Chapter 7
For two days Loki slept in the Soul Forge. Sigyn spent those two days in a rapture with her newborns. She was completely enchanted by them, even though they were too small to do much. She couldn't wait to tell Loki about the first time the bigger one opened his eyes for two and a half entire seconds. Or about when the little one stretched his arms way over his head! She was so proud.
So when Eir informed her that Loki was out of the Forge and resting in the healing room, Sigyn got very excited. A few hours passed, and then she was told Loki was awake! She rounded up Frigga and the babies and the little group made their way to the healing room.
"Time to meet your daaa-deee," Sigyn sing-songed to the twins.
People in the palace grinned at them when Frigga and "Loki" passed by, holding the new little princes. The citizens of Asgard had noted that Loki had been exceptionally nice all during the princess' pregnancy, especially during the last four and a half months. He had become kinder, calmer and more thoughtful.
Hopefully it was a change that would last.
"Oh!" Loki cried joyfully when he saw the two enter the room with the babies.
He was sitting up in bed, still in disguise as Sigyn. He looked worlds better. Sigyn rushed to him, the smaller of the two boys pressed firmly to her chest. She wept as she embraced her husband using one arm, their son between them. The babe was not in pain, but he didn't like being so crowded. He began to fuss.
"Don't squash our son before I meet him properly," Loki teased.
Sigyn backed off, but she couldn't stop crying.
"I was so scared," she whispered.
"As was I," Loki admitted. "But I'm fine now."
Sigyn leaned over and kissed his lips. They hadn't kissed since they had changed their appearances. It felt a bit odd, but also comforting. They smiled awkwardly at each other.
"You are not fine until Eir says you are," Frigga lectured and leaned down to kiss Loki's cheek.
Loki said, "Well? Am I allowed to meet my children or not?"
Frigga and Sigyn giggled at his impatience.
"Here," said Sigyn, handing him the baby. It was the smaller one, Loki noted. Hopefully with extra care and special nutrition, he would quickly catch up to his brother.
"Hello, baby," said Loki, smiling. "It's me, Daddy."
"Have you chosen their names?" Frigga asked.
"One will be Narfi," said Loki, pushing the green blanket away from the baby's face in order to get a better look. "And the other will be Vali."
"Narfi and Vali," Frigga tried. "I like those names. Now, which is which?"
The couple's eyes locked. Together they said, "We don't know."
The three of them laughed.
A few minutes later, Frigga decided to give the little family some time alone together. She kissed all four of them before she left.
Sigyn sat watching as Loki held a baby in each arm.
"Well? What do you think of them?" she asked.
"I think," said Loki as he bent and kissed the littlest one's forehead, "that they are magnificent."
He kissed the other baby.
"Look how beautiful they are, Siggie," he boasted. "They look just like their father."
"Yes, their beautiful, selfless, brave, completely stuck-up father," Sigyn said casually.
"Hey," Loki objected.
His wife smirked at him.
"Can you take the little one?" Loki requested. "I have business with this one."
Sigyn frowned at him. "I don't think I like the sound of that."
Nevertheless, she took the wee one and sat down again. She cooed in his face. "Hello, my little Narfi."
"So that one's Narfi, is he?" Loki chuckled.
Sigyn said in a baby-voice, "Yes, he's my Narfi! One of 'em has to be Narfi, right? You look like a Narfi, don't you? Don't you? Yes, you do!"
Loki stared, his mouth hanging open. What was it about babies that made everyone lose their minds? He shook himself out of it and turned to Vali, who was gazing sleepily at him. The baby's blue eyes already had hints of green in them. Loki drew his knees up slightly so he could prop the baby up, all the better to look at him. He held Vali with one hand and shook a finger in his little face.
"You!" he scolded lightly. "I've been waiting to speak to you about your behaviour for nearly five months now, since you decided to be rude and be born a week late!"
Vali yawned, then gummed his fist. This person was boring.
"Be good to my baby, Loki Odinson," Sigyn warned. "Do not frighten him."
"If anyone should be frightened, it's me," Loki joshed. "Now, my tiny tormentor, did you honestly think you'd go unpunished? Did you?"
Vali's little eyes were drifting shut. Whatever this person's problem was, Vali didn't care.
"What are you going to do to my Vali?" Sigyn said.
"He must hear a list of his crimes before I carry out his sentence."
"Loki," Sigyn chided.
"Vali Lokason," Loki said gravely. "You have conspired with your brother on more than one occasion to keep me up at night. I don't blame him, for he is innocent and easily led astray."
Sigyn laughed and rocked Narfi.
"You cruelly refused to let me enjoy chocolate or shellfish, forcing me to violently eject them from my body," Loki went on.
"You didn't have to eat them," reminded his wife.
Vali responded by drooling on his fist.
"Furthermore, you endlessly tortured me, your own father, with your constant kicking and stretching. And that time you got the hiccups! They lasted two and a half hours! Ridiculous!"
Sigyn laughed at him again. "You can't prove that was Vali!"
"Just look at the guilty expression on his face!"
Sigyn leaned forward in her chair to see. Vali had fallen asleep. "Ha!"
"He's faking it," Loki decided. "And the worst crime of all, young prince, was when you would curl up under my ribs and refuse to move! Do you even know how terribly uncomfortable that was? No amount of massaging or cajoling or pleading would sway your stony heart."
At that, Sigyn lost it, giggling until she nearly lost her breath. She felt an almost overwhelming surge of love for her little family, and gratitude that her husband was still with her.
"Here comes your punishment, little Vali," Loki warned. "It fits your many crimes."
Loki lifted his son and kissed his face without even waking him. Then he cradled the child to him.
"There," he said. "Now, that is over and we shall never speak of it again. Sorry for being so harsh with him, my dear, but he must learn the consequences of his actions."
Suddenly Sigyn felt tears in her eyes. She reached over and took Loki's hand. She whispered, "I love you."
"And I, you," he answered.
That's when Vali turned his head towards Loki and vomited all over him.
"Oh, you horrible brat!" Loki groaned.
He used his seidr to vanish the warm, smelly mess that was dripping down his chest as Sigyn cackled like mad. Once the two of them were back to their original forms, Loki promised himself that he would make his sweet wife pay. He would use much the same punishment on Sigyn that he'd given Vali, but in a far more extensive and intimate manner.
And, he vowed, neither he nor Sigyn would ever forget it.
THE END.