Chapter Text
“Tony,” it’s not unusual these days for Pepper to be the one with insomnia while Tony sleeps soundly, when he sleeps. May’s declaration on Halloween coupled with Morgan’s insistence that Pepper’s kidneys and diaphragm are in the way of her soccer practice have made it almost impossible for Pepper to sleep longer than an hour or two at a time. Tony’s joked that it’s practice for when Morgan actually arrives, but Pepper doesn’t find it funny. So when Pepper shakes him and calls his name, he barely reacts, just grunts in acknowledgement and tries to fall back asleep. Usually, she gives up when she realizes he’s actually asleep. Not tonight.
“Tony, wake up,” she shakes him harder, her voice more insistent and a hint of worry in her tone, “Come on, we have to go.”
“Hmmm?” He grunts, eyes still closed as he tries to keep sleep as close to him as he can.
“Tony, my water just broke,” That proclamation fully chases sleep away and he bolts upright, now wide awake. She’s standing next to the bed, hair wet as if she’s just gotten out of the shower, wearing one of his tshirts and a pair of maternity sweatpants. She chuckles at him, “Come on, we need to go to the hospital.”
“You’re not even 34 weeks though,” Tony protests, glancing at the projected time and date on the ceiling where FRIDAY leaves it unless asked to move it. It’s almost 3 in the morning on November 10th, “It’s too early.”
“Not as early as Peter,” she reassures him, “and we’ve been preparing for this. We knew she’d probably come early and they’ve given her those steroids to strengthen her lungs. We can do this, Tony.”
“Right,” Tony nods and exhales sharply before clapping his hands together and getting out of bed. “Alright, let’s go have this baby.”
“You wanna get dressed first, Babe?” Pepper nods towards his pajama pants and lack of shirt. He chuckles and nods, grabbing his jeans and a tshirt before heading into the bathroom. Pepper calls after him, “I’m gonna go wake Peter and let him know what’s going on. You grab the bags and I’ll meet you in the living room.”
Tony rushes through changing his clothes and brushing his teeth before grabbing the small toiletry bag they’ve had sitting by the sink since returning from their mini vacation to their new lakeside property two weeks earlier. Pepper being placed on modified bedrest right after that trip had necessitated their things being packed and ready at a moment’s notice for this very situation. Tony is terrified. He’s done this before. The early labor and tiny baby and NICU stay. He’s not sure he’s ready to do it again.
He doesn’t let himself dwell on it, there’ll be time for freaking out later, right now they need to get to the hospital. Maybe the doctor can stop labor and he won’t need to freak out. He grabs the bags that are sitting by their bedroom door, one for Morgan and one for Pepper and Tony, and hurries out to meet his fiancé in the living room. Pepper is leaning against the counter, breathing heavily, and Peter is standing next to her, hands fluttering as he tries to figure out how to help her without touching her as she’s clearly indicated she doesn’t want. He hears Tony walk up and turns to him, eyes wide and a look of terror on his face. Tony chuckles and wraps an arm around Peter’s shoulder reassuringly, “you okay, kiddo?”
“Yeah,” Peter nods, eyes locked on Pepper who finally takes a deep breath and straightens up. She smiles and places a hand on Peter’s arm and Peter relaxes, “are you sure you’re okay, Mom?”
“I’m fine, sweetheart,” She assures him, “but, as you overheard, I’m in labor and so Dad and I are heading to the hospital. We’ll call Happy and James on our way, but if you can just keep an ear out in case the kids wake up before one of them can get here, I’d appreciate it.”
“Of course,” Peter nods, seriously, “I can watch them. No problem. What about school?”
“We’ll email your schools and the boys’ tutor on our way,” Pepper leans over and places a kiss on Peter’s forehead, “you can stay home and head over to the hospital after lunch.”
“I have a test in Physics,” Peter winces, “And I don’t think I can just sit around and wait…..”
“Then you go to school,” Pepper shakes her head, smiling, “I’ll send an email to Morita telling him that you have permission to leave early if something happens and you can head to the hospital whenever you’re ready.”
“Okay,” Peter nods, “yeah, sounds good.”
“Okay, we should go,” Tony raises an eyebrow and Pepper nods in agreement. Tony places a kiss on top of Peter’s head, “we’ll call you when you know more. Love you, kid.”
“Love you too, Dad.” Peter nods and watches as Tony leads Pepper to the elevator until the doors close behind them.
Tony tries to speed on their way to the hospital, but a glare from Pepper slows him down to barely over the speed limit as Pepper makes the calls to the doctor, Rhodey, and Happy and e-mails the schools to let them know what’s going on. By the time she’s finished, Tony is pulling into the roundabout in front of the Emergency Room and handing the keys to the valet before opening Pepper’s door to help her out. He grabs the bags and the two of them walk inside, Pepper grimacing as another contraction starts.
They’re directed down the hall towards the Labor and Delivery registration desk where Tony is handed a clipboard with papers on it and asked to fill them out. Pepper rolls her eyes as Tony takes a seat next to her and stares down at the forms in confusion. He can’t remember his own social security number, he’s not sure how he’s supposed to remember Pepper’s information….
“Just give it to me,” she says, snatching the paperwork and pen from him. She starts filling the forms out, muttering under her breath, “honestly, Tony, one of these days I’m going to tie you down until you’ve memorized every single pertinent piece of information about all of us. You can remember all kinds of equations and information needed to invent things, but heaven forbid you remember my birthday or Social Security number.”
“February 12th,” Tony says, grinning as Pepper glares at him, “I remember your birthday. And I remember the kids’ birthdays too! I’m getting better.”
“Mmhmm,” Pepper hums, reaching over and squeezing his hand gently, “you’re doing better, I know you’re trying. And I’m so proud of you for that.”
It’s past five in the morning when Pepper has been checked out and they’re settled in the birthing suite. Pepper’s doctor has informed them that they’re going to try to stop labor, but Pepper’s already five centimeters dilated and, with as quickly as her labor seems to be progressing, he thinks Morgan will be coming soon. Either way, according to the doctor, Pepper isn’t going to be leaving the hospital until Morgan comes, and Pepper is not happy with that declaration. Bed rest has been hard enough, bed rest in the hospital is going to be hell, especially on Noah and the twins.
“I swear to god, Tony, if this baby doesn’t come today, we’re paying my doctor to come live at the tower until Morgan gets here,” Pepper pants through a contraction, “I can’t be away from the kids for that long.”
“You can do anything if it means making sure Morgan gets here safely,” Tony presses a kiss to her forehead, “The kids and I will be okay.”
“What’s the point of having as much money as we do if we can’t use it to keep me in my own bed for the remainder of my pregnancy?” Pepper pouts and Tony laughs, “It’s not funny Tony.”
“It’s kind of funny,” Tony counters and Pepper huffs in annoyance at her fiancé, “We’re gonna be fine, Pep. Morgan is gonna be fine.”
“What if she’s not, Tony?” Pepper shakes her head, “How am I supposed to be a good mom if I can’t even keep her safe until she’s born?”
“You’re already the greatest mom ever, Pep,” Tony reassures her, “Noah and Jonah and Miriam and Peter already adore you, and MJ loves you as if you were her mom too. Even if Morgan does come today, that doesn’t make you a bad mom. You are such an amazing mom and Morgan is going to be fine because you have gotten her this far.
Morgan doesn’t come that day, but Pepper doesn’t get to go home either. They’re able to stop labor, but by five in the afternoon, Pepper’s contractions have resumed and they continue strong and steady for the rest of the afternoon, night, and into the next morning.
Peter, Noah, and the twins spend the evening at the hospital with Rhodey and Happy, but Tony and Pepper insist on them going home when bedtime comes back around.
“You can come back first thing in the morning,” Tony reassures Noah when he starts to complain about having to leave without Tony and Pepper, “Mama is exhausted and baby Morgan is taking her sweet time coming and it’s a hard process.”
“But, Morgan is gonna be okay, right Daddy?” Miriam asks Tony, hugging him goodbye before going over to grab Noah’s hand, “And Mama too?”
“They’re gonna be just fine, bambina,” Tony reassures her, “We’ve got some really great doctors here and they’re gonna take the best care of Mama and Morgan.”
“Okay,” Miriam nods, Tony can tell she’s still nervous by the way she’s chewing on her lip. Jonah notices it too and reaches out to grab his sister’s other hand. He looks almost just as nervous as Miriam does.
Tony crouches down in front of his three youngest children, “Mama is gonna be just fine and Morgan is gonna be small, but if she is anything like her brothers and sister, she’s gonna be so strong and amazing. And I’m gonna be here with Mama, I’m not going to let anything happen to her. I promise.”
“Come on guys,” Peter says as he comes out of Pepper’s hospital room where she’d been talking to him about something Tony isn’t privy to at the moment. He picks Noah up and sets him on his hip, “Let’s let Dad get back into the room with Mom.”
“We can make cards for your Mom and Morgan,” MJ offers, taking Miriam’s hand, “To show them how excited you are. How’s that sound?”
“Yeah!” Noah grins excitedly, “That sounds perfect.”
"We'll see you in the morning Dad." Peter grins at his father.
"I love you guys," Tony grins at his children, "I’ll see you tomorrow."
By the time the kids return to the hospital the next morning, Pepper has started pushing and Tony isn't able to go anywhere. Not that he wants to leave. He would never leave his fiancé alone while she's having his baby. He's not that stupid. When Morgan still hasn't arrived by ten forty-five am however, Pepper insists he step out to say hi to the kids and reassure them that everything is still going just fine. Tony doesn’t want to leave her, but a well timed glare sends him almost scurrying out of the room.
“Dad!” Peter is the first one to spot him down the hall and he draws his siblings and MJ’s attention away from whatever they’re huddled over on the circular table between their section of chairs. The twins jump up from where they’re kneeling on the floor, but Noah stays put in MJ’s lap and Tony can see that his youngest son is exhausted. Peter reaches him first and Tony embraces his oldest, “Is Morgan here? How’s Mom?”
“Not yet,” Tony shakes his head, “But the doctor says it should be soon.”
“We’re making cards and a poster for Mama and the baby,” Miriam grins as she runs over and throws her arms around Tony’s waist, “And Happy and Uncle Rhodey took us out for breakfast this morning.”
”I think she’ll love that, Mir,” Tony presses a kiss to his daughter’s head and hugs a clearly nervous Jonah, “Mama wanted me to come out and let you guys know that everything’s going just fine and we’ll tell you as soon as Morgan gets here.”
“You’re not gonna send us away when she gets here, right Daddy?” Jonah asks, biting his bottom lip and avoiding Tony’s eyes.
“No, buddy,” Tony shakes his head and crouches down so that he can meet his son’s eyes. “You’re not going anywhere, you guys are stuck with us forever.”
”Mr. Stark,” a nurse clears her throat from the hallway and Tony turns his attention to her, “The doctor wanted me to let you know that the baby will be here within the next few minutes.”
”Go on, Dad,” Peter grins, wrapping his arms around the twin’s shoulders and nodding down the hall, “Go be with Mom and tell Morgan we can’t wait to meet her.”
Morgan Hope Stark makes her grand entrance into the world at 11:11 am screaming and making her presence known to anyone within hearing distance (Tony finds a text from Peter half an hour later saying that he could hear her even from the other side of the floor and he’s glad that she’s got such healthy lungs). She’s little, only five pounds, but bigger than her brother was, and the doctors warn them that she’ll probably have to spend some time in the NICU to make sure she can regulate her temperature and keep her weight up before they dismiss her. But she’s healthy and beautiful and perfect.
“You were amazing,” Tony whispers to Pepper once the doctors and nurses have left them alone in the room sitting on the bed holding Morgan. They haven’t sent for the kids yet, they wanted a minute to bond with their newest daughter before they invited the chaos into the room. “She’s beautiful.”
”Yeah, she is,” Pepper nods, a tired smile on her face as she looks down at the tiny bundle in her arms, “She looks like Peter.”
”Yeah,” Tony nods. He doesn’t mention that that means she looks like him, he values his life too much, thank you very much. “I’d forgotten how tiny babies are.”
”And she’s almost a pound bigger than Peter was,” Pepper smiles and glances towards the door, “I’m ready, why don’t you go get the kids so we can introduce them to their sister?”
Tony stands up and is moving towards the door when his watch vibrates and he sees a message from Peter, “ We’ll be there in a second. ”
Pepper looks at him in confusion as he stops moving and then smiles, “Peter heard?”
”Sounds like it,” Tony chuckles and shakes his head, moving to stand in the center of the room. They don’t have to wait long before there’s a knock at the door accompanied by Peter announcing that it’s them. Tony smiles, “Come on in, kids.”
Miriam peeks her head in the door first, cautiously and Pepper motions for her to come into the room. Miriam’s eyes widen as she looks at the baby in Pepper’s arms and she hurries into the room followed by Jonah, MJ, and Peter carrying Noah. Pepper smiles as they all crowd around the bed, “Hey guys, come meet your little sister.”
Tony takes a photo of the scene using Friday’s technology, all his children crowded around their mother, grinning in awe as they meet their younger sister, and he thinks that he’ll never forget this moment for the rest of his life. He makes a silent vow in this moment to anything and everything in his power to make sure that he’ll never lose this ever again.