Archive of Our Own

The little girl stirred in bed. “Nooo…” she muttered into her pillow, turning away from her dad so she didn’t have to wake up.

Chuckling, Tony looked at his daughter. He regretted letting her stay up to have that extra juice pop before going to bed, but he also couldn’t help but wonder how the heck she ended up just like him. Maybe it was because her mom wasn’t around anymore, but she should still have some of her qualities, right? 

Sitting on the edge of her bed, Tony nudged her shoulder again. “Morguna… you’ve been talking about going to school all month. We’ve got to get ready. Don’t you want to meet your teacher and all the other students?”

“Nuh-uh,” Morgan shook her head, then giggled as she hid underneath her blanket. “No school. I wanna stay here with you. I don’t want you to be lonely.”

I don’t want you to be lonely… now that really hurt. Tony hadn’t thought of it that way, but he didn’t realize Morgan had. It had really only been the two of them living here in their little house by the lake after her mother died, but Tony had done his best to keep Morgan happy and healthy.

“Hey… you don’t have to worry about me okay? I’ll be just fine,” Tony said. “I’m going fishing with Uncle Rhodey.”

“Eww…” Morgan scrunched her nose. She hated fishing. 

Pulling back the blankets, Tony reached downs to stroke his daughter’s cheek. “Come on, let’s go. I think you’re going to love school.”

They ended up being five minutes late, but luckily since it was the first day they were still letting the kindergarteners adjust to their classrooms and the parents were mingling. Tony was flustered after walking in a few minutes late, but it didn’t bother Morgan at all. The little girl immediately ran over to another group of kids, leaving Tony standing there awkwardly with her backpack in his hands.

He could feel his eyes watering, but coughed to keep them from falling. This was exciting. Morgan was starting school and now he wouldn’t know what to do with himself. Of course he was going to be lonely, but he couldn’t let his daughter worry about that. If only her mother could see her now.

“You must be Morgan’s father?” A voice soon broke him from his thoughts. 

“I’m sorry?” Tony turned to look at the person talking to him and for a moment, his world stopped. Standing next to him was the most beautiful woman. She was a tall and her strawberry-blonde hair was kept back in a neat bun. 

“I was asking if you’re Morgan Stark’s father… you’re the only ones that haven’t checked in yet,” the woman chuckled as she looked at him, holding out her hand to shake. “Miss Potts, kindergarten teacher.” 

Tony laughed at how stupid he was, then returned the handshake. “Yes, I’m Tony Stark… father to the one and only Morgan Stark. She told me she didn’t want to come today, but she’s already forgotten about me,” he said, looking over at his daughter again.

“That’s quite all right, Mr. Stark,” Miss Potts said with a smile. “Sometimes it’s best that way… less tears from both parties.” She said, noticing his misty eyes. “All parents are welcome to stay for another few minutes, but the backpack cubbies are over there if you’d like to head on out. Pickup is precisely at two-thirty… might not want to be late.”

Nodding, Tony smiled back before putting Morgan’s backpack in her cubby. He took one last look and couldn’t help but smile at how Morgan was already making friends. 

~

The next five and a half hours was the longest five and a half hours of Tony’s life. Even as he was fishing with Rhodey, he couldn’t help but think about how weird it was to not have Morgan at home.

“Something on your mind?” Rhodey asked as they were headed to get Morgan from school.

Tony laughed, shaking his head. “Morgan told me she didn’t want to go to school this morning because she didn’t want me to be lonely… but then we got there and she abandoned me there in two seconds flat.”

“That’s a good thing though, girl needs to make some friends,” Rhodey laughed and looked at his best friend. “Hey, I’m sure she’s fine. Believe me, if she’s anything like you, she’ll master everything in the first few weeks.”

Though, Tony hoped that wouldn’t happen. He wanted Morgan to have the most normal childhood she could have. “Yeah… she’ll be fine. It’s me you have to worry about,” he laughed. Pulling into the parking lot, he looked at Rhodey. “I’ll be right back.”

Heading up to the school, Tony could see all the kids outside playing and having a good time. He spotted Morgan running around with some other kids, then he saw her teacher again - Miss Potts. She seemed nice. Hopefully Morgan would behave and there wouldn’t be too many calls home.

“Daddy!” Morgan spotted her dad and ran up to him. “I had the best day ever!” The little girl grinned and wrapped her arms around him. “I have three best friends.”

“Oh really? That’s awesome Morguna,” Tony laughed, wrapping his arms around his daughter and lifted her up. “Did you behave?” 

“Yes, no bad notes from Miss Potts.” Morgan grinned at him, then wiggled to be put down. Taking her dad’s hand, she tugged on it. “You have to meet her!” 

Tony was about to tell her that they already met, but Morgan seemed so excited about it, so he didn’t want to disappoint her. 

“Miss Potts, this is my Daddy!” Morgan smiled when she got to her teacher. 

Looking at her student, Miss Potts smiled. “Is that so, well it’s nice to meet you, Mr. Stark.” She had already met him, but Morgan didn’t know that. “Your daughter is a wonderful student so far.”

“My mommy died when I was a baby,” Morgan told her teacher, who looked surprised.

Tony’s eyes widened. “Morgan, that’s not appropriate to talk about that right now.” 

“But you said it’s okay that sometimes we don’t have both a Mommy and a Daddy,” Morgan scrunched up her face, looking at him. “You told me so.”

“Yes, that’s true… but we don’t tell people we just met.” Tony told her before looking at her teacher again. “Sorry, that was really random. I can take her home now, right?” 

Miss Potts nodded. “Of  course, school just let out,” she told him. “It was really nice meeting you today, Morgan. I can’t wait to see you again tomorrow.”

Morgan waved to her, grabbing her backpack before going back to the car with her dad. “Daddy… am I ever going to have another mommy?”

“What…?” Tony looked at his daughter. “Why are you asking…?”

“Just askin’,” Morgan said, waving to her Uncle Rhodey when she saw him in the car. “Eww… it smells like fish in here.” 

Rhodey laughed. “Oh, sorry to disappoint you Madam Secretary,” he turned to wave at his niece. “How was school today.”

“Fun! I made three best friends… and my teacher is really nice,” Morgan said, buckling into her booster seat. “Miss Potts doesn’t have a husband and she’s travelled the world before!”

“Oh, she doesn’t have a husband,” Rhodey looked over at Tony.

“Did she tell you that?” Tony glanced at his daughter.

Morgan shook her head. “No, but she doesn’t have a ring. Just like you. You should ask her on a date.”

Rhodey snickered and Tony punched his shoulder. “I’m not going to do that, Morguna… she’s your teacher.” 

“Okay…” Morgan just shrugged. 

~

As the school year continued, Tony found himself smitten with Miss Potts. She was kind and caring, all of the kids in the class really liked her, but Morgan seemed to take an extra liking to her. He tried not to bring it up to much, but he had noticed Morgan including Miss Potts in her drawings of things, even when they had never gone on a date or hung out before. 

At parent-teacher conferences, Tony decided to try and break the ice.

“Mr. Stark… your daughter is a wonderful student,” Miss Potts started. “She’s excelling in all her lessons, she loves helping out other students… there’s really nothing she needs to work on. But there is one thing,” she looked at him. “She keeps asking if I’ll go on a date with you.”

Tony was mortified. “I am so sorry… I don’t really know why she’s fixated on that.” 

“If you don’t mind me asking… when did your wife pass?” Miss Potts asked, leaning back in her seat.

“Oh, we were never married. Morgan’s mom passed when she was a few months old, car accident…” Tony said. “She’s never really had a mother figure in her life at all, besides having a few aunts and uncles.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Miss Potts told him. “But I need to make it aware for you, that I can’t date any parents of students, Mr. Stark.”

Tony might have been a little disappointed, but he couldn’t blame her. She was a professional and it would be completely immoral for her to do so. “Understood. I’ll make sure to talk to Morgan about that right away. I’m so sorry she keeps asking you. You’re honestly her favorite person in the world right now, Miss Potts,” he laughed.

Smiling back, the teacher looked at him. Something about the Starks was mysterious, but also equally endearing. Standing up, she shook his hand. “I’ll be sad when Morgan’s no longer in my class anymore, but it’s been a pleasure being her teacher this year. I’ll make sure she has the best rest of the year she can and Mr. Stark… you can call me Pepper.”

“Thank you, Pepper” Tony shook her hand back with a smile. “Nah, I’ll have to keep calling you Miss Potts. That’s too weird.”

~

At the end of the year, Morgan wrapped her arms around her teacher. “Have a good summer Miss Potts. I’m gonna miss you so much,” she told her. 

Wrapping her arms around her student, Pepper hugged her back. “I’ll miss you too, but I hope you have an amazing summer. Okay?”

“Okay!” Morgan went to play with her friends on the playground for a little while longer, since everyone was playing.

Tony watched her run off with her friends, then looked at Pepper. “Have any plans this summer, Miss Potts?” 

“Nothing planned yet,” she smiled at him. “How about you, Mr. Stark?”

Tony shook his head. “I thought about taking Morgan to Disney World, but maybe next year.” 

“I see…” Pepper nodded, looking at him. 

“But… I was wondering if maybe you’d like to go to dinner with me sometime,” Tony asked, watching as her cheeks turned red. He hoped this wouldn’t be inappropriate, but he really liked her. 

Pepper wondered what possible consequences this could have, but Morgan technically wasn’t her student anymore and she did say that she wouldn’t date parents of her students. “I’ll consider it,” she said, smiling back. “You don’t think that it'll be weird for Morgan, do you?”

Tony laughed. “Heck no… she’s been begging for me to take you on a date all school year,” he said. “But take your time, I don’t want to creep you out or anything.” He told her. “Have a good summer, Pepper."

She smiled again, nodding as she watched him go collect their daughter from the playground. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea. 

Fin.