The plane had reached altitude, and Pepper was dozing softly in her seat. Tony gazed out the window, and then glanced back at Pepper to make sure she was comfortable. It appeared she was. So when the seat belt light turned off, he unbuckled and moved to the sofa in the center of the cabin, across from her seat. He plunked down and sprawled out on the couch, leaving Pepper alone to sleep. He grabbed the tablet off of the end table next to him, connected to the wifi signal of the plane, and opened his secured server to get into his private email. He saw another email had come in from Nick Fury, and he smiled. "Right on time," he murmured to himself. He shifted it to the encrypted ghost file and opened it up to peruse its contents. Tony flipped through the images Fury had sent, very similar in nature to the ones he sent to Tony the night before. Tony smiled broadly. Perfect,he thought. It just affirmed even further that Fury was the right man for the job. At first, when he'd propositioned Fury, he thought he'd get an earful about how ridiculous and frivolous the task seemed, and how dare he even voice the notion to him that he needed his help with this particular project. And, never to disappoint, Tony did receive some flack from Fury initially. But once Tony had explained that only those that could be trusted to keep things of the utmost confidentiality were asked to participate, much less be invited, Fury could appreciate the reason why Tony had come to him in the first place. And, after Tony had given him the details, Nick had divulged that he'd even done this for a time when he was younger, and was actually happy to have a chance to rekindle it. Now, in seeing the images that he'd received, Tony was more than inclined to believe him.

Pepper stirred, and Tony quickly closed out the file, laying the tablet back down on the table beside the couch. He crossed an ankle over his knee and propped his cheek against his fist on the armrest. Pepper slowly opened her eyes. She noticed he wasn't in the seat across from her, so she frowned and looked around, making eye contact with him on the sofa. "How long have I been out?" she asked sleepily.

Tony shrugged. "Pretty much since we boarded," he said.

Pepper's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Wow, really?" she said.

Tony nodded. "I didn't want to wake you, but I had to find a place to stretch out." He patted the cushion beside him. "Come 'ere. Come sit with me," he said.

Pepper smiled, and unbuckled her seat belt. She walked to where he was seated, and Tony propped his leg up on the cushion, motioning for her to sit down between his legs, with her back to his chest. She smiled and obliged, and he wrapped her up in his arms. Pepper sighed happily and rested her head back against his shoulder. He kiss the top of the head, and squeezed her in a hug. Pepper yawned, putting a hand to her mouth.

"Still tired?" Tony asked.
Pepper chuckled. "These days I'm always tired," she replied. "But the nap helped."

"Good," Tony said.

Pepper fiddled with her engagement and wedding rings, falling silent for a few moments in thought. "You know something we'll have to do when we get back," she said finally.

"What's that, baby?" Tony asked.

"Meet with the contractors and change the house plans to include a nursery," she said, smiling happily.

Tony smiled. "Well, let me show you what your terrific husband has done for you, Mrs. Stark, and tell me what you think," he said, grabbing the tablet again from off the end table beside him. He tapped the screen and pulled up the modified house blue prints. Once the plans for the upper floor appeared, he tapped on them to reveal the baby's room he'd created the night before. "Voila," he said, handing the tablet to Pepper. "Nursery a la' Stark," he said.

Pepper gasped. "You've already done it!" she mused.

Tony smiled proudly. "Yep. And I emailed the changes to the General Contractor already, so it's in the works as we speak," he said.

"And it has a picture window, and a walk-in closet and everything!" she marveled. "Oh, Tony!" she said, turning around in her seat to face him. She beamed as threw her arms around his neck. Tony chuckled and squeezed her tightly in a bear hug.

"It's perfect!" she cried.

"I know," Tony bragged, smirking.

Pepper pulled back to look at him. "Is this what you were doing last night?" she asked.

Tony's eye went wide. She remembered that?,he thought. "Uh, y-yeah, babe, that's...what I was doing," he stammered, smiling at her sheepishly.

Pepper threw her arms around his neck again. "Oh!" she squeaked. "Thank you! I was trying to figure out when we could meet with them this week, but you've..." she said, sighing with deep satisfaction. "You took care of it!" she said softly, smiling at him proudly. She shook her head. "You're wonderful," she cooed.

Tony gazed at her lovingly. "I'm glad I could help you out," he said.

"A promise is a promise, right?" Pepper teased, referencing his promise to her on the rooftop in New York so long ago.

Tony chuckled and nodded. "Right," he said, smiling.

Pepper kissed his lips, and hugged him tightly again. And Tony sighed with relief. Safe, he thought.

She unwrapped her arms from around his neck, but turned her body sideways so she could look at him. Tony laid his outside leg across her lap and bent the other one at the knee behind her. Pepper rested her head on his chest. He wrapped her back up in his arms.

He thought for a moment. "This might be a touch early, but are there any names you've thought about? Just out of curiosity?"

Pepper raised her head to look at him. "I was thinking Maria for a girl..."

"An obvious, but wonderful, choice. Ma would've loved it," Tony interjected, smiling in satisfaction.

"...And Howard Anthony for a boy."

Tony grimaced. "Really?" he whined.

Pepper frowned. "Tony, your family has a wonderful tradition of namesakes. We should keep that going."

"Yeah, but Howard? Howie Stark. Doesn't exactly exude power, Pep," he argued, rolling his eyes.

"Well his name wouldn't be 'Howie', except maybe to us for a nickname, but Howard Stark is a very powerful name. And it's a name he could be proud of. People would know exactly who his grandfather was."

Tony teeter-tottered his head from side to side, still grimacing. He thought for a moment. "How about..." he said, clucking his tongue in thought. "Audi?"

It was Pepper's turn to grimace. "What! Audi?"

"Or...Shelby?" Tony said.

"Tony, no car names."

"Mmmm-kay, no car names. No car names," he said, as he thought. He scrunched up his face in concentration, and then his expression brightened. He snapped his fingers. "Oooh, Hudson! That's a great name. Hudson Stark. Great name."

"Stop thinking of cars to name our child after!" Pepper exclaimed. "Can you at least mull over the idea of using your father's name?" Pepper exclaimed. She took Tony's face in her hands. "Please?" she pleaded.

"Yeah, okay," Tony said reluctantly. "Fine. I'll think about it. Although, you've gotta understand my visceral reaction to that name. Too much childhood drama," Tony said. He rested his hand on her stomach and Pepper ran her fingers through his hair.

"I know, Tony. But just think about it, alright?" she pleaded.

"Alright," Tony said, sealing it with a quick peck on the lips. He shifted his focus back to Pepper's belly. He gently rubbed it for a few quiet moments before he spoke again. "So how are you feeling?" he said finally, bringing his eyes back up to hers. "More importantly, what do you feel? I can only imagine how strange it feels to suddenly be growing another person."

Pepper smiled. "Well, besides the morning sickness and being exhausted, I don't feel anything."

Tony wrinkled his nose in disbelief. "Really? Nothing?"

Pepper tipped her head to the side. "Well, Tony, I'm only just a few weeks along. The baby isn't big enough for me to feel anything that it's doing right now."

Tony nodded his head in understanding. He cleared his throat. "So the real question is, Mrs. Stark," he rumbled in his most gravelly baritone. Pepper loved this voice. It made her insides go to jelly. He cocked an eyebrow, and she blushed. He continued. "When do I get to sing the 'Havin' My Baby' song?"

Pepper looked at him curiously. "What's the 'Havin' My Baby' song?"she asked.

"You know. Paul Anka?" Tony said hopefully.

Pepper still looked confused, so Tony suddenly threw back his head and broke out loudly in chorus. "Havin' my baby! What a lovely way to say how much you love me..."

"Oh,God!" Pepper whined, rolling her eyes. She clapped an exasperated hand to her forehead. Tony continued with his serenade.

"Havin' my baby! What a lovely..." Pepper quickly clasped a hand over his mouth just as he was finishing the phrase. He looked at her with a goofy, wide-eyed grin, his voice muffled as he tried to sing through her hand.

"Tony, I beg you to stop. I'm already nauseous enough! Really! Please stop singing that song!" she pleaded over his muffled singing.

Tony stopped and chuckled to himself as she removed her hand. He bent to kiss her cheek, and hold her close.

"Goofball,"she muttered lovingly, running her fingers through his hair again. But she couldn't help but smile.