“but the mother Always cuts the cord!” Loki protested, huffing. “but then, I suppose this must be another one of those cultural things. In asgard, the mother cuts the cord during a ceremony. The ceremony is a…” he rolled his wrist again, struggling to explain. “it’s important, you see. So that the mother can be emotional. That’s not the right way to explain that. It’s…” he scowled, thinking hard and then. “it’s like a grieving process only happy. It’s th mothers way of saying, basically ‘I no longer carry you, but you will always be mine.’ if that makes sense? It’ a way of… emotionally, coming to terms with the fact that the baby is now out in the world, and will begin it’s growth into it’s own self. That it might have once been a part of you, but now it is it’s own being.” he shrugged. “it’s very difficult to explain without getting into too many cultural things, I think.” he admitted. “I have cut all the cords of my children. Even the ones who did not make it.”<br/><br/>he looked amused. “yes. Genetic material. I do not produce eggs you see, even in my female form. Jötunn, from my research, instead take up genetic material from other jötunn. When a mother wishes to become pregnant, she will accept genetic material from those she chooses has the most to give, some will choose only from a life mate, and others will choose genetic samples from two to five others depending on her desires for genetic diversity. In my case, I wasn’t actually intending on becoming pregnant, so while it’s very likely to be mostly mine and Johnny’s, there will be some of Stephanie's stronger genetic qualities as well. In this case, because it is a dominant genetic marker, my baby will very likely be blond haired and blue eyed, as well as very likely having Johnny’s strong genetics for fire based magics.” here Loki grinned. “no sperm required.” he admitted with a grin before looking curious at Laura. “it is like it’s own little ceremony…” he mumbled, thinking about letting Johnny cut the cord. It was… different… but perhaps… he would talk to Johnny about it. Perhaps they could combine the two ceremonies? The baby was half and half after all, and this way no one would feel left out. Yes. Loki liked that plan.<br/><br/>He smiled at Clint. “I won’t need the afterbirth.” he assured the other. “I have no intention of following that horrible, horrible ceremony of mapping my child's future.” after all, Odin had demanded a reading of all of Loki’s other children and look where that had led them all to. The placenta covered in veins would be spread flat, and the priest would read the patterns in the veins like a palm reader might read someones future, only more complicated. It was mostly long held superstition and an excuse to discriminate against anyone with ‘improper breeding’ such as Loki’s jötunn halfbreeds. Loki had no intention of subjecting his newest baby to that bullshit. “but if Johny wishes to hold the ceremony and cut the cord… I think that would be a brilliant way of helping cut my ties with asgard. Very nice.” Loki decided. “we’ll talk about how to combine the two ceremonies.” he decided.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>“this looks great. What did you do, walk off with the fridge?” Bucky asked with a grin as he grabbed a hunk of cheese and bit into it. “you look spooked, you alright?” he asked, following her around to the other side of the barn where there was a little picnic table that the kids liked to eat at on nice days.