IT'S TIME FOR LITTLE BABY TO SAY FIRST WORD!

My goodness, how far we've come? The kids are around 10 months in this chapter, and so adorable, as always! I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!


Hydrangeas Say Our Family Will Flourish

Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Figure of Speech

Kari was an absolute chatterbox. Well, he couldn't speak comprehensible words yet, but he really loved to make noise. He strung together irregular syllables quite expertly, not making sense but certainly understanding the dynamic of a conversation. He knew that speaking noise in the vague direction of a person would garner their attention, and then said person would make noise back, and he understood that it was then his turn to make noise, and so on, which led to delightful moments during playtime with the kids.

Kari squeezed his Kangaroo toy, cuddling it to his chest whilst making plenty of wordless noises before holding it up to his dada, who took it carefully, looking it over curiously; then matter-of-factly remarked, "Hm, his fur is a lovely brown colour, isn't it?"

The boy's grin only grew, and he pointed at Kangaroo, another stream of syllables leaving his mouth.

"His fur used to be purple?" Loki chuckled aloud, "Don't be silly, kangaroos aren't purple."

Kari squealed, snatching Kangaroo back so he could chew on the stuffed animal's ear.

"Are you certain? I've never seen a purple kangaroo in my life, but you sound so convincing, I might just believe it."

This time, Kari gave what sounded like a thoughtful hum, but was probably only just good timing, before dropping Kangaroo to the floor and pushing himself to his feet - now with the developing ability to walk with just a slight wobble to his gait - and he climbed onto Loki's knees where his dada was knelt before him on the floor, little hands gripping the material of his shirt to aid in the boy's ascent.

"Ah-bah bah bah," said Kari.

"Oh, you want a hug? Well why didn't you just say so?" Loki responded, drawing Kari up into his arms fondly, a warm smile on his face.

"Mm-muh," Kari hummed, pressing his face against Loki's cheek, and for a brief moment Loki thought the boy had almost said 'mama', but another moment of consideration had him surmising that he was simply copying the action that Amelia often performed when she kissed the children on the cheek and over exaggerated the 'mwah' sound.

Loki chuckled, rubbing his hand through Kari's thin, black curls. The boy was very affectionate and smiley, a pure copy of his mother, who loved to endlessly shower both him and his sister in kisses and snuggles.

"Where's mama, hmm?" Loki asked the boy. At his current age, Kari likely recognised the word 'mama', but didn't understand that it referred to his mother, however, he did seem to acknowledge that the word only seemed to pop up when Amelia was around, thus prompting him to turn his head and try to seek her out.

Amelia had gone to change Aster in the next room over, she probably wouldn't be gone for much longer, and Kari would no doubt be happy to see her reappear. The boy was always happy to see his mama.

Loki tapped Kari's nose, smirking when the boy swatted playfully at his hand. Amelia had a sort of no-stakes 'bet' concerning Kari; she thought she could get the boy to say 'mama' before Loki got the boy to say 'dada', and that whoever won the game was the 'winner'. There was no prize for the winner except for bragging rights - it was just a harmless challenge that Amelia had proposed.

It had led to Amelia and Loki repeatedly telling the boy "Kari, can you say 'mama'?" or "Say 'dada' and you can have more chocolate pudding," until the little one got bored and returned to playing with his toys instead of entertaining his mother and father. He had yet to actually grasp words, and got easily overwhelmed when his parents got in his face and requested he say specific things, at which point he would blow raspberries at them or throw a toy at their faces.

They deserved it, to be honest. There was no sense in hounding the boy to say something; the kids had already proved that they learned at their own pace.

However, Loki had a small secret.

He wasn't overly competitive with the notion of being the first word out of Kari's mouth, and there was just something about Amelia's enthusiasm and excitement that had Loki hoping the boy would say mama before anything else.

Which was why, whenever he had a moment alone with Kari, when Amelia had just so happened to walk out of earshot or left the room for whatever reason, Loki sat Kari down, looked in the boy's eyes and demanded, "Say 'mama'."

Amelia didn't have to know, and Loki would hopefully get to see her eyes light up like fireworks when Kari's first word was inevitably 'mama'. He practically drilled the word into the boy's mind.

"Kari, I know you don't understand me, so we're going to make you understand. You have to say 'mama', preferably when mama is in the room. When you say 'mama', you will make your mama very happy, and you know what a happy mama means for you? All the chocolate pudding you could ever ask for. I mean it. Say mama. Say mama. Say mama. Mama, mama, mama," Loki spoke over and over, repeating the word loud and clear.

Kari chewed on Kangaroo's ear again, looking idly up at his dada with an oddly surprised look. Maybe it was because Loki had given him a full on speech and usually, with the boy's understanding, he usually gave him a few words and then paused to let Kari speak instead of rambling on like an idiot. Or perhaps Kari was confused because 'mama' wasn't the word that dada usually asked him to try and say, and he had picked up on the switch around.

"Kari," Loki said determinedly, "say mama."

"Ub-bub-bub-bub-bah-bah," Kari exclaimed instead, pointing at Loki's face.

Loki feigned a gasp, placing his palm over his chest in mock offense, "How dare you say such a thing?" Kari happened to find his dada's response incredibly hilarious, because a stream of hysterical giggles escaped his mouth then.

Amelia walked in at that moment with Aster balanced on her hip, "What? What did he say?" From the hopeful, surprised look in her eyes, she must've thought her son had actually managed to string a word together.

"He said that my face was hideous. Can you believe this? My own son…" Loki faked a wobbly lip, looking away and blinking his eyes as if to dispel tears.

Amelia rolled her eyes, understanding her husband's jesting and snorted, placing Aster down beside her brother. She sat before them, booping little Kari on the nose and beaming at the grin he gave her.

"Hello, pumpkin. Can you say 'mama'?"

Loki smiled, eyeing his wife briefly - she probably assumed he had spent every last second trying to get the boy to say 'dada' while she was out of the room, but she was so very wrong. He looked to his son next, who turned to look at him, holding eye contact for an amusingly long time; Loki wondered what was going on inside Kari's head.

"Not dada. Mama," Amelia articulated, "you gonna speak for me, bug?" She used the nickname for her son endearingly and Kari smiled in response.

"Uhh-bah… bububub," Kari mumbled, lifting himself shakily to his feet so he could fall into mama's arms for a hug. Amelia obliged him, cuddling him securely with a happy sigh.

"Mm, very insightful words," Loki pointed out as if speaking with the utmost seriousness, making Amelia giggle.

"Nice to know he inherited your levels of articulation," Amelia joked, rubbing circles on Kari's back, "Bet he'll be great at telling stories when he gets older, just like his dada."

"Ah-da," Kari murmured, and Amelia suddenly froze.

"No," Amelia said, "Noooooo no no, you say mama, okay bug? Mah-mah," she quickly reprimanded herself for even saying the word 'dada' in front of the boy, because of course the one goddamn time she said that word, Kari would try and repeat it.

Loki laughed at Amelia's overreaction, "Sounds like he almost said dada. Is that a win for me?" While it warmed his heart to hear his son very nearly almost say dada, he still held out hope that Kari would say 'mama' before anything else.

"No," Amelia gave her husband a playful glare, "he didn't say it, it doesn't count."

"Well then," Loki smiled, "you better start trying to convince him to say 'mama' soon, because it's clearly only a matter of time before he strings together a cohesive word."

"True," Amelia spoke, and then breathed a small sigh, looking over to where Aster was several feet away, "I'm not sure about her, though."

Loki's eyes landed on his daughter. She was knelt on the carpet, leaning over a children's book - The Rainbow Fish - and looking at the colourful images upon its pages with an abundance of intrigue, touching her fingertips to the shiny fish scales on each page.

Aster was not a chatterbox. In fact, she was about as far from it as one could possibly be. Unlike her brother, Aster did not really make noises beyond crying or laughing; she had no problems screaming her head off if things weren't going her way - for example, if she wasn't allowed anymore chocolate pudding, she would easily prove just how powerful her set of lungs were. When something happened that she found amusing, like when Amelia nuzzled her nose into Aster's belly, or when Loki tickled her, or when Tony pulled ridiculous faces at her, she would let out screeching laughter that brought joy to everybody present.

She just didn't make any sounds like her brother. No uh-buh-bubs or bah-bahs, which appeared to be Kari's favourite phrases. No nonsensical, random grumbly noises or loud ahhhhhhhs that Kari was so fond of agitating everybody with for the sake of his own amusement. Aster was just quiet.

Of course, she had always been quiet. She was always less likely to cry, less likely to whine, less likely to start fussing, and neither Amelia or Loki had really questioned it until she'd reached the age where it was generally normal for kids to start mumbling syllables in a purposeful attempt to imitate or gain the attention of others. When she had failed to start up the habit, like her brother, Loki and Amelia grew just a little bit concerned. Amelia's first idea was to read up in parenting books and research on the internet whether it was strange, but all of the forums she found were not relevant to their specific situations.

Some babies don't speak until twelve months, one of the users had pointed out, but that wasn't really the focus of concern. It wasn't that Aster wasn't speaking, it was that she wasn't making any of the usual noises that babies her age should.

She cooed and gurgled for the longest time, and then that stopped, as if she just didn't want to do so anymore. Her hearing seemed perfectly fine, her vocal cords worked well enough for her to laugh and cry, so that wasn't it either.

It seemed that no amount of encouragement on Amelia and Loki's end was enough to persuade her to try and speak. The girl was fond of her pacifiers, too; she would always get moody or bring out the crocodile tears if either Amelia or Loki took her pacifier from her, so that made it extra difficult to get Aster to try and form sounds with her mouth.

"Aster," Loki called, and the girl looked up, "can you say 'dada'?"

Aster looked at him blankly for a moment and then pushed herself to her feet, squatting down to pick up the book as an afterthought, and carried it as she waddled over to him. Amelia had been the one to dress the girl that morning, and she had put her in a brand new dress they had bought a couple days prior. It was white with blue irises dotted across it in a repetitive pattern, and the brightness of it contrasted well with Aster's black hair, which fell down just passed her ears. She looked beyond adorable, just the mere sight of her made Loki want to melt.

He took the book tentatively when she handed it to him and she started climbing onto his legs with the intent of situating herself there, showing him clearly that she wanted him to read to her, so he shifted into a cross-legged position, allowing her room to sit in his lap. She fussed for a moment, getting herself comfortable, and then gripped the front cover of the book, pulling it open.

Loki complied, hunching over slightly so that he was closer to his daughter, and he began to read the story to her, "A long way out in the deep blue sea, there lived a fish. Not just an ordinary fish, but the most beautiful fish in the entire ocean."

Aster's hands were on the page immediately, pointing at the rainbow fish; she traced the glossy, shiny parts of the page that made up the fish's glittering scales, clearly interested in the way the material felt different from the rest of the page. It was typical for her to do this with each and every page, and Loki only turned to the next page when Aster was ready to do so.

Amelia always remarked on how impressed she was with Loki's patience regarding the children, and Loki had to admit, he definitely had come a long way from the person he used to be. Having to wait for something had never been his strong suit, he was much more the kind of person to make things happen at his advanced pace, but ever since his children had been born, he'd had to curb that way of thinking.

There was no need to rush things. No ominous feeling looming over him that urged him to hurry himself or anybody around him; there was just this blessed sensation that Loki had failed to place for a while, until finally he understood just what it was. It was security. He felt relaxed when he was in Avengers Tower with his family, knowing there were a handful of strong fighters around that would do anything and everything in their power to keep his Amelia, Kari and Aster safe.

There was no imminent threat coming for them, nobody wanting to bring harm to his family; he was comfortable in the knowledge that they were anonymous to the world, and that was how it would remain.

So, Loki felt no urgent pressure to go, go, go. He would happily take his time raising his children, let them grow at their own pace, and he promised himself he would not try to rush them through it.

Aster rubbed her palms across the next page, head tilted curiously as she sucked avidly on her pacifier, and yet again poked her fingers at all the shiny parts of the page.

And yet, despite this relaxed feeling that had befallen him at some point, Aster's lack of vocal noises seemed to bother him just a little bit. His thoughts jumped rapidly between worries that something was wrong with her to agitation that it was somehow his fault that Aster wasn't progressing the same way Kari was. He didn't know what to make of it, and none of the parenting books he had read covered the subject, they all ensured that his children would gurgle and coo, and then make ooh and ahh sounds, and soon start to imitate the words of those around them. Kari had reached that step just fine, but Aster had stumbled away from step one in the wrong direction and decided to just be silent.

Amelia had been the one to remind him that Kari was actually ahead in development, that children generally speak their first words between 11 and 13 months, but Kari was practically almost there at 10 months, so it was important that Loki allowed Aster time to catch up with her brother.

Aster turned the page and looked up at him, her big green eyes wide and expectant as she waited for him to continue reading. They were eyes that Loki most certainly could not say no to, so he obliged, "His scales were every shade of blue and green and purple, with sparkling silver scales among them."

Patience was key, Loki reminded himself. He would wait it out and maybe Aster would just surprise him one day, speaking her first word without any warning. He wondered, in that case, what her first word might be.


Thor was visiting the Tower two weeks later. He'd found some time in between running the kingdom to drop by and see the Avengers - but mostly he was there to see his niece and nephew, naturally. Even though they had been planning to return to Asgard before the month was up, the King clearly couldn't stay away from the two little ones he loved so much.

He had come bearing gifts with a huge grin on his face, holding up a package wrapped in brown paper and string, "A gift from Signy, for the children," he'd explained, "it's getting colder, she thought that perhaps these would come in handy for them."

When Amelia opened the gift up, she was greeted with two wool-knit blankets, one dark green and the other deep purple, and immediately she lit up in gratitude, "Oh, these are so wonderful! They're so soft!" She would be sure to thank Signy the next time they saw each other, it was so sweet that the Asgardian woman had taken her time to knit blankets for the kids.

"So, how are the little prince and princess?" Thor inquired playfully to Kari, who was sitting on his lap and looking up at him with shining eyes.

"Ooh-wah haa," the boy cooed, followed by a sweet string of giggles, which more or less answered Thor's question.

"I'm glad to hear it," Thor responded with a hearty chuckle, "And what about your sister?"

Aster was wandering around on the padded flooring, not quite in the mood for cuddles and not really paying a lot of attention to Uncle Thor, much to his dismay.

"Aster?" Thor called, hoping to gain some notice from the little girl. She looked up at the sound of her name, blinking at Thor for all of two seconds before turning away and playing with her soft toys. Loki found it amusing how Thor pined for the child's attention; Aster was a little more reserved than her brother and not as cuddly toward anybody who wasn't himself, Kari or Amelia.

"Look Aster! What's this?" Amelia gasped, holding up the purple wool-knit blanket she had pulled out of the package, "It's a gift from Signy! A pretty, soft blanket!" Her excitable words immediately had the girl's attention, and Aster waddled over tentatively, sucking on her pacifier as always.

Instead of taking an interest in the blanket Amelia was holding, Aster patted her hand against the green one still folded in her mother's lap, and promptly decided very quickly that she loved the soft feel of it against her hand. Her fingers clutched onto it like claws and she pulled it away, claiming it as her own almost immediately.

"Oh!" Amelia exclaimed in amusement, "That's okay, Kari can have the purple one." She stood, walking to the chair Thor was sitting in and raised the blanket, placing it around Kari's shoulders. The boy gurgled in merriment, grabbing the fabric and pulling it over his head like a hooded cloak - it was safe to assume that he liked it.

Aster dragged the green blanket along with her as she stumbled up to Loki, holding onto his knee as she came to stop in front of him; she raised her arms and looked at him expectantly, and Loki deduced her wordless request, quickly wrapping her up in the blanket before lifting her onto his lap. The fabric was large enough to fully wrap around Aster twice, and she squealed as she was picked up and situated safely in her dada's lap. The big smile on her face was evident of her delight, the pacifier almost fell from her lips, and for some reason she found it incredibly funny that her arms were trapped below the soft material, making her look like a blanket burrito.

Loki laughed subtly, hugging her to his chest, and brushed his lips against Aster's forehead in a gentle kiss, only to realise after a moment that Amelia was staring at him with an insurmountably fond look on her face, eyes shining with love and adoration.

"What?" Loki asked.

Amelia shook her head, smiling knowingly at her husband.

"Do you know any words yet, little one? Hm? Can you say mama? Dada?" Thor asked Kari curiously, and before Amelia or Loki could casually remark that the boy was very stubborn and refused to say either of those words when asked, Kari said one word quietly, half distracted, like it was no big deal whatsoever.

"Mama."

Loki's gaze zipped to his wife, and Amelia seemed to have a delayed reaction, as though she hadn't even realised what Kari had said, but then she looked over at the child, eyes as wide as saucers, and squeaked in a high pitched voice, "Did you just say mama?"

"Mama!" Kari giggled, parroting the word again, and Amelia all but flew across the sitting area, plucking her son up into her arms from a bewildered Thor's lap, and she spun in a circle, letting out a cry of utter exuberance that was tinged with tearful disbelief. Loki couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying, but he wouldn't be surprised if she was doing both - Amelia tended to weep when she was beyond happy, and he found himself smiling both with pride and devotion.

Pride because his son had just spoken his first word, and devotion from the glee he felt at watching his wife light up the room in her bliss - thank the gods Kari had said the word 'mama' before 'dada', because it gifted him the captivating sight of his wife reacting with peak joy.

"Oh my baby boy, my sweet baby boy," she chanted, nuzzling her nose against Kari's, drawing forth delightful laughter from the child. Loki bit his lip in an attempt to stop it from wobbling with emotion, he wouldn't let his eyes get watery while his damn brother was present. He just couldn't help but feel his heartstrings pull at the sight, being reminded that this was his family. His family. He would never get tired of that word.

Amelia pulled herself together a bit, kissing her son on the cheek with an overexaggerated 'mwah!' sound before proceeding to stare at him with her winning smile, and Thor finally reacted after being visibly taken by Amelia's joy, "What a smart little one! Can you say 'Uncle Thor'?"

At that, a rich laughter escaped Loki's throat, his brother was definitely asking too much now, "You wish-"

Before Loki could finish that thought, Kari interrupted like a slap in the face, loudly proclaiming, "Tor!" and Thor's jaw dropped, his face shining with amazement.

Loki however, froze in betrayal, staring at his son with his mouth hanging open stupidly; Amelia was laughing, finding it oh so funny that Kari was yelling out his uncle's name before saying the word 'dada'. How could he? It was utterly tragic, and it almost completely ruined the excitement of his very first word.

"What is wrong with you, child?" Loki questioned with sheer incredulity, receiving only childish laughter from the boy in question. Instead, Loki glared at his brother, his face sharp and promising of a swift death thanks to the King's very stupid idea to ask Kari to say his name.

Loki was more than happy to allow Amelia to be their son's first word, but for him to not be second? That hadn't been the plan!

Thor merely shrugged his shoulders sheepishly, "Well hey, look at the bright side. You still have the chance to be Aster's first word!"

Loki opened his mouth to snap something witty and bitter in return, but stopped short, closing his mouth as he turned to look at his daughter, who returned his stare with curious, wide eyes.

He gave a pause before reaching up to pull her pacifier out of her mouth, it released from her lips with a pop, and he gave her a very earnest, pleading look as he asked her, "Aster, can you say 'dada'?"

Aster looked up at him, green eyes shining, and she blinked, her long eyelashes fluttering against her pale cheeks, and then she opened her mouth, and Loki felt his heart thump in anticipation behind his ribcage.

The girl wriggled in the confines of her blanket, looked to her pacifier which was held away in her father's hand, and then gazed up at Loki, swallowing tightly.

She didn't say a word.

Instead, her eyes grew glossy as a preface of the tears that would imminently follow if he didn't return her pacifier to her mouth immediately.

"No? Okay, no. Sorry. Nevermind," the words quickly tumbled out of Loki's mouth as he slipped the object back into her mouth apologetically, squashing down the disappointment he felt at his daughter's continued silence.

"Oh, don't you worry, brother!" Thor's dumb voice cut through the silence, "I'm sure she'll say it eventually." It was clear he was trying to assure Loki because he was the one at fault for snatching up second place.

"Shut up, Thor."

"Tor!" Kari squealed again, only rubbing it in all the more painfully.

"No, you can shut up," Loki pointed in his son's direction, and Amelia looked slightly ruffled that he had just said that to her son, up until the boy let free a string of giggles yet again. Why did he have to be so giggly? Why did he find his father's torment so unbelievably funny?

Loki sighed, looking down at Aster, whose tears had abated completely now that she had her beloved pacifier back. The question of why she hadn't yet spoken a word remained unanswered.

She was simply a mystery, it seemed.


What's up with Aster? Hmmm? ^_^

Thank you to those of you who left a comment on the last chapter, I seriously appreciate it. I would love to hear your thoughts on this chapter, I really hoped you enjoyed it. Please let me know what you think!