Chapter 1
Throughout Tony’s life, he had his equal share of shocking and not so shocking moments.
When he was admitted into MIT at fifteen, that was shocking. When he met Rhodey, and then later met Mr and Mrs. Rhodes, and they had all happily taken him into their family. When he stayed up for ninety-two consecutive hours and lived to tell the tale. That time that Rhodey surprised him with Queen tickets and he caught Freddie Mercury’s shoe when it flew into the audience. When Pepper walked into his office for the first time. When his mother and Jarvis died.
Those were always the moments that caught him off guard. Shocked him more than others.
But those moments that weren't shocking… the ones he could have seen coming a mile away. When he finally did graduate from MIT and his father didn’t show up for the ceremony. When he got arrested for beating up a group of guys who were assaulting some girls at a bar. When he inherited the company and became one of the youngest billionaires alive.
When he received news that his father had died…
But right now, in this exact moment, Tony was more shocked than he ever had been before. Nothing could have prepared him for this.
“You’re-- you’re sure?”
The woman sitting across from him -- Mary -- nodded slowly. “Yes.”
“One-hundred percent?”
“One hundred.”
His fingers find the hem of his shirt and start to roll the fabric between their grip. “You’re sure, you’re sure--”
“Tony,” Pepper says, using her no-nonsense voice. “She’s sure.”
Tony looks to Mary with pleading eyes. He needs her to say it’s not true. That this is a prank… he won’t be mad if this is a prank. He won’t be as mad as he is panicked right now.
“It’s yours, Tony… one hundred and ten percent sure,” Mary says softly.
“I just…” Tony says, burying his forehead in his hands. “I thought that this would be like the other times.”
In the past, when he was ever approached by women who claimed that they were pregnant with his child, it was either a farce, or the DNA tests all came back negative. With Tony’s sorta self destructive lifestyle, it stopped becoming a surprise when he was contacted with these accusations. Most of the time they just get handed over to Pepper to deal with.
But this one… Mary was different. She was firm and demanded to talk to Tony himself. Pepper denied at first, but Tony was actually intrigued by her perseverance, so he agreed to meet.
As soon as he saw her, memories of that night flooded his mind. The holiday party in New York -- of course Tony had to go ahead and sleep with a member of his staff -- and he had rolled in already half drunk. Mary must have been just as wasted as he was, because she seemed to be the only person who actually wanted to stick around and talk.
But he remembered thinking that she was beautiful, with her curly brown hair, and large, doey eyes. She was smart, and kind, and made him laugh. He also woke up to her the next morning and realized he forgot most of the day before.
“Mary,” Pepper says, trying to cover for Tony, “we understand the obvious concern in your situation, but we would just like to ask what you want us to do about it?”
The way Pepper phrases that sentence makes Tony want to roll his eyes. She sounds like a robot.
“What?” Mary asks.
“What do you need?” Pepper asks again. “Compensation? Money for medical bills?”
Mary shakes her head. “No, no, the bills are covered. But… look, what I’m gonna ask is a lot bigger than compensation.”
Tony raises his head, his eyes brows furrowing. “Huh?”
“I, um… Tony… I’m asking if you will raise the child.”
Tony’s mouth fell open while Pepper’s clamped shut.
“Excuse me?” Tony asked, wondering if he heard correct.
“I meant what I said. I’m wondering if you will raise the child. My-- my fiance and I were on a break during the time of the holiday party. We’re back together now, but… we want to start a family of our own sometime, and he’s not really all that comfortable with having a child that’s mine but not his… it’s complicated. Also, right now, both of us are so busy with work that we don’t have time to give a baby the attention it deserves.
We just thought that with you, the child might be getting a better life than the one we could give. If you say no, I’ll have no choice but to put it into the system, and we all know how that doesn't always have the greatest outcome. I just assumed that with a biological parent, the baby would be getting the love it needs.”
Tony just watches the woman as she speaks. There was passion in her words, but also fear. She believed in what she proposed, but he could tell she was afraid he was going to decline.
He did have to admit that she made a good argument.
“Mary,” Pepper starts, but Tony places a hand on her knee to quickly silence her.
“I’ll think about it,” he says.
The beaming smile Mary gives in return is all the thanks he needs.
---
Tony spends the next few days avoiding Pepper as much as he could, but also working himself into a stupor.
“Sir, I advise that you sleep,” JARVIS says as Tony continues to tinker with his latest project.
“Can’t Jar, Obie’s really riding my ass.”
JARVIS is quiet for a minute before saying, “Are you sure that’s why you have been working so much, sir?”
Tony is hardly paying attention when he asks, “What do you mean?”
“Maybe the reason you have been working so hard is because you are trying to avoid giving an answer to the obvious question.”
Tony looks up from his desk and squints at the ceiling. “Stop trying to act like you know everything.”
“But I do know everything, sir. You programed me that way.”
“Right, curse me for being a genius.”
“Sir.”
“JARVIS.”
The AI is silent for another moment, before saying, “We both know you have an answer. Why don’t you just call that woman and end the suffering on both your part’s.”
Tony didn’t know how an AI managed to sound condescending, but he sighed and nodded his head slowly. Of course JARVIS was right. JARVIS was right about everything.
---
“Hello?”
“I’ll do it,” Tony says quickly.
“Tony?”
“Yes. You know it’s me.”
“I just… wait, you said you’ll do it?”
“Yes,” Tony nods despite her not being able to see him. “I will. I’ll take the baby.”
“Thank you,” relief flooding Mary’s words. “So, so much.”
“So… what is it? Boy, girl?”
Mary chuckles, “Too early to tell. I’ll let you know as soon as I find out, though.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
Mary’s voice is suddenly muffled as she shouts, “Richard, he said yes!”
Tony couldn’t hear Richard’s response, but he could hear the smile in Mary’s words when she spoke.
“Seriously, thank you so much, Tony. We are so happy that you are willing to do this.”
“Yeah, of course. I… I need this. I don’t think I would be able to live if I knew my kid was in a bad situation because of me. I want to be there for them.”
“Of course.”
When he hung up the phone, he turned to find Pepper staring at him, worry dancing in her eyes. “She took it well?”
“You knew she would.”
“How are you?”
“I’m… okay.”
“Really?”
Tony sighs and runs a hand down his face. “I’m as okay as I can be. I just… I can’t be a Howard, Pep. I can’t be that for my kid.”
Pepper steps forward and places a hand on his forearm. “You’re not gonna be, alright? You won’t be. It’s in your DNA. And yes, Howard is part of that, but you’re not him. You’re Tony.” Her thumb rubs over his skin in a way that reminds him of his mother comforting him as a child. “You’re going to be incapable of showing that child anything other than so much love, they won’t know what to do with it all.”
Pepper smiles, and then turns, making her exit.
“She’s right, sir,” JARVIS suddenly pipes in.
Tony sighs, “of course she is.”