Chapter Text
The drive was silent. Phil hadn’t expected much noise – Phil wasn’t sure that Tony could even speak – but that didn’t make it any less uncomfortable. When Phil had become a social worker, he hadn’t expected it to be so draining. He knew it would have it’s challenges but then Phil began taking on the more difficult cases – because he was good at his job – but it never got any easier. Still, every once in a while the stars aligned and Phil was able to make the best of a terrible situation, like with Tony.
Tony was three and Phil had picked him up from one of the worst homes he had seen. It was dirty and overflowing with trash and animal feces. He had rat bites on his arms and cigarette burns on his feet and looked like he hadn’t had a proper meal since he was born. The entire time Phil had him, Tony hadn’t said a word, shied away from almost everyone, but was clearly desiring love and affection and Phil had the perfect home for him.
“We’re here, Tony,” said Phil, parking his black car outside of a quaint little house. “I’m going to carrying you inside and introduce you to everyone, okay?”
Tony nodded. His feet were still too sore for walking comfortably and the shoes the government had supplied for him were too big, which didn’t help. Also, he really enjoyed being carried. No one had ever carried him around before.
Phil easily toted the toddler up the walk – all he had was a the borrowed clothes so there was no bag to carry. When they reached the door, before he could knock, it was opened to reveal a tall black man with a kind smile.
“Hello Phil,” said the man, stepping aside so the two could enter. “And this must be Tony. Hi Tony, I’m Rhodey. It’s nice to meet you.”
Tony did something Phil was not expecting. The toddler reached out, hoodie covered arms tentatively raised, looking to be transferred to the other man. Rhodey’s face lit up and he gently lifted the tiny boy into his arms.
“He must like you,” said Phil softly. “I have a few minutes, I want to watch how Tony interacts with you and how he takes the news of his foster family. So, just do what you would do naturally.”
“Alright, Tony,” said Rhodey, walking into the living room with the boy cuddled into his chest. “Let’s take a look around the house first. This is the living room. Sometimes we watch movies here. I know, right now it doesn’t have very many toys a kid like you would enjoy but we’ll get some. And over here is the kitchen, where we make the food.”
The kitchen was bright, the walls a cheerful yellow, like sunshine through sheer curtains. There was enough space for five grown adults to move around comfortably, the countertops black marble on light oak wood cupboards. The floor was white tile and there were six stools and a bench around a table by a window.
“Now I usually make the lunches but Clint – you’ll meet him this evening – makes breakfast and Bruce makes dinner,” explained Rhodey. “We don’t let Natasha cook because she burns everything but she is great at doing dishes.”
Rhodey showed Tony the bathroom and laundry room before moving upstairs. There were three bedrooms upstairs, one master, one guest, and one that was set up with a child sized bed with rails with a light blue blanket.
“This will be your room,” explained Rhodey. “We can decorate it however you want. Now, I want to talk to you about the people I live with.”
Rhodey sat down on the bed with Tony in his lap when it became clear that the little boy had zero intention of sitting on his own. Phil leaned against the doorframe, watching Tony for any signs that the kid was scared or uncomfortable. So far he seemed instantly enamored by Rhodey.
“So I live with some other people,” said Rhodey. “And we all sleep in the same room because we love and care about each other. You won’t get to meet three of them for a while. Steve, Bucky, and Natasha are soldiers and right now they are away protecting us from the bad guys. Bruce is a doctor. He likes to try and find cures for illnesses. Clint likes the outdoors and owns a camping and outdoors store. Thor works for him. Sam is a therapist. And I’m the one who stays at home. Sometimes I work on websites for people, but other than that I’m here. Do you have any questions?”
Tony shook his head.
“Tony hasn’t said a word since we picked him up,” said Phil. “Nothing at his old home was clean enough or worth taking.”
“That’s okay, Bruce and Sam are picking some things up right now,” said Rhodey, rocking softly, hugging Tony close to his chest. “Thank you, Phil. Thank you for this chance. We’ve waited so long for this.”
“It’s not going to be easy,” said Phil sternly, a soft smile tugging at his lips. “But I think you guys will be good for him. He’s going to need a lot of love and support.”
Phil left shortly after, promising Tony he would be visiting often to check on him and making Rhodey promise to call if anything went wrong.
Rhodey and his partners had been trying to foster and adopt for years but most views on their relationship were unfavorable at best. They had been blocked at every try until Clint had met Phil two years ago. The two had bonded over archery and Phil had started keeping his eyes open for any cases that may fit their lifestyle. This was the first one to make it to their home and – if everything went well – Tony would be adopted by Rhodey legally and have a forever home with more loving adults than he could possibly know what to do with. But that was all much farther down the road – if everything worked out.
Rhodey and Tony spent the afternoon in the kitchen, Rhodey showing the toddler how to bake cookies. Tony was quiet and his behaviors were much younger than his actual age. Phil had left a few diapers Rhodey texted Sam and asked him to pick up a pacifier as well. Tony kept sucking on two of his fingers but he stared at Rhodey like the man hung the moon and Rhodey was pretty sure he looked back at the kid the exact same way.
“Honey, I’m home!” called Sam as he entered the house, Bruce right behind with Clint and Thor, all of whom had multiple shopping bags with them.
“We’re in the kitchen,” replied Rhodey, instantly picking up Tony when the boy showed signs of distress at the new voices in the house.
“Hey,” said Sam, dropping his bags on the table. “This must be Tony. Hey little man, I’m Sam.”
Tony hid his face in Rhodey’s neck. Rhodey kissed the top of Tony’s wavy locks and grinned at the others.
“Someone is a little shy,” chuckled Thor.
“I love him,” said Rhodey.
“I’m glad, darling, but remember that he’s not ours to keep yet,” said Bruce, ever the realist.
“I know,” sighed Rhodey. “But it’s like he was meant for us. He is the sweetest little baby, aren’t you?”
Bruce started making dinner. Rhodey took Thor and Clint upstairs while Sam helped Bruce. Upstairs Rhodey, Thor, and Clint started unpacking the bags. Tony sat on Rhodey’s lap, chewing on his fingers but watching everything with intelligent eyes.
“We may have gone a little overboard on the buying of things,” said Thor with a laugh, holding up a 7th footed pajama. “But everything was just so cute.”
“I mean, look at this stuffed hawk!” said Clint, holding out a purple hawk.
Tony reached out for the stuffed animal and Clint gladly handed it over. The toddler instantly stuck the hawks claw in his mouth and started chewing.
“Oh, honey, no, that’s icky,” said Rhodey, gently removing the foot from Tony’s mouth. Thor handed over a pacifier, which Rhodey offered to Tony. “Here, this is much better.”
Tony gave the pacifier an experimental suck before seeming to take to it and continuing to use the soother and cuddle the hawk.
“Oh, I think I’m in love,” claimed Clint, leaning back against Thor, who was openly cooing at the sight of one of his lovers holding such an adorable baby close. “Is it possible to love a tiny human so much?”
“I certainly hope so, otherwise we are all very much in trouble,” said Thor, his arms wrapped around Clint’s waist.
Tony looked up at Rhodey and held up the hawk to show him.
“It’s a very nice bird, Tony,” said Rhodey with a smile. “What’s his name?”
Tony’s nose wrinkled a bit as he thought. Rhodey wasn’t expecting a reply-Tony hadn’t said a word so far and Phil had said they weren’t sure the kid could speak. It seemed that either no one spoke to Tony in his old home or they had scared him into silence. Either way, Tony would most likely need speech therapy.
“Boes!” announced Tony suddenly, a grin on his little face.
“Bows?” said Rhodey.
“He spoke!” said Clint at the same time.
“Boes!” insisted Tony, pointing at his arm. “Boes! Boes!”
“Boes,” said Rhodey slowly.
Tony huffed, frustrated that Rhodey wasn’t getting it. He pointed at his leg this time and repeated the name.
“Bones!” announced Thor triumphantly. Tony nodded happily.
“Boes!” cheered Tony, hugging his hawk close to his chest.
“I think this one belongs to Bruce,” said Clint with a laugh. “He’s calling his stuffy Bones. For sure this is Bruce’s kid.”
They couldn’t get Tony to set Bones down for dinner, they barely got him to let go long enough to change him into his pajamas. Rhodey set Tony down in the child sized bed that still dwarfed the boy, read him a story, and tucked him in. The toddler curled around his stuffed hawk, sucking on his pacifier, while Sam turned on a nightlight – a soft blue fish – and they all got ready to go to sleep.
“I’m going to keep the door open, okay buddy?” said Rhodey, pushing back the dark locks from Tony’s forehead. “And our room is right across the hall. We’re going to keep the door open so if you need anything, you can call or come wake me up, okay?”
Tony nodded.
“Okay honey, you sleep well,” said Rhodey, smiling down at the little boy he had known for not even twelve hours but had somehow fallen madly in love with.
He knew that Tony hadn’t even gotten to meet all of his partners, he knew that Tony was still a foster kid, he knew that they had a long way to go before Rhodey could adopt him, but Rhodey also knew that since the moment Tony had opened his tiny little arms to be picked up the older man had been hopelessly wrapped around the brunets little finger and he wouldn’t have it any other way.