So Romantic

A little story that came up to me during my lunch break today, (Aug. 22)

Tony Stark approached Pepper Potts' desk, and without a word set a golden box in front of her.

Pepper stared at it, then looked up.

Tony smiled.

"Godiva chocolates, Potts."

"Yes," she said, reaching for her pen. "Who shall I send them to?"

"What do you mean who shall you send them to? They're for you."

Pepper frowned.

"Me? Why?"

"What do you mean why? It's our first-month anniversary, of course."

Pepper stared blankly at him.

"Don't you remember?" When Pepper didn't reply, he added, "A month ago?"

Silence.

Reluctantly, Tony went on. "I told you that I...That I…" He gulped. "You know."

She held back a smile.

"Actually, I don't," she said sweetly. "You said, 'Pepper, I... I...' and then you started to kiss me, and that was it."

"Hey, you kissed me back too," he pointed out. "Don't make it sound like it was a one-sided thing."

"The point is you didn't tell me anything."

"No, the point is, something happened a month ago," he said patiently; "I kissed you, you kissed me, and now you and me are… You know. So, I got you this." He gave the box a little push in Pepper's direction, then abruptly pulled it back. "You're not allergic to chocolate, are you?"

"Only if there are strawberries in it."

"Oh, there are none there," he said firmly. "I was very specific."

Pepper smiled.

"Thank you, honey." She touched the box. "It's gorgeous." She looked up and noticed Tony was still looking expectantly at her. "Would you like one?"

"No, thanks." He kept staring at her. Finally, he said, "Well?"

"Well...What?"

"You didn't get me anything?"

Pepper was taken aback.

"Uh, no. I… I didn't."

"You didn't?" Tony frowned. "Huh. I thought you were only pretending you didn't remember, but -"

"Oh, Tony, I'm sorry. I just… It never occurred to me you'd want to keep track of -I mean, you never do. It's always been up to me to remind you of every date, and -"

"Exactly," he said. "I thought you'd remember this."

"'This' is not a business date, Tony. It's personal. I didn't -" She hesitated, then reluctantly said, "I guess I'm just not a romantic kind of person."

Tony's eyebrows rose.

"You're not?"

"I don't think so. At least, I never kept track of anniversaries or any significant dates. If you asked my exboyfriends, they'd -"

"No, thanks." Tony said with a glare. "I don't even wanna know there are any out there." He stared at her for a moment, then shook his head, "It's funny. I thought all women kept lists of these things."

"Not me," she said casually, then she checked herself. "I hope you don't mind."

"What? No. I mean, sure, it would have been nice if you -" he let the word trail off. He smiled faintly. "I guess I should be relieved you're so low-maintenance." But he didn't really sound relieved, and the smile on his lips had a touch of sadness in it. "I won't have to worry about getting dates right and giving you nice things, and all that." He looked appraisingly at her. "So, no lists of anniversaries, huh?"

"No."

"And I suppose you never kept a list of baby names in the back of your wardrobe either."

"Never," Pepper said, "Why would I? I knew if you ever had a daughter you'd name her Maria after your mom; and if it was a boy, you'd name him Anthony or Howard."

"Yeah, well. Maybe," he said testily. "Or maybe I would have -" But he didn't finish. A thought had occurred to him, and it made him smile, genuinely this time. "Are you saying I was your only choice when it came to the hypothetical father of your hypothetical children?"

Pepper opened her mouth to reply, but no word came at first.

"I... I suppose you were," she said slowly. She smiled in sudden realization. "You always were."

He melted.

"Aw, Potts. That's very... you know."

She knew all right.

The End