An Interesting Arrangement

Chapter Eight

"Stephanie! JC! Oki!" Loki called out. "Breakfast!"

Natasha shook her head. "When I said 'call the kids' I didn't mean quite like that."

Bucky shrugged. "It works."

Phil Coulson, who was visiting for a few day, smiled. "Sounds like they're coming."

And sure enough, three little kids came running in. Stephanie, who was the oldest at six, had inherited her father's blue eyes, blonde hair, and a penchant for disobeying orders. JC, who was the next oldest at four, had his mother's green eyes, his father's blond hair, and was undoubtedly the peacekeeper of the family. Oki, who was only two, had blue eyes and was the only one who had gotten Natasha's red hair. And though he was only two, he had obviously developed Loki's mischievous ways. But all three of the kids had magic running through their veins and every day they had several hours with Loki to practice it. The rest of their day was dedicated to learning other skills (math, history, foreign languages, etc.) or playing. But now, they were hungry.

"What's for breakfast, Uncle Loki?" Stephanie asked, clambering into her seat.

"Chocolate chip pancakes." Loki told her, giving her and her siblings one each, as well as eggs, bacon, and milk.

JC climbed into Bucky's lap and began to eat. Natasha raised an eyebrow and smirked. "There are other chairs, Jace."

JC smiled sweetly at his mother. "Why take up mother chair when I can just as well sit here?"

For his part, Oki toddled over to Phil, who picked him up cheerfully. Phil was Oki's favorite uncle, second only to Loki.

"Everyone get enough to eat?" Loki asked. This was met with grunts of "Yes" as everyone was still eating. "Good! Steph, Jace, Oki, I'll see you outside after breakfast."

"Ok!" The three kids chorused.

"Mommy, when is Daddy gonna be back?" Stephanie asked her mother.

Natasha shrugged. "Soon, hopefully."

Stephanie frowned. "He's been gone for over a month."

Natasha gave her a sad smile. "I know, sweetheart, but Daddy has an important job that he can't be away from for very long."

Stephanie just sighed as she finished eating. "Done! Imma go see what Uncle Loki is doing!" She dashed off in the general vicinity of the outdoors.

Bucky chuckled as JC rushed after her, eager to keep up with his older sister. "They're quite the handful, aren't they?"

Phil shrugged. "Nah, they're good kids."

Natasha almost laughed at the happy expression on Phil's face. Captain America had been his hero since he was a kid. He had all the vintage trading cards and knew all kinds of trivia. And now not only was he able to see his hero on a regular basis, but Captain America's kids adored him and called him "Uncle Phil". Every time he came over, the kids would all drop what they were doing and say hi to him. He didn't think it would last forever, probably not through the teen years, but it was still nice.

Oki began wriggling a little, his polite way of asking to be let down. Phil gently set him on the ground and Oki ran off to find his siblings.

"Does he talk yet?" Phil asked Natasha quietly.

Natasha shook her head. "Only in Jotunn and Russian. He refuses to speak in English. I don't think he will until Steve spends some time with him."

Phil raised an eyebrow. "Where did he learn Jotunn? Isn't that the language of the Frost Giants?"

Natasha nodded. "Loki used to sing the kids lullabies in that language and so they all learned it somewhat. I think Oki must have a strong mental connection with Loki though, since Loki says that he's fairly fluent in the language."

Phil nodded. "Makes sense. And Russian?"

Bucky shrugged. "Natasha and I both speak the language and it became habit to speak in it when we don't want Loki to know what we're saying."

Natasha nodded. "And they picked up
on that as well."

Phil chuckled. "And what does Steve say to that?"

Bucky smirked. "He's the one who started teaching them German, so not too much."

Phil shook his head, smiling. "How many languages do they speak?"

"Stephanie speaks Russian, German, English, and Japanese." Natasha told him.

"Japanese?"

Bucky shrugged. "That one she learned from Darcy. Though where she learned it from, I couldn't say."

"Jace speaks Russian, German, English, and Latin." Natasha continued.

Phil smiled. "Because so many people speak Latin these days."

Natasha shrugged. "He's interested in medicine already, so we figured it'd be a good thing to teach him young."

"And Oki?"

Natasha chuckled and shook her head. "He speaks Jotunn, Russian, Ancient Asgardian, Mandarin, Thai, Pig Latin, and Morse."

Phil's eyebrows shot up. "Don't you mean Norse?"

Bucky grinned. "Nope. He actually will click his tongue in Morse Code."

"How did he even learn Mandarin and Thai?"

Natasha sighed and chuckled a little. "Loki abducted him for a few weeks a couple of months ago. They both came back speaking Mandarin and Thai."

Phil nodded slowly. "They're really exceptional aren't they? They have their parents learning abilities."

Bucky nodded. "And they all have Loki's mischievous side."

"And your overprotectiveness." Natasha teased.

Bucky shrugged. "Yeah you try taking care of Steve for twenty odd years. It does stuff to a person."

Natasha and Phil both chuckled. Right before Stephanie came crashing down onto the table.

She sheepishly glanced around. "Oops."

Natasha gave her daughter a slightly amused look. "What's Loki teaching you guys now?"

"Simple portals." Loki replied, walking through a portal in the wall. He teasingly glared at Stephanie. "Didn't I tell you not to fall into the dining room?"

Stephanie shrugged. "Yeah. But then I couldn't stop thinking about the dining room and voila! Here I am!"

Loki rolled his eyes and took Stephanie back through his portal. "Maybe we should focus on concentrate first."

Natasha, Phil, and Bucky all exchanged amused glances.

"Does the madness ever stop?" Phil asked, thoroughly amused.

Natasha grinned. "Nope. And that's how we like it."