Part Four
“But will it work?” Loki asked Frigga. “Has it been tried before?”
Frigga had watched her son pace the length of her sitting room for the better part of an hour. “Just because I have not seen it done does not mean it will not work,” she said, laying her hand on his arm when he paused beside her.
Loki ran his hands through his hair and continued to pace. “I just…I can’t bear to lose her, Mother.”
Frigga rose from her seat, crossed to stop in front of him, and laid her hands on his shoulders as she looked up at him. “If you do not try it, you will definitely lose her.”
“In eighty years, give or take,” he argued, “not now.”
“Eighty years, one hundred years…that’s a heartbeat. You’ll never be ready to let her go.” He tried to turn away, and she gripped his chin, forcing his gaze to hers. “Give her the choice.”
Loki’s green eyes searched Frigga’s blue ones. He knew there was no other way, not if he wanted Sarah to be with him always. He nodded once. “I will.”
********************
Sarah stood at the balcony rail. All of Asgard lay before her, rich and beautiful, and at its core rested the rainbow bridge, the bifrost, and the dome at its end gleamed golden. It was a sight she’d grown used to over the last three months; one she thought she would never tire of.
“Are you even listening to me?” Loki growled. His hand on her shoulder spun her to face him.
“I have been listening,” she replied gently, “and now I am thinking. You’ve been mulling this over for…how long now? And you want me to make a decision as soon as I’m asked?”
“I thought your decision would be clear, wife,” he nearly spat the last word. “It appears I was wrong.”The hurt in his green eyes belied the anger of his words.
Biting back a sigh, she gently cradled his face in her palms. “Loki, my dear heart, I love you with all I am. I came here to Asgard, giving up all I’ve ever known, to be with you.” She pulled him down and kissed him very softly before whispering, “Being mortal is all I’ve ever known, all that I’ve ever expected to be. And now…” she shook her head slowly, “now, you tell me that there’s this magic…apple…that can make me live as long as you.” Her dark eyes searched his green ones, and she sighed, “Whatever I choose doesn’t affect only me.”
“Of course it doesn’t,” Loki readily agreed, “but I’m the one who…”
“…who doesn’t understand what I’m trying to say,” Sarah said, taking his hand and laying it on her lower belly. “Loki, love, you’re going to be a father.”
His green eyes widened as he looked down at his hand on her belly. His fingers splayed out, and he looked back up at her. “You’re sure? We’re going to have a child?”
She smiled at the wonder in his eyes. “Yes, love, a child.” Her hand covered his where it rested. “And he or she should be born in about seven months, if my math is right.”
“Conceived here in Asgard,” he murmured, looking down at her. She nodded, and he pulled her into his arms, holding her close. “A child.” His voice was soft, reverent.
Sarah smoothed her hands over his back, listening to his heart beneath her ear. “Yes, a child…so any choice I make won’t affect only me, but him as well,” she leaned back, looked up at him, “or her.” She grinned up at him, and, after a moment, he grinned back.
*********************************
“What is this again?” Sarah asked. She was laying on her back on a table. What looked like a red hologram outline of her body, inside out, floated above her.
The woman working the equipment, Eir, smiled benevolently at her. “It’s a Soul Forge. We use it to make sure everything is as it should be.”
Sarah digested this information, was about to speak again, but that was when she saw her. At first glance, it looked like a mass of lines and shapes, but the more she looked, she could make out shapes she recognized as parts of the body; in this case, very tiny ones. Her eyes fixated on the tiny heart beating rapidly. “And is everything as it should be?” Sarah asked Eir in a small voice.
“So it would appear,” Eir replied, smiling.
Running footsteps sounded in the hall just before the doors flew open. Loki raced to her side. “What’s going on? I just got back…” He looked from Sarah to the glowing image above her. Sarah could tell the moment that Loki saw the tiny heartbeat. He wore the same look on his face as when she first told him she was pregnant. He turned to Eir. “Is that…” he paused, shaking his head, “is everything well?”
Eir smiled as she patted Loki on the back. “All is well, my Prince.” She pressed a few buttons, and the hologram disappeared. Eir smiled at Sarah as she helped her sit up. “Just remember to take things easy for awhile, and if you experience any other problems, let me know.”
Loki helped Sarah off the table. “Other problems?” he asked, leading her from the room.
“Thank you,” she called to Eir over her shoulder as Loki walked with her. “I’m fine,” she said to Loki, one hand on his arm and the other on her belly. “Did you see her heartbeat?”
He stopped just outside the door and, with hands on her shoulders, turned her to face him. “What happened, Sarah?”
She didn’t meet his eyes. He’d had to have heard what happened when he got back from Vanaheim or he wouldn’t have known she was with the healers. “I…had a little problem,” she said quickly. “Did you catch the raiders?” She tried to move out of his grasp.
It didn’t work. Keeping one had on her shoulder, he used the other to tilt her face up to his. “Sarah…”
There was no mistaking the worry in his green eyes. She blew out a breath. “I fainted, but Eir assured me that it was nothing serious. It happens to pregnant women on Midgard all the time.”
Loki looked dubious. “Somehow I doubt that.”
“Seriously, I am fine.” She took his hand and placed it on her belly. Their daughter moved under his hand, and a smile curved his lips. “She’s fine.”
“A daughter,” he said softly, “that's what Eir said?”
“That’s what I saw in the Soul Forge,” she replied. She took his hand in hers and started down the hallway.
*******************************
“I should be in there,” Loki growled as he paced the hallway outside the bedroom he shared with his wife. “Oh Midgard, husbands are present at births all the time.”
“This is not Midgard, Loki,” Fandaral lounged against the wall. “If you wanted to keep Midgardian customs, you should have stayed on Midgard with her.” He ignored the scowl Loki shot his way. “Your mother is with her, and she would let you know if something was amiss.”
Behind the closed door, Sarah cried out again. Loki made for the door, and Volstagg stepped in front of it, arms crossed over his chest. “Move,” Loki insisted.
Volstagg shook his head. “Women do this all the time;” he said, “it’s what they’re made for. She will be fine.”
Loki ignored him. “Move, or I will move you.”
Another cry echoed beyond the closed door, stretching into a scream until a new cry, an infant’s, filled the air. Loki had just put his hands on Volstagg to shove him out of the way when the doors opened, and Frigga appeared in the doorway. Her eyes met Loki’s. “Loki…”
Volstagg moved before Loki could shove him out of the way, and Loki raced past his mother, skidding to a stop at the side of the bed. The bottom half of the bed was full of blood, and the healers were still there, trying to stop the bleeding. Sarah lay with the child on her belly. Her hand shook as she gently cupped the mop of black curls on their daughter’s head. Their daughter was reaching for her, but Sarah was too weak to hold her. “No,” Loki breathed, moving to sit beside her.
“Loki,” Sarah whispered. Her other hand found his, and he winced. She was ice cold and so pale. “Love you, husband,” she breathed.
A hand fell on his shoulder, and he looked up to find his mother. She held up a plate with slices of golden apple on it. “She must eat this now. I fear the only reason she’s made it through the birth is that we’ve been feeding her the juice.” She nodded to one of the healers, and they gathered up the baby, swaddling her in blankets before taking her away from the bed. Sarah’s hand weakly reached for the child.
He took a piece of fruit; put it to his wife’s lips. “Please,” he whispered, “love, please, eat this.” Tears pooled in his eyes. He’d never seen her like this, so weak…so…mortal.
“So tired,” she said softly, and he slipped the fruit between her lips. She dutifully chewed, if slowly, until it was gone. He then fed her, piece by piece, until all the apple slices were gone. The hand that still held his squeezed gently and her eyes closed.
Loki reached for her, but Frigga stopped him. “She’s only sleeping. Give it time to do its work, and let her rest.” She tugged at his arm. “Come, meet your daughter.”
He reluctantly left Sarah’s side and joined his mother on the other side of the room beside a tall cradle. The wood gleamed with spirals reminiscent of the golden dome of the bifrost. The bedding was dark green shot with intricate gold embroidery. His daughter lay in the middle of the bedding, bundled in a green blanket, apparently sleeping. Her skin was pale, close to her mother’s natural color, but the thick shock of black hair on her head was all his. He smiled, leaning over to lightly run a finger over his daughter’s cheek. She turned to his touch, and her mouth moved, looking for nourishment.
Loki’s dark brows pinched into a frown as he looked from his sleeping daughter to his wife, seemingly asleep in their bed. He blinked, seeing everyone gone except for his mother, who beamed down at the baby. The bedding was clean, as was Sarah. The garment was the same, he assumed, but it must have missed being bloodied. They wouldn’t have changed her while she slept. Frigga’s hand on his arm brought his attention to her. “She will sleep and she will heal. When she wakes, she will be as we are.” They both looked down at the baby. Unable to find nourishment, she was slowly sucking one chubby fist. “She will be as well, Eir believes; thanks to being of your blood and from being fed the juice of Idun’s apples.”
Loki winced. “Of my blood,” he said softly, “Jotun blood.” He knelt next to the cradle, looked down at her again. “She looks…” normal, he wanted to say but the word wouldn’t escape his lips.
“She is newborn. We shall see how she grows. She may be her father’s daughter,” Frigga said with a smile, and when Loki’s shoulders hunched, she said, “Sarah has seen your Jotun form, has she not?” After a moment, Loki nodded. His eyes never left the baby’s pale skin. “And still Sarah loves you,” she said after a moment, “she will love this child no less because she is a part of you.”
Loki nodded as he rose. He hugged Frigga, kissed her cheek, and went to sit by Sarah’s side. Frigga watched him surreptitiously wipe his eyes. With a sigh, she turned to the baby and ran a gentle hand over her granddaughter’s head before quietly leaving the room.
********************************
5 Years Later…
Sarah stood at the balcony rail. She could see the gently pulsing rainbow bridge which was the bifrost which ended at the golden dome. Heimdall would surely be on guard, she thought, watching over Asgard as he always did. She thought, fleetingly, of Earth. She wondered what chaos Earth was currently going through. It seemed so long ago when Loki had brought her through the bifrost…brought her home.
“Mama, Mama, Mama!”
Sarah turned to see Cecelia’s chubby little legs propelling her across the floor until she skidded to a stop in front of her. She knelt in front of her daughter, gathering her up into her arms, hugging her close before setting her back on her feet. “And what adventures have you been up to?” she asked, one hand rifling her daughter’s shoulder length ebony curls.
Bright green eyes twinkled up at her. They were so like her father’s eyes, even though his were rarely as merry as hers. Being Thor’s primary peacekeeper was wearing on him. “I want to fight like Auntie Sif when I get big!” Cecelia cried.
“So, you were at the training grounds again?” Sarah asked, one dark brow cocked in question. “And what have you been told about going to the training grounds without Daddy or me?”
Cecelia looked down, and slowly dragged one slippered foot back and forth over the marble tile. “I know I’m not s’posed to,” she said slowly then looked up at Sarah pleadingly, “but Uncle was there, and he picked me up, and he made me sit and watch from the balcony, and he said I would be a great warrior some day, like Auntie Sif, but I had to watch first because I’m too little right now.” Her dark brows knit in a frown, and her lower lip puffed up in a pout. “When will I stop being little?”
“When you grow up,” Sarah said with a small while biting back a smile. Cecelia rolled her eyes, and Sarah couldn’t help but laugh. She gathered Cecelia close for another hug before setting the little girl on her feet. Rising, she held out her hand to Cecelia, “Come,” she said, “let’s…”
She didn’t get the chance to finish her sentence as the double doors opened, and Loki walked purposefully into the room. “What…may I ask…is this?” he asked, pulling a miniature wooden sword from behind his back.
“DADDY!” Cecelia cried, abandoning Sarah completely and running full tilt for her father.
Sarah couldn’t help smiling as she watched Loki scoop up their daughter mid-stride and spin her in circles until they were both laughing. He set her on her feet, and kneeling in front of her with a smile, proffered the wooden sword. “I assume this is yours? Thor mentioned that you’d forgotten to take it with you today.”
Cecelia took the sword solemnly, grinned suddenly, and twirled the sword much as Sif was wont to do. Since Cecelia’s chubby little hands weren’t nearly as experienced with swordplay, the small wooden sword clattered to the ground after a moment. Her lower lip puffed up in a pout, she glared at the sword.
Loki ruffled her hair lovingly. “You’ll learn with practice, dear one,” he chuckled.
“Will you practice with me?” she asked hopefully.
He shook his head. “We have our own lessons, remember?” he asked, waving one hand and conjuring a belt and sheath that would fit her small sword. She made to snatch it from him, but he kept it slightly out of reach. “Remember our deal,” he reminded, “your turn.” Loki set the small belt and sheath beside him, along with her sword.
Cecelia held her hands in front of her, palms up, and squeezed her eyes shut in concentration. As Sarah watched, a faint blue tinge crept over her daughter’s skin. It started at her fingertips and worked slowly up her arms. Loki’s gaze lifted from their daughter to Sarah, waiting for a reaction. He worried when Sarah watched their lessons because the child’s skin almost always revealed her Jotun heritage, at least for a moment or two. Even after all this time, despite being loved by his family, he still had problems accepting the frost giant part of himself.
Sarah smiled warmly at the pair, and as Loki’s lips twitched into a small answering smile, he turned back to Cecelia. The blue tinge faded as quickly as it had come, and after a moment, a small wriggling puppy took form in her hands. Giggling with delight, the child set the puppy on the floor. Reminiscent of Jingle, a small husky puppy in a storybook from home, the puppy bounded around Cecelia and her father, slipping on the marble tile once or twice before hunkering down and peeing less than an inch from Cecelia’s slipper.
Sarah sighed, and covered her face with one hand.
Loki chuckled, waved a hand, and the small puddle disappeared. “Well done, dear one!” Loki hugged their daughter. Cecelia beamed at her father’s approval and threw her arms around his neck in as tight a hug as she could manage. The puppy sat at Cecelia’s feet and dissolved slowly.
After moment, Cecelia pulled back. One small chubby hand played with Loki’s shoulder length hair. “Daddy?”
“Yes, dear one?” he asked, smiling.
“Can I braid your hair?” Cecelia asked, her eyes transfixed on the ebony strands sliding through her fingers.
Sarah chuckled, but turned it quickly into a cough when Loki looked at her. “Is that some Midgardian custom I’ve not been made aware of?” he asked her.
Unable to suppress a smile, Sarah answered, “She likes to braid my hair sometimes.”
Cecelia was nodding emphatically. “Mommy’s hair is a lot longer than yours.”
“Yes, it is,” Loki said fondly before turning to their daughter. “I suppose there’s no harm in it,” he said, sitting on the floor. Cecelia clapped with delight and dashed around to her father’s back. Her hands immediately tangled in his dark hair. Loki’s eyes met Sarah’s. “Come here, wife,” he said, extending one long fingered hand.
As long as they’d been together, that word never failed to cause her heart to leap in her chest. His knowing smile made her grin. She came to him and took his hand. With a tug, he pulled her onto his lap. Sarah laughed as he slid his arms around her. “Does she know what she’s doing?” he asked her softly.
Sarah glanced over his shoulder at Cecelia. Her brows were drawn down in concentration as her chubby little fingers slowly worked on his hair. Sarah couldn’t help but grin at Loki. “Somewhat,” she admitted. “At least she doesn’t just tie knots anymore.”
Loki blew out a breath and rolled his eyes.
“All done!” Cecelia crowed. “See, Mommy? Two braids…but not as long as yours.”
Sarah crawled off Loki’s lap and moved behind him to kneel beside her daughter. Two very messy and short braids hung just above his shoulders. “You’re getting better!” Sarah complimented, giving Cecelia a hug.
“How do I get to see?” Loki asked.
The double doors boomed as they opened, cutting off any answer Sarah might have made. “Where is my warrior niece?! There is training to be done!”
“Uncle!” Cecelia called, waving her chubby arms. One small elbow caught Sarah in the nose, and she briefly saw stars. “Daddy and I were practicing and lookit what he let me do after I made the puppy!” She pointed at the twin braids she’d created in Loki’s hair.
“You look ravishing brother!” Thor chuckled, and Loki’s back stiffened, as it always did when Thor teased him. “All you’re missing are ribbons!”
“Green and gold to match Daddy’s armor,” Cecelia agreed.
“Cecelia…” Sarah began, but Loki interrupted her, “It’s alright, love.” He turned slowly and got to his feet. “Brother,” he nodded in Thor’s direction even as he extended a hand to Sarah. She took his hand, and Loki helped her to her feet. “Come to take her back to the training ground?” he asked, a small smile reappearing as he looked at Cecelia.
Thor scooped up Cecelia and spun her in a circle until she squealed with delight. “What do you say, niece? Sif is looking forward to training you.”
Cecelia opened her mouth, and then remembering her mother’s earlier words, she turned to Sarah. “Mama, please?”
Sarah looked to Loki, who nodded imperceptibly. Sarah turned back to Cecelia. “Very well, but,” she added after Cecelia crowed with delight, “you are to be back in time for your lessons with me.”
“Mama!” she whined, clinging a bit tighter to Thor, “what’s the use of those guardian scribbles?”
Sarah’s mouth worked for a minute as she worked the words out. “Did you mean Midgardian scribbles?” she asked. She glanced at Loki, who, his lips twitching, nodded once at Thor. Thor found the marble tiles very interesting suddenly.
Cecelia nodded. “Yep! Guardian scribbles, just like Uncle…”
“I believe it’s time we were off, little warrior!” Thor interrupted, “where is your sword?” He set her back on her feet. She ran to her father, who knelt to hand her the sword and sheath. She took them from him, turned, then turned back to hug him tightly. She let go and ran to Thor, who scooped her back up into his arms. Thor nodded to Sarah. “I will have her back in time for her lessons.” He nodded to Loki and turned to go.
“Brother?” Loki’s voice was soft, but Thor heard and turned back. “Keep her safe.”
Sarah waited for some quick reassurance, but it didn’t come. Instead, Thor nodded solemnly. “Always, brother.” He turned again with Cecelia in his arms.
Cecelia waved at Loki and Sarah as she and Thor headed for the door. As they cleared the doorway, Cecelia said, “Uncle…can I braid your hair?” The doors shut before they could hear his response.
“She is her mother’s daughter,” Loki said, pulling Sarah into his arms. “I can remember when I first brought you here, and you begged me to take you to the training grounds.”
“I had different swordplay in mind than our daughter does,” she chuckled, sliding her arms around his neck.
“Ah yes, I seem to remember that,” he chuckled, nuzzling her neck. “I do believe that’s where she was conceived.” His tongue traced the shell of her ear.
Sarah shivered. “Quite possibly,” she breathed, her fingers tangling in his hair, undoing the braids.
He pulled his head back. “You undid all her hard work,” he chuckled, grinning down at her, “Cecelia will not be pleased.”
“Oh, I have a feeling she will be most pleased this evening.”
Loki frowned at Sarah’s mischievous grin. “And why is that?”
“Because she will get the news she has been wanting to hear for awhile now,” Sarah said airily, sliding out of Loki’s arms and heading for the balcony.
He caught her and spun her to face him. “What news?”
She took his hand and laid it on her belly. “She will have a brother.”
His face softened. “Another child?”
Sarah nodded. “A son, Eir says, and healthy…and I am healthy,” she added, seeing worry creep into his eyes. “But I have started drinking that horrid juice just to be safe.”
He cupped her cheek in his palm. “It saved your life before,” he said, leaning his forehead against hers.
“You saved me, Loki,” she said softly. “You loved me too much to let me go.”
“Surrender is not in my nature,” he said softly and kissed her gently. Sarah kissed him back, her hands slid down his chest to his waist and under his shirt. She nipped his lower lip, and he chuckled against her mouth, “Is it in yours, wife?”
“Only to you, husband,” she replied, pulling back, and, taking his hands, walked backwards toward their bed. “How long do you think Thor and Sif will keep her occupied?”
“Long enough,” he laughed, scooping her up into his arms and carrying her to the bed.
The End