open arms, mcu

twelve

chapter twelve
╰ ( civil war )

💫 ━━ IT has been a year since the events of Ultron and much has happened.

School was one of those things. School was not something Paisley liked, at all. She quite frankly disliked it but she was also very thankful that she was homeschooled. Everyday one of the Avengers or someone in the tower would get Paisley and Ryder together and teach them whatever they could. Somedays it was training, others it was a math lesson.

Since many were gone — Natasha, Wanda, Steve and Sam were gone — school was canceled until they came back. So until they came back, Paisley and Ryder were stuck with Tony. And since they were stuck with Tony, they were stuck going with the older man to MIT.

Tony tried his best to make sure they were having fun though. He took them both to as many toy stores as they could handle in a day. He bought them all the sweets their stomachs could handle. Tony was trying to be the cool babysitter and dad.

( Right, yes, Tony had officially adopted Ryder so he wouldn't be taken away from his new found family. Tony also saw himself in Ryder from the way he walked, and from the occasional sarcastic comment that left the little kids lips. He would say that adopting Ryder was the best thing to happen in the last year, and he's not lying. And when it came to Paisley, he was one of the best babysitters ever. )

Paisley and Ryder were sitting in the very front row. Toys in each of their hands as they watched something form on the stage. Then they heard a soft piano melody playing.

A woman was sitting at the piano, her hair was greying, she looked at peace as she swayed ever so slightly. That woman was Maria Stark, Tony Starks mother. She's singing a song, her voice smooth. "Try to remember the kind of September. When grass was green..."

Paisley grins when she sees a man that looked a lot like her favourite babysitter ( favourite for now ) stand up from the couch with a Santa hat on. She nudged Ryder, pointing to the not so real hologram of Tony.

"Wake up, dear, and say goodbye to your father." Maria says as she continues to play the piano and hum.

"Who's the homeless person on the couch?" Howard Stark flashes his wife a look when he sees Tony. Howard had greying hair, and a tux that hugs his body — even Paisley and Ryder see Tony in him, or him in Tony.

Tony chuckled, "This is why I love coming home for Christmas... right before you leave town."

"Be nice, dear, he's been studying abroad." Maria's words are directed towards her husband who's putting on his watch and fixing up his tux.

Howard Stark only rolls his eyes, "Really, which broad? What's her name?"

"Candice." The young Tony grumbled as his father pulled his Santa had from his head.

"Do me a favor? Try not to burn the house down before Monday." Howard narrowed his eyes at his son.

Young Tony smiled. "Okay, so it's Monday. That is good to know. I will plan my toga party accordingly. Where you going?"

Ryder and Paisley giggled as they watched the man who they knew so well walk around with a goofy grin on his holographic face.