Scars of Steel

03~March of 1970

March 20, 1970

Stark Home

"Adalyn Maria Stark, if you do not get back here we're never going to get to your father's banquet in time!"

Two year old Adalyn simply responded with a high pitched squeal as she continued to run away from her mother in just a diaper. She quite enjoyed this little game they were playing, although her mother felt quite the opposite

Maria Stark simply sighed and sat down in a dining room chair. "Don't you want to see your daddy before he leaves for his trip?" This quickly caught young Adalyn's attention, as she had hardly seen her father in the past few days due to the shear amount of time he had been spending at work. She quickly made her way back to her mother as Maria opened her arms so that Adalyn could fall into them.

"Is daddy home?" Adalyn questioned with excited eyes.

Her mother sadly smiled and shook her head. "No, but we get to go see him at work. And I don't believe that he would appreciate you showing up without clothes on."

Adalyn curtly nodded with a determined look on her face. She allowed her mother to put on the frilly pink dress that had been chosen, but not without a bit of a fuss after realizing just exactly how poofy it was.

"Alright my little chickadee, your mommy's going to go grab your diaper bag and then we're getting in the car, alright?" Maria told her daughter as she began to make her way toward the stair up to Adalyn's room.

"Wait!" Adalyn yelled as she ran to her mom.

"What is it?"

"Give brother a kiss," Adalyn responded as she wrapped her arms around her mom's swollen stomach and pressed her lips against it. Maria's heart nearly melted at the sight of this.

"He says that he loves you a lot and is excited to meet you soon," Maria said with a thoughtful look on her face, pretending to hear the baby's thoughts.

Adalyn giggled before letting her mom walk up the stairs. She found her stuffed bunny, Thumper, nearby and began to hum a cheerful song as she danced around with it held lovingly in her small arms.

Maria had found her diaper bag and was quickly making her way down the stairs, but stopped short when she saw the adorable sight of her daughter dancing around the dining room table. A small, sad smile made its way onto her face. Maria felt bad for her daughter that she had to grow up with a close to non existent father.

Although Howard cared a great deal about his family, working was always his top priority. And he had been so secretive lately as well. Working late with no explanations as to why, only brief phone calls to let her know. She knew he was hiding something from her. Maria knew her husband too well to believe his white lies as to various reasons that he had to work so often. She wouldn't push on the subject with Howard, but that didn't mean she would't find some other way to get it out of him.

Maria continued to make her way down the stairs, watching Adalyn twirl around who giggled as she fell into her nearby mother.

"Whoa there my little dancer! I don't want you or Thumper to get too dizzy."

"Don't worry mommy!" Adalyn responded as she quickly recovered from her fall and picked up her bunny. "Thumper is strong."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah," She responded as if it was the most obvious fact in the world.

"Well then, I'll be sure not to mess with him. Now, let's get on those shoes and get out of here."