A/N: And finally it's a Happy New Year for the Stark family. Enjoy...

"-Donvan in accounts has started out fairly well this year."

Pepper smiled politely and replied, "Yes he has considering he's only a fresh graduate."

"Oh I know, fresh graduates these days are hard to find."

"True, Juliet. So what's your New Year's resolution?"

"The usual, drink less, work hard," Juliet murmured as she sipped on her wine.

Pepper groaned inwardly and briefly glanced around the room. They were attending the Stark Industries annual New Year's Eve party and if there was one thing she sorely disliked, it was engaging in a conversation with Juliet, assistant to the director of Stark Industries public relations. That woman, she noted dully could talk till the cows came home or in Tony's opinion, talk anybody to death.

She sipped plainly at her sparkling apple juice disguised as wine. The news about her pregnancy was still very much under the radar. It was Tony's suggestion this time to keep it private until at least she showed. She agreed whole heartedly as the attention from the press was sometimes a trifle overwhelming and if anything she could do without the added attention.

She glanced around the room in search of Tony and Jared, wondering apprehensively what her two boys were up to. If she didn't know better she was sure she'd find them in the men's bathroom again attempting to hack into something. She had to admit the thought was somewhat comforting to her mind that they weren't getting into any silly danger but the implications of hacking also worried her to a certain extent.

Then again, she remembered the less thrilled response she gave Tony when she found out how he had elaborately taught Jared how babies were made. She inwardly cringed at the talk she would surely have to have with Jared tomorrow because she was sure the six year old was duly scarred mentally.

"Pepper?"

She blinked from her already vanishing thoughts.

"Are you alright, you zoned out for a moment there?" Juliet asked slightly worried.

"Oh, it's nothing," she replied with a sincere smile, "Just reflecting on the year."

"Ah yes it's been a nice year. I remember when-"

She groaned inwardly again and touched Juliet's shoulder politely as she added, "Sorry to interrupt you Juliet, I'll have to excuse myself."

"Oh?"

"I need to use the bathroom."

"Oh my...sure, I'll go mingle. Drinking really just makes me ramble on."

"It's no problem."

The feeling of relief emerged in her nerves as she stepped away. Escaping that woman's evil conversing clutches was seriously a chore sometimes.

She spotted Natalie and Happy standing conservatively chatting with each other and hastily made her way to them. She smiled at oblivious couple. Sometimes it amazed her that they both could not see past the unspoken feelings they had for each other. But on another hand she had to admit she and Tony went through the same sort of thing. It only took them a decade to discover the blatantly obvious.

"Boss," Happy greeted with a smile. "How is the party so far?"

She smiled, "The party's alright, please don't call me boss."

"Oh right...Pepper," Happy smiled.

"Where's Tony and Jared, I dare ask?"

"Last I saw they were on the way to the men's bathroom..." Natalie replied.

"Oh dear-"

"Jared's getting quite good with his hacking," Natalie commented.

She sighed, "Yes I'm sure with a father like Tony, he'll be able to hack into The Pentagon when he's 10 with his eyes closed."

"It gets better than that I'm afraid," Natalie murmured.

"Oh?"

"He hacked into Fury's computer-"

"Oh dear-"

"-and changed his wallpaper to flowers," Natalie explained and sipped on her wine, "Which I'm sure was a Tony touch."

"Hmm...Tony takes it too far sometimes. I'll talk to him."

Natalie shook her head and smiled, "Don't worry about it. Jared's a good kid and Tony knows what he's doing."

"I'm not so sure about that," she murmured, "Tony has his ways sometimes."

"Well...you have a point there," Natalie nodded.

Pepper smiled and sighed, "I better go find them before they hack Stark Industries to oblivion."

The hallway to the bathrooms were dimly lit and she mused quietly that Tony was with her to light the way properly. She smiled to herself at the comical thought, knowing true and well that he would gladly light the way for her even though he'd remark that he was after all, the best flashlight in the world.

A hand of hers slid across her stomach and she smiled at the thought of their unborn child. She thought of all the years that passed and the strangeness that was Tony. She started at Stark Industries so many years ago, so young with blinding hope and fruitless dreams. She wanted to be something, to make her parents proud even though they would never see her walking that high mile. She hoped that maybe somewhere in the sky they'd look down and know that she finally made it.

And finally she knew that she made them proud. She had everything a woman could have and she knew Tony felt the same. She could never really forget the past and everything he had done. She could never forget taking out the 'trash' or those endless nights he spent losing himself to alcoholic oblivion. She'd never forget walking in on him sprawled naked on his bed or the times she'd seen him walking away with two, three or sometimes four girls attached to his arms.

But none of it mattered.

Because she'd never forget that look in his eyes when he kissed on that roof top so long ago or the look in her eyes the day he bent to his knee and promised her his forever. She'd never forget the day he came home from a mission and just wept in her arms from the sheer thought that his inventions caused such destructions.

But above all she'd never forget the day she told him she was pregnant with Jared. It was the way his eyes lit up and his lips curled as if he had just gotten the one thing he always wanted. It touched something inside of her that day. It was something that erupted through her veins with that ultimate warmth and knowledge that he truly loved her so much that he would want to share something like that with her.

"Daddy, do you hate being Ironman sometimes?"

She halted as her musings vanished and her curiosity got the better of her. She had sworn she heard Jared's voice and strangely it didn't come from the men's bathroom that was at the end of the hall. She glanced toward the exit door just a few feet from her and she quietly made her way toward it.

"Hmm...well I wouldn't use the word hate," she heard Tony's familiar voice. "It's more like an obligation."

"What's obligation?" Jared asked softly.

"It's like when you've got to do something you don't want to do."

"Oh...but if you don't want to be Ironman then why do you want to be Ironman?"

"Well...protecting people is something that makes me feel like I'm doing something right..." Tony replied, "But sometimes being Ironman takes away the time I would really much rather spend with you and your mother."

"I love you, daddy."

She swallowed the lump at her throat and braced herself as she turned the corner. Jared was comfortably lying back on the stone chair, his head resting on his father's thigh. She smiled, amused at how father and son could look so utterly relaxed even though they were identically dressed in matching suits.

"Pepper," Tony greeted with a grin.

"Mommy!"

"I thought you two were hacking again," she murmured as she sat beside Tony.

"Nup, daddy said we should watch the stars tonight," Jared added and smiled at her.

"I thought it'd be a nice change of scenery," Tony mumbled beside her as he pressed a swift kiss at her neck. "You know, since its New Years and all. I mean it wouldn't be nice to spend the last few hours of this year in the men's bathroom."

"When do we get to watch the fireworks?" Jared mused as his little eyes gazed to the stars.

"Soon, Jared...soon," Tony murmured.

She smiled and shook her head at the two of them. If there was one thing she realized right then, it was that money couldn't buy love. It couldn't buy the little musings they shared as a family. It couldn't buy those nights they spent eating ice cream at obscene hours of the morning. It couldn't buy what she had and she knew Tony felt the same.

Tony sighed, the smile evident on his lips as he leaned in to kiss her.

Yeah, she thought quietly, it was going to be a good year.