Pepper stifled a yawn as Happy drove them to Tony's house. Even after years flying around the country and all over the world, she still was sensitive to the jet lag. She was pleased that Stark Industries continued to run well with her as CEO, especially because of all the flak Tony received for naming her instead of someone with more experience. True, he had made the decision when he thought he was dying but it ended up working well, as his attention was directed more towards Iron Man and Natasha these days.

Happy parked the car and smiled over at her. "Been a while since we've been here."

"Too long," she agreed, getting out of the car and heading into the mansion with him.

Jarvis greeted them as soon as they entered. "Mr. Stark is still downstairs in the lab. He will be up shortly."

"Thank you, Jarvis," Pepper said, taking a seat with Happy on the couch. She reached over to pet Maks, who sauntered up to them and purred a greeting. She thought about how much Tony had changed, because before Tony having a pet would have been unthinkable – though she still suspected most of the cat caretaking responsibilities fell on Natasha. "Is Natasha here?" she asked Jarvis.

"No, Ms. Potts. Natasha is out with Mrs. Rogers." Jarvis had referred to Natasha as Mrs. Stark after the wedding until she requested he refer to her by her first name.

"Probably out shooting things," Happy surmised.

"Nah, S.H.I.E.L.D. got a new supply of weapon tech in the armory and they were eager to dig through it while Steve stayed with the baby," Tony said as he came into the room.

"Oh, much better," Happy deadpanned.

"Hey, Tony. It's good to see you," Pepper smiled.

Tony smiled at them and scooped up his cat, gently rubbing Maks' head with the backs of his fingers. "I see he came out to say hi. He's been wary since I made a bot that cleans the litter box… Maks is still getting used to things."

"Why did you do that? I thought you and Natasha split cat duty," Pepper told him. "Well… probably more of a 75-25% split," she amended.

He smiled innocently. "We did, but she's been advised not to clean the litter box as a precaution and I'm sure not doing all of it."

Happy nodded amiably, as if that made perfect sense, but Pepper frowned.

"A precaution for what?" she asked.

Tony grinned, pleased he had been able to contain the good news and hadn't shouted it at them as Jarvis had stated he thought Tony might do. "Because she's pregnant with twins and although it's unlikely she could get sick, we're just being really careful."

"Twins?" Happy asked, eyes wide with shock or horror… clearly imagining two mini Tonys running around the mansion.

"Wow, congratulations," Pepper said, standing up to give him a hug. "That's great news!"

"Yeah, congrats, boss. Former boss." Happy smiled. He remembered how hard things had been for Tony after his captivity and he was glad that everything was going well for Tony. Most people saw only his flaws but he had been friends with Tony long enough to have always known there was a good man behind the narcissistic façade.

Tony set Maks down, who scampered off after one of his little cat toys, and returned the hug. He lounged back on the loveseat across from them. "Thanks. And yeah, twins. I would've thought Tash wanted to kill me for that, but I think she's getting used to the idea and is happy about it."

"When is she due?" Pepper asked, sitting back down.

"July 4." He rolled his eyes. "Can you believe it? My kids'll have to share a birthday with America. And Steve." He snorted.

"Probably not… I don't think most babies are born on their due dates, especially twins."

"True," Tony agreed. "The docs have said hopefully they cook in the oven as long as possible and won't come out too premature."

"I can't picture you as a dad," Happy said, squinting and tilting his head to the side as he studied Tony. "Well, I don't know," he amended. "You yell at Dummy a lot. Maybe it'll be the same."

"You can't yell at babies!" Pepper said, horrified.

Tony burst out laughing. "I think if there's a concern about anyone being a father, it's about you, Hap."

"I'd be an awesome father," Happy asserted. "Just that my daughter wouldn't date until she's at least 40."

Tony nodded thoughtfully. "Now there's a good rule I could get behind. I'm going to suggest it to Tash."

Pepper threw her hands up in the air. "You both are hopeless."

On the way home from headquarters, Natasha changed her mind about what she wanted to make for dinner and took a detour to the grocery store to pick up the ingredients she needed. There was a good chance that Pepper and Happy were going to stay over for dinner so she wanted to be sure she made a larger meal for all of them. She still wasn't experiencing any pregnancy cravings, and was glad that pickles and ice cream seemed to be a myth.

She patiently waited in line at the checkout and glanced around boredly. Her gaze fell on the rack of tabloid magazines and she automatically scanned the images without really seeing them until her name caught her eye. She leaned over to study it better and was horrified to see a blurry picture of herself recently taken, with the headline: Mrs. Stark – Pregnant or Letting Herself Go?

"Shit," she hissed under her breath. It wasn't the insult to her physical appearance that bothered her. It was that the illusion that she and Tony could keep such a special experience private was now broken. In hindsight, she acknowledged she should have known it was going to be a problem but she had been so blithely insulated lately.

It was only speculation now, but it would not be long before her growing belly became obvious and not only civilians but also their enemies would be aware she was pregnant.

Natasha hated the idea of being a weak spot for Tony.

She quickly paid for the groceries and stalked out to the parking lot. She put the bags in the trunk and slid into the driver's seat, taking her phone out of her purse to call Tony.

"Hey, baby," Tony greeted her warmly. "On your way home?"

"Yes." She let out a sigh. "Tony – we're in the tabloids."

"That's nothing new."

"There's a pap photo of me and speculation of pregnancy." The other end of the line went dead silent. "Tony?"

"I'll take care of it," he said, his tone hard and steely. She knew it wasn't directed at her.

"How? They'll keep taking pictures of me and I'm not going to hide out in our house."

"You won't have to. This is my fault, because I courted the media for so long they think they can publish about me and anything related to me. There's limits, though. Don't worry about it. I'm going to take care of it. Just come home, Tash."

"All right." She felt on edge and hated the lack of control she currently felt.

"And Tash?"

"Yes, Tony?"

"I love you."

"Love you too." She disconnected the call and tucked the phone back into her purse.

He said he was going to take care of it, and she believed him.

Tony was as good as his word. Everyone know he could pursue things with a single-minded obsession and when he directed that skill toward ensuring privacy for his wife, he was relentless until he accomplished what he wanted. It cost him some money and agreements to give exclusive interviews to increase ratings and sales, but overall he considered it well worth Natasha's peace of mind.

The pregnancy by then had become common knowledge among the rest of the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. Tony put his head together with Bruce to speculate about what effects the experimentation on Natasha may have on the babies, although at this point it was far too early to tell.

"You're lucky, you know," Bruce told him.

"I am." He looked at him. "You don't want large green babies?"

Bruce smirked. "I think that would be a little scary, don't you? Last thing I'd need is to get a call from daycare because Junior has smashed the entire facility just because little Billy wouldn't share his toy with him."

Tony couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. "That would be… well… money doesn't solve everything but I have your back when it comes to paying for things to be rebuilt."

"Thanks." There were perks to being friends with a billionaire. "You're not nervous yet?"

Tony blinked at him. "Not really. Why? Should I be?"

Bruce thought about how panicked Tony was going to be when Natasha went into labor. He was willing to bet there would be a lot of babbling involved, though maybe Natasha would have enough self-control to not punch Tony to make him be quiet. "No, I guess not," he said, and then changed the subject to a noninvasive genetic test he was working on.

Some things were better left for Tony to discover on his own.

For her part, Natasha's only close female friend was Sarah. It was slightly awkward to tell her oldest friend about her pregnancy. Clint was observant, however, and was unsurprised when she delivered the news. There was no hugging between them, because Natasha wasn't really physically affectionate that way and their friendship didn't require such things.

"I'm happy for you, Tasha," he told her. "You know, I remember an angry, bitter young girl who was convinced she would never have a life or family of her own. I'm glad that she was completely wrong."

"Me too," she admitted softly. "But it worries me, you know. I was made an orphan and taken. What if…" she looked down at her belly and frowned.

"No. Your parents were civilians and never knew what was coming. You're specially trained, Tony is Iron Man, and you have all of us. Even if the unthinkable were to happen, I promise you that the twins will be taken care of."

Her expression turned relieved and he realized that had been exactly what she needed to hear. Not a dismissive, comforting 'everything will be okay' but a promise that her children would be cared for and not kidnapped and turned into weapons as she had been.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

He simply nodded and turned back to his arrows.

They had been friends for years, and the silence was comfortable. No other words were needed.