Hello! This is my first Avengers fic. The plot bunnies have been hopping around in my head for a while now and just wouldn't leave me alone. Anywho, I hope you like it. This is just the beginning. The next chapter skips forward quite a few years so this fic isn't just about Nina as a baby. I hope you like it and pretty please leave a review. They make me happy.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Nina, a few other OCs, and the plot. Everything else is not mine.

Summary: Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. Tony Stark is good at a lot of things. Parenting isn't one of them. They say it takes a village to raise a child. Well, they don't have a village, but they do have the Avengers.

Prologue

When Tony Stark first held his daughter in his arms it felt…different than he expected it to. Little Nina Eloise Stark was born five pounds ten ounces on August twenty-seventh. She had dark hair and eyes, just like her father. The only think that resembled her mother, Pepper, was her large innocent eyes.

As the team gathered around the standard hospital bassinet, they couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. With Pepper not going to be around anymore, in what the oncologist had estimated to be only a few months, they had all hoped that Nina would resemble her mother, if only to help them remember her by.

Tony and Pepper's marriage had been spur of the moment. Following the battle against the Chitauri that had nearly trapped Tony Stark at the other end of the universe and destroyed all of Manhattan, Pepper Potts pretty much had a nervous breakdown. Sure, she'd seen her boyfriend/boss injured many a time but, this was different. It was just too real this time.

They didn't elope exactly. After Thor had transported Loki back to Asgard, Tony had called in the first qualified person he could find to marry him and Pepper, right there amongst the rubble of Stark Tower. So, there they stood, midst the wreckage and before God and The Avengers (minus one) to say "I do."

In the months that followed, everything changed. The bond between the six heroes strengthened and Stark (now Avenger's) Tower was rebuilt. Tony, Pepper, Natasha, Bruce, Thor, Steve, and Clint became a family, of sorts. They lived together in the tower, excluding whoever was away on mission at one time or another. Everything was wonderful for a year or so.

The news wasn't really surprising to any of them. When the team found out that Pepper was pregnant, they were excited, to say the least.

But, Pepper's pregnancy wasn't normal. In fact, it was anything but. She had none of the classic symptoms except one: exhaustion. No matter how much sleep she got, it was never enough. The doctor assured her that every pregnancy was different. But, the exhaustion was ruining her. She was mentally, physically, and emotionally drained. It wasn't until she was about four months along that she realized why.

She found it while showering. How she, or Tony for that matter, had missed it, she had no idea. A small, hard, pebble-textured lump on the underside of her breast. That scared her. She was crying when she called the doctor and flat out sobbing when she told Tony.

A week later the oncologist confirmed it: Pepper had stage two breast cancer. The team was devastated. And, while treatment was possible, she would have to give up the baby. Choosing between her life and the baby's wasn't a hard choice for Pepper. Without treatment, the hormones produced in her body during her pregnancy would accelerate the cancer and eventually kill her. But Pepper didn't care. Tony tried to make her see reason, claiming that they could always have another baby but, Pepper was relentless.

And so, her unusual pregnancy continued.

Her pain was apparent as time progressed. At least one of the team members were home with her at all times but, even the constant company couldn't distract her from the reality in front of her: She was going to die. Pepper never complained though. It was going to be worth it when the child growing inside of her lived a long and fulfilling life.

When the delivery time rolled around, everybody was in a bit of a panic. The whole team had been preparing for this for months. Tony had even caught Steve reading a "How to be a Better Uncle" book a while back. Seeing as it was pretty much inevitable that Pepper was going to die, all of the Avengers had promised her that they would help Tony raise the baby, no matter what. And an Avenger never breaks a promise.

Now, holding his daughter in his arms for the first time, Tony Stark wasn't just scared, but also a little bit…he wouldn't say resentful. No, not that but…something. Sure, his daughter was beautiful and calm, but she was taking away the only person he had ever allowed himself to love: Pepper.

Speaking of Pep, Tony watched his sound wife sleeping in post-delivery exhaustion. He handed the baby off to Natasha and took a seat beside the hospital bed. He kissed his sleeping wife's hand as the team all cooed at his daughter in the background.

As it turned out, Nina was a very easy baby. She slept relatively well for a newborn, easily went down for her naps, was still while being changed, always readily accepted her bottle, and didn't cry very often. The entire team loved her.

When Pepper and Nina had first gotten home from the hospital, everyone was a bit unsure about what to do next. With one demi-gods, three scientifically enhanced humans, and two master assassins running around Avenger's Tower, plus a newborn baby, everything was a bit hectic. It took time to adjust. And, while everyone else was infatuated by the baby (not that Pepper wasn't) she knew that she was going to die and Tony would need help.

While Natasha, Clint, Steve, and Thor had easily picked up on the basic such as changing and feeding her, Bruce was hesitant to even go anywhere near her. In fact, he didn't even touch her until she was two weeks old and Pepper forced him to rock her to sleep.

Eventually, though, everyone settled in and was at peace.

That is, until Pepper's death. She had been getting worse and worse, and had to be admitted into the hospital. The new mother had made it until about Nina's third month before passing quietly passing.

After the funeral, Tony shut down. He couldn't even look at Nina and spent most of his days drinking. The team allowed him two weeks before they decided enough was enough. They were all mourning for Pepper but, Nina needed a family to love and take care of her. That wasn't going to happen if the whole team was fighting off bouts of depression.

After much discussion (and a few sharp smacks to the back of the head courtesy of Natasha) Tony finally snapped out of it. Sure, when he looked at his baby all he could see was Pepper lying still in a casket. And sure, there were a lot of things he wasn't very good at, like remembering to buy formula and that leaving sleeping babies on the recliner unattended was not okay, but he was doing his best. After all, he had a daughter to raise and, the team would be there with him every step of the way. With the six of them she would have to turn out alright.

They hoped.