Just a little bit of news

Part two

Thank you for reviewing my story; it's very encouraging (mind-blowing, too; I'd never get so many reviews for a single chapter!). I hope you like part two.

Tony mechanically sat on the couch.

"Ok," he said. "I can handle this. I'm calm. I'm calm and -Shit." He wasn't calm at all. "JARVIS?"

"Sir?"

"Does Pepper know?"

"She is aware of her condition, Sir. She's two months into her pregnancy."

"Two months?" Jesus. "I don't get it," he said. "How could this happen -no, wait, that's a dumb question." But it was a dumb situation to be in, wasn't it? He'd always been so damn careful, even in his worst alcohol-fueled days! To have this happen to him now that he was stone-cold sober...

And what about Pepper?

"Did you see her reaction when she found out she was -" he let the word trail off. He couldn't even say it out loud. "You think she's happy?"

"Ms Potts cried when she found out, Sir," JARVIS said promptly. "It is impossible for me to make an assessment on her emotional status, however. I suggest you ask her whether those were tears of joy or grief."

"Sure," Tony said sarcastically. "All I have to do now is barge into her office and ask her if she's glad I knocked her up."

"You might want to rephrase that question more delicately, sir, but yes, that's the next step to take."

Tony stalled.

"I could have someone ask her for me," he started, then raised a hand to keep JARVIS from stating the obvious. "I know, I know; there's no one I can trust with this."

Damn! It was almost enough to make him wish for the old days, when he would have dealt with this kind of trouble by leaving it in someone else's hands -a lawyer, most probably- while he made himself scarce. He couldn't do that anymore. Well, technically, he still could, but he didn't want to.

He raised his gaze and met his own reflection on the glass doors.

"It's time to grow up."

"Indeed, Sir."

Pepper was surprised to see him.

"You're not supposed to be here today."

"I just dropped by to see how you're doing."

She eyed him appreciatively; he was wearing a dark grey suit and a white shirt-burgundy tie combo she was especially fond of.

He walked to her desk then changed his mind; she still had those damn swinging sticks, and they still drove him nuts. Instead, he sauntered over to the window, aware that she was following his every move.

He glanced at her.

"So," he said casually, "How are you doing?"

"I'm very well, thank you," she said, playing along. "Nothing's changed since breakfast."

"Good."

His smile faded.

"We need to talk."

"All right," she said, smiling uncertainly. "If it's about the Hennessey contract, I'm still going over it -" and she glanced at the papers on her desk.

"It's not. Something happened, today," he said slowly. "JARVIS made a discovery."

"A discovery? What kind of discovery?" She was instantly on her feet, "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he said, raising a hand so she wouldn't come to him. "It's about you, actually."

"Me? What is it?"

"He says you're pregnant."

She stared at him in incomprehension, and for a couple of seconds Tony wondered whether JARVIS had made a mistake -in which case he would be totally relieved but also totally panicked, 'cause if JARVIS wasn't running smoothly then he had a huge problem in his hands-

But he was digressing.

He kept his gaze on Pepper, waiting for some reaction.

"Oh, my God," she said suddenly. "Oh, my God, you had JARVIS spy on me?"

"I did not!" he said indignantly, "He was running a medical check-up on me and decided to run one on you at the same time. He says you're two-months pregnant and you still haven't said yes or no!"

Her lips parted but no sound came.

'Shit', Tony thought.

"Were you going to tell me? At all?"

She was going to answer, then didn't. She shook her head. "I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"I wanted to."

"You wanted to?"

"I tried to tell you, Tony; believe me, I did. But every time I started, I -I just couldn't. You were so happy with the way things were -"

Tony looked down. Even now, after all they'd been through, she was still protecting him.

"I suppose you know more than I do about it now," she said wearily.

He did, very probably. JARVIS had accumulated a wealth of information on the baby and its development.

He looked at her. "What are we gonna do?"

She looked up in surprise. "Do you want to be involved?"

"I am involved, already," he glared.

"But you're not happy about it."

"Are you happy about it?"

She turned to the window before she answered.

"I was happy," she said quietly. "Until I realized I'd probably have to choose between the two of you. I wasn't ready to face that possibility, Tony. That's why I didn't tell you." She glanced at him. "But I'm telling you now."

There was a silent question in her eyes.

Tony looked down.

"You know I never wanted -" he paused. He didn't want to say the wrong thing here, but he wanted to be honest.

"I always thought I'd be the last Stark," he said awkwardly. "I was ok with that; I come from a long line of screw-ups, so," he shrugged. "There's a history of chemical dependency in my family -which you've seen first-hand with me. Both my parents drank -it was about the only thing they had in common -and I, well -" he paused. He took a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say is, I'm not four-star daddy material, Pepper."

He looked back at her.

"But I want this."

She blinked.

"You do?"

"Yeah." He said it as if he'd just found out. He reached for her hand. "I think I'm ready for this. You're right. I am happy. I'm happy and sober, which is a rare combination for me." He meant it as a joke, but they both knew it was also the truth. "You know how easily I could screw this up, but -"

"I could screw up too," she said wearily.

"Not you."

"Wanna bet? I've never been this scared in my life."

"You're scared?" That as a huge revelation. He was so used to her being in charge, it never really occurred to him that she might feel inadequate. Or that she might need his support.

He pulled her into his arms.

"Hey, I'm scared too," he said, holding her tightly. "You're not alone in this."

"Do you mean that?"

"I think so," he said dubiously. He pulled back to look at her. "Listen; I don't want to screw up. But if I do -"

"I'll let you know."

He looked at her as if for the first time in a long time. "A baby, Potts. Do we have any idea what we're getting into?"

She smiled. "We can ask JARVIS to do some research for us."

And that was the right thing to say.

"Yeah. Yeah," Tony said, instantly reassured. "We can do that. And you know," he said, glancing around, "I was thinking; I could build a crib that would fit right here in your office. One for mine too, so we can take turns taking care of him -"

"Or her," Pepper added pointedly, but he didn't hear; he was walking around the office, lost in thought, his mind bursting with ideas.

"- and I'll put a safety seat in each car -a safety seat built by me, course; I don't trust those in the market. Hey, maybe I can even -" he didn't finish, but his eyes had a wild gleam she knew all too well.

"Oh, no," Pepper said, following him. "You're not going to build him a suit!"

"Build her a suit," he amended.

"Tony, no; you're not dragging this baby into -"

"Into the family business?" he said, smiling winningly. "Why not?"

"I can give you a dozen reasons!"

"It's too early to think of that, anyway," he said, dismissing the idea, "First things first; I'm gonna get JARVIS to do that research. Then I'll reboot Dummy so we can put him on diaper-changing patrol -"

Pepper's eyes bulged.

"Dummy? Absolutely not!"

He stopped and smiled. God, he loved to tease her.

"I'm kidding, Potts. Gee, give me some credit," and then he smiled, "I think this is gonna be fun."

the end