Pepper Potts, CEO

Tony kissed her head before moving his hand to rest on her stomach. "I can't believe it." He shook head head before looking back at the tests. "I hope you know Willow is going to freak out once we can tell her."

Pepper smiled when she felt Tony's hand over her stomach. Placing her hand over his, she watching him looking over the tests. Chuckling at his comment about their daughter, she smiled. "I know... and Oliver's going to be a big brother." The thought made her smile so much. "But I don't want to tell them quite yet... I want to make sure I make it to the second trimester."

"Me next!" said Aurora, proudly holding out a small wrapped box. The gift inside was not expensive, but she was very proud of having picked it out herself and paid for it with her own money. The box contained a pair of dangling earrings shaped like clownfish, which she'd seen in a shop and had known immediately Phoebe would love. Her parents had agreed, and Tony had let her do extra chores to earn the money.

Happily accepting the gift from her sister, Phoebe smiled when she saw what was in the box. "Oh wow... Rory, these are so cute," she grinned at her sister. "Thank you so much."

Aurora was delighted as her sister opened her gift. "I picked it all by myself because I knew you'd like it!"

"I do, thank you," Phoebe chuckled, taking a moment to eat some cake before looking at her siblings. "I appreciate all of my gifts, thank you."

"Mommy...?" Morgan poked at the sleeping silhouettes of her parents. "Daddy?"

Pepper sighed softly, turning over to see their daughter standing at Tony's side of the bed, then glanced at the clock to see it read 5:15am. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she tried to wake up more. "Morgan... what's wrong? Did you have a bad dream?"

Morgan soon crawled up into their bed, nestling herself between her parents. "No... I couldn't sleep anymore."

"You couldn't sleep anymore?" Pepper nodded, leaning back in bed, then it hit her - today was the opening of the new capybara habitat. "Is that because we're going to see Miss Bubbles and the babies at the zoo today?"

Tony opened his eyes as he felt Morgan crawl into bed, and yawned. He heard Pepper's question, and then Morgan wriggled a little and nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "I'm excited. It's like we get to have Christmas again!" Morgan had cried the day the zoo staff had come to take the capybaras away, but the keepers had sent regular picture and video updates, which had helped her feel better in the weeks since.

Tony sat up a little and smiled. "I hear the concession people are planning some surprises for the event," he said.

Pepper closed her eyes again, not quite able to wake herself up fully - though, she couldn't help but smile when she heard the excitement in Morgan's voice. The event didn't even start until nine, but Morgan was a determined child, even Pepper couldn't be mad.

"I bet those will really yummy," Pepper replied, stifling a yawn as she tried not to fall asleep. Wrapping her arm around Morgan, she gave her a gentle squeeze.

"Do you think they'll let us see Miss Bubbles early?" Morgan asked, looking at her parents. "I want to see her and the babies before everyone else."

His eyes went to her hands before he tightened his grip on her as he stared at the test. "After the stones..i figured i'd never be able to give you more kids." He whispered before looking up at her. "Were having another baby." He said with a smile

"I'm honestly still processing all of this too, but I went to the doctor and they confirmed the test too," Pepper said, smiling back at him. It did come with risks though, since she wasn't getting any younger. However, that was something they could talk about at her next doctor's appointment, because she'd be going a lot more frequently than her previous pregnancies. "Yes, we are."

"Better to have it cleared and it be nothing but an inconvenience that it actually be a worse situation. Id rather be free an make sure you're safe and okay than the other way around"

"True... I was thinking about going into the office tomorrow, so if you want to swing by the Tower sometime, just let me know."

When Tony came up to her, Pepper cupped his face before leaning in to press a gentle kiss to his forehead. Leaning back, she offered a small smile. "I don't necessarily think it's something bad... it's just going to come with some risks."

Tony wrapped his arms around her and nodded. "And what type of risks are we talking about, Pep?" He said as he looked at her with concern on his face

Pepper didn't mean to concern him, but she had to be a little serious, because it was going to be a major change for them both. "Well, there's going to be more frequent check-ups and I'll have to limit how much stress I'm under," she said before reaching in her back pocket to show Tony what she had been holding onto. "I know we weren't really trying, but I also know we weren't sure this was ever going to be in the cards for us again..."

@russian-avenger

"Nat... I need your help. I think... I think someone's watching me," Pepper said into her phone. "Sorry, I know that sounds crazy, but you know... there's crazy things happening all the time."

"Like at the tower or when you're out running errands?" Natasha asked "trying to get a idea where to start. There's nothing crazy on thinking that or believing it."

"It's mostly when I'm out running errands, but there are moments when I get to work in the morning and I can't help but feel like someone is watching me... and not in a good way."

"I can clear my schedule and shadow you until this situation blows over if that will make you feel more comfortable. It will give me a sense of who might be doing this."

"That would be great... thank you, Natasha. I'm sorry you have to clear your schedule, but it gives me peace of mind knowing you'll be around. It's been so long since I've had a feeling like this."

@russian-avenger

"Nat... I need your help. I think... I think someone's watching me," Pepper said into her phone. "Sorry, I know that sounds crazy, but you know... there's crazy things happening all the time."

"Like at the tower or when you're out running errands?" Natasha asked "trying to get a idea where to start. There's nothing crazy on thinking that or believing it."

"It's mostly when I'm out running errands, but there are moments when I get to work in the morning and I can't help but feel like someone is watching me... and not in a good way."

"Of course we can!" said Tony. "Why don't you kids go first. Mom and I will save ours for last. It's a surprise."

Rory looked up with big eyes. "Is it a pony?" she asked, remembering some jokes from when they were much younger, about Phoebe getting a pony for her birthday.

"It is not a pony," said Tony with a laugh.

"Aww..." Rory pouted when she heard her dad, but soon had a bite of her cake and smiled. "Does that mean I can get a pony for my birthday?"

Phoebe laughed when she heard her little sister. "I don't think so, Rory... you know that Mom doesn't like smelly things... and the twins are plenty smelly enough."

"Hey!" Owen looked at his sister, about to take back the bag he was about to hand her. "Just because it's your birthday, doesn't mean you can make fun of us."

"I was kidding... mostly," Phoebe smiled at her brother but then happily accepted the gift he offered her. Inside the bag was a reusable cup and a gift card to her favorite boba shop that she liked going to. "Aww... thank you Owen. I'm sorry I made fun of you."

They arrived at the airport and Tony parked the car. As they climbed out and got their luggage, a plane came over quite low, having only just taken off. Morgan looked up at it in astonishment.

"How big are planes?" she asked. "How high do they go?"

"Planes always look smaller when they're high up in the sky, don't they?" Pepper chuckled as she grabbed her bags before offering her free hand to Morgan so they could head inside and check-in for their flight. "Well, planes come in all different sizes, but the one we'll be on is going to a big plane... and they go pretty high."

Glancing back at Tony, Pepper offered him a smile before heading inside. Since it was still pretty early, it didn't take them long to get checked-in and through security.

"Honey, do you want a coffee?" Pepper asked as they walked up to the directory to find their gate number. "I could go for a coffee and a pastry..."