An Unexpected Situation
Tony will never enjoy the plethora of events and parties he is expected to attend. He despised it as a child and a teen, and that hasn’t changed now that he’s an adult. He only endures them to avoid being chewed out by Pepper. In turn, Pepper makes him do it so that the never-ending line of upper-class individuals continue to support his business.
Usually, he can show up for a few hours at most, exchange some obligatory pleasantries with the hosts, chat up some guests, and disappear, often with a lady on his arm. But that was before Afghanistan and everything that followed with the Avengers.
It has been about six months since everything turned sour with the team, and Steve Rogers, alongside a handful of other Avengers, were deemed outlaws. Tony still spends many days struggling with the Accords, fighting to find a fair middle ground, but it is slow going. He’d changed significantly over the last few months, and if he’s honest, he’s not sure it’s for the best.
This particular event was yet another gathering of political figures. Tony had been itching to leave for hours at this point. Unfortunately for him, this wasn’t one of the events that he could shirk and not get an earful from Pepper. Despite their breakup, Pepper kept her job and, to this day, makes it her sole purpose to keep Stark Industries -and Tony- in line. That includes ensuring Tony doesn’t skip out on one of these critical events. As for Tony, he still hasn’t attempted dating anyone since and is honestly still broken up over her. However, he keeps things professional between them, never letting their failed relationship interfere with work.
It’s close to midnight by the time he manages to get away, and it’s closing in on thirty after by the time he gets back home. He parks his car and heads inside, taking the elevator straight upstairs.
He steps onto his floor, expecting to be greeted by a dark, empty room, but instead finds the lights on and the quiet sound of the television from the living room.
Tony slowly steps into the room, hand hovering over his watch, ready to summon a suit. At first, he doesn’t see anyone or anything out of place, but his attention is drawn by a quiet cough. Pivoting to face the couch, Tony is shocked to see a pair of brown eyes peering over the cushions. Blinking a few times, the billionaire quickly realizes he’s looking at a girl. She looks no older than four or five years old, though she is on the smaller side.
The girl squeaks in fright and ducks down, disappearing from Tony’s line of sight. He exhales harshly, just as startled, before he composes himself and slowly approaches the couch. He circles it, finding the child huddled against the far end of the sofa, curled up as tightly as she can manage.
“Who are you?” he asks, voice a bit more harsh than he intended it to be. The girl flinches, whimpering quietly, and the billionaire sighs, slowly sitting down on the edge of the couch. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he says, forcing his voice into something much calmer. “I just need to know who you are.”
“Aniyah,” she whispers, “My name is Aniyah.”
“Alright, Aniyah, my name is Tony. Can you tell me how and why you’re in my penthouse?”
For a few moments, Tony waits, but when she doesn’t respond, obviously confused by the question, the young genius sighs and peers up at the ceiling.
“FRIDAY?”
“Miss Aniyah was left here by what I assume was her mother. She had the access codes to override my initial barrier against her entry. After she situated Miss Aniyah, she left.”
Aniyah jumps at the sudden voice, looking up at the ceiling in awe and fear. “What was that?” she asks quietly.
“That is just my AI, FRIDAY,” Tony says offhandedly. He starts searching around the living room, trying to find some clue as to who left the child there and how they got in. He spots a piece of paper under the table and crouches, picking it up and unfolding it.
Dear Tony,
It pains me that I’m telling you this under such circumstances. I had hoped I would have enough time to explain everything in detail before I left, but sometimes things don’t work out. I’m sure you don’t remember me, but we had a relationship nearly five years ago. I was passing through New York, and we met at a party. A few weeks after I left New York, I found out I was pregnant with Aniyah. As you were the only one I had relations with in quite a while, I concluded that she was yours. I’m currently unable to care for her, and I plead that you will in my stead.
I’m sorry things have happened this way, and I hope you can forgive me. Please don’t send her away, I will return to retrieve her as soon as I can.
Best regards,
Mary
P.S. She’s allergic to peanuts. Her belongings are in the bag. This includes her stuffed animal and some pictures. She is attached to the stuffy, so please don’t lose it.
Tony stares blankly down at the paper for several moments, filled with shock, anger, and disgust. “What kind of mother leaves her child with a stranger? No matter if he’s supposedly the father,” he mutters as he paces away, running his hands anxiously through his hair. “What am I going to do?” He paces for several minutes, struggling to formulate a logical plan to deal with this unforeseen issue.
He spots a backpack on the floor next to the couch and scoops it up. Inside are two sets of clothes and pajamas, a teddy bear, a Ziploc bag with some hygiene items, and a manila folder. Tony pulls out the folder and opens it, extracting the contents. He finds medical documents, more notes, photos, a social security card, and finally a birth certificate.
He reads over it quickly, mentally noting that Aniyah’s last name is Watson. Sighing, Tony rubs his hand over his face when he finds that, sure enough, his name is inscribed. Sure, it could be a lie. It wouldn’t be the first time that someone had tried to claim they had his child. But something in his gut tells him that’s not the case here. He’ll still get a paternity test as soon as possible, but he feels like he already knows the answer.
Taking a deep breath, Tony looks over at Aniyah. She is sitting quietly on the couch now, facing the television, watching a cartoon. Her feet swing idly beneath her, beating gently against the couch. Tony crosses back over to her and gingerly sits on the couch.
“Aniyah,” he says a bit awkwardly, for once missing his usual bravado. The girl turns and faces him, tilting her head to the side in an almost kitten-like way. “Who exactly left you here?”
“My Mommy and her friend,” she says, turning her head back to the television.
“Okay,” Tony says before reaching for the remote and flicking it off “I need you to pay attention.” The child turns and faces Tony fully, looking a bit put off by being interrupted but otherwise shows no outward response. “How long have you been here?”
“Since after lunch.” as she said this, her fingers idly picked at the worn shirt she was wearing.
“Okay, umm, just stay here. I have to call someone.” as Tony says this, he flicks on the television again and walks away. Aniyah seems happy with this and turns to watch whatever show is on avidly. Tony heads over to the bar section of the room, angling his body so that he can keep an eye on the girl but still get a bit of privacy. With shaking hands, he pulled out his phone and quickly dialed a familiar number. The line picks up after two rings.
“Hello?” the voice is sleepy, but Tony has never been gladder to hear it.
“Rhodey, it’s Tony. I need you to get over her. Now.” he says quickly, turning to look at Aniyah on the couch, relaxing a bit when he sees how involved she is.
“Tony, it’s close to one in the morning. What can be so important?” Rhodey says on the other end, but Tony can distinctly the telltale sounds of him getting up.
“Just get over here. Please.”
“Alright,” his friend says with a sigh, “I’ll be there in twenty.”
“Thanks, Rhodey,”
He hangs up and lingers by the bar for a moment, before finally walking back over to the couch and dropping onto it. Aniyah barely acknowledges him, much too involved with her show. Minutes tick by though, and it soon becomes evident that the seemingly endless energy kids possess is running out. Ten minutes into the wait, Tony looks over and is relieved to see that the kid has nodded off, curled up on her side.
As promised, twenty minutes after he hung up, Rhodey was stepping off of the elevator. He looks around spots Tony on the couch, and begins to walk over to him.
“Now what was so important that you drag me out of bed at this time of night?” he asks, only to freeze in shock when he spots the other occupant of the couch. His eyes glue themselves onto the young girl sleeping peacefully before they peel away to look at Tony. “What…?”
The only thing Tony does is hand him the letter, gesturing silently for him to read it. The other man does so, and after he does, he paces away, rubbing his hand over his mouth.
“Tony, there is no way you’re equipped to deal with this kid.” Rhodey finally says, facing the other. “I mean, you’re away nearly all day, and a kid her age needs quite a bit of care and attention.” he begins to pace away still listing off all of the reasons why it just wasn’t a good idea and why he should contact CPS right then and there.
While he does this, Tony looks down at the sleeping girl just a foot away from him. A flood of conflicting emotions consumes him as he looks down at this child, his child, and suddenly he knows what he’s going to do.
“I’m not giving her up Rhodey,” he says quietly, causing his best friend to freeze in his tracks.
“Tony,” Rhodey starts only to be cut off by a wave of the other’s hand.
“I’m not giving her up. I may not be the best of choices, but I am not going to just shove her into the system. I’m her father. I have the resources to care for her, and it isn’t impossible to work my schedule around. If worst comes to worst, I can just take her with me.” he looks up at Rhodey who is staring at him like he has lost his mind. “Rhodey, I get how you’re feeling. I know I’m not exactly parent material. But…” he looks down at Aniyah. “I want to try. I have to try. Mary said she would be back to get her, so I just have to last until then.”
For a moment, silence reigns. Then, Rhodey shakes his head and lets out a small laugh. Tony looks up at him with a questioning look. His friend smiles slightly, leaning against the top of the couch to get a bit closer. “I still remember a time you would have shirked that responsibility off to someone else and continued living your life. You’ve grown up Tones.”
Tony rolls his eyes but grins all the same, shrugging. “What can I say, you’re starting to rub off on me.” Rhodey chuckles before turning his attention to the sleeping child. “So, what’s your plan?”
Tony sighs quietly, rubbing his hands through his hair. “I guess I’ll call Pepper in the morning. Tell her I won’t be in for the rest of this week. I know logically I should get a paternity test but for some reason, I feel like I already know the answer. But, I’ll get it anyway. I can figure out everything else tomorrow, right now I need to get some sleep, and I guess I need to get her to a bed.” the two of them look down at Aniyah before Rhodey moves around the couch to pick up the discarded bag. He opens it up and extracts a set of pajamas, zipping it back up.
“You’ll need to change her into this first,” he says quietly, and he watches -with slight amusement- as Tony takes the pajamas and stares at them blankly.
“Umm, Rhodey, I don’t know how to do this,” Tony says, somewhat sheepishly, quite obviously way out of his comfort zone.
“You just take off the other clothes and….” Rhodey trails off for a moment before he shakes his head. “I’ll help you Tones,” he says quietly before gesturing to Aniyah. “Pick her up, I’m guessing you want her in the extra bedroom beside yours?”
“Uh, yeah, that would probably be best for now.” Tony agrees, and Rhodey watches as he stands up and leans down, carefully -if a bit awkwardly- scooping Aniyah into a cradle position. Her head naturally falls to his shoulder as she subconsciously snuggles closer, seeking the warmth Tony provides. Tony stares down at the child with wide eyes, entirely out of his depth, but he pushes aside the feelings, instead choosing to circle the couch- heading for the stairs. Rhodey opens the door, stepping aside to let Tony enter.
“FRIDAY turn the lights on, 30 percent,” Tony says, and the lights slowly come to life, bright enough for them to see but not so bright as to bother Aniyah or hurt their eyes. He places Aniyah down on the bed carefully before picking up the pajama shirt. Rhodey circles to the other side of the bed and carefully lifts Aniyah into a seated position. He supports her with one hand and pulls off her shirt with the other.
“Slip the top over her head,” he instructs, making sure to keep his voice quiet.
As Tony slips the top over Aniyah’s head, Rhodey helps fit her arms through the sleeves. That done, Tony shifts closer to pull at the loose jeans, managing to get them off without disturbing Aniyah too much. The bottoms go on, shoes are extracted, and the clothes are tossed into a nearby laundry basket. Tony lifts Aniyah, allowing Rhodey to pull back the covers, before settling her back onto the bed, head cushioned on a pillow. He pulls the covers back up, tucking them soundly around the sleeping girl, and steps away from the bed.
As he exits the room with Rhodey, he whispers a quiet “Lights off FRIDAY.” and cracks the door after ensuring the lights flickered off. He then turns to Rhodey.
“Thanks, Rhodey. It means a lot,” he mutters, rubbing his head slightly.
“Don’t mention it.” his friend replies, pulling him into a light hug. “I’ll stop by tomorrow evening to see how you’re getting on.” Tony nods and gives a quick squeeze back before letting go and watching him disappear down the stairs. A moment later, the elevator doors slide open with a ding and close right after.
Tony stares at the cracked door before turning and heading to his room. Within minutes he is unchanged and getting into his bed. “FRIDAY, I want you to tell me if she wakes up.” he says, “Wake me up at 8:00 if she hasn’t already woken up.”
“Yes Boss,” the AI says, and Tony gives a satisfied nod, laying down entirely with a sigh.
The day’s events quickly catch up to him, and he finds himself rapidly falling asleep, trusting FRIDAY to wake him should something happen.