And now we are back to the present. XD This chapter is really just a collection of drabbles concerning Rose. There isn't too much substance to it, just fair warning! :D

I sat up in bed quickly as the first wave of pain rocketed through my body. The baby was coming. Soon.

I had been through a lot in the past two years when it came to pain, but none of what I had been through measured up to this little experience.

The next wave of contractions hit me as I stood up to get to the bathroom. Loki heard me get up and raced to check on me. "I will get the car," he said as he realized what was happening. "Meet me out front in five minutes." He kissed my forehead, extreme worry openly expressed in his eyes.

I looked down at the infant in my arms. My little Sonja Rose.

A swirl of black hair sat atop her head like frosting and her newborn skin was soft and pink. It wasn't blue and her eyes were not red. In fact, when she opened them, she had the same crystal blue eyes that I did. But as of right now, I had no interest in waking her. She had been crying since I had given birth to her.

Loki took one of her tiny hands in his own, letting the fingers reflexively curl around his long one.

He let out a smile as he kissed my forehead. I knew part of it was simple relief that the child was not mutated. As much as he had said he wasn't scared about it, I knew somewhere deep down the idea had still bothered him.

The only thing that made the little girl in my arms stand apart from a typical human baby was the extremely faint mark in the palm of her right hand. It was a simple blue circle with an almost Celtic-looking knot in the very center of the circle.

I looked back down at the peaceful sleep she had fallen into, a smile crossing my lips as well.

A few days later, we were allowed to leave the hospital. I carried the baby in my arms as Loki trudged alongside me, an armful of flowers and cards from the Avengers nearly blocking his view of the path.

As we made it to the car I heard him let out an irritated sigh. "Oh. To hell with it," he said loudly as he shoved what would fit into the car and letting the rest hang out the open window. I smiled slightly as I strapped Rose into her seat. She was still fast asleep, thank goodness. I had heard horror stories from other mothers about how loud babies could be.

"Shh, don't wake her," I said smiling. I brought my hand down to my deflated belly, a leftover habit from carrying a bowling ball size lump around for several months. Loki pursed his lips, looking at me before he took my hand from my belly and kissed it.

Kill me now. Kill me now. It can't get any worse, can it?

My thoughts were interrupted by the loud wailing coming from the other room. I threw a hand over my eyes as I got up from the bed. This was NOT happening again…

For the past two weeks Rose had been on a rather inconvenient schedule of waking up at exactly 1 am and crying until four. I had not gotten more than two consecutive hours of sleep in over a week.

And my mood was really starting to show it, not even mentioning the dark circles under my eyes and the fact that I hadn't brushed my hair since coming home from the hospital.

I walked down the hall and entered the baby's room, rubbing my eyes in an attempt to wake up. It didn't help.

I walked over to the crib, turning off the noise maker we had set up to help her sleep. "Shhhh. Shhh. Momma loves you," I cooed as I picked up the screaming child. "Shhhh."

After an hour of nursing, the wailing had stopped and the baby was fast asleep. I was terrified to put her down. I didn't want her waking up again.

Cold hands reached around from behind me after I stood up from my seat, resting at my hips. I felt Loki rest his chin on my shoulder. "Let's put her down now, Love," he said quietly in my ear.

I nodded, walking slowly back to the crib. The baby didn't wake up as I lowered her down onto the mattress. I let out a sigh of relief.

When I turned around, Loki was right there, cold breath brushing my shoulders. "You look tired," he said after a moment.

I rolled my eyes. "Well. Yeah."

His slender fingers reached out to the noise maker, turning it to classical music. "She likes the white noise better, Loki," I whispered.

He nodded. "But you prefer classical, don't you?" he whispered back.

I did, but I wasn't sure where he was going with this…

The next thing I knew he had hooked an arm around my waist, draped one of my arms against his shoulder, and had taken my other hand in his hand, waltz style.

"I am really not in the moo-"

"Just follow where I lead." I looked up at him.

"I swear to god if you wake her up with these shenanigans…"

But I didn't get to finish my threat because in a matter of seconds he had gotten me into the dance. I rested my head against his chest, listening to the beat of his heart. For a minute we stood there in each other's arms, taking in the soft glow of moonlight that filtered in through the window panes.

Until the crying started up again and we had to go back to real life.

So… yeah! Big change from the usual action stuff, I know. The next installment will include some Avengers though, so fear not! :D

And I am almost ready to publish the first chapter to my new story involving these two. *happy dance* I'll reveal the title next update ;)