Laney sighed to herself as she stared at the book in front of her a couple weeks later. She had started her training and was also studying in her free time, when Star was asleep. "This text couldn't possibly be any more confusing," she grumbled.
"Do you want me to take a look at it?" Loki offered, looking up from the letter he was reading.
"You can if you'd like, but making medicines is neither of our favorite things to learn," Laney replied.
Loki stood up from his seat at the table and walked over to where Laney was sitting on the couch. Looking over her shoulder, he read the text a couple times. "I think you might be better suited asking Desi."
"Told you so," Laney grumbled, then sat the open book beside her and rubbed her temples. "All of this is giving me a headache."
"You still have an hour before Desi is expecting you. Take a little break." Loki encouraged.
Laney sighed and let her head fall back against the couch. "I want to seem eager, but this training is starting to take its toll. I like most of it, but medicine is not my favorite."
"Have you told Desi? I'm sure she would find something else for you."
"I haven't," Laney sighed. "I don't want to disappoint her or Frigga."
"I doubt it would disappoint her darling. Isn't she exposing you to everything so you can figure out what you want to pursue?" Loki asked.
Laney nodded. "She is, and I'm trying to give every aspect of healing a try. I just might have to tell her medicine and potions won't work for me."
"That is what I would do. If it isn't for you, I would just move on. Look at me, physical combat isn't for me. You just have to find out what is for you, and master that." Loki said in an encouraging tone.
"I've seen you with daggers. You can fight when you really need to," Laney clarified. "I love watching you practice. It's sexy."
"I can, and I'm sure if absolutely needed, you could make one of these potions. My daggers are for throwing though, not for close distance." Loki pointed out.
Laney shrugged. "This is true. I guess I could make one in a pinch as long as I had a book to go by."
"There's no shame in this not being right for you. When you find the perfect area, you will soar." Loki said happily. "Just be honest with Desi about it, alright?"
"Thank you, Loki. You always know how to make me feel better," Laney cooed.
"I just want to help darling." Loki said truthfully.
Laney tilted her head back to look up at him. "I know you do. I'm thankful for it."
Loki smiled and pressed a soft kiss to Laney's lips. "Do you want to go talk to her now?"
"I'll see her this afternoon. Right now, I think I want to relax and see if this headache goes away, want to join me? Or do you have plans while our little one naps?"
"I will be visiting my brother later. I have no other plans and relaxing sounds very nice." Loki said truthfully.
Laney closed the book she was reading then leaned forward to place it on the coffee table. She turned and smiled at him before she laid back along the length of the couch. "Come join me then, my dear fiancé."
"We need to fix that as well, so we are husband and wife." Loki said as he laid down on his side next to Laney.
"Yes, we do. I'd like to start planning, unless you'd rather do something small," she replied.
"I doubt mother will be alright with something small." Loki chuckled. "We can go see her when you've finished your training for the day and see where the planning is."
Laney turned to face him and smiled. "That sounds perfect." She ran her hands beneath his shirt, resting him on his chest.
"I think we've waited long enough to be married." Loki said softly, then kissed Laney gently.
She gently returned Loki's kiss as she ran her fingers along his collarbone. "I agree," she murmured.
"I know Thor and Desi are also eager to wed after we do. Mother will have her hands full." Loki said cheerfully.
Laney chuckled. "If everyone isn't careful, they'll have their hands full with a brood of grandchildren too."
"You know mother would be thrilled with that." Loki chuckled. "I think we all have the good sense to wait a little while."
"I know we do. I'm not sure about your brother," Laney chuckled.
"He does. He has already told me that. He wants plenty of time to spoil the first little one."
Laney smiled and leaned up and pecked his lips. "That's good to see."
Loki smiled and returned the kiss. "Do you want to feed Star before you go?"
"I can, if she's awake," Laney replied.
"I will go check on her in a few minutes. I'm just enjoying being here with you at the moment." Loki said, feeling content and relaxed.
"I'm enjoying this too."
"We should do this more often." Loki said truthfully.
Laney smiled and wrapped her arms around him. "I would love that."
"These moments become more precious by the day, as Star grows bigger." Loki chuckled.
"We'll still have these moments. I'm hoping to have some alone time with you now and then while we raise our little girl."
"Of course, we will. There's plenty of family to watch Star whenever we need." Loki promised.
She smiled and nuzzled her face against his. "I'm still waiting for the all clear from Desi, but once I'm healed, I think we might need a sitter for a night or two."
"I don't think that will be an issue. They are more likely going to fight over who watches her." Loki chuckled.
Laney laughed as she let one hand trail down his chest. "What about... us? Do you have any plans?"
"Not for our first time back together. I just want to take things slow and make sure you are indeed ready. After that, yes. I have been thinking of a couple things." Loki admitted.
"Am I allowed to know what?" Laney asked curiously.
"I was hoping it would be more of a surprise darling." Loki said truthfully.
Laney bit her lip as thoughts tumbled through her mind. "That sounds intriguing."
"I will tell you if you want, you can decide." Loki said softly.
"You said you had a couple of things on your mind... what if you only tell me one?"
"I have been thinking about a weekend getaway for us soon. But it also depends on how soon the wedding is going to be." Loki explained.
"That sounds lovely," she told him while her hands continued to gently wander. "We can always talk to your mother and see."
"We will talk to her later, after you finish training for the day." Loki said with a smile.
Laney nodded and pecked the tip of his nose. "We can do that."
Loki started to reply when he heard Star begin to fuss. "I think someone is hungry." He said, then slowly got up. "I will get her."
"You're so sweet with her. I love just watching you two," Laney told him as she sat up.
"She is my baby girl, of course I'm sweet to her." Loki grinned, then he walked off to go get Star.
Laney chuckled and sat back in her place on the couch and curled her legs beneath her. He is such an amazing father.
Loki returned a few minutes later with Star in his arms. "She's changed and dressed." He said, bringing her over to Laney.
"Look at my pretty girl, all dressed up in yellow," Laney cooed as she took Star into her arms.
"I thought it would look cute with her skin tone." Loki said sweetly.
Laney chuckled as Star babbled and grabbed at her dress. "I like the color on her a lot."
"I think it's a great color on her. And she already knows where the food is." Loki chuckled.
"She's been becoming grabby lately," Laney commented as she unclipped part of her dress to nurse. "I wonder if I can get her to calm down before she eats. I already have scratches."
"I would talk to either mother or Desi about that. I don't know enough about babies or the Jotnar." Loki shrugged.
Laney made sure Star had a good latch before she looked up at Loki once more. "I think it's more of an infant thing than Jontar."
"It could be, but I don't know. If it is just an infant habit, I'm sure Desi would know that as well." Loki said, glad to have someone close with so much knowledge.
"I will ask her today then." Laney looked down with a wince as Star grasped tightly onto her skin while she suckled. "But I do know we need to trim her little fingernails. They hurt."
"I can have that done while you are training. Her nails will be nice and short when you return." Loki promised.
"That'd be sweet of you, love. What are your plans today?"
"I am just going to be spending the afternoon with Star. If my brother is done with court early, he said he will stop by and visit." Loki answered.
Laney grinned as she felt Star finish nursing. She looked down and wiped the infant's mouth with a nearby cloth, then fixed her dress. "I'm sure you two will have fun."
"We always have fun. I love spending time with Star." Loki said happily.
"Just wait until she gets older. I'm sure you two will both be getting into mischief."
"I would hope so. I have plenty of mischief to get into with her." Loki chuckled.
Laney narrowed her eyes and pointed at Loki. "As long as it's not anything she shouldn't be doing."
"Oh no. I don't want to cause any trouble. I mean more along the lines of the lighthearted, amusing mischief I caused as a child." Loki clarified.
"I'm sure I will be finding out just what that is. I only remember so much," she chuckled.
"I will have to teach you as well then. We can cause trouble as a family." Loki said, excited by the idea.
Laney laughed while Star played with her dress. "I'm not so sure about that."
"Why not darling? Even mother approved of my lighthearted trouble." Loki told her.
"All I'm saying is that I don't know if I would join in. That's all."
"I hope you will. It is great fun." Loki said truthfully.
Laney smirked and shook her head. "My mischievous Loki."
"Always." Loki said with a grin.
Laney sighed to herself as she looked at the vials in front of her. "Desi, I don't think I can do this," she murmured. "Medicine is not my strong suit."
Desi walked over and put her hand on Laney's shoulder. "That's fine. You already know the basics, so we can move on." She said cheerfully. "Do you know what you might like to try next?"
"I haven't really given it much thought honestly," Laney replied. "What would you suggest?"
Desi gave a little shrug. "I've been trained in a little bit of everything, but I really only work with babies now. There's also general practice, and any specialty you could imagine."
Laney bit her lip in thought. "I know I don't want to deal with surgery or triage, but the basics need to be known in case of an emergency. I like working with kids and doing general practices mostly."
"A general family practice might be good then. You would mostly deal with routine care for adults and children both... but you could go on to just children if you wanted. There's rarely emergency needs with family practice." Desi explained.
"I will have to see. I know Loki would rather I didn't work a lot while Star is so little," Laney replied.
"I wasn't saying do anything full time. I was just suggesting a possible path. You could easily start by helping me with a couple of my patients. I usually see one or two general care clients per week." Desi explained.
Laney nodded. "That sounds like a good idea."
"Alright, I have one of those clients tomorrow morning. She's a newer client, a little elf child." Desi told Laney. "She's my last general practice client for the week."."
"I can come in and observe if you'd like. Or help if you want me to."
"I think having you help would be better and give you a better feel for it." Desi said truthfully.
Laney shrugged. "I don't mind. The more experience I get, the better."
"She's an easy case. She comes in for a skin treatment to reduce burn scars." Desi explained.
"Oh! Is it the baby's mom? The one I watched?" She asked.
"No, this is a different one. I have several elf clients now." Desi answered. told her.
Laney grinned. "Well, I am eager to meet her. What else would you like to do today?"
"Do you want to help with that mother? I see her again shortly." Desi suggested.
"All I did last time was watch her baby. It was before I ended up pregnant."
"I know, but she has long term treatments as well." Desi clarified.
Laney nodded as she turned and flipped through her notebook. "I get that. Burns take a long time to heal."
"They really do. It is a long, often painful process." Desi told Laney. "She's doing really good though."
"I'm glad she's doing so well. It's a good thing."
"Do you want to help me out with her?" Desi asked curiously.
"If you would like me to, I can. Then I have to meet up with Loki. We try to have lunch together when we can."
"You can go have lunch with Loki, I can handle everything here." Desi assured Laney.
"Are you sure?"
Desi nodded. "I'm sure."
Laney stood and smiled before she walked towards the door. "You're too good to me Dess! I'll see you later."
"See you later." Desi said, watching Laney leave.
Laney walked into her chambers, only to find it empty of anyone. "Now where could he have gone?" She said aloud to herself.
Frigga walked into their chambers not long after Laney returned. "Hello dear. Loki said I could find you here."
"Oh, hi Frigga," Laney greeted. "I just got here."
"I just came in from the garden. Loki has Star out in the grass." Frigga said with a smile. "She is so precious."
"Thank you," Laney replied. "Am I to join them?"
"Loki said you can join them out there if you want. I simply brought the message since I was on my way in."
Laney nodded. "Thank you Frigga. I think lunch outside will be nice. It won't be warm much longer."
"No it won't. I have been preparing the garden for winter." Frigga replied. "How is your training going?"
"It's going well. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do."
"Have you narrowed it down any?" Frigga asked curiously.
"I think so. I'm like more of the general practice things, but I don't know about working full time."
"There's no pressure for you to return to full time work. I think this time is great to get a better feel for the different options and then maybe study some."
Laney nodded and glanced at the stack of books that sat on Loki's desk. "I study almost every night when Star is sleeping."
Frigga walked over and looked through the books. "I was never too good at medicines, myself. Loki is the potion master."
"He really is. Although I think his are more magic based then for medicinal reason," she giggled.
"They are, but that's by his choice. The fundamentals are all the same." Frigga explained.
"That's pretty neat," Laney said. "I wish I was as good at magic as he is."
"I can continue your lessons if you would like. It often takes a long time to learn. Loki just excels in magic in a way I've never seen before." Frigga told Laney, then set the books down.
"I think it's because of his biological mother. Desi says there's elf in his bloodline."
"She has been telling me about that, and I think you are right." Frigga agreed.
"Loki could be capable of so much more than what he knows," Laney pointed out. She walked over to the couch and grabbed a shawl and put it around her shoulders.
"I see that as well. He just needs the confidence to achieve it." Frigga agreed. "Did you know he declined a request from the Jotun council?"
Laney's eyes widened. "I knew of the letter from a few weeks ago. But I didn't know he declined."
Frigga nodded. "It's caused a fair amount of tension between the realms."
"I only know he was asked to speak with them. I know not what it's about."
"I don't know what it's about either, nor does his birth mother. What we do know is that it is highly advisable that he accepts the meeting." Frigga cautioned.
Laney took a deep breath and nodded. "I will talk to him. Do you mind watching Star while I do so? Incase he gets angry?"
"Of course. I might send Thor to help as well. Whatever the Jotnar want, he can deny, but they find it very disrespectful that he will not even hear them." Frigga explained.
"It makes sense. I can talk to him over lunch if you'd like."
"No, enjoy lunch first. I'll come by after and get Star for a bit." Frigga told Laney. "I won't keep you any longer, I know Loki is waiting for you."
Laney nodded and gave Frigga a smile. "Thank you."