Art by MidJourney.
"I missed you!" Toni said happily, cuddling Ms Potts while her mom snapped a photo. "Why didn't you visit sooner?"
"I... I wasn't sure if Morgan should see you like this."
"But why?" Toni asked inquisitively.
"I thought it might make her upset."
"But why?"
'Why' had became Toni's favourite word in the months since Pepper had seen him last. "Because..." She faltered, struggling to find words that he;d understand. "... it's complicated."
"Oh." Toni frowned. Complicated sounded boring. Distracted, she turned away, looking to where Morgan was playing with her toys, squirming in the woman's arms. "Can I go play with my sister now? Please?"
"Your-?" Pepper Potts reeled from the emotionally sucker punch. She could barely bring herself to break the hug but Toni ducked under her arm and ran to play with her new best friend and... sister?
Pepper straightened to stand beside Helen. The smile on her face was fixed in place, reassuring the girls whenever they glanced back at the grown ups, but the tone of her voice was chilly as she spoke out of the corner of her mouth.
"You told him that his daughter was his sister."
"It seemed... convenient," Helen replied guardedly. "Technically it's not incorrect. They're half-sisters, genetically speaking."
"I'm not talking about genetics. I'm talking about you confusing him."
Dr Cho watched her daughter playing. By her childish, carefree attitude, one would never guess her IQ was in the 200s. "She's already very confused. She remembers everything, but she doesn't understand it all. It's all jumbled. I'm just helping her... make sense of it."
"By filling his head with lies? And how have you helped him 'make sense' of me?"
Helen hesitated. She knew it had been a bad idea granting Pepper access to her patient, but she'd only been able to use forestall the visit for so long. "She thinks that you're a friend."
"So I'm one of 'mommy's' friends, am I?" Pepper's voice was icy, her smile still equally frozen. "You've lost your impartiality, doctor. I don't know if I can continue to trust you with my husband's care."
"How unfortunate for you that I'm irreplaceable then," Helen retorted crisply.
"I'm aware of that. But in the morning you'll find U-GIN Genetics has been acquired by Stark Industries. And I'll be staying personally to keep an eye on everything. Especially you."
Helen was about to retort when she felt a small hand tugging on hers, and looked down to see wide brown eyes staring up at her hopefully.
"Is Miss Potts staying with us, mom?" Toni asked excitedly.
"Only for a little while, sweetie," Helen replied with a sharp glance at Pepper. "I'll go prepare the spare room."