Chapter Text
It was always bound to happen.
Tony Stark was a mess and it had been a miracle in of itself when Pepper Potts had agreed to marry him, and so the likelihood of her actually staying was slim.
Still, he had hoped… Especially with the kids involved.
The kids were perfect. Absolutely perfect. Tony had never known such unconditional love until he was staring it in the faces of two baby boys.
Peter and Harley, identical twins. Tony had feared that he wouldn’t be able to tell them apart, and by the end of it Peter would become Harley and Harley would become Peter, but they had been given colored wristbands in the hospital and after the first couple of days it wasn’t hard to tell.
Harley was a whiner, while Peter tended to be quieter. Harley preferred to be held only by his mother or father while Peter was open to being cuddled by any of their family and friends.
The only thing the two really had in common (besides their identical physical appearances) was their hatred of being separated from one another.
Peter would suddenly become a howling mess if his brother wasn’t in sight, and Harley shared the same separation anxiety with him. They adored each other, which was what made this all the more difficult.
“I can’t do this anymore,” Pepper murmured, stroking Harley’s chubby cheek.
Peter lay asleep in Tony’s arms, snuffling lightly against his sleeve. “I don’t want you to go.”
Pepper raised her eyes to the ceiling, sighing softly. “Tony, we- we argue constantly. It’s been going on for months and it literally never stops, and this isn’t the kind of environment I want to raise our children in.”
“So, what, you just take the kids and leave?” Tony huffed.
“I wouldn’t do that to you, Tony. You’re- you’re a good father. We can work something out.”
“Yeah? Well, I don’t want our children to have to grow up hopping from house to house and parent to parent. They deserve a stable home life.”
“Is this stable to you?” Pepper asked, raising her voice slightly but still managing to keep it low enough not to wake the babies. “Would you rather they grow up having to hide their heads under their pillows as we shout at one another?”
“It’s just a rough patch,” Tony tried.
Pepper shook her head. “We’ve tried to rekindle the flame, we’ve tried consoling, I don’t know what else to do. The whole road has to be repaved at this point.”
Tony stood, pacing the carpeted floor of the nursery and rocking Peter lightly. “I can’t believe we’re talking about separation in our children’s bedroom.”
“I don’t know about you but I feel like I need someone to hold right now,” Pepper said, gazing down at the baby lying flat on his back in her lap.
Tony paused in his pacing and allowed his forehead to softly thunk against the wall. “Why are we doing this if it hurts so much?”
“I think, in the end, it would hurt more to stay.”
“I love you,” Tony offered, back turned and eyes closed.
He heard Pepper shuffle before coming to stand beside him, placing a hand on his back. “I love you too. That’s why we have to do this. I don’t want to hurt you anymore.”
“I can take it.”
Pepper laughed lightly. “I can’t. And the boys shouldn’t have to, either. Something’s gotta give.”
“I know,” Tony admitted. “I just don’t like it.”
They moved to sit on the floor together, shoulders touching and arms still holding onto one sleeping baby each.
“I’ll take one and you take the other,” Tony joked after a moment of silence. But Pepper didn’t laugh.
He turned to stare at her. “You can’t be serious,” said Tony, knowing that look in her eye all too well. “Pep, we can’t just split up children like they’re- they’re assets!”
“Well, what else do you suggest? I’m not going to fight for full custody but I’m not going to just let you have them both, and if you don’t want to split custody with both of them…”
Tony shook his head. It sounded insane, but the other options weren’t pleasant, either. Tony had grown up in a broken household, it was a miserable childhood and he didn’t want that for his kids.
But they were his kids, plural. How could he just say goodbye to one, how could Pepper do the same?
Pepper clasped her hand around Tony’s. “I know it’s not… it’s crazy, I know. I know! But maybe this is why we were given twins.”
“Okay, then how are you even going to decide which one to keep? Do you have a favorite because I sure as hell don’t!”
“I don’t know…”
“I can’t possibly choose between them, Pepper. I just can’t.”
***
And so the courts chose for them.
He never knew how it was decided, but it was decided that Harley would stay with Tony in their home in Malibu while Peter and Pepper would go to live in New York with her sister, May. Pepper would retain her 50% share in Stark Industries and run the company in the city while Tony would go back to that wondrous playboy lifestyle that was expected of him.
Their marriage and the twins had been kept from the press from the beginning, so their tracks were pretty much covered there.
“I love you, Petey,” Tony murmured to Peter, kissing his belly. “I hope you never forget that.”
Pepper held Harley tightly and whispered sweet things in his ear before switching with Tony.
Harley and Peter made soft cooing noises at one another while Tony and Pepper said their own goodbyes.
“I love you too,” Tony offered once more.
Pepper nodded, smiling sadly. “I’ll never forget it.”
She gave back the ring before boarding the plane with Peter. The boys’ cries over being separated echoed through the airport.
Harley continued to wail for several days, and Tony could only assume Peter was the same way. He knew that he himself was.
And so, the stupidest decision he’d ever participated in was made.