A New York Secret

Chapter Forty Eight

When Loki woke up later that morning, he noticed it was still early, so he got up quietly to let Emily sleep. He went to the bathroom, then grabbed his Kindle as he climbed back into bed. Once comfortable, he set it up with help from Jarvis. It didn't take any time at all for him to become lost in a book.

Emily rolled over in bed to snuggle against Loki when light made her grumble. "Is it morning?" She asked softly, her voice heavy with sleep.

Loki gave a startled jump as he had been engrossed in the book he was reading. "Yes darling, but it is still early." He replied.

"What time is it?" She asked softly as she rubbed her eyes then looked over at him. "I see you have your Kindle set up."

Loki looked over at the clock. "Oh, it's nine thirty now. It was just after six when I woke up."

Emily sat up and rubbed at her eyes. "Have you heard Mary moving around at all?"

Loki shook his head. "I was very engrossed in this book and haven't been very aware of my surroundings." He admitted.

She nodded and slowly climbed out of bed. "You can go back to reading and I'll check on Mary. Do you want tea this morning?"

"Can I have apple juice?" Loki asked, feeling in the mood for something sweeter than tea.

"Of course. I'll make you a toasted bagel too. I'll let you know when it's ready, okay?" Emily dressed in underwear and a long sleep shirt before she got her robe from the back of the bedroom door and put it on.

"Thank you darling. Do we still have the cinnamon bagels?" Loki asked, sounding hopeful.

"I believe we do. Do you want butter or cream cheese on it?" She asked.

"Cream cheese please." Loki answered. "I don't care much for butter on them."

"Okay sweetheart." Emily blew him a kiss before she exited the bedroom and closed the door behind her. Once on the other side, she checked the Christmas tree to find that the extra gifts had already been placed beneath it. Mary must have done it early this morning. She shrugged and turned to walk into the kitchen to prepare Loki's bagel and juice while also fixing a pot of coffee.

As the smell of coffee began to fill the condo, Mary sleepily came out of her room to get a cup. "Morning." She managed to say through a yawn.

"Late night?" Emily questioned as she cut a bagel in half while she waited for another in the toaster.

Mary nodded and headed for the cupboard with the coffee mugs. "It was. I didn't get to bed until almost three."

"That's a lot later than normal for you. Did you and Steve have fun?" Emily turned to the toaster when it popped and removed the bagel and put it on a plate before she added another to the toaster and pushed down the button.

Mary poured herself a cup of coffee and added a little bit of sugar. "We had a nice time. We danced for a while, then went for a walk here in the tower."

Emily smiled as she smeared cream cheese on one bagel just as the other one popped in the toaster. "It sounds like you had an amazing night."

"Well, evening was more like it, but it was very nice. I came back here around midnight." Mary said, waiting for Emily to put it all together.

"Midnight? That doesn't seem right... we..." Emily's eyes went wide while her face flushed a bright red. "Oh my god."

Mary couldn't help but chuckle. "I was just glad I didn't invite Steve in. He walked me back." She told Emily. "I could hear... too much from the sitting room and knew it wouldn't be any better in my room, so I left for a bit."