Not quite two weeks had passed when Tony and Pepper stop into the Rec Room to get situated for movie night. They're early and not everyone is there yet except for Thor on the couch adjusting settings with the DVD remote and Jane who is bustling right past them .

"Oh, Jane!" Pepper gasps, reeling when Tony pulls her out of Jane's path.

"Dr. Foster, where's the fire?" Tony asks.

Jane's sentence rushes out like a string of babble, "Hi, sorry guys I just gotta text from Darcy and apparently an alarm's going off on some equipment in my upstairs lab and she's trying to figure out which buttons turn it off."

Then she hurries through the doorway to save her instruments from an unforeseeable end.

Tony shrugs and doesn't miss a beat, turning to Thor, "Hey, what's the movie tonight?"

"Natasha and Clint will choose, but they are not he-" After glancing their way, Thor cuts off midsentence, staring intensely at Pepper.

Tony follows Thor's gaze, "Oh yea, Pepper said she'll join us as long as it's not horror."

But this does little to thwart the god's stare.

Feeling self-conscious, Pepper looks down at herself to see if her skirt had accidentally hiked up. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"You alright there, Big Thunder?"

And then Thor is at their side in a few large strides, beaming widely, "I am so pleased! Why did you not tell me this glorious news? Oh, it matters not. Just look at her, simply shining with radiance!"

Thor tenderly cradles Pepper's head in his palms for a moment before stooping to her level to kiss her cheek.

"Um, thank you?" Squeaks Pepper, who- despite her giggles- was still noticeably puzzled by his outburst.

"And Anthony, you have great reason to revel in pride. Such a joyous occasion, you both must be filled to the hilt with excitement!"

Without warning, Thor lifts Tony at least a foot off the floor to envelop him into a mighty, rib-cracking embrace. Tony gives him an awkward pat on the back,then shifts to make sure his ribs were in fact intact.

"Right… okay. Thanks buddy! You can let go now. My lungs are collapsing."

Thor let's out one of his deep, booming laughs and releases the billionaire from his grip.

Now Pepper is giggling louder because Thor's laughter is contagious, and Tony finds himself laughing as well, although about what he has no clue.

"Let us not waste time! We must all feast in celebration!" Thor declares.

"Yea, that sounds great, but um, could you first maybe tell us what we're celebrating?"

Thor's forehead crinkles as he regards Tony. "Then you do not know?"

"Not yet, but I'd like to."

"Why Anthony, your Lady Pepper is with child!"

"She is!?"

"I AM?!"

"Oh my god, you are?! Pep, why didn't you tell me!?"

"Because I didn't know! It's too soon to tell. Thor, how could you even know?"

The Thunderer looks at a loss for words until something like realization passes his features.

"I apologize, my friends. I had forgotten. Having blessed your womb, I can sense the new life within you, among other aspects concerning your unborn child."

"So yo-you mean it's true!?" Pepper squeals, "Tony, we're going to have a baby!"

This time their laughter is genuine as Tony scoops his wife into his arms and they kiss and cry tears of joy.

"I'm gonna be a dad! How cool is that?!" Stark exclaims.

Thor breaks into another grin, "Once more you have my congratulations!"

Pepper pulls loose from hugging her husband to reach for the Aesir's hand, "We couldn't have done it without you, Thor."

Thor inclines his head humbly and pets her knuckles, "Nay, it is from your love that this child is born."

"Sure, but it was your godly magic that gave us the edge. Pep and I owe you more than our total net worth. I swear, I'd even be willing to name our kid 'Thor' if it's a boy." Tony joked. "Speaking of which, you said you can sense things about the pregnancy?"

"Indeed. Such as the infant's health, mood, or emotions, or when labor is approaching."

"But can you tell if it's a boy or a girl?"

"Tony no!" Pepper scolds, "We agreed beforehand that the gender should be a surprise until the very end. Please, it'll be like Christmas."

"All right fine... we'll wait." Tony mumbles, but Pepper catches the secret hand signals he sends the Asgardian.

"And Thor don't you tell him! I don't care how many times he asks."

"You have my word." Thor promises, smiling smugly in his direction.

Pepper conceals a snicker at the pouty face Tony makes in return.

In less than a year, Pepper gave birth to a baby girl. The Starks had wished to include in their child's name something to pay tribute to Thor, or at least allude to her incredible origins of birth, yet both were fresh out of ideas. But when Thor first laid eyes on the tiny face framed in strawberry curls, he whispered that she would be worthy of a name as lovely as Ingrid .

Curious, Pepper had Tony look it up, and turned out, it meant "beautiful" and had derived from a Norse word associated with a fertility goddess. There couldn't have been another name more appropriate. And thus their young daughter became Alexandria Ingrid Stark. Needless to say, Thor was positively thrilled!

A/N Note: So surprisingly, I thought of the name "Alexandria Ingrid" before I googled it and realized it's actually the name of the actual Norwegian princess, except hers is inverted . Weird coincidence.