"Do you want to try and say her name with Mommy?" I asked, staring at the pouting blonde four year old in front of me as she crossed her arms and shook her head, stomping her feet against the marble of the kitchen floor.
"Her name is Pop-pops." Sif countered, stalking back into the living room where Tamsin laid barely awake with a tiny pink bundle of Fae on her chest. "Mama, tell Mommy." she pleaded, under the impression that Tamsin was the boss of the house. 'I'll have to talk to her about that one later.' I noted, choosing my battles more wisely.
"If you want to call your little sister Pop-pops, you can call her Pop-pops." Tamsin placated her, grinning as Sif stepped a little closer to peak at the week old baby nestled on top of her mama. "Your first name is Ayla, but we all call you Sif… maybe this can be like that?" Tamsin tried to explain as Sif's expression softened a little bit.
"Why is my name Ayla if everyone calls me Sif?" she narrowed her gaze in confusion.
"Because you're a princess of Asgard just like Mama - and it's important for princesses to have special names, but Mommy wanted you to have a choice between the two." I explained, carefully choosing my words as Sif looked over to me before nodding in understanding.
"So I can call her Pop-pop, even though her name is Elin?" Sif asked with curious eyes.
"Olivia Elin Dennis to be precise." Tamsin chirped, staring googly eyed down at our baby as she woke with a yawn, ready for feeding. "Elin for short though, or Pop-pops." Tamsin finished, patting the space at the side of her as Sif scrambled up to sit next to her Mama as Elin broke a deafeningly loud cry at the disturbance.
"Bo she's doing the thing again…" Tamsin panicked, staring down at the tiny baby in her arms as the wails picked up in volume, until I swooped down to grab her that is. "I don't know how you do it, how do you make her stop?" Tamsin asked curiously as Sif used Tamsin's empty arms to her advantage and scrambled into her lap for a hug.
"She's crying for her mommy, that's all." I smiled, cooing over my newest addition.
"Was I that small too?" Sif asked with perplexion as she sat in Tamsin's lap.
"You were tiny when you were a baby, your butt fitted in the palm of Mama's hand." I laughed, noting Elin's quiet mews as the newborn against my chest fell fast asleep again, her big brown eyes closed shut as little snores escaped her parted lips. "You used to cry for Mama in the middle of the night and she'd walk around the shack bouncing you until morning." I laughed, whilst Tamsin smiled at the memory.
"I'm gonna go and play." Sif added as she wiggled out of Tamsin's lap and ran off to her bedroom.
"Do you think she's okay?" Tamsin asked quietly as I curled next to her with the sleeping new addition.
"I think it'll take some getting use to, she's not an only child anymore…" I sighed, thinking about all the baby books we read about jealous older siblings.
"Maybe you two can have a day to yourselves next weekend?" I suggested, before Elin caught our attention with the most adorable little yawn. "I don't think she's happy about sharing you with this little one." I mentioned, before noting a flicker of something painful in Tamsin's eyes. "What's wrong?" I asked cautiously, Tamsin's body had snapped back to immaculate shape virtually as soon as she gave birth - but her hormones were still all over the place.
"I just remember how sad I was when Sif was born, having to share Acacia with her…" Tamsin frowned.
"What are you talking about?" I asked with confusion, until the penny dropped and it occurred to me she was talking about her sister.
"I always felt like Acacia didn't have time for me after my sister was born… I don't want Sif to feel like that." she concluded. "Do you think she's jealous of how much time Elin spends with you too?" she asked as I passed her the hungry kicking baby.
"I'll always be Sif's mommy, but you're her hero Tam." I mused, gently tracing my finger over Elin's tiny feet as her big brown eyes opened wide, searching around the room before Tamsin placed the baby on her chest to feed.
"She looks just like you Bo." Tamsin smiled, stroking the dark brown crown of hair as I nestled a little closer into her side.
"I completely get why you loved watching me feed Sif when she was a baby, it's so peaceful." I sighed, "Both our girls are a perfect mix of us... Sif is your spitting image and she has my personality, maybe Elin will be the opposite?"
"Here's hoping." Tamsin added, lifting Elin to her shoulder to burp her. "it would be nice having a mini you running around too." she smiled sweetly.
The peaceful reverie was shortlasting, the giant crash and banging upstairs was quickly followed by Elin's wailing screams.
"You take Pop-pop's, I'll check on Sif." Tamsin barked with a panicked tone, passing me the baby as she shot up the stairs in police mode.
. . . . . . . . . . .
"What the hell is going on?!" I barked, crashing through Sif's bedroom door as she sat on the bed with her knees pressed against her chest.
"The naughty elf did it." she whispered as I looked around her room, the colouring table upturned as crayons decorated the floor, the books on the shelf scattered across the room, before the worst damage caught my eye - the curtain ripped from the pole above her window.
"We've talked about this Sif." I said as sternly as possible, my heart breaking a little bit over these temper tantrums. "Breaking things to get attention isn't okay."
"But Mama! The naughty elf did it!" she pleaded with innocent eyes.
"If the naughty elf did it, why is he never here after you've made a mess?" I countered, picking the iPad from the side table as I held it up for her to see. "You're grounded from Netflix for a week." I growled sternly. "All of this better be tidied up before Mommy comes upstairs otherwise it'll be two weeks." I raised my voice, trying to hold my stoic composure as she screamed and cried, kicking the mattress in a tantrum.
"Mama I'm not lying!" she screamed at me, anger pouring venomously from her normally sweet and innocent eyes.
"I want you to tidy your bedroom, and don't come downstairs until you're ready to apologise and think about why you messed your things up." I said stoically with an air of finality before closing the door behind me and taking shaky steps downstairs.
. . . . . . .
"What happened?" I asked, settling Elin in my arms as Tamsin slouched against the sofa.
"The naughty elf, again." she frowned.
"Jeez" I groaned. "-that elf gets around."
"Is she doing it for our attention?" Tamsin asked, rubbing her temples as she plucked the baby from my arms. "Don't ever grow up Elin, stay sweet and quiet forever." she sing-songed, kissing her on the tip of the nose as she wrinkled her little face in response.
I sat back and admired my wife for a moment, drinking in every inch of her and our life together as I wondered what I would of said if someone had told me seven years ago that the Dark Valkyrie I'd made a personal enemy of would be the doting mother of my two children, and rather than fighting each other we would be fighting our four year old daughter's temper tantrums. I'd probably think I was still in the Dawning.
"Here she comes." Tamsin whispered as footsteps snuck downstairs and a sulky small figure appeared at the doorway. "Do you have something to say to Mommy and Mama?" Tamsin encouraged her, putting Elin in the moses basket.
"I'm-I'm sorry that I'm naughty." Sif stuttered through tears as she tried to catch her breath.
"You're not naughty monkey, but you can't keep making messes and blaming it on the elf." I explained as Tamsin's face grew ashen at seeing our daughter so upset and distressed.
"I'm Dark Fae and that's why I'm bad and naughty." she sobbed a little harder. "That's why you made Pop-pop's, because I'm too naughty for you to keep anymore." she added between sniffles.
"No Monkey, we made Pop-pop's because we loved having you so much that we wanted another baby." I explained as Tamsin's face grew even more pale.
"Why do you think you're Dark Fae?" Tamsin asked quietly.
"I just know I'm Dark Fae, the naughty elf said that you and Mommy wouldn't love me anymore if I was Dark." Sif stuttered.
"You know Mama's Dark Fae right?" Tamsin added, hoping that Sif's neverending love of being just like her mama would cheer her up.
"But I wanted to be Rainbow Fae like Mommy…" Sif sobbed harder, running towards me for a hug as I picked her up and rubbed her back.
"Well we love you either way, okay?" I interrupted, kissing the top of her blonde crown of hair as she peaked from my chest to look at her mama.
"Are Dark Fae bad Mama?" Sif asked timidly.
"We're not bad, we just do things with style." Tamsin smirked, opening her arms as Sif scrambled for a hug. "But no more tantrums." Tamsin acquiesced.
. . . . . . . . .
I laid in bed with Tamsin's sleeping figure curled up against my chest, the baby monitor on the side table silent as I rested in the peace that all of my valkyries were safe and sound asleep, until I heard whispers over the static of the monitor.
"Your naughty!" the small voice growled as I immediately recognised whom it belonged to. "Sif." I sighed, gently levering my way out from underneath Tamsin's iron clad grip as she wrinkled her nose at the disturbance then drifted back into the depths of her sleep.
My creaking footsteps went unnoticed as I stepped closer towards Elin's nursery. "I hate you so much." I heard Sif's voice whisper as my heart broke a little bit.
"What do you think you're doing young lady?" I asked, opening the door to find Sif sat in the chair next to Elin's crib as the smallest of my daughter's laid peacefully awake, kicking her little chubby legs - probably waiting for Tamsin to come and feed her. "It's 2.00AM." I added, pointing towards the hallway. "Get back to bed right now."
"No Mommy." Sif challenged me, "The naughty elf will come for Pop-pop's if I'm not here."
"Enough with the naughty elf!" I shouted, momentarily losing my temper as Elin cried from the startle which was quickly joined Sif's own tired sobs.
"What is going on?" Tamsin hurriedly called as she stumbled towards the nursery in nothing more than briefs and a vest to see what the trouble was, our two daughters screaming away in unison. "Sif what are you doing out of bed?" Tamsin frowned, a Mexican standoff underway as the duo stared at each other with matching messy blonde bed hair, Sif's eyes red from the crying and tiredness.
"The naughty elf was trying to get to Pop-pop's so I had to protect her." Sif whimpered, sitting back down in the rocking chair next to the crib.
"It's not your job to protect her Monkey it's Mommy and Mama's, go to bed." Tamsin said sternly, picking Elin's tiny screaming shape out of the crib. "Jeez for such a little baby she wails so loud." Tamsin muttered, "She's due a feed, are you okay handling this one?" she added, nodding her head towards our elder daughter.
"But I'm telling the truth Mama…" Sif whispered as Tamsin went back into our bedroom with Elin, ignoring Sif which made her cry fresh tears down her angry red cheeks.
"Save it young lady." I said as sternly as possible, "we're going to have a serious talk tomorrow morning about what we're going to do with you, but for now you need to go to bed."
"You're going to give me away aren't you?" Sif growled, her body language suddenly stiff and angry. "The naughty elf was right." she gritted her teeth.
"Woah- what? No!" I answered back, kneeling so I was at her eye level. "We love you so, so much Monkey." I offered her gently, opening my arms as I waited for her little body to crash against my own for a cuddle - but it didn't come.
"You're lying Mommy! You're going to give me away to the naughty elf!" she roared, before her eyes turned dark and hollow, her cheek bones becoming prominent… only this time it was different, this time she wasn't playing birdies, this time she meant it.
"Ayla Sif Dennis, you stop that right now or I swear to god-" I stuttered, feeling her eyes draw me in.
"I'm not lying!" she roared again, unleashing her power as I felt something excruciatingly painful take control of my mind, burning away at my thoughts like a white hot flame.
"Stop!" I pleaded, clutching the sides of my head and rocking on my knees, the last thing I heard was Tamsin crashing into the room.
. . . . . . . . .
I placed Elin down in the basket before flying out of the bedroom door. 'Stop!' was all I heard Bo call, and it was all I needed to hear for my protective instincts to kick in.
It took me a second to realise what was happening, Bo crouched clutching her head as Sif stared at her with a full valkyrie face. 'Shit.' I thought.
"Sif." I called, shifting my own face as I resorted to the only thing I knew would work, Sif's gaze flickered slightly as she turned to face me, my eyes catching hers as I pushed my doubt on her. "You don't want to do that baby, calm down." I urged her, watching as her lips trembled and her face turned back to it's normal appearance, before she slouched on the floor and pressed her knees up to her chest and sobbed.
"Are you okay?" I asked with panic as I bent down to check on Bo.
"I'm fine, just a little discombobulated." she replied, wincing as she sat up.
"I'm so disappointed in you, why would you hurt Mommy like that?" I growled, kneeling down to eye level as Sif kept her head tucked to her knees. "Look at me when I'm talking young lady." I repeated, waiting patiently as her eyes met my own.
"You and Mommy are going to give me away to the elf tomorrow…" She whispered sadly. "I'm sorry Mommy, I just got angry." she tried to explain, before the words became lost to the hyperventilating breaths she was taking between sobs.
"It's okay, it's okay baby." Bo offered, opening her arms as Sif jumped and crashed her body against Bo's. "We all get angry sometimes, but we can't keep throwing tantrums can we?" she tried to explain.
"Yo-you don't understand Mommy, the naughty elf…" she tried to recount before I raised my hand to hush her.
"I don't want to hear anything else about this naughty elf business, it's time for bed." I put my foot down, closing my eyes for a moment as Bo picked Sif up and carried her to her bedroom.
Until I heard faint, high pitched laughter.
'We'll soon have what we need from the little valkyries.'
"Woah, wait- Bo did you hear that?" I asked, opening my eyes as I looked around the room.
'sh, she heard us!'
I narrowed my gaze as Bo stared at me perplexed, looking around the nursery for the source of the sound until I finally shrugged it off and blamed it on the exhaustion.
I stood up and walked Bo to Sif's bedroom, until the unmistakable sound of tiny footsteps raced past my legs. By the time I looked down, there was nothing there, 'Odd.' I thought.
. . . . . . . . .
"Mommy I don't want to sleep here alone, the naughty elf comes when you and Mama aren't here." Sif cowered underneath her blanket.
"T something doesn't feel right about this." Bo whispered, wiping the hair out of Sif's face.
"First thing tomorrow little dude, we will go and see Grandpa T and see if he can make us some magic elf stay-away spray, how does that sound?" I suggested, the words barely leaving my mouth before she nodded eagerly in agreement. "She's still a baby Isabeau, she can't handle sharing the attention with Elin…" I whispered to the brunette nestled into the side of my shoulder.
We both turned to make a beeline for our own bedroom until Elin's cries rang out, they were different- it was the cry she made when she was woken up from her sleep.
"It's the naughty elf Mama!" Sif advised, jumping out of bed as she ran out of the bedroom - with us following in quick pursuit.
"He's got Pop-pop's Mommy!" Sif cried as my sight tracked the Elf -no bigger than 2ft- carrying our newborn baby down the corridor.
'Shit.' he muttered, staring at us like a rabbit caught in headlights before jumping down the stairs as quickly as his tiny legs would let him before me and Bo flew down to catch him.
"Gotchya!" Bo growled, jumping over the staircase banister to land perfectly in front of him.
"I'm-I'm sorry, it's not what it looks like, I swear!" the elf muttered, offering Elin forward as Bo plucked her away to safety.
"Buddy, did nobody ever teach you what happens when you mess with mama bears?" Bo growled as my eyes shifted into full valkyrie face, angered beyond belief that an intruder had been in my home undetected.
I lunged out and picked him up by the scruff of the neck, marching down the rest of the stairs with my nails digging deep into his flesh. "Take the children to bed Bo." I growled, no room for arguments.
"Tam, maybe we should call Dyson instea-"
"I said take the children to bed Bo!" I said with an air of finality, marching into the garage before I slammed the door behind me, knowing this poxy little elf would never see the outside of this room again.
. . . . . . . . . . .
"Please don't kill me, I didn't mean any harm!" the elf pleaded, cowering in the corner as I stared him down with my doubt inducing gaze, ready to rip his tiny limbs from his body.
"What did you want with my children…" I growled, pushing my powers onto him as kneeled and clutched his head, begging and squealing for mercy.
"Their tears!" he hollered, "Tears from a valkyrie can save a man from the brink of death, or so the legends say." he explained.
"You better talk fast or lay down and die because I've only got enough time for one of the above tonight."
"My wife is pregnant and she's sick, I-I can't lose her Miss." he explained, staring me in the eyes as I immediately knew he was telling the truth. "I wasn't going to hurt your girls, I just needed a few more tear drops. I swear."
"Do you know why it is neither of their tears worked in your little freak potion?" I stoically asked, bending down to stare at the creature in front of me as he cowered and shook his head. "The tears have to come willingly from a powerful valkyrie, not bullied from an innocent little girl." I spat.
"Please Miss, don't hurt me…" he pleaded. "I know I did wrong, I was just trying to save my wife and baby, my Lulabelle means everything to me… I can't live without her."
I bit the side of my cheek as my heart twinged a little bit, knowing what it is I had to do. Don't get me wrong, I was saddened by the knowledge that I only had one option of disposing of this pesky light creature but I'm a mother now, I have certain responsibilities.
. . . . . . . . . .
"How's Sif?" I asked, poking my head around the bedroom door to see all my girls curled together in bed, it made me feel slightly better.
"I'm okay Mama." she whispered back, her and Bo watching over Elin quietly.
"You heard the lady, she's okay." Bo softened, lifting the quilt for me to join them.
"The naughty elf isn't coming back is he?" Sif asked with curious eyes.
"No, Mama took care of it, that naughty elf is never going to bother you or any other little valkyries again." I smiled softly, hiding the flicker of sadness behind my eyes. "I'm sorry Sif." I added.
"It's okay Mama, it's not your fault you didn't believe me." she said nonchalantly, practically rubbing the salt in the wounds.
"Mommy is sorry too." Bo added, pulling Sif in closer as we all snuggled a little tighter together. "It was so brave of you to try and protect Pop-pop's like that, she's very lucky to have a big sister like you." Bo praised her as Sif held out her arms to hold her baby sister.
"She's my little Pop-pop's, I'll always protect her." my elder daughter grinned from ear to ear.
"Do you want to come to the police station with me tomorrow? We can have a Mama and Sif only day?" I offered, trying to make up for doubting my sweet girl for the last two days.
"Sure but only if Elin and Mommy can come." she beamed back, eager for us to hang out as a family.
"Me and Elin would love to come." Bo laughed, nestling into the pillows as Sif kept her arms steady with her baby sister snoring gently in them.
"You guys better get some rest, I'll wake you all up in the morning and we'll see how much trouble we can get Uncle Dyson and Hale into at the station." I added, placing a kiss on everyone's head.
"Where are you going?" Bo asked with perplexion.
"I have a tiny hole to dig for what's left of that elf." I explained, eager to avoid any further discussion on the matter as I postured myself.
. . . . . . . . . .
"Are you sure about this?" he asked, leading me towards the forest where he and his wife lived.
"Like I said, I'm a mother now - I have certain responsibilities, like teaching my daughters that Dark Fae can be kind, compassionate and forgiving too." I scowled, my skin crawling at the sentiment. "-but make no mistake, if I ever catch you near my children again - I'll feed you and your wife to the wolves myself." I lowered my voice, causing him to gulp.
"Lulabelle…" the elf called as he darted inside the empty trunk of the tree he called home.
"My, my, you're bigger than I thought you would be…" his wife exclaimed as she waddled out to get a closer look at me, I towered over the two of them. It was clear she was sick, her body was beginning to give up - I could sense how close death was for her and the bump under her dress.
"She isn't just any valkyrie Lulabelle, she's a Princess of Asgard…" the elf explained as his wife humbly bowed before me, disregarding her poor health and pregnancy.
"You don't have to do that." I quickly interjected, my lips trembling at the thought that this woman who had so little, would offer such a large gesture given her circumstances.
"Why are you doing this for us Your Highness?" she asked with confusion as I kneeled in front of them, as close to eye level as I could get.
"Because I'm a mother, and I know what it's like to love your family so much that it makes you do stupid things." I laughed, wiping my cheek as I wondered whether I was even capable of crying in front of people outside of my family. "And because, I know what it feels like to be helpless… when I was pregnant and sick with my firstborn, there was no one there to save my daughter." I practically whimpered, suddenly aware of the waterworks that were about to start flowing as I wiped my eyes with the linen handkerchief in my pocket.
I handed the elf my tear sodden handkerchief, as soon as the material touched her, the aura around her body began to sparkle and kiss her skin, replenishing her health as she breathed in a deep breath of fresh air. "Oh my, I think it worked…" she laughed, stretching her fingers out in front of her as I smiled and stood up from my knees, my job now done.
"Thank you so much!" the elf grinned, "I have a gift to say thank you." he added, darting back inside the hovel before reappearing with a little leather pouch.
"What is it?" I asked curiously.
"Elf dust, if you sprinkle that over your home - your family will always be enchanted and protected." he smiled.
"Thank you, but talking of my family - I should probably get back to them."
"Well you have our eternal gratitude." Lulabelle smiled as I made my way back towards the way I came.