Tony quietly left a very satiated and very comatose Pepper in their bed later than evening. He'd managed to slip on his undershirt and boxers again, and slip out of the bedroom door without waking her. He quietly jogged down the stairs and flipped on a light over the bar, smiling to himself as he grabbed a bottle of water out of the mini fridge. It was dark now, and they'd been asleep for a couple of hours by his estimation, as he'd noticed their last lovemaking session had ended right around sunset.

He twisted off the bottle cap, and chugged its entire contents, crushing it and chucking it in the recycling bin when he finished. He grinned again, still amazed at Pepper's sexual stamina this afternoon. He couldn't believe that one minute, she was falling-down tired, and the next, pouncing on him like a virgin on prom night. He welcomed the challenge, however, of keeping up with her crazy pregnancy libido for the next few months. It would be fun. It would be exciting. And it would be exhausting. But in all the right ways, he admitted, smirking to himself knowingly.

He flipped off the light switch, and strolled to his study. An email notification from his phone is what had awakened him, and it was something he'd been expecting to come in. He turned on his desk lamp, and woke up JARVIS. "J? You up?" he asked.

"For you, Sir, always," the AI replied.

"Good," Tony purred. He flopped into his desk chair as his computer blinked and whirred to life. Tony opened the email he'd received, the sender marked "Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D," and began to flip through the images in the attachment. "Yeah, looking good," Tony murmured in approval. "Perfect. Very nice."

He spoke again to address JARVIS. "I've got a bit of a homework assignment for you, J. Put all of these images into chronological order, according to their time stamp. I'll have more in a couple of days, I'm sure. But for now, work on these. Shouldn't take you long. And when you're done, stick 'em in a ghost file on my private server, would ya'? Pepper can't know about this," he said. He sighed and pursed his lips. "Not yet, anyway," he muttered.

"Of course, Sir," the AI responded.

Tony smiled. "Great. Now, what about those ultrasound images I had you save. Got those handy?"

JARVIS responded by pulling up the file, and displaying the contents, including the video of the whole session. Tony grinned and clicked on it. He watched it again, in awe of how amazing it was that this tiny being that he and Pepper had created was growing and developing right now, upstairs, inside of her. He couldn't help but smile at the flicker of the heartbeat, as the baby wiggled and squirmed. He'd never been more proud of one of his creations. Not even the suit, he thought in astonishment. He grinned. Nope, not even that.

"Assignment complete," JARVIS announced a short time later.

"Perfect, J. Thanks. And, if the missus asks? Tell her I was working on... I don't know. Something else," Tony said.

"You know I'm not programmed to lie, Sir," JARVIS argued.

Tony huffed in annoyance. "Yeah, JARVIS, I'm well aware of your ethical parameters. I wrote you for God's sake. So just...just," Tony sighed heavily. "Here," Tony said, opening up the blue prints for their new house in Malibu. He clicked on the upper floor, and bumped out part of the wall beside their master bedroom doorway, creating a 15'x20' space. "The contractors are gonna have my head, but whatever," he muttered. He added a walk-in closet, and a large picture window to the space, and smiled in satisfaction. "Voila. A nursery," he chirped. "Now, if Pepper really pries, you can show her what I was doing. Happy, J?"

"I am satisfied, Sir," the AI replied.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Glad I could help you out," he retorted.

XxXxXxXxXx

A short time later, Tony shut everything back down and padded back upstairs. He crawled into bed, scooting close to Pepper. She rolled over, and he wrapped her back up in his arms. She moaned, and snuggled against him. "Where did you go?" she mumbled sleepily into his chest.

"To get a drink of water," Tony replied. Well, that IS the truth, he reasoned. He stroked her hair and kissed her cheek. "But I'm back, and we're good, so just go back to sleep, baby."

Pepper let out a happy sigh, and drifted back to sleep. And Tony breathed a sigh of relief.

XxXxXxXxXx

The next morning, Tony awoke again to find himself alone in his bed, and the audience to the sounds of Pepper upchucking in the bathroom. "Crap. Not again," he moaned. He reluctantly climbed out of bed, and walked to the bathroom doorway. Pepper was heaving her second round into the toilet. "Get the..."she began, unable to finish her sentence before having to wretch again.

Tony grimaced, and then frowned. "Nausea pills. Got it," he said. He flew out of the bedroom, and down the stairs to find Pepper's purse. She'd explained to him the day before that she'd kept them in her purse as an insurance policy against any late day surprise attacks. But Tony could quickly see that a box of these in the medicine cabinet both here and at home in the condo would be a worthy investment as well. He snagged the box, and ran back upstairs. Pepper, surprisingly, was still on the floor when he'd found her, unable to regain her composure as of yet. He quickly filled a water glass, popped two of the pills out of their blister packs, and set them on the counter to lie in wait for when Pepper caught a break long enough to take them.

Tony watched helplessly as she heaved yet again, grimacing at the sound. "Jesus, Pep, are you going to have to do this every morning until the kid is born? Seems like a cruel joke from mother nature. No wonder mothers are good at sending their kids on guilt trips. Look at what you have to go through! This is ridiculous. You guys deserve a medal," he babbled.

Pepper's stomach finally stopped cramping, and she laid her head on her outstretched arm across the toilet seat as she took a few deep breaths to steady her dizzy head. After a moment, she sat back and flushed. She wiped her mouth with some tissue, and extended a hand for Tony to help her up. He grasped it, and pulled her to a standing position, making sure she was steady before letting go. She nodded, and he let go of her hand.

She grabbed the water glass, and tossed the pills into her mouth before downing the glass's contents. She set the glass down, and took a deep breath, looking at Tony's reflection in the mirror. "To answer your question," she said. "God, I hope I don't have to do this every morning until the baby's born! I think it only is supposed to last for a little while, though. And today's bout was particularly aggressive, I have to say."

Tony shrugged. "So...what does that mean? Is that a bad thing? That today was particularly grueling?"

Pepper smiled at his concern. "Well, it definitely makes it harder to be chipper in the morning, if that's what you mean."

Tony frowned. Pepper grabbed the mouth wash, and swished some. She gargled and spat, and then spun around to face him. He was quiet, and still frowning.

Her face fell, matching his face in reaction. "Tony, I was kidding," she said softly.

"So, seriously? You're okay? Nothing's wrong that would make this worse for you?" he asked.

Pepper smiled at him bashfully. She shook her head. "No, nothing's wrong. I'm fine," she assured. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he pulled her closer to him by the waist. He gently pecked her lips, and she smiled sweetly.

"You'd tell me if there was something wrong, wouldn't you?" he asked sheepishly.

Pepper frowned and nodded. "Of course," she affirmed. She looked at him curiously. "What's got you so concerned?"
He shrugged and looked away. Pepper lifted a finger to his chin, and turned his gaze back to her. Tony furrowed his brow. "I just hate seeing you suffer, that's all," he said quietly. He smiled bashfully.

Pepper smiled softly back. "Do you know how many women have gone through what I am going through, right now?" Pepper asked.

"Yeah, but I'm not married to all of them, Pep," he reasoned. "And I want to make sure," he said, looking deeply into her eyes. "That we're doing this right, and that everything's okay," he said softly, his voice breaking to a whisper. Pepper detected a waiver in his voice, and her heart melted at the display of emotion he was trying to hide.

She nodded. "Okay, Tony," she assured softly.

"Okay? That's all I ask. Just keep me posted, huh? And let me know if something's suddenly not right,okay?" he asked.

"Okay," Pepper agreed, knowing that Tony worried about her pushing herself too hard. Truth be told, they'd both been guilty of pushing themselves far beyond the breaking point in the past. The incident involving him dying of Palladium poisoning, and her finding out from Natasha quickly came to mind. She hadn't liked being in the dark about that, so she could appreciate Tony's concern and worry for her, and his need to have her communicate with him about her well-being. But it wasn't just about her and their baby's health. It was also about giving him peace-of-mind.

"And same goes for you," Pepper said, tracing her finger around the circular scar on his chest, and eyeing him with caution. "I need you to be in tip-top shape, too. Not just for me, but for mini-Stark, as well," she said, patting her belly.

Tony smiled. "Of course," he said. "A promise is a promise, Pep," he said. "I said I'd take better care of you, because you take such good care of me, right? That includes regular updates on my ticker," he said.

Pepper smiled. "And don't you forget it," she cooed in reply, brushing the tip of her nose with his before kissing his lips lovingly.