Shadowplay | Tony Stark

ELEVEN - BEDTIME STORIES

"Let me get this straight, when you went AWOL for two days you were staying with this woman and her kid, and now they're staying at your place upstate because of the HYDRA stuff going on in her town?"

"That's literally exactly what I just said Cap, yes."

Tony was stood in front of his colleagues in one of the meeting rooms above the clouds at the Stark Tower. Every single one of them had their brows raised in disbelief at what he'd announced out of the blue, though equally not shocked at the discovery.

He hadn't intended on sharing the news of his new housemates, but the Avengers had cottoned on pretty quickly to Tony not staying at his usual home much later than early evening and eventually asked him where he was leaving to every day, though none of them had expected the answer they'd been given.

It had been almost three weeks since Mila and Tristan had moved into Tony's lake house and the three of them had fallen into a strange family-like dynamic over that time. He always made sure to text her when he left the city telling her what time he should be home, as well as asking if they needed anything from the store or if she wanted anything in particular for dinner.

It never felt unnatural for any of them and Mila was grateful that there was no awkwardness about living with someone who would've been a stranger had she not done the same kind gesture for him a few months prior, and in a way, Mila enjoyed experiencing what it would be like to have a man around the house some of the time.

It was the small things like checking the doors were locked before they went to sleep or washing the dishes, grabbing Tristan a drink if he'd asked or helping fold the laundry. Mila appreciated the help greatly and over the course of those three weeks, she'd found herself looking forward to Tony coming home and hearing about his day, feeling as if they were truly friends by that point.

Tony felt the same way, too. In an unexpected turn of events, he actually enjoyed the presence of a little kid when he'd spent most of his life unable to imagine himself with the patience to deal with a child. He'd found himself growing a connection with Mila, too, feeling like he could open up to her about things the same way she could to him, both of them having a subconscious feeling of safety around the other.

"And your urgency for us to get back to that town and scout out the HYDRA situation is because you want to make sure it's safe for them to go home?"

"Again, that's what I just said. Does anyone listen to me around here?"

"I do Mr Stark!"

Tony grinned at Peter who straightened his back and held his head up high with a proud smile, nodding once across the room at him.

"Thank you, nice to know somebody around here does. Now, is there any further questions or can we agree to get this mission over and done with sooner rather than later?"

The room broke out into a simultaneous mumble of agreement from the team, everyone exchanging lacklustre glances of acknowledgement before Tony let out a loud sigh and glanced at the time on his watch.

"Fantastic. Class dismissed."

He grabbed his jacket from the table and headed out of the room before anybody else, pulling out his phone from his back pocket and typing out a text to Mila that he'd be back at the lake house in around an hour.

They'd fallen into a comfortable routine of Mila making dinner for when he got home and Tony cleaning away the dishes after they'd eaten. Mila would bathe Tristan while Tony folded the laundry and for an hour or so, the three of them would watch cartoons or play with Tristan until he was tired out, which was when Mila would take the boy to bed and Tony would pour two glasses of wine.