Hello you guys! This is a little oneshot PercyJacksonLover14 said she wanted me to do. :) Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate it! To those who don't I'm still thankful for you guys and I think you'll still enjoy this!
Disclaimer: As per usual, I own nothing. Oh well.
Tony's never been grand at tying ties despite the many company parties he's grown up going to that required such fancy attire. He stared at himself in the mirror, mentally scolding himself as he realized that this attempt wasn't going to end well–his trapped index finger was proof enough. He let out a long sigh, pulling the rest of the tie off and tossing it onto the chair beside him.
"Stupid ties," he grumbled. He plopped himself onto his plush bed, waiting as the soft mattress beneath him melded to his form. Sometimes he wished that the bed would just swallow him whole and never let go, eliminating the need to go anywhere.
Glancing over to the clock on the wall, Tony realized that he was running late already. "Great, just great!"
Forsaking the tie on the chair, he grabbed a coat and slid on his shoes–very comfortably-so on the wrong feet–and slipped his essential travel items into his pockets as he rushed out to catch a taxi. All the money at his disposal, and he still refuses to get himself a car. Rhodey insisted that was a good thing, knowing how he drove. Tony sometimes agreed with that sentiment. Sometimes.
As he was slipping into the taxi, he regretfully remembered something. He slapped his forehead, both mentally and physically for double effect. "I'm sorry, I forgot to grab something. Mind if I go grab it?"
The tired looking driver sighed, but nodded much to Tony's immense relief.
"Thank you!"
Of all the days to be an extra special scatterbrain, chose an award winning day: Thanksgiving. Sure, not as drastically important as an anniversary or wedding, but this year, it might as well have been. This was, after all, his first Thanksgiving that he's celebrating with none other than his girlfriend that he so adored. Not just their first Thanksgiving, but first big holiday where family was involved. It was a huge step in their relationship and he was more excited than ever before to take it.
With an extra rush in his step he arrived to his bedroom and collected the neatly packed and wrapped box that laid in plain sight so he didn't forget–obviously it hadn't worked. Leaving at just about the same speed, if not faster, managed to bang his shin on about every single piece of furniture between him and his door out. Cursing under his breath, he returned to the kindly waiting taxi.
All he could do now was hope that the rest of the day would go smoothly.
After a quick stop to pick up his favorite redhead, they arrived to the destination promptly twenty minutes late. Generously tipping the driver, Tony brushed his hands against her soft ones and intertwined their fingers together as he helped her out of the car.
"Ready?" he asked her, taking a deep look into her nervous, yet excited brown eyes.
She let out a light laugh and nodded. "Of course, I've been waiting for this day for a long time."
Taking the lead, he led her with his one free hand to the entrance of the building his dad called home. He was excited to see how things would turn out today. Not just with the addition of his girlfriend, but also because it's the first Thanksgiving he's celebrated since his dad came back into his life. To think he gets to spend this day of thanks with all the people he called family. Nothing could be more perfect.
"Son!" he dad joyously greeted him at the door with a brief hug before turning to the redhead with a brighter shine to his eyes."Pepper, I'm glad you could make it! Tony's been all worked up about it all week."
"Dad!" Tony protested as Pepper gave an angelic laugh, leaning heavily on Tony's arm for support. Tony looked away with a pout. "I was just excited."
Howard only smiled proudly at the couple as he invited them to get comfortable. "The Rhodes are going to be a bit late, so it's just us right now, but they'll be here soon."
"Did you need any help with anything?" Pepper wondered releasing her boyfriend from her grasp to investigate the innards of the house. Since Tony moved out, she's only ever been to the eldest Stark's home once when she helped Tony situate himself in his own home not too far away from here. Of course, back then she had came as a friend to Tony and not his girlfriend. Though, she certainly left as his girlfriend.
"Well," Howard pondered the thought, "there's not much to do. All the food aside from the turkey that Mrs. Rhodes is bringing is done. Oh! You can cut the pie if you want. That'll make it quicker to serve later."
"Okay!" Pepper snatached Tony's hand back and bounced excitedly on her feet. "Lead the way!"
Feeling a surge of warmth run through him, he felt unable to control the upward twist of his mouth to reveal teeth as his eyes also squinted to share the happiness he suddenly felt. With pride and joy, he led the way to the kitchen to hunt down the pie they were to cut. Pepper relaxed her grip and admired the gleaming shine of the kitchen that had warm food splayed out across the counter. Her stomach rumbled in her hunger as she hadn't eat all the much that day. "Mmmmm," she hummed out.
Tony just admired her joy, mostly just surprised by how genuinely happy she appeared. She looked as if she's been present at all his family holidays with how comfortable and open she was acting. If he was an outsider looking in, he would have guessed she hadn't had to give up her own family reunion for this and that she's been a part of this family since day one. There was something about that that drove Tony's heart wild.
"Thank you," he blurted out, but not unwantedly so.
Pepper blinked at him with a hint of surprise. "For what? Helping cut a pie?"
He laughed and scratched at the nape of his neck. "No, for coming here. I know you already had plans. I'm glad you were willing to come here instead."
"Well, I wouldn't exactly say I had plans," Pepper shrugged, her own smile glowing brightly. "I barely knew that side of the family anyway."
"Still," Tony said. "It means a lot that you agree to come. Thank you."
Stretching up on her tiptoes, she brushed her lips softly against the corner of his lips. "Thank you for inviting me."
She spun around joyfully on her toes still and scanned the kitchen for the pie they needed to cut. Finally finding it, she all but skipped over to it while Tony fetched the cutting knife. "I just love pumpkin pie! Don't you?"
They proceeded to cut the pie into equal pieces so there was enough for all the guests–which hadn't been much. Surprisingly, even the small task of slicing pie had become fun for the couple. Pepper would hum a melody as she carefully cut the last piece as Tony would hold the pie still.
"There," Pepper proudly put her hands on her hips to admire the perfectly cut pumpkin pie.
Tony turned around to check the time as he yawned. He'd been up far too late the previous night both due to his anxiousness over today and because he wanted to finish an upgrade to his armor to increase its durability. He wondered if Pepper had been as nervous about today as he had. Swiveling back to face his beautiful redhead, he was about to ask her just that when–
SMACK!
Being slapped in the face had never been so tasty.
The ring of his favorite laugh in the world filled his ears, though at the moment he was too fond of why she was laughing. "Pepper!?"
She breathed in heavily, snorting as she was at it, and swiped a finger across his cheek. "I'm sorry, I couldn't resist!" she then promptly licked her finger clean of the pumpkin cake that had resided itself now on Tony's face.
Then, despite himself, he started laughing to. Be it from the contagious manner of Pepper's laugh or just the hilarity that must be his face right now, he wasn't sure. He lifted his hand to wipe the dessert off his face, before pausing as an idea came to mind. If he hadn't been laughing so hard, he would have smirked.
Pepper was holding her stomach in her shared humor over Tony's current misfortune, making her perfectly distracted. Wrapping one arm securely around her quickly so she couldn't push back and the other at the nape of her neck, he planted his face against hers making sure to get as much as he could before Pepper finally pushed him back in her own surprise.
"Now who's laughing?" Tony wondered that smirk finally on his face.
Just like himself, Pepper ended up laughing at her own predicament. Together they giggled at the messiness of their faces neither one of them caring–at least at that moment–that they no longer had a pie to eat after dinner. After several moments on uncontrolled laughter that could possibly go on forever, they both caught their much needed breath.
"Don't you just love pie?" Pepper wondered as she held her aching stomach.
As Tony was about to respond, Pepper approached him until there was barely an inch between the two cutting off his response due to curiosity. Then, quicker than a hummingbird's wings, Tony felt as a large chunk of the pie on his face was removed. Tony blinked as he eyes became as wide as saucers all while Pepper smiled as she swallowed and licked her lips, a smirk on her lips.
Tony was half-glad his face was covered in the pumpkin goodness because it hid the fact he was sure of that his face was stained red.
The two were no strangers to kissing. It was a very well-known fact to those who knew the couple. Neither were they strangers to long makeout sessions, much to Rhodey's dismay as he once laid witness to one. Though what was unfamiliar territory, was tongue and Pepper just boldly stepped into that territory. Not just boldly, but proudly.
But he wasn't afraid to accept a challenge. Pepper of all people knew that.
He quickly returned the favor, earning himself a tasty treat before he even moved to capture her own lips with his. Her soft giggle against his lips sent chills down his spine as he planted his one hand on her neck to get a better angle and the other hand against her hip, pressing her more against him. She responded by practically melting against him, scratching lightly at his back while deeply enjoying the attention Tony was giving her and the taste against her tongue.
Separating to catch their breath for once, the two pressed their messy foreheads together only swipe another taste of the pie on each others face before returned their lips to each other. Tony readjusted his hands to both have a firm grip on her hips before hoisting her up onto a clean spot of the counter earning him a pleasantly surprised gasp from her lips. His smirk pressed up against her lips as he deepened the kiss as the new position allowed.
Of all the things he imagined for this day, making out with his girlfriend in his dad's kitchen wasn't exactly on the list. Though, he was never the one to complain about having his favorite redhead's lips against his own.
"Okay, Rhodey just called and they're about five minutes away, do you want to help set up the table?"
The sudden reminder that they weren't alone, broke them apart instantly. Pepper kicked off the counter immediately as Tony moved to busy himself with cleaning up the pie that reached the floor, luckily just in time for Howard's arrival into the kitchen.
"Did you hear–what happened?" Howard suddenly demanded taking in the view before him.
Tony really hoped that there was still enough pie on his face to hide the unsurmountable red that he felt burn into his face. "I slipped?"
He could almost hear Pepper's mental facepalm at his stupid excuse, but ignored it as he watched for his dad's reaction. "Was cutting the pie too difficult?" his dad finally teased. "Or did you just find your girlfriend too tasty?"
"Dad!" Tony immediately protested in horror.
Pepper, for the first time that evening, was silent. Tony was sure that behind that now thin layer of dessert on her face, she was equally as red as he himself must have been.
His dad only shrugged and held up his arms in surrender. "Don't yell at me. I wasn't the one making out on an island top counter where I could see you from the living room. You guys weren't very quiet either."
Tony's mouth popped open as he realized that at an angle, he could see the living room through the dining room. Pepper only moved to hide her embarrassed face behind Tony, her hand instinctively reaching for her boyfriend's hand.
The sound of the doorbell saved them from further embarrassment as his dad went to greet the Rhodes family. "I suggest going to clean up before they get inside."
Tony tightened his grip on Pepper's hand and nodded without words. He swallowed hard once Howard had left and turned to face his girlfriend. The instant they made eye contact, the two practically lost it. This time, the laughter truly was unstoppable as they clutched at their own aching stomachs. Tony could barely keep himself focused on the direction his was going as he led Pepper to the nearest bathroom.
"Oh my gosh, Tony!" Pepper finally breathed as they shut himself in the bathroom suite. "I can't believe your dad saw us!"
Tony, still equally as horrified, nodded in agreement as he caught his breath. "I'm sorry about that, Pepper. I should have paid more attention…"
"Are you kidding?" Pepper demanded as she started looking for towels, before Tony directed her to them. "I shouldn't have thrown the pie or licked your face!"
Tony chuckled as he started running warm water in the sink. "I wasn't expecting that."
They continued washing their faces and wiping what little managed to spill onto their clothes until they were practically spotless. Now finished with that task, the couple departed from the bathroom to meet up with their guests as if nothing had happened. Passing the kitchen, his dad had already cleaned up their mess and a warm turkey now sat on the counter and apparently the Rhodes had brought an extra pie or two as two more pies sat perfectly cut on the countertop. Tony could hear Pepper sigh in relief.
Tony stopped the redhead before they could reach where the rest of the guests are. He nuzzled his forehead to hers and smiled warmly. "Thank you for being here. I'm glad we can share this day together."
"Awe," Pepper cooed returning the warmth. "Thank you for inviting me. It's already been a blast."
Stealing one quick kiss, Tony finally moved on to lead his girlfriend into the living room with the rest of the family. "Hey guys!" he greeted everyone as they entered.
Rhodey was the first he saw as he was moving to sit on the one reclining chair in the room. Across from him on the couch was Howard and the boy's mother who was surprisingly holding the hand of a man Tony hasn't seen in ages. Rhodey's dad.
"Mr. Rhodes!" Tony happily greeted. "You were able to make it?"
The man in question gave a smile that was mixed with a long sigh. "Thankfully! I was worried they were going to cancel my flight back for the holidays, but last minute I was able to go. It's been awhile my boy, how is everything?"
The two, while not being nearly in as much contact with each other during Tony's two year stay at the Rhodes' residence, had been quite close. Tony respected the man and often looked up to him as a father figure while he thought his dad was dead, and would still consider him so today. He was immensely thankful that the man let him stay at their house, trusting that he'd be good to his family while he was overseas.
With him here, his Thanksgiving couldn't be any more complete.
"Who's this I see?" Mr. Rhodes inquired referencing the redhead beside the genius. "She's not your girlfriend is she?"
Tony chuckled and gave a nod. "This is Pepper, my girlfriend." His heart swelled at the title. It wasn't often that he got to introduce his girlfriend to family, as basically everyone in this room was all he had to call family. Making this meeting all the more important to him. "She's actually the daughter of an FBI agent! I gotta say, I'm pretty lucky!"
"As happy as I am to see you all gush over Tony and his girlfriend," Rhodey interrupted the sweet meeting. "But I'm hungry, can we eat?"
"James!" Mrs. Rhodes chastised.
Rhodey sighed. "Fine, I'll be patient."
"Though, I think we should eat while the food's still hot," Mr. Rhodes announced, being the first of the Rhodes to stand up. "Tony, you want to show us to the dining room with your lovely girlfriend?"
Tony smiled brighter than he has all evening as he took the man up on his request and led them to the next room over. It takes him a holiday to truly realize how thankful he is to have his family and friends. To be able to have dinners like this with his girlfriend at his side and his brother by bond on the other. To be able to sit at the same table as both his father and his father figure as well as the woman who practically raised him as her own, even before his dad's "death".
For all that, he was thankful.
I thought it'd be cute to have a little messy pie "eating" part in there. I couldn't resist it myself. :P And you know, I only remember the show mentioning Rhodey's dad like once or twice. So I wanted to do something with him.
Fun Fact: I don't usually do anything grand for Thanksgiving. Probably the one day in the year my family eats dinner all at one table. xD
Let me know what you think about the story! I'd love to hear it! Also, even in you don't celebrate Thanksgiving (I respect that it's only celebrated in the States), I'd like to hear what you guys are thankful for. I'm certainly thankful for all of you lovely readers and writers out there! You truly have encouraged me to keep moving forward in more ways than you know! :)
Lots of hugs and love! SilverPedals!