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Chapter Ten
It had been a long day. Steve had gone home and Tony, Pepper, and I had just come back home. My feet ached as I flopped myself on the couch.
"What a day." I exclaimed.
"You said it." Pepper agreed as she joined me.
"I really wish you didn't have to leave tomorrow." I said sadly. I knew she had to go back to run Stark Industries, but still...
"I wish I didn't have to either." She said, a little depressed.
"You know what would really make this evening a little less depressing?" Tony asked, leaning over the couch between us.
"I don't know. What?" I asked curiously.
"A birthday party!" Tony and Pepper yelled at the top of their lungs. I almost tipped backwards over the couch in surprise.
"Wh-what?" I stuttered and they both smiled.
"Congrats, kid. It's your nineteenth birthday!" Tony exclaimed. "Now, it's time for those birthday spankings I never got to give you."
"No, no, I think I'm good." I said as I quickly jumped off the couch.
"That's ok. I can give them to you later." Tony said mischievously as he wandered off into the kitchen.
"Somehow, I don't think I'm looking forward to that." I muttered to Pepper, who laughed.
"He's very excited." She told me.
"I can tell."
"He's been planning it for the past week. That's why I came down." Pepper explained.
"Thank you for coming down. There's no one else I would rather spend my first birthday at home with." I could tell she was touched by my saying that.
"And now the cake!" Tony exclaimed as he carried out a giant sheet cake. It was a pretty awesome cake, covered in blue and silver icing. There read on the cake: "Happy Nineteenth Birthday Abbey! And Welcome Home!" Nineteen lit candles surrounded the cake.
"It looks awesome." I said.
"I knew you'd like it. I also hope you like chocolate." Tony said.
"Duh. It's only the most awesome cake flavor!" I replied.
"Just like a Stark." He commented.
"Now it's time to make a wish." Pepper said.
My first birthday wish. I had never had a birthday. Heck, I never knew my own birthdate. No one really cared at the orphanage. As I looked at the cake, I thought of all that had happened in the past month. I had a family, friends even. I had gone from being a lonely student at MIT to a nineteen year-old with a family that loved me. I think my life-long wish had already been filled. But for my first birthday wish's sake, I decided to give it a whirl.
I wish I had my own Iron Man suit.
I blew out the candles and smoke went flying.
"What did you wish for?" Tony asked curiously.
"A good wish is never revealed until after it happens." I said secretly.
"Good point." Tony said as he cut into the cake and pulled out a huge slice and handed it to me.
"Thank you both for doing this." I said after devouring the last bits of my slice.
"We wanted to do it." Pepper said.
Now I was the one who was touched. Never had anyone cared so much for me before.
"Present time!" Tony said. He was super excited about the whole ordeal. It was kind of amusing, actually.
"Oh goodness." I said, wondering what kind of gift one could receive from Tony Stark.
"I think you'll like it." Pepper assured me.
"This is from both of us." Tony said as he handed me small bag. I looked through the paper and found a jewelry box. I wasn't one for jewelry, but for my brother and practically sister, I would wear just about anything. I opened it up to reveal a bracelet. It was beautiful, but simple. There was a small charm with an 'S' on it in the middle. It had a small diamond in it, one that I admired. It put it on. It was perfect.
"Th-thank you." I told them.
"Do you like it?" Pepper asked. I could tell she had gotten this one.
"I love it." I told her. She beamed.
"And this one is from Mom and Dad." Tony said, pulling out another jewelry box.
"Mom and Dad?" I asked, very confused.
"Open it and you'll see." He urged me and I opened the box and gasped. It was a locket engraved with M.S. Maria Stark.
"Open the locket." Tony told me.
I gingerly took the locket in my fingers and my eyes swelled with tears as I saw the picture inside. It was a black and white photo of Mom, Dad, and Tony surrounding me as a baby.
"It's beautiful." I said and they both smiled.
"Allow me." Tony said as he took the locket and put it on me.
"Mom would be proud." He said as he admired it on me. "You look just like her." I couldn't help but feel prideful about that.
It was the best party I could have ever had. Surrounded by the two people that loved me the most in the world and eating the best chocolate cake, life couldn't get any better. But even though I was a genius, I could still be wrong.
It had been an hour or two after the party and Pepper had gone to bed. Tony was watching the tracing system and I was outside on the balcony watching New York and its city lights. It was an amazing sight watching everything lit up like it was.
"It's a beautiful sight at night." Tony snuck up behind me.
"Quite." I agreed as I looked back out at it again.
"You know your birthday isn't finished yet, right?" Tony said and I raised an eyebrow.
"What?" I asked.
"Come on." He said as he walked inside and towards the elevator. I followed quickly at his heels. He pressed a button that went to the basement. Wait, the basement? What could be down there?
"I think you're going to like this." Tony said as we walked into the seemingly-empty basement. I looked around, wondering what he could possibly be up to.
"JARVIS, open her up." Tony ordered.
"Of course, sir." JARVIS responded. Right before my eyes, the basement walls opened up to reveal an army of Iron Man suits. I was amazed as I saw each model, something every Iron Man lover in the world dreamed about.
"Come." Tony said, practically dragging me over to a suit. It was different from the others. It was not the typical red and gold look, but a shiny blue and silver. It was impressive.
"It's amazing." I said and Tony smiled.
"It's yours." I looked to him, my eyes wide.
"You're kidding." I stated and he shook his head. Dang, I was good at this birthday-wish thing!
"I didn't want to give you this in front of Pepper. She might kill me if she found out just yet." I could see the point of his reasoning, with Pepper thinking it would be dangerous and all that.
"You see the 'S' charm on your bracelet." He pointed to the charm. I nodded.
"Press it and it can call the suit anytime you need it." Leave it to my brother to lock in a safety feature.
"I still can't believe it." I said as I touched the armor, cool and smooth to the touch.
"Want to take it for a test run?"
"How could I say no?" I obliged.
The armor fit perfectly. My brother had outdone himself. I don't even know when he had the time to make this thing.
"Does everything fit alright?" JARVIS asked me.
"Fit as a fiddle." I answered as I moved the suit back and forth. It was just as flexible as I was, which was surprising since I was surrounded by metal.
"Do you like it?" Tony asked, his face appearing on a screen on the upper right corner of the helmet. He was so eager for me to love this thing. It was, after all, a part of the family business.
"Love it!" I exclaimed.
"What do you say we give it a test run?" He suggested.
"You mean fly?"
"Duh!" He said in exasperation.
"Let's do it." I said. There was another compartment that opened the basement to the outside. I could feel my feet lift off from the floor and I looked down and was amazed at the fact that I was in the air.
"Pretty cool, huh?" Tony said. Of course, he was doing back flips in the air.
"Show off." I said. I was determined to best him.
"Well, if you haven't noticed that already..."
"True." I agreed.
I did a back flip in the air. I felt so light and it was so easy to maneuver it.
"Let's just take it slow..." I cut him off by zooming out into the open air. I laughed with joy as I soared into the sky. I could see the buildings becoming tinier below me.
"Hold up there turbo!" My brother shouted behind me.
"What? Afraid you won't be able to catch up?" I teased.
"Someone's becoming a little too cocky for their suit." Tony said.
"Look who's talking." I pointed out.
"You want to see how fast these can go?" He said. I nodded.
"I'll race ya." I said competitively.
"First one to the bridge is a rotten egg!" Tony yelled as he took off on a head start. I quickly pursued, dodging buildings effortlessly. I was at his heels as we made it halfway, the bridge in sight.
"I'm coming up on your tail!" I yelled and he looked at me through the screen.
"But you're not winning!" He egged me on.
"Not for long." I said and with a burst of energy, I swerved ahead. Tony was close behind, practically breathing down my neck. We were so close to the bridge, I could taste the victory. It was then that Tony cut me off and reached the bridge.
"Gotcha!" He said as we swerved to a stop. "You didn't think I'd actually let you win, did you?"
"Oh, don't worry. I'll win next time." I assured him.
"Yeah, yeah." He didn't seem at all threatened. "Want to call it a night?"
"No way!" I was too excited to even think about catching any sleep that night.
"Another race then?" He asked. I nodded and we were off again. This was officially the coolest day ever.
I thought an Iron Man suit should make its appearance in this chapter! How many of you would like one of those for your birthday? I know I would!