Note: Hello all! Thanks again for all the responses! You guys encourage me so much! One update before the update – I know I said that the 'epic meeting' as one of you referenced in the reviews would be on Friday, but I will have to push it back to Saturday. Because of RL and my own perfectionism, I need another day before the much-anticipated chapter rolls out. Until then, I hope Tony's POV will hold you over until then.

Also, slight warning for inexplicit sexual content and infidelity.

Please enjoy.

Chapter Eight

Tony raced over to the Stark Enterprises temporary offices. He wished he could have flown there in his suit, but after the last time he did, Pepper made him promise on the pains of no sex that he would not do that again. Admittedly, the building was not prepared for the landing, and there were still scorch marks in the carpet – but that is getting away from the point. In all his 41 years, he had only felt the terror that was currently pumping through his body a handful of times: when his father died and he realized he was left to guide the Stark 'Empire', when he was captured in Afghanistan, to name a couple. Tony could be – something to a teenage boy.

No, Tony was always careful. Not one paternity suit had stuck for a reason. This one would have to be the same, right?

But still, doubt gnawed at him.

Lily. His Emerald-Eyed Lily. Tony had many one-night stands in his day, to say the least, but Emerald-Eyed Lily was one of the ones that stood out. When he first saw her beauty, he immediately wanted to have her. He had never before or since seen eyes so stunning. All Tony could imagine was her auburn hair spread out on white satin sheets, her emerald eyes filled with desire as she gazed up at him. So, he approached her. Although she had been a bit star-struck at meeting him – even at 24 he was considered a ladies' mac – she seemed more enamored with his inventions, the creations of his mind, rather than his fame and wealth. It was refreshing. That was why he stuck around having discussions with her after she insisted she was married and unavailable. He did not stop flirting – it is second nature to him, after all – calling her his Emerald-Eyed Lily, but he had no intent of pursuing her further.

Then the woman surprised Tony: Lily kissed him.

Passion consumed him like a wildfire, and he could not resist her and brought her upstairs. They had only closed the door when Tony took her right there, with her back to the door as he held her legs up. The two had barely moved their clothes enough before he was in her. Tony had barely lasted five minutes with the way Lily moaned and clawed at him. After, they moved it to the bedroom –

Shit.

Tony stopped short in the street, and an old woman ran into the back of him. She cursed at him, but he could barely hear anything outside let alone her profanity.

He had not been careful. Yes, he ended up using a condom in the bedroom, but that first time... shit.

Tony started walking again, his pace quicker.

When he arrived in the building, he ignored all the surprised stares he received from his employees at his actually being at the company, and he went straight for the elevator. There was a young woman already in there, and Tony tried to calm himself and forced out a charming smile. She blushed and averted her eyes. He smiled to himself: good, so he must be hiding his emotions well enough. After the woman exited at the third floor, Tony continued to breathe and calm his anxiety. As he got off the elevator on the top floor, he had more control. He was Tony Stark, the Iron Man. He could handle anything.

Tony entered Pepper's office and took in the scene before him. To the outside world, she projected an air of confidence; yet, because he knew her so well, he could see in the wrinkle between her eyes and the little crease off the corner of her lips that she was a mixture of concerned and pissed off. Great.

The man who sat across from her could have been his father's age. He wore a business suit that he would imagine a man in the 1950's wearing and even had a fedora. Tony briefly cursed the hipsters: fedoras were cool, but they had to go and ruin it by being ironic.

Pepper caught his attention and stood, prompting the lawyer to stand as well.

"What's going on, Ms. Potts?" Tony asked and closed the door behind him.

"Mr. Stark, this is the gentleman I spoke to you about over the phone, Mr. –"

"Barnaby Balderdash, Mr. Stark," the old man, Balderdash said with a British accent, smiling as he extended his hand.

"For real?" Tony asked, surprised at the weird name but shaking the other man's hand all the same. Pepper tutted.

"It's actually Barnaby Balderdash III, a family name," he responded with a wry smile.

"Let's sit around the table here to discuss the issue," Pepper said, gesturing to the round table to the side of the office. They all sat down, and then Balderdash began to speak.

"As I already spoke with your CEO, she probably let you know what the nature of this meeting is –"

"Yes, why did you contact the CEO of a million-dollar company instead of me directly," Tony interrupted, an eyebrow going up.

"You are a hard man to contact directly, Mr. Stark," Balderdash replied, his good-natured expression unchanging.

"If you really wanted my attention, why didn't you just sue me – the media, if not the lawyers, would have grabbed my attention," Tony countered.

"Yes, but that would defeat the purpose of being discreet," Balderdash pointed out. "So we decided it would be best to contact your right-hand man or rather woman in this case."

"Discreet?" Tony scoffed. He hated discreet. "Why so you can blackmail me?"

"No," the lawyer responded firmly. "We want to be discreet – and continue to be discreet – because the last thing we want is a media frenzy."

This surprised Tony. Pepper responded for the both of them.

"If – If our allegation is true, then there would be a media frenzy," Pepper stated logically. "So why stir up the pot at all?"

"To answer your first observation, we are aware of this, and we hoped that you would decide to hold back on releasing this information until he settled in," Balderdash replied, steepling his fingers and a sadness sweeping over his face. "And we are making contact, because the boy needs family to take custody of him."

"What about Lily?" Tony asked, although he had an idea to the answer, his stomach churning.

"Lily and John Patterson were killed in a gas explosion over fifteen years ago," the lawyer stated gravely. "Harrison was a year old. His maternal aunt and her husband took him in; however, they died last week in a car accident. He still has three months before he is a legal adult, and he needs a family member to take custody of him."

Lily was gone. She had been gone for fifteen years.

Although it was just one night, Tony still thought about Lily. It ranked in the top ten of the best sex he ever had, which included the three-way with the contortionist and the lion tamer. Aside from the physical side, they had connected intellectually. At times when he was having a dry spell, he had contemplated finding her and seeing if she was single. What always stopped him was the fact that she had been the one who snuck out on him in the morning. No one had ever done that before. It wounded his pride and kept him from reestablishing a connection. Something dropped in his chest. Now he never could. Even though Tony was more than happy playing house with Pepper and loved her dearly, he still regretted having that door shut on him.

"That is a tragedy," Pepper said diplomatically, breaking Tony from his reverie. "But how did you go from there to making a significant accusation of paternity?"

"When his relatives passed, we began searching for relatives to take him in," Balderdash answered, and he began to go through his briefcase. "We discovered that Harrison had been adopted by John Patterson two years into the marriage – but not adopted by Lily. Upon further investigation, we discovered some journals from Lily that confirmed her affair with Mr. Stark and subsequent pregnancy." He pulled out copies of the documents of Harry's adoption and a photograph of Harry and then handed them to Tony. "We will agree to a DNA test confirm, but you have to admit, Mr. Stark, there is a striking resemblance."

Tony accepted the documents but immediately passed them on to Pepper. He could not take his eyes off the photograph: he saw himself, younger and smaller, but without a doubt himself. Except for the boy's eyes. The same emeralds he had been fascinated by with Lily were copy and pasted into her son's eyes. His son's eyes.

"God –" Tony choked.

"Tony, let's not get ahead of ourselves–" Pepper insisted, concerned.

"No, Pep – he's mine," Tony gasped, his eyes never leaving the photograph. "I know he's mine. You have the DNA test and background check done for the sake of the company, but he's - Harrison is mine."

He looked up at Balderdash who held a proud look on his face.

"I'm glad you are accepting, Mr. Stark," Balderdash said. "We were not sure what your reaction would be, which is why my client was advised not to attend this meeting. Harrison does not need any more rejection in his life."

Tony was about to ask just what he meant by that, but Pepper jumped back into the conversation.

"How is it that your client can afford you?" Pepper asked, still suspicious. "I looked you up while we waited for Mr. Stark to arrive, and your firm is quite high-end. Did you take on this case expecting Mr. Stark to pay your bills?"

"My client pays his own bills," Balderdash replied sharply, and Pepper jumped. "My apologies. No, Harrison can more than afford our services, because of his inheritance from the Patterson's. And this was something else I wanted to reassure you, Mr. Stark: he is not seeking your fame or your wealth. He has more than enough money to satisfy him and a small kingdom. To protect both you and him, Harrison has agreed to sign a contract if you do." When he pulled out the contract, he handed it to Pepper since Tony had gone back to staring at the photograph. "Very similar to a pre-nup, it states that the both of you would retain your current funds and assets and are not required to share anything. The only exception would you be providing a home for Harry. If you choose to take custody, we would insist on this being signed."

Pepper reviewed the contract and started to have a heated discussion with Balderdash, but Tony was not paying attention. He had tunnel vision, continuing to only stare at his mini-me, his son.

God, 'son'! Tony was still as terrified of the idea as he was before he knew the boy was his – maybe even more so now – but he did not want to run away from this, from Harrison. He could not run away from his creation.

"I need to meet him," Tony exclaimed, startling Pepper and Balderdash. "I need to meet my son."

AN: There we go! Tony wants to meet Harry. Hope it met your expectations. And before you say anything, yes, Tony isn't as snarky as usual, but he is having a little shock at the moment, so give the man a break. Don't worry - the snark will return once he gets his bearings straight. See you on Saturday!