The Revenge of Devil | Irondad, pepperony

Chapter 30

"Friday? Is Pepper home?" Tony asked immediately as he stepped inside and the door closed behind him. As he waited for an answer, he took off his shoes and clumsily removed his jacket with one hand.

"Yes, Pepper is home," his most beloved voice replied instead of the robotic one, as he had originally expected, and the corners of his lips immediately widened into a smile. He looked back and saw his fiancée coming toward him, her face suspicious. The sight always made him feel guilty, though he was eighty percent sure he had done nothing wrong. Did he forget to pick up Peter? Did he miss any of their anniversaries? He hasn't bought alpaca yet... "Why do you ask? Are you taking your mistress home?" she teased him.

Tony grinned awkwardly. "Haha, this really wasn't necessary. You know I am not like that for a long time and I don't like to remember times I was behaving like an idiot. Please, honey. Your favorite," he told her, handing her a bouquet of tulips she loved so much. She looked surprised, but her eyes lit up and his heart pounded. He loved seeing her so infinitely happy, cheerful of the little things.

"They're beautiful, thank you," she whispered, smiling at him as she smelled them. "Why did I deserve them?"

"Probably because you're the best woman under the sun," he reminded her seriously, kissing her on the way to the kitchen. "Plus we'll have a wedding in two months."

"Oh yes. I can't believe it's running away like that, because it was Christmas a while ago," Pepper shook her head and followed him.

"Well, in a moment you'll be a married woman. Will you miss Miss Potts? Won't you change your mind?" he teased her this time, pulling two coffee mugs out of the cupboard. Pepper, meanwhile, took out a vase so she could put a bouquet in it.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" She smiled. "But no way. I'm not afraid of commitments, unlike someone," she added innocently.

Tony puffed his cheeks. "Well, let's go, I'm not afraid of commitments either! If I were to marry someone else, it would probably be worse, but I'm marrying you, so I'm completely calm," he assured her.

Pepper laughed. "Of course. Come on, admit it! You're actually going crazy. It scares you."

"Stop stressing me, or I'll run away from the altar," he laughed a little nervously, pouring hot coffee mugs for them. "Okay. Maybe I'm a little nervous, but that's normal, isn't it? It's a big day. Our day. But I'm not going crazy, you won't make me!"

She leaned her elbows on the kitchen counter and smiled. "I'm glad I know what you're up to. So I don't have to worry about running to another continent the night before the wedding because you're panicking? Rhodey, Bruce, and Steve won't have to look for you anywhere, will they? Won't you let me stand alone in embarrassment in front of the altar?"

"God, Pepper, what about these questions today," Tony groaned and went to sit at the table. "Of course I won't run away. Why would I run away from the best woman I've ever met in my life? I'd have to be really stupid and crazy," he tapped his forehead. Pepper was touched, so she came up to him and hugged him from behind.

"I'm happy to have you," she whispered.

Tony looked relieved. "Uff, I diverted your attention from those terrible questions. I sweated like I was running a marathon."

Before Pepper could tell him anything, Peter stuck his head in the kitchen. "Hi," he greeted them and went to search the refrigerator for a snack.

"Son, I haven't seen you in so long that I've almost forgotten what you look like," Tony joked. "Did you wake up from your afternoon nap? You look a little overwhelmed."

"Yeah," he growled, pulling out a cup of yogurt just to keep himself busy.

Pepper looked worried. Lately, they had a lot of wedding arrangements, so they even limited their family dinners together. She missed it, and it seemed as if their son was moving away from them. She was embarrassed to realize that they hadn't paid enough attention to him. She recognized in him that something was bothering him.

"How were you at school, baby? Something new? How's Ned, what about Michelle?" She asked discreetly. There was nothing unusual about it, after all, every parent has questions like that, unfortunately for every teenager.

"Fine," Peter replied in one word.

Tony chuckled. "How unexpected. The universal answer of every teenager, am I right?"

Peter tried something that must have looked like a smile. He saw Pepper inhale to find out what had happened, and said quickly, "You already have a complete guest list, don't you? I hope you haven't forgotten anyone."

"Well, we hope so, too," Tony chuckled. "Don't worry, you can take Ned and Michelle with you, that's done."

"Well, I know, I didn't mean them," Peter muttered, looking down as his heart ached at the mention of MJ. "I was thinking... did you offer it to Bucky?"

If Tony ate or drank something, he would probably start choking. He just rolled his eyes at his son and opened his mouth empty. Pepper responded better. She looked surprised but pleasant. She was sure it would be similar to Bucky as it was to Loki.

"Barnes? Peter, don't be mad at me, but I'm not sure if it would be a good idea, given our past," Tony growled, a chill running down his spine at every mention of the man. He knew that Bucky was different now than he was then, but even so, he still couldn't get along with him.

"You could at least give him a chance, Dad, he's changed," Peter persuaded him. "He's not just a Winter Soldier, he's a Bucky. It's the same with Aunt Nat. She's Natasha and Black Widow. "

"That's a slightly different situation-"

"No, it's exactly the same situation, but you only forgive her because she's your friend," Peter interrupted. "I've spent an afternoon with him several times. And he's changed, and I see he is trying to fix it all and trying to integrate into these societies and function normally again. He's not a killer, not anymore. And if you don't believe me, talk to Steve about it. And because of Steve, it would be nice if you just invited him. It would help him to integrate better among all of us."

"Peter, this is our wedding, we will decide who comes to it. I won't let anyone ruin our day," Tony said firmly.

"You didn't listen to me? I told you Bucky is completely normal, just like Loki or Aunt Nat! Can't you at least give him a chance?"

"And could you understand that I'm just not ready for that?!"

Peter frowned. "Fine," he replied, giving Pepper a look and walking back to his room. Pepper squeezed Tony's shoulders, surprised by Peter's ascent and their minor skirmish. She was ashamed that she had no idea that Peter and James had sat like this.

Tony groaned and put his face in his hands. "Honey, can you explain to me why our son always has to like the bad guys who tried to kill us?"