Chapter Text
Everyone in New York knew by now that a spontaneous lightening storm (especially one in December) meant the arrival of Asgardians, usually Thor. But those in Avengers’ Tower knew that it wasn’t just Thor returning from the other world. As the Avengers gathered on the open deck, Steve had teased Tony about how the genius had all but sprinted outside at the first sign of thunder (Tony in turn teased Steve about Thor needing to hammer him a new shield).
But all teasing aside, the Avengers gathered to greet the returning Asgardians and a warm smile spread across Tony’s face as he saw a certain god of mischief.
The two small children with the returning alien gods warmed the Midgardians’ hearts as well. Loki and Thor were each carrying a dark-haired toddler, though only the child riding on Thor’s shoulders seemed to be awake. Loki, on the other hand, seemed to be cradling a comatose child who was using his shoulder as a pillow (and quite possibly drooling).
“I see someone found a way to sleep through the process of traveling between worlds.” Tony chuckled, going to Loki and kissing his cheek gently, “How long has he been asleep?”
Loki chuckled, smoothing the child’s thick black hair, “Alvis takes after you too much sometimes. He refused to sleep the entire time we were visiting until he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore.”
Tony chuckled, kissing the top of Alvis’s head, “Great minds never did sleep much.”
From on top of Thor’s shoulders, the other boy squealed happily, “Papa!” He leaned forward, reaching out to Tony.
The billionaire laughed, taking the child into his arms, “Hey there Gunnar! Did you have a good time with Mommy and Uncle Thor?”
While Loki rolled his eyes at the “Mommy” comment, Gunnar beamed, “You bet!” With that, the toddler began to prattle on about the numerous things they did while in Asgard.
“Now he’ll never stop.” Loki whispered as they walked inside.
Tony chuckled, half listening to Gunnar, “I’m sure he’ll stop once he sees—”
“Tree!” Gunnar gasped, staring at the set up in the living room, “It’s the Great Tree of Christmas!” He squealed happily as he ran towards the large tree.
“Christmas tree, Gunnar, it’s a Christmas tree.” Tony snickered, looking at Loki, “He takes after Thor sometimes, doesn’t he?”
Loki rolled his eyes, “Being in Asgard for the past month sure didn’t help. The Warriors Three spoiled them rotten. I still have the spears they gave the twins as gifts in an attempt to teach them the warrior’s way.”
“Yeah, something about my kids having sharp pointy sticks seems like a terrible idea.” Tony snorted, “At least they didn’t get hammers…” the billionaire trailed off, mainly because by now he had caught sight of his son floating near the ceiling, examining the star at the top of the tree.
The god of mischief looked a little embarrassed, “I should have mentioned…the twins had a bit of a growth spurt in their magic…Gunnar, please come down, you know I don’t like you flying without my help.”
Gunnar pouted, but made his way back to the floor.
Tony blinked, “Magic, huh?” He chuckled, “And here I was hoping I could get them to build their first motherboard.” He kissed Loki gently, “Any more surprises?”
There was a sheepish look on Loki’s face, which usually didn’t bode well, “What happened?” Tony asked.
“There was a little bit of an accident—”
“What happened.”
“Alvis is quite fine—”
“What happened to Alvis, Loki?” Tony looked down at Alvis, still deep in sleep.
“Well, Anthony…” Loki began, “Let’s just say that, for the moment, you have a son…” he nodded to Gunnar, “and a daughter.” He looked down at Alvis.
“…What?”