very minor endgame spoilers, but if you don't know about this minor detail by now then well, i'm sorry. so really, i guess there's no 'major' spoilers. If anything, you can tell from the title what that 'spoiler' is. Anyway, enough rambling from me. 

No Specific POV

Today was Morgan Stark's first birthday - a really big event not only for the girl herself, but for her overly excited parents. Really, the most happy of the two was Tony; he was proud of himself for managing to keep his daughter alive for the first 365 days of her life, even if Pepper did most of the work. 

Already, Morgan was starting to show signs of personality - and so far, she was all Tony and no Pepper. From the get go, she was having tantrums when she didn't get her way and forming that shit-eating grin that was, without a doubt, identical to Tony's. Morgan had been channeling her inner Stark since day one. Which, in Tony's mind, was adorable;  in Pepper's mind, though, it was a nightmare. "I can't wait until she gets older," Pepper would remark to her husband, often gesturing to Stark with a frown printed across her features.

Yet, there was one thing that Morgan was yet to do that would determine just exactly who she'd take after - the little brunette was yet to say her first words. It was odd for Tony, because he'd thought that his descendant would start talking just three months after she was born, having taken after his genius father who'd apparently started talking very early in life. However, when Morgan's daily vernacular consisted of nothing but coos and cries, Tony didn't hesitate to try and force a word out of her mouth. 

Of course, nothing had worked, even after the dad had spent hours hovering over the girl's crib in the wee hours of the morning sounding out the syllables to simple words like "fun" or "no," and - most importantly - "dada."

And truthfully - he'd stay in Morgan's room for hours on end until Pepper came to drag him out herself, scolding him in a tired voice that the baby needed to sleep, and that he did, too. But if there was anything Tony was good at, it was not listening. 

So here he was, on the night of Morgan's birthday, hovering over her little crib in her rosy pink room. It was eight-thirty at night, and the little girl had been put to bed almost two hours ago. Pepper was fiddling with something in the kitchen, most likely trying to clean up the mess Tony made after he accidentally spilled Morgan's milk all over her and her high chair. It had been Tony's job to give Morgan a bath and change her diaper, an activity that was still very foreign to him. Really, he was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he was a father, of all things.

"Come on, Morguna, watch Daddy," he spoke in a frustrated voice. He pointed to his face with a huge smile plastered on his features, as he formed the word, "Dada" on his lips. "Da-da," he spoke slowly. 

The baby simply stared blankly back at him with those knowing eyes, probably the only thing she'd inherited from her mother. The smile fell from the genius' face as Morgan remained silent. With an aggravated sigh, he spoke back, "come on, Morgan. Say something? Please? For Daddy?" 

Then there it was, that stupid little smirk that Pepper had insisted she had gotten from Stark. A sweet, innocent little giggle escaped her lips as she flailed her chubby arms and legs while she lay on her back, flopping around like an upside down turtle. Tony's eyebrows knitted together, his lips still low in a frown as he eyed his daughter below him. "Dammit Morgan, please say something!"

"What did I tell you about swearing in front of the baby?" a familiar voice called from the doorway, and suddenly the billionaire was caught frozen like a deer in headlights.

Tony pivoted on his feet as his eyes caught the faintly lit silhouette of his wife, her frame just barely outlined by the light in the hallway. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she grinned at Tony.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied innocently as Pepper stepped up to the crib to stand next to Tony, wrapping her arms around his midsection in sort of a half-hug. She absentmindedly pecked him on the neck, nuzzling sweetly against her spouse. 

"Sure, Tony. Don't act like I didn't just catch you cursing at our daughter." 

Another sigh escaped the man as he continued to watch Morgan tumbling around in the crib, grabbing at her feet as she cooed, drool dribbling down the corner of her mouth. "I just want her to talk already," he exhaled. "It's been a year, maybe she's sick. Should we take her to the doctor? What if her vocal cords are irritated-"

Pepper laughed before she spoke. "I'm sure her vocal cords are fine, Tony," she giggled. "Just give it time. But be careful what you wish for - I guarantee that once she starts talking, she won't shut up, much like her father."

"Pft, I don't talk that much." 

"Uhuh, sure," she chuckled with doubt. 

"I honestly don't care what her first word is," he continued. "As long as she starts speaking soon; however, it'd be nice if her first word was Dada, or Daddy; you know, like you call me?" 

That quip was quickly followed with a - rather painful - swat on the arm. "You're unbelievable," she grinned. 

"I speak the truth, my dear," he responded with a smirk of his own, quickly kissing her on the lips. When they broke apart, they fell into comfortable silence as they watched their dozing daughter as slumber slowly crept into her tiny little body, eyelids halfway down her beautiful chestnut eyes. 

"You know," Pepper spoke up after a while, her head leaning against Tony's shoulder. "If you would've told me fifteen or so years ago that I would be standing in a cozy lakeside house, snuggled up with my husband, Tony Stark, watching our one-year-old daughter fall asleep in her crib, I probably would've punched you in the face." 

Tony smiled to himself, not taking his eyes off Morgan. "And now?" 

Pepper turned her head, the sudden movement causing Tony to meet her gaze. "I can't imagine life without you, or her, in it." 

Stark smiled warmly, an expression that neither of them were used to seeing. Believe it or not, Tony had a genuine side to his snarky, witty alter ego - it had just taken him several years, and more than one near-death experience to recognize it. 

"In all seriousness, though, I thought you were a total ass for the first ten years I knew you," Pepper quickly added, full well knowing that Tony didn't prefer mushy-feely words for too long. 

"Ouch, love you too," he jokingly flinched, emitting another giggle from her. "Also, who's the one swearing in front of the baby now?"

Pepper smiled cheekily, placing a swift kiss to her husband's lip before pulling away to the sound of Morgan's faint crying that was quick to turn into full on sobs. "Oh dear, here we go again," she spoke with a heavy sigh, going in to pick up their daughter. 

Yet, Tony beat her to it, quickly yet gently scooping the child into his arms. He pecked Pepper on the lips, his mind set on impressing her with his latest trick for getting Morgan to stop crying. "I got this one," he winked as he softly bounced her up and down, cradling her in his arms before bringing her up to lay over his shoulder. Pepper looked pleasantly surprised, her eyes growing wide as she opened her mouth to speak. 

"You sure?" 

"Positive," he returned as Morgan continued to cry. "Shh, baby girl, it's okay, Daddy's here," he soothed. When she didn't stop crying, and Pepper began to look at Tony in a sort of disappointing amusement, Tony decided it was best to pull his little trick. With his free hand, he reached over his body to grasp Morgan's tiny fingers, bringing her small hand in front of his lips. With a deep breath, he blew little raspberries on her soft baby skin. Morgan's sobs were quick to turn to laughs as her dad continued to produce the silly noise on her limb whilst still bouncing her softly up and down. 

She giggled loudly and openly, the biggest smile forming on her face as her eyes sparkled in the dimly lit room. When it looked like the last of her tears had vanished, Tony dropped her hand and lifted her into the air, extending both arms above his head until Morgan was eye level with him. 

Then, he rubbed their noses together in an Eskimo kiss, lowly speaking, "see? All better." 

When Tony slowly lowered her back into her original position on his arms, he glanced over to find a very impressed Pepper. Her mouth was agape as she broadly smiled. "Wow, I'm . . . I'm very impressed."

Tony beamed, lifting his head proudly with a massive grin. "I know, you should be. Discovered that little trick when you were at the office last week."

"Don't flatter yourself," she quickly responded, crossing her arms over her chest. "I have to head in on Sunday with Happy. This time though, you'll have to take Morgan to the doctor at three. That means handling her in public, without me."

Tony audibly gulped. The first time Pepper had left Tony with Morgan for the day, he'd been a nervous wreck; she had been only three months old and he was a shaking mess, and thus refused to hold her out of fear for dropping her on her head. It had been scary enough that he had to give her her bottle and burp her (which in itself had been a challenge), and so he wasn't about to attempt bouncing her around the house. Really, he'd ended up sticking her in her bouncy swing whenever she was awake and hoped for the best.

That had been the longest seven hours of his life, even if Morgan was sound asleep for five of the seven.

But hearing that Tony would have to keep her under control in public scared him out of his mind. "Right, that's . . ."

"Shit!"

Pepper and Tony both froze as the sound of a small feminine voice came from Tony's arms. They both stared in shock at the baby cradled in Stark's arms.

Tony, on one end of the spectrum, once he'd realized his daughter had said her first word, was swelling with pride; on the other end of the spectrum, though, was Pepper . . .

". . . Tony, did she just say, what I think she just said?!"

"I heard sit, I dunno what you heard."

"Tony!"

"What? She said her first word, you should be proud!"

"What did I tell you?! This is what happens when you continuously swear in front of our daughter! She's going to repeat what you say!"

"Wha- I didn't, no, I would never . . . she didn't hear that from me."

Pepper's face fell in an amused frown; she could read him like a book, knowing for certain that he was trying to dig himself out of this.

"Shit!" Morgan giggled, squirming in her father's arms.

Pepper looked as if she were about to burst, so Tony took charge of the situation.

"Morgan, we don't . . . we don't say that word." Tony knew she didn't have the first clue as to what he was saying, but it was worth a shot.

Pepper's face fell into her hands. "Oh my God, Tony. Our daughter's first word was shit."

"Hey, don't look at me, you say it too!"

Wrong thing to say.

"But not in front of our one-year-old daughter!"

"Yeah, okay, but . . ."

"But what?! Oh my God. I can't believe this. When she finally decides to talk, that's what she says. She's her father's daughter, that's for sure."

"Pep, it's fine, calm down. We just have to correct her, is all," he tried to reassure her as he readjusted his hold on the shifting body in his arms. Morgan somehow found this hilarious, and thought it a grand idea to sit up in Tony's arms and start squishing his face between her petite hands. She started googling and giggling and cooing as she tugged at Tony's goatee, interrupting Stark's attempt to calm his wife's panicked self. "Honey, it's-AH! Ow, don't do that please," he chided as his daughter pulled on his facial hair. 

Pepper was mumbling something into her hands as she stood away from Tony, when all of the sudden, Morgan was talking again, yet this time what she said caused Tony to burst into smiles. "Dada," she giggled, still toying with her father's face. "Dada, dada!"

Tony instantly pulled the girl away from his face so he could speak clearly. "W-what did you say?" he smiled, joy filling his heart. 

Morgan grabbed at the air, gesturing towards her father with a happy glint in her eye and a smile so big that her eyes crinkled. "Dada!"

"Pep . . . Pepper, did you hear that?!" he marveled, glancing over at his wife, to find that she was looking on at the pair in bewilderment. 

She nodded several times before approaching the father and daughter duo. "Yes I . . . oh my goodness, Morgan!"

"Dada!" she exclaimed again, kicking her little feet and twisting about in her dad's grasp. Tony, his heart about to burst within his chest, brought her close to his face and pecked her all over her small face before twirling her around. 

"Yes, Morguna! I'm Dad, I'm your Dada!" 

Pepper was laughing heartily, tears in her eyes as she hugged Tony from behind. Resting her head on his shoulder. She watched Morgan happily, seeming to temporarily forget what Morgan's actual first word had been. 

"You're lucky," she whispered to him as Tony slung Morgan over his opposite shoulder, the baby tugging gently on the hair at the nape of his neck. "She saved you this time."

"That's my girl, protecting her dad from Mama." 

Pepper chuckled with a smile, placing a slow kiss to Tony's shoulder. "If anyone asks, 'Dada' was her first word."

"Sure, sure," Tony laughed back, placing Morgan back in her crib, seeing as it was well past her bedtime by now. "You tell the story your way, I tell it mine," he added with a sly grin, pulling Pepper closer by the waist. 

The mother scoffed, to which Tony responded. "You're not going to let me forget that, are you?"

"Not a chance," she smirked. "I may not tell anyone else, but Mr. Stark, you're never going to hear the end of it." 

"Using last names are we, Mrs. Stark?"

"Mhm," she hummed, hooking her arms securely around Tony's neck before locking lips with her partner passionately. The two continued the kiss for a while before they were reminded of who was still in the room. 

"DADA!" their daughter nearly shouted, standing up in her crib by supporting herself on the bars. 

Pepper tried to pull away, to no avail. "She's still in the room, Tony," she murmured against his lips. 

"So? She's little, it's not like she's going to remem-"

"I'll be in bed, Tony," she finally pulled away, willing herself to turn around and head to the door. Tony smirked and went to follow her, but was stopped by Pepper in the doorway. "Ah, tuck her in." 

Tony let out a sort of whining whimper, frowning at his wife before trying to kiss her again. "But Pepperrrrrr."

The blonde easily dodged him, however, knowing just what Tony was trying to do. "Tony, I'm raising one child, not two. She's still awake and needs to be tucked in." 

Tony 'hmphed' before he turned to walk back to the crib, his shoulders hunched. "Fine, but I'll be there soon, so-"

"Goodnight, Tony," Pepper laughed as she clicked off the hall light and disappeared behind the wall. 

"Uhuh, sure," Tony chuckled to himself in the dark as he lay Morgan down on her stomach. 

What a night.