"Now please remember what I said, Mr. Stark," Dr, Ruiz repeated as she entered the operating room, and walked to the lower end of the table, "No looking over that curtain once we get started. Not even one small peek!"

"I won't, Doc."

"I hope not! I've had more than one dad-to-be come to regret not heeding my warning because they wind up fainting on me after for whatever reason they just have to look over the curtain while I was working. So you stay seated right on that stool, Mr. Stark, and do not get up! Not even when you start hearing your son's cries!"

Tony nodded then after squeezing his wife's hand with both of his said, "And we're both ready to hear those cries, Doc. More than ready."

"Okay, I'm about to make the incision and then I'll pull your son out. Now, Mrs. Stark, just so you know in advance, you may feel a tugging sensation while I'm taking him out. But that is all you should feel. There should be no pain although it might feel somewhat strange or uncomfortable. I will be as quick as I can as safety for you and the baby allows. Okay?"

Pepper nodded, then remembered Dr. Ruiz couldn't see her head said, "Okay."

"Alright here we go, Mom and Dad. This'll be all over in just a few minutes and you'll finally be able to hold your son and say a great big hello, welcome to the world, love!"

Tony stared down into his wife's eyes as the doctor lowered her voice and began talking to everyone else on the other side of the curtain. He could tell the exact moment she was feeling the tugging sensation the doctor had warned her about as Pepper began to wince a little.

"That's not hurting is it?"

"No, it just feels really weird like Dr. Ruiz said it would."

"And he's out!" the doctor's voice announced a few seconds later.

Pepper's eyes widened when she realized they haven't yet heard any distinct newborn sounds, "Wait! Why isn't he crying? Is something wrong?"

Tony almost forgot his promise not to stand up, but stopped himself when he remembered at the last second, settled for asking from the stool, "Doctor, why isn't he-"

From the very first moment they heard their son whimper and then give a full-blown cry as he took in his first breaths in the world, his parents found themselves crying along with him as well.

Doctor Ruiz appeared over the curtain a second later, holding the now wailing newborn up so his parents could see him before she passed him over to the nurse who was waiting. The doctor then raised a finger to stop Tony from standing when in an enchanted daze he started to go to the other side of the room where his son was.

"Ah, remember what I said? Your son might be out in the world now but that doesn't mean we're done here!" she scolded then her eyes softened, "Look, I know you're both anxious to hold him but let the nurses get him weighed, measured, and cleaned up. Once all that's been done I promise you, you can hold him while we get everything finished here."

It was only a minute or two after the doctor told them this that one of the nurses did indeed bring their still whimpering son over to them. Instead of asking who would wanted to hold him first, the nurse went straight to Tony. "Hey there Dad, would you like to hold your son now?"

For once in his life, Tony was at a complete loss for words, and all he could do was nod at the woman. He stood but this time wasn't admonished by the doctor because his eyes were transfixed away from the area where had just begun stitching up his wife.

"Okay, let me showed you how to support his head and back. See how my arms are positioned?"

"Yeah."

"Do your arms like that, and we'll go from there."

He moved his arms in a position to imitate hers, and held his breath as she laid the baby in his arms.

"Is this right? Am I doing it right?" Tony asked, looking down into the face of his son.

His son.

The nurse, who had kept her hands under the baby until he was cradled against his father's chest nodded, smiling, "Yes sir, you're doing beautifully."

"Oh my... he's so amazing! And tiny!" the new father said, oblivious to everyone else in the room who wasn't the baby he was now cradling tenderly in his arms.

The nurse smiled again, and looked down at Pepper, "He's a beautiful baby boy weighing in at six pounds, nine ounces and is twenty-one and a half inches long." When neither of the new parents seemed to have heard her, the nurse quickly slipped away to give them as much privacy as she could to enjoy these first few precious minutes with their newborn son.

In all the years she had know him, Pepper hadn't never seen Tony so mesmerized by something he was looking at. She couldn't even say that he had been this mesmerized when he finally got to see her in her wedding dress because she doesn't think he was. He was looking down at their son with such wonder and love she thought her heart might burst from the sight of it. Tears flooded her eyes once more when she heard him speaking to their son in a low voice so full of awe.

"Hello, Ethan, welcome to the world. I'm your... I'm your Daddy. You know, the guy whose voice you've been hearing a lot in the last nine months." And hearing that familiar voice that loved he knew loved him, helped to finish calming down into a contented slumber.

His wife smiled, remembering the times she wasn't quite as asleep as he thought she was. The times she had heard him carrying on quiet conversations with their son were some of the most precious memories she would have from this pregnancy. Memories she knew she would treasure for the rest of her life.

She came out of her thoughts in time to hear Tony say, "Come on, let's go introduce you to Mommy. I know she's been aching to see you and hold you for a long time now." He sat down carefully on the stool, and carefully lowered the small bundle into her waiting arms.

Pepper looked at her son's peaceful face for a long time before she wiped away another happy tear, and murmured, "Hello my little love, it's me. It's your Mommy." She gently stroked his little, soft cheek while she spoke, "I'm so happy to finally welcome you into the world, and especially into our lives. I feel like I've been waiting for you to come all of my life."

Even as she made the statement, Pepper thought it was odd yet right thing to say. Here she was holding a tiny someone who hadn't been in the world even thirty minutes yet but she already knew she could never go back to living life without him in it.

Wiping away more tears she looked up at her husband, "He's perfect, and beautiful, and he's ours, Tony. Ours to love, cherish, and watch grow up, but not too fast, into an amazing man someday."

"Yeah," Tony murmured in agreement, smiling as Ethan's tiny finger curled around his finger, "Let's just hope I... we don't screw it up."

Before Pepper could respond to that, the curtain between her and the doctors came down. She looked down to see Dr, Ruiz smiling at them.

"We're finally finished here so say how about get you settled into your room because I have a feeling your son-"

"Ethan."

The doctor nodded, "-Ethan is going to be getting hungry soon, and you'll want some privacy for when that happens."