James Rhodes wakes up to his phone ringing the Birthday song that everyone knows. He knows that it's not going to be a good day as he gets out of bed and gets ready for the day. Instead of his usual clothing style, he chooses to wear Tony's old large M. I. T. sweater that he got from his college days and sweatpants from his drawers.
He lost his best friend a month ago when he snapped his fingers and saved the universe. He remembers Tony's brown eyes looking at him and his pained smile that he wore during his final minutes of life. Clenching his fists, Rhodey makes his way to the kitchen where he sees his Goddaughter, Morgan Stark. He takes a few seconds to collect himself before approaching her.
"Hey, Mo-bo," he greets and sits by her. "How're you holding up?"
"I miss daddy," Morgan admits and looks down. "He always snuck me juice pops and told me lots of stories."
Hearing her voice makes him want to fall apart and cry right in front of her. "I miss him, too, baby. Where's your mom?"
"She's working because she says that it helps her cope."
He takes a deep breath. "She's always like that."
Morgan takes Rhodey's hand and starts poking at it with her soft finger tips. The way she handles things with her hands reminds him of Tony, her puppy brown eyes mirrors her dad's own eyes.
"Were you daddy's big brother?"
Rhodey takes a shuddering breath. "He was my best friend. No, he was more than that, he was my baby brother from another mother."
"Are you sad?" She looks into his eyes. "It's okay to be sad. I'm sad, too, but daddy would want us to have cake and ice cream."
"Oh, did he now?" He barks out a laugh. "What flavor?"
"Red velvet."
"We can do it later. I'm gonna grab somethings from my car, okay?"
He stands up from the chair and hurries to his car for a minute to himself. After getting into his car and shutting the car door, he leans back against the driver's seat with a sigh. He feels the emotions as tears are stinging up behind his eyelids. The lump in his throat grows until he finally chokes on a heart-wrecking sob. He's glad that Morgan's inside the house, so she won't hear the sobs.
Anger fills his mind as he sobs violently. "Fuck! Shit! Damnit, Tones, why the fuck did you do it?! Why did you fucking leave us-leave me now?!"
Tears stream down his face and blurries his sight as he slams his fist against the steering wheel over and over again. Screams tear his throat sore as loud sobs erupt the silence that was there minutes ago. He had lost friends during his time in the Air Force, but losing Tony hurts-hurts. The pain he feels from losing Tony is nearly unbearable to feel.
His friend, partner, and baby brother, who he felt responsibility for, is gone-dead.
"I'm sorry, Tony."
After an hour to himself, he cleans his face and gets out of the car to return to see Morgan. Morgan embraces him with a small smile. "Are you going to make the cake after dinner?"
He takes a second to let the features of her face sink in. She's the carbon copy of Tony Stark and for that, he's grateful. "Of course, Mo-bo."
Looking up, he smiles a sad smile and remembers what was said for years...
"You fall, I catch you."