My new short story 'He Calls Himself the Winter Soldier' is now available!  Go check it out when you're done reading this! Enjoy!

Pepper sat in the living room, looking down at Peter who was rolling around on his blanket on the floor. He babbled happily and reached for her fingers when she waved her hand above him. Latching onto her finger tightly, he continued to babble and smile up at her. She smiled back, glad the baby wasn't too upset at being woken up.

Tony was on a mission and was supposed to have come home three hours ago. At first, she had put Peter to bed, but when Tony was late, she'd begun to panic. She figured watching Peter would calm her down and she was right.

The baby boy had woke up when she picked him up and she had been worried he would start wailing. Instead, he'd giggled. After taking him into the living room to wait for Tony with her, she had stretched out a blanket with some toys for him and watched as he babbled. She had completely forgotten about her missing husband until now when she was beginning to worry again.

"Daddy's gone again," she told Peter softly.

He tugged her finger towards his mouth and she pulled away, gently scolding him. Undeterred, he grabbed a toy and chewed on it instead.

"Yeah, he's out stopping bad guys and saving the world."

She smiled lovingly at Peter and swept his hair to the side. He sure did have a lot of hair for a baby.

"Mumba," Peter chirped before biting back down on the toy.

Pepper smiled down at him before picking him up. When he smiled, two small teeth were revealed.

"Are you talking?" she cooed, kissing his face and setting him in her lap. "What are you saying?"

Despite knowing he wouldn't answer, she still talked. It was a good distraction from Tony's absence.

"Mooma," Peter said, bouncing in her arms.

Pepper smiled then froze.

"Are you trying to say mama?" she asked, looking at him eagerly.

Peter bounced again and she repeated the word. "Mama."

"Mama!"

Pepper felt tears prick her eyes and she hugged him.

"That's right, baby!" she cheered, kissing his tiny face.

He repeated the word over and over again, glad she approved of it.

Encouragingly, she repeated, "Mama!"

"Mama!"

Pulling out her phone, she turned the selfie camera on to record her and Peter. She pressed record and looked down at Peter proudly. "What can you say, Peter?"

Peter looked up at her and put a chubby hand on her face, grinning widely. "Mama!"

Pepper nodded and kissed his head.

"Mama!"

"Yeah, I'm Mama," she confirmed, grinning as he bounced again.

Bursting with pride, Pepper saved the video to Twitter and Instagram with Peter watching from her arms. As she tucked her phone away and looked back down at Peter, he gave her a slobbery smile and squealed, "Mama!"

* * * * *

Pepper woke up to someone poking her. She groaned, snuggling deeper into the covers, only to be poked again. Slowly, she opened her eyes and rolled over to see Tony leaning over her. As he dropped a kiss to her forehead, she smiled sleepily and snuggled into his chest.

When had he gotten home? Hadn't she and Peter fallen asleep on the couch? If the warm bed was anything to go by, Tony must have arrived home and taken Peter to his crib and her back to their bedroom. The thought made her feel warm inside and she couldn't help but smile again at how much Tony had changed from the man he had been before Afghanistan eight years earlier.

"Hey," she murmured softly.

Tony kissed her again and she curled up to him.

"Hey," he replied, wrapping an arm around her. "Did you post something about Peter last night?"

Pepper frowned. Why would she do that? They had agreed Peter would remain a secret until he was older as they didn't want him in the eyes of the press.

"Of course not," she said, pulling back to look at him better. "Why would I—"

She gasped. She had!

"Oh my god!" She had been so caught up in the excitement of Peter saying his first word, she had accidentally posted a video of him. "Tony! I'm so sorry! He said his first word last night and I was so excited—"

She sat up and buried her face in her hands. How had she been so stupid?

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Tony said, sitting up as well.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

"I'll fix it, I promise. We'll say that you were babysitting or something."

Pepper nodded but couldn't stop the tears that had already formed.

"God, I'm so stupid," she said as her shoulders beginning to shake.

She had ruined Peter's life. Now he would never have a normal childhood.

"Shh, no," Tony said, rubbing her arm soothingly. "It's not your fault. I'll fix it. Now, what's this about Peter's first word?"

Pepper wiped her eyes and reached for her phone. First, she deleted the post off Instagram and Twitter even though it already had millions of views. Next, she pulled the video up from her camera roll and handed her phone to Tony.

"He said 'mama'," Pepper said, smiling as she tapped on the video. "We were waiting up for you last night and he said it."

"No way," Tony breathed as he watched Peter giggling and repeated 'mama'. "I thought for sure his first word would be 'dada'."

"Well, you were wrong."

Tony smiled, playing the video again.

"I guess I was."

They watched the video multiple times before JARVIS announced Peter had woken up.

"Let's go get our big boy," Tony said, throwing off his covers.

He walked across the hall and opened Peter's bedroom door just in time to see Peter opening his eyes.

"Hey, baby," Pepper said, smiling down at Peter.

Tony picked him up, wrapping him in his favourite Iron Man blanket and grabbing a stuffed panda.

"Look who's home!"

Instead of replying, Peter snuggled into Tony's chest. Tony smiled and kissed his son's head.

"Let's go schedule our lie to the press," he said quietly.

Pepper nodded and followed Tony out of the bedroom.

While Tony sat on the couch with Peter laying on his chest, Pepper called their publicist. She only returned to his side once she'd hung up and was greeted with the sight of Peter slobbering across Tony's t-shirt.

"We have a press conference tomorrow morning at 9:30AM," Pepper told him, sitting beside Tony. From Tony's arm, Peter blinked at her tiredly. "It's too bad we have to lie about him."

"It's the best thing we can do," Tony reminded her gently, "Once he's older, he'll never be able to get away from us."

Pepper laughed softly, but she knew it was true. Peter would never have to face the press alone or any problem for that matter. After all, his dad was Iron Man and his mom was Pepper Stark.