CHAPTER 30
Ironhide and The REAL Girlfriend

"So am I invited to this birthday party?"

Tony stared at the girl beside him with a lopsided smile, unsure of how to answer. The girl, Annie Reedman, sat there, her blond hair in a ponytail, with clear blue eyes. She wasn't overly pretty, but in Tony's eyes, she was gorgeous. Annie was definitely the nicest girl he'd ever met, that was for sure. She made him laugh, she'd been there with him through a lot. And without Ironhide's knowledge, he'd been dating her for the last two weeks. Spending as much time as he could with her without him really knowing.

He wasn't sure he wanted him to meet her either. If only because he was scared that after last time, Ironhide would not be so trusting. "Well, depends, are you ready to meet my giant robot Dad I haven't even told about us yet?" Annie giggled, shaking her head a bit "I hope you're not mad about that by the way. I really do want to tell him about us. But... My Dad and my older Foster Brother." The latter, of course, was Bumblebee "Well they'd be a little more overprotective than Prowl is when he sees us." He added.

"Well, he'll find out eventually, I'm not too worried." Annie smiled a bit, she shifted slightly, looking toward the parking lot "Come on, Tony. It's been two weeks, I think it's time you just told him." Tony blushed a bit "I'm NOT like Jen, you know it. I bet he'd know it too. You always say he's good at reading people." She looked him in the eyes "And I really would like a chance to meet him. Even if he is an intimidating giant robot." She noted.

"Intimidating is an understatement." Tony muttered.

"Tony." Annie reached her hand forward, setting it on his, gently "I really do want to meet your Dad, even if he disapproves, at least I'll have tried. Come on, Tony. Let's just get it over with. What's the worst that could happen?" Tony looked down a bit "My Dad? Is worse, I bet he makes Ironhide look soft." Tony chuckled a bit "So we're both going to have to deal with this sooner or later." She added.

Tony looked to the side, thoughtfully glancing at Prowl. Who was watching them as well as they ate lunch near the entrance. "Alright, I guess it wouldn't hurt. Just... Don't be surprised if he freaks out a bit." He shook his head "Actually, be prepared for him to freak out A LOT." He admitted.

Annie rolled her eyes, leaning in, she kissed his cheek gently, smiling a little. Tony simply blushed again, and turned to Prowl, who was far from giving them privacy. Of course, this was Prowl, who was about as good with personal boundaries as Ratchet was with bedside manner. "Hopefully Prowl will put in a good word for you, at least." Tony grinned, Prowl rumbled his engines slightly "Is that a yes?" He asked.

"I quite like Annie, so yes, it is." He replied, shifting a bit "I will give you both a ride to the home. Simply put, Ironhide needs more preparation time, and well... You can avoid it, even for a little." THe bell rang loudly "You'd both better head to class. I will pick you up here in two hours." He explained.

Annie smiled and bid them both goodbye, gently kissing Tony before she left. Tony himself lingered a moment, then turned towards Prowl. "Thanks for the help, Prowl, I owe you one." Tony patted the mech's hood lightly.

Tony knew that Prowl's putting in a good work might not completely help, but it was a start. Tony let himself at least make a futile attempt at relaxation. Maybe Ironhide would really like her after all. Maybe hell would freeze over as well, pigs would roam the sky, and Ironhide would sell his precious collection of cannons in exchange for a job as a Day Care Worker. Better yet, as long as he was having the fantasy, he may as well decide that maybe Ratchet would start giving out free lollipops and acting with a real bedside manner.

Pearson, your Mom always said you were a dreamer, maybe she was right. Tony thought to himself quietly.

Tony just hoped this wouldn't end as badly as it did when he was with Jen, because heaven forbid that happened again. Not with a girl that actually liked him, and that he actually liked more than he did Jen. But heaven only knew how his family was going to react to her, he had a bad feeling it wouldn't end well. At least not as well as he would hope, if anything.

...

Ironhide wanted to remain calm, he really did. But the second Tony had shown up with the girl, he had gone so far into Papa Bear mode that he'd almost shot something, ALMOST. But it'd only been made worse when he told him that this Annie was his girlfriend. Was he mad at Tony? Not entirely, but at least a little frustrated that he'd been seeing this girl and never said a word to him. "She's your what?" Ironhide asked as he crouched down to the boy, looking at him "You've been dating her? HOW?" He asked.

Annie was currently talking to Will and Sarah, allowing Tony and Ironhide their space. "Mostly been hanging out at school, but Prowl gave us a ride once... Maybe twice." Ironhide grimaced at him "Look Dad, Annie's a good girl. She really likes me, can't you at least give her a CHANCE?" He asked, Ironhide turned his head a bit "It's like Prowl told you. She REALLY likes me Dad." He added.

"And she isn't in that fragged up popular crowd?" Ironhide growled.

"Not even, she and I are both in the same group, pretty much. Blake introduced us." Tony knew that Ironhide had met his friend, Blake before "Look Dad, I know you're way protective and all. But just give her a shot. She's nice, friendly. She runs track." Tony turned to Annie, a goofy smile unusual for someone like him "I really like her Dad, a lot." He added.

Ironhide couldn't ignore the fact that the boy was smitten, big time over this girl. He took a deep breath, cursing under his breath with a small huff. "Fine, I'll give her a chance, but I have my eyes on her, understood?" Ironhide tilted his head a little, smiling "I'm willing to give her a chance if she really makes you that happy. But that doesn't make you any less of my little boy, you got it?" He asked.

"Just promise me you won't call me that in front of her." Tony muttered.

"Be happy I don't have baby photos of ye. I'd do worse." Ironhide winked.

Tony rolled his eyes, thankful that Ironhide was at least being more accepting of Annie. After all, he really liked her, and most of all he wanted his Father's approval, as well as the rest of his family. "Just talk to her a bit tonight. Prowl likes her, Uncle Will and Aunt Sarah seem to too." Tony nodded at them, he noticed the fact that they were indeed getting along "I bet you'll be surprised at how much you have in common. She likes trucks, her Dad is a weapons specialist, well was, he retired." He began.

Ironhide smirked, looking at Tony with a nod. "I like her already." He admitted.

"To be honest, my Dad really wasn't a weapons specialist. He was a Demolitions Expert." Annie stated as she started to make her way over "He's sort of like you, except he works with bombs more than he does cannons." She nodded her head slightly "It's a real honor to meet you Ironhide, Tony talks about you a lot. And I think you actually knew my Dad too." Tony turned to Annie in surprise "Do you remember saving a Martin Reedman?" She asked.

Ironhide's optics widened, he turned to Tony, then to Annie in shock. "You're Martin's DAUGHTER? Primus almighty, of course I do." Ironhide replied, almost too excitedly "That man... Great man right there. I even remember YOU. Last time I saw you you were barely a month old." The mech shook his head "Please, tell him hello next time you see him, will you?" He asked.

"I bet he'd like to meet up and catch up sometime." Annie replied, Tony turned and smiled, surprised about this himself "I could talk to him tonight, give him your com number if you give it to me. He's wanted to catch up with war buddies for a while now." She added.

Tony crossed his arms, and watched the two of them talk. Now wonder Annie had been so prepared to meet him, she already knew who he was, all about him probably. Tony smiled, he took her hand gently, smiling fondly. "So I take it you approve, eh Dad?" Tony asked, Ironhide smirked "I mean after all, you do know the family!" He added.

Ironhide smiled a bit, crossed his arms, and looked off to the side for a moment. Yep, this kid was going to make it hard for him not to accept this dating thing, at least with this girl. "Any child of Martin Reedman, I would say is good enough to date my boy." Ironhide replied, a sincere smile on his face "But you'd better treat him right, you break his heart, and I don't care whose daughter you are. You won't like what happens next." He explained.

"Wouldn't expect anything less from what Dad says about you." Annie smiled.

Tony had a feeling that this was the start of a beautiful relationship.

...

A/N: We'll get his birthday party next chapter. But I felt it was about time to give Tony a girlfriend that Ironhide approved of. He needed one before this story ended in my honest opinion.