Hey guys!

Wow, okay, thank-you so much for all the good reviews! I never expected this story to pick up this much attention so quickly. But y'all are absolutely amazing! Here's a new chapter; I don't know if I'll always be able to update this quickly, though, but I'll try! Oh, and no part of Iron Man belongs to me (Lord knows what would happen if it did). I only own the idea for this story and the shirt off my back.

Okay, just kidding, I own far more than that. But now we're getting into semantics, so-onward!

"Mommy, please!"

Of course, when you adopted a child, you also adopted his baggage. And in Harley's case, there was quite a lot of it.

He had nightmares while he slept (if he managed to sleep at all), and anxiety attacks during the day—much like Tony, himself. In spite—or perhaps because of—the similarities between them, Tony wasn't settling into his new role of "guardian"-as the court had called it-quite as well as he'd planned. He was good at distracting Harley and making him laugh, but when it came to comforting him while he cried, well. Tony definitely still had some work to do there.

Pepper, on the other hand, was adjusting marvelously. Tony had never looked at her as the maternal type, but her instincts, apparently, were really quite keen. She seemed to know exactly what to say to Harley when he was shaking and crying in the aftermath of a flashback, or when he couldn't sleep because every time he closed his eyes he saw his mom lying there on the diner floor. Words evaded Tony in those moments, though; his legendary silver tongue malfunctioned. He'd never admit it to anyone, but it made him feel horribly inadequate.

Pepper hurried down the hall after Harley's cries, and Tony trailed behind her. He didn't really know what he was going to do or say, but he figured at least being in the room was better than nothing at all.

Pepper opened Harley's door and sat down on his bed. She gathered him into her arms, "Harley," she murmured, "Buddy, wake up. It's only a bad dream. You're okay, everything's okay. I've got you, and I'm here. Pepper's here."

Harley let out a long, shuddering gasp as he opened his eyes, "I had the dream again," he whispered despondently, "I—I was in the diner and my mom, she—she was right there and she was smiling. And so I walked over to—to her but then there was an explosion and there was blood everywhere and she—she—she—,"

But an anguished sob cut Harley's words off. He buried his hot little face into Pepper's neck and clutched at the fabric of her pajama top. Pepper rubbed at his back and did her best to comfort him. Tony watched from the doorway—feeling very conspicuous and awkward. Pepper looked at him, helpless grief etched on her features.

I don't know how to make this better, she seemed to be saying.

Tony shook his head. Neither did he. And it sucked.

Pepper held Harley while Tony watched for a few more uncertain minutes. Then, as Harley cried and Tony just knew he was coming up short somehow, inspiration struck.

Maybe, Tony thought, I'm not so bad at this after all.

He walked to the bed and took Harley's hand, "Hey," he said, "Do you want to see something?"

Harley's crying slowed down to hiccoughs. He stared at Tony, intrigued, "What is it?"

Tony raised his eyebrows, "Can't tell you that. Top secret S.H.I.E.L.D. stuff," he lowered his voice to a stage whisper and nodded to Pepper, "We can't have her finding out. Who knows what she'd do?"

Pepper swatted Tony gently on the arm, "Oh, very nice," she teased, "Harley, do you see what I have to put up with every day?"

Harley let out a shaky, bubbling little laugh. Tony and Pepper shared a passing smile as Tony gently guided Harley off the bed, "Come on," he said, "We're going up to the roof."

"To the roof?" Harley gasped.

Tony nodded seriously, "Think you can handle it?"

Harley nodded eagerly, and Tony smiled, "Good. Get a blanket and a sweatshirt. I don't want to hear any whining about how cold you are."

Harley started to walk over to his bed, but then he turned back to Tony. He pulled on his shirt sleeve until he was down to his level, "Tony?" he whispered, "Are you sure Pepper can't come?"

Tony looked to Pepper, then to Harley, and back again. "Well," he said slowly, "I suppose Pepper can come with us just this once, so long as she promises to be discrete about it."

Pepper rolled her eyes from her spot on Harley's bed, "Really, Tony? Really?"

"Tony," Harley said, "You're kind of being a jerk."

Tony gasped in mock outrage, "Me? A jerk? Harley, I'm hurt."

Harley gulped, "Really?"

Tony waited a moment before he grinned and said, "Nah. I'm just messing with you. Come on, we're burning…well, not daylight. Nightlight, I guess. Let's go," he turned to Pepper, "You can come, too, Pep. I'd hate to be called a jerk in my own house again."

He shot a look at Harley, who blushed and ducked out of the room. Tony and Pepper followed suit. Tony slipped his arm around Pepper's waist, and Pepper placed a quick kiss on Tony's cheek. "What are you taking him to the roof for?" she asked.

Tony just shrugged, "I said it was top-secret," Tony answered mysteriously.

Pepper laughed softly, "Oh, you are a jerk," she murmured affectionately.

"Takes one to know one."

It was cold outside. Cold and clear. New York was so bright that it was usually impossible to see the stars, but Stark Tower stood so much higher than the rest of the buildings that it was one of the only spots in the city that facilitated star-gazing.

"Wow," Harley whispered reverently, staring up at the spangled sky.

"Wow, indeed," Pepper echoed, "Oh, Tony, it's beautiful up here."

Tony gave her hand a warm squeeze before he turned to Harley and said, "Alright, spread that blanket out right there. Yeah, just there. Perfect."

Tony walked over to the blanket and lay down. He gestured for Harley and Pepper to join him. They did—Harley next to Tony, and Pepper on the other side of Harley. They lay there in a happy, comfortable silence for a few minutes.

"There aren't many spots in the city where you can see the stars like this," Tony suddenly said, "I'd come up here on nights when I…was having trouble sleeping. Didn't usually fix anything, but it was nice."

He paused for a few seconds before he continued, "Space is infinite and it's always changing, but it's also one of the only things that's permanent. It'll still be there long after we aren't."

Pepper had grown very quiet and still. Tony didn't often address his past or his demons. They both knew that those things existed, but actually talking about them made them real and tangible. It was just easier to leave certain things unsaid.

Pepper reached across Harley and grabbed Tony's hand. Harley was caught between the two of them like a breath; for the first time in a long time, things actually felt safe and secure.

Tony began to quietly point out constellations. "You see that one there? That's Orion, the hunter. Ancient people used Orion to predict the seasons, did you know that? If it appeared at midnight, the grapes were ready to harvest. If it appeared in the morning, summer was beginning. If it appeared in the evening, winter had arrived. And that one right there is the Big Dipper. Though, it technically isn't even a constellation. It's an asterism. That's a familiar group of stars within a constellation…."

Tony kept talking for close to an hour—some of the constellations he pointed out were real, and some he just made up. He was in the middle of telling the story of Canis Major when Pepper nudged him, "Look," she whispered, "Harley's asleep."

He was. He'd drifted off sometime between Perseus and Andromeda. Tony and Pepper carefully dislodged him from between them. Tony folded up the blanket as Pepper scooped Harley into her arms. "You know," she said to Tony as they walked back inside, "We're not half-bad at this. This whole…pseudo-parenting thing."

Tony smiled, "We are pretty good, aren't we?" he said, "We have always made quite the pair."

They gently tucked Harley back into bed, taking care not to disturb his sleep. Pepper turned to Tony, "What if he wakes back up?"

Tony absently brushed a stray lock of hair off of Pepper's forehead, "Then we'll come back in here," he answered, "And we'll wait until he falls back asleep. It's going to be okay."

Pepper nodded and kissed Tony before she left the room. Tony followed her, but he paused in the doorway before he flicked off the light.

It was going to be okay. It had to be.