THE IRON LEGACY ||

Epilogue

. . .

MALIBU, CALIFORNIA — 2001

It was almost two in the morning when the front door finally swung open. Tony stumbled inside, laughing at something one of the women beside him had said.

"I swear he was trying to sell me a yacht," he slurred, shrugging his leather jacket from his shoulders. "Who buys a yacht from a guy called Rick?"

One of the women laughed, looping an arm through his. "You probably do."

"I probably do."

The lights were still on.

Tony frowned.

"...Pep?"

No answer.

He wandered further into the house, the two women following behind him until they reached the living room. Pepper was sitting on the sofa. Still in the same clothes she'd worn to work that morning. She looked exhausted. There was a tiny baby asleep in her arms.

Tony stopped walking.

"Whose kid is that?"

Pepper looked up. "Can you ask them to leave?"

Tony glanced between Pepper and the women. "Uh..." His expression shifted. "Leave your numbers on your way out. I'll be in touch." He grinned, giving them light pats on the ass.

The women immediately sensed the atmosphere, exchanging weird glances. One quietly picked up her handbag.

"Call me."

"Mhm."

The front door clicked shut behind them.

Silence.

Tony looked back at Pepper. "Seriously?" His eyes narrowed down at the baby. "And are you gonna tell me who the hell's kid that is? I mean, come on, Pepper, you're gonna get drool all over my new couch. You're my babysitter, not an actual babysitter."

Pepper held his gaze for a second before inhaling slowly. "A woman came here looking for you today."

Tony frowned. "Okay? Tell her she has to wait in line."

"She said she was Willow's mother."

"Who's Willow?" he scoffed, shifting his stance to transfer his weight to his other leg.

Pepper glanced down at the sleeping infant. "...Her."

Tony's expression didn't change, waiting for the part where this was relevant to him and why he wasted a good time.

"She said she'd been trying to contact you."

"I get about six hundred people trying to contact me every day."

"Tony."

He fell quiet.

"She says...Willow is...yours" Pepper continued carefully.

Tony's eyebrows shot up. His blood almost froze if it weren't for the alcohol coursing through it.

"...You're joking."

"I'm not."

"That's insane."

"I know."

"No, seriously. That's actually insane."

Pepper reached onto the coffee table and slid an envelope towards him.

"She left these."

Tony picked it up. A birth certificate. Medical paperwork. A handwritten note.