Heaven Sent (Loki/Asgard Fanfiction - Aislinn's Story)

Chapter Sixty-Seven

Over the next few weeks, Aislinn realized just how true Steve's promise was about what buying a house was like. Since he was working, she did all the running between lawyers and such, and she also took it upon herself to begin packing.

Friday nights, she found herself either at Somerset Valley High, or shuttling to wherever the away game was being played. Little by little, she made friends with the women who regularly attended the football games and looked forward to the time spent with them, chatting, indulging in gossip from time to time, and basically, just hanging out, as her mother would say. For the first time in her life, Aislinn had friends. Real friends. Girlfriends to go out with on an occasional Saturday night. To meet at the mall. Who just dropped in for no reason and helped her with the packing.

They still hadn't told either set of parents that they'd gotten married. Not even when Loki and McKenna paid them a visit at Halloween, which was her father's favorite Midgardian holiday. With Aislinn's help, they decorated the townhouse and the shrubs in the front of it, and he had the time of his life popping up to scare the kids who came to the door trick or treating.

On November first, she and Steve signed the papers in their lawyer's office and two days later, she gave his hand a squeeze as the movers began loading their big, orange truck with the furniture and boxes she'd spent so many weeks packing.

She glanced up at him. His expression was grim. He'd spent seven years there and moving had to be bittersweet for him, even if buying a house had been his idea.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

He nodded slowly. "I'm fine, baby. Just thinking about my first day here." He glance down at her. "I was twenty-six and nervous as hell about having to make a mortgage payment every month even though I'd gotten tenure a few months earlier."

"What's that?"

"Tenure?" His thumb skimmed hers. "It's basically job security. The Board of Education can't fire me."

"Ever?"

"I have to really fuck up—hit a student, sleep with a student, stuff like that." He gave her hand a squeeze. "It's the best thing the district could do for me. But, I was still scared shitless over the thought of making that payment every month."

"And you lived by yourself?"

"More or less. I was single when I bought it, but about six months after, I met a woman and within a few months, I asked her to live with me. That lasted about a year. Then I started seeing Jenna and it went from her spending a few nights a week here to her spending all of her time here. She moved in over the course of about three months, little by little. And then I met this girl at the shore. I asked her to come and spend a night up here," he smiled at her and winked, "and somehow, I ended up married to her."

"Steve!"

He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. "I love you, baby. Let's go home, okay?"

"I'll go. You stay and make sure everything gets on the truck while I make sure everything gets off the truck. And then, I'll get everything put away and we can enjoy our first night in our house."

He grinned at her. "Can we enjoy it naked?"

"Sure. I'm all for naked enjoyment."

Still holding her hand, he caught her around the waist to pull her against him. "I love you, Aislinn."

"I love you, too, Steve."

He kissed her, then let her go and she smiled as she swiped up her car keys. "I'll see you in a bit, okay?"