It had been a long week at Stark Industries. Pepper Potts wanted nothing more than to have a quiet, relaxing evening with her husband and her daughter. Seconds after walking into the house she quickly realized that wouldn't be the case.

Toys, furniture, and pillows were strewn about. Blankets covering the floor, all remnants of what had clearly been used as a fort. Pepper was glad she hadn't taken off her shoes otherwise the many Legos on the floor would have certainly caused her pain. From the hallway, she heard loud footsteps approaching quickly. Tony Stark appeared running at full speed, his feet slowing just before almost crashing into his wife.

"Oh, hey honey, we didn't hear you come home," he said out of breath, looking up at the brown haired girl currently sitting on his shoulders.

"Hey mommy, did you see me?" Morgan said giddily. "I was flying, just like daddy does in his suits."

Pepper replied with a smile "I sure did sweetheart," she said while leaning towards Tony and smirked at him, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before giving one to Morgan.

Tony gently removed Morgan from his shoulders, placing her on her feet before she scampered away to her Tinkertoy, returning to something she had previously been building. Pepper watched as her daughter built something no child her age should be smart enough to piece together.

She looked at Tony, "she is like you more and more every day." Tony just smiled smugly, "yes dear, but she got your looks," he said before giving her another kiss.

—

Tony was helping Morgan rebuild her fort, as Pepper sat and watched, leaning against the couch since the cushions were being currently being used as a bed inside the fort. Tony was spouting off the logistics of the best way to build a fort while Morgan was listening to every word and following every move Tony made. If Tony was going to build a fort for his daughter, it was going to be the best fort he'd ever build.

Once finished, Morgan entered the fort with Tony quickly following behind. They settled on the makeshift bed, also known as the couch cushions, and Morgan poked her head out from a split in the blankets, looking for her mom. "Come on, mom, it's a lot of fun in here, I promise," Morgan said with her best puppy dog eyes. That was all Pepper needed to join her daughter and her husband inside the fort.

The fort was bigger than expected once inside, with plenty of space for all three of them.

"Okay, Morguna you got us in the fort, now what?" Tony questioned.

Morgan bolted out of the fort, ran out of the room and returned with a box in her small hands. She placed it in the center and Pepper laughed lightly as she saw what Morgan had gone to retrieve. Tony glanced at Pepper and beamed remembering the memory from years ago. "It's like Operation. You just don't let it touch the socket wall or it goes "beep." "What's Operation— What do you mean, "Operation?" "It's just a game, never mind." The game that their daughter loved so much, was also one that had a small piece of history in her parent's life.

After a few rounds of Operation, Morgan started to grow tired and ultimately fell asleep between her parents. With Morgan nestled between them, Tony and Pepper exchanged gentle glances, both reveling in the fact their little family was all they needed to be happy.

Raising his eyes from his daughter to his wife, Tony quietly asked, "Hey Pep, did you ever think, we would get here? A daughter who's too smart for our own good, lying between us on any given Friday night?"

Running her hand softly through her daughter's dark brown hair, Pepper thoughtfully replied, "no, but I'm sure glad we did."

They both remained in silence for a while longer appreciating their current reality.

—

They moved Morgan into her room, careful not to wake her when walking up the stairs before heading to their own room. Pepper was sitting in bed against the headboard, a book in her hand but instead watched as Tony continued his night time routine, knowing every move he was going to make. She was filled with comfort at the normality of it all, a love for and from a man she wasn't sure she would ever be able to experience was her reality. Tony thought back to the nights he had prepared for bed alone, and was happy he was now able to fall asleep next to the one person he loved more than anyone.

Tony climbed into bed, Pepper closed her book, put it on her nightstand and turned out the lights.

Tony softly joked "you know, I'm still surprised you didn't know what Operation was, it's a very popular game, Pep."

Pepper turned her head to look at Tony, and though it was dark, rolled her eyes slightly "I was a little too consumed by you and your antics to be worried about children's games you know."

Tony chuckled before saying "Oh, you were consumed with me were you?"

Pepper replied matter-of-factly, "by you Tony, not with you."

All Tony said in response was "if you say so, honey."

After a few more moments of silence, Tony spoke again, "I think that's when I started to know."

"Know what?" Pepper said tiredly, having begun to drift off.

Tony said simply, "that I was in love with you, or falling in love with you, whatever you want to call it."

Pepper turned to face Tony, her eyes now adjusted to the dark, and looked at him, his face filled with devotion. She smiled skeptically, "Really Tony, the time I sent you into cardiac arrest is when you realized that?"

"Yes… I knew I could trust you, and you know what I would do it again," Tony said warmly before questioning her, "and you know why?"

"No, why?" she replied, waiting for the answer. Tony kissed her forehead before tenderly saying the words that could make her fall in love all over again.

"Because it's you. It's always been you."

She leaned in and gave him a delicate kiss before moving closer allowing him to wrap his arms around her, feeling the warmth of his skin and knowing that no quiet evening would be better than one spent with the man she loved most in the world and the little girl down the hall that they had created with that love.