A/N: well, here it is. I really don't know what else to say, other than I know this isn't an update to Number One Fan. 4persephone and I are working on that one slowly but surely, and in the meantime thanks for hanging in here with us – and with all our stories - and here's a good long chapter as your reward. :)

Despite all her good intentions, Pepper's internal alarm clock wakes her at the same time dawn makes its first appearance in the sky. She opens her eyes without moving her body and spends several seconds just looking around the darkened room before once again closing her eyes. Cuddling up to Tony's warm, broad back, she sighs. Going back to sleep was going to be hard; she's wide awake, her mind already itching to be off and running.

After another deep sigh, Pepper presses a soft kiss to the back of Tony's neck, just below the flattened curls of his hair. She gently disengages her hand from his sleepy gasp where he's holding it over his chest. "Shh…shh… Go back to sleep," she murmurs as Tony stirs and turns towards her. "If you get up, I'll have to put you to work."

"Oh god," Tony mumbles. "Anything but that." Pepper's lips quirk as Tony snags her pillow and burrows into it. He's so adorable in his sleep that she can't help but press another quick kiss to his earlobe, about the only part of his face not in contact with her pillow. With any luck he'll sleep for a couple more hours, allowing her to get most of the day's work done before they get into the office.

She hadn't really considered it the night before, but this morning she's full of energy and plans and making an appearance with Tony at the office is probably a good idea. And she decides she's going to hire one of the candidates they'd interviewed on Friday and get their paperwork straightened out. Clearly the workflow around here needed to be rerouted. If she could shift most of the day to day paperwork and schedule maintenance to someone else, then she could take over some of the more time intensive work over from Tony, allowing him to focus on R&D and the departmental restructuring that was going to result from the eventual shut down of the weapons manufacturing division.

'And those briefs are going to be a whole 'nother headache,' she tells herself as she gently shuts the door to the bathroom. One that's going to take up the entire afternoon. In preparation for the meeting of the Board on Friday, the departments were all going to pitch their ideas and projections for new, "friendlier" products and services.

"Get a grip," she mutters under her breath as she tries to still the thoughts tumbling through her head. And yet, the alternative to thinking about work was thinking about Tony. Or more specifically, Tony's body. Not that his reaction to her hadn't been…reassuring?...but she wasn't prepared to handle her own reactions yet. "Jarvis, start up the shower, please. And the coffee maker."

"Certainly, Mrs. Stark," Jarvis replies; the shower immediately starts up, steam curling up over the edge of the glass partition. "Would you like to hear the opening stocks for the company and its subsidiaries?"

"Not until after my first cup of coffee. But pull up the file on Bekah Hayes and start her employment paperwork. She will be employed by Mr. Stark, not Stark Industries." Though, officially the woman would be working for her, Pepper muses as she gets undressed.

She showers quickly, keeping her mind as focused on work as possible, though it does stray a few times, always leaving her standing under the water in a little bit of a daze. Tony was just…and those sounds…and the way he smelled? Did he really have to be so encompassingly masculine?

Pepper gives up and turns off the water, drying herself briskly with a bathsheet that probably cost as much as she used to spend on a full set of bed sheets. She yanks herself away from that thought before it can get her into trouble, or at the very least, back into bed.

She finishes drying herself and swipes at the mirror with the damp towel as she reaches for her lotion. Both shoulders and one elbow have been slathered with extra strength "Sensual Amber" body butter from Bath & Body Works when Pepper's attention is caught by the woman in the mirror. Hair deep red and falling in messy curls, lips a shade swollen, skin flushed from the hot shower…

Pepper stares at herself in the mirror with a hard, critical eye. There's a series of bruises on her neck that she can't help but cover with her hand. The last time she'd been covered with bruises, she'd put on heavy layer of makeup and a high collared shirt, and gone to work because work was the best thing she could think of to keep her mind occupied on something that didn't make her want to…vent.

Let it be said that Pepper Potts did not scream. She "vented."

Today though, the kind of venting she wants to do as she stares at the mouth-shaped bruises on her neck and shoulder is of the smile and hum under her breath sort.

She bites her lip as she wipes off a bit more of the mirror with her towel. Tony's response last night had been…gratifying. Ego-boosting even. Certainly enough to reassure her that he wouldn't… That he wouldn't get lost in the moment and surprise her. Or get greedy and demand more from her than she could give yet. It's the "yet" that makes her stand perpendicular to the mirror to study the rest of her nude body.

She's been taking care of herself. She can't tell if she's inspired by Tony or just participating in order to give him moral support, but she's been going to a yoga class three days a week and hitting the treadmill in the gym the other days. Considering the trouble she'd had gaining weight during her pregnancy, there really hadn't been much to lose after having Aaron, and what's left is mostly toned. There's one small, pale stretch mark halfway between her hip and her bellybutton that wasn't there before, which isn't too bad. However, her belly itself is…pooched, or at least, more rounded than it'd been before her pregnancy. She can't tell yet if this is permanent or not, unlike her breasts, which are probably never going to be quite the same after nursing.

A small part of Pepper panics as she takes in the minute physical changes that motherhood has left on her body. As far as she can tell, if Tony's ever been with a woman who's given birth, she'd probably been tucked and lifted and plumped back into pre-baby shape. What if he's…surprised? Her sense of self in sexual matters is already on pretty shaky ground.

…though, the sight of the giant hicky on her neck is still doing some very strange things to her stomach.

"Enough mooning," she chides herself softly as she pulls on her underwear. It's a matching set; something else she hasn't had the courage to wear yet, but today she's got the confidence. Last night she'd suggested to Tony that he stop kowtowing to the Board. Well, maybe the same is true for her, and it's time to stop allowing her – entirely justified, for the record – fears dictate her own behavior.

For that reason, she takes the time to style her hair in the loose curls Tony loves so much and when she finally gets dressed, she pulls on a mock turtleneck shirt that comes up high around her neck and plunges fairly deep on her chest. Still business appropriate, but certainly more daring than her standard office fare.

As for the hickies, she leaves them uncovered by powder. Tony's the only person who'll get close enough to her to see them. And she has the feeling that they'll give him the same little lurch in the stomach that they give her.

She's doing it.

"The Walk."

That easy, open strided, loose-hipped, shoulders back, head held high walk that he'd always associated with her having gotten a night of good sex. However, Tony knows that's not exactly what happened last night, so the presence of "The Walk" is puzzling. Puzzling and distracting as hell because he can't help but get caught up in it every time she moves – even if it's just across the room. It's a good thing they're married now because he's already been caught staring (i.e. – ogling) a few times, and he'd be hard pressed to explain it if they were still playing at the whole "employer/employee" thing. If they hadn't been cooped up in the executive conference room for the last three hours – with another three in front of them – he probably would have gone insane by now instead of the combination of edgy attentiveness that he was currently feeling. The same feeling that'd had him tapping his foot for a half hour before Pepper – with an almost embarrassingly knowing look – had declared a late lunch.

And lunch has been…nice. Lunch has been relaxed and Pepper's laugh has come freely as she's allowed him to steer the conversation away from business and towards persuading her to turn their trip to New York at the end of the week into an impromptu and abbreviated honeymoon. He tells her they could go sunbathing from the penthouse's deck, and she actually asks if he means they could walk around naked inside the penthouse because no one in their right mind would try to sunbathe in New York in late October. His heart literally skips a beat at the tease, and it isn't until he raises one eyebrow at her over his water glass that she seems to realize what she's said. The rose pink blush that spreads across her cheeks makes him want to lean across the table and nibble on that soft skin; from the way her blush deepens, she knows what he wants to do. From the way her eyes skip away from his and focus on her salad, she doesn't want him to act on it.

So he'd turns the conversation back to New York and the Met, Broadway and the Chelsea Market, and only barely manages to keep from mentioning a side trip to the Museum of Sex, mentioning the MoMA instead. She barely takes any of it seriously – foolish woman, she really should know better – and keeps agreeing in a pacifying manner as if this is one of his flights of fancy that he'll forget as soon as they go back upstairs. But he takes her agreement at face value and starts keeping a mental list of things to get in order so they can have a weekend away for themselves before the holidays set in and they get swept up into a whole new round of firsts – first time to host Thanksgiving, baby's first Christmas, first New Year's kiss…

However, as they return their trays to the cafeteria, Tony's mind turns to other firsts, like the night before and the fact that somehow he's the cause for that languid, rolling, fluid walk. Unbelievably, it's was even better to watch from a step behind her than it was to watch from the front, and he takes shameless advantage. He is a married man now; there should be no doubt in anyone's mind just how married he is. Besides, there's no other way to describe the fit of her skirt other than "snug," and when combined with the strut she's working, Tony's mind is firmly set on a first he'd like to see happen as soon as possible. The kind of first that has him hot under the collar and wondering if he needs to slip a hand into his pocket as a preemptive measure. The chance to step into an empty elevator is nothing less than a mercy from heaven.

The ride up is quiet, with Pepper softly reading the list of all the VPs and chairmen and heads of such and such that are still on the docket for the day and Tony ignoring all of it as he tries to inconspicuously rest a hand on her far hip. Since she continues spitting out information at a rate he can't keep up with in his preoccupation, he tugs her a little closer until she's brushing up against him and he only has to slightly tilt his head in order to bury his nose in her loose curls. Even then, her only reaction is to glance up at him and urge him to pay attention. And he does – to the fit of her hip into his palm. He can imagine the way the way it'll undulate under his grasp when they leave the elevator…and when they're doing…other…things.

He can imagine it just a little too clearly, but he likes playing with fire, so he doesn't move his hand away.

When the elevator doors open, Pepper practically springs into motion before Tony even has a chance to react. His hand slides to the small of her back as they stride through the corridors. Pepper, as considerate and businesslike as always, nods to the people they pass. Tony ignores all of them in favor of trying to feel out the give and take of her muscles. Really, it's all in the name of scientific exploration when he allows his hand to slide a little bit lower on her back…and a little lower…and a little more…until they stop in front of the conference room and Pepper turns around to straighten his tie as his hand rests rather possessively on her bottom.

"Married or not, Tony," Pepper murmurs as she tugs on his collar and smoothes out his lapels, "if you don't move your hand now, you're going to lose it."

Her tone is so light and so non-threatening that it takes Tony a moment to process, but when he does, he jerks his hand back up to rest above her waist as he reaches for the handle to the door. "Sorry," he grumbles, more because she made him quit than anything else. However, when she steps away, his attitude quickly changes. "I mean it, Pepper. I'm sorry. We're at work, and you need to be respected for yourself and not because everyone thinks you're sleeping with the boss, and I'm being a bore –"

Her eyes are laughing at him. "If you were any quicker on your feet, you'd be tripping over them. And you didn't listen to a single word I said in the elevator, did you?"

"Uhh…I might have been a little distracted. But Pepper, it's not my fault. There was this amazing redhead in there, and I swear, I couldn't help myself."

"Mmm-hmm." She sounds skeptical. "Next time, more business and less groping, please." She turns to leave, and Tony makes a swift sound of objection as he catches her by the elbow.

"Where are you going?"

"I told you; I need to get Ms. Hayes set up here in the office for the rest of the afternoon. I've had a second desk moved into the workspace off your suite, and besides needing to make sure she's been set up with the appropriate passwords and keycards, I want to give her a tour of the building and a run down of departments, introduce her to the filing system, make sure her workstation is up and running –"

The words wash over him while her actions tell him what he needs to know. He might still have a hand wrapped under her elbow, but she's carefully inching away from the conference room and studiously avoiding looking in the floor to ceiling windows that line the hallway. New meeting, new department…and an issue they've managed circle around but avoid until now.

There's one president and two vice presidents waiting for them inside. Or, waiting for him inside, since the department they're from is marketing. 'Delaney.' Tony's eyes mark the target and his left hand clenches and flexes in a way that would cause serious property damage if he were in his suit right now.

"No." Pepper's voice is soft but insistent. "Tony, don't."

"Don't what?"

She looks pointedly at his hand before glancing inside the room from under her eyelashes. "We haven't said a word to each other in nearly a year now, and he hasn't made any indications that he wants that to change. Just because I don't want to be in a room with him…" Pepper's voice dies off and Tony can feel the tension in her body, can see just how much more rigidly she's holding herself. He wonders if she's going to finish the thought or if she's going to leave him hanging and that much more inclined to be possessive and aggressive when he goes inside. However, that's her choice, and he's not going to push. Not when her lips have thinned to pale lines and her hand in curling in the sleeve of his jacket.

"Pepper…" he intends to tell her that he's not going to force her to talk, but at the sound of his voice, her head rises and she meets his eyes without flinching.

"Yes, he and I were a disaster together. But the reason I can't…that being in a room with him would be…" Her fingers tighten around the fabric in her fist. "I can handle Marcus Delaney, okay? He was a drunken mistake, but he was my drunken mistake. There's just…there are memories of my childhood that I try my best to forget. And because we were a disaster, he brings them all right back to the surface." Her eyes beg him to understand her meaning so that she doesn't have to explicitly say it.

Since he has hard memories of his own, memories that drive him out onto battlefields and into multiple day engineering marathons, Tony just nods so that she doesn't have to admit right now that it's the memory of whatever bastard came before Delaney that makes the man intolerable. It doesn't make him feel any better, and it doesn't lessen the desire to explain a few things to the man with the aid of a set of brass knuckles, but Tony forces himself to find a way to lighten the mood. He's going to have a word with the bastard no matter what, but there's no reason to worry Pepper about it, and every reason for him to want to lift that haunted look from her eyes.

"Fine. But you owe me."

Her mouth drops a little in shock and her eyes blank momentarily before her brows meet in the center and her lips purse a little. "For what?" she asks suspiciously.

"While you're running around having fun, hazing the newbie and terrorizing my employees with an unexpected inspection, I'm going to be stuck here for another three hours listening to reports. And since I'll be here alone, I'm actually going to have to pay attention so that I can fill you in later. I'm not sure I can forgive you for that, Potts."

Pepper ducks her head to hide her smile, but can't help but look back up at him. "Yeah, well, sucks to be the boss, doesn't it? I guess you'll just have to put on your big boy under-roos and deal with it."

"Wow. I don't know what I'd do without your support." And because he is feeling a little possessive and a little aggressive, Tony cups the side of Pepper's face in his hands and kisses her in full view of everyone waiting in the conference room. He keeps the kiss soft and gentle but maintains it longer than really necessary in order to drive home the point that Pepper was claimed territory and all other parties trespassed at their own risk. When she doesn't pull back, he lets his hand trail down her face and over the dim bruises on her neck that she hadn't bothered to cover up. She shivers under his touch and parts her lips for the briefest of seconds before pulling away.

Her eyes are dark and dilated and Tony can't help but taste his lips; Pepper seems to gasp in reaction before taking a short step away.

"I need to go." Her tone implies that she thinks they'll get themselves in trouble if she stays. Which is more than fine with Tony, but she's right about their needing to see to their responsibilities. Sadly.

He nods, presses one last kiss to that mouth that's becoming a slow, quiet addiction. "If I haven't met you up in my office by five-fifteen, come down and spring me."

A smile slowly spreads across Pepper's face. "Aye-aye, Captain." She starts humming the theme from "Gilligan's Island" as she walks away. Tony watches her carefully, noticing that while it has perhaps dimmed in strength, "The Walk" is still present…and remains present until she disappears from sight.

Then, temporarily refocused on getting through the next three hours rather than on tearing through one Marcus Delaney, Tony steps back into the conference room, the lines "…a three hour tour…" echoing through his head.

Tony Stark has a problem.

Well, that was actually a massive understatement. What he actually has is an immediate problem, one that – due to the windows that opened the entire room up to all and sundry in the hall outside – lacked a swift, satisfying, physical resolution.

Tony contemplates the problem most immediately confronting him as Vic Weiss – president of SI Marketing (North American Division) – wraps up his department's presentation. It's primarily been a summation of the current studies they had going in cooperation with Product Development. Normally, Tony's interest reports that took their time in stating further study was needed was next to nil. But Vic's reports had gotten remarkably tolerable over the last few years, and his own interest in new non-military applications considerably more keen.

He mentions the improvement in the readability of the reports as the team gathers their presentation materials.

Vic chuckles and points straight at Marcus Delaney. "Thank the Communications major over there. I put him in charge of all the department's write-ups as part of his last promotion. We haven't had a single complaint about them since."

"Sounds like you've been fortunate," Tony murmurs. The implication isn't lost on him; Delaney has clearly found a niche in the department. However, the callout also gives him an opening. "Why don't you hang back for a minute, Marco." Despite the phrasing, it's clearly not a question, and Tony taps his fingers on the folio in front of him in impatience as he waits for the room to clear. The other two men might believe that he has nothing more on his mind than a few additional questions about the presentation, or perhaps that the CEO's interest in an up and coming young exec has been perked. However, the look of polite, blank interest on Delaney's face indicates that he at least has some understanding that the topic about to be under discussion isn't going to be business related.

Tony sees the two other men out, briefly wondering once again why these windows didn't have blinds, or shades, or some kind of means for ensuring privacy of some manner. He determines yet again to replace the panes with smart glass, and relies for now on the closed door to speak for itself and keep the next round of meetings out until he's dealt with far more pressing business.

He turns, not unsurprised to find Delaney across the room, table separating them and slight look of unease on the other man's face. In all honesty, Tony felt a touch of that same feeling. He didn't know what he was doing, or what he was going to say, just that something needed to be done and something needed to be said. And he knew was that it was best to leave all threats of physical violence trapped firmly in his head, so he could plead for leniency later.

Because, there was no way that Pepper wasn't going to somehow find out about this.

"So…how are Pepper and her baby?"

Tony's a little surprised when the younger man is the first one to speak. His voice is a hesitant tenor, and the way he doesn't try to meet Tony's eyes is indicative of discomfort.

'As well he should be,' Tony grumbles to himself. In nature there are consequences for challenging the alpha male, and even if he can't respond to the challenge the way he wants to – and anyone who messed with his personal assistant, much less his wife, was issuing a challenge – he wants Delaney to be damn well aware of what he could do in response.i

"My wife and son are both fine," he says pointedly. After the way he'd kissed Pepper in the hallway, his claim was probably pretty clear at this point. However, the acknowledgement of the new relationships – wife and son rather than assistant and her child – hopefully established a basis for retribution.

Delaney nods. "I, uh… I'm glad things worked out. For all of you." He rubs the back of his head. "Look, can I be frank, sir?" The polite title sounded a touch grudging, but Tone was willing to overlook it, considering he was just as happy to proceed without the formalities. Nothing much was ever said when people were dancing around manners.

"By all means." Tony hitches one hip against the long conference table.

Delaney nods, and says, "I like my job. And frankly, I'm damn good at it." Any uncertainly has been consumed by a display of confidence. "I was damn good at it when we were merely selling weapons, and variations thereof, for an unpopular war, and that hasn't changed now that what we're trying to sell the public is a new image. I don't want the fact that I stepped on your toes to cost me my job. Like I'm sure Pepper told you before you sent her away, I have no intention to ever claim the kid in any way. That hasn't changed now that the two of you have gotten your act together. And even if I was inclined to blackmail you or make such a nuisance of myself that you'd pay me to go away, it'd not only do irreparable harm to my career, but I'd certainly come out the loser in the press. To be blunt, it's just not worth it."

Tony snorts softly, "How very self enlightened of you."

Delaney winces, as if perhaps aware how very cold he sounded. "That didn't come out quite as I intended. I have nothing but respect for both you and Pepper."

"Mrs Stark." Tony says the words bluntly. Delaney's look is blank, as if he doesn't understand why the distinction is being made. 'Nothing but respect and not a clue to any of the repercussions his relationship with Pepper led to.' It makes Tony a little heartsick, not just for Pepper, but he has to wonder what kind of bruises he's left behind in over a decade of passing through some of the nation's finest bedrooms.

Though, his status (and bankroll) at least almost virtually ensures that he doesn't have any unknown progeny floating around out there.

"While you might be willing to let bygones be bygones," Tony finally says, "I'm not. Being in close quarters with you makes Mrs. Stark uncomfortable, for reasons of her own. And while she's willing to be a martyr and overlook her own discomfort, I'm sure as hell not going to stand by and watch her suffer in silence. So…you and I are going to make a deal. This last is said with his usual arrogance and a slight smile and Delaney at long last seems to grasp that he's tread where he is not welcome.

"At this time, I have no grounds to justify a termination of employment, nor do I have sufficient personal grounds to transfer you to the New York offices or even farther abroad. As much as I want to settle Pepper's mind where you're concerned, neither do I want to provoke her by being too overbearing. So here's what I've decided: from now on any business related contact between you and I will now go through Ms. Hayes, who Pepper has recently hired as an assistant." And who would be receiving a very specific set of instructions about what duties Tony expected her to take on her boss's behalf. "Any personal contact you feel is necessary can be handled by our lawyers. Deviation from these conditions will result in a transfer – Pepper's wrath be damned – with the provision that there be no loss of position or responsibility. If I'm not mistaken, you're due for a promotion in a few more years anyway."

Delaney nods cautiously. "I believe you've made yourself quite clear, sir."

'I doubt that.' However, this is neither the time nor the place to go into detail about what Tony suspects about Delaney's sex life. Being a jackass wasn't the sort of behavior you could be nudged out of. For now Tony would content himself with reviewing, and revising if necessary, the company sexual harassment guidelines before passing them off to Legal and HR for dissemination. And perhaps see if it was legal to require new background checks for all employees up for promotion. Having a record down at HR didn't do a damn bit of good if misbehavior happened outside of the work place.

"If that's the case, you can go. I believe I have a meeting with human resources next." And after that, with finance. Pepper always made sure to stick meetings with the non-engineering types at the end of the day, her way of safeguarding her schedule.

However, as Delaney left, Tony couldn't help but wonder. If having a child out of wedlock wasn't enough to slap a man into reality, what was it going to take?

Going to pick out Halloween pumpkins in Southern California is vastly different from the visits to pumpkin patches that Pepper remembers from school fieldtrips in her childhood. There's no mud and no hay rides and no fields stretching on and on. What there is, is a manicured lawn and what seem to be carefully placed gourds every foot or so.

But then, children attending public schools usually don't have to worry about having a childhood experience ruined by a mob of photographers with royalty checks on the brain. And, Pepper has to admit that going the highly exclusive, terribly expensive route has spared any unwanted interruptions. She can pick out one or two photographers with high range lenses, but they must be at least half football field away from even the edges of the property. One bundled up baby, held immobile in a parent's arms is unlike to have the same allure of the other celebrity children – and parents – moving around and generally acting far more interesting.

Pepper sighs heavily, then looks down at her two boys and sighs again – this time in contentment as Tony seriously explains the characteristics that make up the perfect carving pumpkin to Aaron, who stares intently back.

"How did I let you talk me into this?" she asks for the umpteenth time. Yes, they'd both been cooped up by meetings all day, but clearly, when she'd told Tony how much she'd been looking forward to a quiet evening at home with Aaron that evening, her idea of a quiet evening had somehow gotten lost in translation. "Halloween isn't for almost two weeks still."

Not that Pepper really minded. Tony's enthusiasm when it came to carving pumpkins had always been infectious.

Also infectious are the little touches he's been gifting her with all day long. Whether it was offering an elbow for her to tuck a hand into as they'd walked into the office that morning, or his blatantly inappropriate and – if she knows him as well as she thinks she does – completely unintentional groping session after lunch, he's maintained a presence within her personal bubble. Which has never left her in a position where she's had to once again start reacquainting herself with the sensations he causes. It's also led to more than a few strokes and pats initiated by Pepper herself. Even now, she steps closer to him and casually slips her hand into his back pocket as she asks, "Don't you think this might be a little precipitous?"

"Pumpkin carving is serious business, Mrs. Stark. You need to have adequate time." Tony grins, shifting his grip on Aaron slightly. "So what you think, bud? Is this a good number one?"

"Number one?" 'How many does he think are necessary...?'

"Per family tradition we need one for every person in the house."

"You have a loose definition of 'one' then, Mr. Stark," Pepper teases. In the past, Tony has cooked up some truly impressive creations, sometimes utilizing as many as eight pumpkins. "Your definition of family could also use some revision." Since Tony has dragged her along on these expeditions for at least the last five years, it's a valid point. Though, usually her involvement ended at picking a pumpkin.

He ignores the last statement with a roll of his eyes. "I had assumed one for each of us, Amelia, your brother, and the Platypus." He pauses, "Then of course there's Butterfingers, Dummy, Happy and Jarvis..." He looks back over his shoulder at her. "Did...were you and Mick hoping to invite his mother as well?"

"You just like sticking your hands in pumpkin guts," she accuses as she tries to frame an answer and tug Aaron's hat down around his ears at the same time. It's the cutest thing – the hat – stripes of white, orange and sky blue with a long trailing peak that ends in a tassel. However, the tassel is far too interesting to remain unmolested, and Aaron keeps pulling on it and sticking it in his mouth.

"Firstly, there's nearly a month's difference between Halloween and Thanksgiving, and I already have my doubts about these pumpkins even making it to the 31st without getting moldy. Secondly..." Pepper doesn't really know how to frame her reply. Tony's family, while small, had been very close. One where not extending an invitation to one's mother for important National holiday celebrations was unthinkable.

She can feel Tony's eyes on her as she fusses with Aaron's hat a little longer than necessary. "While it's true that Janice and I aren't, uh, fond of each other...she's had a hard time accepting that the son she raised 'the right way' is unashamedly bi-sexual. That, and he looks so much like our father that even that resemblance brings it's own set of tensions..." She shakes her head. "We've never been a Sunday dinner sort of family," she concludes weakly.

Tony tilts his head. "But didn't Mick say she was showing renewed interest in trying to find common ground...in part for the sake of the baby?" He's hesitant to press the issue...well aware of the understated pain the subject represents. At the same time though he also recognized that Aaron himself represented at least the chance of new beginnings.

Pepper shrugs. "I don't...I mean, I guess I don't mind trying to mend fences, because she is the only grandparent Aaron has left. And that should mean something. But Thanksgiving is going to be our first real holiday together as a family. I would just prefer not to have to sweep that minefield at the same time. I'd rather enjoy being with you."

Tony nods, cheeks flushing in pleasure at her admission. It's still strange to hear Pepper express any need at all, not to mention a need to be with him. "I can understand that. It's not like we gave her any warning either, she may have made other plans. Still, maybe we should think of inviting her out here to LA this summer or something..." He shrugs. "Just a thought to bring up with Mick."

Pepper nods, relaxing when it's clear that Tony's not going to push the point. "So...you want to get..." She recounts the "family" members they need pumpkins for. "Ten pumpkins?" That's one for her, Tony, and Aaron; Jarvis, Butterfingers and Dummy; Happy, Rhodey, Kara, and now "Becks" - as she'd already heard him refer to her new assistant. Though he'd left the last two out of his original list. Still, Kara spent more than enough time at the house with Aaron, and Bekah was going to be doing so.

"Sounds good to me....and maybe a couple extras, just in case there's carving problems."

"You realize you're on your own when it comes to hauling these things, right?" Pepper shakes her head and holds out her arms. "Com'on, baby. Let's go get Poppa a wagon or two." He's going to end up with a pumpkin 'last supper' at this rate.

She nearly chokes on the thought of an "Iron Gourd" display, complete with candlelight implant and repulsors. Self preservation keeps her mouth shut; if Tony hasn't thought of it already, she's certainly not going to clue him in.

"See if I share any of the roasted seeds with you..." He replies with a smirk as he hands Aaron over. The boy coos and makes several uncoordinated, jerky bounces in Pepper's arms before his hands reach for the vibrant strands of her hair.

"To the victor go the spoils?" Pepper asks as she gives up on the hat and just pulls it off, causing Aaron's own fine red hair to stick up in all directions. She laughs as she tries to pat it down, ignoring the small flash at the corner of her eye. The paparazzi are unwelcome, but Tony has become quite the photographer in the last couple of months. Baby's first pumpkin was apparently a momentous occasion.

"Mmmhmmm...I also want to see if I can dig up my mom's old recipe for pumpkin bread and pumpkin soup." There's a wistfulness in his tone...though thankfully not any pain. More like nostalgia. Tony's been talking more about his own childhood in recent days.

"You know that pumpkin comes in cans, right?" Pepper gives up on Aaron's hair and just hands him the hat he's fussing for. The tassel on the end goes right back into his mouth, and around the poof she can see the gigantic smile on his face.

"Maybe, but trust me, it doesn't taste anywhere near as good..."

"I'm also not spending hours boiling down pumpkin," she warns. "In this family we have an equal division of labor - I'll have the kids, but you have to be the one barefoot in the kitchen." When Tony just grins, she cocks her head. This beyond his normal good cheer. "You really like Halloween don't you?"

"It and Thanksgiving were my dad's favorite holidays. Tony snickers, "Did I ever tell you that when my folks were still alive, Dad used to build an animatronic funhouse every year?"

"Really?"

"Yeah...complete with a pair of hands that reached out to grab you at the bottom step of the stairs..."

Pepper listens to the warmth in Tony's voice and thinks that if nothing else was wonderful and amazing and good about having Aaron in their lives, then the way that Tony now opens up about his own childhood would be worth it all. Having a family of his own has seemed to ease the pain of having lost his first.

"You lied to me," she says suddenly, causing Tony's eyes to pop open and his mouth to drop. "You are nostalgic."

"I am not." He replies almost automatically, as if the charge is somehow damaging instead of humanizing.

Pepper steps close and taps the camera in his hand. "Whatever you say, Mr. 'Let's take one more for prosperity.'"

"Ah come on, Pep...we have only so many years to score really good blackmail shots for the teenage years...besides," he coughs into his hand. "Wright and Rhodey keep harassing me for them..."

"Oh yes. How could I have considered it was anything else?" Pepper rolls her eyes and presses a kiss to his cheek. "I'm going to go get a wagon. You get to work so we can go home. After Bekah's tour this afternoon, my feet are killing me."

Tony nods. "She seems...acceptable. She'll do I mean. She's not too obnoxious. Very task oriented." He waggles his brows at Peppers 'harumph'. "As for your feet...how about a foot spa and then a foot rub after the three of us get home?"

Pepper practically moans at the idea. "I think that would win you my nomination for husband of the year."

"All right then. Can't very well get lax about my rankings." He steps marginally closer, hand resting on her waist as he plots to do something else about his "ranking."

"I'll keep that in mind." Pepper certainly looks agreeable about his planned PDA, but the mood breaks when she laughs as Aaron abruptly ends the conversation by reaching out and honking Tony's nose. Tony retaliates by leaning down and snarfling Aaron's neck until the boy squeals and throws himself back in Pepper's arms.

"Send Happy back with the wheelbarrows?" he requests.

She nods. "Want us to wait for you or should Aaron and I head for the petting zoo?"

"You can head for the zoo. Do you want a pumpkin that's round or one that's tall?"

"You decide. You're the one who's going to carve it." Pepper waits until Tony's snarfled Aaron's neck one last time, then leaves him to his careful deliberations. "Com'on, Little Man...let's go meet the goats."