One Day Down, Chapter 240

“I have already informed him, Sir. He is currently cleaning his room to make it presentable.”
“Aw, isn’t that cute?”
Ted and Meron were upstairs moments later. The young girl had certainly grown quite a bit over the months since they’d seen her last.
“Long time no see.” Ted smiled at Loki and Tony.
“Hi Meron!” Toki darted out of his room.
"Toki!" the girl cried out.
There was a sudden wailing noise from down the hall.
"Oh dear." Heading for the nursery, Loki picked Astrid out of her crib; Emery was awake but not crying. Tony went over and tried to get Emery back to sleep.
“Oh I’m sorry about that.” Ted smiled apologetically and Meron quickly covered her mouth.
“Sorry.” She mumbled and Toki rubbed her arm gently.
“It’s okay, you didn’t know.”
Once the girls were settled, Loki had Jarvis show him footage of Remus to find that he was still sleeping.
"All is well once again." he smiled. "How are you Ted?" Loki asked.
“I’ve been fine. Got a few more hours at the university, so I’ve been busy.” He sat at the island with Tony and Loki. “And you two?”
“Could be better but at least the world isn’t being attacked by aliens.” Tony shrugged as he sat.
Toki smiled at Meron then took her into the room so they could play. “Look, I made these!” He held up the gauntlets.
Meron smiled at the gauntlets. "What do they do?"
Toki put one on and levitated his bed. “This one can lift things and move them around.” He took it off and grabbed the other one. “This one makes fire and this is my newer one: it makes things disappear.”
"That's so cool Toki." Meron smiled. "What are you going to use them for? Are you going to become a super hero like your dad?"
"I don't know yet. I really wanted to do magic like Fenrir and my Papa but I don't know if I want to be a super hero.
“I wish I could do stuff like that.” Meron looked at the gauntlets.
Toki smiled. “Maybe I could teach you. It’s not that hard really.” He pulled up his books of notes. “See?” All things considered, it wasn’t hard for Toki, but Meron looked at the notes and didn’t understand half the words. She giggled.
“Toki, I’m not as smart as you are.”
Meron giggled as Toki levitated them on the bed. It didn’t go too high; Toki didn’t want to risk hurting his friend.
“This is so cool!”
***
Loki smiled. "Well now we have the girls. Remus is getting older, everyone is well."
“Oh you had girls?”
“Twins.”
Ted laughed and shook his head. “Best of luck to the both of you. Twins are hard, from what I’ve heard.”
"The girls aren't so bad. They're more like Anthony than myself." Loki confessed.
“When I first heard my wife was pregnant, the doctor thought she was having twins. It was a big shock to both of us, so we started buying two of everything and then we found out it was just Meron.”
Tony laughed. “Did you keep all the stuff?”
“The clothes we kept. The double stroller we took back. The second crib, car seat and any of the toys that we'd gotten doubles of we gave to a couple that was expecting but he'd lost his job. Helped him get one at the university." Ted smiled.
“Are you real?” Tony looked at Ted with admiration.
Ted chuckled and nodded. “My mother raised me to help anybody I could.”
“Well she taught you well.” Loki bowed his head.
"Besides, good karma comes from good karma." He smiled.
“That’s true.” Tony nodded. “You hungry? Thirsty?”
“I’ll have some juice, if that’s fine.”
Tony stood and went to the fridge. “Any specific kind? We have a little of everything.”
"Cranberry if you have it." He replied.
"Sir, the girls are awake again." Jarvis informed him.
Getting up, Loki went to get both girls and bring them into the living room. "Ted, meet Emery and Astrid." he smiled.
“Hello you two.” He smiled at the twins. It had been a while since he’d seen children so young. Astrid giggled and hid her face in Loki’s neck while Emery yawned wide and rubber her eyes. Tony smiled at the two and took Astrid so Loki could have at least one arm free.
“They’re both very beautiful. Are they magical at all?”
“No, not these two. Looks like it’s just Remus.” Loki smiled.
"May I hold her?" Ted asked, looking to Loki. Nodding, Loki placed his sleepy daughter into the man's arms.
Ted held the baby girl carefully and smiled. “It’s been a long time since I’ve held a baby.”
Tony smiled at Ted and rubbed Astrid’s back. “Well you can hold them if you want.”
Emery looked up at Ted, her large eyes taking in the new person. "Which baby am I holding?" Ted asked.
"Emery. She's the calmer of the two, and not as handsy as her sister."
Ted nodded as he adjusted her. "Now you guys really have your hands full. And Remus must be getting really big lately." Ted noted.
“Oh he is.” Tony nodded, thinking of all the times he’d grunted lifting Remus. The boy wasn’t too heavy yet, but he was growing fast.
Ted laughed. “He’s okay with the girls? I always heard that older siblings get jealous.”
"No, he's been good with them." Loki noted. "He gets plenty of play time and of course our friends and family help us with all over them."
Ted nodded in understanding. "I see. I bet everyone gets baby napped very often." he pointed out.
“They do, mostly by Pepper. She’s expecting now too.”
“Really? I’m happy to hear! How far along is she?”
“Three months now.” Tony smiled. “She’s nervous about it though.”
"So was my wife. I was nervous too." Ted confessed. "It's a thing you go through to become a first parent." he said.
“Guess that’s true.” Tony could still remember how nervous he was with Remus, though he thought he’d adjusted well enough.
"Daddy!" Remus called out.
"He's talking." Ted smiled, hearing Remus from down the hall.
"Oh yes he is. He gets his point across quiet well." Loki smiled as he headed off to go and get the boy from his crib. They'd be bumping him up to a big boy bed soon.
“Nothing really ever gets him quiet anymore.” Tony shook his head with a little smile.
“Kinda like his father.” Ted joked and laughed as Tony looked at him.
“That’s not funny.” He furrowed his brow but smiled more.
"Yes, it is." Ted chuckled.
Emery started whining in Ted's arms. "I didn't do anything." he said, and then Remus came running into the room.
"No, she's hungry." Loki smiled. Ted handed Emery back over to Loki and smiled at Remus.
“You are getting big!”
Remus grinned and hide behind Loki’s leg, peeking over at Ted playfully. Tony smiled at the boy and shook his head.
"Remus, let go please." Loki said. Remus did as he was told and ran over to Ted, keeping back a few feet.
"Hi." he waved.
"Hey Remus. So you remember me?" he asked. The boy shook his head before going to grab a few of his toys.
Ted smiled as Remus ran off. “He couldn’t have been that old the last time I was came over.”
“Not really. He’s just turning four now.” Tony got up to make some coffee. “But hey, at least he still likes you.”
"Why, is there someone he isn't to find of?" Ted asked. Loki came back into the room with Emery tucked in the crook of his elbow and chest, happily sucking down a bottle. Every few moments, Loki would pull it back from her to slow her down.
“Well he doesn’t like Barton much, for starters.”
“Barton?”
“I guess you probably know him as Hawkeye.”
Ted nodded in understanding. “Oh yeah, him.” The man smiled. “Why not?”
“He’s not that great with my kids, which is funny since he volunteers at an orphanage.”
"Your kids are funny." Ted replied.
"No, they don't like Barton because they're too much like me and Barton likes to make up unpleasant nicknames for them. When Remus was born the first thing out of his face was 'Is it blue?' You can imagine my displeasure." Loki pointed out.
"Yeah I can see why you would hate him." Ted agreed.
“When Remus got his first good look at him, he stared at him the same way I do when I’m annoyed with him. And the girls did it too." Loki noted.
“Barton’s not a favorite in the tower.” Tony smiled and Ted chuckled.
“I can see why not. Your kids must already go through a lot. They don’t need to be picked on by other people.”
“He’s trying though. He doesn’t use the nicknames as much.” Tony shrugged. He had to give the archer credit for that, at least.
"But the damage is already done." Ted replied. "Kids will remember things like that. They won’t take it well when they're older. Fenrir I’m sure would rather tear Clint a new one." Ted commented.
“I don’t condone violence but Barton is a special case.” Tony went to get a bottle ready for Astrid when she started to fuss. “Hold on, hold on.”
"They must be a handful with the different times they want to be fed."
"Not really. Because then you can feed each one by yourself." Loki explained.
“Certainly sounds convenient.” Ted smiled then looked over as Meron and Toki ran out of the room.
“Daddy, Daddy! Look at the cool gloves Toki made!”
Toki held up his gauntlets with a big grin on his face.
Ted took a look at what the kids were showing him. "Wow Toki, this is amazing. Buddy you're going to go very far in life."
The boy grinned and blushed. “Thanks.”
“Show him what they can do Toki!” Meron bounced excitedly and Toki nodded. He took a step back then vanished.
Tony hadn’t seen this one, so he was surprised by it. “Wow.”
Loki smiled at him.
"How did you make these?" Ted asked.
The boy reappeared with a smile. “I used some old blue prints from the Iron Man suit and then I put a magical crystal into it.” Toki grinned. “It’s not that hard. You just have to know which way the crystal should face so it can conduct the magic properly.”
Ted whistled in amazement. “I could hardly get through math and you’re doing this.”
"That’s all that time spent in the lab with Anthony." Loki smirked. Toki blushed a bit, feeling a tad proud of himself.
“Well it’s certainly paid off. That’s quite the gadget.” Ted smiled at the boy.
“I’m going to try and make some levitating shoes next.” Toki smiled and Meron squealed excitedly.
“That would be awesome! Can I have a pair?”
"No." Loki replied. Best to shut them down and shut them down now. Both children whined in disappointment.
“Sorry kids, but that’s probably not the safest thing for you right now.” Ted shrugged.
Meron pouted but gave a little nod. “Okay.”
Pouting, Toki frowned at Loki. "Come on, Meron." Taking her hand they went back to his room.
Tony watched the boy go. He felt a bit bad for his son; when Tony was that old, he was already making his own inventions, but he knew it wasn’t the safest habit for him right now. He was too young to know his limits.