5

A Laufeyson Christmas Eve

"Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, children were reading and playing with Nerf guns." ~Loki

Loki woke up Christmas Eve morning to a cat licking his hair. "Aww, by the Nine, Mischief!" he groaned. "Do you have to wake me up like that?" He could have sworn the cat smirked at him.

"I'm hungry," The kitten purred.

Loki sighed. "Okay. Quit washing me. My hair is clean," Or it was, he thought groaning.

"Is it time to eat, Papa?" she asked, pawing at the air.

"I guess it is," Loki said, realizing he wasn't going to get to sleep in today.

The cat jumped off the pillow and sat on the rug, purring while Loki got up, shoved his feet into his slippers, and ran a brush through his hair.

"Come on Papa! Wait until you see what the kids have!" The kitten chirped, downstairs he could her the kids running around and the distinct sound of Nerf guns.

"Nerf guns!" Loki shook his head. "I know whose doing that was!" He conjured an extra large green one that could shoot multiple bursts and ran downstairs.

"Get him, Sam!" Vince shouted.

"No!" Thor shouted back! "Stark! You will pay for this!"

"Surprise! Loki shouted and opened fire, hitting Thor in the butt and Sam and Hunter in the arms.

"Got him, Daddy!" Aleta said from the top of the bookshelf. Opening fire like a sniper.

"Hey, spark! What are you doing up there?" Loki called, shooting Tony with precision between the eyes.

From under the table, Max appeared and shot as well. Thor taking hits to the groin.

"There goes my chance for heirs." Thor groaned, pressing his forehead to the floor in pain.

"Just suck it up, Thunder Boy!" hooted Natasha.

Belle hid under the table and shot at everyone's feet as they went past.

"Uncle Tony gave us these to us for Christmas!" Max said and Aleta started climbing off the bookshelf.

Loki levitated up and helped her down.

"Thanks Daddy. Uncle Clint said I should take the high ground."

Loki laughed. "He's right, Aleta."

A Nerf arrow came from nowhere, hitting Vince between the eyes.

"Very funny Uncle Clint!" Vince shouted.

Loki ducked a Nerf arrow and then fired back at Steve

"Nice shot, Dad!" Nate cheered.

"Hope you don't mind." Tony said, ducking a dart from Nate.

"No. They can have fun and not kill each other. Always a plus!" Loki giggled.

"True." Tony said, a dart hitting him in the side of the head.

A dart hit Loki in the back of the knee.

"Gotcha, Dad!" Hunter shouted.

"Now you are going to get it!" Thor laughed, standing up.

A grinning Loki knelt on one knee and opened up with a barrage of arrows towards his impertinent son. "Think fast, wolfling!"

"No!" He shouted, running and ducking behind a door.

Loki crooked a finger and the Nerf missiles followed Hunter like they were heat seeking. "You can run but you can't hide!"

"No fair! That's cheating Dad!" He shouted and Thor laughed hard.

"I beg your pardon?" Loki said. "All's fair in love and war, son."

"Get him!" Serena shouted. Belle and she appearing over the couch and firing on him.

Loki blinked away then reloaded and shot Steve down.

"Hi Dad!" Belle said, shooting him from the top of the stairs and laughing.

"Now, now, darling!" Loki chided, smirking. "Don't shoot your father." He promptly shot her hand with a missile.

"Mean!" Belle said and laughed. Darts and arrows scattered all over the room.

He grinned. This is fun! he thought.

Mischief meowed, wanting breakfast. "Sorry!" he mewed back and waved a hand and a can of tuna appeared in her dish.

"Breakfast!" Mischief meowed.

Odin barked from the yard. "Let me in! I want food!"

Loki waved his hand and let the shepherd in, then he magicked ground hamburger into Odin's bowl.

The dog charged through the house, running through Thor's legs and causing him to fall over backwards. He crashed to the floor, groaning in pain.

"Odin!" Loki huffed. "Thor, you okay?"

"I think so." Thor groaned, Odin bolting down his food and pushing the bowl across the floor.

Loki helped his brother to his feet, healing him.

"I think your family will cost me an eye one day."

"I hope not," Loki said. "And it's your family too, brother." He clapped the warrior on the shoulder.

"I do hope these children wear out soon." Thor groaned, three darts hitting him in the butt.

"I can't guarantee that, Thor," Loki chuckled. "They're like the Energizer bunnies."

"How do you survive them?" He asked, a dart hitting him in the forehead, and he sighed.

"I let them wear themselves out," Loki answered.

"Did they put glue on this one?" Thor said, pulling at the stuck dart.

"They could have," Loki chuckled and plucked the dart off.

"Ouch!" Thor said and rubbed the red spot.

"Sorry," Loki apologized.

"Duck!" Vince shouted, opening fire on Steve and Natasha.

The brothers threw themselves to the ground.

"No!" Steve shouted, getting hit by the darts.

"Nice shot, nephew!" Thor cried.

"Thanks Uncle Thor." He said back, laughing.

"I think I had better feed this horde of children," Loki grinned and headed into the kitchen.

Steve walked through the door to the kitchen, a dart hitting him in the butt and sticking.

"That one had glue on it." Hunter said, shrugging.

"Just for that, you're eating liver, kid!" Loki called back.

"I need more glue then!" Hunter said and laughed. "I'm going down for something big!"

"Hunter!" Steve shouted, Natasha laughing and pulling the dart off his butt. She tore his pants accidentally, revealing some star spangled boxers. Tony begin singing the Star Spangled Banner, Clint saluting with him.

"Nice shorts, Rogers!" Thor laughed

"Thanks." He groaned, tying his hoodie around his waist and turning red. "Stop singing that."

A knock on the door made Loki turn as he walked to the door and heard a soft bark. Smiling, he opened the door and looked at Mandy and Mystic,

"Hello, dear," Mandy said as he opened the door a little wider so she could come in and Mystic scampered off to find Odin and Mischief.

"Come in, Mandy!" Loki grinned broadly. "You're just in time for breakfast. Excuse the chaos-my friend Tony bought my kids Nerf guns for Christmas and we're having a Nerf war."

"Oh my!" she said as he helped her off with her coat and placed the coat on the peg. He led her into the living room as he saw Max and Aleta playing with Mystic and Odin then they ran to Mandy, hugging her. "Merry Christmas, Dears."

"Merry Christmas, Missus Mandy!" they chorused.

"Is Santa gonna bring you presents under your tree too?" Max asked excitedly. He couldn't wait for Christmas morning to arrive.

"I think I'm a little old for him to bring me presents," Mandy said, sadly.

"You are never too old for presents," Loki assured her and she nodded.

"You want some coffee, Mandy?" Loki queried. "Come into the kitchen. I think I'll make French toast, bacon, and scrambled eggs."

"That sounds lovely!" Mandy said and she and the toddlers headed for the kitchen. Mystic watched them leave then sighed and Odin titled his head to one side.

"What's wrong?" Odin barked.

"Mandy thought she would be asked to come and spend Christmas with her son's family, but he hasn't called," Mystic said.

"That's mean." Mischief growled.

"Papa will let her spend it with us. She's like our elder," Odin said.

"Yes, and we have presents for her," Mischief said then headed for the cat tree, hopping up onto the shelf.

"I hope so," Mystic said, lying on the floor and placed her head on her paws.

Loki made Mandy a cup of coffee and seated her at the table. He gave Max and Aleta some milk and began to make the French toast and scramble the eggs.

"So, what are you doing for Christmas?" Loki asked, placing the thick slice of bread in the egg wash.

"I guess I'll be spending it at home," Mandy sighed.

"You're not going to spend it with your family?" Max asked.

"No, dear."

"Hasn't your son called about you coming to see them?" Loki asked.

Mandy shook her head. "He said he was too busy to take time off from work to fly down to New York. He has an important job."

"You're his mother," Loki objected. "Nothing is as important as family."

"I know, but..."

"You can celebrate with us!" Aleta said with a grin.

"Yeah!" Max agreed.

"I don't want to be a bother," Mandy said.

"You are never a bother," Loki said with a shake of his head and she smiled.

Steve and Belle came into the kitchen. "Loki, need any help?" the Avenger asked. Then he saw Mandy. "Hi, Mandy. How are you, ma'am?"

"I am doing well, Steven," Mandy said and silently admitted she thought he was very handsome. "How are you?"

"Stop that. He's old enough to be your son," she thought.

"I'm good," Steve said with a nod.

"Will you watch the toast while I start the scrambled eggs?" Loki asked.

"Sure," Steve said, walking to the stove.

"Dad, you want me to make the bacon?" Belle asked, and began laying strips of bacon into the plastic bacon cooker and put them in the microwave.

"Yes, that will be fine," Loki said as he broke some eggs and put them in the bowl.

"Belle, Mandy's son is being mean and doesn't want her to come for Christmas!" Aleta said.

"Spark, Mandy said he's busy and can't come to New York."

"It's still not fair," Belle said.

"That's why she's going to spend Christmas with us!" Max said.

"Good," Belle said, placing the bacon cooker in the microwave.

"Do I smell French toast?!" Tony asked as he walked in the room and Loki sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, you do. Now say hello," Loki said and Tony looked at Mandy.

"Oh, hey, Mandy. Didn't see you," he said with a grin.

"Hello, Anthony," Mandy said and Tony walked to the stove to watch Steve flipped the bread over.

"Smells good."

"Why don't you go tell Thor to set the table?" Loki said.

"But I'm hungry!" Tony whined.

"You sound like one of my kids," he teased and Tony laughed.

"Have a banana, Uncle Tony," Max said and Tony picked a banana out of the bowl and left the room.

Loki placed the French toast on several platters and the scrambled eggs in two bowls. Belle got the syrup and butter out and put the bacon onto another platter. Loki replicated all the food and left the extra on the counter under "keep warm spells".

Thor walked into the kitchen and began setting the table while Loki pulled the cream and sweeteners out and put coffee and tea into his carafes and set them on the table along with milk and juice.

"Okay. Looks like we are ready. Belle, go call them."

Soon a thundering herd of buffalo stampeded into the kitchen. "Breakfast!" yelled Hunter like he hadn't seen food in a year.

Loki cleared his throat. "Holy Valhalla! Where's your manners?"

"Hunter! Jeez!" Sam groaned, shooting him with the Nerf gun.

"All right. Everyone settle down," Loki ordered his kids.

The children obeyed, sitting around the table.

Loki set everything out and then sat down at the head of the table. For a few minutes the only sounds in the room were of people eating. The cat and dogs trotted into the kitchen and lay down beside Loki's and Mandy's chairs.

"This is the best French toast" Mandy said. "What is your secret?"

"We can't get him to tell us," Steve laughed. "But when Loki cooks nobody goes home hungry."

"If they do it's their own fault," Mandy smiled.

"Please pass the bacon." Nate requested, and Thor handed the platter to the boy.

"Here you are, Nathan," Thor said. "Loki, what new tradition are we doing tonight?"

"Daddy. Can I have more juice?" Max asked

"Yes, but only a little bit. You know how you get with too much sugar," he reminded the child. He poured Max a half a cup more of orange juice.

He handed the glass to his son then looked over at Thor. "Belle came up with the new tradition of everyone getting a book on Christmas Eve and then reading them that night and eating chocolate."

"Sounds like fun," Natasha said.

"I'm not big on reading," Clint said.

"But it's fun, Uncle Clint," Aleta said,

"I can read the book I brought on the First War in Iraq." Steve said and smiled.

"Still catching up?" Tony asked and Steve nodded.

"Yeah. I missed... alot." He replied and sipped his coffee.

"Clint, borrow some of Vince's comic books. He's got a few good Batman ones." Loki said.

"Ha-ha," Clint said then stuck out his tongue.

Loki rolled his eyes. "Well, I know you won't like anything I've read. Because they're all over 500 pages."

"Now, boys, be nice or you'll have to go to your rooms," Tony scolded and Clint picked up a piece of toast and tossed it at him.

"No fighting at the table," Max said.

"Yeah! You do and it's time out!" Aleta said

"She's right," Loki said, and Tony snorted.

"You wouldn't dare, Reindeer Games!" Tony challenged.

"Someone give Tony a beer before he gets really mean." Steve laughed.

"No. Make it coffee. Black," Tony said and Loki poured him a cup of coffee and placed the cup in front of Tony. "Thanks."

"Daddy, does Santa have enough room for all the presents in his sleigh?" Aleta asked.

"Yes, spark, he has plenty of room," Loki said.

"How does he get into everyone's house?" Max asked.

"He's magic, imp."

"Like you, Daddy?" Aleta asked.

'Yes, because Loki has parent magic," Tony said, covering for the slip. "He sees you when you're up to no good."

"That is sort of creepy." Natasha laughed.

"With eyes in the back of his head," Clint added.

"You have them too, Barton," Loki grinned.

"Yep," Clint said. "Like when I caught Cooper was trying to get some cookies before supper the other night. He asked me how I knew and I told him I had eyes in the back of my head."

"Ah, I remember telling my son that when he was little," Mandy said.

"Dad can read minds," Vince put in. "He can look at you and say, "Don't even think about it."

"He does." Aleta said and giggled. "I asked Santa to bring Daddy a wife!"

Tony nearly choked on his coffee while Loki sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Oh lord." Mandy said and chuckled.

"It would be a nice present for Daddy!" Aleta said and everyone started laughing.

"Aleta, I told you. A wife would get crushed by all the presents." Sam said.

"Spark, Santa doesn't bring adults presents. He only brings kids presents," Loki told her. "He also doesn't bring people for presents, only toys and maybe a pet."

"It must be boring to be an adult." Aleta said, eating her bacon.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Tony laughed.

"Aleta, adults get to drive and don't have to wait to be taken anywhere."

"Adults do what they want." Sam replied.

"Most of the time," Natasha said.

They all ate everything and went back for seconds, or in Thor's case, thirds.

"I wanna drive and still get presents." Aleta said, pouting.

Loki chuckled. "Well, spark. you get presents from your friends, just not Santa."

"Which is why some adults refuse to grow up," Natasha teased while looking at Tony.

"Hey!" Tony said and they laughed. Shrugging, Tony smiled and nibbled on some toast

"Wai till you grow up, then tell me that," Loki said.

Once they had all finished breakfast, Loki asked the Avengers to mind the kids while he went upstairs to wrap the books for Christmas Eve.

"Sure." Tony said, grinning.

"Would you like some help, Loki?" Mandy asked, wanting to be useful.

"Yes, if you don't mind," Loki said and she followed him out of the room.

They went upstairs to Loki's room, where he had the bag of books from Barnes and Noble.

He had a medium-sized folding table set up with his wrapping paper, tape, and tags on it, plus some water bottles and a chair. "You can use the chair, darling."

Mandy sat down while he removed the books from the bag and her eyes widened when she saw the inner cover of one of the books.

"Oh!" she said and he looked at the inner cover.

"Sam!?" Loki shouted then heard Sam running up the stairs.

"Dad, what's wron

g?!" Sam asked.

"What is the mean of this?" he asked, showing her the book's inner cover.

"Whoa! I had no idea!" she said and checked some of the other books. "Oh boy."

Loki scowled at the book that had been beneath the Hunger Games cover. It was something called The Duke's Runaway Bride and featured a man and a half-naked woman kissing.

"Oh my word!" Mandy giggled. "This looks like the trash my daughter-in-law reads. No plot and mostly sex."

"This one looks like she is either in pain or bored," Sam said.

"Perhaps both." Mandy laughed.

"This guy reminds of some idiot my brother used to be friends with. Good looking and dumber than dirt," Loki snorted.

"I don't know how this book got in there, Dad." Sam said and rolled her eyes.

"I think I know. Some kid didn't want their parent to know what they were really reading so they swapped the books out and put the Hunger Games cover over this . . . bodice ripper."

Loki thought this cover was terrible artwork, worse than the game cover that had been auctioned off. The proportions of the people were wrong and the colors clashed and looked fake.

Worse was the fact that now he had no book for Sam. "I'm going to have to return this and get the real book," he sighed. "Lucky I kept the receipt."

"Horse hockey!" Mandy sighed. "What a terrible thing to do on Christmas."

Loki nodded. "Yes. Whoever did it is sure to get coal in their stocking from good old St. Nick."

Loki put his receipt in the bag with the book when he left the room then vanished in a puff of green smoke. He reappeared at Barnes and Noble and opened the door.

He went and waited on line to return the book, telling the head cashier what had happened and showing her the evidence.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Mr. Laufeyson," she said apologetically. "We can exchange this for the right book." She took the romance book and it's "cover" back and went to retrieve the actual Hunger Games hardcover. She checked to make sure the book inside the dust jacket was correct and showed Loki before handing the book to him. "There you go! Have a happy holiday."

"Thank you, darling." He smiled at her and she had to catch her breath. Then she watched him leaving and her fellow cashier had to nudge her back to reality.

"OMG, that is one hot man!" she groaned. "Put him on the cover of anything and it will sell out in seconds."

"Yeah because you'd buy half of it!" laughed her co-worker.

"Look who's talking, Jen! You'd buy the other half!"

"Dam straight! His ass is hotter than hell!"

Loki made sure he was hidden by a large pine tree in a planter before he teleported back home again, his new copy clutched in his hand.

Mandy had arranged the books on the table when Loki appeared in the doorway and she smiled. He had waited a few minutes so she wouldn't notice him suddenly appearing and he walked to the table.

"That was quick," Mandy said.

"Yes. I was lucky the lines weren't too long," he said, placing the book on the table.

Loki began to wrap Max's Dr. Seuss book when suddenly a black flash jumped onto the table and lay in the middle of the wrapping paper spread out across it. "Hello, Papa!" Mischief mewed, blinking up at him with innocent green eyes.

Loki nearly meowed back before recalling Mandy was there. "Aww, Mischief! You need to move. That's not for cats to lay on.

"Cats always like to lay wherever you are doing something," Mandy chuckled.

"Tell me about it," Loki sighed. "Come on, kitty." He pointed to the other end of the table. "Go sit there."

Mischief refused to move. "I do what I want."

Loki sighed and found some cat treats and gently lured her away.

Then he wrapped the book and set it aside after labeling it MAX.

"Give her a bow to play with. That will occupy the little girl." Mandy suggested, showing him the shiny green bow.

"Yes, she'll like that," Loki agreed. He gave Mischief the bow.

"Pounce!" The kitten squeaked and jumped on it.

They both laughed as the little black whirlwind jumped around the room.

"Okay. Let's wrap the rest," Loki said and they wrapped six more books between them before a black paw landed upon the paper and the intrepid cat meowed, "Ta-dah! It's me!"

"Not again!" Loki moaned. "Where's your bow?

"I think it's there," Mandy pointed to the sorry looking scraps on the rug.

Loki shook his head and gave Mischief another piece of ribbon to play with. He wondered how long the kitten would stay occupied this time.

"He is a bundle of energy." Mandy laughed.

"Kind of like my kids," Loki said and then wrapped another book.

"They are all like that, dearie. They calm down as they grow up."

When all the books were wrapped, Loki pulled out some last minute gifts from the closet.

"Did you forget to wrap these?" Mandy asked, taking some to the table.

"No. I just saw some extra things at the store," Loki replied. "Sometimes I'm an impulse shopper."

He frowned as he held up a tetrahedron puzzle for Nate. The puzzle was plastic and inside a clear plastic that made part of the puzzle stick out, creating a weird shape. "Now how do I wrap this?" he said, though he would have just used magic if his neighbor were not in the room. However, he wondered how the non-mages did it.

"I have an idea, dearie." Mandy said and began wrapping the gift. She fashioned a bag out of the paper, sealing it shut and tying it off with a bit of ribbon.

"How very clever, Mandy!" Loki exclaimed. "Now why didn't I think of that?"

"It is just something I used to do for the odd shaped presents." She said and smiled, wrapping a doll for Lucy.

Loki wrapped a stuffed cat with kittens in a basket for Aleta. The mother cat purred when the kittens were beside her and meowed when they were away from her.

"That is a darling toy." Mandy said smiling at it.

"I would have liked this," Loki admitted. He touched the cat's head and it moved its head against his hand.

"As would I have. Want me to make a paper bag for that?"

"Sure." He held out the toy.

She fashioned the bag, tying it off and curling the ribbon into pretty shapes.

"That looks very elegant," Loki said and wrote Aleta's name on the tag and "From Daddy" below her name. He then picked up Vince's Agent of Asgard graphic novels to wrap.

"I do try. I used to do all this by myself, less children though."

Loki knew Mandy had two children, a son and a daughter. Her daughter, Iris, worked in Scotland and ran a bed and breakfast in a small town there. Since Christmas was their busiest time, Iris couldn't afford to come home to visit for the holidays. And Mandy was afraid of flying.

"Whether it's two or nine, doesn't really matter. You do it out of love and that's its own reward," Loki replied. "I love watching their little faces light up when they open their presents."

"That is always the best part. I could never wait to see them so happy." Mandy said and laughed.

"I feel so delighted watching them be surprised when they open their gifts. Especially when I find something like this that was totally unexpected."

"Every time dear. Where did the tape go?"

Loki looked about. "It . . . it was just here a minute ago . . ." he picked up the paper and looked beneath it.

"The scissors are gone too."

"What the Hel is going on?" he muttered, kneeling down to look under the table. But they were not on the floor. Frowning, he turned to peer beneath the bed. "I didn't hear them fall," he called, giving Mandy a great view.

"I... don't know." Mandy said, looking over her glasses. "How are you still single?"

Loki slowly backed up. "I . . . uh . . . don't really have time to date," he replied, not realizing she was staring at a certain part of his anatomy. "Why? You have someone in mind?" he teased, standing up and turning around.

"If I were fifty years younger and single, dearie, I'd have married you myself," Mandy chuckled.

"Really? Well, thank you." Loki said, flushing slightly. Of course she doesn't know you're not even human, he reminded himself. Yet somehow he had a feeling that wouldn't have mattered to Mandy.

"You will find someone. And I will warn them not to break your heart."

He chuckled sadly. "You can't break what's been broken, darling."

"But you may find that special someone who will help you fix it." She shot back, smiling.

He shrugged. "I highly doubt that but . . . whatever will be, will be," he replied. He peeked behind the roll of wrapping paper. "Ah ha! I found the scissors."

"Now we just need the tape." She replied. "You are too young to be so jaded."

"I feel old," he replied, keeping himself from laughing by sheer willpower. Oh Mandy darling, if only you knew!

"Here is the tape." She said and held it up. "I am going to bet you a million dollars you meet a nice lady that makes you go head over feet in the next two years."

His eyebrow climbed into his hair. "You sure you want to make that bet, Lady MacAllister?"

"I do. Two years, and I will accept a check."

He threw back his head and laughed, the sound echoing joyfully through the room. "It's a deal!"

"Good. And don't you go telling her to shoo when you meet her!"

"Now would I do that?" he queried innocently. "My mother taught me how to treat a lady before I was old enough to go to school."

"She sounds like a smart woman. Let's get these finished."

"As you wish, my lady," he said obediently, and gave her a court bow.\

"None of that now. We need to make some children happy."

Loki smiled and handed her another present to wrap, this one an iPod for Hunter.

It came with an extra charging cord, headphones, and a case with a wolf upon it.

"He will like this." Mandy said, wrapping the gift.

"Yeah, he broke his old one a few months ago and I didn't get him a new one right away so he would learn some responsibility about taking care of his things. So I figured now was as a good a time as any to replace it."

"I am sure he learned." She said, trying to wrap another gift, the kitten hopping in her way. Mandy smirked, cutting the paper and wrapping the kitten. She laughed, sticking a bow between her ears.

"Aww! A Gift of Mischief!" Loki chuckled, picking up the cat.

"Why did she do this?" The kitten mewed.

Loki scratched her behind the ears and meowed at her. "Because you keep getting in our way. We're trying to wrap presents for the kids."

"I just want to help." She purred back, shaking her head to dislodge the bow.

He gently placed her on the bed, purring in return, "You can supervise from here, kitling. That will help me best."

"All right," she agreed, curling her tail about her paws.

"I'm surprised you did not take a picture." Mandy said and laughed.

"I left my phone downstairs," Loki admitted.

"That could be dangerous. An unattended phone with a house full of kids."

"It locks once I stop using it. So no worries. Let's finish up here."

"Bossy." She tisked, still laughing.

"No, that's my brother. He's always trying to tell me what to do. That's what happens when you're the youngest," Loki said.

"That's the downfall of always being the baby. But he respects you, Loki. At least from what I've seen."

"Now he does," Loki acknowledged.

They finished wrapping the presents and then heard Aleta calling them for lunch.

"Just in time," Loki said, and helped Mandy downstairs.

"So, what's for lunch, Reindeer Games?" Tony asked upon seeing Loki.

The God of Mischief frowned.

"Just kidding!" Iron Man joked. "We made soup and sandwiches."

"And you didn't burn down my kitchen? Now there's a miracle!" Loki shot back.

Tony laughed. Then he said in a stage whisper, "We won't mention when the dishtowel caught fire."

Loki rolled his eyes. "You reprogram my smoke alarm, Stark?"

"Uh . . . kind of. Now when it goes off because you've burnt something you can shout "Just cooking!" and the fire department won't show up."

"Now that's a real genius!" Mandy giggled.

"I do try," Tony said modestly.

"What were you doing up there, Daddy?" Mex asked.

"We were wrapping up the books for tonight." Loki answered.

"And Mischief was being . . . Mischief," laughed Mandy as the kitten trotted into the room.

After lunch, all of the Avengers except Thor left to go back to the mansion or to spend Christmas with their family, in Clint's case. They would be back tomorrow for Christmas dinner. Mandy also said she needed to go back home to see if her daughter or grandchildren had called, as she had left her phone at home.

"Thank you for helping me with the gifts," Loki told her. "We're having dinner tomorrow at six. So just come over."

"I will, dearie. Now you all have a Merry Christmas." Then she walked back over to her house with Mystic, her small Pomeranian.

"Would you like me to light the Yule log in the fireplace, brother?" Thor asked.

"That would be great, Thor."

While Thor went to light the Yule log, Loki summoned the books from his room and placed them beneath the tree. "No opening these until after dinner," he told the children.

"Dad, do you think it will snow?" Nate asked.

Loki looked out the window. The sun was up, but the air felt too warm to snow. "It doesn't seem like it, Racer."

All the kids groaned.

"Aww! I wanted it to be a white Christmas!" Vince frowned.

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know . . ." Serena warbled.

"Where the treetops glisten, and children listen," Lucy sang.

"To hear sleighbells in the snow," Loki finished.

"Is there any chance we might get snow?" Sam queried.

"Doesn't look like it," Belle sighed.

"So we're gonna have a green Christmas again?" Hunter scowled. "Bah humbug!"

"They gots a green Christmas in Hawaii," Aleta announced.

"How do you know that, spark?" asked Serena.

"Cause it's in the song," her little sister explained. Then she began to sing Mali Kalikimaka is the thing to say on a bright Hawaiian Christmas day."

"That's the island greeting that we bring to you from the land where palm trees sway," Max added.

Hunter clamped his hands over his ears. "Nooo! Not that song again!" he moaned dramatically.

"You really are a Scrooge!" Belle said, rolling her eyes.

"Let's sing songs about snow," Lucy suggested. "Then maybe the weather will get in the mood."

So for awhile, the house was filled with singing every song containing snow that the children knew.

Finally they ran out of songs and went to play video games and board games, leaving Thor and Loki to read and nap before the Yule log.

After a delicious dinner from Antonio's, with Thor's favorite smothered steak, Loki decided it was time to start opening the gifts of books they had all gotten. The family all gathered in the den around the tree and Thor and Loki handed each child a wrapped present with their name on it.

There followed a frenzy of unwrapping, where the air seemed filled with pieces of wrapping paper and exclamations of "Awesome!" and "This is so cool!" and "I love this book!"

Belle came and handed Loki and Thor two wrapped books and said, "Merry Jolabokaflod!"

"Thank you, little raven." Loki grinned at her.

"Thank you, Belle." Thor replied, taking the wrapped gift and examining it.

Loki opened his book first. "Pillars of the Earth, how lovely! I've been wanting to read this for awhile."

Thor tore his open with glee. "Minnesota Vikings Trivia. Now this I will read!" he exclaimed. It was a book all about his favorite football team.

"Cool, Uncle Thor," Hunter said. "We need to watch a game together."

"Maybe your dad will let you come to Minnesota next time they have one." Thor said, winking at Loki. One of Hunter's presents was tickets to a game with Thor. The Vikings stadium was built to look like an Asgardian temple. Or rather what mortals thought one had looked like.

"Dad, that would be so cool!" Hunter begged.

"We'll see, wolfling. Do you like your book?"

"Yeah, it's awesome." He held up his wolf mythology book.

"Hey, Dad, where's the chocolate?" Vince demanded.

"I knew that was coming," Loki chuckled. "I'll hand out the chocolate in a bit. It's a certain amount, so don't gobble it down all at once."

"What? You mean we can't eat the whole box?" Vince cried in dismay.

"No way, daredevil! I am not having nine kids with sugar highs at this time of night. Or throwing up," the God of Mischief said.

"Aww man! What are we getting, two pieces?" his son grumbled.

"Wait and see. And quit pouting."

"Yeah or else Santa won't come!" the toddlers chorused.

Loki had carefully portioned out all the chocolate he had purchased, including some of the sugar free variety. He had made his own hot cocoa, using Splenda and peppermint sticks and small Christmas tree marshmallows.

He now summoned the small drawstring bags with each child's name on it, as well as mugs with their names and a picture of something they enjoyed doing. Belle had books and a cat on them with her name. Vince had Tony Hawk, Hunter had a wolf howling, Lucy had a Valkyrie on her horse, Sam's had butterflies, Nate's had Mario Andretti, Serena's had fairies, Max's had the Cat in the Hat, and Aleta had a kitten popping out of a present. Loki's, of course, had "I Do What I Want" on it and Thor's was extra large and had Mjolnir on it spitting lightning.

The kids began opening their bags, finding assorted kinds of chocolate inside.

"Where's our chocolate, Loki?" Thor asked.

"We get these," Loki summoned two boxes of Christmas Godiva. "Now don't you dare eat it all and then steal mine, Thor!"

"Hey, you get to eat the box?" Hunter cried.

"I won't eat it all," Loki answered. "But I'm the dad, I can do what I want."

"I can't wait till I'm grown up," Vince said.

"Enjoy your childhood, nephew," Thor said softly. "Thank you, Loki."

This prompted the children to all hug and thank their father.

"There's hot cocoa in the carafe on the dining room table with peppermint straw sticks," Loki told his family.

They all ran to get some and Loki had another carafe just for him and Thor.

"Now, shall we read?" the Mischief God asked.

The adults took turns reading to Aleta and Max while they ate chocolate and drank cocoa. Then the small ones fell asleep on Loki and Thor, leaving the elder Asgardians free to read their own books.

Loki was about a quarter of the way through Pillars when he looked up and saw seven of his children wearing their pajamas inside out with dabs of toothpaste on their noses. "Uh, what by the Norns are you all doing?"

"We're trying to make it snow on Christmas!" Vince announced.

"By wearing your pajamas inside out and putting toothpaste on your nose?" Thor asked.

"We used to do it at the orphanage all the time." Sam said.

"Yeah," Hunter said.

"That's not how it works," Loki said,

"We used to do it at the orphanage all the time." Sam said.

"Did it work?" Thor asked.

Loki rolled his eyes. "Sweet Valhalla, Thor!"

"One time it worked," Hunter recalled. "So maybe it will this time."

Loki thought for a few seconds when he looked at the kids and smiled.

"Sam, please take Max," Loki said and Sam lifted Max off of him. Loki walked to the door when he opened the door and looked around. He walked to the center of the sidewalk when he closed his eyes and held his arms out. He concentrated on the water vapor in the air then changed into his Jotun form. He tilted his head back as he opened his eyes and looked up at the dark sky. He released some of his magic when snow suddenly started falling around him and spread out over the neighborhood. He didn't want to strand his neighbors in their homes so he controlled just how much snow fell and the Artic wind blew through his hair.

What he didn't know was the snow was falling all over the state of New York, most of New Jersey and the northeast of Pennsylvania.

He lowered his head when he turned and saw the kids and Thor on the porch. Max and Aleta had woken up and they were all dressed in their coats, hats, gloves, boots and scarves.

"Cool!" Vince said as they headed down the stairs and Loki smiled.

Then he shifted back so no one would see his frost giant form. "There's your white Christmas!" he announced, laughing as the snow drifted down on to his hair.

The kids hugged him as Thor watched him playing in the snow when a snowball hit him in the face.

"Loki!" Thor grumbled, wiping the snow from his face.

"Wasn't me!" Loki said, grinning. Sighing, Thor ran down the stairs and scooped some snow into his hands.

"Uh-oh!" Sam said as Thor slammed the snowball in Loki's face.

"Now we're even, brother!"

Loki smirked. "You think?"

The next minute snow swirled all about the Thunder God burying him up to his neck. Loki summoned a scarf and draped it around Thor's neck. "Look! It's Thor the snowman!"

"Loki!" Thor yelled.

Then the air was filled with laughter upon the snowy Christmas Eve night.

Thor exploded from, his snowy cocoon and tackled his brother, prompting the kids to all chase each other through the swiftly falling snow, until at last Loki called a halt, saying they needed to all get to bed before Santa came.

The kids all filed inside obediently, not wanting to risk losing their Christmas presents.

Once all the kids had been tucked into bed by their father and uncle, the two brothers went to sit by the fire and read, quietly munching on chocolate until they too dozed off.

Until Loki was awakened by the sound of sleigh bells tinkling and something pawing the roof!

A/N: So who is on the roof?