This is a sequel to that other story I wrote a few months ago. I started this in April, actually, left it alone for a number of weeks, and then finished it back in June when I submitted it to a Tom Hiddleston blog on Tumblr. I'm taking a moment of pause to finally submit it. Utter fluff with some smut spliced in...
Loki's hands create a pleasantly cooling contrast to the mild heat of the water as he coddles my belly from where he sits behind me. He kisses the top of my head before leaning back again. My eyes once again sweep the marvelous and ornate washroom, with its golden doors and polished stone floor, a great round window with shimmering glass allowing sunlight to pass through. I had begun to work up a sweat walking the expanse of the Bifröst. Loki had ordered one of the guards leading us to descend from his horse, hoisting me upon it before grabbing the reigns of the large animal. He had asked Logan whether he wanted to ride with me, but the boy started running ahead to ask the guard whether he could hold his sword. The end-of-May warmth only added to my sleepiness as I sat on the horse. Loki had kept a watchful eye on Logan, the guard to whom the boy babbled completely entertained by the constant inquiries. I had nearly fallen asleep by the time we reached the palace. Right after meeting Jane's baby daughter, Tora, I had asked Loki to see our quarters, so that I might freshen up and nap. Logan had stayed behind, wanting to continue bottle feeding his little cousin. He had become completely absorbed and enamored with the child when Jane set her in his boyish arms. I wake up from where I had begun nodding off against Loki's chest, due to the caress of his hands pulling a washcloth over my heavily enceinte stomach, the sweetest scented soap meeting my nose. I look around a moment, forgetting where I am. Loki laughs gently, his body vibrating against my back.
"Oh, I'm sorry, baby. I didn't realize you'd fallen asleep," he admits, his voice itself a lullaby.
"I just can't keep my hands off that beautiful belly." The whisper of his voice remains on the air momentarily. Loki's lips meet my shoulder for a long moment, and he continues to wash my stomach, letting the washcloth float away and using his hands to continue sudsing my body up. I laugh sleepily.
"Rest, my love."
I grip Loki's arm and gasp when our daughter gives me a kidney shot from the inside. Loki sits up a bit with alertness.
"What is it—what's wrong?" He asks, his voice full of sudden worry.
"N-nothing. She kicked me, that's all."
Loki's fingers rush all over my stomach like pale spiders, pressing here and there in desperate attempts to feel our daughter's movements. I laugh. He still hasn't had the chance to feel her kick; every time I tell him she's at it, she stops before he can find the right spot. Loki sighs with disappointment. This vacation is the first time in two months that Loki and I have had enough real down time to be close; after another fainting episode at work (one which had resulted in a concussion), my doctor convinced me to take off early for maternity leave, which left Loki working more hours with the goal of earning a little extra—not that we really needed it—to prepare for the baby.
"Not even born yet, and already she doesn't like me," Loki says with disenchantment. I laugh.
"Honey, you'll feel her soon enough. And what does a kick compare to getting to finally hold her?" I ask, tilting my head up, leaning back to find Loki smiling. He plants a kiss on my lips.
"Well, that's why I've got to keep my hands on that belly," he says determinedly. I sigh and hold onto his arm, feeling his lips kissing on my cheek. He'd been worshipping my pregnant body. Back at home on Midgard, he would occasionally come home in the middle of the day for lunch (which was really an obsessive ruse to come and check on me during my leave), and I'd wake up to find him massaging my feet as I napped on the couch. His excuse would always be that he thought they were cute from being swollen, and looked like they could use a rub.
"Did you see Logan with Tora?" I recollect aloud. Loki hums lowly with delight.
"Oh, he loves the girl. He didn't want to put her down. I didn't know he could be that gentle and sit still for so long," Loki explains, wrapping both arms around me and squeezing securely a moment.
"I hope he'll be the same with his little sister," he adds sweetly. I laugh and press my hands above my womb; Loki's palms fit longingly atop mine.
"Did she kick again?" he asks hopefully.
"No. I think she went back to sleep," I respond. Loki laughs.
"I didn't have this problem with Logan. Remember how he used to push back when I pressed at him?" Loki asks, pushing gently a spot where I know he recalls feeling Logan kick from the inside for the first time. I smile.
"But then, he's always been a bit of a cantankerous child. Rúna is a lot quieter, like you." Loki has been calling our daughter by various names over the past few months, having asserted that her middle name will at the very least be Frigga, but neither of us should know precisely who she looks like until we can finally gaze into her very own eyes and call her by her true name. His lips linger again on my shoulder.
"Misty, I love you and our children…"
I melt easily into Loki's sincere words, "More than you could ever possibly fathom. I've been working so hard, I feel like I haven't had a proper chance to stop and tell you. But really, ever since we had Logan, I think we've both been working too hard and too much at our jobs, not focusing enough on each other," he says, absently rubbing my stomach. I clutch his hands and pull them to my lips where I kiss them meaningfully. Words could not have conveyed my love, and Loki knows this as I silently kiss his pale arms and hands.
"…Which is why I've been thinking," he begins, in a tone that is hesitant, one that I don't hear too often, but when I do, it's usually when Loki is about to say something he thinks—or knows—I'll disagree with.
"Maybe we should move here, to Asgard. We could—I could sell the company, our house, put the money away. I know you want Logan to go to college, so we could maybe sell the other house I told you about, the one I thought you might like to move into. I know you haven't seen it yet, but I can get it for almost nothing and sell it for even more than what our current house is worth. Just think of how well Logan would fit in here, where there's magic and all the things he's read about that inspire him. Did you see his face the moment we arrived? He wouldn't be brainwashed by television and the internet—ruthless media—all that dulling technology. He's been having trouble at school, trying to make new friends. I know you know that as much as I do. I know that a part of that is because he feels different, even if Logan doesn't quite understand how just yet. I know he's still young, but he might start coming into more abilities as he's growing…I'm sorry if it's all too much to take in, but I've been wanting to tell you for over a month now."
I'm silent a moment, trying to figure out what to say in response.
"It's just something to think about. I know you want to have Rúna in Midgard with your doctor, but just think about it."
I lean back to meet Loki's gaze again, finding him beaming down at me with hesitation.
"I don't know, Loki…I…we've talked about this before. I'm just not sure. My job is still important to me, my friends…I agree with most of what you're saying, but what about the human side of our family? I want Logan to experience being a normal child, too."
"But that's just it: he's not normal, Misty. You've seen him when he was sick—he can shift. He's got Asgardian and Jötunn blood in his veins, too. What about his experience of that?"
I rub my stomach.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I shouldn't have brought this all up now. I've only been wanting to put it on the table for a while now. I just didn't want to stress you out, especially not now that you're pregnant."
We spend a minute in silence before I start to get up. Loki follows me. I towel off in front of the large mirror. Loki sighs blissfully as he does the same while watching me. I walk back into the adjoining bedroom portion of our quarters and pull clothes out of one of my suitcases. Loki laughs behind me.
"What?" I grin.
"I don't know why you insisted on bringing all of those maternity clothes when there are plenty of beautiful Asgardian maternal robes here that would accentuate your beauty," Loki explains, and I stand still, closing my eyes while he pulls the towel off me and wraps me again in his embrace. I sigh, throwing the clothes back down into my suitcase.
"I just hate clothing right now," I explain reluctantly, "I look like a tent." Loki turns me to face him.
"I really wish you would stop berating your body," he says dearly, "It's not a tent, it's our beautiful baby girl," Loki explains, attempting to make me feel better. My back pinches and I wince, grabbing at it. I back up to sit down on the bed.
"Your back again?" Loki inquires sweetly. I nod.
"She's sitting very awkwardly. I think she's been resting on a nerve. It hurts," I explain. Loki leans down to kiss my forehead.
"I want you to start seeing the midwives while we're here. They should be able to offer you some relief that won't hurt the baby. I know the Midgardian doctor said no Aspirin."
I nod. Loki approaches the closet to open a wardrobe which already contains clothes for the both of us.
"I'll send for a midwife and healer to come see you after your nap," Loki announces, and I open my eyes from where I'm already leaning back against the headboard. He smiles as he carries a pearly nightgown sort of dress, handing it to me. I sit up and throw it on as Loki steps into a pair of trousers.
"My word, look at you," Loki grins, admiring the nightgown. I smile wearily. He shakes his head slowly.
"If that belly wasn't in the way, I would wear you out," he says utterly sexually, and I shiver before crawling beneath the quilt and placing my head upon one of the heavenly soft pillows. Loki climbs in and sits beside me, giving me a moment to find the right position to sleep in. He then holds me so that my head rests on his arm and my face on his chest. We drift off together. I dream of Logan, giving him a bath for the first time, his first steps, the way his green eyes glowed up at me when I fed him and it felt like Loki was looking at me with complete and total trust and content. And I swear I can hear Loki talking, saying things like, "Daddy loves you…" When I wake up, Loki is actually saying this, his hands heavy upon my stomach. I feel a slight draft and turn my head to find that the window is halfway open and the sun has gone down. When I turn my head again, I find Loki's eyes turned down, staring at my stomach, where he has pushed my dress up so that his hands make contact with my skin. She kicks again and Loki's smile is so wide and genuine, but it shocks me when two cold tears drip out of his eyes and land on my out-turned navel. Our daughter kicks his hands and he looks beside himself with joy. It occurs to me then that she had woke me up with her activity. I reach out languidly to caress Loki's hair. His gaze snaps in my direction with surprise; he'd been so focused on the baby's kicking that he didn't notice I was awake. His eyes are red, and for the quickest moment, it scares me as another tear freezes upon Loki's cheek, his skin paling to a bluish hue. I glance down at my stomach to find his hands in full Jotunn phase, although I can't even feel the coldness there. In fact, our daughter's hand makes contact with me from the inside, lining up with Loki's palm, and she moves inside me as if drawn towards this cold sensation. Small ice particles dust my stomach. The area around where the baby reaches for Loki's hands grows a pale blue, just like his skin.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up. I was just talking to her and she started moving. She's finally responding to me," Loki grins, his red eyes fixing upon the hand imprint as he slowly releases my stomach. The baby keeps pressing on me from the inside, wondering where Loki's palm has gone.
"Was I hurting you?" he asks worriedly, the Jötunn fading almost instantaneously as he cups my cheek. I shake my head for no and smile.
"Not at all," I admit as Loki wipes the melting frost off my stomach. He kisses my cheek. And wipes his wet eyes.
"Why are you crying?" I ask with concern as I sit up slowly, cupping his cheeks in both my hands. Loki's eyes leak but his smile is plastered on reassuringly.
"I told her I loved her, and she moved. Something tells me she understands. I just wish my mother were here to see this, to see Logan…she would have been so happy for us. She would have been the perfect grandmother," he finishes, shrugging and wiping his eyes hastily.
"Come here," I say reassuringly, kissing away Loki's tears as he cries a bit more. I rub his bare back and we just sit there holding each other for a while. I decide I'm hungry and the two of us get up and change to go have dinner. I start feeling a lot more comfortable in the robes Loki was talking about, not feeling restricted by any weird waistbands or frilly cuffs that were on some of the maternity clothes that had been gifts from my mom and aunts. Logan is laughing at something Thor told him at the table as Loki and I saunter into the hall to eat, Loki holding my hand and not letting it go, even after we sit down.
"What do you crave, my sweet?" he asks before kissing me on the cheek. I glance up the table at all the delicacies, and point to something that looks like a pie. I could smell it as soon as I entered the hall. Loki stands to bring the food to the end of the table where we sat, making me a plate with a little bit of everything.
"Hi daddy," Logan beams. Loki smiles at him and asks what he had been up to all day. Logan explains that uncle Thor had let him see the weapon room, but wouldn't let him pick anything up to test out. Loki laughs before passing a hand through the boy's hair on his way to bring me my plate. Loki helps himself as well and I start to get that pinching feeling in my back again. I pause and close my eyes, holding my back.
"You okay, baby?" Loki asks with concern.
"It's my back."
Loki promises to get me a midwife as soon as we get back to our room. Logan asks if we have seen his room yet and Loki shakes his head and asks Logan to describe it. I finish almost as much as I want to eat before I have to stand up because my back doesn't seem to agree with the chair. I move away from the table and pace back and forth.
"Misty, are you alright?" Jane asks, turning in her chair to face me. I nod and smile as best I can, but Loki's gaze is fixed on me and he excuses us to bring me back to our room, asking Jane to send for a midwife. Logan rushes up beside me and clutches my hand.
"Mommy?" he says somewhat worriedly.
"Everything's fine, Logan," I explain, but my voice comes out more pained than I had intended for it to. Loki pauses and kneels on one knee to hold our son's hands.
"Everything's okay, Logan. I promise. Your mother just has a back ache because of the way your sister is moving around in her tummy. Don't worry. We're going to see if a healer can make the pain go away," Loki explains calmly. Logan wraps his arms around Loki's neck. Loki holds onto him and picks him up, deciding it's best if he just comes with us. The boy had some anxiety ever since he found me unconscious in the kitchen some months ago. I couldn't blame him. Part of me fears something serious might be wrong but I try to appear more at ease. When we make it back to the room, I hobble to the bed where a group of women are already waiting to take care of me. Loki sits on the couch in the corner with Logan and tries to distract him by showing him some magic, conjuring an orb of light and holding it out in front of him. Logan smiles and passes his hand through the ball, watching it mold around his fingers. Loki laughs and one of the midwives unbuttons the gown to expose my stomach and tells me to lie on my side so my back is facing them. I am facing the window, Loki and Logan out of view. The next thing I know, I'm out like a light.
I am awoken by the sound of something making violent contact with the canopy at the top of the four poster bed where Loki and I are lying. As I turn to find Loki sitting up straight, a ray of blindingly bright and heated light passes above my head, and the next thing I know, the wall is completely taken out, stone crumbling until the light from the sun is pouring into the room. Loki is out of bed so fast that I'm still blinking awake by the time I start to sit up to see him swiftly grab a sceptre out of Logan's small hand. The boy is standing there frozen with his mouth agape, staring at the new aperture in the room, his body jerking violently to the left when Loki disarms him. Loki twists the weapon between his fingers and it vanishes into thin air. He then grabs Logan's arm and slaps his behind rather harshly thrice. His attention drawn back to his father, Logan immediately begins to cry. Loki kneels down in front of him, clutching Logan's shoulders, and I can tell from the sound of his voice that his expression is panic stricken.
"You could have killed yourself! You could have hit your mother!" Loki shouts.
"What were you thinking?! That's a weapon, Logan, not a toy!"
I start, sitting up further as Logan's crying intensifies. I have never seen Loki scream at him like this. Logan pulls out of Loki's grasp and runs out the door, crying until he's red in the face. Loki stands up and turns around, and his eyes widen fearfully. It is only then that I smell the burning silk atop me. I gaze upwards to find a fire gradually consuming the canopy. Loki flourishes a hand hastily and a pool of water materializes and crashes down over the canopy, taking out the fire and drenching me simultaneously. I gasp and wipe my eyes dry to find a hole seared through the beautiful canopy; it had been the first thing Logan hit before taking out the stone wall, where I glance in time to see a pair of black birds fly past. Loki exhales the breath he had been holding, rushing around the bed to my side.
"Oh my…are you okay?" he asks, pulling the covers back as I begin to step out of bed, soaked. Loki grips my waist and scans me from head to toe. He then shakes his head, calming down a bit.
"You didn't have to spank him like that," I say, rather unnerved by Loki's outburst. He frowns and closes his eyes a moment before turning to look outside at the clouds.
"Yes, I did. He has to know he cannot play with things like that. He could have killed himself."
I can't rebut the logic in this, so I just sigh and wipe my wet face.
"Look at this, Misty—look at it!" Loki says, turning me to face the wreckage, as if I hadn't already seen it.
"If he had had that thing pointed at himself—" Loki's voice catches in his throat and a wave of nausea rushes over me. I knew firmly that Loki had only acted out of parental instincts. I shake my head.
"Well, he didn't. That's the important thing," I explain as calmly as I can, stepping in front of Loki, who is staring wide-eyed out at the sky through the broken wall. I cup his face in my hands and he finally glances down at me, pulling me into his arms tightly.
"Misty, he could have—"
"I know."
At breakfast, Logan sits at the other end of the table next to Thor, and doesn't so much as look in Loki's direction. Loki gazes at him intently, and as he stirs his tea, his expression is full of apologetic remorse. I rest my hand on his knee under the table and his head snaps in my direction in surprise. Loki clutches my hand under the table. Logan asks Jane if he can be excused before he even finishes his food. He hurries away to go play with some of the Asgardian toys he developed a liking for. Thor rests his chin atop his hands and cocks an eyebrow.
"Do you want to tell me exactly what happened this morning?" He asks Loki.
"Logan was crying his head off when he bumped into me in the hall. He said he did something bad by accident and you hit him really hard."
Loki sighs before explaining.
"Last night, I was reading to him in our room, and he saw me putting away a weapon in the closet. He asked about it and I told him not to worry about it, that it wasn't for playing with. We woke up to him setting the canopy on fire and taking out the entire wall with it this morning. Yes,it was an accident, but a very dangerous accident."
Jane's eyes widen with concern.
"Oh, I feel like such a monster," Loki admits, covering his eyes with a trembling palm, "He wouldn't even look at me. We never use physical discipline. Aside from a few tantrums, he's never really given us reason to."
"I think you were justified," Jane nods, "It could have been a fatal accident."
"Yes, but perhaps you needn't have spanked the boy," Thor comments before taking a swig from his goblet. Loki cocks a brow with what looks like dissension.
"Did mother not spank us when we gave her reason to?" Loki asks rhetorically. Thor laughs. Loki sighs, grinning a moment before the expression wanes back to remorse.
"Perhaps I was…a bit harsh," he says, stirring his mug.
I clasp his hand.
"He must've snooped around in our closet while we were still sleeping," Loki says, staring off into space as he talks.
"I just can't believe he would play with something so dangerous. He should know better."
I squeeze Loki's hand comfortingly and he finally looks down at me with a small smile.
"How are you feeling today, my love?" he asks, turning to face me in his seat. I shrug.
"I guess my back is a little bit better. I swear they just put me to sleep. I don't remember anything after lying down," I admit. Loki gazes upon me lovingly and cups my stomach. Jane and Thor quietly excuse themselves, smiling at us as we sit there staring at each other, love struck. I suggest seeing the grounds and gardens, wanting to do something after spending so much time napping. Loki and I step out of the palace and he orders a horse be brought for me, but I refuse to mount it with the excuse that I need to be on my feet for at least half an hour. After almost a full five minutes of trying to convince Loki that I'll be fine walking, we start into the beauty that is the landscape of the palace. The worry never truly leaves Loki's face as I step over a rock, and he pretty much prepares to catch me as if I'm going to fall.
"I'm fine. I promise." I pause beneath the shade of a tree I'd never seen before to stand on my toes and kiss Loki on the cheek.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," I grin for the umpteenth time. I sit by a small stream and dip my feet into it. Loki sits beside me and follows suit, pulling an arm around me.
"I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to make it up to Logan for exploding on him this morning," Loki explains, skipping a rock. I grin.
"He refused to leave our room once you fell asleep, so I let him stay in our bed. He's too curious sometimes. I can't believe he just went into the closet like that," he says, shaking his head.
"He really wants to grow up, and I know for a fact that he wants to be a swordsman," I admit, glancing down and clutching Loki's left hand, turning the golden band around his ring finger. He pulls me tighter and kisses my cheek a few times, laughing.
"I don't know where he gets it. I've never thought our play to be too rough. It's those books he reads. I thumbed through one the other day, and there's so much talk about warriors. Maybe we should better monitor his book choices," Loki explains, his tone dropping a hint to a more serious tone. I look up into his eyes to find him already awaiting my gaze.
"Yeah, you're right," I respond. Loki sighs before dipping his head to press the tip of his nose against mine.
"I just never wanted to be one of those helicopter parents, you know? But he's got to be given more strict rules. This morning is proof enough," Loki explains, cocking a brow. I turn to face him more, my knees folding against his leg. I cup Loki's face and just admire it. He smiles slowly.
"Is something wrong?"
I'm quiet a moment longer.
"You always wanted to be king. What is it like to come back here and still not be that?" I ask quietly.
"Misty, none of that matters to me. It never mattered to me, really. My brother and I had just been going through some…stuff. But everything has worked out for the better. I've got you, and my son, a daughter on the way," Loki explains, his eyes flicking down to my stomach, "Your unconditional love. What need is there to be king when I'm already fulfilled? Besides, my Midgardian job is somewhat…entertaining, in its own ways. I learn more and more about the world and I get to be in control of my own firm. I can come back here anytime I please. My family," he says, holding both my hands, "is the only thing I'll ever truly need."
We kiss intimately for a handful of minutes before I yawn and rest my head against Loki's chest. We bird watch, and Loki tells me all the stories from his childhood I'd never heard before, and I fall asleep to the sound of his voice. When I awake again, I'm in motion and the sun is going down. I look up at the purple and orange sky to find that Loki is carrying me. A bit shocked that the weight of my stomach doesn't even seem to faze him, I turn my head to watch the gardens fading in the distance. Loki stares ahead, unaware that I've opened my eyes.
"Loki?"
His gaze travels down to my face where he grins.
"Did I seriously just fall asleep?" I ask, turning my head to find myself about six feet off the ground where I am held in his arms. He laughs and continues towards an entrance to the palace.
"…You can put me down now," I say.
"Why? And let my queen pressure her feet? I think not," Loki grins, ascending a few steps before I wiggle and he lets me down. I clutch his hand and we make it inside. Logan's laugh meets our ears before we even see him. Loki and I turn the corner to find him free falling in the air before Thor catches him again. Thor laughs heartily, enjoying the game as he throws Logan even higher, and my heart stops for a second. Loki pauses to watch and smile as Logan falls back down from a height of at least eight feet.
"Thor," I call and as Logan braces himself in Thor's manly hands, the blonde turns to find Loki and I standing there. He puts Logan down.
"Wait! One more," Logan begs, pulling on Thor's red cape.
"Maybe later, Logan. I'm not sure your mother likes it very much," Thor giggles, pulling his fingers through Logan's hair. Logan catches Loki's apologetic gaze and pulls Thor's cape to hide his upper body.
"What have you been up to all day?" I ask, approaching where Logan is still hiding.
"Nothing, mommy," Logan mumbles. I stoop down to pull the cape out of his grip. Logan frowns up at me as I cup his cheeks. I hear Loki stoop beside me.
"Son, I—" he starts. When Logan sees him, he scurries away before Loki can even finish his sentence. We watch Logan run past the tapestries that fall regally against stone walls. He turns a corner and his footsteps fade as he disappears. Loki sighs. Thor shrugs.
"I think he's still upset with you. He spent the day with Sif and I, asking all kinds of questions about battles we've fought, armor, he's really interested in that stuff, you know." I turn to gaze at Loki whose expression is uneasy. I wrap my arm around his back and lean against him.
"We can talk to him before he goes to bed. He just needs some space," I explain.
"I feel like such a monster," Loki sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes.
"You're not a monster, you're a good father," I reason, clutching Loki tighter.
"He's afraid of me, Misty. Did you see his eyes?" Loki asks dejectedly.
"He'll get over it, I'm sure. It was just a spanking," Thor announces reassuringly, "Why don't you join us for dinner? That's probably where the little bildshnipe ran off to."
I try to pull Loki out of his remorse, rubbing my thumb against his knuckles as we follow Thor to the great hall.
Logan is talking to lady Sif when Thor, Loki, and I arrive in the hall. She appears entertained by Logan's curiosity about Asgard, a pleasant smile stuck on her face. Loki's sweet gaze in Logan's direction makes me grip his hand tighter. Logan doesn't pay either of us any attention as we sit at the table. I converse with Jane about the garden where Loki and I were sitting moments ago and she tells me that there's way more I need to see while we're visiting. Loki eats distractedly, listening to Logan laugh at Sif's jokes. After a mere ten minutes, he excuses himself, taking a final sip of wine and kissing my temple lingeringly, telling me he'll see me later, before walking gracefully out of the hall. Logan finally glances after him for a few seconds with a confused expression on his face. I eat and chat with Thor and Jane for another twenty minutes before asking Logan if he wants to show me his quarters. He gets up from the table excitedly and runs around it to grab my hand and drag me out of the hall. Jane laughs after us and a maid attends us. I wonder where Loki has gone by the time Logan and I reach the room. The maid hurries ahead of us to open the large medieval-looking doors.
"Thanks, Jarnfrid!" Logan chimes. The white-haired maid, who looked to be no more than twenty years my senior, smiles pleasantly with pale blue eyes and nods. She places a hand kindly on my shoulder as Logan tugs me through the double doors.
"Is there anything I can offer to comfort you? Would you like me to send for a midwife?" She inquires, and I finally notice the fact that I have been holding my lower back the entire walk to the room.
"Oh, I'll be fine, but thank you," I grin. The maid nods and slowly walks away.
"She's my maid, mom," Logan beams, "She made me a bubble bath yesterday," he explains, tugging on my robes.
"Yeah? She seemed very nice, baby." I enter the large room to find a large window, much like the one in mine and Loki's quarters. The bed is significantly smaller—not king size—and there are shelves with toys and books everywhere. The room looks to have been prepared specifically for a young boy. Logan rushes to the bed and climbs up to start jumping.
"Hey—take it easy, booger. You just ate." Logan slows to a stop, giggling before jumping down with a powerful thud, the gravity of which surprises me, considering how small the boy still is.
"Look at the books, mommy! They move!" Logan explains, rushing to the shelves.
"Look, look, look!" He chants, pulling a rather large volume off of a shelf. I sit on the bed. Logan seems to struggle with the book a bit as he carries it over to me. He drops it on the bed and scrambles up to sit right next to me. I lift the book and rest it on my legs. Logan's verdant eyes gleam with all the beauty of his father's and I pull him to me with one arm to kiss about his face. He groans and struggles against me impatiently.
"Mom, look!" He says excitedly, pointing to a picture of a stag-like animal that charges out of the dimensions of the page at me.
"That's what uncle Thor calls me—a b...bil," Logan begins, attempting to pronounce the word. I finally glance at the text to find that it's in Norwegian. Logan points and sounds the word out, his small finger tracing beneath the letters. He finishes the word and I stare at him in amazement as he goes on to read the passage in the foreign print. After a few seconds, I interrupt him. I put the book down on the bed and turn to face my son, cupping his cheeks in my hands.
"Did uncle Thor teach you how to read that?" I ask with amazement. Logan frowns and glances away from me.
"No...daddy did. He teaches me some words when he puts me in bed," Logan admits quietly. This is news to me as I gaze at my little boy.
"Sometimes, daddy turns my favourite storybook words into these ones, so I can do it," Logan explains, pointing to the text in the book next to me. I decide that now is the best time to talk to him about this morning. For a moment, I wonder again where Loki has gone.
"Logan, your dad loves you very much—as much as I do. You know that, don't you?" I ask him. Logan shakes his head, pulling out of my arms.
"Then how come he hit me?" Logan asks, his voice wavering as he starts to cry. He covers his eyes with his small hands.
"He didn't mean to, Logan. He spanked you because you were playing with a very dangerous weapon. He would never—we would never try to hurt you," I explain as sweetly as I can. Logan throws himself against a pillow and buries his face there to cry. I crawl up and lie beside him, rubbing his back.
"Remember we talked about this, baby? Nothing will ever make your dad and I stop loving you. He just got upset because you know better than to play with dangerous things."
"I didn't mean to break the wall! It was an accident!" Logan screams into the pillow. I pick him up.
"It's not about the wall, Lo. Your dad was scared you were going to hurt yourself. That could have been a very bad accident. Do you understand now? Daddy just got scared. He really wishes he hadn't hit you. I was scared you were going to hurt yourself, too, my love," I explain, wiping Logan's eyes with the back of my fingers. I kiss his forehead and he begins to calm down."
"I'm sorry, mommy," he whimpers.
"There's no need to be sorry, Lo. Just ask next time before you try to play with something like that, it's really dangerous. We were worried about you."
"Really?" Logan asks against my chest as I hold him. I kiss the top of his head.
"Yes. Really."
"...Where is daddy now?" Logan asks.
"I'm not sure. He said he'd see me later. I think he'll be back before bed time. He's very sorry, baby. He wanted to explain everything to you, the same way I just did."
"I'm not a baby," Logan mumbles, and I smile. I stay with Logan as he reads to me from his books. He shows me the toys which are much more complex than the ones he has at home. I help him brush his teeth and give him a bath before he sits in bed with his hands on my stomach when I tell him his baby sister is kicking. He gasps in amazement when her foot makes contact with his palm. Logan falls asleep with me rubbing his hair and back. I glance out the window after carefully getting out of his bed to find that the stars are twinkling. I begin to feel sleepy myself. I leave Logan's doors open a crack, to let light in from the torches that illuminate the hallway. When I make it back to mine and Loki's quarters, a short distance from Logan's room, he isn't there as I prepare for bed. I start to feel a bit worried as I lie awake. I think to call him, but my phone has died since I'd forgotten to charge it. And I couldn't have charged it; there weren't exactly electrical outlets in the palace. The thought of asking Thor to lightly zap my phone using Mjölnir crosses my mind before I fall asleep...
When I wake up, there's this snowy scent upon my nostrils. From the aroma and the feel of his exhales upon my face, I can tell that it's Loki's chest I'm lying on before I even open my eyes. I inhale a deep breath and look to find him asleep in an awkward position, his head and back leaning up a bit against the headboard. His bare chest has grown heated beneath the weight of my head. I glance over at the table to find his laptop, something he had not bothered to bring on our trip. Logan's plush toy sword rests atop the quilt between us. I sit up slowly, realizing that Loki had to have taken a trip back to Midgard to our house. I wipe my eyes, and the movement of my head from Loki's chest eventually causes him to awaken. His eyes blink like two emeralds, the raven lashes fluttering open. I sit there and face him as he turns to look up at me and sit up. "I didn't hear you come in," I say, "Where did you go?" Loki pushes stray curls out of his face.
"I went home to get this for Logan," he says, picking up the sword, grinning.
"And then I happened upon some of the home videos we recorded from your pregnancy and when he was a baby, and I lost track of time. I'm sorry. I should have told you where I was going," Loki says, eying the toy and turning it in his hands. I jump out of bed and rush to the restroom.
"Misty?" Loki calls with concern. I pull off my underwear before I pee myself, sighing with relief on the toilet in the adjoining room. When Loki hears what's going on, he laughs for a few seconds. I finish up, washing my hands and rinsing the remnants of slumber out of my mouth. When I come back into our room, Loki is sitting on the edge of the bed in nothing but his briefs, staring out the window which is half open to allow the sun to grace his delicate pallor. I sit back on the bed and inch up behind him, pressing into his shoulders with my fingers.
"Hmmmmm," he sighs in a relaxed manner, slouching a bit and relaxing into my touch.
"He hates me now. I should never have spanked him. What kind of hypocrite does that make me? I can't teach my own son not to hit, then hit him as punishment. I just want to do right by the boy, Misty. I don't want to turn into a monster…did you look at him when he ran away from me yesterday? He was horrified. He's never looked at me like that. I—"
"Stop beating yourself up," I interrupt, placing my chin upon Loki's strong shoulder and speaking directly into his ear. He tilts his head towards my voice, his hair dusting my face and leaving a vaguely minty essence. Loki sighs again.
"It was an act of tough love. I talked to him last night. He was upset, so I explained everything to him. He knows you love him. Neither of us have ever spanked him before, which is why he was so upset with you."
I start to massage Loki's ribs and hips.
"I guess," he says, giving in. I plant kisses in the middle of his back. He starts to moan.
"Oh, my sweet…you shouldn't touch me like that, because then I'll be desperate to make love to you. And we shouldn't be doing that while you're so pregnant." Despite Loki's protests, I can tell without seeing his face that he's smiling, his chest is flushed with blood, and he's slowly hardening beneath my touch as my hands travel to his thighs. His skin is smooth like a marble statue, cooler to the touch than the average human being, but no less comforting. Loki tilts his head back and moans as I brush my hands over his crotch.
"Shhh. You always take such good care of me. Now let me take care of you," I whisper, wrapping my arms around his middle. Loki's hands cup mine firmly before he brings my fingers to his lips to kiss them tenderly. I kiss Loki's neck. He laughs once before moaning again.
"Damn it, Mist…"
"Lie down," I whisper in his ear. Loki does as he's told and immediately finds my gaze with sultry eyes. I finish pulling his long legs back atop the bed and straddle him to kiss down the side of his head, sucking gently along his jaw line, cupping his chin between my lips, trailing the kisses down his throat and chest. When I get to his stomach, he finally lets go completely and rests back with yet another sigh.
"Misty," he breathes, passing his hands through my hair. I sit up and rearrange myself so that I'm kneeling between his knees. I pull at the waistband of his briefs and take them off. He's already semi-erect, the blood beginning to peek through his shallow skin. He looks down at me between his knees.
"We really shouldn't," he says, "It could upset the baby if—"
I ignore his pleas and grip his member in both hands. His expression strains momentarily before his lips part and a whimpery sort of moan escapes.
"Shhhh," I breathe again. Sex had never been comfortable for me while this pregnant, and I didn't plan on mounting him, but I aimed to make him feel better. Loki sits up slightly as I twist my hands around his shaft, feeling him harden to become fully erect beneath my palms. His nose scrunches and his eyes pinch shut as he moans shakily.
"Just let me take care of you," I whisper, releasing one hand to press his chest back gently, simultaneously kissing his forehead. Loki moans and pants, lying flat again and stretching out his arms, the right hand clawing into the mattress. I lower my head to engulf the tip of his thick length in my mouth. My lips are parted as wide as if I were yawning and as I slide my tongue over the slit in his head, a salty hint graces my senses. The god's svelte fingers dance through my hair as I continue the work of my hands around his shaft, sucking the head harder, the way I'd done some months ago to tease him. The ohs and ahhs escaping from Loki's lips begin to excite me. I let go of his shaft to invite more of him into my mouth, gazing up to find his eyes locked down on what I'm doing. Loki tucks a bit of hair behind my ear sweetly. I massage both hands up his rock hard abdomen, kneading the flesh of his thighs with my knuckles on the way back down, sucking him harder and harder. He inhales sharply through his teeth, his leg jerking up a moment.
"I'm going to come, Misty," he warns hastily, unable to last at the intensity with which I suck him. I lift my lips off his cock for a moment and he exhales as if in relief.
"Shhh," I grin, pausing to kiss his hips. They slowly rise, desperate for my lips around his shaft again, the tip coated in the wetness of my spit and his arousal poking at my throat. I laugh devilishly and Loki takes a deep breath.
"Misty," he groans, reaching down for my head desperately, squirming where he lies. I lift my head and kiss his tip, locking eyes and teasingly dusting my tongue all around him. Loki's pained expression causes me to give in, and I suck him hard again. Loki's upper body lifts up off the bed, his hands clutching the sheets furiously, his mouth dropping open in anticipation. I throat him lightly and pull off with a resonating, wet pop and Loki whimpers continuously. I press him to lie back again, shushing all the while. By now, Loki's tummy, face, and neck have all enlivened with surging blood. I grab him and begin to reconstruct that familiar in-and-out tugging sensation by squeezing my hands firmly up and down his cock. Loki's moans grow louder and louder by the second, intensifying, and suddenly they pause, he holds his breath, and a stream of thick, pearly, ichor fluid ejects an easy four feet into the air. No wonder I'd gotten pregnant again! His teeth bear and glimmer with the release of pent up arousal. Another spurt of roughly the same intensity follows suit, and then a weaker third, an even weaker fourth, and by the fifth gush of seed, my hands are soused with the nectar. I gaze at the tip as it leaks with finality and Loki slowly softens in my grip. I bow my head to lick the tip clean before releasing him, and he leaves a salty and uniquely frozen taste in my mouth. Loki is beyond beautiful when I lean over his panting form, his eyes open and gazing up at me with euphoria.
"You are…the most wonderful woman in the Nine Realms, Misty. Did you know that?" Loki asks, reaching up with a tired hand to stroke my cheek.
"I really do enjoy it when you do that to me," he admits with a quick smile. I lean down to kiss him before getting up to go shower.
After breakfast, Loki stands quietly out of view outside of Logan's door. I sit with our little boy on his bed and brush his hair.
"Mom, Sif said that she would teach me how to ride horses, if it was okay with you. Can I?" he asks, pleadingly staring up into my eyes and placing both his hands on my stomach. I laugh.
"Maybe, if the horse is small enough."
"Please, mom?! I can do a pony—they're small."
"Okay, but I want to be there to watch you."
Logan smiles and wraps his arms around me. The door creeks and Loki walks in slowly. Logan's attention is quickly drawn towards his father, who holds the plush toy sword behind his back.
"Someone wants to talk to you first," I explain. Logan buries his face into my chest silently and holds me tighter.
"Logan? May I speak to you now?" Loki asks gently. Logan doesn't say a word. He doesn't even look at Loki.
"Come on, let's talk to dad," I say, gently peeling Logan off my side and standing him up with me. Loki grins.
"I brought you something from home, buddy," Loki smiles, stooping to Logan's height and pulling his toy from behind his back.
"I know it's your favourite. I thought you might want it." Logan grips my leg and hides behind my robe. Loki sighs.
"Logan, I'm so sorry, baby. I didn't mean to hurt you, or scare you…you know that I would never do anything like that, don't you, love?" Loki speaks gently. I run my hands over Logan's hair and move so that he can't continue to hide behind me.
"I was just so scared when I saw you holding that sceptre. You could have been killed, and that would have hurt your mom and I, auntie Jane, and uncle Thor, more than you could ever possibly imagine. I would never, ever want an accident like that to happen, but it doesn't excuse me for hitting you the way I did. I'm so sorry. Can you forgive me? I broke my own rule; hitting doesn't solve things, and you know that as much as I do, don't you?"
Logan finally, yet slowly nods. Loki puts the sword down and reaches for him. Logan leans back against me.
"Hey, it's me, Logan. It's daddy," Loki says endearingly, "Don't I get a hug?"
Logan stares for a few silent seconds before rushing into Loki's arms. Loki kneels there to hold the boy tightly.
"I'm sorry, daddy," Logan mumbles, crying.
"It's alright. It's alright, my little prince," Loki whispers. My eyes well up at the smile on Loki's face. He pulls back to kiss Logan on both cheeks.
"Just please promise me you will ask before you ever touch anything like that again."
"I promise, daddy," Logan mumbles.
"I heard something about horses. Why don't we go riding together?" Loki says, his eyes sparkling at the boy as he wipes his tears away. Logan gasps and jumps up and down excitedly.
On our way back from the corral, Logan walks ahead with Sif, as I've taken to walking a lot slower while being so big. The two of them are eventually out of sight, but Loki takes his time beside me, holding my hand all the while, smiling. Before I know it, there is an odd heavy sensation in my pelvis and I stop, squatting a moment.
"Misty?" Loki asks, eying me.
"Just, hang on…" I take a deep breath, closing my eyes a moment.
"Love, what's the matter?"
I groan as the heavy sensation turns to pain, and I drop to my knees, eyes clenched tightly, gripping my stomach.
"Misty?!" I can tell without seeing Loki that he's already on the ground, kneeling in front of me. I push his hands away, the familiar pain I'd felt six years prior when I went into labor with Logan taking hold.
"Misty," Loki's voice is desperate now as I sit down, resting upon my hands and knees.
"I just need a minute," I explain. Loki is silent for a minute as I breathe and try to regain composure. But then when I whimper, he starts.
"I'm going to get you inside," he says as calmly as possible, and when I feel him beginning to lift me, the pain worsens. I grasp Loki's arms.
"No—no, don't—ah!"
When I look into Loki's eyes, they're terrified.
"It hurts—please don't move me!" I plead, tears finally streaming my face.
"Misty," he breathes, asking me again what's wrong, cupping my face.
"I think she's coming," I breathe.
"What?! No—that's…that's not possible. You're barely eight months along," he says worriedly. He tries again to pick me up and I push him away, lying on my back, straining in agony.
"Help! Guards!" Loki calls desperately, grabbing my hand and sitting beside me in the grass. I begin to sweat and my breathing becomes more labored.
"Loki, she's coming…I know it. I know this feeling. I—aaaahhh!" I manage to move enough to lean back against a tree. Loki looking around anxiously, no one in sight.
"Impossible. You cannot have this baby yet. Something is wrong. We need to get you to a healer now."
"Loki, shut up!" I growl painfully. He begins to cry after I scream again, calling for help. I wave him away when he tries to pick me up yet again.
"Just go—go get someone, something," I pant before screaming again and clutching my abdomen.
"I'm not going to leave you out here by yourself," he stresses disobediently, wiping his eyes.
"Oh my god, Loki! I'm in labor," I cry, feeling the need to push. I can't remember it having been so sudden and dramatic this way; the pain had gradually increased before Loki rushed me to the hospital for Logan. Logan was delivered by C-section, but I could still recall what contractions felt like. Loki kneels at my side and grips one of my hands in both of his.
"Are you sure you're in labor?" he asks, smiling with what I know is excitement hidden beneath the fear. I simply cry and nod in response.
"Okay. Okay. Just…just start pushing, then."
It occurs to me that I'm about to have my daughter under the shade of some sort of fruiting tree. Loki stands and rips off his tunic and starts to push it underneath me, his eyes widening when he realizes that my water had in fact broken. His eyebrows cock and he smiles at me toothlessly.
"It fucking hurts," I sob, as Loki helps me out of my underwear, cautiously peeling back my robes to expose my legs. His beautiful hands move very carefully, as if he's afraid to cause me any further pain. He kisses my left kneecap for a long moment, closing his eyes.
"Misty, look at me, sweetheart."
I pause from sobbing to try and focus on Loki.
"We're going to do this together, okay? Just breathe."
I simply begin screaming and pushing. Loki's eyes widen where he's gazing beneath my robes.
"She's coming, Misty...I can see. You're doing well. Just try to breathe," he says calmingly, holding my legs apart and gently rubbing my knees every now and again.
"What is all the—?"
Before Thor can finish his sentence, he stops dead in his tracks. He'd had Mjölnir at the ready, perhaps having heard my agony.
"You're doing just fine, my love. Keep pushing," Loki encourages. His smile reduces a bit of my fear, but does nothing for the pain as I sob uncontrollably, choking on my breaths. I throw my head back against the tree.
"You've got to push, Misty," Loki says, gripping my ankle, "I can just see her head—you've got to get her out, love."
"I can't! I fucking—ahhh!"
"Is she—?" Thor begins, just as surprised as Loki had been.
"Yes! There wasn't time—go get the midwives. Hurry," Loki begs, and while he beseeches this, the worry returns to his face, and terrifies me. I start trying to push again, taking a deep breath before holding it and straining till I damn near faint from exhaustion. Thor runs off, calling for Jane.
"Good, Misty. Keep going," Loki encourages, his eyes still wide as he watches the progress taking place where he kneels between my legs. I can feel every ounce of pain.
"Oh god, I fucking hate you! I'm never having sex with you again," I sob in the pain of the moment. When I look up at Loki's face, he's found the peace to be able to laugh genuinely.
"I love you, Misty," is his simple response. I feel a sudden point where it's no longer necessary to push, and Loki scrambles with the tunic beneath me, and infantile cries meet my ears as he swaddles a blue being in the cloth. I note as I begin to fade out of consciousness, that she has the same engravings I've seen on Loki in his Jötunn form. Loki's eyes are full of horror as he tells me that I'm bleeding a lot, and it's the last thing I hear before losing consciousness.
Lights are bright and warm in my face as my eyes slowly open. I probably bled to death, and now I'm in heaven? I smile for an instant for the sake of no longer being in extreme agony, but then my eyes water and I can't imagine never seeing Loki again, or Logan. I hadn't even had the chance to hold my daughter. But as Loki's voice meets my ears and I feel his slender fingers in my hair, I quickly calm down. I feel his lips on my cheek and close my eyes.
"Shhh, you're alright, Misty. Everything's fine now. You lost a lot of blood."
But even as Loki speaks, his voice is like a faraway echo.
"The baby is fine. She's just fine. Relax."
Loki's cool hand grips mine and I stop crying. The brightness loses a bit of intensity and I find myself lying on what seems like some sort of bed or table, a number of healers around a cradle where, as I turn my head, I know my daughter slumbers. There are smiles on their faces, and then I am certain that everything is okay.
"She's too early," I mumble. Loki presses a cool hand to my forehead and sushes me.
"Don't move. You need to recover…and she is perfectly healthy, Misty, as if you had carried her to full term. I don't know why, but let's just be thankful," he says. Loki's eyes and smile replace my vision. I grin, nodding lightly.
"We did it, Misty. She's a beautiful little princess."
Loki kisses my forehead a long moment.
"Where's Logan?"
"With Jane and Thor. He knows you had the baby. He's very excited to meet his little sister."
Loki's voice is no longer an echo and I can finally see him clearly. He sits beside me, holding my hand. In a matter of hours, I am able to sit up and finally hold my daughter. When she opens her eyes and looks at me, she has the same emerald eyes as her brother and father.
"Loki, I don't know if it was just me, but I swore she was Jötunn when she came out," I say distractedly, staring into her eyes as she stares back up at me.
"She was," he says before kissing my cheek again.
"Does that bother you?" he asks genuinely. I gaze over at him before shaking my head for no.
"Maybe that's why she came so early?"
"Couldn't be. It wasn't like this with Logan…I guess she just wanted to finally meet her daddy," he grins. I laugh lightly and hand her to Loki. She cries for a moment before calming down against his chest. Logan continues to stand quietly behind Loki, hiding.
"You can come out, buddy. Say hello to Leanna." Logan stops hiding behind Loki and approaches. Loki hands the baby to me and picks Logan up so he can sit beside me. Slowly, Logan smiles as I hand his sister to him.
"Hi, Leanna," he whispers before kissing her on her forehead gently. She doesn't cry at all as he grins down at her.
"I'm your big brother, Logan."
She gurgles pleasantly and Loki's smile is jubilant. He gazes at me, and I at him, before we share a kiss.
"I love you with all of my heart," he whispers directly into my ear.
The End