Battlefield ｡ Tony Stark

36 - ANOTHER REDHEAD

There was no need to panic. No need to overthink the situation because although the looming idea of being pregnant weighed down on my shoulders right now, the results were not final while I waited for the phone call from my doctor. Naturally, my first instinct was to freak out and blame the universe for what was happening right now, but I was trying my best to remain calm. 

Pregnant. Well, maybe. 

Some women had this overwhelming feeling or some womanly knowledge that resulted in just knowing they were carrying a child. A strange sense that some could feel inside of them, maybe in their heart or soul, maybe they could actually feel life being created in their wombs. Some woman just had a magic gift for knowing they were pregnant. I was not one of them. Actually, it had been almost three months before I realised I was pregnant the first time around and well, that surprise was not delightful. Being pregnant right out of college, carrying a long forgotten boy's baby after one night of pure chance. That was not a fairytale. 

"Alright, Tilly." I stared across at the woman in the mirror, reminding myself that I was no longer that somewhat naive young adult that wanted to destroy the world, along with herself. I was no teenager wanting to paint away her troubles with drugs anymore. I was not the scared, hopeless and stupid girl that had gotten knocked up. I was an adult. I was a mother. I was dating that said boy from my past. "This isn't like last time, okay? Things are different now. You're different."

I felt somewhat silly speaking to myself in the mirror, the door locked behind me and water gushing from the basin taps to flush out the noise. Tony was downstairs settling some business, something about Pepper taking over the business side of the company. All the while, I was cooped up in our bathroom giving myself a pep-talk. "If you're pregnant...again, things will better this time around. You're capable of this." 

When I was pregnant with Samuel, things were been beyond hard. I was a fresh faced and bushy eyed graduate with high hopes and a trip to rehab already under my belt. My dreams were snatched away from me when that little positive sign appeared. That was the moment everything changed. A decision had to made and without Tony's knowledge, or support, that decision rested solely upon my shoulders. I ended up keeping the baby, despite my mother's wishes at the time. She informed me a baby would ruin my life in ways and sure, in some ways it had but there was not a day that I regretted keeping him. Raising a baby alone sucked and I made a promise to that scared girl in the mirror. A promise that was tearing my heart down the middle right now. 

I never wanted children. I never wanted to be a mother, but fate had other ideas all those years ago and it had changed my life. Despite the hardship, Samuel was the best thing in my life but I had told myself, promised myself, that there wouldn't be another child. Some women wanted children, others did not. I was one that had promised myself Samuel Hardings would be an only child and now, it cracked open my chest to know there was a war going on inside my head. 

Suddenly, a banging on the bathroom door pulled me from my head, hot tears filling my eyes. "Mum? Are you coming downstairs? We're boxing. How cool is that?" There was a heartache burning inside my body with my son's voice and quickly, I was switching off the taps and smudging away the tears. 

Samuel gave me a gleeful smile when I opened the door, his little hand threading through my own as he pulled me from the bathroom and downstairs. He was chatting loudly about Happy and something about buying him boxing gloves so he could join them one day. As we stepped into the open spaced room, which was currently being used as a gym, Tony and Happy were going head-to-head in the boxing ring. "Tilly, about time. Wanna' give Happy a few lessons?" Tony's cheerful voice sounded.

Happy was rolling his eyes but I smiled sweetly, "Maybe next time boys."

Pepper was standing off to the side with a redhead I didn't know, signing papers to hand over the company. It was Tony's new idea to allow Pepper to handle all business elements of Stark Industries because it simply bored him, and one day, when Samuel was older enough, he would take over. Samuel didn't know that, but Tony had mentioned it last night. "How about you, lady? What's your name?"

The redhead stared back at Tony, playing nice. "Natalie Rushman."

Her voice was like smooth melting butter and Tony was all too happy to get her into the ring. "Front and centre. Come into the church." 

Pepper was shaking her head, "No, you're seriously not gonna' ask--"

"If it pleases the court, which it does." Tony was saying back with a smirk.

Samuel was bouncing up and down beside Happy now, somehow he had managed to sneak into the ring while my attention had been on the new redhead. "It's no problem." Natalie was saying quietly, removing her heels and slipping into the boxing ring so effortlessly. 

Dropping into the seat beside Pepper, we watched wordlessly as Tony and Natalie squared off. Somehow, the redhead looked like a natural in the ring, almost like she was born to fight. Pepper was pulling out the paper work again, sighing loudly. Within seconds though, Tony was exiting the boxing ring and allowing Happy to give her some lessons while he joined us. He was sucking on some green juice, sweaty from his workout. He dropped a kiss to my temple, my nose crinkling up with his action. "Ew, you need a shower."

Tony grinned, "You love it." With an eye roll from me, he was directing his attention back to the boxing ring where Happy and Natalie were squaring off now, Samuel sitting in the corner while trying to pull on some oversized boxing gloves. "Alright, who is she?"

Pepper was sending me a knowing look quickly, which only resulted in a shrug of my shoulders. "She's from legal and she is potentially a very expensive sexual harassment lawsuit if you keep ogling her like that."

I was shifting a laugh, "Well, I don't blame him. She's hot."

Tony sent me a wink. "I do need a new assistant, boss." 

"Yes, and I've got three excellent potential candidates." Pepper was noting quickly, her eyes snapping down to the phone in her hands, typing away what could have only been another important email. "They're all lined up and ready to meet you."

He was frowning. "I don't have time to meet anybody, and I need someone now. I feel like it's her." With Pepper rolling her eyes again, he was moving towards the side bench and accessing the inbuilt advanced computer system that J.A.R.V.I.S maintained. Already, we both knew he was looking up the new redhead, who was currently putting up a pretty impressive fight in the boxing ring. "Woah, she's a very impressive individual. She's fluent in French, Italian, Russian, Latin. Also some modelling in Tokyo. That's damn impressive, wouldn't you say?" 

I was smiling softly, knowing all too well how that was going to play out. "I need her." Tony was declaring, all the while the redhead was taking down Happy, a loud smack against the boxing ring flooring making us all stare. Samuel was laughing loudly, Happy trying to coverup the pain while Natalie scurried from the boxing ring. "Can I have one, Tilly?" Tony asked while the room grew quiet. 

Tony was currently smearing his fingerprint on the paperwork, the final step in handing over his power of the company to Pepper Potts. Natalie's attention swiftly moved back to me, along with Pepper's and with a sigh myself, my shoulders shrugged. "Only if she babysits."

Everyone rounded back to face Natalie, "Um, I've got some experience, sure."

"Perfect." Tony beamed and just like that, we had another redhead on our hands.