Oh, wow! Soo sorry for not updating in the past month! I had a serious case if writers block. The chapter is extra long to make up for it. I hope.
Enjoy-
Tony sild out from under one of his cars. He had been at it for three hours now and decided to take a break. From the surveillance feed, he could see Jenny running around the living room playing with a big pink ball.
He chuckled as she thew it against the wall and chased after it as it bounced off across the room. She sure knew how to entertain herself. She'd been doing a lot of that lately, which probably wasn't a good thing.
He wondered if she got a bit lonely. He didn't doubt it, she had her toys and Rhodey came by and played with her. It was time they spent some quality time together.
He stood up and made his way to the living room. Jenny was still running around with her ball. She didn't notice him coming in. He reached out and grabbed her as she ran by a second time. She squealed than giggled when she realized it was him.
Tony drowned her in kisses till she was laughing so hard that she couldn't hardly breath.
"You scared me daddy." Jenny said, still giggling slightly.
"Did I?"
"Yes. I thought it was a monster." Jenny said.
"It was a monster. But don't worry, I saved you."
She said nothing but wrapped her arms around his neck. "Daddy?"
"Yes princess."
"It's hot. Can we go to the beach?"
Tony had thought about it before.
"Actually, how about we go try the pool inside?"
"Ok."
"Go tell Pepper so she can get you changed." He put her down. She ran off to find Pepper while he went to get changed himself.
It was a rather hot day, perfect for swimming. Tony sat down by the pool and waited. A few minutes later, Pepper led Jenny out. She was dressed in a cute green swimsuit.
"You two have fun." Pepper said. "And Tony, please keep an eye on her. I'm be back in a few hours."
"Don't worry, I will." he picked up Jenny. He wasn't sure how she liked the water. Even though she never complained while taking a bath he still wanted to see.
He carefully dipped her legs in the water. She flinched at the chill it brought to her skin. Then kicked and splashed and tried to get out of his grip. She clearly wanted to go in.
He eased into the water, keeping her close to him. She kept trying to push away.
"No, Jenny, you have to stay with daddy." he said. She pulled off his sunglasses and put them on herself. Tony couldn't help but chuckle, she was too cute.
After a few hours of splashing around, it was starting to get dark. Jenny started shivering and the color left her face.
"Ok, I think that's enough swimming for today." Tony climbed out of the pool and grabbed a towel for Jenny. He wrapped her up and set her down in one of the patio chairs before grabbing a towel for himself.
"There's a Christine waiting to see you sir." J.A.R.V.I.S said. "Shall I send her in?"
Tony knew she was coming by, but not until tomorrow.
"Send her out J." Tony said as he towel himself dry.
"Wow. She's still alive. I'm impressed." Christine said, noticing Jenny as she stepped outside.
"Weren't you coming by tomorrow?" Tony asked, completely ignoring her sarcasm.
"Actually, Pepper sent me by to check on you two. She just knew something would happen if you were left alone with her."
"Tell her I'm perfectly capable of taking care of my own kid. She needs to stop worrying." Tony threw his towel aside.
"Ok, I'll go tell her that everything's fine. Besides, looks like the fun is over." She turned and left.
Tony then realized that Jenny had fallen asleep in the patio chair. He gently picked her up and carried her inside. She moaned sleepily as he unwrapped her from the wet towel and removed her swimsuit. He wrapped he in a dry towel and carried her to the bathroom.
Jenny didn't wake as he bathed her, washed her hair, or dressed her for bed. He gently laid her down in her bed, she snuggled under the warm blankets. Tony kissed her before leaving the room.
It was late so he decided to call it a night.
00
All night long, Tony kept getting this strange feeling. A feeling telling him that something wasn't right. Telling him to go check on Jenny.
He tossed and turned for what seemed like forever before finally getting up.
He walked into Jenny's room to find her sleeping. At first glance, she looked fine. But that feeling didn't go away.
He walked over to her bed. He noticed she was shaking and sweating.
"Jenny, are you ok?" he carefully lifted her out of bed. She moaned but didn't open her eyes.
"Geez, you're burning up!" he quickly got her out if her bundle of blankets. "Come on, wake up."
She went limp in his arms. Something was wrong.
He ran back to his room, grabbed his phone and called the doctor. The phone rang twice before he got an answer.
"Yeah, this is Tony Stark. Jenny's father?"
..
"I don't care what time it is! My daughter is running a fever and she's unresponsive!"
..
"The hospital? Ok. I'm on my way."
He quickly threw on some clothes and carried Jenny down to the car and drove fast as he could to the hospital.
The emergency room was empty. The doctors took one look at Jenny and immediately admitted her. Tony was told to sit in the waiting room.
Three agonizing hours passed before he was finally given results.
"Mr. Stark?"
"Yes." Tony was on his feet before he was even aware of the doctor's presence.
"First of all, Jenny has a really high fever of about 103 and she's severely dehydrated. But her symptoms are quite strange. But there's no vomiting. Can you think of anything that might have happened in the past few days?"
Tony thought for a minute. He and Jenny had spent the last few days indoors. Until..
"I took her swimming yesterday." Tony said.
The doctor chuckled. "I'm sure it was good for her to get a little fresh air. But has she been taking enough fluids?"
Tony frowned. Maybe Jenny wasn't drinking enough water. Or anything. She rarely asked for snacks.
"Honestly, I don't know."
"Well, Mr. Stark, it is important that she take in at least 36 ouches of water each day."
"Ok. Can I go see her?"
"Actually, the nurse is gathering her medical information so you can take her home."
Tony let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't long until Jenny was led out by the nurse.
"Hi daddy." She said sleepily.
Tony just picked her up and held her close. He was so relieved that she was ok. The doctors said her fever might remain a few more days. But with rest and enough fluids she should be better in no time.
He stopped by the pharmacy on their way home to get some Tylenol for Jenny's fever. Also several gallons of water. He was not taking any more chances.
Later that night, he forced Jenny to drink all the water she could hold. She protested when he tried to give her more.
"Just a little more ok?" he said.
Jenny whined and tried to turn away.
"Alright." Tony sighed. He laid her down in bed. She snuggled under the covers and went back to sleep.
He was about to leave her room when he suddenly thought it would be better if she slept with him.
She moaned as he picked her back up and carried her to his room where she slept on his chest.
All night long she tried to pull away from him.
"Daddy, you're hot." She whimpered.
"I know. I'm sorry." he hugged her close. He was certain that she had enough fluids but her fever didn't go away. He found himself getting up every few hours to give Jenny more Tylenol and water. She started crying because she felt so bad. She also complained of stomach pains and a headache.
"It's ok, princess. Don't cry." Tony said, almost crying himself. He hated to see her so miserable.
"My head hurts." Jenny sobbed. "And it's too hot."
After a few hours, they both were able to go to bed. Jenny slept soundly beside him in bed. He stayed awake just in case.
00
"Sir, Colonial James Rhodes has arrived." J.A.R.V.I.S announced one day. Tony didn't answer the A.I. He gently laid Jenny down on her bed and drug himself downstairs to the front door.
"Wow. You look like you haven't slept in days." Rhodey said as he stepped in.
"That's because I haven't." Tony said as he shut the door behind him. "Jenny's sick."
Rhodey gasped softly. "How bad?"
"She's got a fever and she's been complaining of a headache. I can't get her to eat anything. All she wants to do is sleep. The doctor said to just keep her hydrated and she should be fine within a few days." Tony ran his hand through his curly matted hair.
Rhodey chuckled. "I hope she feels better soon. I don't like to hear that my favorite girl is sick."
Tony chuckled. "I'm sure she'll be back to her old self soon. But for now, I've got to go see if she's awake."
He disappeared upstairs as soon as Rhodey left. Jenny was still curled up in bed, her arm around one of her stuffed animals. She looked so peaceful that Tony almost felt guilty for waking her up to check her temperature.
"99.6. Not bad." Tony smiled. Her fever was going down. She should be better by tomorrow.
"How's she doing?" a voice broke the silence.
Tony looked up to see Pepper standing in the doorway.
"Her fever went down." Tony said groggily. "And she still sleeps a lot."
"That's good. But it looks like someone else is lacking." Pepper said with a smirk. "You go get some rest. I can take care of her."
Tony looked at her, dumbfounded. A few months ago, Pepper wanted nothing to do with Jenny. But now, she was willing to take care of her even though she's sick.
"Nah, it's ok." he said.
"Really, Tony. It's fine. And you really need to rest. You look like you've been up for days."
She was right, last time Tony checked, she was in D.C. But that was a few days ago. So that meant he had been up for thee days now. No wonder her was so tired.
"Fine." he carefully set Jenny down in her bed and quietly left the room. He literally collapsed into bed and was asleep within seconds. Taking care of a sick child was extremely exhausting.
It seemed like he only slept for a minute before J.A.R.V.I.S announced the time and temperature for the coming day. He sat up and rubbed his face and sighed.
"So much for a good nights sleep." he mumbled before he slipped out of bed.
The house was filled with the aroma of pancakes and coffee. If there was one thing he looked forward too every morning, it was Pepper's delicious breakfast.
"Ooh, somebody feels better." Pepper cooed from the kitchen.
Tony walked in to find Pepper cooking and Jenny sitting at the table with a plate full of pancakes which she greedily devoured.
Tony felt himself soar with joy. She was feeling better. In fact, you couldn't even tell that she had been sick.
"Good morning Tony." Pepper said once catching sight of him.
"Hi daddy." Jenny said through a mouthful of pancakes.
"Hey princess." he gave her a quick kiss. "You feeling better?"
"Uh-huh." Jenny took a drink,of her orange juice.
"Hungry?" Pepper asked, placing some hot fresh pancakes on a plate.
"You know I can't resist." Tony said taking a seat.
Jenny finished her breakfast then ran off to play.
Tony and Pepper stayed in the kitchen to talk. His associates back at Stark Industries were wondering when he was coming back into the office.
"Tell them I can't. At least not until I find someone to watch Jenny." Tony said.
"Well, it's not my call. You haven't been in the office for months. And there are some meetings taking place where you need to be present. You can take Jenny with you if needed." Pepper said.
"You know, that's not such a bad idea." Tony said. "Tell them I'll be in next week."
Pepper smiled. "I will let them know."