CHAPTER ELEVEN
For the next few days, McKenna wrestled with whether or not she wanted to see her father. Part of her wanted to sit down with him and find out just why he left, and how he could stay away for so many years.
But the other part of her, the part that was still just so damned angry with him for being able to walk away so easily and just stay away, wouldn't let her dial his number. They had no more night visitors, but the alarm company couldn't explain how someone got around the system, which had been set at the time. She nursed a headache for a day and the bump took a few more days to heal, and that only added to her unease.
She tried to put it from her mind as she sank into a comfortable deck chair and watched Selig and Aislinn as they splashed in the pool with Loki. It was easy to relax and smile and forget about every last little problem, if only for a little while.
"Daddy! Throw me!"
She couldn't help her sigh at the sight of Loki in the pool, water beading across his broad shoulders, down his back and arms, his hair slicked back, as he grabbed Selig and hefted him high over head. The muscles in Loki's arms and shoulders bunched like baseballs beneath his skin. "Ready, Sel? One... two... three!"
Selig shrieked as he soared up into the air, his arms and legs flailing as he arced, then splashed down into the water. As always, she held her breath until he surfaced, kicking and spluttering water. "Do it again, Daddy!"
"Me, too!" Aislinn swam over to Loki, who promptly swept her up into his arms. Both children swam like fish, which made her a little more comfortable with having the pool. When they first moved into the house, she had Loki put as many safety spells on it as he could muster and she still had nightmares about Selig falling into it.
Now, she sipped her water, her book ignored on her lap. It was far more fun to watch them play. And honestly, there was something just so sexy about watching Loki play in the water with Selig and Aislinn. It made her heart melt and her blood warmer at the same time.
The twins were napping, soft coos crackling through the baby monitor on the low table next to her chair. They would probably sleep for another hour or so, then she would bring them down and let them enjoy the outside world in their little play yard in the shade.
Selig surfaced at the side of the pool, folding his arms on the concrete. "Mommy, why don't you come in?"
"Yeah, Mommy! Come swim!" Aislinn cried from high above Loki's head.
He tossed her, then waited for her to come up before saying, "Should I toss Mommy in?"
McKenna shook her head as both Aislinn and Selig shouted, "Yes!"
Loki turned to swim to her side of the pool and she shook her head. "Don't even think about it, Jötunn."
His grin turned mischievous as he braced his hands on the concrete and hauled himself out of the pool. She got up from her chair, quickly skirting it to get out of his reach. "I mean it, Loki. Do not throw me in the-ack!"
He was too quick for her, his right arm snaking about her waist. "I promise you, love, the water is warm. Just like the Sølvfoss."
"I don't care. You better not."
"What are you going to do about it, Midgardian?" he purred, swinging her easily into his arms.
"Loki!" She tried to wriggle away from him, which was impossible. Aislinn and Selig were cheering him on and she couldn't hold onto her scowl as she lost the battle of holding back her laugh. "Really, Loki, I don't think-"
He heaved and she sailed out over the middle of the deep end. The water flashed in the sunlight and then she sliced through the surface with hardly a splash. The water was almost as warm as a bathtub, thanks to his magic, and when she surfaced, she tread water, shoving her hair away from her face with one hand as she said, "You are dead man, Jötunn."
Loki didn't look at all contrite as he cleanly dove into the water and surfaced only a few inches from her. "Do your worst, Midgardian," he challenged with a grin.
She grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed as hard as she could and he played along by allowing her to shove him under the water. Aislinn and Selig jumped back into the pool as Loki surfaced, and he slid an arm about McKenna's waist, bracing her against him as he whispered, "You're a good sport, darling girl."
"I was bored over there." She peered at him over her shoulder. "And besides, you'll get yours."
His laugh was as warm as the water. "I certainly hope so."
"Get him!" Selig shouted and he and Aislinn attacked. With an overly-dramatic yelp, Loki let them tug his arm from McKenna and sank below the water's surface once more. McKenna smiled as Selig and Aislinn peered down, the water going calm.
"Where did Daddy go?" Aislinn asked, looking over at her.
McKenna shrugged. "I think you guys might have shoved him all the way back to Asgard."
Selig looked up, his expression full of concern. "We didn't push that hard."
"I think you guys are stronger than you thought. You better find him."
Before either of them could move, Loki shot up from the bottom like a torpedo, grabbed Selig to fling him, and then did the same to Aislinn, which left them all shrieking with laughter so hard that Selig sucked in a mouthful of chlorinated water and promptly choked.
Loki grabbed him, bracing him against his shoulder as he whacked him firmly on the back. "Easy, Sel, easy. It's never a good idea to drink the pool."
Selig nodded, coughing as he clung to Loki's neck. "S-sorry, D-daddy."
As his coughs subsided, Selig drew in a deep breath. "I'm going to get out for a while."
"Me, too" Aislinn swam to the steps and climbed out. She grabbed her Frozen towel and brought Selig his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles towel. "Sewig, pway with me?"
He sighed. "Okay. What do you want to play?"
Aislinn shrugged. "Dunno. Cars?"
Selig lit up at that. He loved Matchbox cars almost as much as he did the Turtles and so he nodded. "I'll go get them!"
McKenna smiled at Loki. "I love when they get along."
He swam over to her and caught her around the waist to pull her against him. "Enjoy it while it lasts."
"I always do." She spun in his arms to face him and draped her arms about his shoulders. It was almost criminal, how this man could look amazing no matter what. While she probably looked like a drowned rat, he looked almost edible, with water beading on his cheekbones, spiking his eyelashes into thick black points.
"What?"
"What, what?"
"Why're you looking at me like that?" he asked, his right eyebrow creeping up slightly. "Are you feeling frisky?"
"You look good enough to eat, Loki. How do you even do that?"
He grinned. "I am a god, love."
She rolled her eyes. "That must be it."
His arms tightened about her and he groaned softly as she eased her legs about his waist. "Tonight, maybe after the children go to sleep, we can come back out here."
"Maybe. If you're lucky."
He smiled. "If I'm lucky? You're the one looking to pounce. You'd best be nice to me, Midgardian, or-"
"Or what? You don't expect me to believe you would turn down sex. Because I wouldn't believe that for a minute."
The devil danced in his eyes. "You know me too well, darling girl."
"I should. I've been with you long enough."
He didn't reply, but tugged her in for a teasing kiss. Selig let out a sharp, "Ew!" and Loki pulled away, grinning as he said, "Definitely after they go to bed."
She sighed as she just let her gaze linger on him. "I think I'm going to call James and sit down with him."
"Are you certain you wish to?"
"No. I'm not certain at all." She rubbed her eyes with one hand, her other arm still around his neck. "But I think I have to clear the air and then tell him to fuck off once and for all."
"Well, at least you're going into it with an open mind."
She managed a slight smile. "Thank you."
"Do what you need to do, McKenna." He gave her a gentle squeeze. "Do you wish me to go with you?"
She mulled it over, but shook her head. "No. I think I can manage on my own. But thank you."
"Thanking me, Midgardian? Why?"
"I don't know. For being willing to get in the middle of this entire mess?"
"You're my wife. Of course I'm willing to do that. And as I said before, I understand exactly what a complicated parent-child relationship is. You offered to stand up with me when I first returned to Asgard, now it's my turn to offer to stand up with you."
"For all the good my standing up did," she said, lowering her hand from her brow to slip it around to the back of his neck. She trailed her fingers along the wet black hair at his nape. "If I recall, didn't Odin toss you in a dungeon in response."
"He was just miffed that I'd caused some trouble."
"Some trouble? Loki, you leveled half of Manhattan."
"No, actually, the Chitauri did that. I just kind of gave them the order."
"That doesn't sound a whole lot better, you know."
He grinned, tugging her a little closer still. "You know, let's not speak of it, all right? Instead, we should speak of happier things-like the shower at the Winchester."
"That was a nice shower."
His eyes swirled blue into green. "And a nice bed. And a nice love seat. And even the floor wasn't too bad, if memory serves."
"Easy for you to say. You didn't get a rug burn on your back."
His laugh was low and husky. "Fair's fair. I had to hold you up, remember."
"Against a wall. That doesn't count."
His eyes were more green than blue now and she felt a gentle pressure she knew well. Even after all of this time, there was still something heady about knowing how attracted to her he still was. Seemed only fair to her, since she was equally attracted to him, although she had the fortune of being able to hide her desire for him. He wasn't always so lucky.
"Daddy?"
Loki groaned softly. "I hope he doesn't need me to get out of the pool. I don't think that would be wise just yet."
She smiled and leaned to brush his lips with hers. "Think about dead kittens. Roadkill. Bilgesnipes."
He chuckled. "What do you know about bilgesnipes?"
"They are horrid. At least, that's what Thor told Coulson, who told me and don't even ask why we were discussing the matter." She leaned around him to call over to Selig, "What's the matter, love?"
"Daddy's phone is going off." Selig held up the iPhone Loki had left on the table. "Should I answer it? It's Uncle Tony."
Loki rolled his eyes. "What could Stark want?"
"I don't know, but you should probably take it."
"Go ahead and answer, Sel." Loki untangled himself from her and swam to the shallow end of the pool. She held her breath as he emerged, but whatever trick he'd used apparently worked.
She sighed softly as she also swam into the shallow area and climbed out. The concrete pool deck was warm beneath her feet as the sun blazed high overhead. The backyard would be bathed in sunlight in a short while, and then the cement would be hot.
Loki wrapped a towel around his waist and took the phone from Selig to stroll out of earshot, while McKenna wrapped herself in her own towel. Aislinn smiled up at her, shading her eyes with one hand. "Where Daddy going?"
"I guess he and Uncle Tony have some important matters to discuss and he doesn't want us to hear. Are you guys hungry? The twins will be up soon, so why don't we go in and get some lunch before then?"
Aislinn and Selig both nodded and hurried to clean up their cars, pouring them into the plastic bin where they were kept. As they went racing up the deck steps, McKenna glanced over at Loki, now outside the pool fence, near the rear of the garage. It had been a long time since she'd seen him look quite so serious and she had the feeling whatever Tony had to say, it wasn't anything she was going to want to hear later.