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"I said no, Tony." Dad isn't even looking at Tony as he straightens his tie. "Maybe next week I'll take you, but right now there's too much to do. I can't have you underfoot during the opening ceremonies."
"But you promised. You said we would go to the Expo 'when it opens'."
"You will, later." Dad heads for the door where his friend Obadiah is waiting.
"But you promised," Tony says. "I made a whole factory. I was going to put it on exhibit." Tony had so hoped that this one time Dad would keep his promise. Just this once. It's Stark Expo and he's Tony Stark and he should be there the day it opens. Tony's not going to cry, but his throat hurts and it's hard to talk. Just this once he wanted Dad to be proud of him.
Obadiah looks at Tony. He smiles. "A whole factory?"
Dad laughs. "It's in the basement. It makes wooden toys, Obie. Tony designed an engine to power it and and then programmed my computer to run it."
Obie is still looking at Tony but talking to Tony's dad. "You weren't kidding when you said Tony was smart. Hey, Howard, why don't I take Tony to the Expo? You know, it doesn't pay to stifle the next generation of genius."
Dad grins at Obie. "You don't know what you're offering. Tony's a handful."
Tony looks from Dad to Obadiah, not sure that he even wants Obadiah to take him. Dad promised, and he wants to go with him.
"Then I should start being nice to him now, before he takes over the company and boots me out." Obie laughs and Dad laughs, too. "Really, Howard, I don't mind. I wasn't scheduled to give any speeches. It'll be fun to see the Expo with someone who hasn't been slogging away at it for years."
Dad shrugs. "All right. I've got to meet Maria at the pavilion. Put on a good show for the crowd." And then Dad leaves without even saying goodbye to Tony.
Tony is not going to cry. He's not a baby and Obie is a guest in his house. He reaches up to tug on Obie's hand. "Do you want to see my factory?"
Obie smiles. "I'd love to, my boy."
Tony shows Obie how his factory works, and Obie pays attention to him, he really does. "And then the sprayer paints the car red." Tony smiles tentatively at Obie.
"That's really beautiful. You know what, Tony, Ford's introducing the Mustang II at the Expo, what say we go take a look? I bet they'll let us sit in it."
***
Tony falls deeply, unashamedly, whole-heartedly, in love with the red hatchback even though he feels the 2.8 liter V-6 is less than the car deserves. He gets into an animated conversation with the Ford employee displaying the car until Obie pulls him away to introduce him to waffles filled with strawberries and whipped cream.
Then they walk around the fountains letting the spray hit them. Obie doesn't mind when his suit gets wet, and he laughs when Tony jumps into one of the shallow waterways, chasing the colored lights that play along it.
He holds Obie's hand when they stand on line, and sits on his lap when they ride the sky-pods. Everything is bright and shiny and moving and so many things to see and hear and touch and smell. For once Tony has enough going on that he can relax and just let it all come in, he doesn't have to spin inside looking for more. They see spacecraft from NASA, and trained birds from Florida, and dancing girls from some place which must be very hot, because they don't wear much. There's a cow in a dress, and a restaurant with volcanoes. And so many people.
"Getting tired, Tony? Want to go home?" Obie asks after they see the computer exhibit which is doing things that are interesting, but Tony thinks could be done better. The IBM people refuse to let him open up the computer, which is really unfair, because it's supposed to be a demonstration, isn't it?
"Yes. No." Tony is fiddling with the souvenir hat Obie bought him. It's got a big purple feather sticking out the top and he really likes it because it makes him taller.
Obie laughs again and picks Tony up, putting him on his shoulder. "How's that?"
"Oh! I can see everything!" Tony knows he's not supposed to kiss people. Dad tells him that's for babies, but he is having such a wonderful day, and he's so happy he can't help kissing Obie on the cheek. "Can we see the dinosaurs?"
Obie grins. "Anything you want, my boy."
Tony holds onto Obie tightly. He's glad that Obie is his friend. He wishes Dad could see them now. Maybe he'd like Tony better if he could see that Obie likes him.