Pepper walks into the living room, wringing her hands nervously. The team has moved back and forth between Stark Tower, the mansion and Malibu, and the newly repaired SHIELD base in New Mexico. Currently, they were in Malibu.
"Hey, Pepper," Bruce greets, looking up from his book. Natasha smiled from beside Clint on the couch, who nods. Steve gives a wave from an armchair, and Thor bellows, "Hello, Lady Potts!" sitting cross-legged on the floor.
Pepper gives a small smile. "Hi, guys. Have you seen Tony?"
Bruce points to the glass waterfall and the stairs beyond. "His lab. Said he was working on a backup arc-reactor."
Natasha gives Pepper a concerned glance. "Pepper, is something wrong?"
Pepper startled a bit. "No, no, nothing's wrong..."
"Then why-?" Steve begins.
"I just need to tell Tony something really very important and I'm not sure how to do it because of his past and his issues and everything that has happened," Pepper says quickly, not even deciding to say the words before they come spilling out of her mouth.
"Well, why don't you practice on us?" Steve suggests. "If it's not too private, of course."
"No, it's not private..." Pepper clasps her hands together and bites her lip.
"Go on, Lady Potts," Thor says, with a surprising amount of encouragement and comfort in his tone.
Pepper closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."
The Avengers all smile say things like "Congratulation's" in unison. Natasha breaks into a frown.
"Oh, so now I see why you might be nervous telling Tony."
"Might be? I'm a wreck!" Pepper exclaims, throwing her hands in the air.
"How far along are you?" Bruce asks, adjusting his glasses.
"Around three months now," she responds.
"When were you planning on telling Tony, after you talked to us?" Steve asks. She nods.
"But, I don't think I can anymore. I just, I'm so nervous and when I get nervous I just start rambling and - and..." Pepper breaks off with a sigh.
Natasha gets up and moves to Pepper, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Pepper, let's go to the kitchen, maybe get you something to eat or drink? And take your mind of it for a little while."
Pepper nods gratefully and lets the assassin lead her away. The men resume watching TV, or reading, in Bruce's case.
ooo
Tony stands frozen, halfway up the stairs, just below the glass waterfall, in shock. He listens as the two redheaded woman walk to the kitchen, Tony recognizing the familiar sound of Pepper's heels. The pretty navy blue ones she wears with the matching blouse and her black skirt.
Then Tony runs back down to the lab. He walks deliberately to a metal table, then stops. What am I doing? Hiding? From Pepper? I have got to stop doing this.
Tony remembers that he acted this way, practically running from Pepper, when he was building the courage to propose. He looks to his hands, the silver ring shining in the bright fluorescent light. He takes a deep breath, holding it before letting it out.
Pepper's pregnant. You're going to be a father. What if he wasn't ready? What if his past effected him too much? What if he acted like Howard?
Tony could feel something like a panic attack just beneath the surface. Not the time, not the time.
Tony tried to breath deeply. He was ready. He could start a family. With Pepper. That sounded... great. It seems just so... right.
Tony smiled. Yes, it would be hard, especially being an Avenger, and co-CEO of Stark Industries, but he could manage.
Now, to find Pepper. Or, stall a few more minutes. Yeah, that sounded good. Tony ran up the stairs, past the living room, avoiding going anywhere near the kitchen. He found himself in a room, with big floor to ceiling window looking out onto the ocean, that was empty, save for a big display table with his father's Stark Expo diagram.
Tony stared at it, lost in thought, absentmindedly tapping the arc-reactor.
ooo
Natasha gave Pepper an encouraging smile, before walking out and leaving the other woman to her tea. Pepper drank the rest, before cleaning the mug carefully, stalling for time. She heard the men in the living room leave, of to their bedrooms or to explore Malibu.
Pepper moves slowly towards the stairs, feeling like she was walking in a dream. It's okay, it's Tony, your husband for gods' sake. He loves you.
Pepper nods, reassuring herself. She takes the first step down the stairs, grasping the railing for dear life. She takes in a shaky breath.
Halfway down the stairs, she abruptly sits, just out of view from the glass windows separating the stairway from Tony's lab. She rests her head on her hands, and then begins to cry. She's been stressed lately, with Stark Industries, the Avengers taking residence in two of their places, finding out she was pregnant, dealing with Hammer...
A warm hand gently touches her shoulder. Pepper peaks up from her hand only enough to see Tony sit down beside her. "Pep...?" She can hear the unspoken question, but if she tries to speak she'll only end up crying harder.
Tony smiles one of his trademark smiles, though it's genuine, not like when she makes him sit through board meetings. "Having trouble thinking about names? I think, I the baby is a girl, her name should be Maria Virginia. And if it's a boy, Alec. I've always liked the name Alec."
Pepper looks up in shock. Tony puts his hands up. "Or, we could look at different names. I'm just saying."
"You knew?" Pepper asks. He nods.
"I, more or less, heard your group discussion," Tony said, gesturing up the stairs towards the living room. A soft 'Oh' escapes Pepper's lips as she begins to wipe her eyes.
"Here," Tony runs up a few steps, grabs a tissue from a table, and hurries back down, offering it to her. Pepper takes it with a watery smile.
"So, you're okay with it?" she asks, wiping her eyes and grimacing at the mascara that comes off on the tissue.
"Okay? Pepper, I'm ecstatic! This... It's great. Fabulous, even. I mean, the press will go absolutely nuts, but I think we can't keep them from giving you too much trouble," Tony rambles on, and Pepper smiles before brushing her lips briefly to his.
"You talk a lot." Tony grins.
"Hey, rambling on is a sign of intelligence. Or insanity. But, there's a fifty-fifty chance I have both, so," he responds, trailing off with a shrug and a grin. "So, I think, we should start planning."
"Planning?" Pepper asks.
"Several things need to be planned. How to announce this to the press, where to put a nursery, both here and Stark Tower, how I can casually mention to Rhodey that he shall be the godfather. Unless you have someone else in mind. I mean, I was also thinking Bruce, but I feel he could pass with the doting uncle. Then there's Steve, who's great and all, but he just learned how to use a cell phone. Thor's... Thor, though Jane is competent. Clint and Natasha, no. Definite no. Oh, god, then there's Fury and... Why are you looking at me like that?"
Pepper had been watching him the whole time, taking in his excitement with a smile playing at her lips.
"I was worried how our dysfunctional family would work out," Pepper said, before wrapping her arms around Tony and snuggling up to him. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on hers. "But, now, I see it. Our family is perfect, and I can't wait for our baby to join it."
Tony made a small noise of agreement. "Hm... we could also name the baby Tony, or Toni with an 'I' for a girl."
Pepper smiled, then kissed him to get him to shut up again.