Tony wakes up to screaming.
His heart stutters in his chest and he sits up ready to jump into action. He's got one hand on his chest and the other is already aiming around the room, gauntlet at the ready.
"FRIDAY, lights up!"
He hears the sound again, and he can understand it more as a groan than a scream, but it's still alarming at...he checks the clock, 4 o'clock on a Sunday morning. The world is supposed to be safe. So he can't imagine why anyone would be making that sound.
"Pep?" Tony says with caution as he eases from the bed and steps towards the open bathroom door quietly. "Pepper are you okay?"
"Does it sound like I'm okay?" she snaps.
He powers down his gauntlet, taking a deep breath. "Now it does. What's going on?"
He rounds the door jamb and realizes he shouldn't have asked. Realizes he should have been moving a lot faster. Realizes he should be doing more than just standing around yelling at FRIDAY to call Helen.
"Pep," he says in awe, "your water broke!"
"Hadn't noticed, Tony, thank you." She sucks in a breath or two before groaning again and Tony realizes belatedly that she's probably having contractions. That they're going to have a baby soon.
He gets a couple of towels to help Pepper be a bit more comfortable then immediately calls Rhodey.
--:--
The Tower is quiet when Tony brings Nebula in to meet Morgan. She's been jumping galaxies to make it back. To meet her sister. After bonding on a ship for a month, learning each other's tics, after saving the world together, it's nothing to claim her to her face. To tell her she's going to have another sister and mean it.
He looks up and some part of him relaxes because Pepper is okay, and Rhodey is okay, and even Happy is standing there with unshed tears in his eyes, but then he thinks about who's not here and a part of him breaks when he looks them in the eyes.
In contrast to how she acted when she first met them (and every time since), Nebula stands away from Tony and Rhodey and Pepper. Her eyes are trained on the little bundle in Pepper's arms, but she's not moving to get closer.
"I—" she starts.
She's not the first to meet baby Morgan, but the look in her eyes tells Tony she wants to run and hide in the lab anyway. He knows the feeling. Has done it more than once. Will continue to do it in the future, he's sure. But right now? Right now he's not going to let her. He steps closer to her, reaching out a hand to pull her in to the circle of family. Their family.
"You not honna mess her up," Harley encourages from next to the bed where he's acting as Pepper's in ward secretary.
"How do you know that?" Nebula argues, shoulders tense enough for all of them to hear the metal creak.
"Cause," Peter cuts in from the corner of the room where he tried to isolate a bit from the number of people congregated in the space, "we're heroes, and she's our sister. The way I see it, we can't mess her up if we're too busy protecting her, right?"
Nebula laughs, a strong one with no remorse, that brings a smile to Tony's face.
"Protecting her," she says and the belief in her voice is like iron, the way that all Starks are forged to be. "I can do that."
--:--
It's Sunday, Tony realizes hours after Pepper has given birth and everyone has met the newborn that he is cradling in his arms. He looks around at Pepper and Rhodey and Peter and Harley and May and Happy and Nebula and he smiles. It's Sunday and it's been over a year since he first came back from Titan torn to shreds on the inside, but right now, being surrounded by his family it's hard to forget that he's finally won. Hard to forget he's retired and free to spend time with them and love them as much as he wants for as long as he can.
After years of feeling like his life is hanging by a thread, Tony finally thinks that he's genuinely happy, and that is enough.
-§-
thanks, futher muckers
i started this fic duology almost 2 years ago now and though it's taken me a while, im glad i did
was this fic everything i expected it to be? no, but i loved writing it every step. i liked writing peter and tony and harley and learning more about myself while also learning about them.
i liked being able to write characters we all love in a way we can also connect with.
im not done writing these guys, (far from it!) but i needed to finish this series to give myself room to grow and space to breathe and time to finish old projects and start some anew
i hope yall had a good fall harvest (cause fuck thanksgiving but i still like to eat).
as always i hope yall enjoyed.
love y'all 💕
-- angel janeé xoxo 💋
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Our Dad's an Ir⎊n Dad || Marvel
Fanfiction[sequel to A Dad of Iron Will] Tony's retired. Mostly. He brought his kid back (and half the population with him), but it's been months since he and Pepper have had a full house. Now Harley's home and Peter's back and not even Tony knows what they'l...
