I hope you guys like this chapter! Originally, this chapter and the next chapter were supposed to be one whole chapter, but I realised if I did that, this chapter would be way longer than I wanted it to be and it would be way longer before I'd be able to post it, but I'm intent on updating this today since I go back to work next week (I just had 2 weeks off work but it's almost up, aghhh!).

The pacing is better this way anyway ^_^

There's a few time jumps in this chapter, just so you know!


Hydrangeas Say Our Family Will Flourish

Chapter Forty-Five: A Feast of Yuletide

It was as Amelia predicted; following the trip to Disney World, the childrens' sleeping patterns improved dramatically. Nightmares were not prevalent every single night, the quantity of these terrible dreams dropped to around once a week, which was much more manageable for Amelia and Loki when it came to comforting the little ones when they did awaken in tears.

Aster and Kari's mental health improved with every sound night's sleep they achieved, making them happier and healthier during the day, and as the months rolled on, the kids finally found themselves able to sleep in their own beds again.

It was all thanks to Elsa, really. The little meeting with the Queen of Arendelle had given Aster and Kari the courage they needed to pull themselves out of their prevailing fear, and they were now convinced Elsa was watching over them at night, keeping the scary foes away.

Loki didn't dwell too long on the fact that a fictional character did more to quell their terror than he could, but he did despondently conclude that it had much to do with the fact he was away from the palace the day the incident took place, and thus couldn't be there to protect them. It was something they must have internalised.

He hoped to prove their nightmares wrong. He would never allow them to fall into harm's way again, and he would viciously protect them if anybody with ill intent dared to step too near to them.


In September of that year, Thor imposed tighter security in New Asgard. All mail and messages that were carried to and from the palace were to be intercepted and scoured, and the contents of these letters revealed in an effort to sniff out any dark schemes that may or may not arise.

No foul play was detected at any point, but there were an embarrassing amount of love letters discovered, with very explicit details laid out plainly upon the papers, being exchanged between the members of the royal guard and some of the maid staff. Thor remarked jokingly that he preferred the palace staff to be making love rather than evil schemes.

Loki presumed that whoever was passing these love letters back and forth were only doing so as a sort of boycott against the invasion of privacy that came from the new rule, causing a whole lot of mortification for the poor individual who was tasked with combing through these letters.

Despite the vexation among palace staff over the infringement of their privacy, it was widely understood that it was necessary during the uncertain times. The real person behind the attack earlier in the year still had yet to be caught, the mastermind - as it were - was still at large, leaving a lot of doubt surrounding the daunting mystery.


In November, the extensive background checks and investigations that were conducted throughout the royal guard and palace staff finally concluded, and it was surmised that nobody living within the palace wished any harm upon Amelia or the children.

All the advisors had been thoroughly interrogated and shown to be trustworthy, all the guards, maids and cooks were cleared of any suspicion. It was relieving and unsettling all at once; the knowledge that the palace was now far, far safer than before gave Loki a lot more faith in Thor's security, but the palace made up only a small fraction of the entire population of New Asgard, and it meant that somewhere, amongst the rest of the kingdom, there sat somebody who had come shockingly close to ending the lives of Loki's wife and children.

Yuletide was approaching, and one evening, Loki proposed the idea of spending the day of the festivity in New Asgard to his wife. He put the idea forward gently, with a soft hand on Amelia's arm and the assurance that if she was not ready to return to Asgard, they could always just spend Christmas Day with the Avengers, and Thor could visit for a short while at some point in the day.

Amelia was quiet for the longest time. Her eyes fell downcast as she thought long and hard about Loki's suggestion, the quandary transparent in her brown gaze; she played idly with the bed covers between her fingers, and just as Loki was about to say that it was okay if she did not want to go, Amelia answered him.

"Okay," her voice was tentative as she finally responded, rolling a few fingers lightly over her scarred neck, her fingertips grazing the raised skin, "we can go for the day."

Loki was pleased by Amelia's acceptance. It was a big step for her to agree to return to New Asgard, and he showed Amelia how proud he was of her courage by peppering a few kisses against her forehead. He nuzzled her cheek, asking wordlessly for a more amorous kiss, and Amelia granted him the privilege, tilting her head up to meet the press of his lips.


The day of Yuletide arrived late December, and Amelia was intrigued to see how it would differ from a Christmas Day celebration. While the other Avengers expressed sadness that Amelia and the kids would not be in the Tower for Christmas Day, she assured them that they would return late that evening, and besides, they could always celebrate the following day if it meant so much to them.

Amelia knew that a lot of their upset came from the fact they would not be treated to Amelia's Christmas roast dinner, something that Amelia was glad she wouldn't have to cook up that day. Ever since her Christmas roast guest list had grown from just herself to roughly nine people, it had been a task that was more than a little stressful for Amelia to fulfil, so being able to relax and let others do the cooking for the Yuletide celebration was something that was wholly welcomed.

Though, Loki also lamented at the fact Amelia would not be cooking. She gave him a playful roll of her eyes and reminded him that pretty much every other day of the year, he was treated to her cooking.

"I know," Loki responded with a hint of childish undertone, "but your Christmas dinner is always extra delicious and my tastebuds yearn for it."

"Well, your tastebuds will have to continue to yearn until next year," Amelia responded bluntly. Loki groaned, as if the revelation had only just occurred to him, and pulled a face that was indicative of his displeasure over having to wait a whole other year to be presented with the delight of Amelia's Christmas dinner.

"You'll get over it," Amelia chuckled, clutching her husband's hand affectionately, "besides, you get to eat a Yuletide feast and get tipsy on Asgardian wine instead. Surely that's something to be excited about?"

"I guess." Amelia knew that Loki was downplaying his excitement for the festive day ahead in lieu of all the many nostalgic things he would get to experience, for the simple fact that it emphasized just how much Loki enjoyed eating the food she prepared. Despite the childish way he was talking, Amelia was bashful at the praise she read between the lines of his words.

They entered the palace with their children held close, and Amelia shivered as she stepped into the warmer boundaries of the palace walls, out of the chill in the Norwegian air. Loki reflexively put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her to his side to keep her warmer still, and Amelia let out a sigh, trying to squash down her nerves of being back in New Asgard so that she could be strong and enjoy the day for the sake of her husband.


The celebrations began and Amelia felt warmed and welcomed by the festive flare in the banquet hall; the Norse holiday of Yuletide felt just like Christmas, but there was something that made it even better, in her opinion. It might've just been the general vibe in the Asgardian hall, or it might've had something to do with the fact that Loki looked comfortable and content celebrating among his people.

There was a muted smile on his face as he sipped on Asgardian wine and watched his children open up their gifts - of which there were many - and the curl of his lips only grew at the sound of their gleeful laughter. Aster was pleased to have several new handmade dolls, hugging them all tightly with each new one she received, while Kari was slowly amassing an animal kingdom in the form of soft plush toys and cleverly exclaiming the noises each of the animals made.

Eventually, Loki motioned a servant to bring forth a prettily wrapped box, who then placed it on the table in front of Amelia.

Amelia batted her eyelids at her husband, "Oh, for me? Darling, you shouldn't have."

Loki pressed his goblet to his lips, taking tiny sips as he peered knowingly over the rim of it, waiting for his wife to open up the gift he had gotten for her.

Amelia unwrapped it gently as if the box housed something delicate, like an intricate statue, or a puppy. She lifted the lid and tilted her head as her fingers drifted across the soft green material within; what was it exactly? A piece of clothing? A dress? No, a cape?

She rose from her seat and pulled the fabric out of the box, revealing its full length, which fell down to her mid-shin when lifted as high as her shoulders, and she realised then what it was. It was a cloak, dark green in colour with intricate stitching sewn into the seam, forming a beautiful pattern that looked as though it was embroidered with golden twine; it had a hood and a fastening that clipped it into place just below the collarbone.

Amelia smiled, caressing the material between her thumb and forefinger, "It's very pretty," she remarked, gazing over at her husband, "thank you, my love."

"Put it on," said Loki, a twinkle in his eye.

Amelia did as she was told, slipping off the weighty fur cloak she was currently wearing - and shivering in the process because there was still a bit of a chill penetrating the palace walls - and reflected on the colour of the clothing article in amusement, "I'm surprised it isn't purple." The colour purple was practically the staple of Princess Amelia, she felt it was the colour that mostly embodied her personality and thus favoured it, though she was happily open to cladding herself in other colours.

"Well," Loki began after a pause, "I wanted to see you in my colours for once."

The declaration sent a pleasing tingle down her spine at the subtle possessiveness in his words, and Amelia gave her husband a little smirk before sliding the green cloak over her shoulders and clipping it into place.

She faltered at the rush of warmth that flooded her body, making her gasp at the suddenness. Somehow, despite the item of clothing being a lot lighter and thinner than the fur cloak she had been wearing, this new cloak managed to feel cosier and more snug, protecting her immediately from the cool air piercing the room.

Amelia looked up at Loki, and the confusion must have been evident on her face because Loki chuckled.

"Feel warm?" He inquired.

"How?" Was all Amelia uttered, and Loki's grin grew.

"Perks of marrying a sorcerer," he quipped with a wink, and then elaborated, "I had it made with the finest materials, and then I enchanted it myself. It'll keep you warm even in Midgard's harshest winters, it's charmed to regulate your body temperature to keep you heated throughout, plus it's very lightweight and easy to move about in."

Amelia's jaw dropped, "That's… really cool."

"Actually it's really warm."

"Oh ha ha," Amelia mumbled dryly with a playful roll of her eyes, before she stepped forward and held Loki's face in her hands. "Thank you, Loki," she murmured, pouring adoration into her words, and then leaned down to kiss him. Loki's tongue caressed her lower lip and she immediately pulled back, scrunching her face up and cringing, to Loki's surprise.

"What?" Loki asked aloud, a touch of light indignation in his tone.

"I can taste that wine on your lips," Amelia groaned, "it's god-awful."

Loki laughed, "How dare you. This wine is the most civilised Asgardian drink there is."

"She is right, Loki," Thor expressed from the head of the table, raising up his tankard with a smug attitude, "a pint of mead or ale does a better job of encouraging drunkenness."

"I'm not trying to encourage drunkenness, you oaf," Loki retorted with a roll of his eyes, taking another small sip of his wine. He was conserving it, drinking slowly with no intent to knock them back and keep asking for more, even though Amelia had expected him to indulge himself a bit.

It occurred to her that Loki was probably withholding himself from alcohol to avoid dulling his senses, because in the unlikely event that something were to happen, he would want to be sharp and ready to protect those he loved.

She sat back in her seat, rubbing the fabric of her new cloak with deep admiration for her husband; it was spectacularly warm and felt like a secure embrace, the Norwegian chill in the air stood no chance against the enchanted item of clothing.


Aster and Kari played with their new toys at the table between Loki and Amelia, introducing every new doll and plush with a name they had thought of on the spot in between picking up various foods presented to them on plates and platters - they were having fun, enjoying the feast and the gifts they had received, and Amelia was grateful. She loved to see smiles on their little faces.

Soon enough, they'd be turning five years old. The realisation made Amelia's heart race. Where had the time gone?

All was going wonderfully until Kari watched Loki take another sip of wine and grew curious; as parents, Loki and Amelia were pulled into the curse of not being able to eat their own food in peace without their children demanding it be shared, and Kari was open to trying absolutely everything, which meant that there was really nothing safe from the little prince.

"Can I have some?" Kari asked, pointing at the goblet Loki held in his hand.

Loki's immediate impulse was to laugh, which he did, while Amelia's eyes shot open wide. Amelia was the type to put her foot down and refuse to let the children eat all her food, even going as far as to hide treats from them so that she could eat them later in the day, but Loki reluctantly gave up portions of his food all the time to the twins. He was utterly unable to resist the way their eyes glimmered and pleaded for a taste of whatever he was eating.

"No, absolutely not," Amelia exclaimed, "that stuff is disgusting and you wouldn't like it at all."

Kari pouted, looking to his father with those pre-mentioned large eyes, and Amelia's eyes narrowed at Loki, daring him to allow the boy a taste of Asgardian wine.

"Sorry, little one. This isn't meant for children," Loki refused under the warning gaze of his wife.

"But why?" The boy asked.

"Because it makes your head go funny and you feel sick," Amelia answered.

"So why does daddy have it?" Kari frowned. To be fair, it was a very good question he was asking.

"Because he has terrible taste in alcohol," Amelia mumbled under her breath.

"Hey." Loki protested.

"What's ah-cahol?" Aster asked.

"It's a drink that only grown-ups can have, baby," Amelia spoke as she pushed her daughter's hair away from her face, "because it'll make children unwell, which is why neither you nor Kari are allowed to have any. Not until your twenty-one, at least."

"That reminds me of the day Loki drank alcohol for the first time," Thor began, voice purposefully louder so as to reach those a little further down the table. His aim to tease had the desired effect, because Loki placed down his goblet, leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, glaring over at his brother with a look that warned him not to go into detail.

But Amelia was curious, "Oh? What happened?"

Loki gave his wife a scandalised look, as if vexed that she would entertain Thor's attempt to embarrass him with a mortifying childhood anecdote.

"I'm glad you asked," Thor spoke with an amused grin, "it was shortly before his seventeenth birthday and we - myself, Loki, Sif and the Warriors Three - had gone camping in Asgard's northern forest. Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg and I were old enough to drink, but Loki and Sif were still below the recommended drinking age, so we had brought along a few waterskins full of ale and wine-"

"Brother." Loki all but growled the word, his very low tone suggesting he was not happy that Thor was retelling such a story, but it was clear he did not want to make any sort of scene in front of the children. Amelia surmised that if the children were not present, Loki would've already leapt across the table to wring his brother's neck until the king ceased speaking.

Despite the warning, Thor went on anyway, "-and when Loki realised we were not drinking water, he asked to try some himself, and obviously being the generous big brother that I am, and knowing that Loki's alcohol tolerance would be nonexistent due to the fact he'd never had any, I offered a full skin to him and watched him drink it all down throughout the evening."

Loki's fists had clenched on the table, but Amelia leaned forward with keen interest.

"And? He got totally drunk, right?" Amelia inquired eagerly.

"He got totally drunk," Thor parroted.

Loki let out a resigned sigh, his fingers coming up to rub the bridge of his nose in a rather sheepish and irate gesture mixed into one; he spoke up in a drab tone in an attempt to dismiss wherever Thor was going with his story, "Yes, well, we don't need to go into further detail than that-"

"And before the evening was up, he'd stripped off his clothes and gone swimming naked in the lake while singing loudly at the top of his lungs, out of tune I might add-" Thor ducked just in time to avoid being pelted in the face by a few crusty bread rolls that Loki launched at him, and erupted in exuberant laughter, throwing his head back as he slapped his own knees.

Amelia's hand flew to her mouth to cover up the smile pulling at her lips, but Loki had most definitely already seen the corners of her lips curling up as Thor released the specifics of Loki's first experience being drunk.

Loki grit his teeth and raised his voice over the sound of his brother's raucous laughter, "Hey Thor, do you remember the time you had to run naked back to your tent because I stole your clothes while you were bathing in a river? And Sif saw everything." Thor's giggling ceased rather quickly as his gaze grew wide, the memory evidently flashing before his eyes, and then to make matters worse, Loki stood up, cupping his hands around his mouth as he shouted down the other end of the table, "Sif! Do you remember the time Thor had to run naked back to his tent because I stole his clothes while he was bathing in a river!?"

Amelia stifled her laughter with a snort as the background conversation died down, heads turning towards the very bashful looking king and his vengeful brother. Everybody had heard that. Sif herself was sitting halfway down the long table beside Valkyrie, and smirks slowly appeared on both their faces.

"Yes, that was rather an amusing camping trip," the warrior called back, affirming the story, which sent everybody else in the hall into snickering fits.

Amelia peered down when she felt somebody gently tug on her cloak and saw Aster looking somewhat bemused; she leaned down and the girl whispered into her ear, "When did Uncle Thor run around naked, mama?"

The pure innocence with which she asked the question paired with the perplexed expression on her face was fraught with hilarity; Amelia tried her best not to fall into giggling hysterics and instead stroked her daughter's hair, shaking her head a little dismissively, "When he and your daddy were younger, they went camping a lot and got up to all sorts of mischief."

Kari knelt in his seat, reaching over the table to grab a bread roll and began picking it apart and shoving pieces into his mouth, at which point he chose to ask a question, "Mama, can we go camping too?" His timing had him inadvertently spitting crumbs all over his plate.

"Wait until you've swallowed your food before speaking, bug," Amelia gently reminded the boy, who sheepishly swallowed his mouthful before repeating his question, this time not as muffled.

"You wanna go camping, huh?" Amelia spoke thoughtfully, deliberating on the possibility. She'd been camping a few times in her youth with her brother, but not a lot apart from those times; it could be either a very fun experience or a very miserable experience depending on several factors - the weather, the quality of the camping gear, whether or not a certain somebody remembered to pack giant marshmallows - but she couldn't think of any reason to tell the child no. "Maybe. I'll talk to daddy about it."


Loki drank perhaps just a tad more wine than he'd intended to, because he loosened up a bit and became more lax in his chair, speaking a lot louder and with more zeal as he and Thor continued to share funny camping stories. They both stopped trying to make the other more embarrassed and instead focused on the camping trips where both had had an entertaining time, telling of times where they'd gotten lost on quests, encountered big wild animals and gotten chased by them too, and eventually Loki retold of one particularly time where he'd pulled a prank at Sif's expense.

"And we- we went to our tent, Thor and I, and Thor settled down to sleep, but I stayed awake because I was- I was waiting for my prank to pay off, and-" Loki imparted the details with flagrant hand gestures.

"And I noticed after a time that you were sitting up still waiting, and I asked why on Earth you weren't going to sleep, and then we heard it-" Thor began snickering, unable to continue speaking in his drunken, giggly state, and across the table Sif sat, looking very unamused at the tale being recounted.

"Sif began screaming in her tent," Loki grinned, "and I rushed out to see her entire tent just bustling around as she tried to escape it-" he too fell into a silent laughter, cutting himself off at the crux of the story.

Amelia looked to Sif, who stared back at the boys with disdain, "Loki had placed a snake in my tent."

The revelation shook Loki and Thor anew, and they began laughing with even more levity, their inebriated states making it even more funny to their minds. Amelia found herself laughing concurrently only because the state of Loki's merriment was a truly catchy thing; it made sense that the Yuletide feast had evolved into an exchange of humorous stories between the brothers, especially after it had been just under a year since they'd all been in one place like this for this kind of occasion.

It also enlightened Amelia to the fact that Loki really enjoyed camping. Particularly the Asgardian style of camping with fur pelt blankets and animal hide tents, hunting game for dinner with a bow and arrow - it was something Loki hadn't gotten to do in years, at the very least not in the time he had known Amelia, which was pushing almost seven years now.

Perhaps they could go camping. If the kids were up for it and it was going to make Loki happy, Amelia was compelled to make it happen.

When night was approaching, the kids had fallen asleep in their seats, and Loki and Thor's chatter had quietened to an acceptable level of volume that didn't wake the children; Amelia leaned over and touched Loki's arm, drawing his attention. He turned to her with a smile, which was eagerly returned, his spirits were high and he was practically beaming, truly adorable in his light tipsy state.

"You really like camping, don't you?" Amelia asked him.

Loki laughed, "Oh, how did you guess that?"

Amelia grinned, "Well why don't we take the kids camping? When the weather gets a little warmer, obviously, maybe in April or May? It could be fun."

Loki's eyebrows rose up as he processed her words, and then his face shone with undeniable excitement, "That sounds good- like a good idea. We should do that."

"Oh!" Thor exclaimed, and then rather hilariously shushed himself with a finger to his lips, reevaluating his volume, "There's this great spot- about ten miles outside the kingdom, near the big lake- not the big lake, the bigger lake. I took Inga there last Summer, very good- very romantic, very- t'was a lovely spot. You should go there!"

Loki nodded, spurred on by Thor's words, "Yes, we will," he turned back to Amelia, "we can go there, it'll be nice." His eyes fell to the kids, who were curled up in their seats snoozing, wrapped in their blankets to hold them snugly, and the contentment was evident on his face.

Unbeknownst to any of them, a palace maid stood several steps away, holding a beverage pitcher and waiting obediently to be called over to refill a cup; she listened intently to the exchange between the king, the prince, and the princess, her mind absorbing the information floating from intoxicated mouths.

When the festivities died down, she would venture out into the town and share the location of the camping spot with her master.


Ooooooooooh. What's gonna happen in the next chapter, you guys? Well, some fun camping stuff, at first... followed by other stuff :D But I can't go into detail on that because... spoilers ;)

I'm super excited to show you all the next chapter, so I'm gonna work real hard on it and get it out just as soon as I can!

Share your theories in the comments if you have any, and if not, please just leave ANY comment. I'm easy with comments. Any kind of comment makes me happy, my dears!