February 1994

Rhodey had always been one of those guys who hung out with plenty of people, but had no best friends, at least until he had met Tony Stark at MIT. He had been quite surprised when he had found out that he would be roommates with Tony Stark. Not that he would share a room with Tony Stark, but Tony Stark would share a room with anyone. Surely, his dad could have afforded one of those fancy private suites, right? Later, he would learn that Howard Stark denied his son such conveniences, to teach him not to take anything for granted. Their relationship had started out as a rivalry between the two students, and to be honest, Rhodey had panicked a bit at first. He had been almost certain that the infamous Tony Stark would turn his college years into a nightmare for daring to challenge him, but it had been the opposite. Tony actually respected intelligence and talent. It was those he considered to be beneath him he enjoyed tormenting. It didn't mean Rhodey wasn't tempted to strangle him sometimes, but once you were willing to look past his flaws, you could find a good friend in him. And a true patriot. There were many occasions on which he made Rhodey proud to be his best friend.

Right now, for example. They were in the control tower of Edwards Air Force Base, and Tony was introducing the new radar systems he had designed. Once his superiors had learned that James Rhodes was one of the few people who could control Tony Stark to some degree, they had decided to use him as a liaison to Stark Industries. And when Tony had moved from New York to Malibu, Rhodey had been transferred to Edwards Air Force Base, the closest base to the Stark Industries HQ in Los Angeles, where Tony was now running the company from.

Rhodey understood his reasons. The past two years had been rough for Tony, and that mansion on Long Island was full of sad memories now. First, he had lost his parents in a car accident. He was hellbent on self-destruction, until someone had dumped a baby on his doorstep. Tony's baby. As strange as it might sound, this actually had done him some good. For the next fourteen months, he had been a somewhat responsible adult. Then, the family butler, Mr. Jarvis, had died, and Tony was back at his favorite nightclub in Manhattan on the same night, drinking his sorrows and distracting himself with the company of ladies. A fresh start in California might be good for him.

"And this, gentlemen, is how you deal with unwanted guests invading your airspace," Tony said once the virtual hostile aircraft was shot down from the sky.

Everybody started clapping. The generals who had come all the way from Washington just for this demonstration shook Tony's hand, saying it was an honor to work with him. Tony seemed pleased with himself. Soon, Stark Industries were to renew one of its contracts with the government for the first time since Howard Stark's death, so it was important to keep these fellows impressed.

"So, are we going to my place right away, or do you want to swing by the club first?" Tony asked as they made their way out of the control tower.

Rhodey bit his lip in order to not laugh. He was trying too hard to pretend like he wanted to go to the club. "Drop it, Tony. There's no shame in being a good dad, you know."

Tony was usually indifferent to flattery, but there was a twinkle in his eyes every time someone complimented on his parenting skills, like there was now. When it had been confirmed that the baby left on his doorstep was biologically his, Rhodey was one of the few people who believed Tony could be a good father, and so far, he hadn't been disappointed. In fact, he had only hired a nanny when he had had no choice but to take over the company and being a stay-at-home dad was no longer an option. Rhodey didn't understand why people thought he was the kind of father who would accidentally put liqueur in his kid's bottle instead of milk. If he took something seriously, he did it right. Otherwise, Stark Industries would have gone bankrupt, and the social services would have taken Ana away a long time ago.

"My place it is, then."

Say what you wanted about Tony Stark, but the guy knew how to live. The Malibu Mansion alone proved that.

"Welcome home, Mr. Stark," a slender brunette Rhodey had never seen before greeted them when they entered the living room. "Oh, you must be Mr. Rhodes. I'm Ashley, the nanny. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too, Ashley," Rhodey mumbled.

"How's she?" Tony asked her, and Ashley's smile faded.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, but Ana still refuses to eat. I tried—"

"That's okay, she's just shy around new faces. Give her a couple of days."

"Rhodie!" Ana's squeaky voice came from upstairs, accompanied by the patter of tiny feet. Rhodey rushed to pick up the two-year-old, who was trying to climb down the stairs as quickly as possible in her hurry. When he did, she flung her tiny arms around his neck, and showered him with kisses. He sometimes couldn't believe such a small thing could be full of so much love.

"Hey, sweetie… Did you miss me?"

She nodded.

"Yeah, I missed you, too." Rhodey had been so busy lately that he hadn't had the chance to see her this week.

"What about me?" Tony asked. "You didn't miss me?"

She frowned in confusion, like she was trying to understand why she was supposed to miss Tony, too. She saw him every day. "No."

Rhodey laughed, then became serious. "Tony, she probably needs to eat something."

They went to the kitchen. Ashley wasn't anywhere to be seen, so Rhodey asked, "Where's Moira?" Moira was the previous nanny.

"She wanted to work for a more… stable family. So, we said goodbye to each other last night and—"

"You slept with her, didn't you?"

Tony clicked his tongue, confirming his suspicions.

"God, Tony…" He placed Ana on her high chair, while Tony grabbed a sandwich, a handful of sliced carrots, and a bottle of milk from the fridge.

"I fired her first," he defended himself.

"You know, one day Ana will be old enough to understand why her nannies keep quitting."

"She'll also be old enough to understand why you love taking her to the park." He winked mischievously while cutting the sandwich in half. Then he poured some milk into a small glass.

"If you ever tell her, I'll kill you." The park was a great hotspot to meet lonely single moms of Malibu, true, but that wasn't the only reason Rhodey did it. He genuinely loved spending time with Ana. Besides, both she and Rhodey needed to socialize with other people every once in a while.

"Here you go," Tony told Ana, giving her the sandwich, the carrots, and the milk. "Chicken sandwich, your favorite."

Much to their relief, Ana started to eat greedily. Tony laughed. "Yeah, so much for the hunger strike."

"It doesn't change the fact that you're giving her abandonment issues, Tony. She probably thinks it's her fault every time a nanny quits."

"Nah, she's smarter than that."

"She's only two, man." Rhodey didn't know much about child development, but he knew Ana was remarkably smart for her age. Tony loved bragging about her intelligence, but sometimes, he overestimated it.

"If you can't get some self-restraint, why don't you hire a male nanny?" As far as Rhodey knew, Tony wasn't into men, so that should solve the problem. "Or, a butler? I mean, this place of yours is nice… Really nice. But it's also huge. Sooner or later, you're going to need someone to run it."

"No."

"Look, Tony, I know you miss him, but Mr. Jarvis is dead. He can't work for you from the grave. Just get yourself a new butler, it's not like you'll be betraying his memory or anything."

"No," he repeated, this time more firmly.

Rhodey gave in. There was no point in arguing with the guy.

He grabbed a beer from the fridge, and went out to the backyard to watch the sunset. This mansion had an amazing view of the ocean. Tony, he just had to have the best of everything… He might have been born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but if anyone deserved this life, it was the Stark family. Howard Stark had lived and died as a national hero, now Tony was continuing his legacy. He liked making weapons, and Rhodey liked shooting the bad guys with them. The two made a good team.


A/N: Hello again! This is another series of one-shots from me, and I'm going to leave this one open for requests. This time there will be lots of fluff, because I feel like I owe you guys that much after all the emotional rollercoaster in the previous stories (And don't even get me started on the Destroyer of the Worlds AU I'm working on). Besides, it's fun to write a prequel where everyone is a bit naive and happy.

For those who are confused, this is a companion piece to my Secret Sisterhood trilogy. You can still enjoy it as a stand-alone, but for the details, check out my profile.