A Very Merry Mischief-mas
(a Getting Away With Mischief holiday tale)
1
A New Tradition
Reading books and eating chocolate seem like a fine way to celebrate the holiday season! ~Loki
December 20th, 2017
Laufeyson townhouse
New York City:
"Dad! Dad!" Belle yelled excitedly as she ran up the stairs to Loki's study. She burst through the door like she had just discovered the Holy Grail, her brown eyes shining. "Guess what?"
"What, little raven?" her father asked, looking up from his laptop, where he was fixing some glitches in his newest prototype for Asgardian Quest 2. His emerald eyes sparkled with amusement.
"I just read about a new tradition I think we need to have for Christmas Eve," his daughter exclaimed.
"Oh? Tell me about it," Loki urged.
Since he had adopted his nine children, he had found that they needed to create their own traditions on holidays as a family together. He encouraged this by suggesting the kids tell him what they enjoyed doing, making, or eating to make the day special. Asgard had its own traditions and holidays but most of them did not correspond to those on Earth. Loki had no objection to any kind of religious tradition, as he was a Norse god. So for Christmas they had both a Yule log in the fireplace and also a Christmas tree. They had boughs of holly and ivy on the mantle and mistletoe in the foyer. They had a Yule tree outside, which was a tree hung with colorful ribbons and each ribbon had a wish tied to it. It was a tradition in Asgard that on the twelfth night of Yule the Norns would pick a wish from the tree and grant it.
When his neighbors asked about the wishing tree, Loki just told them it was an old tradition from Norway.
"I found out that in Iceland they have a Christmas Eve tradition called Jolabokaflod, "the Christmas Book Flood", where everyone gives a family member a book on Christmas Eve and you spend the night reading and eating chocolate." Belle cried rapturously. "So let's do that on Christmas Eve!"
Loki grinned at his bookworm daughter. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. Does everyone give one person in the family a book, or should I give all of you books?"
"Hmm . . ." Belle thought. "Maybe you should give us all one and we can pick one of our siblings to give a book to also. That way everyone gets two books. Oh and we will all pick two books to give you."
"Sounds like fun," Loki laughed. "What a wonderful way to spend the night before Christmas."
"I think so too," Belle said happily. "Let's tell the rest of them and then we can go to Barnes and Noble!"
"Your home away from home," the Mischief God teased.
"Yours too!" she laughed and then they went downstairs.
They found Samantha and her two youngest siblings, Max and Aleta, decorating gingerbread cookies that Loki had made last night. He could still smell the lingering aroma of gingerbread as he walked into the kitchen.
"Hey, Dad!" Samantha greeted him as she put icing on a cookie.
"Hi, Daddy!" Aleta said and waved about a small candy button. "Look! I'm making my gingerbread man have colored buttons."
"How beautiful, spark!" Loki said, examining the treat.
"Dad, my gingerbread man has hair!" Max said, showing Loki how he had made hair on his with some piped icing.
"He looks sharp, scamp!" Loki praised. Then he began to sing. "Run run run as fast as you can, you can't catch me cause I'm—"
"—The Gingerbread Man!" the kids finished, laughing.
"Those are neat," Belle said. "But guess what? I found a new tradition for Christmas Eve."
"What?" the small Laufeysons exclaimed excitedly.
Belle told them about the Jolabokaflod.
All three of her siblings thought that was a great idea.
"When can we go to the bookstore?" was Aleta's next question.
"As soon as I gather up the rest of your brothers and sisters," Loki told her.
About half an hour later, the Laufeysons were all in the van on the way to the bookstore.
The radio was playing Christmas music, and "The 12 Pains of Christmas" came on.
"The first thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me—is finding a Christmas tree!" Serena sang.
"But Uncle Thor gave us our Christmas tree!" Aleta protested.
"That's why it's not a pain," laughed Hunter.
They continued singing the song.
"The second thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me—rigging up the lights . . .!"
"Mr. Mazur sure hates that part!" giggled Lucy. "He almost fell off the roof until Dad gave him a hand."
"He said a bad word!" Max reported.
"Don't repeat it!" Loki warned. Mr. Mazur had a salty vocabulary and the last thing Loki wanted was his four year old repeating some of the words the older man had said while trying to get his lights untangled.
"I won't!" promised his small son. "I don't wanna taste bitters!"
"Yuck!" his sister said.
For that was Loki's punishment for a child who used bad language—a drop of bitters on your tongue. It tasted terrible but did not harm the child and it served as a potent reminder to think before they spoke with regards to swearing.
"Didja make Mr. Mazur taste bitters, Daddy?" Aleta queried from her booster seat.
"No, hon. Mr. Mazur is an adult and I have no control over what he says," Loki replied.
The third verse of the song came on and Aleta asked," What's a hangover?"
"It's when you drink too much and get a bad headache. Like my mean mommy," Max told her.
"And you throw up." Lucy added.
"Or pass out," Hunter said.
"Like Uncle Thor did on Thanksgiving?" Aleta asked.
"He was doing Irish yoga," Max replied.
The older Laufeysons all burst out laughing.
Loki had to bite his lip hard to keep from cracking up and getting into an accident.
He couldn't refute what his kids had said though, for their uncle had gotten soused on Thanksgiving after drinking almost a case of beer and passed out over the back of the couch.
When the fourth verse came on about sending Christmas cards, Lucy said, "We did that at school. Miss Marin had all of us make cards to give to each other and our parents."
"I really liked the card you made me, Valkyrie," Loki said. He had hung the card up on the wall in his office. "I sent cards to all your uncles and your aunt Natasha and cousin Jo."
As the song progressed, moaning about five months of bills, Nate said, "Is it true you go broke after Christmas, Dad?"
"Uh . . . you can if you don't watch what you spend. Or have some kind of calamity occur," Loki replied. "Money can be tight around the holidays for a lot of people. Which is why I donate the most around this time."
Loki made so much money off of his best selling video game Asgardian Quest, that he could have bought and sold Manhattan. He did save a portion of what he made, but he also donated a lot of it to different organizations, mainly those who helped orphan children, or children with disabilities or illnesses, homeless animals, and the soup kitchens and shelters around the city. Thor also donated to the veterans.
"Dad, how do you afford all of us?" Hunter asked. As the second oldest of the children, he knew how expensive it was to have a family in the city. Especially one as large as Loki had.
"Maybe he magics up more money?" suggested Aleta.
Loki laughed. "No, spark. I can't spin straw into gold like Rumplestiltskin."
"Dad makes big bucks on his video games," Sam told her sister.
"Like how much?" Max asked. "A thousand dollars?"
"That's not a lot!" cried Vince.
"To a little kid it is," Serena said.
"More than that, imp," Loki said.
"Like a gazillion dollars?" Lucy guessed.
"Something like that," her father answered.
"Is that how you can afford us, Daddy?" Aleta wanted to know.
"Yes, spark. That's how."
As the woman groaned about facing her in-laws, Hunter said, "I'm glad we don't have that problem."
"What's an in-law?" asked Lucy.
"Somebody you're related to that you hate," Vince replied.
"Not always, daredevil," Loki chuckled. "The basic definition of an in-law is your family by marriage. And sometimes you don't always like your wife or husband's relatives."
Loki thought of Boda's relatives when he had been married and he could definitely sympathize with the woman in the song.
The song progressed and the kids and Loki sang along with it. When the verse came to the child whining about wanting Red Farmer for Christmas, Vince shouted, "That's you, Aleta! You always want everything in the store."
"I do not, Vince!" the little girl protested.
"Do too! And if ya don't get it, you have a meltdown and embarrass Dad."
"You better not do that now," Max warned. "Or else Santa won't bring you anything nice for Christmas."
Aleta stuck her tongue out at him. "You better watch out too, Max! You always need to go potty when Dad's in the supermarket."
"So? What's that got to do with Santa bringing presents?" her brother asked.
"Cause maybe he'll bring you a potty!" Aleta sang.
Max glared at his sister. His brothers giggled. "Yeah, well if you're mean, Aleta, you get nothin' but coal!"
"I ain't getting that, Maximus!" she snapped.
"How does Santa see what you're doing anyway?" Lucy wondered.
"He has scout elves that report to him," Vince answered.
"He has the North Pole version of Alexa," Nate replied.
"A magic snowglobe," Belle put in.
"No, he asks your parents," Serena announced.
The younger Laufeysons all looked at Loki. "Dad, is that true?" Lucy wanted to know.
Loki frowned as he braked for a red light. "No, Lucy. Because some parents wouldn't be truthful about their children. Santa has magic like the Norns do—he can look at a child when they are sleeping and know if they tried to be good or they just didn't care and were naughty. He sees their aura," the god responded, hoping that was a clever enough answer.
"I wanna ask Santa to bring Daddy a wife for Christmas." Max said, grinning.
"OMG!" Sam cried.
Loki nearly hit the car in front of him. "W-What?!"
"Daddy needs a wife." Max said, crossing his arms. "Santa can bring him one."
"Jeez Louise, Max! Santa isn't Match . com!" Hunter laughed.
"What's that?"
"It's a website grown ups go to meet each other when they're desperate," Serena answered.
"Is Dad desperate?" Max asked.
"No!" Hunter snorted. "The women are desperate to get Dad."
"He could still try." Max said. "Don't you want a wife Daddy?"
"Uh . . . eventually," Loki scrambled for an answer. The truth was he wasn't ready for a relationship. Especially not after being burned to a crisp with his last marriage.
But since he almost never spoke about that, the children didn't really understand why he avoided dating like the plague.
"Well... This is awkward." Sam laughed.
"Maybe Dad would like a new watch more?" Hunter said.
"How about a book?" Belle suggested.
"I already have what I want for Christmas," Loki said quietly. "I have all of you."
"We have you." Aleta said and cheered.
"That's right, spark. And guess what? We are here," Loki announced, pulling into the parking lot.
They all got out and followed Loki into Barnes and Noble. The bookstore was, as always during the holidays, crammed with people. "Don't let go of my hand," he ordered his small ones.
Max clung to him like a barnacle. "I won't. I don't want a stranger to take me away."
"Me neither!" Aleta said. "Daddy, can you carry me?"
Loki picked up Aleta in one arm.
"Dad, can I get some coffee?" Sam asked, spotting some of her classmates over at the café.
"You just wanna say hi to Parker," Hunter muttered and Sam socked him in the arm.
"Shut up! You dweeb, Dad doesn't know about that." His sister hissed.
"How long you think that's gonna remain a secret? Dad can read minds."
Sam rolled her eyes. "He won't need to if you keep flapping your jaw." She looked at her father. "They have a new drink I wanna try."
"Okay. But meet us back in the kids section. We'll start there first," Loki told her and gave her a twenty.
Sam went and joined the long line in front of the bake case. A few kids were staring idly at the sign advertising the new chestnut praline coffee. Sam slipped around them and tapped the boy wearing a red jacket on the shoulder. "Psst! Peter!"
The boy with brown hair turned his head a bit and whispered, "Sam?"
"It's me," she assured him.
"Is . . . is your dad with you?"
"Nope. He's gone on the other side of the store." Sam said. "What are you getting?"
"Uh . . . an eggnog latte."
"Really? Me too!" she exclaimed.
"Hope they don't run out. That happened last time I was here." Peter said. "But if they do I guess I can always get the gingerbread one."
"I was making gingerbread cookies before we came here," she laughed.
"I know. I can smell them on your hands," he chuckled.
"Does it bother you?" she asked awkwardly.
"No. Gingerbread smells like Christmas. Aunt May makes gingerbread cake with lemon icing on Christmas," he told her.
"That sounds yummy. Dad likes to bake too, but he's really busy this time of year so sometimes I do it with the rugrats for him," she laughed.
"I can't bake. I burn stuff. But I can taste test," Peter grinned.
"I have my brothers for that," Sam admitted. Then she added, "But I could always use one more."
Are you crazy, Samantha Laufeyson?! She thought. You just invited a boy over your house! Dad's going to have kittens and puppies!
Peter stared at her, his blue eyes wide. "Uh . . . you want me to help you bake cookies? Will . . . will Mr. Laufeyson mind?"
"Mind? Uh . . . well . . ." Sam floundered. "I know! We could always bake some stuff for the bake sale that's coming up tomorrow."
"Sounds good." Peter replied, grinning.
Sam exhaled softly, thinking, You are good, girl! Guess you're not the Trickster's daughter for nothing.
The barista asked what they would like and Peter said, "Two eggnog lattes, please."
"You're lucky. You have the last two," the girl said.
Sam reached for her money and Peter stopped her. "No. My treat."
"Seriously? Peter, you don't have to . . ."
He just smiled and pulled out a ten and handed it to the cashier. "Merry Christmas, Sam."
She blushed. "Thanks," was all she said, but her heart was beating like a wild bird against a window.
They took their drinks and headed for a table in the back of the café. Sam was grateful now for the crowds of people.
They sipped their drinks slowly, then Peter asked, "So what brings you here on a Friday night?"
"We're Christmas shopping. My sister Belle came up with this new Christmas tradition from Iceland . . ."
While Sam explained, Vince, Lucy, Serena and Nate went to the Children's area as they looked at the books and Nate tried to figure out which book he wanted to get Vince. He knew his brother loved adventures books and looked at the titles when the sales woman walked over and he looked at her.
"Hel-lo. Do-you-need-some-help?" she asked as if he was an idiot and he rolled his eyes. He hated it when people did that and he arched an eyebrow.
"No thanks. I see what I want," Nate said as he pushed the button and the mechanical arm reached up and picked the book off the shelf. He tried not to smile as the woman gave him a stunned look and he moved the wheelchair to Lucy, who gave him a high five.
"We should report her. That was rude," Lucy said.
"Nah! The look on her face was enough for me," Nate said and they went to find a book for Serena.
Nate put The Lightning Thief into his backpack. Then he said, "I know a series Serena would like. It's the Sisters Grimm the Fairy Take Detectives. Think she would read it?"
Serena was dyslexic, but Loki made her practice using special glasses to read so she didn't let her disability hamper her.
"I think so," Lucy nodded. "That sounds cool."
"Yeah, let's get her that!" Vince said.
Nate steered himself over to where the series for third graders were and found the first book in the series. "Here it is!" He picked the red book from the shelf.
"Yes!" Vince said with a smile. Lucy noticed Serena was near the books for little kids as she walked closer and Serena looked at her,
"Want some help?" Lucy asked.
"Yes, I want to find something for Max," Serena said.
"Max likes Doctor Seuss books," Lucy said as they looked at the selections and Serena smiled at the book with fish on the cover.
"What about this one?"
"One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish? Oh, I love that one!"
"Then I'll get him that one."
"Let's go find Dad and show him what we found," she said and Serena nodded.
Belle was browsing the mythology section. She had read most of the books here, but occasionally she found a new one. This time, however, she saw a book called Wolves in Myths and Legends and thought Hunter might be interested in that one.
Belle tucked that book under her arm and went to look at the fiction section, hoping to find something for Sam.
As she was going by the R authors, a book fell off the shelf and landed at her feet. She knelt to pick it up. It was titled Bauldr's Tears: A Retelling of Loki's Fate by Alydia Rackham. What's this? the young mage thought.
She opened the book and scanned the pages, finding it a compelling story that did not make her father out to be a villain or a buffoon. She was dying to read it.
"What did you find, little raven?" Loki asked, walking down the aisle towards her.
"Just a book I want to read," Belle said.
"Hand it over," Loki said and she handed him the book. Loki looked through the pages when he smiled and held the book against his chest. "Want me to get this for you?
"Yes, please," Belle said and he nodded.
"Need any more help?"
"I need to find a book for Sam."
Loki saw a display of teen books on an endcap. "How about The Hunger Games? Has she read that?"
"No, but I have," Belle laughed.
"Let's get her the first one," Loki said.
"The books are better than the movies," Belle remarked.
"They usually are, darling," he chuckled, picking the black Hunger Games off the endcap.
"Daddy, I want this Princess book!" Aleta called, running over to show Loki a Disney princess Bedtime Story book.
"Five Minute Princess Stories," Loki read the title. "Okay, spark. You can have that one." He put the book into the basket he carried.
Max looked at the books when he saw one called Loki's Wolves by K.L .Armstrong and blinked.
"Belle, look, it's a book about Daddy!" he said and she picked up the book. The book was a part of the Blackwell Pages series, but it wasn't for someone Max' age.
"Nate would like this, Max," she said.
"Yeah! I want to get it for Nate!" Max said and ran to Loki after she gave him the book back. "Daddy, I found a book for Nate!"
Loki took the book as he read the back and smiled.
"I heard about this series. It's really good," Loki said, looking at Max. "Good choice, Imp."
Max beamed at him. Then he said, "Daddy, I gotta go potty."
"Okay." Loki said. "Belle, watch these for me, please. Aleta, stay by your sister. I'll be right back." He picked up Max and walked quickly over to the sign that said restrooms.
Belle saw some books on a table labelled Staff Recommends and found one called Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet. She read the back and saw that it sounded interesting and it was long too, which was good because Loki read very fast and needed a large book to keep him occupied.
She picked it up and tucked it under her jacket so her father wouldn't see it.
"What's that?" Aleta asked.
"It's a book for Dad," Belle whispered.
"Can I see?" Aleta asked and Belle showed her the book.
"Wow! It's got lots of pages!"
Belle smiled. "You know Dad loves to read like I do."
"Now we just need candy," Aleta said, and looked over at the round table where there were displays of all kinds of Christmas candy, from Hammonds to Godiva.
"We need Godiva," Belle said.
"Why?"
"It's really good."
Belle and Aleta walked over to the table as they looked at the selection of chocolates when Sam walked over and stood next to Belle.
"Have you picked your books yet?" Belle asked.
"Yep," Sam said with a nod.
"We're trying to figure out what candy to get," Aleta said.
Sam saw the box of Holiday Godiva Truffles. "This!" she cried, pointing to it.
"I wanna Santa chocolate!" Aleta cried, pointing at the Godiva Santa.
"You might have to share it," Sam said.
"Oh. Ok," she said with a pout when Hunter and the other kids walked over and looked at the chocolates.
"Whoa!" Vince said.
"See anything you like?" Belle asked.
"I like all of it!" Hunter groaned.
"I like the hot chocolate," Vince said.
"Me, too," Nate said.
"Well, you can only have one thing," Loki said as he walked closer with Max in his arms and they nodded.
Loki set Max down so he could pick out his chocolate and picked up the basket. "Did everyone find a book?
They all nodded. As they perused the chocolate, a loud howl came from a few shelves away as a child screeched that he wanted the Transformer Lego set.
The children winced.
"Uh oh! He's being naughty!" Aleta declared.
"He's gettin' nuttin' for Christmas!" Max predicted.
The child continued to throw a fit and Loki said, "Not only that but he would be getting Time Out from me if that were my kid."
They watched as the woman walked by with the kid screaming and trying to kick her and Loki felt sorry for her.
"He's going to get a visit from The Krampus," Belle said.
"I need earplugs!" Hunter whimpered, holding his ears.
The woman left the store as the doors closed behind her and Loki shook his head.
"Where's Serena, Lucy, and Nate?" Sam asked.
"Here!" Nate said as he, Serena and Lucy came closer. "Man, that was loud!"
"That kid was screaming loud enough to wake up Uncle Thor," Lucy said.
"He knocked over a display," Serena said.
Loki sighed. "I hope it's easy to pick up. Go and pick what kind of chocolate you would like."
Nodding, they went to pick what they wanted and Sam looked at Loki. She wondered when she should ask about Peter coming over and sighed.
"Just ask," Sam thought.
Loki eyed his eldest and remarked, "Something on your mind, butterfly?"
"Yeah," Sam said with a nod. "I was wondering if it's ok for Peter Parker to come over and make cookies. It's for the school's bake sale."
Loki blinked. This was the first time Sam had ever asked for a boy to come over. He hesitated. They're making cookies, Laufeyson! Not kissing on the couch, by the Nine! Finally he nodded. "Okay. Tell him I said yes. And he can take some home to his aunt."
"Thanks, Dad!" Sam said, trying to play it cool but she wanted to hug Loki.
"Dad, it's our turn!" Hunter said and they headed for the checkout.
As they all put their books and chocolate on the counter, the cashier asked if they had a membership card. Loki pulled the green card from his wallet and handed it to her.
She scanned it and handed it back.
She scanned the books and chocolates when she placed everything in two separate bags and handed the bags to Loki. Then she told Loki the total and he handed her his gold B & N Master Card.
"Thank you for shopping at Barnes and Noble and have a happy holiday."
"Same to you," he said and smiled at her.
The girl almost fainted.
As he was leaving he heard her say to her coworker, "Meghan, the hottest guy I ever met in my life just smiled at me . . .it's like Christmas came early!"
"Thank you," Loki said and they headed for the door. Max and Aleta held onto his hands after he handed the bags to Sam and Hunter and they headed for the parking lot. They stopped when they heard the sound of the kid screaming again and saw his mother trying to get the kid into the car.
"Man, doesn't he ever stop?!" Hunter said, cupping his ears.
Loki looked over at the woman when he walked over to her car and she fought to keep from getting kicked.
"For the last time, Jason. Get in the car!" she shouted.
"No!" Jason shouted.
"Need some help?" Loki asked as she looked at him and nearly fainted.
"You're... You're Loki Laufeyson," she gasped.
"Yes, I am."
"Whoa!" Jason said, calming down.
"Is everything alright?" Loki asked, looking at Jason.
"Yes," Jason's mother said.
"Are you sure?"
"I am sure. Jason is... He is autistic." The harried woman said, sighing. "He is overstimulated and he gets like this at times."
"I want my Daddy."
"We will go to him Jason, just get in the car."
He held out his arms for Loki. "Mr. Waufeyson hold."
"Do you mind?" he asked her.
"No," she said, startled. "But he usually doesn't even approach strangers."
Loki gently picked up the little boy who leaned his head on Loki's shoulder. "Hey, little guy. Are you tired?"
"Uh huh. I want Daddy." He mumbled, and sniffed.
"Okay but you have to go home first." Loki said soothingly. He patted the child on the back, weaving an elementary sleep charm as he did so.
"How did you do that?" The woman asked, her mouth falling open in shock.
"He was overtired. And I have two under the age of five myself so I've been there and done that," Loki replied softly.
"Well, thank you." She said and smiled. "Your wife must be a saint."
"I'm not married. I adopted nine kids," Loki replied.
"I have a lot of respect for you. Some days, Jason takes it all out of me." She replied. "He is having a hard time with the divorce."
Loki nodded. "I understand. Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is get out of bed in the morning."
"I so agree, especially when you just want to stay in pajamas. I'm Grace by the way."
"Nice to meet you, Grace. Let's put the little guy in the car. This cold is not good for him," Loki said.
She opened up the backseat of the car and Loki put Jason in the car seat and buckled it. "Well, I have to be going before my kids leave without me," he joked.
"Thank you again, and Merry Christmas." Grace said, smiling at him.
"Merry Christmas to you too," he said and smiled back at her.
"OH! Here is my card. In case you ever need am interior decorator... Or just want to talk about something other then Pokemon." She laughed, handing him a business card.
"Thanks," he said, tucking it in his pocket. Then he turned and went back to his van. As he was getting inside, Hunter asked, "She try to go out with you, Dad?"
"She does seem nice. Except for the kid." Sam groaned.
"He was really bad." Max said.
"No, she didn't ask me out. I just put her son to sleep for her, that's all," Loki replied. "He's autistic so I helped a little." He started the car and they drove home, singing Christmas carols all the way.
"Too bad, Dad. I guess your charm does not work every time." Sam said, helping him with the bags.
Loki laughed. "Believe me, I don't need a relationship right now, darling."
"Maybe someday?" Sam said, wiggling her eyebrows.
"Maybe," he agreed. "If the right one comes along."
Aleta ran past him towards the fireplace. "Spark, what are you doing?"
"Tryin' to see how Santa can fit down the chimney."
"Not with a lit fire in it!" Lucy shouted.
"C'mere!" Loki ran and picked her up. "You need to be careful, sweetling."
"But how does he?"
"Magic, darling. Like I have," Loki answered. "Now let's go eat something because I'm starving."
'What's for dinner, Dad?" Vince yelled.
"Chinese," Loki answered. "We're ordering from Lu's Kitchen."
The kids all cheered and Loki thought their Christmas preparation was off to a good start.
"Don't forget the egg rolls!" Vince yelled.
"Would I do that?!" Loki teased and the kids laughed.