Hey! Sorry it's been a day since I uploaded! I know that's not a lot of time, but I like uploading every day to keep things moving. The story is I'm away at a dance competition and it's sucked trying to find internet connection in the hotel. :P But I found it!! Mwhahahaha!!!!! Sooo here's chapter 12 finally!!! :D Yay!! Just letting you know, it anyone made any suggestions in the review box, thank you soo much and I'm probably going to try to incorporate them into the story! Thanks again for the awesome reviews!! Disclaimer: Don't own the Iron Man...but I AM thoroughly obsessed with him. 3 :) Nicki's P.O.V.!

Nicki's P.O.V.:

"Little Starky. Wake up." Someone was shaking me from my dreams. I tried to ignore them. "Nicki, food's here." I heard a chuckle…I knew that chuckle anywhere. I suddenly floated back to reality.

"Tony…" I groaned.

"Aww…come on! You're not that lazy, are you?" I could hear the smirk within his voice. "Plus…look. We've got stuffed shells!" That woke me up completely.

"Where?" I shot my eyes open, observing my surroundings. A very amused Tony stood next to the roller chair I had been sleeping in. He seemed to be trying not to burst out laughing. Great. Thanks Tony.

"Right here." Tony pulled a bag from behind his back and handed it to me. It smelled amazing. "One's mine by the way."

"Alright." I pulled one of the boxes of stuffed shells out of the bag, leaving one behind for me to eat. I gave the one I was holding to Tony. He pulled up a chair from the back of the room so he could sit next to me at the desk. "So How'd the meeting go?" I asked. The two of us were alone in his office. I wondered where Pepper was?

"Great as always." He scoffed, taking a bite out of the stuffed shells.

"So I'm guessing no merging?" I laughed, following his lead, taking a bite of my food.

"Exactly." He smirked. "We scared…well, I scared, the company away. It was too easy." Again, he scoffed.

"It was so easy that it took almost five hours?"

"The owner rambled on forever about basically nothing." Tony laughed. "Made it a heck of a lot easier to argue with him."

"Oh." I laughed as well. We remained quiet for a few minutes, the two of us eating the rest of our lunch.

"Hey Nicki?" I had gotten up to throw both of our finished lunches away. I turned around to find Tony staring at the picture on his desk. "Come here. I have to show you something." He held the picture in his hand, sitting down in the rolling chair.

I approached the desk, about to sit down in the chair that he had pulled up, when he signaled me to go sit on his lap. I looked at him questioningly, because I wasn't a child anymore. He should know that. Tony just shook his head in response, signaling to me again to sit on him. I did so, a little reluctantly.

I found that his lap was actually quite inviting. Not in the "Tony, I'm completely in love with you" sort of way…but from a little sister perspective. Here was my older brother, perhaps a little older than most are from their younger sister, claiming me as his own responsibility to protect and take care of. The lap thing was his way of showing me that I would never be alone…he would always be there for me. I felt comfortable sitting in his lap, it made up for all the lost times when I didn't have someone who would offer their lap to me, either to read a bed time story or just to be loved. I had a feeling that now I was getting both.

I rested my head on his chest. I could stay there forever. He sighed, revealing the picture that previously, only he was staring at, to me. "I bet you can guess who these people are, can't you?" Tony let me hold the picture.

"Sure. You…Mom and Dad." It was the first time I had ever called two people by these names. My heart skipped a beat as I did…I knew it was them.

Tony sighed. "…Yeah." The two of us sat there in silence. I remained fixated on the picture of my family. I didn't know them…but suddenly I had missed them. It was heartbreaking…being reunited with your family and the two people who had created you in the first place…would never be there. I didn't know them…and I would never know them. They would never know me.

It was Tony who broke the silence. "…They would have loved you."

"Tony?" I asked. "…What were they like?"

"I was hoping you'd ask that." He began. "They were…the greatest parents. Dad would spend hours with me working on cars in the workshop. So much that Mom would sometimes have to drag both of us up the stairs just to eat." We both laughed. "Mom used to make the most amazing food. I swear, she should have opened her own restaurant. Stark Industries was always enough to keep all of us busy though. I remember Dad and I used to spend most of our time in the factory building…where the arc reactor was. Yeah…I used to jerk around down there…a lot. Most of the time I'd invent something. Something that…errr…usually wouldn't be the best thing to have around a production line of weapons. Yeah…it'd annoy everyone…except Dad who thought it was always amusing." Tony chuckled. "You would have loved them."

"I know." I said, solemnly. "But…how did you find out about me? How did they hide me so well?"

"Through a letter."

"A letter?" I looked up at him questioningly.

"From Dad." Tony grinned. "It was attached to his will apparently. I wasn't supposed to get it from the government until my upcoming birthday, but when I was in captivity for three months and everyone assumed I was dead they gave the letter to Pepper, who read it." He sighed. "Then when I came back, Peps held onto it, wanting to give it to me on my birthday like Daddy ordered. But, after the press conference…she couldn't wait." He grinned. "I'll show you the letter later. It's in the workshop. I can answer any questions you have, then."

"You like Pepper, don't you?" I smirked.

"We're not in the workshop, are we?" Tony said, avoiding the question.