A little over an hour later, Tony had finished at the jewelry store, and come home, his small black velvet baggie of loose blue and white diamonds in tow. He was quiet the whole car ride home, and thanked Happy politely as he exited the vehicle before trudging to the bank of elevators.

Once inside the penthouse, he lazily hung his coat in the entry closet, and made for the bar. He grabbed a tumbler from the glass shelves above the counter, the decanter of Scotch, and sat down heavily on one of the bar stools, his head in one hand as he poured the liquor into the glass with the other. He sat up and chugged most of the contents of the glass, and then repeated his motions all over again for a second.

He knew Pepper wanted him to call her back soon. Hell, he'd asked her to call him in the first place. And in his mind, he knew he probably should pick up the phone and just do it. At some point. But not right now, he thought. Despite the urgency they'd both expressed, he found he wasn't really that ready to talk. What was done was done, and the fact that Pepper chose to keep him in the dark about a possible pregnancy, whatever the outcome of the test, made him reach for the Scotch for a third drink.

He downed the contents of the glass again, and scrubbed a hand over his face, finally starting to feel the effects of the alcohol. The burn of it going down his throat turned into a drowsy warmth in his stomach that seemed to radiate out through his veins, and seep deep into his muscles.

He chuckled bitterly to himself. "Well, hello there, old familiar," he mumbled, remembering this feeling from so long ago. It had been a long time since he'd got drunk, and remembered how the fuzzy numbness of it would caress the deep recesses of his brain, tantalizing his senses with her promise of fixing whatever ailed him.

He knew, if he kept going, he'd be in no shape to talk to Pepper at all, but suddenly it...

"Doesn't matter," he mumbled to himself. He poured another glass, albeit a little more clumsily this time. He giggled at it sloshing over the side of the glass. "Whoops," he teetered, smiling. He started to sip the fourth glass of Scotch, and then tilted his head back, knocking back the remainder. "Ahhhhh, yeah," he groaned, grimacing from the burn and smacking his lips. He slammed the glass down on the counter loudly.

It occurred to him that he was only on his fourth drink, and that back in the day, it took almost double that amount to get him to at least the beginning stages of inebriation. "Pussy," he spluttered. "I'm a pussy. Lightweight," he scolded himself. "You're a cheap date, you know that, Stark?" He smirked and chuckled to himself, before depositing more liquor into his glass.

Pepper drove home from the office that afternoon in silence, and very pensively. She still hadn't heard from Tony, and it began to concern her. She knew how he could get sometimes. Just as new ideas for new inventions took over his mind in a whirlwind of obsession, so, too, could complications in their relationship, which meant that bringing him out of this obsession by coming clean on everything and explaining her actions would take some work.

Another concern that pierced her brain was what Tony usually did to try to quiet the non-stop obsessing when he was tired of thinking about it. Or rather, it's what he did in the past. These days, he knew he could usually come to her to distract him for a little while, and usually that involved the both of them ending up naked, sweaty, and very sexually satiated.

But this time, Pepper was troubled. She obviously couldn't be there to talk to him face to face, and the fact that Tony still hadn't even attempted to call her back, or even text her, could only mean one thing- he was too busy trying to drown the day in the bottom of a glass. This broke her heart. It had been ages since he'd done this, thankfully. But now, with her not there to stop him, and him being too stubborn to call her and work this out, it was the only logical conclusion.

As she pulled into her building's parking, she grabbed her phone and dialed Tony's number again. And, again, it went to voice mail. "Damn it," she huffed, disconnecting. "Come on, Tony. You're better than this."

Her temper flared, turning her mood from concern to aggravation in a flash. She yanked the handle on her car door and climbed out of the car, grabbing all of her belongings from the back seat before slamming shut her car doors, and storming inside.

Tony awoke with a snort, his phone vibrating on the bar next to his head. He raised his head up off his outstretched arm, and looked around with squinted eyes. He must have fallen asleep at the bar quite a while ago, because it was dark outside now.

He could still feel the fuzzy inebriation in his brain, and remembered what it was he'd been doing prior to dozing off. His phone buzzed impatiently again, and he picked it up, sliding his thumb on the screen to open it up. He noticed four missed calls, and a voice mail,all from Pepper. He fumbled with the phone to open the voice mail, and hit play.

"I don't know WHAT your reason is for suddenly not answering my calls, Tony! But BELIEVE ME! You'd better call me back THIS INSTANT!" it said, her voice seething.

"Shit," he muttered. Okay, now I'M in trouble, he thought.

He slowly slid off the bar stool, and stumbled over to the stairs, grasping the railing and trudging up the stairs laboriously. Once he made it to the top, he shuffled into the bedroom, and flopped, face first onto the bed. He groaned as he rolled over. "Okay, time to take your lumps, dummy," he said to himself. Clumsily, he dialed Pepper's number and put it to his ear, rubbing his eyes with his other hand.

She picked up, and Tony's heart stopped momentarily, bracing for the fight.

"Hmmmm," Pepper said, coolly. "Finally decided to take time out of your busy schedule to call me back, I see." Her voice dripped with a syrupy sardonic tone, and it made Tony cringe.
Tony cleared his throat. "Yeah, you see, I..." he said, hoarsely. "I was...what was I doing? Oh yeah, I was trying to um..."
"Oh, save it, Tony!" she exclaimed through gritted teeth. "You know what you've been doing. I think we both can figure that one out!"
"Baby, wait, I can explain..." he started.

"Don't 'baby' me!" she shrieked, interrupting. Tony grimaced and jerked the phone away from his ear as she screamed before bringing it back again. "How dare you call me, and demand that we talk about something you think you found, and then don't even give me a chance to respond to you! Did you even look at my text this afternoon?!"

"Text?" Tony said, his fuzzy brain trying to recall it. "Uh, yeah, I got it, but..."
"So, you know I wanted to talk to you about this immediately, right? Not to mention the numerous phone calls I made trying to get a hold of you? Where the hell were you this afternoon, anyway?!" she demanded.

Tony gulped. "I, uh, I can't tell you that, Pepper," he said.

"Oh!" she gasped. He could hear her start to cry, and the pain of his squeezed his heart mercilessly.

"Pepper, honey, please don't cry," he begged. He sat up and moved to the head of the bed, sitting against the headboard.

"NO!" she exclaimed, interrupting him again. "You don't get to call me 'honey', right now, either!"

Tony exhaled heavily. He squeezed his eyes shut, rubbing them again with one hand, feeling a tad bit more sober than he had before, thanks to Pepper's ranting.

He heard her sniff loudly into the phone. "Tell me this, Tony," she said, her voice weakened and watery. "Were you at a bar, or a club, or something? Have you been drinking?"

"What? No, Pepper. Of course not. I mean, yes, I,..."
"Oh God!" he heard her gasp, cutting him off. "So you admit it?! That's where you were?!"

Tony frowned, and shook his head in confusion. "Wait, what? No, I meant no. No bars. No clubs, Pepper, I promise. But, yes," he said. He sighed heavily, hating to have to tell her the next part. "Yes, I have been drinking."

He heard her start weeping again, and he stayed silent, painfully listening to her. "So, um," she said finally, her voice catching in her throat. "How...how much have you had?" she asked weakly.
Tony bit his lip in thought. "Uh, four?"
"Four?"
"Or, five? Maybe? I, uh...I don't really remember, Pepper," he admitted sheepishly.

"Oh, Tony!" she gasped. "I thought you said you were done with that! You even said, when you proposed you were done."

Tony grimaced, rocking his head back again and again, bumping it lightly on the headboard over and over in frustration. "Yeah, I know I did, Pepper," he said, shamefully. "And I am, I promise. It's just that..." Suddenly, he realized the reason for his backsliding. "Hey, wait a minute," he said, quite soberly, raising his head, and sitting up on the bed. He furrowed his brow. "How in the hell did this become about me?! You're the one sneaking around, hiding things from me, missy!"

"Oh, don't go getting all righteous with me, Tony!" Pepper spat out.

"Oh, I'm doin' it, sister!" Tony shot back. "I know I've screwed up a lot with us, but that doesn't mean you don't get called out when you screw up. That's not how this works!" he exclaimed. He changed his voice to a high-pitched mocking, girly tone. "Oh, I'm Pepper, and my fiance's a fuck up! So I get to just traipse through life, tra-la-la-la-la, keeping scoring because he owes me, like, 5 million fuck ups to one!"
"Well, at least you admit it!" Pepper retorted bitterly. (She instantly regretted saying those words to him. At that moment, she slammed her eyes shut, and clapped an ashamed hand over her mouth, shaking her head in disbelief at how quickly this all had spiraled out of control. She heard him gasp on the other end, and then fall silent.)

"Wow," he murmured hoarsely, the sting of her words penetrating his heart, freezing his veins.

"Oh,God, Tony. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean that. Please," she begged.

Tony just sat there, in shock, at how cold she'd just been to him. "Wow," he said again.

A long silent moment fell between them, neither of them knowing where to go from here. Tony some how mustered up the strength to speak again.

He cleared his throat, and spoke in a soft, wounded rumble. "Do... you know what it was, Pepper?" he asked her.

"What what was?" Pepper asked hoarsely.

"What I found. Do you know what it was?"

Pepper didn't speak for a moment. Tony heard her inhaled and exhale. "Yes," she said matter-of-fact.

"So, if it isn't too much trouble, do you care to tell me why I found it hidden in the bathroom cupboard?"

Pepper didn't speak again for a long moment. He waited patiently.

"It's...because...I...thought...," she said, speaking in slow measured tones. "I might be..."

"Pregnant," Tony said, finishing her thought.

"Yes," Pepper agreed weakly. She remained silent.

"And, are you?" Tony asked softly. He chewed his lip anxiously, and frowned, bracing himself for whatever her answer was going to be.

He heard Pepper inhale and exhale slowly again. "Tony," she said. "Let me explain..."

Ooooo-weeee, I'm a cruel mistress, aren't I? These two fight as fiercely as they love, so I thought I should throw a rager in there at some point. So? What do you think Pepper's answer will be, hmmmmm? Some of you have already weighed in, but I welcome anyone else's guesses! The more the merrier, I say!

Thank you thank you, as always, for allowing me to play with your brains! Mmmmmwahahahahahahaha... ;)