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"Shit!"
"Anthony, are you trying to experiment on the Soul stone again?"
".........maybe"
"I swear," Loki sighed as he padded into the living room and sat next to Tony, " your curiosity is going to be the death of you."
"Newsflash Elsa, it already was. What are you doing up, anyway?"
"Endlessly suffering, what else?"
Despite having a flair for the dramatic, Tony could tell his friend was not exaggerating. The tail end of this pregnancy was draining Loki dry and he looked completely and utterly miserable.
"Want me to prop you up with pillows and make that gross tea you like?"
"Norns, yes."
After making sure the mage was comfortable, Tony went over to the kitchen area to put the kettle on. While he waited for the water to heat up, a thump and some cursing could be heard from the back of the house.
"Sounds like Thor tripped over his axe again."
"Ugh, I keep telling him to not put that thing next to our bed at night, but he never listens."
"Listen about what?" Thor asked as he stumbled into the room.
Loki gave Tony a look that said 'see what I mean?' before turning towards his husband.
"Nothing elskan mín, you should go back to bed."
"Nay, I can't sleep well when you're not with me," Thor murmured as he set down and started rubbing soothing circles over Loki's swollen abdomen, "what are you two up to this late?"
Tony handed Loki his tea before he sat on the other side of Thor, " Lokes here is trying to impede scientific research."
"By that he means interrupt his latest bout of stupidity with an Infinity Stone."
"Hey!"
"Don't worry Anthony," Thor laughed," I'm sure you'll have plenty of time for more studies once we're on Earth."
"When are we heading back anyway?"
"The Guardians will be here roughly two months from now. I'm hoping Loki's delivered the babe before having to attempt space travel."
"Well you better be right about their timing," Loki grumbled," considering I have over three weeks left to go."
******************
As it turned out, Loki did not have three weeks left to go.
Four days after their late night diatribe, Thor, Tony, and Iðuna were sitting in the living room, listening to one of the planet's rare storms raging outside. Loki had went to bed a few hours prior, citing that he felt unwell.
"That weather out there could put you out of a job, point break."
"Very funny, Anthony, I'll have you know I'm not always in control of thunderstorms."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure that...." Tony's next words were interrupted by a loud cry from the Master bedroom.
Thor got up and raced towards the noise with the others not far behind. He rushed into the bedroom to find Loki doubled over in pain on the floor.
"Loki!" Thor shouted as he went gathered his husband up into his arms, " what happened?!"
"Tried to....get up.....water broke..."
He broke off into a wail as another contraction ripped through him.
Tony made it to the doorway and took in the mess on the floor and the Thunder God's panicked expression.
"Well, fuck."
****************
Since the weather was too bad to go fetch a healer and Thor was clueless, it was up to Tony to help his friend with the delivery.
"Just so you know, Bambi, this is more of you than I ever wanted to see."
"I'll be sure to....apologize....to your.....precious sensibilities....later...Ack!"
Tony was thankful that Loki'd had enough presence of mind to put a sleep spell on Iðuna before things picked up, cause those screams were terrifying.
"Is it normal for him to be in this much pain?"
"Yes...no...maybe?" Tony scratched his head in confusion, "I mean Pepper was the same way, but she'd also had an issue with....wait a minute, let me check something."
He felt around on Loki's abdomen like he'd seen the midwife do when his daughter was being born, and noticed the baby was definitely in the wrong position.
"Ok Lokes, don't panic, but uhm.....this kid is laying the wrong way, and I'm going to have to turn them around."
When Loki gave a shaky nod of assent, Tony turned to Thor, " You might want to hold him down, cause this is going to hurt."
************
Once that disaster was over (and Tony stopped panicking that he'd somehow permanently damaged his friend), things went a lot smoother. By the time the first cracks of dawn peeked through the window, Tony placed a tiny baby girl with a full head of dark hair onto Loki's chest. He then proceeded to collapse into a nearby armchair.
"Holy shit Lo-Lo, I hope you don't plan on doing this again anytime soon."
"Not likely," Loki said as he looked up at Tony with a tired grin," thank you, for helping us."
"Eh, anything for my favorite snowflake."
There was a soft knock on the doorway, then Thor came back in carrying Iðuna, who'd just woken up from the spell her mother had cast. Loki patted the empty spot next to him and had his husband set the child down.
"Are you okay, mama?"
"I am, my darling. Would you like to see your baby sister?"
At the girl's excited nod, he carefully put the infant into her arms. Iðuna looked at her new sibling with awe, and giggled when a tiny hand squeezed her finger.
"She's so cute! What's her name?"
"Well," Thor and Loki exchanged knowing looks before the Thunderer continued, " since we're heading back to Earth, your mother and I decided to go with something a little more Midgardian."
"Her name is Antonia Freyja Thorsdóttir."
Tony's eyes practically bugged out of his head at the announcement.
"You....you guys named her after me?"
"Of course," Loki told him as if anything else would have been ridiculous," if it wasn't for you, she might not have made it here safely. Besides, Thor has expressed a desire to appoint you as a...what's the phrase....godfather to our daughters, and I can't say I disagree."
Tony didn't have words to describe how he felt at that moment. Instead, he simply got up, came over to his friends side, and gathered up the children that had come to mean just as much to him as his own daughter.
"I guess the only thing left to say is...welcome to the world, Tiny Toni."
****************
The reunion with the Guardians of the Galaxy was interesting to say the least. When Thor first contacted them saying Tony Stark was alive, they thought he was kidding...until Rocket pointed out that the God rarely made jokes.
The ship had barely opened its bay doors when a blur of blue and metal raced out and lifted Tony off the ground and into a bear hug.
"Jesus Nebs! Easy on the merchandise!"
"Sorry," she muttered, but the smile on her face indicated she was anything but.
Thor, Drax,and Rocket started loading their belongings onto the ship, while Mantis and Groot played with the children. Loki was having a rather emotional goodbye with some of the inhabitants that had helped him out when he'd first landed on the planet.
Quill tapped Tony on the shoulder and indicated for him to follow him inside the ship.
"What's up, porcupine?"
"Well, when Thor told us you were back, we contacted Earth to make sure there wouldn't be a mass panic at the news, and there was someone there that wanted to talk to you as soon as we landed."
He pushed a button on a panel and the screen popped up with a face that made Tony's heart ache in the best of ways.
"Tony?!"
"Hey, Pep."