Nugget
“Thomas Stark, where’d you go?”
Tony peered down the hallway, listening for the familiar sound of pitter-pattering of little feet. He pressed his lips together with a barely concealed grin. Instead of running, a muffled giggle came somewhere in the living room.
“Tommy, your momma is gonna be here soon. She’ll have my hide if I don’t have you ready. You wanna see that, buddy? Is that the plan here? You trying to get your old man in trouble?” Another giggle, louder this time.
Tony crept in the direction of the giggling as he talked, preparing to sneak up on his son. Hide and seek was one of Tommy’s favorite games - especially when it was time to leave. Rhodey called it karma for every single time Tony had made him late for class in college or for an important meeting. Now he had a miniature version of himself, making him late for everything.
Tony hated it when anyone called Tommy his mini me. Not because the kid didn’t look like him, the kid was literally a miniature version of him just with somehow bouncier curls. But all Tony wanted for his son was to have a better life than him - for him to be better than him. His second birthday was coming up, and he was already better than Tony, as far as he was concerned.
Even when the kid was purposely driving him crazy.
“Boo, daddy!” Tommy yelled, followed by another fit of giggles, popping out from behind his recliner, instead of the couch where Tony had been expecting him. He jumped up, placing a hand over his heart, only half pretending to be startled.
“Why you little...”
Tony didn’t hesitate to snatch up his son before he had the chance to run away from him again, and the toddler did everything he could to try and wriggle out of his father’s grasp.
“Daddy!!” Tommy whined, reaching his arms out and waggling his fingers. “Lab time! Lab time! Lab time!”
“I knew I’d regret taking you in there with me. C’mon, work with me here, bud,” Tony groaned, wrestling the antsy toddler into his lap as he sat down on the couch so he could get his shoes on. It was like trying to wrestle shoes onto a wild animal.
Tony was a certified genius but give him a toddler and he felt useless 90 percent of the time. He was determined to be the best dad possible, but it was of the few things in his life that just didn't come easy to him. Loving Tommy came easily, that was far from the problem - loving Tommy was second nature. But parenting Tommy was a challenge, but not one that he was willing to ever give up on- to prove everyone (including himself) who thought he couldn’t do it wrong. 'Fake it until you make it' was the saying, right?
Obadiah was the worst offender, constantly telling him he was wasting his time co-parenting Tommy. That he should just let his mom take care of him. That he wasn’t cut out to be a parent, especially now, when business was booming. Had even forced him to get a DNA test to fact check Mia's claim - not that Tony ever had any doubts once Thomas was born.
Happy was always getting onto him about getting better at routines and having an actual schedule. Reminding him it was what was best for the baby. But, otherwise never commented on his ability to parent. He acted annoyed with Tommy sometimes, especially when he threw his food all over the back of his car. But Tony knew he secretly adored Tommy nearly as much as Tony, himself, did.
Rhodey still acted like he didn’t believe it was true, while simultaneously calling Tommy “mini Tony.” Tommy was rambunctious and all over the place, all the time. He was always on the go, and Rhodey always made sure to remind Tony who Tommy was like. Tony had seen Rhodey more in the past two years since Tommy had been in their lives since college, and Tony couldn’t help feel like he was just checking in to make sure he hadn’t killed the kid yet. But he never called him out on it.
His personal assistant, Pepper Potts, was the best with both him and with Tommy. She was constantly sending Tony reminders about different things that Tommy needed. She managed to completely keep track of both of their needs, somehow without making Tony feel like a complete shit parent. Especially when it came to Tommy’s asthma.
”Parenting is a learning curve. You’ll be a pro before you know it. You’re doing great.” Pepper had assured Tony after an exhausting hospital visit, and Tommy was back with his mother for the week.
“You’re not even a parent yourself yet Potts, and you’re already 100 times better at it than I am.”
“Ready! Lesgo!” Tommy exclaimed, making grabby hands towards the door. Tony just snuggled him closer.
“Now hang on,” Tony pouted, hugging his toddler snugly to his chest. “Now all of a sudden you’re ready to leave? Maybe I changed my mind, maybe I want you to stay here?”
“Daddy!” Tommy wriggled with a huff, trying to escape his father’s tickling fingers. “No tickles, daddy!”
“Alright, alright, I’m sorry kiddo. Just keep breathing.”
“Sir, you have an incoming message from Miss Mia Carpenter.”
Tony sighed, letting go of his son, who spared no time in bolting down the hallway again. Probably to go get something from his room to take to his mom’s with him. “Slow down, Tommy! You’re not coordinated enough to go running around this place like it’s your own personal track field."
“Go ahead and play it Jar— Oh fuck. What did you do, Tommy, are you okay!?”
A loud clang, and the sound of breaking glass, down the hall- came from his bedroom instead of Tommy’s. It was quiet at first, and then the familiar sound of his son’s screaming filtered through the penthouse.
He ran before he made the conscious decision to do so, until he found Tommy sitting next to his bed, the lamp from his bedside table in pieces on the floor. Tony felt his stomach twist and drop and instantly scooped his crying toddler into his arms, checking him over for any cuts from the glass.
“Hey buddy, where are you hurt? Jarvis- does he appear injured at all?”
“I detect no injury sir. The broken lamp did not appear to hit young Thomas.”
Tommy sniffed and shook his head, burying his head in the crook of Tony’s shoulder, which relaxed immediately once it was clear that he wasn't physically hurt at least. “I’m sowwy, daddy. I’m sowwy. It was an askident.”
Tony rubbed the boys back, moving to sit on his bed as he brushed most of the glass aside with the side of his shoe. “Hey, hey, no. It’s alright. I’m not mad. I’m just making sure you didn’t hurt yourself. I can replace the lamp. You know what, I didn’t even like that lamp, I wanted to get a new one anyway.” He was rambling, focused only on calming his little boy down.
“What were you doing in daddy’s room, bud?” He asked, tilting up Tommy’s chin so that he was looking at him, his expression soft.
“I was climbing on your bed, and I- I - I slipped and - and - ,” he admitted, giving his dad the biggest puppy dog eyes that always made Tony weak. “I wanted your piwwow to take to mommy’s.”
“Why my pillow? Why not one of your new toys like you usually take with you?” Mia hated this routine, telling Tony every pick up that her house was getting too full of Tommy’s toys. But Tony couldn’t help himself. Spoiling his loved ones was the easiest way for him to show his affection.
“Be-be-because-because-be- be-“
“Slow down, nugget. Take a breath,” Tony carded his fingers gently through Tommy's curls. He couldn't help but smile as he watched Tommy stop and take a dramatic breath in.
"Because..." He drew out the word, long and dramatically, waving his arm as if what he was saying was the most obvious thing in the world. "Then it'll be like having you at mommy's house with me."
Tommy reached out and grab the pillow, hugging it to his chest, and it tugged at every one of Tony’s heart strings.
Sometimes it was easy to forget that his little nugget was only two. Hell, he wasn’t even technically two for another couple of weeks. He’d just had a reminder that morning about the joint birthday bash he and Mia had planned.
“Please, daddy!” Tommy’s lower lip jutted out, and how on earth was Tony supposed to say no to that?
———
“Stark.”
Weird. Mia only called him that when he’d really screwed up.
“Stark. Wake up.” There was a shake to his shoulder that started out gentle, but quickly turned more urgent. It jostled his thoughts and shifted the confusion that fogged his brain. He tried to open his eyes but it took so much effort, that he quickly gave up.
“Tony!” The voice was more urgent, and it no longer sounded like Mia. He finally found enough strength to peak his eyes open and was assaulted by a blinding light.
Ah, right. He was dying. Was someone waking him up to stop it from happening or to have him watch it happen? He vaguely remembered the blue lady all but dragging him onto a ship, and helping her get it started back up again.
Nebula. She tried to help save his life. That was three weeks ago. She had mostly been successful. But there was no more food and water, and there was only so much one could do idling in space.
The light pierced through his closed eyes now. It was blinding. Maybe he was already dead.
Another urgent jostle to his shoulder.
“Ow.” He grumbled, forcing himself to sit up and open his eyes against the blinding light. Okay, decidedly not dead. He wouldn’t feel so much pain if he were dead. Everything hurt.
“Wake up, Stark. She’s taking you home.”
What!?