A/N: Disclaimer - I do not own Iron Man or any of its characters; all rights go to Marvel.
"Yeah, Rhodes, she's got me running all over the place recently, and I haven't gotten a good sleep in days because of this pregnancy... No, I'm not complaining... Well you have no right to judge. When's the last time you've had to prepare for a baby? Oh, right, never... I'm telling you, I'm already exhausted and it's only been twelve weeks. Pepper's especially tired... Of course we're both really excited! I can't believe we're having a baby... Hey, can you do me a favor and babysit when the baby's actually born...? Oh, come on, Platypus... Okay well I have to go now... Yeah, okay, talk to you later."
Tony hung up the phone as he pulled up into the driveway to his Malibu mansion. He stepped out of the driver's seat and opened the back doors to gather everything that he had bought, which included an entire crib set and three tubs of Oreo ice cream (Pepper often had cravings).
He made his way to the door, struggling a little under the weight of everything he had to carry, and instructed JARVIS to open the door for him.
"Where's Pepper?" Tony asked the AI as he stepped into the house.
"Mrs. Stark is in the soon-to-be nursery, sir. She appears to be having another emotional breakdown."
Tony's face fell a little. He hated when Pepper had crazy mood swings; it was hard on both of them. She'd been having more and more of them recently. Tony dropped everything he was holding and went upstairs to go comfort her. He pushed the door to the nursery open and saw Pepper huddled in a corner in the fetal position. He could tell she was crying.
"Pepper?" He approached her cautiously. "Are you alright, honey?"
Pepper lifted her head up and sniffed. "No."
"Do you need anything? I got more ice cream –"
"No," Pepper said again, shaking her head as more tears flooded out of her eyes. "No."
Tony could tell the word wasn't just an answer to his question. It sounded more like she was denying something, like she was speaking about something bigger. Tony's heart stopped. Something was very wrong. This wasn't just another one of her emotional breakdowns.
"What's wrong, Pepper?" he inquired softly, trying to coax a response out of her. "What happened?"
Pepper finally sat up, and she fell into Tony's arms. It was then that Tony noticed that there was blood on the floor and walls and on her clothes. Another pungent smell hit him, and he looked past her shoulder to find a shot glass and a bottle of brandy on the floor next to her. Part of the bottle was broken, and half the liquid had spilled out into the carpet.
"What is going on?" Tony said, trying to keep the hysteria and anxiety out of his voice. "Why is there blood on the floor? Pepper, have... have you been drinking? You can't drink alcohol when there's a baby –!"
"There is no baby, Tony," Pepper cut him off, her voice thick.
Tony stopped breathing. "What do you mean?"
Pepper sobbed. Then she choked out one word that made Tony's world come crashing down on him. "M-miscarriage."
Suddenly Tony felt dizzy, and it was like he was floating out of his own body. This couldn't be happening. He must be dreaming. He must.
Tony tried but couldn't bring himself to say anything. He was afraid his voice would come out strained, and Pepper would know how badly this was hurting him. He didn't want that. He didn't want Pepper to know that he felt broken, too. Because if she knew how he felt, she would be completely shattered and hopeless. He refused to even cry. He needed to be strong for her. That was all he could do for her right now.
Tony picked Pepper up off the floor, carried her into their bedroom, and helped her clean herself up. Then they sat on the bed together, and Tony held her while she cried.
It was over. The pieces of the crib would remain against the wall of the room that was supposed to be the nursery. There would be no project to paint the room for the baby. There would be no shopping for cute baby clothes. No one would come up to them and say how excited they were for them, or ask when the due date was. They would never even know the baby's gender. There was nothing left.
Pepper eventually dozed off, and Tony drew the covers over her body and left her alone to sleep. He wandered around the house for a while until he found himself in the workshop.
All his sadness was gone. He didn't feel depressed anymore. Now he was angry.
In a fit of rage and anguish, Tony grabbed the hammer that was lying on the table next to him and swung at the Iron Man suit that was set up in the middle of the room. The blow made a big dent in the suit. Tony kept swinging wildly at it until it was practically destroyed, and then he turned around and smashed the window behind him. Glass sprayed everywhere, cutting Tony's temple and palm, but he didn't care.
Something made a small noise behind him, and Tony wheeled around with the hammer in hand, stopping mid-swing when he saw Dum-E veer back. The robot slowly advanced towards him again, making another little whirring sound.
Tony dropped the hammer, which clanged on the floor, and then collapsed in tears. It wasn't fair. Why was this happening?
After a few minutes Tony regained control of himself. Dum-E reached down and nudged him, and Tony used the robot to help himself back onto his feet. He made his way back upstairs and went outside, leaning against the railing of the balcony and staring out into the ocean. He closed his eyes and let the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks below soothe him.
Maybe they'd lost the baby. But that wasn't the end. When they were ready, they could try again.
And they still had each other. Pepper was Tony's whole world, and he was hers. As long as they were together, they could overcome any obstacle that came their way. That was something Tony was confident in.
They loved and cared about each other enough to make it through anything. Right now that was all they needed.
In the end, they would be okay.