Twenty minutes earlier...

Pepper was too busy worrying about the food table collapsing under the weight of the Asgardian meal offerings to notice when Loki slipped out of the room. But after several moments of Tony talking, not to her, but around her, his eyes sweeping the group back and forth like a radar detector, it occurred to her that he was looking for someone. Given the current Tony situation, she correctly deduced that that someone must be Loki.

"What's wrong?" she asked sharply, in a futile attempt to get Tony to actually look her in the eye.

"Nothing. Nothing. Why? Nothing," Tony answered distractedly. Volstagg was now standing to his right, and Tony's brow furrowed as he craned his neck in order to see around the man's substantial bulk.

Pepper sighed.

"You seem to be missing one pregnant god. Did you two have a fight?"

"No! It's not that. It's just... I can't find him, and I can't find that blonde Tinker Bell-type who was mooning over him, either." Tony curled his lip into a bitter snarl. "Point Break told me the two of them used to go out. Or, 'they shared a chaste, but heartfelt, attraction to one another,' as he put it. 'Chaste,' yeah, right. Has he met his brother?"

Pepper chuckled. "And you think they've gone off to rekindle their outer space romance in a closet somewhere? With the size of Loki's tummy? I think that's anatomically impossible at this point."

Tony shot her a scornful sneer. "Yeah, um, no, trust me, it's not. Fucker's hung like a horse," he muttered as an aside.

Delicately ignoring the remark, Pepper continued. "So, go look for him. I'll hold down the fort here. In fact, you should go find him, because we need to get this show on the road. We've got to get through that mound of presents, serve cake, and then send everybody on their way. Which might be a challenge, because some of your in-laws are already tanked up like a bunch of soccer hooligans."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll—whoa, there he is. Later, Pep." Tony took off and left Pepper to catch the empty tray dropped by a weaving Thor after he threw the last of the petit fours into his mouth.

Pepper kept a close eye on Tony and Loki's exchange, ready to step in and diffuse the situation (read: use a serving fork to threaten the crap out of them) should harsh words bubble up, but to her surprise, they ended up smiling stupidly at each other and heading for the snack table arm in arm. "What the hell," she thought, shaking her head. She didn't know what they'd said to each other, but she had a pretty good idea of what Tony had opened with, and if it had been her and Tony having that sort of conversation, well... there'd be blood dripping off a chandelier by now.

Could it be that Loki was actually good for Tony?

She shrugged and focused on politely suggesting people find seats before finally announcing, "Okay, everyone, Gift Time! Loki, are you comfortable on the couch? We could get you a chair—"

Thor was snickering goofily at something Bruce had said, but he came to full alertness at Pepper's words. "Wait! Stop the proceedings!" He strode into the middle of the room and grabbed Fandral by the arm. "We have something for you, Loki—stay where you are until we return." With that, the two Aesir hustled out, and everyone stared after them curiously.

Except for Loki. His expression was all too knowing. Tony, sitting next to him, heard him sigh resignedly, and something suddenly occurred to him—Loki was preparing himself for humiliation.

It made sense. Ever since Loki had heard about the shower, there'd been a tension in him that Tony didn't entirely understand. But, this must have been it—while Thor had been nothing but kind to his little brother, it wouldn't surprise Tony if the thunder god had some dick-ish practical joke ready to pull here in front of everyone Loki had ever known. Obviously, Loki had been braced for some shit all along, and now it looked like it was going to happen. Tony began mulling over ideas of what it could be.

He slipped an arm around Loki's shoulders and said in his ear, "Hey, it's okay. Probably some Asgardian werewolf cub they think it'd be cool to watch grow up alongside the baby—"

Loki's morose expression gave way to a rueful grin. "Werewolves are mythical beasts. I wouldn't put it past him to have found an infant bilgesnipe, though, now that you mention it."

Tony heard the men returning, huffing and arguing as they apparently struggled to carry whatever it was they were bringing. Shit, maybe it was a bilgesnipe, Tony thought, whatever the hell that was. He felt Loki stiffen, and he gave his shoulders a tight squeeze. "It's okay," he said again.

Thor and Fandral carried in a large cloth-covered object of irregular shape, which was, thankfully, not moving on its own. It was evidently heavy though, and Thor bore most of the burden, as he irritably proclaimed when they paused to decide where to put it. "Over there, by the gift table," Pepper hastily directed. They wrangled the thing into place, and, turning to face the party guests, Thor whipped away the cover with a flourish.

Everyone was silent as they absorbed what they were seeing.

A rocking chair.

And, it was beautiful. All wood, arms carved into rather benevolent looking snakes, with a kindly wolf head adorning the seat back. It was somewhat larger than average, perhaps to accommodate Loki's long, lanky frame. Loki rose and walked over to examine it more closely.

"This... This is for me?"

"Of course, brother!" Thor asserted, beaming. "I constructed it myself!"

"With my help," Fandral added dryly.

Thor shrugged dismissively. "Eh, he did the carving."

Loki reached out a hand and ran his fingers over the ornate woodwork. "It must have taken many days to complete." He looked at Fandral. "You did this for me?" he asked.

Fandral nodded. "Of course. It was my pleasure." There was a slight catch in his voice as he added, "I... I want you to be happy, Loki."

Tony rolled his eyes. "So, did you, in fact, fuck everybody in Asgard?" he hissed into Loki's ear.

"No!" Loki hissed back. "After all, Volstagg is married!" He gave Tony a mischievous wink and went back to admiring the chair. "Thor, Fandral—it's magnificent. I'm beyond words. Thank you."

"We hope you'll obtain much pleasure from the use of it," Thor said heartily.

"I'm certain I will. It's wonderful." Loki suddenly frowned. "But, Fandral? What are these holes in the arms for?"

"I believe they're called 'cup holders,'" Fandral answered grandly. "I learned about them in a periodical I picked up whilst here in the mortal realm. You remember, I and the other warriors had come here to rescue Thor from..." Fandral stumbled on the words as he caught the look in Loki's eye and stuttered to a halt. He quickly cleared his throat. "Ahem. That is to say, apparently, cup holders are a highly prized feature in Midgardian conveyance machines, so I thought, why not?" He gave a pathetically self-aware chuckle, paused and added lamely, "I imagine they'll come in handy at some point."

"How clever," Loki said flatly. Vivid memories of sending the Destroyer to kill Thor washed over him, and he thought he saw a glance, a dangerous glance, pass between his brother and the other warriors, and what if they had a plan, a plan for vengeance, and what if the chair was imbued with evil, what if they'd cursed it, and—

"Well? Go ahead, Loki, try it out," Thor said, patting the chair seat with enthusiasm.

Thor's words cut into Loki's growing alarm, but only served to affirm it. He stood unmoving, and now everyone was staring expectantly at him.

"It's all right, dear," Frigga said in Loki's mind. She clearly understood what he was thinking, and she put a hand on his arm to reassure him.

Loki looked into her eyes, and the moment of dread passed. He slowly turned and sat down in the rocker as if it were a throne. His senses were still on high alert though, and just as he'd expected, there was a low current of magic running through the chair. But it was gentle and benevolent, and he sensed that there was nothing dangerous in it at all.

After a moment, he relaxed and sat back with an appreciative hum. "It's very comfortable. And... calming."

Thor nodded. "Mother placed a serenity spell upon it. Whenever you're holding your child, all stressful thoughts will fade into the background and you'll be left with only peace and good spirits surrounding you."

Loki gave a half-grin. "It's working already." He turned his head and held a hand out to his mother. "How well you know me," he said softly.

Frigga gripped his hand. "Of course I do, love. You're my son."

Loki settled back. He felt the last bit of suspicion and fear fizzle away, and he lovingly patted his stomach. "I look forward to rocking you in this, little one. Surely it will help send you into restful slumber." He closed his eyes and rocked back and forth contentedly.

"Damn, freakin' chair works better than Xanax," Tony noted. "I may have to tie him to it until the baby comes."

A few appreciative titters went through the crowd, and Pepper nodded briskly. "Yeah, yeah, ha ha, that's great. Now, how about we open another gift?" She chose one from the stack on the table and placed it on what little room was available on Loki's lap. He roused himself and read the card out loud. "Ah, from Natasha... and Clint." He raised an eyebrow. Clint Barton was the one Avenger who still hadn't at least superficially come to terms with Loki, and another bout of mistrust shot through him. He cast a sharp look at Natasha. "I can't help but notice that the archer isn't present."

Natasha shrugged. "He said he can't stand the sight of you, but he didn't want to take it out on the baby. Go ahead, open it. It's not rigged."

Loki still looked a little wary, but he cautiously tore away the wrapping paper and opened the box within, giving a soft smile of surprise at its contents. "Oh—well, this is marvelous. All sorts of useful things..." He held up several of the items—baby bath products, a tiny brush and comb, soft blankets with bunnies and kittens on them. He gave a deferential nod toward Natasha. "Thank you, Ms. Romanoff. Thanks to both of you." Loki's paused to consider his next words. "It was very kind of Barton to set aside his ill feelings. I'm sure it was't easy. Please convey my appreciation."

"I will." Natasha smiled. "Listen, he had fun shopping with me. I have a feeling he's going to be a total sucker for the baby."

"Of course he will, everyone will love this baby," Loki said proudly, suddenly feeling a surge of happiness.

Tony could tell Loki was feeling better, and he took the opportunity to razz him just a little. "Or else, right, babe?" he asked with a grin.

Loki actually laughed, cheerfully pulling on his most regal persona. "Shush, mortal. Hand me another present. I quite like being feted this way."

And, just like that, the mood of the whole room was lightened.

Jane kept a list of who gave what as Loki went through the pile. Gift bags and wrapped boxes filled with stuffed animals, toys, baby clothes, diapers, all sorts of infant care supplies and gadgets were gifts from the Midgardian crowd. Loki curiously examined each one and thanked the giver profusely, until he went through them all.

That left a few oddly packaged items. There were three ornately carved wooden boxes, one each from Hogun, Volstagg, and Sif. As Loki opened them, he found each contained a child-sized training weapon—a sword, a dagger, and an archery set.

Loki studied each item thoroughly and then made a sound of deep admiration before proclaiming, "These are exquisite! The sword is perfectly balanced, and the dagger—" Loki looked up suddenly. "Are these dwarf-made?"

"Of course," Sif said proudly. "We're very proud of you, Loki. Only the best would do."

Loki blinked uncertainly. Thor, Fandral, Hogan, and Volstagg were standing behind Sif, all smiling at Loki, and he looked at each one in turn. "You're... proud of me?"

"We know what you did on Trondheim," Volstagg said. "You were a most brave and valiant warrior."

"And we know how you've struggled to heal from madness," Hogan said.

"You saved that woman at SHIELD," Thor said. "And, you've brought joy to my friend," he continued, gesturing at Tony. "You're giving me a niece or nephew, and, best of all—I have a brother again." Thor went to Loki's side, bent down, and hugged him. "Of course we're proud of you."

Loki closed his eyes and bit his lip, keeping tears stifled, but everyone could see he was deeply touched. Tony stood awkwardly for a moment, and then hastily began gathering up the pint-sized weapons. "How about we put these away until the little nipper is old enough to know not to kill someone with them, huh?" he explained as he placed them on a shelf behind the bar.

"But, they're so beautiful," Loki protested. "I want him or her to grow up looking at them, until the day they're old enough to use them."

"All right, I'll have a special glass case made for 'em. With a lock."

Loki nodded agreeably, grinning a little. If his child had even a fraction of the seidr he had, a lock fashioned by mortals would offer nothing more than a good learning opportunity.

"Moving on," Pepper said firmly. There were only two more gifts, one wrapped in a glimmering white silk cloth, the other in some sort of animal skin. She handed the silken one to Loki.

He smiled instantly. "This is from you, Mother," he said.

"It is." Frigga came to stand beside him, running her hand over his raven hair in a motherly caress. "Open it, dear."

Loki carefully untied the lace ribbon holding the package together, and found inside an array of beautifully hand-made baby clothes. Tiny mittens, a cap, a little sweater, booties, shirts, nightgowns, all either knit or sewn with delicate precision, all soft and cozy, but with a look befitting Asgardian royalty.

"Oh, Mother..." Loki said softly as he held up each piece. "You made all these yourself."

"Yes. It kept me busy. And, I've already started on larger sizes. I also have some blankets and crib sheets, but I'll bring those when the baby comes."

"Thank you." Loki wrapped his arms around Frigga and hugged her tightly.

Pepper watched somewhat impatiently, wanting to move things along before Thor got too loaded to take his contingent back to Asgard. "One more, everyone! Here you go, Loki!" Pepper reached for the hide-covered package, not noticing Frigga's eyes widening.

"Stop!" Frigga cried. She reached out and grabbed Pepper's hand, pulling her away from the gift table.

"What? What's wrong?" Pepper asked, startled.

Loki instantly understood. "I suspect it would be better for you not to touch that one." He glanced around, a frown on his face. "Who put it there?"

Thor's mead-fueled good spirits faded, and he stepped forward guiltily. "I'm afraid I did, brother. I'm so sorry, I forgot the effect it could have on Midgardians."

Loki picked up the package and his hands instantly flushed blue before returning to their normal color. He pursed his lips for a moment and then turned to his mother. "She sent this?"

Frigga nodded regretfully, and Loki gave a stormy scowl.

"Why? Why would she purposely endanger my friends?" Even in a surge of anger, Loki was aware how strange it sounded for him to refer to "his friends." But it felt good and natural to be able to say it at last.

Frigga patted his arm soothingly. "She didn't mean harm. I think she believed the animal hide would abate the danger. I intended to test it before allowing it to be placed with the other things, but in all the excitement..."

Jane was staring with a puzzled look on her face. She nudged Thor. "What are they talking about?"

"Loki's birth mother, Farbauti, is a Frost Giant, remember? This item has properties which could freeze a mortal's flesh to the bone if it came into contact with it. It was a grave error to allow it to be placed with the other gifts, and I bear responsibility." He shook his head shamefully, and to everyone's surprise, Loki stood up, put the package on the chair, and went to Thor.

"It's all right, Brother. It was a simple mistake, and no damage done. Remember this for the future, but now, please, let's forget about it and enjoy the party."

Thor looked into Loki's calm green eyes, awed. As a child, Loki had been gentle and good-natured, quick to anger, but quick to forgive as well. It had been ages since Thor had seen that side of him, and it filled his heart to hear genuine kindness coming from Loki and directed at him, of all people. He smushed Loki to his chest.

"My brother," he said softly.

"Yes, well," Loki voice was muffled as he squirmed out of Thor's embrace. "Now, let's see what treasure comes to us from the lovely realm of Jotunheim." He picked up the gift and sat back down. He untied the strips of leather holding the animal skin wrapping closed and revealed what appeared to be a plain block of ice. It was completely solid, not having melted even a drop in spite of the warm temperature of the penthouse.

"Okay, that's weird for a lot of reasons," Tony said. "Who gives ice as a present? I mean, shit, we've got a machine that makes the stuff right in our fridge, you'd think—"

"Quiet, Stark. The gift isn't the ice. It's what's contained within it." To nearly everyone's shock, Loki took on his Jotun form, and a collective gasp went through the crowd. "Could someone bring me a container of some sort?" Loki asked.

Bruce hurried off to the kitchen and returned with a mixing bowl. Loki took it, careful not to touch Bruce's flesh. He nodded his thanks, and held the ice over the bowl. He closed his eyes and seemed to focus his full attention on the block gripped between his hands. After a moment, the ice began to drip, slowly at first, but then faster and faster until it had all flowed into the bowl, leaving a thin silver chain with a spiky pendant in Loki's palm. A fleck of blue glittered from the pendant.

"What is it?" Pepper asked.

Frigga shifted uncomfortably. "I'm afraid I'm not sure. Farbauti only said it is a precious family heirloom and that Loki must be very careful with it. She promised to tell him more about it after the baby's arrival, if she is invited for a visit."

Loki grinned admiringly. "I can see where I get my devious nature from," he said with a chuckle. He placed the pendant in the water, and weirdly, the liquid immediately began to turn into ice, quickly encasing the jewelry. Loki wrapped the entire thing in the animal skin and secured it with the leather. "Tony, where can I put this that no mortal comes in contact with it? Or anyone else, for that matter."

"Uh, well... There's a safe I don't use anymore down in the lab. Here, I can—"

"You can't touch it, love."

"I'll take it," Frigga said. "If you'll escort me, Tony?"

"Sure, of course. We'll be right back, guys. Don't cut the cake without me."

Loki returned to his Aesir appearance, and at that everyone relaxed. Soon the room was again rumbling with laughter and conversation.

Loki looked down at his hands. They were still thrumming from the magic contained within the pendant.