After cleaning, she ate outside with the horses grazing in the meadows. She brushed and combed their manes and tails. They hounded her for treats. When she was ready for bed, Sigyn forgot about the box sitting on her stand. She only noticed it when she was laying on her side, staring at it.
"King of Sassgard is what he his," Sigyn turned over, ignoring the box and its contents.
It wasn't that much to break her resolve. She wasn't holding herself from it, but didn't want to try it right then with mixed feelings. It was a few weeks later before she tried it. He was right, it wasn't him, but with the new loneliness that she will have to get used to, it was just another thing to lessen it.
When she would take bathes, she would wash herself with his oils and soaps just to smell like him. She kept wearing his tunics, wore his robes and coats. Little things that kept her going.
She headed back to New Asgard for the Spring Equinox. It was still cold, she made sure to bundle up. It was warming up enough to thaw out but not warm enough.
Midgardians knew the Spring Equinox as Ostara, or Easter. New Asgard brought both their traditions together. Val met Sigyn at the meadows. She informed her about how Yule went and how they missed her on that.
At the feast, Sigyn felt nauseous and had to leave far enough to get a breath of fresh air. The Healer saw Sigyn couldn't stand certain smells. The Healer pulled her off to a private area.
"Allmother," the Healer glanced around. "How long have you been feeling sick?"
Sigyn pondered that. "Maybe for a few weeks. Just certain smells."
"Have you met up with someone?" The Healer knew she was out of line, but that question needed to be asked. "I know its none of my business, but I have to ask."
Sigyn scrunched her eyebrows. Meet someone? "I've met up with Tony and Pepper Stark who brought me into their home and asked me to be their Godmother. Val and the Valkyries. And then New Asgard. Why?" She was confused. Did she catch a Midgardian sickness maybe?
The Healer sighed. She came closer and whispered. "Have you spent the night with a man?" She moved back to gage Sigyn's reaction.
Sigyn was perplexed. She would never in her lifetime and the next be with anyone else but Loki. "Wha-what are you getting at?"
"Allmother, you're pregnant," the Healer clarified. "Your sensitivity to smells, certain food dishes, your hand rubs the small of your back sometimes, and others. You are pregnant!"
Sigyn scoffed. She hasn't done anything like that-wait. Sigyn froze, awestruck and horrified. No. Not possible. No. He couldn't have. Could it be possible? She unknowingly called out to the only person she could think of that would know about Sakaar technology.
Val, Sigyn spoke into her mind. I need you.
Val stopped. She thought she just hear Sigyn. Val glanced around. Sigyn wasn't near her. She heard her voice again. Val turned around looking for her. She spotted Sigyn with the Healer. Val looked around seeing that no one was staring at Sigyn. Did she yell and everyone ignored her, but it sounded as if she was right next to her?
Val came over to them, confused. "Alright, I am here." She looked between the two.
"Sakaar technology," Sigyn started. "He was with the leader, Grandmaster, correct?"
"Yes?" Val wasn't understanding the urgency the two had.
"The Grandmaster seemed to throw certain parties," Sigyn was trying to be delicate about the situation. The Healer glanced at Val.
"He was notorious for his orgies and similar parties," Val stared at Sigyn. "Wh-why are you asking me this?"
Sigyn closed her eyes, taking a deep breath in. The Healer wanted to speak but she waited for Sigyn. She opened her eyes. "I was left with a certain gift." She cleared her throat. "It was from Sakaar. He had it made just for me, to remind me of him." She didn't want to come out right and say it. It was embarrassing.
Val stared at her with her head titled to the side. Sakaar technology? Gift just for her from Loki. What was she talking about? Why would she bring up orgies? It dawned on her. Val looked between the two. She started to laugh. The two didn't laugh with her. She stopped. This was serious.
"He-he actually made himself a replicant for you," Val asked. Sigyn nodded. "You used it." Sigyn started to blush. "Oh-okay. I don't see where the problem is."
"I'm pregnant," Sigyn glanced at the Healer. "Haven't tested but supposedly I am."
"You show all the signs," the Healer was not going to back down.
Val looked back and forth between them. She gave a pointed to look to Sigyn. "You? Because of that?" Sigyn nodded again. That was the only thing she could have thought of that would cause it. "I-hm." Val really had to think about this now.
The two stared at her while she was thinking about it. She was making certain faces, shaking her head. Sigyn could have peeked but it was something she would rather hear it straight from her mouth instead. Val had the final answer.
She looked between them again as they were eagerly awaiting an explanation. "I'm a only concluding with the information I know about it. I would have to see it but I do not want to see it, at all." Val made that clear up front. She waved her hands in front of her. "How it sounds, where he," she paused. "Gave you a gift specifically for that, he is mischievous, wouldn't put it past me that he would do that. Now onto what you're stating," she looked over to the Healer. "There are certain ones that make it realistic as possible." Sigyn looked away. "And some are so realistic that you could, um, hm, you could," she waved her hand in a circling motion to help her with the words. "You could supply some of it yourself."
Sigyn covered her mouth, her other arm supported her elbow. She did not want to meet any of their eyes. Val and the Healer looked over to Sigyn.
"We won't know for sure until we test," the Healer reminded her. "Let's go do that." She grabbed Sigyn by the wrist, leading her to the Healer's and Doctor's place. Val went with her as support. She also needed to know.
Sigyn performed the Midgardian way of testing. It was positive. Sigyn was pregnant. The Healer made them wait, as she grabbed the Doctor to run the ultrasound. Sigyn and Val waited in silence.
An hour later, Sigyn was laying on her back, the ultrasound probe was running over her abdomen. Val and the Healer were by them to see as well. He paused the screen, taking a snapshot. "Yep, you are about nine weeks along it looks like."
Val saw that Sigyn was trying to process all of this information. "Well, it was a good gift, wasn't it?" She teased her.
Sigyn rolled her eyes. "I guess it was." She finally smirked.
"There's a smile," Val grabbed her hand. "Always a trick of his sleeve."
"How are we going to explain this though?" The Healer was concerned on that part. The two looked over to her. The Doctor was printing off the picture and saving it to the file. "Allfather is missing, Allmother is now pregnant. How are we going to explain that it is his child?"
"What if we don't explain it?" Val looked between them. "We could just leave it?" She shrugged.
"We can't just leave it," the Healer wiped off the gel on Sigyn. "Allmother will be pregnant, after pregnancy is a baby, and if it looks exactly like him, they will believe he has come back."
"We could say part of the truth," Sigyn finally spoke up. It was about her after all. "What if, we explain it as him leaving a piece of his legacy in case something bad happened?"
"What if you use it again?" The Healer gave her a pointed look. The three looked between one another. "Then what? He left seeds, as if you're some garden."
Sigyn actually liked that. "Yes, he left some seeds to leave his legacy behind, in case something had happened to him."
"We'll come up with something better, but for now, you need to be careful, and now get to come back for checkups," Val helped her sit up.
"How are we going to explain to Lord Thor?" The Healer had another question. There was silence.
"We will maybe try to hide it from him, and then say the truth to him if he finds out," Val spoke aloud. Sigyn nodded in agreement.
The group agreed to keep this secret until Sigyn was showing. Sigyn and Val headed outside while the other two were organizing the room again.
"I liked how you didn't even deny that you wouldn't use it again," Val kept her voice low.
Sigyn shrugged before giving her a look. "It has its uses." Val and her laughed. "It was a bit unsettling when I first found out. He left a device that has hologram of him."
"Oh, yes, a recorder," Val nodded. "Smart. He thought of everything."
"Yes," Sigyn was a bit curt. "That he did. Even when he explained that type of gift. When he comes back, he is going to get an earful just for that."
"I thought that would make your day," Val kept it lighthearted. "Finding out your lover had left a gift to help when the nights get cold."
"Both of us are Frost Giants," Sigyn gave her a pointed look. Val raised an eyebrow. Sigyn shook her head. "I know what you meant, but he had to be so cheeky about. Always a show."
"You married him," Val reminded her.
"I did, wholeheartedly," Sigyn had a soft smile. "With every fiber of my being, my soul, everything. Thinking about it now, I do enjoy his tricks"
Val leaned in, "is it the same color as him?" As that can be any color or pattern, can even glow. Val enjoyed a few when she was there.
"It changes color," Sigyn started to blush.
"Oh?" Val raised her eyebrows.
"To the Frost Giant version of him," Sigyn looked away with a smile she was trying to hide.
"He loves you so much, he made sure that he had all aspects," Val comforted. "I'm just surprised that I am talking about him with this much happiness. Him and I fought, he lost, but he put up a good fight. Thought he was just another bedmate. Oh-I shouldn't have said that."
"You're fine," Sigyn waved her hand. "He has asked me about that, since he is cunning and uses all resources for his plans. He did ask how I would feel if he had to do that."
"And?" Val stopped. The two were headed back to the feast. She couldn't believe he would actually ask his wife about that.
"I told him I loved him, with all his faults and vices," Sigyn turned to her. "He wouldn't be my husband if I didn't love him in his entirety."
"But that would be committing adultery, and disrespecting you," Val didn't understand.
"The situations he gets into, he may need to do that in order to keep his life," Sigyn explained it. "That's how I see it. Right after we married, we were separated from one another in minutes, seconds even. I was later sent to Jotunheim. There I was controlled by chains. There was even talk about me reproducing with a Jotun. Thank goodness it was him, but if it meant my life would be saved, I would rather ask for forgiveness. I didn't want to keep him in a world without me when we finally had the chance to be together. Now, well, I am glad I got that time with him, and if it meant he had to do the same to be with me again, well I would forgive him." Val regretted bring it up. She didn't want to have Sigyn defend them. "He's a great individual and not many see it."
"I didn't mean to do that to you," Val apologized.
"I knew where you were coming from," Sigyn accepted it. "Goddess of Fidelity, everyone thinks I follow him blindly. No, I love him and his faults."
"I like your new name, Goddess of Victory," Val changed the subject. "The Valkyries have started to call you that and I heard a few amongst here say that too." Sigyn rolled her eyes. The two continued walking back.
Sigyn made sure to meet up at least once a month in New Asgard for checkups. She made sure to visit Tony and Pepper. She was getting closer to her due date. Tony asked Sigyn to stay longer or to visit more often. On one of the visits, Tony picked up on how different Sigyn was acting.
Tony was setting down a veggie tray on the side of the table since the rest of the table was taken up by a scrabble board game. He noticed Sigyn choosing certain foods and drinks. He gave her the benefit of the doubt. Until she absentmindedly touches her stomach.
Sigyn, he called her loudly in his thoughts. She met his eyes. Pepper was placing down a word across the board. There's something off about you. Maybe because you're glowing.
It was his turn. He placed down a word perpendicular. Sigyn and Pepper read it. "Bun on oven." Pepper gave Tony a wry look. "Is there going to be a theme?"
"No, no," Tony rebuked. He glanced at Sigyn. "Just puns." Pepper rolled her eyes and smiled. Up to his antics again.
Sigyn had placed down a word perpendicular on Pepper's word as well. The two read it. "Theory."
"Nice, nice," Pepper praised her. She placed the tiles on that word.
Tony kept placing pregnant and infant type of words down. Pepper would sigh from time to time. Sigyn would try to side step with certain words neither denying or agreeing.
"If I win," Tony stated. "Sigyn gets to answer my questions truthfully."
Pepper looked between the two. "What sort of questions do you have?"
"Several," Sigyn answered.
"It's cheating when you can read my mind," Tony pointed out.
Sigyn crabbed a carrot. "Haven't been stealing your words have I?"
"True," Tony leaned back. "You have not. Deal?"
Sigyn thought it over. She would eventually have to tell them. "Deal." Tony's jaw dropped into a smile. He started to play with more of a competitive edge. "I will say either way. Even if you lose." Pepper was winning so far.
The three played for a half an hour more before they finished with the all the letters that they could fit upon the board. Pepper did win.
"Tony, ask away," Pepper was curious to know. She had her hands resting on top of her stomach.
"Alright, question one," Tony smiled. "How far along are you?"
Sigyn sighed in defeat. Pepper let out a gasp in surprise. "You're-you're pregnant!?" Sigyn nodded. Pepper beamed. "Oh, congratulations!"
"I am five months along," Sigyn answered with a smile.
"You don't even look it!" Pepper waved her hand up and down.
"Thank you!" Sigyn smiled brighter. "My body carries them well. I also have been wearing flowy type of clothing so it hides my belly."
"Why hide it?" Pepper was confused. She had been wearing clothing showing off her bump.
"Well, its been about a year since the snap, and the father is missing," Tony explained. "Or?"
Pepper gaped. "Is that p-possible? He's the father, right? I don't think you would ever cheat on him."
Sigyn chuckled. "Yes, he is the father and he is still missing." Tony raised an eyebrow. Sigyn grabbed a handful of veggies. "I was left with an interesting gift." She didn't want to go into further detail. She started to blush. Sigyn cleared her throat and shifted in her seat. She was embarrassed.
"Oh, oh-OH," Pepper blinked. "He left that. There is something like that he could leave? I mean I have seen it before in those kinds of shops but wow."
"Oh-ho-ho," Tony chuckled. "What a classy guy, left a part of himself just for his beloved. That's actually a good idea." Pepper and Sigyn stared at him. "What?" He shrugged. "He had a great idea. I think I might do that."
"Tony," Pepper chastised. "That's not needed."
"Not now, but if something ever happened in the future," Tony implied. "I wonder what kind of technology could keep it frozen then heat up to normal body temperature right at the exact moment?"
"We are not discussing that now," Pepper put her foot down.
"You wouldn't be able to let me-" Tony started.
"-I am not bringing or lending it to you," Sigyn agreed with Pepper.
"That's a little awkward," Pepper continued. "If not wrong. Having that."
"Oh, afraid I'm going to compare," he teased them. The two rolled their eyes at the same time. "We should have done double dates." He slapped the table. This made both of the ladies' flinch. "Speaking of double, when is your due date?"
"End of September start of October," Sigyn replied.
"How exciting!" Pepper was beaming. "We will have to do playdates. Let them spend time with one another. It's really nice that I am not alone."
"Yes!" Sigyn smiled. "I will be here for you. This will be my third child. I understand why Tony keeps trying to get me to stay. It is always the hardest when its your first, but everything will be okay. You will be fine." She reached over and squeezed Pepper's hand. Pepper patted it with her other hand.
"Thank you," Pepper had some tears in her eyes. It was hard being a first-time mother in unsettling time. She was happier and more relaxed with Sigyn going through pregnancy with her too. Sigyn was a mother already and Pepper bombarded her with several questions. Sigyn eased Pepper's mind with all her answers, experience, and suggestions.
Tony could leave those two together and not be as worried. He would step out to make sure his technology was working fine. He set up some technology in areas in case there was another attack. He was still worried something may happen.
It was a couple of months later that Sigyn was there to support Pepper and Tony bringing in their firstborns Sigyn was in the waiting room. Tony was trying to give Pepper a pep talk while holding her hand. Pepper gripped his hand hard enough he yelped out in pain. She was talking back to him; how unhelpful his words were at the moment.
After many hours, Tony and Pepper were the proud parents of a baby girl. They named her Morgan after Pepper's eccentric uncle. Sigyn stayed with them for a few weeks until they were able to get their energy back. Tony let her know she was welcome to give birth here. Sigyn appreciated the gesture but she had already made plans with the healer at New Asgard.
When it was Sigyn's due date, Val was there to help her. Val felt she was not much of help. Sigyn chuckled while holding her hand. She let her know that she birthed her second son by herself while Hela was going after the Asgardians. Val stood frozen with that response. She was shaken out of her stance when Sigyn gripped her hand tighter.
"A princess," the healer cried out when her and doctor caught the baby. Sigyn stared to cry. Val hugged her as best she could while shaking her hand. "Do you have a name?"
"Yes," Sigyn was catching her breath. Val started to cry. She quickly wiped away the tears. "Einmyria."
"A lovely name," the healer started to clean her off. "For a beautiful bundle of joy."
Sigyn stayed in the doctor's and healer's place until she felt strong enough to take care of her at home. Sigyn left late at night, that way Thor didn't take notice as well as the rest of New Asgard.
When she brought her baby girl home, the horses came up to her, sniffing around them. Sigyn let them see. Einmyria opened her eyes as she felt the hot breathes were upon her. Her green eyes sparkled.
"Yes, we have a new family member," Sigyn shifted past them. "Meet Einmyria." She petted her horse. "Oh." Sigyn stopped. "Look's like you won't be alone here. We will greet another family member as well."
Einmyria had her own cradle. Sigyn couldn't bring herself to use her son's cradle. All the toys, blankets, and such that were for them, she placed them in the nursery and on shelves, waiting for the one day they would return. She had hope even if she was the only one to believe it, she had hope.
Einmyria's cradle was similar to Vali's and Nari's. Sigyn had placed red bedding instead of greens and golds as the boys were. There were duplicates of toys and items. Einmyria fell asleep with ease in the new environment.
Sigyn cried tears of joy as it no longer felt empty in the oasis. Loki's legacy was not gone. She didn't believe it was gone, just missing. Einmyria was not a replacement, she was an addition. A beautiful addition that she didn't know she needed.
Each day Sigyn would take on Loki's role of storytelling. Sigyn would tell stories about Asgard from the views of Frigga, adventures Loki and Thor had been on, training as a Valkyrior, and so forth.
When Einmyria was old enough to be taken out of the oasis, Sigyn met up with Pepper, Tony, and Morgan. The two babies were curious with one another. It took some time for them to get use to one another but when they did, the two played, giggled, and fought.
Sigyn would stay for a couple of weeks at a time. Tony recorded both of the babies. He would capture any moment he could. Pepper could only sigh. She loved Tony so much and loved how great of a father he was becoming. Pepper couldn't help but brag how Tony would eagerly get up in the middle of the night to change Morgan and feed her. Pepper knew that a man should do his fair share of helping out, but Tony took on more than his fair share at times. Tony heard part of that conversation. He explained that it was only right that he does more when his wife's body worked overtime to produce this beautiful baby. Pepper couldn't help but cry.
