Beneath A Moonless Sky: A Thor Fanfic

Parental Guidance Pt. II

Thor intercepted Loki in the foyer on the way to the hospital wing. His argument with Emily had taken longer than anticipated, and the ultrasound was already complete. Loki had an arm draped around Lanie's slender frame and an immensely proud look in his eyes. Both Thor and Emily exchanged small smiles with the other God.

"So, what's the news? Do we have Edith or Edward?" Emily asked, her heart warming at the genuinely love-stricken smile that broke across Loki's face. She had never seen him like that before, and it was absolutely adorable. Loki nudged Lanie playfully and squeezed her hand.

"Care to share our news, love?"

Lanie beamed. "Edith Kieran Lokidottir is expected January ninth."

Emily thought that was funny, since she was relatively certain she and Thor had conceived in January. She marveled at the thought for a moment, realizing that she would be a mother to Thor's children well before she had known him for a year. The idea made her nauseas, and she grabbed on to Thor's arm to steady herself. "January? Wow...what a uh, one year anniversary present that will be, right?"

Loki snorted. "We did meet on a cold, unforgiving January evening, didn't we?"

"If by meet, you mean you collapsed into my arms? Then yes." Lanie admitted with a giggle. Loki's smirk only grew and he pulled her against his chest, tickling her lightly under her arms. He chuckled as she squirmed, her gentle laughter breathing life into him.

"Oh I remember. A tiny angel put me in her bed for the night and I've been smitten ever since."

She rolled her eyes at him and Emily pretended to gag herself at the overdramatic display of affection. "Loki, do you always have to be this extra?"

Loki's brows furrowed with purplexion, unsure of what she meant, and Thor cleared his throat loudly. "Might I remind everyone that we have someplace to be."

Loki and Lanie both shot each other confused glances and Emily looked at the floor sheepishly. She wasn't sure how to tell them that she had sent word to both sets of parents that they were to meet at her family's restaurant to discuss why they had been absent for so many months. She was half scared that Lanie was going to be angry with her for the first time in their eleven year friendship, and she fiddled with her fingers nervously. "Um, yeah...about that. We all are going back to Midgard to meet with our parents."

Loki could feel Lanie's body tense, and knowing good and well that she didn't have the best relationship with her family in the world, he grimaced deeply. "Should she not have been asked first?"

Emily huffed. "You can blame Thor for that, he didn't want to go without you."

Loki shot Thor a death glare, while a strange and distant laugh floated from Lanie's lungs. She sounded hysterical. "Uh...I'm um...medically not supposed to put myself in temperatures above seventy degrees. So, it is within the best interest of my...little blue daughter...if I stay here."

Emily put her hands on her hips, tapping her foot on the floor impatiently and waiting for Lanie to quit being a baby. "We will be inside. The July weather isn't going to cook Edith inside a perfectly air-conditioned restaurant. Your family is worried sick about you, Lanie. Especially Niall."

Lanie sighed heavily at the mention of her brother, whom she loved and missed dearly. It wasn't Niall's fault that she didn't like to go home, or that she'd been whisked away by an Asgardian prince. She knew she had a lot to answer for, and she shuffled in Loki's arms nervously. "Fine. But if I get yelled at, Thor is getting kicked under the table."

"If you get yelled at, Thor is getting more than a kick." Loki mumbled, though he was weary of the expression Emily was shooting him from underneath her eyelashes. He hated it when she looked at him like that...like she was gonna jab an icicle in his eye socket.