Who: Rachel and Pepper When: Late April Where: Pepper’s house What: An emergency Rating/Warning: Mentions of pregnancy Status: Complete
Pepper was pacing. A lot. She’d asked Rachel over since she was sure she was going to go crazy if she didn’t talk to someone soon and Rachel was the closest thing she had to a best friend. She at least hoped she’d find a sensible ear or someone to freak out with anyway. She just didn’t know how it had happened, if it had, it was all still just a suspicion.
Hearing the doorbell ring she went to answer it and as soon as she saw Rachel she couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. She was probably scaring the woman half to death by suddenly bursting into tears but it was simply too much for Pepper.
Rachel was standing there on the doorstep carrying a couple of decaf, low-fat frappuccinos. She’d only just rung the bell when the door flung open and she could see Pepper crying on the other side. It made her instantly worried. “Jesus, Pepper, what’s the matter?” She asked, lifting one coffee filled hand to try and push her sunglasses up into her hair.
“Sorry” Pepper managed to get out, trying to take a deep breath, “I didn’t mean to do that” tears were still falling but she was slowly bringing herself under control. “Terribly embarrassing” she muttered before standing back and letting Rachel in.
“Hey.” Rachel stepped forward and into the apartment, then set down the coffees on the closest flat surface before turning her full attention to Pepper. She reached up and gave the other woman a hug. “Hey, it’s okay. What’s happened? What’s wrong? Is Tony okay?”
Pepper shook her head as she let herself be hugged, taking comfort from her friend, “I don’t know. He hasn’t let himself be...alone with me for a couple of weeks” she said trying to calm herself, honestly she wasn’t this sort of woman, “I don’t know if he’s hiding something or...” she shrugged, or if the thrill was gone now he’d managed to bed his assistant.
“What? That’s ridiculous.” Rachel said, shaking her head. She pulled out of the hug, grabbed the coffees, and motioned for Pepper to lead the way to some comfortable seating. “You don’t see the way he looks at you--you’re too busy looking at him the same way. He’s not hiding anything--unless he’s preparing for some big, wedding proposal or something.”
Pepper led her into the living room and sank down onto the sofa, “God I doubt it. Tony isn’t the marrying kind” she said, sniffing, “I know that. But...” she took a deep breath, “Rachel I think I might be pregnant” she revealed her voice shaky and quiet.
Rachel went quiet. Her eyebrows raised up and threatened to join her sunglasses on top of her head. She set the coffee she’d picked up for Pepper down, realizing that if her friend was pregnant, she probably didn’t want the caffeine. “...oh, wow. Did you take a test?”
Pepper would actually love a coffee but was steering clear since she'd started wondering if she was pregnant. She shook her head, "Not yet but I'm almost a month late"
“Oh my god.” Rachel said. She’d start freaking out if she was, like, a day or two late. But a month?? “That’s um… does Tony know? I mean, you have to tell him, right?” She asked, lifting the coffee to take a sip.
In all honesty Pepper normally would have but she'd been so busy and then the dreams had thrown her out of whack too. "I just...I don't know if I can" she said shakily, "I love him Rachel, what if this ruins things?"
“...I don’t know.” Rachel said, softly. And she really didn’t. It might very well ruin things. Tony seemed a little skittish when it came to things like babies and children. But then again, Rachel could see between them how much they really did care for one another. “I can’t imagine this would make things worse. He loves you.”
"I can imagine lots of ways this would make things worse" Pepper replied, "My mind has been thinking of nothing else"
“I’m sorry, but you have to be optimistic! This can bring you two closer together! Starting a family is a wonderful and blessed thing! You know, a lot of people are having babies without being married now-a-days. I bet Tony would be a wonderful father.” Rachel said, stuttering just a little as she came up with the optimistic words.
Pepper smiled at Rachel’s attempts, “Thank you. I think that might be a little too optimistic but thank you. I appreciate it. I’m think he would be a wonderful father but I’m not sure he’d think so”
“Well, maybe this is the time to convince him.” Rachel said, then shrugged her shoulders. She wasn’t sure how much she believed in all she was saying, but she was trying to make Pepper feel better, anyway. “...maybe you should talk to him before you take the test. Give him a head’s up.”
“Maybe” Pepper said though she wasn’t sure she believed that either. Still she didn’t really have a choice, he had to know. “I will do, thank you Rachel and I really am sorry for basically breaking down on you there” It wasn’t like her at all. Damn hormones, that’s what she’d blame.
“Hey, it’s totally okay. You’re the one I’d turn to if I had the same problem,” Rachel said, then sipped from her coffee. “Let’s take our minds off it. Okay? Put on a movie or something? That’ll keep you calm and kill some time before you have to… I don’t know. Go tell him? Talk to him?”
Pepper smiled and nodded, “I’m glad I have you Rachel” she said honestly. She’d never had a lot of female friends but she was thankful Rachel was such a good one. “A movie sounds good, thank you. Then I’ll speak to Tony, he’ll be in the lab til late. He’s been doing that more and more lately”
“Well, he’s got a lot on his plate. He has to keep up with ENCOM, after all.” Rachel said, giving Pepper a little smirk. She climbed up from the sofa and moved around to the television to put a movie on. After being with Kevin for so long, she was able to navigate through software and hardware in a way that she’d never been able to before they started dating.
That made Pepper smile, “Don’t you start with the competitive talk, those two are bad enough” she teased. Pepper was similar, she hadn’t ever struggled with technology but she definitely knew more technical things now.
Rachel chuckled. “I’ll never be as bad as they are.” She said, softly, as she put on a movie. “But it’s fun to tease them sometimes.” She came back over and sat beside Pepper on the sofa, then gulped some more of her coffee. “Are you feeling a bit better now you’ve got a plan?”
“It is, I can’t deny that” Pepper said smiling as she recalled the laser tag incident. “I am, thank you. I think I just got a little panicked and overwhelmed”
“It’s natural.” Rachel had no idea how she’d react if she found out she was pregnant. Probably about the same. Fear. Though, at least she and Kevin were married. Pepper and Tony were just together. Right? Whatever together meant. “Let’s just try to stay calm until you have more information. Or until you can talk to Tony about it, anyway.”
“Right exactly” Pepper nodded, “You’re right, I’ll speak to Tony and we’ll sort everything out”