“Mum-mum! Mum-mum, see!”
When Sylvie looked up from her rhododendrons, she anticipated a number of things; a bug, a handful of weeds, a rock so rare and wonderful that Loki just had to show it to her.
Caring for Littles, especially little Loki Odinson, should have taught her to expect the unexpected. And yet…
“Loki! What…? How? How did you…?”
Loki was giggling as he did a little spin, showing her his mud-covered shortalls. Behind him she could see the faucet she used to fill her watering can gushing into a mud puddle. Loki had watched her turn it on and off and hundred times; he must have decided today was the day he tried it.
“Lambie,” she sighed, as she walked past him to turn it off, “this is not a toy. And look, you made a mess. That wasn’t nice to do.”
Loki’s smile shrank and curved downward. His hands went to the buckles on the bib of his overalls, and he fidgeted with them nervously.
“Sow-ee…”
“It’s okay, Mum-mum isn’t mad. But in the garden, you need to play with the toys I give you,” Sylvie gestured to his play blanket and the wooden blocks stacked there. “Understand?”
Loki nodded, bringing his thumb up to his mouth-
“No!” Sylvie grabbed Loki’s wrist. “Nuh-uh; bath first.”
“Bah!”
Sylvie removed Loki’s clothes and changing him out of his diaper. With a soapy washcloth, she was able to wipe away some of the mud on his face and hands before putting him in the tub.
“Goodness, you even got it in your hair!”
The Little had to be cleaned from head to toe. Not that Sylvie minded. Inwardly, she could not help but to scold herself; had any of her previous Littles made such a mess, she would have made them sit and wait outside until their caretakers arrived.
But Loki? Her love, her baby? No, he got a thorough bubble bath and snuggles and a bottle.
“You have absolutely ruined me,” Sylvie said as she held Loki in the rocker, watching him happily nurse a warm bottle of honey milk. He was only in a diaper as Sylvie had not had a chance to hunt for a new outfit. Thor was always good at leaving a diaper bag with a superfluous supply of bottles, nappies, talc, oils, and enough soothers to last a lifetime. Extra clothes though he tended to neglect.
Once Loki finished his bottle and was burped, Sylvie stole a few extra cuddles and then set to work in finding him a new outfit.
“Let’s get the little one dressed. Can’t have brother come home to find you naked.”
“Nay’ed,” Loki giggled
“I think I have a few clean onesies here,” Sylvie said as she dug through the dresser in her office/nursery space. Loki was poking around in the closet, seeing what fun clothes might be in there for him.
“Mum-mum see?”
Sylvie turned to see Loki wearing one of her straw gardening hats. It was an older one with a faded lilac ribbon tied around it. She could not help a snorting laugh; Loki looked too precious in just the hat and his nappy.
“Very nice, maybe you can wear it next time we garden together!”
“Yeah!” Loki reached again into the closet and pulled out a semi-circle of floral fabric. “Pwetty!”
“That’s just an old apron,” Sylvia said, walking over to Loki. “See, it has two ties here on end. It helps keep you clean when you’re in the mud.”
Loki nodded.
“Pwetty,” and he went into the closet to grab something else.
“You really need to be in school full time,” Sylvie sighed. Loki had only started at the folkskola, or Littles school, a few months back. Since starting, he had become noticeably more talkative, more curious, and more nosey about everything…and both Thor and Sylvie had already considered their baby to be a handful.
“Pwetty,” Loki said again as he pulled out a dress. “Mum-mum, see?”
“I do see.” It was not a simple dress, but one with a layered skirt of pink tulle and ruffle capped sleeves. The top half was patterned in pastel ice cream cones and there was even a pink diaper cover on the hanger to be worn underneath.
“Pwease?” Loki asked, holding it up again for Sylvie to see.
“Please?” She asked incredulously before realization dawned on her. “Do you like the dress?”
“Yeah!”
This would not have been the first time a boy expressed interest in wearing a dress or bows or ballet shoes. But, like before, Sylvie would remember her place as a babysitter and simply let the caregivers know and let them decide how they would proceed.
“Mum-mum, pweese? Pwetty?”
“Okay, Lambie, let’s see if it fits.”
Loki was thin enough that the dressed slipped on with ease. He had no issues getting his arms through the holes or pulling the top part up over his torso. The tulle skirt did come up a bit short, but because of the plastic pink diaper cover, Sylvie wondered if that was by design.
“Well?” She asked, stepping back so she could see Loki in his full, pink tulle glory, “What do we think?”
Loki looked down at himself for a long while, pacifier bobbing thoughtfully in his mouth. He shimmed his hips and gave the skirt a little shake. Pleased with the motion, he then tried bouncing on the balls of his toes to make it dance.
“Pwetty!” Loki clapped his hands.
Sylvie smiled.
“I think so too.”
The dress did nothing to change Loki’s behavior. After getting dressed, he went and plopped himself down in front of the T.V. for his afternoon Moomintroll and snack. He did continue to play with the skirt some, mostly out of experimentation to see how it worked. But once Mum-mum brought his cookies and bottle over, the skirt lost all its intrigue. He sat in rapt attention of the episode he had seen a hundred time, not caring at all that he looked like a giant pink wedding cake.
And that was fine by Sylvie. She sat down on the sofa to enjoy her tea and read a book. After a while, Loki crawled over and pulled his upper half up into the space beside her, keeping his bottom on the ground between his legs so he could bounce.
“What are you doing, Princess Loki?” Sylvie teased.
“Rah!” He held up the plastic dinosaur he brought over. “Biggah ‘n go-bah! Rah!”
“Is that so?”
Loki laughed as he moved the dinosaur over the sofa cushions.
“You have an awful lot of energy for someone who will be going down for a nap in an hour…” Sylvie reached out and toyed with Loki’s hair. It was still slightly damp but already curling. “Lambie…do you want Mum-mum to put a bow in your hair?”
“Yeah!” Loki bounced on his bottom. “Bow! Bow! Bow!”
Sylvie brought Loki to her bathroom and put him in the chair where she normally cut his hair. Even sitting down, he was smitten by the sight of himself in the dress. He shifted about in the seat so he could look at himself in it from different angles. Each time he stopped and posed; the assessment was the same.
“Pwetty.”
“Yes, you are,” Sylvie kissed his cheek, “and you are going to look extra pretty with your new bow.” She then began to brush out his hair, planning a simple half-up, half-down do. Loki stayed very still as he watched her work in the mirror, pacifier bobbing in his mouth.
“Do you think Thor will like your new dress?” She ventured to ask.
“Yeah,” Loki said confidently, “Tor lub.”
“Thor does love his baby brother.”
“’N Mum-mum lub!”
“Oh,” Sylvie leaned back down to kiss his cheek again, “I love you too, my little lamb!”
When Sylvie was done, she took Loki over to the full-sized mirror in her room. Loki studied himself and shimmied and twirled and jumped and the all the things that made his skirt move.
“What does Princess Loki think?”
Loki turned to face his caretaker, a bright smile on his face as he gripped his pacifier in his teeth.
“P’incess!” He then hugged her as tight as he could.
“Oh, what a lovie boy.”
As they pulled away, Loki attempted a ‘Tank-oo’, but his words were almost demolished by a deep yawn.
“Nap time,” Sylvie sing-songed. A nice perk of the dress was that it was easier to check Loki’s diaper. All she had to do was lift the front, peek inside the plastic cover and…
“Someone needs a change.”
Loki nodded as he rubbed his eyes.
Changing was a bit simpler too. The bottom came off with ease and all she had to do was push the skirt up. Then Sylvie just changed Loki like she normally would; wiping him clean and powdering him down.
“I think we should keep you in a dress all the time.”
Loki asked to sleep in his dress…and in Mum-mum’s bed. Sylvie obliged, because of course she did, and tucked her little lamb in for his nap. For his sleep stuffie, he selected a white teddy bear, a favorite of his when he was at Mum-mum’s.
“Sweet dreams, Princess Loki,” she whispered, giving him a quick tickle under the blankets. Loki giggled and buried his face in his bear. “All right, no more sillies. Nap time, okay?”
Loki answered with another yawn.
Sylvie left her door open a crack and went to the kitchen to fix another cup of tea. Before the mud and the dress, her day had already been quite long. Thor had been called in for a last-minute construction job; which meant she was called for a last-minute babysitting job. Thor had dropped off the sleepy Loki before he was even awake enough for breakfast.
So, before dawn, Sylvie was up with a cranky baby, trying to cook him a healthy breakfast while trying to rearrange her whole day to make sure it could accommodate all of Loki’s whims.
And then…Loki wanted to wear a dress.
The telephone on her kitchen wall rang. Sylvie considered not answering it; she was so tired and in desperate need for an hour of peace and a hot cuppa.
But of course, she did. That was what a responsible caretaker would do.
“Hello Sylvie Laufeydottir!” The voice of Dr. Mobius happily greeted her. “What’s cookin’ good lookin’?”
“Nothing,” Sylvie said flatly, “it’s one in the afternoon; what would I be cooking?”
“It’s an expression. It just means what’s up; how’s it goin’; what’re you doing?”
“Well, I’m babysitting Loki today,” she said, looking through her cabinets to find her best tin of black tea. “Thor had an early morning call and,” she instead stumbled on a few bottles she kept from her days as a full-time babysitter. Some were plain, but others had clear gender motifs like rocket ships and cars for boys and butterflies and pink flowers for girls. “Hey, can I ask you a question?”
“About Loki?”
“Yes.”
“As, like…an LLCC?” Mobius asked nervously.
“Yes, actually.”
“Shoot.”
“Today he made a big, muddy mess in the garden, so I brought him in and gave him and bath and got him cleaned up and all that. But he ruined his play clothes…which reminds me, I need to get those on the line…and when I tried to find him something to wear, Loki asked if I would let him wear a dress.”
“What’d you do?” Mobius asked.
“Well, I let him wear it,” said Sylvie, “he’s not the first Little boy to ask.”
“And what happened?”
“What do you mean?”
“What happened when he put on the dress?”
“Nothing, really,” Sylvie stopped to think. She thought about how Loki had gone to watch cartoons and play with his toys. He ate his snack and drank from his bottle. Had he been dressed any other way; the afternoon would have been exactly the same. “I mean, he let me put a bow in his hair.”
“He asked for a bow?”
“No, I suggested it. I thought it would complement the outfit.”
Mobius made a snorting chuckle.
“I gotta ask: on a scale of one to a basket full of kittens…how cute is he?”
“He is absolutely precious; Loki looks oddly good in pink.” Sylvie groaned as she fell back against her wall. “Thor is going to kill me.”
“Big Odinson? Nah! Why would you think that?”
“Oh, I don’t know; maybe because I let his brother wear a pink dress and put a bow in his hair.”
“Thor is over the moon for Loki,” Mobius assured, “you really gonna tell me that man can change a messy nappy, but can’t handle a dress?”
“You don’t know how men here can be. Thor is good and kind person but…”
“If he freaks, I can talk to him. Seriously, gender play is not abnormal in Littles. To him it’s not even gender play. Loki saw a pretty pink dress, he like it, he asked to wear it. It’s no more complicated to him than that.”
“I suppose,” Sylvie agreed, “Thor really has gone soft over the years.”
“He loves that little brother of his so much,” said Mobius, “I don’t think there’s really anything Loki could do to make Thor mad at him.”
“If you say so. Pink tulle and big, burley Norwegian men don’t traditionally work together…”
Thor did not arrive to collect Loki until sundown. By then, Sylvie had an easy beef stroganoff in the oven and was making plans to keep Loki well past bedtime.
When she saw the headlights of Thor’s van, she took a deep breath.
Loki was up and playing in the living room. He was still in his dress and trying to recreate the leaning tower of Pisa with wooden building blocks. Sylvie stole one last glance at him before opening the door; his green eyes hyper focused as his pacifier bobbed slowly in his mouth.
“Hey,” Thor sounded as tired as he looked. Her bedraggled neighbor entered with slumping shoulders and hair tied into a sloppy bun on top of his head. “Sorry I didn’t call, you wouldn’t believe the day-”
“Tor!” Loki screamed as he got to his feet. “Tor! Tor, home!”
“Brother!” Thor tried to meet Loki’s energy, but it was too big of an ask. The moment he lifted him in his arms, Thor looked as if he was ready to topple over. “Oh, brother…I miss you…”
Sylvie smiled as she watched Thor rock Loki side to side as he hugged him. How could she have ever doubted Thor? For the last three years, she had seen him go to the ends of the earth and back for Loki. She had seen him work late nights, early mornings. Face sleet and snow and rain just to make sure his little brother had a roof over his head and a warm place to sleep. Anything; anything Loki needed, Thor would provide.
Could one pink dress really destroy that?
“Is that…Loki, are you wearing a dress?”
The question broke Sylvie’s thoughts, bringing her back to reality. Loki was before Thor now and doing a little shimmy to show of the dress.
“P’incess ‘Oki!”
“So,” Sylvie placed her palms together and brought her fingers to her lips, “today…Loki decided he wanted to wear a dress.”
“I can see that,” Thor’s tone was flat, but he continued to smile, assuring Loki that he was impressed with his little dance.
“Tor, see? Pwetty!”
“Yes, it’s very pretty.”
Loki giggled and ran to his play rug. The two caregivers watched as he knocked his wobbly block down with a toy car.
“Go boom!” Loki laughed, “Bye-bye!”
“Are you okay?” Sylvie whispered. She rubbed Thor’s shoulder, but he continued to stare blankly at his brother’s reign of destruction.
“Um, maybe?” He finally managed. “I don’t know…it’s just a little weird.”
“I asked Mobius about it earlier. He said it’s fairly common.”
This sparked a small laugh from Thor.
“It’s nice that your boyfriend is an LLCC and we can get free advice.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Sylvie huffed, “he’s an advanced acquaintance.”
“Whatever you say…”
The timer went off on the over, signaling that the casserole was ready to be pulled. For Loki, it marked a turning point in his evening: was he going home, or staying with Mum-mum?
“Tor?” Again, the Little clumsily got to his feet and toddled over to his brother. “Stay?”
“Oh, um,” Thor looked to Sylvie, “I’m sure Mum-mum’s been looking forward to some alone time…”
“Thor,” Sylvie rolled her eyes, “shut-up and sit down. You know I made enough food for all of us.”
Sylvie got the stroganoff out of the over and dolled it out into two bowls for her and Thor. Loki did not like the ‘adult’ stroganoff, so Sylvie made him a plate of cold noodles with butter, apple slices and sweet potato cakes. As she did that, Loki into his highchair…with some very interesting commentary.
“All right, Princess Loki; are we ready to sit on our throne?”
“Yeah!” Loki was all smiled and giggles as Thor got him strapped in.
“And we’re going to be a big boy and eat all our dinner? Someone has school tomorrow.”
“Yeah! Schoo‘n play fends!” Loki learned in for Thor to rub noses with him and Thor obliged.
“Catch!” Sylvie called from the kitchen as she tossed a bib over to Thor. Naturally, he caught it, and tied it around the back of Loki’s neck.
“Very regal,” he observed before slipping the highchair tray on.
“’Egal,” Loki (somewhat) repeated.
Loki was very talkative at dinner. He loved school, more than any other Little Sylvie had known. The idea he was going in just over twelve hours made him giddy and unable to stop telling his caretakers about his friends and Miss Foster and all the fun things they did.
“But you have to wear your uniform tomorrow,” Sylvie told him somewhat seriously.
“Yeah,” Loki though did not seem concerned. “No p’incess.”
Thor and Sylvie made eye contact across the table. In the small glance they communicated their thoughts on Loki’s new interest:
Loki was a princess only sometimes. He likes his pink dress, it makes him feel pretty, but he knows he cannot wear it all the time. This fact is not upsetting to him.
And then Sylvie shrugged.
And then Thor shrugged.
Loki took a handful of noodled and shoved them in his mouth.