Tony put his hands over his girlfriend's stomach, waiting to feel the kick. It was faint, like eyelashes on a cheek, and it took the man a moment to realize that it was kicking that he was feeling, not just a muscle movement or stomach gurgling.

"Oh! I felt him!"

Mary looked down at Tony's hands on her stomach. She was reading in bed, her head propped up on Tony's silky sheets and pillows wrapped up in a set of fancy, maternity pajamas Tony had bought her when they first found out about the baby. "Must you do this when I am reading? Your big head is getting in the way of the light."

Tony snorted. "My big head? You swung your noggin right into my lip a week ago and I'm still bruised."

The woman waved her hand. "Toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe. You still have the biggest head between us."

"Bigger head."

"Shut up." Mary went back to reading. That was the ease of her and Tony's relationship - they joked, teased, and bickered good-naturedly all the time.

Tony laid his head on her stomach, his ear pressed right over her belly button. "Hey, baby. Bambino. Your mom loves to read so much, I can only hope you're a bookworm like her. So smart and pretty and funny."

"Oh, so now it's a girl?"

"What makes you say that?"

Mary furrowed her brow. "You said pretty. 'Smart and pretty and funny'. Do you think it's a girl?"

Tony shook his head. "No, I was just- It was more- Boys can be pretty, too, okay? Maybe he'll be the prettiest boy in the whole world."

Mary laughed, throwing her head back and banging the headboard. "Ow."

"Are you okay?" Tony was up in a flash, his hands brushing through Mary's hair as he checked for any sign of blood or bruising. "Where did it hit? Do we need-"

"Tones, I'm fine. Sit back down, love, it's fine."

The couple settled back into bed, Tony now curled into Mary's side as she read. The billionaire danced his fingers across Mary's stomach, drawing invisible spirals and swirls and flowers. It was relaxing, and Mary pulled herself closer to the man subconsciously. Tony, in return, didn't stop tracing around Mary's torso, and began to write I love you over and over.

"You could just say it."

"I say it all the time," Tony said cheekily. "This is just a fresh approach."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Get the bag! The bag!" Mary breathed heavily, one hand bracing herself on the doorway, the other under her stomach as another wave of pain ripped through her body. "Ahhh-HHH FUCK!"

Tony rushed around, grabbing Mary's overnight bag, her pillow, and the books she'd been saving for the hospital stay. "Okay, okay, got it! Got it, let's go!"

The two made their way down to the garage, having to stop every few minutes so Mary could double over and scream through the pain. By the time Tony made it to the car, got Mary inside and settled, and was in the driver side seat himself, his fingers were practically purple from how hard she had been squeezing his hand during the contractions. Neither one of them even thought about how Mary was almost 8 weeks early.

Tony sped through New York, ignoring traffic as he wove through the cars on the road. Normally, Mary would be freaking out about the way Tony was driving, but in her current state, she couldn't care less.

"Drive! Drive faster! Oh, I hate you for this, Tony Stark, you keep your hands to yourself from now on!"

"I know, babe," Tony soothed, his eyes glued to the road ahead of him. "I know."

Tony pulled up to the hospital with a squeal of rubber. Mary was out of the car before Tony had even put it into park, screaming for a nurse to come and help her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tony paced, his hands tangled in his messy curls. It'd been hours. Hours.

Every time a nurse walked through the lobby, Tony was up. They never stopped to talk, and Tony's crestfallen face would scrunch up to try and avoid crying, and he'd keep pacing. Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy were on their way. After the doctor had whisked Mary away, and hastily told Tony there were 'complications', the distraught man had called his pseudo-family for support. They'd all be there in the next hour or so.

Speak of the devil. "Tony!" Pepper rushed in, Happy behind her. They'd carpooled from the Tower together, but Rhodey was coming from a base upstate. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Tony said, falling into one of the chairs. "She was fine, then the monitor thingie started going off and they took her into another room."

"Where's the baby?"

"I don't know!"

Pepper always needed to know the details. She was programmed that way after years of being Tony's assistant, so not knowing what was happening right now was a special kind of torture. For everyone - Tony most of all.

Happy had gotten water for everyone in little cups at the water cooler by the reception desk across the lobby. "Here. Have you eaten?" Tony took the paper cup, shaking his head. "I'm going to get something small from the cafeteria. You should eat."

Tony nodded numbly, his eyes focused on the water in his cup as Happy left. Pepper took a seat next to Tony and put her hand on his shoulder. "She's strong. They'll be okay."

Tony and Pepper waited. Happy came back with one of those pre-made sandwiches you got in the cold cases of cafeterias. "They had the grill closed for the night," he explained.

The little trio sat and waited. Rhodey showed up a half-hour later, out of breath and panicking almost as badly as Tony was. The trio became a group of four, all hunched over in the uncomfortable waiting room chairs, all silently waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

"Mr. Stark?" A nurse in pink scrubs came into the room, poking her head around the corner. Tony stood up so quickly, he knocked his water to the ground. The nurse smiled and came in a little further, a blue bundle of blankets in her arms. "Congratulations, Mr. Stark, it's a boy. Mary asked that we tell you, and I'm quoting here, that he's the prettiest boy she's ever seen. She also wanted to know if you like the name Peter."

Tony took the baby with shaking hands, tucking the boy into his shoulder and cradling him close. "Would you tell her I like Peter a lot?"

The nurse's face changed a little, her smile turning sad. "Mary was taken into surgery a few minutes ago, sir. She had severe complications."

Tony would have fallen to his knees if it wasn't for his son nestled into his chest. His son. It was a foreign word to the man, but one he was happily learning. His son. Peter.

Tony introduced the little baby to Pepper, Happy, and Rhodey. Brown curls, much like Tony's, brushed over the baby's big, doe eyes. He looked so much like Tony, but then again, his lips were drawn up in a bow like Mary's. The little family cooed over the baby, each one cradling him in turns and giving Tony some space to think about Mary. Mary, who was on the table right now. Mary, who loved him at his darkest moments and celebrated his lightest.

It was nearly 3 in the morning when the doctor came back, his scrubs stained with blood and his face serious. "Mr. Stark?"

Tony looked up, Peter back in his arms. The doctor took an open seat by the man, leaning forward to speak to Tony in low tones.

"Mary had severe complications after the birth. We had to open her up, but the damage was extensive. We did everything we were able to, but the complications led to a pulmonary embolism, and we were unable to save her. I'm terribly sorry for you and your son's loss."

Tony stared blankly. "I'm sorry... I'm- When will Mary be done? When can we go home?"

The doctor repeated himself slowly. This was a common response from families who lost someone on the table. They couldn't understand it.

"I don't-" Tony's eyes welled up, his hands tightening on his son's body as though holding him tighter would prevent anything from hurting him.

"Thank you, doctor," Pepper said, stepping in. "We appreciate everything you did. Do you have paperwork we need to take care of? As Dr. Stark's assistant, I have legal-"

Pepper and the doctor walked away to take care of the paperwork. Happy was standing behind Tony protectively, Rhodey on the chair to his right with a hand on Peter's back to hold him steady, the other on Tony's shoulder.

"It's going to be okay," Rhodey whispered. "It's not okay right now, but it will be."

Tony nodded, pulling Peter away from his chest to look down at his son. Mary's son. "I know."