Just Keep Swimming
“So… All of you live here?” Jean looked a little confused, and admittedly, she had reason to be.
“We live on different floors, but yes, we all live in the tower.”
Ah, Cap to the rescue. Tony gave him a quick grin. “I built a floor for each of the Avengers shortly after the Battle of New York,” Tony explained. “Then Loki moved into the Penthouse with me, and when Bucky came along, he moved into Steve’s floor.”
“Just to get this straight, Captain Rogers, you and Sergeant Barnes are together?”
Bucky nodded the affirmative and took Steve’s hand in his. “Have been since the forties, sweetheart.”
“Great. That’s… awesome.” Jean looked genuinely overjoyed at the admission, and Tony got a feeling that the Captain America/James Barnes fanfiction was going to become a lot more voluminous. “But, um,” she cleared her throat and looked sheepish at the slip in professionalism, “Doctor Banner, you and… Thor are also romantically involved?”
“Indeed, friend Jean!” Thor boomed, and Tony couldn’t help but laugh. Apparently answering in lieu of significant others was a thing, now.
“Okay, cool, and uh… you… three?” She seemed a little hesitant to ask, almost as if she was afraid she’d jumped to a wrong conclusion, but Natasha nodded and settled her uncertainty.
“We’re together, yeah.” Clint jumped in, smirking because he just knew Phil and Nat were giving him unimpressed looks. “Have been for years. Second longest running relationship, only because those guys,” he motioned to Steve and Bucky with his thumb, “Are old as dirt. Ow!” He turned around and glared at Bucky, flicking the rubber band back when the former assassin gave him a shit-eating smirk.
“Right. Sorry, I just gotta…” Jean rustled around in her bag, and pulled out a legal pad and a pen. “I’m not trying to pry, I just have to take down and relationships in the residence aside from the couple fostering.”
“We get it.” Bruce offered her a gentle smile. “We’re all supporting Tony and Loki every step of the way.”
“So glad to hear it.” She gave him a grin of her own. “Okay, so, can I see the areas where the child will be living? I just gotta make sure that everything’s, y’know, safe and stuff.”
“Of course.” Loki stepped in with a ridiculous amount of grace and poise. “I’ll give you the tour.” He lead Jean away, chatting with her amicably, leaving Tony with a small smile, his gaze trailing after them.
“Hey.”
Tony turned to see Bruce, the good doctor’s eyes twinkling in amusement.
“I know you were wigged out earlier, but everything’s going to go great, alright? Jean loves you, I can tell, and you and Loki are going to make great parents. Any kid would be lucky to have you two.”
Tony’s face relaxed into a broad grin. “You think?”
“Definitely. You may have to cut down on those shop binges, though.”
The inventor winced. “Yeah, no kidding. We’re going to have to work out something for when we get called out because of Doom or whatever else is threatening the city on any given week. We’ve still got a long way to go, Bruce.”
“But you’ll get there.” Bruce patted Tony on the arm, and smiled when he felt Thor come up behind him.
“Friend Stark, have you any idea what age of child you and my brother are looking to adopt?”
Tony winced. “Well, we’re not quite looking to adopt yet, Thor. Right now it’s more ‘fostering with the intent to adopt.’ We are kind of hoping to foster a teen, though. As much as I love little kids, I think we’re all just a little… much for an actual kid. I’m not sure any of us are ready for a couple of tiny people running around here just yet.”
“That’s a good point.” Bruce looked proud of him for considering that. “Are you hoping for a boy or a girl?”
“It doesn’t matter at all. I mean, a girl would be cool, just to get a couple more females in the building. It’s always nice to pass the Bechdel test, you know. But… I don’t care, and Loki hasn’t told me that he has strong inclinations either way. I’ll just be happy having a kid here, and I think that Loki kind of feels the same.”
“I am proud of you for taking this step, Friend Stark. This is a new milestone in your relationship with my brother, is it not?”
Tony chuckled. “I guess. That’s not why we’re doing it, though. We- well, I just… I can’t handle the thought of a kid growing up somewhere where they feel unloved or unworthy of love. I’m not looking to change the world this time, just a kid or two.”
Bucky caught Tony’s eye from across the room and gave him a thumbs up. Tony’s heart swelled with joy. The fact that the supersoldier was comfortable enough with himself now to even think about continuing to stay in the tower while Tony and Loki were looking to foster a kid was such an improvement. A year ago, Bucky could hardly even stand eating on the communal floor, but now he was challenging Phil to a game of ping pong. Tony looked around at the little family he’d collected for himself over the years. Everyone here loved each other. They really were a family, even if that made Clint the weird ass uncle that no one was quite sure how he was related. Tony snickered at that thought. And they were adding someone new to the family. Someone who, hopefully, would come to consider these people their family as much as Tony had. Someone who would love them as much as Tony does. He smiled at Loki as he and Jean came back from the tour. This would be good, great even. They were doing this.
He wasn’t nervous anymore.