Frost & Fire

Chapter 23 (Loki)

It felt good to have my kitten laying next to me again, and not just because of the welcome home sex. She had fallen asleep before me and I was trying not to fall asleep so soon so I could watch her sleep a little. That bit of peace she had when she was dead to the world. Reaching down I put my hand on her belly and felt for our son. So far I'd been gone so much of her pregnancy that I wasn't sure if he would actually know me. If he would realize I was his father. When he moved he gently kicked and it almost felt like a brush off, like "I'm sleeping leave me alone" if it were a movement.

As she turned to face me, I gently kissed her forehead. She had been tossing and turning a lot, but I had no idea if she was just uncomfortable or in pain since she hadn't made a sound. I felt her stomach get tight and relax enough that I started to time it. Every time I felt her stomach tighten, she would get a look of discomfort on her face. Once I was counting the looks of pain were getting longer and longer, I tried to gently wake her, fearing this was the moment we were waiting for.

When I got no response from her, I went two doors down to wake Leytle and started calling for Bruce and Tony. I was probably overreacting, but I didn't know what to do and normally she would wake up after I shook her a few times. But with how her stomach was acting and how she didn't seem to be able to wake up and that made my skin go cold in a not so normal way. Was there something wrong with the pregnancy? Was there something wrong with Arn? I wouldn't know what to do and there was no way I was ready to face that possibility alone.

"I tried to wake her, but no response and about every four minutes she looks like she's in pain." I said frantically as Leytle moved the blankets and I saw the wet spot under her. "There was nothing wet when I left the room. Is she okay? Oh, gods, what if I hurt her?"

I heard Tony laugh and I was ready to punch him. "Relax, what gets the baby in there tends to get him out. Are you sure you didn't somehow miss the fact that her water broke?"

"I'm sure I would have noticed a fucking puddle in my bed, Tony!"

"Will you all stop - ow! God dammit this kid needs to stop resting in my ribs!" Abby finally woke up and I let out a sigh of relief as I ran over to her.

"Kitten, are you okay?"

"I will be once you tell me why everyone is in our room. Does nobody believe in privacy anymore?"

"Abby, you're in labor. Your water broke and I'm shocked you've apparently been sleeping through the contractions." Bruce said as calmly as he could. "We're going to need to bring you down to the-"

"No, she's having the princeling here."

"The hell she is!"

Bruce and Leytle fought back and forth and I rolled my eyes before yelling at them both. "Enough! We're going downstairs one way or another. She's going to need access to a possible surgery."

"If she doesn't deliver this child naturally then we won't know if she's worthy of being the queen!" Leytle said.

"I'm pretty fucking sure the fact that I married her, presented her as queen, and told everyone 'hey this is my wife and since I'm your king that means she is your queen' kind of means that she is worthy of being the queen!" there was a growl to my voice and my skin had changed back to blue which meant I was seriously angry and it meant my eyes were bright red.

Showing some intelligence she backed away and I looked to Bruce. "We need to get her downstairs, you're in charge doc."

After that it moved quickly. Tony, to his credit the obsession he'd had with his repulsorlift technology finally paid off, as a hovering gurney came at his whistle and we were able to lay her on it. Taking it down the stairs carefully we went to Bruce's lab that had been set up for labor and delivery since we weren't sure when she would be having the child.