𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐒 had been dropped off on the doorstep of Tony's Malibu home the night before. Pepper had volunteered to look after them while their mother was away on business, but that didn't mean they were completely out of Tony's reach. The twenty dollars added to their piggy bank just the week before was proof.

"Good morning. It's 7:00 a.m." The AI unit listed off the morning statistics as the twins made a mess they called 'breakfast' in the kitchen. "The weather in Malibu is 72 degrees with scattered clouds. The surf conditions are fair with waist-to-shoulder high lines. High tide will be at 10:52 a.m."

"Thank you, J.A.R.V.I.S." Maria greeted the AI as she added some fruit to the blender that her brother had just cut up, miraculously without cutting a single finger off.

"Don't forget to hold the lid down," Phillip quickly reminded her as he noticed her hand had drifted toward the power button. "We're technically not supposed to be in here."

Maria scoffed. "The rules are more like guidelines."

"So you know what the word 'rules' means?" Phillip asked rhetorically, raising an eyebrow. "Miss Potts—"

"Is busy in the office taking care of work stuff," Maria interrupted, brushing aside his concern as she turned on the blender, forgetting her brother's reminder. Milk, strawberries, and ice splashed around the room, covering the countertops and soaking the twins in their deconstructed smoothie.

"Tony?" The twins turned their heads toward the reporter that passed the kitchen as she walked down the hall. It seemed that his latest one-night stand hadn't gotten the picture by his absence in the bedroom that morning as she continued to search for him. With a single glance, a mischievous look reflected across the twins' faces while the same idea popped into their heads. "Hey, Tony."

The reporter approached one of the doors they knew had extra security measures. She began to mess with a few controls on the walls, but the system voiced its displeasure. "You are not authorized to access this area."

"I don't think you're supposed to go in there," Phillip noted matter-of-factly as he tilted his head.

The twins' sudden appearance startled the reporter who wore nothing but one of Tony's shirts. Her hand clutched her chest as she took a step back after the jump scare. "Jesus..."

She needed a minute to recover, but once calm, she bent down to their level with a sweet, but false smile. "I was just looking for Tony. Do you know where he is?"

Maria shook her head and crossed her arms. "No, Daddy is usually busy in the morning... Are you our new mom?"

Christine's eyes widened and she quickly shook her head with a nervous laugh. "Tony never mentioned having kids—"

"Miss Everhart." Christine turned to see Pepper holding a bag from the laundromat. "I've got your clothes here. They've been dry-cleaned and pressed, and there's a car waiting for you outside that will take you anywhere you'd like to go."

"You must be the famous Pepper Potts."

"Indeed I am."

Christine took a step forward and accepted her clothes. "After all these years, Tony still has you picking up the dry-cleaning."

"I do anything and everything that Mr. Stark requires," Pepper said with a sweet smile. "Including, occasionally, taking out the trash. Will that be all?"

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Tony adjusted a few of the calibrations on the car he was working on within his workshop. He wiped his forehead and took a step back from his project. "Give me an exploded view."

J.A.R.V.I.S. complied. "The compression in cylinder three appears to be low."

"Log that."

Pepper opened the door while on the phone and the twins sprinted past her giggling. Tony didn't seem to notice as he returned to working on his project. To hear her ongoing conversation, Pepper turned down the sound of the music that had been blaring over the speakers. "I'm gonna try again, right now."

Tony looked up from his work. "Please don't turn down my music."

"I'll keep you posted," Pepper said as she hung up. She then turned her attention to Tony. "You are supposed to be halfway around the world right now."

"How'd she take it?" Tony redirected the conversation.

"Like a champ."

The young girl suddenly reminded Tony of her presence as she forced a fake cough. Tony chuckled to himself and looked over at the twins. "And how much for your services?"

"Twenty," Maria held out her hand, "each."

"Twenty?" Tony raised an eyebrow. "You only asked for five last time."

"Price went up." Maria shrugged, but then a sly smile crossed her face. "I could always tell Mom—"

"Nope," Tony quickly interrupted and pulled forty bucks out of his wallet. "Let's leave your mother out of this."

"Thank you, Uncle Tony," the twins chimed in unison before running back upstairs.

Pepper crossed her arms, but looked amused. "What are you going to do if Julie learns that you're using her kids to scare off your one-night stands?"

"I mean it's really her fault if you think about it." Tony shrugged and wiped the grease from his hands off on a rag. "It's highly irresponsible of her to leave them in my care."

"She asked if I'd watch them while you all were out of the country," Pepper corrected him and looked down at her watch. "Which is where you should be right about now."

"Why are you trying to hustle me out of here?" Tony asked.

"Your flight was scheduled to leave an hour and a half ago," Pepper reminded him.

"That's funny." Tony stood and began to walk across the room as if he could escape the conversation. "I thought with it being my plane and all, that it would just wait for me to get there."

"Tony, I need to speak to you about a couple things before I get you out of the door."

"I mean," Tony turned to face her, "doesn't it kind of defeat the whole purpose of having your own plane if it departs before you arrive?"

"Larry called. He's got another buyer for the Jackson Pollock in the wings," Pepper informed him. "Do you want it? Yes or no."

"Is it a good representation of his spring period?" Tony asked.

"Um, no. The Springs was actually the neighborhood in East Hampton where he lived and worked—"

"So?"

"—not 'spring' like the season. I think it's a fair example." Pepper paused before giving him an honest answer. "Um.. I think it's incredibly overpriced."

Tony seemed to think her words over before replying exactly as she thought he would. "I need it. Buy it. Store it."

"Okay. The MIT commencement speech—"

"Is in June. Please, don't harangue me about stuff that's way, way, down—"

"Well, they're haranguing me, so I'm gonna say yes."

"Deflect it and absorb it. Don't transmit it back to me."

Pepper sighed and held out a clipboard. "I need you to sign this before you get on the plane."

"What are you trying to get rid of me for?" Tony stopped walking away from her. "What, you got plans?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." She nodded.

"I don't like it when you have plans."

"I'm allowed to have plans on my birthday," she retorted.

"It's your birthday?"

"Yes."

"I knew that." Tony paused and then asked with disbelief. "Already?"

"Yeah. Isn't that strange?" she asked rhetorically. "It's the same day as last year."

"Well, get yourself something nice from me."

"I already did."

"And?"

"Oh, it was very nice." She smiled and nodded her head.

"Yeah."

"Very tasteful. Thank you, Mr. Stark."

"You're welcome, Miss Potts." He smiled as he looked at her, but the moment was ruined as Maria entered the room.

"Uncle Tony!" she called for him and held out his phone. "It's Mom. She says she's going to kill you."