The Deadly Nightshade | { BOOK 1 of The Flower series }

[10] Inventing

⏳2010, Malibu

The twelve-year-old girl quickly backed away when sparks flew out from the new machine she decided to invent. Jade groaned, placing down the small tweezers before sliding up her safety goggles on her forehead. She gazed down at the smoke rising from the metal arm. She lifted it off of the table while giving it a frustrated expression. "You disgust me."

"Sweetheart, I didn't know you were down here," Tony said as he entered the workshop, clapping his hands, activating all of his holographic computers.

Jade turned to the sound of her father's voice. "I was just working on my own suit but still struggling."

Tony chuckled. "You're creating your own suit?"

Jade nodded. "Thought it'd be cool if I were Iron Girl or something." Her bright amber eyes twinkled as another idea formulated in her mind. "Ooh, or I could make helping robots to do my chores."

Tony sent her a stern look. "You can't just make robots to do your dirty work for you."

Jade raised a dark eyebrow at her dad's out-of-character moment but realised he was only pulling her leg.

Tony laughed, shaking his head. "What the hey! I did the same thing. No one is stopping you." He picked up her metal robot arm, evaluating it. He hummed, turning it over. "Well, I found the problem. The red wire isn't supposed to connect to the yellow; it's supposed to connect to the green. No wonder you almost caught the workshop on fire." He handed the arm back to Jade. "Maybe inventing isn't for you."

Jade sent him a frown. "Dad, really?"

He ruffled her black hair before giving her a comforting hug. "I'm just joking. Jade, you're the smartest twelve-year-old kid I know."

"You don't know any other kid, dad."

"That is also true," Tony slowly replied before sending her a cheeky grin. "But you have Stark blood in you, and your mind is made up half of mine. We're both geniuses, except I'm number one, and you're number two."

Jade rolled her amber eyes. "You just came back to Malibu, and you're already getting egotistical on me? Wow, that's a new record," she teased, sliding down her safety goggles over her eyes.

"Welcome home, sir," Jarvis greeted. "Congratulations on the opening ceremonies. They were such a success, as was your Senate hearing. And may I say how refreshing it is to finally see you in a video with your clothing on, sir."

Jade nodded in agreement, gesturing to the computer screen that visually played Tony at the Senate heading. "I liked the "yes dear" part."

Tony laughed as he sat down at his own table, preparing his green drink. "I did too."

One of the machines was trying to make a smoothie without the lid on top of the blender. Jade looked over as a mess exploded on the cupboards. She shook her head with a small smirk as she pointed her tool in the direction of the small kitchen area. "Now, my robot won't make that mistake."

Tony lowered his head, but there was a smile evident on his face. He never wanted to admit it, but he missed not being able to be with his daughter for the ten years of her childhood. When Jade was born, her mother took full custody because she didn't think Tony was responsible enough to raise a child. So Jade only saw Tony on her birthdays and sometimes on Christmas, but eventually, that had stopped.

Jade turned ten that her mother passed away due to someone drugging her drink, causing Jade to move in with Tony. For the past two years, Tony had struggled with the whole parenting thing, but with the help of Pepper, he was getting the swing of things.