A/N: God, we're getting into fluff central.

It was a quiet New York morning when Pepper brought in her mail. She stopped to flip through it, standing by her apartment door, and an ad from a suburban department store caught her eye.

She peered at it for a long moment. Normally, she just threw stuff like that away, but apparently it was "Baby Month!" and the cover featured adorable infants in kicky outfits playing with expensive toys. Pepper felt the germ of an idea forming in the back of her mind.

A really, really bad idea.

Pepper and Bruce had been to dinner chez Stark pretty regularly for the last few weeks. At first, she was sure it was Tony pushing Loki to get more socialized among humans, but by now she thought it was possible that Loki himself was initiating the contact. He seemed to genuinely like Bruce, and the last time she'd been over, Loki had bitten his lip before tentatively asking her, "Would you like to see the progress on the nursery?"

Of course she'd accepted, just to be polite, but she'd found herself sincerely oohing and ahhing over the creamy wall colors, the soft draperies, and the whimsical light fixtures. "Wow—it's gorgeous!" she'd said.

"Do you really think so? Would you say it's in keeping with Midgardian tastes?" Loki had asked with a touch of anxiousness that bewildered Pepper. Since when did Loki, the goddamned God of Mischief, give a crap about what she thought? She'd mentally ignored her own question and answered, "Uh—well, yeah, of course. It's lovely."

Loki'd nodded absently, running a hand down a cheery jungle-themed curtain. "Good. I want it to feel... as normal as possible," he'd said, almost to himself.

"Normal? What do you mean?"

Loki had given a bitter laugh. "I expect the little demon will hate me enough for bringing it into a world that regards its Jotunn features as strange, maybe even horrible. No need to have it hate me for inappropriate decor, as well."

Oh. Suddenly,Pepper had understood. She'd felt a rush of empathy for Loki as it occurred to her that, really, he was no different than any other parent-to-be, worrying about their little one's happiness. She'd wished they were close enough that she could give him a quick hug, but had a feeling they weren't quite there yet.

"Well, this looks great, it's perfect. Now all you need is some furniture. Have you thought about a crib?" she'd asked instead, hoping to divert Loki from his melancholy mood.

Loki had brightened for a moment, but a sardonic sneer came over him almost immediately. "Oh, yes. Unfortunately, Tony has notions about fashioning all the baby's things himself. I wouldn't mind, except he's much too busy to accomplish it all in time, plus, I really don't think every item needs to have a super-computer built into it, do you?" he'd asked, rolling his eyes. "There was a time when I simply would've told him to restrain himself, or face being transported to the frozen North in only his under clothes. But now, I sense it's important for him to feel a part of everything." He'd frowned distastefully and offered Pepper an aside. "Carrying on a mutually satisfactory relationship with a headstrong fellow like Tony Stark is exceedingly difficult."

Well, that was the pot calling the kettle black, Pepper'd thought before giving a scornful hmph. "Yeah, well, I wouldn't know."

Loki had turned from his musings to look at her, holding her gaze for a moment. Then, they'd both burst into laughter. "No, of course you wouldn't," Loki had chuckled, but then he'd looked taken aback. "Oh—apologies. This must be difficult for you."

Loki? Empathy? Wow, Pepper had thought before pursing her lips and shrugging. "I guess. I mean... it was, at first."

"Only at first?" Loki had asked skeptically.

She'd looked thoughtful, and slowly added, "Yeah, okay—it still is, a little. Honestly, I never really thought I'd settle down with Tony, but, even so, you think about things when you're with someone. You get ideas, and when things don't work out, well..." She'd sighed and then forced a smile. "Look, never mind about all that. I'm happy that Tony's happy, and while I never would have believed it, if you're the one to give him that, then, okay. I just want to move on."

Loki had nodded. "That's good of you. Tony's lucky to still have you as a friend."

Pepper had shaken off the awkward moment and said, "Hey, I'm starving. Let's go see if dinner's ready." They'd headed back to the living area to join Bruce and Tony, and now, thumbing through the mail in her hand, it struck Pepper that that was the first time she and Loki had ever come close to having a real conversation.

Pepper roused herself from her thoughts when Bruce came striding out of the bedroom, pulling on his jacket as he walked. "Damn, it's nearly 9:30, I've got to run, sweetie. I'll see you tonight."

"Bruce? Take a look at this." Pepper held up the baby-speckled ad. "Do you know what I'm thinking?"

Bruce came to an abrupt halt. His eyebrows shot up and he gaped for a moment before coming over to put his hands on Pepper's shoulders.. "Oh, Pepper, no. We've talked about this, honey. I thought you understood! We have no way of knowing what kind of genetic Hiroshima my sperm have been through, and—"

Pepper's face scrunched up in dismay. "Oh, for heaven's sake. That's not what I was thinking at all. And, you know I'm not interested in getting pregnant! We agreed—if we ever decide to have kids, we'll adopt. Did you think I'd lost my mind?"

It was sort of funny how relief washed over Bruce's face. "Whew. Well, thank God. Okay." He glanced at a clock. "Jeeze, I'm sorry, but I really have to run—you can tell me all about it tonight." He gave Pepper a quick peck and then dashed out the door.

"Seriously?" Pepper asked herself out loud, shaking her head as she went back to sorting the mail.

That afternoon, Pepper dropped in to see Tony, and he regarded her with a mock-fearful expression.

"Oh, no. What are you doing here? Don't tell me—contracts? Did I screw something up?"

"I'm sure you did, but that's not why I'm here. I wanted to talk to you about an idea I had."

Tony went back to his usual "I'm Tony Stark and I'm cooler than you'll ever hope to be" manner as he threw a palmful of blueberries in his mouth. "Nice. I love ideas."

"I don't know if you'll love this one."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Try me."

"I want to throw a baby shower for Loki."

Tony's jaw continued to munch and for a second Pepper thought maybe he wasn't familiar with the term, but then his eyes widened. "A baby shower? What the... Who... Why? Why would you want to do that?"

"Why not?"

"Because it's weird, that's why! Men don't have baby showers."

"Men typically don't have babies either, not from their own personal bodies."

"Aw, Pep!" Tony whined. "This sounds like one of those things you do that I'll regret. A lot." He flopped down on the couch like a sulky teenager.

Pepper shoved his feet out of the way and sat down on the end. "Tony, listen to me. I know I haven't been Loki's biggest fan, but I can see that he really has changed and is trying to earn our trust. I believe in second chances." She grinned, a little wistfully. "Sometimes, even a third or fourth. So, I'd like to show him that he's got friends here on Midgard."

Tony shot her a narrow-eyed look. "Does he?"

Pepper nodded. "Yes. Bruce and I have talked about it a lot. He agrees that Loki deserves our support, and having a baby shower would be a fun way to show that."

"Fun? Seriously? I think you mean horrible. Awkward. Boring. Or, any combination thereof."

"No, I'll make it fun."

"How?"

"I've got some ideas, but that's not important right now. What I need is for you to find out if Loki's okay with it."

"Oh, the fact that I hate the idea doesn't matter, but you're worried about ol' Reindeer Games having a stick up his butt?" He gave her a suspicious squint. "What'd he do to charm his way into your teeny-bopper heart, huh? Yeah, yeah, I know. He does have that Sixteen Magazine/Tiger Beat thing going for him, with the hair and all, but—"

"I just wanted to do something nice for him. That, and shop for little tiny clothes and baby accessories. Our social circle doesn't offer a lot of opportunities to do things like that, you know."

Tony sneered in as superior a manner as he could manage, but he didn't hold it for long. He laughed. "Okay, I get it, I guess. But, what am I supposed to ask him, exactly?"

"Just make sure it's not some colossal Asgardian faux-pas to get a bunch of people together to give gifts to a god's unborn baby. If it's okay, tell him I want to get with him to decide on the guest list and the menu. Oh, and we're having it here, just so you know."

"Here? Why?" Tony wailed.

"Because, you have a little more room than I do. And, if he wants to invite anyone from beyond the solar system, it's less conspicuous for them to arrive on the roof of Stark Tower than at my place. Right?"

"I guess."

"Okay, well, call me after you talk to him, I want to get on this asap. Judging by the size of his tummy, we don't have a whole lot of time before Tony Jr. gets here."

"No Junior. Ebenezer or Dorothea."

Pepper stared steadily at him. "You are kidding, right?"

"Says the woman we call Pepper. Yeah, kidding. I'm hoping if I razz Tall, Dark, and Preggo enough, he'll actually come up with something we can both live with. It's not working so far, though."

"I'll give it some thought." She grinned. "Maybe we can turn it into a shower game. 'Name Baby Stark.' We'll tell Loki it's an old Midgardian tradition."

"He won't buy it, but can't hurt to try."

"Okay. Call me."

"Will do."

Tony saluted and then watched as Pepper left, allowing himself a hefty groan once the door closed behind her. Then, he got up and headed to Loki's new favorite hangout—the nursery. He wasn't looking forward to telling him about Pepper's plan. He was pretty sure he'd hate it, put his foot down and refuse to attend.

If Pepper was an irresistible force, Loki could be one immovable object, and he, Tony, had to play it so he didn't get squished between the two of them.

Loki was staring critically at the wall where they planned to place the crib. It was a pose Tony had caught him in several times over the last couple of days, but he hadn't ventured inside to see what Loki was looking at, fearing that the wall color no longer suited him and it would be up to Tony to call his painter to come re-do the job—again. But as he entered, he saw the outline of a mural adorning the wall, and that Loki had a pencil in his hand.

"Babe? What're you doing?" Tony asked curiously.

"I would think that would be obvious, but perhaps your preoccupation with all things mechanical has dulled your mind's artistic sense." He gave Tony a scornful look, but then it melted into a grin. "I'm working on a jungle scene," he added cheerily.

Tony stepped closer, noting the fluid lines of trees and animals that Loki had apparently sketched out himself. "You can draw?" he asked, impressed.

"Of course I can draw," Loki snapped. "I can do a great many creative things." He leaned in and added fangs to a chipper-looking snake twined around a tree trunk as Tony watched over his shoulder.

"Wow. This is pretty cool," Tony said.

"Yes. It's just taking forever. Everything is so tedious without my seidr."

"Isn't that cheating?"

Loki gave him a questioning look. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it seems dishonest. using magic to create art."

A patronizing smile crossed Loki's face. "Ah. You have no idea how seidr works, do you?"

"Uh, well, I think I do. Kind of wham-bam-kapow, look, there's a hole where your nuclear reactor used to be, right?"

Loki chuckled. "It's all about manipulating matter and energy. Yes, I can gather energy and cause it to act upon an object, moving or destroying it. But I can't 'create' matter or energy out of nothing. So, if I had paint, I could cause it to appear on a wall in whatever design I chose, but it would be my design, created by the same process I'm using now, only in the blink of an eye instead of days or weeks." He crossed his arms over his prominent belly and frowned. "Which reminds me. Will you take me to buy some paint today?"

"Sure—anything you want." Tony pulled Loki to him and kissed him tenderly before looking around the room. "You know, this kid is going to have the best room ever. I'm totally jealous. Could you paint a 50's style sci-fi book cover over our bed? I could embed real rockets in it, make the bed vibrate like a son-of-a-bitch."

"Of course, my love," Loki said with indulgent sarcasm. "We'll have to use precautions so as not to eject the child into the stratosphere, but that shouldn't be a problem for my clever inventor." He returned Tony's sweet kiss and then turned back to the mural.

Tony cleared his throat, mentally flailing to get back to his original reason for coming into the nursery. "Clever, yeah, that's me, ha ha. Um... Listen, uh... Pepper wants to throw you a baby shower." He pulled himself upright and said it as casually as he could, as if announcing that they were out of milk.

Loki had been just about to add another touch to his work, but he came to a halt with his arm in the air. He jerked his head to face Tony and asked, "What?"

"Pepper. Baby shower. Sound good?" Tony pulled his phone out of his pocket and waggled it from side to side. "Great, I'll give her a call, she—"

"Hold it." Loki took the phone away from Tony. "Back up, Stark. What do you mean, Pepper wants to give me a baby shower?"

"Uh, yeah, it's this thing, a party, where guests bring presents for the baby, and—"

"I know what a baby shower is, you dullard! Do you think I learned nothing from my forced hours of watching imbecilic Midgardian TV? My question is why. Why would Pepper take it upon herself to host such an inane event in my honor?"

"Great question, babe. Really good question. I, uh... I think it's because she, uh..."

Tony almost said "because, dude, she feels sorry for you," but the genius part of his brain just managed to catch himself, and he said, "...because she loves parties!" before he got himself—and Pepper—into a very ugly place indeed.

Loki was now standing face-to-face with Tony, eyeing him quizzically. "Hm. Well, I like parties, too. But, I can't imagine anyone would want to come, given my standing in the community."

"Aw, babe." Tony gave him a hug. "You've made some friends. And you can invite anyone you want from Asgard. Don't worry, it'll be fine no matter how many people show up."

Loki smiled a little before becoming a bit peevish. "Oh, but it's ridiculous—we don't need gifts, you can afford anything our whelp might require. Don't you think it's wrong to expect people to spend their money under such circumstances?"

Tony blinked at his boyfriend. Was Loki actually being unselfish? Tony hadn't expected that. "No! It's not about money—people like to buy stuff for babies. Makes 'em feel part of it, they like thinking the kid'll have something special from them. 'Look, sweetie, let's put on the bunny sweater Aunt Pepper knitted for you!'"

Loki snickered. "Do you mean to tell me Pepper Potts actually knits?"

Tony laughed too, but he nodded. "Yeah, she does. Says it relaxes her. 'Course, I've never seen her come up with anything but neck scarves—freakin' tons of neck scarves—but, who knows? She might have learned a new stitch or two by now."

The amusement faded and Loki frowned and stayed quiet. Tony gestured at his phone with a questioning look. "So? Do I give her the go-ahead?"

Loki dropped his eyes. "You... You don't think it's some sort of joke, do you?"

"Huh?"

"You know... To embarrass me, to remind me that I'm..." He ran a hand over his tummy. "... that I'm not really a man."

"Aw, jeeze, Loki, that's bullshit." Tony grasped Loki's face in his hands and forced him to look him in the eye. "First, don't ever let me hear you say that again. You're different, yeah, but you're amazing and I wouldn't change anything about who you are today. Second, Pepper wouldn't do something like that. She's honest and she's real. If she wanted to give you some grief, she'd stand right in front of you and tell you exactly what she thinks of you. This party, this baby shower—it's a nice thing she's doing. She just wants to welcome the baby. And you." He stepped back and he and Loki stared at each other.

Tony sighed. "Look, if you don't want to do it, I'll tell her," he said flatly. "But, I hope it's because of how much you hate the idea of being the center of attention, and not because you don't trust our friends."

"Well—I do so hate being the center of attention," Loki mused, repressing a snarky grin. "But, I suppose I'll suffer through it." He handed Tony his phone. "Call her."

Tony took the phone and punched in Pepper's speed dial number. "Pep? He's in. About the guest list, he says he's got a lot of friends in the Asgardian militia, mostly elves, dwarves, and giants, so the menu might be a little tricky—" He grinned as Pepper's voice came through the line in a high-pitched screech, and Loki smiled.

Hands at his waist, he leaned backward, relieving some of the baby-weight on his spine. "I didn't plan for you, little one," he thought. "But, you certainly chose a fine papa for yourself. Well done."

Tony finished harassing Pepper, clicked off his phone, and looked up, laughing. "She'll be by later tonight to go over all this stuff with you. For now, let's hit the art supply store. I'm going to buy you some paint."

"Thank you," Loki said in a soft voice. He laid down his pencil and followed as Tony called Happy and told him to bring the car around.