A twenty-four-year-old Tony Stark sat in his lab, tinkering around with one of his many cars when the doorbell rang. He ignored it and continued with his work. The doorbell rang once more and Tony, again, ignored it. When the doorbell rang for the third time, the billionaire sighed and placed his tools down on a table nearby. He walked upstairs towards the door and opened it up.
Outside was a blonde woman holding a small bundle of the pink blanket in her arms. Tony didn't know her, but then again she wouldn't be here if he hadn't met her. "Oh hello," He smiled a bit as he looked the lady up and down. She was extremely attractive. "How can I help you?" Tony asked. The lady groaned, then walked past him and into the living room. Tony watched as she turned to him with a scowl.
"You don't even remember me do you?" She asked, and Tony looked at her, confused, which only caused her to roll her eyes. "Whatever," The blonde walked up to Tony and began to place the bundle of blankets in his arms.
Tony looked confused as he holds the bundle in his arms but becomes scared once he looks down at the little bundle. Inside the pink blankets was a sleeping baby girl, and this caused Tony to look up at the mystery lady. She was placing a black bag and a folder on the kitchen island. The playboy walked over to her, as she turned around, and attempt to hand her back her daughter, but she stopped him by holding up her hand.
"I don't want her." She said.
"Then why bring her to me and not an orphanage?" Tony asked as he held the baby more comfortable in his arms, knowing the mother wouldn't take her back.
"Because she's your daughter," she said. "Honestly, I wouldn't blame you if you ended up giving her to an orphanage tomorrow. She's a mistake anyways," And as the words left her mouth, Tony felt a need to protect the little girl in his arms from the woman standing in front of him. "Well," The new mother sighed. "Here's the paperwork you need to sign, so I'm no longer responsible for her since that's your job now. I also left some papers in there if you choose to give her up as well. The birth certificate is in that folder there, so fill it out whenever you wish." The woman then kissed a baffled Tony Stark on the cheek and gave the baby a disgusted look before walking out the door, slamming it behind her.
The noise seemed to snap Tony out of his trance, and he looks back down at the baby girl in his arms as she started to squirm a bit. The billionaire watched as she opened up her eyes for the first time since she'd arrived. The baby had his eyes. They looked at him curiously, but not in fear, which came as a relief to Tony, because he didn't want to deal with a crying infant right now.
One of her little hands escaped for the bundle of pink blankets and reached up for him. Tony raised his hand and looked at his daughter in awe as she grabbed his finger. "Hi," He whispered and felt tears welled up in his eyes as the baby smiled at him. Oh yeah, he was definitely going to keep her now.
〜〜〜
It had been two hours since Tony found out he had a daughter and within that time he had run a DNA test to make sure the baby was his, called Pepper, and managed to gather everything he needed to take care of his daughter. Pepper watched Tony as he sat down on the couch next to her, and he fed his daughter a warm bottle. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Tony, the most self-centered man she has ever known, caring for another living being.
"Does she have a name?" Pepper asked, and Tony looked over at her before shaking his head. "Is the mother coming back?" Tony shook his head again.
"She wants nothing to do with her," Tony explained as he placed the empty baby bottle down on the coffee table. "Took care of her for a whole week and never bothered to give her a name."
"I don't understand how she could give up her child," Pepper wondered and rubbed the little girl's arm. "I would never be able to do that." The woman smiled as the baby stared at her curiously before returning the smile. "She so beautiful Tony."
"She's a Stark after all." He replied, which only made Pepper roll her eyes. Tony then stood up and handed his daughter to her. The assistant cradled the baby confused as she watched him walk over to the kitchen counter and come back with a birth certificate. "Now what should we call you?" Tony wondered as he looked back over to his daughter.
"Amelia?" Pepper suggested, and the baby squirmed, having not like the name, which caused the woman holding her to laugh. "Ok then, how about Katherine?"
"Nah, she doesn't look like a Kathrine," Tony interjected. "What about...Eleanor?" The little girl was quick to gurgle happily at the name, and her father smiled. "Well, I guess that decides it."
Tony placed the certificate on the coffee table as he wrote out the name Eleanor Maria Stark on the birth certificate. He then signed his name on the line, claiming that he was indeed the father, but he couldn't help letting his eyes drift to the box meant for her mother's signature. Oh, how Tony wished his daughter would grow up with a loving mother because honestly, he didn't know how to be a father and needed help raising her. Elenor's laughter snapped him out of his thought and made him turn to her and Pepper. He watched as his assistant was cooing and laughing along with her when Tony suddenly got an idea.
Pepper looked up to see Tony holding out the pen to her. She looked at him, confused before noticing the only blank box left on the certificate. "Tony I couldn't-"
"Come on, Pep. We both know I'm going to need all the help I can get when it comes to raising her," He argued. "Not to mention the fact that she already likes you."
This caused Pepper to look back down and see little Eleanor playing with the collar of her blazer and smiling. 'Tony was right,' she thought, 'he would need all the help he could get when it came to raising a baby.' Pepper sighed before handing Eleanor back to Tony and taking the pen from his hand. She signed her name and sighed. Looks like she was going to be visiting Tony a lot more often than she thought.
June 14, 1995
For the past year, Tony had lost more sleep and gained more stress than he cared to admit. The press was always at his doorstep trying to find out about his daughter, but all they managed to do was wake her up during her nap time. It slowly started to eat away at Tony's patience, since it was also one of the rare moments he could sleep as well.
Thankfully, with the help of his best friend Rhodey (who Tony had asked to be Elenor's godfather), his driver Happy, Tony's business partner Obadiah, and Pepper, they were able to keep the press away long enough for both him and Eleanor to sleep. Although Tony still had a company to run and a daughter to raise, he was always down in his lab tinkering with cars or creating new weapons for the U.S. Army whenever he could. Thankfully, his daughter didn't seem to mind, since Pepper came over and looked after her daughter and she never once regretted signing Elenor's birth certificate. Although, if neither could watch her, she was generally left in the care of Rhodey or Obadiah.
But today was a big day since it was Eleanor's first birthday party. It was only going to be the five of them; Tony didn't want to have the large parties until she was five - or maybe six. He wasn't sure yet.
He and Pepper were currently leaving the park with Eleanor after receiving the text from Rhodey that the house was set up for their mini celebration. Happy drove them back to the mansion and opened up the front door to see the living room in darkness. Tony flicked on the light as he held Eleanor on his waist. Rhodey and Obadiah yelled, "Surprise!" as they greeted the little birthday girl.
Eleanor received a pink onesie from her uncle Rhodey that said, "My Uncle's the Best!" in gold cursive lettering. Obadiah gave her a stuffed teddy bear, which she didn't let go of the entire party. Happy gifted her a toy xylophone that Pepper knew would annoy Tony within the first week of owning it. Pepper bought her daughter a new blanket and some more clothes. While Tony, well he got her so many new toys that the guests attending their little party lost count.
September 7, 1999
Tony had been dreading this day for quite some time now. Happy was driving him and Ellie to the local elementary school. It was his daughters first day of Kindergarten, and while her eagerness to make friends amused him, he didn't want to part with her for an entire day.
"Daddy!" Ellie exclaimed while tugging on the sleeve of his blazer. She was pointing at the elementary school building as they drove closer to it. He put on a fake smile as his little light started to talk about all the new friends she could make now that she was going to school.
Tony and Ellie got out of the limousine as other parents and children stared in shock that Tony Stark's daughter was going to the same school. Eleanor, on the other hand, was dragging her father towards the front doors of the school with him chuckling at her excitement.
When they walked in, Tony asked for directions to the Kindergarten classroom as he picked up Ellie and held her on his waist, since he was afraid she would run off and get lost. He walked her to her classroom and introduced both himself and his daughter to her new teacher. After that, Tony helped Ellie take off her Hello Kitty backpack and put it in her assigned cubby, before kneeling in front of her.
"Remember to be kind and to make as many friends as possible. Mom will come to pick you up with Happy at the end of the day, ok? And I'll see you when I get home from work." Tony told his daughter, and she nodded at him. Tony hugged her and whispered in her ear, "I love you, Ellie."
"I love you too, dad," Ellie said, now feeling sad that she wouldn't see her father for most of the day. They pulled away, and Tony smiled at her as she ran towards the other kids. He watched her for a few moments before turning around and going back to the limousine, where Happy was waiting outside for him.
"You all good, Tony?" Happy asked having noticed the somber look in the billionaire's eyes.
"Yeah," Tony lied while giving one of his charming smiles. "Yeah, I'm all good. Now let's go before Pepper reprimands us both for not begin on time." Happy laughed as he got into the driver's seat and left the school.
June 14, 2007
For Eleanor's 13th birthday, Pepper had arranged for her class to come over to the mansion for her birthday party. It was Carnival themed, so there were ponies and even ring toss. Though, per Eleanor's request, they had hired a magician instead of a clown.
Once the party ended, and only Pepper, Tony, and Eleanor were left, Tony walked over to where his daughter sat down as she opened up her birthday present. For some reason, she insisted on waiting until everyone left before she opened up her gifts, which Tony couldn't understand. He sat down next to his daughter as Pepper sat down in the lounge chair diagonal to him.
"Look, dad, Maddy gave me some new sketchbooks," Ellie exclaimed with the brightest smile known to man. Tony smiled as Ellie put the books on the table and turned to Pepper. "Oh! And thank you, mom," Ellie touched the necklace her mother gave her, which was a gold star with a tiny diamond in the middle. "For the necklace. I love it."
"I'm glad, sweetie," Pepper said. Tony smiled at the interaction between the two before clearing his throat, which made the two females look at him. He smiled as he placed his champagne glass down on the coffee table, then faced his 13-year-old daughter. The youngest Stark had become the smartest in her class; there was no doubt about it. Although, every day, she began to become more curious about her dad's lab since she wasn't allowed down there. So, Tony knew exactly what present he was going to give her.
"Well, now it's time for my present. I figured since you'll be going into High School soon, that maybe I should let you help me down in the lab," Tony stated, then stood up and held out his hand to his daughter. Pepper smiled at the pair as Tony lead Ellie towards the lab.
The two walked down, and Eleanor was in awe the second the lights turned on in the lab. She immediately let go of her father's hand and ran towards the line of cars, as she studied each one of them. Her father chuckled as he walked near her. "I take it you like your birthday present," Tony said, and she turned to her father with a wide grin. Eleanor then tackled him in a bear hug, which made Tony stumble back a bit before he returned the hug.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Ellie yelled as she pulled away from him. "Thank you, dad!" She then pulled him into another hug, and Tony smiled as he held his daughter close.
"Your welcome, my little light," Tony said and pulled away. "Come on," He nodded towards his desk. "I have a few projects I think you could help me with." Ellie smiled as she, and her dad walked over to the desk and got to work.