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. :)
Tony had barely helped Pepper turn onto her side when she suddenly let out a long breath as the next contraction started. Tony immediately checked his watch out of habit and helped her sit up and then stand as they slowly made their way over to the ball. Tony placed a pillow on the ball as he helped lower Pepper to her knees alongside the ball. Once she was safely on the ball, he quickly moved behind her and started his massage of her back. As he continued massaging her back, Tony looked at his watch and noticed that this contraction was already 3 ½ minutes long and showed no sign of letting up. The only sound in the room was the sound of Pepper's measured breathing.
"I love you, Baby Mama." He said as he continued his massage, leaning over the plant light kisses between her shoulder blades. "You are going to be the best Mom in the world, you know that. And definitely the most gorgeous Mom on the planet." Tony rambled on still kissing her. He heard her breathe out a long breath which signaled the end of her contraction as he felt her muscles under his hands relax slowly. As he helped her up he gently caressed her baby bump and was surprised to find that it dropped even lower during the contraction. She walked stiffly over to the bed as he held on to her. She lay down slowly and he gently helped turn her to her side.
"Hold me, Tony." She whispered as she closed her eyes, her face revealing just how tired she was becoming.
He moved around the bed quickly and got in behind her spooning up gently behind her as he nuzzled her neck. His left arm tenderly caressed her baby bump. "The babies are moving lower and lower, Pepper." He said quietly in between kisses to her neck. "It won't be long now, sweetheart." He could feel her drift off to sleep as her breathing evened out. He continued caressing her enlarged belly with his left hand as he tenderly brushed her sweat soaked bangs back from her forehead with his right hand. Tony refused to close his eyes, not wanting to chance falling asleep on Pepper. He glanced up at the clock on the wall: 6:03 AM. He thought about the names they had selected for the twins: Anna Maria and James Edward and the people they were being named after.
He thought about the twins' godparents too: Rhody, Happy, Bruce, Betty, Natasha, Clint, Thor, Jane, Steve, and of course Karen. He also thought back to the discussion that Fury and he had months ago when Pepper's pregnancy was first made public. Fury had held Tony back after an Avengers staff meeting.
"I understand that Mrs. Stark is pregnant." Fury stated in his usual stiff manner "And that you are expecting twins, Stark?"
"Yes we are." Tony had replied as Fury walked to a storage locker in the corner of the room. He pulled out a large box from within the locker and walked back to stand in front of Tony.
"I gave your father one of these before your birth." Fury explained to him as he handed Tony the box.
Tony took the box noting that for its bulk, the box was relatively light in weight. He sat the box down on the table and opened it. He pulled out two delicately woven baby blankets. Upon seeing the pattern of the weaves, Tony's memory was suddenly awakened and Tony realized he was looking at two exact replicas of the hand made baby blanket he had as a child. He knew that these were handmade Tibetan cashmere baby blankets which were cherished in Tibet as bringers of good luck and fortune for the child who slept under them. His mother had told him that his blanket had been specially handcrafted for him and given to him by one of his godfathers.
Tony quickly expanded his search of his childhood memories and he suddenly remembered an 'Uncle Nick' that his father had mentioned on occasion. His mom had showed him photos once of his father holding an infant Tony in his arms and standing with a tall black man with an afro, sans eye patch. The pieces quickly fell together in Tony's mind and his facial expression no doubt betrayed his underlying emotions to Fury.
"Don't be so surprised, Stark." Fury explained "I promised Howard that I would look out for you. That was my duty as your godfather. But you haven't made it exactly easy for me to do." Fury's eyes suddenly lit up with humor. "I can't tell you how happy I was when a certain Pepper Potts became your PA." he paused smiling smugly at Tony. "I suddenly had my weekends back."
Tony had to remind himself to physically close his gaping mouth as he listened to Fury's story. Then surprising even himself, Tony held out his right hand to Fury. Fury extended his right hand in return and they shook hands as if they were life long friends. Perhaps they had been and Tony had only just then realized it.
"Thank you for the baby blankets." Tony quietly told Fury as they shook hands. "If you are interested, the Stark babies will be in need of great-godfather or two. And seeing how they will be Pepper's kids, you know they are going to turn out much easier to keep an eye on than I was."
"I'll consider it Stark; after all I am down to only one eye now." Fury replied sternly as Tony carefully put the blankets back into the box while suppressing a smile at Fury's 'eye' comment, as he picked up the box placing it under one arm. "Be sure to give Mrs. Stark my regards."
Tony had made sure that Fury was on Jarvis' call list and he was no doubt notified this morning along with the other Avengers. Fury had never let him know if he would be his children's great godfather or not. It seemed that he would find out soon enough.
Pepper jerked awake suddenly breaking Tony out of his memory as he quickly got up and walked around the bed. He took Pepper's hands in his and smiled reassuringly at her as he gently pulled her up from the bed and supported her as she walked slowly to the ball. Tony helped her to kneel down, placing the pillow on top of the ball for her. He dutifully started massaging her back again as he leaned over tenderly kissing each shoulder blade. He lost track of time as he continued to massage and caress her. As he kissed his way down her spine, lightly scratching her skin with his morning's growth of beard, he felt her muscles start to relax as the contraction subsided.
"You know that tickles." She whispered to him as he helped her to her feet and walked her to the bed.
"A good tickle or a bad tickle?" he questioned not really understanding what she was referring to.
"Good. Your beard is tickling me when you kiss my back." She replied with the beginnings of a smile as he helped her roll onto her side in the bed.
He smiled in understanding as he leaned down and kissed her soundly on the lips. "You want me in bed with you?"
"Always, Iron Dad." She replied locking eyes with him.
He quickly moved around behind her, snuggling his body against hers, gently stroking her belly. "You know we haven't used anything from our birthing bags yet. Do you want me to get out the oils or your MP3 player?"
She let out a long sigh. "No" she said wearily "All I need is you….only you."
Tony smiled into her hair as he felt her drift away to sleep. "You're all I need too, Pepper." He whispered back to her. "Only you." He had known that for 12 years.