Prompt: Penny telling Tony that she is pregnant.

Penny found out when she woke up in the middle of the night. She stared up at the ceiling and tried to figure it out...what had woken her. Something was...off. Not wrong, exactly. Just off. She rolled over, and beside her, Harry grumbled in his sleep, tugging on the blankets that she'd pulled over herself. They had moved into this house a month ago, right after their honeymoon which Tony had partially funded, despite the fact that her new husband was rich too...maybe not as rich as Tony, but still.

The tabloids had been thrilled. 'Surrogate daughter of Tony Stark and son of Norman Osborn engaged. Will Romeo and Juliet find their happy ever after?' She'd snorted, rolling her eyes and throwing the paper back at Tony who had laughed. Sure, he and Norman didn't get along. At all. Like...ever. But he liked Harry. "Surrogate daughter is kind of pushing it." She had joked, and he'd laughed.

"Watch it before I write you out of my will."

"You wouldn't. Pepper's put too much work into me."

It was true. At 25, she had graduated early from MIT and had secured herself a coveted position at Stark Industries, working directly under Pepper. It was no secret that she was training to take over as CEO, even though she also spent her fair share of time with Tony in his lab...or hers. Her graduation present (or, one of them) had been a shiny new lab. All hers. Harry, Tony, and Penny were the only ones who had access, and they'd worked down there plenty of times.

The house was close enough to the tower that it wasn't a long commute. Not for either of them. While Penny would continue to work for and with Mr. Stark, Harry was going to be taking over his father's company. There were even talks of a merger. With all of that work ahead of her, Penny knew that she needed her sleep...not to mention the patrols she still went on almost daily. So...why wasn't she sleeping?

She closed her eyes, focusing on the heartbeats in the room. Her new husband's...steady and strong and reassuring. Her own, just as steady, but a little faster. But...but that wasn't it.

Penny's eyes shot open and she stared up at the ceiling with a gasp. "Oh." She whispered, a hand shooting over to Harry's, another on her stomach. She hadn't thought...she had never thought that she could...with the spider bite and...and the radiation and...and she'd never thought that she could be...but there was a heartbeat. And it wasn't hers and it wasn't Harry's.

"What?" He asked, grumbling as he tried to wake himself up. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I...yeah." She whispered. "Sorry. Nightmare." And she rolled over, curling up in his arms. She would need to be sure first.

The next day, she arrived at the tower early, hurrying straight to the Medbay. Tony wouldn't be looking for her for an hour, so she had some time. She couldn't tell anyone...not until she was sure. Helen looked up from her clipboard, smiling in greeting. "Hi, Penny. You're here early. What can…"

"I need you to do bloodwork and you can't tell Tony."

Helen blinked at her. "Okay...is...is something wrong?"

"I need to be sure...I think...I think I'm…" She placed a hand over her still-flat stomach and Helen's eyes went huge.

"Pregnant?" She asked. Penny nodded. She was sure that Helen was thinking all the same things she had, but she immediately led Penny over to one of the beds and got started on the bloodwork. It wasn't long before she'd confirmed what Penny already knew. Pregnant. She was pregnant.

"I...Helen I didn't think I could…"

"Me either." Helen agreed, setting the tablet she'd been looking at down. "But...but it's going to be okay. I'm going to keep a close eye on you. You're only 8 weeks...I would wait until the first trimester passes to tell anyone...if...if this is what you want." Penny looked up at her, unsure. "I can't promise that...with your mutation...that this is going to be an easy pregnancy or even a viable one."

Penny had never really given much thought to kids. Really...she and Harry had barely talked about it. But she knew...she wanted this. She was about seventy percent sure. "Yeah...yeah, I want to...try."

Helen nodded. "Alright. Then I want you in here for checkups." She scribbled something on a pad, then headed to a cabinet, pulling out a bottle of what Penny quickly realized here prenatal vitamins. "Start taking these. If you experience any pain or bleeding, call me immediately. And, as I'm sure you know, no more patrolling."

At first, Penny wanted to argue. She wanted to refuse. New York needed her. So...so she would have to give them up for the time. "But...what will I tell Tony?" Helen pursed her lips, thinking for a moment. "I have to tell him something. He'll notice that I'm not patrolling."

"We...we'll come up with something. We'll tell him...that you and Harry want to push the merger. So you'll be working more. And...you can tell him that you have an internship with me….here in the medbay." Penny nodded, lips pressed tightly together.

"Okay...yeah...yeah, I can do that."

She managed to hold it together for the rest of the day, focusing as best she could on her work. Tony didn't seem to notice anything strange...then again, with Morgan turning thirteen and starting high school, he had a lot of his own troubles to think of. Still, they kept up a stream of chatter as they worked...working with the man who had basically become her father was...amazing. She loved it. And she knew that he did too. But how was she going to lie to him for three months?

When she got home, she debated on how she could tell Harry...in the end, she blurted it out over dinner. He picked her up and spun her around and immediately they started working on how they would keep this from Tony and the others...and also how they would eventually tell them. The next people she went to were Bucky and Sam who she found in the kitchen the next day when she headed up for lunch, slipping away from Tony before he could ask her to eat with him. Bucky looked up from where he was eating his sandwich. Sam closed the fridge, nodding hello.

"Hey, kid." Bucky greeted. Penny smiled, taking a seat across from him at the table. He and Sam had been on an Avengers mission all month and had just come back, so she didn't think they'd be going back out anytime soon.

"Hi…"

"What's up?"

"I...I need a favor."

Sam's face turned to concern and he took a seat too. They both looked tired...since they'd lost Steve to the Snap, they'd been working harder than ever to keep the Avengers together and the world safe. And she felt bad about asking them. But she needed help and they were the least likely to spill this kind of secret. "What kind of favor? You okay?" Sam asked, crossing his arms.

Penny looked around, lips pressed together. "Friday, where's Tony?"

"He is in his lab."

"Kid?" Bucky repeated.

"I need...I can't patrol...for a while." She explained. "I was just...I was going to ask if you guys could keep an eye on Queens."

"Why can't you patrol?" Sam wanted to know. Penny sighed, pushing some of her hair out of her face. "What's going on, kid?"

"I...I think I…" She swallowed hard, glancing back at the door again, then leaning forward. "I'm pregnant." She whispered, then flapped her hands and shook her head when they started to say something, their eyes wide in surprise. "Shh! I just found out yesterday and it's still so early and Helen doesn't know if...anyway, she said I can't patrol anymore."

"Of course you can't patrol anymore!" Sam cried.

"Yeah, exactly. But...it's a secret. Please...please don't tell anyone. I'll have to figure out something to tell Tony but…"

"Don't worry about it, kid. We'll keep an eye on Queens." Bucky promised with a grin.

In the end, she and Harry went with a shirt. Four shirts, to be exact. They would tell May and Happy and Tony and Pepper at the same time. The first trimester passed, and other than some throwing up, she felt fine. Helen checked on her at least once a week, taking more blood and taking ultrasounds and keeping a close eye on her. Tony didn't ask too many questions about why she wasn't patrolling, but she knew he would soon...so she and Harry invited everyone over for dinner.

Penny made lasagna, a recipe that Tony had taught her, and everyone arrived on time, May kissing her cheek and Happy pulling her in for a hug. Pepper and Tony both hugged her as well, both asking Harry how he was and how Oscorp was faring. He assured them that all was well with a smile, and then they sat down to eat.

Penny waited until after they'd all eaten to bring out the gift bags. Four of them. They were all on the sofa, Penny and Harry together as they watched everyone examine the black bags. "What gives, kid? Is there a national holiday I forgot about?" Tony wondered with a chuckle.

"No. We just wanted to get all of you something. To thank you." He nodded, eyes softening, and they all opened their bags, pulling out the shirts. Two matching pairs. 'World's Best Grandpa' and 'World's Best Grandma.'

Pepper was the first to get it, her hand flying to her mouth. Happy just stared at his, blinking and shaking his head as if trying to puzzle it out. May gasped, letting out a little cry. And Tony...Tony stared at it the same way Happy did...confused. Bewildered. Almost blank faced. Beside her, Harry chuckled, but she worried if she shouldn't have gotten May and Happy the same kinds but...May was like her mom...was her mom. And Happy...he was her husband. Sure, she'd basically been an adult when they'd married, but he'd become like her...step-father. And she loved him.

"Oh." Tony finally whispered, looking up at her. "You...you're going to…"

Penny nodded. "Yeah." She told him with a suddenly teary smile. "Helen is keeping a close eye on everything...she says it all looks good."

"Oh...Penny!" May cried, jumping up and throwing her arms around her. Happy was next, hanging back just a little.

"Grandpa?" He asked. She laughed, wiping at her eyes.

"What? You didn't think the baby would call you 'Happy' did you?" He hugged her then, more careful than before as he wrapped her in his arms.

Then Pepper. Pepper kissed her forehead and hugged her close and then...then it was Tony's turn.

He stood in front of her for a long time, his hair gray and thinning a little...he had wrinkles at his eyes from the smile he almost always had now. He seemed...smaller now. But when he held her, it was the same as always...the same feeling of safety and love and comfort...a knowledge that she would always be okay as long as she had her family.

"Is this why Bucky and Sam have been patrolling Queens?" He asked in a whisper. She giggled.

"Yeah." She told him with a nod.

"You told them first?"

"I told Helen first...but I needed someone to look after Queens." She told him with a shrug. "And...Helen wasn't sure...me either...if...with the spider bite... " Penny bit down on her lip and he hugged her again, his lips pressing to her temple.

"I love you so much, kiddo. It's gonna be okay."

"I love you too." She pulled back, smiling. "My kid is going to have the world's best grandparents."

"Yeah...they are." He agreed, squeezing her hand.