Son of Jack

October 9, 2008

"Isn’t he beautiful?”

38-year-old Tony Stark peered down at the snugly wrapped bundle with narrowed eyes as he tried to see the adjective in the mass of squirming purple-red flesh and sky blue fleece. Tilting his head to the side slowly, as though doing so would make the image more appealing to him, but the same sentiment remain unchanged.

“I don’t know…” He mused, watching the tiny mouth open and close in a soundless yawn. “He’s kind of red… and wrinkly.”

Beautiful was the absolute last word he would use to describe the newborn when he first laid eyes on him. To be honest, he was thinking more along the lines of ‘earthworm like’ and ‘alienic’ in regards to the baby, but he didn’t want to set the new mother off, knowing the slightest things could do that, considering the tears welling in her eyes right then.

And having been on the receiving end of her labour wrath just hours ago, Tony wasn’t so sure his eardrums were ready for yet another round of abuse so soon.

The man sitting beside the woman snorted. "That was so not what you were thinking.”

“Yeah, well, sometimes it’s best to keep our honest thoughts to ourselves.” Tony said and let his eyes trail over his surroundings.

Plain dark blue walls peppered with a floral crown in a light shade. A single bed with matching blue sheets and a cheap 300-thread count blanket. There wasn't even a single balloon or bouquet in sight, and it was supposed to be a joyous occasion.

Tony sneered in distaste at the quality of the room and made a mental note to get Pepper to send some flowers, balloons and normal hospital visiting gifts to spruce things up in the dreary place and make it less... hospital-like.

“He’s a newborn, Tony. ‘Course he’s not going to look like a normal baby,” The mother slapped her husband on the arm hard and scowled. “For now, honey! For now! Our son’s going to grow up to be exceptionally good-looking, trust me.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Jackie boy,” cautioned Tony in jest. He folded his arms across his broad chest and leaned against the moveable table, quirking a mischievous brow at his friend. “You know the saying ‘Like father, like son’? If I recall correctly, you weren’t that much of a looker when you were a baby or a kid.” He turned to the woman and grinned. “I wouldn’t put that much hope in him if I were you, Kate.”

“Traitor!” Joseph Arden, or Jack to his close friends and family, cried. The baby in his arms startled a little at the sudden outcry and let out a small whimper, which immediately caused the new father to quieten down and apologize to him lowly. “You said you’d never bring up those years again.”

Tony only shrugged with a wicked grin.

“So have you two decided on a name?”

The other woman, a brunette, taking up temporary residence in the only chair available (Tony made another mental note to get some couches in the ward), spoke up for the first time since she entered the room. She had been silent while the others conversed amongst themselves quietly but was the first to let out an excited squeak when the nurse brought the baby into the room. Since then, she had contented herself with watching and grinning at every single movement and sound the newborn made.

“Jackson Anthony Arden,” Kate articulated carefully.

Despite the exhaustion and the greasy strands of flaxen gold sticking to her sweaty forehead, the radiant and prideful smile still shone bright on her tired features. There was a glint in her brown eyes that sparked whenever she looked down at the bundle in her arms.

“After his father and his godfather.” She added, smiling up at both Jack and Tony.

“Son of Jack,” mused Tony. “How very apt.”

“Sorry, Anna,” Kate apologized, turning to her best friend with a meek smile. “You’ll have to wait for our next child to be middle-named after you.”

“You'd better,” Anna warned, although she patted Kate's arm lightly to signal her understanding. “I don’t need to have Mr. Stark reminding me how he one-upped me because of Jackson."

“He’ll still do that no matter what,” Jack said. “Only ‘cause he’s a Stark and he likes to be an –” At this, he lowered his voice into a soft and almost inaudible whisper in lieu of the new life present and the dirty glare his wife sent him. “– asshole.”

“Damn.”

Tony clucked his tongue in mock-annoyance. “How many times have I told you, Annie dear, to call me Tony when we’re with our friends?” The billionaire chastised. “All this ‘Mr. Stark’ thing off work will only inflate my ego.”

Jack snorted. “As if his ego isn’t ostentatious enough already.”

“Thanks but no thanks, Mr. Stark,” Anna rolled her eyes, ignoring Jack’s quip. “I suppose it’s the same frustration I feel when I have to yet again, correct you on calling me Annie.”

Tony frowned. “Kate calls you that.”

“Kate's my best friend.” She shot back.

“Well, I thought after all these years of us knowing each other it would have granted me the privilege of using that nickname already,” Tony said plainly.

Anna’s brows shot high up into her hairline. She can't help the scoff as she appraised Tony with unconcealed displeasure. “All these years? You never knew of my existence until that one dinner two years ago.”

“You’ve worked in my company for a long time now.”

“And yet you've never realize that until said dinner," Anna retorted, making sure to keep her voice low so as to not disturb the baby.

Both Jack and Kate looked between the pair with similar looks of beguilement. Other than their marriage and the baby boy now sleeping peacefully in Kate’s arms, the meeting of their respective best friends was one of the best things to come out of their relationship.

It was always so entertaining, watching the libidinous playboy proposition the disciplined and serious woman. Both Jack and Kate shared a common suspicion that Tony only flirted with Anna for her reaction. He probably found winding Anna up as amusing as the Ardens did and was using it as a sick form of entertainment.

“Technicalities,” Tony said, flippantly waving off her argument without concern. He then smirked and waggled his eyebrows at an exasperated Anna. “If you wanted us to know each other that badly, just say so. How about a drink? I’ve got to fly off to Paris or some other European country but I’ve got just enough time for a drink.” He paused and his smile widened, stretching almost ear to ear. “And something more, if you’ll like.”

Anna's mouth dropped open. She blinked at his words, looking as though she couldn't quite believe he was actually saying that.

“Are you seriously asking – No, why am I doubting it, of course you are,” She snapped. Anna let out a huff and shook her head before forcing a sickly sweet smile on her face. “Like I said before, thanks but no thanks, Mr. Stark.”

Tony shrugged. “Next time then.”

Anna muttered something intelligible under her breath and directed her attention back to the baby as the scowl etched into her face softened gradually.
The four adults continued to converse amongst themselves for a while longer, until the obnoxious AC/DC song blaring from Tony's cellphone cut their time short (and woke the baby up).

"Well, gotta go," He announced over the wailing and the two women's frantic attempts to hush the baby up. "Places to be, people to see." He cringed though, when Jackson's cries hit a decibel that hurt his ears. Frowning, he gestured at the baby. "Is it normal for him to be this loud? My ears are hurting. Should I grab the doctor?"

"You're an idiot!" A flustered Kate snapped at him. She was turning as red as her baby as she panicked. "Go! Get!" Then begrudgingly, she added, "And thanks for sending me to the hospital, Tony."

Tony only made a face in response at her volatile mood swings, wondering to himself if the hormones from her pregnancy were going to stay with her for the rest of Jackson's infancy. If it were, he was going to make sure to stay away from the Arden family for a while. Or at least until Kate mellowed out and returned to the fun-loving and mild-tempered woman she had been before.

Pepper could pass the gifts to the baby without him there, so there's that.

"I'll see you out?" Jack asked more than stated as he looked to his wife for permission.

Kate only waved him off offhandedly, seeing as all her attention was directed at the slowly quietening baby. Anna called out a distracted goodbye to Tony, seemingly forgotten about their brief bicker and not once looking up from the baby.

The two friends walked out of the ward quietly, leaving the women to deal with the child and made their way to the elevator as passing nurses and doctors threw extra glances at Tony.

Jack ignored the attention, as he always did when he was out with the billionaire while the latter soaked up the special glances and smiles with nods, brief greetings and autographing, and even stopped to slip his name card to one of the prettier doctors, who seemed absolutely thrilled by the simple action.
Once they had gotten on the thankfully empty elevator, Tony turned towards Jack with smile, a real smile and not one of those awful suggestive smirks he gave his admirers.

“Congratulations, buddy,” He said, thumping Jack on his shoulder. “That kid is… he’s something else.”

He still wasn’t sure beautiful could be used to describe the hour-old newborn.

"I mean, I did postpone the unveiling of a new Stark technology for him," Tony added matter-of-factly.

Jack frowned in confusion. “But how did you know Kate would go into labour today? The baby came early – Tony, you didn’t.”

“Didn’t what?”

“Pepper is going to absolutely murder you!” Jack exclaimed.

“I was kind of in a state of panic, hello? Your wife’s water broke all over my pants, and refused to let me go until you got here!” Tony argued. “F.Y.I, it was one of my best pants and she nearly killed my sense of hearing.”

“Pepper is going to kill you.” Jack repeated.

“She is, isn’t she?” Tony winced, recalling the dark glare his assistant had sent him before she left to deal with the consequences of his actions. He had called her to bring him a change of clothes – nobody fancied walking around covered in amniotic fluids – but had regretted it when he saw how downright thunderous Pepper looked.

“Ah well,” Tony shrugged carelessly. He drew his sunglasses from his blazer and put them on even though it was already dark out with the setting of the sun. “I’ll make it up to her with some fancy art from some obscure artist. She likes collecting them, I don’t know why.”

The two walked the distance to where Tony’s Rolls-Royce was parked. Harold ‘Happy’ Hogan, a beefy and stout man in charge of Tony’s security care, was already waiting for him with the passenger door open.

“Happy,” Tony greeted.

"Pepper's already waiting for you at the Santa Monica Airstrip, sir." Happy notified him after nodding back in greeting. "The jet was set to take-off an hour ago."

“It’s my private plane, Happy,” Tony reminded as she shook his jacket sleeve back to look at the time. “It’s not supposed to take off if the owner isn’t in it.”

Happy snorted. “Of course, sir.”

He then slammed the car door shut and rounded over to the driver’s seat. Jack leaned over the hood of the car while Tony rolled the tinted windows down.

“So, I’ll see you after whatever it is you’re flying off for,” He said. “Call me, we’ll go get a drink. Lord knows I’ll need it.”

Tony made a distasteful expression when he recalled the clamorous torrent of inhuman wailing Jackson had produced. “Hey, do you want me to make you a gadget that would block the baby out? It’ll come in handy during your football games.”

“Tony, really,” Jack said, rolling his eyes with exasperation.

“It was just a suggestion.”

“I don’t know how your kid’s going to survive when you have one.”

“Then I guess it’s lucky I’m not planning to have any, huh?”

“We’ll see,” Jack stated plainly. “For now I’ll allow you to practice with being Jackson’s backup dad.”

Tony scoffed. He reached for the glass of scotch Happy had placed on the console beside him and took a deep draft from it, gasping when the harsh burn of the alcohol trickle down his throat and settled warmly in his stomach.

“What are you talking about? I’m not a backup anything.” He chortled. Reaching for the accompanying bottle of scotch, Tony poured himself another glass. “Good luck with the kid and wife.”

With that, Tony nodded at Happy and the car pulled from the curb as the billionaire sent a last wave to his friend from the open window, an empty glass in hand.