Strangefrost Oneshots

part twenty-eight ~ medical miracle (2)

Finally, peace and quiet.

Loki sighed, his eyelids finding belated relaxation as he let his head sag back onto the dense hospital pillow. He'd never imagined the hype and chaos coming for him when he eventually gave birth to his and Stephen's daughter, Emmalyne.

Only Stephen had been in the room while Loki was in labour and Loki had vague, blurry memories of screeching at him and possibly breaking a few of his fingers from gripping the poor man's hand a little too hard.

Skin-to-skin contact was crucial for Loki and his baby and the pure, unconditional love Loki felt for her erupted as soon as the pain faded away and she was placed into his shaky arms. He was sweaty and quivering and gasping for breath, but, boy, was he the happiest man on earth.

For one of the first times in his life, Stephen had been rendered virtually speechless at the sight of Loki and their newborn. He probably kissed Loki's head too many times, laughed far more than he should, and "aww"ed too much. But why would he care? A brand new chapter of his life with Loki had just begun.

A few minutes were all they had been given with Emmalyne before she was whisked off to be bathed. This was the cue for the bouncing voices and bodies of Loki's mother and brother to burst inside.

Loki didn't realise the word "Congratulations!" could be said so much in such a small amount of time.

Frigga hugged both Loki and Stephen and gushed about how ecstatic she was to finally have a grandchild - subtly glaring at Thor - and how proud she was of Loki. Thor's vocabulary had been shortened to, "Bless Valhalla," every now and then and sniffing, while patting various people on the back.

It had all been odd, and laughable, and topsy-turvy, but they wouldn't have had it any other way. Because regardless of all the chaos, a gorgeous baby girl had been brought into Loki and Stephen's world. They were parents for the very first time, and that was sublime.

Once Emmalyne was returned to them after a short while, Loki gave her a quick cuddle and kiss before she was introduced to her grandmother and uncle. But, with most of the day's excitement over, Loki felt himself crashing. He was exhausted. Thankfully, Stephen picked this up and ushered everyone out of the room to give Loki a few minutes to himself, for which he was grateful.

He'd let his eyes drift closed with a deep, recuperative sigh.

The door creaked softly and Loki opened his groggy eyes. His irritation flared but dissipated in an instant when he saw Stephen amble inside with their beautiful baby girl in his arms. Loki pushed himself up and beamed as wide as he could with his tired muscles.

"I expected you to be fast asleep," Stephen murmured, sitting down close to Loki on the hospital bed.

"I was about to be," Loki replied softly, putting his arms out. "But little Emmalyne and you deemed it unnecessary for the moment."

The tiny bundle of blankets rolled into Loki's arms and her eyes opened briefly, heeding her father's smile-creased face, before shutting them again.

Ever so gently, Loki ran his finger down her arm, picked up her petite hand and kissed her palm. He rose his eyes to Stephen's, who, to his immense surprise, had a wetness beneath his eyelashes.

"Are you crying?"

"Of course not," Stephen scoffed, sniffing and looking away.

Loki grinned and used Stephen's chin to steer his face to his. They kissed through the tears.

"Happy tears?"

"Happy tears, Lo'." He smiled at Loki so warmly, it was as though the sun was truly shining through him.

Loki's eyes roamed Stephen thoroughly. The dampness on his upper cheeks, his entanglement of dark hair, the sheer delight blossoming in his eyes.

"Loki," Stephen croaked, his voice cracking. "You have no idea how good it feels to know that I can wake up every morning and know that you are mine. I am yours. Emma is ours."

Loki didn't think it was possible to fall harder and further than he had, but here he was, barrelling down a tunnel he'd thought had ended. He'd never loved anything like he loved Stephen.

There was a few moments of silence. Loki's thumb rubbed curves over Stephen's cheekbone and their fingers intertwined under Emmalyne's swaddled body.

"I adore you, Stephen Strange." Loki pressed a dainty kiss to his lips, breathing in the warm air between their bodies.

"No more nor less than I do you," Stephen replied, touching his lips to Loki's forehead briefly.

When he pulled away, Loki cast his eyes down to Emma. She had her curious cobalt eyes fixed on Loki. Stephen smoothed a strand of chocolate hair out of her face and she smiled a bantam, toothless smile at him.

"Mother and Thor are still out there?"

"Of course. They offered me a few minutes of solitude with you and I wasn't so strong as to refuse."

Stephen readjusted himself further onto the bed. Loki scooched over and Stephen lay down next to him, his arm sliding around Loki's upper back. Loki settled his head against Stephen's shoulder and brought Emmalyne up to his chest.

"Are you alright?" Stephen asked into his ear, stroking his hair.

"Whatever do you mean? Of course I am."

Stephen chuckled. "I meant, are you in pain at all? Post-labour pain can be severe in some cases - "

This wasn't the first time Stephen's doctor side came out and Loki rolled his eyes as he tilted his head up to face him and place his palm over Stephen's mouth.

"There's a dull ache that I'm sure will be gone in a few hours."

Stephen replied but his words were muffled. Loki removed his hand and instead ran his fingers through Stephen's hair before returning them to their spot enveloping Emma.

"I said, just checking."

Loki shook his head. Stephen pressed his lips to his cheek.

"This doesn't feel real," Loki whispered. "I don't think it's hit me yet."

Stephen rested his cheek on Loki's messy hair. "Me neither."

Loki drew soft circles up and down Emmalyne's arms. Her eyes flicked, unfocused, between her parents. Loki sighed, content, before murmuring, "She's everything."

"She's our everything."

Loki bit his lip. A moment of silence passed. He turned his gaze to Stephen and they locked eyes.

"When can we have another one?"

*