REVAMPED!

Mark XXIII: Welcome Home

Three days later, Tony and Pepper finally return home with their daughter.

The elevator doors open and Pepper slowly walks out, alternating her gaze between her steps and the sleeping baby in her arms. Tony follows with the hospital bag, making sure Pepper doesn't trip. He ditches the bag by the doors and Pepper stops. She radiates a smile that reads that their baby is the cutest thing to exist which, unarguably, she is.

Congratulatory flowers of all colours gifted from their friends and business partners fill their living room. Their scent isn't overpowering which was for the newborn's sensitivity. Even headlines filled their front pages with word of the birth. How did they know? That didn't matter to the new parents. They only care about the precious little baby in their arms.

Even when Emily starts to cry, Tony and Pepper can't help but coo at her. Her cries don't scream like a siren (yet), they sound like a small car starting. They hope she doesn't become a colic baby.

"Even when she cries, she's adorable," Pepper says, rocking back and forth to get her to calm down. "I love her so much that it hurts."

"Here, let me take her," Tony says.

After the exchange, Tony wads down the hallway to the nursery. He and Pepper plan to have Emily sleep in a bassinet in their room for the first few weeks. Then she would spend her nights and nap times here.

The nursery's design is as minimalist and spacious as possible. The walls are a purplish-grey and the ceilings and wainscotting are white. The furnished crib's in one corner with the changing table adjacent. Then there's the comfiest rocking chair and an assortment of sensory-motor toys in an overflowing basket.

Tony takes Emily towards the crib where he spins around the mini decoration of flying Iron Man armours above. Each figurine represents a model of all his armours, past and present. He taps his finger and lets the spin around like planets in orbit. Their arc reactors give off a dim light during the night so that'll keep her distracted when she cries.

He even points out to her that those arc reactors match the one on her onesie. The cotton one won't light up but they're the same. It doubles as a clothing decal and a breathing and heart rate monitor. That way, they could see if any problems occurred.

"I read that babies are inherently curious, so I see you looking at things," Tony tells his daughter.

He disregards that Emily fell asleep in his arms. Not only has she not seen anything but she was in her own world. (A trait inherited from her father, no doubt). It's not like she would've understood anything her senses picked up. She wasn't a genius yet but she'll become one soon.

"Your brain is so empty and I can't wait to fill it," Tony whispers before fluttering her with kisses.

Pepper walks in and leans against the doorway. As if she wasn't already in love with Tony Stark, seeing him and the way he acts with their daughter makes her want to renew her vows again.

"If you told me when I first started working for you as an accountant that this would be where we were in a few years' time, I wouldn't have believed you," Pepper says.

Tony turns around as she walks closer to them. "I might have, but if the kid was from some one night stand with a random woman and she would skin me alive for money."

Pepper grins. "Charming."

"If losing sleep means that I can watch her, I won't nap until she grows up."

"Woah, woah, she was just born," Pepper says. "I know because I can feel my stitches down there."

"But everyone says that they grow up so fast. Look at her, it was almost as if we found out we were pregnant yesterday. I don't want her to grow up."

"Please, she's always going to be our baby." Pepper looks over Tony's shoulders and tussles Emily's brown fuzz for hair.

She nestles deeper into Tony's arms and the new parents watch her continue to doze off.

"Welcome home, baby," Pepper whispers. "This is your world to explore and make your own."

Tony looks at Pepper who coos at their daughter and he can't be happier. He didn't think it would get better, but every moment with his family would prove him wrong.

This is a perfect world, Tony would argue. He has the most beautiful family he could've ever dreamt of, counting The Avengers and their future kids. Besides, this was the world they made, wasn't it? And now, it's up to their kids to make the most of it.

And they were sure to be there every step along the way.