Epilogue
Three Months Later
Val stared at the white stick and blinked.
Still the same.
She closed her eyes again. Please. Please, Fates, do not let this happen.
She opened her eyes again. The stick remained the same.
Val’s heart beat like a war drum. It was too soon. She wasn’t ready. Loki wasn’t ready.
She looked at the stick again, as if by some miracle, simply staring at it, the little lines would disappear. A soft knock sounded on the door.
“You all right, love?”
Val swallowed hard. “Yup. I’m good.” She flushed the toilet, shoved the stick into her pocket, then washed her hands and opened the door.
“You still sick?” He felt her forehead.
Val shook her head.
“You sure? You feel kind of clammy.”
She swatted his hand away. “I said I’m fine.” She stomped to their bed and crawled back under the covers as her stomach gurgled.
A minute passed, and then the bed dipped down as Loki curled up behind her and wrapped an arm around her.
“Signe, what did I do to irritate you now? Tell me, and I’ll apologize.”
Val snorted. Right. How did you apologize for getting someone pregnant?
She blew out a breath. Pregnant. She was pregnant. “It’s nothing. I’m fine.”
“Why do you bother lying to me? You know I can tell.”
“Because one of these days I am hoping you will take the hint and leave me alone.”
His body stiffened, and his arm slid from around her.
“Sorry,” she mumbled. “I’m just… tired.”
Loki kissed her head. “I have some meetings, but I’ll be back in a while. Are you going to go to the Raven Weaver today?”
She shook her head. Ever since she’d started living with Loki, she’d spent less and less time working at the bar and more and more time redecorating the house.
Loki had told her to do whatever she wanted with the place, so she had.
And to her surprise, she’d found she was quite good at it.
She had a flair for patterns, textiles, and colors.
In the past months, their house had gone from stark white modern to a warm, posh, inviting environment.
Even Loki had remarked on how much he enjoyed the new atmosphere.
“What time will you be back?” she asked.
Loki smiled. “I’ll bring lunch.”
She looked over at him. “Can you bring Chinese?”
“Of course.” He headed for the bedroom door.
“And some garlic bread from Santo’s?”
He smiled. “Sure.”
“And some carrot cake from Butter Bakery?”
Loki looked back at her. “Are you sure you feel up to eating all that? You haven’t been able to keep much down for a week.”
She shrugged. “I’ll pace myself.”
He chuckled. “It’s your funeral. See you in a bit. Love you.” He took a step but stopped and turned back. He made a swooshing movement with his hand, and a vase filled with dozens of red roses appeared on her nightstand.
“What are those for?”
“To apologize for whatever I’ve done that has upset you so much.”
She sighed. “I’m not mad at you.”
He nodded. “If you say so.” He walked down the hallway as Val lay in bed, waiting for what would come next.
Every day since she’d moved in, he’d gone through the same routine. He’d gotten up. Showered. Dressed. Gotten ready for work and stopped at the outer door to ask her the same question.
“Are you going to marry me today?” he called.
There it was. Val closed her eyes and bit her tongue to keep from saying yes. A baby. They were going to have a baby.
“Not today,” she replied.
Loki laughed. “Love you, future wife.”
And then he was gone.
Val lay in bed for a long time, staring at the wall. What the hell did she know about having babies? She’d never even held one until Elle had been born. And sure, she’d raised Elle, but that had been different. She’d been Elle’s guardian. Her protector. Her friend. Not her mother.
“Mother.” Val said the word out loud, letting it ring in the air. “Mother.”
She touched her belly. She was going to be a mother.
Loki sat across from Val, watching her pick at her food. He’d brought her everything she’d asked for, and still, she ate barely anything. It wasn’t like her at all. One of the things he loved about her was her healthy appetite for everything in life, like him.
“Do you not like it?” he asked.
She put her fork in the carton of noodles and pushed it away. “It’s good. Thank you.”
The niggling feeling that had been growing inside Loki for days started to make his skin itch, as if tiny wires had been attached to his hair. Was she tired of him already?
“Do you want the carrot cake?” he asked.
She shook her head and sipped her water.
“Is there something else I can get you?”
She gave him a weak smile. “No. Thank you.”
Loki set down his fork, trying not to explode from nervousness. “All right, spit it out.”
She looked up at him, confused.
“Are you tired of me? Do you not like the house? Do you want to go back to working at Frigg’s full-time? What is it?”
Her silence was a punch to the gut. Her eyes misted, and she blinked several times.
His gut plummeted. Holy crap. She was crying. She never cried. “So, it’s me then.”
“No. Well, yes, it has to do with you, but no, it’s not you.”
He tried not to panic, but worry clawed up his throat. “Are you done with me? Don’t love me anymore? Don’t trust me? Did I not manscape enough?”
“Loki, it isn’t any of that. I do love you. And you manscape enough for the both of us, it’s just-”
“Just what?” He held his breath waiting.
If she left him, he’d not be able to exist anymore.
He might as well go live with Hel. Even her daily tortures would be nothing in comparison to what he’d feel daily in his soul without Signe.
She’d shown him what life could be like to be his true self, and he could never go back.
Neither could he go forward without her support.
Val pulled something from her back pocket and pushed it across the glass table.
Loki looked at it and blinked twice. “A thermometer?”
Val blew out a harsh breath and crossed her arms over her chest. “No, dummy. Why would I give you a thermometer? Turn it over. ”
He picked up the white stick and turned it over. He stared at it. A plus sign?
He looked at her. “Okay.”
She buried her face in her hands. “I’m pregnant.”
Loki stared at the white stick. Tiny writing on the side read: 'Plus means pregnant, minus means not pregnant'.
Pregnant. Signe was pregnant.
Fire bloomed in Loki’s chest. He couldn’t believe it. A baby. They were going to have a baby.
Loki dropped the stick and rushed around the table, grabbing Val, hugging her tight, and kissing her hair.
“Parents. We’re going to be parents.” He cupped her face. “Signe, thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
“What? Why are you thanking me? I didn’t do this… well, I mean, I did do this, but you did it too. Thank yourself.”
He searched her face. “You aren’t happy.”
“Happy? No, I’m not happy. I’m freaking terrified! I don’t have room to be happy.”
“But why? Did you not want kids?”
“I don’t know. I never gave it much thought. What if I’m a terrible mother? Hel knows you weren’t the best father. What if the baby is a werewolf like Fenrir? Or the god of despair or something? Or what if-”
“What if it looks like me, a Jotunn?”
“What? No. That’s stupid. Our child would be lucky to look like you. Don’t be daft.”
Loki smiled and kissed her. “And I would be happy to have a child with you who was any of those things. Whether our child has wings, or horns, or is the goddess of malaise, I do not care because it will be our child. And we will all be together.”
Her gaze softened, and she hugged him tight.
“You know what this means now, don’t you?”
“No.”
He broke into a grin. “It means you have to marry me now.”
Val pushed away from him. “No, it doesn’t.”
Loki smiled. “It does. You have to marry me.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No,” she insisted.
He smiled bigger. “Today.”
“Are you crazy?”
Loki got down on one knee and pulled a box from the air.
“Stop,” Val demanded.
“Signe, will you marry me?”
“No.”
Loki took the ring out of the box and slipped it on her finger.
“Do you want Odin to marry us, or Lucifer?”
Val looked at the ring and then back at him. “I am not deciding that today.”
Loki nodded. “Odin then.”
“Stop it!”
“I can get word to everyone and have them at Odin’s place within the hour. You can wear the dress I bought you. I bet Elle would love to come over and help you with your hair.”
“I still haven’t said yes.”
Loki looked at Val and touched her cheek.
“The first time you kissed me, you said yes. The first time you encouraged me to show you my true form, you said yes. When you risked your life to save mine from the fireplace on Muspelheim, you said yes. And every time we make love, you say yes... A lot actually.”
Val opened her mouth but then closed it again. “Why do you do that?”
“What?”
“Get all beautifully poetic and stuff?”
He kissed her hand. “Because I say yes.”
She smiled.
“Signe. Will you marry me today?”
She touched his cheek. “Yes.”
THE END