Memories Deep Within

Chapter 11

Pepper woke up and she was surprised to see that Tony was still fast asleep. He must have been tired. She looked at the clock and knew that they were going to have to hustle to get the kids ready for school on time. She gently shook him and he opened his eyes a sliver.

"We slept late. So do you want to take the girls or Anthony?" she asked.

"What I would like is a good morning kiss," he commented as he tried rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Maybe after you brush your teeth," she said as she forced herself out of the bed and into the bathroom to go brush her own.

Tony joined her at his sink and they stared at each other silently brushing their teeth. He was watching her and wondering what she was thinking. He used to know her thoughts before they formed in her mind but now everything was different. This was a new Pepper that was scared and uncertain and he had to win her over every day.

"I'll tackle the girls if that makes it easier for you," he said after spitting in the sink.

"I think I can get Anthony ready quickly and start on breakfast,"

"What about my kiss?" he asked as he walked closer to her.

This time Pepper spit and she smiled at him.

"You know Tony just because we kissed last night doesn't mean you can kiss me anytime you want. It wouldn't hurt to woo me or try a little romance," she said as she brushed past him.

"You can't dodge me forever Pep. One of these days I'm going to kiss you senseless and you're going to give in to me," he called after her.

"We will talk about it when that day comes," she teased.

Tony felt the wind leave his sails but it was only a small defeat. He wasn't going to give up. 

Pepper wants romance. She wants to be wooed. The necklace with the shrapnel from my heart will be hard to top.

Pepper was in the room with Anthony helping him get dressed. She combed his hair and he made a face.

"That's not Tony Stark hair," he muttered.

Pepper suddenly remembered a time before an event that Tony actually wanted to go to and he was fussing with his hair and it just wasn't right and she grabbed the Oribe fiber groom and fixed his hair until it was perfect. She knew after working with him so closely for years exactly how he liked his hair.

"Hang on a minute," she said as she went back into their bathroom and Tony was fixing his hair.

"Do you still use the Or-

She stopped herself when she saw the jar of Oribe on the counter.

She grabbed it.

"Anthony wants Tony Stark hair and who's more of an expert on Tony Stark?" she said as she left the room.

She returned to Anthony who got distracted with his toys and she picked him back up.

She applied the stuff in his hair and held him up to the mirror to see.

He smiled so big and hugged her.

"Now come on you've got to get dressed for school," she said.

An hour passed and Tony and Pepper got back from dropping the kids off at school.

"So what do we do with ourselves when the kids aren't around?" Pepper said as she flopped down on the chair in the living room and tucked her knees to her chest.

"It depends. Usually we try and catch up on work. You work remote 3 days a week so we can have more time as a family and usually when the work is done we have sex. It's our time to really enjoy sex and not rush. It's like going back to the sex we had before we had kids. Only on Wednesdays though. You have a lot of work on Mondays and Fridays," Tony explained.