Most of the characters in this story belong to Marvel Comics and whoever else has current legal ownership of Iron Man and not to me, even in my wildest dreams. No infringement on anyone's rights is intended in any way. This story is not being written for profit.
This story was written for all of you who wanted a sequel to my story "The Sense of Touch". I sincerely appreciated your kind words and encouragement and I hope that you enjoy this story. :)
Within a minute Pepper tensed. "Tony" she said as she began squirming against him, rousing him immediately. He quickly got to his feet and moved around the bed. "On the ball or against the wall?" He asked as he gently pulled her to her feet.
"The wall." She replied as he led her to the nearest wall.
He held her hips as she leaned against the wall, stretching her back. He quickly moved one hand to her tailbone and rotated his thumb just above it beginning a deep massage of the area. He felt Pepper move her hand further down on the wall and he gripped her a little tighter as she rocked her hips, wanting to make sure that she didn't lose her balance. "Do you want to lay on the ball?" he asked her "You are leaning over too much and getting off balance. It might be better to lean on the ball instead."
She nodded her reply and he gently pulled her against him, hugging her as he leaned his head down to the juncture of her neck and shoulder, kissing her there. "I love you." He whispered as guided her to where the ball was sitting on the floor.
"Please help me kneel, Tony." She replied as he immediately moved his hands to her arm pits as she slowly moved to kneel.
"Wait Pep" he said pulling her gently back up to a standing position "Let me get a pad for your knees." As he quickly grabbed a foam pad from a nearby table and placed it beside the ball. "Here you go."
He gently lowered her until she was kneeling next to the ball. He kneeled behind her as she laid her head and chest on the ball and began to rock. He began to massage her back again. He felt the muscles in her lower back slowly start to loosen under his fingers as the contraction started easing.
As the contraction ended, she slumped onto the ball. Tony immediately stopped massaging her and wrapped his arms around her hips and belly leaning over to gently press his body to hers. "You are doing great you know." He said as he kissed her tenderly on the neck. "Let's get you up and into bed."
He stood up pulling her gently with him and supported her as she walked back to the bed. He helped her get into bed and turn to her side. He quickly slid into bed behind her rubbing her belly tenderly with his left hand and stroking her hair back from her face with his right hand.
"I love you so much." He whispered in her ear as he closed his eyes.
"I love you." She whispered back faintly.
Tony could feel her breathing even out and knew that she was already asleep. He was grateful that she was able to fall asleep so quickly knowing that the next contraction was going to be less than 15 minutes away. It seemed like only a few minutes when he woke up as he felt Pepper moving away from him. He was on his feet in less than a second, rounding the bed and taking Pepper's hands in his as he helped her to her feet.
"Ball." She said between clenched teeth.
He gently held her around the waist as she walked over to the ball. Then he helped her to kneel over the ball. He quickly brought her a pillow to lay her head on as she started rocking her hips. His hand quickly went to the small of her back as he started massaging her, his other hand finding her hip as he slowly stroked her trying to give her some comfort. He looked at the clock on the wall: 5:28 AM. He remembered what Karen had told them about the babies being born by noon. He hoped for Pepper's sake that the twins were early. So far Pepper was holding up, but Tony was still worried about her. He knew that natural childbirth was her decision, but he would give anything if he could somehow help share some of the pain. Pepper groaned as the contraction subsided. Tony leaned over her and nuzzled her neck as he pulled her gently up to her feet.
He wordlessly led her back to the bed. He noticed that her forehead was now damp with sweat from her battle with the pain of the contraction. "Let me get a cold, wet washcloth and wash your face." He said as he laid her down on the bed. She curled up on her side as he sank to his knees on the floor beside her, his face next to hers.
"Just remember, Pep" he whispered to her as he wiped her face gently with the washcloth. "I'm on diaper duty for a month after the twins are born."
Her eyes shot open and she looked at him sternly, raising one eyebrow. "Just one month?" She teased.
He immediately stopped washing her face as he smiled at her. "OK" he replied leaning over to kiss her on the nose "Two then."
The door suddenly opened and the room lighting increased dramatically as Dr. Summers stepped inside the room. "That contraction was a pretty strong one." She said as she approached the bed. Her dark brown eyes were concerned "How are you holding up, Pepper?"
"OK" Pepper replied managing a small smile as she tilted her head on her pillow to look at Karen.
"Telemetry showed both the babies' heart rate increased during that last contraction, which means they are starting to feel the squeeze." She explained as she put a hand on Pepper's shoulder. "That's normal. Did you notice movement from the twins during this contraction?"
Tony had stopped washing Pepper's face when Karen had walked in the room. He now took one of Pepper's hands in his and started stroking her palm with his thumb.
"Yes' she replied "I could feel them move. It felt like they were sliding."
Karen's face lit up. "Good!" she said as she reached out to pat her on the shoulder "Turn onto your back and let me check dilation again."
Tony let go of her hand and stood up as he helped her roll over to her back. He then backed away from the bed giving Dr. Summers some working room as she pulled on a pair of examination gloves.
"You are doing great Pepper!" Dr. Summers said as she pulled off the gloves and put them in the Haz-Mat container. "Seven point five already. Looks like those Stark babies are ramping up for an early arrival."
"Early arrival?" Tony asked as he moved back to Pepper and helped roll her back onto her side.
Karen smiled and patted Pepper gently on the shoulder again. "You might want to call the Potts clan now or I will never hear the end of it from your grandma." She teased "The rapid dilation combined with the feeling of the babies sliding means you are headed into the second phase of labor which is usually only one to three hours long. And with the rapid changes I'm seeing here, I would wager you will be closer to the one hour side. Apparently Potts women don't mess around when it comes to birthing babies."
Tony immediately pulled out his cell phone and called Jarvis. "J" he said into the phone "Have you started making calls yet?
"Yes sir" Jarvis started as Tony put him on speaker so Pepper could hear too "I have made the Washington, DC and New York calls already."
"OK, good." Tony replied "Go ahead and call Pepper's family right now and let them know that they need to get here within the hour. Is Rhody on his way?" Tony knew that Rhody had been eagerly awaiting the twins' birth for the past two weeks and had rearranged his schedule so he would be in the States.
"Affirmative" Jarvis agreed. "Col. Rhodes is on his way with an ETA of one hour and five minutes. It seems he was able to board a military jet whose pilot will drop him off in Flagstaff while in route to Tucson for training. I have arranged for SI security to pick him up at the Flagstaff Airport and bring him to Dr. Summer's clinic as soon as he lands."
"Good work Jarvis. Pepper is doing great and Dr. Summers says the Stark babies could be born a little early. I'll keep you informed." Tony smiled at Pepper who wearily smiled back at him.
"That is good news sir." Jarvis replied as Tony broke the connection.
"Can I borrow Jarvis to help run my clinic for me?" Karen teased moving for the door "He would make my scheduling so much easier."
"You'll need to talk to Jarvis about that." Pepper replied smiling at Karen before Dr. Summers once again walked out the door diming the lights as she left.