A/N: Hey look, a new one-shot for the Of Time series timeline, already! This time, however, is Tony and Pepper's turn. And it is quite a turn. Inspiration hit me hard, what can I say?
This takes place roughly four months after the end of Darkest Before Dawn.
Just a reminder: this story is UNBETA'ED. This is mostly due to my personal schedule being a little different from others', and therefore harder to coalesce with someone else's. As such, I do proofread, edit, and restructure my own writing. I try my best, but I am not perfect.

I own nothing from the MCU, nor do I own any other pop culture references made in the text.

Thanks for reading, please review, and I'll see you all for the next one!

November 9th, 2018

The door to the penthouse slid open almost silently, the security codes keyed in and the AI's automated voice hushed as the fellow entered his home. Scrubbing his face tiredly, Tony Stark glanced across the wide room, over the high-end couches in the living room, over the opulent dining space to the windowed walls beyond. The skyscrapers of New York City were brilliantly lit even at that hour, the city that never slept reminding him how he was not alone, even then. It was a rare evening without Peter Parker joining him in the lab, and he'd immersed himself in tweaking a few settings in the HUD settings. (Peter had started his college courses in the fall, and was moonlighting with selling his photography to a few local papers on the side on top of helping him out. His duties in Queens, as Spider-Man and a junior Avenger, tended to also take his time, so his hours as a laboratory assistant to Stark had dropped; the older man didn't mind all that much, too pleased with the younger man's progress to get terribly worked up over the absences.) Though he hadn't intended to do so, darkness had fallen upon the city, and he hadn't left the space until a programmed reminder had been forwarded to him through JJ. Pepper was making it her duty to ensure he would get his sleep those days, and she refused to shirk it.

The Tower was silent at that hour, the darkness of the night smoothing around him when he'd taken himself to the upper floors, to his home. Yawning, he stretched his arms over his head as he tiptoed through the low-lit space, the bulbs slowly illuminating the penthouse as JJ raised them. The kitchen, all stainless steel and smooth granite counter-tops, was his destination, his stomach growling loudly as he stumbled over to the refrigerator. He needed to get better about eating on time; now that he was away from his tools, it felt like his gut was trying to gnaw its way out of him. Amidst the fruits and vegetables in various drawers, there were several containers of take-out, a box of pizza on the bottom shelf. Swooping upon it, Tony had practically wolfed down two slices, barely pausing to chew between bites. Despite knowing he could not eat like a twenty-year-old anymore, he couldn't help himself. Maybe he'd counter it with crunches or something in the morning; he was do for body tune-up as it were, anyway.

Satiated, he let out a slow sigh, a glance darted to the high definition display hovering above the counter along the far wall. The chill of the November day had been recorded, and a news scroll was ticking across the interface. Sightings of the Avengers (sans commander now, led by Bucky Barnes and supplemented by a few new faces among the old) had confirmed that they were somewhere in South America for the moment, though they'd blipped on the radar and were gone within minutes. Likely that was Natasha's doing, he mused, smirking to himself; she did have an immense talent for getting multiple people in and out of sticky situations like that. He'd been exempted from taking part in the mission, given the time of the month, and besides, it was reported that they had since returned home, so there was no need to worry about them. His priorities were focused elsewhere, his focus shifting as he reminded himself of that fact, and his feet propelled him from the room, then.

Turning down the hall, he was not terribly surprised to find lamplight spilling out from under the crack of the bedroom door. Passing the other closed doors on his way—a bathroom and guest room on his left, an office and freshly-finished nursery to the right—he edged his way to the door, fingers turning the knob a bit and opening the panels. Looking across the room, he spied the emptiness of the big bed, the covers askew. Dark eyes landed next on the woman marching along the carpeted floor, red-gold hair swinging and glinting in the glow of the lamps as she paced the room, a habit she'd gotten into nightly.

And it was all due to the reason behind the prominent swell of her belly that she'd gotten into that habit in the first place.

In August, it was nearly impossible for Pepper to hide the pregnancy, and so the media had been in a flurry since that day. Newspaper after magazine wanted to schedule interviews with her, ask her how she intended to balance her home life with her working persona as the CEO of the world's largest tech conglomerate. Would she be taking a sabbatical, or reverting the company back into Tony's care, the pair inevitably drawn into a back-and-forth cycle they would never break? Or, as one journalist had scrawled with nothing short of shock, would she abandoned the company altogether to fully immerse herself in motherhood? The world seemed to be on tenterhooks as they watched her belly expand, the public eye squinting and glaring at her with each new decision made, with each merger decided along with what sort of high-end maternity wear she'd chosen to appear in whenever she chanced to go to dinner with her husband or some such activity.

And now that it was November, it had not abated in the least, especially since she had chosen to start her maternity leave the week prior. Granted, it had lessened somewhat as she had kept behind closed doors, and the baby had still not come. Six days had passed since the due date, and it was quite clear how anxious it was making his wife feel. Not to mention how uncomfortable she was as each day passed, and she was still carrying the kid.

Tony had to hand it to her; despite being nearly forty-one years old, she was handling the pregnancy so well. Granted, there were so many more tests and trials she had to undertake simply because she'd crested over peak carrying times, but each batch of blood-work and genetic marking had been met with her usual brand of stolidity and cheerful confidence. Sure, there were a few nights when hormones had reared their heads and made her act slightly...less than normal (implying she was going nuts was something he would never say aloud, not if he wished to keep his manhood...or his life), and the cravings were all too random (shawarma, while tasty, was not something he thought he'd have to make a midnight run for, and to have her combine it with cookie dough ice cream). But still, she was the champion of the situation, while he was...out of his depth, which was an entirely unfamiliar and discomforting feeling for him when it cropped up. Mostly, though, he was intrigued and somewhat excited by the prospect of fatherhood. More so than he would have been at twenty, come to think of it.

Inwardly, Tony shrugged off his musings, letting out a soft sigh.

"How you feeling, honey?" he asked, leaning against the doorjamb and watching as she pivoted and started another circuit across the room. Pepper huffed out a breath, one palm on her belly and the other on the small of her back.

"Like I'm still the size of a house after a week," she retorted, a weak and sardonic grin on her lips as she shuffled to and fro. Passing a hand over her forehead, she snorted, hair shifting as she shook her head. "My back is killing me, and the baby's not letting me sleep."

Ah, insomnia. Evidently, it was a family trait, he thought, crossing the room and laying a hand upon her shoulder. It was testament to the comfort she truly needed; if she were more irritable, she would have shrugged him off, then.

"I'm sorry," he intoned, lifting a shoulder and uncertain what else he could say. He wasn't one of those dads-to-be that experienced the same trials and pains alongside the mother, so he could only go off of what Pepper would confide in him. She let out another fast breath, directing up upward and fanning out the hair to the side.

"Only partially. This is only half your fault, after all," she attempted to absolve him, mustering up the wherewithal to shoot him a cheeky smirk. "I give correct credit where it's due."

Tony gave a mocking hiss, the smarting reference to the remark he'd once made to her years ago barely deterring him from taking her into his embrace.

"Ouch," he intoned mildly, his hand on her waist and pulling her closer. The swell of her belly pressed into his stomach, the tips of his fingers moving around to her back and kneading gently. Her eyes closed, a flash of relief lighting her features as he looked upon her. She really hadn't been sleeping well, or comfortably, for the last few weeks. He had to try something, anything, to lessen her pains, he resolved, and so offered aloud, "Anything I can do to make it better?"

Eyes opened slowly again, the relief and muted pain slowly being replaced with something darker and more...intent. Recognizing it for what it was, Tony felt a swallow bob in his throat, the corner of his mouth twitching. Hormones: sometimes a curse, and sometimes a blessing.

"Well, I mean, there is one possibility," she stated quietly, fingertips trailing up his arms to loop around his neck. "I've heard of a certain method being used to help induce labor for overdue moms, one that I think you might be into."

The smirk on his lips had turned wolfish. Oh yes, he was grateful for how much Pepper had been able to take in stride. And for how much she had not lost in the months of growing the baby in her womb.

"That is definitely something I can do for you," he remarked confidently, bending to capture her lips in a hot, fast kiss. The doctor had indicated such a thing would not harm the child inside her, and as it was, he was determined to do whatever was necessary for his wife. Assuming it would work at all; they had coupled a few nights past, in the same hope (though it hadn't been explicitly stated), and nothing had happened then, and the odds of it actually occurring were ones he was willing to take. His kiss was returned almost threefold, aggression dominating Pepper and thereby dominating him. Palms cupped at his scruffy cheeks, sliding back and through his dark hair, her body pressed up against his and her steps propelling them back toward the bed.

The lamps darkened, clothes were shed, and the glow of the city through the windows caught their silhouettes as they began to move as one, drawn together through passion and need.

And then...

Less than twenty minutes later, Tony was frantically maneuvering his favored orange and black Audi through prevalent Manhattan traffic, clothes thrown on haphazardly and eyes darting frantically at the traffic. Attempting to find openings between cars, his vehicle lurched forward, the engine revving as he shifted. A sharp cry issued from the back seat, Pepper blowing out fast breaths and hands clawing at the back rests as she tilted her head back.

"I'm an idiot. I am a massive idiot," he muttered under his breath, spying another break between cars and swiftly directing the car into it. His wife let out a shaky laugh, though it was liberally laced with acute pain.

"It worked, I can't believe it..." Pepper groaned, fingers gripping so hard the knuckles had turned white. Even though she had initiated the idea of inducing labor through intercourse, she had assumed her luck would be contrary to her wishes, as ever. Clearly, that was not the case that time around. With her water breaking in the bed, and their hasty redressing and bustle down the Tower, she could barely allow her brain to catch up to anything but the new ripples of pain flowing through her. "Ugh!"

Glancing up in the rear-view mirror, and seeing the fresh flush of her face, Tony shook his head and focused even harder on the traffic. "Just hang tight, Pep!"

The passage of time for them to drive to the hospital and check Pepper in had gone by in a blur, Tony barely able to distinguish the ticking of the clock in between getting her out of the car (a jacket of his sacrificed to sit under her to protect the seats) and into the correct department. The doctor on duty, as well as the one Pepper had been seeing for months, were called in, discussing her medical history as the nurses recorded her stats. For once, Tony was unable to insert himself into the conversation, the turn of the night having gone a ways to shutting him up effectively. Terms he knew, understood, went unanswered as the two doctors pointed out to the "experimental" surgery she'd had a few years prior—there was no better way to describe EXTREMIS, or the treatment Tony was able to devise to return Pepper to herself once more—and how it had, miraculously, not done any harm to the baby. In fact, they were baffled by her good health throughout the pregnancy, that she had beaten the odds of premature labor and seemed to be progressing naturally. His tongue was tied as they spoke, his attention caught somewhere in the space between spaces as his wife was bundled into the bed, monitors and other such accoutrements attached to her person.

He felt as though he were swimming in deep, dark water, lost in the middle of it all and not knowing which way to head. A voice, one that was sweet and familiar, called out to him, beckoned him from the beyond, and he could almost feel himself turning toward it, sloshing his way to it in an attempt to pull himself out again.

"Tony...Tony...Anthony!"

He snapped back into the present then, breathing heavily through his nose as the chirps and whirs of the monitors broke through. The doctors and nurses had since vacated the space, leaving him alone with his wife, and his thoughts.

"Yeah, right here," he murmured, focus returning to the woman in the bed. Pepper's face was mottled, sweat beading along her brow, and her breathing was coming in harshly. Blindly, he strode forward and took her hand, squeezing it gently. He'd always hated to see her in pain, to see fear in the woman he loved, and to know that—even though this was a happy event—he couldn't prevent it from happening ate at him, still. However, he forced his expression to remain neutral, his dark brown eyes remaining on her as she squeezed back.

"Can you call everyone, while there's still time?" she asked him, nodding to the hospital bag they'd remembered to bring with (or maybe it was one she had stashed ahead of time he couldn't recall actually grabbing the thing on their way out). His chin dipped then, and he slipped out of her grasp, latching onto the idea.

"Sure, sure," he mumbled, combing through the bag that had been dropped on the counter along the far wall. At once, he fetched up the phone within, twitching it between his fingers as he stepped back. Hooking a thumb to the hall, he told her, "Be right back, promise."

Pepper nodded, and Tony swiftly turned then, missing the fall of her face as he exited the room.

Out of the hospital suite, Tony darted down to the small lounge they'd passed on their way in, thumb jabbing at the screen as he paged through the numbers recorded within. As it was one of the numerous StarkTech devices they'd kept on hand, all contacts between them had been transferred in, and he was able to get cracking. Pepper's parents were the first to be called, his mother-in-law practically gushing with pure joy over the line (his father-in-law, as ever, said nothing, as the man had never liked him and refused to pretend otherwise, even after the wedding). Her two sisters had been left messages, one in California and the other in Colorado, both likely still asleep. Toying with the device for several long moments, he considered the next name on the list, once he'd finished passing the word along to Rhodey and Happy. The urge to call was strong, growing with each second as he considered his impending change of status and the surge of something deep inside him rising. A short tap, and he waited, the dial tone ringing for a few moments before the click and shift came through.

"'Lo?" the voice on the other end rumbled, clearing having been roused from sleep. Tony felt a small stab of guilt register in him, but he pushed through it.

"Morning, Rogers," he replied, leaning back against the stiff seating he'd shunted himself into several minutes ago.

Steve blew out a fast breath on his end, the huff of indignation actually grounding the tech genius as shuffling came in on the other end.

"Damn, Tony, how can you be so chipper at...Christ, three in the morning?" the other man wondered, flabbergasted by the wake-up call. The billionaire let out a ghost of a chuckle, very little humor in it as he passed his free hand over his face.

"I don't know if 'chipper' is accurate, but I am a little souped up on adrenaline."

"Why?" Steve wondered, his question trailing away as he exhaled sharply. "Oh, wait. Pepper's having the baby now?"

Stark inclined his head, despite the fact that Steve couldn't see him do so.

"Well, soonish," he amended aloud, flicking his gaze to the clock above the window to his left. It had felt like ages since they first arrived, but apparently that was not the case. "We just got her admitted to the hospital about a half hour ago, she still has a ways to go."

Steve let out a low whistle at that. "Good for her. Must've been tough, what with being overdue by a week. Or so Holly told me."

Tony stifled a snort. He didn't doubt that Pepper had passed that information along. She didn't trust many people—too many instances in their shared past had dictated that she couldn't—but with motherhood in her near future, she had wanted to confide in another mother, to get perspective on it all. That she would call Holly Rogers was almost a given, due to proximity alone, but she'd also done so in the hope of escaping judgment. Her sisters had both had multiple children by that point (four for one, three for the other), and they had some strong opinions about her waiting until then to have a baby. She wanted a friend to speak to about it all, and the wife of the super-soldier—who had endured two pregnancies in the public eye while married to an Avenger—was the one she felt she could turn to.

"Yeah, yeah. It's good," he remarked, his tone drifting away as he glanced down at his knees.

A short paused followed, the weight of what remained unsaid sitting heavily upon him.

"...You don't sound so sure," Steve murmured mildly, breaking the silence that hovered between them. Tony swallowed hard, the whir and swirl of his thoughts pushing forward then, forcing themselves onto his tongue and out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

"I...just, this is literally something I have never been prepared to have happen in my life, and now it's here, and holy shit, I'm gonna be a dad—"

"Tony, Tony," the other man called out to him, his tone asserting itself and forcing his spilling to halt. A slow breath was taken, and he told him, "It's okay. You're not the first father to think that, and you won't be the last. Believe me."

Stark rolled his eyes then. "Please. I bet you were just itching to have the two-point-five kids and white picket fence before you even had names picked out, seventy years ago."

Another pause, and the Steve spoke once more, low and pronouncing every word carefully over the line.

"Depends on when you'd ask me. When I was eighteen, I had trouble thinking that a girl would even talk to me. At twenty-three, I'd sort of...given up hope that I could ever have kids." He sniffed, hard, and Tony felt like slapping himself. He'd studied Steve's files in the past (first at his father's behest, then later on when Coulson had come to him before Loki and everything went down); the myriad health problems, as well as being scrawny and short, would have worked against him. In the next breath, Rogers confirmed as much. "I likely would've been dead before they hit puberty, and then the war happened...and the procedure made me hope again. But after the ice..." He let the thought linger, his throat clearing before he could continue. "I wanted a family, but I didn't really think it would happen."

In spite of the serious tenor of the words, Stark could practically feel the grateful, wistful grin coming onto his friend's lips, the other man's thoughts likely turning to his wife. Holly, who had stumbled upon him almost by accident, who had altered his path, and had ultimately given him their son and daughter.

"Things changed. I changed," he remarked simply. "You will, too. You have. And you will again. That's how life is."

The easy truth of it all was a balm to Tony's soul, the anxiety rushing through him soothed somewhat. Still, it didn't erase his doubts—nothing ever truly would, he supposed.

"...Yeah."

Steve hummed again, and sighed. "You'll be a good dad, Tony. You know what to watch out for already, so you have that added benefit."

The last was said with some cheek imbued in the words, making Stark scoff and press the heel of his hand to his head.

"God, don't remind me." Dropping his hand, he let his jaw quirk for a few moments, summoning up the courage to ask, "You really think that?"

"I don't think Pepper will let you be any less than that," Rogers pointed out wryly, the warmth in his tone confirming that he believed what he'd said. The humor in his voice gave way to sincerity as he continued, "And, more importantly, you won't let yourself do any less. Trust me."

Letting that sink in, Tony felt himself relax further into the cushions of the couch, the tick of the clock reverberating in his ears for several seconds.

"Right." Another scrub of his hand over his face, and he muttered, "Thanks for the pep talk, Rogers."

"Any time, Stark," Steve told him. "Well, maybe more so after six o'clock; Holly was about ready to murder me for leaving the ringer on the phone turned up."

Unable to help himself, Stark snorted out a laugh. "Oh, boy. You interrupted Mama Bear's sleep?"

"Technically, you did," the other man riposted. Letting out a low chuckle of his own, he exhaled softly, doling one last bit of advice. "You can do this, Tony. You both can. Now, stop wasting time talking to me, and get your ass back in there. She'll need you pretty quick."

The billionaire rolled his eyes, managing a mocking salute to thin air.

"Yes, sir."

Steve let out a fast huff, and murmured, "Good luck."

"Thanks," Tony replied, the click of the phone hanging up on his friend's end echoing back to him. He dropped the phone into his lap, his jaw quirking as he inhaled deeply. Reaching his decision, he nodded once, the device shoved into his pocket as he stood again. Squaring his shoulders, he turned and strode down the hall, back to the room his wife was in. Pushing the panel in, he halted on the threshold, taking in the sight of her bowed head and fingers twitching at the blanket pulled over her lap. The uncertainty and fear he'd thought was his exclusive domain reflected from her, and he felt his heart twist. Clearing his throat, he alerted her to his presence, and she started slightly, swiping discreetly at her eyes.

"Tony," she said, the care of his name in her tone warming him as it had done in the past. She glanced at the lump in his pocket, her brow furrowing a bit as she winced. Passing another dulled contraction, she asked, "All done?"

Letting go of the door, he crossed to her, taking her hand again and nodding.

"All done. Your family and mine know," he said, thumb rubbing against the skin. Looking down at her, even in her flushed and nervous state, he couldn't help but think of how gorgeous she was, and how lucky he'd been to get the chance with her. Worth more than all those calendar models put together, and he would never let himself forget it. His gaze flickered to the swell of her belly under the gown and blanket, and he took in a deep breath. "You ready for this, sweetie?"

Pepper let out a strained laugh, threading her fingers with his and answering bluntly, "No."

"Good. Neither am I," he responded, smirking down at her as well. Bringing her hand up, he pecked her knuckles, letting her see the genuine feeling flooding through his irises. He was still scared, still afraid of what the future could hold, but neither of them would go through it alone. "We got this."

For the first time since the pain had started, Pepper gave him a true smile, gratitude lining her features. "Yeah, we do."

It felt like minutes, but in reality hours passed after that point, with Pepper aching and monitors beeping and then suddenly the room was awash with medical personnel in scrubs and the nurse demanding he help her through her breaths as she began to push. The birthing coach they had hired was stuck in traffic herself, unable to be there through the delivery, and so he was called upon to act in her stead. In and out, breaths flew and curses fell from Pepper's tongue as she bore down, working to expel the little one from inside her. When the head began to crown, Tony felt the anxiety and fear rear its head within him, black spots dotting his vision then. As his eyes began to roll up, a stinging smack landed upon his cheek, his swoon halted as his head snapped to the side. Grunting, he cupped his free palm over the stinging skin, narrowing in on his wife as she glared back. She wouldn't let him faint, not when she was in the midst of bringing their child into the world. She wouldn't let him do so, not when she needed him. Pushing past his own pain, he braced himself along the arm of the bed, groaning in tandem with his wife as she did as directed, pushing hard and bringing their daughter fully into the world.

Their daughter, the creature swathed in fluids and screaming her displeasure to the world, was held up before them, and Tony suddenly felt nothing of the anxiety and fear from before. Wonderment had taken its place, his eyes never wavering from her little form as she was brought away to be cleaned and measured, his hand still tight around Pepper's as the nurses and doctors examined her as well. Doubtless they would keep mother and child in the hospital for a day or two, watch out for signs of infection or illness, but once the pink-wrapped bundle was brought back to them, he couldn't spare a thought for it.

Pepper held her first, which was only her right (she pushed her out, after all, and she wanted the distraction from having to take care of the remainder). Her mottled skin was glowing now, the sweat turning into a glisten in his eyes as she cradled the baby close, nuzzling at her temple and tears crawling out the corners of her eyes.

"She's beautiful," she crooned, the roughened tone of her voice not detracting from the statement whatsoever. Bright, tired eyes rose in elation from the infant to the husband, and she breathed, "Isn't she beautiful, Tony?"

"Yes," he murmured, daring to come nearer to the bed. Under the pink cap, dark eyes peered back at him briefly, drifting shut as he passed a finger over her puffy cheek. "God, she's little."

Pepper sniffed hard, pressing a kiss to their daughter's cheek. "She'll grow. And be so smart, like Daddy."

Tony snorted, but his grin was genuine. "I'd rather she be like you, but we'll see, won't we?"

"Mm-hmm," the new mother hummed in agreement, filled with an eagerness to find out who their child would become. An eagerness that the father shared, something he held onto as the birth certificate was filled out, and even through calling out to JJ and bringing in the drones to ring the hospital as extra security (no doubt the media had been informed of the birth of the newest Stark, but he wouldn't allow them to get near either of his girls, not yet).

Tony had his turn with her later, when the bassinet had been brought in and the staff cleared out, the family allowed their time with one another. The practice he'd gotten in the few times of holding Steve's kids came back to him, the instinct to cradle the head and hold her close coming to him after a few moments. She was so small, so dependent upon him and her mother...and she was there. She was really there, with them, in his arms and warming to him.

He wondered what his own father would think, what he would say about his greatest creation turning out his own.

"Evelyn Maria Stark," he pronounced her name carefully, the name chosen for the tiny creature in his arms. The little brow furrowed, and her birth-darkened eyes opened to look at him, almost studying him as much as he was examining her. A corner of his mouth turned up; it was already so obvious to him how much this girl was like him. And, with that scrutiny in her gaze, how she was already so much like Pepper. Carefully smoothing a pad of his finger over the pink cap on her head, he let his smile grow a bit. "You up for this, pretty girl? All of this?"

The baby in his arms blinked once, twice, and then sneezed heartily. Her eyelids drooped shut then, and a low chuckled floated from the bed. Glancing up, Tony spotted Pepper leaning her head on her elbow, her bright eyes gleaming with exhaustion and unshed, happy tears.

"I think that's a yes," she breathed, closing her eyes even as she felt a smile bloom on her lips. She heard the genuine grin in Tony's voice as she shifted onto her back again, his answer soothing her in a way she had not thought possible.

"I think so, too."