"…So then we heard a crash, and we just looked at each other at each other, horrified, and we ran to see what made the noise, and there was little Anthony crying on the floor with the vanity knocked over and all of mah jewelry was thrown everywhere on the floor! Oh, but how could I stay mad at him with those big brown eyes of his?" The petite woman sipped her cup of tea and giggled as she continued relaying memories to Pepper on the couch, "Oh that reminds me of when Anthony came to visit me at mah house in Milan and sure he was a growing boy, but I didn't expect him to eat all the ravioli!"
"Haha, some habits never truly die." Pepper sat with her legs up on the couch, listening attentively. Tony pressed his arm against the glass as he stared at the skyline, actually hoping for something to drop to the ground and start terrorizing New York City so that he could get a call that would take him away.
"Anthony sweetie, why don't you come down here and sit us? Your wife made us some delicious chinaberry tea." The silver-haired woman smiled.
"We're not married, Grandma. Pepper is my business partner." Tony still didn't look towards them.
"Oh, well Anthony's grandfather and I were business partners before we were married. Mah first husband had already passed away, rest in peace, but because the old man just adored me so much I was more like a daughter to him, so I was a virgin widow with two inheritances, one from him, and the other from mah grandparents in Atlanta. I was also still in mah twenties and quite beautiful, so there were many men who wanted to comfort this young, intelligent, well-bred, incredibly wealthy, and beautiful untouched widow." Tony's grandmother fell back on the seat, making a fainting motion as she remembered the peak of her appeal.
"I'm sure any man would have been crazy not to want you, Mrs. Stark." Pepper glanced at Tony as she was finally starting to see the family resemblance.
"Oh well that's the funny part. His grandfather didn't! Well not at first, at least. You see, Howard was engaged to this woman who was living in England at the time, so he was supposed to marry her when she arrived to the New York. I was so heartbroken; the only man I wanted was the only one who didn't want me! Well, luckily for me, the boat she took was a little passenger liner called the Titanic!" She broke into hysterics and slapped her knee, "Oh I do grieve for the poor souls who perished on that ship, but some good did come out of it. After all, how else would I have had Howard Jr. and little Anthony here?"
"Do you have a hotel room, Grandma?" Tony finally turned around.
"Oh, don't be such a Scrooge, Tony. It's the Christmas season. She should stay here. After all we have plenty of room." Pepper scolded him with her stare.
"Well that sounds lovely, darlin'. I believe I should call it a night; I am just so exhausted. Good night, have sweet dreams, Tony." She fanned herself as Pepper led her to one of the guest rooms.
Tony brought his laptop to bed with him as he usually did, for work purposes, but Pepper slammed it shut as she crawled next to him.
"Oh no, here it comes…." He rolled his eyes as he awaited the lecture.
"I need to know why you were so rude to your grandmother today." She crossed her arms.
"There are reasons I don't talk about my family, and those are reasons why I also don't talk to my family."
"Why? What reasons could you have for trying to kick out your own grandmother out in merciless streets of New York and in freezing snowy weather?" Pepper's voice rose and got more scolding.
"I haven't seen her since my father's funeral, Pepper. After that, she just…vanished. I don't know why she decided to come back now, but there has to be something or someone behind it. Until I know for sure, I can't-"
"I can't believe you, Tony! You haven't seen your grandmother in decades and your first thought is that you can't trust her? Did you ever think that maybe she came to see you because she misses you?"
"If she's here because she misses me, I don't think she would have waited this long to visit. She had all the money and time in the world, but she had never even once sent a call until today. Besides, maybe I didn't want to have to sit through three hours of hearing her repeat the same stories all over again." Tony pulled his laptop screen back open.
"You know…sometimes I wonder if there's even still a heart behind that thing." Pepper's finger clunked against the arc reactor. They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Pepper spoke up, "Did she say that in her twenties when the Titanic sank? That would make her over a 120 years old…"
"Half of Grandma's stories are made up for sheer entertainment value."
"But it makes sense, because if your father made his fortune in the forties, he would have had to have been born in…"
"It's best if you don't think about it."