Pronunciations:
Skaði = skay + dee
Njord = n'yord
Caoimhe = kee + va
Aine = awn + ye
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I woke up to crying. I groaned and rolled over, preparing myself to get up. A hand stroked my shoulder before i felt lips kiss my temple, "I'll take care of it, love."
I smiled gratefully and was back to sleep before Loki even left the bed.
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Loki walked through the living room towards the makeshift nursery. He paused at the sight of his brother stretched out on the couch, his large body dwarfing the furniture.
He was also surrounded by boxes of pop-tarts. The blue boxes were strewn all over the floor and covered Thor's sleeping frame.
His lips quirked up at the corner and he softly stepped behind his snoring brother. Gently laying his hands on Thor's shoulders he sent a slight electrical charge into the big man's body. Certainly not enough to kill him, what with him being the god of thunder and all, but just enough to wake him up.
"AAARRRRGGGGGHHH!!!!" Thor screamed, jumping up and drawing out his sword, ready to defend himself.
Loki burst out laughing, so hard his sides started to ache.
Thor's murderous expression softened somewhat as he realized that there was no immediate threat. He slowly lowered his sword, glaring at his younger brother. "That was not funny, brother."
Loki had stopped laughing but his face was still stretched by a wide smile. "I respectfully disagree."
"Always the mischief maker." Thor said, shaking his head.
Loki smirked, "And don't you forget it, dear brother." he said before disappearing into the nursery.
Thor felt a smile spread across his face. That was the first time in a long time that Loki had called him 'dear brother' without any hint of mockery or bitterness. For what had to be the millionth time, Thor silently thanked Jaxon for giving him back his beloved brother.
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"Good morning, my little loves. You're up awfully early." Green and brown eyes locked with Loki's as the two babies stopped crying at the sound of their fathers voice.
Loki leaned over the cradle, "Ah, I see how it is. You weren't hungry at all, you just wanted attention." he slightly tickled their bellies. They giggled, the innocent sound filling him with joy.
He saw that same innocence when he looked into their eyes. They had no clue to the things he had done, they simply loved him.
He still could not believe that he - bastard so and black sheep of the family - had brought two such beautiful creatures into this world. If anyone had told him a year ago he would be married to a mortal with twin daughters, he would have knocked them over the head and laughed.
He pulled over a cushioned rocking chair from the wall and sat down beside the cradle.
"How about a story?"
Caoimhe and Aine cooed up at him, Loki smiled. "I'll take that as a yes."
He made himself comfortable before starting, "Once there was a fair maiden named Skaði who lived in the woods among her beloved wolves. Skaði, the goddess of winter was at her happiest hunting at playing with her wolves in the snow.
One day, her father was murdered by the gods for kidnapping the goddess of youth.
She stormed their city, determined to avenge her father. They backed down and Odin offered her gold for her loss." Loki shook his head, Odin believed shiny things could fix most everything when it came to women.
Breathing in, he continued, "But Skaði was already rich and instead, demanded a husband and a good laugh from the gods - the poor girl hadn't laughed since the death of her father."
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I slowly awoke and rolled over, reaching my hand out. I felt nothing but an empty bed. Where was Loki? He should have been back by now.
I blew my breath out and told myself I needed to get up.
Finally, I did and threw on Loki's discarded v-neck from the night before and a pair of red pajama shorts. Throwing my tangled mess of hair into a bun, I walked out the room.
Then stopped. My goodness, it looked like a tractor-trailer carrying pop-tarts had turned over in the living room. I shook my head, there was no way I was cleaning up another result of Thor's pop-tart binges.
Carefully stepping over the blue boxes, I made my way to the nursery.
I could here Loki's voice through the door, speaking gently. Was he telling a story?
Slowly, I opened the door. I found Loki sitting next to the cradle, leaning to peer down into it.
I propped my hip against the door frame and listened.
"They granted her her wish, but they had conditions. She could only pick her husband by looking at their feet. She did so, picking out the prettiest feet of them all, hoping they were attached to someone handsome. Instead, they were Njord's feet, god of the sea. Let's just say his feet were the prettiest thing on him."
I smiled slightly at this.
"After receiving her laugh from the god of mischief, she left with her new husband."
My eyebrows raised. Loki was part of this story? Despite being with him so much, I rarely thought about him being a god, let alone him being in myths. I made a mental note to look up some later.
"The marriage was doomed from the start. Skaði loved her forest, while Njord craved his sea. Before the end of the month, they went their separate ways."
I bit my lip, wondering just what kind of myth he was telling Caoimhe and Aine.
Loki continued, "But the chance for true love was not completely gone for Skaði. Deep in the mountains, she met Ulle, the god of winter. They recognized each other as soul mates and immediately got married. Together, the lived their lives in the chilly, harsh forest, as happy as could be. The end." he took a deep breath and leaned against the back of the chair.
"That's a sweet story." I spoke up from my place by the door.
Loki jumped, and glanced over his shoulder in surprise, "Jaxon! How long were you there?"
I smiled and walked to his side, "For most of it."
He pulled me down into his lap and wrapped his arms around me.
"Is it true?" I asked him.
I felt him nod, "Yes, Skaði and Njord still live, they will visit every now and then. Not for long though, as they prefer the forest and each others company."
I sighed in happiness and sunk deeper into his chest. I'm not sure how long we sat there, it could have been hours. But I was content to simply lay in his arms and watch as Caoimhe and Aine slept.
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End of chapter 16
What do you think?
Once again, sorry I took so long. I'm going to start trying to get them out a little earlier.
Thank you for reading!
