Chapter Text
After settling their baby boy into his new car seat, Peter slept the entire way through the ride. Pepper sat next to him while Tony sat in the front with Happy. He looked through the rearview mirror and smiled brightly at his wife. "He has your nose and lips, you know," he told her and turned around in his seat to look at her, adjusting his seat belt in the process. "Look at his cheeks Pepper, oh my God," he gushed as he looked between his gorgeous wife and a handsome son.
Pepper looked fondly down towards the infant and sighed happily. "Yes, he has the chubbiest most adorable cheeks ever. He also had your brown eyes and dark hair," she sweetly pointed out as she gently ran her fingers over the top of her son's soft head as he slept.
Tony looked at Pepper with a flirtatious smile. "What can I say? My boy is extremely handsome. Just like his father," he declared with a grin. "Takes after me. He's going to be a real charmer."
While Pepper rolled her eyes and glared at her husband, Happy snorted at the comment, in turn, causing Tony to glare at him. "What are you laughing about? I am extraordinarily good-looking, I'll have you know. I was voted as one of the top ten most handsome business leaders in the world by Business Insider. Two years running, mind you. People love me,", he loudly proclaimed, his voice brimming with absolute pride.
"Whatever you say, Boss,", Happy chuckled while Pepper continued to amusedly look at her husband.
As she sat there looking down at her son, Pepper's phone bussed with a message, reminding her of her parent's pending arrival. "Hey Tony?" she asked as she realized that she had no idea who else would be coming over once they arrived back home. "Do you know when your parents are coming by? I just got a text from mine telling me that they would be here next week and I'm glad they did because with everything going on, I had completely forgotten," she explained with a tired sigh.
She'd been speaking with her parents via facetime, updating them nearly daily on Peter's development. They had in turn been diligently making sure that their daughter and son-in-law were handling things okay. They were aware of the help they'd been receiving from the medical assistance in the hospital. They had also had many conversations regarding who would be giving them a hand one they were back home. Just someone to help them manage a healthy schedule. Pepper had, in turn, discussed all of that with Tony and they had decided that it would be nice to send someone from their team to pick up her parents and fly them over in their private jet. That way they could stay with Pepper and help her out until she felt secure enough to manage on her own and eventually return to work.
Tony hummed in response and looked back over his shoulder at his wife. "From what I remember, Daniel is going to be picking them up and bringing them over around seven. May is also coming over after work to see Peter. She texted me not too long ago saying that she can't wait to see her nephew," he said with a smile. There would be no lack of love for his son and he was grateful.
"Oh Good," Pepper sighed out in relief, "That should give me some time to get myself together and show Peter his new nursery. I know it's silly but after all the hard work we put into designing it, having him here to see it with me is just everything," she further explained while soft caressing her son's cheek.
"We will do that Mrs. Stark," Tony said softly. "First thing. In fact, you can go ahead and mark that off of your to-do list."
"Thanks," Pepper whispered back in reply. She was already imagining her self taking her tiny boy on a tour of his bedroom, showing him the finely dressed windows, the carefully selected pictures on the walls and the designer linens tucked stunningly around his tiny mattress inside of his handmade crib. Then when everything had been thoroughly examined she would sit down in the gliding rocker in the corner and nurse him to sleep. It all sounded like a dream come true.
Apart from the music playing lowly in the background, the remainder of the car ride was quiet. The couple sat in their respective seats trying to distract themselves by texting loved ones and making them aware that Peter was healthy and they were on their way home. What they didn't know was that Howard and Maria had also been talking to Pepper's parents, Karen and Kennedy, who had arrived in New Your two days prior with the intention of surprising Pepper.
The couple had been staying at a nearby friend's mansion and had been keeping in touch with everyone so, really everyone knew of their early arrival save for Pepper and Tony. That meant that May was well aware of their intentions and had taken the liberty of notifying several other close family friends. Rhodey, Natasha, Bruce, Ben, and even Mary and Richard Parker had all become nothing less than their extended family and as such, they had all been invited to come over to help prepare for Peter's homecoming.
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As the unware, new parents made their way home, they had no idea how many people were waiting inside the penthouse for their arrival. The unexpected guest were all talking amongst themselves and decorating the room with pastel colors and large bundles of balloons that May had ordered well in advance. She'd even gone so far as to ask Happy to take them the long way home in order to give more time to set everything up. She wanted everything to be perfect when her nephew arrived.
"Mom, can you put that teddy bear in the middle of the table?", May asked, gesturing towards the place where it would take over as centerpiece and watched as her mother carefully arranged it. "Yeah, just like that," she added with a smile, happy that the surprise was coming together so nicely.
"This looks amazing girls. I can't believe your guys pulled this off," Howard chimed in from behind his wife, carrying a flower arrangement that had just arrived from Wakanda. The king, himself had sent the most beautiful bouquet of flowers all the way from their majestic homeland. Stark Industries had been trying for years to expand all over the globe and the kind of Wakanda had been one of the very first partners to join them. They shared a keen interest in clean energy and the idea of using vibranium in order to implement their projects made them an excellent team. As such the king had been eager to congratulate the Stark family on their newest addition.
"Thank you Amore Mio," Maria told her husband. "I can't wait to see them arrive through those doors with my grandson. Just thinking about it makes me emotional," she continued before noticing the colorful arrangement her husband was holding. "Whoa, Karen! Look at these stunning flowers!" she nearly shouted, takin g a hold of the vase so that she could get a closer look.
Karen approached and looked at the vibrant collection of unfamiliar flora with awe. "Where did these come from?" she asked, having never seen anything like them before. Not even in the large botanical gardens of California.
"All the way from Wakanda," Howard proudly replied. "Perfect aren't they?" he inquired as he watched everyone gather around to look at the prized flowers and when they were done, he carefully took them back into his own hards. "I'm going to pass these off to Luna and Loretta so they can find a nice place to put them," he said with a smile and then leaned in to kiss his wife on the cheek.
Soon enough, everything was in perfect order and everyone was sitting around the room happily socializing with one another. Natasha and Brice were chatting away with Richard and May about the research projects that Bruce was currently working on and Ben was trying to get May to calm her nerves as the arrival time grew closer. The two of them had taken a seat across from the other couple but their attention at the moment was only on themselves.
"Everything looks great, May and I know Tony and Pepper will appreciate all the effort you and your mother put into this-" Ben encouraged as May sat there practically jittering in place while keeping a close eye on her phone. "-and Peter is going to love his crazy aunt," he added and then kissed her right on the end of her nose."
May smiled back almost sadly. "Yeah, I know they'll like it. I- I just can't believe I'm going to finally be meeting my baby nephew. It's been weeks, you know and this, this is different. I'm going to get to hold him," she told her fiance, her voice cracking a little at the end. She was overjoyed to see the newest little Stark make his way home and into the arms of the rest of his loving family.
Ben took her hand tightly into his and smiled. "I'm here and everything is going to be amazing," he said, then bringing her hand to his lips to gently kiss it. "I love you," he told her sweetly and then leaned in to kiss her again but this time on the lips only to have the moment interrupted.
"Oh get a room, you two,", Rhodey complained from across the room. He was glaring but his smile showed nothing but mirth. "I swear every time I'm near you two, it's like I'm going to dive into some form of diabetic coma," he teased with a roll of his eyes.
May snorted, grabbed one of the cushions from behind her, and threw it directly into his face. "Oh fuck off. You're just jealous that you aren't getting it any anymore," she snipped at the same moment that Maria and Karen walked into the room to hear her. They both gasped loudly and Ben went red in embarrassment. It seemed that everyone in the room was now looking at them with wild eyes, mouths agape.
"Oh, so we're going there, are we?" Rhodes replied with mock annoyance. "Wow. The audacity," he continued and then burst out laughing. Though it was true. He'd not had a girlfriend in forever. May had set him up on a few dates but none of them had really worked out. He rolled his eyes at the memory. "Besides, it's pretty much your fault for only setting me up with crazy chicks. Don't you know anyone who can carry on a normal conversation?" he teased making May smile.
"Come on," she laughed. "Miranda wasn't that bad," she insisted but if the look on Rhodey's face was anything to go by, she could assume that he adamantly disagreed with her assessment.
"May. She put a tracking device in my shoe. The only reason I found out was that your brother used JARVIS to scan me when I was feeling off one day. He wanted to make sure I wasn't coming down with something but guess what we found instead. That's right. A tracker! So, excuse me if I don't thank you for your lovely match-making," he said with another roll of his eyes before leaning back onto the couch and crossing one leg over the other. Everyone around them looked nothing but shocked and amused.
"Is that the girl you had the restraining order drawn up for!" Howard asked sounding utterly scandalized. Rhodey nodded his head and Howards lowered him into his hands. "Oh my God, May. Honey, where do you find these people?" he groaned.
Feeling slightly embarrassed and marginally speechless, May tried to sit up a little straighter where she sat. "I- I met them while I was at college-" she explained to her father and then turned her attention back to Rhodey, -"and I am sorry about the whole tracker thing. I didn't know she would do that. I swear," she awkwardly apologized.
Rhodey, in all his mercy, smiled in May's direction and casually shrugged his shoulders. "It's cool, sis. No hard feelings or anything," he swore. From a really young age, he'd been a part of the Stark family. He'd met Tony in high school and they had been inseparable since then. Having come from a family where he was an only child, he enjoyed the love and support he received from the whole Stark family. Tony and May? They were practically his siblings and Howard and Maria, his second set of parents.
At that moment, Kennedy cleared his throat in an attempt to draw everyone's attention. "I thought you all might like to know that I just received a text from Pepper. They'll be arriving home in the next few minutes so we should probably be getting into position," he said with a clap of his hands and then joined his wife.
They all stoop up and gathered themselves next to the dining table, which had been topped with every variety of food you could imagine. Between May, Natasha, and Mary it had become quite the spread. Fruit, chips, and dips all neatly displayed in various bowls and dishes.
"JARVIS? Is had Tony arrived yet?" Maria asked.
"It appears that he has. Happy Hogan is parking the car now. Would you like for me to let them know that you're awaiting his arrival?" the AI politely inquired.
"No!" Maria hurriedly replied. "That won't be necessary JARVIS. Please don't tell them that any of us are here."
May glared at her mom from across the way. "Shush, mother! You're going to ruin it!" May strongly whispered. She's put entirely too much work into the while get together for it to be spoiled because of her mom's nig mouth.
"Me? How on Earth and I going to ruin it? We've all be planning really hard for this. Excuse me for wanting to know if my son was here or not. I'm excited," she quietly snapped back.
"That's enough!" Howard pressed without bothering to lower his voice. "Stop shouting at each other over stupid things!"
"Sorry, Dad," May sheepishly apologized and it looked as though Maria was about to do the same but then the doors to the penthouse elevator dinged announcing the arrival of guests of honour.
"Tony, could you please put the bag in Pete-", Pepper was saying as the elevator doors slowly slid open. However, before she could finish her request she was unexpectedly interrupted.
"-Surprise!" shouted everyone in the room in unison causing both Pepper and Tony to jump back in shock. Peter began to cry after being jolted awake when the loud noise had hit his ears and his parents flinched. Pepper held him close and began to gently bounce him in an attempt o quiet his cries as she looked around the packed full room feeling wholly flabbergasted. The house was meant to be empty.
Tony who had placed himself defensively between his wife and son and the raucous noise clenched his jaw. "What the fuck are you guys doing here! Are you trying to give me a heart attack!" he demanded with mild anger. He didn't necessarily want to shout at any of them but not knowing what was going was extremely infuriating at the moment. Especially after having promised his wife a quiet afternoon.
May held onto Ben's hand tightly and tried to smile. "We wanted to surprise you. We didn't mean to scare you," she said with obvious remorse.
"It's okay, May," Pepper said still feeling slightly shaken as she continued to try and hush her fussing baby. "I'm just going to go into the bedroom to nurse Peter and try to calm him down," she continued with a forced smile and then took a deep breath. "I- I'll be back in a minute," she hurriedly added and then took off down the hall without looking making eye contact with anyone. She could feel everyone's sad, pitying eyes boring into her as she passed by.
Tony immediately began to follow his wife only to have his mother grab him by the elbow. "Anthony! Let me explain!", she pleaded but Tony was quick to pull back.
"Whatever it is, Mom, it's going to have to wait. I need to go make sure Pepper's okay," he told his worried mother and then glanced briefly around the room. "I'm sorry everyone. I realize you've probably been waiting for us for a while. Please, uh, just... make yourselves at home. We'll be right back." As he walked towards where he could hear his son still crying, he took a moment to throw a mild glare at May and Maria, who he assumed was behind the unanticipated welcome party.
Once he was out of sight, Maria covered her face in her hands and took a shuddering breath. "Oh my freaking, God. This is all my fault," she proclaimed, tears already welling up in her eyes. "All I wanted wast to have a small family get-together, not all this mess," she told her husband who had joined her by her side.
"Hey, don't worry.", Howard consoled. "Pepper and Tony will be back here with Peter soon and we'll have some nice family time," he said and then kissed his wife on the cheek. Everyone around them nodded in agreement but the atmosphere certainly didn't hold the same amount of excitement it had just ten minutes prior. Now along with the anticipation of properly meeting the newest baby Stark, there was concern mingling between them. No one had been expecting that sort of reaction. It was supposed to be a heartfelt celebration. All they could do was hope that when the little family returned that things would be brighter.
However, what they didn't know was that behind the closed door, emotions were just starting to slip away from the expected bliss. Everything was hitting at once. There was a brand new set expectation bearing down on Pepper's shoulders, leaving her to feel unsure about how was meant to proceed. As her husband entered the room, she looked down at her son and then back up at Tony with a weary smile. "We have this, right?"