Bruised (Irondad)

10

It turns out, May Parker is more than just a friendly neighbour who just so happens to have a love for small children. She's a nurse in the er, wife to Ben Parker (who is apparently a cop), and substitute mother to Peter Parker, who happens to be best friend and figure skating partner to Gianna Bell.

This makes her incredibly useful. She's grown close to the twins in the few years that she's known them and subsequently knows much more about them than the gangly social worker managed to evoke out of the selectively mute children in the twenty four hours he was given.

Now, Tony Stark knows this about his children:

Gianna and Giovanni have been skating since they could walk.
They lived in Russia for six months.
When they came back, Gianna was pretty much superhuman.
She could probably beat Cap in a race.
They have a dog named Nemesis who will now have to live at the tower because they won't part with him.
Gia is selectively mute, Geo is adorable.
Gianna is obsessed with Mac and Cheese, this is how to get her to eat.
Both kids love apples.
Peter and Gianna are set to be world figure skating champions in ten years time.
Their mother definitely did it.
The twins are suckers for affection but you need to wait for them to come to you.
They have busier lives than Tony Stark himself, figure skating, dancing, tumbling, May will send him a schedule.
They're scared of the dark.

Additionally, his mind is at rest about one thing.

"The thing is", Pepper had said, biting her lip, "we aren't sure if they want to live at Avengers Tower. It's just a lot of people, very loud and overzealous people at that, and I just don't know whether they'll be comfortable at the moment".

May smiled, "There's an easy way to solve that one".

"What?" Tony frowned. He might be a genius but childcare apparently isn't one of his many talents and he couldn't understand how relaxed May was about this whole thing. Having the lives of small humans in your hands is absolutely terrifying and he feels as though he might accidentally kill them at any moment.

But the lady didn't reply, she simply called out to the twins, who'd just finished taking off their skates and putting their matching white converse back on. Both of them diligently jogged over, standing before the three adults and looking tiny as ever.

"Don't look so scared!" May chuckled, "I just want to ask you a question". The twins nodded, a cue for her to continue, "Do you want to live with the Avengers?".

The grin that spread across Geo's face was instant and infectious. Gianna took one look at her brother and broke out into an identical smile, a silent agreement made in seconds.

"Yes" The girl nodded decisively before the two walked back over to Peter, resuming their chatter like nothing had happened.

May focused her attention back to Tony and Pepper, "See, it's not so hard to just talk to them".

And now Tony knows that he also needs to actually communicate with the children. They are capable of forming opinions and making decisions, no matter how small, and they would most likely appreciate having an input in what happens to them. It's their lives after all.

"Sir, you have a message from May Parker" Jarvis' voice rings through the living room, dragging the team's attention away from their Monopoly game, maybe just in time.

Thor keeps getting confused, unsure as to why he's moving a small shoe around a paper board, leading to a very frustrated Sam who seems as though he's about to punch the demi-god in the face, which would have questionable consequences. Additionally, Clint has been stealing Bruce's money every time he blinks and the usually mellow man could possibly be looking a little green. Tony isn't really focusing, pretty certain that he's missed a few turns due to his intrusive thoughts about his own father and what that might mean for his kids. Nat's been studying his face for the past twenty minutes, possibly trying to read his mind and probably succeeding because she's strange like that.

"Read it out Jarvis".

"Did some digging, thought you might appreciate these. They're real cuties. There are attachments, would you like them on the screen?".

"Sure".

The television is suddenly illuminated by a slideshow of images.

The first is of two little copper-haired and honey-eyed babies, tiny little fingers interlocked as they toothlessly smile up at the camera. From his not-too-extensive-knowledge-of-babies, Stark deducts that they must be about three months old and fuck are they cute.

The next is of the same kids, a couple of years later. They're wearing yellow sweaters and black bottoms, white figure skates on their feet as they step onto the ice together, hands still connected.

Then there's Gianna, it's a professionally shot photograph. She's smiling - the kind of smile that kids are told to do for the camera, those ones that aren't overly convincing and you know that there's a pushy parent stood at the back of the room screaming that their child won't get food if they don't perform for the camera. Her hair has been scraped into a ponytail which is scorched into a straightened perfection. She's wearing a white leotard, holding one of her legs up by her head so that she's pretty much doing the splits standing up. Tony Stark is no expert, but he's certain that that has got to hurt.

Next up is Geo, dressed in little blue dungarees with a light green t-shirt underneath. His eyes are sparkling, lit up by the sun which coats the golden landscape of sand that the boy is sat in. A proud grin is painted onto his face, luminous yellow spade in hand which he must have used to form the castle beside him. It's messy and gritty but utterly perfect.

Then it's Gianna and Peter. They're stood in front of Ben, his hands on the kid's shoulders, proud and paternal. All three of them are radiating elation. In the centre of the picture, held between the children, is a trophy, a blue ribbon tied around the centre, a product of their hard work and dedication.

There's multiple of the kids with medals and trophies, beaming their tiny hearts out with a proud Ben or May, but never Leila. Stark finds himself wondering if that woman was ever in their lives at all if not to hit or poison them.

The last is the best, because they look like regular kids.

Gianna is on Peter's back. Laughter crinkles her features, her mouth wide open as the boy grins as if he's the one that planted the hysterics. Geo is stood on the couch with another boy. He's slightly chubby, the epitome of a future nerd with his Star Wars t-shirt and Yoda socks. A girl is sat cross-legged on the floor. She has dark skin and frizzy hair, an intelligence in her eyes that grants her a slightly terrifying air. All of the kids have shiny coloured party hats on their heads, balloons scattered around the Parker's living room, a banner in the background 'Happy Birthday Gigi'.