The Before [Prequel- Part 2]

Back To The Beginning

~~~Catherine's pov~~~

There were times that being married to Loki was great. He was sweet, attentive, and protective in every possible way.

Then there were times when it wasn't so great. Like when I was trying to hide stuff from him.

I suppose it's a good problem to have, though. I had a husband who knew me so well that if I so much as breathed a certain way, he knew something was wrong.

And on this particular day, that was exactly the case.

About a month had passed since the battle with Thanos and life was as crazy as you'd expect after half of the world's population disappeared. It was especially crazy for Loki and I because there was only a month until my due date.

It was a late afternoon in mid-June when I found myself sitting on our couch, trying to relax, but my body's constant shivering made that process near impossible.

Of course, Loki noticed this the second he walked into the room and sat down beside me, worry written all over his face.

"Are you feeling alright?" He asked me as he took his place next to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I turned my head to look at him with a smile.

That definitely didn't sound convincing.

My thought was only proven correct as Loki raised a brow, clearly calling my bluff. "You realize I'm not only your husband, but also the God of Lies, right? It'll take a lot more than a smile to fool me."

And this was that down side I was talking about.

"I'm fine. I swear. You don't have to worry about me." I assured him, raising my hands in surrender.

"Don't worry about the mother of my child?" He looked off into the distance and pretended to think about it for a moment. "I don't think so."

"Loki, I'm okay." My words were contradicted by my shaking hands and voice.

"Darling, you're literally shaking." His voice stopped being playful and turned into worry as he felt my forehead for a temperature.

I chuckled and gently pushed his hand away. "Even if I had a fever, you wouldn't be able to tell. My skin always feels hot to you."

"That's what's concerning me." The worry in his voice increased. "Your forehead feels completely normal to me. Meaning your body temperature is far too low to be considered healthy." He quickly grabbed a blanket from the end of the couch and placed it on my shoulders.

Panic filled me as I felt warmth return to my body and I instantly took the blanket off.

"Catherine, you need to warm up." Concerned wasn't a strong enough word to describe how worried Loki was at that moment.

Tears started to form in my eyes as I shook my head. "I can't..."

He furrowed his brows at my response. "What do you mean, 'you can't'?"

A sense of defeat came over me as I realized I had to come clean.

I guiltily hung my head and revealed a large ice pack that I had been covering with a weak illusion.

I should've known he'd find out...

"You're trying to make yourself cold?" He raised a brow in confusion. "Why? Is it another nausea spell?"

I took a deep breath before answering, my hormones washing over me like a tidal wave. "I'm trying to make myself cold because my normal body temperature is way too high." A small sob came to the surface, completely taking me by surprise. "What if I'm hurting the baby because I'm too hot? She's part Frost Giant. She needs the cold."