A/N: This is the first chapter in a sequel of moments based off of Briella Stark's life. I hope you all enjoy! xoxo
New Beginnings
Age Four
Pepper walked into the Malibu home of Tony Stark, a folder of his schedule for the following day in hand. "Hello, Miss Potts." Jarvis' voice greeted her as she walked into the living room.
"Hello, Jarvis. Do you know where Tony is?" Pepper asked, looking around the empty house.
"I believe he is-" Jarvis started, but the harmonious laughter of Briella Stark cut him off.
"Pepper!" The four year old screamed, launching herself into Pepper's arms. "Don't let him get me!" She yelled, laughing profusely.
Pepper smiled, looking forward and laughing herself. Tony Stark- billionaire, prodigy, Iron Man- had various clips in his hair, makeup that was smeared over his face, and marker drawings all over his arms and legs. Tony stood in front of the two laughing girls, and crossed his arms. "All I wanted was to sleep in." He said.
Pepper nodded, trying hard to stifle a laugh. "Well, you look great." She said. "I think we might have another Stark prodigy on our hands." She looked down at Briella, who was still giggling.
Tony smirked. "No doubt." He said, grabbing his daughter out of Pepper's arms. Briella squealed, squirming as Tony tickled her.
"Daddy, stop! Stop!" Briella screamed.
Pepper watched in pure adoration at the two, smiling at how happy Tony was. It was no secret that Tony's happiness was his daughter. Tony picked Briella up, pressing a kiss to her temple, then laughing. "Looks like you got something on your face, too." He said, looking at the bright red smear left on her.
Briella smiled, trying to rub it off. Pepper walked over to the kitchen, grabbing a paper towel and wetting it. Walking back over to Briella, she slowly started to wipe the lipstick smudge off of the little girl's face. "So, have you heard anything from Ophelia?" Pepper asked, looking at Tony.
Tony's long term girlfriend, and mother to Briella, was currently taking a 'Mummy Holiday' to visit her family in London. She'd been gone for two weeks, leaving Briella and Tony alone, and only calling sporadically. However, lately she hadn't been calling or texting. Tony sighed, shifting Briella in his arms. "Hey, monster. Why don't you go up to Mummy's bathroom, and get the makeup wipes for me?" He asked. Waiting until Briella bounded up the stairs, he turned to Pepper. "I don't know, Pepper. I called her seventeen times last night and no answer, and I know she wasn't asleep; I checked the time zone before I called. She's not contacted me at all in almost a week." He said.
Pepper hesitated. "Do you think she's okay?" She asked.
Tony grabbed a mug from the cabinet, setting it under the Keurig coffee maker. "I thought that too, but her Mom keeps posting pictures of them on Facebook." He said, leaning against the counter. "I don't know, maybe she just really needed a break."
Pepper furrowed her eyebrows. "That seems pretty selfish. I understand needing a break from you, everyone needs that." She teased. "But she's a mother. It just seems incredibly irresponsible for a mother to not have contact with her daughter in a week."
Tony nodded. "I know, but maybe-"
Briella's small feet running into the room stopped him from replying. "Here's the wipes!" She announced, holding the package up towards Tony.
"Thank you, Picasso." Tony said with a smile. "Pepper, what do we have on the agenda for today?" He asked, wiping his face off.
"Today, nothing except signing a few things." Pepper said eyeing him carefully. "And they have to be signed today. But tomorrow you have that press conference, and a luncheon with Rhodey and some of his men. Then you have the pitch about the PTSD, and then-"
"I'm going to stop you right there, Pepper. You lost me after nothing today." Tony said, throwing the wipe away. "Brie, do you want to go to the beach today?" He asked. Briella cheered in response. "Go get our swimsuit on. We'll get breakfast at LuLu's." He instructed.
Pepper eyes him annoyed. "Tony, you don't need to go to the beach today."
Tony raised an eyebrow, taking a sip of his coffee. "Why? You said we don't have anything to do."
Pepper sighed. "You have to prepare for tomorrow." She argued.
"I'll be ready for tomorrow." Tony said.
"You will?" Pepper asked. "You have a speech ready and everything?"
"Don't need one, I'll improv." Tony stated.
"No, Tony, you can't just improv."
"Why? I do it all the time."
"Because, Tony this is important."
"So is every other one I do, and I've improved those and they've gone great."
"Tony-"
"C'mon, Pepper. It's just the beach."
"Just the beach! You have stuff to do, Tony!"
"What stuff, Pepper?"
"Signing, and preparing, and a phone call with Senator Stern-"
"I'll talk to him at the beach."
"Tony! You can't talk to the senator at the beach!" Pepper argued, following the older man as he started to walk towards the stairs. "It had terrible cell service!"
Tony shrugged. "Too late. I already told Briella we're going, so we are. Now, c'mon, Pepper. You can borrow one of Ophelia's swimsuits." He said.
Pepper gasped in exasperation. "No, Tony, no. I'm not going to the beach with you." She argued.
"What? Why not?" Tony asked, furrowing an eyebrow.
"I-It's inappropriate, Tony. You're my boss." Pepper said, shaking her head.
"So what?" Tony asked.
"So, that look extremely unprofessional." Pepper argued, crossing her arms.
"No, it doesn't." Tony argued. "Look, just come for Briella. She really wants you to go." He said.
"What? Tony, no she doesn't." Pepper said.
"Sure she does. Listen- Briella, do you want Pepper to come to the beach with us?!" Tony yelled up the stairs.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Briella cheered, running down the hall with her frilly, yellow bikini on inside out.
"See, she wants you to come." Tony said, picking the little girl up. "C'mon, Pepper. You can't say no to this face. Give her the face, Briella." He said. Briella morphed her face to where her eyes turned to puppy dog eyes, and she stuck her bottom lip out. " See. Tell me you're not going to say no to that face. You are truly heartless if you are."
Pepper sighed, looking away from the father-daughter duo. "Fine, fine. But you have to sign everything without a fight when we get back." She bargained.
"Deal." Tony said. "I'll show you where the swimsuits are, but first…" He started, setting the little girl down. "This is inside out, kiddo. Puffy things go on the outside." He said, fixing the top and bottoms quickly. "Dummy, get the beach bag ready!" He yelled, standing up. "Go help Dummy, okay." He said to Briella. Turning to Pepper, he motioned for her to follow him. "They're up here, Pepper." He said.
Sun tanned, sticky, and salty; the two Stark's and Pepper walked back into the Malibu house. "Briella, you have seaweed all in your hair." Pepper commented.
Briella reached into her mocha hair, and pulled out another green, slimy leaf. Giggling, she handed it to Pepper. "It's okay. Mermaids have seaweed in their hair all the time." She responded.
"Yeah, Pepper." Tony said playfully, setting the bags down. "Go get a bath started, Little Mermaid. You do need to get all the sand off of you." He instructed.
Briella nodded, setting down the pail of seashells Pepper had helped her collect. "Can we look through my shells when I get done?" She asked, her eyes mimicking the water the three had just got out of.
"You bet, kiddo." Tony said. He waited until Briella was up the stairs, to deposit the sandy towels in the laundry. "Jarvis, any news for me?" He asked.
"A few messages from Senator Stern and Steve Rodgers. Mail is on the table, a package came for you that was marked urgent." Jarvis replied.
Tony walked over to the table, picking up the manila envelope. The outside was labeled to him from a lawyer's office in London. Furrowing his eyebrows, he ripped open the package, scanning the inside document. Pepper furrowed her eyebrows, watching Tony's expression go entirely blank. "Tony? What's wrong? What does it say?" She asked, walking towards him.
Tony set down the paper, leaning forward and staring at the wall in front of him, not saying a word. Pepper's eyes widened. "Tony, seriously, what's going on?" She demanded.
Tony looked down at the paper, his eyes fixating on it. "She's gone." He muttered.
Pepper looked confused. "Gone? What do you mean gone? Who's gone, Tony?" She asked rapidly.
"Ophelia." Tony answered, shoving the packet in Pepper's direction, before storming out of the house.
Pepper looked down, skimming the words. It was a document for Tony, inclining that he now had all legal rights of Briella, and at the bottom was the neat signature of Ophelia. Pepper placed a hand over her mouth, staring shockingly down at the document.
"Pepper?" A small voice from behind her asked, causing her to jump. Briella stood there, her hooded unicorn towel wrapped around her. "Where's Daddy? I got my bath ready." She said innocently.
Pepper coughed, trying to clear the lump in her throat. "Um, Daddy forgot something at the beach, he'll be right back." She lied. "I'll help you with your bath, okay? Then we can order some food and watch a movie. Sound good?" She suggested.
Briella gave a bright smile. "Lilo and Stitch?" She asked. Her current obsession lied with the native Hawaiian and her 'pet'. She loved it so much, Tony had a special Scrump replica doll made just for her, and she slept with every night.
"Sounds great to me." Pepper said, walking up the stairs with Briella in hand.
Tony didn't walk back through the doors until nearly two am that morning. Pepper was nestled on the couch, Briella tucked into her side. The news was playing softly in the background, as she looked over at Tony. "Hey." Pepper said carefully. "Briella was asking about you." She said.
Tony didn't reply. He just sat his keys on the counter, and walked towards the fridge. Pepper sighed, moving carefully to stand up without waking the sleeping child. "Hey, Tony. If you want to talk about it, we can-"
"There's nothing to talk about." Tony said harshly cutting her off. He grabbed a bottle of water, and opened it. "Thank you for watching Briella. You can leave now, Ms. Potts." He said motioning towards the door.
Pepper's eyes widened in shock. "Tony, you're not okay. You need to talk to someone about this-"
"About what?! How Ophelia just abandoned her daughter and me?! Do I need to talk about that?! Huh, Pepper?! Because I have no desire to talk about that traitorous bit-" Tony exploded, cutting himself off when he saw Briella staring back at him on the couch.
Briella was crouched into the cushion, watching her father with careful and cautious eyes. Tony let the breath he had been holding out, and looked from his daughter back to Pepper. "Thank you, Pepper." He said calmly. "But I think I need a minute alone." He said.
Pepper shook her head. "No,Tony, I'm not leaving you alone when you're like this." She insisted.
"I'm not alone." Tony replied. He looked back over at Briella, then back at Pepper. "Neither one of us is alone."