Sue and David arrived early the next morning. They looked about as exhausted as Tony, even though they hadn't bothered to stay at the hospital. David had dark circles under his icy blue eyes, and Sue had a bone weary look about her, hair messy and the corners of her mouth pulled down into a sad frown.

They ended up renting an apartment for a while - which Tony insisted on paying for - so they could be close to the hospital. The apartment, since it was such a short-notice, had only one bedroom and washroom, a closet, and a small kitchen space and living area. Tony ended up camping out on the couch. They had a cheap bassinet to keep the baby in but Tony didn't have the heart to leave him in there, instead sleeping with Peter laying on his chest.

The first night there, Peter cried every few hours, a shrill alarm filling in the quiet early hours of the morning. He was so fussy, probably because he was in a new place, and Tony had to walk him the length of the room multiple times before he even calmed down enough for him to feed him. Tony had read every parenting book he could get, could probably get a doctorate in the subject if that were a thing, and he was still worried that this wasn't normal.

Maybe it's the new place? Tony thought as he bounced Peter up and down, patting his back soothingly. Peter kept screaming bloody murder.

It's too soon to feed him…

"Shh…." Tony said, seeing he had no other option. "C'mon, little man, you gotta work with me here..." He checked his diaper for the fifth time since he started screaming. It didn't seem to be that either. Tony felt like he was going to start screaming with the baby soon.

Indigestion? No, I burped him… Teething? Don't be a dumbass, Stark, he's a newborn…

I'm not cut out for this.

Tony sighed. He felt defeated. The baby's cries rose in volume and pitch. Where were Sue and David?!

Tony started humming, just to distract himself from the baby's crying as he continued to pace around the room. His humming picked up in volume as the baby's screaming did, until eventually the baby's cries quieted slightly. The baby went still, whimpering slightly. Tony stopped humming, and he went back to screaming. Tony hummed, and he dissolved into whimpering again.

Huh.

Tony grinned.

"Poor old Johnny Ray," he sang, voice carrying. He was sure that it would have woken up Sue and David.

Fuck them, Tony thought. They didn't help with the damn baby.

"Sounded sad upon the radio, broke a million hearts in mono!" The baby's whimpering disappeared completely. His eyes were open, staring at the wall, unable to raise his head to look at his singing father but clearly listening. "Our mothers cried… sang along, who'd blame them?" He started swaying along to his own singing, dancing with the baby in the cramped living space.

He continued singing, until he reached the chorus, practically bouncing on his heels.

"Come on Eileen, oh I swear what he means

At this moment, you mean everything!

You in that dress, oh my thoughts, I confess

Verge on….er…. Happy! Oh come on, Eileen!"

He giggled slightly as he finally reached the end of the song. He looked down at the infant in his arms. He was resting against his shoulder, drool leaking out of the corner of his mouth, eyes closed and his chubby cheek smushed.

Don't know how he managed to get to sleep, with an upbeat song like that, Tony thought idly as he carefully sat on the couch and spread out. Peter snuggled into his chest slightly, and Tony smiled, grabbing a spare blanket from the back of the couch that smelled like mothballs and draping it over the both of them.

They both slept through the last hours of the night.

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When Tony woke up, it was to the smell of coffee tickling his nose. Peter was still laying on his chest, though he was awake as well, big brown eyes open and blinking at his surroundings. His curly brown hair was sticking up in all directions, fluffy and soft. Tony thought most babies were rather odd looking, but he thought his was rather adorable.

Oh God, I understand parents now. A tragedy.

Tony felt rather sorry for the boy. He seemed to have inherited most of his looks, though he had gotten his mother's curly hair. Tony knew how difficult it was to manage - Mary complained enough for him to get the basic idea.

I'll have to buy a comb, he thought idly, carefully sitting up, hand braced over the back of his baby's head so he wouldn't fall. David was in the kitchen, staring at the coffee machine as if it had the secrets to end all of life's problems, and Sue was dishing eggs onto three china plates. Tony made a bee-line toward the counter, where there were plastic baby bottles and a tub of baby formula. He thought Peter might be due for a bottle.

He made it one handed, the other holding Peter and trying not to drop him. Sue and David made no move to help him. Maybe he should've put him in the bassinet, first.

He eventually finished the bottle, shaking it up as he walked back into the living area and plopped onto the lumpy couch, the springs shrieking their protest. He put the bottle to the baby's lips and waited for him to finish eating, tapping his foot as he did. He was itching to work on something - to work in his lab. Work on DUM-E, or his AI that he had yet to name, or his homework. It had been weeks since he had even picked up a screwdriver. He had always been in the hospital, or busy with how he would handle the press. His head buzzed, ideas and upgrades dying to break free, and the bruises he had collected in the last few days ached.

He couldn't go to his lab, but… maybe he could write it down? Work out the equations? DUM-E was so glitchy, he really did need to work out his coding-

And then the baby whined, his bottle empty, and Tony remembered how he had been, years ago, just a toddler and wanting his dad's attention. Attention he had never gotten since he'd always been in the lab, or had his face buried in a text book. He couldn't do that with Peter. He had to spend as much time as possible with him. He never wanted to be like his father.

But he still had to work, eventually, on summer homework. Maybe he could work out a schedule.

He placed the bottle to the side, burped the baby, and relaxed back into the couch, his son content, for now, just to lay on his chest and stare at the far wall, eyes blinking curiously at everything. He loved this child.

Sue walked out of the kitchen, carrying a porcelain plate of eggs. She placed it on the couch next to them without even looking at him, or the baby, before turning on her heel and marching back into the kitchen. She hadn't even given him a fork.

He shrugged. He didn't need a fork anyway.

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It was just so damned awkward in the apartment. He hated it. Hated the glares David threw his way, and Sue's bitterness as she ignored him. It was enough to drive him mad.

It was enough for him to place the baby in his bassinet which, conveniently, had wheels, and run to the nearest pay phone, where he called Momma Rhodes.

"Who's this?" the woman said, her southern drawl familiar.

"Hey, Momma, it's Tony," Tony said. Everyone called her momma, even the workers at the supermarket. Everyone knew Momma Rhodes, even in a big city such as this one, and everyone loved her.

Momma Rhodes gasped.

"Tony? Oh, honey, where you been? Do you need someone ta pick you up?" Tony's eyes burned. He rubbed at them, grimacing slightly as they aggravated his bruises. He could always count on Momma Rhodes.

"Um, yeah, that'd be nice. I just need a place to crash for a couple days, if that's fine," Tony said hesitantly. Momma Rhodes chuckled warmly.

"Oh, Tony, you know you're always welcome here! Don't be ridiculous! I'll have James go and pick you up, alright?"

"Alright," Tony said. He sniffed before he could stop himself. Momma Rhodes didn't comment. "Thank you, Momma Rhodes."

"Oh, it's no problem!" she said. "I'll see you soon, hon!"

Tony nodded, even though he knew she wouldn't be able to see him, and hung up the phone. Peter was laying on his back in the bassinet, staring up at the blue sky and all the tall buildings with an expression on his face that, if Tony didn't know better, he would guess was longing.

"Your Uncle Rhodey's gonna be here soon," Tony said, because he needed someone to talk to. "He's gonna pick us up and take us to Momma Rhodes. She's kinda like your grandma, I guess. You'll probably see her a lot, at least over the summer. She's really nice, and she makes great blueberry pies. You'll probably like those when you're older and able to eat stuff like that - they're really good." The baby said nothing.

"I don't know how long we're gonna stay there," Tony admitted. Peter was watching him, brown gaze unwavering. "Your other grandparents aren't being all that nice right now. But that's okay. They'll start acting better once your momma's out of the hospital." Peter blinked. His eyelashes were so long, and Tony couldn't tell whether he had gotten it from Tony or Mary. They brushed his cheeks. Tony thought he looked rather a lot like Bambi.

"Is that what you are?" Tony asked, smiling softly. "Hmm? Bambi? Is that what you are, little man?" Peter's lips stretched out into a gummy smile. He was drooling. If it were any other baby, Tony probably would have thought it was gross.

Tony talked to Peter about trivial things - the weather, foods he would one day try, college, other countries and states he wanted to visit. Even though Peter couldn't answer and probably didn't have a clue what he was talking about. Tony had read in one of the parenting books that talking to the baby a lot would help them start talking sooner.

It didn't feel like long before he saw Rhodey, driving Tony's car down the street, looking like he wasn't planning on stopping, before he saw Tony standing on the street corner with a bassinet and slammed on the brakes. He rolled down the window.

"What the hell are you doing, man?!" he yelled, eyes wide. Tony frowned.

"Language!" he admonished his friend. "Lordy, do you want my kid to be swearing like a sailor before he's our age?" Rhodey sighed, unlocking the car door and pushing it open. Tony took Peter out of his bassinet and handed him to a clueless Rhodey, who hadn't the faintest idea how to hold a baby, and shoved the bassinet in the trunk of the car. The trunk wouldn't close over it, and Tony didn't bother trying to move it, merely walked to the front seat and plopped down on the passenger's side, taking his baby back from Rhodey once he was buckled up.

Rhodey started driving, and Peter's eyes widened dramatically, his bottom lip quivering. The vibrations from the car were obviously bothering him. Tony rocked him slightly, humming, until Peter relaxed, instead allowing the vibrations from the car to lull him into slumber.

He glanced up, and saw Rhodey grinning at him.

"What?" Tony asked, feeling self-conscious.

"Nothing," Rhodey said, his eyes staying on the road even as the grin never slipped from his face. "It's just funny watching you with that kid. Never thought you had it in you." Tony shrugged.

"Guess I matured, or something. Or maybe this is all temporary and I'll turn out to be a shit dad soon."

"You'll be a great dad," Rhodey assured him. "You're doing great. Especially for someone your age." Tony hummed, glancing down at the baby, sleeping peacefully. He sure did sleep a lot.

"Did I ever tell you what I named him?" Tony asked. Rhodey blinked.

"Uh. Peter, wasn't it?"

"Peter Edwin James Fitzpatrick-Stark," Tony said.

"Jesus," Rhodey said, cackling. "That's a long name, Tones."

"I have no regrets," Tony said. "I named him after Jarvis. And my brother." Rhodey blinked.

"But you don't have a-" His mouth snapped shut, his eyes wide. They tinted red and glassy, and his face looked blotchy. He looked like he was about to cry, even as a blinding grin spread across his face.

"It's a good name," Rhodey said. "It fits him." Tony heard what he didn't say. You're my brother too.

"It is," Tony replied snarkily. "That's why I picked it." I'd never pick anything else.

Rhodey smiled, and Tony smiled back. His older friend wiped at his eyes, continuing down the road towards his house.

He grinned as he finally reached Rhodes' house, just outside the city. It was painted white with a shingled roof and a big front yard, where Rhodey's sisters were sitting on the front porch, smoking and chatting amongst themselves. Two twin boys were playing on the grass in the front yard, Rhodey's older sisters' children, Patrick and Chris. They were kicking a ball back and forth.

Momma Rhodes ran out of the house as she heard their car pull up. She walked up to Tony's side of the car, opening the door and helping him out. She smiled at him sadly, obviously taking note of the many bruises that adorned his features. Then her eyes fell on the sleeping baby in his arms, and her features turned soft. She reached out, petting the baby's thick brown curls.

"You come on inside, honey," Momma Rhodes said. "James's daddy'll get that bassinet sticking out the back of your car." Tony nodded, letting her guide him into the car. The baby was placed in his bassinet once Bert, Rhodey's father, brought it inside. He sat on the couch, rolling the bassinet over to stand beside him. He answered all her questions about college and the baby and let her fuss over him when she asked if he needed painkillers or if he was hungry.

Tony couldn't help the warm feeling that filled his chest.

He might not be close to his family, but he would always have a family in the Rhodes'.

And really, that was all he needed.