Mim woke up the next day, still pyjama clad, she grabbed her fluffy red slippers her father had bought her she made her way downstairs to see her dad talking to Pepper, she was wearing her business suit and had a check board.
"Tony, I think it's better than it leaking through media –"
"No, the longer we can hold it off the better." He said.
"Dad?" Mim said timidly still adjusting to the word. Both adults spun round.
"Good morning, Munchkin." He said walking over and scooping her up. "How did you sleep?"
"Ok," she said.
"Just ok,"
"I had a dream about green light, it hurt." She said quietly then looked down. Balancing his daughter on his hip he put his now free hand under her chin.
"I'm sorry, Munchkin. Do you dream about it a lot?" he asked. She nodded.
"Well this should make you feel better we are going on an adventure so get those little sneakers, we are going out." he said. He smiled as her little eyes lit up.
"Where are we going?
"It's a surprise, you got sunscreen on?"
"What's sunscreen?" she asked.
"It's sun cream," JARVIS informed her, she nodded still a little unsure.
"Here I'll help you, sneakers first." he said, grabbing her pink trainer first.
"That's a trainer?" she said confused.
"Trainer, well come on then gets your trainers on." He said, holding it in place so she could put her foot in. Soon they were ready, Tony was wearing a hat and glasses as he helped Mim into the car, once he was in himself, he leaned back, to look at her.
"You got your seatbelt on?"
"Yes,"
"Good, so where do you think we are going?" he asked her.
"I dunno, but it's really bright and hot!" she exclaimed.
"Are you too hot?"
"No,"
"Ok, buckle up you too let me show you some of the sights," he said, as he put his foot on the pedal.
They head towards the town; Tony showed the two some of the most popular shops. So far, Mim had not asked why Tony was wearing a hat and sunglasses. He was grateful that she hadn't realised that was strange.
The pain place he wanted to take her, knowing it would be quiet today was the museum. She stayed very close to him, often tugging him towards something that had piqued her interest. They wondered around the museum, he explained some of the things to her when she was confused. After an hour and a half, the billionaire crouched down to look at her.
"Let's get some lunch, there is a great café on the other side of this museum, we can head home after that. What'd you think?" he asked the little girl. He didn't want to overwhelm her too much, she seemed fine, but he sensed that she may not always tell or show when she is uncomfortable.
After lunch they made their way home, and decided to sit and watch a few films before sending the young witch to bed.
"Sir, you may want to see this," JAVIS said the next morning, making Mim jump and drop her toast. "Sorry Miss Stark." He apologised.
"It's alright, JAVIS," she said, blushing a little.
"Hey Munchkin, why don't you find Pepper ask her to make you something for breakfast." Her father said smiling at her, kissing the top of her head before she ran off.
"What is it JARVIS?" he said seriously as soon as his daughter was out of earshot.
"Yesterday's outing sir, it was compromised." He showed the article on the screen.
STARK LOVE CHILD RISEN!
And there was a picture of him and Mim holding hands, the billionaire was laughing at what the little girl was saying, she too was giggling, covering her mouth with her free hand.
Yesterday, a woman discovered Tony Stark with a young girl at (). She claims that the child called him Dad and as we can see the resemblance is striking. The girl appears to be around 4 years old meaning that Stark would have been () when the child was born! Sources say that Stark spent some time in England earlier in the month, suggesting that this little girl may be from the UK. Perhaps with Stark's funds she has already been granted an American citizenship. The women described the little girl as shy, not moving more than a metre away from Stark for the time she saw the two. Clearly this little girl is already attached to our favourite billionaire.
Tony read through the full thing, scowling at the last line.
Where is this child's mother? What will she be expecting from the CEO of Stark industries?
In the other room Pepper was preparing some breakfast with the young Stark, letting the young girl lead the conversation.
"Here you are," she said placing the porridge with strawberries and raspberries in down in front of her with a spoon.
"You want some?" Mim asked shyly.
"I would love some but, I can't eat strawberries," she said smiling at the little girl who frowned.
"Why?" she asked curiously, Pepper couldn't help but think she looked a lot like Tony.
"Because I am allergic to them? Do you know what that means?" she asked her kindly.
"I think so," the little brunette said frowning. "It's where you get all puffy and you can't breathe until someone stabs you?"
Pepper blinked; how did she know? The detail couldn't be a coincidence.
"Mim, has that ever happened to you?" she asked the four-year-old seriously.
"Once," she said.
"Can you remember what it was," Pepper pressed the little girl.
"I'm not sure, it was in an ice-cream," she said nervously, this didn't help, Pepper was anxious to give her anything else, she eyed the bowl, it could easily hold the allergy.
"You're not in trouble," Pepper soothed, though she stared at the bowl anxiously. "Here I'll take that, then you can eat with your dad," she said before she could have a mouthful. "You're not in trouble," she reassured again. "You will have something to eat soon, I promise," she said, Mim still unsure hopped from the stool and went to play with her favourite new toys.
She rushed to her boss ignoring the frown on his face as he stared at the paper.
"Tony, we have a problem,"
"I know, I know, you warned me about the press."
"What?" Pepper said puzzled, he showed her the article. "Oh, no something much worse."
"Is it Mim? Is she alright?" Tony said anxiously.
"She's fine, but Tony she has an allergy, a bad one. She just described being given an Ebipen perfectly. She doesn't know what caused it other than it was in ice cream."
"The Mcflurry." He said, pinching the top of his nose. Pepper frowned at him but she pressed on.
"Let's get her an appointment, Tony. And don't let her eat anything else until we find out what it is. I felt so bad she was about to eat and I took it from –"
"She'll understand, she's a smart little girl," Tony reassured her. "In ice cream… we know it's not milk because she's had it since being here…" he said as he mentally tried to check everything, he had seen her eat since they had met.
The group though remaining calm, and trying not to tip off the young girl in their concern, made their way to the closest private hospital.
Rushing them in so no one recognised them they spoke to a doctor who confirmed that the allergy was due to gelatine, and went to order some EpiPen's for Mim. The discovered that it was indeed a severe allergy. It had taken an hour of questions and procedure until the young doctor couldn't help but make a comment about the paper.
"Yes," he said stiffly. "Though it is far more complicated than it appears," he said glaring at the young doctor.
"I see she lived with her aunt and uncle, where was her mother?"
"That is none of your business." He said darkly, he turned around and walked away. As they did a middle-aged nurse walked in.
"Mr Stark, before you leave would you like me to do an overall check up on Mim," she said smiling at the small child.
Tony looked between the group of adult who all nodded thinking it was probably a good idea.
"Is that ok, Mim."
"Don't worry sweetie, I only bite on Fridays," she winked.
"Can Daddy stay?" she asked nervously.
"Of course,"
The rest all left leaving the three of them in the medical room. The lady was a very bubbly and cheerful person. She chatted to Mim about her daughter who was around her age, and the toys that she liked to play with. Mim excitedly told her about all the amazing new things she had gotten from her father.
Tony watched as this amazing woman, slowly made the nervous girl at ease asking questions that none of them had been brave enough to ask her about her time with her aunt and uncle. Remus had told him about the first day where Mim had tried to cook, and do chores. How far did the abuse go.
"Do you get nervous when people use loud voices?" the lady asked. Mim looked at her father nervously.
"Nothing you say will get you in trouble. I swear. We want to make sure you are super healthy ok." He said reassuringly.
"Sometimes," she said. "Loud voices normally mean I am in trouble," she said very quietly.
"I see," the nurse said.
After another half an hour of chatting. Remus was brought in to get Mim a snack while he and the nurse discussed some of the things she thought may have happened and were affecting his little girl. It didn't take long to realise that she had come to the same conclusion as he, and the others in her life had. She had been abused.
"Do you think they hit her?"
"Maybe, I don't think she was beaten. You would have likely found bruises when you first got her from the house. I can see signs of physical abuse in the form of starvation. I am guessing a day or two without food was a likely punishment."
Tony began to tell the nurse everything he and the others had been doing to try and make the little girl more comfortable with them. She smiled.
"It sounds like you are all doing wonderfully. I'd like to check her weight again in a month or so. I can't see it being an issue now she is out of that situation."
Tony thanked her, and the other medical staff. The nurse said goodbye to Mim who was happy with a chocolate from the venting machine that she and Remus were sharing. Still amazed that they had not been seen by anyone as they left the group made their wat home.
"Hey Remus, I was thinking. She's gone through a lot already," Tony said, as he handed him a coffee. They had put Mim to bed half an hour earlier. Remus took the cup, wondering where this was going. "She watched her parents die, lived with abusive relatives, thought she wasn't happy there, taken to another part of the world away from everything she knows."
Remus's eyebrow raised.
"Is there wizard counselling?" he said bluntly knowing that she couldn't go to a normal counsellor.
"Yeah, there are a few at St Mungo's so there should be some here as well." He said. "It's a good idea, we know Voldemort isn't gone too."
Remus took a swig of his whisky as Tony felt an iron fist squeeze his intestines. He hoped his daughter never had to see that man again.
"Sir, we have a slight problem," Jarvis said, the two men looked at each other.
"What now?" Tony asked, pinching his nose.
"Her relatives, Sir." JARVIS's voice seemed hesitant to relay the news. "They are saying that they would like some compensation for looking after her for the duration."
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and of course the Dursley's would do something like that. What do you guys think about the wizarding counselling? Please let me know some of your favourite moments so far and what you are looking forward to! Anyone got any predictions?
