Multi-Colored Foam

Several years from now people would have a better understanding of the fact that adults could also suffer from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder just as much as children did. After all those children would grow up, and many would not grow out of it. But for now, all anyone knew was that Howard had the attention span of a gnat, and couldn't be still for very long. He'd been fine before dinner, catching up with everyone and telling Peggy about all of his latest ideas that did not pertain to work. Their wives had a strict no SHIELD talk at family dinners, and neither of them were foolish enough to cross their wives. He made it through dinner just fine, focusing on the wonderful food and wine, and conversation around the table. After dinner however, as everyone gathered in the drawing room for drinks, coffee, tea, and dessert Howard started to feel the itch of needing something more to do than just talk to his family and friends.

He'd promised Maria no work, he promised he would spend the whole evening with their gathered loved ones, but he couldn't just sit around any more. So while the women and Jarvis were engaged in a conversation Howard made eye contact with the kids. Once he had their attention he jerked his head towards the door, wiggled his eyebrows, and smirked. Once they understood Tony's and Natasha's faces lit up. Howard slipped out of the room first, followed by Tony, and finally Natasha. Once the three of them were in the hallway Howard beamed, "Who wants to play in the lab?"

Howard wasn't stupid enough to take the kids to one of the basement labs that could possably lead to them getting hurt. If Tony were to get hurt Peggy would maim him, but if Natasha were to get hurt, they'd never find his body. So he took them to one of his lesser used labs where they could play around with some child friendly experiments. The first thing they did was build makeshift hovercrafts which Tony and Natasha used to race around the basement, because Howard didn't see anything wrong with putting the kids in chairs on top of thick plywood that hoovered two to three feet off the ground. Thankfully no one was hurt and the kids were having fun, and so was Howard. He couldn't remember the last time he'd just had fun with science for the sake of having fun.

Tony was laughing, smiling this great big smile, and Natasha was looking at him like he was the most amazing person in the world. It was very close to the way she looks at her mothers or the Jarvises, and it hit Howard right in the chest. He knew he didn't spend nearly enough time with Tony, and the fact that his son was eating this up the way a man in the desert drinks water, that also hit him in the chest. So he let himself get a little carried away.

"What next?" Howard asked the kids.

Keeping in mind that Natasha was much younger and not into science the way they were Tony suggested, "I bet Nattie would love the exploding foam experiment, Dad!"

"I bet she would too!" Howard agreed. "I wonder how much we could make all at once? Think we could fill the room?"

"Let's find out!" Natasha cheered.

"Atta girl, Tasha!" Howard beamed.

Howard and Tony gathered everything they would need. Howard explained the science behind the experiment, and Tony translated so his younger cousin could actually understand. Natasha went a little cross eyed and giggled when Uncle Howard put goggles on her. They set up the largest basins they could find along all for walls, each with a different color, and then started adding chemicals. Once they started the chemical reactions it was a race to get all of the basins going at once.

Upstairs Peggy was becoming more and more uneasy and Angie noticed. Reaching over she put her hand on her wife's thigh as she asked, "You ok, English?"

"Fine darling." Peggy replied with a half hearted smile. "It's just, Howard and the children have been gone for awhile."

Maria blinked at Peggy's words, and then looked around as if just now noticing her husband and son and niece were missing. "The children must have gotten bored of us and gone off to play. As for Howard," She sighed softly. "I did ask that he not work tonight. I apologize."

Peggy reached across the space between them and patted Maria's knee. "Don't apologize for Howard, Maria. We all know what he's like, and lord help us all, we still love him despite ourselves."

The two women who loved Howard Stark most, his wife and his sister, smile at each other before Peggy stands and insists they all carry on without her while she goes in search of their children. She had an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach, not a bad feeling, but certainly one that required checking on her kids. There was just too much for the two of them to get in to together in the Stark mansion, especially given Tony's habit of using Natasha's tiny fingers to help him with one of his robots. The last time they left those two alone for too long Natasha had little burns on her fingers from helping Tony rewire Dum-E.

"Dad!" Tony said, slightly panicking. "It's not stopping."

"I noticed, Tony." Howard replied. "It's fine, it'll stop, it can't go on once all the chemicals are used up."

"The foam's getting everywhere, Dad." Tony's dark eyes darted around the lab in amazement as he watched the ever expanding multi colored foam spreading out from the basins and inch across the floor.

Howard was taking notes as a hundred different uses for this flew through his thoughts. "The room can be hosed down, kid, it's no big deal. You spend too much time with Jarvis and Peg. Stop worrying so much and have a little fun with it."

Meanwhile Natasha was cackling happily as she watched the foam creep over her shiny black shoes. "Hey Tony! Watch!"

Tony turned his attention to his cousin, her long red hair pulled back in a braid, wearing a pretty dress that was white with flowers on it. She grinned at him and then proceeded to slide across the floor in the foam with a wild laugh. He blinked, and then smirked. He wanted to try that! With Howard distracted, and unphased by what was happening, the two kids didn't see any problem with playing in the foam as it filled the small space. Sliding around on the slippery floor ended with them both falling, covering their clothes in the foam. Then Tony discovered the foam could be molded into balls, which he processed to throw at Natasha, who then started throwing it back. Their exuberant laughter finally snapped Howard out of his head, and he couldn't help but join in. When was the last time he'd played with his son? Howard felt shame creeping over him, but he didn't allow that to hinder the smile on his face as he allowed himself to be tackled into the foam.

"What the bloody blue blazes is going on in here?" Peggy demanded from the doorway of Howard's lab. She watches with wide eyes as two small foam covered heads pop out of the mess, followed by a much larger one. As she takes in the three of them, clothes, hair, and skin stained from the colorful foam filling the room, Peggy isn't sure what to make of it all. "Howard Anthony Stark why are my children multi-colored and covered in foam! That had better be non-toxic or so help me god…"

"It's fine, Pegs, the foam's safe." Howard reassured while blowing pink foam from his mustache. Then he points at Tony. "And I'm pretty sure that one's mine, Peg."

Peggy snorted defiantly as she crossed her arms over her ample chest. "You keep telling yourself that, Stark." Though her focus is on Howard she can see everything the children are doing, which meant Natasha wasn't being as sneaky as she thought she was being. The girl had a handful of foam and was preparing to throw it at her. "Natasha Elizabeth, no."

"Natasha Elizabeth, yes." Howard said with a laugh as he bobbed his head approvingly at the girl's train of thought.

"Howard!" Peggy scolded.

"Untwist your panties, Peg." Howard said before throwing foam at her himself since getting middled named had taken the wind out of Natasha's sails. "The kids are just having some fun.

Peggy's big brown eyes looked down at the large vibrant green splash of foam now staining her white blouse.

"Uncle Howard," Natasha said when she saw the look her mother gave her uncle when she looked up from the foam on her shirt. "That's not a good look, Uncle Howard. That look ends with a smack on the butt."

Howard laughed hard as he picked Natasha up and kissed her cheek. "I'd like to see the ol' gal try."

"Howard!" Peggy scolded again, making the man jump, and then a slow smirk spread across her face. "Howard, darling, you can't get out of the room without going past me."

"That's what you think, Peg!" Howard laughed again before slipping and sliding across the room to a cabinet where he flicks a switch, and a hidden door opens beside it. "Come on, champ!" He calls out to Tony while he carries Natasha in his arms. "Aunt Peg can't smack anyone if she can't catch us."

Natasha cackled again as she waved over her uncle's shoulder. "Bye Mummy!"

Peggy couldn't make it across the room safely with the foam coved floor and the heels she was wearing, so she just stood there watching in wonderment as the door closed behind Howard, Tony, and her daughter. Shaking her head she couldn't help but laugh. Had she ever seen Howard smile like that? When was the last time she'd heard him laugh like that? For just those few precious minutes he looked like the young, carefree, untroubled man he was before Steve died, the charming brilliant man she had knocked into the Thames for trying to kiss her months before they ever meet Steve Rogers. They'd had a mutual respect for each other almost right from the start, and as they began working together they became friends. One evening as Howard walked her home to her flat in London, he tried to kiss her. There'd been nothing sleazy about the attempt, and in all honesty he'd startled her more than anything, but she still had made it clear to him they were just friends and Howard had been fine with that. While handing him a towel and an ice pack for his shiner in her flat after they'd fished him out of the river had been the first time Peggy had heard him laugh that carefree boistois laugh of his, and it had reminded her so much of Michael that it had wormed Howard Stark into her heart.

Making her way back upstairs to the drawing room Peggy smiled warmly as she said, "Mr. Jarvis, if you would be so kind as to tell me where the secret passages in Howard's labs lead to, I would be ever so grateful."

"Um, yes, of course Ms. Carter." Jarvis blinked. His gaze dropped to the large bright green stain on his friend's blouse, and then it jumped back up to meet her eyes.

The tunnels lead to several places on the grounds, including an auxiliary garage where Howard could hide and tinker on race cars or use one of his back up cars to escape. There was also a nice little set up with a t.v., leather couch, stocked fridge, and a bar. After setting out jars of candy and grabbing three bottles of Coke, Howard fell onto the couch with a kid on either side of him. He handed them each a soda and then put his feet up on the coffee table and leaned back. "We'll just wait here until Peggy cools off."

Tony was on cloud nine. He hadn't spent time with his father like this in a very long time. Natasha was giggy, because it felt like she was being naughty with Uncle Howard to protect her, and it was thrilling. With the exception of her Uncle Dum Dum, none of Natasha's uncles were much for cuddling. Uncle Jarvis, while sweet and doting, was very much English. And Uncle Howard, well, physical affection seemed to make him uncomfortable, not that Natasha understood that in those terms. What Natasha understood was that Uncle Howard didn't hug Tony the way her moms hugged her, the way they hugged Tony. And when she hugged her Uncle Howard, he got all stiff and only hugged her back for a second or two. Natasha, at her young age, just thought Uncle Howard was really bad at hugging. But in that moment, none of that mattered because Natasha cuddled into Howard's side with the biggest smile on her face.

Howard stiffened a little, unsure of what was happening at first when Natasha pressed up against his side. His eyes went a little wide, but then he looked down at the girl's face, and the way she was smiling up at him, and he relaxed. He put a tentative arm around her shoulders which made her cuddle closer, and his heart skipped a beat. He smiled, a huge smile, and then he put his arm around Tony's shoulders too, which startled the boy at first. Then Tony relaxed and leaned into his dad, his smile bright and full of joy. Years from now after Howard was gone, Jarvis would create photographs of this moment from the surveillance footage and present them to both Tony and Natasha. Natasha's would be displayed in her room from the moment she receives it, but it would take Tony a little more time to take it out of hiding and hang it on a wall in a cabin by a lake.

After they finished their sodas Howard sighed. "I should probably get you two back in the house and cleaned up."

Natasha held up her hands and laughed. "I'm green!"

"Your hair looks purple, Nattie." Tony chuckled. "There must be blue dye in your red hair."

"Peg's gonna to kill me." Howard laughed as she looked down at his multi-colored goddaughter. While he was sure the dye had been non-toxic, he wasn't all together sure how washable it would be.

Rather than taking the tunnels back Howard decided it would be nice to walk across the grounds. Natasha had her little hand in his and he wasn't quite ready to surrender the feeling that invoked in him. If he were being truthful with himself, he'd admit he wasn't ready to give up this time alone with his son and goddaughter just yet. Who knew when, or even if, he'd get another night like this. The sad part was that he was fully aware that he could have tons of nights like this, if only he'd allow himself to be more of the man he was tonight and less of the man he was slowly watching himself turn into.

The multi-colored trio made it to another tunnel exit, a garden shed, when they were stopped in their tracks.

Peggy flicked on her torch, lighting up the area where she'd been laying in wait. "Stark."

"Now, Peggy, don't do anything rash…"

Before Howard could finish his sentence he and the children found themselves being hosed down by the garden hose Peggy had had hidden behind her back. And for a few minutes on some back corner patch of lawn on Howard Stark's massive property a chosen brother and his sister played with their children, filling the warm summer's night air with pearls of laughter and playful squeals. Creating a memory that would last a lifetime.