fic (tony/pepper): Perfect Little Plus-Sign (2/2)
Title: Perfect Little Plus-Sign (2/2)
Author: foolyoulovesomehow ( foolyoulove)
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Spoilers: Passing references to events and characters of Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and Marvel's The Avengers.
Synopsis: A second chapter to " Perfect Little Plus-Sign" (read that first! :) ) (~1900 words)
Author's Notes: I had originally intended this to be the first chapter to a darker sequel to "Plus-Sign" that I've been plugging away at, but the tone just seemed to fit better as a second chapter to the existing story--so I decided to go ahead and post it for your consideration. ;) As usual, the characters aren't mine--no profit or personal gain intended, other than your feedback!
EDIT: Also available on AO3.
~ ~ ~ ~
Pepper had braced herself for resistance or even resentment from Tony when she revealed that she was pregnant, but had encountered nothing of the sort. Aside from the obvious shock, he had actually been kind of sweet; she supposed she should have guessed that Tony would be excited about passing on his legacy in such a literal way. They'd still need to have a difficult conversation (or many) about how this was actually going to work in a day-to-day practical sense, but she was willing to just go with the moment for a while. They remained curled up in a mostly comfortable silence on the couch, until Tony suddenly spoke.
"How did this happen? I mean, you were..."
"Even with absolutely perfect use, the Pill is only 99.7% effective." She'd been prepared for that one.
"Huh. Well, I guess I always knew we were extraordinary people, though I'm still pretty impressed that my swimmers are that resolute after all the weird shit my body's been through. But... I think I might suck at this. In case you hadn't heard, my paternal role models left a little something to be desired."
Pepper was acutely aware of Tony's strained relationship with his father and was cautiously optimistic that he would do better. At the very least, he'd be better than the homicidal megalomaniac surrogate he got after his parents died. "You made yourself into a superhero. I'm sure you can make yourself into a decent parent."
He puffed air out of his cheeks. "I gotta say, right now, the superhero thing sounds way less intimidating in comparison."
She sighed. "Okay, you're cocky, and you get obsessed with projects at the expense of yourself and others, and sometimes you're just plain mean, yes. But even though your apple didn't fall far from your dad's tree, you've been trying pretty hard recently to keep rolling away from it."
"It's cute when you come up with clumsy metaphors, so I'll let you slide for calling me 'mean.' But you're sure you're not going to realize that I'm lousy daddy material and run away with Captain America?"
Pepper saw straight through the joking tone to the insecurity behind it--they were great together, but Tony sometimes still seemed to think that he was going to wake up one morning and find that everyone he cared about had decided he was still just an alcoholic playboy who wasn't worth their time. "I wouldn't still be here if I wasn't sure about you. Besides, he's not my type."
"Which is...?"
"Short, dark, and handsome billionaire geniuses."
"Short?"
"Ego check," Pepper intoned sweetly; he pinched her hip in response.
"So, speaking of Rogers... do I have to keep this a secret from everybody?"
"Yes."
"For how long?"
"I'm not sure. As long as we can hide it, I guess." She was never going to be quite as comfortable in the spotlight as Tony, so she was hoping she could convince him to refrain from shouting the news from the rooftops--figuratively and literally. "I'm nauseous enough as it is without having to worry about the press."
"Hm." He paused. "Compromise?" She sighed, and motioned for him to continue. "Happy. You're around each other a lot and I want him watching out for you more than usual. We can count on his discretion."
"Okay, but that's it."
"But, what about Uncle Rhodey?"
"Fine."
"And the team."
"No," she said, firmly.
"Earth's mightiest heroes, Pepper. You deserve all hands on deck if--if I'm not around."
She conceded that he had a point, though she chose not to read too much into reasons that he might not be around. Pepper took a minute to consider whom she knew well enough from the rarely-merry band of heroes to trust with a secret. "Natasha and Bruce, only. And no one breathes a word of anything to Fury." She didn't want that man or anyone like him knowing anything about the goings-on of her uterus.
" 'No Fury' goes without saying. Bruce though, you know I like him, but when he... you know... he's not exactly known for being gentle on buildings during stressful situations, so I'm not sure how he'd handle a lady in a delicate condition."
"Okay, then Steve."
"Good idea. He'll be so embarrassed by the knowledge of our unwedded relations that he won't want to tell anyone."
She ignored the jab at Steve's antiquity. "Then that's settled. Happy, Rhodey, Natasha, and Steve."
"And Bruce. We just established that we both like Bruce," Tony said.
Pepper made an exasperated noise, and stopped herself from sarcastically suggesting that at that rate, they might as well tell the rest of the Avengers, because Tony might have interpreted that as an invitation. "Fine. How did you talk me from zero people to five? You're... you're... exhausting." She actually didn't mind it that much--she was just relieved that he hadn't freaked out.
He grinned. "I love you, too."
She rolled her eyes and stood up, tugging on his hand. "I actually am tired. Come to bed?"
"Sure." He followed her off the couch and they walked in silence for a few moments until Tony's mouth caught up with his brain. "Wait, are we actually going to sleep, or are you going to be one of those insatiably horny pregnant women? Because I would treat it as my sacred duty to thoroughly address all of your needs," he said as they entered the bedroom. He apparently gathered that she wasn't going to respond to that, and moved on. "You're going to stop wearing stilettos, right?"
She stopped at the foot of the bed, facing him with her hands on her hips. "What?"
"I mean, don't get me wrong, I definitely appreciate your traffic-stopping legs in those things, despite how emasculatingly tall you get, but I'm worried about you tripping."
She tsk'ed. "I've managed some pretty extreme situations in heels. I'm not planning to abandon my fashion sense--"
"Safety first, Potts," he said with a pointed finger.
"--until there's been a significant shift in my center of gravity," she finished.
"Ooh, it's hot when you talk physics. I mean, you're hot in general. Hot and pregnant." The finger that was in her face a moment before was now dragging distractingly down her arm. "You're even hotter pregnant."
She rolled her eyes. "Did I look any different before I told you?"
"Well, just knowing that I did this to you is plenty." He took a step closer and put his hand at the small of her back, pulling their hips together. "You know, caveman stuff."
"Okay, Iron Dad." She knew it was probably a mistake to positively reinforce the swagger, but then they were kissing, and then he was lowering her onto the bed with a tenderness that she'd never quite seen before and, well... anyway, it wasn't like he could get her more pregnant.
~ ~ ~ ~
Pepper awoke the next morning very naked and very nauseous, but for the first time, she didn't bother to hide the latter from Tony. She ran for the toilet, slamming the bathroom door behind her.
Half a minute later, she heard a knock and Tony's muffled voice from the other side of the door. "Pepper? I'm coming in."
She took a few shallow breaths. "I'm a little indisposed at the moment." She realized immediately that talking was a mistake as she heaved, then flushed the toilet when the door opened a moment later.
"Can I do anything for you?"
"Go away," she croaked.
"No problem." He backed out, leaving the door ajar.
She felt less nauseous, but remained with her chin on her forearm on the edge of the toilet, seething that Tony would actually choose to listen at a moment like this.
A brief time later, though, he was back. "Would any of this help?"
Pepper glanced up to see Tony's arms laden impressively with a bathrobe, a glass of water, a can of ginger ale, a bottle of Gatorade, and a box of crackers. "I'll take the water." He handed it to her and she sipped, tentatively. "And I guess I am a little cold."
"Ah, sitting naked on the floor hugging the porcelain throne will do that. Trust me." He set the rest of his supplies on the floor and draped the robe around her shoulders.
"Thank you."
"Yeah well, all my fault and everything," he said as he sat down with her. "So, how much does this happen? In general, I mean. Not necessarily while naked."
"Basically every day. Sometimes two or three times."
Tony snatched back the glass of water and handed her the Gatorade with a frown. "Calories."
"I've been getting plenty, I promise. I usually just wait until a little later in the day."
"How did I not notice?"
"Well, I had a few days to get used to this while you were still in London, but mostly, I wasn't ready for you to know."
"Then we have truly rubbed off on each other in the worst ways, Ms. Potts," he said, rearranging her robe for her as she cracked open the Gatorade with a soft smile.
So, it was clear from the start, and over the following weeks, that Tony was trying incredibly hard in his own way to do right by her without betraying his image too much. There was the time that she discovered that Tony had JARVIS reading What to Expect When You're Expecting to him in the shop; he declared it "quite possibly the most cliché title ever, but it seemed as good a place as any to start" before calling JARVIS a traitor for not warning him she was coming. She wondered how Tony always seemed to know that she was sick in the house; it wasn't long before she figured out that he'd asked JARVIS to alert him so that he could check on her. And she'd been annoyed when Tony insisted on accompanying her to her next OB appointment, despite her insistence that it wasn't necessary and that she had a hard enough time staying incognito alone in public; she decided the back-door entrances and other subterfuge were worth it when she stole a glance at his face during the sonogram and saw something akin to reverence. In the car afterwards, Tony claimed that the room must have been very dusty--there was obviously no other reason for him to have two watery eyes and the sniffles all at once.
Basically, impending parenthood with Tony Stark was going better than Pepper had anticipated, despite the fact that time was continuing to tick by without a substantial conversation on how life was supposed to work once they were responsible for the upbringing of another human being. As she sat on the couch with her feet in Tony's lap while he massaged them--a new nightly routine that made her wonder, wryly, why she hadn't let Tony knock her up years ago--she silently pondered some of those questions. How exactly was someone with demonstrated abilities to avert mass destruction supposed to find an appropriate work-family balance? She felt selfish, but still resented that Tony might miss first steps, first words, or any other number of milestones (if they all made it that far without being killed) because he was off being Iron Man, saving lives for the benefit of other families. Would their child end up resenting Tony as much as he seemed to resent his own dad, even if for different reasons? Pepper wasn't holding out hope that What to Expect when You're Expecting with a Superhero would be hitting bookshelves any time soon, but she knew they'd figure it out eventually. Together.
~ ~ ~ ~
PS--anybody who uses AO3, I'd be very interested to hear if/why you choose to post simultaneously to both, one before the other, just on AO3 with links on LJ, or whatever. Or, if you're a reader, do you like having multiple options or prefer just one? I'm trying to decide how to proceed with this new playground...
Author: foolyoulovesomehow ( foolyoulove)
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None
Spoilers: Passing references to events and characters of Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and Marvel's The Avengers.
Synopsis: A second chapter to " Perfect Little Plus-Sign" (read that first! :) ) (~1900 words)
Author's Notes: I had originally intended this to be the first chapter to a darker sequel to "Plus-Sign" that I've been plugging away at, but the tone just seemed to fit better as a second chapter to the existing story--so I decided to go ahead and post it for your consideration. ;) As usual, the characters aren't mine--no profit or personal gain intended, other than your feedback!
EDIT: Also available on AO3.
~ ~ ~ ~
Pepper had braced herself for resistance or even resentment from Tony when she revealed that she was pregnant, but had encountered nothing of the sort. Aside from the obvious shock, he had actually been kind of sweet; she supposed she should have guessed that Tony would be excited about passing on his legacy in such a literal way. They'd still need to have a difficult conversation (or many) about how this was actually going to work in a day-to-day practical sense, but she was willing to just go with the moment for a while. They remained curled up in a mostly comfortable silence on the couch, until Tony suddenly spoke.
"How did this happen? I mean, you were..."
"Even with absolutely perfect use, the Pill is only 99.7% effective." She'd been prepared for that one.
"Huh. Well, I guess I always knew we were extraordinary people, though I'm still pretty impressed that my swimmers are that resolute after all the weird shit my body's been through. But... I think I might suck at this. In case you hadn't heard, my paternal role models left a little something to be desired."
Pepper was acutely aware of Tony's strained relationship with his father and was cautiously optimistic that he would do better. At the very least, he'd be better than the homicidal megalomaniac surrogate he got after his parents died. "You made yourself into a superhero. I'm sure you can make yourself into a decent parent."
He puffed air out of his cheeks. "I gotta say, right now, the superhero thing sounds way less intimidating in comparison."
She sighed. "Okay, you're cocky, and you get obsessed with projects at the expense of yourself and others, and sometimes you're just plain mean, yes. But even though your apple didn't fall far from your dad's tree, you've been trying pretty hard recently to keep rolling away from it."
"It's cute when you come up with clumsy metaphors, so I'll let you slide for calling me 'mean.' But you're sure you're not going to realize that I'm lousy daddy material and run away with Captain America?"
Pepper saw straight through the joking tone to the insecurity behind it--they were great together, but Tony sometimes still seemed to think that he was going to wake up one morning and find that everyone he cared about had decided he was still just an alcoholic playboy who wasn't worth their time. "I wouldn't still be here if I wasn't sure about you. Besides, he's not my type."
"Which is...?"
"Short, dark, and handsome billionaire geniuses."
"Short?"
"Ego check," Pepper intoned sweetly; he pinched her hip in response.
"So, speaking of Rogers... do I have to keep this a secret from everybody?"
"Yes."
"For how long?"
"I'm not sure. As long as we can hide it, I guess." She was never going to be quite as comfortable in the spotlight as Tony, so she was hoping she could convince him to refrain from shouting the news from the rooftops--figuratively and literally. "I'm nauseous enough as it is without having to worry about the press."
"Hm." He paused. "Compromise?" She sighed, and motioned for him to continue. "Happy. You're around each other a lot and I want him watching out for you more than usual. We can count on his discretion."
"Okay, but that's it."
"But, what about Uncle Rhodey?"
"Fine."
"And the team."
"No," she said, firmly.
"Earth's mightiest heroes, Pepper. You deserve all hands on deck if--if I'm not around."
She conceded that he had a point, though she chose not to read too much into reasons that he might not be around. Pepper took a minute to consider whom she knew well enough from the rarely-merry band of heroes to trust with a secret. "Natasha and Bruce, only. And no one breathes a word of anything to Fury." She didn't want that man or anyone like him knowing anything about the goings-on of her uterus.
" 'No Fury' goes without saying. Bruce though, you know I like him, but when he... you know... he's not exactly known for being gentle on buildings during stressful situations, so I'm not sure how he'd handle a lady in a delicate condition."
"Okay, then Steve."
"Good idea. He'll be so embarrassed by the knowledge of our unwedded relations that he won't want to tell anyone."
She ignored the jab at Steve's antiquity. "Then that's settled. Happy, Rhodey, Natasha, and Steve."
"And Bruce. We just established that we both like Bruce," Tony said.
Pepper made an exasperated noise, and stopped herself from sarcastically suggesting that at that rate, they might as well tell the rest of the Avengers, because Tony might have interpreted that as an invitation. "Fine. How did you talk me from zero people to five? You're... you're... exhausting." She actually didn't mind it that much--she was just relieved that he hadn't freaked out.
He grinned. "I love you, too."
She rolled her eyes and stood up, tugging on his hand. "I actually am tired. Come to bed?"
"Sure." He followed her off the couch and they walked in silence for a few moments until Tony's mouth caught up with his brain. "Wait, are we actually going to sleep, or are you going to be one of those insatiably horny pregnant women? Because I would treat it as my sacred duty to thoroughly address all of your needs," he said as they entered the bedroom. He apparently gathered that she wasn't going to respond to that, and moved on. "You're going to stop wearing stilettos, right?"
She stopped at the foot of the bed, facing him with her hands on her hips. "What?"
"I mean, don't get me wrong, I definitely appreciate your traffic-stopping legs in those things, despite how emasculatingly tall you get, but I'm worried about you tripping."
She tsk'ed. "I've managed some pretty extreme situations in heels. I'm not planning to abandon my fashion sense--"
"Safety first, Potts," he said with a pointed finger.
"--until there's been a significant shift in my center of gravity," she finished.
"Ooh, it's hot when you talk physics. I mean, you're hot in general. Hot and pregnant." The finger that was in her face a moment before was now dragging distractingly down her arm. "You're even hotter pregnant."
She rolled her eyes. "Did I look any different before I told you?"
"Well, just knowing that I did this to you is plenty." He took a step closer and put his hand at the small of her back, pulling their hips together. "You know, caveman stuff."
"Okay, Iron Dad." She knew it was probably a mistake to positively reinforce the swagger, but then they were kissing, and then he was lowering her onto the bed with a tenderness that she'd never quite seen before and, well... anyway, it wasn't like he could get her more pregnant.
~ ~ ~ ~
Pepper awoke the next morning very naked and very nauseous, but for the first time, she didn't bother to hide the latter from Tony. She ran for the toilet, slamming the bathroom door behind her.
Half a minute later, she heard a knock and Tony's muffled voice from the other side of the door. "Pepper? I'm coming in."
She took a few shallow breaths. "I'm a little indisposed at the moment." She realized immediately that talking was a mistake as she heaved, then flushed the toilet when the door opened a moment later.
"Can I do anything for you?"
"Go away," she croaked.
"No problem." He backed out, leaving the door ajar.
She felt less nauseous, but remained with her chin on her forearm on the edge of the toilet, seething that Tony would actually choose to listen at a moment like this.
A brief time later, though, he was back. "Would any of this help?"
Pepper glanced up to see Tony's arms laden impressively with a bathrobe, a glass of water, a can of ginger ale, a bottle of Gatorade, and a box of crackers. "I'll take the water." He handed it to her and she sipped, tentatively. "And I guess I am a little cold."
"Ah, sitting naked on the floor hugging the porcelain throne will do that. Trust me." He set the rest of his supplies on the floor and draped the robe around her shoulders.
"Thank you."
"Yeah well, all my fault and everything," he said as he sat down with her. "So, how much does this happen? In general, I mean. Not necessarily while naked."
"Basically every day. Sometimes two or three times."
Tony snatched back the glass of water and handed her the Gatorade with a frown. "Calories."
"I've been getting plenty, I promise. I usually just wait until a little later in the day."
"How did I not notice?"
"Well, I had a few days to get used to this while you were still in London, but mostly, I wasn't ready for you to know."
"Then we have truly rubbed off on each other in the worst ways, Ms. Potts," he said, rearranging her robe for her as she cracked open the Gatorade with a soft smile.
So, it was clear from the start, and over the following weeks, that Tony was trying incredibly hard in his own way to do right by her without betraying his image too much. There was the time that she discovered that Tony had JARVIS reading What to Expect When You're Expecting to him in the shop; he declared it "quite possibly the most cliché title ever, but it seemed as good a place as any to start" before calling JARVIS a traitor for not warning him she was coming. She wondered how Tony always seemed to know that she was sick in the house; it wasn't long before she figured out that he'd asked JARVIS to alert him so that he could check on her. And she'd been annoyed when Tony insisted on accompanying her to her next OB appointment, despite her insistence that it wasn't necessary and that she had a hard enough time staying incognito alone in public; she decided the back-door entrances and other subterfuge were worth it when she stole a glance at his face during the sonogram and saw something akin to reverence. In the car afterwards, Tony claimed that the room must have been very dusty--there was obviously no other reason for him to have two watery eyes and the sniffles all at once.
Basically, impending parenthood with Tony Stark was going better than Pepper had anticipated, despite the fact that time was continuing to tick by without a substantial conversation on how life was supposed to work once they were responsible for the upbringing of another human being. As she sat on the couch with her feet in Tony's lap while he massaged them--a new nightly routine that made her wonder, wryly, why she hadn't let Tony knock her up years ago--she silently pondered some of those questions. How exactly was someone with demonstrated abilities to avert mass destruction supposed to find an appropriate work-family balance? She felt selfish, but still resented that Tony might miss first steps, first words, or any other number of milestones (if they all made it that far without being killed) because he was off being Iron Man, saving lives for the benefit of other families. Would their child end up resenting Tony as much as he seemed to resent his own dad, even if for different reasons? Pepper wasn't holding out hope that What to Expect when You're Expecting with a Superhero would be hitting bookshelves any time soon, but she knew they'd figure it out eventually. Together.
~ ~ ~ ~
PS--anybody who uses AO3, I'd be very interested to hear if/why you choose to post simultaneously to both, one before the other, just on AO3 with links on LJ, or whatever. Or, if you're a reader, do you like having multiple options or prefer just one? I'm trying to decide how to proceed with this new playground...