Vogue | Tony Stark

SIXTY SIX - ONE DAY

"Do you ever wonder what your life will be like when you're older?"

Estélla was leant against the wall of the treehouse with a book in her hands, a jug of lemonade sat half-full on a pale blue tray with two glasses next to it and a plate of crumbs that had been crackers not long ago.

A fifteen year old Tony was trying to read too, though had far less interest in his book than Esté did in hers. He'd been sat beside her, then across from her, ultimately ending up lying on his back on the floor with his legs hanging out of the square window gap in the wood.

"Sometimes, yeah. You mean like a job, a house and all that?"

Esté folded over the corner of a page in her book and set it down beside her outstretched legs.

"Yeah. I wonder where I'll live, what kind of job I'll have, if I'll be on the phone all the time like my Dad or if I'll stay at home like my Mom."

"You don't have to do either of those things," Tony said, eyes scanning the pages of his book that he held above his head.

"I know, I just...wonder. Will I get married, ever have children?"

Tony scoffed, "I can't see myself ever getting married. I don't think I could ever like anybody enough to be with them forever."

Esté frowned, "Not even me?"

Tony glanced backwards and rest the book on his stomach, "You're an exception, I could definitely put up with you forever. If it comes down to it and we're both lonely and old, we'll get married."

She grinned and shook her head with a roll of her eyes, "Who says I could put up with you forever?"

Tony sat up straight and poured them both some more lemonade, handing her a glass, "You're my best friend and I'm yours, we could easily manage."

She took the glass and sipped on the sweet refresher, a light spring breeze being the only respite from the heat that drowned the Hamptons that afternoon.

"I can imagine myself surrounded by children," she said, leaning her head back against the wall and gazing out at the sky through the window, "Three or four of them, I'd like them to have siblings so they'd always have someone to play with."

Tony pulled his knees up to his chest, "I'm not gentle enough for kids, I wouldn't know what to do with one."

She laughed, "I don't think anybody does until they have them. But for the record, you are gentle, and you're kind. I think you'd be a great Dad one day."

He blushed a little at her words, smiling when she diverted her gaze to land on his face. She looked as pretty as ever that afternoon with her hair in a French braid and a white sundress, two gold studs in her ears and a matching necklace hanging at her chest.

"One day," he said quietly, having a split second of a glance into a future where he held a baby in his arms and slipped a ring onto a woman's finger, faces he didn't see, "Maybe."

Esté shivered when she heard footsteps climb the staircase, the familiar creek of the door opening behind her, though she kept her back turned.

She was sat on the floor by the dresser with all three drawers wide open, piles of baby clothes surrounding her that she'd folded, unfolded and was now re-folding for the sixth time in a week.

Katy had called round every day in the eight days that had passed and Steve for the first four of those until he and the team left to find Tony. Alicia had tried her best to be there for Esté when Katy couldn't be because of her new baby, but they were all met with a rather hostile reception from who was usually the most warm and welcoming person they knew.