Hi, everyone. How are you? Here we have the last update of July, and I sincerely have no words to describe all the affection that I and my words have received over this month. Writing has always been a passion, and every time I put a story out into the world, it is truly something very special for me... I feel so happy when I see that my fanfics hold meaning for you, that is why I wanted to announce that August will come with 2 new stories. On the 3rd, we will have the prologue of 'Hearts and Scalpels,' and on the 6th, the first chapter of 'Guilty as Sin?'. I am very excited about this and hope you enjoy the new projects! I will be back with updates of 'Let Her Go' on the 1st! See you on Thursday.
In the weeks following the big revelation, Tony couldn't make it to Toronto due to unavoidable professional commitments. He was buried in meetings and projects that required his constant presence. However, the idea of being away from his daughters right when they needed him the most was unbearable. Determined to maintain his connection and support, he found ways to communicate with them daily, either through calls or video chats. During this time, the twins started seeing a child psychologist. Pepper, always attentive to her girls, noticed subtle but significant changes in them. Erin and Iris, who initially were confused and hurt, began showing signs of acceptance regarding Tony's true relationship with them. The therapy sessions were helping them understand and process the new family dynamic.
Meanwhile, Pepper faced her own battles. Besides dealing with tumultuous emotions and the challenges of being a mother, she had to focus intensely on work. With the end of winter, the art school was about to host some of the year's most important events. Organizing these activities required meticulous planning and a lot of dedication, making her days busy and stressful. But with the arrival of spring, the atmosphere started to change. The milder air and vibrant colors of the flowers brought a sense of renewal. At the end of March, something special was about to happen: Erin and Iris's first ballet recital. The girls were extremely excited and anxious at the same time. It was a significant moment for them because it would be the first time their father would be in the audience, watching and supporting one of their performances.
"What time should I arrive?" Tony asked during his fourth call with his ex-girlfriend that day.
"The recital starts at 7 PM, but the girls will want to see you before they go on stage, so try to get here a bit earlier if you can," Pepper replied.
"Okay, I want to see them beforehand too," he said. The twins weren't the only ones excited about the event. "Another thing, is everything still set for them to sleep over at my place tonight?"
"Yes, they can't stop talking about the new room they got," she laughed.
When Tony returned to Toronto after the winter, he realized these trips would become more frequent. He knew it wouldn't be fair to spend the time he had with his daughters in a hotel, nor would it be right to always rely on their mother's hospitality. She had her own life too. So, the first thing Iron Man did upon landing two weeks ago was to buy a mansion. He hired a decorator to furnish the house, but he insisted on choosing each item himself and setting up the girls' room and the playroom. It was the least he could do after missing the first chance.
"Is that okay with you?" Tony wanted to be sure.
"Tony, you're their father. We've talked about this before; I don't want to deprive you of anything. If the girls are okay with it, then so am I."
"Are you not afraid that an Iron Man emergency might come up and I'll leave the two of them alone?" Tony asked.
"If it were a few years ago, I certainly would be, but not today. You've changed, and for the better," Pepper replied.
They stayed on the phone for a few more minutes until Kate arrived and Pepper had to hang up. Surprisingly, the day passed quickly, and as planned, Tony arrived at the theater a little before the show started. He sent a message to Pepper to let her know he was there, and soon she appeared to take him to a sort of dressing room where the girls were getting ready.
"Princesses, I have a surprise for you," the redhead said as they reached Erin and Iris.
"uncle Tony!" the two shouted excitedly as they ran to hug him. They still couldn't call him dad.
"Hi, sweeties! Just look at you two..." he said, taking the twins' hands and making them twirl. "I don't think I've ever seen two girls as beautiful as you before."
"Mommy dressed us," Erin commented proudly.
"She did a fantastic job," Tony smiled at his ex-girlfriend.
"Are you going to stay until the end of the performance?" Iris asked this time.
"Until the very end," Stark assured them. "I'm sure you two will do great." He reassured them.
The girls smiled, feeling more confident. The elder Potts watched the interaction between them, pleased to see how Tony was making an effort to be present in their daughters' lives. The love and dedication he showed were evident, making her believe that, despite the challenges, they were on the right path. And well, as for the performance, the twins were indeed fantastic. Erin and Iris left their parents in awe in the audience, who couldn't stop smiling, recording, and taking pictures of the performance. Tony could swear that during Erin's solo, he saw Pepper cry, not that he was far from doing the same. At the end of the performance, he handed a small bouquet of sunflowers to each of his daughters, knowing they were their favorite flowers, and insisted on taking them to one of the best restaurants in town to celebrate. After dinner, the four of them went to Tony's house, where they spent a good amount of time in front of the living room fireplace playing board games like Candy Land. Several cushions were scattered on the floor, creating a kind of fort where they laughed and had fun. Around 10 PM, Pepper thought it was time for the kids to get ready for bed, so Stark took charge of taking them for a bath while she put away the toys they had used. When Tony returned with the girls about 20 minutes later, Pepper was already ready to say goodbye and head to her own home.
"Okay, princesses, now Mommy is going to leave, and you'll stay with Daddy, okay?" said Pepper, pulling the two of them to sit beside her on the couch.
"But why?" Erin asked, not understanding the situation. Weren't they all going to stay together?
"Because that's what we agreed on. Didn't you want to sleep in your new room?"
"But can't you stay? I don't want to be alone."
"You won't be alone, silly. We're staying with uncle Tony," Iris replied for the parents, showing her impatience.
"Iris! You can't talk to your sister like that," Pepper scolded her. "But about being alone, that won't happen, sweetheart." She turned to Erin. "You'll be with Daddy and your sister."
"But she called me silly," Erin showed her indignation.
"She won't do it again," the redhead stated, giving a serious look to her younger daughter.
"And Daddy will still tell your favorite bedtime story," Tony added, noticing that Erin was starting to regret the plans for that night.
"Can't you stay, Mommy? I want to sleep with you," Erin insisted.
"Honey, tonight is Daddy's night." Gently, Pepper tried to explain.
"But I don't want to," Erin said, with tears in her eyes and a trembling voice. "Please, Mommy, I want to go home with you."
"Erin, you heard Mommy. Tonight is uncle Tony's night," Iris said seriously, as if she were the adult in the situation.
"Hey, it's okay, sweetheart," Tony approached her. "If Erin doesn't want to stay, we won't force her, okay?"
"But can I still stay with you?" The little one wanted to know. At least one of them was still excited about the idea.
"If you want to, of course you can."
"Then it's okay, you big meanie. You can go home now." Iris stuck her tongue out at her sister and crossed her arms.
"Iris!" Both parents reprimanded her at the same time, shocked by her behavior.
"You're the meanie," Erin retorted, undeterred.
"You're a meanie times two."
"And you times three."
"Okay, that's enough." Pepper stepped between the twins. "Iris, just because your sister doesn't want to do something you want doesn't mean she's a meanie. And Erin, you can't respond to provocation. We've talked about this before. You're sisters, you can't call each other meanies and sillies."
"But Iris started it."
"That doesn't mean you're any less wrong."
"How about this..." Tony spoke before things could escalate further. "Tonight, Erin sleeps with Mommy, and Iris with me. Tomorrow we'll pick up Erin and go on a trip just the three of us, what do you think?" He suggested.
"Okay." Both thought for a moment but agreed.
Surprised but proud of causing a brief reconciliation, Tony had his daughters hug each other and say goodbye. That night, therefore, each of them stayed with one of the kids. The next morning, as promised, Tony went with Iris to pick up Erin so they could spend the day together. They decided to go to the zoo, and he made sure to take lots of pictures of the girls and send them to Pepper. After leaving the zoo, he took them to lunch and then to a park in the city center. They were walking near the lake when the twins spotted some puppies in a sort of pen, and of course, they got completely excited.
"Uncle Tony, look at all the puppies!" Erin said, totally excited, pointing at the puppies.
"Can we keep them?" Iris quickly asked.
"Girls, we don't even know if they're here for adoption," he replied, but the twins ignored him and started running towards the puppies, leaving him no choice but to follow. "Hey, what did we say about running off and getting separated? I thought we were clear on this." He didn't want to be strict, but it was a behavior that needed correcting.
"Sorry, but you said you didn't know if they were here for adoption or not. We just came to ask," Erin defended.
"And the pretty lady said anyone can adopt them as long as they take care of them," Iris added.
"And she also told us how to take care of them," the sisters complemented each other, eyes sparkling with expectation.
Tony thought about reminding them of the rule about not talking to strangers too, but held off when he realized the woman was still standing beside them, and he hadn't even greeted her.
"I'm sorry about that," he said for the first time to the person in charge of the puppies, referring to the girls' approach.
"No need to apologize. I have kids too, and I know how curious they are at this age," she replied with a warm smile.
"They probably didn't even say 'hi' before bombarding you with questions."
"Actually, they did give a super quick 'hi'," she smiled again, and Tony couldn't help but notice how charming it was. Not just the smile, but she herself. The woman was brunette, about 5'7", had light brown hair, matching eyes, and a beautiful figure highlighted by the orange dress she wore.
"I'm Anthony," he extended his hand to greet her, "and these are Iris and Erin."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Laurel."
Stark smiled. "Are the puppies really up for adoption?"
"They are. All of them."
"Can we hold them?" Erin asked, her eyes shining.
"Of course you can," Laurel replied, and soon the twins were petting and holding the puppies, completely enamored.
"Have you been doing this for a long time?" Tony asked.
"A little over a year. I'm a vet, and my clinic partners with a non-profit that shelters abandoned animals. Once a month, we set up several adoption points around the city, and it's been very successful, which is great," Laurel explained.
"You must deal with a lot of tough cases. That must be really hard."
"It is. These babies, for example, were abandoned just hours after they were born. They needed almost three months of intensive care, but thankfully, they're healthy now, and two of them have already found homes."
"That's fantastic," Tony commented, genuinely impressed with her work.
Laurel smiled and, noticing the MIT shirt he was wearing, couldn't resist asking, "And what about you? What do you do for a living?"
"I'm kind of a mechanic," he replied with an enigmatic smile.
"Who went to MIT?" she pointed out, indicating his shirt. "You must be more than just a mechanic."
Tony laughed. "Alright, you got me. While you save animals, I save people."
Laurel raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "And how exactly do you do that?"
Before he could respond, Erin and Iris approached.
"I want to take one home," Erin said firmly.
"I want one too," Iris echoed, doing her best puppy eyes.
Tony sighed, realizing the predicament he was in. "You should ask your mom," he suggested, trying to dodge the decision.
"Or ask you... Don't you both say you're responsible for us?" Erin reminded him, recalling something she had heard her mom say.
Tony found himself cornered. "You can't use that kind of argument against me. I'm sure you don't use it with Pep," he said, still grappling with the fact that his four-year-old daughters were already so persuasive. "Besides, if I show up with you two and two puppies, I'm a dead man."
"You don't need to bring two, just one," Iris offered a practical solution.
Laurel laughed. "I think you're running out of options, Tony."
"Pretty please, I'll always help feed him," Erin said, trying to convince her dad.
"And I'll give him baths. He can use Mom's bathtub," Iris added, nearly giving Tony a heart attack.
"Look, I'd love to make all your wishes come true, but we have to talk to Mom first."
"You can call her now. Call her," Erin insisted.
"Yeah, call her," Iris echoed her sister's suggestion.
"If Mom says no, that's fine, but what if she says yes? We're almost five years old, we can take care of him," Erin insisted, her eyes sparkling with determination.
Tony wanted to say no, he really did, but he couldn't resist when those pairs of clear, shimmering eyes looked up at him. "Alright. But with three conditions: first, the dog will be both of yours, so you both have to help take care of him. He is your responsibility. Second: no using Mom's bathtub. And third, if Pepper doesn't agree for him to stay with you, he stays with me, and every time I visit, I'll bring him, okay?"
"Okay!" they shouted together.
"So, which one are you going to choose?" Laurel asked, placing the puppies the twins were holding back into the pen with two nearly identical ones.
Erin and Iris carefully examined the puppies. It didn't take long for them to point at the same one, saying in unison, "That one."
The puppy they chose had been the last to be born and was in the worst condition when rescued. Laurel explained how he had made a remarkable recovery and had become as clever as his new owners. The girls listened intently to every detail of his story, their faces glowing with happiness at their new pet.
"Thank you so much for everything, Laurel. And sorry about the initial scare," Tony expressed his gratitude and apology.
"No need to apologize," she smiled. "Here's my number in case you need anything." She handed Tony a green card with gold letters. "And if you'd like to visit the shelter, I'm sure the girls would love it."
"Sure thing. Next time I have more time, we'll definitely come by."
After sorting out the adoption paperwork, Tony picked up the puppy and headed to the car with his daughters. Before starting the engine, he took a photo of the puppy and sent it to Pepper. He sincerely hoped that wouldn't be his last act in life.