𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐁𝐔𝐁𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐔𝐌━𝐏. 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐑

𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆

"Aroura Stacy became Aroura Stacy-Stark."

___

   ━━ TOUGH LOVE was never something Tony Stark was big on, having gone through it with his father and all. In fact, he'd always promised himself that when the time came for him to have a child, his parenting style would differ greatly from his father's. Only, he didn't expect that time to come so soon.

   Helen Stacy was someone he considered a close friend, a confidante, but also one of his workers. She worked in one of the labs on the ninth floor, but on occasion, Helen would be called up to oversee a few things in the lab near his office. It was how they'd met.

   Helen was a feisty little thing; she always had some quip to throw back at him or a sarcastic comment in retaliation to his. Tony definitely would've gone for her if she wasn't married already.

   And if he didn't like her husband so much.

   George Stacy was much more reserved than both Tony and Helen; it was what made the trio's friendship work well. He didn't work for Tony; instead, George had a job at the police department, and he never let the two forget how easy it would be for him to arrest them for their shenanigans, to which Tony, without fail, would always reply, "Kinky."

   They were close friends for years Tony was even named godfather of their baby girl, Aurora, and Pepper, her godmother (Helen and George called it way before anyone else did ━ you can't tell them otherwise).

   For seven peaceful years, that little girl caused havoc for everyone at Stark Industries. ━ Even worse, Tony encouraged it; Rory was his favourite after all. And then Tony Stark got abducted, and George and Helen did all they could to find him. And seven-year-old Aurora was left to wonder why her uncle didn't read her bedtime story finished.

   They found him eventually; he had come back barely in one piece, with his arm in a sling, wanting cheeseburgers and a hug from his goddaughter. Aurora couldn't remember much of the next few months, but she did know of Iron Man; she remembered setting her big blue eyes on the sleek red and gold metal and gasping loudly when her hand ran over it.

   She remembered her birthday in the cold, snowy Alaskan December and all the presents she'd gotten. Tony gifted her a bracelet with three diamonds—one big diamond in the middle and two small ones sitting beside it. He told her the big one would let him know if she was in trouble; she only had to push it.

   The bracelet was really big for her, though, so her parents held onto it until she could at least wear it around her ankle.

   The months after that were okay; they booked their flights back home in January, which came and went. In February, Rory got a new homeschool teacher and learned how to ride her bike with her dad. In March, her parents brought up the idea of moving to New York for her father's work. In April, Tony bought them all tickets to go house hunting ━ Helen and George ━ and sight-seeing ━ Rory and Tony.