One Problematic Wedding

Stark Mansion, Long Island, New York-

-December 16, 2009, 1900h local-

"I think the tie doesn't match the suit." Tony said nervously as he was fixing up his tie.

"It's a black tie with a black suit. There's nothing better that could match that." Rhodey retorted while trying to keep his calm.

"Maybe a grey tie would be better. Give it a bit of variety…" Tony replied. "Or maybe something more colorful. A rainbow tie, perhaps. Just to give some color..." He added while still 'fixing up' his tie. If someone was observing the pair, they would most likely see Rhodey's eyebrow twitching. "I should probably change my shoes too."

This statement finally snapped Rhodey's patience. He grabbed hold of Tony's shoulders and shook him a bit.

"Tony! Your tie is fine! Your shoes are fine! Just settle down!" Rhodey shouted before taking a deep breath to calm down. "Everything's fine. We checked, double-checked, and triple-checked. Nothing will happen. Okay?"

Tony stared at Rhodey weirdly for a few moments before his expression turned more contemplative.

"You realize that you just jinxed the whole thing, right?" Tony said seriously, causing Rhodey's face to scrunch up.

"Jinxes aren't real."

"I have a dimensional hopping demi-god as one of my groomsmen. I think jinxes are a lot more believable." Tony countered a matter of factly.

A few weeks ago, Naruto decided to come clean to both of Tony's friends about who he really was. He felt that he trusted them enough for them to learn more about him. To say the duo was surprised was an understatement.

"Touché."

Tony visibly got a lot calmer as he and Rhodey conversed. They decided to just pour a finger of bourbon for each of them while waiting for someone to call them.

"I never imagined you getting married, or at least getting married before me." Rhodey let out with a small chuckle.

"I'm not that bad."

"One of your favorite quotes in college was 'the more, the merrier,' and that only applies to chicks." Rhodey countered. Tony had the audacity to act offended.

"I was just doing my gentlemanly duty. Who knows what would have happened if I just left them on their own?" Tony replied jokingly, causing the pair to release a series of laughs. As their laughs died down, Rhodey decided to tackle the one duty that the best man has.

"Tony…" Rhodey called out, causing Tony to turn towards him. "Last chance to back out, man. You can still push this back or cancel it altogether. Pepper would understand if you got cold feet."

To be completely honest, Rhodey would hate for Tony to suddenly have cold feet. Aside from the commotion that it would cause, he was not looking forward to Pepper's reaction. She would completely understand Tony's position, but it would definitely affect her on some level. Some women are going to rage when they hear that their fiancée was getting cold feet, but Pepper is too classy for that.

Tony got a contemplative look on his face. He would never burn his chance to marry Pepper right here and now, but you could forgive the guy for thinking deeply about taking one of the most significant steps in his life. Even now, he couldn't believe how much he loves Pepper. He would never get caught getting lovey-dovey in public since he still had an image to maintain.

"You know, I'm just going to go through with it. The wedding costs too much too back out now." Tony replied sarcastically. Somebody knocked on the door a few seconds after it. "Door's open."

Happy peeked inside the room and looked at the duo sitting on the couch. He was wearing a light gray suit, which was the dress code decided by Tony and Pepper. They decided on a simple theme, black and white. The bride would obviously wear a white gown. The maid of honor would be wearing an Ivory colored dress while the bridesmaids would be wearing off-white, all of them made by Renee Strauss. Tony swore that there was no difference in those colors. The groom would be wearing a black suit while the best man and groomsmen would be wearing gray suits, with the best man wearing a darker color. The suits were designed by Giorgio Armani.

"Ten minutes." Happy informed them.

"Great, I'm getting tired of waiting." Tony said before standing up and heading straight to the door. Rhodey and Happy walked beside him towards the wedding proper, which was in the vast area behind the mansion.

Tony had rarely used the mansion ever since his parents died, but it seems fitting to be in this place when his life's direction changes again. Besides, with his decision to do the wedding on the day of his parents death, doing the wedding at the mansion seemed like a no-brainer.

"Did we encounter any problems?" Tony asked, making sure he could fix anything unforeseen while he still could. Happy grimaced when he heard the question which Tony saw. "Come on, Happy. Spit it out."

"Ugh. Where to start?" Happy let out, which was never a good sign. "The caterer got stuck in traffic. The flowers wilted along the way. The lights somehow short-circuited. You know the usual." He drawled on, trying to play down the gravity of the situation. Tony stopped in the middle of the hallway and stared at Happy dumbfoundedly.

"Why the hell are we still going through with this then?" Tony asked, getting a lot more serious.

"Well, Naruto came through…" Happy answered. "It was a lot harder to hide him doing stuff, though."

Tony released a sigh of relief when he heard Happy's answer.

"So, what did he do?"

"Naruto started by doing that cloning thing and changing into a lot of different guys. Still weirds me out every time I see it…" Happy started. "He took over the three kitchens and started cooking a bunch of stuff. Naruto didn't even use the ingredients in the kitchen. He just kept pulling stuff out of nowhere. At least the theme became Around the World Cuisine, so we got that going for us."

"Damn…" Tony commented, visibly impressed. "How long did cook, and how much did he prepare?"

"Two hours and more than ten times the original amount…" Happy replied. "I have no idea how Naruto cooked all of it since a lot of those foods take a long time to cook. He even made some meals that take a whole day to prepare."

"What the hell." Rhodey exclaimed.

"Never mind that, for now. How'd he fixed the plant and light problem?"

"Naruto went to the back garden and created a bunch of flowers. The plants just sprouted from the ground…" Happy explained. He still couldn't believe that Naruto did it even though he was there. "As for the lights, he pulled out some glass balls that emit omnidirectional light and float."

Tony immediately got interested in the lights that Naruto created. It sounded like the perfect lighting device, especially for decoration and search and rescue missions.

"Did he say how he made it?" Tony asked.

"Something about seals and chakra battery. I have no idea how he did it." Happy said honestly.

The trio finally reached the wedding proper. Tony and Rhodey were impressed by the current setup. The wedding planner only helped arrange the wedding and coordinate all the different things needed, but the planner herself was not at the wedding.

Tony and Pepper decided to have a small wedding. Like twenty people only, including the judge officiating. Tony basically said fuck it and didn't invite anyone except for close friends and family. Tony will probably host a public event in the future, but for now, this wedding is just theirs.

The trio could see that everyone was already at their seats. On the right were Tony's friends and family. His only representative for the family side was Morgan. Pepper's friends and family were on the left side. Her father, mother, and two sisters came.

Mr. Jonathan Potts was a retired federal judge from Virginia. He fully expected Pepper to be a lawyer, so he was shocked when she decided to enter business school. He was Tony's number one critique due to Tony's previous lifestyle, but it all turned around after Morgan was born. It was almost the same narrative for Mrs. Veronica Potts, who was a Chief of Medicine.

Tony looked around a bit more before walking towards Pepper's parents while greeting their guests on the way there. He shook Jonathan's hand and gave Veronica a peck on the cheek.

"Did I miss anything?" Tony asked like his usual self but a bit more respectful. He really didn't want to piss off his not so future father-in-law.

"Not much…" Jonathan replied with a shrug. "Though, one of your groomsmen was still fixing some stuff until a few minutes ago."

"Which one and what did he do?"

"The tall blonde one…" Jonathan answered. "He carried in those decorative Corinthian pillars and arc."

Tony turned his head toward the podium and saw the white pillars and the arc Veronica was talking about. He almost choked when he saw what those pillars were. A few years back, Tony decided to donate a few million dollars to the Greek government because he watched Hercules while drunk. As a show of gratitude, the Greeks gave him a few pieces of stuff, like statues and a whole façade of a decrepit temple. He had no idea where to put it, so he placed it in the basement storage. Basically, Naruto carried some 4-ton pillars in front of everyone, and no one questioned it. He could even see the posts embedded on the ground. Why the hell would Naruto expose himself like that.

"You okay, honey?" Veronica asked in a concerned tone.

The question snapped Tony out of his mini-panic. He shook his head a bit and recentered himself.

"Yeah, yeah. Just surprised by how good it looks." Tony lied.

It looks like he didn't lie smoothly enough since Jonathan was looking at him weirdly. Good thing he was saved by Happy approaching the trio.

"Mr. Potts, can you proceed to the staging area. We are five minutes away." Happy said.

Jonathan nodded and bade them goodbye before walking to the back. Tony decided to go to his position. A few moments later, Rhodey, Happy, and Naruto arrived. Classical music started playing on the speakers. Tony and Pepper decided to just let JARVIS play the music through the speakers accompanied by a holographic projection of a band or a symphony at the side. The holographic band was showing a symphony playing Canon in D.

"It's showtime." Tony said to no one in particular.

The wedding procession started their march. Morgan was the first in the line as the flower girl, wearing a beautiful white dress. He couldn't help but smile when he saw his daughter eagerly walking down the red carpet.

Behind Morgan was a robot that was basically only an arm on tracks, carrying a pillow with the rings. This was, of course, Dum-E, the first robot Tony ever built. The buggy robot was made back in the 80s. He upgraded it through out the years but being problematic was one of its charms. Dum-E was followed by the bridesmaids, then the maid-of-honor.

That was when Tony saw his fiery angel on Earth. Pepper walked down the aisle, accompanied by her father. The pure white lace dress perfectly complemented her milky white skin. The inlaid micro diamonds refracted the light from the 'glow balls,' making the dress shine like stars. She decided to tie her hair up while letting two strands frame her face.

Tony stared at Pepper slack-jawed and wide-eyed. Good thing there were only a few guests, or he would be teased for quite a while. That is if he cared about how he looked right now. Rhodey definitely took his job as the best man seriously since he nudged Tony to bring him back.

For her part, Pepper had to stifle a giggle and feel flattered seeing Tony gape at her like that. Some might ask why she wasn't feeling emotional or overwhelmed at her wedding. To that, she says, why the hell not? There were only two gears available if you were doing anything with him, and that's either excitement or contentment. She only felt bliss right now. Like the universe just wanted her to be there no matter what. If she had any idea about the problems that had happened, she would think otherwise.

Jonathan and Pepper finally reached the podium, and Tony felt it isn't soon enough. Jonathan gave Pepper a peck on the cheek before giving Tony a loaded look. Tony gulped when he saw Jonathan's silent warning.

Pepper opted out of using a vale, so Tony could see Pepper giving him a beautiful smile.

"How you doin?" Tony asked, channeling his inner Joey Tribbiani.

"I'm already at the altar. No need to pick me up." Pepper countered with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing wrong with making sure that I can lock it down..." Tony's retort caused Pepper to giggle. "Anyway, let's get this wedding started."

… … … … … … … … …

"Seven years. You have been with me for seven years, and you still decided to marry me. I'm not saying I'm not a catch cause I'm definitely am. I'm just saying you would have to be a little crazy after seeing what I was like before, and for that, I can't ever be more thankful. You somehow changed my life, and I didn't know it was happening until I was in, hook line and sinker…" Tony started his vows. He decided to just wing it and talk about what came to his mind. "I promise to be less of a headache. I promise to spend less time in my workshop…" He added jokingly before being a bit more serious. "I will always come home to you and Morgan. I will always, always, place our family as my number one priority until the end of the line."

… … … … … … … … …

"I thought being your assistant for years was exciting, but being your girlfriend definitely took the cake. Never in a million years did I imagine that I would be marrying an immature, hyperactive… brilliant, driven…" Pepper was interrupted by Naruto.

"Don't forget filthy rich." Naruto's comment caused a round of laughs from everyone.

"Yes, rich…" Pepper agreed half-jokingly. "Sure, you were a nightmare, but you proved to me, to everyone, that Tony Stark has a heart…" She added, referencing her gift to Tony when he first changed his arc reactor. "I promise to always support you even if I will worry about you. I promise to reel you back in when you bite off more than you can chew. I will never let you feel alone ever again."

… … … … … … … … …

"Do you, Anthony Edward Stark, take Virginia Potts, to be your wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?" The judge asked Tony.

"I do." Tony answered without any hint of sarcasm.

"Do you, Virginia Potts, take Anthony Edward Stark, to be your husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?" The judge asked Pepper this time.

"I…" Pepper didn't get to finish her answer because Naruto dove for the couple.

Just in time, too, since the pillar right behind Pepper's head suddenly exploded. Chaos ensued, everyone scrambled to get out of the area. Rhodey and Happy quickly moved the people inside the mansion after they confirmed that Tony, Pepper, and Naruto were okay.

"You should suit up, Tony. We got company." Naruto suggested, but Tony and Pepper were still in some kind of shock.

"Why are they trying to kill her? Not me?" Tony murmured to no one in particular.

"They are not trying to kill her. The shot was a little off, deliberately missing her by an inch or two." Naruto answered while pulling Tony and Pepper behind the pillars.

Naruto's answer somehow snapped both of them out of their shock.

"Do you know anything about this?" Tony asked Naruto, hoping someone knows about it.

"Not, really, but I have a guess. I'll tell you when I have something concrete…" Naruto answered. That was when they heard an explosion at the front of the house. "Go suit up, Tony. I'll protect Pepper here and everyone inside. I'll take them to the basement."

Tony nodded before starting to head off, but he felt someone grabbing a hold of his wrists. He turned around and saw it was Pepper.

"I do." Pepper said.

"What?" Tony let out genuinely confused.

"I'm saying 'I Do.' So, we're married now…" Pepper continued. "And since I'm your wife, I get to order you around…" She added. "I'm telling you to kick the asses of the assholes who ruined our wedding but make sure you come back safe."

Tony flashed a smile and nodded before going for his suit. Pepper couldn't do anything else but stare at Tony's retreating back. She only stopped when Naruto started leading her back inside the house.

"Damn, Pepper. Not even ten seconds into your marriage, and you already have Tony by the balls." Naruto commented, genuinely amused.