𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞

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3:47 AM

          SUDDENLY, TONY SAT UP, sitting bolt upright in the large queen bed. As he struggled to regain control of his breathing, drops of sweat peppered his forehead and fell down his temples.

"JARVIS, lights," he ordered, out of breath. The thin covers had been shoved off his body by his shaking hands.

"At present, it's forty-seven minutes past three in the morning, sir. Is everything alright?" asked JARVIS

"Yeah, yeah. I'm good." He was having flashbacks of his encounters in Afghanistan for the third night that week. Tonight was, however, strange. This was the first time that Tony woke up in bed alone. That morning, Pepper had left to attend an over-night conference at Seattle University, and that night, Tony desperately missed her presence next to him.

Concluding that sleep would elude him that night, Tony got up from his bed and walked straight down the hallway to his daughter's bedroom. He felt an overbearing urge to check on her. 

As he leaned around the ajar door and saw Charlotte sleeping peacefully, hugging her yellow teddy bear tight to her, the urge was satisfied. At the base of the bed, her blanket was discarded; he gently placed her back under the blanket, planting a kiss on her forehead.

As he stood in the room, his thoughts turned sentimental. Charlotte was the most important person in his life, on par with Pepper. But he also knew that he had people in his life that he had to protect-like Rhodey. 

Even though the Colonel turned his back on him a few days ago, he understood how important Rhodey was not only to him but his daughter. As was Happy; although he was a seemingly new addition to the circle, Tony's bodyguard slash driver had grown on him at a fast rate; he knew that he could count on Happy with not only his life but his families too.

After standing by the door for another ten minutes, Tony decided to go back to bed and try to sleep.

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9:43 AM

As Charlotte got up that morning, she lay for at least another twenty minutes in her bed. The morning by the ocean had been brisk and breezy, even at the height of the summer; she snuggled close to her blankets before eventually getting out of bed .

She walked down the stairs, the marble felt cool against her bare foot; as she reached the ground level, she could hear music coming from the kitchen.

"Good morning, JARVIS!" she called out, idly following the music.

"Good morning Miss. Stark, your father is in the kitchen, at present." The AI ​​greeted her.

"Is something burning?" She pondered, smelling what seemed to be charcoal.

"Yes. That would be breakfast."

True to the words of J.A.R.V.I.S., Charlotte was taken back, when she entered the kitchen, by the cloud of smoke emanating from the frying pan that her father was waving a kitchen cloth over at the time.

"Stupid pan. How difficult is it to fry bacon, for fu-"

"Sir, I advise you to hold your tongue since Miss. Stark is currently present." J.A.R.V.I.S. quickly intersected.

"Charlie!" Tony exclaimed, "It's still early, what are you doing out of bed?" He says as Charlotte walked up to the breakfast bar.

"Dad, it's almost ten." She adds, curiously eyeing the smoldering frying pan. "Hmm. Charcoal, my favourite." She jokingly licked her lips, earning her father's sarcastic glare as he pointed the spatula in her direction.

"Hilarious," Tony checked his watch, his eyes slightly widening as he gazed at the time in what must have been hours for the first time. "Well, what do you know? It's almost ten."

"How long have you been awake for?" She couldn't help sounding concerned, as she tried to climb onto the barstool, but the metal of her foot slipped off the footrest. Tony put the cloth and pan down and hops around the counter, lifting his daughter by her sides and sitting her on the barstool. He made a mental note that she had managed to get herself dressed and fit her prosthetic correctly, without needing his assistance.

He didn't intend to make her worry. He replied, putting on his best smile: "Just an hour or so. You know me, I'm an early riser." Placing a kiss on her head, Tony took in the amused look on her face; it seemed to age her, making her seem somewhat older than she was. "Look at you! You fit your leg all by yourself."

Charlotte nodded, a proud smile on her face, "I told you I could do it now! Mom said that I was a big girl, for doing it."

Tony gave her a slanted smile. On one hand, he was immensely proud of how well she had adjusted to her handicap, but at the same time, he did not like that she was growing up before his eyes and gaining her own independence.

"Sure you are. Tell you what big girl, since I've cremated this bacon, how about we go out for breakfast?"

༻ ❁ ༺

11:50 AM

They ended up going to Harry's brunch place, it was tiny but homey and Tony really enjoyed his time. There weren't a lot of people here, only other families bringing their children out for a brunch that appeared more involved in themselves, than Tony Stark and his daughter. There were a few looks that Tony tried not to catch, only grateful that these people, including the waiters and owners, valued their privacy.

Tony was hungry, he ended up ordering a turkey sandwich, a plate of waffles, a side of fries, and a coffee on the side. Charlotte ordered a chicken burger with fries, a stack of pancakes, a slice of apple pie, and an orange juice to drink. Their table was covered with plates, and Tony laughed as Charlotte peaked over the top of her stack of pancakes, the girl's eyes widening in delight at the mass of food they were about to glutton themselves on.

When they ate, Tony couldn't help but look at a table where there was a mum, a father, and their son sitting. The boy looked to be older than Charlotte, probably around eleven or twelve, and was happily eating his pancakes. The only times they went out to eat as a family was when his father wanted to make an appearance at a function, Tony couldn't stop seeing himself, which was weird because he couldn't remember a single occasion his parents took him out for breakfast. Tony was always disdainful of activities.

At least he had his mother to keep him company. Had.

When Charlotte stared at her dad to offer him a pancake, she held her tongue when she saw his blank and haunted expression - seeing the boy brought memories that he had burnt a long time before. Not knowing what to do, she merely followed his gaze and stared at the table. Confused, she wanted to speak up to get his attention; she tugged at her dad's arm. "Dad? Are you okay?" she asked timidly.

As he was abruptly pulled back to reality, Tony's body jolted, eye-widened, staring at his daughter. He said, sitting back on his chair to give her a look, "I'm fine sweetie, I was just thinking about you." Apparently, he was going for a false scowl, and Tony realized that he was doing so because she decided not to grin at him, "I'm serious. This is my serious face."

Thinking she had actually done something wrong and was in trouble, Charlotte shrunk back into her seat, clutching her cup of juice in her hands.

"You're growing up. I told you not to do that, remember? I specifically ordered you not to do that." He politely scolded her, still struggling to hang on to his scowl.

Charlotte started giggling as she saw the faintest hint of a smile creep onto her dad's face. She swung her legs happily under the table and stuck out her tongue in her dad's direction.