Pepper was walking down the steps, still wondering what the girls were up to. She knew those mischievous faces, she had seen them since they were kids. She shook her head, smiling. She set down the basket she was carrying, wiped her brow, and ran her weary hands through her ginger hair pulled back in a ponytail.
Just then, a hand who worked at the hotel came up to her. "Your friends are here, ma'am." Pepper's face lit up, and she took off running in her bare feet and denim short shorts.
She made it through the pathways in the forest in her jeep, and jumped out onto the dock where a boat from the mainland had arrived.
"Pepper!" they screeched. One woman got out, and they came running at each other screaming. They hugged. "Betty! Oh, it's so good to see you guys!" The first friend, Betty Ross, looked taken aback. "Good? Girl, we haven't seen you in so long, I'd have thought more like 'It's fabulously magnificent to see you!' would be more appropriate!" Pepper laughed at her over the top friend. "That too. Where's Peggy?"
Betty snorted, and motioned to the boat, where their British friend was getting out of the boat slowly as not to break her heels. Betty finally called out to her. "Oh, forget the shoes, Peg, come here!" Peggy looked up, and grinned. Her short brown curls bounced as she ran over, finally kicking off her shoes.
"Pep! You look amazing, how are you? We are going to have some fun times!" Pepper smiled. "I'm great. Thanks for coming for Natasha's wedding!"
Betty hopped into the back of the jeep and threw back her head, long black hair swinging. She draped her legs over the seats. "I can't believe little Nat is getting married! I remember just yesterday, when she was running around playing-" "Oh, Betty, she's grown up now, and into a fine young woman at that!" Peggy said.
"I'm so proud of her. I'm gonna miss her so much…" Pepper said as she and Peggy got into the car. She started to fake-cry, and Peggy put her arm around her, squeezing her playfully. "All birds must fly the nest one day!"
Pepper laughed. "I just wish that day wasn't in three days!"
She put on some music, their favourite CD, and they all began singing at the top of their lungs, practically screaming the words as they floored it back toward home.
When they got back, they saw Natasha talking with her friends. "Nat! Oh, Nat it is so good to see you," said Betty as she ran over to Natasha, pulling her into a hug. "It's good to see you too, Aunt Betty!" Peggy got out. "Natasha! You remember me, don't you?" Natasha smiled widely. "Of course I do, Auntie Peggy!" They hugged.
Natasha's friends waved hello, and they all got back to what they were doing.
They went up to Pepper's room. She sat down by her mirror, and sighed. "I just wish her dad could be here for the wedding." Betty waved her hand. "He doesn't deserve to be here! He left you, remember?" "Well, that's only because he didn't know she was pregnant!" Peggy said as she came over to comfort her. "But you'll be the one walking Natasha down the isle, and you love her more than any Dad could." Pepper nodded. "You're right. I never want to see them again!"
Back outside, Natasha, Jane, and Darcy were contemplating what to write in the letter by the dock, feet in the water. "Try to make it sound like her, at least," said Jane, biting her nails. "I will. And stop biting your nails," Natasha slapped her hand away from her mouth. "Make it sound like a love letter," said Darcy dreamily.
"All it's going to say is: Hello, Name, I would like you to come for my daughter's wedding." "What if the whole daughter thing scares him off?" asked Darcy. "It won't if he really cares!"
They all high fived, and got busy writing one letter to each, mimicking Pepper's writing language. When they were done, Natasha bit her lip, and put them in the post. "I'm finally going to meet my dad!"
The next day, the letters arrived at their destinations.
Back in New York City, Steve Rogers woke up to check the mail. He brought it upstairs to his 3rd floor apartment, yawning as he walked up the stairs. When he got it, he opened it. His face lit up as he realized who it was from. Pepper! He never imagined hearing from her! He smiled as he read through it, and put it down, immediately going to his room to pack.
Out in his little house in the rural area of New York, Bruce Banner went out to check his mailbox, and there was an envelope sitting there. He raised his eyebrows. He doesn't get very much mail normally.
He sat down at the table with his coffee, taking a sip as he opened the letter. He read through it carefully, before putting it down. He smiled to himself. He would love to see Pepper again! He went into his room to start packing his things.
Tony Stark was rushing around his condo, trying to get things ready for his day. As he scrambled downstairs, he quickly grabbed his stack of mail. He hailed a cab, and once he was in, settled down and began leafing through all his daily letters. "Bill…Bill….award….Bill….award…" he muttered to himself, tossing each down one at a time.
"Hold on. What's this?" he asked himself, intrigued. He opened the letter with Pepper's name on it, and skimmed over it. He grinned. He had been hoping that one day she would contact him again. He decided he would pack his things once he got home.
Back at the island, it was afternoon now, and Natasha and her friends were having fun on the beach. They were sun tanning when Clint and his friends came down to the beach as well.
"He-llo…" said Jane, lowering her sunglasses to look at one of Clint's friends. He had shorts and no shirt on, with blond hair blowing in the sea breeze and short, sandy stubble on his face. Natasha caught Darcy peeking over at his other friend, who opposite to the other man, had slick black hair, a smooth jaw line, and was leaner.
They came over, the blond man twirling a volleyball on his finger and Clint smiling his boyish, mischievous smile. He was wearing his favourite black sunglasses, and picked Natasha up from her seat on the lawn chair, kissing her. While they were kissing, the blonde man walked over to Jane, and introduced himself as Thor. She giggled flirtatiously, and he kissed her hand.
The raven haired man noticed that Darcy was looking at him, so he nodded a hello at her. Darcy sat up. "What, no kiss on the hand?" The man nervously laughed, and came over to her. He introduced himself as Loki.
When Nat and Clint were finished kissing, they invited the girls to play some beach volleyball with them, and they accepted. The boys started setting up the net, and Natasha leaned into her friends. "Should I tell him about the dads thing?" "Only if he gets suspicious," said Darcy, putting her hair up.
They spent a few hours playing volleyball, Clint, Natasha and Loki on one team and Thor, Jane and Darcy on the other. The other team won. Thor and Jane high fived, and he picked her up, going over to the bar. Darcy just laughed and shook her head at the two. She went over to Loki. "So… let's go for a walk," she said, trailing her finger around his back. He ran his fingers through his hair, and followed Darcy.
"Hey, I guess that leaves us," said Clint, wrapping his arm around Natasha's waist. She smiled, and looked off into the distance. They sat down on the beach, letting the waves wash over them. "Nat, you seem to be kind of… I don't know… not yourself," he said. "What do you mean?" "I mean, you were completely off your game at volleyball, you're the best athlete of all of us! And you don't seem to be… all here lately."
She took a deep breath. "Clint, there's something I need to tell you." His eyes widened. "What did I do? If I did something I'm so sorry, I love you so much, baby-" "No, no, it's nothing about us." He let out a breath of relief. "I did something yesterday that I'm kind of nervous and excited about at the same time."
"Are you pregnant?" he asked, looking scared. "No!" Natasha laughed. "Clint…. I invited my dad to the wedding."
He let that sink in. At first, Natasha couldn't tell whether he was angry or happy, or what. He finally looked at her. "I thought you didn't know who he was." She shifted around in his arms. "That's the thing. I invited… three possible dads."
This time, she could tell what he was thinking. He got up, and paced the beach in front of her, kicking up water as he went.
"Say something!" Natasha said. He looked down at her. "Does Pepper know?" Natasha shook her head. He let out an exasperated sigh, and sat back down. "Babe, you know she'll freak out when she finds out about this!" "I know, but I just need to find out who he is!" "Right before our wedding?!" "Yes!"
They sat in silence. "Please don't tell her," Natasha said. Clint hesitated. "I won't. I know how much this means to you. But you have to trust me too, Nat. Tell me these things before you do them! I'm getting married to you, after all. And," he continued, pulling her face close to his, "I love you." They kissed as the sun started to set. "Okay," Natasha whispered.
Suddenly Jane came running up to them. "Eeeee, Thor is so-" She stopped short as she saw them necking. "Oh god. Sorry. So sorry," she said, backing away, smacking her head. Natasha laughed, and Clint got up. "It's alright, I have to go anyway. Got a lot of planning to do with my buddies… speaking of which, where are they?"
Suddenly, Darcy and Loki emerged from the forest, in the middle of a heated make out session. They kept walking toward them, not noticing they were back on the beach. When Darcy finally opened her eyes, she stopped, and Loki opened his. They stood there awkwardly for a second, and then all of them burst out laughing.
"See you soon, Loki!" Darcy called as Clint and Loki walked off in search of Thor.
"Well!" said Jane, looking at Darcy. "That was steamy!" "I practically attacked him. I just hope the feeling's mutual," she retorted, shrugging. That was the thing that Natasha loved about Darcy. She wanted something, she went for it. Jane stared dreamily at the ocean. "Thor is amazing. He's so strong!"
"Well, I'm glad you two acquainted yourself with my fiancé's best friends!" Natasha said as they walked back, hands draped around each other's shoulders. "So did you tell Clint yet?" asked Jane. "Yes. Everything's fine. He won't tell Pepper."
From up in the house, Pepper was watching them out the window. She smiled. She was still feeling quite sad about her daughter leaving, but tried to force herself to be happy. Her daughter was getting married! She should be celebrating! But she couldn't help imagining how lonely she would be when Natasha was gone, running the hotel alone…
"Pepper!" shouted Peggy from the bathroom where her and Betty were doing their makeup. "Stop moping and get ready!" Betty joined in. "Yeah, you can't spend the rest of your pathetic miserable life watching other people's fun! Get out and have your own, darling!" she said with a dramatic hair flip as she made an entrance from the bathroom, swinging her pink feather boa.
Peggy came out next, strutting with her white high heeled boots and stomping one down in a model position. "This is going to be the best dance party you have ever seen!" The two friends stood back to back, and pretended they had microphones. "Because you are the star, so act like you are!" They both said in unison.
Pepper giggled at her immature friends. But their immaturity was what kept her going. She jumped in, and joined them. "And stars go FAR!" they all shouted together. It was part of one of their favourite songs. Betty started the music, and they began their indoor dance party.