A Whole Bunch of Loki's

Something We Don't Have - Part Three

My head was spinning on my walk back from the healers, the world around me doing rotations that warped everything and turned my stomach violently.

Bracing myself against the doorframe of our bedroom, I squeezed my eyes shut tightly and took a few deep breaths to try and settle my light-headedness.

Once I felt a bit more stable, I reopened them and looked towards the bed, where Loki was sat with our son resting in his lap, a book resting on the boy's as they read together.

Seeing the two of them together made my heart swell and slightly eased my feeling of lostness.

Loki had proved to be an amazing father.

He would always go above and beyond for Valian, making sure his needs were always seen to and that he had near enough everything he wanted.

He'd already started giving Valian one on one lessons in reading and writing as well as small bits of child friendly magic, making sure to keep each lessons as fun and non-tedious as possible.

Valian seemed just as taken with Loki, hanging onto him at every chance he had.

I hadn't expected the two to fall for each other how they had, but I simply adored the fact that they were each other's world and that I got to be part of it.

Slowly stepping into the room, I gently closed the door behind me and walked over to the bed, perching on the edge of it.

Valian looked up, his eyes as bright as his smile.

"Mummy!" He yelled excitedly, crawling away from Loki's lap to wrap his small arms around my neck in a tight hug.

"Hello, sweetie," I smiled, pulling him onto my lap and kissing the top of his head, "miss me?"

"Yeah-huh," he nodded enthusiastically, "but daddy read me all the stories!"

I couldn't help but laugh at his cute mispronunciations of certain words, the way 'stories' came out sounding like 'stor-yees' filled my chest with a giddiness of adorable overload.

"Did he?" I gasped, looking at Loki, "all the stories?"

"Apparently," Loki said with a smile, "though I thought I had only read four."

"Well, four is certainly a lot."

"All of them," Valian whispered dramatically, his eyes wide.

I laughed again and looked to Loki, tsking and shaking my head.

"Look, you traumatized the poor boy."

"Me? He's the one who kept running off to get another book after we'd finished one."

"Is that true?" I asked, looking down at Valian who puffed his cheeks out defiantly.

"No."

"I think someone is lying to mummy."

"No."

"What does daddy say?"

Loki chuckled and moved closer, wrapping his arms around the both of us.

"Daddy says that we should make mummy suffer too."

"Oh sure, gang up on me," I huffed, leaning my back against his chest.

"Of course," he grinned as his hand stroked my side, "what did the healers say?"

I let out a soft sigh and rested my head against his shoulder, looking down as Valian eagerly pulled the book across the bed to rest in his lap once again so that he could flip through the pages and gaze at the pictures.

As he flipped from page to page, I pictured another smaller child sitting between Valian's lap and the book.

A baby with tufts of black hair and curious blue eyes, giggling at the beautiful illustrations.

In the corner I could imagine a large cot made of painted black wood decorated with golden symbols, the little mattress inside covered with a green blanket and lined with a few plush toys.

My eyes slowly scanned the room and various imaginings popped up.

Me helping this little being to get dressed in the smallest clothes imaginable.

Both children sitting together at a little table, scribbling on sheets of paper while babbling away to one another.

A small, child worthy library and reading corner in the furthest corner of the room.

"Darling?"

I found my hand slowly rubbing circles over my stomach.

"We're having a baby, Loki," I smiled widely, turning my head to look up at him while taking hold of his hand, "after so long, we're expanding our family."