Work Text:
“I don’t want to be 30.” Tony sighed dramatically, collapsing onto the couch in his office.
“Well unfortunately, Mr. Stark, time marches on and it’s coming up whether you like it or not and we still have a party to plan.” Pepper said, turning to look at Tony who was sprawled out on his couch like a Victorian woman whose corset was too tight.
“It’s easy for you to be calm about this Potts, you’re what? 19?”
“26. ”
“Same thing. But I’ve got 2 weeks of my 20’s left. Two weeks. I’m staring into the void at my own mortality and I don’t want to party .”
“You don’t have to have a party if you don’t want to.”
“Of course I do! I’m going to be 30 . I have to do something. I’m Tony Stark! It needs to be massive.”
Pepper narrowed her gaze at him, frustrated. She’d been working as his assistant for several months and was quite enjoying it so far, but sometimes he could be exceedingly difficult, like today. They’d been trying to plan this party for weeks now and had gone through several different options, even going so far as to book venues and entertainment only to have Tony change his mind the next day.
“Well, you’ve said no to Monaco and Dubai and Madrid and Tokyo and New York. Can you at least give me a climate that you’re interested in? Or even just a hemisphere?”
“Everywhere I’ve ever been bores me. Where are you from, again? Maybe we can throw the party there.”
“I am from lovely Barstow, California and I don’t think you’d even want to visit there, let alone have a party there.” She said, looking down at her notepad where she’d started doodling some flowers. “All right. What was the best Birthday you’ve ever had? Let’s start there.”
“7 was pretty great.” Tony blurted out after a moment.
Pepper raised an eyebrow at him. “7? What did you do?”
“My Aunt Peggy took me to see Star Wars and then we got pizza and then we went home and had cake with Jarvis and Ana. It was the best.”
She smiled and jotted down Star Wars and Pizza on her notepad before looking up at him again. Tony had had some pretty interesting birthday parties over the years, many of which she’d read up on or asked Rhodey about while trying to plan this one, but it warmed her heart a bit to know that Star Wars and pizza when he was 7 had apparently been his favorite. Clearly she still had a lot to learn about her boss.
“Right. Well, we can do that if you want to. Rent out a theater? Play whatever Star Wars movie you want and serve pizza? People can even come dressed as their favorite Star Wars characters? How does that sound?”
Tony thought for a moment and shook his head and sat up. “No. I mean, that does sound really fun actually, but just...yeah, no. You know what? Let’s just do Vegas. Book somewhere fancy. Go all out. Get someone cool to perform. I don’t care who. Just make it big and flashy, all right? And just tell me when and where I have to show up.”
“You don’t have to have a party, Mr. Stark. It’s your birthday. You can do whatever you want. If you want to watch Star Wars and eat pizza that’s fine.”
Tony let out a huge sigh before standing up. “Vegas will be fine. Everyone will have fun and just - just make it happen, all right? What’s next?”
And make it happen, Pepper did. It was the biggest party of the year and it seemed like every A-list actor, musician and model was in attendance. The place was crawling with paparazzi and there was an entire issue of the Enquirer devoted to the evening. Pepper didn’t actually stay for the party though. She was only there in the morning to make sure that everything was in place before handing the reins over to the event planners and heading back to LA.
But before leaving she decided to leave a present for Tony. Something that she knew he would like, since he didn’t seem to genuinely like anything about this party. She got him a large pizza with pepperoni and black olives, his favorite, and birthday card with R2D2 on the front that said Beep Beep! Happy Birthday to a fantastic 3 year old! , though she’d drawn a big, fat 0 next to the 3. She was a little nervous about the gift, hoping that he didn’t find it weird. She was so anxious about it that she wasn’t even asleep when he texted her at 2:30 in the morning, saying thanks foq the pizza! Content with the message, typo and all, she rolled over and fell asleep, hoping that he’d had a good night.
31 was in Miami. She got another pepperoni and black olive, with the olives arranged to say 31, and a Yoda balloon.
32 was in New York and he got a pizza with an image of Darth Vader made from black olives and a Stormtrooper PEZ dispenser.
For 33 they were in Chicago for a conference, so Pepper left him a deep dish pizza and a little lightsaber key chain.
34 was in London and she noticed that he’d been on a bit of a sausage, peppers and onions kick, so that’s what he got. Along with a bumper sticker that read My other ride is the Millennium Falcon .
She always left the pizzas and gifts for him to find in his hotel room instead of giving them to him in person, and he always sent her a text message thanking her at some god-awful hour. They never actually spoke about it.
Until 35. For 35, Pepper woke to the sound of her doorbell just after midnight and found a drunk, disheveled Tony Stark standing at her door.
“Tony? What’s wrong? Are you OK?” She asked, pulling him into her house. He’d never been to her house before. She didn’t even know that he knew where her house was.
“I don’t want to turn 35.” He said, leaning against the wall, closing his eyes.
“Did you drive here?” Pepper asked, horrified at the thought. He could barely stand right now and was supposed to be in Downtown LA at some club opening. She grabbed his shoulder and maneuvered him to her couch, worried that he was going to pass out.
“Nooo...took a cab. Didn’t want to go home. Wanted to talk to you. Can we cancel the party tomorrow night?” He stammered out.
“Tonight.” She sighed.
“Hm?”
“Tonight. The party is tonight. It’s almost 12:30.”
“Oh, right. Can we cancel the party tonight? I don’t want to do it. I’m getting too old for this shit and I don’t want to turn 35.”
Pepper sighed and crossed her arms. “Let’s talk about it in the morning, all right? Is that why you came here? To cancel the party? You could’ve called - “
“I’m hungry.” He blurted out, cutting her off. “Can I have my birthday pizza now?”
Pepper smiled at his question. It was the first time that either of them had acknowledged the birthday pizza in person. She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “No, I don’t have it yet.”
“Can we order one?”
“No. It’s 12:30 in the morning. No one delivers here that late.”
“Oh. Right.” He said, sitting back up and rubbing his eyes. “Can I have some water?”
“Yeah. And I can make pizza bagels if you’d like.”
Tony raised an eyebrow at her. “Pizza bagels?”
Pepper flushed a bit at his question. “Yes. Pizza bagels. Ya know, you put some sauce and cheese on a bagel and put them in the microwave? You can use the oven too but that takes too long.”
“Oh, I know exactly what they are Pepper, but I’m just surprised that you know what they are.”
“I came from very humble beginnings, Tony. We ate them at least once a week. But yeah, I can make you some. Happy Birthday, by the way.”
So 35 was pizza bagels and a pair of shoelaces that had the Star Wars logo all over them and Tony passing out in her guest room.
36 was in Dubai. Extra pepperoni and extra mushrooms, per Tony’s request. And a cheap plastic watch with C3PO on it.
37 was in France, for some late-season skiing. Extra cheese and extra bacon and a winter hat that looked like R2D2.
38 was in Malibu. Tony had only been home from Afghanistan for a few weeks and had barely left the workshop, let alone eaten anything substantial.
Pepper turned up with 2 large pepperoni and black olive pizzas, a cake with Yoda airbrushed on it, a furry Chewbacca blanket, and a bunch of snacks that she thought he might eat.
When she came into the workshop he was hunched over a bunch of wires, only glancing up at her briefly as she walked over to the couch. She laid everything out and asked Jarvis to start The Empire Strikes Back before calling out to him. “Happy Birthday, Tony. Please come eat something.”
He sighed before dropping the soldering iron and walking over. “Thanks.” He said quietly, plopping down on the opposite end of the couch from her. “You didn’t have to come over.”
“Of course I did! I had to give you your birthday pizza.” She grinned, handing him the gift bag containing the blanket. He’d complained about being cold a lot ever since getting back, so she figured he might need a blanket for the workshop. He actually chuckled when he unwrapped it, which made her feel good.
“You skin a wookiee for this, Pep?” He asked, running his hands over fake fur.
“Sure did, I wish you could’ve seen it.” She joked, opening up one of the pizza boxes and grabbing a slice. “Eat something, please? Just one slice.”
He ended up eating 3 slices, which was more than she’d seen him eat in one sitting since the cheeseburgers before the press conference, so she decided that was a win. She even managed to get some cake into him before the movie was over and he said that he needed to get back to his work.
39 was also in Malibu, and he got ham and pineapple because Pepper was irritated at him and at Natalie and the entire situation. The day after the Expo though she got him his usual and a Star Wars coloring book and crayons she found at a Bodega next to the pizza place.
40 was back in Las Vegas, which Tony seemed weirdly OK with. They were finally together and Pepper had never seen him happier on his birthday before. They had a large pepperoni with black olives on half of it because Pepper finally admitted that she hated black olives. And they ended up leaving the party early and going back to their room where Pepper dressed up as Slave Leia, finally fulfilling a fantasy he’d had since he was 13.
For 41 there was no party. Tony and Pepper were on a private island in the Bahamas and they made their own pizzas and cooked them on the grill. She gave him a pizza cutter that had a lightsaber handle.
42 was in The Avengers Tower, which was still being repaired. There were a lot of different pizzas and a lot of laughter with the rest of the team in the half-built communal kitchen, but Pepper was able to drag him away for a few minutes to share a slice together and give him his Lego Millennium Falcon, which he and Bruce ended up starting that night.
43 was in New York again and Tony was still recovering from the surgery that removed the Arc Reactor. They laid in bed in their new, matching Star Wars pajamas and ate their large plain cheese and watched the prequel trilogy because Pepper had never seen it before.
44 was in Naples, eating authentic Neapolitan pizza. While they both enjoyed it, they admitted to liking New York style more. She gave him a pair of Boba Fett cuff links.
45 was a weird one for Tony. It felt like a milestone because it was divisible by 5, so at the last minute he decided that he wanted to have a party. They had it out at a house in The Hamptons and Tony asked for a loaded veggie pizza because he’s 45 and he shouldn’t have all of that grease. After they picked most of the veggies off Pepper gave him a painting she’d commissioned of him as Han Solo and her as Leia.
46 was spent in a hospital, Tony still recovering from nearly being killed in Siberia. He woke to find Pepper standing at the foot of his bed, carrying a pizza and some BB8 slippers.
“I didn’t think I’d be getting a birthday pizza this year.” He croaked out weakly when he saw her.
“You were always going to get a birthday pizza, Tony. I never stopped loving you.”
“I’m not sure I deserve it.”
“Of course you do, baby. Of course you do.” She sighed, setting everything down and crawling into bed with him.
The pizza was good and the slippers were surprisingly warm, but the best part of 46 was finally putting an end to their break.
47 was back in Malibu in their newly constructed but still very empty West Coast home. It had taken several years for them to finally decide to rebuild and now they were going to spend a few weeks there making it livable. Tony was on a no-dairy kick for some reason, so Pepper found a vegan pizza shop and got it loaded with extra nut cheese and black olives and weird fake pepperoni. They each got through one slice before Tony was dialing his go-to pizza place from back in the day, praying they were still there. Pepper’s gift to him was a Death Star bath mat and finally agreeing to let their new bathroom be Star Wars themed.
48 was in upstate New York at their new house by the lake. Half the population was gone and Tony still was't quite himself yet. Pepper was very pregnant though and ate an entire white pizza with chicken, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes and three slices of Tony’s, despite the olives. They played several rounds of Star Wars Battleship before settling in to watch a few episodes of Rebels while Tony rubbed Pepper’s feet.
49 was also in upstate New York, but this time around they had an infant. A sick, screaming infant with a fever and all 3 of them were miserable. They ate standing in the kitchen while passing Morgan back and forth, trying to calm her down. Tony dropped some olives on her head while trying to eat and carry her at the same time, which made him and Pepper laugh for the first time in days. Pepper got Tony a t-shirt that said Jedi Master , and Morgan a onesie that said Jedi Apprentice, both of which Morgan spit-up on within 5 minutes of having them on.
50 should have been huge. 50. Tony Stark was 50 years old. It should have been the party to end all parties, packed with superheroes and celebrities and music and drinking and general debauchery. Instead, it was once again in upstate New York. Rhodey and Happy and Nat were there and they ate pizza and played with Morgan and pretended that everything was OK. Pepper gave him a set of Star Wars oven mitts when they had a moment alone in the kitchen.
“Thanks, Pep.” He said softly, setting his present down and dragging her into a hug. “You know, you’ve been doing this for 20 years now. 20 years. Pizza and Star Wars. Every year, without fail. I’m not sure I’ve ever properly thanked you for it, so thank you. I always look forward to it.”
“You’re welcome, Tony. I look forward to it too.”
“Even though you hate Star Wars?” Tony asked, pressing a kiss to the side of her head.
Pepper pulled back from him, mouth open. “I don’t hate Star Wars.”
“Of course you do!” Tony laughed.
“I don’t hate it. It’s just...you know, it’s not my favorite. But it makes you happy and the movies have definitely grown on me over the past 2 decades.”
“Like a fungus, I’m sure. I still can’t believe it’s been 20 years.”
“Yeah. How are you feeling about being 50?”
“I can’t even begin to answer that.”
51 was back in the Bahamas on Tony’s private island. He just needed some sun and to be away from everything else in the world for a week. Morgan ate pizza for the first time and Pepper bought them all Star Wars beach towels.
52 was in Florida. At Disney World. Which had been closed for years but was finally re-opened. There was a brand new Star Wars area too, which was why they'd gone. They went on rides and met Darth Vader and made custom lightsabers and got matching R2D2 Mickey ears and ate pizza back in their hotel room with Morgan asleep between them on the bed. It was the most Tony had smiled and laughed in a long time, and seeing Pepper and Morgan so happy filled him with delight. It was on that trip that he truly believed that the world could find joy and happiness again.
53 was in Wakanda. Everyone was back, though Tony was now down an arm.
“Open and close your fist for me.” Shuri said, glancing up from her tablet. Tony did as instructed several times before stopping and giving her a thumbs up. “How does it feel?”
“Weird.” Tony admitted. “It’s like it’s there but also not there.”
“You’ll get used it. Here, pick this up.” She said, holding out a coin in her hand.
Tony picked it up and twirled it around in his fingers for a few moments before flipping it in the air and catching it.
“Is that your new arm?” A little voice asked from behind Shuri, and they both turned to see Morgan standing in the doorway with Pepper, who was carrying 3 pizza boxes and a large gift bag.
“Sure is!” Shuri said, scooping the girl up and bringing her to the side of the bed while Pepper set down the food. “Now he’ll be able to give you so many hugs! And I promise he won’t squish you too hard.” She teased as Morgan carefully crawled up and wrapped her arms around his neck, avoiding all of the wires and tubes like a pro.
It had been a couple weeks since Tony had snapped Thanos and his army out of existence. For the first week he’d been in a medically induced coma while they dealt with the burns and the rest of his injuries, but once he was awake and stable and not in too much pain, Morgan had been a frequent visitor and a frequent snuggler, so she knew her way around everything.
Tony wrapped his new arm around her slowly, worried about holding her too tightly and not realizing it. Soon he brought his other arm up and pulled her in close, elated that he could hug his daughter properly again. “Am I squishing you too hard?”
“No.”
“Good. Tell Shuri thank you for making me the new arm. She did it all on her own.” Tony whispered loudly into her ear, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“Thank you, Shuri.” Morgan said, turning to back to look at her.
“It wasn’t all me, your dad helped a lot with the design.”
“Nonsense!” Tony said, letting go of Morgan so that she could sit up. “This was all her. She’s much smarter than me.”
“Do you want to stay for birthday pizza, Shuri?” Pepper asked, pushing the rolling table full of food towards the bed.
“No, thank you though. I’ll come check on you tomorrow, all right? And if you have any issues with the arm just call me. Happy Birthday, Tony.”
“Thanks. See you tomorrow.” He said, giving her a big smile. He liked Shuri quite a bit and was looking forward to working with her again. They had collaborated on the design of the arm, but the execution was all her. And the technology from Wakanda was far more advanced, which Tony was very excited about.
As she left the room, Tony turned his attention back to his girls. “Three whole pizzas, huh?”
“Yep, one for each of us.” Pepper said, pulling Star Wars themed plates and napkins and cups and party hats from the gift bag.
“Excellent. And what’s my present this year?” He asked rubbing his hands together, causing Pepper and Morgan to share a knowing glance.
“Go on and tell him Morgs.”
Tony turned to his daughter, who had a huge smile on her face. “Mommy said I could watch Star Wars with you!”
Tony’s jaw dropped as he turned to Pepper, who’d been wanting to wait until Morgan was a little bit older to watch them. “Really Pep?”
“Yes, really. Though I reserve the right to cover her eyes during certain scenes.”
“Deal!” Tony said, beaming. He scooted Morgan over so that she was sitting next to him and grabbed her a slice of pizza. “Well, we’re going to start with A New Hope. I’ve been thinking about this literally since Mom told me she was pregnant. Which order to watch them in with you. But I think going in release order is going to be the best bet, though we may do Rogue One after finishing the original trilogy. Haven’t decided yet.” Tony rambled as Pepper smiled and shook her head.
As they two of them got settled with their pizza, Pepper fussed around with the room controls for a moment to dim the lights and bring up a screen on the opposite end of the room.
“Happy Birthday, Tony.”
“Yeah, Happy Birthday Daddy!”
Tony smiled, wrapping his new arm around Morgan and reaching out with his other to squeeze Pepper’s hand. “Thanks guys. This is the best one yet.”