The Hamptons' House

2006: Part 3

There was something about this week that felt almost better than any of the weeks in the past, but also a little more melancholy. It had been a long time since you'd been able to sleep in and just spend the day being lazy. Being able to put up an umbrella and nap under it while you were on the beach, or just laze on an inflatable chair floating in the pool with Rhodey and Tony was bliss. On the other hand, you missed Kurt and the kids a lot and you worried about him being alone for the week taking care of them. Not because he wasn't a component father and caregiver, you just knew if it was you, you'd be struggling. You called them every day, but it was hard not getting to see them.

Tony seemed to be enjoying his time with you and Rhodey but you could tell he was floundering. He was drinking more than ever and it seemed to be taking longer for him to get drunk. When you and Rhodey had taken him out on the Monday for his usual birthday lunch it was five double shots of Scotch before he was even tipsy, but he'd ended up drinking so much that he'd passed out as soon as you'd got him up to bed.

You worried about him, but you weren't the only one who did.

"It's definitely been getting worse," Rhodey said, shaking his head. You'd been hanging by the pool all morning and Tony had just gone in to get his fourth drink of the day. "I know people say you have to hit rock bottom before you turn shit around, I'm just worried his rock bottom is going to be me finding him dead in a pool of his own vomit. It used to be that he took his work seriously at least, you know? Stark Industries was important to him. Now? Yeah, sometimes he won't show up on time for a meeting because he's lost track of things in the lab, but more often he's out drinking or in a hotel room with a bunch of wannabe models. The flight attendants on his private jet double as strippers. He's never taken things completely seriously, but I think now if it wasn't for Pepper and Obidiah there wouldn't be a Stark Industries."

You frowned and stirred your straw in your drink. Neither you nor Rhodey had started drinking yet, so you were just nursing a blend of different fresh-squeezed juices. "Rhodey, do you think way back when Tony and I started this -" you gestured vaguely around "- if I'd chosen to move to LA with him, would things be different?"

Rhodey laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Yeah, it'd be different," he said. "But you wouldn't have magically fixed him. He was a mess before you met him, and it only went downhill after his folks died. If you'd gone with him, he'd have ended up pushing you away and neither of you would have this either." He smiled and shook his head, taking a sip of his orange juice. "Don't get me wrong, this thing you have is weird. I don't totally get it. I especially don't get the part where you and your husband are both fine with it, but he needs it. It's the only time he calms down at all."

The click of the French doors opening and then closing again drew your attention. "No fear, I have returned," Tony announced.

"Oh good, we were starting to worry we'd lost you," you teased.

Tony rather awkwardly climbed back into his floating recliner and paddled his way slowly back to the middle of the pool where you and Rhodey were floating.

"Anything we want to do today?" Rhodey asked.

"I can think of a few things," Tony said suggestively "But you never want to play with us, pop tart."

"Uh, yeah," Rhodey said, rolling his eyes. "Hard pass."

"We can take out the boat," you suggested. "We've never gone out on the boat."

"There's a good reason for that," Rhodey said. "No one knows how to sail."

"You can fly a plane, how different could it be?" Tony joked.

"I'm gonna guess, pretty different," Rhodey deadpanned.

There was another click of the door opening and you all turned and looked to see who had come out. You vaguely thought it might be one of the staff coming out to see what you all wanted for lunch. Instead standing at the French door was the large and foreboding figure of Obidiah Stane. He was holding two large pizza boxes and he held them up for Tony to see.