Illegitimate Prodigy

Keep your chin up

It seemed as if there was only more people coming to the celebration of Annabelle's mother's life, rather than leaving it. It had been nearly two hours, and it seemed to only drag on. How did such a manipulative woman have so many friends? Or was it just guilt that was bringing the population? Annabelle was uncertain and skeptical. Only she shouldn't be thinking that way, period, but she was. Elizabeth Carter was a narcissistic, manipulative bitch. Everyone knew that. Even her own daughter.

"Did you want to go and get a drink after this?" Matt asked, glancing over his shoulder, no longer satisfied with looking at all the old photos that were placed randomly on the oak coffee table. Meeting his gaze, Annabelle shrugged. "I don't know. Aren't you suppose to drink to make good times better, not bad times, worse?" Matt furrowed his eyebrows. " I think, especially in cases like this, people drink more."  The brunette rolled her eyes, "I know, but–" She cut herself off momentarily, seeing someone push their way through the swinging doors of the kitchen. She had only caught the back of his head, but she knew it wasn't her grandfather. Too much hair, and far too young. "One second," she sighed frustratingly, pushing herself off the couch. " Stupid people going into the kitchen."

A few quick strides in her heels, Annabelle pushed the kitchen door open to see the culprit that walked in. His back was facing her while putting something in the trash can, so at first, she couldn't make out who it was.  "Hey, could you like...avoid coming into the kitchen. It's kind of off limits to guests right now." It was almost as if he hesitated, straightening his posture, his stare focusing on the back screen door in front of him. Annabelle recognized that stature, but she couldn't put a finger on it. Her hues met his shoes. He was wearing grey and black Nikes that matched the suit he was wearing. Turning slowly to face her, Annabelle felt her lips part a little in surprise when she finally set her sights on who was actually standing in her grandfather's kitchen. "T–Tony?" The words had a bit of difficulty escaping her throat. He adjusted his suit jacket, before moving his fingers quickly upward to adjust the black tie he was wearing, in which case he decided to give a slight smirk. "Abby." The way he said her name incorrectly, but so confidently made her stomach churn a little, but she chose to dodge it. "Anna, but good guess."  Her eyes narrowed in on him, before averting her gaze to the picture of her grandmother and grandfather on the fridge. The black and white edges were already worn, the corners bent and frayed. Quickly moving her eyes back to his, she straightened her posture a little. It was always the way she tried to look intimidating. There wasn't anything intimidating about a girl that was 120 pounds. "What are you doing here?" She questioned, legitimately curious.

He hesitated, his chocolate brown eyes staring past her, before refocusing. "Uhmm...this is a celebration of your mother's life, correct?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"Well, then I think that's obvious–"

"It's a celebration of her life, not a pity party for her death."

"I'm not here to pity yo–"

"Well you aren't here because you care, right?" 

Tony replied with a quick smile, his eyes squinting, as he took a step around the kitchen island, wagging his right index finger her direction. "You quickly retort like your mother did. Good girl."  He glanced at the lights on the ceiling. "At least I think that was your mother, I remember. Maybe that was someone else," he sighed softly, his palms now resting on the surface of the counter, before meeting Annabelle's eyes once more. "But you do have your grandfather's stubbornness. Cold, calculating stubbornness."

"Speaking of, you should probably get out of here before he sees you."

"I'm not talking about him, I'm talking about your other grandfather. The dead one."  The words had to sink in before Annabelle could fully process them. "What?"

Tony pushed off the island, walking slowly but carefully toward her, stopping about a foot away. "You didn't think I knew, did you?"  Speechless. Speechless was what she felt. "I'm not an idiot. Maybe oblivious, and narcissistic as I'm often told, but not an idiot."  Shaking his head, he trailed off. She was still stuck on the fact that he couldn't remember her name. How could you not remember your daughter's name, even if she was your illegitimate child? "The older you got the more you looked like my mother. A freaky miniaturized version of her. It wasn't difficult to do the math, Annabelle."  His arms crossed in front of his chest, before his eyes narrowed in on her. The girl stared up at him in disbelief. He knew..he knew this entire time. Why did he come here? Why now?

Before Annabelle could even form words to spit out, Tony unraveled his arms, patting the side of one of hers. "Keep your chin up, kid."  Walking past her, he left the room. Even that took a moment to register. Keep your chin up? Was that what he just said to her? Feet shuffling, she back peddled out the kitchen door, nearly hitting someone on the way out, before meeting the back of her father's head as he was about to leave. "Keep your chin up? You've got to be fucking joking!" Tony paused, his hand on the handle, door already open. Eyes began to focus on the two, as Annabelle felt her breaths quicken, and her fists clench tighter. "You knew this entire time? You knew that I was your daughter, and yet you still chose to pretend I didn't exist?" Annabelle noticed Tony's lips press into a thin line as he listened to her speak, shutting the door once more, giving her his uninterrupted attention.

"What the hell is going on? Disrespecting my daughter like this." Annabelle's grandfather could be heard pushing through the people in the dining room, before he met the main entrance, and his gaze fell on Tony. More along the lines of a glare. "You better get the hell out of here, Tin Man. You've gotta a lot of nerve showing up here."  Tony's gaze hadn't left Annabelle's, even if her eyes watered a little bit from the frustration. The room went quiet, before Mr.Stark nodded, and quickly exited the house.