"I remember having a very specific conversation with you about staying my sweet little baby forever, what happened?" I asked with a frown as I struggled to dress my daughter in her special birthday dress, navy blue with white polkadot patterns covering the material - a tiny replica of my own.

"You okay Tam?" I heard the soft voice whisper from the door frame behind me as I turned to nod.

"Where has the last year gone?" I sighed, brushing down the material of my own dress as Sif kicked her legs and sucked her fist on our bed, still in her diaper as I gave up the fight to get her in the dress. "One minute, your waters broke and ruined the good bedsheets and the next she was saying mama. Give it half an hour and she'll be asking to borrow the car." I frowned, my forehead furrowing as Bo stepped forward to rub my arms.

"Kids grow up Tam, we've just got to make the most of the time we have whilst she's still too small to argue back." Bo laughed, standing on her tip toes to kiss my forehead.

"We don't even know if she has powers Bo, what if she isn't even Fae? We stopped aging in our twenties, we will live for thousands of years. What if she dies before us?" I panicked, rubbing my temple as the thought alone nearly brought on an anxiety attack.

"I've thought about it more than you know babe." she sighed, "I know we said we wouldn't run tests on her until she was older but I can't live like this, the thought of her growing old before me is too much." she conceded.

"Y-you wouldn't to give her up to a human family, would you?" I choked, curious as to whether my wife would sooner her live with a family of her own kind if she were human.

"Jesus christ, no!" Bo fired back "We promised each other that we would love our daughter no matter who or what she was, if she's human - then we will just have to find a way to move past it." she assured, pulling me into her arms as I quietly nodded in agreement, breathing in the smell of her hair as it eased my disposition. "You look so pretty in a dress by the way, the last time I saw you in one you were standing at the bottom of an aisle waiting for me." my wife smiled, reminiscing on our wedding. "Although even then you had a sword attached to your waist." she sniggered.

I went to say something snarky back but the babbles of the tiny person less than a metre away softened me. "Mama." the little voice summoned me, "Mamama." she tried again, furrowing her forehead just like me as she clearly waited for my attention.

"What do you want stink butt." I said in that annoyingly high voice all adults use to talk to babies, blowing raspberries on her stomach as she giggled. "Let's get you in this dress before I have a breakdown and throw you out there in your diaper little one." I chirped, blowing another raspberry on her tummy as the sound of her giggles became more addictive than any drug I've ever taken.

"I'll leave you two to get ready, you've got ten minutes before everyone starts showing up." Bo acknowledged, taking a moment to watch us as I finally got Sif in the dress. "You two are so cute." she whispered through a grin, her voice that sugary octave only achievable by adoring mothers who are talking about their families.

"Yeah, tell me that as soon as I've got my heels on. I haven't walked in a pair in months it's going to be like Bambi on ice." I scowled, putting my feet in the navy blue pointed heels as I turned back to breathe in how radiant Bo looked. "You look so beautiful you know?" I commented, loving the way the summer dress clung to the curves of her sides, highlighting her waist, falling in love with how her long dark locks fell over her shoulder as she turned to look back at me, practically in awe of the arches of her legs in the slingbacks she wore effortlessly.

"Really? Kenzi keeps talking about 'statement pieces' and I was worried I didn't have any good accessories." she mentioned, looking at me hopefully as I drunk in her beauty.

"You've got the biggest statement accessory there is, you've got me on your arm." I smirked, turning back to fix our daughter's hair as a knock came to the front door. "You go down babe, I'll be downstairs as soon as I've fixed her weave." I joked, brushing her curly white blonde hair.

. . . . . . . . . .

I sat in the armchair with Sif on my lap as we all gathered around the coffee table where her presents were laid out, Tamsin perched on the arm rest with her camera - Trick, Kenzi, Dyson and Hale struggling to fit on one sofa as Acacia, Bruce, Lauren squeezed together on the other. "What present shall we open first little miss?" I chirped to Sif, bouncing her on my knee as she smiled adorably.

"Can she open mine first Bo?" Bruce asked, passing the gift with his intimidatingly large hands, grinning ear to ear. "I think she'll like it." he added with the deep yet gentle voice we'd came to known our giant friend by.

"Sure Bruce." I laughed, placing it in Sif's lap and helping her with the unwrapping as the sound of the ripping paper made her burst into bellyaching fits of laughter.

"What is that thing?" Tamsin asked, her face screwing into uncertainty as I pulled up the garment of clothing.

"It's a onesie with tattoo sleeves, when she wears it - it'll look like she has tattoos on her arms like her favourite uncle." he beamed, flexing his arms to demonstrate.

"Did your mother drop you on your head Bruce?" Acacia point blank asked, crossing her arms as she turned to face him.

"Mom..." Tamsin warned as the older redhead relented and offered a quick 'sorry'.

"Thank you Bruce, I'm sure she's going to love it." I beamed back, tickling Sif's sides. "Say thank you Uncle Bruce." I sing-songed to her as she giggled, leaning her back against my chest.

"Just so long as she doesn't get any real ones, ever." Tamsin added.

"She can make her choices when she's an adult." I replied democratically.

"Or piercings."

"Okay-"

"Or dye her hair any weird colours."

"Tamsi-"

"Or date until she's thirty."

"Okay we get the point!" I quickly halted her tangent as everyone, including her mother struggled to hide their smirks.

"You know, I never thought you'd turn out to be the responsible, hardass mom - I always thought you'd take a more relaxed, easy going approach like I did." Acacia wondered aloud as Tamsin threw her an incredulous look.

"Mom, you took me to the Battle of Ten Kings for my seventh birthday and said we couldn't go home until I fired my first arrow in battle." she reminisced. "Hardly relaxed." she added with a scowl.

"Do you remember what Vishvamitra said on that battlefield?! He said you were the deadliest shot he'd seen in years - how many other six year olds do you know who had a body count that ran into the dozens before they could even spell the word valkyrie?" she countered, rolling her sleeve up and pointing to a scar on her arm. "The proudest battle scar I have is from when I taught you how to use your first sword and you accidentally hit me with the tip." she levelled, rolling her sleeve back down. "And the proudest battle scars you'll ever wear are the ones that come with parenthood - so take a tip from your old mom and just roll with the punches." she advised, handing us a plainly wrapped gift. "Now let the baby open her present from her favourite Gran-" she paused, "Acacia. Her favourite Acacia." she altered, still uncomfortable with the G word.

Tamsin took the gift and passed it to me as she stared slack jawed at her mother for a moment. "That's possibly the nicest thing you've ever said to me Acacia." Tamsin replied, slightly lost for words.

"Yeah well - just because I didn't know how to show it as much as you do doesn't mean for a second I didn't love my daughters." she offered with a smile before backtracking again. "Daughter. Doesn't mean I didn't love my daughter."

Tamsin didn't push her this time, she left it alone as Hale piped into the conversation. "What did you get her Acacia?" he asked, as me and Tamsin both prayed in unison it wasn't another superstitious knife.

"Oh - just a little something that used to belong to Tamsin." she wryly smiled as I practically felt Tamsin's heart start racing.

"Please tell me it's not another blade." Tamsin appealed to her mom as the older woman offered my wife the same wry smile as I tore open the paper.

"Oh Tamsin- look." I whispered, patting her arm at the object inside the little jewellery box hidden in the now ripped paper. "It's a charm bracelet." I smiled, lifting it delicately as I observed the charms already hanging from the gold chain.

"I thought I lost it?" Tamsin asked with confusion, taking it from my hand to examine it before turning back to her mother.

"You cried for weeks when you lost that bracelet, your father offered to have five more made for you if you just calmed down." she laughed at the memory. "He found it when he was in the fields of Valhalla re-enacting Ragnarok with his friends. We couldn't believe it was the same one, maybe it was supposed to find you again now that you have a daughter of your own." Acacia knowingly smiled. "Oh that reminds me- your father sends his love, Odin's sent him to capture Nidavellir - again." she rolled her eyes.

"Mom seriously please stop telling everyone about dad's battle re-enacting group it's so embarrassing." Tamsin frowned.

"Me next." Lauren quickly interjected as Kenzi went to pass her present across the coffee table as my best friend frowned at being the birthday equivalent of cock blocked "Sorry Kenz." she laughed, jumping up to pass me the pristinely ribbon wrapped gift as Sif went crazy over the ribbon, pulling it in her squidgy little fists as Tamsin turned back to snap some more photos.

I guided Sif's hands, helping her tear the paper as she dribbled down her chin. "What is it Sif?" I cheerfully prompted as she babbled back at me incessantly.

"The tools necessary to clone Dolly the Sheep apparently." Tamsin muttered as I elbowed her in the side.

"It's a 'My First Science Set' actually - it's age appropriate from eighteen months onwards but seeing how clever she is I thought she might be able to play with it now." Lauren explained with a smile, waving her hands at Sif which elicited waves back.

"That's nice and all but if it isn't tied down with a lead weight or disproportionately bigger than her head - Sif will find a way to fit it in her mouth and eat it." Tamsin added, looking down to stroke Sif's soft baby hair. "I think we'll leave the toys with small detachable parts for a few months, or at least until I convince Bo that a baby muzzle is a good idea." she smirked, before I elbowed her considerably harder in the side.

"I'm kidding!" she protested, throwing her hands in the air as the elbow unbalanced her perched position on the arm of the chair.

. . . . . . . . .

The presents went on for another hour as we tore through them all, the growing pile of toys and keepsakes on the coffee table growing considerably. The inflatable ball pit from Kenzi was probably the gift Sif would enjoy the most, although Tamsin scowled at the thought of the colourful balls being thrown all over the crack shack.

"Now that we've got through the presents, how about we get started on the barbecue?" Dyson suggested, standing from the sofa and stretching his legs as Acacia quickly jumped up to join him.

"I thought you'd never ask Wolfman, another fifteen minutes and I would of had to eat those adorable little cheeks." she trailed into a chirpy baby voice as she leaned over to kiss Sif on her blonde crown of hair. "She's your double Tamsin." Acacia sighed.

"She might look like me, but she's all Bo. Not that I'm complaining, it's like having two of my favourite person." she beamed, leaning down to kiss me on the lips as Kenzi shuddered at the PDA.

"Gross." she play-whispered to Hale as he pulled her by the arm into his embrace.

"Come on Lil' Mama, me and Dyson will work the barbecue - you can help bring the food up." he suggested as they made their way to the roof terrace along with the rest of the group.

I stood up from the chair, holding Sif to my shoulder as I stretched my feet.

"Wait a sec." Tamsin halted me. "I have a gift for Sif too." she admitted as I sat back down in the chair.

"What did you get her?" I queried as Sif balanced on stiff legs on my lap, using my hands for support. "Please tell me it wasn't the baby muzzle Tamsin." I sighed, shooting her a look that told her I was serious.

"What? No! Of course not!" she sputtered, "I got her this." she smiled, placing an envelope in my hands as I stared at her with confusion, waiting for her lips to betray her and tell me what's going on. "Open it." she urged me, shifting her weight from one heel to the other as I saw the nervousness dissipate from her.

I opened the envelope, pulling out the fine piece of paper as I shot Tamsin another look of confusion. "Read it." she pressed further.

I looked closer, realising it was a receipt as the 'Toys R Us' logo sat faded at the top, telling me she'd been holding this receipt for a while, I read the receipt, still completely in the dark at what was going on. "Why the hell did you buy her a swing set Tamsin? Where are we going to fit it?" I asked incredulously, bouncing Sif on my knee as she tore the envelope out of my hand to play with. "What is mama up to Sif?" I whispered to the baby, loud enough for Tamsin to hear me.

"There's plenty of room for it." the blonde added, playing with the material of her navy and polka dot dress.

"Where Tamsin? The roof terrace?" I snorted.

"In the garden of our new home." she almost whispered, looking at the floor as the words left her lips, before she glanced up at me with honest eyes that told me she was serious.

"W-what do you mean?" I asked with uncertainty.

"Well, when she starts walking this place is going to be a death trap." she noted, pointing at the bare wood floor and half destructed walls. "And we said we wanted her to have a garden to play in and she's going to need a bedroom of her own, so I wanted to do something to surprise you, so I bought you both a house." she smiled, kneeling next to me and kissing the palm of my hand as my watering eyes stopped me from speaking, before she kissed the tip of Sif's nose. "Happy birthday litten bjorn." she smiled as Sif placed her hands either side of Tamsin's cheeks. "Don't worry, if you don't like the house - I can get the deposit back, but I know you're going to love it, the place is going to be home to so many happy memories we'll make together Bo." she grinned as I pulled her against me into a hug, our daughter caught in the middle of the love as I deepened our kiss.

"I love you so much Tamsin." I cried, wrapping my arms around her neck.

"Not nearly as much as I love the both of you." she whispered.