Summary: She won't stop crying. Pepper can get her to calm down by the sound of her heartbeat... but Tony doesn't have one. One-shot. Pepperony-baby fluff.
IRONMAN:
IN A HEARTBEAT
She wouldn’t stop crying.
Tony bounced her gently in his arms. “Shh, honey. Don’t wake Mommy up,” he pleaded in a sleep-deprived voice.
Tatiana refused to calm, however, continuing to wail, her face red and fists tight.
“JARVIS,” Tony snapped.
“Yes, sir?”
“Look up ways to calm a crying baby.” Tony adjusted his daughter so she lay on his chest, like he’d seen Pepper do so many times. It seemed to work for her.
He wasn’t so lucky.
“Search results in, sir.”
“Then read them!” His irritated tone seemed to start Tia crying harder.
“Tony?”
Tony turned to see Pepper coming out of the bedroom, blinking sleep glazed eyes. “Hey, honey, I, uh, didn’t want to wake you up.”
“Did you try feeding her?” Pepper reached her husband’s side and reached out to gently take their daughter into her arms.
“Yes,” Tony reluctantly let Pepper take Tia. “She wouldn’t take the bottle.”
Pepper rocked back and forth softly. “She’s tired,” She said softly, looking at her baby’s eyes.
“She’s not the only one,” Tony muttered.
Pepper lifted Tia so she lay against her chest. “Shh.” She rubbed Tia’s back as she swayed gently.
Tia’s wails quieted to whimpers, and then stopped altogether and her little body relaxed as she fell asleep.
“Oh, great, so it’s me. She doesn’t like me.”
Pepper shook her head and looked up. “It’s not like that,” she said. “Of course she likes you.” She craned her neck up to kiss Tony. “Now come back to bed.”
Tony kissed his wife, then smiled at her. “Be there in a minute.”
Pepper gave him a look that said she didn’t quite believe him, but she walked back to their bedroom, swaying gently and singly softly to Tia.
Tony sat down in the chair and swiveled to face the screen JARVIS had put up. He started scanning the results, trying to figure out what Pepper had that he didn’t.
He froze over one of them, leaning back in his chair.
“Is something wrong, sir?”
“A heartbeat,” Tony whispered. “Infants can be calmed by the beating of the heart. That’s why Pepper puts her on her chest.”
JARVIS didn’t reply. Tony placed his hand over his chest, feeling nothing. The arc reactor in his heart blocked his heartbeat from being audible.
Tony shoved his chair back and started walking out of the room.
“Sir? Where are you going?”
“To the workshop.”
#
A knock on the door startled Tony out of his sleep. He jerked upright and spun around on his stool. “Pepper! Oh, hi.”
Pepper stood in the doorway, wearing a navy dress suit, her hair in a tight up-do. “Tony? Do you have any idea what time it is?”
Tony blinked, trying to clear sleep from his eyes. “Uh, well, you’re dressed for work, so it’s got to be after six?”
Pepper walked into the room, towards him. “Six, yeah. Six PM.”
Tony stared at her for a moment, then shrugged. “Alright then. Must’ve dozed off.” He straightened up and looked at the screens floating in front of him. He pushed one aside, looking at the one behind it.
Pepper leaned over his shoulder. “What are you working on?”
“Something to make Tia like me.” Tony tapped twice on the screen, spreading his fingers apart to enlarge it.
“Tony…”
“No, no, no, listen.” He swiveled on the stool to face her. He placed a hand over his wife’s heart. “She likes it when you put her on your chest, right? Your heartbeat calms her.” He took Pepper’s hand and placed it on his chest. “I don’t have that.”
Realization dawned in her eyes. “Because of the arc reactor?”
Tony nodded, turning to the diagram floating in the air. “This is a design for a new one.”
Pepper peered at the floating image. “You’re giving yourself a heartbeat?”
Tony grinned. “Yep. Finalized the design before I fell asleep. Just need someone to help me install it.”
Pepper grimaced. “Me again?”
Tony grinned again and leaned over to kiss her. “I wouldn’t trust anyone else.”
#
Tony bolted out of bed the second he heard Tia’s cry. He reached the bassinet as Pepper rolled over. “I got her,” she murmured groggily.
“No, go back to sleep. I’ve got her.” Tony lifted Tia up and hustled the noisy little girl out of the bedroom so his wife could go back to sleep.
Tony prepped a bottle, deciding to try that first, suddenly feeling nervous that it wouldn’t work - that it wasn’t the lack of sound in his chest, that it was something else wrong with him.
Tia suckled the bottle eagerly, then pushed it away after a few minutes, wailing louder.
Setting the bottle down, Tony adjusted Tia so she lay against his chest.
She continued to cry.
Tony sighed, swaying back and forth. “Come on,” he whispered. “Please?”
Tia snuggled against his chest, whimpering.
Encouraged by the subtle change in volume, Tony put a hand on the back of his daughter’s head. He started murmuring a lullaby he’d heard Pepper sing and started to pace gently back and forth across the room.
Tia’s body relaxed, the heartbeat sound coming from the new arc reactor soothing her. Her breathing became more rhythmic and Tony sighed, cherishing the feel of his daughter so close to him.
#
Pepper woke up a few hours later to her alarm clock, feeling, for the first morning in a long time, well rested. She looked over to the other side of the bed and saw Tony hadn’t returned yet. She felt a flash of concern, and she threw back the covers, grabbing her bathrobe as she hurried into the living room.
She stopped in the doorway, a smile on her face.
Tony was asleep on the couch, one arm encircling Tia, who lay on his chest, sleeping peacefully.
Pepper smiled. Looks like Tony Stark had a heartbeat - and a heart - after all.
