Hi, guys! Thank you so much for the reviews and encouragement. I'm glad you like it!

So, here's the epilogue I promised. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer (which I forgot to put last time ¬¬) : I do not own the Avengers. If I did, I'd be rich, bitch XD

Here it goes...

Epilogue

A few years later…

Pepper arrived from work and was immediately startled by the loud sound of metal crashing downstairs. She mentally groaned as she realized it was coming from Tony's workshop. Carelessly removing her stilettos, she climbed down the steps towards the certain chaos that lay ahead.

"Ok, we're ready to run a few tests now." Tony was saying when she reached the glass door.

She typed the security code and entered the workshop, to see all kinds of metallic pieces and bolt scattered all over the place. Tony was sitting on the floor, his back to her, and she arrived just in time to see a misshapen piece of metal (with some kind of basket attached to it and a long claw) whirl around and fall to pieces in the same minute.

"Aww." Tony lamented. "It's ok. We'll try again."

"What are you doing, may I ask?" Pepper asked as she approached.

Tony turned his head to look at her and smiled. The 6-year-old sitting on his lap smiled brightly and got up, running towards Pepper.

"Mommy!"

He embraced her legs and she caressed his light-brown hair.

"Hey, sweetie."

"Tell your mother what we're doing, Howie."

Howard Stark II lifted his head as much as he could so he could stare at his mother's face.

"We're doing science, mommy!"

Pepper smiled.

"Is that right?" She looked over at Tony. "I hope it isn't dangerous."

Tony snorted.

"Please. It's not like we're building another Iron Man armor here. Even if we were, Dummy over there is ready to put out any fires." He winked at her, but she glared at him. "No worries. It's safe." He grabbed the pieces of the failed robot. "Did you know this is his project, entirely? Yep. I'm only his helper."

"Let's go see it, then." She reached out for his hand and he took it, practically dragging her at where the robot lay.

Pepper kneeled on the floor as much as her pencil skirt allowed her, with Howard crouching by her side.

"Look, look." He grabbed a few papers with sketches of the supposed robot. "This is Cookie."

"Cookie?" Pepper smiled.

"I told him to name it after something he liked…" Tony explained. "So, this is Cookie Mark I. As you can see, it didn't work."

Howard pouted. "Why didn't it work, daddy?"

"Maybe a few pieces need to be replaced. Don't worry, kiddo. No one gets it right at the first time. Remember Iron Man's story?"

The boy smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

"So, Howie. What's Cookie supposed to do?" Pepper inquired him.

"He picks up the toys, so they won't be scattered around the living room." Howie declared proudly.

Pepper laughed and kissed the top of his head.

"That's great! Really nice of you to think about that."

He pursed his lips. "But it didn't work."

"All right!" Tony clapped. "Who's ready to make some recalculations?"

Howard raised his arms. "Yay!"

"Go ahead, then."

"Jarvis," his tiny voice tried its best to sound confident and commanding.

"Yes, mr. Stark."

"Scan Cookie I so we can find what went wrong and do it 'best' next time." He looked at his father for approval.

"We'll do it better next time. We're awesome." He raised his hand and Howard high-fived him.

"Right away, sir." Jarvis complied.

"Now go gather the pieces; we'll probably have to replace some of them."

Howard nodded and picked up as many pieces as his small hands allowed.

Tony turned to Pepper as they got up; she was smiling.

"What?"

"You know, a few years ago, if you told me you would be a father, I would've laughed at your face…"

"That's rude."

"… but look at you, now. I'm proud of you, Tony."

He pulled her to his arms.

"You should be. It's your fault I've changed."

"Well, it wasn't all me, but…"

He smirked. "Just take 12% of the credit, Pepper."

"This again?" She shook her head.

"No, more than 12%. A lot more." Tony kissed her lips.

"Daddy, I'm ready!" Howard yelled as he tried hard to keep all the pieces in his arms.

Tony chuckled. The look of pure joy on his son's face was enough for Tony. Rogers was right. Howie was a chance for him to be a better man. Too bad his father didn't take that chance; but Tony would not waste his.

"I can see that. Put them in that box over there, will you? We'll sort the ones we will need." He turned to Pepper. "Do you wanna help us?"

"I'll be glad to."

"Let's go. Cookie Mark II, then."

The End...?