Howdy yall! This was originally filed under the Iron Man Armored Adventures category, but this is sort of a tie into a series I plan on posting here, hopefully soon if I can ever decide if I want to write in it first or third person. So, enjoy this cute little glimpse into Iron Man's future. Got the title from an Alter Bridge song by the same name.

Sadly, I do NOT own A: EMH, but Marvel can't stop me from writing this! (Hehe take that Marvel!)

"WHAT WONDERFUL A LIFE"

6:30 am. A holographic projection abruptly shot up from a silver disc laying on the bedside table. It blinded Tony at first, and the blue lit numbers forced spots to form in his eyes. Unfortunately, that meant it was time to wake up and greet the brand new Saturday. But, the bed so was warm, and New York City in the fall can be so bone chilling. The billionaire-genius wanted so badly to press the snooze button, to lie there a few extra minutes, but the day light was beckoning him out of the comfort of his sheets.

He turned over, averting his gaze from the evil blue holographic numbers and looked to his wife, who was sleeping peacefully at the moment beside him. The rise and fall of her chest was rhythmic, but the man's eyes couldn't help but glance at her stretched out stomach. For the past 5 months, he'd been sharing his bed with two instead of one. Baby number-two had kept poor Pepper up half of the night kicking, while their 3-year-old daughter, Maria, had kept her up the rest of the night with nightmares. Normally, if Maria has nightmares, Tony ends up sharing the bed with three others, but Pepper was able to convince the child that the monsters in the dark were on a vacation in Fiji. Tony regretted being at the office all night, or he would've dealt with his daughter in Pepper's stead. Luckily, today was Saturday, and Tony planned on taking Maria to the park for the day.

Tony continued to scan his wife thoroughly, and noticed the subtle dark circles under Pepper's eyes, dark spots that weren't usually there. He decided that he refused to wake her prematurely. She'd been through too much the night before not to sleep in. So, knowing he himself needed to get up, he gently slipped out of bed, making sure not to shift the mattress in any way. Once he was up, he grabbed a shirt, and made his way out of their room, but not before brushing a few red locks out of Pepper's face and placing a kiss on her forehead.

Lightly walking down the hall, as not to wake his daughter yet, Tony quietly made his way to the kitchen. He was in desperate need of coffee, that is, if he ever wanted say awake long enough to enjoy his day off. The coffee maker began brewing some fresh joe while Tony took a seat at the kitchen table, the beauty of an automated house. With a swift swipe across the tabletop, a holographic projection of the day's news was shining before him. He thoughtfully looked over each page of information, then swiped to the next, mentally making notes as he went. Stark Industries stocks are up 15%, Armstrong Incorporated stocks down 11%, Russia still hates us, Canada has declared today "National Canadian Bacon Day," and S.W.O.R.D. announces launch of new deep space probe. The probe I helped program, but I'm sure Reed Richards took all the credit for it. Tony let out an annoyed sigh, and swiped the holograph away as the coffee signaled its completion. He stood from the table, grabbed an Avengers novelty mug from the cabinet and poured the steaming beverage in.

With his coffee in hand, Tony decided it was probably time to get Pepper up, to see how she felt today. He walked quietly back down the hall that lead to their room, and was surprised to find both his girls snuggled up together. Maria must've snuck in while he was in the kitchen. Tony rolled his eyes and suppressed a smile as he walked back over to his side of the bed. He stared down at the frizzy mop of reddish brown hair that had completely covered his daughter's face. With a chuckle, he poked his finger at the little girl's arm, and roused up from her mother's arms.

"Yes, Daddy?" she asked with a yawn. She leaned up and stretched, pushing away some of the fuzziness that clouded her vision.

"You're on my side," Tony told her. Maria giggled and shifted closer to her mother, giving him some room to sit down. "You wanna wake mom up or me?"

"Can I, Daddy?" Maria asked, her pearly green eyes bright, no longer tired looking. Tony nodded and sat next to her, sitting his coffee on the table beside him. This should be good.

Maria's first attempt was poking her shoulder repeatedly, but when that wasn't working, she tried whispering in her ear. "Mommy, psssttt! Wake up!"

Tony shook his head in amusement and tapped his daughter's shoulder, offering a new idea. "Tell mommy I'm taking you to the park." Maria repeated the phrase and the two waited for it to register, but to no avail. Maria looked back at her father expectantly. Tony pondered a moment, trying to think of something else to wake her up. Then, the perfect thought popped into his head. He whispered it in Maria's ear to repeat.

"Daddy's taking me to work!" Maria said proudly. Within seconds, Pepper's eyes shot open and the very pregnant woman tried to sit up. "Oh no he's not!"

Maria flopped back down on the bed and giggled as Tony calmed his wife down. He explained to her that he wasn't really taking Maria to work, he was simply trying to wake her up. "Well that certainly did it," Pepper said tiredly.

"Hey, Ms. Giggles, go get some breakfast," Tony said. He lifted his daughter off the bed and scooted her out of the room. "Okay, Daddy!" she said with a grin and ran out of their bedroom.

"She doesn't need to get breakfast unsupervised," Pepper reminded her husband.

"She won't be unsupervised, right Jarvis?" Tony called.

Suddenly, the familiar British accent of Tony's computer came to life. "Of course not, sir. I will remind young Ms. Stark that the microwave is off limits."

"See? Jarvis has everything under control," Tony told Pepper. He leaned in close to steal a kiss when Pepper lurched forward, her hand shooting to her stomach.

"What's wrong, are you ok? Do you need to throw up? I can get the garbage can?" Tony asked nervously. He was about to panic when Pepper shook her head no, and he noticed a smile pulling at the red-head's lips. She gripped one of his hands and placed it gently on her stomach. Tony waited, and waited, then…he felt it. Their child was kicking, moving around again, but this was the first time Tony had felt it. The man had been extremely busy with his company over the course of Pepper's second pregnancy, and hadn't had much time to spend with his family. And naturally, every time baby two decided to kick or move, Tony wasn't around to feel it. But this time, he did.

"I think Antonio is going to be a soccer player," Tony said with a grin.

"If you think that's impressive, you should've felt Howard last night," Pepper replied, putting emphasis on the name of her choice. The couple had been at odds over the name of their second child for weeks. When Maria came around and they found out it was a girl, they immediately knew she would be named after Tony's mother. And Pepper thought it would be nice to continue the trend and name a son after his dad, but Tony insisted that he be named Antonio. "It's like the Spanish version of Anthony," he repeatedly explained. "Why not just call him 'Tony Jr.' then?" Pepper always combats.

"You think he'll be as wiry as Maria?" Pepper asked. "I just don't think I can handle living with three attention span deprived people."

"Three? I'll have you know I sat through a meeting yesterday and only stopped listening twice," Tony defended. The two laughed and leaned in for a kiss, but Pepper turned her head away when she realized Maria was being extremely quiet.

"Jarvis, what's Maria doing?" she asked.

"I tried to tell her not to- "Jarvis started. The computer was interrupted by the sound of loud pop. "She insisted on using the microwave. I believe those were the poptarts she was attempting to warm." Tony hopped out of bed, and ran down the hall to the kitchen to see his daughter focused on the microwave. The smell of something burnt made Tony's nose wrinkle.

"What did you do?" Tony asked, waving the stench away from his face.

"I put the bag in the micro-thingy, and there was a lightning storm and then it exploded," she said, covering her mouth to contain a giggle. "I believe she left it in the metallic packaging, sir," Jarvis chimed.

"No kidding." Tony looked at his daughter in bewilderment, and was afraid of what he'd find if he opened to microwave. "Just um, just sit at the table and I'll fix you some cereal."

"Is everything okay?" Pepper waddled into kitchen to assess the damage. "Maria! You know you're not supposed to use the microwave unless Daddy or I are with you."

"Sorry!" she said. The little one ran over to the kitchen table and climbed up in one of the chairs. Pepper offered her husband a sympatholytic smile. Tony pulled a bowl and the cereal from the cabinet and sat them in front of Maria.

"Let's just be glad Daddy's an engineer," he said, grabbing the milk from the fridge. Pepper stifled a laugh as her husband stares at the microwave.

A curious daughter, a beautifully patient wife, another child coming soon, and a home where it all became real were the sum of a wonderful life. For as long as you've been by my side, Tony thinks as he smiles at Pepper. The billionaire drapes an arm around his wife and pulls her in close. "I just want you to know, I love you so," he told her, placing a kiss on her forehead.

She smiles up at him warmly. "I love you too, hero."

So? Yeah it's ok, but I wanna know what you think! Review, pwease!

Hey I just posted this...and this is crazy...but since you've read it, review it maybe?