TONY WAS TRYING VERY HARD TO BE A GOOD DAD. He didn't quite use that word, since it sent him spiraling down a rabbit hole of thoughts he was not ready to commit to just yet, but the principle was the same, and he figured the best way to do that was to get fully immersed in the familial experience.

So, of course, his first order of business was winning over the robots.

"Alright, Roomba," he said, sitting in front of the dormant circular cleaning device, "So I know we haven't really gotten to know each other very well, but I figured that since I've been frequenting this place more and more, we should get to know each other, find some common ground."

The Roomba just continued to sit in its sleep mode.

He sighed, rising to his feet. "BUDDY, where are you?"

Tony expected to hear the sound of BUDDY coming out of his sleep mode, expanding and powering up, then answering him, but, instead, he just heard the sound of shuffling before a door opened, the Australian accent filling the room.

"I was in Remy's room, how can I help you, Mr. Stark?" BUDDY asked, moving to sit on the couch.

Tony blinked. "Does Remy not shut you down?"

BUDDY shook his head. "We set up a program where I will go to sleep if I need to charge my battery, but I'm free to wander and roam even if he's not around. I clean his room and help mom with laundry, and I knit clothes."

Tony blinked. "You're really part of the family, huh?"

BUDDY nodded as best he could. "As much as you are."

This robot was going to take over the world with its smooth talking alone, and Tony was both flattered, proud, and terrified all that once.

"Do you need a hug, Mr. Stark?" BUDDY asked, "I'm trying to process your expression, but it doesn't seem to be the correct one. Are you confused or in pain?"

Tony shrugged, dropping onto the couch, shaking his head. "I'm trying my best."

BUDDY moved to sit next to him, patting his head. "I'm proud of you, Mr. Stark, life can be incredibly difficult, and you trying is already indicative of your success, regardless of the outcomes."

Tony scoffed, moving so he was leaning against the robot. "Why are you talking formal to me, I know you talk normal to the kid. Who are you, Thor?"

BUDDY paused for a moment. "Do you miss Thor? Because I have listened to recordings of his voice, and I sound incredibly similar to him."

Tony shook his head, jumping to his feet. "I am not gonna cry to you about my feelings, that was never part of the plan and it isn't going to be. Look, I'm just trying to integrate myself into the Walsh family, and I figured you'd be the first and easiest to go to."

BUDDY paused. "Mr. Stark, you were always a part of the family. Just like I am, and Roomba." He leaned down to pat the robot on the head, and it woke up from its dormant state for a brief moment to make a humming sound before going back to sleep.

Tony stared, horrified. "Oh God, not again. Where's Banner, I need comforting."

BUDDY made a sound that seemed like a sigh, shuffling over to Tony and pulling him into a hug, raising his temperature so he could synthesize that of an actual person hugging Tony, and the man sighed, leaning into the warmth.

"I should probably go try and win over the sister and the best friend, huh," Tony sighed, reluctantly pulling away from BUDDY, "And the cousin and the other best friend."

"I don't think you have to try," BUDDY said, but Tony was already heading out the door, calling out a swift goodbye before leaving the robot alone.

"Good luck, Mr. Stark," BUDDY said to the empty room.

º º º

Jayne wasn't there to support Birdie as she had to prepare her own case for her trial the next day, so Tony caught her at a perfect and awful time.

"Be glad you brought me coffee," the blonde said menacingly, happily taking the large coffee from his hands, barely paying him any mind as he took a seat across from her, "Birdie isn't here."

"I know," he said, "I came here for you."

She raised her eyes up to meet his, clearly suspicious and slightly disinterested. "I'm married and you have Birdie."

He snorted, shaking his head, leaning back in the seat, which was probably too relaxed to gain any love from her. "I'm trying to integrate myself into the family, and I feel like I need to get your approval and love in order to do anything. So please love me."

Jayne laughed at that, finally fully looking up from her work. "Let's remember that I was the one who introduced you to her all those years ago. You've had my approval since day one, and, for the most part, you haven't done anything to gain my hatred. Except for when you left for three weeks, but you've made up for it."

Tony laughed shortly at that, shaking his head. "Well, that was easier than I thought. But how do I, you know, show that I'm really trying to be a part of this family." He felt his skin crawl as he said that, not out of disgust, but out of discomfort; it was strange to say those words.

Jayne clearly saw that, but didn't say anything, instead just giving him a kind smile. "You've stuck around for this long, Tony, I think that's enough."

He worried on his bottom lip. "I wanna, you know...I'm trying to be..." he waved his hand, trying to let it finish his sentence for him.

Jayne was having way too much fun watching him fidget, but her smile was kind enough that he felt relaxed despite that. "You want to be #1 Dad?"

Tony nodded, wishing he didn't look as helpless as he felt. "I'm trying my best."

She smiled, a real, bright smile, so similar to the one she had given him over Birdie's shoulder that night at the New Year's Eve party when she saw how happy he had made her. "That's all anyone's ever going to ask from you, Tony. And they'll love you for it."

He tilted his head. "And you?"

She hummed, pretending to think. "You need to buy my love. You won my approval, but my love can only be bought."

His lips quirked upwards in a smile. "I don't think that'll be a problem."

º º º

"Hi, Mr. Stark," Marc greeted, bouncing a basketball idly, seeing the man walking towards him, "Remy's finishing a test right now. I didn't know you were picking him up, I thought you tried to distance yourself." The boy looked around at the scarce number of people who were barely paying them any mind.

"Yeah, well, that's kinda why I came to see you, kid. I want you to teach me," the man said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Marc gave him a quizzical look, gaze traveling down to the basketball he was bouncing. "You want me to teach you how to play?"

Tony shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips. "No, kid, I want you to teach me how to win over Remy and his mom."

Marc frowned, now suspicious. "What did you do, Mr. Stark?"

Tony shook his head, adjusting his sunglasses with a short laugh. "Nothing, I'm just trying to be a better father figure, and you seemed to win the family over in about an hour, so I am going to an eleven-year-old child looking for advice, remember this moment, it won't happen again. Please, God."

Marc laughed at that, but caught the ball, just holding it by his side. "Mr. Stark, I don't think you have to win them over to be the best dad. I won them over by being myself, they liked me. They like you. If you are trying to win me over, you don't have to try."

Tony rubbed his temples. "Since I'm trying to play dad, I figured I'd win over everyone that's really important and connected to them. Remy really likes you."

Marc's cheeks dusted pink as he smiled. "He's my best friend, I would hope he really likes me."

Tony smiled. "Speaking of, do you know where Ethan is? If there's anyone I have to win over to be accepted, that's him."

Marc nodded, almost sympathetically. "Good luck. I think he's—oh, there he is."

Tony turned to see Ethan walking out the building with his mothers and Remy close by. He wasn't sure if he could count it as a blessing or not, as he could now try to figure out how to show that he was trying, but they were also most likely heading home, and he wasn't in any place to barge in on that.

Though, he was trying to integrate himself into the family, and usually that would mean barging in.

He started to make his way towards them, but paused, turning on his heel and looking at Marc. "Do you have a ride home?"

The boy turned to look at the parking lot, seeing no cars pulling in. "My mom's supposed to be picking me up, but I don't think she took her medication today, so...if she doesn't show up in the next five minutes, I'll just start walking."

He pulled out his phone, handing it to the boy. "Call home, if they don't pick up, leave a voicemail, let them know I'm taking you home. You don't live that far away anyways."

Marc nodded, starting to run towards Ethan and Remy who were starting to leave the school, Tony following close behind because the boy still had his phone, and he really didn't need that getting out into the world.

"Remy!" Marc called out, catching the smaller boy's attention. Marc held up a finger, speaking into the phone in French before hanging up and turning back to him. "Where are you going?"

"The park," he replied, and he glanced over towards his aunts, clearly wanting to ask if the boy could join, but Marc beat him to the punch, but not in the way anyone was expecting.

"Mr. Stark's going to drive me home, but can he meet up with all of you afterwards?" Marc asked, and Tony felt like a boy who had been too shy to ask to play with someone, so he had to have his father ask, it was incredibly embarrassing.

Treshelle must have caught that from his expression because she laughed, not unkindly, and nodded. "Of course, Tony, you're family, here's the address."

Treshelle was his favorite and no one could change that.

"See you later," Marc called out, racing towards the ball basket in front of one of the classrooms, placing the basketball in his arms inside before grabbing his bag that was resting on the picnic tables under the canopy.

"Bye, Marc!" Remy called out, smiling brightly over at Tony who followed the boy to the parking lot, waving at the family from over his shoulder.

The two climbed into the car, Marc placing his backpack on his lap, as if too afraid to dirty up the car with it, so Tony just took it and placed it at the boy's feet. As they backed out of the parking lot—Tony making sure that the kid buckled up and was actually tall enough to even be in the front seat—he decided to speak.

"Thanks for that," he said, making sure his tone was sincere, "That helped."

Marc smiled. "No problem, Mr. Stark."

They reached the boy's home not too long later, and Tony debated on whether it would be more polite to walk the boy to the door or just wait for him to get inside. He figured on the latter, and just watched Marc pull a key out of his backpack and enter his house, pausing to give the man a tired smile and a small wave.

He returned the gestures, though he had to wonder if the boy was going to be okay. But it wasn't his place to pry, so he just hoped that everything would be okay as he started towards the park.

º º º

"Tony, you gave us enough money to send Ethan to school, you don't need to try and win us over," Wilma said, turning to look at him.

All three adults were sitting on a bench, watching the two boys go around the park, Ethan having found some of his friends—he probably texted them, but his mothers tried not to think too deep into it—and Remy tagging along.

"I think what he wants is to know that he's accepted into the family," Treshelle said, leaning over to look at Tony, giving him a kind smile, "Tony, what I think you need to understand is that to integrate yourself into a family, you just need to spend time with them. Sure, you can win them over, but that's more superficial, it's all centered around one or a few actions, not you as a whole. But you've been here for a while, our family knows you, we like you, so it's not a matter of you winning us over, but proving that you're going to be good to Birdie and Remy, because we love you as a person already, not just as Tony Stark, but you just need to keep showing it."

Tony licked his lips, a warm feeling in his chest, but also a pang of uncertainty. "I don't know what I'm doing. I'm trying, but I don't know."

"No one knows," Wilma sighed, shaking her head, "Trust me. We just try and hope that what we do works. Some of us are lucky that we have someone else to help us along, be good parents, others take care of their kids on their own and might do a better job than a two person team, for Birdie she gets help from Jayne and us—it's all about trying your best and hoping that you did something right."

Tony sighed. "I feel like my entire life has been me trying my best and everyone hating me for not doing better."

Wilma reached out and patted his knee. "That's what it's like to be raising a teenager. But there are people who appreciate that you try, and as of now, Birdie and Remy love you for just staying."

Tony turned back towards the boys, sitting up straight when he didn't see Remy with Ethan and his friends. After sharing a quick look with the women, he jumped to his feet, immediately searching the park for Remy, his heart pounding as his mind immediately assaulted him with thoughts and images of what could have happened.

But, of course, Remy was just sitting by himself on the grass.

"Kid," he called out, jogging towards him, sighing with relief, "Why'd you run off, kid, you gotta tell us where you're going."

Remy looked up from where he was making a small daisy chain, his hands moving even as he spoke to Tony, "I didn't think it mattered, I mean, I'm just over here."

Tony stood over him for a moment before deciding to make some sacrifices, moving to sit down on the grass, despite wearing really nice pants; he had to wonder why he chose to wear them that day, as he hardly ever wore any of his non-civilian clothes when not at meetings, but maybe he wanted to dress to impress.

"Why'd you come over here anyways, Ethan and his friends are over there," he asked, plucking a few daisies and trying to mimic Remy.

The boy moved so Tony could clearly see how to weave them in, scoffing. "That's why I moved. His friends don't like me, and he doesn't really want me around when they're around."

Tony frowned, remembering how Ethan had helped Remy that day when he and Rhodey went to go spy on their school, and also the threatening looks the boy kept giving him whenever he was around. "Ethan really cares about you."

"I know he does, just not when his friends are around," Remy sighed, his hands tightening around his daisy chain, "And I get it, okay, I actually have a friend now, so I get it, it just sucks sometimes, because I came here to hang out with Ethan, that was our plan, not just mine, but then he texted his friends and then they showed up, and so it just sucks. I could've just gone home and played with BUDDY, but he was the one who said we should come here at all."

Tony frowned, glancing over towards the group of older boys. "Want me to talk to them?"

"No!" Remy cried, "No, that's the worst thing you can do, I don't want to force them to hang out with me. I'm just sad, okay, I'll get over it. Besides, you're here, so I'm fine."

Tony perked up at that, surprised. "Oh. Well, what do you want to do?"

Remy moved so he was leaning against Tony's leg, continuing to make his chain. "Tell me about the fun stuff you did with the Avengers. Not any of the battles or whatever, but what you did when you weren't fighting, like the normal stuff."

Tony paused for a moment, unsure if he even wanted to go down that route. But sometimes he had to make sacrifices, and maybe this would help him as well. He would just have to try and hope for the best.

"Sam Wilson, The Falcon, put bluetooth speakers in every single room..."

º º º

When it was finally time for them to head home, Remy decided to head home with Tony, since he would have someone to stay with him at home while his mom was at work. As they headed towards the car, Tony paused for a moment, walking over to talk to Ethan.

He wasn't about to chew out the kid, despite what he felt when he was heading over. Birdie had told him about how she hated when she heard about other parents telling off their kids' friends, because it wasn't in that parent's place to treat that kid like their own, because that wasn't their place. So he wasn't going to chew out Ethan, he just wanted to talk.

He could have phrased that better.

When he approached the boy, the thirteen-year-old immediately said, "Why're you always around all of a sudden. I mean, I'm glad you've been trying, since that's gonna be better, but what's going on?"

Tony frowned. "You act like I'm gonna hurt him, but so far, as of recently, the only one who's hurt him is you."

Ethan glared at him. "Dude, I have no idea what you're—"

"You invited him to hang out, but then left him for your friends," Tony interrupted, "I'm not telling you what you can and can't do, but I'm telling you that that wasn't the best decision. And I'm hanging around more, because I figured that I might as well be a father figure since that's the only thing I'm really missing out on right now."

Ethan just stared at him for a moment. "You're trying to be his dad?"

Tony nodded. "You didn't want me to hurt them, so I'm sticking around. I'm trying my best, and so are your moms, so cut us some slack."

Ethan just stared at him for a moment, then looked over at his mothers, then over at his cousin. After a moment, he nodded, almost like a truce. He looked ready to say something, but stopped, as if he was unsure whether to say it.

"We good?" Tony finally asked, needing to fill the silence.

Ethan caught onto that and gave him a small smile. "Yeah, man. You're off the hook, but I'm still watching you."

Tony smiled. "What else would I expect?"

With that, the two headed off to their respective cars, and respective families, all of them waving and saying goodbye before heading off on their separate ways.

Tony watched Remy jump into the front seat and, after careful consideration, said, "You need to sit in the back, I don't think you're tall enough to sit in the front."

Remy stared at him, shocked, but did as he was told, huffing and puffing as he did. Tony climbed into the driver's seat and headed back home. He figured he might as well try to get dinner started, texting Birdie that she wouldn't have to worry, glancing over at Remy from the rearview mirror.

He was trying. Hopefully, that was enough.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I had wanted this chapter to be more of Tony spending time with Birdie and Remy, but I think there was some merit in him going around the way he did, so I hope you guys were okay with that. I know I haven't plainly shown it, but I have stated that Tony and Birdie do spend a lot of time together, and I just want you guys to keep that in mind, because they sleep in the same bed now and he rarely ever goes to the facility at this point, unless its for work.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!