A/N: These chapters are probably going to be slow in coming, because I don't write them in any kind of order (in fact, I don't consider them chapters at all, but one-shots all connected to a central 'verse), but at least this one and the next two, I don't imagine I'll be writing anything in between them (I could be wrong, however), so I'll be posting them.

Timeline: 1995. Tony is 21 years old.

Blaine is born fully mature. Which is a good thing, because he's still tiny. He weighs only 5lb 4oz, and according to the nurses in attendance, only gave out a few feeble, annoyed cries before settling down as he was briskly cleaned off and taken to the nursery.

Tony doesn't know what he's doing. That seems to be how he feels a lot, lately, at least when it comes to Miranda and their child.

Blaine. He has a name. Blaine Devon Thompson. Miranda refused to give him the last name Stark, and while part of Tony was upset that he didn't get to pass his name on to his son, another part of him is glad. Glad, because that means that Blaine won't be saddled with a name that may always be too large for his small shoulders.

The truth is, Tony doesn't want Blaine to be a Stark. He wants him to be his son, and he would love it if Blaine followed in his footsteps, but only if that's what Blaine wants. He doesn't want to force Blaine into a mold that's almost a hundred years old. He wants Blaine to make a name for himself – God, he wants Blaine to have everything – but he doesn't want it to come at the cost of Blaine's happiness.

Tony realizes that he's projecting his own feelings onto Blaine, when the boy isn't even a day old yet. But at least he's not projecting his expectations, like he always felt his own father was doing.

It still hurts, over two years later, knowing that his father is no longer around. Knowing that he'll never get a chance to show him what he can become, to make him proud of him. Knowing that he'll never meet Blaine, that Blaine will never get to meet his grandfather.

But, Tony thinks, vows, as he stares at the small sleeping newborn through the nursery room glass, he will know his father. Tony will be a part of his life. As much a part of it as he can manage, even if he has to hire several lawyers to counter Miranda's undoubtedly stellar claim that he has no claim in Blaine's life. She's going to be a fantastic lawyer. Just like Tony's going to be a fantastic engineer and businessman.

But he's also determined to be a good father. He'd like to be a great father, but he at least recognizes that he doesn't have the first clue on how. His own father was absent at best, and never seemed to know how to relate to Tony, unless they were talking mechanics or electronics. Tony doesn't know anything about children. Besides a couple of family friends who'd had children over the years, Tony had never even been around young children, and of course, he hadn't made it a point of being around those babies or children. Why should he? They were boring, and there were so many interesting things he could be doing besides.

But now… there is nothing more important than Blaine. Tony's known, for most of his life, that important, interesting things can definitely come in small packages. Usually they were electronics, but this is no less ground-breaking.

When he holds Blaine for the first time, merely hours after he's been born, he easily fits into both of Tony's palms. He's mostly asleep, but wiggles a little when Tony first picks him up, face scrunching up in a look of consternation (Tony's sure he sees a little of his own father in that look, that small confused sneer of "Tony, what are you doing?") before settling into a small toothless yawn. He's swaddled in a baby blue blanket, with a matching hat to keep his head warm. His skin is still red from delivery (a C-section, because as tiny as Blaine is, Miranda's also tiny), and he's covered in baby-fine hair. And his head, when Tony peeks under the cap, is also covered in a surprising amount of black hair. It looks wet, but when Tony fingers a strand, it's dry, just silky soft. It also curls, just like Miranda's. But it's definitely the same shade as Tony's, and he's embarrassed to find tears starting to build up behind his eyes at the idea that this tiny creature is going to look at all like him. He wonders if Blaine's eyes will be green like Miranda's, or match his own hazel ones.

He wants to find out. He wants to learn everything about Blaine. And then more. Because unlike the robotics and electronics he's always working on, Blaine isn't going to stop changing, stop growing and learning, once Tony puts him down, or switches his sights to another project. Every time Tony turns around, Blaine is going to know something new. He's going to be different, every time. And it both thrills Tony, and terrifies him. What if he misses something? What if, instead of being disappointed in Blaine, Blaine ends up being disappointed in him?

He can't let that happen. He won't. He simply refuses. Tony is used to getting whatever he wants, be it from hard work, charming the pants (or skirts, and sometimes quite literally) off of the right people, ingenuity, or just throwing money around until he gets it.

He doesn't want to throw money at Blaine to make him happy. It might help, but that's not how he wants Blaine to see him. He just wants Blaine to see him as… Dad.