A/N: Okay. Sorry I'm a total dickhead and haven't been posting. School is hard man. BUT I'M OUT NOW! So. Don't expect more updates.
Chapter 11: Do It for the Teenagers and Do It for Your Mom, Broken Hearts Hurt But They Make You Strong
The day was just barely beginning when Steve parked his car at the school. 4:45 am. He was early. Better that then late, he figured. Steve found all the gates and door unlocked for him, leading him to room 216, the room he had Fury's class in, the room the caller had told him to show up to. He'd waited for Thor this morning, but finally had given up on the boy, figuring he'd probably forgotten. The room was as sparse as ever, all the desks pushed up to the walls, leaving only three in the front of the room. Tony Stark and Bruce Banner were already there. In the front of the room stood Director Fury, a strict looking woman, and Phil Coulson, Steve's biggest fanboy at school.
"Uh... So... I'm here..." Steve said looking around. "I got a call. Last week..."
"Yes." Fury nodded "Please, Mr Rogers, take a seat."
It was hot by now, the sun baking the blue paint of Natasha's car, heating the legs of her and Thor's jeans as they lounged across her car hood, drinking hot stale Dr Pepper she'd found in her trunk, looking up at the handy work on the billboard before them. They were parked on an expanse of hard-packed dirt, in between the back of the mall and the interstate, the billboard growing like an ugly tree from the dirt. Thor used to come here to sit on the billboard and think. When he was younger. When his father's face was plastered across it.
"I think your dad should get an eyepatch," Natasha said "He looks good with it,"
"He looks like a pirate." Thor noted squinting up at the sign. Natasha nodded "Maybe thats what I'll give him for father's day. A big middle finger and an eyepatch."
"You shouldn't be so mean." Natasha said "He's only doing what he thinks is right." Thor was trying to ignore her stare, looking everywhere but her eyes.
"I would have asked Sif to come vandalize stuff with me, if I knew that you were gonna be like this." He muttered
"Did he really kick you out because of India? Because it would 'hurt his press'?" Natasha asked. Thor had spent the whole day with Natasha, telling her about his dad and Jane and the party last night.
Thor nodded looking up at the billboard of his father "Dude, you have no idea what it's like to be the Mayor's son. It's like being on display all the time." He looked around as India begun to fuss inside the car.
"You know," Natasha said as Thor slid off the hood to attend to his child. "I think you're the most badass dad ever."
Thor laughed as India watched Natasha intently from his arms. "I hope she thinks that, y'know, when she's older."
"She will." Natasha said taking India from Thor, the child reaching up instantly to pull on her hair. Thor finished his soda and crushed the can between his hands like to was nothing before chucking it up at the billboard of his father. "Oh, hey I was at the Teen Health Center the other day, to check my vagina, and I got you these." She held out a pamphlets Men, Babies and The Law: 15 Things You Should Know and Teen Parenthood.
"Oh, wow," Thor snorted "Thanks so much man, I really. REALLY need these now." He laughed taking the pamphlets from her and flipping though them reading the phrases "Babies are humans too" "If you have sex with a woman, she may become pregnant." "What are the postpartum blues?" "You must used birth control for it to be effective," and "Will you look at this diaper rash, mom?" out loud.
"What the hell at you two doing?" someone shouted startling the pair as the crumpled can bounced off Odin's face. They turned to see Steve Rogers standing behind them in a bright orange vest with a bag of trash and one of those long pointy sticks in his hands.
"The better question is what are you doing?" Thor snorted covering his mouth "Rogers, are you secretly a convict? Do we need to talk? Cause I've been in the slammer before and it ain't much fu-"
"Thor. You were arrested once for reckless driving. You had to stay in jail like. For a couple hours." Natasha scowled before turning to Steven. "But really, what the hell are you wearing?"
"It's community service." Steven replied "Y'know. That thing that colleges like? Right Nat?"
"Fuck that." Thor muttered apparently bored now that he could no longer tease Steve.
"Yeah but at least I don't wonder around the highway in fucking rave clothing." She told him, before picking up the almost silently buzzing phone. "Natasha Romanoff... Oh hey, what's up Loki?"
"It disturbs me, the friendship Natasha has with my brothers." Thor told Steven.
"Well. You don't have to be everyone's favorite Blake." Steven replied.
"We'll be right there. See you in a bit. Kisses." Natasha hung up the phone, and looked at the two boys. "Get in. We're going to Odin's."
"Gaia?"
"Good day Odin. I have come to find our son. I have heard, somewhere along the grapevine, that you cast him out."
"You cannot come back after all those years. He does not even know you."
"Yes. I know. Thank you for lying to him all these years. I am sure he will thank you for that one,"
"Odin?"
"Frigga! How wonderful to see you again. How's your son, Baldur? I heard he's building churches in India now."
"Gaia.. what... what are you doing here?"
"I came for my son. Seeing as his family refuses to support him anymore."
"He moved out. You can find him at his new apartment."
"I went there. He ran away. And besides, I figured his father should explain things to him."
Loki had slunk out of his window after making the call to Natasha, not wanting to be inside with his mother and father and the Other Woman. It was like they were hardly brothers anymore. And besides Baldur was home from Nepal, from helping citizens and climbing mountains. Loki wasn't really into looking at the pictures or hearing Baldur's stories about the woods and the kids he helped. It just wasn't Loki's thing. He also wasn't into thinking about Baldur and Natasha fucking on the floor of Baldur's hut.
"Is Baldur here?" Loki heard Natasha ask from the doorway to the Blakes, in the background Loki could hear the loud beat of bad music in the background, coming from the kickass stereo system Odin had installed just recently. Apparently this part was to celebrate it.
"Why?" Thor responds.
"Are you not going to let me into your party? Me? Natasha Romanoff?"
"Thor, come here. You need to see my new dance moves!" one of the cheerleaders calls. The bleach blonde one with the small tits.
"He's in the kitchen. Teaching people how to make solar panels from beer cans." Thor tells her as she sidles past him, he himself disappears into the other room after the girl who was ever effectively shaking her ass. "Fuck yeah, baby." He calls moving his hips to match her's.
Loki watches as Natasha makes her way to the kitchen where she found Baldur, sitting on the marble counter, in a loose fitting purple shirt and worn light wash jeans, his halo of dark hair was held back with a bandana. He isn't drinking anything, but every once in awhile he takes a hit from a joint that was being pasted around.
"Hey." She calls out to him, and it took him a moment to figure out she was talking to him.
"Hey, Nat." He responds with a smile as she stood next to him at the counter, "What's up…." He trails off as she took the joint from him and took a drag.
She shrugs "Dunno. Just didn't have anything to do on a Friday night. Thought I'd come over. And celebrate your big brother's win tonight." The football game had been legendary, it had gone into overtime, and Thor had been personally responsible for Riverdale's win, bringing them into the championship.
Baldur smiles like he was proud of his big brother "Yeah, it was pretty amazing y'know." Natasha cocks her head and smiles.
"Wanna dance?"
"Thor, get out of the fucking car." Natasha shouted, Loki hadn't even realized she'd showed up. Steven Rogers was with her, holding India, while Thor was curled up in the front seat, refusing to move.
"No, fuck you, I don't want to fucking see him." He spat as Natasha dragged him from the car, pulling him toward the house.
"It's important." She insisted. Loki had barley told her anything over the phone. Odin needs to talk to Thor. It's family shit. Bring him over?
Thor was protesting still when the door opened, loudly, about how he hated his father, and various other things, taking the fussing baby from Steven. Odin stood on the stoop, Frigga behind him, looking livid as she had since the Other Woman had showed up.
"Son." Odin's voiced carried across the lawn, stopping Thor in his resistant steps.
"Odin." Thor responded
"Come inside. Let's talk."
Inside Odin and Frigga and the Other Woman sat on one sofa, while Thor and Natasha and Loki and Baldur and Steven sat on the other sofa across the room. Frigga had offered them coffee, which Natasha had accepted while Thor refused to make eye contact with his mother when he refused, saying he was "not in the mood for charity." Steven had almost accepted until Thor glared him down. The Other Woman was drinking coffee too, her tangle of red hair tied back, and her mossy colored clothing dark against the white on white-gold interior of the Blake mansion. She watched Thor who watched his daughter and the coffee table very seriously.
"Thor." Odin demanded.
Thor glanced up, his mouth set in a hard line. "What."
"How old is India?" The Other Woman asked, cutting off whatever Odin was going to say. Thor seemed taken aback for a moment.
"She, uh, she's almost 8 months." He answered.
"She's beautiful." The Other Woman said and Thor smiled.
"Thanks." He said "It's all her mom, y'know. She looks just like her..." The woman smiled and moved from the grown ups sofa to the other one, sitting next to Thor. Thor recoilded a little, the way he did when drunk girls he didn't know started failing over him.
"Can I hold her?" The Other Woman asked and Thor looked briefly at Natasha and Steven who shrugged before Thor shrugged and handed his squirmy child over. India immediately quieted down as the Other Woman took her, starting up with big blue eyes, curious as to who the woman was.
"She likes you," Thor said. "Or at least, I think she does, I mean, she's not crying right? That's a plus." The Other Woman smiled and India reached forward, pulling on a chunk of red hair that had fallen from it's ponytail. The Other Woman grimaced. "Oh, yeah. She likes hair pulling..." Thor chuckled.
"So did you." The Other Woman smiled and Thor glanced around again.
"What do you mean?" He asked, his smile turned apprehensive.
"When you were a baby. You just loved to pull people's hair." The Other Woman nodded, her full attention on his child. Thor looked over to Natasha and back, rubbing one of his palms on his jeans.
"Did you know me when I was a baby?" He asked as Odin moved to stand.
"Perhaps we best leave this conversation?" He suggested and the Other Woman turned to glare daggers at him.
"Don't you dare leave this room Odin Blake, this conversation is as much about you as us. Your lovely wife, however, is not concerned and can leave if she wishes." The Other Woman nodded to Frigga, who sat back down stiffly and resumed glaring at the other woman. Natasha cleared her throat and smiled.
"It does however seem a family matter... We're just going to step outside, right Steven?" Natasha nodded standing.
"We... are?" Steven asked and Natasha's eyes grew round as she nodded. "Yeah. Right. Okay. We'll go wait outside. Good idea."
"You guys wanna see the photos from Nepal?" Baldur asked jumping up, the beads around his neck jangling. Natasha told him, they would love to see the photos from Nepal, and the trio made their way toward Baldur's yurt.
"I should go walk Cerberus." Loki announced, but Thor caught the pocket of his jacket.
"Will you stay?" He asked, eyes big and blue and pleading. Loki sighed and sat back down, letting a smile escape his lips at Thor's relief. It felt good to be wanted.
"Odin, dearest, is there something you would like to tell your son?" The Other Woman asked and Odin cleared his throat, Thor's eyes moving to meet his father's.
"Son, uh... I just want to let you know that I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, and it was irresponsible of me." Odin nodded and looked back at the Other Woman. "This is Gaia. Gaia and I went to college together. She's a botanist, back from..."
"Asia." The Other Woman- Gaia -said with a smile at Thor "Research."
"Yes. She's been in Asia for the last 16 years." Odin nodded and cleared his throat again. "And has returned quiet unexpectedly."
"That's great." Thor sneered. "But what does that have to do with anything ever, and how did she know me as a baby?"
"You are just the way I imagined, growing up with this old fool." Gaia said. "Frigga always was the best in class when it came to manners. Not really as presumptuous as I expected, but I guess unexpected pregnancies and ignorant parents helped." She glared again at Odin. Thor rubbed his forehead.
"Yeah okay, but, who the fuck are you?" He asked finally, throwing his hands out, the motion sending ripples through the vase on the table. Gaia smiled again, dark eyes warm and kind.
"Thor, I'm your mother. Your real mother."
