The next few weeks were strange in the sense that things with Martha were finally going back to the way they used to be while also being completely different at the same time. In the mornings, they still had breakfast, but now it was a part of their daily routine as opposed to their weekly Sunday ritual. Afterwards, sometimes they would hangout and other times Martha had to rush off to work. Tony realized that he had never seen her in her UNIT uniform before now which was a shame because she was a knockout all suited up in black military fatigues.
They still had their late night conversations as well, but their pillow talk was transported to the kitchen most nights. Sometimes they would relax on the sofa in the media room with Bohr curled up between them. Once or twice, Martha sought Tony out in his lab.
On one such occasion, Bruce had come by after dinner to finalize some details on the Mark XLIV design's augmentations before they entered the fabrication phase. Tony had also wanted to run some new numbers by him concerning their Ultron conundrum. Alas, Bruce seemed to be more interested in discussing the metal dalekanium and its ability to attract gamma radiation with Martha over a cup of tea.
"I think Bruce might be more than a little bit in love with you now," Tony teased as he walked her back to her room. "You blinded him with science."
Martha leaned against her door. "You're not feeling jealous again are you?"
"Not particularly. I figure if you were going to ditch me for an Avenger, Bruce would be fourth on the totem pole with only Barton ranking lower because honestly…who would willingly date Clint?"
Martha let out an amused huff. "I'm assuming Steve Rogers is number one on that?"
"Unfortunately."
"So who's number two?"
"Thor." Tony shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. "People seem to like that whole golden god thing he's got going on."
"Tish certainly does," Martha agreed. "But I'd probably drop him down to fourth, with Bruce in the middle and Agent Romanoff in second."
Tony lifted a brow. "Natasha? Really?"
Martha shrugged. "I've always had a soft spot for gingers."
Tony pointed a finger at her. "See this is why I don't like you hanging out with Pepper," he complained playfully.
"Worried I'd leave you for her?" Martha asked with a laugh.
"I would leave me for Pepper," Tony countered.
Martha nodded. "Fair point. And at least she's taken me out on actual lunch dates," she pointed out.
"I took you out for food last week," Tony protested.
Martha scoffed. "We were grocery shopping."
"Yea and I let you push the cart," he added. "And what about that long romantic walk in the park afterwards?"
"You mean when we took Bohr out for a wee?" She folded her arms across her chest. "I thought you said you wanted to date me. Is this your normal courting ritual or do you just not know how to woo someone without flashing your wealth?"
"I do want to date you," Tony insisted. "But things have been in flux lately with all the changes and I wanted to give you an adjustment period."
"What if I told you I've adjusted enough?" Martha countered coyly.
Tony glanced at his watch. "Then I'd ask you if you knew what day it was."
"It's probably after midnight, so it's Friday."
"It's Valentine's Day." Tony took her hand, allowing his thumb to caress her knuckles. "So what do you say? Will you be my valentine?"
Martha made a show of considering it. "I'll sleep on it." She gave his hand a quick squeeze before slipping inside her room.
"Sweet dreams," Tony called out just before she closed the door. He took a deep breath and slipped his outstretched hand back into his pocket as he made his way back to his workroom. "J.A.R.V.I.S., bring up the blueprints for that special project I've been working on. We're in for a long night."
Tony had been waiting for the right moment to put this particular plan into action. When Christmas hadn't played out as expected, he considered holding off until Martha's birthday, but now seemed like as good of time as any.
By the time the sun came up, Tony was running on caffeine and adrenaline. He did a dry run just before dawn then spent the last hour or so tweaking the processes. Once he was thoroughly satisfied, he made his way up to Martha's room and knocked on her door. Bohr answered with a bark and a few minutes later Martha opened the door wearing her paisley headscarf and a long grey t-shirt.
Martha rubbed her eyes sleepily. "If you're trying to make a good impression, you'll find that I'm more sympathetic when I'm well rested."
"I've got a surprise for you." Tony took her hand without waiting for a proper reaction. Martha's only response was an exasperated sigh as she toddled along behind him. Tony waited until they reached the kitchen, then turned to face her and walked the rest of the way backwards so he wouldn't miss her reaction.
Martha's gaze swept over the strange assemblage of gadgets and connections as she wiped the sleep out of her eyes again. She was silent for a couple more seconds before emitting a loud gasp and covered her mouth with both hands. "Is that what I think that is?"
Tony nodded. "You very own breakfast machine," he informed her with a tired smile as he admired his handiwork. "Needless to say, I've made some necessary adjustments to Pee-wee's original design, but it's fully functional." He turned back towards Martha. "All you have to do is—"
Tony's words and thoughts were cut off by the sensational of Martha pulling him into a fierce kiss. It only took a fraction of a second before he was fully alert and returning the kiss with fervor. Her lips were soft and Tony loved the way she seemingly melted into his embrace. They stumbled around blindly until her back hit the refrigerator and Tony placed a hand on the door to steady himself. "Now that was a kiss."
"Better than Tish?" she questioned with a pant.
"Who?" Tony replied without missing a beat.
Martha beamed. "Good answer."
"So will you be my valentine?" Tony pressed.
"I'll be your everything," Martha offered.
Tony caressed her cheek. "You already are." This time, he initiated the kiss while gripping her hip with his free hand.
When they finally extracted themselves from one another, Martha looked up at him expectantly. "Where do we go from here?"
The bedroom was Tony's first thought, but he could probably make do with the kitchen table. "Breakfast," he answered chastely.
Tony demonstrated how the contraption worked and Martha seemed even more excited than before, if that was possible. Their meal ended with a heartfelt thank you from Martha and an impromptu tableside make out session that was only interrupted by Martha's need to shower before work. Tony suggested that they save time by sharing. Martha responded with a coy promise of next time. Tony carried that mental image with him through the rest of the day and when he later unceremoniously fell asleep at his work table his dreams officially entered sordid territory.
After his nap, Tony woke up and, regrettably, took a shower alone. Dressed comfortably for a night in, he gathered some food and set up the media room in preparation of his big date with Martha. When she got home from work, Martha greeted him with a tight hug and a tender kiss. The hand caresses had been nice, but nothing was quite as sweet as kissing Martha for real.
"What's all this?" she asked, taking in her surroundings.
"It's movie night. I got all of your favorite snacks and we're gonna watch one of your favorite films."
"Harry Potter?"
"Never gonna happen," Tony retorted with a scoff. "Now go get comfortable. I'll cue up the movie."
Martha left and returned a short time later wearing a pair of cotton pajama pants with a matching camisole and a fluffy cardigan to keep her warm. She quickly tucked into their meal as Tony started The Princess Bride, which just so happened to be her favorite movie of all time.
The two of them watched movie in relative silence except for when Martha quoted her favorite scenes aloud as they played out on the screen. Tony found it to be a rather endearing habit and it was about halfway through the film that he realized he had been paying more attention to Martha's reactions than the movie itself.
When the credit rolled, Tony switched off the screen and Martha turned to him with a warm smile. "Today has been absolutely perfect." She pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. "Thank you."
"You're worth it," Tony assured her. He leaned in for another kiss and Martha met the gestured eagerly.
They started off slowly and gently until the intensity and desire for one another grew to a fever pitch. Tony pulled her body flush against his and Martha responded by leaning back against the sofa, so that he was effectively lying on top of her. The kissing continued for a while, during which time Tony wondered if they should slow down or speed up. Martha pulled away briefly to slip her cardigan off before guiding Tony's lips back to hers. Tony took the furtherance of action as encouragement and seized the opportunity to allow his hands to veer away from their previous position at her hips.
Tony had barely managed to feel the silkiness of her skin beneath her camisole when Martha let out a startled gasp. "What?" he asked nervously, jerking his hands away from her and searching her eyes for answers. "Did I…what did I do wrong?"
Martha shook her head. "Nothing. Your hands are just cold."
"Poor circulation," Tony replied. "It hasn't been right since the arc reactor."
"Then I suppose we'll just have to warm them up," Martha retorted. She took both his hands and positioned them on her bare stomach with only a tiny shudder at the contact. "You're the scientist. How do we generate heat?"
Tony lowered his forehead to hers. They noses brushed against each other's as his hands ran up and down her sides. "Friction," he answered in a low voice.
Martha laughed softly and kissed him again. "Do you have any protection?"
"What do you need?" Tony questioned while moving to nuzzle her neck. "Goggles? Latex gloves?" He lifted his head with a lascivious grin. "A lab coat?"
Martha pursed her lips. "Don't be cheeky."
"Don't ask for miracles," he shot back playfully. "I've got some upstairs," he added answering her previous question. "Want me to go get one?"
Martha shrugged. "Or we could just go to bed," she suggested. Tony stared into her eyes and searched for any indications of resistance or uncertainty. Seemingly discerning what he was after, Martha cupped Tony's face between her palms and met his stare head-on, "Take me to bed," she demanded resolutely.
Tony smirked. "Yes ma'am." He stole a quick kiss before crawling off the sofa, pulling Martha up to her feet and hoisting her into his arms. Martha wrapped her legs around his waist as they slowly made their way to his bedroom.
Once they reached the bed, they tumbled onto it in a tangle of limbs. Tony grasped blindly for the box of condoms he kept in his nightstand drawer. Just as he finally secured the treasure he was seeking, Martha let out another startled gasp. "Are my hands still cold?"
"No." Martha shook her head frantically and gestured downward. "I felt something wet on my foot."
Tony pulled back and glanced over his shoulder. Bohr was near the foot of the bed, standing on twos and licking Martha's bare feet. "It's just Bohr," he informed Martha as he turned to resume kissing her.
Martha pushed him away. "Stop."
Tony stared at her in confusion. "What's wrong?"
"We can't have sex now."
"Why?"
She peeked around him at Bohr. "What if he sees us?"
"Seriously?"
"Yes!" Martha cringed. "I can't with him in the room. It's just too weird."
Tony scoffed. "Martha, he's a dog. He doesn't know what we're doing."
"He might," she protested.
"Unless you wanna roll over and assume a different position that's more common to his species, I seriously doubt it," Tony said. "I'm definitely not opposed to that idea by the way."
Martha huffed. "I'm going to try very hard to forget that you just said that."
Tony sighed heavily as he shifted his weight off of her. "So what do you want me to do? Do you want me to get rid of him?"
"No." Martha sat up in bed. "He's probably lonely," she reasoned. "He wants to sleep with me."
"Yea? Well so do I," Tony mumbled petulantly. He dropped back against his pillow with another heavy sigh.
Martha gave his leg a consolatory squeeze. "I think the moment has passed, love."
Tony pouted. "Just like that?"
Martha shrugged. "Welcome to parenthood," she joked. "Our son comes first."
Tony stared at the ceiling. "So what? We're just never gonna have any time alone? If he so much as whines, then that's it? We drop everything?" He stole a peek at her. "What if he kills our sex life before it even begins?"
Martha actually had the nerve to laugh at his question, much to Tony's annoyance. "Well perhaps you should have thought about that before you tried to trap me with a baby," she teased.
Tony groaned. "I'm being serious."
Martha laughed harder. "So am I." She leaned over Tony's legs and pulled Bohr into bed. The puppy squeezed himself between them, proving himself to be a block in both the literal and the proverbial sense. Bohr dropped his head on Tony's chest and Martha curled herself around his body while reaching for Tony's hand. "Are you disappointed?"
Tony laced his fingers through hers and exhaled through his nose. "I told you sex wasn't necessary."
"Just because you don't need it doesn't mean you don't want it," she reasoned.
Tony met her gaze. "I'm a little disappointed," he admitted.
"So am I." Martha gave his hand a squeeze. "Do you mind if I stay here tonight?"
Tony lifted their hands to his lips and pressed a kiss to the back of hers. "You can stay here forever."
Martha chuckled softly. "I guess it'll just be hand holding and high fives for the moment, yea?"
Tony scoffed. "I'd rather a low five."
"Feel free to nip off and sort yourself."
"Who said I was going to be on the receiving end?" he countered shamelessly.
Martha bit back a smile. "Well we can both give and receive in equal measure when the time is right," she insisted. "I mean we've only been dating for one bloody day! There's no rush to consummate our relationship. We still have a lot to learn about each other. Like how you apparently have a lab coat fetish."
"Hey, it's not a fetish!" Tony retorted defensively. "It's a deep appreciation for laboratory safety."
Martha scoffed playfully. "You bloody liar!"
"Like you don't have any fantasies," he accused.
"Maybe one or two."
"Don't hold out on me, Doc. Spill it." Tony gestured for her to continue. "Come on. On the count of three, I want you to say your biggest fantasy. 1…2…3…"
"Your biggest fantasy."
Tony scoffed. "Smartass."
"I thought you liked that about me."
"The smarts or the ass?"
Martha paused to think. "Both?"
"Guilty."
"There is one thing," Martha confessed. She leaned over Bohr and whispered into Tony's ear.
Tony suddenly looked intrigued. "I can work with that. Think we can incorporate the lab coat into that scenario?" Martha gave a noncommittal shrug. "You're right. Baby steps."
"Speaking of babies," Martha whispered with a nod towards Bohr, who was sound asleep between them.
"I guess we should follow his lead, hmm?" Martha leaned over and gave him a soft kiss, but Tony slipped a hand behind her head and deepened it. "Good night," he said when they broke for air.
Martha smiled against his lips before pulling back and settling on her side of the bed. "Night," she answered.
Both of them closed their eyes and their fingers remained entwined as they drifted to sleep with Bohr snoring softly between them.
