A/N: Am very sorry for the late update...Been busy at work as always. I miss the holidays already. enjoy...This chapter is told in Natalie's POV.
If there was one thing she truly enjoyed with being nothing but an ordinary receptionist, it was having the time of day to just sit there and watch the world go by. Granted she worked as any ordinary receptionist and personal assistant did, but something about just being 'ordinary' was nice. She had to admit there were occasions she wished she were back in the field again. But protecting the Stark's was a mission itself and being with them and protecting them over the years was an experience in itself.
It took her too many places she hadn't been before and most of all it introduced her to the other kind of life she never thought of before. The life in the public eye of the media and the press. The unforgettable flashing cameras and imposing paparazzi that seemed to want to record every possible moment of the Stark's life.
But if there was one thing that really captured her that really stilled her world and made her wonder. It was the little boy sitting beside her, oblivious to the world as he busied himself with the PDA held tightly in his hands.
His brown hair and blue eyes resembled his parents almost perfectly and sometimes from an angle he looked perfectly like his father. Pepper mentioned it a few times to her and she could always see that look of pride and that look of utter love that crossed the woman's expressions. It was the way her eyes softened and the way she always lowered her voice and smiled when she talked about the two of them. It was nice and she could only hope that maybe one day she'd have that too.
"What game is that?" she murmured and glanced down at the game he played.
"It's called Mage..."
"Oh..." she raised a brow and wondered curiously at the name. It didn't seem to fit the lines of words and numbers that splayed across the screen. She thought plainly at the hacking lessons Tony had been giving him and only hoped he wasn't hacking again.
"Daddy said it's an acronym," Jared answered softly as he furiously typed commands into the little PDA.
"Oh...for what?"
"Most Awesome Game Ever."
She smiled briefly at the comical thought of Tony's weird way of selecting names for things he invented. She still remembered that day just after Jared was born when Pepper told her how close they had come to naming Jared, Rocket Bullet Stark. Tony murmured he was only joking of course and that he would never name his kid after a weapon. But she knew better and she was sure Pepper knew as well.
"Your daddy made the game for you?"
"It was my Christmas present," Jared replied and smiled as if delighted by the simple thought of it.
She nodded and smiled politely as she watched him type furiously into the PDA. "So how do you play it?"
"Daddy said the aim of the game is to hack faster than Jarvis."
"What are you hacking into?" she asked sharply as she raised a brow and glanced awkwardly around them.
"Well, daddy said I'm not allowed to hack into servers without him watching over me so he said to practice when I'm bored I can race with Jarvis and see who hacks into the R.S."
"R.S."
"Random Server," he mumbled.
"And you like this game?"
He grinned widely and nodded. "It's really fun because the firewall daddy designed for the R.S. changes every time after Jarvis or I hack into it."
"Oh..."
"But I think Jarvis lets me win sometimes."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because he's annoying," Jared muttered distastefully.
"Aw...I'm sure he's okay sometimes."
"Daddy said he was annoying too but mummy always says Jarvis is nice."
She smiled briefly and murmured, "That's the kind of thing Pepper would say."
"And I once heard mummy scolding daddy for being annoying, but I think she was lying."
"Oh...why do you think that?"
"Because mummy never stays angry at daddy long," Jared mumbled as he continuously typed into his little PDA, "I think it's because-"
"Have you been bothering Natalie again?" Pepper mused softly as she emerged from one of the hallways.
"No," he said quickly, "I was just sitting here with her because she said I could and I-"
"Really, it's okay Pepper..."
"Jared my boy, daddy's back!"
She glanced toward the elevator to an underdressed Tony wearing nothing but his stark tight suit. The sweat and grease plastered to his face could only mean that he had just returned from a mission.
"Daddy!" Jared exclaimed as Pepper rolled her eyes at Tony's rather unattractive attire.
"A little under dressed for this office but nonetheless, presentable," Tony coughed and smiled at Pepper.
He was holding Jared in his hands, talking animatedly as Jared told him about how he managed to hack faster than Jarvis. She watched until the little family disappeared into Pepper's office and as she turned her eyes back to the computer screen she smiled.
They were so oblivious to the world around them but they were happy and that's all that mattered. She thought that if Fury would allow it, she would probably choose to protect them for as long as they wanted. They had something most families didn't, they had love and that was worth protecting.