Chapter Four

Author's Note: Hey, peeps! I'd planned on posting this chapter last week, 'cause I wrote it last week, but I got called in for Jury Duty, then put on a trial, so I've been stuck in court all week. The trial still isn't over, so I'm most likely going to be gone all of next week, too. But we'll see what happens.

Thanks for all the reviews, I appreciate them! Enjoy,

Dreamer

Loki heard them before he saw them; his mother was asking question after question, not really waiting for Stark to reply. Stark sounded flustered and out of his depth, which made Loki smile briefly before he bit into another roll.

Loki didn't know what he was going to say to Stark. Maybe the mortal was only here because Frigga had dragged him down. That made sense. Loki seriously doubted that Stark wanted to be a father, especially to a babe that was only half Midgardian.

They finally reached Loki's cell and Stark almost tripped over himself. Frigga kept him on his feet and smiled brightly at Loki. Loki narrowed his eyes.

'Loki, look who wanted to visit,' Frigga said. She stepped up to the cell and pushed Stark through, the man stumbling and having to grab onto the table to keep himself upright. 'I shall leave you two alone,' Frigga said before turning and walking away, her boots clicking along the stone floor.

When the footsteps faded, Loki looked at Stark. Stark was staring at the bassinet.

'You can leave now,' Loki said into the silence. 'Or my mother may be waiting at the end of the room, so sit down and wait for a bit. Then you can leave.'

'Uh... what?' Stark blinked rapidly as he tore his eyes away from the bassinet. 'What?'

Loki sighed and put his fork down. 'Do not pretend that you wish to be here, Stark. My mother no doubt used force to drag you down here. If you wish to wait a while before making your escape, feel free to do so.'

'My... no, I want to be here,' Stark said.

'Do you?' Loki sniffed.

Stark was scowling now. 'He's my kid, too.'

Loki slowly pushed himself away from the table and stood. In two short steps he was looming over Stark and felt satisfaction curl heavy in his gut when the mortal flinched. 'He is my son, Stark, not yours,' the Jötunn growled. 'I carried him and I birthed him. I am caring for him, and will continue to do so for as long as I live. You helped create him, nothing more.'

Stark stood tall, his head somewhere around Loki's shoulder, which was amusing. What he said was not. 'I helped create him, Loki, that means I can fucking see him, alright? I want to see him. My dad was never around, and when he was I wanted to be anywhere else. I will not let my kid grow up not knowing that I love him.'

'Love?' Loki scoffed. 'You don't know him!'

'Neither do you!' Stark shouted. 'He was born, what, today?'

'I know him better than you.'

'Are we seriously fighting over who knows him better?' Stark demanded, looking incredulous. 'He's not even a day old!'

Their shouting had woken Andon, who started wailing and beating his fists against the blanket cocooning him. Loki growled at Stark but turned to pick his son up. Stark was right there, breath caught in his throat as he finally set eyes on Loki's- their son.

'Oh my God,' Stark breathed.

Loki rolled his eyes as he fussed with Andon, getting the babe comfortable in his arms. Andon whimpered and batted one tiny fist against Loki's tunic, fingers too small and weak to grab onto it.

Sighing, Loki said, 'Fine,' and held the babe out to Stark.

'What?' the mortal gaped.

'If you wish to know him, then get to know him,' Loki scowled. 'I would never keep you from him, Stark, Andon deserves better than that. But so help me if you drop him-'

'I won't drop him!' Stark interrupted. His eyes turned greedy, then, and he eagerly took Andon in his arms. He held him perfectly, like he had done so before, and cooed when Andon's eyes opened. 'Shit, he does look like me,' Stark huffed. 'I have baby photos of myself, you know. He's got my eyes. He's got your colouring, though.'

Yes. For now, Andon was as pale as Loki was, but his cheeks glowed pink with good health.

'He can turn blue, you know,' Loki murmured.

Stark frowned but didn't take his eyes off of Andon. 'Blue?'

'My true skin colour, Stark,' Loki said. He held a hand above Andon's body and forced his fingers to turn blue. Thick ridges rose up on the back of his hand, snaking beneath the sleeve of his tunic. Stark's eyes widened

'Whoa.'

'Indeed,' Loki sniffed. He withdrew his hand and shook it, the colour still disgusting, even now.

'So... Andon can do that?' Stark asked.

The name fell from Stark's lips easily, a warm sort of smile accompanying it.

Loki frowned before saying, 'Yes. He is a shapeshifter, like me, but too young to control himself. Turning blue is because he is half-Jötunn. It is in his blood.'

'Right,' Stark said, 'so my kid can turn blue? That's pretty awesome.'

Loki snorted.

'What?' Stark asked, eyes darting up to Loki before turning back to Andon. Loki couldn't fault him; he himself found it difficult to look away from the perfect creature that they had created.

'Nobody in Asgard would agree with you, Stark.'

''Cause Jötnar are their enemies, right?' Stark asked. When Loki nodded, Stark scoffed. 'Whatever, I don't care what Asgard thinks. If they say anything I'll give 'em a good replusor blast to the face... shit, where is my suit? I hope Bruce has it.'

Loki wasn't sure what to say. He remained silent as Stark bounced Andon gently, grinning when the babe yawned or sniffed or... did anything, really. Eventually Stark sat at the table, in the seat beside Loki's own, and Loki joined him.

'Didn't meant to interrupt dinner,' Stark murmured. 'You can eat if you want.'

'I can do whatever I want, whenever I want,' Loki sniffed, more out of habit, and Stark chuckled.

'Yeah, yeah, Reindeer Games.'

'Call me that again and I will stab you,' Loki growled.

'Not in front of the baby!' Stark gasped dramatically.

Loki rolled his eyes and went back to his food. He had begun eating a good ten minutes earlier, and so far none of his dinner had made a reappearance. Hopefully that meant that he could keep it all down.

He spread soft cheese across the remainder of his roll and nibbled on it, eyes focused on Stark and Andon. After a few minutes he finished his roll and moved onto the crackers and vegetables, bypassing the meat for now.

'Oh, okay,' Stark said, and Loki looked up.

'Problem?' he demanded.

'Yeah, baby boy needs a diaper change,' Stark said. He stood and looked around. 'You got diapers?'

'I am assuming that you mean a nappy,' Loki said.

'Nappy, diaper, whatever,' Stark rolled his eyes. 'You got some?'

'My mother should have brought some,' Loki said. He stood and started looking through the clothes his mother had brought. He eventually found a cloth nappy as well as the liner, and handed both to Stark.

'Where can I change him?' Stark asked.

'My cot,' Loki told him.

Stark nodded and moved to the cot, Loki following a step behind. Stark laid Andon out on the bed and unwrapped the blanket, then fiddled with the babe's coverall until Andon was naked. He had made a mess of the suit and Loki winced; he hadn't even thought of putting a cloth nappy on Andon when he had dressed him.

Stark didn't say anything, though. He just removed the coverall and used it to wipe Andon clean, only stopping to ask Loki for a glass of water. Loki handed him a cup and Stark wet Andon briefly, his eyes widening when Andon's skin turned blue.

'Jötunn, right,' Stark murmured. He finished cleaning and drying the babe, then quickly and efficiently put the nappy on him, the liner pressed inside.

'How do you know how to do that?' Loki questioned when Stark reached for a clean coverall.

'One of my nannies when I was a kid had two children,' Stark told him. 'Her daughter was three, her son barely a year old. I watched her change and dress him all the time. I even babysat, sometimes.' He shrugged. 'It wasn't really babysitting, I was, like... ten or eleven. I didn't have any friends and their mom, Carla, let me play with them. When my dad found out he fired her. She lives in Greece, now. There we go!' Stark grinned at Andon as he re-wrapped him. 'Who's a clean boy, huh?' He lifted Andon back into his arms and continued to babble at him, the baby yawning and blinking, no doubt wondering just who the hell Stark was.

Loki was wondering about Stark, too. He had been sure that the man didn't have a maternal bone in his body, yet here he was, easily changing Andon and caring for him. Loki had thought that he would be a terrible parent, too, right up until he set eyes on Andon for the first time.

There was nothing Loki wouldn't do for Andon... it seemed that Stark felt the same way.

'Thank you,' Loki murmured.

He expected Stark to laugh at him, but the mortal just smiled and nodded. Loki's lips twitched but he pushed the smile down. Stark could change a nappy, that was all. It didn't mean that he would be here for Andon.

He hadn't proven himself to Loki just yet.

'Are you hungry?' Loki asked.

It was an olive branch and Stark took it, his smile widening. He followed Loki back to the table and they both sat. Loki prepared a plate for Stark, choosing foods that would be familiar to the Midgardian, but foods that Stark could eat one-handed.

'Thanks,' Stark said and nibbled on a vegetable, eyes once more on Andon.

Loki allowed himself to smile then; it was brief and it was small and it was gone before Stark could see it. He shoved food into his mouth after that.

{oOo}

'You know, I didn't think I was ready to be a father,' Tony commented. 'Right up until I saw him.'

'Oh?' Loki hummed. He sounded disinterested, but Tony could see the Trickster looking at him from the corner of his eye.

'Yeah,' Tony nodded. 'I was all prepared to yell at you for not telling me you could get pregnant.'

Loki snorted. 'I wasn't in my right mind, Stark. All I wanted was comfort.'

Tony nodded; yeah, he knew that now. Knew it then, too. He just hadn't realised exactly what had happened to Loki. He still didn't, but he could guess. He'd been tortured before.

He shook his head, not wanting to think about that crap when he had his newborn son in his arms. And shit, how weird was that? The entire world had been ready for this day, Tony knew. With the way he slept around it was amazing that he hadn't knocked some woman up already. He'd had two pregnancy scares when he was younger, but a quick test had saved his ass.

Now here he was, in Asgard, with the other-father of his son. And God did Andon look like a weird alien creature, what with his red and scrunched up face. But he was still breathtaking and Tony could imagine putting him down to sleep in the penthouse, redecorating the guest room just for Andon, making it into a bedroom, a home. He'd make Iron Man toys and Hulk plushies. Andon would never want for anything, and Tony would always be there, unlike his own parents. He'd sell Stark Industries for Andon. He'd give up Iron Man for Andon.

And that was what told Tony that he had already lost. Andon was a few hours old and Tony was ready to give him the world.

'I was ready to be one of those dads who only sees their kid every other weekend,' Tony admitted. He shifted Andon and grinned when the baby made a soft noise. 'I wasn't gonna ignore him, you know? My dad did that and I hated him; still do. It messed me up. I didn't want Andon to hate me or be like me.'

Loki nodded.

'But then I saw him and... I always thought it was bullshit, when women say that the pain of childbirth doesn't matter when you first see your kids. And those dads who say that they freaked out right up until they held their kid in their arms. But now...' he looked up at Loki, who's eyes were narrowed.

'Now?' the god prompted.

'Now I don't ever wanna let him go,' Tony said, shrugging one shoulder gently. 'I wanna watch him grow up and buy him stuff and take him to soccer games and shit. I want him to trust me and love me and know that I'll always be here. I'm not even pissed at you any more for not telling me that this could happen, 'cause he's here and awesome and I love him more than I've loved anything ever.'

Loki gulped and toyed with his cup, the bottom scraping along the top of the wooden table. 'I know,' he finally murmured. 'I was disgusted with myself for forgetting what I am when I spent the morning with you.'

Tony glanced up. Loki looked... torn, like he didn't want to talk about this, but like he couldn't stop himself.

'I hated myself and wished that it had never happen,' Loki said. 'I wasn't aware that I was pregnant until I was six or so months along. I spent the following days unable to sleep or keep food down, knowing that I would ruin the child and that they would hate me.' He sighed and pushed his glass aside. 'And then I saw him and I...'

'Fell in love,' Tony supplied.

'Yes,' Loki agreed.

Tony nodded slowly and looked back down at Andon. Loki did, too. 'What do we do now?' Tony asked.

'I don't know,' the mage admitted. 'But I won't keep you from our child, Stark. Even I am not that cruel.'

'I didn't say you were,' Tony replied. 'Not everybody thinks the worst of you, Loki. Thor was prepared to choke me because he thought I'd dishonoured you and your family.'

'You have,' Loki said and he was smirking when Tony looked at him. 'Members of the Royal Family aren't supposed to be born out of wedlock. I was never stripped of my title, so Andon is a Prince of Asgard.'

Tony blinked.

'I have brought shame on the name of Odin for producing an illegible heir,' Loki laughed. 'Not that it matters. I refuse to be named Odinson.'

'Well,' Tony said slowly, 'kids are born out of wedlock all the time on Earth. So you fit right in.'

Loki gave him a broken smile, but it was a bit of a real one. Loki had never fit in anywhere, but on Earth? Yeah, he could totally live on Earth and raise Andon. Then Tony could see his kid all the time. Hell, Loki could move into the Tower if he wanted, Tony didn't care. He just wanted Andon around all the time.

And having Loki around all the time? Well, Tony wouldn't mind that one bit.

'Look, Loki,' Tony said, breaking the silence. Loki's head jerked up. 'I can't promise that it's all gonna be good. I'm gonna fuck up a lot, it's what I do.'

'We have that in common, then,' Loki murmured.

'Yeah,' Tony said, 'and I'm probably gonna piss you off a lot. But him?' Tony held Andon up slightly. 'I want to give him everything. I'll move here if that's what it takes, and there's no electricity here. I can promise you that I'll do my best, for you and for him.'

Loki stared at him.

'It's probably not enough,' Tony said. 'But it's all I can offer.'

'It's enough,' Loki said, words soft. He sipped from a fresh cup of water. 'You wanting to be here for him is enough, Stark. It's... a good start.'

'Okay,' Tony smiled, 'that's... that's good.'

'It is,' Loki agreed.

Tony grinned. 'Good.' Then he went right back to staring at Andon. But it was okay, he assumed, 'cause Loki was doing the same.