I hope you all enjoy this chapter :)

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Hydrangeas Say Our Family Will Flourish

Chapter Seven: The Fact of the Matter

Amelia peered back at the car she and Loki had been driven in, one of Stark's personal drivers sitting in the driver's seat while Loki remained in the back for the time being. They had agreed that it would be easier for Amelia to explain the situation to Dawn first instead of just bringing Loki to her doorstep, pointing at him and saying 'ta-da!'

Despite the dark-tinted windows, Amelia was sure Loki was staring right at her. She could feel his eyes on her. Ever since returning from her unfortunate intergalactic kidnapping, all her senses had been heightened - Loki surmised it was probably something to do with his magic within her, constantly offering more and more perks.

She flashed a nervous smile towards the car before looking back to the door and finally raising her fist to knock. No more than three beats passed before the door flung open and a very enthusiastic Dawn answered the door with her arms spread wide; before Amelia could even react, the woman had flung her arms around her.

"Amelia!" Dawn's happy squeal was precious, and Amelia began to laugh, awkwardly sidling her hips back to put a little space between her best friend and her small but pronounced baby bump that was currently concealed below a loose, pink sweater.

"Dawn!" Amelia exclaimed with a bright grin. It was wonderful to see her friend again, but Amelia lamented that it couldn't just be a regular trip to see her and hang out - last time they'd met in person had been the first in a long while and there had been sorrow looming over Amelia because of it. This time, she was there to reveal some information that would no doubt be shocking to Dawn.

Dawn most definitely knew Loki from the seven or so years prior in which he had, under the influence of Thanos's power, caused quite a bit of destruction to Manhattan. But Dawn knew nothing of Thanos, and Amelia feared her friend would be full of snap judgements and unwilling to hear out the whole story.

She was rushed into the house and placed in the living room while Dawn skipped through to the kitchen to fetch some refreshments for them both so they could sit and chat more comfortably.

"You want tea?"

"Mmm, got anything cold? Orange juice?" Amelia's desire for all things cold still had yet to die down.

"Yeah, sure," Dawn snorted.

"Where's Rob and the baby?" Amelia curiously inquired.

"Upstairs," Dawn replied as she brought the cups in and handed one to Amelia before making herself cosy on the couch, "Noah needed changing. They'll be down in a sec."

They spoke about Noah, and Amelia learned that he was thirteen months old; she was excited to see how he had grown since the first time they had met when he was only twelve weeks old. The reminder of babies had her pulling her sweater out a bit more to disguise her belly, she didn't want the cat out of the bag before she'd had time to build it up gently, and truly, Amelia was practically vibrating from nerves in her seat at the prospect of telling Dawn everything she was intending to tell her.

The sound of steps descending the stairs drew Amelia's attention and she lit up when Rob entered the room with his wriggly baby boy in his arms.

"Hey!" Rob greeted with his wide grin, before repositioning Noah in his arms and pointing at Amelia, "Look who's here! Look who came to see you bubba! It's Amelia! Can you say Amelia?"

Noah stared at Amelia with clear lack of recognition, green eyes wide and blinking every so often, not that she expected him to remember her face, not in the slightest. Amelia smiled at the baby, face welling up with joy at the sight of how cute he was. He'd grown quite a bit, too, and seemed very enthusiastic about flailing his limbs.

His dark brown hair was cute and curly, little ringlets framing his face in the most exceptionally adorable way, and Amelia felt herself go all starry-eyed at the sight despite the fact the child was staring at her like she was there to take him away and eventually gobble him up for dinner.

"He's shy," Dawn giggled, "but I'm sure he'll warm to you."

"Mama." Noah said the word, lifting one arm in his mother's direction, and Amelia just about melted completely, but managed to keep her composure by biting her lip to avoid the adoring whine that threatened to escape.

Rob handed the baby to his wife and made himself comfy in the seat beside her, leaning back and giving Amelia a warm look, "If you really wanna get in his good books, all you have to do is bring him a little chocolate candy bar and he'll love you till the day you die."

Amelia laughed, "Duly noted, I will definitely keep that in mind."

As much as Amelia wanted to just sit and talk about happy things that didn't hold so much weight, she knew she couldn't put off her main reason for arranging a visit, not while Loki was waiting patiently in the car just outside - she knew her husband could only play the waiting game for so long.

"Um… there's something I need to talk to you about, Dawn. It's uh… it's a pretty weird thing that I need to tell you but I want you to be in my life and I want to be in your's, so it's… it's unavoidable," Amelia smiled nervously, her heart thumping the more she spoke.

Dawn's face fell at the odd shift in Amelia's tone, "Yeah, you mentioned something about needing to talk when you called. It's not- I hope nothing bad has happened?"

"No, nothing bad. But it could be shocking at first and I'm pretty sure you won't believe me," the smile didn't leave Amelia's face, because despite her worries over Dawn's imminent reaction, she knew she wouldn't be able to find her childhood friend's shocked face anything but hilarious when she eventually laid eyes upon Loki.

"Well," Dawn blinked, "It'd have to be pretty crazy to have that effect cause we're not easily shocked," she bragged with a snort, far from anticipating what Amelia was going to reveal.

"Okay, well first thing's first," Amelia held out her hand, drawing attention to the gold-emerald flower ring on her finger, the engagement - and subsequent wedding ring Loki had gifted her glimmering beautifully in the light.

"Oh! Oh my goodness! You got engaged!?" Dawn gasped.

"Congratulations!" Rob exclaimed with a grin.

"Well, actually I got married, hehe."

Dawn's face pulled into one of vague surprise, "You got married? And didn't invite us to the wedding?"

Amelia grit her teeth and forced her continual smile, "Ah, that's the thing I need to talk to you about. It's about who I married."

Dawn fell silent in confusion, eyebrows furrowing as she pinned Amelia with a look, attempting to predict what she was going to say next.

"What I'm about to tell you is gonna come as a shock. I just need to ask that you hear me out before you judge me, or him. And also… it might sound like a prank, but I'm totally telling you the truth-" Amelia was cut off part way through her buildup to the truth.

"Oh god," Dawn suddenly bemoaned, "you didn't marry Rory from high school, did you? I swear he asked you out like fifty times in our final year. I hated that guy, couldn't take no for an answer! Please tell me you didn't marry him!"

Amelia blinked, mouth hanging open, "No, Dawn. I didn't marry Rory."

"Oh good." She appeared relieved, but expectant for Amelia to continue, as did Rob, so Amelia drew in a breath and let it out slowly before shutting her eyes and letting everything spill out of her mouth at once.

"At the end of 2017, I met a guy… over several months, we spent time together and realised we had a lot in common and, uh, we fell in love with each other," Amelia left out the part where Loki introduced himself under a false identity, plus the inevitable fallout that occurred, "this guy… just so happens to be Loki. The same Loki who is now a part of the Avengers. Also, I live in Avengers Tower. We got married in New Asgard last month, and life is pretty darn good."

After a beat, she opened her eyes to the blank faces of Dawn, Rob and Noah - although Amelia was pretty sure Noah's vacant look was owed more to the fact that he didn't understand what was being said or why his parents looked so dumbfounded - and felt her chest tighten when she tried to breathe normally.

Dawn looked at her husband and then back to Amelia, her mouth wobbling a bit as she faltered on what to say, and then promptly stood up, carrying little Noah towards the padded playpen in the corner of the room. She placed him securely inside with his plush toys and building blocks, to which Noah began crawling around in search for the perfect object to play with, and then returned to her seat, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees, palms pressed together and fingers interlocked.

"Amelia," Dawn began, voiced lowered, "are you out of your goddamn mind?"

Amelia gave a heaving sigh, "I did say you wouldn't believe me."

"That's the understatement of the year," Dawn looked upset, "but I'm more bothered with the fact that you'd say such a thing in the first place. It's a pretty sick joke. Loki? The guy who killed your brother? It's not a prank if there's no chance we'd ever fall for it, Amelia."

Amelia's face twisted in dejection, "Dawn, I'm not-"

"You're right though, I am shocked. Shocked that you'd serve us this bullshit." Dawn's terse tone brought back terrible memories of the day she stopped putting up with Amelia's shit after the Chitauri invasion and decided to cut her out of her life, and it sprung tears to Amelia's eyes in an instant.

Rob looked uncomfortable with no idea of what to say, so he cleverly remained silent.

"No, Dawn, wait, please- I'm not- I'm not playing a prank, I'm not lying to you, and I have proof, but just- please let me explain everything first. The last thing I want is to push you away again," Amelia admitted in a rush and tumble of words, not really knowing if she was even comprehensible.

Blessedly, Dawn sat back in her seat, one leg thrown over the other, her arms crossed, "Alright then. Explain everything." The way she spoke indicated that she did not believe Amelia would be able to back up or explain her claim in any way, but with a touch of appeal that Amelia interpreted as the hope that everything would all make sense if Dawn gave her the opportunity to continue.

Amelia sniffed, blinking her eyes free of tears. She needed to be clear and concise, "I need you to know that I'm not lying to you, Dawn. I wouldn't do that. I've been trying to think of how I would tell you all this the last few days, but I figured there's no way to sugar-coat any of it, and that I should just let the words flow. I love you, Dawn, you are my friend, and I just want you to know the truth so that we can actively be in each other's lives."

Dawn's expression softened a bit, but it was still marred with disbelief.

"Firstly, perhaps the most important thing, is that Loki isn't the same person he was seven years ago. He's been through so much pain in his life, and back in 2012, the day of the invasion of New York, Loki was very much under somebody else's influence. A terrible tyrant by the name of Thanos. You don't know who he is, because last year the Avengers put a stop to his barbaric plans, and Loki fought right alongside them. He's a good person, and I understand that it'll take you time to realise this. It took me time as well, and trust me, I have seen the amount of remorse he has shown for causing the death of my brother. This might sound crazy to you, but I have forgiven him." It was a lot to unload, and Amelia gave both Dawn and Rob time to process it all whilst simultaneously praying that they wouldn't just decide to throw her out then and there.

Rob merely looked between the two of them, his expression troubled while Dawn rubbed at the bridge of her nose as if she was getting a headache. It was amazing how quickly the atmosphere had gone from happy to heavily discomfiting.

"You said you had proof," Dawn bluntly pointed out, "go ahead and show me this proof."

It was abundantly obvious that she did not believe her still, and Amelia hadn't expected her to accept it so quickly, so she quickly shoved her hand into her pocket and retrieved her phone - the phone in which she had kept a certain photo from Christmas day of 2017, a selfie of her and Loki sitting on a bench in Central Park.

Amelia pulled up the picture and handed her phone out for Dawn to take, who tentatively picked it up and inspected the small screen closely, her pinched expression slowly stretching out into incredulity.

Dawn passed the phone to her husband, "Rob, is that him?"

Robert examined the picture, his eyes zipping from Amelia, to Dawn, and back to the photo several times before he came to his conclusion, "It's him, but… this could be photoshopped or something-"

"Amelia's shit with computers," Dawn wasted no time in pointing out something she had known since they were children, "There's no way she photoshopped that." Dawn seemed to bristle, but whether or not she was convinced was unclear.

Dawn tossed the phone back to Amelia before pinching the bridge of her nose again, "Amelia, let's say for a moment this is real. Why… how? I don't understand…"

Amelia nodded her head gently. She understood Dawn's confusion, it was quite a long and miraculous story for those who had not been on the journey with her and Loki from the moment they met, and she knew if she recounted everything that had happened, they'd be sitting there for days. Loki was still waiting, ever so patiently outside in the car.

"Loki saved my life," Amelia stated simply, "...well, he's saved my life many times. But he saved my life the day we met…" she held her breath, composing herself before dropping a pretty serious tidbit of information that she knew would probably make Dawn feel sick, "I… I was suicidal."

She could pinpoint the moment it sunk in for Dawn because her face grew a little ashen.

"I had left my apartment to visit Aaron's grave one last time, because I planned to kill myself. I was lonely and miserable and I felt like there was nothing left for me," she teared up at the memory, but pushed the woes aside. That wasn't her life anymore, there was no sense in crying over the past when it served no purpose other than to remind her of unhappy memories, "while I was knelt by Aaron's grave, Loki just… came out of nowhere. He walked right into my life. I didn't recognise him at first, admittedly, but I'm glad for that now, because it gave us the time we needed to connect."

She chewed her lip, looking down into her half drunken cup of orange juice, and then gave Dawn a bleary smile, "So yeah… it's the truth. I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for Loki, and since we met, he's been doing everything to redeem himself. He already has, in my eyes."

Dawn's jaw was hanging open rather dumbly, and Rob looked utterly astonished. He turned to his wife, "Hey, honey… I think she's telling the truth," he quietly professed.

The now discomposed Dawn blinked back tears, "Amelia, this… this all sounds insane, you know that right?"

Amelia nodded her head with a pout.

"But… I think it'd be more insane to assume you would fabricate such a story and go to the lengths of photoshopping - or paying someone else to photoshop that picture - if it wasn't actually true," Dawn finished.

Amelia's eyes widened, "So… you believe me?"

Dawn sighed, "I… I think so…?"

Amelia swallowed, "G-good! So, um, do you wanna meet him?"

"Huh?"

"He's waiting outside in the car," Amelia pointed out the front window, blinking innocently.

"He what?"

Amelia smiled nervously, "Well obviously I brought him to meet you! He's my husband, remember? I told you we got married, I wasn't making it up."

"I feel light-headed," Dawn announced.

"I want to meet him!" Rob suddenly exclaimed, sounding more than a little excited at the prospect. Dawn made a noise of bewilderment, eyeing her husband up with an incredulous stare, to which Rob pointed out, "Honey, he's an Avenger. If he's actually out there, do you realise how jealous the guys at the office would be? To learn that I met an Avenger?"

Dawn face-palmed, "Oh here we go," she grumbled, her gaze flicking back to Amelia, "He's an avid fan of the Avengers. To the point of obsession. He's got most of the action figures and he's Captain America's biggest fanboy."

"If I meet Loki, that's one step closer to meeting the Steve Rogers!" Rob argued his case, and then looked back to Amelia with a sheepish smile, "You have me excited. If this turns out to be a massive prank, I might actually cry."

A nervous giggle escaped Amelia's throat, "It's okay, you aren't gonna be crying tonight," she stood up, gnawing at her bottom lip, "just… don't freak out when you see him, okay?" Amelia knew what her friend was like, "Just remember he's a good guy. I love him and he loves me, don't insult him or anything."

"Insult Loki?" Dawn snapped, "I don't have a damn death wish!"

"He wouldn't kill you for insulting him, I just don't want you to hurt his feelings," Amelia clarified before heading towards the door.

"Wha-" Dawn cut herself off, once again in a state of perplexity as she processed Amelia's words.

Amelia opened the front door and waved towards the car - the sign that was agreed upon, revealing she was ready for Loki to join her. He seemed in a rush to escape the confines of the car, probably almost having reached his boiling point in regards to thinning patience.

"About time," Loki remarked as he walked up the drive, and then peered at Amelia's face for a quiet moment, "is everything alright?" His voice was soft, and Amelia gave him a small smile, nodding her head tentatively.

"I'm okay," she affirmed, and took Loki's hand, leading him back into the house to present him to two very dazed grown-ups and one nonchalant baby. She forced a smile as Dawn and Rob stared at her husband, and it slowly registered with them that Amelia had been telling the truth the whole time.

Dawn's mouth fell open, she only held Loki's gaze for a total of five seconds before looking away - which Amelia could understand in an instant, Loki was definitely an intimidating individual to those who didn't know him personally.

Rob, on the other hand, looked as excited as a child on Christmas day; he thrust his hand out in Loki's direction, "Hello! I'm Rob! So cool to meet you man!"

Loki regarded Rob with a taken aback look and shook his hand, "Loki Odinson," he succinctly introduced himself.

Amelia beamed, looking hopefully back to Dawn who seemed less inclined to shake Loki's hand or introduce herself. That was fine. Baby steps.

Speaking of baby steps…

"Dada." Noah's little voice pierced through the thick atmosphere, and all eyes turned to the baby. Dawn took her son's desire for attention as an excuse to take a step back from everybody else and rush to pick up her child, despite the fact that Noah had asked for his dada, not his mama. Obvious diversion.

Dawn was flustered, Amelia knew it, and she probably should have thought her next idea through, but the logic in her mind decided that if Dawn was just going to be continuously discomposed the whole afternoon, she might as well hear all the news at once and slowly make her way through it altogether.

"Dawn, you might wanna sit down cause there's something else I gotta tell you," Amelia began, watching as her friend gave her a weary look and slowly returned to sit on the couch, all the while trying not to stare at Loki for too long at a time.

Rob was still enamoured with Loki, staring up at him in awe, and Amelia was sure that once she and Loki left later that day, Dawn would definitely give Rob an earful for being so childishly excited while she was left to deal with her stupor all alone.

"So, here's the thing," Amelia began, smiling back at Loki before telling Dawn, "I'm pregnant! With twins!"

It was met with silence and a whole lot of rapid blinking on Dawn's part. Her gaze burned into Amelia's stomach, still hidden beneath the jumper, and Amelia helpfully rolled it up to show the noticeable swell, at which point Dawn's entire brain seemed to just clock out.

"Honey?" Rob inquired hesitantly, taking Noah from her arms as she just sort of stared into thin air, trying to absorb everything that had happened since Amelia arrived.

"I think I… need to lie down…" Dawn mumbled, quickly and disorientedly rearranging herself to be lying across the couch.

"Oh dear," Loki remarked, "I don't think she was ready for that, Amelia."

Amelia frowned, scratching the back of her neck, "You still with us, Dawn?"

"Girl, WHAT?" Dawn suddenly shrieked, so loud that it made Amelia jump. At this point, Rob seemed to know to step back from his wife, rocking Noah in his arms to stop him from joining his mother in her outburst.

"You can't be doing this to me, Amelia!" Dawn dragged her hands down her face as she stared wide-eyed up at the ceiling, "You can't just show up here and say oh I married an alien and now I'm having two babies, surprise! You really can't!"

Amelia gave her friend a very sheepish look, "W-well… how else was I supposed to tell you?" Her words were followed by a nervous chuckle, and Dawn merely groaned in response.

"Hey," Rob suddenly spoke, his eyes on Loki, "Can you get me Captain America's autograph?"

Loki regarded him plainly, "No."

Amelia quickly elbowed Loki's side, flashing him a hard pout, before smiling over at Robert, "We'll see what we can do, Rob."

Rob gave a big shiny smile, "Woohoo! You hear that honey? I might be getting the Captain's autograph!"

Dawn drew in another breath and groaned once more, "Wait. Wait, wait, wait. So you actually really know Iron Man? Thor? All of them?"

"Yup!" Amelia grinned, "Tony actually walked me down the aisle at my wedding. And Thor officiated the marriage. Oh yeah, also I'm a princess now."

Dawn seemed to choke on air, and promptly began to babble much like Noah.

It was probably going to be a while before she could accept everything she had been told, but Amelia knew her friend would come around eventually.


If you're all a bit upset that there wasn't as much Loki in this chapter, be aware that there will definitely be a ton of Loki in the next chapter. Because the next chapter is an explicit chapter. WINK WONK, y'all excited for some fun? ;)

P.S: We'll come back to Dawn, Rob and Noah at some point later in this story, once the babies are born. Because obviously a playdate will be in order xD At that point, Loki, Dawn and Rob will be a lot more comfortable with each other's presence.

This is your weekly reminder to leave me a REVIEW if you're enjoying this series! ;) Reviews equal more motivation for me!