Shadowplay | Tony Stark

SIX - VALENTINES DAY

Two months had passed since Mila had said goodbye to Tony Stark, and the single mother had continued living her life as if the whole ordeal had never even happened.

In a way, those three days had felt like some kind of fever dream. Whenever she would hear his name or see his face on the television, Mila found herself having to question whether Tony Stark had actually been in her home or if the whole thing had been a figment of her imagination.

She probably would've believed her own creative mind had it not been for the blue glowing thing that her son had grown incredibly obsessed with.

Mila wasn't sure what the gift Tony had given Tristan actually was, and so she placed it on the top shelf in her son's room, well out of reach of the toddler. She let him hold it now again, the child fascinated by the vibrant colour and the fact he thought he was made of magic every time he touched it, just like Tony had said.

Tristan had never once mentioned Tony Stark or asked a single question about the man that had been living in their home for a short number of hours, which was a relief to Mila. She had hoped that she'd get away with Tristan and Tony never having to meet one another, but it seemed like her son couldn't have cared less about that time in his life.

Mila had moved on too, never telling a soul about what had happened that week and never intending to, either. Although she was desperate to tell the women in the salon about her short-term tenant, she kept her lips firmly sealed.

Christmas had been and gone and February was in full swing. Mila and Tristan had been joined by her parents for the holidays and together, the four of them had had the most magical two weeks.

Though she'd never have admitted it out loud, Mila missed her parents. There was a huge part of her that felt like the latter years of her teens were snatched away from her at the hands of her relationship with Tristan's father, and once that had broken down into nothing but a memory, Mila felt as though she was owed a few more years of being someone's child, not someone's mother.

She'd gotten used to the loneliness now, two years having passed since they left for Florida, but Mila adored having her parents back at home with her and Tristan, feeling as though she could relax even just a little bit knowing that there were two extra pairs of hands to help out.

The red, green and gold of Christmastime felt like a lifetime ago for Mila, the town looking miserable and dull without the bright lights and festive cheer ringing from coffee shops and bars.

The bleakness wouldn't last forever, Mila knew that, but she always felt a little sadder at the start of a new year compared to any of the other months, finding herself almost praying for Spring to come and splash some colourful flowers into parks and green leaves onto trees, breathing some life back into a soulless shell of a town.

"Did you make this for Mommy?"

Mila pulled out a messily painted red piece of card folded in half from her son's backpack while he ate his dinner at the kitchen table. There was an outline of a heart drawn on the centre that had been covered in white paint and scribbled over in black pen, the words Happy Valentines Day written at the bottom.

She opened it with a bursting heart, reading the message inside that said 'To Mommy, Happy Valentines Day, Love from Tristan', although his name was barely legible since that was the only part that had actually been written by the two-and-a-half year old.

Mila smiled as she looked down at the card, feeling her bottom lip quiver slightly. She wasn't sure that she'd ever even received a valentines card in the past, but was on the verge of tears at the artwork that her son had brought home from nursery that day.