Sorry it took a while to have this chapter out! I hope you all enjoy it ;)
There's quite a significant time jump between the last chapter and this one, just fyi!
Hydrangeas Say Our Family Will Flourish
Chapter Fifteen: Unanticipated Chaos
It was still very cold at the end of January, which was why it was lucky the huge bedroom in New Asgard had a large fireplace, just for such occasions when the weather was still very deep into the season of Winter. Amelia was particularly looking forward to cuddling Loki in the comfort of their bed that night, while the fire kept the room around them pleasantly heated.
"I'll just use magic to light it," Loki spoke idly as Amelia made a move towards the bed, wanting desperately to slip below the covers and trap the warmth to her body, but she stopped short, looking curiously back over her shoulder.
"Ooh, can I try lighting it?" She was always looking for a good reason to utilise the magical energy that ran freely throughout her body.
"No," Loki replied in a no-nonsense voice as he knelt down by the hearth to throw a few chopped logs in.
"Ugh," Amelia sighed, padding over to the bed, "you never let me use magic." The whine in her voice carried, and Loki subtly rolled his eyes.
"Because magic isn't a toy," Loki reminded her, "especially fire magic. It's dangerous. Plus, you are heavily pregnant and I don't want to risk you making a mistake and causing chaos."
"You like chaos, though."
"I like when I am causing chaos, not so much when anybody else is having a go."
Amelia smiled, climbing onto the large four-poster bed with a slight groan due to the effort of lugging her enormous belly around. In exactly two weeks, the babies were due to arrive, and Amelia had to admit, it would be absolutely wonderful to finally be able to move freely again instead of having to waddle from place to place and holding onto Loki's arm when descending or ascending stairs.
"Well, just wait, soon enough there might be two littles ones running around who love causing chaos- oof…" Amelia winced, causing Loki's head to shoot up, his nervous gaze following her every move.
"Are you…?" He inquired tentatively.
"I'm perfectly fine," Amelia gave a huff of a laugh, finding it more than a little endearing that Loki went into worrier mode every time she felt the slightest discomfort, "it's just- I think one of them just decided to jam their elbow right into my bladder, so, um, be right back." She walked awkwardly to the adjoined bathroom, trying not to wet herself as she went.
That was another thing she was going to be thankful for - the lack of tiny but fierce limbs being shoved into all her internal organs like they were having a damn party in there.
When Amelia returned to the bedroom, it was pleasantly warm and heating up fast, but she knew it would be toastier still below the covers. Loki was sat on the bed with his eyes closed in light meditation - it was something he'd been doing a lot recently and Amelia believed it was due to the fact that as her due date approached, her husband's nervousness grew more and more.
Amelia was just as nervous. The two of them had read many books and even taken a few prenatal classes to better acquaint themselves with how to best care for their children, but everything always sounded simple in theory. When it came to the practical side of things, Amelia was expecting it wouldn't be so easy. She had already come to terms with the fact that she would suffer through many sleepless nights to constantly be there for her babies, and that there would be times where she would feel like she was going through hell, but so long as Loki was there by her side and they took on the challenge together, Amelia was confident they could succeed and be great parents.
She crawled onto the bed and brushed her hand against Loki's upper arm, to which he smiled and covered it with his own. Loki leaned over and gave Amelia a tender kiss before nuzzling his nose against her cheek, "The gift gala is tomorrow at noon, so we're free to sleep in or if you're feeling up to it, we can walk to the library. Whatever you want to do… tomorrow is about you and our children, after all."
"Mmm, I'll see how I feel in the morning. I'm kind of nervous," Amelia replied, letting herself slump against him till her head was resting on his shoulder.
"What are you nervous about?"
"Being the centre of attention in Asgard, duh."
"Why is that so nerve-wracking?"
"It's alright for you, princey boy, you've been doing this all your life. I'm still new to this princess thing. I don't think I'll ever get used to it," Amelia said with a light sigh, "what am I going to have to do, anyway?"
Loki laughed softly, "You're supposed to be excited about tomorrow, not dreading it. You don't have to do anything apart from smile and thank the guests when they present you with a gift."
"I don't like-"
"You don't like when people get you gifts, yes, I know. Most of the gifts will be for the children, though, so imagine you're thanking the guest on behalf of them," Loki tapped Amelia's bump fondly.
Amelia sighed and smiled, "I suppose I can do that."
A silence fell upon them for a few peaceful minutes, and then Amelia drew in a shaky breath, "I'm really nervous about… about giving birth," her voice was but a murmur, "-it sounds really scary. I'm worried it'll be a long and painful process…"
Loki shifted, tilting his head to look down at her. He gathered her up in his arms, holding her in a gentle embrace, "You needn't worry. I will be by your side the entire time. Inga has delivered babies before, she'll know what to do, and she'll have pain-relief tonics for you. Just think, once it's over, you'll be able to look upon the faces of our children and the hassle will be entirely worth it."
Amelia grinned, sinking against him as she relaxed, "That is very, very true."
"Whatever happens, I know you're strong enough to get through it. I won't let anything happen to you, or to them." Loki's promise was soothing, and Amelia believed his words completely.
It was easy to fall asleep snuggled in Loki's arms, especially when he settled her fears with the sound of his voice. The warmth of the fire and the softness of the bedding carried her into sweet dreams while the cold winds swept by outside the windows.
Amelia was woken in the morning by a sharp tightening feeling in her stomach. "Agh! Fuck," she exclaimed, wincing when she tried to push herself up and felt a spike of pain in her lower back. She groaned as the pain in her abdomen persisted for a moment before fading away and let out a sigh.
Loki roused at the sound of her discomfort, "Love?"
"I'm fine," Amelia was quick to assure him. It wasn't the first time she'd felt the pinch of pain in her abdomen, similar to the feeling of cramps, and Inga had explained that it was a normal sensation that she could feel up to a few weeks before giving birth. There was no reason to panic, and the last thing she wanted was for her husband to worry. "Just usual pains and stuff."
Loki rubbed her stomach, as he always did when Amelia was experiencing discomfort, and pressed a kiss to her shoulder gingerly, "Do you want to go back to sleep, or do you want breakfast?" He blinked lazily as he spoke, still in the process of waking up.
Amelia smiled, "How long do we have?"
Loki leaned over to glance towards the windows, supposedly gauging the time from how much light was pouring into the room, "Mm, maybe three hours?"
"I wanna have a bath. Then breakfast. Then we can go to the library?"
Loki glanced her over, tilting an eyebrow curiously, "You seem in a rush to be up and about, are you sure you have enough energy? You don't want to sleep some more?" His soft concern was endearing, and Amelia appreciated his urge to double check, given she wasn't always great at measuring her own energy levels, but today she felt surprisingly spry and wanted to wander the palace in search for something fun to do before the gala at noon.
"I'm sure," she smiled, "I can handle it."
"What's this book about?" Amelia picked out a worn book bound with red leather, the title of which she could not read as it was written with Norse runic symbols; she traced her fingers over the lettering curiously. The intricate inking on the spine of the book had caught her eye, it was quite fascinating to learn about where all the publications had come from given they were all hundreds of years old.
Loki had told her before that the library in New Asgard was only a fraction of the size it had been in the palace of the original realm, as only a small percentage of the works were saved before Asgard's destruction. Amelia had found it somewhat amusing that the first instinct of the fleeing Asgardians had been to rescue the books, but the more she learned, the more she understood just how much sense it made. Knowledge is power, she thought.
"It's a non-fictional study by Oyvind Somerled on draugr," Loki explained as he peered over Amelia's shoulder, his hands resting on her waist securely. He hovered close to her at all times and told her it was because of how clumsy she could be - Amelia couldn't afford to be clumsy this late into her pregnancy - not that Amelia complained. Any opportunity to be close to Loki was an opportunity she gladly seized.
"Draugr? What's that?" Amelia felt she had heard the word before, but couldn't recall exactly what it was.
"They're monsters. Reanimated corpses, cursed warriors who have died and come back. They have rotting skin and glowing eyes and aspire to guard their treasures," Loki spoke with an unfitting smile on his face.
"Ugh. Gross. So they're like zombies?"
"Essentially."
"That's disgusting. You're not telling me they're real?"
Loki raised an eyebrow, "It's a non-fictional study…"
"Shut up, they're not real," Amelia gulped, "Right? They're not… this is made up…"
Loki continued to stare at her and repeated himself, "Non-fictional study."
"Stop." Amelia laughed, and then bit her lip nervously, "They're not real on Earth, right?"
Loki plucked the book from her hands and opened it up to an illustrated page, showing a scratchy sketch with faded ink of a very unfriendly looking draugr, his flesh literally hanging from his body, ribs visible below his paper-thin skin.
"They better fucking not be real on Earth," Amelia murmured, eyeing the drawing with heavy disdain.
"Who knows?" Loki said teasingly, and Amelia proceeded to give him a wary look till he grinned, flipping through another few pages, "They do not manifest in Midgard, don't worry. Anyway, if they did, I would certainly keep you safe."
His promise filled Amelia with warmth, and she watched as he stepped away and raised the book to slot it back into place on the shelf. Before he could do so, Amelia felt the same pinch in her abdomen that woke her up that morning, and buckled over in pain, grabbing onto one of the shelves so that she didn't tumble to her knees.
Loki's entire attention was immediately on his wife, and he paid no mind as the book fell from his hands and lay forgotten on the floor in a heap while he fussed over Amelia, checking she was alright.
"I'm okay- I'm okay," Amelia sighed, taking a few breaths to steady herself, and leaned against Loki as he lifted and guided her to the closest chair before kneeling in front of her.
"Do you need Inga?" He asked, glancing down at Amelia's hand that was placed on her belly, "I don't think this pain is normal- should I-"
"It's okay," Amelia breathed, "It's normal, don't worry. Inga said this would happen. The pain isn't lingering… it's just my body getting ready and preparing for the next couple weeks, y'know?" She managed a smile as the pinching eased, but the furrow in Loki's brow did not change.
"Excuse me?" A sharp voice came from around the side of the bookcase, and both Amelia and Loki looked up to see the disgruntled librarian woman who was looking down at the old book Loki had carelessly dropped. "My prince, I should expect you to take better care of our books," she sternly scolded.
"I'm sorry," it was Amelia who spoke up, feeling that she was partly to blame.
"No, it was my fault," Loki clarified, "I'm the one who dropped it. I apologise, but I had to assist my wife," his apology was dismissive, he didn't even look at the woman as his concerned gaze was still on Amelia's face, searching for any more hints that she was in pain.
The librarian looked down at Loki with disappointment in the same way a teacher might stare down at a student who had not done their homework, "Honestly, prince. Once upon a time, you showed these books so much care," she sighed as she bent over and picked the book up, and seemed to realise that Loki wasn't really paying her any attention. She looked at Amelia, her lips curling ever so slightly into an almost knowing smile, "But I guess our priorities do change as time goes on."
Amelia found the librarian's observation to be very sweet, and shifted forward in her chair to embrace her husband. Loki welcomed the affection, to which Amelia grinned into his shoulder; at the beginning of their relationship, Loki had hated the thought of showing even a dash of affection in public, but here he was now.
He was definitely ready for fatherhood.
The gala took place in the throne room, and to Amelia's dismay, she was the centre of attention. She found herself seated in a fancy looking chair at the base of the steps leading up to Thor's throne, while Loki stood at her side, the both of them dressed in their finest clothes.
The dress had been made by Signy yet again, and it was sewn to her new measurements, taking the baby bump into account. It was beautiful and comfortable, and somehow still made her feel fabulous despite the huge belly in front of her - it was a nice change of pace after spending so long in maternity pants.
All the nobles and upper class were present, ready to offer the gifts they had brought for the yet-to-be-born prince and princess, there was a bustling excitement in the room as the guests ate and drank and murmured amongst themselves.
Amelia gave a deep sigh, feeling a little bit nauseous, probably from her nerves, but it must have been loud enough for Loki to lean down and ask if she was well. He was still a little apprehensive about the pains Amelia had been experiencing, and was a little put off when he realised Inga wasn't going to be present for the first half of the gala. The healer unfortunately had patients in the infirmary that required her aid, so she wasn't going to be there for another half hour.
"I'm fine," Amelia whispered back to her husband, "I think I just need more water."
Loki immediately signalled one of the servants who was carrying a pitcher, and the man approached at once, refilling her cup. Amelia thanked the servant quietly and took a sip, noting that the hand lifting the cup was shaking ever so slightly. The crampy pains in her abdomen were present again, but they were mild, and Amelia figured she could probably push through it - it wasn't the worst pain she had ever felt, after all.
Loki's hand rested on her shoulder, rubbing gently and soothingly, he could sense her discomfort.
Amelia left herself drift in and out of focus, not paying much attention to the clamour of speaking guests at the rows of tables before her, and picked at the grapes on the small table beside her, and before long the King rose and addressed everybody in the room with his booming voice.
"If everybody who has a gift to offer could form an orderly line, we can commence with the gift-giving."
Amelia felt a spike of anxiety in the pit of her stomach, and she wondered briefly if the babies could also sense her nerves. Amelia had felt a little restlessness from them as they shuffled around inside her, like they were struggling to get comfortable - she couldn't help but think that she was to blame and that they were empathetically sharing her distress.
She rubbed her stomach reflexively, and Loki's hand on her shoulder squeezed.
The gift-giving portion of the celebrations began, and Amelia forced herself to pay attention to the people who offered presents for her babies, thanking them softly with a nod of her head as Loki had told her.
One by one, each guest introduced themselves, who they were, what their title was, and what they had brought to bestow upon her. Amelia gave her best smile to each of them as the gifts piled up - a tiny matching set of royal dresses, hand-made toys, minute socks and shoes, and some more general gifts like carved soaps or vials of sweet perfumes and oils.
They were all welcomed gifts, and Amelia was grateful for each and every one, thanking the givers profusely, and then eventually a noble woman who introduced herself as Kjellfrid offered up an ornately carved box, the contents of which were two silver circlets for each of her babies. They were beautiful and delicately made, but the thought of two newborn children wearing them just seemed a little silly to Amelia.
Perhaps it was how things went in Asgard, though. Amelia imagined the babies would not find them at all comfortable, and they definitely wouldn't be wearing them for long at a time if they had to.
Nevertheless, Amelia forced a smile and said her necessary thank-you for the gift. The woman looked awfully happy with herself, smug even, like she thought she had offered up the best gift out of everybody there. If only she knew.
The next guest stepped up and opened their mouth to introduce themselves, but they didn't have time to speak before the cramps in Amelia's abdomen got a whole lot more painful very suddenly, and she gasped, leaning over in her chair as she held her stomach.
"Amelia?" Loki bent down at her side, waving the guest away quickly to give her space. It took Amelia more than a moment to respond, which perturbed Loki more so than usual.
"It… it hurts," Amelia sucked in air through her gritted teeth, aware that all eyes in the throne room were on her, which didn't exactly help matters, "more than before."
The pain wasn't letting up after a few moments like it had been before, her breaths were coming faster and she winced as it hit again, letting out a pained whine. At the back of her mind she felt dreadfully embarrassed thanks to all the people staring at her, but at the same time she didn't care, she just wanted the pain to pass.
Thor descended the steps quickly, "What is going on?" His voice was peppered with concern.
"We need Inga," Loki told him shakily, to which the king proceeded to order a couple of servants to fetch the healer in an urgent manner.
Another pain wracked through Amelia's abdomen, causing her to cry out, and then there was a dropping feeling, like something was shifting inside her, "Oh god, Loki-" she grabbed his hand like a lifeline, "Loki, Loki-"
"I'm right here," her husband told her, barely restraining the anxiety in his voice, "Inga's coming. What do you need?"
"Loki, I- I think… I think it might be happening." Amelia stammered breathlessly, her instincts telling her that her children didn't want to wait another two weeks like they were supposed to.
Loki's face went pale, his mouth opening and closing a few times silently, before he hurriedly spoke, "They're not supposed to come for another two weeks!" He mirrored her thoughts, and Amelia groaned as another wave of pain fluttered through her.
"Loki, I think you should tell that to them."
IT'S HAPPENING. OH GOD IT'S HAPPENING. IT'S BEEN 84 YEARS AND NOW IT'S HAPPENING. WOOOOOOOOO BOY!
The twins clearly didn't get the memo of their due date!
WHO'S EXCITED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER!? It shouldn't be as long for me to update this time cause I'll be going straight to begin the next chapter in the next couple of days ;)
LEMME HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS!
