Howdy! Well, this fic has held a lot of firsts for me, it's been the first Pepperony saga I've started writing, and it's also held my first flame! How exciting. What made me laugh was the person didn't even log in to post it, and they didn't bother to read past the intro bit of the first chapter. Apparently combining the idea of two films to inspire fiction makes no sense. Interesting. Thank you to 'Sasha' for his/her flame. In future, though, labelling a fic as crap doesn't technically come under "constructive criticism". Just a heads up. You should all go read it though, it's pretty lolworthy.

Song of the Day: Brad Paisley – She's Everything

Tony's heart stopped. His brain ceased to function. Rhodey saw this and added it with the 'next of kin' to create a horrendous scenario in his head.

"Tony, what happened?" he got up and walked over to him as Tony hung up the phone. "Dude, is Pepper ok?"

Tony nodded and swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat.

"Pepper's pregnant."

"What?" Rhodey's jaw dropped.

"Yeah." Tony cleared his throat. "That was her doctor on the phone."

"Are you sure?" Tony gave him an 'are you kidding me?' look. "I mean, did she actually say that she's pregnant?"

"She said that the blood work came back fine and there was nothing to worry about and she and the baby are healthy, so I'm pretty sure that translates to 'Tony Stark, you're gonna be a Daddy'." He was still looking like a deer in the headlights.

"Shit." Rhodey sighed. "Man, what are you gonna do?"

Now that was a question. About a million different questions were running through its head. Why hadn't she told him? Was she going to tell him? Was the baby even his? He mentally slapped himself for even thinking that. Of course it was his. Something in his stomach flipped at this. He was going to have a baby, he was going to be a father.

Straightening up, he opened his mouth to reply to Rhodey, but before he could get any words out, Jarvis interrupted him.

"Miss Potts' car is approaching, sir. She appears quite agitated." The AI said.

"I guess I'll find out in a minute." Tony sighed.

"Hey, everything will turn out ok." Rhodey put a reassuring hand on Tony's shoulder and smiled awkwardly. "Congratulations though." He gave him one last slap on the shoulder and then turned to leave. As he opened the door, Pepper barrelled through it and collided with him. "Shit! Pepper, are you ok?"

She gave him a weird look. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine Rhodes. Hey, welcome back! I just came back to see if – oh, thank God, my phone!" she saw it in Tony's hand and smiled at him. "My hero. I was going insane." She rushed over to him and he handed it to her. "Have I missed any calls?"

"Well, I'm gonna…" Rhodey pointed behind him and backed out of the door, closing it quickly.

"He's weird today." Pepper said, smiling at him. When he grimaced rather than smiled, hers faded slightly. "Are you ok?"

He nodded, still an odd look on his face. "I'm, uh, I'm…your doctor called for you, I took the message."

He could see the realisation on Pepper's face as she swallowed nervously. "What did she say?"

"Not much," Tony shrugged. He pushed himself away from the counter he was still leaning on and walked over to the couch. "She said the blood tests came back positive and you're fine."

"Oh," she relaxed a little. "Well that's-"

"Both of you." He looked at her. Her mouth was slightly agape.

"Tony-"

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked her gently. He wasn't angry or upset. He honestly didn't know how to feel at that moment, he just wanted answers.

"I was going to, I swear." She stammered.

"When?"

"I was waiting for the tests to come back." Tears were beginning to form in her eyes. "I only found out a few days ago and then I booked a scan. I was having stomach pains so I didn't want to tell you until I knew everything was ok. The doctor said the baby's heart was beating a little fast so they did some tests." She wiped her cheek.

Tony's face softened somewhat. "How far along are you?"

"The doctor said fourteen weeks."

"And you didn't know?"

"I'm not having morning sickness, I'm not showing yet and it's more of a shock when I have a period than when I skip one, so no, Tony, I didn't know." He heard the irritation in her voice and sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry." He stood up and ran his fingers through his hair. "This is just…I need to…" he strode past her and went down the stairs to his workshop. Pepper stayed stock still, refusing to believe he had just run away. She was jolted out of self pity as her BlackBerry rang. She sniffed and answered it.

"Hello? Uh, yes, Mr. Stark is aware of that. No, of course he will be attending. Yes, yes, ok, ,that's fine. We'll see you then." She pressed the 'end call' button with a little more force than as technically necessary and flopped onto the couch, propping her elbows on her knees and bringing her hands up to her face to try and control herself. She felt like curling up into a ball, but she didn't want to do that here. She was about to get up and leave but stopped sharply when she was faced with Tony standing at the top of the stairs to his workshop. He was staring at a small box in his right hand.

"The first time we slept together, after you'd fallen asleep, I lay awake waiting." He said quietly. "I was waiting for something to kick in and tell me to run away, like it had every other time with every other woman. I realised after about an hour that it wasn't going to happen, and that scared the shit out of me." He looked up at her and walked forwards.

"When I first properly realised I was in love with you, I was waiting for the thing to tell me to run again, more so when I actually told you. Still nothing happened, and that time I wasn't scared. Like, at all." He stopped an arms reach in front of her and got down on one knee.

"Oh…God." Pepper whispered.

"I always thought that if the time came where I was a father, I wouldn't know what to do." Tony continued. "I thought I'd fuck up and run away, but something about you makes the fear go away, and I know this is the right thing to do." He opened the box and took her left hand in his. "Pepper Potts, will you marry me?"

Silence.

More silence.

Tony fidgeted.

"Potts?"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah?!"

"No!"

"No?"

"Yeah…"

"Stop." Tony said. "Pepper, yes or no?"

"It's not that simple." She said slowly. Tony stared.

"How is it not simple? You've got to choose between two answers."

"Exactly!" she exclaimed and stood up, skirting around him. She heard the box snap closed and she turned to face him.

"You don't want to marry me?"

"I don't not want to marry you." She replied. At his beyond confused expression, she sighed and closed her eyes. "Tony, you said getting married is the right thing to do, but it's not something you just jump into because you think it's the right thing to do."

"I'm not jumping into this, I've been thinking this over for months, Pepper."

"Well I haven't." she said. "And I honestly think that marriage is a bad idea when the only reason is because it's 'the right thing to do'." She air quoted his words.

"Pepper, the baby needs a family-"

"And it'll have one." She caressed his cheek. "But we don't need to get married for that to happen. I'm not saying that it won't ever happen, but it's not something we need." She could see the disappointed look in his eyes. "Tony, I love you, you know that right?"

"I know." He smiled slightly. "I love you too. I just…I want to do this right." He raised a hand to her stomach and brushed the back of his knuckles across her abdomen. Pepper sighed and kissed him softly.

"You couldn't possibly do this wrong, you'll be a fantastic father."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Are you kidding me?" she smiled at him. "Iron Man for a dad? You'd so win in a 'my dad can beat up your dad' argument."

This brought a reluctant smile to his lips and she kissed him again. "I could pick him up from school in the suit."

"You think I'm going to let any child of mine fly in that thing?" she giggled.

"Not at first." He grinned and wrapped his arms around her.

"Or at all."

"Ah, you'll come round." He kissed her neck. "On both counts." He backed them up until his legs hit the couch and they fell back onto it, Tony's mouth still attached to her neck.

"I think you'll find," she gasped as Tony's hands settled on her rear. "my answer wasn't a straight out no, more of a…not right now." She pulled his head up and kissed him hotly.

"Like I said, you'll come round." He broke the kiss and nuzzled her nose with his. "Will you at least move in?"

"Ugh, you're so demanding!"

TBC

…which is why I wanted to shove this at the end of the last chapter. It's too short for my liking, but I'm pressed for time and I was so beyond bored today cos I was off work. Plus, reviews make me happy, so a big huge muchas gracias to those who have made this like my 4th highest reviewed fic of all time! Shall we try and make it 1st? 120ish to beat!