TONY STARK NEVER thought about being a father to a little girl or finding out that he had a daughter of his own. Although he'd probably never admit it out loud but the thought of being a father terrified him. Maybe it was because that he was afraid of messing everything up and ruin his child, maybe it was because he was terrified of becoming like his own father, Howard Stark, or maybe it was really a mixture of both of these reasons. But he never thought that those thoughts would change the moment he met her. 

The moment he met his daughter for the first time.

And the moment where he first laid his eyes on the little girl that he helped make, his whole world changed for him. 

To this day, Tony still remembers when he saw his daughter for the first time. He had forced himself out of his bed since his father had been calling him down and by the time he came downstairs, he was greeted with the sight of Howard Stark scowling at him, Maria Stark was giving him a sympathetic smile, and a three-year-old little girl with dark brown hair and brown eyes standing slightly behind the Child Services worker with a nervous expression on her face. 

He remembered how confuse he was when he saw her, not knowing anything about her while he stood there quietly, waiting for someone to explain.

The Child Services worker cleared her throat and stared directly at Tony. "Mr. Stark--" she started to said but was cut off immediately.

"Just call me Tony," he said before he gestured to his father. "He's the great Mr. Stark. Calling me that is just a insult to him, isn't it, dad?" He added sarcastically, glancing over at his father.

Howard rolled his eyes at his son and ignored the temptation to said something back to his son, staring at him with a scowl on his face.

"Very well," the Child Services worker said, taking his attention away from Howard. "Tony, do you recall a Victoria Smith?"

Tony blinked when he heard the name. At first, he didn't recognized the name but then, the memories of that night kicked in for him. He remembers how he met her at a party in Las Vegas and how they got married at sixteen-years-old after lying about how old they really were. "Uh, maybe?" He said with a shrug. "Brunette, short, pretty?"

Howard scowled at his son and shook his head, clearly irritated at him. "Ignore him, he remembers."

The Child Services worker nodded and continued. "Well, after you both got married in Las Vegas at the age of sixteen, Victoria Smith was impregnated with your child."

Everything felt like time had frozen to Tony when he heard those words. That very sentence with those very words kept replaying over and over in his head.

Victoria Smith was impregnated with your child.

Tony felt his eyes gaze over to where the little girl stood once the Child Services worker slowly stepped out of the way, letting him get a look at his daughter. The more he stared at her, the more he saw how she looked so much like him with the same hair color, eye color, and even their face shape. 

He had a little girl.

He had a daughter.

"Tony," Maria softly called out to her son, trying to get his attention.

"Mr. Stark," the Child Services worker started again, Tony didn't bother correcting her again because of the thoughts in his head. "Victoria Smith had her custody of your daughter removed."

Tony felt his head snapped up at her when he heard that, staring at her confusedly. "Her custody was removed? Why?"

"Well, asides from letting her live in a crackhouse," the Child Services worker informed. "Victoria Smith left your daughter home all day and night by herself with no one to take care of. In a attempt to get herself something to eat, your daughter nearly burnt down the house and if Victoria Smith hadn't gotten her out in time, then she wouldn't be here right now."

Tony saw his mother bring a hand up to her mouth at the news out of the corner of his eye while he stood there in silence. He didn't know why but to him, it felt like his heart shattered at the news he had just heard. 

Victoria Smith, the very woman that left his three-year-old daughter home alone with no one to take care and the very woman who could have risked that innocent little girl dying in a house fire all because she didn't feel like taking care of her. The thought of that was enough to make him furious and maybe it was a good thing that Victoria Smith had no idea where he lived cause if he saw her, he'd probably end up screaming at her for doing something so careless to a child without thinking about what could've happened.

"What's her name?" Maria asked softly, her caring eyes moved over to stare at the small child that looked down at the ground while fidgeting with her fingers nervously.

"Claire," the Child Services worker answered. "Claire Maria Smith."

Claire Maria Smith.

Once again, Tony found himself looking over to his daughter, now knowing her name. It was like his heart swelled with pride every time he glanced at her because she was his daughter, someone that he had helped make and now here he was, seeing her for the first time. 

"Now, you have two options," the Child Services worker said, gaining his attention again. "You can either take the custody of your daughter and be her father or, if you refuse, then unfortunately, your daughter will be put into the foster system where hopefully, she'll be taken into another family."

Hearing the words that came out, Claire couldn't up but finally look away from the ground and over at her father, her brown eyes meeting his, giving him a terrified look at the very thought of going into the foster system and taken into a random family where she doesn't know anybody. Tony stared at her, not breaking the eye contact with his daughter as he watched her desperately plead with him not to let her go into the system and the fear of her going into the system was enough to make his stomach drop and his heart break.

"Mr. Stark, I need a answer from yo--" the Child Services worker started but once again was cut off. 

"I'll do it," Tony interrupted, still not breaking the eye contact with his daughter. "I'll take her in."

Howard couldn't help but glance at his son with narrowed eyes. "And how do you except to take care of a child when you act like a child yourself? You'll probably end up quitting and sending her into the system anyways."

"Howard!" Maria scolded her husband, snapping her head towards him with a frown.

Tony gritted his teeth and clenched his fist, ignoring the temptation to go up to his father but he stopped himself when he saw Claire tensed up with a fearful expression, which was enough to make his face soften at her. Then, he looked over at his father with a glare.

"I said I'll take her in," Tony repeated angrily at his father, glaring daggers at him. "I'm not gonna let her go into the system not now, not ever."

Howard didn't said anything and just stared at his son with a scowl on his face. For a split second, when he looked back at her, Tony could've swore that he saw her smile a little. 

"Very well," the Child Services worker said as she looked down at her watch before looking over at Tony. "With that being said, I'll have the custody papers sent over. Congratulations, Mr. Stark, you have a daughter now."

Howard and Maria had Jarvis, the family's butler, polite show the worker to the door. Then, Howard was the next one to leave the room, mumbling something under his breath while Maria went after him, leaving her son and granddaughter in the same room together. Silence took over the two as the father and daughter stared at each other, studying the other's appearance since it was the first time that they were seeing each other.

Tony stood there in his spot for a while before he finally decided to move. He walked over to her and bent down to her level, meeting her eyes. Tony stared at her for a bit before he slowly reached out towards her and pulled his daughter into his arms for a hug. 

"It's okay," he whispered softly to her. "I'm here, daddy's here."

He felt her arms wrapped around him, returning the hug as she buried her face into his shoulder.

Then, he heard Claire whisper two words.

"Thank you."