam following behind her, with another suspicious expression before glancing at Happy who shrugged slightly. "Well, Harley admitted that there have been some issues with a few students, but he hasn't really elaborated yet. I guess it's a start." She gave him a sympathetic look and he sighed. "But really, Tony. What's going on? I'd be worried if I didn't get the distinct feeling it's a good thing."

"I think it is," he replied vaguely and moved past her toward the spot he usually stood, in front of the couch.

"You're going to make me find out along with your kids?" Pepper asked with a slight scoff to her voice as she and Happy followed over. She sat down at the edge of an armchair and Happy stood just behind her. "That's very unfair."

"And I'm the petulant child?" He smirked at her.

"Yes," she said without even batting an eye.

Clint was the first to come into the room, wearing only sunglasses and swimming trunks.

"Give it up, bro, you're never going to tan," Sam teased him and he just shrugged.

"'sup, dad. J-man says you're having a midlife crisis or something?" Clint tilted his head downward so that his sunglasses slid down his nose and his eyes peered at him over the tops.

"Hilarious," Tony clipped as he flicked at his son's shades. "Weekend homework check."

Clint's head fell back on his shoulders as he pushed his sunglasses onto his head. "Finished everything except for a project due Tuesday," he said in a drastic monotone.

"Good," Tony said with a nod as Wanda and Darcy came into the room next. "There's my two other flowers. Homework check."

Wanda fixed him with a look that said, 'Really?' because she usually finished her work ahead of time. "How was your trip?" She asked instead of answered.

He smiled wide. "Fantastic." He glanced over at Skye to see her eyebrows raised. "Thank you for asking."

"JARVIS implied I should," she said teasingly before going over to sit down.

"Homework and glasses check from you, missy," Tony said when Darcy gave him a hug. "I don't see them on." He made an exaggerated look over of her face.

"I've been wearing them when I need to," she said, though still sounding unhappy about it. "And I need help with my math homework," she added.

"Sounds like you're making progress," Tony encouraged. "We'll work on it after dinner." He looked around for Pietro and Harley when they weren't forthcoming. "J, where are my other two minions at?"

They were finishing a level on their video game, sir. They are on their way now, JARVIS answered.

Sure enough, the two boys were there a moment later. "Homework check."

"Don't have any," Harley answered with a smirk.

"Jeez, suspension makes no sense as a punishment," Tony quipped out loud and shook his head. He then looked at Pietro.

"Finished it last night with Uncle Happy's help," he answered.

Tony gave an exaggerated grimace. "Remind me to look over it after I finish helping Darcy with her math."

"Hey now," Happy groused. "Just because I'm not some tech genius like you doesn't mean I'm not okay with the middle school stuff." Pepper craned her neck up to look at him with a smile.

Tony flapped a playful hand in his direction before clapping his hands together. "Alright, now that we're all here." He looked at each of their waiting faces. "I have a little bit of news I'd like to share."

"Get on with it, dad," Skye urged.

Tony smiled. "I've met somebody."

For a very brief moment the room was so quiet Tony found it unnerving. Then there was a barrage of questions and comments like bullets.

"Tony, are you serious? At a conference?" Pepper asked. He smiled at her incredulity.

"What do you mean you met somebody?" Clint's eyebrows shot up.

"Oh it gets better, just wait," Skye piped in with a smirk and nudge at Sam beside her who nodded.

"A man or woman?" Darcy quizzed.

"It's probably a woman," Pietro suggested.

"But the last person he went on a date with was a man," Wanda countered.

"But he went on two dates with that one woman before that," Pietro countered back.

"Why do you even want to date anyone anyways?" Harley asked with a grimace. "I thought after your last date you said fu—"

"Ah, tsk, no," Tony interrupted him, waving a hand in his direction. "Dad was angry. And that's completely irrelevant at the moment." He looked over at Pepper. "Okay, let's go down the line here. Yes, I'm serious. And trust me the irony is not lost on me at all. And exactly what it sounds like, Clint. I met someone that I'm interested in who is interested in me. Said someone is a man. Sorry, Pietro. I mean, not sorry as in… Never mind. And the reason I would want to date someone is because believe it or not your old man is not over the hill and he wouldn't mind finding somebody special."

"What about mom?" Harley asked next and Tony frowned.

He looked over at Pepper and Happy for support and then back along the line of faces of his children. "Look, I loved your mom. I will always love your mom. But…" His frown deepened. "She's not here anymore. I wish she was. I do. If she was here, as great as this guy is, it wouldn't even be an issue. But I also think your mother, if she could send some kind of message to us, would be okay with my finding somebody else who makes me feel as great as I feel right now."

"We could always get the Long Island medium," Skye suggested and Tony glowered slightly at that idea.

"Tony, this really does sound serious," Pepper interjected, blinking in surprise. "You really like this guy don't you?"

"I really do. I really want to see where this one goes. It feels right," he said with conviction.

"Uh, yeah, he ran after the man this morning at the airport," Skye said with a wry smile. "Of course he was going to just let Dr. Banner slip through his fingertips before me and Sam intervened," she added with a roll of her eyes.

"Dr. Banner?" Pepper, of course, immediately recognized the name and Tony turned to her with a tentative gaze. "Isn't he the man you want to work for us? Tony. Please tell me I don't need to get legal involved. Please tell me this isn't a resurgence of those first two hellish years I was your personal assistant. Because—"

Tony scowled. "Really, Pepper? Two weeks ago I wasn't even dating and you think I'm going to chase down a man in an airport for that? Really? I could, in theory, have anyone I wanted for that if I wanted it," he said with a shrug. "I offered him the job before anything happened. Yes, I was attracted to him when I offered the job, but I was careful about it. I wasn't even going to go there at all because I didn't want him to think that's where the job offer was coming from. When things between us sort of happened, but he wasn't sure about it I was going to let him walk away and made it perfectly clear that it wouldn't affect the job offer. I swear, Pep, the job is not an issue here."

Pepper studied him. "You act like you're already crazy about this guy and you… You were going to let him walk away?"

"He had reasonable concerns," Tony hedged.

"Like six kids no doubt," Clint said sardonically.

"If he's special that doesn't matter," Wanda interjected and Tony had to give a soft smile to that. She met his eyes. "Is he special?"

Tony nodded. "I really think he might be, sweetheart. He's… He's brilliant and the life he's had, the things he's bounced back from, just… It's breathtaking. And he's got all of these ideas to help people and make the world a better place with science. And he's easy to talk to and…" He smiled and shook his head. "I know this is a huge leap and maybe I should actually go on a few dates with the man before I start doing this whole spiel, but he's a great guy and I think if you give him a chance, you'll see that."

"He is pretty cool," Sam threw in an effort that Tony was certainly grateful for.

"I can't wait to meet him," Pepper offered in support as well. "But his concerns?"

Right. Tony took a breath. "Well, there's the usual thing. I'm a celebrity and filthy rich and he's never really had even a fraction of that pleasure even though the man is brilliant and deserves just as much accolade. I'm telling you, brilliant."

"Dad, you're sapiosexuality is showing," Skye teased and he furrowed his brow.

Wanda huffed. "That isn't even proper Latin," she said with an eye roll. "The term would be at the very least sapiesexual or sapiensexual. This is why you shouldn't be on Tumblr," she then said with a pointed look at her sister.

"You're just jealous dad won't let you actually sign up until you're thirteen like it says in the fine print," Skye fired back.

"Okay, let's stop you two. I have no clue what any of those words mean and I'm not sure I want to so let's move on. There's also the six kids thing," Tony said hesitantly.

"That bothers him?" Pepper asked with a raised eyebrow. "Because I didn't think you would even bother if—"

"It's not that," he cut her off. "He thinks it's great actually. Wanted to hear all about how the genius billionaire with the bad boy past ended up being Forbes' Sexiest Father of the Year." Clint snorted and shook his head and Tony threw him a look of mock offense. "So that doesn't bother him per se. It's just he's in a bit of a unique position himself to be hesitant about—"

Sam's head fell back on his shoulders. "Oh for the love of... What Uncle T is trying to say is Dr. Banner has seven kids."

Again the room fell quiet for a brief, eerie moment. Tony braced himself for the dissent that was to come. Then all at once the kids started debating the topic loudly amongst themselves and he let his head fall forward, debating with himself if he shouldn't just let them work their frustration out on their own.

"Oh my god, Tony," Pepper said as the kids continued and he inclined his gaze towards her. "I let you go to one conference and you manage to find the one man who has more kids than you?" He couldn't tell if she was exasperated, merely in shock, or amused. Maybe it was a little of all three.

"Okay, you didn't let me go. You practically pushed me onto that plane. So technically," he weighed his head back and forth, "this is your fault. So thank you."

She blinked and her head snapped back slightly as she did. "You're thanking me? You actually don't care that he has seven kids?"

"Of course I don't care. I mean, I considered his concerns. But only because he was thinking about both of our situations and wanted to do right by our kids. It made sense. You know the media will eat this up." She winced at that. "But damn it, this kind of thing isn't supposed to be logical. I… We connected and I… I couldn't just let that go without knowing," he insisted a little desperately.

Tony paused then when he realized his kids had all gone silent and were looking at him in various states of shock.

"He is special," Wanda broke the silence with a knowing tone much wiser than her twelve years, or at least Tony thought so.

"Yes, he's special," Tony reiterated. "He's a man who has seven kids and loves them and does everything he can for them. And I know that it's a little crazy for either of us to even consider this and who knows how far this will even go, but please don't begrudge me for wanting to find out. I know that some of you might still have your doubts and need to work through them on your own terms, but I'm not going to just throw him away because you don't want your old man to pursue this. Got it?" There was a silence for a moment until they finally acquiesced. "Good. Thank you. And," he decided to add, "even if nothing comes of it, he's moving to New York to work for me and you'll still hopefully get to know his kids anyway because if nothing else he's the kind of guy I'd like to be friends with."

There was silence again until Pietro asked, "Did he lose his wife too?"

Tony decided that was probably a fair question and should be addressed. "No," he answered. "He's never been married. His family is a little more eclectic than our own. Five of his kids are adopted and the stories are fascinating and a little heartbreaking, but it's not my place to share that with you. The important thing is he doesn't treat them like they're anything other than his own which we know is how it should be," he said with a glance at Wanda and Pietro. "His other two children are his own through surrogacy." He saw a few crinkled brows and sighed. "If you don't know what that is, ask JARVIS and he'll gladly be able to explain it to you without dad making an awkward mess of it."

Indubitably, sir, the AI intoned with a hint of sass.

Tony laughed slightly before sobering again and giving his kids a careful look.

"I just want you to know, that even if this changes things, it doesn't change things. I love all of you and I love your mother and I'm going to continue to do my best to be your dad first and foremost."

Darcy shot up to her feet. "I think this calls for a group hug!" she said cheerfully and hurried over to him. Tony didn't quite expect all of the others to follow suit, and there was some teasing eye rolls, but they did just the same.