All Over Again (Sequel to Wanted Man)

Chapter Twenty

CHAPTER TWENTY

Snow swirled in all directions, the small flakes settling in the trees and blanketing the ground until there was nothing but white all the way to the woods. It was peaceful and quiet and as McKenna stood on the deck, her coffee cup in hand, she breathed in the fresh, clean scent of snow.

It was dark, and the weatherman on the radio upped the predictions from three to five inches to six to eight inches of snow expected to fall in the next twenty-four hours. For the first time in a long time, New Jersey would see a white Christmas.

The baby kicked hard and she rubbed the spot with one hand. "Easy, Peanut," she murmured, watching as Selig rolled the second snowball for his snowman. He'd been begging her to go out and play ever since he came home from school, and there was finally enough snow around four o'clock, so she bundled him up and let him go outside.

Loki had yet to return from New York City, where Agent Coulson had summoned all of the Avengers to discuss any developments on the location of the Tesseract. He'd been gone since nine that morning, and she hoped it meant they found the Tesseract and were deciding where it should go next for safekeeping. She really didn't want Loki to be going in search of it. It gave her a terrible feeling of dread to even think about it.

Tires crunched in the snow and the pale light from the Mustang's headlights sliced through the backyard.

"Daddy!" Selig yelled, and then grunted as he tried to lift the huge snowball. When that didn't work, he shrugged and tried pushing it instead.

A few minutes later, Loki came out onto the deck and smiled as he shrugged out of his wool overcoat to drape over her shoulders. "You know better, love."

"I've only been out here a few minutes. I've been watching him from the kitchen." She took a deep breath as Loki's scent wafted up and surrounded her. Lifting her coffee cup to her lips, she said, "How did it go?"

"Thor and I are leaving for Asgard on the second." Loki ran a hand through his hair and sighed, and in the blink of an eye, he looked exhausted. Shadows ringed beneath his eyes like faint bruises, and his eyes were slightly puffy and red.

"I really wish Thor could just do this himself." She set the cup down on the wide railing. "I have such a terrible feeling about this. That something is going to happen to you. Like, what if Thanos already has the Tesseract and he's trying to use it to lure you to him?"

"Thanos isn't the least bit interested in me any longer, McKenna. I've told you that. I'm useless to him."

"That doesn't mean he isn't holding a grudge over some slight, whether real or imagined."

Darkness flashed through his eyes. "McKenna-"

"What if I'm right? And what he's found some way to make it even more powerful and it overcomes you? Then what?"

"McKenna, I'm going with Thor to Asgard on January second." He turned and yanked open one of the French doors to go back inside, leaving her there to gape at him through the glass panes.

She sighed, turning back to see Selig standing on the bottommost deck step. "Mommy, is Daddy leaving again?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes, Selig. He is."

Selig's shoulders slumped. "I thought so."

"Hopefully it won't be for too long." She scooped him up and brushed the snow from his cheeks, which were red from the cold. "And it's time to come in. Santa is watching you."

"Mommy..."

"And, I think Cap is coming over later. And Tony. And Dr. Banner. And-"

"Hawkeye?"