Chapter 4
Tony Stark sat on the couch with a set of schematics spread out in front of him on the coffee table. He circled a few places where changes needed to be made and was scribbling notes when he heard a noise nearby. He looked up to see his pajama-clad son standing a few feet away. "Hey, Champ. What are you doing out of bed? Did the storm wake you?"
"No, sir," A.J. told him. "Kate's crying."
"She is?"
"Uh-huh. I heard her when I was going to the bathroom."
"Thanks, buddy," Tony said, tossing his pencil on the table. "I will go check on her. C'mon. I will tuck you in on the way."
"It's okay," the little boy said in his most grown-up sounding voice. "Take care of sissy first."
Tony walked to where A.J. stood and ruffled his hair. "You're a good brother, A.J."
"Yep." The child beamed at the praise. "G'night, Daddy," he said, hugging his father before trotting to his bedroom.
Tony watched him go. He shook his head. "The kid really is my mini-me." Quietly, he made his way to his daughter's bedroom. When he stopped at the door, he could hear the tell-tale snubbing. "Are you crying, Sweetie?"
Four-year-old Kate Stark sat in the middle of her bed. She didn't raise her head when her father spoke. "No," she choked out, but her voice was clogged with unshed tears.
Tony walked into her room, turned on the small bedside lamp, and sat on the bed. "What's wrong, Katie-Face?" He felt her cheeks and forehead with the back of his hand. "Are you sick?" Without answering, his daughter crawled into his lap. Even as a baby, she'd never been prone to crying. Something to upset her this much must be pretty big. A loud clap of thunder made her shudder. He smoothed her hair and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "Is it the storm?" He felt her nod against his chest.
"It waked me up," she admitted.
"Well, you don't have to worry about that one bit. You're safe in here. This house is 1,000% storm-proof."
"I...I miss M-mommy. She stays with me when it's thunnerin' loud."
"I miss Mommy, too, but she will be home after while. She had to work late."
"But, it's stormin' and Mommy's by herself. She's not safe if she's not here," Katie countered, using her best four-year-old logic.
"Hey...she's at work and who do you think built that?"
"You?"
"Yep. So, you see, she's almost as safe as if she was here with us." Lightening flashed outside the window and a loud peal of thunder sounded. Kate buried her face in Tony's shirt. A definite change of topic was needed if his daughter was ever going back to sleep. "You know," Tony said, "it was storming like this the night you were born."
"It was?" she asked with a sniffle.
"It was. You lay down and I will tell you all about about it." Obediently, the little girl slid out of her father's lap and under the covers. Tony made sure the blankets were around her securely. He stretched out alongside his daughter as far as he could in the child's bed and took her hand. "All comfy?"
"Yes."
"Good deal." Tony wiggled until he made himself comfortable. "I was out in one of the suits when someone said, 'Tony, you need to head back home.' Uncle Bruce was on the radio. He told me he was taking Mommy to the hospital."
"Why was Uncle Bruce at our house?" Kate questioned.
"He was helping me work on some tech for the suits," Tony explained. "He let me talk to Mommy and I told her I would be there as fast as I could. I remember whizzing through the sky and hearing the thunder boom. It was raining like crazy and the lightning was all around me."
"Was you scared?"
"Sure was, but if I had stayed scared, then I would have stopped and if I had stopped, wouldn't have made it to see you," he admitted. "So I kept flying and, sure enough, in a little bit, the storm stopped. "
"And then I got borned?" the little girl asked. When the next roll of thunder shook the room, she seemed not to notice.
"You're jumping ahead," Tony said, playfully flicking the end of his daughter's nose. The auburn-haired child giggled, showing Pepper's smile. "While I was flying, I got another message. This one was from Mommy telling me that I needed to hurry."
"Did ya?"
"Like I hadn't hurried before. I wanted to be there when my sweet little girl was born."
"Was you there?"
"Yep," Tony assured her. "There wasn't a lot of time to spare, but, I made it."
"I'm glad."
"Me, too."
"Was you happy 'bout me?" Kate asked, using her free hand to move the wedding ring on her father's hand.
"Absolutely!" he confirmed. "I thought that you were about the prettiest baby girl I ever did see. When Mommy handed you to me and I got to hold you for the first time, I knew right away you were special."
"How?"
"Well, for one thing, I was still wearing my suit, since I flew right in to be with Mommy. I left it at the door and it made all kinds of racket. Scared a couple of nurses."
The little girl stifled a giggle. "You did?"
"Yeah," Tony recounted, suddenly finding it as comical as his daughter. "I moved it inside the room after you were born. It made just as much noise, but it didn't bother you at all. You were just a teeny little baby, but you didn't cry."
The four-year-old's eyes grew wide in amazement. "I didn't?"
"Nope. Not one bit."
"I don't want a suit like yours," Kate informed him.
"You don't?"
"No. I want to be like Mommy and wear pretty clothes and big girl shoes and be the boss and tell everybody what to do."
"Is that what Mommy does?" Tony asked, trying to hide his amusement.
"Uh huh. That's what you do when you run a company. I wanna be the boss like Mommy." The little girl yawned, her fear of the storm slowly subsiding. "Tell me some more, Daddy."
Harm smiled at the "mini-boss" beside him who had wrapped him around her finger the moment her tiny fist grabbed onto his. Katherine Elizabeth Stark was the perfect combination of him and Pepper, in looks, smarts, and personality. "Uncle Bruce came to see you. He got to hold you and you went to sleep. He gave you back to me and I held you while you slept. The next day, Uncle Happy brought A.J. to see you and the day after that, I took you and Mommy home."
"And then we all lived happily ever after," she put in.
"We sure did."
"I like that story, Daddy," she said. "I like happily ever after."
"Me, too," Tony confessed. "Now… it's time for all future corporate executives to hit the sack."
"Can you stay with me?" Kate pleaded, still fingering his wedding ring.
"It's not storming bad anymore, so you don't need me," he tried to counter. "You're a big girl."
"Please, Daddy."
Tony looked into the blue eyes that were the exact same shade as her mother's and wondered if he would ever be able to tell her "no." "Okay," he relented. "I'll stay until you go to sleep."
Pleased with herself, Kate snuggled against her father. "Good night, Daddy," she said sleepily. "I love you."
"I love you, too, Katie-Face," he replied. "Sweet dreams."
The storm had ended except for a gentle rain by the time Pepper came home shortly after midnight. The house was quiet when she entered, contrasting the turmoil of a few hours earlier. She deposited her briefcase on the front table. It was unusual for Tony to already be in bed when she arrived late, but she was too tired to question it and decided to head to bed herself. On her way to her room, Pepper stopped by her children's rooms to do one last check, as she always did.
In her son's room, A.J. lay sprawled on his stomach, sleeping peacefully. His favorite stuffed toy had fallen to the floor. Pepper picked up the teddy bear and laid it beside him. A.J. simply sighed and turned over, the toy safely under his arm.
The scene she came upon in Kate's room made her smile. Her daughter lay with her head tucked under her father's chin. Tony was stretched out on top of the comforter on his side facing her. He, too, was sound asleep. Her little hand still held on to his larger one. Pepper took a blanket off the toy box at the foot of the bed and spread it over her husband. Not willing to wake either of them, she slipped quietly out of the room.
In her own room, Pepper readied herself for bed. The story of how Kate had convinced her "strict" father, who wouldn't let either her or A.J. stay all night in their parents' bed, to stay with her after the storm ended had to be as interesting as the one Tony told to make her forget the storm. It was one Pepper was sure to find out about at breakfast.
Author's note: Thanks to everyone for their response to this story. It started out as a whim and grew into something I think turned out pretty well. Special thanks to nancyozz for convincing me to change things around in this chapter (which I wrote first). It made the entire story much better. Thanks to my BFF for everything. Thanks to all of my readers. Your response is amazing and I am both honored and humbled. Let me know what you think about Tony and Kate. There may be more chapters later, who knows. I won't rule it out if the inspiration strikes. :) As always, reviews are wanted and welcome. Happy reading and PEPPERONY FOREVER!