Tony wasn't quite sure he was really aware of what time it was. Or what day it was for that matter, but being holed up on the SHIELD helicarrier for so long did mess with one's ability to remember things like that. All he knew was that he had to stay awake a little longer.

He stared longingly at the computer screen in front of him as he sat alone in the lab on one of the tall metal stools, looking at the small icon of Pepper and the notification that was saying she wasn't online yet. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his phone and smiled at the picture that stared back at him, the two of them together smiling for a cheesy couple's selfie at the last Stark Industries Christmas party.

God he missed her.

Every time he was away from home like this was pure torture for him. He missed waking up to a faceful of messy ginger hair, he missed the way she cuddled closer to him for warmth instead of complaining that he'd stolen the covers… He missed everything about Pepper when they weren't together and it was killing him that he still didn't know when he'd be home.

In the middle of his daydreaming about her, Pepper had just got home and logged into her Skype account, smiling to herself when she saw that Tony was already online, and she clicked the button to start a video call with him.

When he heard the notification ringtone from the computer Tony almost dropped his phone in his haste to accept the call a huge smile breaking out on his face when he saw the beautiful redhead on the screen, "Hey honey! God I've missed you so much…"

"Hi," Pepper replied happily, just seeing his face made her feel all fuzzy inside it had been almost a week since he'd had to leave but these intermittent Skype calls were helping to keep them both sane regarding their need to see each other, "How are things?"

He shrugged at her question and shook his head, "Don't wanna talk about SHIELD stuff, how're you?" He asked wanting to know if she was okay because even though people might think that Pepper was the biggest worrier of the two of them, Tony had every right to worry about her after the things they'd both been through. He was over-protective but in the most loving way.

"I'm fine Tony, a little tired but there's not much I can do about that," she smiled and shifted slightly to make herself comfortable, she was sat on their bed with her laptop resting on a cushion in front of her crossed legs, wearing a loose comfy t-shirt and pyjama shorts.

"I promise that when I come home you can take a whole day to nap and I'll do everything that needs doing," he vowed placing his hand against his chest over his heart, "Don't want you passing out during our intimate reunion sex do we Mrs Stark?"

Pepper lightly bit her lip and a faint blush tinted her freckled cheeks when he used her marital name, even now after two years of marriage she got butterflies when he called her that and she absentmindedly started fiddling with the gold band around her ring finger. 'Mrs Stark' hadn't been something she'd expected to happen, she'd wanted it but hadn't thought Tony felt the same way, but obviously it turned out he did and it had been amazing for both of them.

"Who said there'd be any intimate reunion sex anyway?" She teased, laughing when he pouted childishly at her, and was about to say something else when the sound of crying reached her ears.

"Sounds like someone just woke up," Tony smirked and felt his heart skip a beat, if there was one thing he was missing just as much as he was missing his wife it was the baby who was currently crying and wanting some form of attention.

"Yeah… hang on a sec I'll be right back," Pepper murmured climbing off the bed and leaving the billionaire with a lovely view of the headboard of the bed.

Through the computer speakers he could hear the sound of Pepper leaving the bedroom then a few moments later heard her voice being relayed through the baby monitor that he knew was beside the lamp on top of the dresser. Despite having Jarvis as pretty much a very high-tech omnipresent baby monitor of sorts Pepper had insisted on having those little walkie-talkie type things in the master bedroom and nursery, why he didn't know because the AI could do the job perfectly well but he had conceded and let her have her way.

"Sssshhhhh… it's okay Mommy's got you… what's wrong sweetheart? Do you need changing… no you don't… you're not hungry I fed you not that long ago… sshhhh c'mon let's get your face dry and go cuddle for a bit in the big bed yeah?"

Tony smiled as he listened to his wife soothing their child, she was such a natural mother and was so good at being a parent, though he often thought that she'd had a lot of practice with looking after him for years. He always told her that she was an amazing mom whenever he got chance and she would always smile and give him a quick kiss before returning to whatever task she was doing. How she managed everything would always be a mystery to him but there really was no-one he admired more than his dear Virginia.

Brought out of his thoughts by the sound of the bedroom door opening he perked up and grinned when Pepper sat back on the bed, waving via the webcam to the latest addition to the Stark family.

Emily Maria Stark.

Born last fall Emily had turned 11 months old a couple of weeks ago, and really was an adorable little girl. She had dark messy hair that curled in soft little ringlets, pale skin with a cute dusting of freckles over her nose and cheeks, and big blue eyes just like her mother. She squirmed as Pepper held her, whining in complaint until the redhead sat her down in the space between her legs.

"Look Em, who's that?" Pepper asked holding one of her daughter's hands in her own and using the other to point to her laptop screen, "Who is it sweetie? Is it Daddy?"

"Emily look at me princess," Tony said smiling more when she finally looked at him, squealing happily and giggling when she saw her father looking back at her.

"Dada!"

There was a long moment of silence and both parents just stared at their daughter who was bouncing up and down pointing at the laptop screen and giggling to herself, "Dada, dada!"

Swallowing hard Tony lifted his gaze from Emily to look at Pepper, "Did she just...? Was that…?"

"Yeah…"

Her first word. Emily had just said her first word upon seeing her dad and both Pepper and Tony were speechless. They knew this would have happened soon, Emily had been trying to say words for a couple of months now but that didn't make it any less surprising.

Tony laughed and rubbed a hand over his face feeling happy tears building up in the corners of his eyes, "Yeah that's right… dada…" He smiled at his daughter and felt an overwhelming sense of yearning to be at home, sat there with his perfect family in his arms.

Staring down at their daughter Pepper smiled widely and tilted her head to kiss Emily's messy curls, "Daddy's going to be home soon sweetheart, don't worry…" She said softly and lifted her gaze back to her husband, needing to see some sort of confirmation for what she'd just said. It was just as painful for her as it was for him when he was away like this, especially since they'd become parents.

He sighed and shook his head, a sign that he didn't know when he'd be home, and felt his heart break at the sadness he saw in Pepper's eyes. It wasn't fair on her and he knew that, but he couldn't drop out of protecting the world, "I'm gonna try Pep I promise…" He mumbled using the back of his hand to roughly wipe away the stubborn tears that fell no matter how hard he willed them not to, "I'm gonna come home honey I swear…"

At this point Emily reached forward to touch the laptop screen, screwing her face up unhappily at the sight of her father crying, "Dada?" She questioned, getting visibly frustrated that the image in front of her wasn't really her dad and that she couldn't touch him.

"Hey, it's alright princess, daddy's okay," he forced a smile for his daughter's sake and opened his mouth to speak again when he heard the door to the lab open and he looked up to see Natasha.

"You're going to have to wrap it up Stark, Fury wants to talk to everyone," she said, smiling apologetically since she knew the billionaire was feeling at least a little homesick, and that these brief moments being able to see Pepper and Emily meant so much to him.

Once the assassin was gone Tony turned his attention back to his family, two pairs of ocean blue eyes looking back at him, "I… I gotta go Pepper… I love you so much…"

"Then go," she replied hugging her daughter close and smiling sadly, this was the part she hated the most, having to say goodbye all over again and not knowing when they'd next get to see or speak to each other, "Go be Iron Man but make sure you come home baby… I love you too… we love you…" And with that she took hold of Emily's hand again and helped her wave to her dad, which earned a couple more babbles of 'dada!' before the redhead reached forward and ended the call, leaving Tony staring at a blank screen.

They never said 'goodbye' out loud. Neither of them could let that be the last thing they said if something bad happened.

On the penthouse floor of the Avenger's Tower in New York, Pepper Stark was stood in her daughter's bedroom gently rocking the infant in her arms to try and lull her to sleep. She was quietly singing 'A Whole New World' from Aladdin since they'd discovered early on that the song worked wonders for helping soothe Emily.

She was about to lay the baby down in her crib when she heard a sleepy mumble of 'dada', and Pepper lifted Emily's head away from her shoulder slightly so she could look at her.

"Dada…" The girl repeated with a yawn, her eyes half closed as she pointed over her mother's shoulder before promptly falling asleep in Pepper's arms.

"Yeah, dada…"

Hearing that familiar voice brought tears to her eyes and no sooner had she turned around, Tony's lips were on hers as his arm wrapped securely around his wife's waist to hold her close.

"Honey I'm hoooome," he murmured softly with a smile and lightly bumped his nose against her's before looking down at their sleeping daughter.

He was here, he was home again. And his perfect little family were right where they belonged.

In his arms.

Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it! :D Any feedback/comments/reviews would be greatly appreciated! :)