- Chapter 64 -

The cuffs were crooked again so Tony straightened them then checked his cuff links again. Then he turned and looked at himself in the mirror hanging by the front door. He straightened his bow tie and readjusted his jacket again. Jay swatted his hands away from it. He looked up at his father and said, "Stop fidgeting, dad. You look great. Mom thinks you look handsome in a tux, so stop worrying."

Tony looked down at Jay. His eldest and newest son. Jay's existence was still a marvel to him. It'd only been a month since Loki brought Jay into their home, but Tony already loved him as much as he loved all his other children. Finding him was a miracle. Unlike all his other children, he hadn't been there for Jay's birth. He was only a little upset over that. Working on not being upset was something Tony was trying to do. It was mostly alright though, since he had his son now, when he hadn't before. Just having the boy in his home and being able to treat him with the love he gave all his children made up for it in the most wonderful way. Jay was so much more than the sloppy teenager he looked like. Anyone walking down the street wouldn't be able to tell how special Jay was. The plain black tee-shirt, faded jeans, and mostly unlaced combat boots gave no indication that he was anything other than ordinary. You're so extraordinary! I love it. I love you. Jay looked almost exactly like Tony did when he was that age. The only real differences were Loki's gift of stunningly green eyes that had silver flecks around the center, and the fact that Jay was just over 6' tall already. Tony put a hand on the side of Jay's face and said, "Your mother gives me the best gifts. I'm so proud of you, Jay. I want you to know that."

Laughing as he did it, Jay ran a hand through his messy dark hair. While he liked to keep his hair several inches long, it fell over his face leaving him pushing it aside more often than not. A powerful warmth blossomed in his chest. It crawled up into his throat to form a small knot of emotion. He rolled his eyes and laughed, his voice deep and smooth. He spoke quietly, "Feelings, dad." The physical sensations brought on by emotions, even the smallest of them, could be overwhelming to him. Learning to deal with them was something his new mother was helping him with. A deep gratitude filled him when he thought of how his parents only overwhelmed him with love and care, with pride and respect. That he was intentionally loved was wonderful. Their peculiar quirks were manageable because he loved them so much. As he loved them he also loved his little brothers and sisters, his new uncle Rhodey. In that wealth of love was even a grandfather for him, Frey. He had a family that was worth anything he could give for them; everything could ever do for them.

.-.-.-.

"Dad?" Steve asked. "That boy looks like he's sixteen or seventeen." He could accept the other boy they saw much easier than this one. This boy was plainly older than the invasion. If Tony had kids with Loki before the invasion, then he should've said something about it. This boy's age made many other things seem very wrong.

"And he's clearly Loki and Stark's son," Natasha added. He honestly looked like an older version of the boy they saw earlier. The resemblance was almost eerie.

Turning back to King Frey, Director Fury asked, "How long has Loki been with Stark?" If this boy was as old as he thought, then many of Stark's actions made no sense. This threw off what he thought he knew even more.

"About ten years," Frey smiled and told him. He thought it adorable how shy and quiet his newest grandson was. He was so unlike any of the other boys, so very young and yet so very responsible already.

"That boy's almost an adult. How do you explain that?" Director Fury asked. King Frey's little smiles were far too suspicious. The younger King had the explanations that he needed, but the Director had no way to get them from him.

Another cheshire grin spread across Frey's lips, "Jay is a very special boy who I'm proud to call my grandson."

Frey's tone of voice displeased Odin. It was far too suspicious. He also didn't like the sharp spike of jealous anger that accompanied the thought, They're my grandchildren, not yours!

Being tempted to be irritated with Frey happened for only a second before Frigga's thoughts turned in different and weirdly exciting ways. They were her grandchildren by rights, but the thought of sharing them with him was a pleasant one as well. They'd shared so many things over the years and he'd done so much for her without her even knowing. This would just be the continuation of that. Her smiled waned a little as she realized that he would be sharing them with her.

The older-teen on the screen drew McCorrmick's attention again. He already saw Jay when he decrypted the files. Nothing about the file had changed yet there was another weird sense of déjà vu as he looked over Stark's son. He knew he'd already seen him, but still felt like he'd seen him somewhere else. They'd never met so he wasn't sure where else he would have seen the young Stark.

.-.-.-.

Just then they heard the click-clack of high heels coming towards them. Loki was coming down the hall from the bedroom. Tony stood up straighter as he watched his wife walk towards him. His breath quickened as his world narrowed down to just her. He put his hand in his pocket, held onto the small box that was there. He didn't want to forget it in the mesmerizing sway of her hips.

Loki wore a charcoal silk dress. The sleeveless bodice was form fitting quilted silk. She wore a small half-sleeve lace bolero buttoned over her bust. The floor length skirt was made of several layers of loose flowing silk. It billowed around her legs giving the impression of her floating towards them. A small black clutch was in her hand. Her normally unruly curls were pushed back by a glimmering silver headband. Loki wore no other adornments. There was no make-up on her flawless alabaster skin. She needed neither. She walked directly to Tony, "Hello, Love."

"He-llo, Beautiful," Tony said. He stopped for a moment to just look into her eyes. What he saw there held him in awe. It always brought a weightless giddiness with it.

Tony's greeting caused a chuckle to bubble up in Loki. "Flattery, my Love," she said as she held out her hand to him.

How am I this lucky? Tony stepped forward quickly and took her hand in his. He raised it to his lips and kissed the back of her hand. His seidr flowed out to touch at her briefly before pulling back in. "Will get me everything I want," he said. He straightened up and said, "Close your eyes."

Since she rarely ever had the urge to question him Loki just closed her eyes and waited. She could hear his footsteps, the rustle of fabric and something opening. Suddenly there was a cold, light weight around her neck. He took her hand then put his other hand on her back to guide her a few steps forward. "Ok, open your eyes," he whispered in her ear.

When Loki opened her eyes, she was standing in front of the mirror by the front door. Raw beauty and love was sitting around her neck. The necklace Tony placed on her was no ordinary necklace. She reached up to run her fingers over it. The lucent tear drop gem looked like the crystallized orange fire that it was. Subtle streaks of crimson ran through the varying light-to-dark shades of orange contained in the gem. They were accented beautifully by little traces of gold and silver. It was about three inches in length, two inches at its widest, half an inch in depth and set in shining silver with gold accents. "Oh, Love. What have you made for me?" Loki couldn't keep the reverence out of her voice. She knew what it took to make what she was wearing.

.-.-.-.

The necklace Loki was gifted with brought a wide smile to Frey's face. He could hear the tiny ripple of shock in his beloved sister's seidr. The slow compressing and crystallizing of seidr could only be accomplished by the very powerful and very talented. Anthony had all the power he needed. Frey knew him to be a talented craftsman. Under Loki's tutelage he had all the knowledge he needed as well. It was no small feat to create a seidr diamond. It was a gift befitting the Lady of a Realm. The fact that it was made of orange seidr only made it that much rarer and more valuable. There was only one pendant like that in all the Nine Realms. Frey approved of Anthony doing this. He greatly approved of his nephew-by-law.

The necklace around Loki's neck was emotionally confusing for Frigga, so much so that she wasn't certain how to feel about it. The gem was stunningly beautiful. There was no arguing over that. That it was made of orange seidr made it as pricelessly rare as it was beautiful. However, she'd just witnessed Stark violently abusing Loki. This gift wasn't enough to excuse what she'd just seen. It couldn't be. All the gifts in the Nine Realms couldn't make up for Loki being trapped in a wicked relationship with a beast. All it did was confuse her. It was no small feat to create a seidr diamond. That Stark had taken the time to make an impressively sized one when he was so willing to draw Loki's blood in such an intimate fashion made no sense. Not much about this did.

There was a small spike of jealous anger as Odin watched Stark place the necklace on Loki. He'd given his wife whole sets of jewelry made of his seidr. His seidr was the yellow seidr of Asgard though. The seidr diamond sitting at the end of that delicate chain was made of orange seidr. There was only one like it. Odin thought it belonged more to Frigga, than to Loki. His wife, not his son, was Queen of the Nine Realms, the Lady of Asgard. It was something else his son shouldn't have.

.-.-.-.

"The seidr diamond wasn't difficult but setting and chain are made from my first miniaturized arc reactor, the one I made in Afghanistan," Tony said quietly. Taking it apart to turn the materials into something beautiful was both a wrenching and fulfilling task. The emotions it evoked were almost overwhelming, but he could still hear Yinsen's soft voice through it. He was making better things, trying to at least. The necklace brought him a closure he hadn't thought could exist. That he was making it for Loki only made it better for him.

"Oh, Love. You've given me your heart," she said tenderly. Loki looked at the chain, the setting and gem. The light flickered through it beautifully. Her seidr uncurled to flow out into him.

His seidr instantly responded to hers. Tony wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on her shoulder, "You already had my heart, I just thought everyone else should see it."

Little silver sparks filled the air surrounding them before a sparkling golden radiance bloomed. Loki put her hand on his arms and leaned back into his embrace. "I will keep this as my greatest treasure and wear it with pride."

"You two are saccharine sweet, you know that? I can feel myself getting cavities just standing next to you," Jay had a smirk on his face as he spoke.

The radiant sparks died away instantly as his seidr fed back into his core. Tony could feel Loki's doing the same. He huffed and said, "Way to kill the mood, son."

Cheerful laughter bubbled up from Loki. Her son was becoming a charmingly impertinent rascal. "You are so like your father."

They're happy, it was a satisfying thought. Jay's white-blue seidr was impelled from his core. It rushed down his arm to be written into a portal to New York. He waved a hand to the left of them to open that portal immediately. "Go on. Go have fun." With it open his seidr was impelled back into his core.

What a good boy. Loki walked over to give her son a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Be good and don't set anything on fire," she said. A chuckle came with him shaking his head and muttering something about 'never gonna live that down'.

After Tony took his wife's hand in his, he told Jay, "We have our phones, call if you need to."

I know that, father. Jay rolled his eyes and said, "I know, dad. I know what to do. Nothing bad is going to happen. You two are going go watch a depressing play. My little brothers and sisters are going to sleep, and I'm going catch up on some episodes of Nightwing." Despite having already viewed the entire series, he still wanted to watch them again. There was something quite enjoyable about having root beer and popcorn while the show played.

"Les Misérables is far better than Nightwing," Loki grumbled. She didn't care for his like of overwrought superhero TV shows. It made him happy to sit and watch them, so she didn't complain too much.

"Yes, mom. Broadway is always better. Now go have fun," Jay gently pushed both of them towards the portal. He smiled and waved as they stepped through the portal to New York. "I love you," he said quietly as the portal closed.

A second before the portal was completely closed he heard his mother's voice through it, "I heard that!"