Who: Pepper and Doom When: May 24, 2015 What: Commercial about a father and daughter gives Pepper feels and inspires a late night call to her favorite family-threatening dictator.
(Note: Seriously, if you haven't seen this commercial yet, you should.)
Even more annoying than the nausea, and being tired all the time, were the mood swings. The internet was a breeding ground for adorable cat memes and gifs of puppies jumping on trampolines surrounded by ducklings riding roombas. Not to mention the pictures of tiny people both she and Tony were now being innundated with, both in and out of the most adorable array of costumes. The majority of them were Iron Man, of course, but a handful represented other heroes, like Batman, Captain America, and the most adorable Captain Marvel Pepper had ever seen. Her favorite, though, was an Iron Man, wearing a star-spangled tutu, sporting Hulk fists.
The emails were the greatest threat to her sanity at work, but at home, almost anything could set her off. The room they'd designated as the baby's, the items they were purchasing in preparation, books, the Sochi puppies, the bots, Tony, and television. As her fatigue paired nicely with insomnia, Pepper often woke up at odd hours and went downtairs to work, putting something on in the background. When 'The Princess Bride' turned out to be an obvious no go, and 'Die Hard' a suprising minefield, she let the television run.
The commercial was of a father and daughter, of a different socio-economic class than her family, but that didn't change how she felt about it, what she saw. Sacrifices, the things parents did to protect their children and give them the best. The knowledge of Tony's fiercely protective tendencies had the tears flowing, knnowing that in spite of his fears, he would die before letting anything happen to his child.
Which reminded her. Pepper typed for a bit and then waited for the International call to connect, and for the other person to answer, knowing that he would. She'd taken off her makeup hours ago, and wasn't sure if she was glad about that, or not. Red heads got red when they cried. She wiped her eyes.