All of your comments are so friggin lovely! I read every single one even if I don't reply to them so thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to leave a comment when you do!

So, I've planned out a lot of my future chapters more in-depth than before and I can safely say that this fic will be AT LEAST 46 chapters long ;) I might stretch it to 50 if I can figure out some cute in-between chapter moments JUST to have that milestone though xD

I hope you enjoy this chapter my lovelies.

Time skip from the last chapter: The babies are now 9 months old.


Hydrangeas Say Our Family Will Flourish

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Steps to Success

Aster and Kari were fast learners, especially when they could figure things out from observing each other - two baby heads were better than one, and as such, they were constantly absorbing new information and building on it, demonstrating that they were smarter than the average nine-month-old.

The kicker was getting the idea or notion into their heads in the first place, allowing them to realise they could do something, all they had to do was surmise exactly how to go about doing it. Once they'd had that realisation, their brains were firing off into problem-solving mode, and it was a simple matter of time before they were able to grasp it.

Crawling, for example, had been clear for the two infants. They needed to get from point A to point B, and they discovered that the only way to do that was to move their bodies in a comfortable way that propelled them forwards. Easy.

Walking, on the other hand, was a far more difficult concept.

Loki and Amelia thought it would be straight-forward enough given how quickly they had picked up crawling, but there was something they hadn't considered about the way a baby's mind worked.

Despite encouraging the little ones to pull themselves onto two legs every day, Aster and Kari both found it far easier to simply crawl everywhere - and why wouldn't they? Why would they put in the extra effort just to be a little bit further from the ground when they move?

They knew they could get from point A to point B through crawling, so what motivation did they have to walk? This was the rather frustrating issue that Amelia and Loki couldn't quite communicate to their little ones, and it resulted in a lot of trial and error. Patience was key, but it was so hard to be patient when Amelia was so excited at the prospect of her little ones walking around on two legs and reaching that milestone.

Learning to walk was a slow process, that's what all the child-raising books said. Obviously, Aster and Kari needed time to build up the muscles in their legs and to learn the coordination to put one leg in front of the other. It wasn't something that could be rushed.

The first time Aster and Kari managed to stand upright by themselves for more than two seconds, Amelia practically exploded with delight, to the point that she almost cried. She was just so happy to see her son and daughter growing up, and Loki had found Amelia's glowing expression to be oh so beautiful.

So, how did one convince their child that walking was the way to go? Loki had his methods, which mostly involved bribes. Toys, pacifiers and food; Loki tried anything and everything he knew the kids loved.

They had taken to attempting to teach the children to walk in the nursery, Amelia lifting them up till they were standing on wobbly legs while Loki sat across the room clutching their favourite toys, but it was slow progress. Then again, that was better than no progress.

"Come on Kari. Walk to Kangaroo," Loki urged, shaking the boy's favourite toy in his hand, "if you even think about crawling over here again, I will obliterate it."

Kari, thinking it was a highly amusing game, the objective of which was to frustrate dada, immediately launched himself into a crawl, approaching Loki like a torpedo on his hands and knees with a huge giggly grin on his face.

Loki held Kangaroo out of reach of the boy, who proceeded to try and climb up and reach for it, and gave Amelia a weary glance. Amelia licked her lips sheepishly and shrugged, crossing the room to pick Kari up and try again.

It was quite a grind, but both Loki and Amelia knew to stay patient, and that trying to push them to figure it out rather than let it come naturally to them was probably not the way to go. Still, that didn't stop Loki from using certain items to his advantage.

It just so happened, several weeks beforehand, Amelia had discovered that both Kari and Aster were utterly insatiable when it came to chocolate-pudding baby food. They loved the stuff so much that they would get very moody when Amelia put the jar down, claiming that they had had enough.

At least they had found a food that Aster would happily gobble down, and that was why Loki figured it was the perfect incentive for two chocolate-loving babies.

Loki stood by the sofa in the communal living quarters, looking quite full of determination as he stared across the padded flooring where his two children were currently sitting and playing with their soft toys. He had the jar clutched in one hand, and a small spoon in the other, and in his head he had a plan.

"Aster, Kari." He spoke, drawing the attention of his two little ones; they both glanced up with wide eyes and curious expressions. Loki walked towards them and knelt down, unscrewing the lid of the jar. They needed to see their prize before he put his plan into action, so that they would covet it accordingly, "You know what this is?"

He held the jar in front of Aster's face first, and she predictably tried to push it away out of reflex, but there was a notable moment where she must have caught the scent of the chocolate, and she instantly changed her mind, trying to grab onto her daddy's hand to bring it closer. When Loki held the jar in front of Kari's face, he very nearly almost shoved his entire hand into it, being the food-lover he was.

Once the babies both knew what was up for grabs, Loki rose to his full height, spooned a small heap of the chocolate pudding, and held it at just the right point where he knew Kari and Aster would be able to reach it if they stood up.

As expected, they began pulling on the legs of his trousers and trying to reach with their arms above their heads, to no avail.

"If you want this pudding, you're gonna have to work for it."

They both used Loki as a crutch to stand up, mouths open like baby birds in a nest, desperate for a taste of the sweet, sweet chocolate-flavoured pudding.

"Okay, good. That's the first step," he fed them each a small heap of it as a congratulations for doing the bare minimum - they needed to know they were going in the right direction, and with any luck they would begin to understand that being up on their feet meant they would be rewarded.

Amelia walked in at that moment and paused mid-step, "Uh, what are you doing?" The sight of Loki bent over, feeding the children chocolate pudding while they wobbled on their legs, clutching onto him tightly was tremendously odd.

"Teaching them how to walk," Loki explained without taking his eyes off the little ones.

"Is that what you're doing? It looks more like you're training puppies, but okay," Amelia smirked as she circled around them, and noticed Loki's nose scrunch up in response to her ridiculous observation.

"You mock me now, but when they walk, you will praise my methods."

Amelia almost snorted. He sounded ridiculous, but she supposed there was a chance it might work, and if it did, she would be undeniably ecstatic; so he decided to sit back on the couch to watch and wait.

She watched in great amusement as Loki took small steps away from them, urging them to move with him but ensuring they were still able to grip onto his leg and use it for balance. The children followed him eagerly for another taste of chocolate pudding, occasionally wobbling and falling down, but pulling themselves back up with determination. It was progress to see them taking the initiative to support themselves with Loki's help, but it was beyond funny that the reasoning behind their success was chocolate pudding.

After a few more moments, Loki stepped away entirely, leaving Kari and Aster to wobble in place, their little faces holding a smidgen of panic as they fought to stay upright, arms flying out to aid their stability, and Amelia froze, waiting to see what they would do.

Loki held out a spoonful of pudding several feet away at eye-level, a prize for whichever child was fast enough.

Rather adorably, Aster's little hand gripped onto Kari's shoulder to help her stay upright, which made Kari wobble further, but he didn't fall. He managed to stay standing, finding his footing after a few awkward moments.

"Come on. Come on, come to me," Loki told them, "just a few steps, come on."

Unwilling to let the pudding get away, Aster stuck one foot out and brought it down in front of herself, transferred her weight clumsily, and then did the same again with the other, letting go of her brother in order to progress.

"Yes, Aster," Loki's eyes shone with pride, and Amelia leaned forward on the edge of her seat in awe that Loki's hilarious idea had actually worked.

Aster did it again, taking another step as she was spurred on by her daddy's excitement, but her centre of balance must've tilted forwards because she took three steps in quick succession in an attempt to catch herself, before falling forwards against the floor.

While the floor was padded, her face still hit it rather suddenly, drawing a loud gasp from Amelia and causing Loki to go rigid and murmur a quiet 'oh dear.'

Aster looked up, seeing her parents' concerned stares, and then her face scrunched up into a wounded expression as she began to hysterically cry.

Loki reacted quickly, placing the spoon and the jar on the coffee table in front of Amelia before swooping down to lift his daughter up off the floor and into his arms; he held her to his shoulder, petting her hair apologetically. "Hey, don't cry. You did so well," he told her gently.

Clint walked past them at that moment, heading for the kitchen, "Rule one of parenting, never react when the kid falls down. They'll only cry if you think they've hurt themselves."

Amelia bit her lip to hide a sheepish grin while Loki glared at the back of the man's head; he lifted Aster up higher and wiped her wet face with his shirt sleeve as the little girl looked back at him with a wobbling lip, naturally ignoring Clint's input.

Kari had long since dropped to his hands and knees again, far too tired to stand on two legs for too long at a time, but his desire for chocolate pudding had not yet been sated. He spotted it on the low table next to his mama and crawled towards her, gurgling happily in contrast to his tearful sister.

"Helloooooo baby boy," Amelia sang, lifting her son up into her arms. She planted a kiss on his forehead and watched as he tried to reach for the jar on the table, "Oh, I see. You weren't just coming to me for a cuddle. You want more pudding, huh?" She obliged him, picking up the jar.

"Is your nose okay?" Loki asked, tapping Aster's nose with the tip of his finger; her eyes were still bleary and she rubbed at them with a fist, sniffing loudly and whimpering. She hiccupped, looked over at mama, and began whining a little louder, pointing in her direction.

Loki turned to see Amelia giving Kari a spoonful of the pudding and chuckled at Aster's pouty expression, "You think some more chocolate pudding will make your nose feel better?"

Aster stared at him with her watery green eyes, her little furrowed brow showing her displeasure at being kept away from the jar of tasty pudding, so Loki carried her to the couch to join his wife, seating his daughter in his lap.

"Good effort today, both of you," Loki praised them, "keep that up, and you'll be running by Christmas." His remark made Amelia snort.

Aster whined steadily until Amelia blessed her with a spoon of chocolatey goodness. One spoon was definitely not enough, and the girl made sure to grumble wordlessly every time a helping was given to Kari instead of her, even though Amelia was distributing it evenly between them and feeding them with alternating mouthfuls.

"These two little chocolate monsters," Amelia murmured, subconsciously quickening the action of lifting the spoon from the jar to Aster's mouth every time she let out a whine - as if the little one was saying 'hurry up mama, I'm starving!'

"She's playing you both," Clint spoke up on his way back to the couch, a freshly plated sandwich in hand, "she's learned the art of manipulation already - cry until you get what you want, and you're just giving it to her." He sounded more amused than anything, and Loki readily shot him another glare.

"Nobody asked for your opinion."

"I was pointing it out for your benefit," Clint defended, "unless you wanna hear Aster crying for chocolate pudding day in and day out."

Regardless of whether Clint was right or wrong, it did not matter. Just this once, at least, Aster would get her fill of pudding, because Loki felt more than a little guilty at pushing her too quickly and causing her fall in the first place.


I know this chapter was shorter than usual but I HOPE YOU ENJOYED! Please do leave me a comment letting me know your thoughts!

In the next chapter: FIRST WORDS. The next chapter should be longer than this one ;)