Chapter 2
Seven and a half months pregnant:
"I want my body back," Loki complained.
"So do I," said Sigyn.
They sat snuggled together on the bench on their balcony, looking out at the night sky. Asgard really was quite beautiful, even after one had gazed upon it for a thousand years.
The evening was cool, but their shared body heat compensated for the chill in the air. It was lovely to be quiet and still, alone together at the end of the day.
Loki pointed eastward. "Falling star."
He put his arm back around Sigyn, who looked in time to catch the tail end of the pale arc streaking toward the ground. It had only lasted an instant.
"Hmm," she said. "Pretty."
Sigyn snuggled closer to Loki, caressing the curve of his belly with a loving hand.
Eight months pregnant:
"Ow!" Loki cried, sitting up in bed.
It was the middle of the night. Loki's pained exclamation woke Sigyn, who sat up also, rubbing sleepily at her eye.
"Are you well?" she mumbled.
She twisted her long body toward her nightstand and quickly lit a candle. Sigyn turned back to see Loki, sneering and massaging the left side of his growing belly.
Loki griped, "Your other son is at it now! He keeps stretching! These children are awful!"
Sigyn couldn't help laughing. "They are not awful! They're innocent---"
"Ha!"
"---and sweet!"
Loki snorted in derision. "They hate me."
"Stop it. They do not."
"Well, I hate them."
"Loki!" Sigyn scolded. "You don't mean that. These are our precious boys. You remember how much we wanted them, do you not?"
Suddenly Loki had tears in his eyes. He sniffled. "I remember. I do love them. It's just...my feet hurt, and my legs and my breasts! I'm so uncomfortable and I can't sleep and I hate throwing up and I want a damn glass of wine! I don't want to be pregnant anymore, and that makes me feel like the worst person on Asgard!"
Sigyn gently took Loki in her arms and held him, letting him cry. "You are not a bad person, Loki."
"Am so."
"No! Do you want me to get you something to eat or drink?"
A sniff. "No."
"Do you want me to rub your feet?"
A quiet moment of thought. "Yes."
"All right."
"And my back. My back hurts, too."
"Okay."
"And sing to me."
"What? No. You know I don't like to sing."
"You don't love me!" Loki wailed.
"Don't be silly. You know how much I---"
Loki sobbed, "You hate me!"
"Don't cry, love," Sigyn said.
"I'm fat and ugly and you hate me," Loki declared. "My babies hate me, too."
"No one hates you," the goddess soothed, rubbing Loki's upper arm. "You're too precious for anyone to hate you. Being pregnant is hard. You're tired and you feel bad."
"Oh, what would you know about it?" Loki snapped.
"Hey, I was pregnant first, Loki!" Sigyn said, offended. "I remember the sore muscles and the mood swings and crying at the drop of a hat! I threw up everything I ate for two months straight."
Loki only sniffled some more.
"What do you want me to sing?" Sigyn finally muttered. She hated to sing.
Loki smiled smugly. "I wanna hear 'The Wolf Song.'"
"'The Wolf Song?'" said Sigyn with a scoff. "You know that's hard for me to sing!"
"I can sing it," Loki bragged, snuggling closer to her side.
"That's because you're a man and your voice is deeper!" Sigyn blurted before she realized what she was saying.
Then she blushed. Her voice was deeper now. She sighed and began to sing the stupid wolf song. Loki chuckled.
Nine months and eight days pregnant:
For the fourth time in twenty minutes, Loki got out of bed and went to the washroom. Sigyn, who was sitting up and reading in bed, frowned after him.
When Loki returned, she watched him as he carefully and slowly climbed into bed. He pulled the covers over himself again and laid back with a sigh.
Sigyn had been urging Loki to go see Eir. Loki looked completely worn out lately. But Loki insisted he was only tired and that it was normal. The fact that the babies were a week or so late probably didn't help. Loki rarely did magic anymore. He would do simple spells, but even those seemed to drain his energy. All his assurances that nothing was wrong did not ease her fears. Sigyn did not want to lose her precious husband.
His eyes were closed, which somehow emphasized the dark patches under his eyes. He was fairly pale.
"Loki," Sigyn said low.
"Yes, love?" he answered.
"Are you well?"
"Hmm? Course I am. Why?"
"You keep going to the washroom."
Loki snorted (which was entirely unfeminine and unattractive on Sigyn, but what could she do?). "Because your children are being brutal to my kidneys."
"Huh," Sigyn said. She put her book on her nightstand.
"Are you done reading, love?" Loki asked. His eyes remained closed.
"Yes."
"Mind if I douse the lights, then?" he murmured sleepily. "I'm completely spent."
"Go ahead," said Sigyn, watching him closely.
Loki waved a hand and the wall sconces as well as the candle Sigyn read by went out, plunging the room into darkness. She heard Loki sigh again. A few minutes passed, then his breathing evened out.
Ten minutes later, the wall sconces flared to life. It was fine, because Sigyn hadn't been able to sleep, anyway. Grumbling, Loki rolled out of bed and headed for the washroom again.
"Loki," Sigyn called as she got up. She followed him. "Are you all right?"
He practically shut the door in her face. He answered through the closed door. "Yes."
Since Loki had transformed into a female, he always closed the washroom door. Sigyn found it odd.
Then Loki said, "I mean, no. I mean...I really don't know."
"Are you in labor, love?" Sigyn asked.
There was no reply for a minute. Then, "No. I don't know. No!"
The door opened and Loki stood there, looking a bit panicked.
"I'm not! I can't be, can I?" Loki said breathlessly. "What about...contractions? Yes, contractions. I'm supposed to have those! All the books say so."
Sigyn rested a hand on his shoulder. "Are you having contractions?"
"No!" Loki cried. "I'm not. Just...there's no real pain, only a tightening across my stomach, here."
He touched his belly below his navel. He gasped as he felt warm water washing down his inner thighs to soak his feet.
"Oh," he said, looking down.
"Oh my," said Sigyn, eyes wide.
"But it's supposed to hurt," Loki objected.
"Trust me, it will," said Sigyn as she scooped Loki into her arms and lifted him easily. Loki let out an awkward squawk. Sigyn swept from the chamber, headed straight for the healing room.