Chapter Text
Mantis held up the dress, looking unsure. “Are you positive this will look nice?”
Toni nodded from her spot next to a visibly pregnant Pepper. Mantis frowned as Gamora came out of the bathroom, naked and going to pull on the underwear that rested next to Pepper. The pregnant woman raised her spoon in the air, “Trust us Mantis, you will look fantastic. Vision won’t know what to do with himself.”
Mantis blushed,moving to take off her normal clothes and put on the bronze colored dress. Gamora slipped on the matching underwear set, grumbling about how bras here on Earth needed to be revolutionized (She and Pepper were working on making their own fashion line for women and were going to be creating things for all kinds of women. Both on Earth and out in the stars).
Mantis herself couldn’t help but eyeball the dress. Toni was grinning from her seat, feeling over the moon helping these two get ready for their dates. Gamora was going to be wearing a deep maroon dress with black heels and Mantis was wearing a bronze cocktail dress with dark emerald heels. She was wearing her malachite and bronze charm, not fully ready to go without it.
Pepper, bless her soul, was going through her demonic hunger phase and nearly cried when Rhodey told her that they were out of Cherry Garcia ice cream (he was currently off to get more when he could have had Friday get it expressed the poor man) and was currently giving the two girls advice for their date. Primarily Earth customs and what not to do during their date if said date was in public. Gamora’s was the only one at the moment for Quill was going to take her to some fancy dinner place in celebration of him getting all of his “I’m not dead!” paperwork done.
Mantis, on the other hand, was currently going on a dinner date with Vision. He had managed to reserve the Formal Dining room in the East Wing (mainly under threat of some personal information getting out) and was working on making her something that he could do well. What that was none of them truly knew. Once Mantis and Gamora were done changing, Pepper motioned Gamora to sit down in front of her. “I”m going to do your hair. Don’t move.”
Mantis was dragged over by Toni to do her makeup. After a few minutes, both women switched. Soon, they were ready to go. Mantis has her long black hair done in a beautiful braid that seemed to waterfall across her shoulders and had matching malachite beads floating within.
Gamora’s hair was done up in a beautifully and well made low bun on the base of her neck and had two hairpins crossing through it, obsidian crystals dangling from the ends. They both wore minimal jewelry and light make up. All in all, they were very gorgeous. Enough to make Pepper begin to tear up in joy. “Oh look at you two. Such a vision.”
Mantis blushed, her antenna giving off a faint glow. Gamora smiled, looping her arm with her fellow Guardian. “Thank you Pepper. We will make you proud tonight.”
Toni snorted, “And I hope one of you does me proud.”
The squeak Mantis gave off made the other women laugh and the two ladies left the room. Pepper moved to get comfortable on the bed, letting out a sigh. “I wish I could go on dates.”
Toni frowned at her best friend. “What do you mean? You can still go on dates.”
Pepper snorted, rolling over to try to relieve some of the pain in her lower back. “As if. I’m as big as a whale, nothing fits and by the Nine if I run out of whatever it is I am craving I have a breakdown. Jim is having one hell of a time trying to keep up with me.”
Toni patted her on the shoulder before moving to rub her feet. “Look, if there was a way that I could make it easier for you I would. But this is squishy science babe. I am not very good with it to start. Pregnancy is a horror I don’t think I could ever do.”
Toni pressed a hand to her arc reactor before going back to rubbing Pepper’s feet. Said red head began to tear up. “Oh god honey I completely forgot. I am so sorry.”
The genius shook her head. “It’s ok Pep. If it happens it happens. I’m not actively looking to get pregnant. Although,” here she placed her hand on her lower belly, “if I did I wouldn't be too mad about it.”
Pepper smiled at her. “Your kid would be in the same age group as Natasha’s and Mine.”
That made Toni smile at that. Natasha was indeed pregnant but she has, surprisingly, found a nice man that worshipped the ground she walked on and was currently working on making the baby legally his child. He even got smart and threw down several things legally against Rogers, all but daring the man to try and come after his kid. The two of them were brought out of their thoughts when the door nearly flew off the hinges and Rhodey came rushing into the room, a bag full of ice cream swinging in his grasp. “I GOT IT BABE!!!”
He simply stood there, wondering why on earth they were laughing at him….
~~~~
James hummed to himself as he worked on his college homework. He was a genius at math but when it came to the English language, he felt like an idiot. He was brought out of his thoughts by Toni entering the lab, looking madder than all kinds of hell. James raised an eyebrow as she forcefully kicked off her heels.
“You alright babe?”
She let out a rage filled screech and threw her shoes away from her. It was enough to make James stand up. “Toni?”
She growled, stomping past him. “I swear to all of the gods listening I am about to pull a Homer Simpson.”
“I don’t know what that means honey,” he said, following her at a reasonable distance.
Toni made a choking motion with her hands, making him nod in understanding. “Who are we murdering today?”
“This stupid fucking jackass. The so-called SuperIntendent of Peter’s school district is being a complete ass over the fact that his bully is not doing anything wrong and therefore, no action needs to be taken.” she snarled.
Now James understood why she was furious for a rage settled in his gut. “What the hell does he mean? That kid punched Peter in the face!”
“I know.” she sniped back before sighing. “Sorry.”
He came up and hugged her from behind. “Don’t worry about it. What exactly can we do about it?”
“MJ and Ned are working on getting statements from their classmates and thankfully, Pepper has the lawyers going after them. On top of it all,” Toni pressed herself back into James, “Harley is looking into coming here for college. We need to find him a good school.”
“He can go to my school. Look, you are stressing over a lot right now. Just breathe and know we are okay baby.”
He nosed at her neck, feeling the stress leave her. He pressed a kiss behind her ear. “I love you Toni. Always.”
She sighed. “I love you too. I just wish that these guys will get their heads out of their asses and listen to me.”
They stood there before James went, “Did you wanna make glitter bombs and set them up in the lockers?”
“It was like you were made for me.”