Loki spent the next few months cramming everything Odin still had to teach him about taking over the throne officially into his brain as quickly as possible. There was a lot to learn and Loki was trying to master it all as quickly as possible. He'd been taught to rule since he was a child, but he never thought he'd be taking the throne, as Thor was always favored for it. So there were things he hadn't paid enough attention to, assuming that Thor was going to rule instead of him.
Odin had told Loki that after the children were born, after things were calm and you were on stable footing with the children, once the realms were in a good place, then he would be stepping down as king. Loki would take the throne then with Odin staying on as his advisor.
Loki was nervous beyond all belief. Though he wouldn't let anyone but you know about his nerves or concern. He always presented a competent, capable demeanor to the court and people. He especially displayed that to his father.
But to you?
You got to see the real Loki, to see the emotions he hid from everyone else (except perhaps his precious mama, but even that was rare). Which also meant that you were the one he came to when he was overwhelmed or his self-doubt flared up.
Just because Loki was busy spending those months preparing to take the throne didn't mean you were sitting bored in your suite twiddling your thumbs. You were working with Frigga to prepare to take over the healing wing from her. You covered for her before, of course, and took it over for months at a time, but there were ins and outs and all sorts of details you still had to learn. Especially as she had the same plan as Odin did, to step down from her role and retire to an advisory position, sometime shortly after the children were born.
You were just as busy as Loki was and some days it felt like you barely saw him.
You were also on a shorter timeline. Frigga had warned you that carrying twins would be harder on you than a single child and she fully expected that you would end up on bed rest long before the end of your pregnancy. That was a prospect that you were dreading more than anything.
Except maybe the actual giving birth part.
That was pretty terrifying too, even with the best healers in the nine realms helping you through it.
But that was a problem for a different day.
The problem for this particular day was when Loki was woken to the lovely, dulcet sounds of his wife throwing up the entire contents of your stomach, though you hadn't eaten anything yet that day. He rushed into the bathing room and held your hair while you were violently ill. It was all he could do to help you.
You finally got your nausea back under control. Or ran out of things in your stomach and was able to sit back against Loki. "Are you alright, now, witchling?" he asked nervously as he knelt and stroked your sweat-damp hair back from your face.
"Yeah," you groaned. "Morning sickness just sucks," you informed him, your hand going to your swollen stomach. You couldn't believe you were already so big after just a few months, but you were carrying twins and you felt it every time you moved. Loki's hand was under your elbow, his arm around you and he hauled you back to your feet. You were grateful for his super strength as you didn't feel bad for him helping you when you knew he could bench-press a semi. Lifting one pregnant lady to her feet wasn't a strain on him.
Loki led you back to the bedroom and looked over you with concern. His hand touched your cheek, then your forehead. "Darling, you're burning up," he told you with concern. "Why don't I take you to Mother?"
Loki was always sure there was something wrong with your pregnancy and always trying to drag you off to see Frigga for whatever his imagined issue was with your health. So far all of his worrying had been for nothing, but he was even more concerned this time.
"I'm sure it's fine, love," you tried to reassure him.
For your effort, you got bundled in your robe with slippers on your feet and dragged down to the healing wing to see Frigga. You huffed and rolled your eyes, but allowed Loki to drag you away. He was worried, really worried. "You're much, much too warm, witchling. And you haven't kept down anything in two days,"
Of course he'd kept track.
He led you to the healing wing, though you hardly needed guidance, and got you settled in one of the private rooms to wait for Frigga to arrive. She did so quickly. You and the heirs to the throne were her top priority in the healing wing. Always.
Frigga looked you over with the soulforge after listening to Loki's accounts of what was wrong with you this time.
Instead of dismissing his concerns, Frigga actually looked worried herself. She turned to you and checked your temperature and the temperature of the children.
And then Frigga did something the always polite healer rarely ever did.
She cursed the rudest Asgardian word you'd ever heard.
Well... that couldn't be a good thing.
