Loki of Vanaheim (Part 3)

Home Sweet Home (LOKI)

A tingle. A rush. The insects in my blood that I'd gotten to know years before when I wed her returned with full force when she fell in my arms. The boys' laughter. Their joyous song of games and naïve ignorance to everything that they'd escaped.

The river had honored me with a chance to save them all. To the river, I'd be forever grateful. Perhaps in Mother's eyes, I'd redeemed my every selfish deed and earned the treasure of my family.

I could hardly wait to get home with them and hear about what I'd missed in my time away. Vali clung to my leg tightly and refused to let go, riding along as I walked. Narvi held Sigyn's hand and nuzzled against her arm in a gentler fashion to his brother. Our neighbors nodded toward me when I passed—some had a glimmer of appreciation in their eyes which said they'd conducted with someone who told them all about what happened at Don. As much as I'd wanted to see my Ginny before resting the night before, surprising her was sweeter. I would've chosen to do the same every time had I many opportunities to relive the moment in the center of our fortress.

"Father, Mum says I can't have a horse yet," Vali lamented, weighing more with each passing step.

"That time will come, little wolf," I said, patting his back to egg him off when our house came into view. "In the meantime, I'll ask if the owner of the steed I used would like your help so you can learn a bit. Would you like that?"

"Aye!" he cheered, sparkling and jumping in place.

"How about you, Narvi?" I asked, tipping my head to get a better look at his freckled face.

He flushed a light pink and nodded, bottling his excitement a bit.

"Just so long as you teach them to be safe," Sigyn said through a sigh. "I don't know the first thing about all that."

"You'd do well to learn too, Gin." I kicked my chin forward and the boys ran ahead to the house, letting me embrace their mother with her forehead against mine. "Gods, I missed you."

She hummed and stroked the side of my face in her gentle ritual. "Thank you for returning to me. I was afraid you'd remember how much fun you had out there doing...well, anything but this domestic business."

I chuckled. "Our life is far from boring."

"Father," Vali crooned while stomping his foot by the door.

"You see what I've been dealing with?" Sigyn whispered.

"Don't worry. I'll wear him out." I pecked her cheek and marched toward my feisty son, who had all the patience of a gnat, though I wouldn't have changed him one bit if I'd had the chance to craft him out of clay. Narvi, too.

In fact, my belly had a gnawing twist that grew each time I heard him laugh—deep down, I had new dreams and hoped my Ginny would agree.

***

"When will you tell us where you've been?" Vali asked after our late supper while I cleaned the table and let Sigyn rest. A wide-eyed and nodding Narvi supported the inquest at his side.

"Like I said before, it might not yet be time to tell you."

"ˆPlease?" Vali somehow gave his gaze a glassy sheen that made him appear younger—a spell that only he could cast given his stature and cloying frown.

"Nothing that will give them nightmares," Sigyn said as she rocked with her eyes closed in the gliding chair before the fire.

I wiped my hands dry and stretched my back, even more grateful now that even after the river's fruit seemed to have worn off, the repair to my shoulder remained and left me pain-free. "Alright. I'll tell you a story. You sit."