Oh my goodness! The feedback on this story has been awesome. Kudos to the reader that mentioned baby hand prints for Frigga. There is a leap forward in time in this chapter and momentum is building for something bigger. Already working on the next chapter which promises to be a tear jerker. Stay tuned.

Thor, Valeria, and Clint return home just in time for dinner. Loki instantly knows something is up when he plucks his daughter from Thor's arms. She's been bathed again and has been rubbed down in a scented baby lotion that is not in the diaper bag.

"Did you have fun at the park?" Loki asks.

"Eeeee! Mamamama!" Valeria laughs. Thor displays a nervous guilty smile. Oh yes, Thor took her somewhere other than the park.

"Did you enjoy your bath too?" Loki asks as his eyes narrow at Thor and scrutinize his face. Thor almost looks the same as when he left, but there is a clod of dirt he missed, caked in his beard and the inside of Thor's ears are filthy.

"Eeeee! Muddy! " She squeals. Thor's face falls and scrunches up like a kid waiting for a fist to impact his face.

"Oh? And why was that?"

"Muddy! Muddy Daddy!" Valeria pronounces the d's very heavily.

"The mud you say?" Loki shoots Thor a smug look. Busted.

"Valeria, the first rule of playing in the mud is don't tell your mother." Thor says gently to her.

"Thor!"

"She's not made of porcelain Loki. Mother did the same thing with us when we were small."

"We're boys."

"So? Valeria loved it, didn't you angel?"

"Aaaahhhhheeeee!"

"Be that as it may, you need to tell me these things. What if something had happened? I would have had no idea where you were."

"Alright." Thor rolls his eyes, infuriating Loki more.

"Thor I mean it. You and I need to be on the same page with Valeria at all times. What will happen when she gets older and learns to pit us against one another? You and I have a hard time being civil as it is. We cannot teach her it is okay to go to one parent to ask for something when the other has said no." Loki folds his arms across his chest, looking huffy. Thor sighs.

"You are right, I just wanted to do something new and less structured with her. It was good for her. You are constantly sanitizing everything she touches. You fear too much."

"I do not f…...I suppose…that perhaps…certain…standards can be…relaxed." Loki grits out.

"That is all I ask." Thor says.

"Very well."

"Good."

XxXxXxXxXx

Valeria's first birthday comes and goes like a whirlwind. Loki makes a present for Frigga by pressing Valeria's little hands into some plaster of paris. He let the little disk dry and then ties a big green ribbon around it and sets it out on the balcony. It disappears in seconds. Life at the tower carries on. Periodically the Avengers are called away to try to apprehend Victor Von Doom, but the villain is elusive and even seems to be toying with them, testing their weaknesses.

Thor and Loki fight occasionally about Valeria, but never discuss anything else. It's like a divorced couple that is still living together. However time is not on their side. Every single day all the things that go unsaid build up the momentum of a discussion long overdue. By Valeria's second birthday Thor and Loki have become masters of not discussing their feelings.

Thor and Loki are curled up on the couch with Valeria sitting between them, holding both mommy and daddy's hands. Her little legs swing and kick as she watches her favorite Pretty Pretty Princess Pony movie on the television.

"I'm da u-corn ponby pincess mommy!"

"You are a princess darling, and one day you'll be a great and powerful Queen of your own magical realm. There is a place called Asgard and it is more beautiful and glorious than any place in existence, and you are their princess." Loki says.

"I'm ponby pincess!" She yells with her fists in the air and giggles.

"We should take her horseback riding some time." Thor says with a smile. Loki nods and smiles back. They watch the movie, trying not to die of disgust from the throat choking sweetness of the children's show. A commercial comes on.

"…the mother and child diamond pendant. Only at Tiffany's. Hurry now before Mother's Day."

"Daddy buy that for Mommy!" She points at the television. The husband in the commercial kisses the wife. "Hah! The Daddy kiss the Mommy!" Valeria shouts with excitement. "Kiss the Mommy Daddy! Kiss the Mommy!" She squeals and turns her head up to try to look at them both at the same time. She didn't know mommies and daddies could kiss! Thor and Loki look at one another in horror.

"What's wrong Mommy?" She asks. Loki quickly plasters a fake smile on his face for his daughter.

"Nothing darling girl. Mommy is just excited that Daddy is going to kiss him. That's all." Loki points to his cheek and shoots Thor a veiled threatening glare. Thor leans in and gives Loki a quick peck on the cheek, making their baby girl screech in delight. Her little hands clap and flail about in excitement.

"Daddy kiss Mommy!" She giggles and jumps off the couch to dance in a circle, which is thankfully short lived. The pony cartoon resumes and their daughter's attention reverts back to her favorite subject.

Thor looks at Loki. They are alone in the tower. It is a rare occurrence, but one that has been happening more frequently of late. Somewhere in the months of day in and day out trips to the park, finger painting, diaper changing, and quiet nap times they'd figured out how to be a family.

These moments of normalcy come in with a wonderful quiet creep and leave in heart wrenching agony. Every time, when Thor is feeling warmth in his chest and a smile in his eyes, something about Loki makes him remember that not everything is what it is supposed to be…what it could have been.

Things settle down after a while and Valeria doses off. Loki takes the opportunity to change the channel to something a little more adult oriented. Thor isn't watching the television anymore. He's watching Loki. Loki senses Thor's eyes on him and restrains his desire to turn his head and look back. He manages it for several minutes until he can't take it anymore. He turns his head and meets Thor's eyes. Thor's eyes look haunted and full of pain. Hope flutters in Loki's chest that maybe Thor is ready to apologize and forgive. Perhaps give whatever this is a chance to become something real.

"I wish I could trust you Loki." Thor whispers, looking absolutely heartbroken. He looks away and down at his feet, clearly about to cry. Loki is not as successful at keeping the tears at bay. One escapes his left eye and rolls down his cheek.

"I wish…you knew what it's like." Loki's voice trails off.