Steve nodded after a moment, but hat didn't keep him from snuggling in against her. He was moderately comforted by the fact that everyone else was doing the same thing; he could see Tony, Loki, and Bruce all cuddled in against Kae. So he didn't feel quite so bad.

Elaine glanced at Thor, just to check on him. He looked like he was trying to be brave and sit by himself, but he flinched every time the windows rattled or something hit the glass. Reaching over, Elaine wrapped an arm around him and tugged him closer.

"It's alright," she said. "This isn't your kind of weather. So it's okay not to like it."

Kae just smiled a little when Tony and Loki ended up cuddling together against her, the two of them pressed close to each other and to her. She didn't mind. But she did make sure that she cuddled Bruce just as much.

It was only much later that the kids ended up relaxing enough for the girls to squirm out of the snuggles. They were having less luck, however, getting the boys to go to bed. The storm was still going full-force outside, and none of them wanted to be alone.

Tony finally had an idea. "We should build a fort!" he said.

"What?" Kae blinked.

"A fort. Get some blankets and pillows and things and make a giant fort that we can all sleep in." Tony grinned at his genius.

Kae huffed and looked at Elaine to see what she thought. Partially because the sight of Tony and Loki giving her the puppy-eyes was sure to melt her resolve.

Elaine considered it and shrugged.

"It's not a bad idea," she said. "The floor is carpeted, and there are more than enough pillows and blankets."

Kae gave in and nodded. "Alright. Tony, help gather up things, and the rest of you, clear the floor."

There was a general cheer and a scramble to obey. Kae shook her head, bemused, and went to go gather up pillows and blankets so they could make a fort.

Once the floor was clear, Elaine dragged over some chairs to drape the blankets over, and took the cushions off the couch for everyone to lay on. Then she let the boys put more pillows and blankets where ever they wanted. It ended up being a massive fort.

Kae was trying to let the boys get settled first, but as soon as she picked a spot Tony and Loki crowded her, Tony using her stomach as a pillow and demanding a bedtime story. She heaved an amused sigh.

"What kind of story?" Elaine asked. Briefly, she wondered if JARVIS could make one appear in her vision for her to read.

"Something exciting!" Tony grinned, lifting his head to look at Elaine.

"Hmm..." Elaine thought about that for a minute. "Kae, do we know of any really good exciting stories?" Sheand Kae knew plenty of stories, of course, but ones that would interest a group of small boys were harder to come by.

"Maybe we should give them a version of Heracles." Kae shrugged. "That can be pretty exciting." Especially if they edited out some of the things. "Or a shortened version of The Odyssey."

"An epic will take all night, no matter how we cut it," Elaine mused. She snickered. "I never thought I'd curse my stockpile of romances." She thought for another moment before she finally came up with something that might work. "What about something like Peter Pan? Pirates, Indians, and an alternate world."

"Sure, that should be safe enough." Kae grinned and settled in, pulling a pillow under her head to relax. "Read on."

Elaine nodded and, once she'd gotten JARVIS to put the words of the story in her vision, she started.

"Our story takes place in a house in London..."

She worked her way through the story steadily, making sure to hit every major point that she thought the boys would like. And she was really, really glad she'd taken that storytelling class in college.

Before she'd finished the story, the boys were all asleep, curled up against the curls and each other in what turned out to be a massive snuggle pile in the fort. Kae smiled and let them, relaxing, hoping to get some sleep herself.

When Elaine noticed the boys were all asleep, she smiled a bit and settled in as well. Time for her to get some sleep too.

A few days later, Kae and Elaine had the kids get in swimming trunks. There was a pool a few floors down, and the girls fully intended to make full use of it for the boys.

Elaine was already changed into her swim suit and was currently trying to persuade Loki into a pair of trunks. She'd even managed to find one in colors he seemed to like.

"You can't go swimming without it," she told him. "Thor already has his on."

Loki eyed the things distastefully before he sighed. He got the feeling he wouldn't be allowed to swim without them, and although he was wary of swimming, Thor was going, so it couldn't be too bad. He took the trunks with a little grumble.

Elaine gave him privacy to change, waiting outside the door. At least Steve and Thor had changed without a problem.

Kae already had Bruce, Tony, and Clint changed and ready to go, although Tony had already said (loudly and multiple times) that he was not going in the water. Kae just told him that was fine and to stop worrying about it.

So when Loki came out they were finally ready to head downstairs to the pool.

Elaine helped herd the boys down to the pool.

"Ground rules," she said. "Thor, if you start sparking you're out of the pool. In general, don't dunk each other for more than five or six seconds, don't push each other, and don't go in water deeper than your shoulders without Kae or I."

There was a general sound of agreement before Clint grinned and jumped in the water, trying to make the biggest splash he could. Tony grumbled and moved away from the other to go find a place to sit, and Steve got in more slowly, taking the steps instead.