Tony watched Orion run around the living room while he stirred his coffee in the kitchen. The little boy - not so little anymore - was having fun twirling a brown ball in his hand. Orion was growing incredibly fast for a normal child. He had only hatched last year, and now he was almost taller than a six-year-old.
Tony thought to himself, "How fast is this boy growing?
In the old days he would have had a stiff whiskey instead of his morning coffee. But since Orion had come into his life, his old habits had diminished. He had almost completely given up alcohol, and instead of disappearing into the night at parties, he told stories to put his son to sleep. Gone was the playboy Tony Stark, replaced by a man who had embraced fatherhood and strangely enjoyed it.
Orion's laughter filled the kitchen. Tony leaned over to him. "Hey, little man, what are you doing?"
Orion smiled at his father. "Playing ball with Jarvis!"
Tony raised his eyebrows. "Jarvis has no hands, how can he play ball?"
Just then, Jarvis' voice was heard. "I use projection to track a virtual ball and predict the movements of the physical ball, sir."
Tony laughed and shook his head from side to side. "Okay, that's acceptable."
Just then Pepper walked in. She had some files in her hand, but the expression on her face caught Tony's attention. She wanted to talk about something, you could see it in her eyes.
"Tony, can I talk to you for a second?" Pepper said, crossing her arms.
Tony took a sip of his coffee and raised his eyebrows. "If this is about the company reports, please postpone until tomorrow."
Pepper rolled her eyes. "No, this is about Orion."
Orion heard his name and approached curiously. "Are you talking about me?"
Pepper smiled and patted him on the head. "Yes, sweetie. But right now I need to talk to your father. Can you play some more games?"
Orion shrugged. "Okay!" he said and started throwing his ball again.
Pepper turned to Tony and took a deep breath. "Mr. Stark Orion has only been in this house for a year. You need to let him mix with the other kids. He needs to grow up like a normal kid."
Tony's brow furrowed. "Normal? Pepper, there is nothing normal about Orion. He's... he's something else."
"Okay, yes, I agree," Pepper said patiently. "But that doesn't change the fact that he needs to be in a social environment. He can go to daycare or playgroup. He should at least learn how to interact with other children."
Tony shrugged. "I think we're doing pretty well right now. His best friends are me and Jarvis. He doesn't need anyone else."
Pepper took a deep breath. "Mr. Stark, social interaction is very important in the development of children. Orion is great, but he can't grow up spending all his time with you or the AI."
Tony pursed his lips. "I think he's growing up just fine."
"Mr. Stark, look," Pepper said in a softer voice. "You love Orion. You care about him. That's great, but if you keep him at home all the time, how will he adjust to the outside world? How will he learn to communicate with other people?"
Tony frowned. He hadn't thought about that. He hadn't really planned how Orion would deal with the outside world. But his instinct to protect him was overwhelming.
"Look, Pepper, I... I don't know," Tony said with concern in his voice. "I don't want him to get hurt out there."
Pepper touched Tony's arm lightly. "I know you want him to be safe, Mr. Stark. But don't you want him to be happy?"
Tony paused for a moment. He thought about Orion's smile. His son looked happy, didn't he? But was he really happy? Or did he think he was because this was the only world he knew?
Pepper saw the hesitation in Tony's eyes and continued. "Just think about it. We could take him to some children's activities. Let's give it a try. If Orion doesn't want to, we'll reconsider."
Tony was silent for a while. Then he took a deep breath and nodded. "All right... but just to try it out. And if Orion doesn't like it, that's the end of it."
Pepper smiled. "Fair enough."
Just then Orion threw his ball and hit Tony in the leg. "Dad! What are you talking about?"
Tony opened his son's arms and hugged him. "We were just talking about what we think is best for you, little man."
Orion tilted his head to the side. "What's best?"
Tony smiled. "I guess we'll find out together."
And with that, Tony accepted Pepper's offer. But the protective instinct inside him was still whispering: If anything goes wrong, I'll get Orion out of there.
_______________
After talking to Pepper, Tony went to his study. The idea of exposing Orion to the outside world made him uncomfortable. On the one hand, Pepper was right; Orion needed to mingle with his peers. But on the other hand, Orion was no ordinary child. No one knew how fast he was growing, how physically developed he was. What if he accidentally hurt a child? Or what if someone realized that he was not a normal human being?
Tony turned to the computer at his desk. "Jarvis, am I here?"
"As usual, sir," Jarvis replied.
Tony sighed. "All right, buddy, we need to talk about this. How do we socialize Orion?"
Jarvis was silent for several seconds. Then a series of readouts appeared on the monitor. "If by 'socializing' you mean spending time with his peers, there are a few options. There are very prestigious private daycare centers in New York. Alternatively, there are organizations that organize science workshops and art activities for children."
Tony frowned. "Daycare centers? No, that would never happen. What would he do with a bunch of babies? Teach them not to shoot laser beams?"
Jarvis replied calmly. "Sir, we don't know for sure that Orion has the ability to shoot laser beams."
Tony rolled his eyes. "That was a metaphor, Jarvis. But seriously, Orion is not the type to go to daycare. He's different from other kids, and not just physically. His mental development is incredibly fast.
Jarvis opened another graph on his screen. "You're right about that, sir. Orion's brain activity level is that of an average ten-year-old. But that doesn't mean his social development is progressing at the same rate. So, yes, physically he may be older than six, mentally he may be ten, but socially he's still a child and needs to learn how to interact with people."
Tony sighed. "Yes, yes... But we don't know where to send him. Science workshops, you say? Orion might like that."
"That might be an option, sir, but most of the children who participate in science activities are at least seven years old, and Orion looks physically older than six, even though he looks four now. It could create an identity problem."
Tony tapped his fingers on the desk. "So my kid is growing up so fast, we can't send him anywhere. Great."
Jarvis was silent for a moment. Then he said, "Sir, another alternative is to introduce Orion to other children individually. For example, a few trusted families could be allowed to spend time with their children."
Tony thought. That actually made sense. Instead of Orion mixing with a large group, socializing with a small number of children in a controlled environment... that might be a safer option.
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