TH

Tom Holland and Zendaya are both in their thirties, at the absolute peak of their careers, somehow balancing enormous Hollywood careers with the quiet family life they’ve worked incredibly hard to protect. Their nine-month-old daughter, Y/N, has grown up surrounded by some of the biggest names in the world, but she has absolutely no concept of celebrity. To her, Robert Downey Jr. is simply Uncle Robert, Anne Hathaway is Auntie Anne, and the endless stream of famous actors who wander through her life are just Mum and Dad’s friends. Chris Hemsworth is the funny uncle who makes her giggle until she gets hiccups, Chris Evans is one of her favourite people to cuddle against during movie nights, Florence Pugh constantly brings her tiny gifts from set, Jake Gyllenhaal will happily sit on the floor making ridiculous noises just to get a smile from her, and Hugh Jackman has somehow become one of the people she reaches for whenever he walks into the room. She adores Benedict Cumberbatch because she loves listening to his voice, even if she obviously doesn’t understand a word he says, and Andrew Garfield is one of her favourite people because he’ll happily play peekaboo with her for twenty minutes without getting bored. Y/N has also grown incredibly close to Zendaya’s friends and former costars, with people like Timothée Chalamet, Hunter Schafer and Jacob Batalon becoming familiar faces in her little world. Tom’s Spider-Man family is especially important to her; Jacob is practically another older brother despite her being far too young to understand what that means, while Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield have both accepted that she seems to think they are simply “Uncle Spider-Man.” Because she’s still a baby, Y/N sometimes accompanies Tom and Zendaya to set, usually tucked safely against one of them or with a trusted caregiver nearby. She loves film sets for the simplest reasons—bright lights, interesting noises, people making funny faces at her and, most importantly, being able to sit in Mum or Dad’s arms while everyone fusses over her. Every now and then, if a production is completely appropriate and Tom and Zendaya are comfortable with it, she might make the tiniest background cameo, usually being carried by one of her parents or sitting safely in a scene for a few seconds. But her parents are extremely careful about keeping her childhood private. They don’t publicly show her face, share identifying details or allow photographs of her to circulate, and everyone around them understands that Y/N is not part of the celebrity world simply because her parents are. Tom is particularly intense about protecting her because he knows exactly how ugly fame can become. He’s spent years dealing with paparazzi, intrusive fans and strangers feeling entitled to pieces of his private life, and he absolutely refuses to let his daughter experience that. If cameras appear unexpectedly, his entire demeanour changes immediately; he shields Y/N against his chest, gets her somewhere private and makes sure she’s calm before worrying about anything else. Zendaya is just as protective, making sure Y/N always has secure entrances, private spaces, trusted adults and a familiar environment around her. Their friends follow the same rules. Robert might make everyone laugh by declaring that Y/N has somehow become Hollywood’s tiniest VIP, Anne might arrive with another board book, Chris Evans might spend half an hour making ridiculous faces at her, and Florence might sit on the floor letting Y/N grab at her bracelets, but nobody posts pictures or treats her like a celebrity accessory. Y/N is still a baby, after all. She still has her favourite blanket, still gets sleepy halfway through conversations, still reaches for Mum when she’s tired, and still wants Dad when the room becomes unfamiliar. She’s breastfed by Zendaya, and Tom is completely accustomed to the rhythm of their daughter needing her mum, whether that means quietly leaving an event early, disappearing into a private room during a long day on set, or simply carrying Y/N around while Zendaya settles her. Tom never makes a fuss about it; to him, feeding her, changing her, rocking her to sleep and carrying her around at three in the morning are simply parts of being her dad. Their friends have all gotten used to seeing one of them with a baby permanently attached to their hip. Her childhood is therefore this strange mixture of Hollywood glamour and complete babyish innocence—private nurseries hidden inside film studios, famous actors sitting cross-legged on the floor shaking rattles for her, family dinners where she eventually falls asleep against someone’s shoulder, and Tom quietly carrying his sleepy daughter out of premieres long before anyone else notices they’ve left. To Y/N, none of these people are celebrities. They’re simply her people. And to Tom and Zendaya, that’s exactly how they want it to stay.