Your comments are all lovely, I love you guys so much.

This is the last chapter that takes place in Asgard (for now!) and the next one will shuffle back over to the funny side of things ;)


Hydrangeas Say Our Family Will Flourish

Chapter Four: No Matter The Colour

Reinn was dealt with. Thor took one look at Amelia's slightly puffy eyes and that was it for the deputy advisor - he was promptly relieved from his duties and kicked out of the palace with the warning that if he dared to ever approach Amelia again, his punishment would not be so lenient next time.

Loki couldn't help but notice Amelia seemed to be not-so-ravenous as she ate at the evening meal, unlike the many other meals she had consumed in the past few weeks. It had become the norm for her to go for third helpings, as she was eating for three, after all, but that evening she had barely finished her plate before stating that she was done and did not intend to eat anything more.

It wasn't exactly a mystery to Loki why this was so - Amelia had the tendency to be sparing with her food when she was anxious about something, and there was no doubt in his mind that her anxiety had been caused by what he had told her just after the skirmish with Reinn - the fact that he needed to talk to her about their unborn children, but did not specify why he needed to talk to her.

He knew he shouldn't have mentioned it to her until after they had returned to their room that evening, but Amelia was perceptive when it came to identifying conflict in Loki's mind, and she probably would have asked him about it anyway.

After Loki finished up his meal, they headed back to their chambers, and the whole time Amelia kept looking over and peering at the journal still clutched in Loki's hand, most likely trying to piece together what Loki's fears could possibly involve.

"Right, tell me what the problem is," Amelia practically begged the moment Loki shut the door behind them upon entrance to their bedroom, "you said there's nothing wrong, but you wouldn't be acting all jittery unless something was wrong, and I need to know right now, so tell me."

Loki sighed and urged Amelia towards the sitting area where two lavish armchairs were placed adjacent to each other, "Sit down, darling."

Amelia crossed her arms, frowning at her husband.

"Sit, and I will tell you," Loki reiterated, planting himself in one of the comfy seats, throwing one leg casually over the other, his mother's journal resting in his lap.

Amelia followed, sitting carefully, her unwavering gaze not drifting away from Loki for even a second - her intense stare was enough to bring a small smile to his face, and her determination to inwardly pick him apart with her mind was admirable, but Loki knew he was far too complex a being for her to ever correctly guess exactly what was swimming through his mind.

"After receiving mother's spell tome, I became curious as to what other books had been salvaged from Asgard before its destruction. The library is filled with texts that were rewritten by those with a particularly faultless memory, but the restricted vault is filled with all original books that were carried in the arms and bags of the evacuees," Loki began, his fingers brushing idly over the leather binding, "and that is where I found this. It's not supposed to leave the restricted vault, but as you know I can be rather sneaky, and I will return it before they realise its missing."

Amelia smiled a little at that and rolled her eyes playfully.

"As I told you, it's my mother's journal. One she wrote very early in my life as she was raising me as an infant - I've never seen this book until now - and it had me thinking about our children," his eyes flickered over Amelia's slightly rounded stomach, "and I thought that there was probably a small chance that… that they could possibly be-" he stopped himself and backtracked, "-I'm not entirely sure what the probability of it is, but there must at least be a likelihood that our children will be…"

He didn't want to say it, for fear that Amelia would be horrified by the potential outcome of her pregnancy.

"Just spit it out, Loki!" Amelia snapped, far too impatient and stubborn for her own good.

"...Blue."

Loki pursed his lips, frowning as he carefully inspected Amelia's expression, waiting for the inevitable shock and revulsion that he couldn't help but expect.

"Huh?" Amelia stammered, blinking confusedly.

Loki repeated himself more clearly, "They might be… blue, Amelia."

Amelia stared at him for a moment longer before comprehension passed over her face, and she lowered her eyes to her belly and laid a hand over it, "Oh… I see." Her tone was equivocal, and Loki continued to look on for any sign of nausea or loathing.

"Are you worried that they'll be more difficult to look after?" Amelia looked back up at Loki with a slightly furrowed brow, otherwise clueless to why he was truly in such a nervous state.

"N-no, Amelia… I'm worried you won't want them…" Loki admitted in a surprisingly small voice, subconsciously picking at the book's bound cover.

Amelia's eyes went wide as a gasp left her, which sounded like the breath had been forcibly knocked from her lungs, and a hand went over her chest in shock, "Loki, they're our children!" Her breathless exclamation was full of dismay.

Loki said nothing, startled by her outburst.

"Do you really think I would disown our children if they took after you?" Amelia questioned, still sounding just a little bit appalled.

At that point, Loki noticed he had been idly scratching at his mother's old journal and let out a quiet expletive under his breath, placing the book on the small table between them; he didn't meet Amelia's eye, breathing a despondent sigh. Amelia may have thought she could handle the idea of having children who took after their frost giant father, but if the day came and she actually gave birth to a couple of little blue, red-eyed gremlins, then that could be a whole different story altogether.

"Loki," Amelia called, demanding his attention, "answer me. Do you really think that little of me?"

"Have you really thought about what it would be like for our children to look… like that?" Loki inquired firmly, "Because you may feel differently in six months time when you have to give birth to them."

"Loki," Amelia's tone was almost scolding, offended that he could say such a thing, "I can't believe you'd say that. What parent hates their child because they're different?"

Loki met her eyes then meaningfully, his lips parted, "My parents did." At those words, the anger in Amelia's eyes dissipated into sorrow, "My biological parents left me to die because I was far too small and useless. And my adoptive father despised me for what I truly was." Despite the emotion lacing his words, he remained rather stoic, because he had long since come to terms with the fact that it was something that could never change, not since Odin had passed.

Amelia's face softened completely as she realised Loki's fears weren't baseless. She rose from her chair and padded towards him, placing herself down on his lap and curling up against him. He welcomed her with open arms and held her snugly against himself.

"Loki." Amelia spoke his name gently this time, "It's true that until you mentioned it, I hadn't considered the possibility that our children could be born with blue skin, but, I have already vowed that I will love our children with all my heart, no matter how much mischief they make, whether they're magical or ordinary, and no matter the colour of their skin. Nothing will change that, do you understand?"

Her promise very quickly prompted Loki to feel ashamed that he'd ever implied Amelia could resent her own children. Their children. Loki leaned into the warmth of her palm against his cheek, and exhaled a slow breath. Their children were lucky that they would have Amelia as their mother.

"I understand," Loki whispered, "...I'm sorry."

"It's alright. This is why we talk about these things," she ran a comforting hand through Loki's hair and gave him a smile, "instead of making assumptions."

Loki huffed in amusement, "Alright. I get it. No more assumptions." Thanks to all the times he had accused Amelia of making wild and crazy assumptions, he was now paying for it by having every single light supposition pointed out by his wife.

"Good. Now, tell me the things your mother wrote about you. Were you a little high-maintenance rascal of a baby?" Amelia bit her lip to hide a grin.

"You could say that…" Loki rolled his eyes, picking the book up again to flick carefully through the pages, "One of the first things she wrote was that I was exceedingly bitey, and breast-feeding was out of the question."

Amelia almost choked on air as she sucked in a breath before letting out a slew of giggles, "Oh god, I can imagine… how did they solve that?"

"Well, I presume they fashioned a special feeding implement not unlike the baby bottles you humans use. But that wasn't the only issue. Apparently, I refused to drink breast milk unless it was mixed with a little bit of honey. According to this paragraph," he pointed at the curly, cursive writing that Amelia couldn't make heads or tails of, "they tried many different alternatives before discovering that all they needed to do was add a little sweetness to it. My mother states here that she almost lost her head trying to figure out a solution, and if it had taken them any longer, I may have suffered from dehydration and starvation."

Amelia's giggly disposition very quickly fell into something more grim, "Ohh… you poor thing." Her lips drew into the biggest pout as she wrapped her arms around Loki's neck and cuddled him more securely. "Well, I'm glad your mother figured it out," she murmured against his shoulder, before sitting up a little and lightly tapping Loki's hand which held the book, "we might need this again… it could give us some important advice when it comes to looking after the twins once they're born."

"Indeed," Loki quietly agreed, "because if they're anything like I was, we'll need help." He gave Amelia a smile, but was only half joking.


I hope you enjoyed it lovelies! Remember to drop me a comment and leave me any ideas you may have that you want to see me write! :D