Everything felt like such a buzz after the announcement that Lyra was pregnant. It was like everything was sparkling and shiny and nothing bad could hurt us. Of course, that meant quite a few of us were expecting the other shoe to drop. Bruce was nervous by nature, and Natasha would always expect the worst. The weird feeling of dread that had fallen over the western farmland was shrinking, but those of us that did keep thinking about trouble interrupting our bubble of excitement and love expected it from there.
Still - even accepting that we would always look over our shoulders from time to time, everyone was ecstatic. The whole family was together, our babies were sleeping through the night, we'd settled into life on Asgard, Mar was more comfortable with themselves than ever, we were planning two bonding ceremonies, and on top of that, we were all going to be welcoming a new grandchild to the mix. Even Natasha couldn't hide her delight.
Now that the babies were eating solids, they weren't quite as reliant on me, and while I did still breastfeed, it meant I could spend a little more time in the lab, or with Thor without having to rush out to feed the kids. I did still love feeding them, but with the pressure off, it meant I wasn't feeling so much like a mobile meal dispenser and more like I was their mom.
They were getting more mobile and we began taking them out on more expeditions around the kingdom. I had avoided the trip Steve, Tony, and Wanda had taken them on to the markets because I still became overwhelmed when people tried to give me things, but I was told the babies had gathered quite the crowd and they had come back with new clothes, lotions, and little matching bracelets forged in uru.
The trips I took them on were more into nature. The vulparev loved it and it was nice getting to see the Asgard that wasn't just the architecture.
"I swear they're going to go from sitting to walking without the crawling part," Sam said as Thour used his hand to pull herself up onto her feet again. She babbled happily and bounced in place for a second and then plopped back down on her butt giggling.
Bucky, Sam, and I had ventured out of the city with the twins and were picnicking at the foothills. Thor had insisted that we take guards with us, so rather than a romantic outing with the infants we had Sif and Fandral with us as well as Riley. Not that I minded of course. I didn't get to see a lot of my oldest daughter as she was very serious about her training, and I enjoyed the company of all Thor's friends.
"Someone has said that about literally every one of the kids, and yet every one of them crawled too," I said. "They just like being on two feet when you hold them up."
"I don't know, my lady," Sif said. "A son of Thor, a daughter of Steven. They will be walking any day now."
"You say that, but this is a daughter of Thor right here, and she didn't walk until she was one," I said, nudging Riley.
She shrugged. "I got there in the end," she said.
"Exactly," I said and nudged her.
"They have to be close to crawling though," Bucky said, as Nova rolled over and over to get to where Inky was chittering and crouched over ready to pounce on him. When the baby reached the vulparev, Inky pounced and licked his face making Nova break down into giggles and bunch his little fists in the black fur.
Some shadows passed overhead and I looked up. A group of winged horses with riders swooped in the air above us. "Oh my god," I said pointing up. "How is this the first time I'm seeing them?"
"You haven't seen the Valkyrie ride?" Sif asked, genuinely perplexed.
"No. Trust me, if I'd known there were actually flying horses around here, that's all I'd be doing," I said.
"You have a suit, and you can wield Mjolnir," Bucky said. "Why would you bother?"
"Uhh because... winged horses," I deadpanned.
Riley shielded her eyes with her hands as she looked up. "I think Becca's up there. I'll get her to land."
She stood and a breeze picked up before she took off, flying straight up to where the Valkyrie were.
"Aren't they called pegasus?" Sam asked as we watched as the horses faltered a little because of Riley interfering with their updraft.
"Pegasus was the name of a specific winged horse in Greek Mythology," I said. "Wait. Is it Greek Mythology?" I turned and looked at Sif. "If we thought you were gods, could the Greek gods exist too?"
"I really couldn't say," Sif answered. "Anything is possible I suppose."
When Riley stopped talking with Rebecca she returned to the ground quickly and a moment later two of the winged horses circled around and came to a landing near where we had tethered our horses. Both groups of horses snorted and stomped their feet before settling.
I picked up Thour and carried her over to where Rebecca was dismounting. I hadn't seen her in her official Valkyrie armor before. As she was still training, when I did see her it was usually in a generic black leather and silver set. However, she would usually change into simple linens at the end of the day for comfort. The set she was wearing now was a pale grey with gold accents. Completely non-sexual in design, it covered her from neck to toe. She had a blue cape attached to her shoulders and her dark hair was braided so it pulled back and cascaded down behind her. On her head was a silver helm with two golden wings engraved on forming a v at the front.
"What are you guys doing out here?" she asked, kissing my cheek and playing with Thour's hand.
"Taking the babies out to see the world," I said. "Why didn't you tell me you rode winged horses?"
"I can literally fly on my own, no wings, and you're impressed by a horse," she teased. "Should have known."
I laughed and patted its neck, and ran my hand down over its wings.
"Mom, dads, come meet Brunnhilde," Rebecca said, circling around to the other horse. "She's the leader of the Valkyrior."
I came around to where Rebecca was as Bucky and Sam stood. Brunnhilde was dressed the same as Rebecca though she had a blue sword strapped to her hip. I had seen her before at feasts and other official events but only ever at a distance and mixed into the group of Valkyrie. She was at least three inches shorter than Rebecca and five inches shorter than me, but like Natasha, it was easy to tell she could snap me like a twig if she so desired. Her heart-shaped face was set stern, and with her dark hair braided back, her skin glowed copper in the filtered afternoon light.
I'd never felt such an instant attraction to someone since Natasha decided to bring me into her family. It was a little startling, to say the least.
She crossed her left hand over her chest and lowered her head slightly, though her jaw stayed set. "Your majesties," she said in a tone that suggested that she was doing so under duress. I liked her immediately.
"Oh don't stand by ceremony with us," I said quickly. Behind us, Fandrall and Sif began laughing.
"That seemed painful for both of you," Sif teased.
"Finally the woman who reluctantly serves the crown meets the woman who reluctantly is the crown," Frandral teased. "It had to happen eventually."
"You don't like being a Valkyrie?" I asked.
"No, I love it," she said. "I just hate taking orders from the king."
"Elly wouldn't know what that feels like," Sam teased.
"Sam!" I yelped as Sif, Brunnhilde, and Fandral all started laughing, and Riley and Rebecca pulled exactly the same disgusted face.
"I have to say, Rebecca shows a lot of promise. She takes naturally to the training and everyone likes her a lot. She should go far in the force," Brunnhilde said. "She also said I didn't need to worry about bowing to you, but you never know. I'm used to Odin."
"I had the pleasure of never having to meet him," I said, which made her laugh.
"Yes. You are definitely privileged in that," she said. "I did like Angela though, and Thor is fine."
"High praise for our king," Fandral joked. "I'll be sure to pass it along."
"Would you like to stay? We have lunch," Bucky offered.
"Oh no, we're practicing drills," Brunnhilde said. "We just stopped because the princess said the queen wanted to meet our steeds."
I began patting her horse and Thour reached over with a squeak and touched his neck too. "When I was a little girl winged horses were just fantasy. I had posters of them on my wall."
"Oh my god, El," Sam teased. "What a dork."
"What?" I said, a blush creeping up to my cheeks. "Like you wouldn't have had transformers or something."
"We weren't all nerds, El," Sam said.
"No, but you definitely were one," I teased.
"It's fine, your majesty," Brunnhilde said. "I don't even know what a poster is."
I laughed and shook my head. "I appreciate that. And I appreciate that you would bring them down for me to see."
"It was nothing," Brunnhilde said. "Though we should return to the drills. Who knows what the others are doing?"
"See you at dinner," Rebecca said, mounting her horse again.
I stepped back with the others as Brunnhilde got back on her horse. The two animals flapped their wings and reared and a moment later they were cantering back up through the air to join the other Valkyrie.
"Holy shit, that was so cool," I said, as I watched them take off.
"That was so cool, or she was so cool?" Sam teased.
"Elly has a crush," Bucky sang as he and Sam sat back with Sif, Riley, and Fandral.
"I do not!" I yelped, flopping down on top of him, making Thour squeal and giggle in my arms as Bucky pulled me up against him.
"It's okay, Elly," Bucky said. "You can have a crush."
"I know I can," I said. "But I don't."
"That's not the Valkyrie that Sarah was hitting on was it?" Sam asked.
"No, that's Rossveissa," Riley said. "And I think they might have something casual going on. I keep catching them in shadowy corners together. So you're totally free to flirt with Brunnhilde, Mom."
"How come I've never seen the Valkyrie anywhere other than the feasts?" I asked, ignoring the teasing.
"They're basically the army special reserves," Riley said. "They train in a different part of the grounds and when they come to council meetings dad Thor asks dad Steve to attend, because ... well war?"
"That makes sense," I said. "Sometimes I think I just don't pay enough attention."
"Mom!" Riley said. "You have like a billion spouses and kids and look at how big just the palace is." She pointed over at where the large golden structure towered over the city. "You're not ever going to be an expert in all of it. I'm specifically being trained to rule and I've been living here for fifteen years and I still have barely scratched the surface of what I've seen and know."
"Then there are all the other realms," Sif added.
"But don't worry, my lady, you're going to be around for a long long time. You'll know every nook and cranny of the place."
"I do not..." I sing-songed back.
Sam wrapped his arms around me and tugged me back away from the babies. "Like you didn't have a crush on Thor back before you met him?" he teased.
"Stop projecting on me, would you?" I said, turning in his arms and wrapping my arms around his neck.
"It's okay, you know?" Sam said, ghosting his lips up my neck. "You can crush on other people. You can have sex with other people. We know you love us. That won't change."
"Why do you want me to have a crush on her so bad?" I asked.
Sam's hands ran over my ass. "We don't. We just recognized that you do. And it's fun to tease you. But not just that, we want you to know it's okay. You don't have to feel embarrassed by it or like you're doing anything wrong. Even though you know some of us sleep with other people, I think you've told yourself you're not allowed to."
I shook my head. "No. I don't think that's it."
"You slept with Clint and Tony right away," Sam said. "And you slept with Wanda for the first time in front of all of us after hardly knowing her. So I know you're not demi or particularly shy. I just want to make sure you're not holding yourself back from something you want because of some leftover hangup."
I scowled and dropped my hands. "Can we please drop this?"
"Hey, now," Sam said, rubbing my back. "I wasn't trying to upset you."
"Don't worry about it, El," Bucky said, coming up behind me and kissing my cheek. "I only sleep with you guys too. Just noticed you got all blushy around the hot Valkyrie is all."
"She was pretty hot," I said.
"Yeah, she was," Sam agreed and picked me up, throwing me over his shoulder.
"Sam!" I squealed.
"Come on, Buck," Sam said. "You can help me apologize to my princess here."
Sam carried me up to the bed and dropped me onto the mattress, he went to crawl up under my skirts and I put my foot on his shoulder.
"What makes you think I'm gonna let you get all up in my business when you were teasing me?" I said.
"Oh no," Sam laughed. "I have to grovel?"
"You can watch Bucky and me," I said.
"Oh wow. I really am in the bad books, huh?" he said, sitting back on the bed. "Just because I want you to be happy and fulfilled?"
"Yeah, suck it, Sam," Bucky teased and dropped down beside me and wrapped me in his arms.
I kissed him passionately and pulled him down over me, hooking my leg around his waist. He ground down on me as we kissed and for a while, that's all we did - kissing and grinding on each other as we rolled around on the giant bed. Sometimes I was on top and sometimes he was. Our hands traveled over each other's bodies and bunched into each other's hair. When my lips became puffy and started going numb we started to shed our clothes.
It took much longer to get Bucky's clothes off than mine, and by the time he was naked, I was aching for him. His cock was hard and leaking and I rolled him on his back and straddled his waist.
"Fuck, El," Bucky groaned, gripping my hips hard enough to bruise. "I want you so bad, darlin'."
I gripped his cock and guided it inside me, he groaned and his head fell back with his eyes closed. I braced my hands on his chest and began bouncing on his cock. I looked over at Sam. He had his pants open and he was jerking himself off as he watched us. I beckoned him over, curling a finger.
He laughed and stalked over to me. "Oh, I'm forgiven now?"
"Maybe," I said.
He laughed and leaned in and I kissed him passionately. He ran his hand down Bucky's chest and when he reached the point we connected he gripped the base of Bucky's cock and used his thumb to rub my clit. Bucky gasped and jerked up hard under me as I mewled and threw my head back.
Sam let us go and moved behind us. I felt the press of his already lube coat cock against my entrance and when I pressed my body down against Bucky's he eased his cock inside me alongside Bucky's.
"Fuck," Bucky groaned. "That's it."
I rolled my hips between them as Sam started to thrust. He pressed his hand down on the middle of my back, holding me against Bucky as he fucked into me.
Sam guided me back and held me with his hand at my throat as Bucky massaged my tits with his metal hand and his flesh one rubbed my clit in tight circles.
"I love you, princess," Sam growled against my ear. "You know that right?"
"I love you too," I moaned. "I'm sorry."
"You've got nothing to be sorry for," he said and pulled me into a searing kiss.
An orgasm hit with no warning, making me moan loudly and shudder around both their cocks. Bucky groaned, arching his back and squeezing my breast a little painfully. It sent a sharp jolt right to my core and I came again, squeezing them both inside me as my whole body seized up. It sent Bucky over with me and he made a deep rumble sound as he thrust up and released inside of me.
Sam kept fucking into me, chasing his own orgasm. He broke the kiss and brought his lips to my ear. "Can I fuck your ass, princess?"
"Yes," I moaned. "Please."
He guided me back down against Bucky, who wrapped his arms around me and kissed me lovingly. Sam slipped out and pressed his come and lube coated cock against my asshole, giving me a moment to relax before he eased in.
I mewled into Bucky's lips at the sting and burn that was added to the warm coiling pleasure that was still running through me. Bucky stayed inside me, swirling his hip, and I began to feel him get hard again as Sam fucked my ass. I moaned deeply into Bucky's lips and when Bucky began to thrust too, I came again.
I was starting to reach my limit as the two men fucked me. I broke my kiss with Bucky and lay limp against him as hot currents ran up and down through me and my edges began to feel soft and blurry. Sam wrapped his arm around my waist and rubbed my clit and I came for the fourth time, this time squirting out around Bucky's cock. Bucky groaned as Sam cursed. "Fuck, princess. There you go." His hips began to stutter and with a hard thrust into me, he came, filling my ass.
"I gotta stop," I begged. "Please."
Sam pulled out quickly and helped me off Bucky who was still completely hard. Bucky pulled me up beside me in a comforting embrace and as he kissed me tenderly Sam started to suck his cock. I broke the kiss with Bucky as I watched Sam bob his head up and down and fondle Bucky's balls. Bucky closed his eyes and shallowly rutted his hips. It wasn't long before he let out a deep groan and released straight down Sam's throat.
"I think I've been having too many orgasms lately," I hummed as Sam lay down beside me and I snuggled between them both.
"There's no such thing," Bucky said.
"Yeah," Sam agreed. "You can have an infinite amount."
I giggled. "That's impossible."
Sam brought his fingers to my very oversensitive clit and circled it gently. "Maybe. But we can always try."