Pumpkin- Tony Stark

Eighteen

When Tony turned Eighteen, he woke up with a searing feeling on his arm. He jolted out of bed, still half sleep deprived from studying all night for MIT exams and flipped the light to his bathroom on. Rubbing the sleep that had collected in his eyes out, he saw the black cursive writing of the name of the soulmate he'd have.

Not the actual name, but the animal name. The name that he would call you until the bond between the two of you was strong enough that you would become a human again.

𝒫𝓊𝓂𝓅𝓀𝒾𝓃

He felt a slight disappointment. But then again, names seemed very limited when it came to animals. He shrugged it off, fixing his hair half-heartedly in the mirror and then decided he might as well head downstairs since he was already up.

"Morning sweetheart." Maria Stark said as he entered the kitchen. Breakfast was already prepared, coffee boiling in the coffee pot and bacon sizzling on the stove. "I've already set a plate out for you this morning. Happy birthday."

"Thanks Mom." He said and was slightly surprised to see that his father was sitting in the chair at the head of the table. "Morning dad."

"Morning." Howard Stark said, folding his newspaper down and taking a good look at his son. "I see you're still human."

"Howard." Maria patronized, coming into the room with the rest of the bacon. She looked at Tony. "Now, what's the name of your soulmate?"

"Pumpkin." He replied with a sigh. "It sounds like a dog name."

"I was thinking a cat." Howard said and Tony was surprised once again to see that his father actually had a real smile on his face. He caught Tony's look and said simply. "Your mother was a cat. A beautiful white cat with fluffy fur."

"Okay, okay." Tony said quickly, not really wanting to hear anything about it. His mother laughed, ruffling his hair and her and Howard kissed which surprised Tony for the third time today. They rarely showed affection in front of him, though they weren't entirely discreate at night.

Howard suddenly chuckled, "Bet you'll invent time travel son."

"Huh?" Tony asked confused. Maria smacked Howard in the back of the head with a newspaper.

Howard just smiled a secret smile.

"Well, I'm sure you'll meet her soon." Maria said as she sat down at the table herself. "You'll know when she turns."

Tony just nodded.

Three more years passed and his parents died in a car accident. He still did not have his soulmate by his side.

Then he got kidnapped in Afghanistan, fearing for his life. He still had not felt his soulmate and by this time, he was twenty eight and already more than ten years older than his soulmate. He'd become a notorious playboy by this time, flinging around with girls who didn't take the time to get to know their animal soulmate, or perhaps were some of the rare few who didn't have a soulmate period.

Then when he'd gotten back from Afghanistan, when he was supposed to be recuperating with Pepper and Happy's help, he felt this swooping sensation. It was one of the best feelings in his entire life, but there was also a melancholy edge to it.

He also felt as though his entire body was being brushed against with a soft, fluffy fur and he was almost certain this his father would be correct about his soulmate being a cat.

Cats were pretty cool animals. They would be fun to play with and cuddle with. But they could also get themselves around a lot of places.

Tony could feel the string pulling the two of them together, but as he wasn't allowed to leave the house, he could only wait until his soulmate came to him. Eventually, the thread snapped and he could hear Pepper moving around downstairs.