Chapter 10

It was only 4 pm that afternoon and Pepper Potts was already thinking about leaving work to go back home. To be honest, she couldn't really concentrate on her work today, her mind still drifting back to the events of last night and this morning. The note that Tony left for her continued to sit on her desk. She had lost track of how many times she had read it since bringing it with her to work this morning. Her mind was still a jumble of emotions and she couldn't decide whether to be angry or happy about what he had written. The last part of his note was the most provoking for her. He had written that he would wait for her even if it was 5, 10, or 20 years, meaning what? Was he inferring that somehow she was unwilling to wait for him? Did he think that she was supposed to forgive him because he would be willing to wait for her? She took a deep breath and let it out slowly trying to calm the rising tide of emotions within her. Maybe she was just too focused on finding any possible negatives in his note because, after all, she still felt quite bitter about being treated so unfairly by Tony 5 years ago. It was possible that his words may not have held any hidden meaning for her: maybe he had just wanted to tell her how much he loved her and that he would let her decide if she wanted to see him again, and that he really would wait until she would be able to forgive him. She shook her head for the nth time today and tried again to derail her thoughts from traveling once again to the same subject… Tony Stark!

She sighed heavily, "Come on Potts, you need to focus…" She told herself starting typing again on her laptop, responding to some email from a partner in Europe. As she was proofreading the email she had just written, she immediately stopped on the sentence "We have a small stark in the business". Ok, this was the icing on the cake! She had unconsciously transposed "stake" and "stark"! She had now even started to write his name without realizing it. She immediately corrected the error, sent the email and closed her laptop. 'That's it', she thought to herself, and she quickly decided to call it a day. She placed her laptop in her brief case, grabbed the rest of her stuff and left her work without the slightest hesitation. Thirty minutes later, she arrived at the Potts' farmhouse. She felt a slight twinge of pain nipping at her heart when she noticed only her mother's car in front of the house. She knew that Tony had left during the night, but unconsciously, she had hoped that he would be there when she returned from work. She shook her head trying to clear it of all thoughts of Tony. She gathered up her things from the passenger seat of her car and headed for the front door of the farmhouse.

"I'm home," she said, closing the door behind her.

"I'm in the kitchen, Ginny." She heard her mother say from the other room.

She entered in the kitchen and found her mother sitting at the table slicing some tomatoes. "You are early today," Her mother said raising one eyebrow at her as if in surprise.

"Yeah, I wasn't really busy today and I thought that it could be good to come home a little earlier so I could spend some extra time with Dane." she said opening the fridge to grab the orange juice bottle.

Her mother sighed heavily "Yeah, you are right. You do need to spend some extra time with Dane today."

"What do you mean?" Pepper asked suspiciously as she took a glass down from the top cabinet.

Her mother grabbed a paper towel and began to dry her hands as she stood up to face Pepper who was now pouring the orange juice in her glass. "You have to talk to Dane." Pepper put her glass down on the table, now carefully listening to her mother. "He is smart, Ginny. He knows that something is going on but he doesn't know what exactly, and he is troubled by it."

"What happened today that would make you think of that, mom?" Pepper asked trying to understand where her mother wanted to go exactly with that comment.

"This afternoon, Dane asked me what happened between you and Tony."

Pepper's heart started to beat faster, "And what did you tell him?" she asked, almost scared to hear the answer.

"Nothing. What did you want me to say? It is not my role as his grandmother to tell him. I don't even know if you want to tell him or not." Her mother said flatly.

"Thank you," Pepper said half relieved.

"Don't thank me sweetheart, but you need to talk to him soon. I mean, he is young but he is very intuitive and smart." Her mother said laying one hand on Pepper's shoulder and giving it a tender squeeze.

"Yeah, I know…" She took a sip of her orange juice suddenly lost in thought. "I'll talk to him today," she said decisively as if trying to convince herself at the same time.

"What will you tell him exactly?" her mother asked both curious and concerned for both Pepper and Dane.

"I don't know exactly yet, but no matter what I say to him it will be the truth. He deserves it. I can't hide it from him forever." Her mother's gaze immediately fell to the floor and Pepper knew that her mother was now disappointed with her, "I know what you think mom, but as I told you last night, I don't want Dane to hate me because I hid the truth from him about his father for too long." She quickly pulled her mom in her arms and hugged her gently as her mom hugged her back. "I just wanted Dane to be a little older when I told him, but now that Tony has jumped into his life, it's probably best that I tell him now. I suppose it is now or never." Pepper explained slowly rubbing her mother's back.

Her mother pushed away a little and looked her daughter in the eyes "And would 'never' ever be an option for you?"

Pepper smiled at her knowing her mom's sense of humor "No, it's not and you know it."

Her mother tried to hide her smile "Yes, I know." She replied. Her face suddenly became serious again. "But I'm also scared Ginny. I don't want Dane to suffer and most of all I'm afraid for you."

"I know mom…" She said pulling her back into her embrace. "I know…" she repeated in quiet soothing voice. She wanted so bad to tell to her mother not to be scared, that everything would be fine, but she couldn't because she too was scared and more unsure than ever of what she was going to say to Dane. She was very concerned about how he would react to her words. He was so mature for his age, but underneath the adult IQ, he was still only a 4 and half year old child. She rested her head on her mother's shoulder for a few more seconds before she spoke again "Is he upstairs?" she asked.

"Yes, he was still asleep when I checked on him before I started dinner. He worked a little in the barn on the motorcycle after lunch, and then he did some homework that Anna gave to him. I put him to bed for his nap around 3 pm." Her mother explained.

"Good, then at least I have some time to think about what I am going to tell him and relax a little," Pepper said grabbing her glass again. "Do you need me to help you with something?" she asked her mother as she saw her sit down again at the table immediately picking up a tomato and slicing it.

"No, it's OK sweetheart," she said smiling at Pepper, "go do whatever you want."

Pepper kissed her mother on her cheek, "Thank you mom," she said quietly as she left the kitchen and headed for the stairs.

Her mother smiled turning to look at her daughter as she left the kitchen. She hoped that Pepper would find the right words in her heart for Dane to help him understand just how complicated his parents' lives were. Mrs. Potts knew that her daughter was one of the kindest, most compassionate people on earth, and she had faith that things would work out for her and Dane. "Dane is also a lot like his mother after all…" She thought knowing that Dane would somehow be able to understand what had happened between his parents as she began to slice the tomatoes once again.

At the same time, outside, a significant and familiar roar could be heard in the sky growing louder by the second. Flaps. Thrusters. Then, with a loud metallic clank he landed behind the barn, as a clatter of metallic ringing filled the air. Tony walked heavily around the barn and entered the side door. He decided that it was better to remove the suit instead of knocking at the door as Iron Man. Iron Man had caused enough stress in all of their lives already. The suit slowly dissembled, freeing up his body. He placed the suit meticulously in a corner of the barn near Dane's 'workshop', and he slowly walked out of the barn. As he was walking, his heart started to beat faster. When he finally reached the front porch, he was suddenly struck with the feeling of déjà vu. In less than 48 hours this was the second time that he had been in the same exact position, frozen in anxiety in front of the Pott's farmhouse door. He took a big, deep breath to steady himself and knocked sharply on the door...