Chapter Text
Maria does not remember a time when she was not Mrs. Stark. She couldn’t tell you what the color of her childhood sky was or if the grass was the green of aquifers scrapped dry. She doesn’t remember if her mother had a favorite perfume or if her father smoked - she can’t remember if she had those things at all. She can’t even remember if that’s something she should be sad about.
What Maria remembers is simple - there was a room with bright windows and a bed with soft sheets. And Mr. Stark (call me Howard for God’s sake) stood frowning by the door while a woman with eyes as warm as a bullet buried in brain matter placed something small and heavy in Maria’s arms. “This is Tony. You are his mother. The man by the door is your husband Howard. And you had an accident - it has affected your memory. Don’t worry about it - you’ll get better.”
The woman leaves and what looks like a solid shadow detaches it’s self from the corner to follow her. Maria doesn’t care - because the woman is lying. Nothing hurts and there aren’t any bandages and there is not a cracked or damaged area in her head. It’s all scrapped smooth. Like running your tongue over where a tooth should be. Like running you fingertip over the inside of a shell. Whatever happen was intentional and Maria is scared.
And then “Tony” laughs and it’s like her world shines brighter. They won’t take him away, won’t do anything to her that would keep her from caring for him. He’s her burden and her savior. And Maria smiles as she stares down into eyes as bright as fool’s gold and entirely too clever for something so small. Tony has three little teeth already.
That shouldn’t be a problem. But it is.