Fin (Irondad)

Prologue

"Really? You guys actually want to go?".

Tony's eyes flick over the four identical faces in front of him, trying not to lock with the innocent sets of baby blues for fear of crumbling.

They're relentless, unavoidable, these children are the bane of his life.

Fin's head cocks to the side, waves bouncing, eyelashes brushing across constellations of freckles, "Please, Daddy".

He averts his eyes to the ground, if he sees those kids grinning back at him then he'll lose his dramatic flair to a dopey smile, "I can't believe this utter betrayal, from my own flesh and blood no less".

Usually, he would've been able to play the charade for a little longer, to maintain his stone wall until he decided it was time to put his victim out of it's misery- but Austen giggles and he can't help but huff out a laugh, pulling the closest quadruplet - Noah - into his side.

"You four are the worst".

Finley snorts, a poor attempt at concealing a laugh, and he begins to resent the Stark snark that he 100% passed down to them.

"Finley-Rhodes?" he fights the smile battling it's way onto his face, "Have you something you wish to declare?".

Subconsciously, the child mirrors his expression, trying desperately to prevent the corners of rosy lips from twitching upwards, "Nooo?". The word is elongated and lilts at the end, curls falling in front of soft eyes as a tiny body sways, "It's just that... I'm sensing a hint of jealousy about this Oscorp trip". A faux concerned expression is maintained for a moment, before melting into a typical Finley grin, the same one that pops onto all of the quad's faces every single time any of them do something cheeky.

"Why you little-" Tony lurches forwards from his seat on the couch, lunging in an attempt to grab the child, who squeals and desperately scrambles to get away. Finley slides across the floorboards, narrowly missing the coffee table, siblings shouting words of encouragement. The kid probably would have made it out of the room if it wasn't for Clint's entrance.

He steps into the doorway, scooping the flailing body off of the ground in one swift movement and practically throwing the kid over his shoulder, "You're too small, Fin, you make it too easy".

"I'm not too small!", Fin protests, trying fruitlessly to wriggle out of his grip but failing miserably, "I'm just.. fun sized".

The archer huffs out a laugh, handing the quad over to a smug dad. Tony mimics the child's pout and drops the body onto the couch, pausing for a moment with a shit-eating grin plastered across his face before attacking his child with tickles.

Fin shrieks, tiny hands proving to be useless in defence as the nine-year-old writhes and attempts to wriggle off of the couch completely. Pleas for mercy fall on deaf ears and Tony probably would have continued to torture the child for much longer if it wasn't for the desperation which almost caused his kid to be flung right off the couch. He panics for a moment, before his hands move of their own accord and grip tiny shoulders before Fin can pass the point of no return.

"Woah, okay, that's enough of that. If that went on for much longer I think you'd manage to give me a stomach ulcer". The mechanic gathers his smallest child from the couch into his arms and sits down with his baby in his lap. Following his lead, the three remaining quads gravitate around their dad, as though mimicking ducklings.

Fin plays at being put-out, but snuggles into their dad's chest all the same, "So can we go?".

Tony smiles softly at their bambi eyes, innocent and pure, "Yes of course you can go, I'm only playing, just don't get yourselves into any trouble", he pauses to let the information sink in, "And yes, I'm looking at you Finley Stark, I know how you and Peter get".

And perhaps if Finley had remembered this vital instruction, everything may have turned out differently. But they didn't, and everything was (for lack of a better cliche), flipped quite literally upside down.