Okay, so this is my first ever Avengers story. I've been pretty hesitant about posting this, but I'll give it a shot. I decided to put Tony and Pepper's son from an alternate world from the comics into the MCU. Let's just see how this goes. i hope you all enjoy this. Everything is owned by Marvel, I own nothing.

Chapter 1: The Birth of a Stark

In the early morning hours of January 19, 2012, a frazzled Tony Stark received the best news of his life up to that point. His girlfriend Pepper had given birth to a healthy baby boy. Iron Man now had one more person to protect. Tony visited Pepper as soon as he could, and seeing the baby laying in her arms, made Tony's heart melt.

"Hi." He greeted. Pepper glanced at him and smiled before looking back at the baby. Tony walked over to them. "He's perfect, can I hold him?"

"Yeah, of course." Pepper said, passing over the baby. Tony studied the baby for a moment. His eyes were closed, so Tony couldn't tell what color his eyes were, but the baby had dark brown hair matching his father. Later he would find out that his son had blue eyes like his mother. "What are we going to name him?"

Pepper sat up slowly. "I was thinking about Howard."

Tony looked up quickly, he was surprised. Pepper knew of Tony's strained relationship with his father, so naming his first born child after the man was unexpected. Tony was about to say no, without hesitation, but looking at the baby once again, Tony decided that he did really look like a Howard. "Welcome to the world, Howard Anthony Walter Stark III." He announced.

"I like it, I think it will suit him well." Pepper told him.

"We're calling him Howie though." Tony said, leaving no room for an argument. Pepper smiled and shook her head.

After a while of being with Pepper and Howie, Tony decided to share the news with their closest friends, who he knew were in the waiting room. When Tony walked out there, Rhodey, Natasha, and Happy immediately stood. "So? What happened?" Rhodey asked.

"I have a son, his name is Howard." Tony answered. All three of them gave him congratulations.

"Can we meet the little guy?" Happy questioned.

"Right this way." Tony led them down the hallway to the room he was in earlier. "We have some guests." Tony said, entering the room, followed by the others.

The group crowded around the bed where Pepper was holding Howie. "You know, I never thought I'd see the day I'd see the son of Tony Stark." Rhodey joked.

"Ha ha, not funny Platypus." Tony replied.

Natasha watched Pepper cuddle with the newborn. She didn't like children very much, never had, so she was cautious about being around the baby. "Would you like to hold him?" Pepper inquired.

"No, I-I don- something mi…" Natasha stammered.

"It'll be okay, I promise." Pepper said. Natasha nodded after a moment of hesitation and took the kid. Holding the bundle of blankets, Natasha noticed when immediately Howie snuggled closer to her. She could learn to love this child, she thought, he seemed easy to love.

Howie Stark was surrounded by people who cared for him and would always be there for him. What could ever go wrong?