When Loki crawled into bed in the wee hours of the morning, he folded his lithe body around Mirilya. She was asleep and didn't notice him getting in the bed with her. Her body was a strange accumulation of contradictions nowadays. Her round tummy and full breasts were soft and tense at the same time, their round shapes in stark contrast with her skinny arms and shoulders where you could feel the bones move under her skin. The lines of her face had become more defined too, as a result of the morning sickness and constant drain on her energy. But her hair seemed thicker and had a healthy shine, framing her face and smoothing out the harsher line of her jaw. He admired how she bore the discomforts of her pregnancy, the sparkle in her eyes had not diminished despite it all. She really tried to listen to all the good advice and by now she surely had read most of the books in his room. Loki made a mental note to take her to the large library of the palace the next day, so she could stack up on new reading material to help pass the time.
Loki eased his hand carefully under the thin material of Mirilya's night shift, softly caressing the bare skin of her rounded stomach. According to Lady Eir the baby had a lot of room to play at the moment and a couple of days ago Mirilya had seen the baby turn over at the Soul Forge image. She told Loki their child was already good at summersaults. Mirilya felt the baby move a couple of times a day since this week, but only on the inside of her body. He placed his hand at the bottom, spreading his fingers across the skin. There, somewhere under his hand, was his child. The child that made him worry almost constantly about its mother, that made him look at the future anxiously and that made him hate his own origins. But it was also the child that made him feel proud, that made him love Mirilya even more, and that gave him the need to rise above himself, to be a better man. That child was there, somewhere below his hand, somewhere below the steady rise and fall of Mirilya's stomach.
Suddenly, Loki felt a small push against his hand. As if someone poked with a finger at the inside of his hand. He applied a little more pressure with the flat of his hand and sure enough, there was that little push again. Loki pushed himself up on his elbow and pressed again, waiting for the baby to react. He had to wait a little longer this time, but there it was. A warm glow spread through his body and Loki felt his cheeks ache from the width of his smile.
"What are you two doing?" mumbled Mirilya sleepily.
"I'm sorry," said Loki in a half-whisper. "Did we wake up mommy?"
"You did - oh! That was a good one!" Mirilya grimaced when Loki felt a push against his hand again, harder than the others had been.
He rolled Mirilya on her back and placed his lips against her stomach, right next to his hand. "Be nice to your mother, little one. We can go roughhousing all you want once you're out."
"She's never been so active before," Mirilya said with a smile, folding her hands over Loki's on her stomach. "Did you do something?"
Loki propped himself up on his elbow again, nuzzling Mirilya's cheek and throat. "With my magic, you mean? No, I just put my hand on your stomach. And I was thinking about her, maybe she felt that."
"She likes you." Mirilya kissed him, smiling against his lips.
"Not as much as I like her mother." Loki directed his attention from the baby to Mirilya, kissing her passionately.
The young Lightelf reacted eagerly to his touch, arching her body up under his hands and lips. Loki went about it slowly, kissing and caressing Mirilya until she all but dissolved under his hands. Then, and only then, he positioned himself between her legs, slowly entering her warmth. She was his queen and he worshipped her with his whole body, like she deserved.
The next morning they slept in. Breakfast became brunch, brought in by Liselore. The handmaiden had recently returned in Loki's service, seeing as Mirilya had to rest as much as possible. Loki also didn't want Mirilya to work, that was not fitting for a future queen.
Mirilya just slipped out of bed when Loki came out of the bathroom, bathed and dressed. Liselore helped her in her robe, the baby bump clearly visible in Mirilya's night shift. When she caught Loki's inquisitive gaze, the young Lightelf chuckled.
"Relax, Loki. She knows all about it."
Loki arched his eyebrows, but he wasn't too worried. Liselore had been his handmaiden for ages, she was very trustworthy.
"Congratulations, my King," Liselore said to him, smirking a little. The look on her face told him she was happy for him.
Loki smirked back, completely relaxed again, and seated himself at the table at the balcony.
While they ate, Liselore quietly made the bed and cleaned up a little. After that she helped Mirilya to dress, something the Lightelf yet had to become accustomed too.
First thing on the program for that day was a visit to Lady Eir. Mirilya visited the healer regularly for her check ups and often did that alone or accompanied by Lady Loriana, as Loki was too busy to go with her most times. But he tried to go with her every now and then, as he did this morning.
The Soul Forge showed them a sleeping baby, curled up inside the uterus.
"Aww, look Loki, she has her thumb in her mouth!" cooed Mirilya happily.
Loki wasn't sure if the baby really was sucking its thumb, but the small hand pressed against the face at least suggested it.
"You think it's a she?" Lady Eir smiled down at her patient on the table.
Mirilya nodded. "Just a feeling. Can you see the sex already?"
"I might be able to see it, yes. There was another growth spurt, if the baby works with us a little, I think I can tell you if it's a he or a she." Lady Eir looked from Mirilya to Loki. "Would you like to know?"
Loki looked at Mirilya, who watched him with big eyes, not able to hide her enthusiasm.
"Sure, let's see if it's a prince or a princess."
Lady Eir adjusted the Soul Forge a couple of times to try and get a better view, but eventually she gave up.
"The way the baby is positioned right now, I can't get a clear view. Maybe we can get a look next time, when the baby is awake."
"Oh…" Mirilya looked disappointed, but then clearly thought of something, perking up immediately. "Loki can wake her up!"
"Shouldn't we let her, or him, sleep?" Loki shook his head with a smile.
"She'll fall asleep again when we walk back, I'm sure of it. Come on, give me your hand." Mirilya reached for his right hand and placed it over her stomach.
Loki flattened his hand against her warm skin, watching the image of the baby on the Soul Forge. Just like last night, he applied a little bit of pressure. It only took a couple of seconds before the baby stirred, waking up. Loki watched in awe how the baby wriggled a bit and then pushed out a knee, which he could feel under his hand. Tears pricked in the corners of his eyes and Mirilya tightly held on to his forearm.
"It's a girl," Lady Eir said, watching the image of the baby. "You were right."
"A girl…" repeated Loki quietly. He would become the father of a daughter. His daughter, Aurora.
The healer left them alone for a couple of minutes, letting the knowledge sink in. When she returned to the room, she made Mirilya sit up again and started questioning her about her health.
The baby was still growing rapidly, which worried the healer. "She is feeding from you and she does it at a much faster pace than usual. I'm actually surprised you only complain about morning sickness and fatigue up until now."
"I'm trying to get as much rest as possible. And between Loki, Loriana and my handmaiden, there's no way I can forget about eating healthy."
Lady Eir tapped the tablet with Mirilya's file, opening a diagram with a climbing line. "To be sure, I'd like to take some blood from you. And I need a urine sample tomorrow, before breakfast."
"What do you need that for?" Mirilya asked, a worried look creeping over her face.
"To check for eclampsia, I think?" Loki said, checking with Lady Eir, who nodded in agreement.
"Your blood pressure is slightly up because of the strain on your body. That in itself is not an immediate point of concern, but high blood pressure can lead to a lot of complications, eclampsia being the worst of it," Lady Eir explained to them.
Loki had read up on the risks of the pregnancy, something he forbade Mirilya. So he knew exactly what Lady Eir was talking about, but Mirilya was still a bit confused.
"In the most severe form, eclampsia can lead to cerebral hemorrhage, a bleeding in the brain," the healer continued. "It's a life threatening situation."
Mirilya went pale around the nose and Loki sat down next to her on the table, putting his arm around her. He gave the healer a stern look, not happy with the way she conveyed the message. "That's just a worst case scenario, my love, don't worry. But the milder forms are also far from an improvement to your health. All the more reason to make sure we're one step ahead of these things, so we can nip 'm in the bud."
"That's right, my dear," Lady Eir added in a chipper voice. "You're fine now. Let's keep it that way."