In the early morning, the golden rays of the sun shone through the curtains, serenely illuminating Pepper Potts' art studio. The gentle scent of fresh paint lingered in the air, mixed with the vibrant energy that permeated the space. As she worked on a new canvas, the redhead felt a wave of happiness flood her heart upon hearing familiar voices echoing through the room.
"Two special deliveries for Virginia Potts!". The more mature voice rang out clearly.
Pepper turned towards the source of the sound already knowing who it was and smiled. She took off the paint-stained apron and leaned the brush on the easel before two small girls with blonde hair and light eyes ran towards her.
"Mommy, look what I got.". One of them said, pointing to her own face, where there was a colorful and shiny unicorn drawing.
"And I got a drawing too.". The other girl quickly communicated, showing a fairy painted in green and purple on the same local.
The woman smiled at the girls' choices which were obvious to her, as the two always talked about their respective drawings in their daily lives. "They're beautiful, my babies. You made excellent choices.", she said, kissing the top of their heads.
"But we wanted you to have painted... They didn't turn out as nice as your drawings.", Erin argued.
"Mommy already explained that her paints are not for painting on the body.", the redhead replied, bending down to the girl's level. "Besides, I couldn't have drawn better.", she smiled.
"But... I miss you, mommy. I like it when we draw together.", Iris replied in a sad tone.
Pepper sighed and felt a little guilty at her daughter's words. She should have already guessed what the twins were trying to say.
Erin and Iris had always been Potts's world, since the discovery of the pregnancy, she vowed to do everything for those little girls. The three of them had a special bond, always together, making the most of their time. The redhead always woke them up for having breakfast together and always put them to sleep after telling some of their favorite fairy tales. She always took some time out of her day to share some of her passions with her daughters, like painting, cooking, and dancing. But when the twins started attending school and Pepper opened her own art school in the previous year, inevitably the moments shared only by the three of them diminished a bit. Now, half of her days were filled with school and work obligations.
"I know.", Virginia said, caressing the girls' backs for comfort. "Mommy misses you too. We haven't had much time together lately, have we? I'm sorry, but I promise we'll change that, okay?"
The girls smiled and nodded. How could they react differently?
"Great, how about a hug now? I missed that." She suggested, and the twins quickly complied, hugging her as tightly as she hugged them back. As they pulled away, Potts smiled and kissed both of their foreheads. "Now say goodbye to aunt Kate, mommy just needs to finish putting away a few things, and then we can go home. And don't forget to thanks her for picking you up from school." She continued, noticing her friend was still in the studio, observing their dynamic.
"They already did that, didn't they?" Katherine smiled at the little ones. "Let's wait for your mommy outside while she finishes organizing things here? We can grab some sweets at the reception." She suggested, even though she knew she was going against her friend's wishes. As Kate had grown tired of telling Pepper, her role was to spoil Erin and Iris, so hand in hand, the three of them crossed the exit door.
Watching them, Potts smiled, filled with gratitude. She and Kate had met during childhood and had been best friends ever since. With the distance after high school, they lost contact a bit, but both were extremely happy when they reunited and realized that nothing had changed over that period of time. Katherine was one of Pepper's closest friends. She was married to Rick, and they had a little girl named Lilly, five years older than the twins. Despite the age difference, the three kids got along great, which was great since they often spent time together.
Finally, the woman put away all the painting materials she was using and wiped off the little paint she had on her face. Surprisingly, on that day, she hadn't dirtied her clothes. She grabbed the bag that was on the couch and left the room to meet her friend and daughters in the meeting room, where they said goodbyes. As usual, Erin and Iris made a fuss, reluctant to leave, but were soon convinced by their mother. Just as she helped them sit in their car seats, Pepper helped them out when they parked in the garage at home, entering the warm comfort of the house.
"Can we have ice cream?" Erin asked excitedly, leaving her red backpack with gold details on the couch. Same attitude as her sister, who was already taking off her shoes and socks. Then the two followed the eldest to the kitchen.
"You know you can't have anything cold when it's cold outside." The redhead replied. "And from what I remember, you were complaining about feeling cold just a few minutes ago."
"But now it's warm." Iris replied, aiding her accomplice.
Pepper laughed at their cunningness. "We're talking about the weather outside, not here with the heater on."
"We just won't go outside." The child insisted, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. How could her mother not understand?
"It would solve one of our problems, but it's already late, and it's almost dinner time. No ice cream at night, and certainly not before you eat." The redhead was firm, making the twins sigh defeatedly.
"And tomorrow?" Erin asked with her best puppy eyes.
"Tomorrow we'll decide." She said, holding her daughters' shoulders and guiding them out of the kitchen. "Now you two go upstairs and get ready for a bath. I'll come up to fill the tub. And don't forget to take your backpacks and shoes off the living room!" She said a little louder so that the duo, who were already climbing the stairs, could hear. Pepper bit her lip and smiled. Just like their father. If she didn't keep an eye on them, the twins would make the house a mess.
With that same thought, the eldest didn't take long to go upstairs and help the daughters take a bath. They never gave her trouble, always affectionate, attentive, obedient, and smart. The twins always took what their mother said seriously, and Potts knew she could trust them to follow her recommendations, but now that they were almost 5 years old and experiencing the 'independence' phase, Virginia preferred to keep an eye on them.
"Mommy, I can wash my hair by myself," Iris said as the redhead helped her spread shampoo through her hair, repeating the same phrase said by her sister moments before.
"I know you can. I know both of you are big girls, but mommy likes taking care of you. Now rinse all the product out of your hair and close your eyes," she instructed, doing the same with the steps that should come next.
After bathing, the twins dressed, and the eldest dried and combed their hair, taking the opportunity to take care of herself as well. A few minutes later, they went back downstairs.
While Pepper was in the kitchen preparing dinner, she could hear the laughter and voices of the daughters having fun watching one of their favorite cartoons in the living room. Her heart filled with warmth and joy, realizing how happy the girls were. Those two little girls meant everything to her, and the gratitude she felt for having them in her life was constant, from the moment she discovered their existence.
"J.A.R.V.I.S?" Pepper recalled having called.
"Yes, Miss Potts?" The voice of artificial intelligence soon sounded.
"What are the chances of this being correct?"
"Taking into consideration all your symptoms and this result, I believe it's above 95%."
The redhead sighed as she sat on the bathroom floor, leaning her back against the cold tub. It was a rainy Wednesday night, and it had been just over 15 minutes since she had been staring at the positive pregnancy test in her hands. Pepper didn't know what to do or think. They had talked about children before, even about names, but it had all been in jest. Perhaps having a baby was part of their plan as a couple, but certainly only a few years later. Not at that moment. Not like this. Not when they had other concerns. Not when the pregnancy was an accident.
She had an idea of when she had become pregnant. With New York under attack and the Avengers fighting to protect it, Potts could only think of Tony and whether he would be alive when he returned home. She had forgotten to take some pills. They had forgotten the condom when they reunited after the attack. They forgot a few times.
Pepper sighed in frustration because she felt happy - after all, she was pregnant with the love of her life - but God, they had never really talked about it. They had never seriously discussed having children. They needed to think about a lot of things before making this decision. She was having a busy life because of the Stark Industries, Tony because of his role as Iron Man. They didn't have time to take care of a baby, and in recent months, despite his attempts to hide it, she knew he had been suffering from panic attacks, exacerbated by the constant anxiety he lived in
"What am I going to do?", she murmured to herself.
"You should tell Mr. Stark." J.A.R.V.I.S suggested, "He'll like the news.", he ventured to say.
"How do you know? You can't be sure.", the redhead retorted.
"I know he loves you. I don't have feelings, but I believe that must mean something. It's the decisive unknown in this equation."
Pepper smiled, "Thank you, J.A.R.V.I.S."
"Anytime, Miss Potts."
She got up and wiped away the tears that had fallen without her realizing it. She threw the test in the trash and washed her face. She stared at her reflection in the mirror while repeating to herself that everything would be fine. She wanted to believe that. They loved each other, they would deal with the result together.
"Pep?", suddenly, the redhead heard Tony's voice calling for her, and she was startled; he shouldn't be home at that time. "Have you arrived? Can we talk?" Iron Man's alter ego kept talking, and his voice was getting closer to where she was.
Quickly, Pepper finished drying her cheeks and adjusted her hair around her face so he wouldn't notice she had been crying, leaving the bathroom in search of her boyfriend.
"I'm here.", she replied, approaching the top of the stairs, where she found him. "We need to talk."
He was serious. "We do."
"Mommy..." Erin called as she entered the kitchen, pulling her out of her thoughts. "I'm hungry."
"I can imagine, princess, that's why I made chocolate chip pancakes. Your favorite.", Potts said as she placed the plate of batter on the table.
"And can we put a lot of strawberries?" she asked, her eyes sparkling, and Pepper smiled ironically. She was allergic to them, and her daughters loved strawberries.
"We can fill it with strawberries.", the redhead agreed, tickling the little girl and eliciting some giggles from her. "Now go call your sister and come wash your hands. If you two eat dinner properly, we can have popcorn while watching a movie before bedtime.", she commented, knowing that would grab the twins' attention.
Since they were babies, Erin and Iris had always been difficult eaters. They never ate the required amount, often leading their mother to spend hours trying to convince them to finish their meal. Pepper thought the issue might be with too healthy of a diet, but soon realized it happened with any type of food: pizza, ice cream, pasta, and even their favorite pancakes. That night was no different. The twins stalled once again, and only after much negotiation did the older one manage to convince them to eat at least all the strawberries on their plates and a little more than half of the pancakes.
After dinner, they went to the living room to watch a movie, as they had agreed. In fact, they chose "Moana" for the millionth time, and despite being tired of the same old movie, Pepper once again gave in to their wishes. They sat on the couch, each of the children leaning on one side of the redhead, with a bowl of popcorn in the middle. They laughed, sang, and talked animatedly, like a true family program. Shortly before the end of the movie, all three fell asleep intertwined with each other. The older one kept her arm around the daughters protectively, and that's how Sasha found them when she came home. Quickly, she took out her phone and took a picture, with a silly smile on her face as she watched the scene.
She knew her daughter would love that capture.