Right to the Night

Chapter Forty-Five

 When the weekend came about, Elisabete was getting everything ready before she had to go off to work. Iona had hurried off to the palace leaving Elisabete to cook breakfast for her, Loki, and Adelina. In several minutes, her mother would be stopping by to watch Adelina as she worked. While she cooked, Loki was seated at the kitchen table just watching her. He didn't know what to say or what to do. She then set the plate in front of him and went to cook Adelina's meal as he ate. In the meantime, Adelina had somehow gotten out of her bedroom and waddled into the kitchen. Neither Loki nor Elisabete noticed her presence until she started to laugh. Seeing Loki, she smiled brightly and put her arms up as she giggled.

"Dada!" She called out.

Loki's eyes widened and he slowly turned to look at Elisabete who furrowed her brow at him. Seeing that Loki was not responding, Adelina put her arms up higher and groaned from the stretch. She called out to him again and Loki bit his lip to try and keep from talking back to her. Adelina whimpered as she put her arms down and walked over to him.

"Dada?"

His breath hitched in his throat and he stared at Elisabete like a wounded animal when he felt Adelina tugging on his pants. Her bottom lip quivered as she pulled on his pants to try and get him to look at her.

"Dada!" She called out angrily.

Loki closed his eyes and Elisabete felt her heart ache seeing him in such a miserable state. He gripped the ends of the table and shook his head. He kept his eyes closed and furrowed his brow, trying to keep himself from looking at her. He bit down on his lip hard enough to draw blood. He tapped his foot into the ground and Elisabete just watched in agony as his heart was breaking. She knew he loved their daughter and would do anything for her. In the year they were in the palace as husband and wife, he always made sure Adelina was happy. He played with her every chance he got, always got up in the middle of the night when she was crying, gave her kisses any time he saw her, took weekly visits with her to the gardens for her to admire the flowers and foliage, and always made sure she was loved. He would gladly give his life for her and Elisabete hated herself for keeping her from him. Nonetheless, she knew she had to do this to make him learn his lesson.

It wasn't until she heard Loki whimpering that she was taken from her thoughts. Adelina then furrowed her brow and began to move to the other side of Loki seeing that he was facing the other way. When he heard her little feet on the hardwood floor, he quickly moved his head to the other side as Adelina began pulling as hard as she could on his pant leg. Adelina pouted and whimpered softly before crying on the top of her lungs. As soon as she let go of him and sat down on the floor, Loki angrily pushed his chair back and stormed out of the room to their bedroom. Adelina cried louder and calling out for him when the chair fell to the ground. Elisabete quickly picked her up from off the floor and tried the best she could to soothe her. No matter what she did, Adelina began screeching and wailing. Loki laid down on the bed and slammed the door. He could faintly make out Elisabete whispering to Adelina telling her that everything would be alright. Every sob pierced through his ears and he wept silently as he was forced to just listen to her scream. After some time, Adelina tired out and the house was silent again. Loki picked himself up and wiped his eyes as he took a few breaths before going out to face Elisabete. Before he could do so, she came into the room holding his breakfast. He turned to face her and she smiled weakly as she set down the dish on the nightstand.

"I'm sorry I made her cry like that." Loki whispered.

"And I'm sorry you couldn't console her," She whispered back. "I know she would have calmed down immediately if you held her."

"Is she better?" He asked.

"Yes, she is." Elisabete replied.

They heard the front door open and Elisabete sighed as she put her head down.