Raising a Baby (Tony Stark Style)

Uh Oh, Where's The Baby?

One Month Later
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     Alex's cold went away a week after her birthday, much to Tony's relief. Hopefully this wouldn't be the case every year.

     She was as healthy as she could be. The young girl began to run around more and drag her bear with her.

     Tony started to worry about if she would talk or not, lately she never even made an attempt to babble.

     "I'm worried, Rhodey." Tony said to his friend from the other side of the couch. "What if something's wrong?"

     Rhodey sighed. "Hey, just calm down. She's not gonna be like other kids her age. We still don't even know the full extent of her powers. Maybe she's still working on developing speech."

     Tony sat down on the sofa and ran a hand through his hair. "You're probably right man."

     Alex came running into the room with a big smile on her face. She ran up to Rhodey and handed him her bear. The smile on her face was growing and her carrot orange hair was falling in her eyes.

     He gladly took the stuffed toy. "For me?" he asked with a smile. He moved the bear in front of his face and raised the pitch of his voice. "Hi there Alex! How are you doing today?"

     Alex threw her head back as she started to laugh with delight. The little girl lost her balance, causing her to fall flat on her bottom; which only made her laugh harder.

     Tony was grinning like an idiot. Lately laughter was the only sound he heard from his baby girl.

     An hour had passed before it was time for Alex's afternoon nap. Tony and Rhodey played rock, paper, scissors to see who would have to take her up. After three matches, Tony emerged victorious.

     Rhodey scooped Alex up on his arms along with her bear and carried her up the steps. Her cries could be heard for the next half an hour.

     When Rhodey came down he was rubbing at his temples harshly. "You know what? I think I'm gonna take off." He walked to the couch to grab his jacket.

     "Yeah, see you man." Tony stood up and clasped his friend's hand. "Thanks for the help."

     "Yeah, yeah, next time it's your turn," Rhodey called out as he walked out the door.

     Tony took the free time to get a little bit of work done. He handled a couple things Pepper had been nagging him about. He even remembered to shut Jarvis down for his updates. Then he went to go work in the lab. He was underneath a car when he heard a slam from the baby monitor on his work bench. He slid out from under the car, wiped his face, and sprinted up the two stories to Alex's room as quickly as possible.

     The bar of the crib was lowered all the way and Alex was nowhere in sight.

     Tony's palms grew sweaty and his breathing quickened. "Alex? Baby girl? Where are you?" he called out weakly. He ran a hand through his hair. "Alex?" He started to look around the large bedroom. He searched every nook and cranny of the room, slowly growing more anxious. He walked back to the crib when he realized that the window right next to it was open.