IMPORTANT: This is NOT the end. We still have a long way to go. You'll see what the title means at the end of the chapter ;)
It was the horrid screech of the alarm clock that woke them up. Summer lazily threw an arm around, hoping to hit the off button, and sighed in relief when she did.
She shifted slightly, the full weight of her husband's arm that was secured across her stomach making it hard to do so. With Loki's head resting on her chest, his little puffs of air tickled her stomach as he breathed in and out. He slept on an angle, one of his feet hung off the side of the bed. She gave a quiet groan, a sound that was returned with a similar groan from her husband.
Loki's eyes scrunched shut as he tightened his grip on her. "Five more minutes," He mumbled, still half asleep.
Figuring that her best bet was to slip out of his arms, she pushed herself up and tried to escape, only for his arms to tighten around her and pull her against him even more. She tried again but his grip stayed firm, making it impossible for her to escape.
She gave him a light shake, but he didn't even budge. She shook him harder, and it took another few minutes, but his eyes finally opened.... for a brief second, that is. "What?" He mumbled as he cuddled back against her.
"We gotta get up. It's morning and I have to set up and prep the food."
"For what?"
"For Siv and her boyfriend. He's coming over for lunch today so we can meet him, remember?"
His eyes snapped open. "We're what?"
She rolled your eyes with a huff. "I've told you this a million times-"
"Yes, I know.... I was just hoping he'd possibly get hit by a car, or a building would fall on him, or something of the sorts would happen to him before this day."
She flicked his nose but he still didn't budge.
"Now I really don't want to get up." He sighed. "What time is it?"
"7:30," she responded, sleepily.
"Perfect," he murmured, his lips smooshed against her collarbone as he swung a loose heavy leg around the back of her knees, "Ten more minutes, then."
"Babe," she scolded as she pushed on his chest, attempting to get out from his limp grip, "Loki, come on, we gotta get up."
"We have plenty of time," One blue eye opened to glare at her. "We can just share the shower and then-"
Her cheeks flushed as she continued to try to get out of his grip. "No. We need to get up." Several years of marriage and he still managed to make his wife blush.
She saw the sleepy cheeky look creep onto his face. She knew he was proud of himself, the cheeky bastard. Now even more determined, she continued to try to free herself from the doofus holding her captive in bed. She went back to pushing and finally managed to get herself free. As she stood up though, his arm snaked out and pulled her back into bed.
"Loki!" She exclaimed as he pulled her against his chest once more. "Now you're just being a dick."
"You want my what-"
"Oh, stop it, will you?"
With a defeated sigh, he loosened his hold on her and dramatically rolled back onto his back. He peered up at her with squinted eyes, "You sure we can't stay in bed a few more minutes?"
She huffed softly, but still affectionately combed her fingers through his hair. "No, we can't."
His chest drew up sharply as he sighed, his eyes again scrunched as his body shifted with a yawn. He was quick to flip them over so he was on top, immediately bringing a smile to her lips.
"What?" He grumbled when her smile grew.
With his hair in absolute chaos, the imprint of a wrinkled pillow across his cheek, and squinted eyes, he looked ridiculously adorable. She buried both hands into his hair, tugged at the roots, which pulled a grunt out of him.
But before their lips could meet, the sound of pitter patter sounded from down the hall and to her doorway. Seconds later, the door was thrown open and in came their youngest of the kids.
"Uh oh! Incoming!" He exclaimed and shielded his wife's body with his whole body to protect her from their daughter jumping up and down on her. As soon as he brought the blanket over their heads to hide, he felt the soft thud of his little troll on his back.
Freyja, their baby girl that was now six years old.
"Mommy! Daddy! Get up!" She cheered.
Loki pushed the covers back and laid down behind Summer to pull her back against his chest, caging her in once again. "But why?"
"Because it's time to get up!" Freyja sassed as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "And Siv's boyfriend is coming!"
"Did you clean your bedroom like I asked last night?" Summer tested with a knowing grin, giving her tummy a playful poke.
"Yes! C'mon, you have to see!" Freyja exclaimed and tugged her hand, but her dad's arm stayed firmly around her mom's waist.
"Daaaad." She giggled and continued to try to pry her mother out of their father's hold, but no avail.
"What's going on in here?"
Freyja gasped and turned around to face the voice of her (*cough* favorite *cough*) uncle. Unbeknownst to Loki, Summer asked Thor to come by to be his brother's moral support.
"Uncle Thor!" She squealed and dashed into his arms. "I have to show you my room! It's clean!"
He easily caught her in his large arms and gave a dramatic gasp. "You mean I'll be able to see the floor?!"
"Please make sure Siv and Landon are up!" Summer called as they left.
Siv was now sixteen years old, on the verge of becoming your typical teenager. Landon was eleven, the sweetest kid you'll meet. He has yet to become "too cool" for his family and they hope he stayed that way forever. There's quite an age gap between them and Freyja, but that's thanks to the baby fever Loki picked up. Yes, Loki got baby fever. And he had it again currently, but Summer was done with having anymore kids.
Summer playfully rolled her eyes as she watched her husband finally crawl out of bed. "Why didn't you let me go when she wanted me?"
When he stood to his full height, he bent down to lean over her. "I needed to do this one more time when she wasn't in here." He stated casually, and brought his head down to kiss her.
"Ew." Siv gagged as she passed by the room.
With that, he winked and headed toward the bathroom.
Cheeky bastard indeed.
•••
It was now about noon and the boy showed up exactly on time. Siv bolted to the door before anyone else could, and quickly fluffed her hair and smoothed out her outfit, before she opened the door. "Hey, Chris!"
Loki watched from a distance as he complimented her, gave her a bouquet of flowers, and told her she looked beautiful. "Wise guy thinks he's a charmer."
Summer slapped his arm and muttered, "shut it, will you?" Then she headed towards the front door to greet the boy. "You must be Chris. I'm Summer, Siv's mom."
He gawked at her in awe before he realized he should probably shake her head. "Mrs. Laufeyson, I've heard a lot about you." He sputtered. He's heard about her on the news several years ago, to be exact. Who hasn't? "Oh, I got these for you too."
Her eyes widened in shock when he handed her a small bouquet of flowers as well. "Oh! Thank you, that's very kind. If you know who I am, you must know my husband."
Loki entered the room, sheer dominance and power radiating off him... well, at least to Chris. Summer and Siv just rolled their eyes at his antics.
Chris almost stumbled backwards, but composed himself and stuck his trembling hand out for Loki to shake. "Nice to meet you Mr. Laufeyson, I mean, sir, wait- uh, your majesty, I mean- uh... hi..."
Loki scoffed as he rambled on and shook the boy's hand- which he made sure to grip very tightly. Before Loki couple spew any threats, the girl's savior intervened.
"Sah, dude?" Thor greeted with as much swagger as he could muster- whatever that was. Peter taught him swagger was a good thing, a cool thing. Of course, if he wanted to be the coolest uncle, he must do and say the cool things cool people say. At least, that's what Peter tricked him into believing.
"Excuse me?" Loki exasperated.
"The two children look nice together." Thor commented, pointing a finger in their direction, ignoring his brother's negative vibe. "I think I'd put them on a boat."
Siv blinked. "You'd... what?"
"Put you on a boat." He said matter a factly.
Summer bit back her laughter as Siv became more embarrassed by the minute. "Do you mean.... you ship them?" Summer wondered.
"Ah, yes! That's it! I knew it had something to do with boats."
"Siv, I believe your mom could use some help in the kitchen, if you don't mind." Loki lied, smoothly, as he eyed her boyfriend down.
"Sure! C'mon, Chris-"
"Your uncle and I will keep him company, show him around the tower, and whatnot." Loki interjected, not once taking his eyes off of the trembling teenager in front of him.
Siv gave him a deadpan look and walked up to stand in front of her Dad. Loki looked down at her and his eerie smile immediately morphed into a sheepish one.
She scoffed and pulled him down so she could hug him and whisper in his ear, "be nice. Don't scare him too bad."
"Who, me?" He whispered back, acting so innocent, there might as well have been a halo floating above his head. They pulled away from each other, Loki still playing innocent, and Siv shot him a glare.
"I'll see you both in a few." She stated and smiled at Chris before giving her Dad a pointed look.
"See you, sweetheart!" Loki practicality cooed as she left.
Chris couldn't say anything so he just waved, his eyes pleading for her to stay. Once she was out of sight, he knew he was doomed. Loki slowly turned around to face him, making the boy shrivel back in fear.
"Jack, was it?"
"I-It's Chris but J-Jack is totally fine, sir." He squeaked, quite pathetically.
"Why don't we sit, yeah?"
Immediately, Chris sat down. Loki and Thor took a seat across from him. The boy opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to think of the right words to say.
"You have something you need to tell me?" The god tested and sat as tall, arms crossed in front of him to look as intimidating as he could. Which honestly, wasn't very hard for him to do.
Amused, Thor bit back a smile and remained silent.
The boy's eyes widened to the size of saucers and he nervously played with his fingers. "Okay... so... the thing is, I really like your daughter-"
"Choose your next words wisely." Loki snapped and stood to his full height. "If this is you telling me that you want to end the relationship, I will personally make your life a living hell-"
"No! No! Never!" Chris rushed out and held his hands up in front of him. "I just said I really liked her, man! I-I mean sir."
He narrowed his eyes at him but gestured for him to continue.
"So, okay. Like I said, I really, really like Siv. Not for her looks, those are just a plus.... I actually love her. I love her for who she is. I love the girl you raised her to be. I love her smile, her personality, her heart, everything. I love her... so I just- please don't kill me." Chris rushed out the last sentence and shielded his body from him.
Both of the gods quirked their eyebrows. "What are you doing?"
Chris blinked and slowly lowered his hands. "You're not gonna kill me?"
"Still pondering on it, quite honestly."
He flinched and went wide eyed at him. "B-But-"
Loki rolled his eyes and sat back down. "I'm not going to kill you."
"You're not?"
Loki turned and looked to Thor. "Would I be kicked out of the Avengers?"
With his lips in a grim line, as if he were disappointed, Thor nodded his head. "Yes, I do believe."
Loki turned back to Chris and released a long, defeated sigh. "Then sadly, no."
"You're not gonna hurt me either?"
"Not sure yet."
".... You're terrifying."
"I know." He said, shortly. "Look, I see the way she looks at you and the way you look at her. I see the love in her eyes clear as day when she blabs about you. As for now, you have my permission to date her-"
"Awe, yeah! Thank you so much-"
"But make no mistake, if you break her heart, or so much as hurt a hair on her head, or even miss the opportunity to hold a door open for her, I will personally rip your-"
Anyway, after the little "talk" they had, the whole family enjoyed their lunch. As soon as they all took a seat at the table, Thor congratulated Chris on how well the conversation went over lunch.
"Luckily for you, my brother only strongly dislikes you. If he hated you, you'd be dead." Thor nonchalantly explained and handed Chris a bottle of beer. "Excellent work, my niece's boyfriend. Will you wed immediately?"
"Thor, no." Summer scolded and took the beer from him. "The kid is sixteen."
"Oh, my apologies!" Thor exclaimed, handing Chris two bottles of beer. "You are a growing boy!"
"Thor, no!"
The rest of lunch went wonderfully. Summer gave Loki a good talking to, to smarten him up, and he did do better. Chris was a good kid, whether he liked it or not. Plus with Loki as his girlfriend's father, it was impossible to believe Chris would do anything to hurt her.
Chris even managed to sum up the courage to ask if he could take Siv out for ice cream. Unfortunately, he said in front of the other kids, so they wanted to go too. But he didn't seem to mind. He asked if the two adults wanted to go too, but Summer thought they'd appreciate a little breathing room. "That's very nice Chris, but you guys go ahead. Just be sure to keep an eye on Freyja." She grinned and walked them to the door.
"Sure thing! Thanks Mrs. Laufeyson!" He called over his shoulder as he walked out, hand in hand with her daughter.
Loki looked at Freyja and nodded- confirming a silent message. Before Summer could question it, her youngest daughter bolted out the door and ran in between the pair to hold their hands, separating them. She shook her head in amusement and kissed Landon's head before he took off to catch up with them. "Be safe! Stay on the sidewalks, don't walk in the road!" She spoke loud enough for all of them to hear.
Summer didn't have the chance to close the door when she realized her husband managed to sneak outside. "I know you're not about to follow them right now." She tested with her hands on her hips.
He winced and whipped around to face her. "Me? Never." He chuckled and shamefully walked back inside.
She knew he needed to get his mind off this so she brought him to the balcony to sit outside. She lead him by the hands to the couch and he sat down first. He patted his lap and she obliged, and sat on his thighs.
She sighed contently as she leaned against his chest, and his arms snaked their way around her waist.
"He's a good kid, babe. They'll be okay." She reassured him with a peck on his cheek.
"I know, you're right...." He pressed a gentle kiss to the side of her head and tucked her head under his chin. He intertwined her fingers with his to play with them, his other hand on her hip.
A puff of air hit her ear as he laughed, and his hand trailed up her back to draw lazy circles under her shirt. "Not too often we get some peace and quiet anymore." He mumbled, softly.
She smiled and wordlessly brought a hand up to run through his hair. He closed his eyes with a sigh and wondered what in the world he did to deserve this treasure of a woman sitting on his lap. What he did to deserve her forgiveness. "We did it, y'know."
She raised an eyebrow.
"We did it. We love each other, we cuddle by the fireplace, and eat breakfast together in the mornings. We go to work together, just to rush home just so we can be together alone. We had babies, and fought over what names they should have and if we thought it was a boy or girl. Celebrated our seventeenth anniversary. We continue to surprise each other. We watch the sunset from our balcony every now and then and stargaze from our roof.... we did it, Summer."
She smiled, hot tears stung her eyes as she nodded. "We did... and in time we'll watch our babies graduate and start their lives. We'll retire. Meet our grandbabies..... We fixed us and I couldn't be more happy."
And they all lived happily ever after....
.
.
.
Oh, wait...
No they didn't.
STOP here if you want a happy ending!
If you want more dark angst, continue
on to the next chapter!
I seriously mean it, the next several chapters take a very dark turn. If you are going to hate on my book for that, PLEASE do not continue reading.
What was y'all's favorite chapter? Or scene?
There's still about 10 more chapters to go!