When Tony woke up and found himself in his workshop he wasn't surprised he was just in pain and disappointed. He should have made it to bed at least, then he would not have a whole day walking around sore and stiff all over. He needed coffee immediately and he found himself walking to the kitchen where Loki was sitting alone at the table hunched over a bowl of cereal like he was expecting someone to grab it out from under him. Tony walked up behind him and put an arm around Loki's small width of shoulders. Loki jumped at first but then he leaned back and relaxed into Tony's embrace. He looked up at Tony smiling.

"Morning kiddo." Tony whispered kissing Loki's forehead.

"Morning Tony." Loki replied and Tony's arm left him and Loki watched as Tony poured himself a cup of coffee. Tony's felt the eyes on him and he turned around wiping a hand across his tired face.

"Do you want cereal?" Loki wanted to know.

"What do you have?" Tony asked pulling a chair closer to the table.

"I have granola." Loki said showing Tony the box and he pulled a face and that brought a smile to Tony's.

"Let me guess that is Steve's idea." Tony asked and Loki nodded and faked a shudder.

"And then Fruit loops." Loki said looking pleased with himself. And in that moment Tony saw the flash of the old Loki and then it vanished and there again was the their sweet incredible boy who was nothing like the old Loki at all.

"I'll have fruit loops." And Loki slid off his chair and went to the cupboard to get a bowl that he placed in front of Tony. It was a Spongebob bowl and Tony smiled at it as Loki filled it up with Fruit loops and then added milk. He handed Tony a spoon and Loki climbed back on his chair pulling it closer to Tony.

"Thanks buddy." Loki waited for Tony to have some of it and say what he thought of it.

"It's good." Tony said just as Steve walked in and he didn't say anything for a moment he just stared at the beautiful sight of Loki and Tony eating cereal side by side.

"Good morning." He said eventually.

"Morning." They both greeted looking up and then Thor came in mumbling something that sounded like a good morning and he tousled Loki's long black hair then he headed straight for the coffee machine.

Loki stared at Steve with expectation and Tony saw it and stared at both of them with suspicion.

Steve cleared his throat.

"So…"he whispered. "Tommy is having a sleepover as part of his birthday party on Friday." Tony raised his eyebrows.

"Who the heck is Tommy?"

"The boy you said can no longer come over." Loki told him and Tony wiped away a splash of milk from the corners of Loki's mouth.

"Because he talked too much?"

"The very same one." Loki replied.

"Wait is this the same Tommy who told you Father Christmas doesn't exist?" Clint asked coming along having heard most of the conversation.

"Clint that was years ago and father Christmas doesn't exist, I figured that out now." Loki told him matter of factly.

"We failed as parents.' Clint said.

"Anyway! Tommy, even though he was banned from here…" Tony cut Steve short.

"He gave me a headache." Tony said.

"Me too." Thor added.

"Well, even though he gave both of you headaches and got banned for being an inquisitive little kid just like another kid around here…" Steve threw a look at Loki.

"Yeah, but his our kid, there's a difference." Clint said and Steve wanted to get into how there could be a difference but he didn't want to get into it he just shook his head.

"The point I am trying to make here is that Tommy wants Loki to come to his birthday party."

"No." Tony said without even thinking about it.

"Please Tony, all my friends will be there." Loki reached out and held onto Tony's hand and he was using his puppy eyes to full effect.

"Thor what do you think?" Steve asked.

"I think no."

"But Thor." Loki protested.

"And I agree with Thor." Clint added even though no one had asked him for his opinion.

"Loki are you done eating?" Steve asked.

"Yeah but…" Loki said glumly.

"Go get dressed for school and I will talk to these mother hens." Loki nodded and left reluctantly.

"Steve, don't even bother we can't have him out of our sight with people we don't even know." Clint said in his most authoritive spy voice.

"It's a kid's birthday party. And I already spoke to Tommy's parents who seemed very nice. I have all their contact details and it's only going to be seven boys Tommy's mom will pick them up right after school and she will drop him off the next morning at eleven or so."

"How many hours is that?" Tony asked looking at his watch.

"Too many." Thor answered.

"Guys his growing up and we all want him to be a normal little boy well he is not going to feel very normal if we keep him from doing things with his friends."

"Why can't we just have a sleepover here?" Clint asked.

"Because it's Tommy's birthday and we aren't eight year olds!"

"I'll check out their place and their background first." Clint said

"No! No checking out of backgrounds and no stake outs at these people's home."

"That's a good idea." Clint said and Steve slapped him at the back of his head.

"We're going to do normal! We are going to be normal parents who let their kids go on sleepovers and not run background checks, or have stake outs or hire a damn SWAT team. He is going because he really wants to go and he wants to have friends and enjoy himself like any other kid his age."

"Fine." Tony grumbled.

"I'm only saying yes on one condition." Clint said.

"And what's that?"

"If this ends up being a disaster it's all on you."

"Fine!"

Loki came into the room ready and dressed for school he still looked glum and waited for whatever decision they had all come up with.

"We decided you can go." Tony announced and Loki's eyes went wide with excitement and he did a fist pump and threw himself at Thor, and then Tony and Clint and he saved the last hug for Steve that lasted the longest.

Friday came way too quickly and it was all Loki could talk about, he was finally going to Tommy Mitchell's birthday party.

And the Avengers towers was entirely too quiet, it was only this quiet when Loki was sick or sleeping or when he wasn't home but he had never been away from home for this long. And the Avengers felt his absence weighing on them. They weren't sure what to do with themselves. And constantly felt that something was missing and the missing something was of course the little boy.

"We don't have to have hotdogs for dinner." Steve told Natasha who looked down at the packet of hotdogs she had removed from the fridge.

"Old habits and all that." She said putting it back. Hot dogs was the only thing Loki wanted on Friday nights and he usually followed it with some Ben & Jerry's ice cream. And Friday night he could always stay up a little later because there was no school the next day so they would all end up watching a movie of Loki's choice and his body always let him down and he would fall asleep in front of the TV and one of them had to carry him to bed.

The thought suddenly crossed Steve's mind, he had never bothered to ask about sleeping arrangements, he worried now that what if Loki woke up and felt alone would Tommy's parents be there. And he hushed the inner voice of concern to remain quiet. It was a painful price to pay to keep Loki normal.

"Did Tommy's mother tell you what they would be eating?" Natasha asked staring at the open fridge and wondering what the heck to eat now.

"No, she just made sure he wasn't allergic to anything or if he was vegan. I didn't know what vegan was until a couple of years ago."

"I'm sure there will be lots of fun things to eat and ice cream but knowing little boys they will be more interested in playing than eating." She took out the packet of hotdogs, screw it, it was a family tradition why break it now.

"It's damn quiet around here…I keep expecting him to come running in pushing some Stark gadget around."

"He has never spent a night away from home since he got here." Steve said and Nat looked at him.

"Are you sure?"

"Never, not one single night."

"Thanks Cap now I don't feel so bad anymore."

"Sorry."

"Wanna help me make hotdogs it will help take our mind off things."

"Absolutely."

"He's probably having a great time right now and what are we doing, throwing ourselves a pity party."

"Am I invited?" Tony asked.

"You've been checking your Iron man bracelet haven't you?" Steve said more as an acquisition then a question.

"He could at least press it once so I feel needed and loved." Tony said.

"How did we go from being a special task force of superheroes to over protective parents?" Steve wondered.

"I blame Thor." Natasha said as Thor joined them.

"What have I done now?"

"You brought Loki into our lives and look at us he is gone for one night and we all look miserable and don't know what to do with ourselves."

"Aye it is my fault." Thor conceded and they laughed.

"He forgot Boo I should take it to him." Bruce said walking in with a teddy bear that had seen better days and years for that matter.

"Bruce as sweet as that is and it really is incredibly sweet, he hasn't slept with Boo in over 4 years." Natasha said taking the bear out of his hands.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Yes Bruce I am very sure. And it only sits in his room for sentimental value." She cuddled it against her chest absentmindedly. They all watched her do it and nobody passed any comment afraid of the karate kick that would come flying their way.

"So we are having hotdogs and ice cream and watching…" Clint asked.

"Penguins of madagascar for the hundredth time." Thor said.

"Just smile and wave boys, just smile and wave." Tony said and they all burst out laughing. The night started to improve as they all gathered around the TV and ate and laughed at the same jokes like Loki always did. Maybe this isn't so bad they thought until Jarvis voice echoed across the room.

"Sir, I have a Laura Mitchell here to see you."

"Who the heck is Laura Mitchell."

"That's Tommy's mom. Jarvis let her up." Steve ordered. And all the Avengers were up on their feet and went to the elevator and waited impatiently for the door's to open and when it did Laura was standing with Loki in front of her holding his backpack.

"Hey is everything okay?" Steve asked.

"Loki wasn't feeling very well." Laura squeezed Loki's shoulders gently. "So I thought it would be best to bring him home."

"Thank you so much, you should have called us we could have fetched him." Tony said as Thor picked Loki up in his arms.

"It was no problem, let me know if he feels better please." She said.

"We will do that and thank you again."

"I told you this was a bad idea." Tony whispered to Steve as Tommy's mother left.

"This is really not the right time for an I told you so Tony."

"What is the matter Loki?" Thor asked placing a hand on Loki's forehead.

"Nothing's wrong.' Loki said pushing Thor's hand away.

"Then why did you want to come home didn't you like the party?" Natasha asked.

"No, I liked it, it was fun there was a jumping castle. Can I have a jumping castle?" Loki asked.

"I'll make you one tomorrow." Tony said. "But kid if you're not sick and you had fun at Tommy's why did you want to come home?"

"I missed you guys." Loki said sending lumps of tears into every Avengers throat. "Are you watching The Penguins?" Loki asked not realizing the effect that his words had on them.

"Yes we are." Steve said because he was the only one who could find he could still talk.

"Can we start it from the beginning?"

"Of course we can." Steve said.

They gathered around the TV again and not very far into the movie Loki fell asleep. Thor picked him up and carried him to his bedroom. He laid Loki down on the bed gently and Loki stirred as Thor slowly and carefully got him into his pajamas. Loki stirred in his sleep.

"sssshhh back to sleep." Thor whispered running soft circles on his brother's back until Loki began drifting off to sleep again. "I love you so much."

"I love you more." Loki replied.

A/N This concludes our little Loki part and up next we will have a teen Loki!

To say I have adored writing all the baby and kid Loki parts would be a huge understatement, and a lot of the shenanigans of little Loki were inspired by own nephew who was our family's surprise bundle of joy, he arrived most unexpectedly and we now years later are very glad to have him in our lives and cannot imagine it without him.