Loki could tell the entire living area was now filled with movement and noise—ugh, so much movement, so much noise—voices rising and falling, laughter, feet tromping, doors opening and closing, a "pop!" and the clink of glass as someone poured champagne. Even there in the bathroom, his mother and Farbauti spoke in hushed but excited tones, and he could hear Thor at the door, vainly trying to whisper as he pleaded for a glimpse of his freshly-birthed nephew.

But in Loki's mind, the world was just his son's little face in clear focus while everything else rushed past in a blur, like countryside through the window of a speeding train.

Then, he was vaguely aware of Farbauti fussing around between his legs, chortling, "And now comes the afterbirth!" and feeling something warm and squishy being pulled from him. He paid no attention, just noted that everyone seemed pleased that that was done, and at last he was allowed to sit quietly, Tony's arms wrapped tightly around him, sheltering their little one between them.

Until his mother settled beside him. "I need to clean him up, dear." She held out her arms expectantly, but Loki didn't move, didn't take his gaze from his baby's clear dark eyes wondering in amazement. He didn't notice Frigga cast a rueful glance at Tony. "He's going to get cold, Papa. Perhaps you could persuade him...?"

Tony nodded. "Hey, Daddy-bear, give up the goods. You can't hog him forever, you've got a damn fan club here waiting to get a look at the little goober." Tony gently lifted Loki's chin and refocused his eyes on himself. "So, gimme." He carefully wrested the infant away from Loki, and by the look on the god's face, it occurred to Tony that if it had been anyone else, they might have come away minus a hand. But he managed to transfer the tiny baby from Loki into his own arms—and then he didn't want to let go, either.

Frigga sighed, repressing a chuckle. "You poor dears. I know how hard it is to let him go. But, this won't take long, I promise. Please." She again held out her arms.

With a resigned scowl, Tony reluctantly placed his son into Frigga's waiting hands. She smiled and cuddled the squirming infant before wrapping him in a fluffy towel and taking him to the sink for his first bath.

Tony turned his attention to Loki, who was slumping lower in the water, wearing a dazed expression. "Come on, babe. Let's get you out of here—you need to get dry and into bed. You must be exhausted."

Loki gave him a slight nod of acknowledgement and allowed himself to be helped to his feet. He felt shaky, and a shiver ran through him as his knees gave way. "Bruce, give me a hand!" Tony yelled as he struggled to keep Loki upright. Bruce hurried over and between the two of them, they were able to get Loki safely out of the tub and into a bath robe. Farbauti swathed him in a blanket as well, and they made their way to Tony and Loki's bedroom, where they helped Loki lie down under the covers. Tony dried Loki's hair with the towel and made sure he was warm and comfortable.

Gentle hands, a warm blanket, a soft bed... Loki dropped off to sleep almost immediately.

In the living room, the chatter rose and fell as people came and went. Steve had called Natasha to give her the news, and she'd hurried over with champagne and a stoic-faced Clint in tow. Thor had indeed managed to sneak a peek at his nephew and he entered the room grandly, his booming voice ringing out as he described every detail he'd been able to glean in those few short moments.

When he was done, everyone was strangely quiet, staring up at the big blond god. He looked around, bewildered. "What is it, my friends?" he asked. "Has the news of my nephew's birth disturbed you in some way?"

Steve glanced at Natasha and then cleared his throat. "No, not at all, it's just that, uh..." He shrugged uncertainly.

"Thor—you mean, he's really... blue?" Natasha asked delicately.

Thor nodded. "Well, of course. This is not cause for surprise, surely? Loki's Jotunn flesh is most pronouncedly blue."

"Kid's going to have a bad time of it in kindergarten," Clint said somberly.

"Maybe they'll home school," Pepper said.

"Oh, what, and keep him hidden away as if there was something wrong with him? I wouldn't wish that on anyone." Natasha spoke sharply, bad memories clearly cloying her thoughts.

Bruce came in, wiping his hands dry after washing up. He caught the gist of the conversation and said gently, "Hey, guys? This really is a joyous occasion. Let's not worry about that kind of stuff right now, okay? Tony and Loki'll figure it out. In the meantime, we need to give the new parents our support." He glanced back over his shoulder, still hearing some good-natured bickering going on between Frigga and Farbauti regarding how to best swaddle the infant before taking him to his dads. "It's not like things aren't weird enough for them already."

Thor gave an earnest nod. "After all, it is just a baby, no matter the hue of his skin," he said reasonably.

"That's right," Natasha said. She elbowed Clint in the side. "Right?"

Clint hastily sat up straighter. "Oh, uh—yeah. And, babies are... cute." Everyone made enthusiastic sounds of agreement, and didn't hear when Clint leaned over and whispered in Natasha's ear, "Even if one of their daddies is a freak from outer space..."

"Shut. Up," Natasha said around a smile. She turned back to Thor. "When do you think we'll get to see him?"

"Ah, Mother said he must first be given nourishment." Thor's happy smile faded and a thoughtful frown came over him. "Although, I'm not certain how that is to be accomplished. Babes only feed on milk, do they not?"

Pepper and Natasha exchanged amused glances. "Yeah, that's the impression I've always gotten," Pepper said, nodding seriously.

Thor looked down at his chest as mildly horrified understanding came to him, and then back at the ladies. "But Loki is quite ill-equipped!"

"Not necessarily," Bruce said. "Aside from the fact that he did just, you know, give birth—males are capable of lactating, under certain circumstances. And small-breasted women can nurse their babies just fine. So, I imagine Loki's equipped perfectly well. Now, whether or not he'll choose to do it is another question entirely." Bruce smiled and sat down on the couch, ready for a bit of non-Loki-related quiet time.

Everyone else awkwardly milled around, trying not to think too much about men lactating, until they found comfortable places to sit and wait for the new arrival to appear.

Loki's sleep was deep but all too brief, as he was awakened when he felt Tony get up and leave the bed. He heard a baby cry and jolted upright, instantly hit with pain and a wet sticky feeling between his legs. Without thinking, he flicked back his hand and sent magic flashing to the sore place, instantly healing the torn skin and removing the drained blood and fluid—and then his eyes widened in horror at what he'd done. He pulled his legs under himself and looked around the room in a frantic search for whatever—whoever—had received the worst of his ill-managed seidr.

But, there was nothing. Not a knick-knack out of place, and the voices of Frigga, Farbauti and Tony, still in the bathroom, never missed a beat. He stared anxiously in their direction until Tony came in, smiling broadly and carrying their squirming son in his arms.

"Hey, beautiful! Someone's hungry! Pull up the blinds, get the diner open for business!"

"Wh-what?" Loki asked, his brow knit in confusion.

"Your son wants feeding, my love," Frigga said gently.

Loki stared from one to the other, his heart being tugged by his son's cranky little wails, but a rush of irritation came over him as he grasped what they were implying. "Are you insane? All of you? I'm not..." The exasperation flooded out of him as he caught a glimpse of the baby's face, squished up in misery. His voice shook a little as he continued. "I'm not doing that. I'm male, in spite of all this. I'm... I'm not doing that." He wrapped the robe a little tighter around himself and shot a glare at Tony. "There has to be another way to nourish the creature."

"The 'creature?' So, we're back to that again? Oh, brother. Loki, if you don't—or can't—nurse him, we'll get some formula. No biggie," Tony said as he sat next to Loki and rubbed his back soothingly. "I'll get Pep to run down to the drug store, it'll just take a minute."

"But, he's hungry now," Loki said.

"What is this 'formula' you speak of?" Farbauti demanded, looking at Frigga, who gave a rather un-queenly shrug of her shoulders, as she'd never heard of such a thing, either.

"It's this," Pepper said from the bedroom doorway. She was leaning in, about to knock with one hand, holding a filled baby bottle in the other. "May I come in?"

"Absolutely! Hey, bring that here, this is like the infant version of pizza delivery, isn't it?" Tony said with relish. He gave Pepper a worshipful look as she approached. "You always know what to do, don't you? You're kind of a genius—like me, only with feelings and shit."

"It didn't take a genius to figure out this scenario," Pepper said dryly. "When I went to get Bruce's stuff, I picked up a bagful of formula and bottles, cleaning supplies, everything. But, you two are going to have to figure out how to use them." She handed the bottle to Loki. "First one's free, but after that... it's on you." Now that she was close enough to see the baby, she leaned down and marveled at him. "Wow... he's gorgeous! Aw, and so hungry—feed him, Loki!"

Loki had the baby in one arm and held the bottle uncertainly with his other hand. He frowned. "What do I do?"

"Stick that," Tony said, pointing to the nipple on the bottle, "in there," he added, now pointing at the baby's now wide-open shrieking mouth, secure in the knowledge that that was how it worked.

Loki glowered at him, but Pepper gave him instructions so the baby wouldn't suck in air, and Loki did as directed. Loki discovered that if he squeezed the bottle, a little formula came out into the baby's mouth, thus giving him the incentive to start sucking, and soon enough the baby was contentedly nursing and Loki was staring at his son in awe.

Tony looked as proud and triumphant as if he'd just harnessed cold fusion.

Frigga and Farbauti both had slightly disapproving looks on their faces. "Is that substance safe?" Farbauti asked Pepper.

"Of course!" Pepper said reassuringly. "It's got all the nutrients a baby needs. And, if this doesn't agree with him, there are lots of different kinds. He'll do fine."

"Perhaps I should bring several flasks of Jotunn yak milk," Farbauti mused. "It's what we use when a parent dies in childbirth, or battle, or what-have-you."

"I'm not dead," Loki said sourly.

"No, of course you're not," the indigo-skinned queen said, flashing a loving smile at Loki. "And, if you choose to trust these, uh, humans' notions of childcare, well... I will support you in that. But, if my only grandson fails to grow fat and strong in a timely manner, I'll—"

"I know, I know—yak's milk," Loki said with a twinkle. "I doubt that will be necessary."

"We'll see," Farbauti answered.

The five of them silently watched the baby nurse, sucking down the formula like a tiny little machine. When he was done, Frigga showed Loki how to put him on his shoulder and help the little one bring up a burp, making everyone laugh. Loki gave a loud squawk of mock-disgust when he was subsequently spit-up on.

"Oh, this is dreadful," he said, laughing as his mother dabbed at the wet pool on his shoulder. "Stark, you should begin working with this fluid immediately—I believe you have a chemical agent here to rival anthrax."

"No one ever died from a little baby puke," Pepper pointed out.

"Not yet. I haven't weaponized it," Tony said confidently.

A brisk rap came at the bedroom door and the group looked up to see Thor forlornly standing there. "May I hold my nephew now?" he asked pathetically. "The others would like to see him, too."

"Sure, Point Break. Here." Tony carefully took the baby from Loki and walked him to Thor's waiting arms.

"Oh, just look at him!" Thor said as he settled the babe against his broad chest. "He's beautiful!" His jovial mood returned and he busied himself examining the little fingers and toes and grinning until he thought his face would break. "What's his name?"

Tony and Loki glanced at each other, and Tony tugged at his beard. "Uh... We never did nail that down, exactly. We thought we had a little more time."

"May I suggest 'Hjálmarr?'" asked Frigga. "It means, 'helmeted warrior.' Appropriate, don't you think?"

"Oh, that's very good," Farbauti agreed. "Don't you think so, Father?"

Alfarin had been cautiously peeking in every so often, afraid of being shooed away by the women, but now he happily stepped into the room and went to look at the baby in Thor's arms. "Indeed! A fine, strong name. He can be 'Jari' for short."

"Uh..." Tony said, a helpless tone in his voice. He really didn't know quite how to explain to his in-laws that he had no intention of calling his son something so, well, odd-sounding. But, Loki spoke up.

"Mother, that is truly a fine family name. But, the boy will grow up on Midgard, and trust me, he'll be different enough from the other children as it is. He doesn't need an unusual first name as well." Loki reached for Tony's hand. "How about 'Jacob?'" he asked softly.

A smile tugged at the corner of Tony's mouth. "Jacob? Huh. I like that. But, why?"

Loki shrugged. "It's a very old name, from the Midgardian book known as the Bible." An impish grin crossed his face. "Jacob wrestled with God. That sounds like something our son would end up doing."

Tony chuckled and pulled Loki close. "Okay. So, Jacob Hjalmarr Stark." He lwhispered in Loki's ear. "We'll wait 'til he's older to break the Hjalmarr part to him, right?"

"As you wish," Loki whispered back. "The Old Ones will call him Jari, anyway."

"Fair enough. Come on—let's go introduce Jacob to the rest of the gang."

Loki stood up, and assumed his Asgardian form, but he looked worn out and bedraggled, with the blood-streaked robe and his straggly hair. Frigga smiled encouragingly and squeezed his arm.

"Are you feeling all right, dear? Any pain?"

"No, not at all. I..." Loki looked around and then leaned in to say confidentially, "I used my seidr to heal myself before I became fully awake. Nothing bad happened, did it?"

Frigga looked surprised, but she shook her head firmly. "No. Now that the baby isn't reflecting your magic, you should be able to use it as you wish. But, I'd go slowly, son. You're a bit out of practice."

Loki looked down at himself, and in an instant, the soiled robe was gone and he was dressed in crisp black slacks and a green tunic. His hair was clean and neatly combed away from his face in his usual style. He smiled, well-pleased to have the use of his magic at last. "It'll come back to me fairly quickly, I think. How do I look?"

Frigga laughed ruefully. "Would that I could have returned to my old appearance so quickly after having a baby! It took me months. You look wonderful, Loki. But, I'm afraid your guests will only have eyes for your little one. You'll have to get used to not being the center of attention, I'm afraid."

Loki took in a deep breath. "That... is fine with me. I've had enough attention to last a thousand years." He held out his arm, and Frigga took it. "Come. Let's see how our guests are faring."

Together, they headed to the living quarters to watch the joy of everyone meeting little Jacob.