"Hey, what are you thinking about?"

You smiled at the soothing tone of Steve's voice and rolled over to face him, and despite being next to each other in the same bed again, it was still obvious that the two of you were maintaining a space between you. In the last few weeks, after finally reaching an understanding with Tony, you and Steve began the work on your relationship again with a renewed purpose to move forward; with the kids back at the compound after their own journey to learn how to cope, the two of you were now taking the time away and doing the same.

"You," you hummed softly in reply.

"I know that tone. You buttering me up for something, doll?" he grinned back. "Should I be worried?"

"Okay, with everything that's gone on, I can see how you'd jump to that, but no, nothing of worry at all. I was just thinking how it always comes back to just you and me. Things fall apart and we think there's never a way back, but here we are again."

"We're lucky."

"We're stubborn."

"Well, you are a Stark."

"Hey, watch it, Mr. I Could Do This All Day."

"Fine, you got me there," he relented with a long sigh, "but speaking of all day, what's on the agenda? We actually have the entire day to ourselves."

You quickly changed your tone with a wide smile, excited that the two of you had absolutely nothing official to do for the team, no therapy session for the day, and all that you had planned was fun and relaxation that you so desperately needed. It was such a rare occurrence to have happening that you almost didn't know what to do with yourself after being so out of practice. Tony had given you a few ideas from his own travels, so with his help, you had a fairly filled up day ahead. "First, a shower, and then breakfast. After that, Dad insisted that we visit Madame Tussaud's to see that damn Iron Man wax figure they did of him last year. I'd like to find Baker Street after that, then maybe head over to-"

"Babe, you're not going to see Beetlejuice Cumbersnatch or whatever that guy's name is."

"Oh my god, you did not just say that," you gasped, slapping your hand against his shoulder, aghast, "and I might, you don't know. Besides, you love that show too! You should be more excited."

"I'm pretty sure that our reasons for being excited are a little different," he smirked coyly. "Okay, so, shower, huh? Mind if I join you?"

You could feel your body react before your mind had a chance to think it through, almost recoiling back and away just enough to have not missed his attention. It was a strange reflex that you hadn't meant intentionally, but you couldn't seem to do anything to stop it either. "Really?"

"(Y/N), do you realize that we've had barely any physical contact at all since..." he paused, inhaling sharply, "since the funeral?"

"Yes."

"We haven't even so much a held hands."

"I know."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure," you answered quietly. He decided to test the situation and reached out to touch your hand but it almost immediately pulled away again, much to his clear disappointment. He looked completely hurt and it stung at you as a look that you never wanted to cause in him again. "I don't know why, Steve, honestly."

"You're scared."

"Of what?"

"Of this happening again, and I get it, I am too," he nodded, pushing himself up on an elbow as he spoke. "But, honey, it takes more than holding hands for that."

"Really?" you chuckled, feeling another welcome break in the tension. "Because all it takes is for you to whip off your shirt, and boom, I'm pregnant. With a litter."

His eyes darkened but held a playful glimmer as he held your gaze, pushing up to sit straighter and grip the edge of the soft and slightly wrinkled t-shirt that he'd slept in. With one fluid motion he pulled it over his head, smiling bigger now at your surprised reaction. "You mean like this?"

"Tempting fate, Rogers."

"Well if that's tempting fate, might as well just let it have its way then. No point in arguing with it," he answered in a whisper, reaching out and wrapping his arm around your waist, lifting you to him before you could have a chance to react again. His lips were on yours in a blink of a second, and you found yourself melting into him at the sensation. You hadn't realized how starved for contact you were until it was given to you, and it became hard to catch your breath when the emotions began to erupt. "What's wrong?" Steve pulled back to ask gently. "Is this not okay?"

"It's...it's a surprise..." you stopped, sensing the further question without the need for him to ask, "I mean, I didn't realize how much I missed you, and you were right there the whole time."

"No, doll, I wasn't. I haven't been there, but I promise you, that's not going to happen again."

"These are promises that we've made before, Steve. Why do we keep doing this?"

"I don't know," he sighed heavily, "but all I can do is promise to keep trying. That's all any of us can do, (Y/N)."

~~~

Back at home, Tony had been working on his own relationships and trying to rebuild all that he had fractured during his breakdown; the team around him bounced back quickly and had forgiven him, but he assumed that it was merely because they were used to his mood swings already. The kids had come home from their trip as if nothing had happened between them; one apology within the first minutes of being back at the compound and all was back to normal, more to his surprise than to anyone else. The one relationship that was left to address, and one that he needed to fix almost more than any other, was the one that he was certain that he should have already lost time and time again and had no idea how it was still intact after this most recent test.

He was pacing back and forth outside of Stark Enterprises, waiting for Pepper to emerge, even though his presence there would be a complete surprise to her as a part of his master plan. She had likely had a terribly long day, undoubtedly cleaning up the innumerable messes that he himself had left for her, even though inadvertently, making this evening so much more important. He owed this woman so much for carrying him when he was down and broken, and now that he was coming into his own mind once again, he finally decided that the truly important parts of his life had been made so much clearer to him than before.

"Hey," she smiled as she arrived, pulling the elastic band from her ponytail to let her hair down; the way the gentle breeze passed through her locks as it draped over her shoulders had mesmerized him to watch, and he nearly forgotten to answer back. Tony had always believed that Pepper was one of the most beautiful women that he had known from the day he hired her so many years ago, but that belief only strengthened with their time together, and standing in her presence today left him wondering more than ever how he could be so lucky as to have her love him back. "Tony? What's going on?"

"I want to get married," he blurted out with eyes wide, not at all what he had meant to start with. He just couldn't keep the words in any longer, and seeing her after pacing for over an hour made it so difficult to hold back. "I mean...yeah," he nodded definitively, "that's exactly what I meant."

"Wait, did you just...propose?"

"I had a whole night planned, actually," he shrugged, a wayward hand run through his already messy hair, "but I guess my mouth had a different idea. That's so typical for me, right? The best laid out plans are ruined by me spouting off and letting my mouth go. Well, you know. You've been dealing with my verbosity for so many years now that I'm shocked that you've ever gotten a word in edgewise with me around. Between you and poor (Y/N)-"

"Tony."

"Hmm," he stopped, realizing that he was doing exactly what he was complaining about doing, "I'm sorry. You go."

"I thought you'd never ask," Pepper smiled, taking the few steps to allow him to take her in his arms, but before he could answer, she took a step back. "Actually, you didn't really ask, did you?"

"I suppose it was implied."

"Okay, then I'll give an implied answer to your implied question," she responded with a crooked grin, leaning in to kiss him with a gentle hum of contentment escaping her when his hands pulled her in even closer. Normally, Tony had an aversion to such a huge commitment like this, but it surprised even himself that he didn't feel a single second of apprehension, and in fact, he was filled with a strange calmness with her so close to him. It saddened him a little that it took such a traumatic event for him to finally see what it was that he was missing, but he couldn't let that get in the way of this; he wouldn't allow anything to happen to ruin this for him again.

~~~

"I told you that you weren't going to see him," Steve chided, wrapping his arm around your shoulders as you continued down the sidewalk, "but I have to admire your hope. And look at that, you didn't pull away from me."

"I think after what happened this morning, we're well past the inhibitions."

"Mmm hmm, you're welcome."

"I also think that you've been getting your own Stark attitude lately..." you chuckled, pausing to grab the vibrating phone from your bag. With a quick swipe to open it, the words lit up the screen and just as quickly lit up your expression, stopping you in your tracks as you read them again just to be sure that you were really seeing what you thought you were. "Oh my god," you gasped, turning your phone towards Steve urgently, but he took it from your hands to hold it himself so that he could read the message from Tony. He couldn't help but laugh at the excitement in you as you bounced on your heels in anticipation of his own reaction to the news that you couldn't believe.

"Is this for real?" he finally asked, reading it again just as you had.

"It looks like it! Right?!"

"Well I'll be a son of a gun, I never thought that we'd see the day, but he finally did it. (Y/N), it sounds like you're getting a new mommy."