Maisy anxiously waited in her room after dinner. She had nothing to do while Loki finished up his duties as Odin and Berilo for the day. There wasn't even anyone to talk to with Linn gone.
Maisy was alone on Asgard. She was glad that Linn was off with her friends, learning and living her life, but she missed her terribly. After living with the teen for so long it felt like having a limb removed.
But Maisy knew she'd manage. She was already on friendly terms with the healers who were watching over her through her pregnancy. And though they still quarreled, Maisy had actually begun to work with the palace seamstress, Madame Veru.
And of course, there was Loki.
He was always busy, it seemed, but every day he made time to sneak off and visit her. Even if it was just long enough for a quick kiss and a few exchanged words. Lately there had been less and less time, what with him introducing Ambassador Berilo to the court and beginning to establish his new persona. Maisy had seen him - the real him, with his face and everything - for a total of five minutes in the last week. She'd seen "Odin" and "Berilo" lots of times, but she always had to be polite and somewhat standoffish since she didn't know the ambassador that well yet and everyone still thought she was annoyed with Odin.
Since Loki hadn't been able to make time for her, or he'd been too lazy to put much effort into coming to see her, she'd decided to give him a good reason to come chat. Announcing her news at dinner had been a mean thing to do, but she was certain it would get him to spend at least half and hour with her, if not more.
So she waited in her room, boredly plucking at a new dress she was embroidering. Once she was done with the dress she planned to start stitching gold snake designs onto a green baby blanket. But the dress was far from finished and she still had six and a half months before she would need baby blankets.
Near midnight she finally heard an insistent knock on the door. She set aside her embroidery and got up to answer the door. She was in her pajamas so she really hoped it was who she was expecting. Asgardians were always astounded when she wore anything less than a fancy dress and she didn't need a guard or messenger gaping at her this late.
"Hello?" She opened the door a crack.
"It's me."
"What's the password?"
They'd come up with a password system after Maisy had spent an hour telling a random guard about how much she missed him and how much she craved salt and vinegar chips. When she realized it wasn't Loki, she'd pretended to jolt awake and apologize because she claimed she'd been having a nightmare.
"I can't remember it," he said, seeming on edge, "Was it crumbly muffin?"
"That was yesterday."
"Right. Today was…"
"C'mon, you came up with it."
"Ah! Yggdrasil's roots! That's it."
She opened the door wider for him and he bustled in. He all but slammed the door behind him and then whirled on her. She grinned sheepishly.
"Twins?!"
"Surprise!"
"So you weren't jesting?" He demanded.
"Nope."
"Twins!"
"Yep," she took a tentative step toward him, "Are you… happy?"
He blinked in surprise and then all but crushed her in a hug.
"I am delighted!"
"It's twice the diapers we'll have to change, y'know."
"That's what nannies are for."
"Our kids are not having a nanny!"
"We'll see," he laughed and ran a hand through his hair and then hugged her again, "Maisy, we are to have twins! Is that common of Midgardians? It is incredibly rare in Asgard!"
"Really? I wouldn't say it's common on earth, but I know two sets of twins and I've met lots of them."
"I believe there has only been one set in the past two thousand years - Freya and Frey. And they are part Light Elf."
"If that's the case then I wonder why nobody at dinner was excited," Maisy furrowed her brow, "Y'know? If it's such an oddity?"
Loki frowned and sighed, keeping her wrapped in his arms, resting his chin on her head.
"I fear the court of Asgard may never be excited to hear news of our children simply because they are related to me. Especially any who know of my true heritage."
"I thought nobody knew that you're a Frost Giant."
"Very few know, but I am finding, as I play the part of Odin, that there are members of the council who do. Many have told me that they are sorry Odin lost his adopted son, but that they are glad to have a Jotun out of Asgard."
"Ha!" Maisy hugged him tighter and turned her face up to look at him, "I wish I could tell them that they're taking orders from a Jotun now! See how they like that! Those stupid old dudes are all idiots."
"Indeed," Loki chuckled, "But many would share their opinions if they knew the truth. And your news, joyful as it truly is, was probably seen as an annoyance to those idiots. They see it as bad news for now there will be two more Jotuns in the world."
"Half Jotun, half human," Maisy corrected, "And one hundred percent wonderful."
"I'm sure they will be. I can't wait to meet them."
"I didn't find out the genders yet. I think I want it to be a surprise, what about you?"
"Hmm," Loki considered, "Yes, that would be fun. We can start a betting pool."
They stopped embracing and both sat down on the couch, Maisy's feet in Loki's lap. They discussed what they thought the genders of the babies might be and possible names for them.
"We are not naming either of them after Thor," Loki stated, "He does not need the ego boost."
"Of course not," Maisy laughed, "Thor's not my favorite name anyway. It just sounds intimidating."
"People may expect us, or you rather, to name one after me if we have a boy. Since I am dead."
"That's stupid though," Maisy said and quickly corrected herself when she saw Loki's offended expression, "No, no! I like your name! That's not what I meant. I meant that since you do last names differently in Asgard it would be dumb to name our son Loki Lokison, don't you think?"
"Mm, yes, I see. That is redundant," Loki agreed, "What about girl names? Maisy Jr. would be adorable, no?"
"No," she laughed, "My mom's name is Pearl and Maisy means pearl. I don't want to have three generations of pearls."
"Have you thought of any other names for a girl?"
"What about Frigga?" Maisy asked quietly, "I think it's such a pretty name, not to mention the history behind it."
Loki paused, overcome by sadness for a moment, before he smiled a tiny smile.
"I would like that. My mother would like it too, I think. She always seemed like she wanted a daughter. But might we shorten it to Frigg, to avoid confusion?"
"I like it! If we have a girl or two girls, one of them will be named Frigg."
"Any other girl names you fancy?"
"We should get a baby name book," Maisy yawned and hugged a pillow to her stomach, "I want one of them to have a Midgardian name."
"Of course," Loki nodded, "But an Asgardian middle name."
"Then the other kid will have an Asgardian first name and a Midgardian middle name."
"What would sound nice with Frigg?"
"What about Dianne?"
"That's a Kree name."
"No, Die-Ann is a Kree name, but Dianne is a human name. Greek… or Roman? I can't remember my mythology. But it's a goddess of the hunt or something. And it's the name of Die-Ann who died. And it's always nice to make middle names the names of people who died."
"But then our daughter would have the names of two dead people — may they both engage in glorious battle in Valhalla."
"Is that the Asgardian version of 'rest in peace'?"
"Why would you want someone to rest in peace when they could fight gloriously for eternity?"
"Agree to disagree," Maisy laughed, "But why can't we do two dead people names? If you think about it most names - especially Midgardian names - are dead people names. Unless you invent a new one. Just dead people you might not know."
"How about Frigg Katherine? Or Frigg Elizabeth? Or something simple?"
"Boring. You know how many people I know with the middle name Elizabeth? Too many."
"Alright, then what of Frigg Sloane? Seeing as that is your middle name."
"Yeah. I guess," Maisy shrugged, "It is a family name. There have been, like, six generations of ladies in my family with the middle name Sloane."
"Seven is a lucky number. The seventh generation would be fortuitous."
"We'll come back to it. What about boy names? I still want one kid to have an Asgardian name and one to have a Midgardian name. So we need to think of boy names for each."
"Let's make a rule that we don't borrow any male names from my family. We do not need an Odin running around. Or a Laufey for that matter."
"Laufey is a beautiful name though, you have to admit."
"I do not. I hate it. Besides, that would truly turn Asgard against our child."
"That's true. But we could use it as a middle name?"
"I. Hate. It."
"Oh alright. What about Joshua? That'd be cute!"
"No. Your father hates me!"
"Yeah, but I love my dad!"
"What about after your brother? The one who is nice to you?"
"No, 'Bret' is so… I don't know, arrogant sounding. I love my brother though, so you aren't allowed to tell him that. But we could use his full name, Breton, as a middle name though."
They discussed names for a while longer, but Maisy began to drift off to sleep. Her yawns became more and more frequent until Loki laughed, scooped her up and deposited her in bed. As he tucked her in she stirred.
"Are you… yawn… leaving?"
"I thought I might stay the night. Would you mind the company, darling?"
"Promise not to hog the blanket?"
"I promise," he climbed in next to her and drew him to his chest. His fingers sprawled across her stomach, imagining the two babies growing there. She fell asleep quickly and he knew that he ought to try and sleep as well. Being king could really take it out of a person (he was beginning to understand why Odin fell into the Odinsleep when he wanted to escape his problems). But Loki was content just to watch Maisy as she slept and use his magic to feel the lives within her.
Eventually the sound of her breathing made him drowsy enough that he fell asleep too. He dreamt of the future and woke with a smile on his face.
A note from the author: I do no mean any offense to anyone who might have any of the names that were shot down in this chapter! I was just brainstorming baby name ideas for the twins and I decided to make it a chapter. Hopefully no one is mad if I mentioned their name and said something mean about it! I actually mention my own middle name somewhere in here, but I won't say which it is. ;)
In other news, I have the poll for the Linn/Bjorn ship name up on my profile if y'all feel like voting. I made it so that you can vote for two different ones if you want. For the guest reviewers you can leave your vote in a review if you want and I'll add it to the tally. :)
PFoD update: There is cake everywhere and a few balloons and some snow in the corner for those who are in warm places and a beach in the other corner for those of us who live in cold places.
Thank you so much for reading everyone!
Special thanks to my reviewers:
QueenBookDragon: I pretty sure Thor's mind will explode. XD Tony might make tiny baby sized Iron Man suits for them. I think Clint would probably offer loads of parenting advice and baby stuff that he and Laura aren't using anymore lol.
MetallicarBaby: Sorry that you were having a rough day! I hope things are going better now. I know what you mean about the weather. I don't hate many things, but winter weather and winter driving are both things that I hate. :P
Ninja Squirrel: If your poor cat knew that this story caused him to get surprise hugged so many times he would probably hate me. XD I'm glad you like Berilo's description! I tried to make him look like one of the elves from the movies, but also someone Loki wouldn't mind parading around as for some time. And if I could take all of the snow from here and send it to you I sure would, my friend. I am sick of it already lol.
Lwolf: I love that suggestion for a ship name! That's super cute! :D
You guys are the best! Until next time!