Chapter 3(2)

At that moment, Pepper finally let herself feel the happiness that came with finding out about all of this. The drugstore pregnancy tests, all five of them, convinced Pepper to an extent, but hearing the words from a doctor was all the confirmation she needed. She was smiling as soon as the words left Dr. Tate's mouth, finally letting herself believe all of this was happening.

''Are you sure?'' she asked, double-checking.

''I'm very sure, Mrs. Stark. You're at...almost eight weeks.'' Dr. Tate looked down at the results. ''Yes, eight weeks. Which makes we wonder how you didn't find out sooner?''

''I run a company-''

''Co-runs,'' Tony corrected, unable to hide his smile either. ''With me.''

''I co-run a company, so it's pretty hard to concentrate on certain dates and how late I was, plus it's a stressful job so I just thought I was being paranoid.'' Pepper could feel Tony squeezing her hand with happiness at the news, but as she concentrated on exactly how she missed all of the signs, she remembered the night they went out for dinner. She had one drink, but that was enough to set her into panic mode. ''Oh my god...I had a drink, that night at dinner, I had a martini.''

''Mrs. Stark, I guarantee you that most women who find out they're pregnant have done things beforehand that aren't exactly healthy for the baby, it's perfectly normal since you were unaware.'' Dr. Tate soothed her. ''One drink, especially a few weeks ago, will not harm the baby's growth as long as it's not an excessive amount, however it's not recommended to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes or any kind of drug while pregnant.''

''No, I won't be, I an assure you.'' she nodded confidently. ''But...you're sure everything will be okay?''

Dr. Tate nodded. ''Yes, but I can understand your worry. If you'd like, we can run an ultrasound and check on how things are going.''

Tony was listening to every word Dr. Tate said, trying to memorize certain things that Pepper could and couldn't do so that he could make sure everything was okay, but when she mentioned ultrasound, his attention rose. ''Wait, you can do those things now?''

''You can have an ultrasound at any time during your pregnancy no matter how early or late. It's just to check on everything, out your minds at ease.''

Pepper and Tony looked at each other knowingly before nodding their heads excitedly. ''Yeah, we'd love that.'' Pepper told her happily.

''Great. Just follow me into the next room and we can get things set up.'' Dr. Tate instructed.

The room was much smaller than Pepper had expected. It had a bed in the middle of it and big machines surrounding it, it was quite intimidating to be in there since she had no idea what was going on inside her body right now, but that was the whole point behind this. Tony followed in behind her, holding her hand as she walked over to the bed.

''Just lay down and make yourself comfortable, I'll be back in a few minutes.'' Dr. Tate advised.

Pepper nodded and sat down on the bed, laying her head back to rest on the pillow. Tony dragged a seat across from the wall and sat beside her, grabbing her hand again for support. They were both terrified in that moment. Everything was so overwhelming.

''You okay?'' Tony asked, squeezing her hand.

She nodded. ''Nervous.''

''Me too, but it's all gonna be okay.'' he assured her. ''Just try and relax.''

A few moments later, Dr. Tate returned into the room and walked over to Pepper, instructing her to lift her shirt up to reveal her stomach. Pepper was glad she wore a two piece ensemble today when she thought about the fact she almost chose a dress. Dr. Tate pulled a trolley over to Pepper's side which had a machine hooked up to it as well as a little remote-like object attached to it. A small circle of gel was placed on her stomach and then Dr. Tate began to move the little remote around, looking for something only her eyes were trained to see. To Pepper and Tony, it was all a messy blue on screen, but they knew when Dr. Tate's hands stopped moving that they were looking at their baby.

''And there is your little boy or girl.'' she pointed to the screen. ''They may be a bit small for you to see, but just around this area is where you should be looking. It's okay if you can't see it, this is the first ultrasound. Soon, you'll pick it up as easily as I can.''

Pepper stared at the screen in astonishment, looking at the little image that was shaped like a bean. Even when Dr. Tate moved her hand, Pepper knew exactly where to look and what she was looking at. Dr. Tate left the room to give the parents-to-be a moment to themselves. Tony moved from his position to be closer to the screen, looking at the image on screen. It was incredible how something so small already had such a huge part of his heart. He squeezed Pepper's hand again, smiling widely at her. Pepper's eyes were glossy with forming tears of joy, looking back over to the monitor.

''It's so small.'' she spoke softly.

''I know,'' Tony agreed, unable to take his eyes off of it either. ''That's our little guy.''

Pepper's head snapped back to look at him. ''Guy? It could be a girl.''

''I'm good either way.'' he shrugged, leaning down to give Pepper a kiss. ''But it's a boy for sure.''