Who: Tony, Pepper, Bruce, Alfred, anyone in Wayne Manor When: 6/6 (backdate) Where: Wayne Manor, main ballroom What: Tony's finally had the most awesome birthday ever. And practice for building Christmas presents. "Okay, I've finally done it," Tony announced from his position on the floor of the Wayne Manor ballroom. "This is the most awesome birthday party ever. We can all stop trying now and just -- is that a motor?" He stretched, fingers shifting through the arc of colorful Legos around him, and snagged the piece in question for a closer look. "Correction, now it's awesome," he said in tones that could only be described as 'unholy glee.' "Oh, baby, you and me are going to do awesome things," he informed it.
Yes, strictly speaking, he'd had louder birthday parties. He'd certainly had ones with more people and cake, though no one topped a cake from Alfred, and really, these were the people he loved around him. He didn't feel empty places around him, as long as they were here with him.
Arguably, he'd even had birthdays after more earth-shaking life events. But he thought the whole fatherhood deal got close to topping the list, if he wasn't already getting better with it, with accepting it and the idea that he might not screw up horribly after all. Alfred's parenting classes with cake helped, as did Bruce's firm instructions to not be his father, and Pepper's warm, almost silent faith in him to do just that, they all shored him up, cast lines that kept him from whipping up a storm of terrifying emotions and losing himself in it.
He was still very, very glad they had some -- he did the math, came up with five and three-quarters months and oh, man, where had time gone and who was he trying to kid? As he always did when he realized he was in over his head with emotions, he focused on building something. Usually it was overhauling a car or at least the armor.
In this case, it was a Lego city which might look like Gotham in some corners and New York in others, and either way, really needed a motor converted into a mini-arc reactor right about...Tony craned his neck, eyed the set-up, and crab-walked three feet over. "Ow," he complained, and shook a Lego off his palm. "Okay, slightly less awesome." Then he plopped back down, motor in his lap, and forgot all about pain and emotional turmoil as he got to work on the base of a tower or at least a whopping big lab.