"Stop being so puke-inducingly adorable," Stark grumbled at you, which made the littles giggle at the word 'puke'. They'd learned quite a lot of vocabulary even if they didn't really talk yet. They were too damn smart for their own good. You blamed Loki for that trait. Stark looked at Vali in his arms more closely. "Is there a reason that she looks like a toddler and you look like you did the day you found out your were pregnant?" He asked with absolutely no tact. You couldn't exactly say you had expected otherwise from him.
You huffed and rolled your eyes. It took a restraining hand on Loki's arm to keep him from stabbing Tony for his rude question. It was just Tony being Tony after all. He didn't mean to be rude. "They look like toddlers because they're half frost giant," you explained to Stark as if he were stupid, which would be impossible since he was a genius. "They grew faster than normal children in the womb, which is part of why I died in childbirth." You'd already explained how you'd died and come back with wings. You also didn't need to explain to them that Loki was a frost giant. They already knew that.
Tony nodded his understanding, once you'd pointed out the obvious, it made sense to him. "And the rest?" He wouldn't restate his question and risk getting stabbed by Loki.
You rolled your eyes again. "I'm a princess of Asgard, which entitles me to the very best medical care. That includes spells to remove all of the extra pregnancy weight and return my body to the size it was before I was pregnant,"
Nat whistled in appreciation. "Magic sure is useful," she said in awe. She knew you, Loki, and Wanda could do some amazing things, but no one had thought of the post pregnancy spells.
You grinned at her "That it is," you agreed brightly, glad to be back to normal, as you'd been huge and had to waddle. "So what's been going on with you guys?" You asked as Narvi was finally passed back to you. He clutched at you, so you knew the poor thing was overwhelmed. He was so shy, reminding you of Loki at his worst. You really shouldn't have expected any different from Loki's son. He was a mama's boy and shy around strangers. He was nearly a carbon copy of your husband, including in looks. You held him close in your lap and stroked his hair soothingly. /It's alright, darling. You're safe. Mama's here/
He snuggled close and purred. You loved your Jotun children for their ability to purr. It was so easy to tell when they were happy because they purred. You double-checked the illusions on him while you held him, not wanting the control over his Asgardian form to diminish. The Avengers would understand, but you didn't want Narvi to get upset.
The team caught you up on recent missions, what Hydra had been up to, the team's personal lives, everything of importance. At least you thought you'd gotten everything, from Wanda's schooling reports and boring mission reports, until Tony dropped a bombshell. "And Pepper's pregnant," he said with a smirk that said he'd been holding onto that piece of information until just the right time.
Your eyes widened and you felt your mouth drop open in shock. You never thought Tony would be one to have a kid, no matter how promiscuous he'd been in the past. It took a couple of tries to get your brain and mouth to work together. "Congratulations," you told him warmly. It really was incredible and not really that surprising since the pair were married. You were still too used to how long it usually took Asgardians to get pregnant that you forgot it was usually easier for Midgardians. Usually.
"I am sure Lady Pepper will make an excellent mother," Loki finally replied. He still couldn't compliment Stark, but he would always hold a fondness for Pepper. She was polite and courteous, even when Loki had first moved into the tower.
/Mama?/ Narvi asked, tugging on your shirt.
You turned your attention to your darling. /Yes, baby?/ you asked him gently, giving him a loving smile. You always doted on your Narvi, no matter what he wanted or needed. He didn't form an actual question in words, but his thoughts were clear enough, he wanted to know what Stark had meant. /Uncle Tony's wife is going to have a baby/ you explained to him.
He lit up in delight. /Baby!/ that was something he could understand and liked the idea of more babies around.
You laughed and cuddled him close. /Yes, little love, a baby/ you agreed.
Vali was tired of being cuddled by Nat and teleported back to Loki. You really would have to do something about them teleporting wherever they wanted to be at some point.
"I'm glad you guys are back," Steve said. You and Loki both looked over at him with raised eyebrows. Neither of you were used to Steve being glad that Loki was around. He didn't mind the god, but he never went out of his way to be pleased Loki was there either. He liked you, of course, as the healer was useful and you'd just been a kid when they'd brought you here.
"Is something going on?" You asked him, surprised.
He nodded and Bucky did too. "We found out that Hydra has Loki's scepter," Steve explained.
Loki stiffened beside you, memories and pain flashing across his eyes. He'd been tortured and then mind controlled by that scepter before he was sent to Midgard to get the Tesseract. The memories were still hard on him, years later. You didn't blamed him or fault him for it. You reached for his hand and squeezed it reassuringly
Bucky looked sheepish and blushed. "I saw it there, while I was with Hydra," that hadn't been Bucky's fault. He'd been mind controlled and mind wiped so often that he wasn't anywhere near in control of his actions. "And that's what they used to give Wanda her magic. You two healed my mind, but it's still taken time for all of my memories to come back in a way." That made sense. Even the best mind healing took time and Bucky's mind had been in shreds when you'd first started working on it. "I only just remembered..." That was the part that upset him.
Loki inclined his head, trying to get ahold of himself. "I understand. Your mind is healing slowly, but that is to be expected after what you went through," he said reasonably. Only you were close enough to him to notice the slightly too polite edge to his words, the court mask and expression betraying to you how unnerved his was by the return of the scepter.
He'd told you more about it, so you knew why he was so disturbed. "It has one of the infinity stones in it," you said softly.
Loki nodded and Thor's eyes widened. "An infinity stone? You're sure?" He asked Loki.
Loki rolled his eyes. "Yes, you oaf. I was tortured with the damn thing, I would know," he growled softly. He didn't like being questioned by Thor, especially not on something like this.
Thor's expression fell at the reminder. "My apologies," he said softly and politely, which told Loki that he truly meant it. "Which stone is it?" He asked.
"The mind stone," Loki said softly, picking at his hands before he cuddled Vali closer, as if to protect her from the memories that plagued him.
"We need to get it out of Hydra's hands and somewhere safe," you interjected, drawing the attention back to the real topic at hand.
Cap nodded and you saw the shift in him from Steve to Captain America. It was a slight difference, but something you all picked up doing, switching from your normal everyday selves to superheroes. "Which is why I'm glad you guys are back,"
Yes, having the Asgardians here would definitely help you all get the stone back from Hydra.
