[ hiatus ] 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐒 ━━ 𝐏. 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐑

𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

𝐢 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐲

༻ ❁ ༺

The following morning

Malibu Point

          TONY STOOD IN FRONT of his daughter's bedroom door, which was partially open, allowing him to see her peacefully sleeping on her bed. He inhaled deeply and entered, shutting the door behind him.

"Charlie?" he asked, apologizing for waking her up so early. Tony sat on the edge of her bed, watching her stir. "Charlotte, honey, wake up," he said.

"Charlie..." he began patting her gently, smiling affectionately when she scrunched her nose as her sleep was disturbed.

When she felt a sat on her bed, the seven-year-old slowly opened her eyes and rubbed her eyes as a yawn escaped her mouth, making her speech more of a grumble, "Good morning."

"Sorry, I don't speak satsquash." he quipped, making her stare at him with a sleepy smile, "Honey, I have to go back to Washington. There's going to be another Capitol hearing."

"Another one?" Charlotte mumbled as she buried her arms further into her duvet, enjoying the warmth of the soft material provided from the chilled coastal breeze. "When are you leaving?"

"I've got a few minutes, but I want to talk with you first, it that okay?"

"Okay," she mumbled. "Can you stay for breakfast?" she asked hopefully, the events from last night were still in her mind, she wanted him to be near. She didn't want him to leave, not now, not ever. "We can have waffles," she said hopefully.

"Sorry, honey but I really can't. There's a lot of things I need to sort out-"

"What happened, Dad?" She interrupted him, her gaze fixed on him. She was puzzled as to why he was avoiding mentioning what had occurred. He'd been putting it off for a week.

Tony, on the other hand, gave her a blank look. Charlotte had never done this before, and he was proud that she could see through his bullshit, but he was also shocked – this was new to him. "I'm going to speak to you like a grown-up, it's important that you listen to me, okay?"

As he extended his arm towards Charlotte, he took a deep breath and beckoned her to hold hands with him. "Honey," he began, and Tony felt more reassured when she put her small hand on his, "I was dying."