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It was a loud crack of thunder that woke Pepper up from a sound sleep. She knew there had been rain in the forecast, but even this one left her a little shaken. Turning onto her back, she sighed softly, allowing herself to calm down and try to get back to sleep. Although, as her eyes closed and her body relaxed to try and go back to sleep, there was another loud crack of thunder that was even louder than the first.
Damn you, Thor… Pepper sighed as she rolled onto her side. It had always been a joke between her and Tony when there was a terribly bad storm, though she knew he wasn’t the reason behind it. Watching the room soon illuminate with lightning, it was the next crack of the thunder that shook the entire house… and everyone else in it.
“Mommy!” Morgan cried out from her room. “Mommy!”
Hoisting herself out of bed, Pepper ran down to her daughter’s room. Morgan was still in bed, sobbing while she clutched her blanket. Looking at her daughter, Pepper went over to her. “Shh… it’s okay,” she said, wrapping her arms around her, stroking her back to calm her down. “Did the storm wake you up?”
Morgan buried her head into her mother’s nightshirt, sniffling and sobbing as she tried to calm down. “Uh-huh… I was really loud.”
Rocking Morgan back and forth, Pepper continued to rub her back. “I know, it even woke me up,” she told her. Leaning down to kiss the top of her daughter’s head, she held her close. “But we’re inside and the rain and the lightning can’t get to us… we’re safe.”
While she sat with her daughter, Pepper held her close and sighed when another crack of thunder echoed throughout the house. Morgan cried out, gripping onto her mother a little tighter. “Mommy, can I sleep with you? Please?”
Usually Pepper wouldn’t cave with that request, typically it was Tony who would let their daughter come sleep with them, not that she’d ever be mad about it. Though, tonight was an exception, because neither of them would get sleep during this storm. Holding her close, Pepper nodded. “Of course, honey… come on, grab your blanket.”
Scooping Morgan into her arms, Pepper chuckled as her daughter clutched onto her blanket and favorite toys. Kissing Morgan’s cheek, she carried her back to her room. It was nights like this when Pepper wished Tony was still here. He always knew how to calm Morgan down and make sure they all felt safe (not that she didn’t feel safe in this house), but nights like this were especially hard.
Setting Morgan down on the bed, Pepper kissed the top of her head. “I’ll be right back, Morgan…” she told her before going over to her closet, searching for something specific. Though, it didn’t take her long to locate one of Tony’s old sweaters, so she grabbed his bottle of cologne and sprayed it a few times. There was another rumble of thunder and Pepper could hear Morgan cry out again. Coming out of the closet, Pepper looked over at her daughter. “Oh honey… it’s okay. We’re safe inside.”
Scooping Morgan into her arms once again, Pepper carried her daughter out to the laundry room, tossing the sweater in the dryer for a couple minutes so it would warm up a little. While she waited for it to finish, she rocked her daughter in her arms, just like she did when she was a baby.
“Mommy, why is thunder so scary?” Morgan asked, clutching onto her mother’s nightshirt.
Pepper was tempted to tell Morgan about the joke that she and Tony had going about Thor being angry and fighting bad guys, but she also knew Morgan would definitely tell him about it when she has the chance. “Well, thunder is the sound that comes from lightning… it means the lightning was pretty close,” she told her.
Of course, if it wasn’t the middle of the night, she’d go into the scientific reasoning behind it, but it was late and she didn’t want to. Plus, it was something that Tony would've been able to explain better... that's just how it worked. It wasn't that Pepper wasn't smart about, Tony just had a knack for explaining these things.
So for now, that explanation would have to work... and it must've because Morgan was now resting her head on her mother's shoulder. Pepper kissed the top of her head and soon the timer went off and the dryer stopped tumbling, so Pepper grabbed the sweatshirt and wrapped it over Morgan's head, also inhaling the scent of the cologne that reminded her of Tony.
"Smells like Daddy..." Morgan said in between a yawn.
"That it does," Pepper cuddled Morgan in her arms as she carried her back to the bedroom. Getting Morgan situated in the middle of the bed, Pepper tucked her in underneath the blankets and kissed the top of her head. Soon, she climbed into bed next to her and curled up close. There was another crack of thunder that made Morgan jump, but Pepper rubbed her back and soothed her back to sleep. "Go to sleep Little Miss... Daddy's gonna watch over you," she said softly.
Once Pepper knew Morgan had fallen asleep, she was able to relax... but not before thinking about how she'd worn Tony's sweatshirt anytime he had gone away on a mission... that had seemed like so long ago now. Closing her eyes, she drifted off...
"Morguna, you're gonna get me in trouble," Tony said as he looked at his daughter while they walked around the farmer's market.
"Nuh-uh! You can't get in trouble on your birthday," Morgan said as she skipped along beside him.
"But it's not my birthday, honey... it's not for another few months. Mommy's going to be very angry if we bring home another animal friend."
"But Daddy... Gerald needs a friend!" Morgan exclaimed. "And maybe he'll stop eating Mommy's goji berries if he has a friend."
Tony wanted to laugh, because that was actually a great logical argument his daughter was making... but he didn't want Morgan to think he was laughing at her, so he smiled. "You sound just like your mother, it's crazy," he told her. Pepper's negotiating skills were absolutely outstanding... no wonder where their daughter inherited that skill from.
"How about we talk to Mommy about it first, before bringing another one home?" Tony suggested. "That way Mommy will know and neither of us will get in trouble?"
"Oh okay..." Morgan sighed in defeat, then perked up. "Can we have juice pops?"
Back at home, Pepper was finishing up her work when she heard her family come back inside. "Hello?" She called out from her spot at the kitchen counter.
"Mommy!" Morgan came running up to her, wrapping her arms around Pepper's waist. "Daddy has a question for you!"
"Oh really?" Pepper looked at her husband, brows raised, interested in what was up.
Tony laughed, shaking his head. "I have a question... I think we have a question for you," he told her. "Morgan wants to know if we can adopt a friend for Gerald?"
"Oh... now that's a big question," Pepper agreed, turning to look at Morgan, who was looking at her with those famous puppy dog eyes she got from her father. "And why are we adopting a friend for Gerald?"
"Because he's lonely!" Morgan told her. "He needs a friend. Please Mommy! Pleeeeeease!?"
Shooting a look over at Tony, Pepper watched as he shook his head. "I told her we had to talk to you about it before we did anything crazy. Right Little Miss?"
Morgan nodded, but still exaggerated her puppy dog eyes as she stood beside her.
"I see... well, I'll have to think about it and let you know." Pepper said, ruffling Morgan's hair as she moved to give her husband a hug and kiss. "I think I'll have to come with you next time to see what's going on, okay?"
Tony knew that was her polite way of saying he was in trouble, but that was fine. "You know I love you," he said, kissing her back.
"I know, I love you too," Pepper laughed, smiling back at him.
When Pepper awoke the next morning, she was greeted with sunlight flooding the room, along with Morgan staring at her. "Good morning, Little Miss," she smiled, wrapping her arms around Morgan for a cuddle. "Did you have sweet dreams?"
"Mhmm..." Morgan said, sitting there for a moment. "I dreamt about Daddy. When we wanted to get a friend for Gerald," she giggled.
Pepper smiled... she had dreamt about the same thing. "What a nice dream," she told her daughter. "I remember that day."
"And then you let us get Dandy!" Morgan said, kissing her cheek. "Now Gerald's not lonely."
"That he's not," she said, still cuddling with Morgan in her arms. Pepper smiled as she thought about that. Glancing at the picture frame on Tony's side of the bed, she smiled. Thanks for watching over us... she thought to herself. "Come on Little Miss... it's waffles for breakfast today."