Hello, guys!
I'm sorry for the lag in updates! Life doesn't cooperate sometimes! But I promise, every chance I get, I'll always send you an update ASAP as soon as I see a way clear. So, just know, it isn't for lack of trying.
Happy Reading! And thanks in advance for any reviews you send along! The love is ALWAYS appreciated! :D
Pepper saw Maria get up excitedly and run from her chair over to where they were standing. As soon as she was in front of them, Maria threw her arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug, and vibrating excitedly. She and Tony both chuckled at each other over his mother's display. "Ma, you're gonna smother her! Lay off already, will ya?" he teased.
"I can't help it, tesoro! Do you know how long I've waited for a daughter? And she's just as beautiful as I'd hoped!" Maria Stark gushed, pulling back to take a loving look at Pepper, with both of her hands in her own. "Oh, look at you, you ragazza bella. You couldn't be lovelier!" she cooed.
Pepper blushed, and averted her eyes bashfully away to glance at Tony, who was beaming. "See? What did I tell you, Pep? Be prepared to be hovered over and doted on for, well, eternity," he joked.
Maria rolled her eyes at her son. "Don't listen to him, Pep-par," she defended in her thick Italian accent. "Between these two, I never hear the end of it. Always, teasing teasing teasing. Sempre con la bocche intelligenti! Howard è una causa persa , ma Anthony? Ho avuto grandi speranze che lui non avrebbe preso dopo che suo padre ! Ma cosa posso fare adesso? Quel che è fatto è fatto ! Perché avrebbe dovuto fermarsi ora ?" Maria rattled off to her daughter-in-law, oblivious to Pepper's look of bewilderment as she led her to the table they'd been seated at.
Pepper shifted her bemused look to Tony, who smirked at his mother's ramblings and rolled his eyes. "She's calling Pop and I a couple of smart asses," he explained to his wife, with a wry smile.
"That's because you are," Maria retorted to her son. "We Stark women. We have to stick together," she said, smiling proudly at Pepper. "At least now, I don't have to look after you two by myself."
They all arrived at the table, and began to take their seats. Howard beamed at Pepper. "I'm glad we finally get to meet face to face," he said, arising from his chair in a gentlemanly fashion as Pepper was seated. He extended a hand to her and, when Pepper extended hers in return, he took it delicately and laid a soft kiss on the back of it. "Enchante, my dear," he purred sweetly.
Pepper blushed again, flicking her eyes to her husband. "Well, I can certainly see where you got your charm from, Tony," she quipped.
He just smiled and shrugged. "What can I say? I learned from the best," he said. "Taught me everything he knows. Right, Pop?" he remarked, smiling at his dad.
Pepper shifted her eyes back to Howard, who was grinning back at his son. "Glad to know you retained something I tried to teach you," he joked.
She nodded her head to him reverently, and smiled softly. "Well, the pleasure is mine, Mr. and Mrs. Stark," Pepper replied.
Howard scoffed. "Please! Get outta here with the 'mister' stuff. You're my son's wife! We're family, honey. Call me Dad. Or at least, Howard, for God's sake!" he insisted, grinning.
"Okay," Pepper said, awkwardly. "Um...H-Howard?"
Howard nodded approvingly. "Much better," he cooed.
"I can't tell you how excited we are that you are here!" Maria chirped ecstatically. "My poor Anthony has been so restless without you. He's missed you immensely," she explained.
It was Tony's turn to blush. "Ma, stop it. You're making me sound like I've been a basket case," he said.
"Well, haven't you? She's the love of your life, figlio mio!And I know the pain you felt being without her," she replied. She reached over and patted her son's hand. "I missed you just as much while we were apart. A mother's love can't be broken by death. And neither can true love."
Pepper smiled sweetly at Tony, having always suspected he'd been the apple of his mother's eye before she died. "A truth at last confirmed," she murmured happily, and mostly to herself.
"Just ask your father," Maria continued, gesturing to her husband. Howard nodded in agreement. "Every chance we got, we stood by you, trying to encourage you and see you through such a lonely time! We know, honey. We know what it is to be without the one you love, and to have to watch them hurt."
Pepper frowned. "You mean, you...were there sometimes?" she asked Maria questioningly.
"Maria, stop. She's only just arrived. Let her find everything out in due time," Howard urged.
"Caro, she has a right to know. They both do," Maria argued. She turned her attention back to Pepper. "And yes. Early on, anyway," she answered.
Pepper looked between them and then at Tony curiously. She swallowed hard. "Did...did you know?" she asked him.
Tony shrugged. "Yeah, I suppose, Pep. Deep down. But, to be honest, what I thought was just grief and shock faded away after a time," he explained. "So I chalked it up to getting over it and moving on. It never even crossed my mind that that meant they'd moved on, too."
"That's because she came into your life, Anthony," Maria replied, gesturing to Pepper. "Once she was there to look after you, we felt much better about saying goodbye." Maria smiled lovingly at Pepper and grasped her hand, squeezing it affectionately. "And, so, Pep-par," she said, turning her gaze to her daughter-in-law. "I finally have the chance to tell you thank you. Thank you for saving my son," she said, her voice warbling as her eyes became teary. "I can never repay you for the peace you brought to me. To us," she said, motioning between she and Howard. "Because of you? I knew my piccolino was going to be okay, at last."
Pepper looked at her speechlessly, and slowly turned her gaze to Tony. He shrugged and gave her an impish smile. "Hey," he said. 'When you're right, you're right, Pep."
"Well, I..." Pepper stammered. She swallowed hard and looked at her mother-in-law. "I certainly didn't...I mean, I...only took the job as his assistant because...he needed..." she stammered.
"Pepper, why do you suppose it was you who caught that accounting error that day, and no one else? An error that Tony had never made before that time? Or since?" Howard interjected, looking at Pepper curiously.
Again, she fell speechless. She just stared at Howard, as her mind fought to make sense of the puzzle pieces they'd laid out in front of her. "Are you saying...that, by some kind of...of...cosmic force, I was meant to..." she began slowly.
"It was meant to be, Pep. I needed you. I didn't know it at the time, but I did," Tony explained, smiling softly.
Pepper smiled, and then pursed her lips together, and nodded. "I'd...never even given it a thought," she admitted, smiling sheepishly.
"Una angelo," Maria cooed. "Sent to watch over him so we could cross over."
Tony leaned forward, and grasped his wife's hand, stroking her fingers gently with his thumb. "And so I, someday, could be there to help you," he said to her. "A favor returned, I guess you could say."
Pepper smiled and nodded in understanding, tears filling her eyes. And Tony smiled gently back, sharing a brief moment gazing into her eyes before speaking again.
"Guys, I uh...I think it's time my wife and I took a walk," Tony said, rising up from his seat. "So, if you'll excuse us for a moment," he said, extending a hand to Pepper. She took it, and Howard and Maria nodded in acknowledgement.
"Of course, son," Howard said. "Take all the time you need."
Tony nodded graciously to his father, and lead Pepper away from the table, interlacing their fingers. "Are things starting to make sense now?" he asked her curiously, once they were away from the table.
Pepper nodded, but with a furrowed brow. "Yes. For the moment," she said. "But why do I get the feeling I'm about to fall down a long and winding rabbit hole?"
Tony smiled, and turned to face her, pulling her into his arms. "It's a lot to process, I know," he said, wrapping his arms around her waist. Pepper wrapped hers around his neck, and they smiling lovingly at each other. But soon the smile left her eyes, and Pepper furrowed her brow in thought again. Tony studied her face silently, fully expecting her at any moment to reveal to him the questions running through her mind.
Pepper inhaled, and began to speak. "When...you...um..." she started, struggling for the right words.
Tony chuckled softly. "It's okay to say it, Pep," he assured. "The word is died, right? When I died?" he said.
She chortled sheepishly at her awkwardness. "Yes, thank you," she said. "Did...you ever...wow, I can't believe I'm asking you this," she said.
"What? Come visit? Watch over you?" he offered.
Pepper chuckled again. "Yes. And thank you, again," she said. She looked anxiously into Tony's eyes, and nodded hopefully. "Did you?" she asked.
Tony smiled. "I could only be with you when you came to the house," he explained.
Pepper gasped, but didn't speak.
Tony continued, nodding in acknowledgment. "I know. And to this day, I don't know why that was. But...yeah. When you were there, so was I."
Pepper's eyes were wide. "When did it start?" she asked in a whisper.
"You mean, when was the first time?" he asked. She nodded. Tony studied her face for a moment with a twinge of apprehension. So much for taking this slow, he thought.
"You really want to know?" he asked her.
Pepper nodded. "Yes," she affirmed. "Please tell me. I want to know."
Tony worked his jaw for a moment, then squared his shoulders and took a deep breath, looking her in the eye. "The funeral," he replied. "Or after,more like," he clarified. "As I said, for whatever reason I was always relegated to the..."
But soon he quit talking, noticed that Pepper's shoulders had begun to shake, and she was starting to cry. "Uh-oh," he murmured, pulling her into a hug. He winced regretfully. "Yeah, see. This is what I was afraid of. Come on, Pep. Don't...don't cry. Please? I..."
"I knew it!" she murmured, her head now lying against his shoulder. "I knew you were there! I couldn't explain why, though! And I just thought it was my own grief, but..." she said, raising up again to look at him, with tear stained cheeks. Tony smiled at her sympathetically, and gently wiped a couple of the tears away. "But it's true! You really were there!" she finished.
Tony nodded. "Yep. Sure was," he murmured. "Right to the very end. And I can't tell you how much it hurt to watch you cry yourself to sleep, baby. Especially since there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it," he told her.
A sob caught in Pepper's chest, and she put a hand over her heart to steady herself. "Well, just knowing you were there at all makes the pain of that day feel better," she replied, with a soft smile. But then her eyes went wide again. "Wait," she said. "That means that you...all those times I!..." she stammered.
Tony nodded and smiled. "I heard every word, Pep. Every question you asked, I answered. Everything you told me that was going on, I put in my two cents. I knew you couldn't hear me, but that didn't stop me from responding. I couldn't not talk back to you. I couldn't just ignore what you were saying," he explained. He paused for a moment, smiling in gentle awe, and relishing the feeling of finally getting to actually carry on a real conversation with her again. "Because it made me believe that maybe. Just maybe you'd be able to hear me," he finished.
Pepper smiled gently back. "Sometimes, I thought I could," she admitted.
Tony looked at her in shock. "Really?!" he asked hopefully. "Really, Pep?"
Pepper shrugged and smiled. "I don't know. I mean, I'd...get these random thoughts, or feel like I was being prompted to say...something...I don't know, it..." she tried to explain. But finally she sighed. "It's so hard to explain," she said finally.
Tony shook his head. "You don't have to," he assured her. "It didn't make sense back then. But it does now, right? Kind of?" he asked.
Pepper nodded. "For right now? Kind of is a good place to start," she said, wrapping her arms back around her husband's neck, and looking at him adoringly.
Tony shrugged and nodded. "I can work with kind of," he replied, crashing their lips together, kissing Pepper deeply for several moments. When the kiss slowly broke, Pepper bit her bottom lip, and smiled at him coyly. They chuckled at each other.
"Some things never change, do they?" she joked.
"Nope. That's still as much fun to do with you as it ever was," Tony agreed, smiling warmly. He pecked her lips playfully again, and Pepper giggled. Then he rested his forehead on hers and gazed into her eyes.
"So, as I said before, because there's so much to process, we're gonna take this slow. After all," he said. "We have nothing but time, now. So just let it simmer, huh? And have patience, Pep. It'll all come together for you soon enough."
But Pepper looked at him, frowning. "What? What will all come together?" she asked curiously, with a lilt of urgency in her voice.
Tony just chuckled. "Yet another thing that hasn't changed," he quipped, under his breath. Then he cleared his throat. "Patience, grasshopper," he teased, with a smirk. "Right now, you need to know what the real reason is behind you wearing that wedding dress..."