A Different Path

A Wedding and Two More Suprises

The wedding was gorgeous.

It was held on the countryside, the first day of spring. Instead of being chilly like it was still winter, the world seemed to recognize this beautiful day. The flowers spring up, the sun warmed the green earth, and there was an occasional cool breeze.

The alter and chairs were decorated with flowers. Jarvis played Pepper and Tony's favorite music in the background.

Because people in the Stark family didn't go strictly by the instructions, Tony had three best mans. (Men?) Happy, Rhodey, and Yinsen. Pepper's bridesmaids were her sister, Natasha Romanoff, and her best friend Allie.

Aurora tossed flowers down the aisle, Pepper behind her with her father. Tony was still intimidated by the man, but they'd found a love of fixing old cars.

Pepper was stunning. Her wedding dress fit her perfectly, her hair tied up in a bun with flowers lining it. She wore the necklace he gave her for their first Christmas after they started dating. She stepped up to be beside him.

The two barely listened to the preacher, instead looking at each other. The groom kept discreetly making faces at his bride, causing her to stifle her laughter.

"I do."

"I do."

"You may now kiss the bride."

They kissed and the crowd cheered, getting to their feet. The sheer joy radiating from the couple could be felt by everyone.

/

Fast forward six years later and everything is going great. Of course there were a few bumps along the way with Aurora's power growing and disagreements.

The company had flourished. Pepper was a buisness woman like no other. She always made the right negotiations, signed the right contracts, invested in the right things. SI now had fifteen towers, all giving clean energy to as many cities as allowed, and seven more towers were in the process of being built.

A buisness empire, the reporters called it, with Tony and Pepper at its lead. A deadly combination.

Jarvis watched over and double checked everything. He was always learning. He helped Tony in the lab and gave his own ideas. He learned emotions. Tony and Pepper were so proud of him.

Though he did learn a swear word from Tony at one point. That had been a day.

Rhodey and Happy were watching Aurora while Tony and Pepper went on a date night. Both were a little nervous with Aurora's power suddenly going off. Nothing dangerous, just a random force field for two or three seconds.

"We'll be fine." Rhodey had said as he ushered them out the door after they'd said goodbye to their daughter. "We can take care of a nine year old with superpowers."

Pepper had raised an eyebrow at him.

"There's nothing to worry about. I kept Tony from blowing stuff up in MIT, taking care of her will hardly be a challenge." He reassured before finally getting them out the door.

The date had been great. Steak and an array if sides. No one bothered them, thankfully, and they got to eat and talk in peace.

Tony also managed to get a spoon to stick on his nose and make Pepper laugh.

With the company, Tony being a superhero, and their whole world revolving around their amazing daughter, they didn't have that much time for themselves. It was nice to have a bit of time to be together, just the two of them.

It was about midnight and they were walking back to the tower, hand in hand. They were in New York instead of Malibu for the week because of some negotiations and decided it was a great time for some sight seeing with their friends. Those friends also decided the couple needed a date night.