Shadowplay | Tony Stark

SIXTY FOUR - HOUSE OF CHAOS

By the time Tony and Mila had found a minute of time alone that particular day, it was eleven o'clock in the evening.

Tristan had been abnormally difficult that day, being a handful of electric energy and refusing to eat dinner and rebelling against his usual bath and bedtime routine. Tony had wanted to spend some time that late afternoon in the garage working on a project, but quickly realised that Mila was struggling to hold down the fort and needed backup.

Initially, Tony found it hard to discipline Tristan, feeling adverse to shout at or threaten him. It took time and a lot of observing the way Mila handled things for him to realise that the way his father had disciplined him, wasn't the only way to manage a misbehaving child.

Together they handled their wild toddler and ran around dropping off and picking up their teenager from a friend's house, all while somehow finding the time to tidy the mess their home had descended into and cook dinner, even if it remained untouched until nine o'clock when Tristan emerged back downstairs complaining that he was hungry when he should've been fast asleep.

Peter hung out with his parents for a little while before grabbing a plate of leftovers and heading up to his room to study, though he eventually abandoned all hope of any focus when his brother began to scream the house down.

The day had been a whirlwind for the entire family though once the house fell quiet when Mila and Tony closed their bedroom door, they both felt like they could breathe a little easier.

"God that was a long evening," Tony said quietly as he rinsed his face in the en-suite bathroom.

"I know," Mila agreed with a small laugh, "I feel like I haven't even been to work today and I was there for nine hours."

"Hey have you seen my-"

"Your glasses are in the case by the medicine cabinet. I cleaned them this morning."

Tony paused and smiled, watching from across the room as Mila removed all her jewellery piece by piece. She had just cleansed her face and brushed her teeth and was stood in an old Cubs jersey that reached halfway down her thighs, her hair tied up in a ponytail.

"You're the best, you know that?" He said, taking one more look at her before walking back into the bathroom to grab his glasses.

Tony sometimes felt bad for taking Mila for granted. Albeit he never did it on purpose, he sometimes didn't take the time to realise everything that she did for him and for their family. He barely had time to brush his teeth that morning with all the manic rushing around to get everyone ready for the day, but somehow Mila had found a spare moment and instead of using it on herself, she'd done something for him.

He was constantly astounded that somebody as thoughtful as Mila existed, and that she'd chosen to love him out of anybody else in the world. It was a blessing, and although he felt guilty sometimes for forgetting to acknowledge the small things she did like clean his glasses or put his clothes in the dryer to warm up, he loved her endlessly.

"How was you day, anyway? Before coming home to a tornado." Tony said, sitting on the edge of the bed in nothing but his boxers and glasses, phone in hand as he squinted and scrolled through some emails.

Mila cleared her throat, keeping her back to Tony as she unclasped her necklace and laid it out on her vanity. It was dark in the room apart the two lamps on either bedside table and the moon outside was full, though she could only see a sliver of the glow through a gap in the drawn curtains.

"Busy there too, actually. Though I did have a little break when I went to that appointment at the doctors office this morning."

"Oh yeah, did you get that prescription stuff all worked out?" Tony replied, head still buried in his phone.