DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters used in this work of fiction, they belong to marvel and Stan Lee

AUTHORS NOTE: This is my first fanfic so please leave a review to tell me how I'm doing

For once in his life Tony Stark did not know what to say. He could charm supermodels and out-wit politicians but this was something else entirely. The doctor who had just told him looks at him with concern

"Mister Stark?" He asks.

He can't hear the doctor anymore, or chooses not to listen. One of the two. He can practically hear Howard yelling at him, telling him how much of a disappointment he is. Tony feels a rush of anger at how his father would react.

The dead can't speak though. The dead can't listen. The dead are put in wooden boxes that are buried in the earth while nameless politicians, businessmen and every other fucking person on the earth tell you how sorry they are.

Maria would be happy though. She would have loved to have a little girl to dress up and gossip with. If he focused hard enough he could hear Maria cooing over her with her barely-there Italian accent. Tony wonders if she will be anything like his mother. Tony looks down at his newborn daughter and tries to find any similarities. Her face is red and she has a tuft of dark hair on her head. At this moment she opens her eyes and it is clear that she takes after his mother in that regard. Her cerulean blue eyes stare into his brown eyes and he feels something akin to when he built his first computer, but much stronger.

Now he needs her. He needs her to look at him again. To look at him with love in her eyes.

Wait a minute, how is he going to look after a kid? He drinks every day and parties for half the week. The partying he can avoid but the drinking will be impossible to stop. Maybe he can just reduce the drinking. J.A.R.V.I.S is almost done so monitoring his alcohol intake will be easy. He can be better for her, only for her.

The doctor starts talking again and he is brought back to the present

"The mother, Jessica Lewis died in child birth. As her own parents are dead she wanted to give the baby up for adoption but we need your consent before we can." The doctor then hands him a consent form. Tony looks down at the form before deciding he hates the doctor.

"I will not sign this. I would never sign this. Tomorrow you will be getting a NDA from Stark Industries. If you tell anyone about this before you sign the document I will have you fired." Tony stated in a cold, rage filled voice. The doctor pales and he feels satisfied. The man should be scared. Tony turns back towards his daughter. He focuses on her dark hair, noticing the colour was the same as his.

"Hi Darcy, I'm your dad."

Tony enters his Malibu mansion feeling very proud of himself. He had managed to convince Happy to get all the baby stuff so he didn't have to wake up Darcy. He grabs the crib and starts walking up the stairs to his room. He places Darcy in the middle of his bed then gets to work building the crib. Letting his hands go on autopilot Tony lets his mind wander. He knows the world can't learn about his daughter. They will hound her and insist Tony can't be a father. The masses will agree with the reporters, there like sheep that way, letting others think for them. The public will just know her, or rather not know her as Darcy Lewis.

Tony finishes the crib right as Darcy wakes up, making gurgling noises. Standing back up he walks over to the bed and looks down at his smiling daughter.

"Hey Darcy, I finished your crib. You're going to love it by the way, after all I made it." He says with a grin. She makes cooing noises and reaches for his face. He puts one of his hands in hers and watches as she grabs one of his fingers. She then uses both hands to explore his hand, discovering everything she can about it. Looks like genius may be hereditary.

"Kid, you and I are going to have fun." He states with a laugh.

"Almost, Almost… and done!" Tony exclaimed. Weeks of work, finally worth it, led to the birth of this piece of beautiful technology. He walks over to the crib he installed in his workshop and lifted Darcy out of it, because really, is there a more awesome place then his workshop? He carries her over to his desk as her wide eyes take in the programming on his computer screen.

"As soon as daddy presses this button the world's first artificial intelligence will be up and running, how about that?" He asks, feeling very smug when she looks at him with wonder in her eyes. She puts her hand on his cheek, seeming to be more interested in his goatee. She's only two weeks old, so he guesses he can let it slide this once. With an exaggerated motion he presses the enter key and watches J.A.R.V.I.S. power up.

"Good afternoon sir." The AI says in a British accent. Darcy looks around the room foe the source of the new voice but when not finding it goes back to his goatee.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., when will Rhodey get here?" he wonders, annoyance in his voice.

"Technical Sergeant James Rhodes will be here in one minute sir" the AI replies. Huh, so Rhodey actually joined the air force. Guess he wasn't joking. He can't help but worry as to how his friend, let's face it, only friend will react to Darcy. Tony really doesn't like that the only thing he can do now is hope.

"Technical Sergeant James Rhodes has arrived sir." The AI informs him.

"Got it Jarvis, you're the man." Tony replies as he walks Darcy and himself to the living room. He can hear Rhodey calling his name and can't help but smile at what the soon-to-be expression on his face will be. Never let it be said that Tony Stark doesn't find a way to silence the room, or something like that. Tony takes the last step into the living room and waits for Rhodey to turn around.

"Tony what's so important you needed me to come over in the middle of the-"Rhodey says as he turns around, stopping when he sees Darcy. His eyes flit between Tony and Darcy rapidly, trying to grasp the situation.

"So you actually joined the air force, we should celebrate. Your also Darcy's godfather, so yanno, be honored. I'm not sure what religion the godfather thing came from but I like the sound of it. I guess it's like a double celebration, where do you want to go? Strip club is out though cause Darcy has to come with us. Maybe-"

"Tony"

"– we can go to one of those family places like the olive garden. Do you know what type of food they serve cause I don't like-"

"Tony! Explain now." Rhodey yelled. Rhodey takes a calming breath before sitting down.

"Well two weeks ago I have a hangover and some hospital calls me telling me I need to come there because a one night stand has had my kid. I went down there to tell Jessica she's wrong and leave but apparently Jessica died so they showed me Darcy, then they wanted me to give her up for adoption, but she's my kid so, no. You can tell she's mine, she has my hair and moms eyes, plus she already shows signs of being a genius. And I named you godfather."

"You have a daughter."

"I said that already."

"Whose name is Darcy."

"I also said that." Rhodey looked at Darcy for a long moment before a smile appeared on his face. He walked up to Darcy and let her grab his hand.

"So what does a godfather do?" Rhodey asked with a laugh.

"I have no idea."

"I pity the kid already."

"Hey!"