Pairing: Loki/Jane; mentioning of Thor/Jane
Rating: M for sensual themes and violence.
Description: Frigga and Odin learn of the pregnancy while Thor insists on bringing up the past with Jane.
Songs: "Waiting for Superman" by Daughtry, "Locked out of Heaven" by Bruno Mars
Chapter 9
The giddiness between the two of them caused even the passing servants and guards to smile in wonderment at the reason for such elation; the dark haired Prince holding tightly onto his beloved's hand as they waited for permission to visit with Frigga. Given that it was still early in the morning; a large portion of Asgard still in their beds, Loki had briefly considered waiting until he knew his mother would be up to tell her of the exciting news.
"After this, my father, Erik, and then Darcy?," he asked; the joy of knowing he was becoming a first time father in months' time making him feel like his younger self.
Nodding and smiling brightly, Jane felt like she was going to burst from how happy she managed to feel. To think she had felt fear and dread over the possibility of being pregnant. Though, as the two of them waited, she wondered if her joy had anything to do with the pregnancy hormones that she had learned about when Darcy first became pregnant and needed to study up on what to expect. Shaking her head slightly, Jane looked from the door to her husband. She knew part of why she was as happy as she was had a great deal to do with Loki. His initial reaction as well as how anxious he had been before they found out the results of the pregnancy test had given her just cause to allow herself the chance to be happy about this. Being scared about giving birth or breastfeeding would come later, Jane knew.
"I imagine we'll have to also tell Thor. He'll be an uncle, after all." The thought that her ex boyfriend was a part of her current relationship was something that, from time to time, was like the large elephant in the room. Her mind wandered to last night's dinner and how he had, unexpectedly, acted. Would he still be that way?
Sounds of the double doors that marked the entrance to Frigga's rooms pulled Jane away from her thoughts. A drowsy Frigga greeted the two of them; the sight of her long locks draped around her form like a shawl.
"Jane? Loki? Is something amiss?"
"Mother, I'm sorry we woke you. We just –" Loki's mind was going in too many directions at once; his excitement at becoming a father; his love for Jane, and now his worry that the two of them should have waited until later in the morning.
Waving a hand to dismiss the apology, Frigga smiled softly while covering her mouth with her other hand as she yawned. "No need to apologize, my son. You two look like you've either done something incredible or something where we're going to have to team together to try to decide how best to tell my husband that one of you broke one of the many ugly vases," she said; continuing to smile as the memory of such an incident concerning a vase had occurred. Instead of it being one of her sons, it had been a much younger version of herself when she and her family were visiting her then-betrothed and his family.
Blinking at his mother's ramblings, Loki tucked the decision to speak with her about it in the corner of his mind before clearing his throat. "Mother, it's not that. Jane and I – we –," he glanced pleadingly at Jane as his excitement was getting too much for him to speak.
Giving his hand a gentle squeeze to help him calm down, Jane took over with telling Frigga the news, "You're going to be a grandmother." The sight of Loki nodding rapidly made Jane's smile widen as she waited for Frigga's reaction.
"A grandmo–?" Frigga found herself afflicted with the same impediment as her son. She mouthed silently the word before her eyelids widened and she let out a loud gasp of surprise and joy. "A grandmother?! Oh my, goodness; Jane and Loki!" She rushed toward the two of them; arms opening to embrace both her son and daughter-in-law. "This is, by the far, the best news I've received since Thor and Sif announced their engagement!" She felt tears that had threatened to spill win over as she bestowed kiss upon kiss to both Jane and Loki's heads.
Surprised at his mother's reaction, Loki chuckled and draped an arm around his mother's waist as he continued to chuckle at the repeated kisses. While he had known his mother would be glad; he had not anticipated her gasping as she had. "I'm just as excited as you are, Mother."
"Oh, I bet, my dear son. But, I feel most of my attention should fall on the mother to be." Frigga turned her attention to Jane and leaned in kiss both of her cheeks. "You've brought so much joy into our world, my dear Jane. From the day Loki told Odin and I that you had agreed to marry him; to the day your lifespan was lengthened thanks to one of Idunn's apples to this. Oh, Jane.." Letting go of her son, Frigga embraced Jane gently. "I know of the loss of both your mother and father and I've cherished each of the times that you and I have spent together. Now with the addition to our family, I would hope you feel comfortable to turn to me if ever you want advice or someone aside from my son to talk to about the pregnancy." Letting go of Jane, she cast a happy glance down at her daughter-in-law's still fact abdomen. "If only each time I woke up early was because of something like this," she chuckled before smiling at the both of them.
"Thank you so very much for your suggestion, Frigga. I likely will be stopping by with dozens of questions once this starts to hit me that I'm going to have an actual baby growing inside of me. Right now I just feel so happy and mellow."
Smiling in recognition, "That's how I was when I became pregnant with Thor. I was practically dancing with Odin and any servant that seemed willing when I found out. Then, a month into it, I was the complete opposite. Carrying the God of Thunder was a pregnancy that I'm still amazed I was able to deal with properly. You've seen him," she chuckled. "With the way he kicked and kicked, I was fairly certain he would want to be a dancer. Instead, like his father, he became a warrior. As for this one," she nodded with a happy smile at Loki; Jane's eyes wandering over to her quiet husband. "While he was a little fussy here and there, he was one of the most mellow babies I've ever known. Compared to Thor, Loki only cried once or twice during the early years. However, he loved to be rocked to sleep by Odin. If it was done by someone else, that was when he cried. So you would imagine the lengths I and the other nursemaids went through to calm him down whenever Odin had meetings to attend to." The sight of her son's surprised expression made Frigga smile. "Yes, my son. There was something peaceful about the way Odin held you; the way you stared up at him as he was your world and you were his." Frigga murmured before looking between the couple happily.
"I never thought - yet another thing he's declined to tell me." Loki bit off with, sighing faintly as he struggled to keep his mood afloat. The last thing he needed was to start dwelling at the great Odin's pathetic attempts at parenting. If what his mother had said to be true, then why had Odin treated him with disdain when his true parentage had been revealed?
Unable to help noticing her husband's mood change, Jane took it upon herself to draw their intertwined hands up to her lips. Mindful of the fact that they were standing in front of his mother, she opted for brushing her lips along his knuckles in a gesture that she hoped would convey the fact that she was there for him and things would be all right. While the idea that Odin had been the only one to soothe Loki as a baby sounded wonderful, she could tell it irked her husband that the care Odin had taken had been greatly needed during one of the scariest moments of his life.
The soft touch of his wife's lips on his hand managed to ease the tension built up from his mother's story; the green eyed God looking over at Jane with gratitude filling his eyes before letting go of her hand to wrap an arm around her shoulders. The feel of Jane's head resting on his chest caused the remainder of the tension to leave as he lowered his head to press a light kiss on the top of her head. He was truly lucky to have someone as amazing as her in his life.
Smiling in a way only a mother happy with her children could manage, Frigga brought a hand up to gently caress Loki's face. "You two truly make quite the pair. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to use up the extra couple of hours for some much needed rest. After all, with a baby on the way, I'm going to need all the energy possible to practice on being a grandmother." Softly kissing her son's and his wife' foreheads, Frigga bowed her head politely and went back to her room; the sounds of the double doors closing behind her.
"Well - one down; a few more to go." Loki murmured; happy that his mother had been as thrilled as he had guessed.
"Mm; your mother is really one of my favorite people. I see so much of her in you." Jane said, emitting a faint yawn as her body began to recall that she had woken up an hour ago; several hours than she was used to as she peered around to see the sky beginning to show the early signs of dawn revealing itself. While she knew that once the baby arrived; sleep was going to be difficult to come by, she found herself wishing the two of them could postpone the continued reports to the important people in their lives that she was pregnant so that she and Loki could get more sleep. Peering up at her husband, she giggled faintly at the sight of him stifling a yawn of his own. "Hey; let's get more sleep, okay? We can take care of the others once we're not so sleepy. Deal?"
Loki grunted in reply as he turned the two of them around; slow and gradual steps echoing along the wide corridors before he got too tired to walk. Scooping his equally drowsy wife in his arms, he magically took them to their room only to carry the two of them to the bed and flop onto it. Laughter spilled out from his throat as he realized Jane was laying over him still. "We're in so much trouble when the baby comes, my dear." Letting go of his wife who laughed as well while moving to lay next to him, Loki moved onto his side and gently tugged the drowsy love of his life toward him. "See you in a few hours, darling."
Loud knocking on the door that separated their room from the long hallway echoed throughout the room as Jane groaned sleepily as her eyes opened, "Wha–" Peering over her shoulder, the sight of her husband's green eyes greeted her. His eyes were narrowed and his lips pursed as he exhaled through his nostrils. "Loki, what's wrong?,"she asked as she rolled over to snuggle close to her husband.
"Thor," he snarled. "He's been knocking on that door for the past ten minutes. I'm surprised he didn't decide to barge in; that bumbling oaf."
Bothered by the annoyance radiating off of Loki, Jane reached up to brush a fingertip along his tense jaw. "Hey; I'll go talk to him, okay?
The touch of Jane's fingertip along his jaw caused his annoyance to ease up ever so slightly as his eyes wandered down to find hers. Nodding to himself, he smiled faintly as his wife's touch had always been able to pull him out of one of his many moods. "Once we're done, we can tell Odin and Erik our news."
Smiling as she remembered that they had recently found out they were expecting a baby in the near future, Jane nodded and kissed lightly at Loki's lips; even going as far as brushing her tongue along his lips to convince them to relax as well. The soft moan that greeted her as she did so caused Jane to grin; she wishing that Thor wasn't interrupting their intimate moment. Pulling herself away from Loki who watched her hungrily, Jane looked over at him and winked with a smirk. His chuckle at her behavior made her again wish that Thor would vanish.
"Jane, open up, it's me!" The God of Thunder exclaimed while giving the door another rounds of knocks.
"Hold on, Thor. I'll be there in a second." She briefly glanced back at the bed; the sight of her annoyed husband making her sigh as she raked fingers through her locks; hopeful that her hair wasn't clumped up in every other direction. Reaching for the door as she opened it, the sight of the tall God standing before with an amused smile greeted her.
"Finally! I was beginning to think you and Loki were no longer in Asgard. I was wondering if you would like to join me for a stroll while we catch up."
"I– ah – Loki and I are–," she looked back in the direction of her husband only to gasp slightly as the dark haired Prince had sneakily moved to stand directly behind her.
Curiosity at his brother's actions had propelled Loki to get out of bed. While he had known of the friendship between both his brother and Jane, Thor's actions during the engagement dinner gave Loki just cause to be apprehensive. "If catching up is all that you two plan on doing, I don't mind taking over with talking to Erik and the others, my dear. Which reminds me," Loki paused to look directly at Thor, "Jane is pregnant with my child. We found out only this morning." It was the initial flash of regret only to be replaced with joy and surprise that set Loki on edge. But, while he was the possessive type, Loki was not ready to alert Thor that he had witnessed the lustful looks.
"Really?" He looked from Jane standing directly before him to his brother behind her. "That's wonderful news!" His face, thankfully, hid away the regret and dismay that he felt at the idea of the two of them starting a family. Instead, he reached over Jane to grab onto Loki's shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze as he smiled at his brother, "You've done well, I see. To think I shall be an uncle. Does Mother know?"
"Indeed, she does. She was the first one we've told thus far." Loki murmured as he watched Thor intently. The way his brother was acting reminded Loki more and more of how he was when both he and Jane were still together romantically. Looking down at the back of his wife's head, his fingers plucked away a strand of the emerald green bedspread from the lengthy locks. "Once you come back, my dear; we can go to the library."
Having remained quiet at the awkward tension between that of her husband and his brother, the sound of Loki's voice warming the many sections of her heart where her love for him resided. Looking over her shoulder at him, she nodded with a content smile at the idea of going to his library. "We can work on names for the baby, too."
Smiling at the idea, the dark haired Prince nodded; the sight of her beautiful eyes tugging at his heart as he bowed his head. As a finger reached down to curl underneath her chin, his lips met hers in a soft kiss; his brother forgotten for the time being.
Grimacing at the show of affection, Thor cleared his throat as loud as he could manage. If the fool thought it was all well and good to touch the woman whose very spirit had inspired him to do great things, then it was only fair that he make it a point to interrupt their intimate moments. While he waited for the two of them to move away, Thor was reminded of why he had chosen to visit Jane and Loki. The sight of her laughing with him as they walked toward the palace had opened up a hunger for the astrophysicist that he had not felt since the two of them had decided to end their relationship. He longed for her in ways that he still could not comprehend fully. All he knew was that he wanted to take what had originally been his long before Loki had decided to take interest in his Jane. The obvious fact that the two of them had never consummated their relationship irked the blonde God of Thunder immensely; the idea that Loki had been successful in being intimate with Jane Foster having been one of the many roots during his arguments with Sif. Sif, he mused. His amazing warrior with her equally amazing heart and body; she was only a replacement for Jane, someone familiar to lose himself in. Still caught in his thoughts, Thor recalled several times when he was bedding Sif that his thoughts were not on the winsome lady beneath him, but on his lovely Jane. Brushing a palm over his face, he was also reminded of the nights when he screamed Jane's name during those intimate moments.
The sound of a throat clearing loudly drew Jane's attention away from the wonderful warmth of her husband's lips; her cheeks blooming as she realized she had been too busy enjoying the God of Mischief's mouth to recall that Thor was still there. Laughing softly, Jane licked her lips and murmured an apology. "We should get going, then. Loki-" the sight of her smirking husband made her shake her head as she laughed, sneaking another kiss much to the chagrin of Thor who chose to look away. "Don't have too much fun without me," Jane exclaimed before walking past Thor.
Licking his lips as well, Loki winked at his retreating wife; laughing to himself as she blushed. "I'll see you later, my dear. Bring her back in one piece, Thor."
"Aye, I shall." Grateful for his success, Thor moved to offer Jane his arm as the two of them walked toward one of the many gardens.
The cool air of the day graced Jane's features as she walked idly with Thor; the lack of conversation a surprise as he was usually the type to talk her ear off. Peering up at the blonde, her eyelids widened in surprise as she found him looking down at her in a way that she had not seen since the days of their relationship. Dozens of questions formed in her mind as she tried to understand why he was looking at her in such a way, but she could not find the words to accurately describe each inquiry. Wishing she had decided against walking around with her ex boyfriend, Jane was about to address Thor, but was caught off as he began to speak.
"You look lovelier than ever, Jane," he murmured softly; his lips curling up in a pleased smile as his eyes roamed openly along her form. He supposed the increase of her beauty had to do with her marriage to Loki; an event that he still was surprised by as his brother once had shone little interest in mortals. But, like him as well, Thor considered that Jane had been the very reason Loki grew fond of mortals; mainly the astrophysicist next to him. "When I saw you with my brother on the bridge, I was instantly reminded of the day we shared our first kiss. Do you remember that?"
Looking up at him in confusion, Jane frowned at both the compliment as well as Thor's mentioning of their first kiss. If she had known the walk was going to start off on an awkward note, she definitely would have declined Thor's offer. Noticing, however, that he seemed to request an answer. "Yeah; that was also the same day you decided to disappear for two years." If awkwardness was to be theme of their conversation, she figured that she might as well add to the pile. Thinking he was going to blush or look upset, the sight of her ex smiling and emitting a soft chuckle proceeded to confuse her immensely. What the heck was going on with him?
"You've been spending far too much time with Loki, Jane. Learning too much of how to poke at me for past offenses. You will remember, however, that I apologized over and over for leaving you. Why you decide to hold onto that particularly faulty choice of mine, I'll never know." He shot back while continuing to walk.
"You're just – you're not acting like yourself, Thor."
So she had noticed, hm? His wonderful Jane had always been able to notice things in ways that surprised him. "You are right, you know. I have come to realize how I've managed to lose something very valuable to me; something that I took for granted." He looked at her pointedly before pausing to place his hands on her face as he forced her to look up at him. "Jane, the night we broke up several years has haunted me. Knowing that I had been too foolish to demand that you spend time with me on Asgard instead of letting you spend time with Darcy has been a constant nightmare of mine. I know this is too much to ask, but I must." He smoothed his fingers along her cheeks; chuckling faintly at the look of surprise that had etched itself on her face. "Leave Loki, Jane. Leave him and I promise I will spend the rest of my life giving you all that you deserve and more. I will even grow to love that baby of yours as my own. I've missed you so much, my Jane, and I love you. Please take me back." Grateful for her lack of communication, Thor moved to the rehearsed step of his plan and lowered his head to capture her lips with his. The touch of her lips caused the God of Thunder to moan softly as the familiar taste of her sweet mouth made him feel as if he was coming home from a long journey.
Shock coursed through Jane's veins as she listened to Thor's request; the very idea of her leaving the man she loved for her ex such a preposterous notion that she was left speechless. What threw her off even more was the all too familiar touch of his lips on hers. Groaning angrily, she brought her hands up and pushed with all her might at his chest; the movement only partly successful as the kiss ended and she was found herself taking a few steps back. Using the sleeve of her well worn sweatshirt that she had packed with her other equally important belongings, she wiped vigorously at her lips; all the while glaring angrily at the now smirking God of Thunder.
"I know that was surprising, dearest Jane, but you have to know how long I've wanted to do that with you. Take me back and I promise there will be more and more where that came from. We will even be able to finally consummate our relationship. I've thought of that particular event dozens of times and I look forward to when you allow me into your bed. I suppose you'll have to explain to my brother who'll be unhappy at the change of events, but I will go with you to help him understand. Once that's all sorted, we can return to Mid–" he was cut off by the painful impact of her palm along his cheek; the sound of the slap reverberating through the quiet courtyard. Grimacing at the sting that formed, Thor drew a hand up to rub at his sore cheek while looking at Jane with hurt in his eyes. "Why did you do that? You've never done it and I suggest you never do it again. I mislike this side of you."
"Thor," Jane began; drawing her equally sore hand to her chest as she used the other hand to rub away at the sting. "I don't want to be with you. If you haven't noticed already, I'll explain. I'm in love with Loki and I plan on loving him for the rest my life. So, the idea of you and I –" she paused to gesture with her sore hand at the space between the two of them before continuing, "being together again isn't going to happen. I don't understand you. At all. When I told you that I was falling in love with him, you were the happiest I've seen you be in a long time. Then at our wedding, he even told me that you were doing your best to help him get ready. Now this. Thor, I don't love you anymore. I thought –" tears threatened to spill at the bizarre turn of events; Jane reaching up to rub at her eyes as she found herself wanting to go home with Loki. She wanted her husband with her now more than ever as his brother's actions and the hurt in his eyes were both things that she felt incredibly uncomfortable with. Gulping slightly as she squeezed her eyes shut, she dared to open them and regretted it as she saw the effect her words had on Thor. Pain and rejection were etched on his face as he stared at her. Knowing that she needed to finish her frenzied thought process, Jane straightened her posture and continued, "What about Sif, Thor? . Loki and I came here expecting you and her to be busy with wedding details. Instead he and I watched her leave while you stared at me."
"Sif.." Thor replied; Jane's words playing themselves over and over again in his head as he struggled to keep his composure. The last thing he needed was to start crying in front of her. "– she was a replacement for you, Jane. I never loved her; only wanted to bed her. She was like every other girl before; hopelessly enamored with me. You, Jane, were the only one to see me as I am. I suppose that's what my brother sees in you as well." He chuckled humorlessly; tears spilling down his cheeks as he reached up to wipe at them. "You were my reason for so many things, Jane. Why I learned to better appreciate Midgard; why I joined the Avengers with Stark and Banner. I wanted a chance to be with you again, Jane; to make up for giving up on us. Instead, I found myself to be the reason why you met my brother in the first place." He said with a rueful smile.
"Thor, I– you have to know that even you brought me here the first time, I started liking Loki almost immediately. Yes, I think Fandral and the others are great; especially when Volstagg comes to visit us in Tromso and criticizes my lack of elegant Asgardian foods." She allowed herself a chuckle at the memory before continuing onward. "I don't think you could have stopped me winding up with Loki. While you and I are great friends for the time being, Loki understands me in a way that I've never experienced. When we're at home, he insists on making me breakfast every morning; determined to remember the way I like my coffee. Or when I can't reach stuff on the top shelf, he doesn't patronize me for being shorter than him. He simply grabs what I want and gives it to me. He's shown me so much about myself and loves me even when I spend too much time working on projects for Tony." She smiled, again wishing her husband was there as she was starting to miss him. "With you and I, I don't think we were meant to be together as you feel. There are reasons why I didn't want to have sex with you and I couldn't always relate to you when you talked about your heroic feats. We're just two different people, Thor. While I definitely found you to be charming and endearing, I thought because you were the proof I needed when it came to the Rainbow Bridge and other worlds that I had to love you. I don't have to love Loki, Thor. It's a choice I make every single day and, so far, I'm very happy with that choice. I just don't get that I have to have this conversation with you again. We already did this when we broke up and when I told you I was starting to have feelings for Loki. You know how much I hate this and it kind of pisses me off that you're bringing all of this up."
As he listened to Jane speak, he was reminded of the day his brother had come to him with news of his having asked Jane to marry him and her accepting. The sight of Loki's joy; his lips caught in a smile that Thor had not witnessed since the two of them were children, it was with a heavy heart that he had accepted that he had lost Jane for good. Now as he stared at the woman who had managed to help both of Odin's sons, he felt the regret from that moment well up in his throat. "I am sorry, Jane; sorry for everything I put you through. I think the time away made me realize that I didn't love Sif; that I never had, but I know I will need to make amends with her for what I've done. As for Loki -" Thor shook his head as a pained smile found its way to his lips, "he's going to be furious when he finds out what I've done. Jane, I must know: was there ever a chance between us?"
"Ah– no, Thor. As blunt as this may sound, Loki is it for me."
"I see." His lips quirked as he glanced down at her boots; the same rain boots that had been a gift from Darcy during the beginning of Thor's relationship with Jane. "Well, I appreciate your honesty, Jane. Truly. I imagine you want to get back to my brother."
She nodded while emitting a faint sigh as she looked at her ex. "I'm sorry, too, Thor. I can tell how much you wanted this to work, but there really is nothing that would convince me to leave Loki." She smiled to herself as she began to wonder her husband's reaction to everything that had happened.
"I can tell. You don't need to apologize, Jane. The heart wants what it wants. My heart wants you while your heart wants Loki. It's only ironic that I've been usurped by a Frost Giant."
Stepping purposefully as anger filled her once more, Jane's previously sore hand connected with Thor's face again; the anger emanating from her startling Thor even more than the slap. "Don't you ever mock him for being a Frost Giant. Do you have any idea the pain he's gone through feeling like an outsider? Before he and I met, he was so angry; so filled with feeling like he didn't belong. Why? Your father told him he was, actually, a Frost Giant that Odin had found as a baby. Do you see him now? How happy he is? That's because of the love between the two of us. So, no more mocking him for it. Deal?"
Nodding; his admiration for the woman before him growing. "Deal. If you will excuse me, Jane, I would like to be alone."
'Of course," Jane murmured while breathing heavily as she grimaced at the fact that she had slapped Thor twice. But, she also knew that both instances were for the best reasons. Deciding to leave before watching him go, Jane turned and walked to where Loki said he was going to be.
(Whew! Finished! :) Will be working on Chapter 10 ASAP!)
