Chapter 21

As promised, Laura showed up around the same time that I finished eating lunch. Dr. Strange helped Clint get home quick then brought Laura back through with him.

"Hi, Mom!" I boomed running over to her, wrapping my arms around her unable to hold back my tears of relief more than anything.

"Hi sweetheart, how are you?"

"Better now."

Laura smiled at my response, loving that her presence helped me.

"How long can you stay?"

"As long as you want, little honey. What would you like to do?"

"Snuggle and watch a movie."

"Sounds wonderful."

Nat set up the TV for us, accessing the newest Disney movie that was still out in theaters. Laura and Nat chatted for a few minutes about updates with the kids. I always seemed to forget that they are friends. With Laura sitting at one end of the couch, I leaned up against the pillow she placed on her lap for me. The time with Laura felt amazing, her rhythmic rubbing of my forehead putting me to sleep within minutes.

"How's she really doing?" Laura asked Nat once Jamie's breathing evened out.

"With everything going on with Tony, she's afraid of losing him. Overly sensitive, but I understand why. Clint hesitated when she asked if you could visit her today but didn't tell her it was because of the unknowns with your schedule. She was afraid that his hesitation meant you didn't want to be around her. Once Clint explained the situation with Nathaniel, she seemed better after that."

"Is Tony pushing her away?"

"He's trying to make things work with Pepper. I think he's just scared of losing her again by doing something stupid so he's trying to do whatever she wants. Sometimes that means telling Jamie 'no' to something he normally would have said 'yes.' She seems to have some resentment from that and, with Jamie's attitude, Pepper has backed off some, too."

"Sounds like Tony set up the perfect storm for exactly what he was trying to avoid."

"Yes, he did," Nat confirmed. "A couple nights ago, Peter's aunt died. Tony's going to take him in."

"Oh no. Poor Peter. So now she feels like she will have to compete with Pepper and Peter," Laura commented connecting all the dots.

"Right."

"Has anyone talked to Tony about all of this."

"Not yet. With the extra care that Peter needs right now, Tony hasn't been around. Hopefully within the next week or so we will be able to meet with him and Pepper."

"Clint mentioned she wants to come to the farmhouse instead of just staying here. What's that about?"

"I think being told she couldn't go made her feel rejected. I don't think with the concession we offered that she will choose to go."

"What concession?"

"She will need more supervision in the bathroom and to be checked afterward."

"Oh, yeah, she hates that. My guess is she will choose to stay here instead."

"I agree."

"I don't like the idea of her having to make that choice though. Maybe the AI thing can be set up in her room or something so she doesn't have to choose."

"I can talk to the guys about it. We'll likely need Tony to set that up."

Laura nodded then looked down at the sleeping girl, "It broke my heart when she shared with us what's been going on. I'm really happy that she felt safe enough to talk about it with me there."

"She's come a long way in a short time," Nat commented.

"We should discuss holiday plans," Laura suggested changing the subject. "Obviously, I would love for her to be with us but I know we have to share. Everyone could come to our house for Thanksgiving. My parents are going to my brother's house this year so it would just be us."

"I'll mention it to the boys."

"Mention what to the boys," Bruce said when he and Steve entered the room a few seconds later.

"Laura asked about plans for Jamie for the holidays," Natasha explained. "She offered to make Thanksgiving dinner for all of us."

Bruce and Steve looked at each other with big grins and nodded. "That sounds great. We don't typically do much here except maybe order take out or pick up something from the commissary. It will be nice to have a traditional holiday meal," Bruce said with a smile.

"Yeah, we should celebrate together. I don't know what Tony will do. We'll have to make plans with him as well, just in case he's already thinking about having something with Pepper's family. I know Tony mentioned wanting Jamie to meet her parents," Steve explained.

A slight hint of sadness crossed Laura's face, but only Nat picked up on her friend's feelings. Nat offered, "Even if Tony does have plans, we can work around them so everyone can spend time with Jamie."

Laura nodded, accepting that she may have to share Jamie on holidays. Steve noticed Laura's unease so he changed the subject, "How's she doing?"

"Ok. She asked to watch a movie then fell asleep. Nat explained what's been going on."

"Ok, good. I'm glad you were able to come today. How's Nathaniel?"

"It's just a stomach bug," Laura explained. "We were afraid with the high fever that he had the flu but the test came back negative. Clint is home with him now."

Bruce nodded, "I'm happy to hear it's not the flu, he's pretty young to go through that. Did he get a flu shot this year?"

"His appointment is next week."

"Did Jamie decide what she's going to do this evening?" Steve asked.

"No, we didn't talk much before she fell asleep. She seemed tired. Did she sleep ok last night? Clint mentioned she had some trouble but he didn't get a chance to tell me about it."

"She woke up during the night, hurt herself in the kitchen with a knife."

Laura blanched at Steve's words. "Did she tell you why?"

"Well, she's still afraid of losing us. Right now, she's worried about losing Tony."

"Ok, yeah, Nat told me about that situation," Laura said. "What's the plan? Did anyone talk to the child psychologist yet?"

"We called her yesterday and again today," Steve responded. "She's out of town this week visiting family but fortunately was willing to talk to us for a bit."

"What did she say?"

"Just that setbacks are to be expected with everything that she's been through especially when combined with the changes that Tony's going through with getting married and Peter moving in. We are increasing supervision again and, now that we are aware of the problem, we are making her talk to us more."

"Oh, I bet she's loving that," Laura quipped, knowing just how much Jamie hates when she's confronted. Everyone chuckled. Laura added, "I would like to see if Tony can install FRIDAY at the farmhouse or at least on Jamie so she can still be monitored."

"He might be able to add the health monitoring to her necklace but the concern would be that she would just remove it," Bruce commented.

"Maybe an alarm could sound if it's removed," Laura pressed, wanting a viable option to have Jamie home again.

"We may be able to set that up, I'll call Tony," Bruce said.

"You rang," Tony quipped, hearing Bruce's response to Laura.

With that, Jamie bounced up, having heard Tony talking.

"Daddy," Jamie boomed, jumping up from her resting spot then running into Tony's waiting arms.

"Hi, baby girl! How are you?"

"I'm ok. How are you?"

"Better now."

Jamie smiled brightly at Tony's response. "How's Peter?"

Tony nodded, his expression grim. "He's hurting, but ok."

"Did he come with you?"

"Yeah, he's in his room."

"Can I visit him?" Jamie asked Tony then looked around at Steve, Bruce, Nat, and Laura who looked at each other. They were clearly uneasy with the request.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. You can visit for a bit," Steve responded, everyone deferring to his leadership. "I'll come with you."

"You don't have to come with me, I know the way."

"Jamie," Steve chided. "I'm coming with you."

Jamie looked over at Laura, trying to decide if she's going to fight Steve on this. With a deep breath, Jamie nodded then walked next to Steve.

With Jamie out of the room, Tony took a seat on the couch and asked, "So how's she doing?"

Nat began, "You have her spooked. She's afraid you're going to stop wanting her."

"I'm doing the best that I can," Tony defended.

"I know you are but you asked how she was doing."

Tony sighed, "Tell me what I should do."

"Is there anything going on this evening with Peter?"

"No, the funeral is the day after tomorrow. We already made all the arrangements."

"Let us spend time with Peter and you spend some time with Jamie."

Tony nodded.

"You should talk to Jamie about Pepper. She feels like you are choosing Pepper instead of her."

"Dammit!" Tony huffed under his breath.

"Tony, Jamie loves you. She's still learning to trust us and anytime anything out of the ordinary happens, it's going to put her through the ringer, at least for a while," Bruce explained.

"Yeah, I know. I just don't know how to keep everyone happy. I can't do what everyone wants when they want different things."

"It's not about doing what everyone wants," Laura chimed in. "It's about letting everyone know you love them regardless of what you decide to do. What Jamie really wants is quality time with you. She will also need quality time with Pepper. From what I understand, Pepper has been out of town on weekends when she's been at your place."

Tony nodded with a grimace. "I think she's trying to give Jamie time with me without her around."

"Sometimes that's ok but she also needs time with Pepper and time when all of you are together, that includes Peter," Laura explained. "She needs time to build bonds with each of you separately as well as part of a family unit."

Tony nodded. "Any more self-injury?"

"Just once during the night," Nat replied.

"Damn, what happened? Someone was with her, right?"

"Yes, Clint was with her. She snuck out during the night while he was asleep. FRIDAY warned us so we were able to jump in before she did too much."

"Snuck out, to where?"

"Kitchen, she used a knife. It wasn't deep enough to need stitches."

Blood drained from Tony's face, as he thought about how easy it was for his daughter to find something else to harm herself with. "We can add a lock to the knife drawer."

"Tony, we can't hide everything," Bruce responded. "We asked FRIDAY to let us know if she leaves the bedroom at all during the night including if she goes into her bathroom. Our hope is to be available to support her instead of just add more frustration from not having access to something that she can use to hurt herself."

"Yeah, ok. That makes sense," Tony utters still in shock from the news. "Was she upset about me?"

Nat and Bruce looked at each other, silently communicating what and how to say it. Bruce responded, "She's afraid of losing us, so no, not specifically about you."

"But about losing me because I don't know how to do this right."

"Tony, stop. That's not fair to you."

"Not fair to me! Jesus, Bruce, she cut herself with a knife in the middle of the night because she's afraid that she'll lose me. It sounds like I haven't been fair to her."

"Just spend some time with her, love on her. Remind her that you love her no matter what," Bruce offered. "Help the relationship between her and Pepper grow. Help her to see that she fits into the family you are creating with Pepper and Peter. She will be ok. Remember Jen explained how she'll likely struggle with this at times, especially with big changes in her life."

Tony nodded, avoiding eye contact and talking while he struggled with his own guilt and fear.

Bruce moved to sit on the coffee table directly in front of Tony, "Hey, listen to me Tony, don't tear yourself apart over this. We all know you are doing your best and your best will be enough. It's just an adjustment for her and all of you."

Tony nodded again, accepting his friend's words.

"They've been gone for a while, I'm going to go check on them," Tony commented.

"I'll come too," Bruce added then the two left the room.

Bruce and Tony entered Peter's room, deeming it ok since the door was opened a crack. The pair moved to stand next to Steve watching Jamie and Peter playing video games, both kids laughing and having fun.

"How's it going in here?" Tony quietly asked Steve.

"Jamie is very intuitive when someone is sad. She knew exactly what to say and do to help," Steve responded.

"We decided to keep Peter with us tonight, while Jamie spends some time with Tony," Bruce explained.

"Ok good. She needs that," Steve responded. "Are you guys ok or do you want me to tag along like I did when she was at Clint's over the summer?"

"I think we'll be ok. She's been at our place several times now."

"Does she still have a room there?"

"We haven't officially moved Peter's things in so the room is still set up for Jamie. We have begun building a new room near Pepper and I for her."

"Ok. Sounds good. Let me know if you guys need anything. I'm sure Dr. Strange would be willing to bring me over if needed."

"Ok. Thanks, Cap," Tony responded then moved to sit next to Jamie and Peter. "Hey Pete, how do you feel about hanging out here tonight with the gang?"

"That sounds great, Mr. Stark."

"Ok, good. Jamie, I was wondering if you would like to come back to the tower with me tonight."

"Um," Jamie responded then looked at Steve and Bruce who both smiled. "Yeah, sure, ok."

Tony smiled but noticed her hesitation. "Are you ready to go?"

"Um, yeah. I want to say goodbye to Laura first. Is that ok?"

"Absolutely."

Jamie said goodbye to Peter then followed Tony back to the private living quarters. "Will Peter get to move to our side of the compound now?"

"Well, if he wants to, he can. Would you like that?"

"Yeah, it would be cool to have Peter closer to hang out with whenever I want."

Once Tony and Jamie entered the living room, Jamie ran over to Laura. "Thanks so much for coming to visit me. I really missed you."

"I missed you, too, sweetheart. Have fun with Tony, ok?"

"Ok, Mom. Love you."

"Love you, too."

Nat helped Jamie gather up a few needed items then gave the girl a hug, sending her off with Tony.