Chapter 6
While Loki wanted to keep the origins of their marriage a secret, Eva encouraged him to be honest with his parents. Odin was livid to find out the marriage was a sham and threatened to not only throw Loki out of the company but to cut him out of his will as well.
“You have brought disgrace to this family and to my company! I should cut you out of my will and my company!” His face was turning red from so much anger. Meanwhile, Loki wished they'd kept it to themselves but instead fought back. “Why should it matter how this began considering where we are now? This would have happened between us eventually. I do not see why this is such an issue for you.”
As Odin began to respond, Frigga placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. She could see the look of pure love when her son looked at his wife. “Loki is correct; however, I believe we should step back and take some time before anyone says something they will regret.” Loki was grateful to his mother for her support.
Odin, Loki, and Eva all agreed. Dinner ended early to avoid more arguments. Frigga spoke to Eva when walking them out. “It's not hard to see how much my son loves you. I could tell something was amiss when you first came to dinner, but I had a feeling it would all work out.”
The drive home was quiet. As Loki drove, Eva ordered Chinese for delivery as it was a comfort food for both of them, making sure to include both egg rolls and cream cheese rangoons.
Arriving home, Loki loosened the tie around his neck as they went to change into more comfortable clothes. “That could have gone much worse. If it were not for mother, we'd have easily been thrown out of the house.”
Eva placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, much the same as Frigga had with Odin. “If they had, at least we'd still have each other.” He placed a hand on top of hers, grateful for her calming presence.
Over the next few weeks, Odin gave Loki mostly grunt work that no one else wanted to do, items that would typically go to interns or entry level employees (lovingly referred to as peons in some of the upper management but never to their faces). He'd not done this type of work in quite some time, but with his wife's encouragement, he used it as an opportunity to see what could be improved. After about 6 weeks or so, he'd located at least half a dozen different ways to streamline the work which would not only make it easier for the peons but would also save time and money, roughly estimating some $2.5 mil a year.
When Odin saw this, he was impressed and had other upper management members do the same with their departments who then used it as competition to see who could save more time and money while the work getting done would still be done correctly. They ended up creating a bi-yearly competition across the company to give ideas, no matter how absurd. Upper management would then review the ideas and see which ones were plausible.
Odin finally came around regarding the actual origins of his son's marriage roughly a year after their confession when Eva and Loki announced they were expecting. When their son, Oakley, was born a few months later, Odin was completely enamored, already wrapped around his grandson's little finger.
Three years later, they had a little girl, Gwendolyn. Oakley loved his baby sister and vowed to always protect her. If there was any animosity left with Odin, Gwendolyn quickly erased it. Both children loved their grandparents immensely and were spoiled rotten.
When it came time for Odin to retire, Loki stepped on to take his place with his father's blessing. Eva opted to stay home with the children, but as they grew older, she started back working with her husband as he'd never been able to find a secretary to match his wife's caliber. Together, they brought the company to new heights. When it came time for Loki to retire, his son did not want to take his place; however, his daughter did. Gwendolyn continued the work her father started as her parents enjoyed retirement and traveled the world.