Sorry about the long wait guys. I've been so busy with work and school and my RP sites that I haven't had the time to really work on this fanfiction. I know, because it makes me super sad as well. Honestly, I've been working on this fic on and off for weeks, I only got to posting it now haha. Anyway, please read and review!

Tony

Chapter Two

It hadn't even been thirty minutes before April started screaming from upstairs. That kid had a set of lungs on her! I thought the octaves coming out of her mouth were loud enough to crack one of Jarvis' screens. I went upstairs to her and gently lifted her off the sofa. I bounced up and down a little and rested my hand on the back of her head, like those good dad's I saw on TV…but she didn't calm down. She just wailed and wailed, getting drool and tears all over the collar of my purple dress shirt.

"Shh…shh…c'mon April…calm down."

I walked her upstairs, outside, around the kitchen…but nothing calmed her. Not even an hour had gone by of me being a father and I was already fucked. There had to be something I could do to help her chill out. Booze always helped me calm down, but I doubted a good parent would let their baby gulp down some Jack Daniels in order to prolong nap-time.

"Are you hungry kiddo? Is that it? Let's see if Pep left us any bottles."

I walked over to the fridge and pulled the door open. For the first time in a long time I found that it was filled with food. Fruit, vegetables, cheeses…Pepper must have gone shopping thinking that it would help me adjust to the "fatherly" aspect of life. Yeah it didn't…I still had no clue how to cook.

"Let's see what we have here…" I sighed, balancing my screaming daughter on my hip while I looked. "Crap, crap, crap…ah hah! I'm guessing that pink baby bottle is yours… mine's red."

She didn't laugh…but I guess her getting a sense of humor would come later in life. I popped the lid off the bottle and offered the nipple to April, extremely happy when she took the milk in her little chubby hands and started drinking from it. She had dried tear tracks stained on her cheeks and gently I wet my thumb with warm water and rubbed them away.

"Mmmm…" she whined around her bottle and pulled away.

I smirked and did it again and watched as her little red eyebrows came together in the most adorable baby glare I have ever seen. So I guess she WAS a Stark after all…only a Stark could give a chilling look like that.

"Alright, alright," I chuckled. "All done. Well, seeing as you probably won't go back down for a nap…I guess you are coming down into the lab with me."

I carried April downstairs with me and smiled slightly as I saw her head turn in all directions. Every little beep that a machine made had her little red head turning towards it. Her chubby hands reached for Dummy who was dusting one of my computer screens and with a metallic hiss, he shied away. I gave him a look of reproach.

"Hey, you be nice Dummy," I scolded. "You are going to be my own personal diaper changer soon…you better learn to love April."

I could tell Dummy was just as excited about learning to change diapers as I was. I could only hope that April didn't need to go to the bathroom for a while. But eventually that milk would pass through…that gave me about an hour to tinker with Dummy. I settled April onto the sofa with some blankets and her bottle. Pepper said she had some toys, but those were upstairs. What else did babies like? Cartoons…I think I used to watch cartoons when I was little. Or was it playboy? I'd let Jarvis decide.

"Jarvis, I need some kid friendly television for April while I work on Dummy."

"Of course sir."

The screen closest to April turned on and I rolled my eyes as a talking sponge came onto the monitor and was running around the ocean with a butterfly net. Yeah, it wasn't what I would have chosen…but whatever worked to keep April distracted while I worked in the garage. Taking another glance at my daughter to make sure she was actually watching –and she was- I made my way over to Dummy with a blowtorch and a socket wrench.

I worked for about half an hour before I heard April whining from the sofa. I went over to check on her and looked up at the TV to see that her cartoon was over. I smirked slightly and scooped her up, but stopped. Her butt was really…squishy…as I felt it rest against my forearm and I groaned. I suppose the improvements on Dummy were taking too long for my little girl to wait. I guess I couldn't blame her though…when you had to go, you had to go. I took out my cell phone and scrolled down towards Pepper's name…just this one time. Surely she could change April just this one time.

April gave me a look…and I could tell she was uncomfortable. Then again what person wouldn't be uncomfortable sitting in a diaper of their own excrement. Sighing, I pocketed my phone and carried April over to one of my workbenches. This was the strangest thing I had ever done in this area of the lab…well…maybe not the strangest thing, but it was up there.

"You are gonna have to bear with me kid," I sighed. "I've NEVER changed a diaper before."

I sat April on her back on the workbench but stopped. I didn't have any of her diapers down here. Sighing, I made a quick run upstairs and returned to find April sitting up on the table, playing with a screwdriver. Quickly I snatched it out of her hands and tossed it into my toolbox. I hoped she hadn't stuck that thing in her mouth; it was filthy.

"Alright princess," I said. "Let's get this over with."

My hand gently guided April to lie back down and I gently moved her little dress up. This was going to be so gross…I didn't even want to really think about it. But then again, my parents probably had to do this for me. Though I couldn't imagine my father ever bringing himself down to the level of changing a dirty diaper. April seemed to be handling herself fairly well…until I got the diaper off and her tiny behind was setting on the table. At that point she started to scream bloody murder and squirm all over the place. It must have been cold.

"I know baby," I hushed gently. "I'm almost done."

The diaper was so tiny, but I got it on her –backwards at first- and managed to get April to stop wailing once her tiny bottom wasn't freezing anymore. She seemed happier now and I couldn't suppress a grin as she smiled up at me and reached with her tiny, chubby, hands towards my face. I pulled her up and gently placed my hand on the back of her head as she snuggled into me. Maybe this whole parenting thing wouldn't be so bad…the diaper changing had to be the worst of it and even that wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. I have definitely dealt with more toxic things before.

"Okay kiddo, what should we do next? How about we get you settled on the sofa again so dad can do some work."

I sat April down, but the moment her butt made contact with the sofa, she started whining and crying again. I sighed and pulled her up and she looked at me happy as a clam. Oh no…we were not having this. She was going to have to deal for a couple minutes without me. I turned the television back on and turned her so that she could see it. When her face lit up at the sight of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, I sat her back down. For a minute she was quiet and content with her cartoons, but the moment I stepped away to work on one of my cars…I could see her trying to scamper off the sofa and come after me.

"April, go watch cartoons." I said, looking at her from under my work goggles.

"Mmmmm!" she cried, reaching up at me. "Da Da Da!"

That tiny voice made my heart ache and I pulled her up onto my lap. She had this little angel voice…I couldn't send her away when she called for me. I could only hope that it wouldn't be a regular occurrence. I feared the idea of having a daughter that wanted to cling to me as though her life depended on it. I wanted April to get used to the idea of me being gone, maybe not now…but sometime down the road when she was a little older she would have to realize that her dad had a job that demanded time away from home and the family.

"Da Da Da Da…" she hummed softly, gently tapping my hands with her own.

I smiled and rested my chin gently on her head. Then again…I suppose I could take some time off from work…just until April got used to her knew surroundings.

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