Pepper opened her eyes and she was feeling very frisky. She wondered if she only felt this way because she was falling for Tony and it was all new or if she was feeling frisky this often before her accident as well or if it was because he punched Brad out in her honor. She looked at Tony and he was sleeping soundly and she felt bad waking him but she couldn't help herself. She pressed her lips to his neck and slipped her hands under his shirt while he began to stir. He opened his eyes slowly and tried to adjust to the light.
"What's the matter? Did something happen?" he asked in sort of a panic.
"I'm horny"
Tony looked at the clock and there was only fifteen minutes before the kids would be awake. Pepper smirked at him and gave him a sexy come hither stare and he pulled her towards him. He kissed her passionately and slid his hand down her pants and wasted no time rubbing her favorite spot.
Pepper was whimpering softly and Tony was setting the pace when they heard crying from Tony jrs room. Tony put his head down on the bed in defeat.
"I'll go," he said as he went to check on Tony jr.
Pepper figured she would get up and brush her teeth and check on the girls since the moment was dead. She peeked in their room and Morgan was braiding Maria's hair. When the girls saw her in the corner of the eye they ran to her and hugged her. They missed not being able to be around her when she was sick.
"I missed you girls," Pepper said, kissing each one of them on the head.
Tony popped his head in and the girls ran to hug him.
"Guess what girls?" Tony said.
"What?" Morgan asked.
"You're going to have a sleepover tonight with Uncle Happy. Your mom and I are going out overnight," he explained.
Pepper completely forgot it was their anniversary. Tony mentioned it so many times this week and she had meant to get a gift but she forgot.
"Yes. Yes it is and I need to go to the store to get something nice to wear," Pepper said suddenly realizing there was still time to get a gift.
She brushed past Tony and dressed quickly and she was headed out the door.
"Pep, we're headed into the city around five o'clock. I have some things planned," he said.
"Yep I'll be ready," she called after herself as she got into the car and then she was in full panic mode. She started the car and didn't know where she was going but she figured she'd head to the mall.
"FRIDAY do I have a list anywhere in your memory of gifts to buy Tony?" she asked.
"I found a list from 2007," the AI answered.
"Read it to me," she said.
"Pepper cuff links, framed photo, bourbon," the AI replied.
"What exactly are Pepper cufflinks and framed photo of who?" Pepper said aloud.
"There are no more notes," the AI responded.
"What about Tony, did he have any notes anywhere?" she asked again.
"None,"
Pepper was wracking her brain while driving aimlessly and she saw a sign for Glamour Shots and a light bulb when on in her head.
"FRIDAY get Heather on the line," Pepper said as she pulled over into a gas station to devise a plan.
Once Heather got on, Pepper laid out the plans.
"Do you have a printer and twelve sexy outfits that would fit me?" Pepper spewed out suddenly.
"I do,"
"Are you free? And where do you live?" Pepper asked
"Canal street,"
"I'm on my way. I need your help and I need to be back here at five."
"What's wrong? Is everything ok?"
"It's Tony and I's anniversary and I don't have a gift for him but I have an idea," Pepper said.
Pepper arrived at Heather's house and hurried inside.
"What is this idea of yours?" Heather asked.
"Well I was trying to think of something Tony would really love and I was thinking of a sexy calendar," she said not realizing she was flushed.
"You're blushing," Heather pointed out.
"I can't help it. I'm in love with him," Pepper said for the first time out loud.
Heather smiled and Pepper put her hand over her mouth.
"Did you get your memory back?" Heather asked.
"No but I fell for him anyway. I'm happy. I love him and I love my kids. Sure it's hard and I'm still learning but I love them,"
"I couldn't be happier for you. Now let's get this photo shoot going," Heather said.
Pepper was definitely speeding on her way home. It was 3:30pm and she still needed to get ready. She was so relieved that she went for a wax and a root touch up the previous week. She wanted to look her best for Tony.
When she walked through the door Tony was giving the kids a snack.
"Pep it's 4pm. What took you so long?" he asked.
"I'll tell you later," she teased as she hurried into the bedroom to get ready.
An hour later Pepper emerged and Tony couldn't take his eyes off of her.
"Wow," Tony said as he drank her in. She borrowed a black Issey Miyake cocktail dress from and she had on Tony's favorite pair of her heels. They were black Louboutin's with diamonds down the heel.
"Mommy you look beuwiful," Tony jr said as he hugged her.
"I wish I had red hair like you mommy," Morgan said.
"Your hair is beautiful the way it is," Pepper reassured her.
"I want wed hair too," Maria said.
"You are the two most beautiful girls in the world and I wouldn't change a thing about you," Pepper said just as the doorbell rang.
It was Happy.
Pepper was about to go over the babysitting rundown and Tony stopped her.
"Pep he's got this. Happy has watched the kids many times. He knows all their tricks," Tony said with a laugh.
"You better be on your best behavior for Uncle Happy," she warned as she followed Tony to the door.
Once they neared the city Pepper asked Tony to make a stop at Heather's place.
"What do you need there?" he asked.
"I have to pick something up. I promise I'll only be a minute," she said as she went out.
Pepper hurried inside and Heather delivered the finished product.
"I changed it up a bit. Instead of a 12 month, I made a desk top one where you rip the pages off and it has seven outfits, one for each day of the week and those same outfits repeat," she explained.
"It's perfect. Thanks for your help," she said as she put it in her bag and went back to the car.
"Everything good?" Tony asked.
"Yes," Pepper said and then she leaned over to kiss him.
Tony welcomed the kiss and smiled at her when they broke.
"Would you like dinner in the penthouse or do you want to go out? I can have both arranged at a moment's notice," he explained.
"Well I am all dressed up, but staying in for the night sounds wonderful," she said.
"I am always up for showing you off or staying in if that's what you prefer,"
"I dressed up for you not for everyone else," she said.
"It is very much appreciated. If you could hear my thoughts right now I might be in trouble," Tony said.
Pepper kissed him again.
"You should try me. You might be surprised,"
"Well let me start by saying that I can't take my eyes off of your breasts. I can't stop imagining what's under your dress. Because it looks like you're wearing a bra but also your nipples are really prominent and I'm not sure if you are wearing a bra,"
"I guess you'll find out later," she teased.
They arrived at the penthouse house and Tony called to have dinner ordered while Pepper was in awe of the set up in front of her.
There was a small dining table with some unlit candles and a dozen beautiful lillies. The floor was littered with rose petals and she followed the path into the bathroom where there were petals in the empty tub and bottles of fragranced bath soak and bubbles next to the tub ready to be filled and there were more rose petals leading to the bedroom also filled with unlit candles. She was about to turn around and Tony came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist while his lips found her neck.
"The bath could be just for you if you're still not comfortable but I'm hoping for it to be for us together," he said.
Pepper turned around and kissed him.
"This is all wonderful. Thank you," she said.
"Happy Anniversary," he whispered.
"It really is a Happy Anniversary despite me losing eighteen years of my life," she said.
The door rang and Tony went to get the food. He lit the candles in all the rooms and they sat down to eat.
When they finished Pepper got up to look out the window at the city below as the sun set and Tony ordered his bots to clean up. Pepper put her hand to the glass and then a memory hit her.
She didn't know the timeline but she had a vision of Tony and her making love when he was much younger and her legs were wrapped around him and she was pressed against the glass. She saw the euphoric look on her face and she knew what that felt like and she couldn't hide her blush. She shook the memory and turned to Tony.
"I got you something," she said, handing him a bag with the calendar in it.
Tony smiled and reached inside and when he saw the calendar his eyes lit up.
"This is amazing Pep," he said.
Pepper smiled.
"There's something else in there too,"
Tony reached in and pulled out a usb drive.
"All the photos that didn't make the cut," she explained.
"Pepper this is my favorite gift and I can't wait to look through this usb drive,"
"I'm so glad you like it," she said.
"I love it and I love you," he said, giving her a kiss.
When they were kissing she was remembering more of that memory of them making love against the glass window and she was getting very turned on.
"Tony I need to tell you something," Pepper said, not being able to hold it in any longer.
"Ok," he said.
"I love you," she blurted out.
"Pepper I told you you don't have to say it back, I'm still going to give you your gift," he joked.
"Tony, look at me. I mean it. I love you. Somehow I fell in love with you again," she said, giving him that smile she only gives to him.
Tony felt his heart jump as he watched her eyes crinkle up and her head tilt just a bit while she smiled and that was his and that would always be his.
"I told you you loved me," he said as he grabbed her face to kiss it.
"We're going to be ok like this even if my memory doesn't come back," she said almost to reassure herself. She didn't want her and Tony to break up.
"Of course. I'm crazy about you. All versions of you," he said.
She gave him the smile again and kissed him some more.
"Now it's time for your gift," he said as he went into the bedroom and came out with a box.
Pepper opened it and gasped. Tony had her necklace made from the shrapnel redesigned and he added some stones for each of the kids.
She smiled so big and her eyes started welling up. Tears trickled out slowly and she wiped at them.
"What do you say to a nice bath for you or for two?or a nice massage?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow at her.
"Let's do a check in with the kids and then we can spend quality alone time together," she suggested.
Tony grabbed the tablet and dialed the home number and Happy answered with a face full of makeup and they could hear the kids giggling behind him.
"What are you kids up to?" Tony asked.
"I'm Tony Stark," Anthony jr said as he came on the screen with a goatee drawn on his face with eye pencil.
Tony smiled.
"Where's your sister's?" Pepper asked.
Tony moved off screen to show Morgan and Maria doing there makeup.
"We're conduring our woses," Maria said as she blended the brown strip down her nose.
"I was teaching her how to contour our noses like the YouTube girls so our noses look smaller," Morgan explained.
Those words hit Pepper deep in her heart and in that instant she decided she would not be getting the mommy makeover. She had two young daughters and she didn't want them to feel pressure to change their looks. She wanted them to be confident in their own skin and she wanted to lead by example.
"Your noses are already perfect. Morgan make sure you clean everything up and wash your face and your sister and brother too," Pepper said.
"And you're too young for makeup," Tony added.
They hung up with the children and she turned to Tony.
"So bra or no bra? What do you think?" she asked.
"I can't tell damn it," he growled.
"Well come unzip me and find out," she said, turning around so that he could undo the zipper from behind her.
"I forgot my blind fold but I'm sure there is a tie somewhere here," he said as he began to unzip her dress.
"I think it's time we retired the blindfold," she said as she ran her hands over his chest and began to remove his jacket.
"Are you sure? Pep I want you to be comfortable,"
"I saw some things in the girls today that I didn't like. They were saying they wished they had red hair and they were contouring their noses. They are 7 and 3 and a half years old. That's far too young to be worried about any of that stuff. And I need to lead by example. I want them to love and accept the way they look and how can I teach them that when I can't even be naked around you,"
"I agree that the girls are too young to worry about that stuff and you're right but you've been through a trauma and it's ok if you don't do it today but I also fully support you being naked with me anytime you want," he said.
"So come here and unzip my dress," she repeated.
Tony couldn't get to Pepper fast enough. He lifted her and carried into the bedroom and they celebrated their anniversary tangled up naked in bed.