Author's Note: So I've been uninspired/tapped out of ideas lately- which is why updating as been closer to 5 days rather than 3 lately. And on top of that the bakery I work for has a booth at the local fair so I've been working weird hours which doesn't leave a whole lot of writing time. Then yesterday BAM ideas started hitting me like lighting from every which direction. I couldn't freaking write them fast enough. I haven't gotten them typed out or hashed out but hopefully updating will get better soon *fingers crossed*

Review Reviews:

Lollypops101: Kellen is my bb...ok lets be honest, they are all my bbs lol I'm not sure who he'll end up with or if I'll even give him a romance. Seeing as he's pretty focused on writing right now I'm not sure what I'll do with him lol

kendramccormick: Kellen has a writers mind which- I like to think- makes him something of a romantic. Coincidentally, it also makes me swoon ;)

Pyra the PSYCHo: Thanks! Dahlia is the embodiment of all of us, I think. We all have or are or will go through something similar I think it's just apart of life these days. Considering media pushes the idea of Happily Ever After and love and stuff as young as toddlers it's inevitable that we'll all want that for ourselves at some point. Dahlia will find her way about it though :)

BlueBanshee: Dahlia is going to have to do some searching before she'll find love- or even be in a place where she can accept and reciprocate such love. Kellen I don't know about though haha he's only 15 and pretty focused on writing so I don't know if he'll be doing much dating yet. We'll see :)

Guest87: I have no idea haha all I know is Aceland and Dahlia's love story, everything else is pretty much up in the air.

Guest87, your review for When In Rome: Since I most likely won't be adding another chapter to that story I thought I'd do the review review here instead. Thanks! I'm glad you liked it considering I wrote it for you haha ;) it was such a deviation from what I normally write I was pretty anxious about it. I wanted it to be magical and romantic but I didn't want it to be entirely fluffy. I struggled to find that middle ground between anatomy terms and fluff so I'm glad that, by your standards, I succeeded :) As for the other things, I have no idea haha I've never really given much though to Anya and Ryland's sex life other than in the context of that story so whenever you think they first did it is when they first did it ;) I'm not going to completely rule out another 'smutty' Aceland story but at this time I don't think I'll be writing one again for a while. Thanks! You rock more ;)

8539: Considering they are 21 and 19, not for a good while. Probably at the least a few years so I won't be touching on that in this story. Use your imagination, when would you want them to marry? I'd love to hear what you'd want/think of their wedding :) But it probably won't make the story.

blackangel150: There are two kinds of people: Dahlia, who wants love and Kellen who can describe love ;)

kimbee: Hahaha Kellen's words happen to be ones I also believe in so thank you :)

ramsayreader: Thanks! I like switching it up every now and then :) As much as we all love Aceland these other guys are pretty great too! Haha I unintentionally gave Irina and Kellen a whole lot of chemistry haha I never really thought about paring up any of the other kids but reading their scenes I do see the building blocks...

Morgan: Thank you! I aim for as much realism as possible which is why I gave Dahlia such a real story line. I wanted people to read it and relate :)

discordchick: I think we all go through something similar at varying ages. At (almost) nineteen I'm stuck somewhere in between lol I'm down for casual dating but I'm definitely keeping my eyes open for Mr. Right ;)

SpectrumLight: Marry all the Avenger men! Marry them alllll! ;)

Sasha: Haha there's nothing wrong with being obsessed! I appreciate it :) I'm glad you're warming up to the new-ish characters. Dahlia is probably one of my favorites (shhh, don't tell the others!) The best men only exist in fiction lol which is why Kellen is so adorable- as is Ryland. Though part of that little monologue came from a close guy friend of mine so maybe there is hope ;) haha

Epic Elven Warrior Princess: Thanks! I like to think love like that is out there for everyone. I'm content to casually date as I wait for The One, however I wouldn't mind if God hurried up a little bit ;) lol jk. I will definitely figure out a way to incorporate that prompt into one of these stories somewhere :)

GhostGlowLight: Thank you :)

Author's Note: So now we're switching gears again and focusing on our little Robby. We got some great Aceland and some great Dahlia/Irina/Kellen so now we need some great Pepper/Robby! I hope you all like it; it made my mom cry lol

Enjoy!


When Tony and Pepper first brought Robby home to live with them in the tower they knew it'd take some time for him to adjust to family life. They also knew it'd take some time for him to refer to them as Mom and Dad. But that didn't stop Pepper from worrying a little when the days kept ticking by and Robby was still calling her by her name. He started referring to Ryland as his brother right away and whenever he'd talk to the baby in Pepper's belly he'd call her sister. Even Cap was Uncle Steve to Robby. But his parents were still Tony and Pepper.

It was a little odd at times, hearing him walk downstairs in the morning calling good morning to Pepper and Tony. But Mickey just kept reminding them that Robby's behavior was normal and that she'd be more concerned if Robby adjusted too quickly. "Give it time," she'd say but Pepper was still worried. How long could it possibly take? They'd done everything they could to make the little boy feel absolutely at home. What more could they do?

Pepper kept her worries to herself, never mentioning anything to Robby for fear of pushing him towards something he wasn't read for yet. But one night as she and Tony were getting ready for bed she brought it up as casually as she possible.

"Yeah I've noticed." Tony mumbled absentmindedly as he worked on a piece of tech, the lower half of his body already tucked under the duvet as he waited for his wife to finish getting ready. "But Mickey says it'll take time so we should give it some time."

Pepper sighed from the bathroom where she was putting moisturizer on her face. "But how much time?" she asked through the open door, leaning halfway around the frame to look at Tony. "How long before he finally thinks of us as family?"

"He already does, Pep, he's just not used to the terminology." Tony insisted, still not looking up even when he could feel Pepper's eyes drilling holes in the side of his head. He knew her concentration wasn't actually on him and more so on the thing occupying her mind but he still felt scrutinized. So he kept his eyes low on the tech in his hand and hoped they could turn the lights off soon.

Pepper flipped off the bathroom light and entered the bedroom in Elmo pajamas that were in stark contrast to the seriousness of her mood. "What if he's scared we'll change our minds? What if he doesn't want to call us Mom and Dad because he's scared he won't be here very long?" Pepper asked seriously as she knelt on the edge of the bed beside him.

One look at his wife and Tony knew to put his piece of tech away and focus on her. So he freed up his hands in order to place them on either side of Pepper's face and honestly tell her, "You're putting too much thought into this. It's probably a million times simpler than you think. Just give it time, Pep, I promise he'll come around when he's ready."

Heaving a sigh, Pepper nodded slowly. Even in her own ears she sounded silly, so she let Tony win. She kissed him on the lips before rolling into bed across from him. There was nothing she could do, now or ever, so no point in worrying about it. Of course, she still would. But at least she wouldn't worry as much.

Pepper barely had her slippers off when she heard a muted thud downstairs and exchanged a look with Tony. Either Ryland was home or Robby woke up, either way Pepper was going to check. "I got it," she told Tony, pushing his tired face into his pillow with a chuckle. He was too tired to argue and instead just stayed where she laid him and mumbled for her to turn off the lights.

Even though Tony and Pepper remodeled their level a number of times she had the entire layout committed to memory so she could make her way around in the dark without sacrificing her shins to out of place objects. She was able to walk down the hallway with ease before getting to the stairs and taking each step one at a time. The main floor was all open with huge floor-to-ceiling windows all around so even at night the place lit up with the colors of New York City. As soon as Pepper's fuzzy slipper hit the bottom step she could see the little bundle of blankets by the window and knew which son was there.

"Robby, you okay?" she asked softly as not to scare her younger boy. Robby turned towards her voice and she lost sight of his expression in the darkness but heard the guilt in his voice when he replied.

"Did I wake you?" he spoke quietly, scrunching up his nose adorably. Pepper waved away the importance of her sleep and joined him by one of the windows in the living room. He was all bundled up in a furry throw blanket from the couch, his dinosaur stuffed animal in his clutches. Underneath the warmth of the blanket, he was wearing hand-me-down Avengers pajamas from Ryland's youth.

"Whatcha doin' up, buddy?" Pepper questioned as she sat beside him, leaning against the window frame. Robby's eyes were trained on the city outside but Pepper was watching him. He just shrugged a little, the gesture partially hidden under the thick blanket.

"I woke up and wanted to see the city." he told her as his eyes took in every single sight before him. From the roof tops to as far down as the window would allow him to look, his little silver eyes darted from sight to sight, memorizing every detail he could see. Pepper followed suit, looking out at the city she lived in for so long but never appreciated enough. Sure she loved New York, but she forgot to love it every day. Robby never forgot to love though. Everything from New York late at night to life itself, Robby loved everything every day. He remembered to appreciate every gift life had to offer- even life itself- and always remembered the important things. Of course, at five-years-old the things important to him were lines from his favorite TV show and the face Tony made when he was angry. But still, Robby knew how to appreciate what he had.

"Can I ask you something?" Pepper finally whispered after they sat in silence for a few minutes. Robby looked over at her but didn't say anything so she just continued. "You know this is permanent, right? You know that Tony and I aren't going anywhere and neither are you? You know that nothing will ever change your place in this family and that you're apart of us forever, right?"

Robby smiled a little as he bobbed his head up and down. "Yep, I know." he said easily which put some of Pepper's worries at ease. "I know you and Tony and Ryland and Clint and Natasha and Anya and Irina and Mickey and Steve and Charlotte and Florence and Danni and Bruce and Thor and Jane and Dahlia and Kellen are my family forever." It was a mouthful, but it made Pepper smile regardless.

"So can I ask you another question then?" Pepper dared to ask after another beat of silence. Robby nodded once more, eyes back on the city instead of on Pepper. "How come, if you know we're your forever family, you don't call Tony or I Mom and Dad?" It was hard to ask but even harder waiting for the answer. Robby thought about it for a long few minutes, staring out the window with a serious expression. So Pepper rephrased, asking, "Do you not want to call us Mom and Dad?" instead, hoping maybe he'd understand better that way.

Finally Robby spoke but it wasn't quite what she wanted to hear. He heaved a sigh much sadder than any kid his age should and admitted, "I don't know."

Pepper let that sink in for a second before asking, "How come?"

Robby spent another minute thinking, his forehead against the window and his fingers picking at loose threads on his dinosaur. He was soft-spoken when he finally said, "Sometimes, when I wasn't at Safe Anchorage, I stayed with other families. Sometimes they have other little boys and girls from the home living with them, sometimes they have real kids too- like Ryland and Little Miss are really yours. Those families, the ones with real kids, telled me to call them Mom and Dad- just like their real kids did. It felt so weird to say those words to people- since I never said them before. I didn't really like it cause it felt weird."

Pepper knew Robby had bounced around a few foster homes during his stay at Safe Anchorage Orphanage but she never talked about it with the five-year-old. She'd talked about it with Mickey and the supervisors and caregivers at the home but never with Robby himself. Immediately she was interested in his point of view and leaned in a little closer. "Why do you think it felt weird?"

Robby shrugged again, the gesture still barely visible under the mass of blankets surrounding him. "Cause I wasn't their real kid." he said gently, eyes glued to the Empire State Building just outside the window. "Their real kids called them Mom and Dad but I wasn't their real kid."

Pepper struggled to understand his views but found herself getting emotional. "Robby...do you not think you're my real son?" She had to ask without crying, had to force the words to leave her lips evenly, but she found it so damn hard not to just wrap her little boy in her arms. She wanted to hug him and kiss him and make him see how much she loved him. Maybe then he'd realize how real to her he was.

Robby still wasn't looking at her but this time he didn't just shrug. "I haven't really thinked about it, I guess." he said slowly, starting to think about it then. Pepper gave him the time he needed to think- also giving herself time to calm down and get her emotions in check. It took a few minutes for Robby to finish thinking and start talking again. "No," he decided, finally looking up at her. "I know I'm you're real kid too cause you signed papers and stuff that says I'm yours. But you know what else?"

The look on his face was really happy so Pepper smiled a little and shook her head, encouraging him to keep talking. "The papers say now I'm yours, but they also mean now you're mine." he said with a tiny giggle. When Pepper laughed with him the sound came out choked with tears.

"You're absolutely right, buddy." Pepper replied, choking back tears as she ran a hand through Robby's hair. "You're just as real as Ryland and Little Miss and I'm just as much yours as you are mine."

Robby couldn't quite get himself out of the blanket but leaned over to give Pepper a hug anyway. His head landed right on her chest as she wrapped her arms around him as best as she could with the thick blanket and her growing belly in the way. Still, with all the complications, it was the best hug yet. They stayed that way for a little while longer, just laying in each others arms staring out at the cityscape outside the widow. But Pepper soon remembered the late hour and shifted backwards to say, "I think it's time we let the city sleep, huh?"

Robby nodded in agreement as a yawn popped his jaw. It took a minute to peel away the blanket so he could walk back to his room and jump into bed. Pepper tucked him in and gave him a big kiss before wishing him sweet dreams and turning off the light. "I love you, Robby." she said, per usual, as she stood in the doorway.

Over the sound of the door clicking shut, Pepper heard a smiling voice call out, "I love you too, Mommy."


Author's Note: So there's a commercial for the baby clothing line Carter's that uses the line "The day I became yours, you became mine" and I just had to borrow it. Little Robby is the best I love him! As always you can check out my Polyvore (samitballi. polyvore. com) for a set from this chapter titled Mommy-which features pajamas from a few Mini-Vengers sets :)

Before you leave, I have a question! So Pepper is still pregnant and will remain so for a few more months. Currently we're set in fall for this story and Pepper's due-date is probably like March. So the question is, we know the gender, do we also want to know the name of Little Miss Stark? Vote in the reviews whether you want a chapter where they decide on a name or if you'd rather wait until Little Miss arrives for them to name her :)

Thanks!