If They Knew All About You

Emergency Contact

The afternoon was quiet. Still a little early for rush hour traffic to set in, it was smooth sailing down the Pacific Coast Highway into Santa Monica. There were no words spoken between them, just the constant rush of white noise filled the car as they were driving towards the city. Tony tried to sit still, tried to keep his heartbeat low and his nerves in check, but there was no denying that if there ever was a moment when a man was justified to freak out a little, then this was it.

"How much longer?" His throat was dry. At least with Pepper, he didn't have to pretend that he wasn't nervous.

"Another 10 minutes."

She didn't really look at him, just pushed a bottle of water into his hands but he couldn't bring himself to drink. His stomach was not cooperating and he wasn't going to risk putting anything into his system at that point. The icy glass in his hands was numbing though and he relished in the chills that it sent down his arms.

She placed her hand on his arm, trying to squeeze some life into him. "Just breath."

"I... I'm not sure if I can do this, Pep."

She did look up to him at that. "You're the strongest person I know, Tony."

He snorted. "No, I'm not. You're the strongest person you know. Hell, Happy is a stronger person than me." She didn't laugh though. Her eyes were on his face and he felt his own facade drop. The need to joke the tension away just faded and left him with nothing more than doubt and anxiety. "I don't even know where to begin with this, Pep. What to do or say or—"

She held on tight to his arm. "I'm right here with you. You're not on your own."

He took a deep breath and let himself fall back against the seat's backrest, slowly blowing out the air, hoping to combat his nausea. The remaining 10 minutes felt more like 30, until Happy finally pulled into the parking lot. He drove them straight to the entrance. This was the time for him to at least pretend that he had this.

They'd had a deal. He had promised he'd be there if she really needed him and he was not gonna back out of it, no matter how much all of this was not what he had wanted. At all. It didn't matter now. What was done, was done. But what he was actually slightly miffed about was that she had the hospital call him. She had always been a straight shooter, no middle man crap. Well, breakups changed people. Or so they said. You'd have to be in a relationship to break up and he was actively trying to avoid those.

Pepper was right behind him as he walked up to the hospital's reception desk, shoulder's pulled back.

"Kelly," he blurted out without as much as a hello.

The nurse made an effort not to roll her eyes at him. He could tell that much. "Good afternoon, Sir. I will need the full name of the person you are looking for."

"Aileen Kelly. She... I got a call. From one of your staff."

"And your relationship to Miss Kelly is?"

He swallowed hard. He wouldn't let his voice waver now. "I'm the father."

The lady looked up at him. "You're Miss Kelly's—"

"No! Fuck's sake, she's pregnant. I'm the baby's father."

Pepper's hands were on him, pulled him back from the reception desk.

"Mr. Stark was put down as Miss Kelly's emergency contact. We got a call from one of your staff about 45 minutes ago and were asked to come to the hospital."

The lady behind the desk pulled her eyebrows up as Pepper was addressing her. "And you would be?"

Pepper didn't even blink, only inclined her head in Tony's direction. "I'm his emergency contact. Nurse Clarissa Kain is the person who contacted us."