"Why are you so impossible to shop for?" Tony muttered to himself. Tony wanted to give Pepper a gift that would really impress her, because he was arrogant and competitive and he wanted to be the best in all ways. He wanted to be the best Avenger, her best lover, the best at math, the richest, and the best gift giver of course. He had endless amounts of money, so this shouldn't be this difficult, he thought. He could afford to give her anything and everything. But he had been with Pepper long enough to know she wouldn't want something that was just easily bought with money and no thought. And if he was being honest with himself, he had turned into one of those saps who just liked to make her happy. If he didn't come up with something soon, he might have another panic attack. A gesture! He was pretty sure he couldn't impress her more than when he got rid of the shrapnel in his chest, or when he blew up the suits. But his best gifts seemed to be gestures of some sort. So what sort of gesture would top those gestures he had already made?
Ten days until Christmas, he needed to get thinking.
"It was Christmas morning and Pepper awoke to a giddy Tony Stark. She couldn't decide if he was more like a child on Christmas morning, or a puppy. But she did decide that either way it was cute. And Tony Stark was nothing if not adorable to Pepper when he was excited. Plus, he was here with her and not down tinkering with his bots or suits. He had been much better and more present since destroying them and removing the arc reactor. It was her favorite gift and she never expected to receive anything better. But she was unaware that Tony was determined to prove her wrong and top himself.
They went downstairs and Pepper was relieved not to find any sort of giant stuffed thing, or anything of Tony's inventing or tinkering beside the tree. First it was Tony's turn. Was he, was he nervous? He seemed anxious to her in a way she had never seen him behave and she thought she had seen everything with him. When it was Tony's turn he went over to the tree and took an ornament off one of the high branches. She hadn't noticed that one, and she had an inventory of everything Tony Stark so that surprised her. But what happened next surprised her even more. Instead of handing the ornament to her as her gift so she could see what her gift was and what the ornament symbolized, he opened the ornament like a faberge egg and got down on one knee in front of the couch. Yep- he was definitely nervous and anxious and now she knew why. He fumbled the words a bit, in his classic Tony sort of rambling way... but none of that mattered. The words didn't matter because he asked her to marry him, he wanted to give her all of himself forever. And that was the ultimate gift of himself- her favorite kind of gift.
Then it was Pepper's turn. She handed him a small wrapped gift which he eagerly opened. When he lifted the lid on the box, he recognized the object inside, it had been his mother's before him and then his….a tiny silver baby rattle with a tag attached that read "Something new to tinker with. Love, Pepper" and his heart stopped. He looked up at her seeking confirmation that the gift was what he hoped as she nodded yes. As it turned out, the gifts Tony liked most too were the gifts of Pepper's commitment, and she had just given him the ultimate gift. He didn't even care that her gift was better than his.
"Well, we just barely got the order right but I did ask you to marry me first" he smirked as they kissed under the tree and shared a very, very merry Christmas.