Chapter 2(1)

It was around 9 am when Pepper awoke the next morning, enjoying the freedom of not having to go to work that day, and rolled over to gaze at Tony who was still sleeping soundly beside her. The previous night had been perfect in every way, and she still couldn't rid the smile that played at her lips as she watched Tony's breathing as one of his arms wrapped around her waist when he felt the bed moved. Pepper's fingers moved to trace over the glowing arc reactor in his chest, content with this very moment of just laying in bed with her husband.

Although she would usually hate the fact she was always an early riser, it was times like these that she was actually grateful to wake up before Tony. She could watch him for as long as it took for him to wake up and she wouldn't grow tired of looking at him as he slept peacefully, always with one arm around her as if something was going to take her away from him while he was sleeping. After all her mornings doing this particular activity, she had grown to notice the little movements on his face that warned her he was waking up. His eyes would twitch, making him squint, and his lips would move, and then his eyes would slowly open, looking directly at her.

''Good morning,'' she smiled at him as he yawned, pulling her closer to him.

Tony lifted her until she was laying on top of him comfortably, his arms wrapped around her waist. Pepper leaned her head down onto his chest, closing her eyes as she enjoyed the warmth and comfort it gave her. The sheets were now just above Pepper's waist, exposing her naked back as Tony ran his fingers along in a pattern lazily.

''It is, isn't it?'' he smiled in return, placing a kiss on her forehead. They laid their together for a while longer, just enjoying each other's warmth, before Pepper rolled back onto her side, propping herself up on her elbow to watch Tony again as he yawned. ''You know, I know you do that.''

''Do what?'' she asked in an innocent voice.

''You watch me when I'm sleeping.'' he told her as if he was embarrassed. ''I can feel your eyes on me.''

''Oh, can you now?'' she interrogated, laughing at his embarrassment. ''What's the big deal? I'm allowed to.''

Tony rolled onto his side as well, mimicking her same position. ''I don't stare at you.''

Pepper's mouth dropped in disbelief. ''Excuse me, it took you a good five minutes to leave the bathroom the other day when you caught me in the shower. And how long did it take for you to even speak last night when you were staring at me?'' She waited for him to answer her, but instead he just put his face into the pillow and groaned. ''That's what I thought.''

''That's different.'' he argued.

''Different how?''

Instead of arguing back like Pepper expected, Tony quickly moved from his position and crushed his lips down onto Peppers, pushing her back into the pillow beneath her. Pepper's hands instinctively made their way up his neck and into his hair, moving them in a repetitive motion. Tony held his arms either side of Pepper to hold his weight, and after a few long seconds, he pulled away and looked down at Pepper who was rendered speechless but his spontaneous action.

''So, I'm thinking breakfast in bed?'' Tony suggested, sitting back against the bed frame casually. ''Pancakes, syrup, coffee, nothing too fancy.''

Pepper sat up as well, pulling the sheet up with her to cover her chest. ''Mm, sounds good to me.'' She couldn't help watch him again as he flung his legs over the side of the bed and pulled on his briefs, yawning again before he stood up and headed toward the door. ''Oh, Tony-''

''Don't worry,'' Tony interrupted as if he knew what she was about to say before the words left her mouth. ''I won't burn anything this time, I promise.''

Pepper chuckled to herself and lowered herself back into the soft bed, pulling the sheets up around her as the air conditioning hit against her exposed skin. This was what they needed. Following a night to themselves, now they had the whole day to do whatever they wanted to, even if it was as simple as sitting around watching movies and eating a whole bunch of junk food.

It was about forty minutes later when Tony finally finished preparing an edible breakfast for the two of them, making his way upstairs to their room to find Pepper sitting up in bed with his shirt on, which had previously been tossed onto the floor. Her laptop was sitting next to her on her nightstand, and Tony was instantly suspicious.

''Can't you take your mind off of work for a day?'' Tony shook his head and he sat the tray of food down on the end of the bed.

''Well, for you information, I was looking up movies to watch.'' Pepper told him honestly.

Tony narrowed his eyes at her. ''Sure you didn't accidentally open your emails by any chance?''

''I swear, nothing work-related today.''

''Good, because this is going to be the laziest day you have ever had.'' he told her as he climbed onto the bed next to her, pulling the tray of food toward them. ''It's all cooked perfectly.''

Pepper gave him a peck on the cheek for his efforts, it wasn't common for anything that Tony cooked to be safe for consumption, but after a quick inspection, she deemed these worthy of eating. ''Wow, you have surprised me.'' Tony looked triumphant and he ate one of the pancakes, syrup running down his chin as he smiled. Pepper laughed loudly at the sight of him looking like a child before picking up one of the napkins and wiping his chin. ''You're such a messy eater.''

''Well that's how you enjoy food.''

''What, by spreading it across your face?''

''Obviously. This is delicious, if I may say so myself.''

Pepper watched as he picked up yet another pancake and drizzled syrup all over it, repeating his incident from moments ago. ''Yeah, they're really, really good.''

Tony quickly swallowed the food in his mouth, pointing at the pot of coffee that was on the tray as well. ''I think I have made my first successful coffee. I mean, how can anyone screw that up? It's simple.''

''Let me see then,'' Pepper picked up a cup and poured herself some coffee, adding a teaspoon of sugar and a tiny bit of milk. The smell of the coffee was overwhelming and she actually became excited about drinking it because it smelled so good, but as the liquid entered her mouth, that same taste from the other morning came back to her. Something wasn't right about the taste, it was disgusting. ''Is this milk okay?''

Tony raised his eyebrows with concern. ''Yeah, I checked the date to make sure. Why? Did I make it wrong? It tastes bad doesn't it.''

Pepper shook her head at his worries, not wanting to seem unappreciative of his efforts. It definitely wasn't his doing. She didn't understand though, coffee was her savior. It got her through the long days and the meetings and the late nights, she depended on coffee each day, but something wasn't right. Her body was rejecting it for some reason. Maybe she had drank that much that she was now turned off coffee completely.

''No, you've made it perfectly. Just the way I like it.'' she smiled at him, taking another sip and holding back from making a disgusted face.

Tony looked skeptical though. ''Okay then...are you sure? I can make some more-''

''No, no, no, this is fine, honestly. It's coffee, right? Any coffee is good coffee to me.''

For the rest of their breakfast, they just sat there and talked to each other about the smallest of things such as what movies they could watch that day and the weather. It was nice though, not having to talk about work or upcoming events, but talk about nothing at all. It was a change for both of them, but they liked it. Tony continued to have syrup on his chin, and Pepper continued to wipe it away while laughing at his inability to eat like a grown man. The food really was good and Pepper wasn't lying to protect his feelings this time, she actually enjoyed every bite she ate, the only downfall was the coffee and she was sure that it wasn't his fault.

The tray was empty by the time Tony laid back against the bed frame, groaning about how he was full. Pepper was finished off a mouthful of pancake as she nodded in agreement, surprised by how much she had actually eaten. Normally she would be watching what she ate, but since this was a lazy day around the house, she made an exception for all junk foods today. It was only when she swallowed her food and finally just sat there motionless that she began to feel something off. The thought of eating any more food made her stomach turn, but what made her feel worse was the fact she had eaten all of this food that all of a sudden seemed disgusting to her.

Tony was talking to her while she sat up, and he must have expected her to reply with something since he called her name a few times. ''Pep? Hello?''

Pepper looked over to him, smiling as if she didn't feel horrible. ''Yeah, sorry, go on.''

Tony continued talking about something as Pepper pretended to listen, although all of her concentration was now on trying to control how sick she was feeling. Everything in her stomach felt as though it was churning around, making her move her body to try and stop it. It reminded her of being car sick on those long road trips she had to endure as a child, sitting in the back seat as they turned endless corners, making her dizzy and nauseous.

''...so it'll probably take a few weeks to finish, but it's not a big deal, it'll give the company something to run with and make everyone happy.'' Tony finished his story, looking up at Pepper and wondering why she didn't look so interested in the conversation. ''Of course that's after I shut down the other section of the company, build my army of chimps and dominate the world.'' Pepper just nodded her head at his words, agreeing with whatever it was he said. She knew that if she opened her mouth the speak, more than words might come out. ''Pepper? What's wrong?''

Pepper's head turned toward him, revealing her pale face. ''I'm fine.'' she shook her head. ''I shouldn't have ate so much.''

''Finally, I cook something you actually like.'' he joked, sitting up. ''It's usually the other way around.'' Pepper nodded her head again silently, trying to control the sickness she was feeling from actually showing. She hated Tony worrying about her, and if she was sick now he would think it was his fault and that she had gotten food poisoning from his cooking. ''Although, they were actually really g-''

Tony was cut off by Pepper jumping off the bed and running into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her, although it didn't shield him from the sounds he could hear coming from inside. He cringed as her heard Pepper throwing up, but that didn't stop him walking over to the door. She had only been sick twice since they were together, and usually they were from an extremely stressful day and no food, or that one time she got food poisoning from a sushi bar.

''Pepper?'' he knocked on the door a few times. ''I...do you need anything?'' '

She was still throwing up as he continued to knock on the door, and eventually he couldn't wait any longer and walked in. ''No, go!''

Tony ignored her protests, grabbing her hair and pulling it back out of her way as she knelt by the toilet bowl. Tony just tuned out the noise of her throwing up, focusing more on helping her at this point in time. He remembered quite a few nights that he spent in this room next to the toilet bowl after a big night out, nursing his hangover in the one position.

He couldn't help feel guilty about Pepper's sickness, after all, it was from breakfast. Although, he did check everything he cooked to make sure nothing was burnt, and if the food wasn't edible, Jarvis would have let him know when Tony asked him to check. There was no way it could have been the coffee, it was a simple three step machine that brewed it for you, there was no way he could have messed it up and he even checked the expiry date on the milk carton before he even poured it into a little jug. Either way, he felt this was his fault and needed to apologize the moment Pepper stopped.

''I'm sorry, I swear I had that food checked.'' he rubbed her back as she sat away from the toilet.

''No, it's not your fault, there was nothing wrong with the food.'' she told him, easing his worries. ''I just ate way too much too fast, it happens.'' They sat there for a few more moments, Tony still holding her hair back in case she needed to be sick again, which was lucky because a few seconds later she was sick once again. ''Don't sit here, this is disgusting. I'll be out later.''

Tony shook his head. ''Nope.''

''Tony, please, I don't like you seeing me sick.''

''Yeah, well deal with it.'' he told her firmly, not meaning to sound too forceful. He stood up for a few seconds to find a towel and run some cool water onto it before he returned. ''Remember those mornings where you'd have to help me get ready for work because I was so sick from the night before? I didn't like you seeing me sick but you still stayed with me and helped.'' Softly, he wiped the cool towel over her face to ease her nausea.

Pepper took a few deep breaths and sat back, leaning against Tony's side. ''Thank you.''

''Anytime.''

Pepper didn't want to move from her position for a while, making sure her sickness as gone before even considering standing up. She had eaten way too much food, that was the problem, but the more she focused in on the whole thing, her mind began to leap at the possibilities of the problem. Her sleeping pattern was becoming stranger, and not just from staying up working, she was actually sleeping in or finding herself exhausted at all hours. Some foods and drinks had changed in flavor, making her body reject them, although she had no idea what that could be from but she had to consider everything. It had to be from the big breakfast, there was no way it could be anything else. Of course, it wouldn't be impossible to assume that, but she felt like she was overreacting as many women do when they find themselves in this position, but the more she thought about it, the more paranoid she became.

Pepper was standing in one of the aisles of the drugstore, staring at everything around her. It had been a while since she had come into this store, usually to pick up something for Tony, and she found herself confused by all of the brands she was looking at. There were far too many, she was becoming confused at each bottle she looked at. She needed vitamins to help her get into a normal sleeping pattern as directed by an online source. Pepper was one of those people who refused to admit she was actually sick or that anything was wrong, so going to the doctors to explain all of her weird feelings lately was not an option.

''Do you need any help?''

Pepper turned to the the employee and politely smiled. ''I was looking for some vitamins to help me get into a regular sleeping pattern, I was told they help quite a lot.''

''They do indeed. The ones you'll need are...'' The young woman bent down and scanned across the row of little vitamin bottles before picking one up and handing it to Pepper. ''These ones. Take one each night before you go to sleep and in approximately five days you'll fall into a regular routine, but I recommend you keep taking them to make sure you stay in the pattern.''

Pepper nodded along with the woman's words, taking in everything she said. ''Okay, thank you.''

As she was walking out, she continued to scan a few aisles, just looking around at a few things when she spotted a row of a particular product that had been on her mind for a few days. 'Pregnancy Test Kits' was one of the boxes she picked up and read the back of. She looked over her shoulder a few times to see if anyone she knew was in the store, just in case. The instructions on the back seemed simple enough, and it couldn't hurt to take one home and ease all of the confusion going on in her mind. It was meant to be an accurate test, but Pepper had seen many movies where they couldn't be depended on. It wasn't an expensive test and it would do no harm in buying, but Pepper still though she was crazy to even think of this possibility. She didn't want to spend too much time looking over the brands in case another employee came over and tried to help her which would only make the whole situation worse, so she took the box she was reading and headed to the checkout with her vitamins.