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After spending a few weeks recovering at home after her own health scare, Pepper was very ready to get out of the house for a few hours. Not that her time home was horrible, she was just excited to finally go on a date night with Tony.
Ever since he came back from Wakanda and he was healing much better with his new arm, she had been looking forward to this date night for a while now. Her doctor wouldn’t allow her to go too far away from home extended periods of time, so heading to Manhattan was a ‘no-go’ until after the baby was born, so they settled on going to the next town over.
Pepper was finishing her hair when she noticed Morgan staring at her from the doorway. “Hi there, Little Miss… what’s up?”
“Mommy, you’re so pretty,” Morgan shuffled over to her, smiling at her. “Whatcha doin’?"
Scooting over on the bench for a bit, Pepper stroked Morgan’s cheek as she brushed a piece of hair behind the little girl’s ear. “I’m getting ready for my date with Dad. We’re going to have dinner at a fancy restaurant.”
“Oh… can I come?” Morgan asked, grabbing one of her mom’s makeup brushes and pretended to put some makeup on her cheeks.
“Not this time, but don’t worry, we’ll take you somewhere soon,” Pepper told her with a smile. Morgan had been very involved with helping get ready for the new baby: she had helped picked out the color for the baby’s room and even helped her dad and Uncle Rhodey paint it, and she had been helping her shop for the baby. But, Pepper wanted to make sure Morgan knew she was still important in all of this.
However, tonight was date night and Pepper couldn’t wait. Looking at her daughter, she chuckled and grabbed another one of her brushes and tickled the top of Morgan’s nose, smiling when her daughter giggled. “Mommy, that tickles.”
Downstairs, Tony sitting on the sofa waiting for Pepper to come down. Even though he had his new arm and was healing better, there were still days where he was in incredible pain. The scars on his body ached whenever it was about to storm, he was slowly losing his hearing and his sight on his right side every single day. Yet, his family kept him going. He was given a third chance at life and he wasn’t going to take it for granted, not this time. He had his daughter and his soon-to-be-born son to live for… and he had Pepper. Even though his body ached and he wanted to stay home with his wife and daughter, he promised to take Pepper out and she deserved it.
Soon, he heard footsteps making their way down the stairs and saw Morgan running toward him. “What’s the hurry, Morguna?” He laughed, helping her onto the sofa next to him.
“You have to close your eyes,” Morgan told her dad, waiting for him to do so before calling for her mom. “Okay Mommy!”
On her cue, Pepper came downstairs. It wasn’t like she was dressed super fancy for the Met Gala or anything, but it seemed to make Morgan happy, so she waited for her to give Tony his cue.
“Okay Daddy, open your eyes,” Morgan told him, giving her parents a silly smile when Tony saw how spectacular Pepper looked. He couldn’t believe he was married to the most beautiful woman in the world. “Isn’t Mommy so pretty?”
“Absolutely breathtaking,” Tony grinned when he saw Pepper. She looked stunning in her sweater dress and flats. Her hair was shiny and full, her makeup looked stunning, and growing baby bump was accentuated just right, he wondered how he got so damn lucky. Getting up, he offered his wife a hand. “May I have this dance?”
Pepper gave him a look. There wasn’t any music playing or anything, but it seemed to make Tony happy. Taking his hand, she chuckled when Tony pulled her close, placing a hand on the small of her back and he started slowly moving back and forth, allowing them to slow dance in the living room. Looking over his shoulder, she could see Morgan smiling up at them. Something about this moment seemed absolutely perfect.
Soon, Happy arrived to watch Morgan so Pepper and Tony could head out for their date night. Kneeling down so he was at his daughter’s height, he hugged and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Be good for your Uncle Happy, okay?”
“I promise!” Morgan said, wrapping her arms around her dad for a hug before going to hug her mom. “Love you both.”
Tony was glad that he could drive again (as long as he wore his glasses). Something about all of this was so wonderful. Taking Pepper out on a date was something he was glad to be around for. The thought of Pepper sitting home alone, wallowing in her grief while raising Morgan and their soon-to-be-born son killed him. He hated knowing that he almost missed out on all of this. He might be injured and permanently damaged, but Tony was determined to be the best husband and father to his family.
“Tony…” Pepper looked at him, noticing he wasn’t listening to her anymore. “Tony…?”
“Huh?” Tony glanced at her when he stopped at a stop light.
Chuckling, Pepper shook her head. “Your mind is wandering,” she told him. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, I was just thinking about how lucky I am. I can drive again, I’m taking you on our first date since all of this, you’re doing so much better and the baby is fine… I feel like I’ve won the lottery of life.” Tony shot a grin at her before turning back toward the road, continuing to the town. He had promised Pepper dinner at a nice restaurant, but what he hadn’t told her was that he secretly rented out the whole restaurant so he could give Pepper a peaceful dinner without any issues.
“Ah, is that so?” Pepper reached over to stroke his cheek. It was still strange, seeing the scars there. She knew sometimes it hurt him, but he didn’t say anything today. “I’m glad we’re getting out of the house.” She’d been looking forward to this night for a while. “You feeling okay?”
Tony smiled when he heard her. She could tell something was up, but he didn’t want to disappoint her either. “It’s going to rain tonight,” he said, pulling into the parking lot once they made it to the little Italian place in town.
Pepper looked up at the sky, which was blue right now, but she could see the clouds rolling in. “Tony, if it hurts too much, we can take dinner home,” she told him. “I don’t want you to be in pain all night.”
Shaking his head, he put the car in park and looked at her. “No… because I think I’ll be stuck with this the rest of my life and I don’t want to stop you from wanting to do things either.” Reaching to take her hand, he squeezed it gently. “I want you to know that I’m okay. I want us to enjoy this night… we’ve waited four months for this.”
Nodding, Pepper leaned in to kiss him and smiled. “I love you so much,” she told him.
As they made their way to the restaurant, Pepper didn’t notice at first that there weren’t very many cars there and that it was eerily quiet, but as soon as they got to the doors and noticed a sign read: CLOSED FOR PRIVATE EVENT, that she realized something was up. She wouldn’t have minded if they were dining amongst others, but Tony did this for her.
Inside the little Italian restaurant, the tables and chairs had been cleared out, leaving only one in the center of the room. The room was dimly lit with twinkling fairy lights and candles on the booths around the walls.
The hostess brought them over to the table where a prix-fixe menu of their favorite dishes that the chef would prepare for them special tonight. A server soon came over with sparkling grape juice and poured it into two chilled wine glasses for them, since neither of them could drink, before leaving them be.
“You did this all for me?” Pepper looked at him, smiling when he leaned in to kiss her cheek before pulling out her chair for her to sit.
“Of course I did… I had to make this night special for you,” Tony told her. Yeah, it was his first date night since basically coming back from the brink of death, but he wanted to make this night especially perfect for Pepper. “It’s the dinner I promised you five years ago… before all of this started.”
“You mean, the one you promised me before you got on that spaceship?” Pepper looked at him, shaking her head with a smile. Reaching her hand across the table, Pepper held Tony’s hand with hers, gently stroking his wedding ring, which he was now proudly wearing again. “No Tony… this is even more special than that. Thank you."
The rest of their dinner consisted of amazing food and wonderful company. Pepper felt so lucky to have Tony here with her, alive and getting better again. She couldn’t wait to spend the rest of her life with him and their children… their daughter and unborn son who would grow up with a father. It made her happier than than anything in the whole world right now.
After eating, Tony offered his hand to his wife and pulled her up. Soon, an instrumental version of one of their favorite songs filled the room.
“May I have this dance?” Tony asked, smiling as he had danced with her earlier that evening.
“You may,” Pepper took his hands, allowing him to pull her close as they began to sway back and forth to the music.
Holding her close, Tony kissed her forehead before resting his against hers. Soon he sang the lyrics softly so only she could hear:
I never knew I had a dream
Until that dream was you
When I look into your eyes
The sky's a different blue
Cross my heart
I wear no disguise
If I tried, you'd make believe
That you believed my lies...
Thank you for loving me
(to be continued...)