Don't worry! I haven't abandoned this story. Coming up soon is baby time so make sure to stick around. :)

Chapter Twenty-five

"So, you two still honestly haven't decided on names for the babies yet?" Rhodey asked, clearly surprised as he took a sip of his beer before raising a questioning brow in Tony's direction. "Aren't you guys cutting it a little close?"

The two friends were out grabbing a drink and a bite to eat together. It had been far too long since they had hung out and it felt nice. It being a Friday night and all, the local sushi place they chose was buzzing with activity, forcing them to take a seat at the bar or wait. This didn't bother either of them a bit. If Tony really wanted, he could have easily gotten a table by flashing his "I'm Tony Stark" card but tonight was a night he did not want to be recognized. He just wanted to catch up with his best friend and be normal. Well, as normal as possible. Trying to keep a low profile, Tony had on a pair of black Ray-Bans and a baseball cap pulled low over his brow trying to stay under the radar. He was dressed in his scuffed work boots, faded blue jeans and an AC/DC shirt. Nothing that screamed "everybody look...famous superhero here!" Most people were too consumed in their own conversations to really take notice of him anyway but a few people close by did give him a second glance. After all, he still had his signature Tony Stark facial hair and there was absolutely no way he was ever shaving that off.

The young dark haired woman next to Tony leaned closer to him, her hazel eyes narrowing as she studied his face, trying to figure out how she knew him. Before she could place him, he turned his face away from her and focused in on his food. "I mean, we still have a few weeks left. We have a couple of names picked out that we've been throwing around. Nothing set in stone yet." He could feel the woman still staring lasers at the back of his head but he forced himself to ignore it, shoving the piece of sashimi into his mouth with his chopsticks. Thanks to Pepper, he was actually pretty good at using the utensils now. He still remembered the first time he had tried to use chopsticks because he kept dropping his food just before it got into his mouth and Pepper, who had still been his PA at the time had actually starting snorting in laughter.

"Why didn't you bring Pepper with you?" It was almost like Rhodey was in his head, bringing her up while he was thinking about her. "I know for a fact that loves this place."

Tony finished chewing and pointed a single chopstick into Rhodey's face. "Because she would kill me if she knew I was eating sushi. I promised to give it up with her since she isn't supposed to eat raw fish during pregnancy so you keep your lips zipped about us coming here or forget any new upgrades to your suit." After threatening his friend, Tony popped another piece of sushi into his mouth and moaned his approval. "Oh yeah. I've definitely missed this. Plus I wanted to catch up with you. We haven't hung out in awhile and I missed you. And you know, once the kids get here, it will get even more crazy than it already is. If that is even possible."

Rhodey gave him a small smile and shook his head. "I can't believe you actually grew up. I never thought I would live to see the day that would happen."

Try as he might, Tony tried his hardest to look offended but Rhodey was right. He had spent the majority of his life acting like a rich spoiled brat. Tony gave his friend a half-hearted shrug in agreement. "Yeah, I'm with you. I honestly didn't see myself getting married or having kids. I mean, being married doesn't feel any different but you know, it may just take awhile to actually sink in that Pepper is my wife...what? What's wrong?"

Rhodey was now staring at him, eyes practically bugging out of his head as he leaned toward him. "You two are married? When did you get married?" His voice was low but it was obvious he was shocked and a little bit offended.

Oh shit. He had gone and did what he promised he wouldn't do. He had let it slip that he and Pepper had gotten married. They were still planning on having a public wedding that included all of their friends and family after the babies were born but if it got out that he and Pepper eloped, she might just kill him. Especially since lately her hormones have been making her do things she normally wouldn't do like cry because carousel music makes her sad or because he bought green olives instead of black. Tony motioned for his friend to quite down as his eyes scanned the room, making sure that no one was listening in to their conversation. "Relax. Would you, Rhodey? I really don't want the entire world to know. Pepper might want a divorce."

Rhodey gave him a serious look as he downed the rest of his beer and slammed the glass down on the bar. "You two seriously got married? And you didn't even invite me? Hell, you didn't even tell me..."

Tony stuck out his bottom lip in a pout and fluttered his lashes at his friend, trying without words to beg for his forgiveness. "Aww. Don't be mad, sour patch."

Rhodey held up a warning finger. "Do not call me that. And your puppy dog eyes won't work on me. Never have. Never will."

Tony sighed, a frown spreading across his face. He could tell Rhodey was hurt by being left out and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt his friend. "Honestly, it was kind of a spur of the moment thing. We are still having a big wedding after the kids are born but we just felt the need to make it official right away. After going through all of that shit with Hammer, we just needed it. She thought she lost me and I thought I lost her. The same night after everything went down, we tied the knot. Nothing against you, Rhodey. It wasn't about you or anyone else really. It was about us."

It was Rhodey's turn to sigh, all of the tension seemed to leave his shoulders at Tony's words. "You know, when you talk all mature like that, it is hard to stay mad at you."

Happy that his friend wasn't mad at him anymore, Tony grinned and fluttered his lashes at him a second time. "You could never stay mad at me, honey bear. You love me too much."

Rhodey shook his head in amusement, punching Tony gently in the shoulder when the man made a kissy face at him. "Seriously man, you are lucky that I put up with you...that Pepper puts up with you."

"Oh my God. You're Tony Stark." A female voice exclaimed, making Tony's entire body go tense. Shit. So the woman next to him had recognized who he was earlier. This is exactly what he didn't want to happen. Slowly, he turned back in her direction. Maybe he could get her to believe that he wasn't the Tony Stark, just a look-a-like but when he faced her, she snatched the sunglasses from his nose and the hat from his head. He spared a quick glance around to see if anyone else was looking in his direction and sure enough, the entire place was now silent, everyone glancing his way. Oh joy. "Oh yeah. It is most definitely you. Nobody else on the planet has eyes like you. I never thought I would see you again. Remember me? I'm Sara. We hooked up awhile back. You were here on business. We fucked in the back of your limo. Twice. Then we went back to my hotel room and went crazy on each other. You even invited the room service lady to join us after she delivered our champagne." The expression on his face must have been blank because she added, "You honestly don't remember? You, me, her, the shower?"

Tony reached out to grab the hat back from her hands, pulling it down to cover his face once again. "That was a long time ago," he grumbled before taking the sunglasses from her hand and sliding them back on his nose. He really did not like people bringing up his playboy past and rubbing it in his face especially since parts of it he couldn't even remember himself, being too drunk or high. Or both. It was a part of his life that he was not proud of. "And no. I don't remember you. Sorry." He honestly didn't remember her or any of what she claimed happened but it did sound like something playboy Tony Stark would have done.

His dismissive tone didn't seem to put her off because she leaned in closer to him, invading his personal space and touched his arm. Goosebumps immediately formed on his skin and they weren't from arousal but something else entirely. "Come on. I know you remember. I did that thing with my tongue you liked. I can do it again if you want." And then her hand was on his thigh squeezing. He was on his feet in a beat, almost knocking over a waitress behind him who was carrying a tray of food. His chest grew tight as he backed away. He couldn't breathe. Why couldn't he breathe and then before his eyes the dark-haired woman morphed into Christine Everhart. He could still feel the ghost imprint of Everhart's hands on his skin, her mouth on his as he begged her to stop. He had to get out of there. Now. He stumbled away from his place at the bar, pushing past anyone who stood in his way without an apology. He wouldn't have been able to apologize anyway because he couldn't catch his breath. He felt dizzy and sick.

"Where are you going?" The woman shouted after him. "Hey, everyone! That's Tony Stark. We hooked up."

"Tony!" Rhodey was shouting his name but he didn't stop. He couldn't stop. He had to get away. Somehow he managed to make it out of the restaurant before his knees finally gave out completely and he slid down onto his butt on the concrete. He put his head between his knees and pulled in deep shuddering breaths, trying to fill his oxygen-deprived lungs. His entire body was shaking. "Tony?" He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and knew it was Rhodey. "Tony? Are you okay? What happened back there?"

Not moving from his curled up position, Tony shook his head. "Get me home, Rhodey. Please," was all he could say.

Tony didn't remember the ride back. The thing that finally pulled him out of his panic induced state was Pepper's voice. It was always the thing that pulled him back. She was suddenly there next to him, helping him out of the car and into her arms and wrapping him up tight. "I'm here, Tony. I'm here. It's okay. It will be okay." The press of her swollen belly against him helped ground him in reality.

He had his face buried into her shoulder so he could breathe in her comforting scent. He didn't hear Rhodey leave. He only heard Pepper thanking him for bringing him back to her and promising to take care of him. When he finally became fully aware of his surroundings again, he realized that Pepper had somehow managed to get him back into their living room.

Never once taking her hands off of him, she guided him over to the couch, waiting until he settled down into the cushions before curling closely into him, lying her head on his shoulder. She pulled her legs up underneath her before lacing her fingers into his and squeezing his hand gently. "I'm here when you want to talk. Take as much time as you need."

They sat there together in silence for awhile, listening to the roll of thunder of an approaching storm in the distance. The steady beating of Pepper's heart, the almost hypnotic rising and falling of her chest and the gentle rain that tapped against the windows helped him relax. With each passing moment, he felt the panic in him slowly ebbing away. This woman. This wonderful woman. He didn't know what he did to deserve her but he was never letting her go. Ever. It wasn't too long before he felt calm enough to speak. "I was just hanging out with Rhodey. I was fine and then this woman sitting next to me recognized me. She took off my hat and sunglasses."

Pepper made a disgusted face as if she couldn't possibly imagine someone actually doing that to him. "She just reached over and took them off of you? Just like that?"

"Yeah. Just like that."

"If I would have been there, I would have smacked her. You don't do that to someone."

A dark flush was slowly rising up Pepper's chest and neck toward her face and Tony knew what that meant. Uh oh. If she was irritated now, she was going to go off about what happened next. "That's not all, Pep. That's the mild part." He took a deep breath and readied himself for her reaction. "She started to go on and on about how we hooked up in the past..."

"Did you?"

Even though Pepper didn't seem to be upset because after all, she knew all about his past and still chose to marry him, Tony involuntarily clenched his jaw. "Maybe. I don't know. I honestly don't remember. I swear I don't, Pep, but she started to go into graphic detail about what we supposedly did together, and I started to get uncomfortable and then..."

"And then?" Pepper gently urged him to continue.

Here comes the bad part. "And then she grabbed my thigh and I panicked. I swear I didn't want her to touch me." The words were spewing out of his mouth rapid fire now. It was completely out of his control. He had to make sure Pepper understood that he didn't want anyone else, that she was the only thing that mattered to him. If he lost her, he wouldn't know what he would do. "I didn't like it when she touched me. It reminded me of when Everhart had me strapped down at her mercy and she could do whatever she wanted to me..." Then he realized that Pepper might misinterpret his words and think that something more had happened while he was held captive so he decided to elaborate. "Everhart didn't do anything beyond kissing me. I swear, Pep. But when that woman touched me, I couldn't breath and I felt like the walls were closing in on me so I had to get out of there...I had to leave." He was frantic until Pepper took his face in between her hands and forced eye contact.

"Tony." The expression on her face was kind as she smoothed the hair off his forehead in a loving caress. "I believe you." She pressed a kiss to the side of his mouth before rubbing her cheek against his goatee. "I know you don't want anyone else and that you love me. That woman had no right touching you like that. In fact, if I was there I would have called the police and had her arrested. You can't just grab someone like that. Even if they did break a promise to you and had sushi when they said they wouldn't." When Pepper pulled back to meet his eyes, he knew he was busted.

Having been caught, Tony grinned sheepishly as he ruffled the back of his hair. "Does this mean I have to sleep on the couch because I was a bad boy?"

Pepper huffed at him but it was in a playful way. Of course she expected him to slip up once in awhile. She had to be used to it by now. "No. Of course not. I don't care about the sushi, Tony. I care about you. Are you sure you are okay?"

Tony knew now that whether he had meant to or not, he had scared her. As a response, he laid his head down on her lap as much as he could since most of it was now taken up by her huge belly and pressed his nose into her. "As long as I have you and the mini-Starks, I will be just fine." He lifted up the bottom of her shirt in order to press soft kisses to her swollen stomach. When Pepper's fingers carded through his hair, he practically purred. He hoped she never got tired of playing with his hair.

"I know we both like Morgan as a name for our son but what about Maria for our daughter?"

Still settled in her lap, Tony turned his head so he could look up at her face. He furrowed his brows together in confusion. "You want to name our daughter after Maria Hill? I mean she would be flattered and all but why her?"

His response made Pepper snort a laugh and roll her eyes in disbelief before she continued to stroke his hair, making his eyes temporarily roll back into his head. "No, you dork. I want to name her after your mother. I know how much she meant to you."

A lump formed in Tony's throat. She wanted to name their daughter after his mother. The one person he knew loved him back when he was sure he was only a bother to his father. His mother had always been there for him. She had been there for him up until the very end. When he felt his throat closing up and sting behind his eyes, he pressed his face back into Pepper's belly, letting the tears come.

"Tony? I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. If you don't like it we don't have to..."

He smiled, really smiled through his tears as he pressed his face against her skin. Pepper must have felt it because she stopped talking. "Don't be sorry, honey. I love it. Morgan and Maria Stark it is."