Been feeling under the weather this week but hopefully I'll be feeling good again soon, in the meantime here is a short but sweet chapter. I hope you all enjoy it!

I'm gonna post a little less frequently because I'm currently writing for two fics at once like an absolute FOOL but I couldn't help myself!


Hydrangeas Say Our Family Will Flourish

Chapter Twelve: Unwanted Contact

Loki was quite disgruntled when Amelia revealed that she wanted to return to work, in fact, he tried to discourage her from it, reminding her that not only was she the princess of Asgard, she was also more than halfway through her pregnancy and shouldn't have been working in the first place. Amelia was not swayed by his attempts to make her reconsider, and she enlightened him to the fact that some pregnant midgardian women worked all the way up to their due dates.

Ridiculous.

Loki absolutely did not approve, but Amelia was intent on putting herself to work one way or another. She felt she had been stuck to Loki's side for too long since the Eruk incident, and that it was time she got over her fears of being apart from him.

That did not mean Loki didn't see her to and from the florist. He was hesitant to leave her for even a moment, but he knew he couldn't exactly stand by her in the shop all day. It would be a little suspect, and the chances of being recognised would be increased. He swallowed any fears and agreed not to surveil her, even if it was difficult to willingly turn back without knowing exactly what situation she was in at any given moment.

Amelia promised to call him the moment she needed him, if that moment arose.

She had been fine for a few days or so, but Loki noticed when he arrived at the florist to meet her after her shift later in the week that she seemed more and more withdrawn, not as chatty as usual, and it was practically a glaring change to what Loki expected.

When she stepped out of the shop upon finishing her last shift before the weekend, she didn't smile when she greeted him, she kept her eyes squarely on the ground as they walked home to the Tower, and she clutched her coat tightly around herself, arms crossed over her chest.

Her posture and walking gait indicated she was tense.

"Are you cold?" Loki asked her.

"No. I'm fine." Her response was cursory, and while she said she was okay, everything else about her seemed to indicate otherwise.

"Are you tired?" Amelia had been walking a lot, and at this stage of her pregnancy it was normal for her to feel worn down. Loki had mentioned using Stark's drivers for travelling, but Amelia was insistent on walking, claiming she needed to exercise and that staying active was important. It was true to an extent, but not when it began to negatively impact her energy levels.

"I'm fine," she repeated more sternly. Loki didn't take her morose tone of voice personally.

Upon entering the Tower foyer, Loki laid a hand on her shoulder to stop her, catching the way she initially flinched before relaxing, and quietly spoke, "I would like to know what has upset you, Amelia." If something had happened, he needed to know, because he would do everything in his power to rectify it.

Amelia sniffled, her eyebrows furrowed, "Not down here." It was an admission that something was wrong, but that there was a time and place to discuss it; Loki nodded, squeezing her shoulder affectionately, and urged her to continue to the elevator.

It had to be something to do with her work, she was usually fine after she'd been home for a while, but it was clear to Loki that her mood was at its lowest point immediately when she left the florist. Whether it was something somebody had said or done, or whether it was something else, Loki would undoubtedly get to the bottom of it.

Anybody who dared upset his wife would face the consequences. He would make sure of it.

The elevator ride was quiet, but once they stepped out onto the communal floor, the noise of Thor's naturally booming voice was drifting down the hall as he engaged in conversation with one of the other Avengers. It had been almost a month since Thor had come by, too caught up in his kingly duties to pop in for a visit, but it appeared he had indeed found a slow moment amidst the chaos.

Usually Amelia would be overjoyed to know that Thor had arrived, but Loki could tell from her face that she was more in the mood to seclude herself in their room and ride out the distress she was feeling before interacting with anybody else. At the same time, Thor's visits were so infrequent that Amelia clearly didn't want to miss the King of Asgard.

Loki followed Amelia to the lounge area where Thor was currently in the middle of regaling Stark and Banner with some whimsical story about their youth, as he loved to do, and the God of Thunder trailed off mid-sentence when they strode into the room. Immediately, Thor's eyes lit up and he vaulted over the couch and approached with speed.

"Amelia!" He loudly exclaimed as he came to stand before her, and at once he pressed his hands to her ample belly, "They've grown so much since I was last here!"

Loki watched the exchange carefully, noticing the not so subtle way Amelia completely stiffened. The distress on her face multiplied tenfold and he thought for a moment that she may have been in pain, until she released an unforeseen outburst.

"Get off!" Amelia cried, pushing Thor away from her with all the strength she could muster; the force behind the push wasn't what had the God stumbling back, however, that was owed more to the shock of Amelia screaming in his face for seemingly no reason.

Loki didn't blame him, he was more than a little startled by Amelia's reaction himself, his mouth hanging open as Amelia proceeded to spin around and press her face against his chest, her hands covering her ears. Loki's arms enveloped her instinctually, cradling her against his body in a safe and secure embrace.

She was crying, he noted, from the muffled but audible sniffles and gasps escaping her, and Loki couldn't help but dread the thought of what had caused her to become so upset that she would snap at Thor.

Thor and the others were staring at him with concerned and dumbfounded looks, awaiting some sort of explanation, but Loki himself was clueless so he simply shook his head and rubbed Amelia's back comfortingly.

"People have been-" Amelia cut herself short with a shuddering breath and Loki waited patiently for her to be able to speak, a dark mist descending in his mind at the prospect of somebody having hurt her. "People… have been touching me…"

"What?" Loki practically growled, his arms tightening ever so slightly.

"They've been touching me- my stomach," she clarified, "they- they just come up and put their hands on me without even ask- asking."

Thor's expression melted into shame, he was quick to apologise, "Amelia, I'm am so sorry-"

Amelia shook her head and cut him off, "It's not- it's not you I'm mad at, Thor. I'm sorry. It's stupid, I'm being stupid-"

"No." Loki stepped back so that he could look Amelia in the eye. "It's not stupid. Tell me who has been doing this and I will make them pay."

Amelia rubbed her eyes with her forearm, shaking her head with a weary expression, "It's just customers and coworkers… they weren't trying to upset me, but…"

"What they were trying to do does not matter. They had no right to touch you without your permission. Tell me their names so I can deal with them." He would have loved to have said he would kill them, but he had sworn off killing humans unless they truly, truly deserved it. In Loki's eyes, anyone who touched his wife when she did not wish it deserved to be maimed at the very least, but the Avengers would not approve, and nor would Amelia for that matter. In this case, he would settle the score by scaring the wits out of them.

"It doesn't matter anymore," Amelia shook her head, "I quit my job. For good." She sniffled, eyes dropping to the floor, looking very much like she felt sorry for herself.

It was surprising to Loki, and he couldn't have imagined it was an easy decision for Amelia to make, given that she had worked at the florist for some time and that tending to and arranging flowers was something she simply loved to do. She looked rather regretful of her choice, in a way, but Loki knew how strong she was, and as such he knew there must have been some other reason that led to her decision to quit her job as well as what had occurred that week.

As if reading his mind, Amelia murmured, "I heard the manager telling a coworker that the store wasn't making enough money. They're gonna shut it down in a couple months, so I figured I'd just quit now rather than be made redundant."

Loki squeezed Amelia's shoulders, pulling her back in for another hug. "They never showed you the appreciation you deserve," he told her, "we have our garden, and the palace gardens in Asgard. Your skills can be put to better use in places that actually matter." Tending to their helipad garden always boosted Amelia's spirits, and slight upturn in the corners of Amelia's mouth proved that.

Amelia nodded her head, rubbing her eyes one last time before turning to Thor with an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry for yelling at you, Thor."

"Don't be," the King of Asgard responded with a similar expression, "and it won't happen again, Amelia. I'll ask permission next time."

"Thank you." Amelia was grateful for Thor's understanding. "Let me, um, go get changed, and then we can sit down and chat. I have missed you."

Loki followed Amelia out of the room, waiting till they were out of earshot before speaking, "If any stranger touches you again without first obtaining consent, I will rip off their arm."

Amelia giggled quietly, taking his hand and placing it against her warm belly, "You know, you're the only one who doesn't have to ask."


I truly appreciate every single one of you. Thank you for sticking by me as I continue to write this fic. I'm honestly looking forward to writing the chapter in which these babies are born. I think the next few chapters will have some time jumps, and then the birth chapter will be upon us! Loki is simultaneously excited and dreading it!

I'm planning for the next chapter to be explicit ;)