Now and Forever Yours

Chapter 1

    The afternoon spring sun shone on my face, and I closed my eyes to enjoy the warmth as I waited outside Charlotte's preschool building for the kids to be released for the weekend. I closed my eyes for a moment, then opened them, and searched out the faint white moon that rested in the blue sky. Funny how you could see two moons when you looked into the sky in Asgard, I found myself thinking. Whoa, where did that come from? I shook my head, chuckling to myself.

    Loki had been gone all of that week, off in Asgard. He had been spending quite a bit of time there recently, in fact. I wasn't necessarily bothered by it – we had received word nearly three months ago that Thor had asked Lady Sif for her hand in marriage. Their wedding celebration was planned for just later this month, and the three of us were planning to attend, of course. I was nervous, though – I had not been back to Asgard since Charlotte's birth. And, according to my husband, no one in the realm actually knew Charlotte even existed – that had been the Allfather's wishes. So what exactly was Odin's plan for when Loki showed up with me and our four-year-old mini-me in tow?

    "Mommy!" My thoughts were interrupted by my beautiful raven-haired daughter screaming at me as she ran out the front door of her school with the twenty-or-so other children she attended with. I smiled at the sight of her – white polo shirt untucked on one side, her plaid school skirt hitting her knees, one of her tennis shoes untied, fly-always everywhere in her previously French braided pigtails. Ah, there I am, I thought to myself as I held my arms open for her to run into, bracing myself as she hit me and threw her arms around my hips.

    "Hey kiddo, how was your day?" I asked, holding her hand as we walked to the black towncar I had driven from Stark Industries.

    "Ah-mazing." I laughed, knowing she had learned that manner of speaking from her Aunt Nat. "I read three big kid books today!"

    "No way," I said, raising my eyebrows and pulling out my keys to unlock the car doors.

    "Ms. Stark? Ms. Stark!" I groaned inwardly when I heard my name being called. I turned around, gluing a smile to my face, trying to channel my inner Loki. The leader of the parent council, Erica, was jogging up to the car in her skin-tight yoga pants and tank top.

    "Hi there!" She smiled at me. I forced a smile, reaching behind me to open the car door so Charlotte could get in. She took the hint, crawling inside and closing the door behind her. "I wondered if you and your, uh, partner had signed up for a shift for the penny carnival yet?" I considered for a moment, again glancing at the moon in the sky. I crossed my arms and squinted at her.

    "You know, when was that again?" I asked.

    "In three weeks, on May 28th." Erica said matter-of-factly, putting her hands on her hips. "All the parents have signed up for booths, or for shifts to work a booth. We were just wondering when you and . . ."

    "My husband . . ." I started, and I saw her eyes widen. "Loki . . ." Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head when I said his name.

    "Oh, gosh, I didn't realize you guys had gotten married!" She exclaimed, waving a hand at me and laughing nervously. I simply smiled. "Why on Earth do you and Charlotte not have his last name then?" Wow, she went there, I thought.

    "You know, Erica, where Loki is from, they do things a little differently with last names." I said, and a slight frown came across her pretty face. "And, well, I'm going to have to pass for both of us on that penny carnival, I'm sorry, my brother-in-law Thor – you've heard of Thor? The Avenger with the hammer?" I said, smiling internally at seeing that Erica's mouth had actually fallen open. "Well Thor is getting married, so Loki and I are taking Charlotte to his wedding. Thanks for the information, though. Have a nice weekend." I smiled quickly, turned around to leave Erica's pretty, lipstick-covered mouth wide open. I gave her a small wave when I climbed into the driver's seat of my black sedan, and quickly pulled away from the curb.