Godfather Tony

Chapter 25: Thanos? Who's He?

A/N at the end so you can just start reading. Enjoy! (and sorry!)

Tony's POV

"Come back here!" I shout as I chase after my five-year-old daughter, Morgan.

She sticks out her tongue and says, "Catch me if you ca-" Her words are cut short as she collides with a pair of legs. The legs stop in their tracks and turn to face Morgan as she groans and rubs her head.

"Well what do we have here?" the owner of the legs says. "Why is it a tiny little baby!"

"I'm not a baby," Morgan mumbles as she looks up to meet Percy's sea-green eyes.

"Are you sure? Because you look like a baby to me. Look! I can even carry you like one!" he exclaims before picking her up and holding her like aー you guessed itー a baby. She squeals in surprise but then she starts to giggle as Percy spins her around. I chuckle at the sight before I remember why I started to chase her in the first place.

"Put her down Percy," I say. "She still needs to get ready for school."

He looks at me with those darn baby seal eyes. "But Mechy..."

"No 'buts', she needs to go to school. Put her down."

"But Daddy," Morgan protests. "I don't wanna go..."

Percy chuckles a bit before saying, "He's right Cricket, you got to go to school."

"But whyyyyyyyyy???????" Morgan whines as she dramatically throws her head back.

"So you can get smart!" I answer.

"But I'm already smart!" she protests.

"Yeah, but you can get even smarter! And besides, you wouldn't want to abandon your friends, right?" Percy reasons.

Morgan gasps. "My friends! I promised Camilla I would sit with her today!"

"Exactly!" Percy exclaims, pretending to act just as alarmed as his niece. " Now if you can get ready in ten minutes I'll drive you to school, how does that sound?"

Morgan only nods as she wriggles out of Percy's grasp and dashes to her room. I stare at him in awe at how quickly he convinced her to go to school, a task that normally takes me half an hour.

"How did you do that? Y'know, sometimes I think you do this whole 'parenting thing' better than I do," I chuckle as I walk over to him.

Percy shoves his hands in his pockets and shrugs. "It's a gift." He seems casual enough, but if you listen carefully, and know him well enough, you can hear the pain laced in his voice and the sadness lingering in his eyes. I instantly go into 'Dad Mode'.

I place a hand on his shoulder and ask, "Hey what's wrong?"

He shrugs it off. "It's nothing."

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Kid, I've known you your entire life. I know when something's up."

He stays quiet for a moment before he sighs and says, "It's just that... When I see you and Pepper with Morgan. Or Clint and Laura, with their kids. Or Nat and Bucky with Micheal (Yes, you read it right. It's WinterWidow and their baby... who I made up). I just... feel kinda... lonely. I know, I know, I'm only twenty-four but I can't help but feel so... empty about the fact that I haven't found 'The One'. Heck, all my friends are married or planning to be. All of them have found someone. So where does that leave me?"

My eyes soften in sympathy, I know this feeling all too well. I remember my playboy days, when I slept with any woman I laid my eyes on. I clearly remember that feeling after each one night stand of... emptiness. That I hadn't found the woman that would be by my side every morning that I woke up.