Work Text:
Tony's morning goes like this:
At 6am he gets up from the workbench in the lab and stretches, making sure to touch his toes and twist his hips until his back pops and he lets out a small sigh of bliss. He takes a drink from the mug sitting next to a pile of unfinished blueprints, hoping it isn't DUM-E's motor grease again, and grimaces when he realizes it's a little bit of both.
At 6:09 he makes his way up the stairs and makes sure to pet DUM-E as the robot twirls it's arm contently, before nabbing his Blackberry from the top step. The rising sun is yet to really hit the ocean, so he steps out onto the balcony, once he's in the living room. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, letting the salt water fill his lungs. He counts to seven and lets it out just as—
"Pa!" The tiny howl fills the house, amplified through JARVIS' sound system. "Paaa! Papaba da dowwww!"
"Sir, it seems like the little miss has finally woken up," JARVIS says over the babbling. If Tony didn't know better, he would say that JARVIS sounded smug.
He has every right to, of course, since Jarvis--human version-- had been the one to give him his first pack of condoms when Tony had left for MIT.
"Of course. 6:17 on the dot, like it's been for the past few years J," Tony says with around a yawn and shakes his head before padding his way back inside and towards the bedrooms. "I still think you wake her up on purpose."
"I would never disturb little miss's sleep," JARVIS says as the shrieking gets louder the closer Tony gets to the master bedroom. She's not even crying, she's just calling out for him excitedly, making Tony feel the best kind of needed.
By 6:20, he pushes the door open slowly, and smiles when he sees the chubby baby sitting in her crib, banging her—his old—Bucky Bear against the bars as she babbles nonsensically. "Oh, mi preciosa," he says, as he walks towards her. The sunlight from the hallway window washes out the projection of stars and galaxies he had designed specifically for her. "That's no way to treat Bucky Bear, what would Captain America say?" He asks her, grinning as she begins to bounce a little, her two top teeth and the bottom one that was barely coming in, shining at him as her lips spread into a large grin. "He would say, 'That is very Un-American of you Miss Sara Maria Stark.' Before punching a Nazi in the face or something."
"Pa! Mine! Mío!" She shouts before stuffing the poor bear's ear in her mouth.
"No, a la boca no," he tells her firmly, taking it out of her mouth and setting it in the crib as he picks her up. People always seem surprised when they hear him talk to her in Spanish, but Tony knows how important it is to have something that belonged to a mother. For Tony, it's his Italian and love of anything to do with space. For Sarita, it'll be her Spanish and her brown skin and her full lips that pout as she realizes that her favorite toy has been taken away.
"Are you hungry, nena?" He hums softly against her thick, dark hair, still held back by the little butterfly barrettes that he'd pinned on her while they had gone out to dinner with Victor Von Doom last night.
She babbles again and Tony grins before setting her on the changing station. He changes her diaper quickly, only grimacing a little. It's only been a year, but he's doing a lot better than the first time when he and Rhodey had spent the night going through parenting books while the 2-month old cried her tiny little lungs out. They had finally decided on calling Pepper who wasn't really much better than them, but who had the idea to call Aunt Peggy. Tony had gotten a good ol' British talkin' to—as Aunt Angie would have said—about responsibility and about how a real kid isn't like DUM-E. Tony had listened, biting his lip and making hard fists against his sides. He had been able to hold it in until Aunt Peggy had called him bambino—a habit she had picked up from his mom—and suddenly Agent Peggy Carter, SHIELD Director, had a 31-year-old crying in her lap harder than the 2-month in Uncle Gabe's arms.
At 6:35 Tony's phone goes off just as he reaches for a pair of soft-looking, black pants and a long sleeve shirt with the NASA logo at the front. He tucks the cell phone between his ear and shoulder as he holds Sara up by her hands so she'll stand on almost ready-to-walk feet.
"Hello?" He answers, making a face at the little girl who shrieks happily and begins bouncing.
"Good morning Tony," Pepper says. He can hear her shuffle papers in the background and takes a moment to decide if there's anything he should be apologizing for. His last scandal had been only last month, which Pepper had dealt with marvelously, but he hasn't really gone out in the last two weeks.
"My sweet Virginia," Tony grins just as Sara falls on her rump and makes a face. Tony takes the time to lay her back down again in order to unbutton her babygro. "What are you doing up, Pep?"
"Handling your company," Pepper says. Sara smacks her lips and gives a shout and Tony shushes her softly. "Is that my pretty baby?" Pepper coos.
"Mhm," Tony hums and sets the phone down to put it on speaker so he can get her tights over the NASA babygro. "Say good morning to Aunt Pepper, nena."
"Hello pretty," Pepper says, delighted when Sara begins sucking on her fingers and babbling: "Anpe panpe nyaba ."
"She's learning so fast," Pepper says with a little laugh.
"It's the Stark in her," Tony says, mostly-joking.
"Ha ha," Pepper snorts, deadpan. "Are you focused enough to go through your schedule?"
Tony groans inwardly before picking Sara, and the phone, up again. "Why don't you join us for breakfast and relax for a bit? Rhodey's coming ove before he goes back to DC," He tells her in lieu of answering her original question as he carries Sara to the living room and sets her down on her baby walker. She smacks her hands on the toys and giggles madly at the ruckus.
At 7:12 the front door opens and Rhodey steps in. Tony waves at him and watches Sara freeze before letting out a shout of delight. Rhodey looks up just in time for Sara's walker to crash into his legs where he's kicking off his shoes. Tony laughs over Pepper's, "Are you even listening?" when Rhodey stumbles and grabs onto the still open door, only barely stopping himself from cursing up a storm.
"Jesus Christ," he squeaks while Sara giggles along with her dad. "Tony, control your monster," Rhodey grumbles, leaning down to pick her up anyway. He's wearing cargo shorts today, and Tony can see the bruises on his shins from mornings past. "Shouldn't you be asleep?" Rhodey asks Sara while Tony goes to the kitchen, listening to Pepper get ready to go through his Tuesday schedule. Tony would love to say he was completely on board with keeping the baby that had shown up with a note outside his hotel room during his annual stay in Mexico, but in reality it had taken two DNA tests, a frantic search for her mom, a drunken weekend where he hired a maid to take care of the fragile baby, and a good cry on the phone to Rhodey for him to decide that he really couldn't do it. Just watching the maid interact with baby Sara and realizing that she didn't fit his lifestyle had assured him that it was best for Happy to take her to the local, already overflowing orphanage. He passed by the church twice on his way to the beach until the day of his flight home when he made Happy turn the car around and he went to pick up his little girl.
Tony held her close as he explained to the volunteer that he had to take her. The lady was more than happy to get him started with some supplies for the trip, even though they were undersupplied and understaffed.
Before leaving, Tony made sure to leave a $10,000 donation, worth even more in pesos, for taking good care of the person who would become his number one priority.
"You have nothing super heavy today" Pepper starts, as he goes through the fridge. He can picture her going through her planner and emailing everything to JARVIS' database just in case. "You have to be in the office at 10:30 for a meeting with the New York branch, a sit down with Mr. Stane at 12:30, a lunch with the engineers for the EXO-7 design at 3 p.m., and bed and story time at 8:30."
Tony makes a soft noise as he pulls out Sara's oatmeal. "Can we move the meeting to 1:30 and shorten the update meeting with Obi? I had to leave early Monday and didn't get that last hour with Sara. Apparently I missed her saying the word dog." He says fondly. The babysitter—a child development undergrad in need of an internship from the local university—had taken Sara out after Tony had to meet with a military rep before noon, and had written down the new word in the little documentation book Obi's ex-wife had gotten her when Tony had come back to the US with the baby.
Tony checks it every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, days he's delegated to focus on Stark Industries or lab projects after 9am. All of the other days Tony makes sure to spend as much time with his daughter as possible until at least 3 p.m., because he doesn't want to miss anything. He always makes sure to come home—or emerge from the lab—at 8:30, so he can pay the babysitter and put Sara to bed in order to read her a bedtime story.
"Of course," Pepper says, as if that's even a question. Tony yawns and sets the phone down again, taking out everything needed for omelets while the water for Sara's oatmeal boils. "Okay, it's set. I'm going to a meeting with People right now in order to talk about your interview with them, but thank you for the breakfast offer. I'll see you at ten. Sharp." Pepper says before hanging up.
Tony can hear the TV in the living room play a repeat episode of Telefutura's version of Sesame Street with the weird pink and green Big Bird that Rhodey is constantly complaining about. Tony would say it's silly but he refuses to watch it as well; they don't even have an Elmo.
They sit down to eat breakfast at 8:07. Tony next to Sara's high chair in order to spoon feed her the warm oatmeal while he listens to Rhodey go on and on about the Air Force's newest recruits from the Academy. Their breakfast goes without a hitch until Tony stands to pick up the dishes and Rhodey turns to answer a call.
For Tony it's like everything begins moving in slow motion.
He turns back to the table just in time to see Sara stand on her seat while she holds on to the table of her high chair. Her feet wobble once before she sets her chubby knee on the table and begins to crawl on top of it. Tony shouts in surprise, causing Sara to jump and tip over the table. Both Tony and Rhodey rush at the same time and Rhodey catches her in mid-air, though her feet still hit the floor with a loud slap.
Tony closes his eyes, a hand over his heart as Rhodey clutches her to his chest and she bawls into her uncle’s shoulder. Tony steps forward and turns her legs lightly, wincing at the bruises already forming on her right knee and leg.
“Ay Sarita,” Tony says softly, taking her into his arms when she turns and latches onto him. Her cries are almost deafening and she’s beginning to hiccup. Tony shushes her quietly, knowing from experience that if she doesn’t calm down, she’ll eventually end up throwing up from taking in too much air.
He can feel tears building up in his own eyes. The mere idea of his baby getting hurt has always terrified him, but now that he’s seen her almost fall on her head and he has her bruised and sobbing in his arms, he feels like the worst father in the world. Rhodey rubs both of their backs simultaneously, and presses a kiss to the side of Tony's head. "Tones, she's okay," Rhodey tells him gently. Sara's sobs quiet down and she hiccups softly around the hand in her mouth. "Are you never not hungry, kiddo?" Rhodey laughs and Sara gives him a watery smile.
Tony buries his face in the soft hair behind her ear and kisses the warm skin there. "You're so terrifying, you're the most reckless human being."
Rhodey snorts at the obvious irony and rolls his eyes before moving back to grab his phone from where it had fallen on the ground. "My flight's leaving soon, so I gotta get going." He goes over to kiss Sara's wet cheek. "Call me if you need anything, okay?" He tells Tony before pulling him into a hug. Tony hugs him back, laughing wetly when Sara lets out a squeak from between both of their chests.
After Rhodey leaves Tony checks his watch. It's only 9:17, but he knows that if he doesn't leave for work now, he'll be late. He sets Sara down in her walker and goes to his room to pull on a clean suit. He stands in front of the mirror as he fixes his tie and rubs a hand over his face. His cheeks are still a little damp and his heart is still pounding hard in his chest, but he can hear Sara sing along with the characters on TV from the living room and knows that everything is okay.
When he goes back to the living room Sara's eyes are still a little red from crying and her rolled up legging is fully displaying the bruise on her leg. He makes a quick decision and calls the babysitter to cancel. Once she hangs up with a happy goodbye, he pulls Sara out of her walker and laughs when she immediately goes to pat at his beard. It's not warm enough to go out without a sweater, so Tony sets Sara on the floor and holds onto her meaty hands. He smiles at the delighted squeal she lets out as she toddles towards her bedroom before he picks her up again and sets her on the changing table. She makes grabby hands at her crib and whimpers softly.
"What do you want, baby?" Tony asks her gently as he tugs out a sweater from her closet. "Is it your Bucky Bear?" He asks, making sure she's seated securely on the table before reaching for the stuffed animals in the crib. The blue pea coat is a little lighter than it was when he was a baby, but it still looks clean and well taken care of, and the fur is as soft as always.
"Mine!" Sara shouts, slapping the plastic of the table's cushion. "Mucky!"
"Here you go sweetie." Tony hands it to her before rolling the leg of her leggings down to hide the nasty bruises. He helps her into her warm denim jacket and some light boots.
By 9:32 Happy is already outside standing in between of both cars when Tony walks out of the mansion with the diaper bag in one arm and Sara in the other.
"Good morning, beautiful princess," Happy greets as he takes the diaper bag from Tony's arm.
"Happy, I love you, but you're on the clock right now," Tony says with a grin, laughing when Happy shoves him lightly.
"I put a car seat in your car, I didn't know if you wanted me to drop her off at Ms. Rosa's house since you're already late," Happy says, unimpressed but obviously not surprised.
Tony opens the passenger side door and moves the front seat in order to buckle Sara up in her car seat. "Nah, I'm going to take her to work," Tony says. He's still a little rattled from Sara's fall and doesn't particularly want to leave her. "She'll be a good distraction for the board."
Happy rolls his eyes while Tony grins and flicks his sunglasses down over his eyes. When they're both in the car Tony pulls up by Happy's car and sends him another blinding grin. "Race you there, my beautiful princess."
Happy's protests are drowned out by Tony's foot on the gas and Sara's happy squeal as her little body is pressed back against her chair.
Pepper will probably chew him out for being late and Obi will roll his eyes at his impromptu Bring Your Daughter to Work Day, but for now he listens to his little girl 'talk' to the Bucky Bear in his arms, and presses his foot harder on the gas pedal with a laugh excited and childish enough to match the one his daughter gives out.