Christmas morning started with an icy rain in Rutland. Sarah lay in her bed listening to the pings on the roof and once again fingered the necklace at her throat. She had exchanged gifts with Thor and Jane the day before she left for Vermont, had given the ring she'd bought for Loki to Thor to deliver to him when he went home and Thor had given her a small package in return. "Loki sent this for you." She'd opened it to find a gold necklace upon which hung a gold pendant, a rectangle with celtic working around the outer rim, and in the center, what looked like two snakes intertwined in a sort of yin/yang configuration. "It is Loki's standard." Thor had said, "His symbol, do you understand?" Sarah had nodded, thought of the ring she'd been drawn to that now sat in Thor's jacket pocket, and smiled. "I'd tell you to give him a hug and kiss from me but I don't think it would mean the same." Thor had grinned then, "I will do my level best to convey the message, M'lady, though I'm not sure Loki will enjoy it." They had laughed and she had set there wondering at how her life had changed inside of a year.
She rolled to her side and rubbed her back. She'd been sore for the last two days, more than usual in fact, and she stretched to try and remove the kinks from it, receiving a slight roll against her palm for the effort. The baby hadn't been moving as much lately and at first she'd voiced her concern to the doctor who told her that space was at a premium in there, that the baby had moved from a mill apartment into a studio. As she lay there, she could suddenly smell coffee and it moved her enough to make her sit up and swing her legs over to the floor. Getting up was so much more difficult now and she arched her back, pushing with her hands on the bed until she was standing up. When she reached the bathroom and raised her nightgown to relieve herself, she was startled to feel that it was already wet and then she felt pain run through her back again as she turned to walk back to the bedroom. When she reached the bed, she felt the sheets where she'd been laying and they were damp. "Aw you've got to be kidding me."
She went back to the bathroom after grabbing a pair of slacks and a top, she started the shower then returned to the bedroom to remove the sheets from the bed. "Kid, you're taking me to a whole new level of problems." She said as she dropped the wet sheets in a pile in the hallway beside her bedroom door and returned to the bathroom to take a shower.
"Christmas morning has to start out like this?" She mumbled to herself as she washed up. Another twinge of pain in her back as she stepped from the shower made her stop and look down. She quickly pulled on her pants and her top and made her way down stairs to the kitchen where everyone was involved fixing breakfast. "Can we open presents now?" Daniel asked as soon as he saw Sarah walk into the kitchen. "After breakfast kiddo," Sarah's father said, "How's my Sarah bean this morning?" Sarah smiled and motioned to her sister to come into the living room, "I'm fine, be right back."
Lizzie came in to the living room where Sarah was standing beside the tree. "I think my water broke." Sarah whispered, "What?" Lizzie shouted and Sarah shushed her, "Geez keep it down will you, I don't want mom and dad to know until after we've done the presents. I don't want to ruin everyone's Christmas." Lizzie steered her to the couch and sat her down. "Ruin? This isn't exactly a disaster you're having. Are you getting any contractions?" Sarah shrugged, "My back hurts and I read that labor can be centered in your back too." "But this is early, isn't it? You're not due till the third week in January." Lizzie reminded her. "Just gather everyone in the living room as soon as you can, I haven't had a zing for twenty minutes now, since I stepped out of the shower upstairs. Maybe I was just leaking a little." Lizzie glanced into the kitchen and back at Sarah, "Okay, but if it gets worse, we're going, presents or not." Sarah nodded in agreement as Lizzie quick stepped back into the kitchen to fetch the rest of the family.
Loki twirled the entwined snake ring on his right ring finger, watching it glitter in the candlelight, wondering how she could have made such an appropriate choice for a gift. The warm wind rustled the flaps of the tent he occupied in the encampment, himself, Thor, and a handful of warriors had been traipsing around Alfheim for better than five days visiting various tribes, making new inroads with the light elves of the realm though there were more than a few that refused to deal with him, instead talking to Thor, thereafter explaining that they could see the darkness that still dwelt deep within Loki. It both angered and curiously enough, saddened him to think that not even love could dispel what lies beneath the surface.
He heard Thor approaching the tent, talking in a low voice to one of their compliment, then he lifted the flap, walked in and set down in a chair across from Loki. "We will head back to Asgard tomorrow. It is Christmas eve in Midgard and I told Jane I would try to be with her on Christmas day. It is of great importance to her, this Christian holiday and she wanted to share it with me." Loki looked up at Thor and back down at his ring, saying nothing. "I see you are well pleased with Sarah's gift." Thor said as he watched Loki turn the ring. "As she was with yours." Loki allowed a slight smile, "How would she know about my standard? You say you said nothing to her?" Thor shook his head, "Not until I gave her the necklace and she had already given me your gift." Loki nodded, "It will be good to get home, brother." He said quietly, "I am weary of this campaign."
Sarah felt another contraction, drew breath through her nose and blew out through her mouth as gently as she could, glad of the fact that everyone was busy with presents, including herself, though she could barely concentrate on them. She had timed the contractions and they were holding at once every 40 minutes, finally she managed to slip out into the kitchen quietly with her phone.
"Hello?" Jane answered the phone, hoping it was Thor, "Jane?" it was Sarah, "First of all, Merry Christmas, second of all, where's Thor?" Jane walked to the window of her apartment in Brooklyn and looked out at the deserted street, "I don't know, he was supposed to be here by now but he's late. As far as I know, he's still in Asgard, why?" "Asgard?" Sarah paled, panic starting to set in. "Oh Jane, I'm in Rutland and," Here she dropped her voice to a whisper, "I'm in labor." "In labor already?" She heard Jane shout into the phone, "Yes, my water broke last evening, I think when I was asleep. Thor has to tell Loki. After we get done here, I'm going to tell my parents and we're heading to Rutland Regional I guess, I'd rather be at my own hospital in New York but it can't be helped, I don't think I'd make it there. Call me when Thor gets there would you please?" Jane agreed, "But aren't you early?" Sarah looked out to the living room and saw her father stand up, headed for the kitchen. "I gotta go, my father is coming, talk to you soon." She smiled a bit to herself, thinking about how teenaged that statement had sounded as her father found her by the kitchen door. "Hey Bean, we're not done yet." Another pang, this time around her belly, made her bend over and breath deep, she looked up at the clock on the wall, "Dad, we're going to have to be done right now. I'm in labor." She heard not a peep from her father, rather she heard the scramble of feet and her father's voice in the living room. "Everyone get dressed," A groan from Daniel, "But we're not finished yet," And her father's voice again, "We are for now, go."
She sat in one of the kitchen chairs easing back at the contraction passed and her mother came up to her. "Where are your boots Sarah?" Her mother asked, a mask of calm covering her voice as her shaking hands did the talking while she tried to help Sarah pull on her boots she'd fetched from the mat near the kitchen door. Suddenly Sarah remembered, "Oh mom, my overnight bag is in New York!" Her mother glanced up at her, "We'll get what we need here, that's the last thing you need to worry about." Sarah was in complete agreement with her mother.
Jane was pacing the floor of the apartment when she heard quick steps to her door and a loud knock. She raced to the door and flung it open to find Thor standing there, duffle in hand and a big smile on his face, "Go back, go back," Jane said, pushing him out the door and into the hallway, Thor staring at her in confusion, "To New York Jane? I am truly sorry for being so late returning. We were on campaign and it takes a bit to come through the portal." Jane had grabbed her coat and was locking her door behind her. "Sarah is in labor!" she cried but when she turned back to Thor, he was already down the stairs and to Jane's car.
As they fought the traffic over the bridge to Manhattan, Jane cursed the rule that Fury had now imposed on Thor. The Bifrost would be aimed at the landing platform on the top of the office building that housed S.H.I.E. L.D. in New York. "So as not to scare the generally populace of just about anywhere you decide to beam yourself in that rainbow colored tornado." , was how Fury had put it so they now had to return to New York just to send him back home to get Loki.
"She is not yet at her quickening though," Thor remarked, "how is it that she is in labor?" Jane shrugged, "Sometimes the baby has other ideas. That's the thing about life, it's unpredictable." Jane thought that was the understatement of the century as she sped down the streets towards the office instead of doing what she had planned for the day, fixing a cozy Christmas dinner for two, exchanging presents, messing up the bed sheets until the 26