Your comments always make me so happy. I got inspired to write this follow up chapter from the last one - it's a tad shorter but still sweet ^_^ I hope you all enjoy!
Hydrangeas Say Our Family Will Flourish
Chapter Twenty-Two: Windows to the Past
After the little argument Amelia and Loki had had, there were very few spoken words between them for the hours that followed, not because either of them thought the silent treatment was the way to go, but more out of the fact that they both needed time to cool down and go through the thoughts in their heads before addressing the disagreement.
It wasn't until that evening, when the children were drifting off to sleep, that Amelia felt ready to talk about it. The question was, did Loki feel ready to talk about it? She was worried that if she sprung her words on him too early, he would be pushed away instead of pulled in.
Amelia had fed the babies several minutes prior, and Loki had taken Kari from her, who was still a little bit whiny, while Amelia had laid the very sleepy Aster in her crib at the foot of the bed. Loki continued to rock Kari in an effort to soothe him to sleep as he paced around the room, and Amelia sat on the edge of their bed, filled with a sudden urge to reach under the bed and grab something that was very dear to her, secreted in a fancy wooden box.
It was her brother's photo album, well taken care of and in pristine condition. Amelia retrieved it from time to time whenever she found herself missing Aaron - it was unavoidable that evening, as Amelia had thoughtlessly brought him up earlier that day in the midst of the argument, and had proceeded to not stop thinking about him since.
If Loki's mother had crossed over the boundary of death to pay her grandchildren a visit, Amelia wondered if maybe there was a chance Aaron had checked up on his niece and nephew at any point. As much as she hoped it was a possibility, the more rational and skeptical side of her thought it was highly unlikely.
Frigga was a magical being, the wife of a Norse god, the once-queen of Asgard, and she had entered Valhalla upon her death, according to Loki, whereas Aaron was just a non-magical human. Did humans even get to enter Valhalla? Was there an equivalent of paradise for humans?
She stopped the train of thought. Now was not the time to get existential - it would only put her mood down.
The sound of Kari making a noise of dismay pulled Amelia's attention across the room.
"Hey, hey, what's gotten into you?" She heard Loki whisper as he bounced the infant gently in his arms, "You're tired, aren't you? Go to sleep, little one. We can play again tomorrow."
Amelia smiled.
Despite her husband's stubbornness and frustration, he was very good at turning on dad mode and talking to his children in just the right way, and despite Amelia's exasperation towards him for what occurred earlier, she couldn't help but feel warmth rush through her at just how soft Loki was with Kari.
Looking back down to the photo album, Amelia opened up to the first page to be greeted with a slightly faded polaroid of her mother holding her as a baby, wrapped up in a bundle of blankets. The photo was dated as being a couple weeks after she was born, and her mother had the biggest grin on her face.
Oh, mum, if you could see me now, Amelia thought longingly. She had certainly grown a lot since the day the image was taken, and Amelia would've given anything to let her mother meet Kari and Aster.
Amelia turned to the next page and her eyes pinned to the photo of herself, once again no older than a few weeks, in the arms of her eight-year old brother who looked to be taking so much care not to hurt her as he cradled her gently, looking down at her like she was his whole world.
Even though he had died eight years ago, that grief did sometimes come back to stew in her mind, and when it did, Amelia kept it to herself. She couldn't very well bring it up to Loki, for obvious reasons, so she squeezed her eyelids down and forced herself not to cry. It was astounding how long one could remain affected by the loss of a loved one.
Amelia felt the bed dip suddenly and had just enough time to quickly flip to the next page before Loki pressed his chest to her back and pulled her flush against him; he breathed a warm sigh against her neck and nuzzled his nose against her shoulder, wordlessly apologising for their little argument from earlier that day.
"You managed to get Kari to sleep then?" Amelia whispered, furtively blinking away the moisture that had briefly welled up in her eyes.
Loki hummed, brushing his lips against his wife's neck, "He didn't seem to want to nod off so easily, but we got there in the end."
Amelia was impressed Aster had slept through Kari's fussing.
"Good. When he wakes up again in a few hours, you can figure out how to send him off to sleep again." Amelia turned her head, a small smile on her face, and Loki responded by seizing the opportunity to kiss her lips.
Amelia cut the kiss a little short as she remembered she was still frustrated with what had transpired earlier, and Loki looked a bit dispirited to be denied a more satisfying kiss. He fell silent while Amelia gazed down at the old photographs, and let out another big sigh before nudging her ear with his nose.
"I'm sorry for earlier."
Inwardly, Amelia smirked, but outwardly, she snorted in sardonic amusement.
"You can apologise to me but not to Clint?"
"I care about your feelings. I do not care about Barton's."
"Well you should. He's your teammate, remember?"
"I would hardly call him my teammate."
Amelia wrenched her shoulder away, dislodging Loki's chin from its resting spot, and tensed in growing frustration. She was not having this argument again, not after she'd spent the day cooling down and had only just succeeded in getting the babies to sleep.
Loki quickly backtracked, "Amelia, I'm not going to apologise to him, but-"
"But?"
"But if it makes you happy, I will… try and be… nicer." He practically shuddered at the thought of not being a complete asshole towards Clint, but it was a development, and probably the best compromise they could come to terms with at that moment. Loki cuddled Amelia tighter against his chest, silently asking for her forgiveness.
Amelia exhaled loudly and let the silence hang a little longer than necessary before giving a minute nod. "Please do try."
Now that Loki was a tad more relaxed, he finally took in the sight of the photo album in her hands, looking over the various pictures of younger Amelia with her mother and brother. He absorbed the images quietly, until he stifled a snort when he spotted the photo of a very grumpy looking four-year-old Amelia dressed as a pumpkin.
"Why are you wearing this?" Loki asked, pointing at the page.
"It was for Halloween. I wanted to be Cinderella, hence the very unhappy look on my face. Aaron insisted on dressing me up like a damn pumpkin though."
"Halloween?"
Sometimes Amelia forgot that Loki didn't know a lot about human festivals and holidays, and given they had never celebrated it in the time Amelia had known him, she couldn't really blame him.
"On October 31st, kids - and adults, I guess - dress up as monsters or princesses or anything they want, and they go door to door to get candy from strangers."
"That sounds like an awful idea."
Amelia smiled, "Well, my brother and I always got lots and lots of candy, so we clearly didn't see a problem with it."
"Where do Midgardians get their ideas for these festivals?"
"Beats me." Amelia shrugged her shoulders and let out a big yawn. Deciding it was time to close the photo album and curl up in bed, she extricated herself from Loki's strong arms with a little extra effort - he didn't really want to let her go - and placed the album safely back in the confines of the bedside cabinet.
She stood and pulled her shirt off over her head, throwing it into the laundry basket with the intent of searching the drawers for her pyjama top, but Loki gave a pleased hum and it made her stop what she was doing. Looking back curiously, she saw Loki unashamedly trying to get an eyeful of her breasts.
Teasingly, Amelia folded her arms over her chest, putting on a stern expression.
"Amelia." Loki looked expectantly at her arms.
"Oh, sorry. Am I blocking your view?" Her eyebrows rose.
It was Loki's turn to pout. He slumped against the pillows, lying back on the bed with an anticipatory stare, and beckoned Amelia towards him with a curled finger.
Oh, he was in the mood.
Amelia looked at the cots, wondering if she and her husband could manage to be quiet enough to have an intimate moment and not wake up the babies. It would most certainly ruin the mood in an instant if their fun was interrupted by high-pitched cries. She and Loki hadn't gotten any time alone since the babies were born, so Amelia couldn't blame Loki if he was about ready to blow. She herself had been wondering when they'd get the opportunity to have sex again.
"We can be quiet," Loki answered, practically reading her mind.
Amelia smirked, rolling her eyes. She definitely wasn't averse to the idea.
"Come on," Loki continued with a slight lilt in his quiet voice, "arms down, give me a twirl, love."
With a shake of her head, Amelia giggled, letting her arms fall to her sides to reveal her nude chest to her husband. She assumed she probably didn't look as spectacular as she had several months ago, long before she had given birth to twins, but she also knew that Loki never showed any aversion to stretch marks and other blemishes that were out of her control, so she wasn't exactly worried.
However, she did think Loki was putting on the theatrics a little when he pressed his lips into an 'O' shape and exhaled slowly, looking her body over like she was on goddess levels of beauty.
"You've seen me like this a thousand times," Amelia pointed out, tilting her head to the side and placing her hands on her hips.
"I've seen the sunset a thousand times as well. It doesn't make it any less enthralling."
And just like that, Amelia was ready to let the man before her do whatever he wanted with her - with a line like that, how could she say no?
She crossed the room swiftly but quietly and climbed onto the bed, crawling over her husband to kiss him fervently; his lips formed a smile as she did so, and his hands began to wander. Fingertips ghosted over her hips, moving around and up her stomach, travelling suggestively higher.
When he cupped her breasts, Amelia broke the kiss to speak playfully, "You be careful with those, they're for the children."
Loki snickered, giving her sensitive nipples a pinch. In return, she batted his hand away and tugged at his nightshirt.
"You, sir, are overdressed."
"Don't be so certain, little dove," Loki responded in a low tone, and Amelia had to immediately swallow a squeak at the reminder of the very filthy dream her imagination had cooked up.
"If I have to stay quiet, you're gonna have to not call me that."
"Mmm," he hummed, "what a shame."
In one swift movement, Loki rolled them over so that he was crouched predatorily above his wife, looking very much like a starving man who was about to devour a three-course meal, but as he dipped down to begin kissing a trail up between Amelia's breasts, the sound of Kari stirring had them both going rigid to avoid making any noise.
For a moment, it seemed like Kari would settle again.
But that moment passed, and instead he began to sniffle and whine louder and louder; Amelia let her head fall back against the pillow in resignation and let out a sigh, pouting as she stared up at the ceiling. It had been no longer than twenty minutes since Loki had laid him down to sleep, that had to be a new record for the shortest nap.
"You'd better pick him up before he wakes Aster," Amelia murmured to Loki, who had flopped down to sulk against her chest.
He made a noise of agreement and slipped off the bed, approaching Kari's crib as he gently shushed the boy, urging him to quieten down. "I'm here, little one. Don't cry."
Amelia frowned, shifting up to sit against the headboard. He'd been fussy and slow to settle a little while ago, not quite ready to go to sleep. He'd been changed just a short while ago and had fed before drifting off, so what could his problem be?
"Well," Amelia sighed, looking down at her breasts, "since these are out anyway, might as well see if he's still hungry." She smiled almost apologetically as Loki carried Kari over to her, knowing her husband had been excited to have a little fun.
Amelia looked down at Kari with a false pouty face as soon as he was handed over, "Aww, what's got you all upset, hmm? Are you still hungry? Are you gonna calm down and let mummy and daddy have a little time to themselves or not?"
The baby answered with an unintelligible whimper and was already trying to latch on to her nipple and start drinking.
"Guess that answers that question, huh?"
Hope I didn't get your hopes up too much with the way that chapter was ending. I promise we'll circle back to a sexy chapter later on in the fic ;)
Thank you for reading! If you're enjoying this story, please show your appreciation in the comments!
IN THE NEXT CHAPTER: Kari just WILL NOT stop crying :(
