"Pepper you said this was an emergency so we had to go together." Tony looked at where they were as he sat in the passenger seat as Pepper turned off the car's engine.

"It is an emergency." She said while checking her bag to make sure she didn't miss anything.

Tony still looking at the building, "What does an emergency have to do with going to the grocery store the moment it opens?"

"There's no food in the fridge, I need my fruits." She stepped out of the car and leaned in, "Plus, there are no more French fries." And closed the car door.

He could only giggle, "Mama needs her fries." He says and got out of the car to follow her.

Mama? Pepper thought to herself as she waited for him to get out of the car. She doesn't know how they'll handle a child, but she definitely wouldn't deny that at some point she painted a picture in her head about them having a little one running around the house.

She knew she didn't need to worry right now though, they still have a wedding to plan.

Tony was half-joking about his reaction, it did take him by surprise because Pepper didn't say where they were going. But he was so happy to be out with her early in the morning, Pepper wearing a summer dress that reaches her ankles matched with her favorite Prada flats. He on the other hand wore a pants and a plain black shirt, a cloth placed on his chest to hide the light in it.

If he knew they were going to the grocery store he would've worn shorts and by what his fiancé was wearing, he should've gotten the hint.

But he's Tony Stark, he was too focused looking at her the whole ride, adoring every freckle and detail on her face. He didn't even pay attention on the road.

"But seriously, Pep you could've just told me you needed to do grocery shopping." He said.

Pepper laughed, "And what? If I did that, things would only go two ways. One, you'd ask someone to do the groceries for me. Two, if I am doing it myself, something would magically go wrong in your workshop so you'd have an excuse not to go outside. I didn't want to go alone today." She put her arm around his, "We're getting married. Welcome to the real world, Mr. Stark. We'll be doing groceries on our own now."

At the back of Tony's mind he thought he could just buy a whole grocery store for her. But she'd literally hit him with a cart if he did that.

"Okay but I do pay for staff, we should at least let them do their jobs." Tony looked at her, "You already clean around the house a lot, babe."

Pepper smiled, he had a point. Even though she can do things herself such as cleaning, driving, getting groceries, they can't really let go of their staff, they need their jobs.

She exhaled, "That's an argument I can't win. Okay, I'll let them do their jobs but I should still do whatever I can. I'm really not comfortable relying on people when I know I can do it myself." Tony nodded.

They started walking around and Tony insisted that he pushes the cart, he was enjoying helping his fiancé. He never thought being domestic was his thing not until they started a relationship. However, being one of the popular couples living in Malibu, their presence didn't go unnoticed. Most people who saw them had their phones up taking photos, but they didn't care. Tony and Pepper were nice enough to say hi to them as they walked through the different sections of the store.

She was busy looking at the items in shelves and he was behind her suggesting what to get, most of it didn't make any sense.

"Pep, do I put this bottle of ketchup?"

"Babe, do we need seaweed?"

"Honey, how about chocolates?"

"Ms. Potts, cranberry juice?"

Pepper was busy deciding on things but she was listening to him the whole time.

"Tony, calm down. We're checking each aisle one at a time, okay? We'll get your cereals and chocolates soon." She giggled and whispered, "Literally a child."

"Okay!" He said with much enthusiasm.

They stopped at the fruits section and the staff couldn't take their eyes off them. Some of them star struck, some of them watching and wanting to know about their relationship without the media. People watching them realizing that Tony Stark has a different side of him when he's with her. Pushing the cart and obliging at her requests. Years ago this wouldn't even be a possibility.

"Hello, I would like five of each, thank you." Pepper told the staff who fixes the orders as she pointed of the different fruits in front of her.

"Coming right up, ma'am." The person smiled.

"Pep, honey, I'd rather buy five of each of those." Tony turned and pointed at the ice cream section.

She turned and saw what he was looking at, "The fruits are for me." She touched his hair, "But I would really appreciate it if you shared it with me."

"You do know I'd do the healthy living thing for you anytime." Tony put his arm around her waist.

"You're cute."

They were staring at each other, forgetting that they were surrounded by people who had their eyes fixated on them.

"Uhm… Ma… Ma'am…" Pepper got back to her senses,

"Yes? Is that it?" She took the bag, "Thank you very much."

The staff in front them couldn't hide her smile, she was in awe of the couple in front of her.

Tony looked at the person who gave the fruits, "Have a nice day." He says as they walked away.

"Babe, there's the ice cream, you go ahead and get some while I check for some drinks here. Can you also get the cereals we usually have at home, it's right across that path anyways."

"Okay I'll bring the cart with me." Tony said and went ahead.

"Which yogurt have I not tried… Hmmm…" Pepper said softly as she looked through, "I think I've had enough blueberry, what about – "

"Hello."

Pepper turned to check who greeted, her eyes fell down and saw a boy looking at her shyly. She smiled and immediately bent down so they were at the same eye level.

"Hi there, are you lost?"

The little boy nodded, "I saw you with Mr. Stark. He's Iron Man, right?"

"Yeah, he is."

"Do you think he can help me find my mummy?"

"He'll be happy to. What's your name?"

"Dalton."

"Nice to meet you, Dalton. My name's Pepper."

"Pepper. That's a funny name." The boy blushed.

"Iron Man finds it funny too."

"He does?"

"Yes." She saw Tony approaching towards them. "Why don't you ask him why my name's Pepper."

Tony was pushing the cart towards Pepper, he saw that she was speaking to a boy and he noticed how she acts differently around children. The way she smiles and how her eyes sparkle looking at this kid in front of her she didn't even know.

At that moment, he realized how excited he was to start a family with her.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Tony asked.

Dalton looked at him with his mouth slightly opened.

"Iron Man." He said softly, but enough for Tony to hear.

He got down beside Pepper, "Hello, little guy."

"Tony, this is Dalton right here. He finds my name funny too."

"Oh do you really? Well, I started to call her Pepper because she loves pepper spray."

Dalton jumped excitedly, "We have bug spray!"

The both of them laughed, adoring this child like it's their own.

"Dalton is looking for her mommy, he's hoping Iron Man can help him back to her."

"Iron Man can definitely help you." Tony stood up, "Shall we start looking?"

They asked for a staff if they can look over their cart for a while, after they settled that they started to look for Dalton's mom. Dalton held on Pepper and Tony's hand. As they walked through the huge grocery store.

"So Dalton, tell me, where did you last see her? Do you remember your surroundings?" Tony asked.

"Uhmm… I think we were going to buy soap. Then I saw someone holding chocolates and I wondered if I can get one too. I forgot where to go back to, then I saw you." He said shyly.

"The soap aisle is across the store, let's go there."

Pepper could only look down at Dalton and smile.

As they were walking by, Dalton saw the chocolates he was looking for, "Oh! There it is!" and ran towards it and took a box.

The both of them realized what he did and Tony whispered in her ear, "I thought he found his parents."

"Shut up, it's adorable. We're close to the soap section."

"He is adorable, isn't he?"

Dalton went back and now he's struggling to hold both their hands because of the box.

"Here kid, I can bring that for you." Tony took the box with his right hand and held his hand on the other.

"My mummy wouldn't allow me to get it. But I'd like to try."

"Oh don't worry, I'll give it to you as a gift. How about that?" Tony asked.

The boy nodded fast, forgetting about his shy nature.

They got to the toiletries aisle but they didn't find her mother. As they walked through, Dalton saw her mother talking to a security guard, probably asking for help.

"There's mummy!"

"Let's go to her then." Pepper said.

As they got close Dalton called out, "Mummy! I asked Iron Man to help me find you!"

Her mother quickly turned, looking worried, "Dalton! Oh my goodness, where have you been?"

"I got lost mummy, I asked Iron Man for help." He said, pointing at Tony and Pepper.

Dalton's mom looked at the both of them with shock, she didn't expect them to be in front of her, let alone with her son. I mean, who wouldn't be shocked?

"Thank you. Thank you so much for helping him. I hope he didn't cause you trouble."

Tony smiled, "It's no big deal. I'm glad he went to us."

"He's a ball of sunshine, isn't he?" Pepper said.

The mother replied, "You'll never get bored." And looked at Dalton, "Honey, don't ever do that again, okay? Always stay by my side."

Dalton nodded.

"Oh, this is his." He gave the box of chocolates, "Don't worry it's on me."

"Thank you." The mother said. "Hopefully this is the last time he does that. It'll drive any parent crazy. I feel stupid not keeping an eye on him better."

Pepper answered, "You are a good parent. You're doing a great job. He's a child, they always do that."

Tony chimed in, "I'll talk to him for a little bit."

"Hey, Dalton." Tony bent down again. "Do you know that I always get into trouble?"

"Really? How?"

"Because I think I'm always right. I forget to listen to the people who care for me."

"Like her?" he asks, pointing to Pepper who's busy speaking to his mother.

"Yes. But now, I'm learning to listen to her. Because Pepper right there, knows what's good for me. Therefore, I don't get into too much trouble when I save people."

"She's like a superhero too."

"Your mom's a superhero too, you know. She does the same thing Pepper does."

"How?"

"When she asks you to stay by her side, she's making sure you don't get into trouble. How about this, next time, when you see something you like, instead of looking for it yourself go ask your mommy if she can come with you to look for it. What do you think?"

"That sounds okay."

Tony fixed Dalton's jacket, "And, if you do get lost again, and I'm not around to help you. You see that security guard? He's like Iron Man as well, he'll help you like I did today. But, I'd prefer if you just tell your mom what you want and ask her to come with you. Okay?"

"Okay." Dalton smiled.

"Your mommy loves you, Dalton. Don't make her worry. She's working hard so make her feel loved too, okay?"

"I will, Mr. Stark."

"Come here." Tony gave Dalton a hug.

Pepper was listening to their conversation, trying her best not to get emotional. She said her goodbyes to Dalton's mother and gave her a hug as well. Dalton then walked towards her and gave Pepper a hug.

"Thank you."

Pepper hugged him back, "You're welcome, Dalton."

"Will I see you and Iron Man again?"

"It's a good thing you asked, how about you attend the next stark expo?"

"Yes! I want to go. Can I go?" Dalton looked at his mother all excited, she nodded as an answer.

"You'll see the suits, you can visit the children's exhibit as a VIP." She looked at Tony, "How does that sound?"

"Sounds perfect, you'll have so much fun." Tony answered with a big smile on his face.

Pepper turned to his mother, "It can be a nice bonding time for the both of you." She looked at Dalton again, "We have to go, Dalton. I'll see you soon."

"Bye, Ms. Pepper and Mr. Stark!"

Pepper quickly asked for the mother's phone number so she could talk to her about her plan. She was eager to have Dalton on that event. She can definitely decide on who could come, she's the CEO after all. She and Tony then went back to their cart and went to the cashier. It wasn't long before they were back in the car. Tony was the one driving this time, the both of them couldn't take their smiles off their faces. They both know the reason why.

A child.

Tony held her hand with his right hand, the other on the wheel.

Pepper looked at him, "What are you thinking?"

"I used to be so negative about having children, up until today I was in between things on the idea of having my own. Because I didn't have role models to look up to. I don't know a single thing about parenting. I know I'd do so bad."

"Why are you smiling so wide then?"

Tony answered, "This was the first time I saw you talking to someone with so much happiness on your face when we're outside. I know that expression so well because you only use that on me." He kissed the back of her hand, "I realized that if we had a baby, he or she is going to have a great mother who will love him or her more than anything. That made me want to be better when I become a parent. I forgot that I was scared, I'm now excited to be a dad in the future."

Pepper laughed a little bit, "You are the most adorable human being ever. You'll be a great father."

"Really?"

She looked at the sky outside, "Of course. I just know it."

"What if I make mistakes taking care of our child?"

"I'm not an expert as well, Tony. We'll learn together. Besides," She looked at him. "You're the only person in this world that I want to have a baby with."

He couldn't hide his blushing, he's now more excited to plan the wedding. Now that he knows what's ahead of them.