Chapter Text
“I’m pregnant.”
There was silence after Pepper’s announcement. She stared at Tony for a long moment, trying to read his face. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but she wasn’t sure she liked the silence. “Tony… can you say something, please?”
Tony blinked, trying to understand the words that came out of Pepper’s mouth. Pregnant. Pepper was pregnant. That was amazing news and yet, he couldn’t seem to come up with the words to express those feelings. Soon, something else came out that he immediately regretted. “Are you sure?”
Stunned by his question, Pepper laughed. She wasn’t sure why she laughed. Maybe it was nerves, maybe it was anger, but she laughed. “Of course I’m sure. I’ve got three tests to prove it. And don’t even ask me if it’s yours, because you should already know the answer to that.”
He could hear the anger in Pepper’s voice and he couldn’t blame her. But this wasn’t something he had been thinking a lot about either. “I’m sorry… that came out wrong,” he looked at his girlfriend. “Pep, I love you. I’m sorry. It’s just a lot to take in.” Reaching to take Pepper’s hand, Tony gave it a gentle squeeze. He watched the anger on her face soften and he smiled. “I guess there’s some planning we need to do.”
Pepper smiled, hearing what Tony had to say. Squeezing his hand back, she looked at him. “I guess so.”
After she told Tony, Pepper’s first task was setting up a doctor’s appointment to actually confirm the pregnancy. Even though the three pregnancy tests confirmed her results - she even made sure to get different brands to ensure all results were accurate - she still wanted to have the confirmation from an actual doctor.
Once the blood tests were taken and the results came back positive, then the real planning began.
They still had time before they could really announce the pregnancy to anyone, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t have some fun with it. It was still early enough that Pepper wasn’t showing, so they didn’t have to worry too much about paparazzi or the press right now. But she knew they would eventually have to announce it to their company and the board before everyone else knew about it.
One night while they were watching the news, Pepper curled up next to Tony, looking at him. “Do you think this will make the company’s stock fall?” The company was thriving since she became CEO, but it didn’t start that way. Now with their big announcement coming up, she was worried what people might think. Even though she was great at her job, Pepper was still criticized among the business world for what she had done for the company. And now a pregnancy announcement? Maybe she should just announce her resignation instead.
“No. Not one bit,” Tony looked at her. “I had complete faith in you when I made you CEO. The stock should be the least of your concerns. You have a baby to focus on now. If anyone else gives you hell for it, they’ll have to deal with me.” Leaning in to kiss her, he smiled against her lips. “I have an idea for the announcement.”
Pepper pulled back to look at him, her brow raised at his statement. “Oh really?”