Another hour later, the meeting was adjourned. Pepper and Happy both left the conference room in great relief that she hadn't experienced another episode of shooting pain during that time. Now, all that was left was to head back upstate, hopefully without incident. The two, anxious with anticipation to get back, made their way to the roof, where the Stark chopper was waiting.
They both climbed aboard and took their seats, Pepper promptly buckling her seat belt, and adjusting it to rest just under her rounded tummy against her hip bones. She then smoothed a loving hand over her stomach and smiled to herself, glad to be on her way back to her husband, as Winston gently lifted off from the roof top and turned to head north.
"All the excitement quiet down?" Happy asked, nodding toward Pepper's belly, after he, too, had settled in and secured his safety belt.
"Yes. Finally," she answered emphatically. "I think she's sleeping, actually."
Happy smiled. "Good," he replied. "Maybe for the duration, huh?"
"Let's hope. I'm not sure I can take much more of the Can-Can she seemed keen on doing earlier," Pepper joked. "She's had a very busy day."
"Speaking of busy, I haven't talked to Tony in a while. Maybe we should check-in?" he asked, moving to grab his phone.
"Here. Let me," Pepper offered, pulling her phone from her purse. "I'm sure if he hears from me directly, he'll feel better, poor thing. He was pretty nervous this morning."
"And with good reason," Happy replied. "I would be, too, if I were even more than two feet away from my very pregnant, ready-to-pop-at-any-second, wife. Let alone, a couple hundred miles. Can't say I blame the guy."
Pepper chuckled at his description, and dialed her husband's number.
XxXxXxXxXx
Tony was just finishing some soldering when his phone began to violently vibrate, nearly rattling itself off the workbench he was standing in front of. He quickly dabbed the tip of the soldering iron on a wet sponge, and then replaced it in it's holder as he barely caught his phone just before it fell off the edge, nearly crashing to the floor. Flipping it around in his hand, he saw it was Pepper, and eagerly swiped his thumb across the screen to take the call.
"A hoy-hoy," he purred, smiling when he heard Pepper giggle at his salutation. "Am I meant to take this as a sign you're on your way back with Mini-Me still safely stowed?" he joked.
Pepper giggled again. "Me, your mini, and your lost puppy are on our way back, yes," she teased. "And for your information, your daughter spent the whole time I was there squirming and wriggling to her little heart's content. Being very disruptive, I might add. I think she might hate meetings as much as you do."
It was Tony's turn to chuckle. "That's my girl!" he purred. "And it's no wonder. It's right up there with...I dunno, watching paint dry? Wait. I take that back. That can actually be kind of fun. Depending on why you're watching the paint dry," he babbled.
He heard Pepper laugh out loud. "You're so weird, sometimes, Stark," she teased.
"Meh. My weirdness is why you love me. Among other things," he quipped with a deviant smirk, his voice thick with innuendo. He heard Pepper chuckle at his joke, and he grinned, relieved she was finally on her way back to him. He picked up a nearby socket wrench and examined it before balancing his phone between his ear and his shoulder while taking the wrench apart and putting away the respective pieces. "So, uh..." he began, picking the phone back up off his shoulder once he'd closed the drawers in his tool chest, and un-cocking his head. "You still feeling okay? Happy told me you had a bit of an episode earlier."
"Which one? The one on the way down here? Or the one outside the bathroom?" Pepper innocently asked, not noticing until she'd stopped speaking that Happy was frantically waving his hands in a ceasing motion, trying to signal to her not to tell Tony about the second incident.
"I haven't...I didn't want to...I was worried he'd..." he stammered, in a loud whisper.
"What?! There were two?!" Tony exclaimed loudly, causing Pepper to wince, and jerk the phone away from her ear. "That's it! Put me on speaker! I need to talk to my so-called lost puppy!" they both heard him angrily bark.
XxXxXxXx
Pepper grimaced apologetically at her travelling companion, and gingerly pressed the speaker button before handing him the phone, while mouthing the words, "I'm sorry! I didn't know!"
Happy just threw up his hands, and rolled his eyes in defeat before taking the phone from her. "Yeah, boss, I'm..."
"Happy, what the hell?!" Tony spat out. "She had another one of those pains, and you didn't..."
"I was trying not to worry you, okay?! She assured me she was fine. And I thought it would only freak you out if..." Happy tried to explain, but was coarsely interrupted.
"Yeah?! What? If my wife suddenly went into labor almost two hundred miles away?! We talked about this, Hap! You even agreed! Any one of these times, it could lead to..."
"Well, of course I would tell you if that happened. But it didn't, Boss! So..." Happy countered.
Suddenly, Pepper's attention was quickly drawn from Tony chewing Happy out to another sharp pain that came on without warning. Only this time, it was a searing stab in her back. She yelped, her hand flying behind her to the affected area. She vigorously began to massage it, but that only seemed to make it worse, as the gripping muscle spasm radiated around to the front of her body. But that wasn't the last of it. Her uterus contracted hard, instantly knocking the air out of her lungs. Pepper let out a strained squeak as her hands flew to her abdomen, and she hunched over. Then, all at once, she noticed the sensation of her feet suddenly becoming wet and the subsequent puddle that had simultaneously amassed on the floor in front of her. She frowned, and then her eyes went wide, realizing what had just happened. "Oh God!" she gasped.
She raised her eyes frantically to look at Happy, but he was oblivious to her, and still arguing with Tony.
"Boys?" she said, her voice hoarse with panic.
They didn't hear her. They just continued to prattle back and forth between each other, Happy apologizing profusely and Tony threatening the possibility of striping his title as Head of Security.
"Boys?!" Pepper tried again, but still to no avail. Neither man had noticed her even still.
This made her temper flare. She set her jaw, and narrowed her eyes, mustering the breath to get their attention.
"Anthony Edward Stark and Harold Hogan! I am speaking to you!" she finally spat out angrily, and Happy and Tony instantly silenced themselves. Happy looked at her, completely speechless and shell-shocked.
"Pep?" she heard Tony say. "What's wrong? You okay?"
She huffed. "No, I am certainly not okay! While you two were blathering on about responsibility and communication, my water broke!"
"What?!" she heard her husband exclaim.
Happy scrambled to unbuckle his seat belt while assessing what happened. "What?! How come you didn't...are you serious?! Now?!" he stammered. His eyes danced wildly as he took in the after math on the floor. "Holy Hell, Boss! She's not kidding! It like a bucket got dumped in here, or something!" he reported.
"Ho-ly shit!" Tony exclaimed. "Pepper?! Can you hear me?! What's going on? Are you in pain?! What's happening?!"
Pepper had sat back against her seat, and was smoothing her hands over her contracting belly, trying to breathe her way through it, taking deep breaths in through her nose and out through her mouth until the pain began to subside. "I'm...okay...right now," she told him, in between breaths. "But I don't know how long until the next one!"
"Okay, baby. Okay. That's alright," Tony assured her. "It's fine. You're gonna be okay. I promise."
Happy had slid into the seat next to her, and offered her his hand, while still holding her phone with the other one. Pepper saw this, and immediately clasped her hand in his, and smiled at him, grateful for the support. "That's right. It'll be okay. I'm right here, Boss. I'm gonna get her through this," he told Tony.
But given the urgency of the moment, and the adrenaline rushing through her veins, tears flooded Pepper's eyes. She gritted her teeth, and swiped at them in annoyance.
"Happy, keep me on the line," Tony commanded. "And this time? Tell me everything that's happening, huh?"
"Sure thing, Boss. I'm not going anywhere," Happy assured him.
Pepper could feel her body start to tense up in anticipation of another on-coming contraction, and she started breathing heavily again. More tears came, as well, and her face contorted as she began to cry, her heart breaking at the thought of Tony not being by her side.
XxXxXxXxXx
Tony had started pacing the floor, listening to everything transpire. He heard Pepper start to groan, and he instantly stopped pacing, feeling frozen in his tracks.
"Oh! God! Huh! Oh my God, this hurts!" he heard his wife cry out in agony as a new contraction hit.
"Pepper?!" he exclaimed. "Happy, damn it! Tell me what's going on?!" he begged. "Better yet! Put me on video!"
Happy quickly obliged, and soon Tony's phone screen fired to life. He could see Happy holding the hand of his extremely distressed wife. None the less, she lolled her head in the direction of the phone, her face contorting with new tears. Her breath caught in her chest, and a sob escaped her throat as soon as she saw him. "Hey, you," she whispered, trying again to give him a brave smile. "Looks like we're having a baby today, after all," she said tearfully.
Tony gave her a regretful smile and a chuckle. He nodded. His heart broke at the thought of having to watch her go through this without him there, but he knew he had to put on a brave face. "You know, I could say that this is what you get for not letting me come with you..." he jokingly began.
But Pepper scoffed, clearly not at all amused by his joke. "God, really?!" she exclaimed. "You're choosing now to gloat?!"
"Like I said, I could say that. But I won't. Instead, I'll tell you I love you," he said, with an adoring smile.
This made Pepper soften, but tear up even more. "I love you, too," she said weakly.
"And we'll get through this, alright? Don't worry. Everything will be fine," he assured her.
But suddenly, Pepper diverted her attention from the screen and slammed her eyes shut, her face scrunching up as it appeared another contraction was coming on.
"It's okay, just breathe," Happy said. "Don't be afraid to squeeze my hand if you need to. You're doing great."
"I don't want to hurt you!" she replied, her voice strained, as she kept her eyes squeezed tightly shut.
Happy chuckled. "What, are you kidding? Hurt these hands? You are aware I was a boxer before I came to work for Tony, right?"
Tony smiled, grateful that his loyal friend was there to comfort her.
It was clear the pain suddenly intensified, as Pepper squirmed in her seat, and arched her back, yowling. "Oh! Ow, ow, ow!" she cried. She huffed and panted, trying to make it through the contraction. "God, why did this have to happen, now?" she cried.
"Honey, listen to me. You're in good hands," he said. "And Happy's done this before. Right, Hap? With your sister's kids?"
"Uh...well, not, uh...not directly, Boss, but..." the man stammered.
Tony huffed. "Come on, work with me here, huh?! She needs some encouragement, for God's sake!" he commanded.
"Uh, right! Sister's kids! The miracle of birth, and...all of...that," Happy said, trying his best to play the part.
Tony just rolled his eyes, and redoubled his resolve. "Pepper, you're doing great, okay? You've got this," he said, looking intently at her.
He saw her start inhaling and exhaling, taking deep breaths, and looking like she'd made it through that contraction successfully, though he knew the next one wouldn't be far behind. And that worried him.
"Hap? Am I wrong, or are these contractions coming on fast and furious?" Tony asked. "I'm counting, what...like a minute between them?"
"Yeah. Two, tops," Happy replied.
Tony sucked in through his teeth, and ran a nervous hand through his hair. "Shit," he said. "That's close." His mind whirled with the dark possibility that Pepper would need to deliver before they landed. But his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her wailing again. His eyes jetted back to the screen.
"Huuuuh-ahhhhhhh! Oh my God, it hurts so much!" Pepper shrieked. She furiously started to pant, her face scrunched up as she groaned in agony. This made Tony's level of panic ratchet up by a thousand points, knowing that the contractions were coming one right after another now, meaning she'd most likely be ready to push in the near future. Leave it to MY kid to be in a hurry to get here!, he thought. Still, he fought to keep his composure, and focus on keeping Pepper as calm as possible by helping her to work through each contraction.
"I know it, honey. I know it hurts," Tony said, in an attempt to reassure her. "You're doing great. And I'm right here. Breathe with me, Pepper. Hee, hee, hooo. Hee, hee, hooo."
Pepper kept her eyes squeezed shut, but started to mimic her husband's actions, and soon even Happy joined in. Soon, they were all collectively doing their Lamaze breathing, in unison.
Hee-hee-hooo. Hee-hee-hooo.
Hee-hee-hooo. Hee-hee-hooo.
After a few moments, Pepper slowly began to relax again, her breathing slowing to a few deep breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth. The men followed suit, tapering off their breathing to watch her, each cautiously awaiting what could happen next. She took an extended deep breath, and Tony gave her a sympathetic look, and then a soft smile. Amidst all of her discomfort, she brought her eyes back to his face and smiled back at him.
"I need you," she murmured. "I need you here with me! I'm scared to do this without you!" she pleaded again, her voice hoarse with fatigue.
"I don't want you to either, okay? But you'll be back here soon, safe and sound, and then we'll get you into the infirmary to have our baby, alright? Our little girl," he told her, his eyes sparkling with anticipation.
"Together?" Pepper said.
Tony gave her an affirmative nod, and a grin. "Together," he replied assuredly.
Pepper smiled, and tears ran down her cheeks. "I can't wait to meet her!" she said, her voice giving out with emotion.
"Me, neither, Pep. So just hold on, okay? Everything will be fine!" he told her.
But suddenly, the helicopter violently shuddered, shaking them in their seats. And Happy and Pepper startled. "What the hell was that?!" she cried, turning her eyes to him in panic.
"Happy?" Tony asked. "Did I hear something? What happened?"
"I don't know! Was it a bird or something? It's like we hit..." Then he paused, and sniffed the air. "Wait...Do you...smell smoke?" he asked Pepper.
All at once, an alarm sounded, and Winston spoke. "I am detecting an engine malfunction," he reported.
Pepper gasped. "No!" she howled. "Tony! It's the engine! Do something!"
"Winston?!" Tony cried to his AI pilot. "You land that thing in the next field you see, and send me the GPS coordinates!" he ordered! "Pepper! Hold tight! I'm on my way!"
"Hurry!" Pepper chirped, as another contraction suddenly gripped her body.