Adventures in Babysitting ↠ Peter Parker [1] ✓

14 | Second Chance

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ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING
xiv. SECOND CHANCE

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   TONY STARK WAS HAPPY. For the first time in a long time, for the first time arguably ever, Tony Stark was the happiest man alive. Not only that but for the first time in history, he was consecutively happy. There were no breaks in between that involved deaths, wars, and aliens. Tony Stark was a simple man with a simple life, and he was purely happy.

   The foundations of his life had been composed of hardship and trauma. He was born into a world that would do nothing but try time and time again to tear him apart until he was nothing. His father viewed him as a disgrace despite being a child genius, his mother had always been just a little too emotionally blocked, and society as a whole observed his every move in hopes that he would fail to live up to Howard Stark's legacy. The world threw every weapon it owned at him, anticipating the day that Tony Stark finally crumbled in defeat.

   There were times when he wanted to give up, to call it quits. Countless times. Too many times. He always wanted to walk away, yet he never did. Instead, he built suits and shields, he sacrificed his heart, he signed away his father's legacy to his personal assistant, who he later realized is the love of his life. He went from someone the world despised into the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist that everyone adored. He erased his father's legacy and created his own. He became an Avenger. He became a father, a friend. He became the universe's hero.

   After persevering in wars that were once thought to be everlasting, he finally achieved happiness. It wasn't easy, God it wasn't easy. But he did it. He finally did it. While it didn't come without trauma, limitless anxiety, PTSD, and life-changing loss, the nightmares that beckoned his everyday life finally escaped back into his dreams.

   Occasionally, Tony would ask himself: Was it all worth it in the end? Was it worth the trauma and the nightmares? Was it worth the fear that would never quite fade away? Was it worth losing your first child and one of your oldest friends? Was it worth losing the kid? Was it worth losing friends you'd known for years and came to consider your family?

   Sometimes, it wasn't worth it. There was nothing in this world that could mend the rips in his heart after the amount of shredding it had endured. But then he'd see her.

   "If you don't have to eat them, then why should I?" 5-year-old Morgan Stark whined, sitting at the table before her parents. She poked at the green vegetables on her plate with her tiny hand.