"Well, are we ready for this?" Tony asked as he finished drying his hair with a towel.

Pepper looked up at him from where she was laying on their bed, finishing up with nursing their son before they all went to bed. She was gently patting Ethan's back when she replied, "I think we're as ready as we're going to be." After hearing a tiny burp from her son, she shifted him to her arms again, and smiled when she saw he was asleep again.

In the meantime, Tony had finished with his preparations for bed so he came over to the bed, and gently lifted Ethan from his mother's arms so she could go get ready for bed herself.

"Wait a second," she said, easing herself up out a bed, "I haven't said goodnight to him yet."

She walked over to where they had placed the bassinet in one of the corners of their room, and leaned over he husband's arms to place a kiss on the newborn's head, "Goodnight, my sweet little love. Mommy loves you more than you'll ever know." She watched as Tony copied her actions and words before placing the baby down in the bassinet.

They both held their breaths when Ethan shifted around in his sleep, his little hand going up to rest by his head, and then he was still. A full minute passed with his adoring parents watching him before his Dad remembered something.

"Weren't you going to go get ready for bed?" Tony whispered in his wife's ear.

"Yeah," she replied in a voice that told him she hadn't really heard him.

"Pep?" he said a little louder in her ear.

She jumped a little and looked at him, "What was that?"

He gave her a knowing smile, "I asked weren't you going to get ready for bed now?"

"Yeah... yeah I am. It's just so hard to stop looking at him now that he's actually here, you know?"

"I know, I have the same problem but what the Doc said? We, need to make sure that we take care of ourselves, especially you during these first days of having him home."

Pepper snorted, "I'm surprised you were paying attention to what Dr. Ruiz was saying!"

"Ouch, woman, you know how to hurt a guy!"

"Well, you're record for listening sometimes when someone and I quote prattles on and on unquote isn't always the best."

"When I said prattle, I was referring to everyone in those never ending board meetings where they don't understand less is always more... and I do believe you are stalling, Mrs. Stark."

"Tony-"

"It's not me who's saying this but Doc. Remember she said we should sleep as much as we can while he's sleeping because the sleep deprivation is going to start soon enough."

She sighed, and nodded, "You're right. As hard as this is, I know Dr. Ruiz and you are right. I'll go get ready for bed. I'll be right back." She headed towards the bathroom.

"Remember what the Doc said about your um... thing on your stomach!"

"Yeah, I remember she said not to get it wet. I'm going to wash down as best I can from the sink."

"Need some help?"

"No, I think I can manage on my own. I'll be out in just a little while."

Tony laid down in their bed, and he must have dozed off because the next thing he knew Pepper was back. She was changed into one of her nightgowns that he hadn't seen her in for awhile so he knew a little time had passed, and she was standing over by the bassinet again. He yawned in a way to make sure she heard him, knew he was awake, before he got out of bed. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and murmured, "Our bed's over there."

"I know. I just wanted to check on him one more time."

"Pepper-"

She turned around a looked at him,"I'm sorry I'm having such a hard time with this but..."

He hushed her by kissing her, then told her, "You don't have to explain because I totally get it."

"You do?"

"Of course I do. It's hard for me too."

He wasn't just saying that to make her feel better either but it was hard for him too. They'd waited so long for him to get here and now that he was here, both of his parents couldn't get enough of neither seeing him or holding him.

If it was hard on him, Tony could only imagine how much harder it was on Pepper not to constantly have Ethan in her arms because she was the one who had carried their son for nine months. But as hard as it was, they both needed to get some sleep.

Tony was gentle when he said, "It's hard on me too but we need to get a little sleep before the next round of changing and feeding comes around. Come on, let's get into bed."

"But what if he starts crying if and we don't hear him for some reason?"

"Then JARVIS will wake us up. Right J?"

"Most certainly, Sir."

"But-"

At this point, Tony felt like he was a broken record. But they did say that repetition was the best way to get the point across to someone so he took a deep breath, wrapped his arms around her.

"Pepper honey, I know it's hard to leave him alone right now, but we're really not. We're going to be just over there," he pointed to their bed, "So come on, let's get some sleep while the gettin is good. Okay?"

She gave one last longing look in their son's direction, and then nodded, "Okay."

End Note: This remains marked complete because for now it is complete. However inspiration may strike again in the future and maybe I'll write more about Ethan's first days with Tony and Pepper.