~ A Cold, a Baby, and a Surprise ~

@gracie-j. @keilah-h. @ava-blue. @lrose5. Another short story that takes place in the 5 years of the blip. 😀 And for this one…We get some Pepper, we get some Tony, we get a cold, we get breakfast in bed, we get some baby Morgan, and we get a surprise for us all! 😉  And do y’all honestly think other Marvel fans other than y’all would like the Marvel stories I’ve been putting up on here if they were put Online like on fanfiction.net or something? Be honest. 🙂 But here’s the story!!!! 🙂

The tissue box was diminishing, and fast. The room was dark, save for the bit of sunlight streaming through the curtained window.

The sounds of the Georgia lakeside were beautiful. As always.

Pepper felt her nose tickle, grabbed a tissue, and sneezed.

Again.

She needed to get up, eat some breakfast, and be ready for the day. Even though she was tired. She had things she needed to do.

“I can do this. I can do this.” She thought, reminded, over and over again. She pulled the covers aside slightly, and got ready to stand.

The bedroom door opened, and the smell of toast, eggs, and bacon hit her. “What are you doing, Pepper? Lay back down, you’re sick.”

“It’s only a cold, sweetheart. I need to get up.”

“Actually, no, you don’t.”

She gave her husband a raised eyebrow and frown.

Tony came forward, a tray in hand. “Come on, Pepp. Lay back down.”

“What’s that smell?”

Tony gave her a smile. Looked at the tray in his hands. “Breakfast in bed. Now come on, sweetheart, lay back down and I can give you some breakfast.”

Pepper sighed and did so.

She got back under the covers, just as Tony set the tray, on top of a bed table, overtop of her legs.

“Tony…you didn’t have to do this.”

“I wanted to. I hope you like it.” Tony whispered. Kissed her forehead.

His lips felt soft, loving, tender. Pepper gave him a smile. “I know I will.”

Almost right on time and on cue, cries rose into the air. Helpless, wanting, and very hungry.

“I’ll get her.”

“No. You eat. I’ll take care of Morgan. Be right back.” Tony kissed her again, and without another word left the room.

Pepper smiled faintly. He was such a wonderful man.

He had changed so much in the past almost two years.

A sting of reminder pierced her heart.

The battle with Thanos had changed him, alright, for the better. But it didn’t change the fact that Tony had lost Peter.

Pepper’s thoughts were interrupted when Tony entered back into the room, a happily drinking Morgan in his arms.

Pepper grabbed her fork, smiled, and began to eat. Tony sat down on the edge of the bed. “See? Told you I’d get her.”

“Oh, I see alright. You know, I can do things. I have a cold. I’m not broken.”

“Yeah. But rest is good for you. That’s what Bruce used to say…”

Tony hadn’t seen his teammate, and friend, since the battle with Thanos. Pepper squeezed his shoulder. “I’m sure Bruce is safe, Tony.”

“Yeah. He’s still here, at least. That’s more than some can say.”

“It’s okay to be upset, sweetheart. Peter meant a lot to you. He was like…a son to you.”

“Yeah, he was…and I never told him that.”

“Oh Tony…” she whispered, her heart, as it always did, going out to her husband who had gone through so much pain.

Morgan finished drinking and looked up at Tony with her big brown eyes and a smile. “Dadda.”

Tony gave her a smile and moved her to where he could burp her. “That’s right, baby. Dadda.” Tony burped her.

While Pepper watched, she noticed that Tony held her close, closed his eyes, and smiled.

Pepper held back tears.

Oh, she loved him, them, more than words could ever express. “Somebody’s birthday is coming up.”

Tony opened his eyes and glanced over at her. “What? Oh…”

“Yours, Tony! How could you forget your birthday? I’ll need to make you something. What do you want? What food? What cake?”

“Not if you’re still sick you won’t. I need you to get better. My birthday can wait.”

“Your birthday cannot wait, sweetheart. We need to celebrate.”

Tony shrugged. “We don’t have to.”

“But we need to.” Pepper argued.

Tony gave her a playful smile. “Whatever you say, Mrs. Stark.”

Pepper laughed. Smirked. Leaned forward and kissed him. “That’s right, Mr. Stark. Listen to your wife.”

~*~

Tony silently watched as Morgan played with her dolls and toy blocks. Pepper was getting better, but since she was still sick Tony had made sure they would hold off on his birthday.

Pepper hadn’t been happy.

But Tony needed her to get better.

“Dadda!”

“What is it, Morgan?”

“Mama!” Morgan cried, pointing.

Pepper came in and sat down on the couch. Sighed faintly. “Hello sweethearts.”

Tony stood from where he had been sitting on the floor and got onto the couch, pulling his wife into his arms.

He liked to hold her.

When he held her and Morgan, he finally felt as if…no one would be able to take them away.

Morgan toddled over to the couch and held up her arms. Grunted.

Pepper smiled, leaned down, and pulled her onto the couch as well.

Tony kissed his wife’s forehead. Ran his hands through her red hair. “You could have stayed in bed…”

“I needed to get up. Besides, I didn’t want you to be alone with your thoughts. I know they can get to you.”

Tony glanced at the end table, where a picture frame sat.

A picture of him and Peter.

Pepper looked over as well. “You miss him, Tony. And you blame yourself.”

“Why wouldn’t I? I didn’t get to keep him safe.”

“It was out of your control. Tony, dear, you can’t save the world. Sometimes we can’t.”

“But I could have saved him, Pepper. But…I didn’t.”

“Tony, it’s okay. You know what, we’ll bring them back.”

“How?”

Pepper gave him a small smile and kiss. “We’ll find a way.”

Tony nodded, kissed her again, kissed Morgan’s forehead, which made her giggle, and leaned back on the couch.

He would hold them close.

And maybe Pepper was right. Maybe they could save Peter and everyone else that had been taken.

The doorbell rang. “Pepper…did you invite someone?”

Pepper blinked a few times. “No…no I didn’t.”

“I’ll check.” Tony let Pepper and Morgan go and stood.

He’d be able to stop whoever it was if he had to. He wasn’t going to let anyone hurt the only family he had left.

Tony went to the front door, turning his metal hand on.

He took a deep breath.

And opened the door.

“Surprise, Tony! Happy Birthday!”

Tony blinked. Once.

Twice.

Thrice.

“What are all of you doing here?”

Holding the cake and in front, Steve smiled. “To wish you a happy birthday.”

“We thought you’d need it.” Rhodey added.

“But you didn’t…Pepper! We have guests!”

“Can you let us in, Tony?” Natasha asked with a smirk.

“Oh. Right. Yeah.” Tony opened the door further.

Steve, Natasha, and Rhodey stepped in, Rhodey with Rocket on his shoulder. “You brought a rodent.”

“Hey, I’m a Raccoon, Stark.”

“But he acts like an obnoxious rodent.” Natasha said with a wink.

“Hey!” Rocket yelled.

Tony couldn’t help but chuckle.

Rocket jumped off of Rhodey’s shoulder.

Pepper walked in and stopped. “If I knew all of you were coming, I would have made dinner.”

Rhodey smiled. “Tony said you have a cold. We weren’t going to bother you.”

Natasha nodded. “Exactly. Which is why we’re here to celebrate Tony’s birthday. We’ll make dinner. Don’t worry.”

Steve set the cake down. “You two can relax.”

Natasha walked over to Pepper. “He’s right. You and Tony relax. We’ve got this. We’ll even take this little cutie off your hands for a little while. Everyone knows you two need it.” She carefully took Morgan from Pepper’s arms.

“We can do it. None of you had to come.”

“No one said we had to do anything, Tony. Now go relax in the living room with your wife. We’ll handle the rest.” Rhodey said with a wink.

Tony turned to him. Well, this was a surprise. A cold, a baby, and a surprise. A hectic week.

And now they were giving him and Pepper the chance to relax.

“Go on, Tony, Pepper, we’ve got this.” Natasha said with a smile, handing Morgan over to Steve. “You two relax. We’ll make dinner and watch this cutie for a few hours. Sounds good? Good. Now go relax.”

Tony smirked. Natasha wasn’t going to take a “no” for an answer. Then again, Tony didn’t think any of them would.

He wrapped an arm around Pepper. They sat down on the couch. “This is a surprise…” Pepper whispered.

Tony nodded and gave her a kiss. “Sure is. But a surprise I can spend with you.”

Pepper gave him a small smile.

Tony kissed her again. “And that’s all that matters.”