In feeling a bit melancholy lately about the unknown future of our dear Pepperony, I felt inspired to write this very AU little fic (since my creative flow has sadly only led me in this direction so far this week). It's only going to be a couple of chapters long. I may, in the future, connect it in some way to another part of a story I have in my "vault", but for now it will stand on its own. I hope you enjoy it.

"Ouch, Daddy! You're pulling too hard!" the little seven year old girl standing at the bathroom counter in front of Tony, squealed. She was trying to stand still in her school-issued navy blue and forest green pleated skirt and white tank top undershirt, but it was getting to be more and more difficult as Tony worked the tangles out of her wavy strawberry blond hair. Her navy blue knee socks were still a tad too long, so they were rolled and cuffed at the tops of her calves, but were also pooled precariously around her ankles down to the tips of her toes. Virginia Maria Stark was every bit Tony and Pepper's daughter. She had Tony's moxie and genius intellect, and Pepper's temperament, along with her blue eyes, red hair, and porcelain skin.

Tony winced as he brushed his daughter's long wavy red hair. "I'm sorry, baby. You know I'm not trying to hurt you," he explained. Tony slowed down his brushing, and gathered Ginny's hair into his hand on that back of her head. He was wearing a pink elastic band on his right wrist for when he was ready to fasten her hair into a ponytail. And with all of the practice he'd had for the last several months, he was getting pretty good at it. At least, his work now was a vast improvement over what her hair looked like on the first day of school. Just more proof I'll tackle this Mr. Mom thing yet, he thought proudly. No sweat. Pepper would be proud right now.

Tony twisted the elastic band around his daughter's hair and tightened it. "There!" he said, smiling proudly at his work. She spun around and grinned at him, her crystal blue eyes sparkling.

"How'd I do, madam?" he said formally, handing her a hand mirror with which to look at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Tony picked her up and sat the little girl on the counter. She proceeded to scrutinize her father's work, frowning and cocking an eyebrow that mimicked his trade mark expression.

"It'll do," she replied resolutely, handing the mirror back to her father.

Tony scoffed. " 'It'll do', she says," he muttered. "That's a thing of beauty, right there. A work of art, I'll have you know. Psssh, 'it'll do'. You sound just like your mother," he pretended to gripe, though he couldn't help but smile.

"Then that should make you happy, right, Daddy?" his daughter asked inquisitively.

Tony smiled warmly at his daughter and looked into her eyes lovingly. "You bet it does," he said softly.

Ginny smiled back at him sweetly, and Tony planted a soft lingering kiss on his child's forehead, closing his eyes for a moment to calm the emotional twinge in his heart at how much she really was like her mother, and how much it made him miss Pepper. After a moment, he opened his eyes and looked back at his daughter. "Love you, little bug," he murmured sweetly.

The little girl smiled. "Love you too, Daddy," she replied.

Tony exhaled. "Okay, Ms. Thing, it's time for school. You got your book report?"

"Check," she said.

"Got your math homework? And the extra-credit worksheets your teacher gave you?"

"Check and check," she said again.

"Good," Tony said. "Ask her for harder ones today, because..."

"These ones were too easy for me. I know, Daddy," Ginny said, rolling her eyes at her father repeating this to her yet again.

Tony smiled. "I know you know," he said. "But if you get enough of these done, and in record time like you have been, I can go to the Principal and ask him to let you test out of your grade, like your brother did."

"Yay!" Ginny exclaimed, as Tony lifted her off the counter and set her down. She ran out of the bathroom and over to her bed where she picked up a white buttoned-down shirt Tony had laid out for her, and started to slip it on. "Okay, little lady. You have T-minus..." Tony said, looking at his watch. "Ten minutes before the Stark School Shuttle launches."

Ginny nodded in understanding as she hurriedly slipped on her shirt and navy blue blazer with the school's crest on the breast pocket. Tony was leaving her bedroom as she collapsed to her knees to look for her black and white saddle shoes under her bed.

Tony walked down the hall to his son's room and knocked on the door. "H.A.?" he asked. "You about ready to go?"

Tony listened for a moment to detect any form of response from beyond the closed door. There was nothing. Tony frowned and grabbed the door knob, shoving the door open to find his son still sleeping under a pile of unruly bed linens.

"Jesus H...," Tony said in a dumbstruck whisper as he looked around. His son's room was a complete hovel, again, and it was like walking across a mine field to reach his bed. But eventually Tony made to the edge of the bed, and yanked back the covers. "Howard Anthony Stark!" he shouted. "What in everything holy are you still doing in bed?!"

"Yahhhhh! I'm up, I'm up!" his son cried out, jolting out of bed and raising his hands in surrender. He was a tall, lanky boy of 10, with a thick shock of unruly dark hair and ocean blue eyes. His olive complexion was the only real give away of his father's Italian decent, and a trait his little sister was fiercely jealous of.

Tony's eyes were fiery with annoyance. "We leave in 10 minutes! You'd better get yourself downstairs, fully dressed, and ready to go, in nine!" he commanded.

"Yeah! Okay, dad! I will! Calm down!" H.A assured.

Tony shook his head in disbelief. "Boy! I know you did not just tell me to calm down!" he warned. "Your butt! Downstairs! Nine minutes!" Tony spat out, jabbing a finger at his son. He spun around and kicked a pile of clothes out of his way to clear a path to the door, storming out of the bedroom.

"Sheesh, what's his problem," H.A muttered under his breath.

"I heard that!" Tony called out from the hallway.

H.A startled, his eyes wide in disbelief at his father's seemingly supernatural perception as he fumbled around trying to find a clean school uniform off his bedroom floor.

XxXxXxXxXx

"Lunches, troops. Here you go," Tony said, handing the brown bags to each respective child as they walked past him and out the front door. He stopped his son, and surveyed the boy skeptically, secretly hiding a fondness for his son's inherent ability to roll out of bed, with perfectly unkempt hair, and look like the cover of a magazine. Chip off the old block, Tony thought proudly. "Nice of you to find it within your abilities to make it this morning," Tony quipped, shoving the lunch bag into his son's chest, and cocking an eyebrow at him.

"Dad, come on," his son smirked back. "I had this. I don't know what you were worried about."

"Uh-huh," Tony said, skeptically. "May I remind you that it was I who woke you up? That if it wasn't for me, you'd still be sawing logs upstairs?"

"Well, I..." his son stammered.

"Yeah, yeah, smart guy, let's go," Tony said, shaking his head and smirking behind his son's back as he followed both of his children outside and into the drive way. The kids climbed into the back seat of Pepper's Audi S7, and Tony closed the door. He slipped on some RayBan aviators, and slid into the driver's seat, glancing in the rear view once more at the two faces looking back at him before pulling out of the driveway.

XxXxXxXxXx

A half an hour later, Tony pulled into the student drop-off lane in front of the Gilcrist Academy, the private school that both of his children attended in Malibu. "Okay, urchins. I believe this is your stop," he said. He got out of the car, and walked around to the right side of the car. He opened the back door ceremoniously. "Ms. Stark," Tony said, bowing to his daughter formally, which made his little girl giggle. He chuckled at the sound of her laughter.

"Daddy, you're so silly," Ginny said, throwing her arms around her father's neck.

He hugged her tight. "Have a good day, princess," he murmured in her ear, kissing her temple.

"I will," she said happily.

Next, his son climbed out, and met his father's gaze.

"And you," Tony said, jabbing a finger at his son, and giving him a stern look. But then he softened and smiled at his boy. "I love you, you know that, right?"

H.A smiled, and looked away bashfully. "Yeah, I know," he admitted.

Tony patted his son on the shoulder and nodded. "So, guys, you remember what we're doing today after school, right?"

"Visiting mommy!" Ginny said excitedly.

"That's right," Tony said, glancing at his daughter. "And I'll be right here to pick you up as always," he reminded them.

"Okay, dad," H.A said.

"Okay," Tony said, nodding at his son. "Now you both know our motto."

"Make you proud. Make mom proud," they both said in unison.

"You got it," Tony said. "Now go have a great day, you two." He nodded and dismissed them.

"Bye, daddy," Ginny said, waving a goodbye as she turned to go.

"Bye, baby," Tony said, winking at her as she walked with her brother into the school's entrance.

Tony watched them until they disappeared inside the building, and then sighed. He walked around the car and slid back into the driver's seat. The hustle and bustle of the morning had kept him mostly distracted from the significance of the day. But now, in the silence of the car, the familiar gray cloud of lonely hurt descended over the top of his head, and he bit his lip, his brow in a deep furrow as he tried not to allow his emotions to well over as he exited the busy school parking area. Despite his best efforts, though, his breath caught in his chest, and his chin quivered just slightly. Tony frowned hard and blinked, desperately trying to hold it together. He rested an elbow on the window sill, and brought the back of his left hand to his mouth, taking deep breaths in and out to steady his aching heart.

"God, why is this still so hard?" he whispered to himself as he drove home, the wound of all of the past hurt and loss feeling as fresh as the day it happened. Because you miss her more than ever, his subconscious answered back.