Tony never imagined having a baby boy.
Seriously. He just . . . didn't.
He never saw himself as the loving, doting father that took his son to his T-ball games and helped him out with math homework. Hell, he never pictured himself explaining things like puberty and sex to an awkward adolescent teenager. Never in his wildest dreams did he picture himself pretending not to cry when he son went away for college.
Nah, that wasn't on his agenda at all.
However, he didn't exactly not plan to have a son.
Somewhere in a drunken and wild weekend, a baby got conceived.
Tony didn't remember it happening, and he didn't really try to. Quite honestly, he didn't even remember that this women had existed until the enormous bomb that is "oh, you have a three year old son" was dropped soundly on his head. Even after that, it took a lot of thinking.
The kid's name was Brooklyn Indio Martin.
When Tony first heard the baby's name he groaned. Who the hell names their baby boy Brooklyn? It wasn't until a quick google search helped him determine that after David and Victoria Beckham named their baby son Brooklyn, the name spiked in popularity.
Damn, that woman named their baby after Posh Spice's kid.
Tony never knew of Brooklyn Indio Martin's existence until the baby was three years old. When Brooklyn's grandfather came knocking on his door, Tony didn't believe it. He was a famous guy! People always came crawling to him, trying to trick him into giving them money. So when Brooklyn was plopped into his lap, he demanded a DNA test.
Of course, the test confirmed that Brooklyn was indeed his son.
Tony asked what happened to the mother, Lana Martin, and was informed she died of a heroin overdose.
Why did that not surprise him?
On October 19, 2003 Brooklyn Indio Martin's last name was changed to Stark. Tony didn't really have much of a choice; he had to take care of this kid because his grandparents didn't want him. Although he wasn't too thrilled about this addition to his almost non-existent family, he wanted it to look like he wanted him. That's why he changed his last name.
Tony always looked back onto one certain memory, one where he was attempting to bounce the rowdy toddler into his lap. Brooklyn kept crying and squirming, and Tony had no idea how to make it stop. He made him a bottle, but then quickly discovered that Brooklyn didn't take those anymore. Finally, he laid back on the couch, holding the nervous, weeping child to his chest. Brooklyn's wails turned into sniffles, and soon the even rise and fall of his chest confirmed that he finally slipped into the deep lulls of sleep.
Tony stared at the ceiling, his hand gently resting on Brooklyn's stomach. He observed that Brooklyn's old shirt was at least three sizes too small for his growing body. It also was covered in dried drool and a white, flaky substance.
Something inside of Tony shook.
How dare that bitch mistreat his kid?
Even though Tony never imagined him cuddling with a scared toddler in his life, it had happened, and something inside of Tony found a little grain of peace. A peace that told him it would be alright, one that came from the warm little man sleeping on his chest.
Tony smiled.
They'd make it.
It was May 30, 2016.
Brooklyn Indio Stark was sixteen years old.
How time had flown.
Brooklyn sprouted up before his eyes, and over time, that blood connection turned into something greater. It wasn't just their DNA that called Tony Brooklyn's dad . . . It was something deeper, more emotional.
That emotional bond didn't mean that they weren't identical.
When it boiled down to physical appearance, Brooklyn looked like a young Tony with the same curly brown hair and wild, dramatic eyes. Besides that, there was nothing.
Tony always imagined that Brooklyn would be his science buddy, and that they'd spend hours tinkering away in the lab creating gadgets, and later on, Iron Man suits. However, Brooklyn didn't see the same vision as his father. Whenever Tony tried to teach his son anything related to science and technology, Brooklyn would groan dramatically and sometimes flop down whatever chair was nearby.
Well, they both shared a flair for the dramatics. That's something.
Brooklyn wasn't really a nerdy, bookish sort of person. He did read and write a lot. The teenager often would write his own stories, all of which were very strange and over the top. Tony tried to read them, but sometimes he couldn't take it. The drama was reaching insane levels. His diaries were also odd, and when Tony read them, he was overcome with how emo his son could be.
He also had a much different music taste than Tony. Brooklyn preferred listening to bands like Panic! At the Disco and Twenty One Pilots. One time Tony reluctantly agreed to listen to TOP's song "Heathens" and when it was done, Tony managed a faint smile and nodded politely. Brooklyn obviously recognized Tony's adamant dislike of his "angsty, emo music," but he cranked up the volume anyway, just to see if he could get on his Dad's nerves.
Boy did he get on his nerves!
Sometimes, when Brooklyn became too much, Tony made him sit outside his office with Pepper while he cooled down. An hour or so later though, Tony would welcome his son back with open arms.
"I missed you," Tony would say as he hugged his son tightly. Brooklyn would squirm and complain, but Tony would just chuckle and mess up his hair.
When Tony finally escaped from the Ten Rings, the first thing he did was go back to his son. Brooklyn had been a mess while Tony was gone. He became depressed and wouldn't come out of his room for days. Pepper sometimes tried to beg the boy to eat something, but the stubborn little eight year old always refused. One time, she saw him in the kitchen of Tony's massive Malibu mansion, making a sandwich. Pepper decided not to bother him.
Brooklyn mostly went back to the way he was when Tony finally returned home. He tagged along with his dad wherever he went, and even watched Tony construct most of the Iron Man suit. He was afraid someone would take his daddy away from him again.
"I swear, I'll never leave you again," Tony said comfortingly, grabbing his son into a hug.
Tony kept that promise.
Wherever Tony went, Brooklyn went too. If Tony ever had a meeting or a mission with the Avengers, he'd stay with Pepper, who Brooklyn learned to tolerate.
That was years ago though.
Brooklyn was now sixteen, and had entered his rebellious stage. That's why Tony thought that Jamie would be a good influence.
Boy, was he wrong.