Chapter 33

Loki and I said our final goodbyes to Odin and then Heimdall sent us down to Earth. We landed in Tony's living room and when the bright white light from the bifrost went away I was greeted by shouts of surprise and smiling faces. I acted surprised by Pepper immediately knew Tony spoiled it.

"Alex!" My aunt yelled out from the crowd. My eyes went wide as she, my uncle and my cousins rushed me. They all hugged me at once and I awkwardly hugged them back. I wasn't close with my family but it was nice to see they cared this much about me.

"I can't believe you're a whole superhero." My cousin Addie laughed as she and the others pulled away.

"Yeah! Who'd a thought?" My uncle laughed as he put his hands in his pockets.

"When Mr. Fury told us what happened a-and showed us the videos. I felt so sick. Alex, I know we've not exactly made it easy for you growing up and we're so sorry about that." My aunt said as she wiped the tears from her eyes. I honestly felt no ill will towards them about how they treated me growing up. It was something I was used to between them and the orphanage, being treated like an outcast, the black sheep.

"It's okay." I smiled. I meant it too. I know they never asked for another kid and it was hard for everyone involved.

"Enough family shit, let's celebrate!" Tony shouted out. Music began blasting and dancing quickly followed as the party went full swing. Tony took my hand and spun me around as he pulled me towards him and Pepper. Pepper wrapped me up in a tight hug, but this hug felt different than the other million times she's hugged me. Something felt different with her and how she held me.

"Are you okay?" I asked her as I pulled away. Tears streamed down her face but she quickly wiped them away as she smiled and nodded.

"I'm just happy that you're okay." She said as she took my hands in hers. I didn't believe her but decided to keep the questioning for another time.

I was pulled away from her and towards Peter and M.J thanks to Venom. He returned Eddie's hand back to it's human form and they all smiled as M.J hugged me. She and I had gotten close after I became Peter's partner, same for Eddie.

"I can't believe you're okay!" M.J laughed as she pulled away and looked me up and down.

"Sounds like you had good confidence in my ability to survive, thanks." I joked, causing her to smack my arm and laugh again.

"Heeeyyyy!" Clint sang out as he and Nat joined the group and hugged me. Clint pulled away and handed me a full red cup before nodding and dancing away with a eye rolling Nat close behind him. 

*2 Hours Later*

I managed to get away from the party for a moment. I snuck upstairs to Tony and Pepper's room to get some distance between myself and the others. It felt nice seeing how much everyone missed me but they were beginning to get a little suffocating. I sat on the bed and took a sip from my cup as Pepper walked into the room.

"Oh!" She jumped and grabbed her chest as she laughed a little.

"You scared me." She added as she closed the door and walked over to the bed. She sat down next to me and took the drink from my hand and drank from it.

"Sorry." I laughed a little as I took it back.

"Hiding?" She asked me.

"Yeah, you?" I asked her as I took a sip.

"Same." She groaned as she laid back on the bed. I put my cup on the floor and joined her, staring up at the ceiling.

"Everything okay with you?" I asked her as I looked over at her. She licked her lips and furrowed her brows, as if she was trying to find the right answer to my question.

"Yeah." She smiled as she looked back at me.

"Well, I don't believe that." I argued.

"I promise I'll explain after the party." She nodded before quickly getting up and leaving the room. I slowly sat up and furrowed my brows at her before grabbing my cup and leaving the room too. I walked downstairs right as my family was crowding around the elevator.

"There she is! Come say goodbye." My aunt smiled at me. I set my cup down on the counter and walked over to my family. I hugged each of them and we said our goodbyes as they entered the elevator.

"I'll be watching the news for you." My aunt said as she winked. I raised a brow and Tony closed his eyes as he sighed.

"Oops." My aunt covered her mouth and laughed as the elevator doors closed. I looked at Tony and he inhaled as he quickly walked away from me.

"What's she talking about??" I asked, following him. Steve turned the music and and Tony looked over at Fury for help to my question.

"Well, this was going to be a surprise for our next meeting, but it seems no one around here can keep a damn secret." He said as he crossed his arms.

"What was?" I asked. The others joined around him and Loki took his spot by me. It was clear everyone knew what the secret was but us.

"I've decided to make you and Loki Official Public Avengers." Fury announced, a wide smile on his face.

"What." Loki and I asked at the same time.

"My idea." Tony quickly claimed the new job position idea.

"Isn't that great." Scott laughed.

"The public is gonna lose their minds if they find out Loki is alive." I pointed out.

"Nah." Steve waved my worries off.

"The public can kiss my ass. You two have done more for them than they could ever imagine. They're gonna just have to deal with it." Fury deflected.

"Tony's gonna make an announcement that's gonna broadcast through every device in America. After he makes his speech about Brad, the attack on Earth, leaving out the Loki part, he's gonna announce the two "new" members of the Avengers. You and Loki." Fury explained as he crossed his arms.

"Then you'll appear on screen and give a small speech." He added.

"No." Loki quickly said.

"I dunno, this seems a bit much. I mean, people might riot." I said as I crossed my arms over my chest, holding my elbows.

"They won't." Tony assured me with a nod. I opened my mouth to argue but Fury cut me off.

"Great! So it's settled. Be at the Hellicarrier tomorrow at 6 am sharp and we'll have your speeches ready for you." Fury smiled. He and his two agents said their goodbyes, all of them ignoring my questions. They left the party and soon others followed. First was Peter, M.J and Eddie, then Clint and Nat, followed by Steve, Sam and Bucky, and then Bruce and rest. After the last party goer left I crossed my arms and looked over at Tony and Pepper. Happy stuffed a cupcake in his mouth as he and Loki sat at the kitchen counter. Tony faked a yawn and looked at his watched.

"Wow, look at the time. I gotta head to bed." He said as he pulled on Pepper's arm. But Pepper didn't move. She looked down at her feet and then over at me, tears in her eyes.

"Whoa, Pepper, what's wrong?" Tony asked as he put his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder. Loki stood next to me with his arms crossed too and we all waited for her to calm down before answering. Happy just awkwardly continued eating, unsure if he should leave or not.

"I have something to admit." She said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"What?" Tony asked as he gently rubbed her shoulder.

"I-It's gonna be a lot to take in, so let me explain before you ask questions." She said as she looked over at me. I raised a brow but nodded, agreeing to keep silent.

"And don't hate me, please." She begged. I nodded again, slower and more cautious this time.

"I-" She took a deep breath and moved away from Tony as she looked down to the ground.

"I am-" She shook her hands and inhaled again, trying to find her voice.

"God, this is so hard." She began crying again. We gave her time to calm down again and she cleaned her face off as she looked over at me. She inhaled and tensed up as she nodded and clenched her jaw.

"I'm your birth mom." She admitted. I felt my heart drop down into my stomach as my arms uncrossed. My mouth fell slightly open and I looked over at Tony, who looked just as surprised by this. I looked back over at Pepper and she had such sad eyes.

"What?" I half laughed. I honestly couldn't believe what she just said to me.

"I, um, after you went missing and Tony went to your aunt's house to tell them everything...I realized it was the same town I had grown up in. I-I, okay let me just start from the beginning.." She nodded as she swallowed hard. I nodded in agreement and she crossed her arms over her chest, rubbing her shoulders to calm herself down.

"When I was 14 I was dating this guy named Gary." She started off. I nodded at this and she opened her mouth and closed it a few times, trying to figure out how to say the next thing she wanted to say.

"I was a troublemaker as a teenager. I hung around the wrong people. Gary was 19 when we were dating. He was into some...pretty hard drugs and...it was a mess." She sighed as she dropped her arms.

"I...ended up getting pregnant. I was only 14 years old. My mom forced me into giving the baby up. I fought her up until the day I gave birth, but she refused to let me keep the baby." Pepper said, her eyes clouding with tears. I felt tears forming in my own but quickly wiped them away as she continued.

"Because I was a minor at the time, I had to stay anonymous when I gave the baby over to the home. I tried for years to find out what happened to the baby...but I was denied every time." She said as she looked down and licked her lips. It was clear this was so hard for her.

"Gary overdosed a few months later and died." She said as she shook her head. She inhaled and looked over at me again.

"When I saw you walk into this living room the day Tony hired you, I thought you looked so familiar. You look just like Gary. A spitting image of him. I thought it was a coincidence, that I was just seeing things. I was still trying to get information on...my baby and I thought all of that had just gotten to me." She laughed a little.

"But as time went on...I started to really believe it. And a part of me thought it was just my desperate need to know my baby." She said as she wiped the tears from her eyes. Tony leaned his back against the wall and his brows were furrowed but not in anger, in concern. Seeing Pepper like this broke him and it was clear he had no idea she had a child.

"And when Tony told me where he was going, where you were from....I knew it was you. I tested the DNA we have on file, the DNA you had before your accident. Mine came up as a 99% match." She said as she walked over to the kitchen counter. She opened the top drawer and pulled out a piece of paper and held it out towards me. I slowly took it and read over the results. She was right. Her DNA and my DNA matched. She was telling the truth.

"You..." I laughed in disbelief as I furrowed my brows and stared at the results. I dropped my hand and covered my mouth with my other hand as I turned around, processing everything. I dropped my hand and Tony took the paper from me as I looked back at Pepper.

"Please, please understand that I really was trying to find you. They refused to give me any information on you. Your file was locked." She said through the tears. Surprisingly I felt no hate or anger towards her. I knew that my file was locked, I wasn't even allowed to see who my birth mom was. Something about the minor law in my state. I felt...complete in a way. I rushed over to her and threw my arms around her, hugging her tight. She sobbed as she hugged me back and thanked me for not hating her.

"I could never." I said through my own tears. It was clear this whole thing was putting her through so much stress and I'm sure she feels absolutely terrible for how everything happened, but it wasn't her fault and I wasn't going to blame her for it.

"So, does this mean I'm a stepdad?" Tony suddenly asked.

"You have to be married to be a stepfather." Loki shrugged at the billionaire.

"Pepper, you wanna get married?" Tony asked Pepper, causing her to laugh as she pulled away from me.

"I can officiate the wedding." Happy offered.

"Have you been here the entire time?" Tony asked as he raised a brow. Happy shoved another cupcake into his mouth as he nodded at the question.

"So you're like, legally an MILF now, right?" Tony asked as he looked back over at Pepper.

"Ew." I cringed at that and he scoffed as he looked at his watch.

"Isn't it past your bedtime, T.J? Mommy and Daddy want our time now." Tony said as he looked over at me. I rolled my eyes at this and hugged Pepper one last time before fully pulling away from her. 

"I don't expect this to turn into a mom and daughter relationship right away bu-" I cut Pepper off  before she could continue with that nonsense.

"I fully expect it to, Mom." I smiled. She covered her mouth with her hand and began sobbing again as I wrapped my arms around her for another hug. I've always wanted a mom and I finally got one, so I was going to dive full into this.

"This is more emotion than I can handle." Loki whispered to Tony.

"You and me both." Tony whispered back.

"Um, dearies, we should get to bed. Our daughter and her boyfriend have a big day ahead of them tomorrow." Tony loudly said, causing my heart to leap in my chest. Pepper fully pulled away from me again and gently touched my cheek before nodding at Tony's words.

"Goodnight." I said to the pair as I returned to my spot next to Loki.

"Night Hap." I nodded to the man. I took Loki's hand and dropped us through the floor to our living room. I let his hand go and we took turns in the shower before finally relaxing in our bed. Bucky had already moved all of his things out of here earlier from the looks of it. 

"Am I your boyfriend?" Loki suddenly asked me. I turned and studied his serious face before answering.

"Do you want to be? I know you had a whole problem with titles before." I said as I rolled over on my side, facing him. He rolled over on his side too, facing me as well.

"I never wanted to use titles because I felt like if we did...it made it real. And real things can be destroyed, fall apart." He explained as he sat up. I followed and crossed my legs as I watched him look down.

"But that shouldn't have stopped me from fully being with you and I apologize for that." He said as he looked back up and into my eyes. He took my hand in his and I scooted closer as I smiled at him.

"I forgive you." I happily replied. I did really forgive him. I completely understood his reasoning for being so guarded. He was scared to get hurt.

"So, I'm your boyfriend." He smiled as he rested his hand on my face. I giggled and nodded as I inched closer to him. 

"So, Odin was right. He was helping the future Queen of Asgard." I joked as I smiled at Loki.

"In time, my love." He softly replied. I wasn't expecting him to say that or call me that and it made me blush, hard. Loki leaned forward towards me and I knew he was going to kiss me. I waited until he was almost touching my lips and then quickly stuck my tongue out and lightly licked his lips from bottom to top in one swift motion. I laughed and pulled away but he suddenly grabbed my throat with his hand and pulled me back to him, our lips grazing one another as his jaw clenched.

"I have not felt your lips in so long, do not tease me." He harshly whispered. I smiled, knowing I was getting to him, and then stuck the tip of my tongue out again, licking his lips. Loki inhaled and applied pressure to my throat as he smashed his lips into mine. I quickly pulled him on top of me as I laid back and he pushed himself against me.

Everything about this felt so right. Being with Loki again felt so right.

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