"...and for several days no one could find the trickster, Loki. But he returned several months later with an eight legged colt. He gifted the horse to Odin, who named it, uh, Sleep-ner… or something. Wait… oh my gosh," Maisy looked up from the story book she was reading and spotted Loki as he slipped into the room. She wrinkled her nose, "Are they saying that you turned into a girl horse, seduced the wall-builder-guy's horse, and that you were pregnant as a horse and gave birth?!"
Loki blinked in surprise and tried to fathom what in the nine realms she was talking about. Then he spotted the book in her hands and read the title: Norse Myths for Children.
"I believe I've told you before that our dear elven friend, Tzefira, may have spread some rumors of Asgard to the vikings. She was rather creative."
"So you never, uh, had a horse lover, right?"
"Right," he laughed and bent down to kiss her forehead, "What are you doing? Reading out loud to yourself?"
"Err, no," she shifted on the sofa and put a hand to her belly, "I asked New Heimdall Guy-"
"Skurge?"
"Yeah! That guy! I asked him if there was any way for me to go down to Midgard for a few hours to browse through a library. I wanted to find some books about pregnancy written from human perspectives. He sent me down to the public library in my hometown and I found a ton of good resources!"
Loki bit back a response that she really shouldn't be leaving Asgard without protection and certainly not without him. She probably wouldn't have appreciated him saying such a thing and she looked so happy that he let it slide. Besides, as she had said to Egil many times, she was an adult and capable of making her own decisions. Loki just wished she would have talked with him first.
"And this led to you reading a book of 'myths' how?"
"Oh, right," Maisy grinned widely, "When I was checking the books out the librarian said that I should get some children's books as well and start 'reading to the bump'. Apparently it helps parents get into the habit of reading to their kids and kids who are read to when they are little do better in school and stuff later on! So I grabbed some picture books," she gestured to a pile next to her on the couch, "And I found this one about Norse myths that I thought would be funny."
Loki picked up the pile of picture books and sat down next to her, flipping through the first book on the pile. He raised an eyebrow.
"'The sun did not shine, it was too wet to play, so we sat in the house all that cold, cold, wet day,'" he read aloud. "What nonsense is this? Cat? In a hat?"
"It's a classic kids book! Dr. Seuss!"
Loki looked at more of the books, which were also authored by this doctor.
"Horton Hears a Who, Green Eggs and Ham, Daisy Head Mayzie?"
"That last one was one of my least favorite books as a kid. My mom read it to me all the time because the main character is named Mayzie and I'm Maisy, but I hated it."
"And yet you plan to read it?"
"Well… for nostalgia's sake."
"I don't think that's how nostalgia works."
Maisy laughed and set the book on Norse myths aside. She scooched closer to him and rested her head on his chest. He stroked her hair absently as they simply enjoyed each other's company. It was odd to him that even though he'd always used words and his silver tongue to get what he wanted, with Maisy he didn't have to say a word. Somehow, even in silence, there was no place he'd rather have been.
They sat like that for some time before Maisy spoke up. Loki had thought she'd fallen asleep until she looked up at him.
"You banished Fulla?"
"I did. She'll despise Midgard."
"Why did you change your mind about killing her?"
"I think this is worse," he smirked, "Besides, I am trying to take the advice of my beloved wife and kill less people."
"I really appreciate the effort," her cheeks reddened, "But this is one person who I wouldn't have minded you killing. No one tries to kill my babies and gets away with it."
"Oh now you tell me!" He teased.
"If anyone tries to kill the twins then you have my permission to kill that person quickly," she snuggled against him again, "They aren't even born yet and I already love them so much."
"Just imagine when they'll be running around driving us insane!"
"I can't wait to hug them."
"You do realise they may be the most spoiled children in all of the nine realms, don't you? You won't deny them anything and I'm afraid I won't be able to help loving them endlessly."
"Plus they'll have Linn, who is going to be the best babysitter ever."
"And Thor," Loki laughed, "Thor as an uncle will be most interesting. He'll probably try to teach them how to wield a battle ax by the time they are three."
"Oh no, no. They can have Nerf guns, but they aren't getting anything with a sharp edge until they are at least four hundred years old!"
"Not even a dagger?"
"No!"
"What about magic? Can I teach them magic?"
"I don't know…"
"Just a little? A few spells? Maybe a curse or two?"
"Fine. As long as I get to teach them how to sew."
"But a needle is sharp and you said nothing sharp!"
They playfully argued back and forth for some time. As the banter continued, Loki thought about the future. He couldn't help but worry over it's unpredictableness and what it would mean to have two more people in the universe that he would have to trust and love. Not to mention that they would both eventually know that he was not Odin or Berilo. Two more people who could spill his secrets. Two more people for him to worry over. Two more people for his enemies to target.
But, he supposed he already worried over Thor and Linn. And of course, his Maisy. If he could help her survive all of the many attempts that had been made on her life in just the first year of their marriage, he supposed he could help their offspring through the trials of life as well.
"Maisy," he said when their conversation lulled, "You know I would do anything for you, don't you?"
She grinned at him and kissed his cheek.
"Yes, I know."
"I think it will be the same for them," he gently laid a hand on her abdomen, "I will… I will protect and love all three of you even if it," he cleared his throat, "Even if it were to mean my own demise."
"You're going to make me cry," she warned, her eyes already looking wet, "I'm full of hormones. You can't just go and say stuff like that."
"I mean every word of it," he took her hand and kissed each knuckle.
"I would too," she used her free hand to swipe her eyes, "For you. And for them. I love you. Like, a lot. I'm not as good with words, but I love you, Loki. A ridiculous amount."
He chuckled and trailed kisses up to her lips. Pausing momentarily to smile at her.
"We've certainly come a long way from when the only words you would speak to me were to ask where the shampoo was."
"Yeah, and you didn't even know what shampoo was back then!"
"Never in my life have I been so glad to have met a woman who was bleeding to death."
"Well, that's one creepy way to put it."
"It's true though. You looked terrible when I met you. Blood gushing everywhere, I think you drooled a bit. And you certainly ruined my sheets!"
"Oh, I'm so sorry to have nearly died."
"I suppose it is no matter now. The loss of the sheets was well worth what I got in return."
"I'm pretty happy with the outcome myself," she giggled, "Thank you for saving my life even if I left blood everywhere."
"Anytime, my lady."
They both laughed before he started kissing her again, with no intention of stopping any time soon.
THE END
A note from the author: And that, my darling, wonderful, amazing, awesome readers is the end of our tale... mostly. We've had a lot of good times together and we've had a lot of times where I put the poor characters in mortal danger. But we have come to the close now. At least, the close of the main story.
I have many super fun one shots that I have been working on and will continue to work on that I'd love to share with you guys if you want to read them. Or even if you don't. I'm posting them one way or another. I may also include deleted scenes from Till Death Do You Part and this story because I have them lying around and someone expressed interest in them at some point. I have also been playing around with the idea of doing a Q&A with the characters that breaks the fourth wall because one of my favorite FF authors, LoquaciousQuibbler, did that with her OC story and I loved it so much. So, if you have any questions for me, Loki, Maisy, Linn, Bjorn, Odin, Egil, Blaze, or anyone else who has shown up in my writing go ahead and ask and I will see what kind of wacky Q&A I can cook up.
Hopefully by the time you see this, the first one shot for my "bonus features" will be posted and you can enjoy that too. :) I decided to post the story I call "Beach Babes" because on the poll I made that one tied with "Blaze's Day Off" only because Blaze used my vote for her own story. ;) "Beach Babes" is a super silly random fluffy story without much plot and most of my one shots will be that way. If you like fluff then you are in the right place. So far the forecast calls for very little angst.
Okay, with all of that business out of the way, I can't let you go with out one more giant THANK YOU to everyone who has stuck with the story this far. Like, dang, this fic is absurdly long, I can't believe how many people have stuck with it and how many people have joined in the fun we have. You guys are amazing and I am so grateful to everyone who clicked on this thing and decided to give it a go. So, as a last hurrah, thank you so, so, so much to those of you who read, those of you who followed, those of you who favorited, and, of course, those of you who reviewed. I would have never finished this story without your encouraging words and your wonderful, brilliant goofiness. Thanks for putting up with me, y'all.