FIVE YEARS LATER
'Mummy!'
'What, love?!'
'When Ruby gets here, can we play with FRIDAY?!'
'Ask your father!'
'Daddy!'
'What?!'
'When Ruby gets here, can we play with FRIDAY?!'
'Ask your mother!'
Sue's eyebrow twitched in frustration. The washing machine underneath the sink beeped to signify the end of its cycle and FRIDAY automatically turned it onto the dryer function. While the AI did her chores, Sue finished the last of the manual jobs. Putting away the last of the dishes from the dishwasher, Sue walked around the counter to head into the living room. She grabbed the stack of comic books that were left on the sofa and headed into the hallway, where she dumped them on the staircase.
As if like clockwork, a knock was heard at the door. The woman spun on her heel and grabbed the handle to pull it open. Standing on the porch, was Pepper Potts-Storm and a four-year-old girl. Unlike her professional attire that consisted of pencil skirts and blazers, Pepper was dressed in a white t-shirt and a denim jacket. Her legs were covered by a pair of green pants and her orange hair was in a ponytail while her fringe skimmed against her forehead. The woman wore a warm smile and at the sight of the Storm.
'Hey, Pep,' Sue's eyes moved down to the girl who waited patiently by her mother. 'Hey, Ruby!'
'Hi, Aunty Susan,' the little girl shyly looked up from under her fringe. She pushed the platinum blonde hair away from her eyes that were bright blue and clamped her hands together in front of her. Her mother could be credited for how well-behaved Ruby was, and Sue only wished that she had the same disciplinary skills as Pepper. It was a change from the little girl's cousin, who bounded down the stairs at the sound of the front door opening.
'Come in, guys,' Sue stepped aside, and Pepper stepped through the doorway with Ruby. The owner of the house closed the door behind them just as the bounding footsteps made it into the hallway.
'Hey, Ruby!' the voice chimed loudly.
'Hi, Booker,' Ruby replied in a small voice.
Booker grinned and reached forward to take her hand. He was gentle, but firm before he led her upstairs. The four-year-old boy's brown hair bounced as he thudded up the wooden steps while his cousin did her best to keep up. Sue and Pepper watched as Ruby looked over her shoulder to her mum, who gave a smile of encouragement. They arrived at the next floor before disappearing behind a wall, most likely to Booker's bedroom where FRIDAY would be setting up a game for them.
'She's getting better,' Pepper said while still staring at where the two kids disappeared. 'Coming out of her shell a bit more.'
'Well, Booker needs to go back into his shell,' Sue rolled her eyes and Pepper laughed. 'The kid's a ball of energy, I tell you. I don't know where he gets it from.'
'I assume that Tony was somewhat like that when he was young. I'd say he would be the culprit.'
The two settled in the living room with mugs of tea in their hands. It was slipping into winter and Maine's temperature was dropping by the day. Sue made sure to have some blankets at hand in case they got cold, but FRIDAY always heated the house to a constant state of warmth. They would never have to worry about dampness or drafts.
'Ah, the lounging ladies,' Tony stepped into the room with his hand gripping his own mug. A lazy grin sat on his face as he looked down at the two, who twisted their necks to see the man behind the sofa.
'You didn't let FRIDAY run that shooting game, did you?' Sue asked, the contents of her mug swishing up the sides.
'Yeah?'
'Tony,' Pepper sighed with her eyebrows pinched together. 'That game is awful. Booker's a story of his own, but I know for one that Ruby has nightmares about that game.'
'She loves it,' Tony walked into the kitchen with a shrug of his shoulders. 'She's a great little rifleman. Or woman.'
Pouring out the last of his coffee, Tony fiddled with the sink to clear out the last of the food scraps that had been left in its bowl. Their son had a bad habit of standing on his toes to scrape what was left on his plate into the sink rather than into the rubbish bin. They told him countless times to stop or even to just leave it for them to do, but the boy was stubborn and wanted to be independent. Being four years old and the child of Tony Stark and Susan Storm was a concoction of chaos, but he was still an intelligent child.
Tony Stark looked different from how he did five years ago. His hair had streaks of blonde, which he dyed to cover the grey that was taking over his dark locks. His facial hair was patchy, the perfectly styled edges grown out due to the lack of proper maintenance. At one stage, Tony wouldn't go a week without making sure his beard was shaped into its iconic look. But being a father in an isolated Maine forest had brought new habits and new priorities.
His attire had also changed. Woolen pullovers and comfortable sweats were his every day. When they needed to go into town, his pants would change to some jeans and sneakers. But comfort was his main priority and band t-shirts had become a rarity on his torso. Tony had embraced the dad look and he was proud of it.
'I'll be in the garage,' Tony announced, walking through the living room. He passed the sofa and leaned down to press a kiss onto the crown of Sue's head. She looked up once he pulled away and beamed up at him, which he returned with a similar look. He glanced at Pepper, who narrowed her eyes. The old friends communicated wordlessly, and Tony turned away, heading into the hallway and off to the garage.
There was silence in the living room. The rustle of trees slinked in through the open window next to the TV and a beep sounded from the kitchen where the dryer finished its cycle. Sue didn't mind the quiet. She spent most of her days in the house's silence. She found it therapeutic and found it allowed her to focus on the things she found comfort in. However, it took time to learn this form of meditation. It wasn't without struggle and in the beginning, there were moments where Tony found her staring off into space with tears in her eyes.
'Honey?' he would call, and she would snap back into reality.
'O-Oh, hey, sorry,' she would frantically grab at things to appear as if she had something else to attend to. But Tony would see that something had shaken her. It wasn't hard to see that Susan thought of Morgan constantly. The little girl sat at the back of her mind most days, and when Sue fell into her thoughts, her daughter was all she could see.
But then the unexpected happened. Sue found she was pregnant again months after the blip. Booker was born at the closest hospital in Maine and was welcomed whole-heartedly by the two. At the absence of their first daughter, they took Booker's arrival as a sign. Morgan could never be replaced, but Booker brought them the light that they needed to overcome their loss.
Booker was the spitting image of Sue. Tony made sure that she knew that every day. His face was heart-shaped, and his eyes held the sparkle that Sue's often did. Tony insisted that Booker was Sue's clone, right down to the wavy hair that was already a mop on the boy's head. He was yet to display any signs of powers or abilities, but Tony was sure they would show at some point. He ran some tests with the equipment he still had in the garage, but hadn't found any form of DNA abnormalities. But their son's personality was the surprise, as he ran around them in circles and was constantly bursting with energy. He reminded Sue of a young Johnny, who always acted as if he had eaten two cups of sugar when he was young.
Johnny's absence had hit everyone hard. Now a widow, Pepper had moved to Maine to be closer to Sue and Tony. With the world still attempting to recover, the companies were on hiatus until further notice. There was nothing in Malibu, so Pepper bought a small unit in the closest town to the forest. It took the Potts four months after losing Johnny to realise that she also was pregnant. It was hard for her to go through the pregnancy without her child's father, but with Sue and Tony's support, Ruby was born healthy and loved. It helped that Sue was pregnant with Booker at the same time so that they could experience the changes together. Although it was Sue's second pregnancy, she had different sensations and changes compared to her first. This made her adamant that it would be a boy, and she was right.
'Ruby asked about Johnny the other day...' Pepper broke through the quiet and Sue's lips parted.
'Really? What did she say?'
'She asked who her Tony was.'
'Her Tony?'
It clicked with Sue, and she pressed her lips together in a tight line. Pepper's eyes were sad as she looked down at her mug. Her tea was cold, and she had no desire to finish it. She feared that Ruby would one day ask why she didn't have a father. Especially when Booker was fortunate to have Tony, who was always present and filled the roll as his father perfectly. Ruby came over to their house often while Pepper caught up with Sue, and the girl saw how the man set up FRIDAY for them or helped Booker show Ruby his much loved comic books. It was only a matter of time before Ruby questioned why she didn't have someone like Tony in her life.
'When she's older, she'll understand,' Sue tried.
'What happens when she starts going to school?' Pepper asked worriedly. 'She'll be so confused as to why everyone else has a dad.'
'I'm sure there will be lots of children whose parents were blipped,' Sue put a hand on Pepper's knee. 'Times have changed from when we were young, and not just in the modern way. There will be so many people who will have lost someone, maybe everyone. You can't let your worry eat you alive. Trust me, it doesn't end well.'
'I just wish he was here...' Pepper mumbled and felt her eyes pool with tears. Sue smiled sadly at the mention of her brother.
'Me too.'