Chapter 3
Tony had spent the day pacing around the penthouse and his lab obsessively checking his phone. This was the longest he had been away from any of the kids since he had gotten out of the hospital and it was taking its toll.
He tried to focus on ten different projects but always ended up staring at his phone to make sure he didn't miss any messages.
He had just started to try to work on fixing one of Peter’s suits when he got a phone call.
“Hello, is this Mr. Stark? I am calling from Manhattan school for the Gifted and Talented about Morgan Stark.”
“This is him. Is she okay? Did something happen?”
“She is okay but we would like you to come down here. Her teacher would like to talk to you.”
“I will be there in twenty.”
By the time he hung up the phone he was already in the elevator heading down to the garage. He quickly texted Pepper updating her on the situation before jumping in the SUV and taking off for Morgan’s school.
It took him 15 minutes to get there but it felt like hours to him. He lept out of the car as soon as it was parked and practically sprinted into the office.
As he came into the office he saw Morgan sitting on a chair with her arms crossed and an angry look on her face. He crossed to where she was sitting and knelt in front of her.
“Mo, what happened?”
“My teacher yelled at me for reading while she was teaching math and I told her it was because the work was boring. But it was addition daddy. I learned that years ago. It was even hard addition she was asking what 10+5 was. And she said that I shouldn't pretend to read things I don’t understand about my book! But I understand it! And when I told her that she said I was being disrespectful and sent me here.”
“What book are you reading?”
“A book I borrowed from Petey about Biology. He said it was his school book from last year. I do have questions though!” At that Morgan pulled a notebook out of her bag and showed her dad a page of questions about biology. “But I understand most of it!”
Before Tony could respond Morgan’s teacher came into the room. “Hello, Mr. Stark. My name is Mrs. Tracey and I want to speak to you about your daughter’s attitude in class. Please follow me into the office where we can chat.”
Tony nodded and followed her into the principal's office where the principal was waiting. Tony greeted him with a nod before sitting down in one of the chairs. Morgan threw her bag on the empty chair and climbed onto her father’s lap as the teacher crossed the room to stand behind the principal.
“As Mogan may have told you there was an incident in class. I was going over some basic addition when I caught Morgan pretending to be reading a high school level Biology textbook and scribbling in a notebook. I asked her to put it away and she called what I was teaching boring and tried to insist she understood what she was reading.” She looked like she was going to keep talking but Tony turned to Morgan.
“Mo, we talked about this, I know school is going to be boring for you. You are only here to make friends and be around other kids your age.”
“But I have friends.”
“We have had this conversation. Your siblings cannot be your only friends.”
“There is no reason to assume it will be boring.” Tony had almost forgotten that the teacher was still there.”We are just going over some basics as it is the first day of school.”
“Unless you are teaching complex high school level math and science she is going to find it boring.”
“Sir, I know we all like to think our children are geniuses but”
Tony interrupted her before she could go any further, “Morgan has been around math and science her whole life and has been able to do basic addition since she was three. She reads her siblings’ high school textbooks for fun and already has her name on two separate patents for her help. She does not need to be here, my wife and I just want her to have some normal childhood experiences.”
The teacher seemed too stunned to speak so Tony continued, “If you would like to give her something harder to work on in class I can send over some worksheets that are more at her level.”
The principal finally intervened when it seemed like the teacher wouldn't be speaking anytime soon. “That would be great Mr. Stark. You are welcome to take Morgan home as it is almost the end of the day, but we look forward to seeing her tomorrow.”
“Okay great. I'm glad we were able to get this resolved.”
Tony stood up shifting Morgan onto his hip before grabbing her bag and heading for the car.