"I still think you're being an idiot," Tony said.

Pepper gave her boyfriend a look. "Do you really want my parents to kill you that badly? You know why I'm doing this."

"You talked with your parents a couple months ago. They knew you were planning to move in with me. You said they were reluctant, but they were still going to allow you to do it. This wasn't some whim of yours. They knew about it and had accepted that it was going to happen."

"That was before I became pregnant," Pepper said. "I think when we break the news that I'm pregnant they won't be quite so mad if I try to abide by their wishes in the meantime. If they see me living with you and pregnant after they already expressed their opinions about all of that, then they will kill you."

"They love me," Tony said brazenly.

"Not when you impregnate their daughter and take her away from her parents, all before they've had a chance to accept that their little girl is a grown woman with her own home and family."

Tony's eyes softened for a moment but he continued with his argument. "They have accepted that. It's you they think that needs extra time to adjust. You told me that they wanted you to live by yourself just so you could get the experience; it was nothing against me."

"How do you think they'll feel when they learn that you got me pregnant?" Pepper asked dryly. "I'm about to start my junior year of college and I'm barely an adult. They still think I'm a little young and they worry about me. Doing what they want will just alleviate many of their worries. Besides," she added, "I'm not making them any promises about how often we'll actually sleep at our separate places. I'm not insane, or looking forward to torturing either of us."

At that last comment Tony gave in. "Okay," he said. "Just take note that I'm agreeing to this unwillingly."

Pepper smiled dryly. "Noted. Thanks for telling me, otherwise I wouldn't have caught that."

Tony gave her a look.

Pepper smirked in response. "I'm pregnant. I've got an excuse."

"You're going to say that a lot over the next few months, aren't you?"

"Yep."

Tony looked at her, ready to argue some point. After a moment he realized his case was hopeless and sighed. "Just please no midnight cravings. Or emotion rollercoasters," he said.

Pepper raised an eyebrow. "Tony, I'm pregnant. I can't exactly control those things. Besides, just remember who gets to push a bowling ball-sized person through a tiny hole in her body at the end of this pregnancy. If I have to suffer excruciating pain, stretch marks, an aching back, swollen ankles, and frequent trips to the bathroom, then you can put up with trips to the grocery store and being a source of reason for your loving girlfriend who will have wacked-out hormones while carrying your child."

Tony stared at her, his eyes wide. After a moment he blinked, snapping himself out of a little daze. "Well, when you put it that way… I love you?" he stated a little uncertainly, making it sound like a question.

"Oh, you better. It took two to make this," she said, gesturing to her flat stomach. "You're not getting out of this anytime soon."

"Who said I wanted to?" Tony asked, pulling Pepper into his arms.

-CTS-

"Where do you want me to put this box?" Tony asked, standing in the middle of Pepper's bare living room. When he didn't receive a response he called, "Pepper?" while trying to poke his head around the side of the large box. "Pepper?" he called again. Silence. "Well, if you want to play it that way…" Tony muttered, setting the box down.

It was weeks since Pepper had made the decision to live on her own. Her parents had accepted her choice gracefully, puzzled at Pepper's change of mind but grateful nonetheless. While Pepper had yet to tell them of her pregnancy, she was saving that for a more appropriate occasion. Namely, one where her parents had become overly content with Pepper's current life (if such a thing were possible). Since Pepper's announcement she and Tony, along with her parents, had apartment shopped until they had found the perfect place for Pepper. Today was move-in day.

Tony made his way through the apartment to Pepper's bedroom. "Pepper, aren't you supposed to be helping me? It's your apartment; I'm only the hired help," he said.

Pepper didn't crack a smile. She was instead focused on the opened box sitting on her new bed. It was full of photographs from Pepper's childhood, many of them framed. The topmost one featured baby Pepper in her mother's arms while her father stood by his wife, holding Pepper's less than content brother.

"Did your parents pack that box? I don't remember seeing that box before," Tony asked, having been there for most of Pepper's packing.

As she continued to stare he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Yeah," Pepper finally said. "They packed it up a few days ago. They thought I could use a few things to decorate my apartment and make it feel more like a home."

Tony continued to admire the photo over Pepper's shoulder. "You're a very cute baby," he offered.

"Thanks," Pepper said as she gave a small smile.

Silence ticked by until she shared with him her observation, the one that had made her pause for a while to gaze at her family's frozen memory from long ago. "I thought of another reason why I had to move."

When she didn't say anything more Tony indulged his curiosity and asked, "Why?"

"To be able to have photographs like this. We can only have that if we have anonymity. Otherwise, I have a feeling that our private family photographs will be in the public's hands more often than our own. I don't want the paparazzi trailing us if we can do something about that."