Alex POV

Two weeks and seven conversations with Asgard later, I'm meeting my mother at the Copley Place Mall. Right in front of Santa, very busy, very touristy. I told Loki I only felt comfortable meeting him in a public place. Of course I know that no number of shoppers or tourists are ever going to stop him, but this is all about making him comfortable enough to show, not me.

Discussion after discussion with Asgard. Odin was most interested in getting information about how Loki was going to strike at Asgard, but when he suggested that if Loki kidnapped me, I may want to go along with it to get more info, Sam had to drag Magnus out of the All-Father's presence to keep my boyfriend from telling Odin to go to Helheim. Odin is in Asgard with his army right now, ready in case Loki were to decide to strike today.

Thor is on the premises, hiding. He's supposed to be focused on me, but he seems to be trying on a jacket in Abercrombie. Tyr and T.J. are with him, partially to defend me, partially to try to keep each other from issuing Loki any challenges.

Blitzen is in Armani, across the way from Abercrombie, rolling his eyes at Thor, while Hearth keeps pointing to me and scolding him in ASL.

Magnus is sitting on a bench with me, holding my hand. He will step to the side when my mother appears. We knew Loki would never believe that I came alone, so we're hoping to convince him I have only other person with me.

A tall, thin man with reddish brown hair approaches wearing a Sox jersey. His face is heavily scarred in the daytime light. He stops directly in front of me.

He nods his head to me, then Magnus. "Alex...Mango Cheese...nice to see you both again."

He can't keep his eyes off my baby bump.

"You're getting big, Alex, that's my girl", he says, smiling pleasantly if he's merely meeting his beloved pregnant daughter for some shopping and a bad salad at the food court.

"MY girl", Magnus corrects, squeezing my hand.

"Tell ya what, Mango, why don't you go to Sbarro on me..." Loki extracts a few bills from his wallet and hands them to me. "And let me and my daughter? Son? Daughter? Son? Speak."

"I'm pregnant...MOM", I hiss. He laughs.

"Touché", Loki says, "Let me talk to my daughter alone."

"I won't be far", he says. Magnus and I have this all pre-arranged. It will look like he's distracted buying food, but we have a look-alike in line, while Magnus doubles back and hides within a few feet of me.

"Yes, go", Loki confirms dismissively.

"Alex...", he looks me over head to foot. "We have so much in common you know, darling, and not just being gender fluid, we both want what's best for our child."

"Cut the crap, mom", I say, hands on my hips.

"Oh yes, we have quite a lot in common. Like a temper."

"What do you want? Why do keep asking questions about me?", I ask.

"I've seen the error of my ways." From anyone else, his words would sound suspicious, ridiculous even. But out of the mouth of best silvertongue in the Nine Realms, he sounds downright sincere. "I just want to be a part in your life, and in my grandchild's life, that's all. I want the opportunity to love you, that's all." He practically bats his eyelashes.

"I know you plan to hand the baby over to Surt in exchange for Muspellheim, so you might as well quit lying", I say, "And I know Muspellheim is nothing but a fiery stepping stone for you on the way to taking control of Asgard."

"You've been talking to your sister", he confirms. "But think about it a minute, Alex, you were always the smart one", he flatters, "For Sam, everything is so black and white. It's part of her faith. Do you really think I would give away my grandchild for Muspellheim, which no one even wants? I will trick Surt into thinking I'm giving him the baby, then I'll hand the rug rat right back to you, pinky swear", he grins.

I sigh, and rub the spot between my eyes. This was a mistake. Trying to toy with the man who toys with people for his daily amusement was a dumb idea. Magnus was right. Magnus is often right these days, which just pisses me off more.

"You will NEVER get my children!" I grit out. "You were the worst parent in all nine worlds! Where were you when my father threw me out, literally? When I was being beaten and nearly raped on the streets? Go away, Loki, I don't need you, no one is better off for knowing you."

He looks hurt. And a hurt Loki is a very dangerous one. "Children", he muses, and I gasp. Shit.

"You've been withholding information, and so has your sister. Twins. No wonder they're so powerful..."

"Powerful?!", I yell. "They're babies. They're not even...they're not even born yet."

I see Magnus and he knows that this is a lost cause. I've lost my temper and I'm talking too much. I need to get out of here.

"Yes, little girl-boy, powerful, something you're not. You say you won't let me have them, but you won't be around to decide", he hisses, taking out his hurt like he always does, on those closest to him. "No Jotun or part Jotun has survived childbirth with a human demigod's child...ever. And you won't be the first, my dear. Look at you...so tiny and frail. You're clearly carrying twins, I should have guessed, but every other part of you is frail. You look like you're wasting away. Do you eat?" He cackles with laughter. "I'll take them when you're not around to have a say. You can either terminate, which I won't allow because they're too powerful and useful to me, or die...those are your options. You are, as always, as your father and stepmother always believed...expendable."

Pain and terror shoot through my body. "You will never get my children, Magnus will protect them", I cry, sobbing.

"Mango Cheese is going to stop a god from getting what he wants? Go away, Alex. I doubt I'll ever see you again. But I WILL see those kids. I guarantee it", he hisses, and turns away. "Thank you by the way", he continues, "For creating the means to get me Asgard. Maybe I'll take your kids at the funeral...as a woman in a red dress. That was how I met your daddy. Now that would be amusing." He leaves.

Magnus grabs me as I start to slide to the floor. "The babies...he plans to take our..." Blackness.

Later.

We all sit around Café 19, the cohort in silence over the news.

"I don't see how we can protect them", I say, trying to be strong. "Maybe the moment they're born, they should go to Odin in Asgard. Be raised by him...the gods already consider me a complete failure for spilling the beans about the twins."

Magnus visibly jumps and looks at me like I sold him to the Nazis for a pair of stockings and a Hershey bar.

"Baby, I'm sorry, but they need a god to protect them from a god...I'm trying to save our flesh and blood, our future..." I can't stop crying.

"He won't get those kids", Gunderson swears.

"No fucking way!", Mallory hisses.

"I'll do everything in my power", my sister offers, "They would be happy with me and Amir, but...I refuse to talk about this like it's done. We will save you! We will."

"Damn straight", Gunderson adds.

Magnus is silent. Then a boom.

"Shit!", Mallory yells.

Magnus has punched a hole in the wall. My sweet, innocent, sunshiny Magnus. Gods.

"I was never able to do that", Gunderson says, in awe.

"You're NOT going to die!", Magnus screams, "He will NOT get the twins!" He gathers me in his arms, tears dripping down his face, and soon we're both sobbing.

"I can't watch this", I hear Mallory whisper, wiping away a tear, and Gunderson holds her.

"And EAT something for the sake of the gods!", Magnus yells. And we both start laughing. "No more black, no more sadness. Everybody said I couldn't stop Ragnarock and I did. I did."

"Hey pal...", Gunderson starts.

"Not alone", Magnus amends, "But we're not going to let him get to us. We'll just make sure you don't go anywhere when you're near delivery. No one can actually die in Valhalla. Right guys?"

"Absolutely!" "Yes!" "Hell yes, why didn't I think of that?" ring out.

He wipes away my tears. My sunshiny son of the god Frey. So warm and sweet and hopeful. He's had tough times, yes, but he's never had to hope the cloud had a silver lining, he's never had a cloud in his sky. Except his mother. I forgot about that. Oh shit, I forgot how he lost the only woman he loved once already.

"I love you", Magnus whispers in my ear. "He doesn't know everything, just darkness, just hate, and that's not everything in the universe, it's just NOT."

We hold each other.

"I had an idea..." he starts.

"What...did it get lonely and leave?", I ask.

He shakes his head. "My Alex. Always the same. I think it's time to order a pizza and get you out of black!"

Three Months Later

Magnus POV

I open my eyes to find Alex staring at me. One brown eye, one hazel one, big, open, and staring. It can't be more than six in the morning.

"I thought you'd never open those baby blues", he...no still she...insists.

"What's up?" I ask sleepily. She may have slept like a rock, but I didn't. I was too scared of waking her to move all night.

"I have to talk to you about something."

"Now?"

"Yes, Magnus. Now. I'm concerned about something."

"Okay, what?" I ask.

"I'm fat."

"You're certainly getting there", I say with a sleepy yawn and roll over. I can feel myself hovering between the waking and sleeping worlds. Ah, so pleasant...fadddding out.

WHACK! I'm fully in this world trying to figure out why my head is ringing like a bell. When I stop seeing double, Alex is straddling me, the ceramic pot she made, and bashed over my head, still in her hands.

"Oww!" I yell, "What was that for?"

WHACK! "Ow!" I hold my head until my vision clears.

"You called me fat!", she howls like a demon.

"I did not! You did."

WHACK! "Ow, stop!"

"You are such a...such a...GUY, Magnus Chase. You never, ever, ever, tell a pregnant woman she's fat! If she says she's fat, you disagree with her!", she howls.

"I said no such thing!"

She raises the pot again.

"That's enough of that!" I yell, trying to snatch it out of her hands, but she's always been faster than me.

WHACK!

"Hey!" yell, tackling her onto her back. She kicks me in the stomach and I think I'm going to bring up everything I ate...ever.

"Stop!" I pin her arms to the bed. "For goodness sakes, you only started filling out two months ago! You look beautiful! You're gorgeous, you're glowing! And yes everything is getting bigger..."

She raises the pot again, but hesitates.

"In a good way", I say, kissing down her neck, then seizing first one nipple in my mouth, then the other. "Like these..."

"Stop it, you're bad, you're...oh, oooooh, that's...nice", she moans. The ceramic pot slips out of her hands and crashes to the floor, where it shatters. Thank the gods for that.

I kiss down her chest, down to her belly. "And this. You're so feminine. You look...even more beautiful than you did before. More beautiful than you did the day your father tried to marry Sam off. I want you all the time now, constantly, I can't think about anything else, and I don't know how you feel about it, or if I can...have you that way again..."

She puts her fingers over my lips, smirking. Part of me wants to smack her. A very small part.

"You can have me again", she says. I guess I am a guy because I have her on her side in seconds.

She moans as I push slowly deeper inside her.

"Mmmmmm", she moans, scooting back, "You're such a goofball, you're such a screwup, but there are a few things you're soooo good at."

I reach around to play, softly and slowly. She moans, "Oh, yeah, right there, right there baby, oh gods, Magnus. I love you."

"I love you too", I murmur kissing the back of her verdant hair.

She turns half-way around and gently kisses me on the lips. She kisses me again and whispers. "Cum for me, Magnus, cum inside me. I want to be warm all over. I want to be filled to the brim with sunshine."

"I worship you", I gush, moving harder against her.

"I know", she smirks.

A few hours later, the bed is empty, and I quickly throw on some clothes to see if she's at breakfast.

Sure enough, she's there. I proudly watch her finishing off her second breakfast burrito at Café 19.

"So I guess you two aren't fighting anymore?", Halfborn winks.

"That's just shows what you know, Halfborn Gunderson, we were never fighting", Alex corrects. "We don't fight."

"Could have fooled us, sister", Sam says, smirking.

"Hush now, Samirah, someone will think you're serious", Alex says and I shake my head at Sam. She changes by that minute that girl of mine.

I walk up to order a falafel while Sam and Alex chit chat, and return to sit down next to her.

Apparently she FINALLY took my advice because Alex makes a big show of standing up while I'm watching, and reveals she's wearing bright pink jeans and a tight, form-fitting lime green sweater that shows off and emphasizes every bump and curve.

Several jaws hit the floor. "My, my, you're looking pleasantly plump", Sam gushes, throwing her arms around her sister.

"I am, aren't I?', Alex asks rhetorically. "And only 6 months! I think this means the babies are big. Closer to Magnus's size."

"Our son very well may be", I add. I want to tear off every stitch she's wearing.

"Our daughter might be", she says. I grab her and squeeze her, burying my head in her middle. Alex doesn't try in the least to hide how thrilled she is. "Hey don't embarrass me, we're not alone", she says, but how thrilled she is with the attention fills her voice.

"Oh gods, so sweet", Mallory comments, choking back tears.

"Oh for goodness sake", Halfborn argues.

"What a difference a day makes", I say, holding Alex close to me, ignoring everyone else.

She pushes me away and poses as if she's about to head down the runway. "Well, as much I may hate it, you are right occasionally, Magnus. And in this case, you're right. I do look absolutely fabulous pregnant."

"I'm glad you're pleased with yourself", I say, "And you're right, you do. You're going to make a wonderful mother."

Before I can blink, I'm plundering her mouth, my hands running wildly over my gender-fluid girlfriend's bod.

"And will you love me when I'm 9 months?", she whispers.

"I will worship the ground that cracks and crumbles beneath your feet", I say.

"That's twice now!" she objects, but I can tell she's not mad.

"I love you, and I can't wait to meet our children. I can't wait to meet Alex's children", I say, wrapping my arms around her.

"You're so lucky", Mallory say, bursting into tears. She runs off fast, dropping her tray on her way from the table.

"Now look what you've done", Halfborn says, irritated, and he jumps up to go after her, but Sam stops him.

"I'll go get her. As a woman, I understand this better you do", she says. "She always wanted this, it's just..."

"I'm sorry", I say, but the person primarily injured by our joy isn't here anymore.

"Hey, you have every right to be happy and every right to show it", T.J. says. "Just like she has every right to feel hurt by it. Sometimes life isn't fair. Nobody knows life isn't fair quite like einherjar. She'll be okay."

I pull Alex onto my lap. "It's never my intention to hurt her. Mallory is family." I know it's a lame excuse, but we're excited, just like any other expectant parents right now, even if we don't look like every other couple.

"Not mine either", Alex add. "Mallory is like a sister to me. I think it's terrible...what was done to all of us. And that she can't...it's terrible. But it's not easy to hide any of this."

"And you shouldn't have to", Sam says. "Just be...compassionate and discreet. We all understand how excited you are. I can't wait to be an aunt!"

I'm worried about the whole thing of course, especially after Loki's words, which we've all tried to push from our heads over the last couple of months. Like trying not to think about it will make it go away. I try so hard not to think about it. Sam rubs my arm. "I know you're worried, Magnus. You have to believe that since the gods made this happen, they can make it work out."

"He's more worried than I am", Alex confirms, "And I'm the one giving birth!"

"We just don't biologically, anatomically, know how this is going to work", I say, so eruditely. Ladies and gentleman, I give you Magnus Chase, doctor in training.

"Well it's gotta come out somewhere, doesn't it?" Gunderson asks, making a horrified face.

"Call our children "it" one more time", Alex threatens.

"Honey, stop", I tell her, rubbing her shoulder, "He doesn't mean it that way."

"Are you seriously "honey-ing" me right now?"

"Sorry, Alex", I blush. "Our kids are not an "it", Halfborn, they'll be as perfect and brilliant as their mother."

"Nice save." Alex rolls her eyes.

"I'm off", I say, cleaning up the remnants of my falafel.

"Where to?", Sam asks.

"He's going to see his father", Alex offers.

"Yes, we've already heard quite enough from Loki. I think it's my godly parent's turn for some input."