Companion piece to my IM fic, Fast Forward. (Pep Pov) Will not make sense (probably, I'm not that confident in my writing skills) without reading FF first. If you can't tell from the title, this is backwards. Enjoy.
Warning, a lot of guesstimation concerning time.
Today, Virginia Potts, or Pepper, was officially a grandma; a title that she would never have even imagined attaching to her resume when she first walked into Tony Stark's Malibu mansion. And yet here she was, graying hair and all, with Tony, looking down at the second most beautiful thing she had ever seen.: their granddaughter. She turned to watch as James, cheeks just as flushed as his wife's, called Abby's parents in Reno to tell them the news. He flashed her a million-Watt grin and Pepper could only return it.
Nine months earlier, Pepper had just finished fixing her hair when Jarvis informed her that her son was making an unexpected visit. By the time she had reached the bottom stair, she found James sitting on the couch with his face cradled in his hands. A thousand worst-case scenarios flooded her mind (a knee-jerk reaction developed from a lifelong marriage to Ironman) as she rushed over to him. He slowly lifted his head to look at her, sporting the most vague, pole-axed expression Pepper had ever seen, and told her that Abby was pregnant. Pepper felt the same swooping sensation she had experienced when she first looked down at her own pregnancy test, and hugged him tightly, pouring all of her emotions into the embrace.
Unfortunately all of her son's esteemed mental capabilities had apparently stalled from shock. By the time he had managed to regain some semblance of coherent thought, Tony had woken up and come down to see what happened. Her husband had been overjoyed to see James and had been about to stride over and bear-hug the hell out of him, when the young man blurted out his impending fatherhood, and thus short-circuiting his own father's brain. Pepper had helplessly buried her laughter in James' shoulder as father and son gaped in identical expressions of bewilderment.
One night a little over a year and a half ago, Pepper had found Tony in their son's old room, surrounded by memories, clutching the baby blue infant suit in his fingers, wearing an utterly lost expression on his age-lined face. She felt an acute ache in her chest and joined him on the floor. When he bemoans how fast the years had gone by, she can only hold him, having no words to comfort him. They sat there until dawn, sorting through and cherishing each memory they could recall.
It took her husband a whole month to be able to work in the garage alone, and Pepper can only be there for him and hold his hand in her own and sigh wistfully for days long past.
About three years ago, James was seventeen and had introduced his parents to his girlfriend Abigail from the R&D Dept. Pepper thought that the bubbly young woman was a perfect counterbalance to her son's mature and steady nature and welcomed her (a little too eagerly, in James' opinion) into the living room, where Tony promptly began his interrogation. She restrained the protective maternal instinct to scold her husband, and let him have his fun. After all, Abby was James' first girlfriend; as parents they held the right to a little ribbing, didn't they? And with that thought, Pepper dug out as many baby pictures as she could find and had a little girl-bonding time with Abby after dinner.(James wouldn't speak to her for a whole week afterwards.)
Two months before, Pepper was straightening James' tie (blue with silver pinstripes) that morning in her office. Her son had recently graduated from MIT and was pushing his parents to let him into the family business. James was more than capable, Pepper knew, but he was just so young. As she stepped back to take a final once over, she was struck by the fact that she had to look up at him. And as he stood there before her, Pepper was torn between pride and sadness as the day she had always foreseen finally arrived. Her baby was all grown up.
"So, Mrs. Stark, is my appearance acceptable now?" James quipped playfully. She could only roll her eyes fondly.
"Yes, it's fine now." She paused to give him an encouraging smile. "Knock 'em dead, sweetheart."
At that, James smirked, his eyes flashing with mischief. He looked so like his father, that Pepper was speechless.
"Mom, wouldn't that be counterproductive?" He flicked her Tony's charismatic grin before slipping into the conference room, leaving her in stunned silence.
Seven years ago, Pepper was walking past James' room, when she overheard him talking to Jarvis about the most popular sightseeing and dining spots in Boston. He had just graduated from high school (at thirteen) and was preparing to head off for MIT. Just like his father she thought fondly as she stopped by the door to listen.
Minutes later she was hurrying quietly down the hall, blinking tears away, after hearing James methodically plan out his departure schedule and calculating the leeway for any possible delays in an orderly manner that Tony never could manage, and realizing that James, for all his brains and looks, was a lot like her too.
Ten years ago, James is starting high school, and Pepper is beginning to worry that her son is not making any friends. Tony doesn't seem all that bothered by it, telling her that he didn't have any friends his own age either, having met Rhodes much later in life. It doesn't ease her worry, so she goes to Rhodes. The Colonel is understanding, and tells her that James is wise beyond his years (and much less of a jackass than Tony), that he'll find friends on his own time, and that pushing wouldn't help.
But Pepper can't help it, and she asks James one day after school about his friends. What he says both breaks her heart and makes it swell with warmth. His classmates are all older than he is, they don't like that he's a genius and the son of famous icon, that the teachers adore him but at the same time expect so much from him, that all the kids his age don't understand what he says half the time, and that he doesn't really have any friends, but that it's okay because he has Mommy and Daddy and Uncle Rhodey.
And the silent, but implied "What else do I need?" just tears her to pieces. But he smiles up at her with the pure love of a ten-year old shining in his brown puppy-dog eyes, and Pepper wonders if it really is okay.
Seventeen years ago, Pepper walked in on her three-year old in the process of dismantling her brand new Blackberry (the one with all of her files, appointments, etc) and just barely choked down a scream. She digs the heels of her palms into her eyes desperately trying to remember if she made a backup for all of the important stuff, when James tugs on the hem of her skirt in inquiry. Pepper only moaned in despair (she hadn't made any backup files) unable to look at the atrocity her child had committed. Damn you, Stark genes.
During her mental meltdown, James figured out what was causing his mother's "Poopy-face" (His daddy called it) and sat down amongst the remains of her phone and began to reassemble its parts.
A few minutes later, Pepper felt several insistent tugs on her skirt and when she finally uncovered her eyes (she had smeared her makeup for sure) to find her resurrected Blackberry being waggled at her. She then proceeded to gape at him ("Mommy, you look like Mr. Bubbles." The goldfish Rhodes had gifted him). She pressed the button and to her deepening shock, her phone turned on with all of her files in it, like it hadn't just been in about thirty pieces on the carpet just minutes ago. Pepper could only stare at her son in awe. Stark genes, indeed.
Twenty years ago, Pepper stood in the threshold of the nursery fighting down the powerful feminine urge to squee. Tony sat reclined in the rocking chair with their infant son cradled protectively against his chest. Both were out cold in a picture of absolute adorableness. The scene made Pepper reel with wonder at how much fatherhood had changed Tony Stark for the better. He was perhaps, not wiser( at least not yet), but more mature; Tony was willingly shouldering this new, humongous responsibility with relish. It was something Pepper had once thought impossible, but it was real, and tangible, and thriving. And she could only pray that it would continue on indefinitely for both of them.
Several months earlier, they were heading home from the doctor's office with the gender of their baby. A boy. Pepper wonders if she can really handle having two Tony's in the house. Just dealing with her husband was strenuous enough. But then the idea of having a female version of Tony pops into her head, and she quickly decides that having two Stark men won't be so bad (probably). She comes out of it in time to hear Tony ask Jarvis for a list of interesting boy names.
"How about Atticus? That's epic sounding isn't it?" Pepper stares at him in horror.
"No!"
"Why not? The boy's a Stark, isn't he? Then he's gotta have an cool name."
"You'll ruin his life! Can you imagine how badly he'll be teased in school?"
"But Atticus means 'father-like'." Pepper shudders.
Somehow they decided on James. Pepper looks up its meaning later that night : supplanter, one who usurps. Only years later does she realize how strangely accurate it is as she watches her son leap higher than his father ever could.
Twenty years and several months ago, Pepper was gazing down at the two blue lines on the pregnancy test in shock and disbelief. She was pregnant with Tony Stark's baby. Oh crap, what am I going to do? She worried her lip between her teeth in trepidation as she tried to figure out her next move. There were several options, and none of them seemed good. There was no way that Tony was ready for a baby. He could barely take care of himself let alone an infant. There was also no way that she was ready for a baby, because…she just wasn't.
That night, they had dinner together at the mansion. Strangely enough, they had both been extremely antsy. After an awkward pause they both spoke at once, trying to blurt out what they needed to say. It broke the tension enough for Pepper to steel her nerves and tell him the news that would probably end everything they had tried to build together. Tony had gaped at her for an entire minute before letting a weak chuckle escape him.
"Well, I guess we both have crappy timing." And then he produced the ring he had been intending to give her. They both had a fit of hysterical laughter and before Pepper knew it, she was snuggled up with Tony on the couch, the ring on her finger, and thinking that maybe things were going to be okay after all.
Yeah, I know. Pretty crappy sequel, but it wouldn't leave me alone. I'm thinking about doing a bunch of drabbles for these two fics. No promises though.