You Go, I Go

Chapter 19

Sylvie and Loki met up with Mobius outside of the location of their latest mission: a baby supplies store. The building loomed over the group, and Sylvie gulped.

"So, we go in for just the things we need, agreed?" she stated to the two men, who both nodded in unison.

As they walked toward the entrance, the automatic sliding doors opened to allow the visitors to enter. They did so with caution. The store's roof was tall, and from it, bright fluorescent lights shined down on them. They started towards the crib section but came across clothes and toys galore on their way.

"Loki, look," Sylvie said, redirecting into one of the clothes aisles. She had picked up a set of plain white bodysuits, tears forming in her eyes. "They're so tiny."

"I'll go get a cart," Mobius chuckled light-heartedly after seeing Loki fawn over the bodysuits with Sylvie.

"Ooh, look at these tiny socks!" Loki exclaimed.

By the time they got to the crib section, the cart had been filled with whatever neutral baby clothes they could find. A sales associate, James, joined them shortly after they started browsing cribs.

"Can I help you folks with anything today?" James asked.

"What would you recommend out of all of these cribs?" Loki asked.

"Well, that depends on what you're looking for," James answered. "Personally, if you're looking to save money, you'd be best off investing in a crib that converts to a toddler bed. That way, when little one grows too big for their crib, you won't have to spend money getting them a bigger bed for another few years."

"And which of those that you stock do you recommend?" Sylvie asked.

James showed them the options and they came to a quick decision on which one to purchase. He helped them find the other furniture they were looking for and assisted them with setting up a baby registry with the store. They checked out quickly, making sure they didn't detour to anymore aisles. Once they were checked out, they loaded the furniture into the tray of Mobius's truck and strapped it down. Loki sat in the back with all the shopping bags of clothes.

"I'm going to have to go shopping again to get some clothes that actually fit me," Sylvie complained. "I'm a whale!"

"You're beautiful, darling," Loki told her gently. "And you're growing our beautiful child in there. We can do a shop to buy some maternity clothes, and we can get some belly tape. It's supposed to help lift your belly and support your back."

"There's also pants extenders so you can go back to wearing the pants you like," Mobius added, and the couple looked at him in shock. "What? I can look stuff up, too. Sylvie's pregnancy is hard to keep hiding, I thought it might take the heat off if she went back to wearing proper pants instead of leggings."

The rest of the car ride was silent, and soon they arrived at the Variants' home. Sylvie took the clothes shopping inside while the boys started bringing in the furniture. She began sorting through the clothes and removing the tags from them so she could wash them. She chuckled hearing Loki and Mobius struggling with the crib.

"It's supposed to go here!" the god was arguing.

"No, it isn't Loki," Mobius sighed. "Here, look at the instructions while I fix your mistake."

As Sylvie threw the clothes in the washing machine, she heard a bang, so she rushed to the nursery. Loki was cradling his hand and Mobius was holding back laughter.

"What happened here?" she demanded.

"Genuis Loki here thought it would be a good idea to try lifting the base on his own before I was ready to put the screws in," Mobius laughed.

"It's not my fault you're slow!" Loki whined.

"Do I need to call Bruce to come and make sure Loki doesn't accidentally break a bone?" Sylvie asked.

"Probably," Mobius replied. "You'll have two kids to watch when Junior gets here."

Sylvie just chuckled as she pulled out her phone to call Bruce, who picked up after two rings. "Hey, Sylvie," he answered. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," she smiled. "I think we may need a hand down this way. Loki and Mobius might kill themselves and each other trying to put this furniture together on their own."

"Say no more," Bruce laughed. "I'm on my way."

With a quick "thanks", she hung up the phone and went back to mediating the two men putting together nursery furniture. If they'd thought the crib was hard to put together, they were in for a shock trying to put the bookshelf together. Luckily, Bruce arrived in nick time to save them.

It wasn't long before the three men had put together the furniture and placed it all where it needed to go, and Sylvie had started organising.

"I thought nesting wasn't a thing until the third trimester," Loki chuckled, watching his fiancé run around putting things in their places.

"She's been on the run her whole life," Bruce thought aloud. "This is the first permanent home she's had. I think she's just excited to finally have something set in stone."

"She didn't even have much in her chambers at the compound," Mobius added. "It's taken her a while to get used to being around people who haven't died within days of meeting them."

"I know," Loki sighed. "She suffered so much, and it's amazing to see her so happy and full of life. Figuratively and literally. I'm glad she's finally found home. The fact that it's with me is just a bonus."

"You didn't think she'd come back, did you?" Mobius asked.

Loki shook his head. "She had no reason to," he answered. "In my mind, it didn't matter where she went. She'd never be content with her life. I would have been happy to just see her settle somewhere in bliss. I didn't care who it was with. Hel, she could leave me for someone else tomorrow, and as much as it would break my heart, I'd be happy seeing her be happy, even if it was with someone else."

"Damn," Bruce mumbled.

"That's love, man," Mobius breathed.

"I think this is freedom," Loki said inquisitively. "You said I was a narcissist, Mobius. I don't think I am. I think our Nexus event was that we broke free. We feel this thing for each other that's deeper than even love. I-It's hard to explain. That moment on Lamentis was when we silently admitted to the universe that we felt this way about each other. That's what our Nexus event was. You said you'd never seen a branch like it before."

"Maybe that's what we need for the multiverse," Mobius stated thoughtfully.

"What do we need for the multiverse?" Sylvie asked, apparently done with her organising.

"Nothing, dear," Loki smiled. "We were just throwing ideas out about the party on Saturday."

"Oh, what about it?" she asked.

"What if we do the nursery reveal first, then surprise them with the cake later?" Bruce suggested.

"I love it!" she smiled.