Alex screams.
"Okay hold on, hold on...okay get ready, and push!", the doctor screams.
"I can't, I can't, I'm exhausted!" Alex yells.
She's not the only one, we've been at this five hours, and the babies are not coming.
"You can", I tell her, though my own doubts are setting my nerves on fire. What happens if she can't?
"You have to", the doctor says, "I don't have enough equipment here, I don't have anything I need, we're going to have to do this the old-fashioned way."
"WE?!", Alex barks, and Sam and I laugh, though our nerves show through.
I grab Sam's hand too. It's sweaty and shaking.
Mallory is pacing and muttering under her breath. Finally, she says, "I can't take this shit anymore", and marches out of the room. We're all handling our fear in different ways, but all of us love Alex and none of us want to lose her.
"And...push!", the doctor commands.
"I can't!"
I take her face in my hands. "Magnus, go away!", she screams, "You don't know what this is like!"
"No, I don't, you're right, but I know what loving you is like. I'm not going to lose you or the twins. You have to be stronger than it's right to ask you to be. You have to try again. Please try again for me. Please", I beg.
She screws up her courage and pushes hard.
"Good, good, the first baby is crowning...wait, what? I...something is...keep pushing", the doctor says. Sam and I share a look.
A loud cry shatters the silence. Sam and I both release the breath we didn't know we were holding.
"Thank the gods", I say.
"Um...", the doctor begins. "Well, you have a son."
Mallory charges back into the room hearing the baby's cry, and runs over to see the baby.
""Why is it... blue?", Mallory asks, bewildered.
Sure enough, the baby resembles a normal child except his skin is bright blue and he seems to have symbols drawn on him.
I have a blue son.
"I was blue when I was born. My mother told me", Sam confirms with a nod of her head. "Jotun children are eager to please, probably because so many are sacrificed for being imperfect. They won't stay blue long. They'll change their appearance to look more like someone who might be willing to take care of them."
Alex nods weakly. "Me too", she whispers. "My father...said..."
"Don't talk, sweetheart, save your strength", I insist.
Alex screams again.
"Number two", the doctor says, cheery for the first time today.
We hand the baby to Sam so I can focus on Alex. "Welcome to the world, little one, you're going to be very powerful. I wonder what your name will be", Sam croons to him.
"Push, push", I coach Alex, as she squeezes my hand so hard, I'm pretty sure the bones are broken. I heal fast.
Alex screams as the doctor says, "You have a daughter!" I take her from the doctor as soon as her throat has been cleared and she lets out a howl of protest at emerging from a safe warm environment into a world that has nothing but cold and sharp edges. She sees the immediate difference between herself and the rest of us, and howls again in rage against an unfair universe. She instantly reminds me of her mother.
"How long do they look like Smurfs?", Mallory asks. Gunderson and his TV viewing habits.
"Anywhere from a day to a month, they'll probably go back and forth for a while", Sam answers and we all look at her.
"What? I did research", she answers.
Alex screams again while we're all distracted.
"Afterbirth, but this shouldn't be bad at all", the doctor says. And then blood... like a river, it gushes from inside Alex and splashes on the floor as if it were raining red.
"Alex!", I yell.
"Bleeding, bleeding, hand me gauze!", the doctor screams. "I need to pack her fast..."
"Magnus!", Alex yells. "Ow, Magnus!" I grab her hand.
"It's going to be okay", I promise.
"Let me see them", she says, "They're yelling because they're hungry..."
"Alex, you're bleeding heavily, the doctor is trying to help you right now, we can't stop to let you..."
"I said hand them to me", she orders. "Please."
We do and she is able to feed them while the doctor works.
"I love you, Magnus. Take care of them, they're going to need you", she says, tears streaming down her face.
"NO! Alex...Alex, stay with me, you're going to be fine...we have to get her to Valhalla NOW!", I yell.
"I agree", the doctor says, too calmly. "All my equipment is there. It would be a disaster to move her, but it would be a disaster not to...the decision belongs to her next of kin. Since her parents aren't here, that falls to Sam."
"They're weeks from getting married, I think everyone here can agree this is Magnus's decision", she says. Heads nod.
"Take her to Valhalla", I say.
"I love you", she says again.
"I love you too, Alex, so much. So much." I wipe away a tear from her cheek, but my hand is covered with her blood.
"You gave me friendship, you gave me compassion, you gave me a kick in the ass all the times I've needed it, you gave me love, and now you've given me children", I say.
"I wasn't going to die without doing that", she says, repeating her phrase that I remember so well.
I lose the battle with tears and croak out a sob.
"Alex, I love you..."
"I love you", she calls out to the twins, "Be good. Magnus, tell them about me. Don't forget me right away." She's sobbing.
"Alex stop!"
"Love you, Beantown. Kiss them for me...", she whispers and is unconscious.
Heimdall has her in his arms and he's racing as only a god can to Valhalla with her in one arm and the doctor in the other.
The rest of us arrive a few minutes later.
"Magnus, I...I'm sorry" the doctor stops, his head in hands.
I crawl onto the table where they put her and hold her. I kiss her forehead.
And I know she's gone. The love of my life.
I don't know what sound I'm making, but everyone is staring at me and they burst into their own tears.
Sam wraps her arms around me and howls. "No, no, no", she keeps repeating.
"But she died here, right?", Sam asks. "She'll wake up."
The doctor grimly shakes his head 'no'. "I don't think we made it. And even if we did, this is a unique issue, it's not like getting your arms chopped off in a battle game here. This was childbirth. She has very little blood left her in body. It was...fated, as you said."
"NO!", I shout. "Where is Loki? Where is Loki? That's all I want to know."
"Loki? Magnus, no. You're not going after him, calm down", Sam orders.
"He could have done something about this, maybe he still could, but he won't...I'm going to find him", I state.
"And when you do?", Mallory asks.
"I'm going to kill him."
"Magnus! You can't kill a god! And even if you could, it wouldn't bring her back", Sam insists.
"That's where you might be wrong", I say.
"Magnus, you're in the throes of terrible grief, you're not thinking", Sam insists. "If you go after Loki, he'll kill you. Then your children would be orphans."
"Then my pain would be over. If I kill him, maybe it will be a tiny bit better. I win either way", I say.
"Oh my gods. Mallory, help me. Don't let him leave", Sam cries.
"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere", I say, "He said he'd be back for his grandchildren. I don't need to go looking for him, he'll find me, and when he does there will one fewer green snake in the world."
"Gods, Magnus", Sam says, wiping away a tear. She walks away and returns from her room with her Valkyrie spear.
"If you're going to try to kill my dad, you won't stand alone", she says.
"No, Sam, absolutely not, I'm not going to force you to attack your father, or force Loki to kill you. I've already lost too much today. Besides, you always wanted to be a mother, and I really need you to take care of the twins. They'll be safe and happy with you."
"Magnus! You're their father, please..."
"He'll help or he'll die", I repeat.
"How could he help at this point?", Mallory asks.
"Something I heard from a throne. It's complicated. But this time I won't be taking "no" for an answer..."
"Where are they?", I hear in all too-familiar voice behind me.
Readers: this is NOT the last chapter, relax