AN: This story was written as a gift for Mandaloriandragontrainer, and I hope you don't mind that I set it in my AU Pepperony Greatest Reward Verse! Merry Christmas ( a few days late, sorry)!

Oh and warning, this story has what could be a triggering subject matter for some of you. Reader discretion advised!

The time is six o'clock," JARVIS stated in a matter of fact tone.

"Huh? What?" Tony sputtered, looking up from the piece of his suit he'd been working on, "It's six already?"

"Indeed, Sir."

"Well, you know the drill, J."

Before the words were finished leaving his mouth, things began to be saved and were shut down all around the workshop.

"JARVIS, call Pepper for me."

They had honeymooned for a month after their New Year's Eve wedding, which had meant when they'd come back home, Pepper had jumped straight back into running the company. They'd been home almost two months now, and were settling into something of a daily routine.

Pepper would go to work as soon as he'd let her actually leave, which meant sometimes she was a little later getting into the office than she wanted to. After she left, he'd usually go to the workshop, and try to tinker on his suits. Try was the keyword since usually his thoughts were almost always on the woman he still couldn't believe had consented to be his bride. He counted long the hours until she came home, and when she did, despite what a lot of people thought about him, she walked in to see dinner was waiting.

Okay so his abilities in the kitchen were limited to a few pasta and egg dishes. Oh alright they were very limited to those but he had made the dishes he knew he could make without burning the proverbial house down, and when they'd had them all for the third time for dinner (Pepper had graciously overlooked the fact some were actually breakfast dishes), they'd started ordering in.

When dinner ended, they'd like to watch a movie together or the rare TV show. Other nights they just talk and cuddle on the couch for hours before going to bed, falling asleep wrapped in each other's arms.

It was as normal as his life had ever been and for Tony, it felt like absolute heaven. He never dreamed he would be so happy or would ever find such bliss with a woman that he already loved more than on the day he had married.

But Pepper wasn't just any woman. She was-

"Mrs. Stark is already home, Sir."

Tony stopped halfway up the stairs leading up from his workshop, and looked up even though he knew he wouldn't see any part of the AI there, "What? How long has she been here, JARVIS, and why didn't you tell she was home?"

"She arrived home half an hour ago, Sir, and the reason I did not inform you is because Mrs. Stark requested that I not do so."

Feeling his heart quicken a million miles an hour, Tony raced upstairs, taking them two at a time. He soon arrived on the living room area and found it empty.

HIs mouth felt like the Sahara Desert as he asked breathlessly, "Where's Pepper, J?"

"Mrs. Stark is currently in the bathroom of the master bedroom suite, Sir."

She's sick.

Tony concentrated his energy to reaching his wife instead of making any more biting remarks to the electronic butler, and before he knew it he was crossing the threshold of their bedroom. Halfway across the room he called out, "Pepper, honey, are you okay?"

Her voice answered before he could make those final feet to the bathroom door, "I'm okay."

She sounded anything but, and when he finally laid eyes on her, the way she looked matched the way she had sounded She was seated on the lid of the toilet, staring at something in her hands, pale and shaking. Alarm bells went off when he realized she had been... no she was still crying!

Tony was soon kneeling down in front of her, "Honey, what-"

"I'm pregnant."

Those two words hung in the atmosphere of the bathroom, like they refused to penetrate into his brain at first. But when they finally did, they sunk into his brain with a vengeance, "You... you're pregnant?"

Pepper nodded, raising her red, puffy eyes and looked into his, "Yes, I'm... pregnant." She watched him closely as she confirmed the news, and what happened next wasn't what she was quite expecting.

In all the years she had known him, she was quite sure she had never ever seen such a grin that easily put the Cheshire cat's legendary mad smile to absolute shame, with his eyes were sparkling more than a velvet nighttime sky of stars. Before she could gather her thoughts enough to say what she was thinking, she found herself lifted up off the toilet being spun around in the middle of their bathroom by her husband.

They hadn't really talked about whether or not they'd ever have children, so surprised relief flooded Pepper. She tried to speak but still couldn't speak because Tony was now raining kisses all over her face, and was giggling, actually giggling like a little school boy!

"So you're happy about this?" Pepper asked when he started to calm down some.

Tony set her down, still grinning and nodding, "Yes! Why wouldn't I be happy? We're going to have a baby! I'm going to be a daddy!"

"If this test is accurate." She hated to burst his bubble but she knew that sometimes the home pregnancy tests weren't always correct. "I still need to go to my doctor to confirm that I am actually pregnant."

"You are!" he replied, bending over to kiss her stomach, "I know you are!"

A visit to Pepper's doctor the next morning confirmed that yes, she was indeed pregnant. Tony was ecstatic and immediately wanted to tell the entire world the news that he, the former playboy who once swore he'd never marry, and had absolutely vowed that having children of his own were out of the question. However Pepper, in her wisdom, had convinced Tony to keep the news of her pregnancy to themselves.

"Why don't we keep this to ourselves? Just for a little while? Hmm? I mean the world is going to know soon enough."

That was the truth too, since they knew at some point some member of the media would photograph of a baby bump on Pepper, and it would make headlines in all the celebrity rag magazines. Once that happened, their time of privacy would be over.

"What about Rhodey? Happy? Pep, we can't let them find out by seeing it in the National Inquirer!"

"Of course we'll tell them about the baby, but not right now? Okay?"

Tony had been reluctant in his agreement but he finally did agree to keeping the news between them for just a little while longer. Her doctor estimated that she was about six weeks along. So Pepper agreed that after she had went to two more doctor's appointments, they'd share the exciting news with Rhodey and Happy.

They heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time during Pepper's appointment.

Tony started crying the moment their baby's heartbeat filled the examination room.

They made plans to tell Rhodey and Happy the news after her next appointment. They invited both men to dinner on the same night of the appointment. Needless to say, when they both heard the news, the two men were instantly excited, and began vying for the title of godfather on the spot.

It would be a few more weeks before they would be able to find out their baby's gender. However not knowing didn't stop them from beginning the process of picking out a name for the little one they'd be welcoming in the autumn. It was their favorite thing to do while they were drifting off to sleep.

Tonight they were talking about names for boys in case their baby were to be a little boy.

"So that's a maybe on Lucas then?" Tony inquired, feeling his wife nod.

"That's a definite maybe."

"Okay then. J, add Lucas to the maybes list."

"Added, Sir."

"Okay, your turn, Pep."

"Hmm, okay... uh how about Travis?"

Tony's reaction to that suggestion was immediate, "Travis?"

She nodded, "Yes, Travis. You don't like that name."

"I can't say that I really care for it, no."

"Alright, Travis is off the list. Your turn."

He was quiet.

He was so quiet that Pepper thought he had fallen asleep, and she pulled away to look at him, "Tony?"

Tony met her eyes, and he bit his lip before he muttered, "How about Edwin?"

"Edwin?!"

"Yeah, Edwin. You don't like it."

Pepper paused, considering how she wanted to word what she wanted to say, "It's uh not that I don't like it. It's just that it sounds a little old-fashioned for um... your taste."

He gave her a hmm in response.

"Who was he, Tony?"

"Who?"

"Edwin. It's not a random name you just picked out from a website or book or from thin air. You knew someone named Edwin, didn't you?"

He sighed, nodding, "He was my Dad's... our butler when I was a kid. He was my best friend when I was growing up, and he's the one I named JARVIS for."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh."

She heard him sigh again.

"We don't have to name him, if we're having a him, Edwin. It wasn't a good idea. Sorry."

"Oh no! That's not it! It's not a bad idea or name, just a little old-fashioned. I guess we could call him Ed if we decided on Edwin but what about this instead? How about we use Edwin for his middle name if we have a boy and pick out another name for his first name? How does that sound?"

Tony thought about it for a minute, "It's a good idea actually. I like that idea. Okay, that takes care of the middle name if we have a boy... and maybe a for a girl too?"

If Tony were looking at her at that moment he would have seen the perfectly arched eyebrow, "You want to give our daughter Edwin as a middle name?"

"Yeah... well not Edwin exactly. No, what I was actually thinking was something like Edwina."

"Edwina?"

"Yeah Edwina."

Pepper just held back a groan, and instead told him, "If we use Edwina for our daughter, we will definitely be using the name as a middle name."

"Okay, that sound good to me."

"JARVIS, add Edwin and Edwina to our list for possible middle names?"

"Added, Ma'am."

"Thank you, JARVIS."

"My pleasure, Ma'am."

"It's your turn again I think."

"Okay... how about Benjamin or maybe just Ben?"

They fell asleep after talking about and adding a few more names to the list. They had been sleeping for around three hours when Pepper sat up suddenly, and moved the bed enough that Tony woke up too.

He looked up at her bleary eyed, "What? Huh? Pepper, are you okay?"

She nodded, and pushed the blankets off of herself, standing up, "I just need to use the bathroom. It's okay. I'm okay. Go back to sleep."

"Hmm..." he grunted, and rolled back over, pulling the blankets up, yawning.

Pepper went into the bathroom, and close the door behind her. The light was on in the shower, no doubt turned on by JARVIS so she could see without having to turn on the overhead light which would wake her up more.

What JARVIS did not know was she was already more awake then she wanted to be. She was awake, and a little scared because what had made her come into the bathroom wasn't that she needed to use the bathroom. No the reason she went into the bathroom was because she had an uncomfortable feeling in her abdomen, almost like cramps.

Like cramps.

"Oh my..." Pepper gasped as she looked into the mirror.

There was blood on her pajamas.

Fear gripped her heart, squeezing it like a vice. She opened her mouth to speak to JARVIS, but nothing came out. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried again, "JARVIS, would you please ask Tony to come here and... and put a call in to my doctor pl-please."

"Yes, Ma'am. Right away."

The door opened a few seconds later, and she heard Tony's voice, "Pep, what's-"

"I'm bleeding, Tony!" she all but screamed in reply.

It took a split second for the words to register, but when they did, his eyes went to where the blood was, "Oh my...!"

"Oh, Tony, what if I'm losing..." her voice trailed off as she suddenly waved where she stood.

He immediately reached out to grab hold of her, "JARVIS, call an ambulance!"

His wife immediately began to shake her head, "No, I already have a call into Doctor-"

"Incoming call from Doctor Ruiz," JARVIS called stated.

"Put it through, JARVIS."

"Yes, Ma'am."

They spent the next few minutes on the phone with Pepper's doctor who asked them questions, and then told them she had sent an ambulance to bring Pepper to the hospital right away.

"Have I lost the... our baby, Doctor?" Pepper asked as Tony wrapped her in a blanket and helped her to sit down on the bathroom floor.

The other woman was quiet for a moment before she answered, "I won't know for certain until I exam you, Mrs. Stark, but from what you've told me I am afraid I have to yes, it is sounding to me that you have had a miscarriage," She could just picture the looks on their faces right now, and added, "I'm so sorry."

Pepper started sobbing the second the doctor's words sank in. She had lost their baby! "Nooooo, please no!"

Tony, who was sitting on the floor with her, was too stunned to speak, and so just pulled his wife into his arms. He held her tightly as she cried, blinking away his own tears.

"The ambulance crew should be there in three minutes..." They both heard Dr. Ruiz say, and thankfully JARVIS took over responding for them.

"I have already taking the liberty of clearing them with security, and they shall presently be with Mr. and Mrs, Stark forty point three seconds after their entrance into the building, Dr. Ruiz."

If the doctor questioned the fact she was now talking with an AI butler, neither one of them heard it.

The crew arrived at the estimated time of arrival, and after they coaxed Tony into releasing her, began to attend to Pepper.

Dr. Ruiz confirmed that Pepper had indeed miscarried shortly after their arrival at the hospital as she could no longer find a heartbeat on the ultrasound. She decided to give the grieving mother's body a chance to pass the baby on its own but just in case it didn't, she had an OR scheduled for late in the morning.

The baby came a few hours after Pepper had been settled into a private room. Since she was only about ten weeks pregnant, so the baby was tiny, no bigger in size than a strawberry. But she was perfect in every other way, with ten tiny fingers and ten tiny toes.

Yes, they could see that they would have had a daughter!

As it turned out, one of Dr. Ruiz's other patients came in, having gone into labor, and so they were left alone for a few hours with their precious tiny one.

Once she was finished with the delivery, she changed out of her scrubs, and back into the clothes they'd seen her in when they first got there. They didn't need to know there was another couple here celebrating with their new little girl while they were mourning the loss of theirs.

She knocked softly on the door, and then slipped inside, stopping when she saw them. Pepper was of course in the room's bed, and she could see that the woman was cupping something in her hand. Both sets of eyes where on what the doctor knew to be the baby's remains, and she had to fight the inkling she had to leave the room. Taking a few steps closer instead, she braced herself, and cleared her throat.

"Hi, I've come to check on you and see how you're doing."

"We lost our baby! How do you think-" Tony stopped, realizing how he had snapped at the woman who was only doing her job, "I'm sorry, Doctor Ruiz. I didn't mean..." He stopped looking at her, his eyes going back to the baby in his wife's hands.

"It's okay, Mr. Stark. I understand," she said as she moved to the foot of the bed. "Mrs. Stark?"

Pepper hadn't looked at her since she came into the room, and still want to look at her although the doctor was attempting to get her attention. She opened her mouth to say the other woman's name again but stopped when Tony shook his head. As she watched he leaned closer to his wife and said something that she could not hear.

When her patient finally looked at her, she was as gentle as she could be when she told her, "Mrs. Stark, I am sorry to... interrupt your time, but I need to give you an examination. Okay?"

A nod was her only answer.

"Do you want me to leave?"

"No," the doctor shook her head, "Not if Mrs. Stark doesn't want you to."

"Do you, honey?"

"No."

"Alright then. I'll go get a nurse and I'll be right back. Okay?"

Pepper was released from the hospital late in the following day, since physically she was okay. Before leaving the hospital, Tony had made arrangements for their daughter's tiny body. Since she was miscarried at only ten weeks, there was no need for her parents to supply information for a death certificate, but both her parents wanted some record their daughter had been here, if only for a brief time.

They decided to have her tiny remains cremated, and they would eventually have her laid to rest in the Stark family mausoleum. But for now, the small ornate box with her ashes would remain with them.

They bestowed the name of Eleanore Edwina Anna Stark to her.

Three weeks later, in an attempt to return to their pre-pregnancy routine, they decided to go stay in New York for a little while since it was easy for Pepper to work from the tower as much as it was in Malibu.

It was even now, time for her to be coming home from the office. Tony ordered Pepper's favorite Italian meal from her favorite restaurant. and had dinner all set up when she arrived home. The set up included rose petals scattered on a pristine white tablecloth, the glow of candles, and soft piano music playing all around them. He had considered dressing up for dinner, but in the end didn't since he knew his wife would want to relax when she got home.

"Mrs. Stark is in the elevator, Sir, and on her way up to the penthouse."

"Thanks, J," Tony said, giving everything one last glance before heading to the elevator to greet him wife.

His hope for things getting back to normal fell through the floor when the doors to the elevator opened. Pepper was leaning against the right side wall, her hand up over her eyes as though the light in the car bothered her.

"Honey?" he said hesitantly, "Are you okay?"

Her hand dropped, and she looked at him through tired, almost red eyes, "Hey, everything's okay. It's just been a really long day and I'm really tired."

As she stepped inside, Tony took Pepper's bag from her, and put it down on a nearby chair. He then began rubbing her shoulders, "Well, I've got just the thing you need. I've ordered dinner from your favorite Italian place. It's on the table waiting for you and-"

"I'm not hungry."

"What?"

Pepper sighed, "I said I'm not hungry." She saw the disappointment flash in his eyes, "I'm sorry, Tony, but it's been a long, hard day and right now all I want is a nice, long, hot bath and then bed."

"Okay a bath's good. I'll just go run-"

"Thanks but I can handle it."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

He sighed, "Okay. I guess I'll just go put the food in the fridge then."

She nodded, "Okay."

Tony stayed in the spot he'd been standing in until she disappeared down the hallway. He then went to the table, and blew out of the candles. He then cleared the table, putting the food away in the refrigerator. Once the food was put away, he stood by the sink munching on the lonely breadstick he hadn't put away with the rest of the food, thinking.

"Shall I bring up all systems in your workshop, Sir?"

"No, I don't think, J. If Pepper's going to bed after her bath, I might as well go to bed too then."

"Very good, Sir."

Hours later, Tony was annoyed with himself when he woke up in a darkened room. When he had come into the room to lay down to wait for Pepper, the lamp in the corner was on, like the one on her nightstand. Now they were off, and his wife was laying with her back to him, presumably fast asleep.

Pepper was taking the loss of their baby so very hard.

He had no idea that she had wanted to be a mother that much. Maybe she hadn't until she became pregnant. If that were the case, he knew he shouldn't be surprised that she felt that way because he hadn't known how much he had wanted to be a father until the exact second she told he was going to be.

He wondered if she was having as hard of a time with the loss during her work days as he was while he was in the workshop? He'd go down to try to work on some upgrades, and usually wouldn't get too far in progress as thoughts of Ellie seem to inevitably invade into his mind, his heart every time. He had spent more time thinking about what she would've looked like than he wanted to admit to aloud.

Was she experiencing the same thing when she trying to do work at her desk or when she was in whatever meeting with whoever needed her attention?

Would her hair have been the same glorious red as her mother with his eyes or would should have had his hair with her mother's eyes? Would she have had freckles or she have gotten her Grandmother Maria's Italian complexion that tanned like a dream on warm summer days?

If it hurt him to know they'd never find out the answers to these questions, then how much more did it hurt Pepper?

He sighed, looking over at his wife's sleeping form. He so wanted to talk to her about these things, and for them to be able to grieve for the daughter they had lost so soon after finding out she was coming.

Knowing this was another night they weren't going to talk about, Tony decided the best thing would be for him to try to get back to sleep. So after one last long look at her, he closed his eyes, and tried to relax enough to sleep.

His attempts to sleep didn't last long. The sounds of someone crying and trying to keep it quiet spilled into his ears. He didn't want to take a chance of letting her know he can hear her crying, so he turned his head as gently as he could.

Sniff

He had not imagined it; she is crying!

Turning over, Tony softly said, "Pepper honey, are you okay? What's wrong?" As if he didn't already know the answer to that question.

She didn't respond.

"Pep, I know you're awake."

He heard her respond, then in one split second she turned over, and in the very next, she found his arms. Tony enclosed his arms tightly around her trembling body as she started to sob.

He really didn't know what to say as he held her. He knew why she was crying, and between it and hearing her cry like this he didn't fight the tears when they started slipping down his face. He hated that all he did do was to continue to hold her, and kiss her head every so often.

After half of hour, Pepper's sobs begin to wane off into sniffles, until her crying had quietened so much altogether that for a moment Tony thought she had fallen back to sleep. That, however, was dispelled when Pepper pulled herself slowly out of his arms, sat up, and yanked three tissues from the Kleenex box on her nightstand. Tony sat up as she wiped her eyes and then blew her nose.

"W-why did this happen to us, Tony? Why did we lose our baby girl?"

When he felt her head rest on his shoulder, he put his arm around her, and with a sigh answered, "I don't know, honey. I wish I did."

"What if it's my fault? What if I did something I shouldn't have or didn't do something I should have?"

Tony heard the self-recrimination in her voice, twisting the sharp knife already embedded deep in his chest. He rubbed her back and attempted to soothe his wife as best he could, "Doctor Ruiz said you didn't nothing wrong. You didn't cause this. Remember, she said that sometimes the body just can't continue to carry the pregnancy."

She sighed, "Yeah, I remember. But I still can't help but think it was something I did to make us lose our little girl."

"Oh, honey, you have got to stop thinking like that. You're only going to make yourself sick or drive yourself crazy if you do. Please, Pepper, tell me you'll stop think about the what ifs and all the other things you can't control."

Pepper was quiet for a few moments, then nodded, "I'll try."

He kissed her brow, "Thank you. I love you."

"I love you too."

"Why don't we try to go back to sleep?"

"Okay."

They laid back down, Pepper snuggling in her husband's arms this time, sighing with the small degree of happiness she felt.

"You know, we can try again later if you want to."

"Yeah."

Tony wanted to say out loud so badly, Because I want try again but he didn't. He kept it inside of himself, not wanting to push Pepper into anything she may not want to do in the future. But he hoped she did, because now that he knew how exciting it was, how much it put a deep feeling of love in his being for the possible little person they could make together...

He found that he wanted to be a father, and wanted it more than anything, anything else he had ever wanted in his life... well besides marrying Pepper that is.

But he could be patient, and if she decided that she didn't want to try risk having her heart torn in two again, then he would understand. He would find a way to accept it because while he wanted to have a child to love, he also knew he could be content with them sharing a lifetime of just the two of them together.