Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers

Warnings/Tags: Canon Divergence -AoU, Not Canon Compliant, Domestic Avengers, Not CACW Compliant

With the children's ages, I worked around the ages of the actors during AOU, which was quite difficult. Basically, Cooper is 8, Lila is 7 and Nathaniel is under a year old.

Set around 2015 but AOU and CACW don't happen. Avengers are like a family.

'Caro' is Italian for 'Dear'
'Bambino' is Italian for 'Child'
'Piccolo' is Italian for 'Little One'

Cross-posted on my AO3 with a collage.

"Whatcha doing, Mr Stark?" Tony startled at the voice and smacked his head on the car that he'd been underneath. Sliding out, he stood and found Clint's eight-year-old son, Cooper, looking at him.

"Nothing much. Where's your dad? Thought he was watching you." The genius stated as he took a seat on a stool and gestured for the young boy to do the same, which he did.

"He was. But he's with the others and they're all boring."

"And I'm not?"

"Yup."

"Well, Caro, flattery will get you everywhere, what do you want to do?" Tony chuckled and watched as the boy before him grew shy and unsure,

"I was wondering and well hoping that we could maybe build something, Mr Stark." Tony smiled,

"Of course. One thing though, call me Tony. Not Mr Stark, that was my dad." Clearly, the boy saw Tony's distaste at mentioning Howard and he hastily nodded,

"I can do that…umm…Tony."

"Good lad." Tony grinned, "best get started, what were you thinking about making?"

—LINE BREAK—

They chose to make a small robotic dog. It was fun for both of them as Tony directed the young boy, letting him do as much of the work as he could, whilst Tony took on the more dangerous and difficult parts such as the wiring. As he worked, Cooper watched with inquisitive and curious eyes. The boy asked questions and Tony answered them. It was an amazing scene watching Tony act like a father and mentor the young Barton.

—LINE BREAK—

"Wanna test it out, Caro? Should be ready to go." Tony asked with a smile as he finished fastening a screw and placed the metal dog on the ground,

"Yes!"

"It's all yours, just press the button and tell it what you want it to do," Tony murmured, standing back and observing as Cooper did as instructed.

They watched as the dog moved about following Cooper's instructions and orders.

"What are you going to call it?" The young boy thought in silence for a few seconds before grinning widely and bending down to whisper a command into the AI dogs ear,

"I am...Iron Dog." The creation stated and Cooper looked at Tony with a slight blush on his cheeks as he continued to grin. Tony couldn't hold on his chuckles and burst out laughing.

"Oh, kid, I think I love you." He spat out between bouts of laughter, "why'd you choose that?" He asked once he'd calmed down, "technically, he's not made of iron. Though neither is the suit."

"Because..."

"Because what?"

"My way of thanking you, Tony." He murmured with a shrug.

"No need to thank me, kid, I had fun." Tony threw his arm around the boy's shoulder and held him close before pressing a kiss to the top of Cooper's head.

"I did too!"

"Good. He's yours to keep, by the way, just don't torment your mum with Iron Dog."

"What about dad?"

"J, has Clint annoyed me recently?" Tony suddenly asked his AI,

"Yes sir, just this morning he drank all of the coffee in the cafetière, whilst staring you in the eyes and pointing to the coffee on the top shelf, that is quite out of your reach. I believe you vowed revenge." Tony's eyes glinted with vengeance before he turned to Cooper, who was trying to hide a smile and failing poorly,

"Caro," Tony started with a determined and serious tone, "make his life Hell." The two shared a cheeky grin.

—LINE BREAK—

Tony was in his bedroom changing from his oil and grease covered Workshop clothes and into something cleaner; jeans and his favourite AC/DC top. He was just throwing his t-shirt on when he heard a little pitter-patter of small feet. Turning around he found Lila staring up at him with sad and teary eyes.

"Hey, Bambino, what's wrong?" Tony asked after he got his top on and sat down on his bed before patting the side of it, gesturing for her to sit too, which she did.

"Daddy was supposed to take me shopping today but he's too interested in the game on TV."

"I see. Want me to call your mum and tell her? That should get him to do his job." She smiled but shook her head,

"I was…wondering if you'd take me, Uncle Tony, please."

"Well, when you put it that way," He murmured through a tight throat because that name meant a lot to him, "you ready to go?" She nodded her head rapidly and the two-headed out.

—LINE BREAK—

"So where'd you want to go, Bambino?" Tony asked as they entered the mall, Lila reaching up and grabbing his hand, startling the genius,

"Can we go to the toy shop please?"

"Of course." He smiled and the two walked into the large toy store.

Tony let the little girl drag him down the aisles, past the barbies, the dolls, the Disney Princesses and the stereotypical little girl toys until they stopped in front of what was typically known as the little boy section. She stared up at all the Nerf guns and various toy weapons with a grin. In that instant, Tony could definitely see her father, Clint Barton, in her expression. A smile crept across the genius' face and stayed there as he watched Lila look at each and every toy meticulously. Her careful concentration and attention to the details of each toy amused Tony, she was a very interesting character and clearly smart, making Tony like the small child even more.

"Uncle Tony, please can you pass me the big bow up there?" Tony looked up and spied the box with the mint coloured bow inside. He sighed at the height and stood on his tip-toes in an attempt to reach it. He was just a bit short.

"Okay, Bambino, you're going to need to get on my shoulders and grab it -assuming no one's looking." The two had a quick glance at the ends of the aisle before the small dark-haired girl was hoisted onto Tony's shoulders. With the added height and teamwork, they managed to get the box down, surprisingly without anything falling -and that included Lila. "This what you want?" Tony murmured looking at the brunette who was sitting on the floor reading the everything that was on the box.

"Uhuh." She nodded,

"Would your parents be alright with you having something that's for someone three years older than yourself?" He asked with a raised eyebrow as he saw the recommended age was 10 and up.

"Well, probably, daddy's been wanting to teach me and mummy's been saying no about me using an actual bow and arrow, so I thought this would be a safer option."

"Right, I heard a yes and as long as I don't get in trouble, shall we go pay or is there anything else you want?" She had a look at the price tag,

"I think I'll get it another time, Uncle Tony." He raised an eyebrow once again and looked confused,

"And why's that?"

"I haven't saved up enough money. I'll just ask for more chores."

"Nah, Bambino, I'll buy you this. You save your money for something else."

"I can't ask you to do that, Uncle Tony," and like before, Tony could easily see Laura in her. Like her mother, Lila didn't like taking advantage of Tony -those were the Barton matriarch's words, not Tony's.

"Continue to call me 'Uncle Tony' and we'll call it even." She frowned,

"I wouldn't stop calling you 'Uncle Tony', Uncle Tony, because to me you are my uncle." Tony smiled softly and crouched down so he was eye level,

"Lila, please can I buy you this? It can be my first present to you as your official uncle." They seemed to have a stare-off, but Tony was stubborn if nothing else and soon the little brunette relented and grabbed his hand again once Tony straightened up and held the box under his other arm,

"You win, Uncle Tony."

"I usually do, Bambino."

—LINE BREAK—

The resident genius was walking through the communal living room to grab his phone that he'd left there in the morning. No one was about given that it was nearly one in the morning. As he was heading back to the elevator, phone in hand, he heard a strange sound. It was crying. Tony turned and saw Nathaniel's baby monitor on the table. He had a feeling, Clint had forgotten about it and so he decided to make a stop on Clint's floor to check on the baby.

Tony heard Nate before he saw the baby, who was crying his head off. It was a wonder Clint didn't wake up, although, when Tony thought about it, the so-called super-spy slept like the dead. Gently cradling the small human in his arms, the genius got settled on the rocking chair in Nate's nursery -all of the Barton family had rooms decorated for them in the Tower.

"Hey, Piccolo," Tony whispered as he rocked the crying child down, "what's wrong? Hmm? You miss your mummy? I think you do." The genius noticed that his voice was ever so slowly soothing the baby boy and so he did what he did best, he talked and talked about anything and everything. Soon enough as Nate had drifted off to sleep in his arms, Tony's own eyes began to droop and he slipped into a peaceful sleep with the baby held safely and protectively in his arms.

—LINE BREAK—

A day or so later, Pepper, Natasha and Laura returned from their 'girl's weekend' and Clint was helping his children pack their things as they'd be going home to their farm when Laura got back.

As the Avengers and Barton's gathered by the elevator in the large hall on the communal floor, bags and suitcases surrounding their feet, Laura exited the elevator alongside two redheads and crouched down to hug her children before taking the sleeping baby in her arms.

"I've missed you three so much," the only mother in the group murmured causing Clint to pout,

"What about me?"

"You, not so much." Laura joked as she kissed her husband causing Lila and Cooper to wrinkle their noses in disgust, "What have you two been up to?" Laura asked turning back to her older children,

"Uncle Tony took me shopping! He bought me a Nerf bow!"

"Did he now?"

"In my defence, …she said you'd be okay with it." Tony shrugged whilst inching away from the terrifying woman, who chuckled and looked back at Lila,

"Did you say thank you?"

"Yes!" The little girl exclaimed before frowning, "I think," she turned to Tony, "thank you, Uncle Tony!"

"Anytime, Bambino."

"What about you, Coop?"

"Oh, Uncle Tony," that was the first time the young boy had called him that and if Tony was blinking his eyes rapidly it most definitely wasn't because he was close to tears, "and I built a robot dog! Everyone meet Iron Dog." Laura looked amused and impressed especially when the creation moved into sight and Clint shrieked,

"Problem Clint?"

"Yeah! The demon dog's been tormenting me!" Laura sent a raised eyebrow glance Tony's way, the genius put on a look of innocence,

"I have absolutely no clue why this magnificent Iron Dog would do such a thing, I highly doubt it's because Clint drank all the coffee in the pot and placed all the bags on the shelf out of my reach and I have no clue why Iron Dog only targets him and no one else."

"I'm sure you don't, sweetie." Laura murmured through a smile, "and how's my little Nate been?"

"He slept like an angel," Clint stated with a look of surprise,

"I feel that I should mention that Mr Stark was the one who comforted young Nathaniel during the night," came JARVIS' robotic voice when it became apparent that no one else knew what Tony had done and the man himself wasn't planning on sharing.

"Well, I believe I have Tony to thank for this weekend running smoothly despite everyone else's disbelief about his ability to handle children."

And suddenly everything made sense to the other Avenger's barring Tony. They had all, in one way or the other, had mentioned that they didn't think Tony would be good with children. It wasn't anything purposefully or intentionally malicious, they just didn't think he'd be able to handle kids with the care they needed. Laura knew this and believed differently. So, of course, when no one took her seriously, she proved them all wrong by planning a 'girl's weekend' when a big sports game that Clint and the others loved and would undoubtedly watch, leaving Tony to watch the kids. It was very well and carefully planned, the kids knew about it and so did JARVIS -in case anything went wrong. The results? She was right, they were wrong. Tony was good with children.

Soon, hugs were going around and everyone was saying goodbye.

"Thank you for watching over my children this week, Tony. I appreciate it." Laura murmured as she hugged the genius and pressed a kiss to his cheek,

"Not a problem, Laura, they're good kids. We had fun."

Cooper said his thanks and gave Tony a hug too, Clint awkwardly apologised, thanked the man and shook his hand all while Laura shook her head and muttered what sounded like "men" under her breath.

Getting Lila to let go of Tony's leg was a very difficult and amusing situation that Laura left Clint to deal with.

To conclude: Tony Stark is good with children and would be a great father despite what everyone seems to think.

Here's my tumblr if you're interested, it also has the story collages: anxious- - -soul (no spaces between the dashes but sucks and wouldn't allow the dashes without spaces)

Anyway,
Thank you for reading,
Hope you enjoyed this,
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Bye~