Frost & Fire

Chapter 30 (Abigail)

*3 years later*

Life as we knew it was pretty calm once so many of our changes were put into place. The last thing we needed to finalize was the daycare we were building that would also serve as an orphanage. The barbaric tradition of leaving the young out in the cold to see if they were worthy of life was outlawed as neither of us could imagine another child being put through that kind of torture. We did go visit Asgard quite a bit as well as Earth, spending at least a week at a time in each place since my temperature had been changing quite a bit after three pregnancies almost back to back.

Each of our children already had their own personalities and each loved the visits from our families when we could do so. Arn was about to turn four and had taken after Loki in so many ways. He had some of the shapeshifting abilities as well as similar markings on his skin that was explained as markings of their lineage.

Then there was Daliah. She was only about two, but a wild one. She had definitely taken after me in many aspects and loved to fight with her brother. Even though she could handle the cold, she looked more like me with the paler skin and brown eyes, but she already had a bit of a mean streak on her when she got mad.

Finally, there was our youngest, Ilod. After him we decided it would be best to give my body a break, especially when I had gotten a fourth degree tear from him and needed surgery to be fixed. He was the one who was more Jotun than the other children and was our scare. He was born with the deep blue skin as full blooded Jotuns were with bright red eyes. My pregnancy had been difficult and he was the only one we had to bottle feed even though I was able to pump, but it wasn't the same. He had bonded so much with Lynsa during the nights because she didn't have to wake me as she did with the others, but she always tried to make sure I was woken for at least one feeding through the night.

My younger sister was growing like a weed just as Arn and the others were, but we didn't get a chance to see her often or my family there. I was able to join in for story time with her, though thanks for my father's inventions to make it easier to communicate between our worlds and I knew it was slowly killing him to not get to see his grandchildren as often as he'd like. I was, however, going to start changing that some.

We had found that all three children were able to handle some of the climate changes and Ilod was the one who struggled most, so for my father's and sister's birthdays, we were going to visit for at least two months since their birthdays were so close together and I was having Lynsa follow us. We would need the help when the children would get overheated and could be watched in a room that was chilled, which was usually the room that used to be Arn's nursery when he was first born.

"Are you almost ready, Lynsa?" I asked as I entered her quarters.

"Yes, my Queen. And I believe that our King is just finishing up his meeting with the council for our departure. Are you sure I shouldn't pack anything for the children?"

"No, it's quite okay." I said with a smile. "My father has plenty of clothes for the children and us. And if you'd allow us to, we would have plenty of clothes for you as well."

"I couldn't possibly intrude like that. I am already so grateful you have allowed me to be here for the children as long as I have been."

"Lynsa, I couldn't imagine anyone else. You were such a blessing with Arn and I never felt like I had to prove myself to you or like I'd have to worry. We love you as our own. You will be treated as such when we get to Midgard, so you don't need to worry about being so proper. Also, don't be afraid to tell anyone to go to hell." Her eyes widened and I couldn't help but laugh. "I'm so sorry to laugh, but when we are there, it's not just to see my family, but to allow me to remember that I'm not just a queen because I married into this role. It'll be much different is all."