The portal opened, and Loki stepped out. She had barely swept her gaze around when her eyes landed on Mary's lower abdomen. She smiled and said, "Congratulations. She'll be a beautiful little princess."
"Really? You just said little princess, didn't you?" Harry was so excited he nearly jumped. "I'm going to have a daughter?"
Loki said nothing more. The group followed her through the portal, but it did not open into the backyard. Instead, it opened in front of Stone House.
"You've become more and more thoughtful," Schiller said quietly.
"Venom and Tony got into a fight. They needed to clean up the crime scene before you got back," Loki replied in an equally low voice.
"Fine, I'll indulge them." Schiller rolled his eyes. "We can't let the expectant mother see such a mess either. Let's sit at the bar for a while. Tell them to hurry up."
Loki left again quickly. Schiller first showed Harry and Mary around the house, then they sat at the bar. Looking at Mary, who was positively glowing, Schiller sighed with feeling.
"People really are built differently. It would be wonderful if Ms. Carter were as healthy as you."
"Oh, right." Harry finally remembered something. He took a gift box from the bag on top of his suitcase and said, "I heard Captain America's fiancée was pregnant, so we prepared a gift."
"What is it?" Schiller asked. This was not considered rude in the United States, since the gift would be opened in front of everyone anyway.
"A Harper-Ferry Model 1805, a United States Army pistol. It's a collector's edition plated with gold leaf. I found it among my dad's collection."
With that, he opened the gift box. Schiller saw a remarkably beautiful streamlined pistol lying inside. The barrel bore forged steel patterns, the