Chapter Text
“Tony!” Pepper walked into Tony’s workshop. The tone of her voice told him he had somehow fucked up big time. He mentally ran through his recent activities. He didn’t think he’d done anything in the last week that warranted an angry Pepper but he could never be sure.
“Hey Pep. What did I do this time?” He asked. She sighed.
“Tony there’s a woman on the phone for you. You need to talk to her.” Oh that couldn't be good.
“Who is she?”
“I’ll let her explain. Please just talk to her, and… don’t be childish about it.”
“Ok” He grabbed the phone Pepper handed him and brought it up to his ear. “This is Tony Stark speaking.”
“Hello Mr. Stark. You probably don’t remember me. My name is Olivia Keener. We met at a convention in Memphis in June of 1996. I was working catering.” Tony had no idea where this was headed.
“Ok”
“We had sex.”
“I don't doubt that.”
“I got pregnant.” Tony choked. Pepper looked sympathetically at him and nodded, letting him know that everything had been verified before she let him take this call. “We can do a DNA test if you want but I assure you, he's yours.”
“Ok” his voice was shaky. “Yes, I want to do a DNA test.” He knew Pepper had already verified that the kid was his but he needed to make sure. He wanted to see with his own eyes.
“Ok. Like I said, that's fine.”
“What's his name?”
“Harley.”
“Harley… That's a good name. If you're right, and he is mine, what do you want? I’ll pay child support, schooling, whatever.” He heard Olivia sigh.
“I don’t want money, Mr. Stark” Tony was stunned. Everyone always wanted him for his money. His money or his brain but he couldn't see that being of any use in this situation. “I can't take care of him, Tony. I thought I could but… I can’t. I can’t give him a good life out here. We’re in the middle of nowhere. There’s no future for him here.”
“I can pay for you to move, wherever you want. Just tell me.”
“Tony, I dropped out of highschool when I was 17. He's so smart. He's always creating god knows what with parts he found dumpster diving. He's got such a future ahead of him. It’s breaking my heart but I know it's not with me.” Tony could hear the waver in Olivia’s voice and knew she was crying. “Look” She continued “We can talk about this later. You wanted a DNA test. Harley’s on winter break right now. If you can come down…”
“Right. Ya, Send my PA your address. I’ll be there soon.”
“Thank you.”
“Ok. I’ll see you soon.” Tony hung up and collapsed back into his chair. He buried his head in his hands. He felt Pepper’s hand on his shoulder.
“What's going on in that head of yours?”
“I’m too young to be a father.”
“Tony, you’re thirty-two.”
“Fuck! Pepper! What do I do? What if I’m just like Howard? I’m going to mess the poor kid up! I don't know how to take care of a kid!”
“Tony” Pepper’s voice helped ground him. “I need you to pay attention to me for just a second. You will not turn out like Howard. And you’re not going to be alone in this. You have me, you have Rhodey, you have Happy. We’re all here for you” Tony was quiet for a moment.
“Thanks Pep. Could you make sure the jet’s ready and clear my schedule for the next week?”
“I already did.”
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Tony left Malibu two hours after getting the call. The five and a half hour flight to Knoxville (the closest city with an airport to Rose Hill) was uneventful. He called Rhodey and told him the news. He helped him figure out what to do and come up with a plan. The rest of the flight he read a parenting book that Jarvis recommended. The forty five minute drive from Knoxville to Rose hill was also uneventful and soon he was pulling up in front of an old house in the middle of nowhere. He knocked and a moment later a woman in her late 20s opened the door. Tony stuck out his hand.
“Ms. Keener.”
“Please, call me Olivia. Come in.” She had a thick Tennessee accent. The two walked in and sat down in the living room. It was small but it had a homely, cozy feeling to it. “I’ve explained everything to Harley. He’s out in the garage now. We can go out there or I can go get him and you can meet him.
“I’m sorry Olivia, I brought a DNA test” He held up a vial with a q-tip like object in it. “I wanna know the results before I meet him. If you just swab the inside of his cheek really well my AI can analyze it and we’ll know for sure in a few minutes.”
“Of course, that makes perfect sense.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“Tony, less than nine hours ago you found out you have a son. You have every right to want to make sure.” She left and came back a few minutes later with the swab. “How are you gonna test it?” Tony lay the vial on the end table and held his phone over it.
“Jarvis, please analyze this.” After a few seconds Jarvis’s voice came over the phone speaker.
“Analisis complete. 47% match which is within the normal range for father son DNA.” Tony closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“Ok, so you're right. Harley is mine.”
“I told you. You wanna meet him now?”
“I think we need to talk first. Olivia, you have to know that my life is a mess. I need to sort it out before I take him. I know you want what's best for him. What would you think about waiting for a few months? I'll stop drinking, kid proof my house, fill out the paperwork and get my life together. I’ll pay for child support until I take him. Is $1000 a week enough? And I’ll come visit every weekend so we actually know each other when I take him.”
“Ok I guess that's reasonable. $1000 a week is too much really.”
“I’m not going any lower.”
“I don't suppose I could convince you?”
“Nope”
“Ok. Thank you. Really. I… he's so smart, I love him so much. I wish I could keep him but I want him to have the best life he can. As much as it breaks my heart that’s not with me.”
“Next time I come I’ll bring the newest Stark Phone with unlimited everything that way when I take him you who can call as much as you want and I’ll fly him down whenever he wants to see you.”
“Thank you.”
“May I meet him now?” the two walked out to the garage and Olivia opened the door. Just as Tony walked in something hard collided with his stomach. “Ow”
“HARLEY TYLER KEENER! What have I told you about shooting people with that thing!” Olivia yelled. Tony looked down trying to figure out what hit him.
“Is that… a potato?” Tony looked up and saw a small boy with blond hair holding a gun of some sort. “Kid did you really just shoot me with a potato gun?”
“Yup” the boy, his son, said. At that moment Tony knew Harley was going to be trouble.
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The next three months flew by. After his first meeting with Harley he texted Happy and Pepper and told them to get rid of all his alcohol. He programmed Jarvis with protocols for when he was craving a drink. He started therapy. It helped. Tony could honestly say he had never felt this good since… he couldn’t even remember. He spent more time with Harley too.
Every friday morning he flew down to spend the weekend with his son. These days quickly became his favorites. He found that during the week he looked forward to seeing his little potato again.
Something Tony quickly discovered about Harley was that he was smart. Like he may have inherited Tony’s intellect, smart. They spent most of the weekends holed up in Harley’s garage. They made several new models of the Potato gun and many dumb little robots. Tony always made sure to complement Harley on his work and tell him how good he was doing. He made sure to never snap at him when the five year old didn’t understand something. He tried to do everything Howard never did.
He also learned that Harley had his same snark and sense of dry humor. The soundtrack of their little engineering sessions was classic rock and a constant stream of sass flying between the two. Tony loved it.
Finally he reached three months of sobriety. Three months of therapy twice a week. Three months of knowing his son. He was ready to take Harley home. The five year old had everything he wanted to take with him packed in several suitcases which were in the trunk of the car. Harley and Olivia were hugging, both were crying. (If Tony shed a few tears, well no one had to know.)
After a few minutes they broke apart and Olivia cupped Harley's face in her hands. “Listen here Harley. I want you to be good ok? I want you to learn lots. I’ll call you every day and Tony says he’ll bring you to visit whenever you want ok?”
“Ok Ma. I love you.”
“I love you to hun. I love you so much, never forget that.”
“I won’t Ma. I promise.” Tony took his son’s hand and strapped him into his car seat. After one last goodbye, they drove off. Tony had never been happier.