REVAMPED!

[I think this story is going to end soon. I'm sad]. [2019: I'm fucking happy because that means I can publish SHIELD Academy].

[The novel I have to read over the break for school is so boring that I gave up after about six pages]. [2019: Bitch, wait till you have fifty pages of Earth Science to read and understand in less than a week].

Mark XXII: Emily Maria Stark

An hour in and Pepper's checked in, changed into a hospital gown, and stepped to monitors on her bedside. They track her heart rate, the baby's heart rate, levels of oxygen, and the contractions. Pepper lies there, bored out of her mind until a contraction hits. Then, it's the worst few minutes of her life until it subsides. This is the worst cycle of her life, and she's not only experienced horrendous menstrual cycles but she's been to extreme soul cycle classes.

This was way worse. Hopefully, that myth about women forgetting about childbirth was true.

Did she have a birth plan? No. Since she knows the chances of it coming true aren't in her favour. All she had as a plan was to push and have a successful birth. All that matters is that the baby comes out safely. (And if she gets no stitches afterwards, then it's a win-win for her).

And she was getting an epidural, no further debate. But it looks like Tony would need it more than her. She was more than willing to give it to him and he kind of wanted it. He was so pale and anxious that one small poke on the shoulder would send him to his knees.

But when she contracted, he was there to massage her through it. And Rhodey would massage Tony.

-o-

Two hours in and Pepper's more annoyed at the fact that her baby made them come all the way here when they could've stayed at home for a few minutes longer. She's been in labour for two hours and there's little to no progress on dilation. She reached the point where contractions were another nudge from a stranger while walking down the street. All that entertained her were the encouraging phone calls from their friends when Tony informed them that she was in labour.

And now, she was chewing on ice chips. She wasn't allowed to eat actual food in case they had to do an emergency C-section. If she had no energy in her system, she hoped the adrenaline will come at full force to help.

"I'm grounding her the moment she leaves the womb," Pepper says.

"At least she's coming home before curfew," Tony says optimistically.

Pepper glares at him.

-o-

Another hour of nothing but contractions and Pepper resorted to trying to bounce on a yoga ball to try and break her water. Was this helping? It didn't look like it but Pepper was keeping herself busy between contractions. The worsening contractions mean the baby should be coming sooner, but they hurt like hell.

"This is useless," Pepper whines. "I look and feel stupid."

Pepper stops bouncing and marks her place on the ground with her feet. She holds her arms out for Tony to take. As he steps forwards, Rhodey stands behind her to prevent her from rolling back. Tony holds her hands and pulls her up, and that's when the waterworks burst.

"Oh my god!" Pepper exclaims. She didn't think that the stupid yoga ball would work, but it did.

Tony and Rhodey look at the amniotic fluid on their legs before each other, then at Pepper.

"Oh my god…" they both mutter.

"No wonder she didn't want to come out yet," Tony says, "she had a whole pool in there."

-o-

The entire dynamic of the room took a 180 the moment her water broke. Several doctors and nurses were here and ready for the birth. Pepper was sitting on the hospital bed with Tony by her side, listening to the doctors who were now monitoring the contractions. When they said to breathe, Pepper Stark took every breath as if it was her last. (If she wasn't in active labour, she would knock on wood).

Her piercing contractions and the intense pushing made her break out in sweaty chill. The birth contains extreme sensations of unyielding pain. Luckily, Tony was here to make this god-awful experience less awful. His warm company was the only relief for her pain … until the epidural was available. His hand may now be a bag of bones, thanks to her, but the adrenaline coursing through his veins covered up the pain. Besides, this is nothing compared to what she's experiencing.

"The baby is crowning!" A nurse exclaims.

"I knew she was a queen," Tony comments. He looks to see if Pepper's smiling at his comment, but she's too preoccupied with giving birth. Rhodey gives him an approving look and some nurses grinned.

The head doctor looks at the couple with a bright smile.

"Mrs. Stark, it's time to push."

Tony places his other hand on top of their hands that are already joined. Rhodey holds his hands on her shoulders and kisses her cheek. Pepper looks at them with excitement evident all over her face. This is an exhilarating feeling which is incredibly memorable to her and Tony.

Even Rhodey. This is his godchild and he was here to witness her birth. Words can't even describe what he's feeling.

"Tony…" Pepper mutters. "Get that baby out of there so we can see her."

-o-

Having a kid is easy but real parenthood starts once the kid leaves the womb.

Awhile after Pepper's screaming, Tony and Rhodey's words of encouragement, Pepper yelling at them to shut up since she's in the worst pain ever. Then it's silent because a baby's cry filled the room making them be quiet. The cries of their new baby girl have brought tears to their eyes and nobody's ashamed of it.

The doctor takes a moment to clean and check the new baby and allows her to cry for another minute to test out the lungs and get them working. He wipes the baby clean and delicately hands it to Pepper who wipes her tears before taking her daughter in her arms for that skin-to-skin necessity.

Holding her baby is the softest thing she ever touched.

"Hi, baby…" Pepper mutters almost inaudibly.

Tony peers over Pepper's shoulder and leans against her head to look at their daughter. "Happy Birthday."

Pepper rocks the baby and Tony touches her smooth cheeks and lightly touches her small brown tassels of hair.

"Welcome to the real world," Pepper greets. "I'm your mommy and this is your daddy and your godfather. We promise to take care of you and love you forever. Here, your daddy's going to hold you now."

"Wait, what?" Tony questions. "I wasn't ready for that yet."

She carefully passes the baby to Tony who tries his best not to drop her or break apart. He takes a second to calm down and make sure he isn't shaking while accepting his new daughter into his arms. When Tony looks at her, he tries to point out where she got what genetics from whom. Hair, dark brown, so obviously from him. That's all he can point out at the moment.

"What happened to your motto, I don't like to be handed things?" Rhodey asks. Pepper looks at Tony with a grin since she's now curious.

"Oh, wow," Tony says not acknowledging the question, "I have a baby. A real baby girl. She's so light. This is my daughter. She's half of me. The universe trusts me, Tony Stark, with another human life."

"He ignored me."

"He's in his own universe." Pepper corrects.

"So, what's the name?"

"Well," Tony starts, "her middle name is Maria after my mother because that woman is a saint and I know my mother would be proud of me if she was still around. It would've been her first name but she disapproved."

"Pepper did?"

"No." Tony renders Rhodey confused.

"Her name is Emily," Pepper says. "Emily has no significant meaning to any of our families but the last three letters, I-L-Y, stand for I love you. So whenever we have to call her, we'll always be saying I love you, even if we scream it furiously."

"Emily Maria Stark," Rhodey repeats, "beautiful name for a beautiful girl."

"This baby sleeps a lot," Tony says, lightly poking Emily's cheeks and receiving no reaction. "I hope she stays like that so I won't have to get up in the middle of the night repeatedly."

"She's your kid, she'll be loud," Pepper mentions.

Tony stares at her. "I'm loud? I'm sorry, Pep, which one of us was screaming a moment ago?"

She stares at him with her usual stares, "I'm sorry, Tony, which one of us almost fainted a moment ago when he was cutting the umbilical cord?"

Tony remains speechless as he hands the baby over to Rhodey, Emily's godfather.

"I love how Emily has only been around for less than an hour and she's already witnessed you losing to Pepper," James says with a laugh.

"She'll be seeing it for the rest of her life," Pepper adds. Tony kisses his wife again. "Our baby girl will live a life ahead of her. So many things to see and do."

"Yes," Tony says, "And we'll be the best parents around. Emily Maria Stark will have A Stark Normal Life."

[You like that reason? Do you like why she's named Emily? Copyright for that goes to my classmate named Emily since I never thought of that].

[2019: And the matriarch of PNG has been born].