TIME HAD PASSED AND TONY WAS NOW FEELING AS THOUGH HE WAS STARTING TO GET THE HANG OF THINGS. Since having those conversations with the people in the Walsh's lives and coming to terms with the fact that he couldn't guarantee himself to be the best father figure in the world, he was starting to be pretty okay with his new role, and the Walsh's had started to notice.

"Remy's going to be interviewing my parents tonight about them and his 'ancestors' for his family tree project, so you don't have to worry about picking him up," Birdie said, the two working around the kitchen, Tony making coffee and she making breakfast.

"That'll be fun, he was complaining about that to me while we were waiting for you to get home," he replied, dropping ice into the coffee despite Birdie hating how it would melt and make it more watery; he tended to make her coffee more strong so she wouldn't notice it as much.

"Any plans today, you mentioned that you might have a meeting with Rhodey about some developments on the Accords and other news?" Birdie asked, leaning against the counter, eyeing the clock for when she usually had to start calling Remy because he ignored BUDDY's alarm.

He nodded, moving so he was standing in front of her, reaching out to play with the beads on her cardigan. "Yeah, it's gonna be...a time. Hopefully it won't run on too long, and if it does I'll just do something obnoxious until they all leave."

She laughed, but caught herself, giving him a stern look, lightly smacking his arm. "Don't do that, these are important people with very important, busy lives."

"I'm an important person with a very important, busy life!" he cried, grinning when she started to laugh, "I know that you think I just sit on your couch, eat your ice cream, and use your TV, but I actually do stuff at the facility, I just don't want to bore you with the details."

She scoffed, moving away from him to go set the table. "Okay, Tony."

He followed her closely, trying to get her attention. "I'm serious, Elizabeth, there is intense stuff that happens at the facility, I would tell you, but your feeble womanly lawyer mind wouldn't be able to take it."

She turned on her heel to silently look at him and he raised his hands. "That was a joke."

Nodding, she turned right back and around and continued to set the table, Tony still trying to catch her attention, finally able to drop his chin onto her shoulder and watch her rearrange the plates and food the way she wanted, his arms wrapped lightly around her waist.

"You're incredibly clingy while you sleep, you know that?" she jabbed lightly, but there was something in her tone that let him know she understood why, and so he just hid his face in the crook of her neck instead of replying.

After a few moments of just standing there, Birdie sighed heavily and he lifted his head, frowning. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "No, I just...I have a meeting, I guess you could call it, today, and I think it's necessary, but I'm not rushing to get to it. Does that make sense?"

He nodded, reaching out to try and get her to turn around to face him. When she finally relented, she gave him a small smile, trying to clear the air, but he just looked at her, still holding her close.

"You'll be fine," he said, "Despite what you, and probably everyone who doesn't know you, including me at first, thinks, you're a very scary, assertive person and even if the meeting is awful, you'll make sure that it ends with something you're happy with. If not, I'll drop in with the suit, do a little intimidating. Text me if that happens, maybe I can get out of my meeting."

She laughed, shaking her head and reaching up, snaking her arms up to hug him, standing on her tiptoes, and Tony couldn't help but grin, because she was shorter than him and didn't wear high heels indoors.

"Can we not? Please?"

The two turned to see Remy staring at them with disinterest and slight disgust, his hair sticking up at all ends as he sat down, immediately reaching for the food, BUDDY shuffling in a few moments later with a blanket, draping it around the boy's shoulders.

"He's getting sick," the robot explained, and Tony couldn't help but hear Thor—ever since BUDDY had brought it up, he couldn't help but hear it, "He has until at most two days before he's going to be stuck in bed."

"Thank you, BUDDY," Birdie said, already planning to get medicine and soup.

"No problem, mom," BUDDY replied before heading to the couch, pulling out his knitting and starting on the shawl he had been working on.

Tony pointed to him with wide eyes, whispering quickly, "Do you not see how terrifying that is? I didn't program him to be able to check temperature—no wait I did. I didn't program him to know how to knit!"

"He's an AI, Tony, he learns and picks up things, and you had made the BUDDY AI's adapt and learn as they continued to interact with their owner, it all makes sense," Birdie reasoned, motioning for him to sit, throwing the ice in her coffee in the sink, glad that it was still pretty warm.

Tony sighed and took his seat at the head of the table, glancing over his shoulder at BUDDY who turned and wave. "I didn't plan on making something that could learn how to kill its owners if it got upset."

"I don't see us as BUDDY's owners, I think we're all just friends," Remy pointed out, taking a bite of his egg, "You know, we're a family, he's like my older brother who just recently got a body and is all blue."

Tony rubbed his temples. "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that, I have a meeting today, I don't need a headache beforehand."

Birdie placed a packet of ibuprofen in front of him, groaning when she turned to get him water, only to hear him drink two pills with his coffee. Sighing, she just sat down, starting to eat herself, telling the man to eat as well.

"Tony," Remy said carefully, as they were all starting to finish, "Don't choke, okay?"

Tony swallowed his food, clearing his throat. "Lay it on me, kid."

Remy took a small breath. "The results will be ready this afternoon. You gotta go pick them up."

Tony choked.

Birdie hit his back roughly, telling him to just and breathe, Remy shouting at him because he told him not to choke, what did he tell him, honestly, Tony.

"I'm okay," the man coughed, taking a sip of his coffee, "I'm okay. Okay, kid, I'll go pick them up after my meeting."

"Okay," Remy said lightly, heading towards his room to get ready, "Cool. I'm going to grandma and grandpa's tonight, so you can just give them to me tomorrow, I need to get started on my report, everyone's already started."

"Don't procrastinate, kid," Tony called after him, and Remy only gave a small sigh instead of a loud groan; by this point, Remy had accepted that Tony wasn't going to be the cool uncle, but the semi-cool dad.

When he turned back to Birdie, she was giving him a small smile. "You know, I can be the one to remind him to be responsible, you don't have to do that."

He shook his head. "This is a team effort. Or so that one book told me, I only ever watch the YouTube videos from that single mom, she's great, have you seen them?"

She laughed, standing to go get ready for work. "No, but you can show them to me tonight, okay? Now get going before you end up going to the meeting in my Hello Kitty pajamas."

Tony looked down at the bottoms he was wearing, shrugging. "I've worn stranger."

She laughed again, and that sound always made him smile. "You should just bring some of your clothes here, I have a lot of empty space. If you want," she rushed to add, seeing his smile falter at the mention of having his own drawer.

He swallowed thickly, genuinely wondering if that made him happy or terrified him. Maybe a bit of both. But he had promised not to run away again, so he just smiled and promised to be home later, heading towards the door.

"Good luck with your meeting," he finished, closing the door behind him.

Birdie took a deep breath, staring at the door. "You too."

º º º

"It's been a while."

Birdie smiled tightly down at her coffee, nodding. "It has."

"Last time you saw me, I got a glass thrown at my head and I found out you had left me for a rich billionaire."

She snapped her head up to glare at him. "I heard you moved on to some girl half your age, but God forbid I decide to try and be happy after you left me."

Mark gave her a small smile that filled her chest with rage, and shrugged, leaning back in his seat. "I wasn't the one who lied to her husband about the son they raised that wasn't his."

"I didn't know!" she cried, attracting a few looks from others outside the cafe, "How many times do I have to say it, I didn't know. And it doesn't matter if he's not your blood, you were his father. And a damn fine job you did, he thinks he's stupid."

"How is that my fault?" Mark scoffed, shaking his head, "Honestly, Birdie, you've always been so dramatic."

She clenched her fists, forcing herself to find some semblance calm. "Do you hear yourself right now? You never even gave him a reason, he thinks he's the stupidest person in the world, but he's the smartest boy you're ever going to meet, and he has such deep seated abandonment issues, and all these other awful things because you got in his head and twisted him."

"I wasn't the one who decided to give him meds for something he should have just gotten over," he replied with a condescending smile.

"You're a surgeon, use your brain!" she screamed, "He has a behavioral disorder, a psychiatric disorder. It could even be described as a mental illness because it affects his mood, he can't just get over that. And he doesn't even take his medication anymore, but not because it's better for him, but because you got it in his head that they're awful. You're a surgeon, you went to med school."

He shrugged. "But you wouldn't listen to me."

"Yeah," she scoffed, "Because you're a moron who psychologically abused our son!"

"Oh, come off it," he cried, "Psychologically abused—what do you know about abuse?"

"What do I know?" she whispered, everything coming crashing down and leaving nothing but white noise in her ears, "What do I know? What do I know about being hurt by a person I trusted, a person who was supposed to support me? To treat me right, to love me, not use me? To make sure I didn't feel like a disgusting piece of trash every time I woke up in the morning—What do I know? I know more than you were ever willing to hear."

Mark had stopped smiling at this point, now looking incredibly concerned, watching Birdie cry right in front of him. Birdie didn't cry, especially not in public. He rushed around to her side of the table, reaching out to touch her, but she slapped his hand away.

"You don't get to do that anymore!" she screamed, "You don't get to hurt us anymore! I get that you were hurt and confused, but you never listen! If you did, you'd know that I didn't cheat on you!"

He just stared at her, shaking his head. "Birdie...would you listen to me?"

She scoffed. "All I ever did was listen to you, you don't get to ask that of me."

"Look," he said, and she listened anyways, wiping at her tears angrily, "You know that I—You know that we weren't working out, we hadn't been for years. I liked the idea of being married and having a kid and you liked the idea of not being alone, but neither of us got what we wanted."

"Wow, you actually said something right," she said, and she was instantly reminded of Remy; looks like he had gotten that from her.

Mark rolled his eyes, but he didn't look all that upset. "You know I loved you Birdie. You just never loved me as much as I did."

She scoffed. "You didn't understand love, Mark. You still don't."

He pulled up his chair to face her, holding out his hands. "Alright. Educate me then."

She looked at him for a moment, as if expecting him to laugh in her face, but he just motioned for her to speak. So she did. "Love isn't just about feeling something, about feeling your heart soar and the butterflies and the love. It's an action. Because when people say the love dies, they see it as if they're getting tired of passing the ball back and forth in this endless game, and wondering why they just don't stop.

"But that's not when the love dies. That's when it starts to be realistic, when it starts growing up. Because real love is when somedays you just want to stop playing the game, to go off and play another, or just stop entirely, or just take a break, but you keep tossing the ball back and forth, because you care enough to keep playing even when you don't understand the point. I kept playing the game after you left Mark. I didn't realize you weren't just taking a break."

Mark stared at her for a moment, then down at his hands. "I'm sorry."

She sniffed, wiping at her eyes. "I did everything to try to make sure Remy loved you still. I just hoped that maybe you'd get better and he'd still have you in his life and he wouldn't be holding all this hatred, because I loved you Mark. I still do. Just not in the same way anymore."

He lifted his head, staring at her helplessly. "What do you mean, you tried to do everything?"

She laughed bitterly. "I told him that you were the one who paid for everything, when it was my parents, because I wanted him to think you still cared. I deleted that picture you sent of you on Halloween dressed as Captain America to mock him because that was just mean, I don't care if you were drunk."

He stared at her. "Why? Why would you do that?"

She leaned forward, making sure he understood exactly what she was saying. "Because that's what love is. It's making sacrifices, it's doing everything you can even when you're tired or you think you're gonna fail, it's giving a damn to put your own feelings aside every once in a while. That's love."

The two fell into a tense silence for a few minutes and Birdie just stared at her coffee cup with tears in her eyes, and Mark stared at his hands with regret and guilt in his heart, and the two both remembered how their fights always ended, both of them looking at each other at the same time.

Birdie shook her head. "You know what the worst part is?"

"What?" Mark asked softly.

She laughed. "I still miss you. I don't love you anymore, but I miss you. I still want you in my life—in Remy's life—but that can't happen because you won't change. And you never listen."

He snorted, shaking his head and turning away. "Yeah. 'Cause I'm an asshole."

Birdie sighed softly, remembering all the times she had met the people in Mark's life, all the times he had told her about his childhood, even if he had never asked her about her own, remembered all the anger, all the resentment.

She turned to look at him. "You're not an asshole, Mark. You're just trying so hard to be."

He sighed, looking back at her. "Can we try again? I mean, not from the beginning, but I can try to get better, maybe actually do some good. That something we can do?"

She gave him a small smile. "It's all I've wanted. And I've never had a problem with second chances, so I don't see why not."

º º º

Tony had a headache when he went to get the results, and had been forced to sit in the waiting room for over an hour, listening to the sound of the clock ticking every second and avoiding all eye contact with the people around him who were either just as nervous, or were dealing with their nervousness by prying into the lives of the others around them, landing on him with surprise and suspicion. His headache was excruciating, and what he was told once he was called in did not help it in the slightest.

"I'm sorry. What?" he breathed, wishing he had taken another painkiller before making his way to the lab, rubbing at his temples for a variety of reasons.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark," the woman said, clearly sounding remorseful despite having done nothing wrong, "We tested both you and your wife's DNA. Your son is...is not yours. Biologically."

He took a deep breath, rubbing his face and taking the results from her, stumbling towards the exit and out into the waiting room. "Thank you."

"Mr. Stark," she called out, stopping him. He turned to look at her and she gave him an encouraging smile. "This doesn't change anything. It's going to be okay. Just try and communicate."

He gave her a pursed smile. "Thank you."

With that, Tony stumbled out down the hallway, making his way to the waiting room on the other side of the door, his heart pounding and his head spinning. They had made it clear that this wouldn't change anything, yet he couldn't help but feel like it had changed everything.

He pushed open the doors, his gaze landing on a familiar figure waiting for him.

He made his way over to the seat, staring down at the boy who just looked up at him with a neutral stare, his eyes betraying the apology he was trying to hide.

"You knew," Tony said, less of a question and more of a statement, "This whole time. You knew."

Ethan shrugged and nodded. "It all makes sense once you think about it."

"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked, still standing above him, as if sitting down would cause him to break entirely, break from the sheer weight of what he had just learned, not just from the lab, but also from his meeting.

Ethan shrugged again. "I read in class one day that the full saying of 'blood is thicker than water' is 'blood of the covenant is thicker than water of the womb.' It means that the connections you choose to make are stronger than the connections you were born into. My moms adopted me, but they're my moms. And just 'cause you're not Remy's dad doesn't mean that you can't be. He doesn't really get it yet, 'cause Mark ruined that for him, so I wasn't gonna ruin that for you guys. But I knew."

Tony licked his lips. "Is that why you wanted me to stay away?"

Ethan shook his head. "No. I wanted you to stay away for good 'cause I figured you'd just hurt them more if you left again. But I don't think you're gonna leave, so I didn't want to give you another reason by telling you this."

He gave the man a stern look, catching his gaze. "You can't leave them because of this. You can't do that to them. They can't handle it."

Tony simply sighed. "I know."

º º º

Tony found Birdie already in bed, texting Mark, though he didn't know it was him. He had gone for an incredibly long drive and had consulted the many people in his life who had told him to take the test, trying to get their input, despite already having a decision in mind.

He placed his stack of clothes on top of the dresser, figuring that he could sort them all out in the morning. Right now, he just wanted to rest.

Birdie looked up from her phone, setting it aside and looking at him with a sad, but encouraging smile. He climbed into bed next to her and sighed heavily, his back aching as he finally relaxed.

"I think you know what I learned," he said, turning to look at her.

She nodded. "I do."

"How long have you known?" he asked, moving to lie down so he was facing her, she doing the same.

She laughed mirthlessly. "Nicky and I were going through my past, how long I had been hurt, and I remembered. It had been years ago and...I mean, they're called repressed memories, they're to keep me safe."

He nodded, shaking his head. "I am so, so sorry."

She swallowed thickly, her eyes watering. "It's okay. He's my son and my son only. I raised him, I loved him, I don't care what the DNA says. Even if he wasn't my blood, he's still my son."

Tony licked his lips. "Do you mind that he's not mine?"

She shook her head, laughing. "Tony, if I had minded, I would have told you to leave when I found out. Tony," she reached out to cup his cheek, "I don't care. You know why?"

He shook his head as well, a hand coming up to cover her own, keeping her hand there. She smiled. "Because Remy loves you. And I love you. And that's what's important."

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes from the sheer weight of her words, feeling himself starting to cry. "I promised you I'd stay."

She nodded, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "I know."

"I'm still gonna stay," he sniffed, pulling her close and dropping his head onto her collar, "If you want me to."

She sighed, running her hands through his hair. "I love you, Tony. Of course I do."

They stayed there for a moment, just holding each other as the night wore on, Tony mumbling his replies as it all began to sink in.

Just as they were finally about to fall asleep, the door to their room opened.

"Mom. Tony. Can I sleep with you tonight? BUDDY's shut off."

Tony and Birdie looked up to see Remy standing there in his pajamas, holding onto one of the stuffed animals Tony had gotten him, having been able to trace the boy's old stuffed snail to the same place it had been given to, untouched and still in the same bag as all the old toys.

"C'mere, kid," Tony said, holding out his arm, motioning for the boy to climb on the bed.

Remy scrambled up quickly, dropping in between Tony and Birdie, settling in easily. Birdie and Tony shared a look over his head, smiling before closing their eyes.

The three all drifted off to sleep not long after that. A strange little family, but a family nonetheless.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I've been waiting this entire story to use this gif, you guys don't even know. Also, the gif up top was one I debated on, but I thought it was a great foreshadowing, don't you?

Wow can you believe it? Also don't call me out about the "insta love" between Birdie and Tony because like...this makes sense.

I don't really have much to say, I think everything is truly self-explanatory so...thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!