Minutes passed in silence, never making themselves known. The world continued onward as if their life didn't matter.
Steve stared at Loki in utter bewilderment "What?" he echoed.
Loki leaned over the side of the bed, retrieving his pants. Reaching into the pocket he pulled out the sonogram and held it out for Steve to see.
Steve took the picture from Loki and gawked at it, "What?" he repeated once more. "How can you be?"
Loki leaned against the backboard, "It's complicated," he sighed, "but when I change myself into a woman, it's not just my appearance, my whole body changes." He looked to Steve, "Remember when I made the comment before, about my children?"
"Yeah," Steve replied.
"Most of them I fathered, but few, I mothered," he admitted.
Steve leaned back against the headboard, "Really?" he let out a long sigh.
Loki's heart sunk as the worst came to mind. His hear races and his stomach turned.
"A baby?" Steve breathed, his eyes never leaving the photo, "Really?" It was all he seemed to manage to say.
Loki sunk into the bed. Perhaps now wasn't the best time to bring it up. Maybe he should have just disappeared as he originally decided. He wasn't sure what drove him to burst out all of a sudden, maybe it felt right in that moment.
Steve looked to Loki, "Think we could go to the clinic tomorrow morning? I want to see this for myself."
He doesn't believe me, "Sure thing, want me to call them ahead of time or just walk in?"
"Probably best to call in first," Steve replied, "we can talk about it more tomorrow." With that, Steve got comfortable and rolled onto his side, facing away from Loki.
Loki remained sitting up in bed. There was no use trying to get comfortable, he knew he wouldn't sleep at all that night. He finally managed to get it off his chest and Steve didn't believe him. There they were sharing a bed as if they'd been living together, and Loki ruined it by telling Steve he's pregnant. I should have left right at the beginning, he told himself, at least for a few months. Long enough to give birth and come back as if nothing happened. Weasel my way back in and possible never letting them find out who I really was. Though I didn't know until after the fact. He looked to his stomach, rubbing it hoping for reassurance. Scooting down into the bed, he rolled onto his side, and as Steve had done, he faced the opposite direction.
Loki managed to squeeze in for a last minute appointment at the clinic and found the clinic just as irritating as the first time. The most irritating part was the fact that all the woman waiting seemed to be swooning over Steve. No one seemed to question why Steve was there, all they cared about was he was there and no one was complaining.
Lonna folded her arms across her chest in a pout, and just quietly waited for her name to be called. Once her name was called, she was glad to have Steve to herself once more, but everyone else was disappointed, even a few of the nurses. Lonna couldn't help but beam in victory, but it was short lived as she realized, even she didn't have him.
Lonna lay back in the examining chair, lifted her shirt and did as instructed. Moments later the image came up on screen. At that moment, Steve's jaw fell into his lap, "There's a baby in there," he squeaked.
Lonna wanted so hard to say something along the lines like, I told you so, but she held her tongue. Something she wasn't used to. But what happened next, took her by surprise.
Steve turned to look at Lonna, beaming ear to ear, "There's a baby in there," he repeated. He looked back at the screen then back to Lonna, "We're having a baby."
We, Lonna repeated to herself. He said 'we're.'
Upon impulse, Steve held Lonna's hand and watched the screen. She felt the heat rise in her cheeks, watching him like watching a child see fireworks for the first time. Seeing all the fascination and bewilderment for the first time warmed her up. But if he's so excited, then why did he sound so disappointed last night?
"Everything seems good," the Doctor said, "we won't be able to know the gender for another few weeks, though. Do you want another picture?"
Lonna looked to Steve who shook his head, "No, that's ok, we already have the one from the other day," he smiled.
After cleaning up and leaving the clinic, Lonna looked to Steve, so many thoughts rushing around in her head, but one outweighed the rest, "You seem...genuinely...excited about all this."
Steve looked to her, still beaming ear to ear, "But I am."
Lonna stopped in her tracks, "Well...last night it seemed like-"
Steve rose a brow, "Seemed like what?"
"Like you didn't believe me, and that you were sure your life was over," she frowned.
Steve rested his hands on her shoulders, and shook his head, "No, Lonna, I was in shock. Ever since all those years ago when I was made into the soldier I am today, I was told there would be some side effects. I just had assumed that not being able to reproduce would be one of them. This is great!" he announced, "I'm going to be a father!" Without another word, he leaned in and kissed Lonna on the lips with much enthusiasm, that she was sure she would fall over. "But what does that make you?" he asked when he pulled away.
Lonna was still lost in the whole thing, she felt warm and fuzzy and a bit dizzy. Blinking a few times, she finally processed the question, "Well, seeing as I'm pregnant, it still makes me the mother," she smiled.
Steve reached out, placing a flat palm against Lonna's stomach, "Will I be able to feel it yet?"
Lonna clasped her hands over his and looked at him. She could feel her eyes starting to water and part of her hated the fact that she was so emotional in this state, but the other part didn't much care. "Not quite," she smiled. "I can feel movement once in a while, it's faint, but soon you'll be able too."
Steve couldn't stop smiling, "This is so exciting," he said.
Lonna watched him, "Last night, I swore you had the completely opposite thought," she frowned. "You seemed...disappointed."
Steve shook his head, "No, no way. It's like I said, I didn't think I could have kids. I was in disbelief, I had to see it for myself. Not that I didn't believe you, I just didn't believe I could do any of it. I can't wait!" he exclaimed before giving Lonna a big hug.
"Please don't crush me," she grumbled.
Steve quickly let go, "Sorry," he blushed.
Lonna could only watch him in amusement. She couldn't believe this was happening.
As the months passed, Loki got more used to the idea that he and Steve may actually be a happy couple one day with a beautiful child of their own. He was starting to show now, but not so much that was obvious. There was the scare a while back, when Fury asked Steve why he was at the maternity clinic. Apparently a few of those women got some good shots of him to share on facebook with their friends.
Steve couldn't lie to Fury, hell he couldn't lie to anyone, at least anyone he cared about, unless it meant the safety of others. Fury merely said, "I know," then gave Steve an ashamed look, but did what SHIELD does best. He made the pictures disappear, even from the internet. The only down side was anyone in town who took pictures that day, lost all those pictures, and maybe a few phone numbers. As for the Avengers, they were far more intelligent than the common folk and were easily beginning to catch on that there may be something going on between the two men, but hadn't quite noticed that Loki is pregnant. In a few more months though, they'd be bound to notice. Luckily for Loki, Asgardian fabric was quite thick and hid a lot. The downside was Loki was at the stage where even when it was a comfortable 75 degrees, he felt like it was at least 100.
Cap had been called overseas to speak with the troops as a motivator, similar to what he did when he first joined the army, but now he was a real soldier, one men and women could truly look up to. Not just as a hero, but a role model.
Loki on the other hand was, to his surprise, invited by Thor to help Jane with a project. Jane wasn't too keen on the idea at first, but Loki had convinced her that he'd behave himself. Thor even added in that Loki knew a lot about the stars, since he had spent so much time amongst them in his year of absence.
At the moment however, Jane had him sitting at a distance from the work, despite how he proved himself a while back, she was still apprehensive to trust him. Darcy on the other hand was thoroughly entertaining herself with his presence. Loki was surprisingly doing well with tolerating her, which was an accomplishment on it's on.
"Is it really necessary to continue to poke me?" he finally asked.
"Just making sure you're real," Darcy said. "I've heard about your smoke and mirrors, big guy, I just want to make sure you're solid."
She was just about to poke him in the stomach, when he snatched her wrist, inches from himself, "I think we're sure I'm real," he assured her.
Darcy retraced her hand, "Perhaps," she agreed. "You know, you and Thor really don't look much alike, at all."
"Perhaps, because I'm adopted," Loki suggested.
"Oh, right, forgot about that," Darcy pouted, "But you're both pretty tall...and well built," she said, raking him over with her eyes. Loki couldn't help but notice. Even in his relationship (if one cold call it that), with Steve, he couldn't help but feel flattered by her visual compliment. "So, is tallness and hunky build, like a thing in Asgard?"
Loki smirked, "Considering the largeness of Volstagg, I'll say no." Thor chuckled in the background, until Jane got his attention again.
"Volstagg?" Darcy asked.
"A...friend," Loki replied, "Let's just say, I think he loves food more than life itself."
"Ah, someone who desires the finer things in life. But if I may ask, you say you're adopted, right? I think I heard Jane mention something about you being from a place called Jötunheim? I always figured different worlds would have different looking beings. Other than the Hulk, we all seem to look the- OH MY GOD!" she shouted, covering her mouth.
Both Jane and Thor looked to her, startled, but by the time they looked, nothing seemed to be wrong. "Everything...okay...over there?" Jane asked.
"We're fine," Loki assured her.
Jane looked to Darcy who took a moment to respond, "Um...thought I saw a spider."
Jane looked to Thor then went back to her work.
"YOU WERE BLUE!" Darcy barked at a whisper.
Loki smiled, "I'm a shape shifter, what you see before you now, isn't my true form. What you saw for that second, was my birth form."
Darcy managed to calm herself after a few deep breaths, "I'm good," she breathed, "I'm good." She looked back to him, "So...you're like...a smurf?"
Loki only rose a brow.
"Erm, never mind," she waved it off. "But seriously, blue huh? If you can shape shift, does that mean, that's not really what you look like, I mean other than the fact that you turn blue? Jane said the Frost Giants are supposed to be, like, huge. I mean you're tall," she bit her lip, "but, you're not huge. Well I don't know about all of you," her eyes seemed to trail down his body, lingering over his lower region.
Loki felt his body react instantly, though he wasn't sure if it was the hormonal sensitivity of being pregnant, the fact that he was missing Steve or just the general urge to feel the touch of another. He shifted in his seat, crossing his legs, he shifted how he sat so her eyes couldn't pry so easily. "I was abandoned for being the runt of the pack, if you will. After Odin found me, I apparently adapted to his form, in a sense. So as you see me now, is the form I've had since then. But I can take any form I wish, for instance," Loki got up from his seat, with little difficulty, which Darcy noticed, and as he rose, his body shifted.
Darcy covered her mouth, "Dude!"
"Dude!" Loki echoed, in Darcy's voice. Standing before her, she was splitting image of the original, before her.
"What the dick, man, that's freakin sweet!" she exclaimed.
"I'm not even going to repeat that," Larcy replied.
Darcy only beamed ear to ear, "Takes real talent to be me."
"Or pure laziness," Larcy suggested.
"Dude!" Darcy exclaimed again, shoving Larcy, lightly on the shoulder, "We should mess with Jane and Thor."
Larcy smirked, "I like how you think."
Jane was deeply involved into her work, and Thor seemed to be more of a wall decoration than anything else. One of the Darcy's came up beside Jane, peering over her shoulder, "Making any progresses on connection the dots?"
Jane held up a hand in Darcy's face, "Shhh, zone," she replied.
"Rude," the Darcy replied, folding her arms.
"Maybe we can mess with Thor," the other Darcy suggested.
Thor caught on right away, "Loki," he huffed, "we're supposed to be helping, not playing."
"Boo," the first one groaned.
Jane finally looked up, "Oh Lord, just what I need, two of them."
"That's kind of insulting," the second Darcy said.
"Usually I'd be pretty shocked, but I've been around Asgard stuff for a while now, so it's not all that exciting."
"Party pooper," the first Darcy said.
"You still have to guess which is which," the second added.
"I don't have time," Jane protested.
"You need to learn how to let loose once and a while," the first one said.
"At least more than running off to Asgard every few years," the second added.
Jane rolled her eyes, "Come on guys, I need Loki to help me, anyways," she rolled her eyes.
"That doesn't sound very convincing," the second Darcy said, folding her arms.
"If you think that's gonna-" she clutched her stomach suddenly, "Ohhhh," she frowned.
"What, what is it!" Jane asked, running to her side, just in time for her to become Loki once more. "Oh...didn't expect that."
Thor came up alongside his brother, "What's the matter, what is it?!"
"Something is wrong," Loki replied, clutching his stomach.
"Have you been poisoned? What happened?" he demanded.
"Call Steve!" Loki shouted.
A/N: And another exciting chapter! What will happen next?
Had to throw in some fun with Jane and Darcy, I originally wanted to do a Darcy/Loki fanfic, but got too into this story, but I still think they would have made a cute couple.
On a side note TearfullPixie, sweety, you don't have to say "cool" every time I post a chapter, I just wanted to know there's human beings reading my stories, but thanks for the effort.
Thank you everyone who gave suggestions regarding the baby, I'm taking all ideas into consideration, but I'm still stuck on name ideas. I have a few in mind, but it's a matter on deciding if the names fit.