The waves crashed against the cliff, which surprisingly had a calming effect.
Tony and Loki were out on the patio, the former drinking fresh orange juice. Loki had his head tilted back, watching Jamie talk on the phone with one of the directors of Stark Industries.
"I can't believe she's gotten so big," Tony muttered, setting his glass down. "When's the baby due?"
"We don't know yet. Maybe next week." Loki reached for an apple and bit into it, just as Jamie ended the call and joined the two men. Pepper was still in bed, and Tony hadn't had the heart to rouse her. She'd spent lots of sleepless nights watching over him while he was still in the medical facility that he knew she needed to catch up on her sleep.
"And you kiddo? Are you ready for the trials of giving birth?" Tony faced his little sister as she eased herself into the chair between him and Loki. "It isn't easy."
"Oh wow, thanks for telling me Tony," Jamie said sarcastically. "I've been looking forward to spending at least eight hours inside a room while my insides are torn apart."
Tony winced at the description. "Hey I'll have you know that Mom spent twelve hours in the hospital. Dad said you didn't want to leave Mom."
"I put up a real fight, huh?" Jamie grinned at the thought while Loki handed her a glass of orange juice. "If I'd had known what you were like, I'd have insisted on coming out earlier so that I could annoy the bloody hell out of you."
Tony threw his sister a wry grin and rested his eyes on Jamie's belly. "So, you got any names for the kid, kid?"
Jamie glanced at Loki before replying. "Well, Loki wanted something Norse-sounding, but I told him you'd never stand for it."
"Damn right I wouldn't," Tony agreed. "Please tell me it's not Jorunn Junior. I'm having a hard time swallowing your new name."
"Think of a nickname then," Jamie said, shaking her head disparagingly at her brother. "If it's a boy, Loki and I are going to name him Logan Anson."
Tony snorted, but Jamie ignored him.
"If it's a girl, we're naming her Alessia Lilith. The name has the first letters of your names: 'A' and 'L'." Jamie took a sip of the juice and bit into a slice of whole wheat bread. "So? What do you think?"
"Not bad," Tony admitted, raising his glass and taking a long drink. "I'd preferred to have the kid called 'Anthony," but…"
"You can always name your own kids after you," Jamie said patiently. "I'm sure you and Pepper are going to have a lot of kids."
Tony, who was in the middle of drinking, coughed and spluttered, spewing juice all over Loki and Jamie. "Wha-what?"
Jamie tilted her head and raised her eyebrow while Loki did his best to dry himself. "Oh come on, Tony! Don't act like you've forgotten."
Unbeknownst to most people, Tony had had asked Jamie to go on a secret errand just before she and Loki had gone to Hawaii. So far only the two Starks knew about it, but ever since Jamie got married to Loki, the God of Mischief was in on the plan.
"Yeah, but I'm only-" Tony broke off just to make sure that Pepper wasn't hovering around. "proposing. Having kids is far from my mind!"
Jamie waved her hand and watched as Loki stood and walked over to the railing. "You'd make a great dad, Tony. A bit eccentric, yeah, but a great dad nonetheless."
Tony looked mollified but slightly pleased at the thought. Jamie smiled knowingly and joined Loki on the railing. Just as she feared, her stomach was starting to precede her whenever she entered a room, but she took it all in stride.
"I can see why you called my brother a Malibu surfer," Loki said after some time. He nodded towards a pair of blonde-haired surfers in colorful beach shorts, who were surfing a few miles from the cliffs. "They certainly look like him from here."
"Yeah, it's the hair," Jamie agreed, laughing. "The beach blonde hair that's already become synonymous with California."
"Well I'm relieved you don't have blonde hair," Loki murmured.
"What would you do if our kid has blonde hair?" Jamie wondered.
Loki narrowed his eyes. "Then I'd know something's wrong."
Jamie smacked his arm and laughed. "My grandfather had blonde hair. It's possible for the hair to skip a generation or two, you know. But yeah, we'd be a family of brunettes. I can live with that."
"You'd better. You'll be living with me for a long time, Jorunn."
Tony snorted again when he heard the name. "Jesus Christ, why can't you call her by her birth name? It's Jamie, not Jora- Joto- whatever it is!"
Jamie sighed while Loki rolled his eyes. "It's 'Jorunn,' Tony. I think we'd better think of a nickname so that you can "swallow" my new name."
"Jorunn. Sounds weird, if you ask me," Tony mumbled as several robots helped clear the plates. Jamie patted the chrome dome of the smallest robot, Dummy, which earned her a happy beep. "Fine. If you insist on being called Jorunn, then I'm going to call you…Jory."
Loki raised his eyebrows.
"Sounds fair. Tony and Jory," Jamie recited, turning the names over in her head.
"And that makes you two 'Joki'," Pepper said hoarsely, as she joined the group. She had a piece of buttered toast in one hand. "Nice."
Jamie laughed while Tony slid an arm around Pepper's waist. "And what about us?"
"What do you mean 'us'? Do we get a name too? I thought you hated that mushy stuff," Pepper teased him.
"Pepperony," Loki said immediately.
They were all silent for a while. Finally:
"Not bad, Reindeer Games. Not bad. I think you still have a shot at becoming part of this family," Tony declared.
Jamie crossed her arms and looked at her brother.
"What?" Tony said, seeing the look on Jamie's face.
"Nothing." Jamie rubbed the side of her stomach and smiled at Pepper. "But isn't there something that you should be doing, like, right now?"
Jamie continued to look at Tony until the billionaire gave in. With a Cheshire Cat grin, Jamie pulled Loki out of the patio to give Tony and Pepper some privacy.
"Pepperony?" Jamie asked him once they were out of earshot. "You're naming them after a pizza topping?"
"Why not? It fits," Loki replied defensively. "And how do you like our petname? Joki? Are they joking?"
Jamie tried to hide a smile. "You are known as a trickster and a god of mischief, Loki. I'm not surprised Pepper thought of the name."
Loki's lips thinned and Jamie laughed, winding her arm around his. The two retired to their room, where Loki helped Jamie onto the bed. She giggled when she bounced slightly on the mattress; Loki's mouth twitched, as if he were trying hard not to smile.
Once Jamie was lying comfortably on her side, Loki lay down beside her, spooning her with his thin body. He rested his arm against the swell of Jamie's stomach, his hand over hers. Together they felt their child move in Jamie's belly, until they both were lulled into a deep, relaxing sleep.
Back in the patio, Tony asked Pepper to stay and have breakfast with him, since he needed to tell her something. Five minutes later, Tony was still thinking of how to ask her to marry him.
"So, what was it you're going to tell me?" Pepper asked, padding over to the table and taking an apple. Using the knife, she deftly peeled the fruit and cut it into slices, popping the first one in her mouth.
"Well…" Tony began, not sure of where to start.
He found himself becoming tongue-tied when it came down to asking the woman he loved to marry him, despite being able to face a monstrous organism that had been dead set on killing him and his sister, attacking two powerful Greek gods who had disguised themselves as his fiercest business rivals, and fighting two interdimensional beings who were keen on getting their hands on a dangerous power source.
Pepper raised her eyebrows expectantly as she poured coffee into a ceramic mug.
"Ah fuck it," Tony muttered, maneuvering his wheelchair around the table. In one swift movement (one that nearly caused him to strain the muscles on his shoulders), he took the box from his pocket and held it in his palm.
Pepper's eyes widened and her hand shook. She set the mug down on the table and continued to look at Tony, who winked at her. He opened the box and Pepper saw Maria Stark's engagement ring. "Tony…"
"Pepper Potts, will you give me the immense honor of calling myself your husband?" Tony lifted the box even higher, so that the small diamond sparkled in the light.
"Yes," Pepper whispered, covering her mouth with her hand. "Yes, Tony. Yes I will!"
Tony broke into a wide grin and lifted the ring from the box, sliding it on Pepper's finger. The ring fit perfectly, as if it had been made for her. Pepper leaned over and hugged Tony tightly; the billionaire kissed her on the side of the head and then, when they both pulled away, on the lips.
"I love you, Miss Potts," Tony said as they clasped hands.
Pepper smiled. "And I love you, Mr. Stark."
The comfortable silence between the two was interrupted by Jarvis, who offered both his and Jade's congratulations.
"Thanks Jarvis," Pepper said, while Tony reached for his phone and rejected an incoming call from Agent Maria Hill. "Where's Jamie?"
"She's in her room," Jarvis replied. "Resting."
"Don't worry Peps," Tony told his now-fiancée. "Jamie's the one who planned this. Basically. More or less."
Pepper laughed. "But it didn't go exactly as planned, did it?"
Tony narrowed his eyes. "It did. It just took me a little longer to execute."
STARK TRUTH: HEIR TO STARK INDUSTRIES TO WED VIRGINIA POTTS was the headline of all newspapers the next day. Word of Tony Stark's engagement to his former personal assistant was the talk of the town, and even some of the Avengers were finding it difficult to stay away from the topic of Tony's surprise engagement.
"Finally tying the knot, I see," Steve commented over lunch the next day. The Avengers had traveled to the Starks' Malibu home to offer their personal congratulations and attend the small party Jamie had prepared to celebrate her older brother's engagement.
Steve had personally met Tony and Jamie's father, Howard, when the patriotic Avenger had just gone through the procedure that had given him his strengths and abilities.
In a way, Steve functioned as Tony and Jamie's de facto father, a role that neither of the three publicly acknowledged. In fact, Tony and Steve were almost always at each others' throats, especially when they met for the first time.
Now, their relationship had somewhat cooled, but there were moments when the two got on each others' nerves.
Tony shrugged nonchalantly, but everyone could see he was pleased. Clint asked Tony a few questions about the wedding, which was soon passed around. By the end of the day, all the agents in the underground base knew that Tony and Pepper had an initial date of June 26 (a month away) and that they planned to get married in the same cathedral where Howard and Maria Stark were wedded.
"Too bad Jamie didn't get to have her wedding there," Bruce added. Jamie, who was hovering around the buffet table, looked up at the mention of her name.
"Yeah, but it would've been worse if she did and MODOK ended up attacking," Natasha argued. "If I know Stark, he'd most likely insist on having his sister get married in the cathedral once everything has settled."
Jamie turned, her belly rubbing against the side of the table as she did so. To be honest, she didn't really mind that she didn't have a large, fancy wedding. She wasn't really into big parties and gatherings; she had been perfectly satisfied with getting married in the underground base. But Natasha did have a point. She expected her brother to insist that she have a second nuptial, but this time in the said cathedral.
But for the third time in her entire life, Tony went against his usual code of conduct and didn't say a word about the matter; maybe it was because she was pregnant or he thought it was proper for the older Stark to get married in the cathedral first.
Jamie picked a glass of green apple iced tea (another of her cravings) and the plate of sushi that had been set aside for her, and joined Loki at their table. Tony and Pepper were chatting with Fury and Agent Maria Hill, and the other Avengers were in their own little conversation bubbles.
Loki and Jamie were both left to their own devices, which suited them just fine. Jamie's pregnancy was escalating now that she was an Asgardian, but she was still a few weeks shy of actually giving birth.
"Loki, there's something I've been meaning to ask you," Jamie finally said after she finished her iced tea and sushi. Loki, who was twirling his fingers absent-mindedly through several locks of Jamie's hair, looked up.
"Ask away, darling."
"Could you teach me how to use my abilities? I don't really know how to control them," Jamie admitted. She waved her hand and the entire plate of finger foods flew off the table. She winced as the plate broke, scattering the food on the floor.
"Of course." Loki rubbed the side of Jamie's neck and she moaned softly, tilting her head towards him. "We don't want you to start misusing your powers, now would we?"
"Look who's talking," Jamie teased, feeling Loki's other hand slide inside the folds of her dress to caress her stomach. "Weren't you the first one to misuse your abilities?"
Loki's only response was to continue to rub the side of Jamie's neck. Their little session went unnoticed by most of the other guests, save for Fury and Tony. The former looked away, while Tony sighed and took another shot of bourbon.
He'd heard of Loki and Jamie's fight from Fury, who had been told by an anonymous SHIELD agent who had witnessed Loki force Jamie to choose between him and Tony. The billionaire was an iota away from slipping into his suit and shoving the green-clad god out of his house, but he didn't want to do it during the party, and especially with Jamie around.
Tony satisfied himself in the company of his future wife and his colleagues; Jamie and Loki both left the party early, as Jamie was tired and worn out. After the couple left, the conversation turned to the two Asgardians.
Tony told them the story Jamie had told him while he was recovering: how she decided to accept Odin's offer to protect him, how she had to change her name from "Jamie" to "Jorunn" (Tony even mentioned his nickname for her), how she gained some abilities of her own, and how she had refused Odin's offer to give her a special title, opting instead to be known as Loki's wife, rather than the Goddess of Science or some title similar to that.
"After all," Jamie had told Tony, "All I want to be known as is as Loki's wife. I don't need some fancy title anyway."
Tony had smiled at that, and his smile grew even wider when Jamie allowed him to rest his hand on her belly, which gave him the chance to feel his nephew or niece kicking.
"She'd better learn them quick," Clint commented after Tony had finished. "I think she's going to be a great asset to the team."
"Hey hey hey, Jamie's not going to be part of the Avengers," Tony interrupted. "There's already one Stark in this little badass group, and we certainly don't need another."
"Then why did she become an Asgardian if not to help us protect Earth?" Natasha asked.
"She did it for her brother," Bruce answered before Tony could even open his mouth. "But knowing her, she's going to help us if we asked her to."
Tony nodded. "But not right now. She's pregnant."
"We know that, Stark," Natasha said patiently.
"Seems like you're forgetting she doesn't need your protection anymore," Steve added with a small smile. "She is essentially a goddess."
"Hey, she'll always be my little sister," Tony retorted, while Steve drank some iced tea. "Goddess or not, I'll always be there to protect her."
"Well, I'm sure we can handle whoever comes our way," Clint said. "We have no choice."
"I'll drink to that!" Tony declared, ignoring Pepper's look of disdain.
Conflict was his specialty.
Revenge was his hobby.
Together, these formed a powerful combination, one that fueled his desire to seek vengeance on the Norse gods who had wronged him all those centuries ago.
Author's Note: Before this fanfic ends (and I go on a short hiatus; for this fandom, anyway), let's have one final foe! I'm keeping my lips sealed; if you've got guesses, then feel free to share. Or not. ;)
