The Scottish Starks
"Are you sure this is okay?", Pepper asked for what Tony was sure was the 2000th time.
"No.", Tony told her this time, "They are sure to kick you out."
Pepper did not seem to find that joke particularly funny. Tony on the other hand grinned charmingly. Pepper knew it was just a joke, but it did not make her feel any better. She was technically still working for Stark Industries, making Harry very much her boss.
She had been fretting about this for weeks now, ever since Tony asked her, if she'd spend Christmas with him. She had happily agreed, not realizing in that instance that Christmas with Tony meant Christmas with the whole (albeit small) Stark family. It wasn't that Pepper didn't like Harry, she did, she just did not really know what to make of him. Or his wife, for that matter. Tony's brother had been a foreign entity for the longest time for her, although she had met him a couple of times when she was Tony's assistant. She had never quite figured out what exactly it was he was even doing. But then again, she had to admit, maybe he wasn't really doing anything at that point. As Howard Stark's younger son he sure had no need to work.
To his credit though, when Tony had been kidnapped last year, Harry had spent weeks looking for him and after the whole Obie-debacle and Tony deciding to switch from weapons to energy, Harry had agreed to become CEO instead of his brother, so he could focus on his invention. And Harry Stark was a good CEO, a good boss. But still she couldn't figure him out. Tony was easy to peck once you really got to spend time with him, but Harry? He was always meticulously dressed, calm and composed. He was on time, never forgot a meeting. He remembered all the names of the people around him, their birthdays and if someone's spouse or child was sick , he always remembered to ask after their health as well. But Pepper always got the feeling that he wasn't really there. And it weirded her out how different Tony and Harry seemed to be.
The attended opened the Jet's door and Tony stepped outside onto the small private airstrip outside Inverness. Dutifully he offered his arm in assistant to his girlfriend until she was safely on the tarmac. The plane's personnel was meanwhile unloading their luggage for the two weeks trip.
Pepper looked up, expecting to see a limousine and a driver, instead she found a (judging by the smudges of dirt) well used range rover and a tall man leaning on its hood.
Only when Tony almost sprinted forward to hug the driver, did Pepper realized that she was staring at Harry Stark himself. If his goal had been to stay hidden, he was definitely succeeding. Instead of one of his trademark expensive suits he was wearing simple jeans and a woolen coat. His hair was hidden under an equally woolen bonnet and his distinctive hexagonal classes had been exchanged for round one's. All these changes would already have made him hard to recognized, but what really threw Pepper off was the bright, uninhibited smile the man was spotting, as he hugged Tony.
"It is so good to see you!", Harry laughed, as he refused to let go of his big brother, instead pulling him even closer.
"It has not been that long, has it?", Tony joked, but Pepper was pretty sure he was just trying to look cool, before he gave up as well and hugged his brother back with a happy sigh.
Officially SI might be based in the US, but Harry had been mostly working out of London to reduce his travel time without forcing his family to move and SI's headquarters were slowly but steadily moved to accommodate their new CEO.
Finally Harry let go of Tony and turned towards Pepper, his wide smile still in place.
"Pepper! It is so good to see you again. I hope you had a nice trip."
Pepper managed to hide her surprise fairly well at being addressed thus. He had never called her anything but Miss Potts and she had always called him Mr. Stark, but then again she was here as his brother's girlfriend, not as his employee.
"Yes.", she responded, "It was all right. And it is good to see you, too. Thank you so much for having me." If either of the Stark men noticed that she was purposely avoiding using his name, they were polite enough to ignore it.
Their luggage was stashed in the car boot and Tony graciously offered the passenger seat to her, so Pepper could enjoy the scenery more.
"I have been here before, after all.", he joked and got in the car behind her.
The first thing Pepper noticed was that it was obviously a family car. There were booster seats in the back, crumbs all over the floor and somewhere in between a tiny stuffed animal. Of course Pepper knew that Harry was married and had kids, but not much more than that. Having grown up in the limelight himself, Harry did his best to keep his family private and it seemed to be working out fine so far. Well, Pepper thought, if this is how he looks and behaves outside of work, then I am not even surprised.
"Sorry.", Harry grinned apologetically, "I meant to clean this thing, but we had a minor crisis this morning and I simply ran out of time."
Pepper just stared at him in horror. Whatever she had expected from Harry Stark's home life, that wasn't it. Didn't he, like Tony, have people who took care of everything?
"Everything taken care of at home then?", Tony asked from behind her.
"Oh yes. Lily made a run for it with some of Teddy's things from school. Certain things were spilled and it was chaotic all over. But we managed the clean up and Teddy and I had a very nice discussion on how you do not store your potions ingredients anywhere near toddlers."
"Mom gave me and Dad the same stern talking to after you almost electrocuted yourself once.", Tony grinned with a slightly nostalgic smile.
"Well, it is good to know that some things do not change.", Harry laughed.
Pepper's head was spinning. She had hardly ever heard Tony bring up his parents, she knew it was a painful subject. But obviously that was not the case when it came to Harry. Involuntarily Pepper found herself smiling at the two brothers. It was nice to know that Tony had someone he could tell everything to.
"What did he do?", Pepper asked quietly.
"Who? Harry? Oh, he was chewing on things that did not react well to Toddler-spit.", Tony laughed, "The nanny actually got fired for that one."
"Rightly so.", Pepper shuttered.
"The poor girl was probably not even that much at fault. It took Harry ages to start to walk, but once he did... well, he didn't really walk. He just ran everywhere."
"Mostly I ran after you.", Harry laughed, "Which would also explain why I was even in the workspace. Tony was allowed in and I was just sneaky."
"Yes, that's true. Trouble maker, that one, Pepper, always remember that. No one knows how he does it, it's the world's greatest mystery, but Harry is always right where the trouble is and manages to be in the midst of everything."
"Like you then.", Pepper shot back and Harry's explosive laughter made her grin even wider.
The kept laughing and teasing each other the whole 30 minute trip and at some point Pepper just blocked them out to enjoy the amazing scenery. She had never been to the highlands before and the cold and drizzly place was way more breathtaking than she could have imagined.
Harry stopped, and this time Pepper was not surprised, in front of a huge iron gate on the slope of Loch Ness itself. The house was almost visible behind it, a big, old building hidden behind the trees.
"Potter", she read off the sign next to what looked like the foot entrance, as Harry pushed some buttons on the dashboard and the gate opened for them.
"The name I was born with. I use it privately around here to stay more hidden from the press.", the answer was given in such an offhanded manner, Pepper gaped at Harry like a fish. Of course she knew Harry was adopted. He had simply appeared in the Stark family when he was already a year old. There had been rumours in the press back then, some of them persisting to this day that Howard Stark had fallen back into his womanizing days and Harry was the result of an affair. Even now journalists would occasionally try and find out more about Harry's past, but no one had ever actually managed to find anything. That or Harry had someone make sure things like this never went into publishing. And here he was, just throwing her this information like it was nothing. A shiver ran through Pepper. This was not just her spending Christmas with Tony and his family, they were letting her in. She wasn't really sure how she felt about that yet.
The house they drove up to was, just as Pepper had expected, truly beautiful and she could see the deep, dark waters of Loch Ness behind it.
"Wow", she breathed, as she exited the car.
"I know.", Tony agreed behind her and smiled, "It's quite something, isn't it?"
"Tony gave it to Ginny and I as a wedding gift.", Harry explained, as he came around the car, "There had been a big fire on the shore side the year before and Tony bought it so we could rebuild it. We were able to safe the front and most of the interior, but the slope side is now mostly made of glass. It makes for a very nice view."
Pepper got the distinct impression that that might be a huge understatement. Reluctantly she turned around to fetch her things and promptly stepped on a toy car. Okay, there were definitely children running around.
But they weren't greeted by a child or even Harry's wife, when they entered through the front door, but instead by a huge, furry thing Pepper identified as a Bernese Mountain Dog.
"This is Merlin.", Harry explained, as he petted the dog dutifully, while also carrying most of Pepper's bags, "Merlin, this is Pepper, be nice."
The dog looked at her expectantly and she stretched out her hand to let him sniff it. That seemed to be enough of an introduction for Merlin, who immediately bounced off again.
"Ginny is cooking", Harry explained, "You cannot expect him to be gone from the kitchen for too long."
"Let's try and get our things upstairs before your horde realizes we are here.", Tony tried to hurry Harry up the stairs, "Otherwise we will be bombarded and I want my hands free to hug all my nieces and nephews."
They made it up the first flight of stairs and were on their way to the top floor, when a thin, small face appeared beneath them on the first floor.
Tony spotted the little boy before he could say something and hissed "Sssssshhhhh, Alec, no one is supposed to know we are here yet. It's a secret. Come along!"
Alec (apparently) grinned happily at them, one of his front teeth were missing, and hurried up the stairs.
"Harry, what are you doing?", Tony whispered accusingly, "Your poor son is already losing his teeth in horror. He is looking like an old man already."
"When you lose your baby teeth, you are a big boy." Alec exclaimed proudly.
"That you are."; Harry agreed, as they finally reached the second floor.
Pepper couldn't help herself when she saw their room. The furniture wasn't grand or overly luxurious, but everything looked cozy and put together with care, but the really breathtaking view was definitely the view through the glass front overlooking the lake.
"As I said: Pretty.", Tony agreed, before putting all his things down to lift Alec up and lifting him up, before turning in a circle, "I have missed you, buddy!"
"Uncle Tony! No! You can not do that anymore! I am a big boy now."
"No. You are not. You are only three. Hardly more than a baby."
"I am five, Uncle Tony, five! See!", and he held all the fingers on his right hand up to show them to his obviously stupid uncle, "There. One. Two. Three. Four and five. Five, Uncle Tony!"
"Harry, your poor son is delusional."
Alec let out an annoyed huff, when Tony finally put him down and bounced out of the room. "Five", Pepper could hear him humble one more time.
" Well, that was Alexander. He is five.", Harry deadpanned and Pepper started laughing, "And he didn't even stay for introductions. Rude."
" MUUUUUUUM!!!! Dad is back! And he brought Uncle Tony and his pretty friend!!!", they suddenly heard Alec shout down the stairs.
"Well, Pepper, at least he noticed you.", laughed Tony.
"Alec! How often have I told you not to stand somewhere and shout?! Just come and talk normally!"
"Now Mum is the one shouting!", another, laughing voice was responding. Next to her both Harry and Tony were laughing as well.
"Oh, please tell me there is gonna be a good night, John-Boy coming?", Tony giggled. Giggled.
"Shut up, Jimmy!", Alec was shouting again and Pepper felt herself crack up as well.
"Everyone shut up! Where are they?"
"That's Teddy, the oldest.", Tony informed her and Pepper was doing a quick count in her head. Alec, Jimmy and Teddy. Oh, and Lily, the toddler.
There was a very noisey ramble of feet up the stairs and the kid that reached them first could be none of the children Pepper had deduced so far, she was way too old to count as a toddler.
"Emmy!", Tony laughed as his niece happily threw herself at him. She was a tall girl of maybe ten or eleven, with her father's deep, black hair, just like Alec, but her face looked much more like what Pepper remembered of Ginevra Stark. Or Ginny, as Harry had called her earlier. Tony hadn't even managed to let go of Emmy, before the two were engulfed by a mess of hair and flailing arms that on closer inspection turned out to be Alec and what Pepper assumed were Teddy and Jimmy.
"Guys, you are suffocating your poor old uncle. And being really rude to our guest in the process.", Harry chastised and reluctantly the kids all let go of Tony, who was still clinging to one of the boys.
"You too, Tony.", Harry told him sternly and Tony and the boy in question separated slowly, sporting such identical pouts that Pepper was starting to think there might be some truth to the paternity rumour. There was no denying the similarities.
"Now really, kids, this is...", but before Harry could finally introduce her, a small ginger woman with an equally ginger child in her arms, almost tackled Tony.
The kids all started laughing at Harry's frustrated groan and Pepper was really starting to enjoy this. Tony's family was so wholly unexpected, it was a completely new side of the man she had come to know and love.
"Okay guys, really now.", Harry tried and they all almost simultaneously turned around to look at Pepper with varying degrees of interest. Toddler Lily had in the meantime managed to move from her mother's arms to her uncle's.
"Oh, she is my girlfriend.", Tony proclaimed, "I get to introduce everyone."
Alec sniggerd: "Uncle Tony has a girlfriend."
"Let me stop you right there, young man, or I'm gonna tell you about the time I surprised your parents..."
"Tony, let me stop you right there!", Ginny interjected while the three eldest kids were making gagging sounds.
"This is rapidly spinning out of control.", Harry sighed heavily.
"Once again then", Tony started, "Guys, this is Pepper. I really like her so I expect you to be nice to her."
There was a chorus of mumbling and "Hi"s from the crowd. Horde, Tony had called them. Very appropriate indeed.
"Pepper, I think you have met Ginny.", Tony started and the two women gave each other a friendly wave, " That cutie pie on my arm is the amazing Lily, also called the tiny terror, who has apparently inherited her father's talent for stealthy sprinting.
"Hello, Lily.", Pepper tried and Lily gave her a toothy grin and a mumble "ello", before happily placing her head on Tony's softly swaying chest and smiling like it was the best place in the world.
"This good looking fellow over here is Teddy."
Teddy, who was just as ginger as his mother, was a teenage boy with the typical lanky frame of someone growing in spurts. He gave her a friendly, but reserved nod, obviously reserving judgement for later. Alec was standing very close to his big brother and obviously trying to imitate his stance.
Pepper smiled. That seemed to be one thing about big brothers that never changed.
"You have met Alec, of course, he is three and sadly still can't counts."
"Five, Uncle Tony, I am FIVE!", Alec told his Uncle very loudly and slowly, as if he wouldn't understand him otherwise.
"The young Lady over there is Emmy. Last time we talked, she said all boys were stupid.", Tony informed Pepper, "Apparently they are all very immature."
Emmy rolled her eyes as Ginny huffed: "That's because all her uncles are silly. She doesn't know anything else."
"Percy is not silly.", Harry tried to defend what Pepper assumed to be his brother in law.
"Percy can be the silliest of them all.", Ginny disagreed.
"I love how no one tries to defend me against silliness.", Tony continued, before moving on to his last nephew, "Last, but very much not least: This is Jimmy, the poor child whose birthday is near Christmas, so he basically only gets presents once a year."
"It sucks.", Jimmy told Pepper wholeheartedly.
"I kept telling your parents to stop having..."
"Aaaaaaanyway.", Harry interrupted him and smiled warmly at Pepper, "You both had a very long trip, so we are going to all migrate downstairs and let you have some time to arrive. Out, everybody out!"
It took a good five minutes until Harry and Ginny had managed to maneuver their five kids downstairs, but Tony closed the door behind them and dropped down on the plush couch.
"Oh, I missed them."
"They all seem like great fun.", Pepper agreed and moved to sit next to him, " With Harry working in London, does he just fly back her every night or only on weekends?"
"No. He apparates.", Tony told her and before she could ask what he was talking about, her phone started to ring.
"What? No. We are away for Christmas.", groaned Tony.
"It is just my sister.", Pepper told him and picked up the call, simultaneously moving to the en suit bathroom for some privacy.
She returned five minutes later to find Tony snoring softly, maybe he was not as immune to Jet Lag as he had told her. He often claimed he was so used to partying all night that It didn't affect him to stay up, but (and she would never tell him that) that got harder with age, too. She set down next to him, just for a second... and awoke hours later, using Tony's chest as her pillow. Maybe Lily had been right after all.
Jimmy was outside, knocking at their door and calling their names. Judging by his annoyed and bored tone, he had been doing that for a while.
"I am up. Totally up.", Tony mumbled while trying to rub the sleep from his eyes and simultaneously not running into things while heading towards the door.
"Hey Jimmy, what's up?", he yawned, as he opened the door.
"Dinner in five minutes, buuuuuut I was trying to wake you for just as long, so dinner now, I think.", Jimmy grinned at them.
"Sorry for making you wait, Jimmy.", Pepper smiled at him, trying to pull her clothes back into shape.
"It's okay. Not worse than trying to wake Teddy for breakfast.", Jimmy laughed and turned around, pouncing down the stairs, the sound of excited laughter carrying up towards them.
"Great.", Tony mumbled and stretched his sleepy arms, "now we are still wearing our travelling clothes."
"We could hurry and change."
" Nuh", Tony shook his head, "We can't make them all wait for us, just because we fell asleep. They won't start without us, Harry is very serious about everyone being there for dinner, family time and all that. And it's Christmas Eve, so let's hurry!"
They did hurry and turned out to be the last in the kitchen anyway.
"Hi!", the whole table chimed happily at them.
"Did you guys fall asleep?", Harry asked, his brow furrowed in surprised.
"Sadly yes. What did you think why we didn't come down?", Tony groaned.
"You do not want me to answer that."
"Really, Dad? Please just don't. It's gross.", Teddy informed them.
"Watch who you are calling gross!", Tony told his nephew. Something was off. Hadn't Teddy's hair been red earlier? It looked a soft brown now... lightening, Pepper decided as she let her gaze wander over the faces of the other occupants of the room. She stopped right in the middle of it. There was a newcomer sitting next to Lily and cutting up her vegetables. He appeared to be in his mid-fifties, was almost completely grey and studied her with deep set, weary eyes.
"Oh sorry!", Ginny chimed while putting a plate of mead down, "Sirius, this is Pepper. Pepper, Sirius."
"Nice to meet you.", Pepper smiled, wondering who exactly he was to the family.
"It is nice to meet you, too.", he told her and gave her a winning smile that suddenly made him look much younger. Tony got a much cooler nod that he answered just as warmly. Okay, Pepper thought, there is history here.
The noise in the room vanished almost completely when Ginny declared they could all start. But then again, kids were only ever quiet when there was food or mischief to be had.
"How is business going then?", Tony asked after a couple of minutes, when the first wave of hunger had been dealt with and moat started to find something to talk about. Alec, who had enthusiastically declared Pepper should sit next to him, was telling her something about an awesome new broom he hoped to get and Pepper was somewhat surprised by the boy's commitment to his imaginary game. Well, maybe someone was reading him fantasy literature.
"Do you want the short answer or the very long one?", Harry shot Tony a loving look over his glasses. He knew Tony well enough to know the answer beforehand.
"Short."
"You can keep buying as many expensive toys as you like. You can afford it and will probably be able to for the rest of your life."
"And the HQ move to London is working as planned? ", Pepper was really interested in that answer, the move was big talk all over SI, naturally, but as soon as she said it, she realized it might not be appropriate for her to ask that.
Harry didn't seem to mind though, he was carefully considering his answer, before he gave it, now looking much more like the man she had come to know as Harry Stark.
"Yes, it is all going as planned. Better even. But right now I am still trying to figure out who to put at the helm of the US. It would be foolish to think it can all be done from London, so I am looking for someone who can do what needs to be done and simultaneously deal with me and him over there.", he explained, nodding towards Tony.
"Are you only looking internally or externally as well?", Tony asked.
"Both, to be honest, but naturally I would prefer internally. There are a lot of files on my desk right now."
"Have you considered..."
"Boys, please, this is family dinner, not a business meeting.", Ginny interrupted them.
"Technically Stark Industries is a Family matter, but...", Tony stopped when he saw Ginny's stern look, "you are totally right, dear. Teddy, how's school been treating you this year?"
"Nothing changed much since the letter i send you two weeks ago.", Teddy kept chewing on his food and Emmy rolled her eyes at his behaviour.
"Way to make your uncle feel loved, man.", Tony sulked.
"At least he is sending you letters.", Harry grumbled. Ginny gave Harry a warning glance. Apparently Teddy's teenage moodiness had been discussed already.
"All the teachers treating you okay?", Sirius asked Teddy quietly. Pepper had already almost forgotten the other man.
"Yeah, it's all cool."
"I can not belief Emmy will be joining you next fall already.", Sirius sighed.
"Neither can I.", Harry agreed.
"What house are you gonna be in, you think?", Jimmy asked excitedly.
"Teddy is in Hufflepuff.", Alec informed Pepper and she tried very hard to look like she knew what he was talking about, "Mum and Dad were both in Gryffindor. Uncle Sirius, too."
"When you start boarding school, you are sorted into one of four houses.", Ginny explained.
"Oh. How do they decide?"
"We don't know. They refuse to tell us. It's a ritual to leave you in the dark.", Jimmy complained.
"Oh, okay." Pepper wasn't really sure what to make of that.
All in all dinner was a very nice, if slightly weird affair. Pepper could not shake the feeling that there was something big going on that she was missing.
"What's the deal with you and Sirius?", she asked later, when they finally managed to get out of their travelling clothes.
"No idea what you are talking about."
"Tony."
"Fine. It's Complicated. Sirius was the best friend of Harry's biological father, James."
Pepper turned around to stare at Tony in shock. "What?"
"When Harry was born, Sirius was names his godfather. James and... Lily, that was her name, Lily, were killed when Harry was a baby. Sirius was innocently sent to prison for it. He was in there actually for almost twelve years. I don't agree with the way he treats Harry like a clone of James and he does not agree with the way I treat Harry as my little brother and not the son of Lily and James Potter. And that's the short version. Very short, to be honest."
Pepper didn't know what to say, but what she did know was that asking why exactly his parents had adopted Harry at all, might not be the best idea. Instead she cuddled up to him under the covers. Talking about Harry's biological parents must be really tough for Tony, she knew.
"James and Lily. Harry and Ginny named two kids after them."
"Yeah, they did. They were only 21 when they died. I often think though, that... well. They died protecting Harry and I often feel they named their kids that because it was somehow expected."
"I have the feeling both Harry and Ginny don't do much because it is expected of them."
"Also true.", Tony mused, "I don't know. I never dared to ask. It never mattered that he was adopted. Until he went to that school and started using his birth name again. Lily and James went to the same school. Most of the teachers remembered them..."
"You feel like Harry is dishonouring your parents?"
" No. At least not really. None of this is easy."
"I don't think Harry is the type. Especially not with how you guys were talking about your parents before, but I don't know them well enough. What are the kids called?"
"What? You mean like Jimmy is actually James Howard?"
Pepper couldn't help it, she laughed. "That is one posh sounding name. But no, I meant their last name."
"Oh", Tony smiled, "I see what you are getting at. It's Stark. And at school, too. Saw it on Teddy's grades: Edward Remus Stark."
"Edward Remus and James Howard.", Pepper started laughing again, "They sound so British. And they go to a posh boarding school. But Remus is somewhat unexpected."
"Wanna hear the others?"
"Yes please."
"Emmy is actually Margaret Maria. Alec is a very proud Alexander Arthur and Lily's middle name in Luna."
"I actually like that.", Pepper smiled.