Chapter Text
You're gonna love tomorrow.
You're gonna be with me.
You're gonna love tomorrow,
I'm giving you my personal guarantee.
Say toodle-oo to sorrow,
And fare thee well, ennui.
You're gonna love tomorrow
As long as your tomorrow is spent with me.
— Stephen Sondheim, Follies
“Oh, fuck!”
Up until the moment he’d heard the expletive, Loki had been taking a well-deserved nap. Deserved because he had (in his own opinion) behaved like a saint during the last few weeks. And definitely needed, because Leah had been keeping him awake at night for several nights in a row.
Like all intelligent men, Loki was patient. True, Leah’s pregnancy was a test to his patience some days, but he endured it out of love. Because he loved his wife, more than he had ever thought he could love a mortal woman... or any woman, mortal or not. He wanted her more every day, watching in fascination how her body changed, week after week. The extra weight and roundness of her body made him endlessly curious, without reducing his desire for her.
Sex wasn’t a problem. It had been the exact opposite of a problem since the early days of their relationship, and Leah’s pregnancy had not altered their night activities. The mechanics of sex had gotten difficult in the last month or so, because her increasing size limited the number of positions that were practical for both of them, but Loki always found a way for his wife to be comfortable... usually employing an inordinate amount of pillows. Besides, making love was one of the few things that helped her sleep at night when she was restless and fidgety, and thanks to that their marital life was made in the proverbial heaven.
No, the source of Loki’s lack of sleep was – always according to Leah – Loki’s fault. Or, to be more precise, his biology’s fault. His Frost Giant heritage, the part of himself he had fought so hard to repress for so many years, was making an unexpected return in the shape of the little creature that Leah was carrying inside, the little unnamed baby who was making a mess of their mother’s body temperature. She complained about the cold when the brazier was burning, tossed away all the blankets in the middle of the chilliest nights, started shivering or sweating for no reason... and Loki grew worried and restless day after day, because if Leah wasn’t able to sleep he didn’t allow himself to do it either.
That was why he was trying to take a nap right before noon, and why he jumped off the bed to the sound of a swear word and the smell of smoke across the room.
Still half asleep, he tried to make sense of what he was seeing: his heavily pregnant wife, standing beside the fireplace and patting at the skirt of her gown with a wet cloth, because apparently that’s where the burning smell came from.
Loki leaped from the bed and hurried to her side, trying not to smile.
“Again, my love?”
“Don’t you ‘again’ me, Loki. You know it’s hard for me to control this.”
“I asked Frigga to provide us with a fireplace so you would feel comfortable in this cell, but she won’t be happy if you set yourself on fire with it.”
Leah made a face at her husband and walked to the full-length mirror beside the bed to check the state of her clothes.
“Shit, another ruined dress”, she said, looking at the scorched mark on the black fabric.
Loki hugged her from behind, trying to keep her spirits up.
“You will have to abandon that language when the child arrives, my love. And it’s not your gown I am worried about, but your health. How do you feel?”
“Like an elephant, huge and clumsy. No, forget the elephant; a whale would be more accurate. I’m only twenty-six weeks along! How can I be this big?”
“Adis said your size was normal, and as a midwife she knows a thing or two about expecting women.”
She turned to face him and pouted. “Normal! I can’t sleep at night, I’m constantly craving foods that you don’t have in Asgard, and now my body temperature is all messed up again. Yesterday I burnt my tongue with the tea because I didn’t realize it was scalding, the teacup felt cold in my hand. How is that normal? And I know you’re scared that I will sleepwalk into the fireplace and set fire to myself. I can see it in your eyes.”
“Lovely Leah, you are much too clever for that”, he laughed. “And speaking of your cravings, I already asked my mother to get you some of that black chocolate you asked for.”
“Swiss chocolate? The one with cranberries in it?” she asked, hopeful.
“The same. My mother would do anything to make your life easier until the child is born.”
“And that’s another thing I hate: not knowing when it’s going to happen. If this was a fully human baby I would still have three more months to go, but I don’t think I’ll last that long without going insane!”
“I am sure it will be sooner than that”, Loki said, holding the agitated woman in his arms. He had lowered his voice to a low, soothing tone, and his mouth brushed Leah’s lips. Softly at first, and then in a persistent kiss.
She held on to his shoulders, moaning.
“If you’re trying to make me feel all hot and bothered, congratulations.”
“I always get what I want, woman.” Loki’s lips curled into a playful grin. “And what I want now more than anything is your happiness. And a healthy child.”
“What happened to ruling over Asgard? It’s gone down a few positions on the list, apparently.”
With infinite care, he placed his long hands on Leah’s belly, feeling her baby bump through the layers of clothes.
“Our child can rule over Asgard one day. Or any other realm he chooses, I will secure it for him.”
“Or her. Remember, Junior can be a girl. I dreamt it was a girl the other day.”
“Even better. An almighty Queen who will bow to no one.”
Leah laughed, putting her hands over his. “I think the reason the baby won’t come out is because of all those plans you’re making. Meanwhile, I feel like a broken thermostat.”
“If he’s half as stubborn as his mother, I expect no less. And he will be perfectly fine unless you let all those worries make you sick. It is all in your head.”
“You had zero complaints about my head last night”, she said in a sultry whisper.
“Minx. If we were not expecting company I would tell you exactly what I think of–”
A discreet cough interrupted their conversation. Adis, the Asgardian midwife, had been standing outside the cell’s transparent wall for a while, but she didn’t ask the Einherjar to lower the force field until Loki and Leah had acknowledged her presence.
“Good day to both of you. I came as soon as I got your message, my lady, I am here to check on you and the little one. How are we feeling today?” she asked with her perennial kind voice.
“Tired, worried, hot, cold, overexcited, sleepy and restless. Oh, and I just got too close to the fire again; didn’t you smell smoke? That was my dress, almost catching fire.”
“Everything normal, then. You are almost there, you know. I was not entirely sure of how long the pregnancy would last, but those hot and cold flashes indicate that your baby’s physiology is asserting itself. It will be any day now.”
“Good. It feels like I’ve been pregnant for years, and I’m so big that I’m almost afraid of moving without hitting something.”
Adis’s face went unexpectedly serious.
“That is the other reason why I am here. Queen Frigga has put me in charge of helping you move to Prince Loki’s old rooms, up in the palace, until the child is born. The Allfather thinks it’s not fitting for a lady of the realm to give birth to a future member of the Royal family in a cell. You will be more comfortable there; the queen will be able to visit you every day, and keep you company until–”
“No”, interrupted Leah.
“My lady?”
“I’m not going anywhere without Loki, and I suppose Frigga’s invitation doesn’t include him. I’m staying here, and if Odin wants his grandson to be born under a golden roof, he can free my husband anytime he wants.”
Loki and his former nursemaid looked at each other without saying anything. Leah’s stubborn (almost pigheaded) character and fierce loyalty to her husband was widely known, and that was the answer they both had feared. Loki went to sit beside Leah who, feeling a bit outnumbered, had taken refuge on the bed.
“Leah, it will be for the best if you follow Frigga’s advice.”
“I’m not going anywhere without you. That’s what we agreed on when I came here.”
“And it honors you. However, I am not partial to the idea of having you give birth in this place, away from my mother and from the healers’ rooms. If something went wrong you will need their help.”
Leah’s lip quivered. “But...”
“Remember I have ways of being there without being physically present”, Loki whispered. “I know you hate being told what to do, but this time my opinion stands. You will go with Adis to my old rooms until the child is born.”
Leah closed her eyes and groaned.
“My love, this is not the moment to be dramatic and make a scene. When the child has arrived, you have my permission to scream at me for a full day, if you want.”
“It’s not that”, she said. “It’s... my back, suddenly it hurts like a bitch.”
The midwife hurried to Leah’s side. “Your lower back? A piercing pain?”
“Yes. It’s the second time today... it happened early this morning, and then it went away. That’s why I sent you that message, to make sure everything was alright.”
“More than alright”, said the older woman with a smile. But we need to get moving, my lady. You are having a contraction. It’s started.”
The midwife’s announcement brought a sudden silence to the room.
Leah opened her mouth and closed it again, torn between her reluctance to leave her husband and her common sense, which indicated that she should go and give birth in a more convenient place. Loki was the one who finally spoke:
“Is it really time, Adis? Not too soon?”
“Alas, children are always unpredictable, and a child as... special as yours is not going to adhere to any pregnancy calendar.” She patted Leah’s hand, reassuring her. “But I can still see with my own eyes, and what I see is that you are carrying a big, healthy baby who wants to be born as soon as possible. The rest will sort itself out like it does for every mother. Now, I will help you prepare a basket with your things.”
“There’s an empty one under the bed. I have to get a change of clothes… and the baby’s clothes, and I have a list somewhere of all the things you told me I’ll need. Do we need to go right now?”
“As soon as you are packed”, answered the older woman, grabbing the basket from under the bed and making her way to Leah’s closet, which she opened with little ceremony, picking and discarding clothes from the shelves. “We would be risking a very uncomfortable move if we wait, child. You do not want to cross the palace and climb all those stairs when your contractions are a few minutes apart. There is no time for you to change clothes, this cloak will do. Put it on and–”
Adis raised her head and listened intently. Someone was hurrying down the prison corridor, faster than any underpaid soldier would run; Leah held on to Loki’s hand, worried. The steps got closer and closer to the cell, finally revealing a very agitated (and almost out of breath) Fandral. He exchanged a few brisk words with the sergeant of the Einherjar, showed him a piece of parchment and then turned some sort of lock outside the door.
The force field dropped and stayed off, but nobody on either side moved.
“Fandral. If this is a rescue, I have to say it is both clumsy and very ill-timed”, Loki spat.
The blond warrior laughed. “I’m afraid my errand is of a different nature, my friend. Thor has sent me here to ask for your help, on behalf of your brother, of the Allfather and maybe of the entire realm.”
“Help?” interrupted Leah. “After they locked him here and lost the key? Thor has some fucking nerve asking for help... or maybe not, since he sent you to do his dirty work.”
Fandral smiled at Leah and bowed, ignoring her crass language. “My lady Leah, I volunteered for the errand. If this was about Thor’s personal matters with Loki I would have told him to sort it out himself, but I’m afraid this problem is much more urgent and dangerous than a brother’s quarrel.”
“How dangerous?” asked Loki.
“How many times have you encountered a troll in battle?”
Loki frowned. “Only once. Years ago, when Thor and I went to Nornheim to rescue a group of ambushed soldiers. A tribe of Dark Elves had escaped from their realm had allied themselves with the native trolls; we defeated them at great cost and barely made it back to Asgard alive.”
“Well, someone has seen a very wild and aggressive troll this morning, here in Asgard. It attacked two lumberjacks who were working in the Myrkviðr forest, near the western farms. Fortunately the men are more frightened than hurt, but the next time we may not be that lucky.”
“That forest is only three miles away from here.”
“And now you know why we need your help, and quick.”
Loki sighed and turned to speak to Leah, who had listened to Fandral’s story with an incredulous expression, as if the man had been speaking Chinese.
“Now it has become absolutely necessary that you go with Adis at once, my love. This is important, and I will not leave you here alone.”
“But Loki, what’s all that talk about... trolls? I thought they didn’t exist! At least on Earth, they exist only in fairy tales.”
“All tales have a smidge of truth in them. Yes, they exist, and they’re some of the most dangerous creatures I’ve ever encountered. But don’t worry, if there’s only one of them we will defeat it.” He stepped close to the cell’s entrance, just in front of Fandral. “I will need my armor.”
“Done.”
“And my knives.”
The blond man raised an eyebrow, dubious. “Thor will never allow it.”
“Trolls are impervious to magic. My knives or nothing.”
“Fine, I will smuggle a few of them out of the armory for you. But we need to leave at once, Loki. If the night falls and there’s a troll on the loose near those farms...”
Loki raised a hand, bidding the other man silence, and returned beside Leah for a moment. He put a hand on her cheek, as delicately as he could.
“I will be back in a few hours, my love”, he whispered. “Adis and my mother will take care of you. Be brave.”
“I thought when the baby came you would be by my side, not away fighting some... mythological monster. Loki, I’m really scared”, she said, failing to keep the panic out of her voice. “Don’t you dare getting killed and not coming back, do you hear me?”
“Duly noted”, he said, lowering his voice to a whisper. “And now, won’t you send a warrior to battle with a kiss, woman?”
Leah looked around her to check that Adis and Fandral were not peeking, and then threw her arms around Loki’s neck.
“I thought you’d never ask.”
The Myrkviðr forest was a vast extension of trees not far from the city. A quite convenient place for the Asgardians to get their firewood, and also the home of a large population of wolves, deer, foxes, birds... the usual fauna in any forest across the Nine Realms.
There were no animals in sight that day, though. As the three men crossed the stone bridge that separated the forest from the farmlands, all they could hear around them was a deadly silence. No birds chirping, no rabbits running, not even the buzzing of a bee. It was as if the entire forest had gone into hiding in fear of the trollish creature.
“This will be easy”, affirmed Thor, with Mjolnir in one hand and a heavy sword in the other. “We go in, you two attract the monster towards us, I slay it, and we’ll all be back home by dusk so Loki can be present when my nephew arrives.”
Loki rolled his eyes. “If it’s so simple, why are you keeping me away from my wife, precisely today?”
“I need your illusions to distract the monster, brother. You will have no trouble; they say trolls are tremendously stupid.”
“Many people of my acquaintance are tremendously stupid, present company included. That doesn’t mean I run around wasting my magic on them.”
Fandral interrupted him with an exaggerated (and fake) cough.
“As self-proclaimed keeper of the peace between you two, I must ask you to stop before you start fighting each other like always. Now, that place over there must be the clearing where the woodsmen were surprised by the beast, so if we cross that brook we will be right in its territory. Let’s try not to make any noise.”
The brothers nodded. Loki kneeled beside the little river, examining the mud for footprints; he found none, and they all waded the shallow water. Just as they reached the other side, Loki stopped in his tracks.
“What’s wrong? Did you see it?”
“Shhh. No, but someone – someone wearing boots – has trampled all over those bushes. Let me see.”
He surveyed the ground and the surrounding plants. It was already the middle of the afternoon, and the light was dwindling. After a moment, he emerged from the bushes, holding a wooden object in his hand.
“I have been away from Asgard for quite a while, but all my life I remember lumberjacks carrying axes to work, not crossbows.”
And a crossbow it was, an expensive one made of fine olive wood with silver and mother-of-pearl engravings. Loki examined it carefully and went back to the place where he had found it; a further search revealed a brown leather bag, full of bolts.
“That is not a peasant’s weapon”, observed Thor.
“Someone must have wanted a troll’s head in their trophy wall, and they ran into more trouble than they expected”, said Loki in a pointed tone. “When we get back, maybe you should exchange a word or two with those ‘woodsmen’... for all we know, the troll could have been pacific, and they were the ones harassing it.”
“A pacific troll”, laughed Thor. “And then what, carnivorous sheep? Brother, I fear your time in captivity has done things to your mind.”
“And I fear your lack of imagination has made you even duller than you already were. Didn’t your Midgardian wench teach you anything about keeping an open mind?”
“Peace, again, or I’ll bang both your heads against a tree!” interrupted Fandral, stepping in the middle of the Odinson brothers. “I can’t believe I’m saying this to two adult men, but... do not make me tell Queen Frigga.”
That put a temporary end to the hostilities, and the three men kept advancing thorough the forest. A bit further away they got to the foot of a grassy hill, where a group of big rocks on one side encased what looked like the entrance of a cave.
Nobody spoke, but Fandral drew his sword, and Thor made sure Mjolnir was still attached to his belt (it always was, but he had picked up that nervous habit during the time he’d been exiled on Midgard). Loki, who had no intention of letting go of his newly acquired crossbow, ran his fingers over the engravings on the weapon. Just as they were going to approach the entrance of the cave, they heard a noise... right behind them.
It was a troll, all right. A giant one, if Loki remembered correctly his visit to Nornheim many years before. At least eight foot tall, its grayish body covered in what seemed the furs of some animal, and adorned with a necklace made of bones and seashells. That little concession to civilization didn’t make it seem any less scary, especially when it let out a growl that would have chilled the blood of the most battle-scarred Asgardian warriors.
Thor grabbed Mjolnir and took a step towards the roaring creature, but Loki stopped him with a hand to his chest.
“Brother, let me through or I will step over you.”
“Don’t move, you idiot!” said Loki in a shouting whisper. “The troll is looking at the cave, not at us. We are in its way, but I’m not sure it wants to hurt us.”
“Do you speak troll now? Maybe you can ask it if it’s enjoying its holidays in our beautiful realm!”
Loki rolled his eyes. “Fine, allow me to try one thing. If it doesn’t work, you can go ahead and charge like a brute, like you always do.”
Thor nodded and made a sign to Fandral, who was in the rearguard covering their backs. They both stepped aside, slowly retreating behind a group of trees.
Loki left the crossbow on the ground and raised his hands slowly, letting the creature see that he was unarmed. (He wasn’t. Apart from the two knives Fandral had stolen from the armory for him, he had three others hidden in his clothes. A routine safety measure, so to speak.).
“What is it you want in that cave? You are a forest troll, your kind does not like caves. Why is it so important for you to get in there?”
The troll grunted. It was looking at Loki intently, as if it understood what he was saying.
Step by step, Loki walked out of the creature’s way, not getting his eyes off it. There was a tense moment when Loki and the beast were less than two yards away, and he couldn’t help reaching inside his armor and grabbing the handle of a knife... just to be safe. However, the troll wasn’t paying any attention to him. It stopped at the entrance of the cave and let out a long wail, like a call. Then it disappeared into the dark.
“Well, that’s something one does not see every day”, said Fandral, relieved. “Did we manage to trap it inside the cave... or are we the ones trapped outside?
Loki looked pensive for a moment. “I think I am starting to realize what happened. That cave must be connected to the larger ones on the other side of the hill. There are passages between the realms there, but the terrain is unstable and dangerous. I tried to explore them once when I was a kid, and I almost fell down a gorge.”
“And that’s how it arrived?” asked Thor. “Then why didn’t it leave again, through the same passage?”
“The way may be blocked. Or maybe the troll is injured, there was blood on one of its legs”, observed Fandral. “Dried blood, so it has been here at least for a day.”
Thor turned towards Loki, who had recovered the crossbow and was attaching it to his back.
“You are very quiet all of a sudden, Loki. What’s on your mind?”
“I think there’s something in that cave that the troll didn’t want us to see, that’s why it was so agitated.”
“Something more important than the creature’s instinct to fight us?” asked Thor.
“This creature’s instincts may be different from the trolls we’ve fought in the past, brother.”
“I didn’t see any difference, except that this one is bigger than any other I’ve seen.”
“Exactly. Because our troll is a female.”
Thor made a face. “There are female trolls? And they are bigger than the males? I thought...”
“Did you really believe they’re born out of rocks? Even you are too clever to pay heed to those old wives’ tales, Thor.”
The blond Asgardian pictured the troll in his mind... and, now that Loki had mentioned, there had been a hint of feminine shape behind the furs, the matted hair and the nasty smell.
“So, what do we do now?” asked Fandral. “My usual way of dealing with ladies is to seduce them, but I’m not volunteering to do that with this one, lovely as she may be in troll standards.”
“I have an idea”, said Loki. “One that fortunately doesn’t involve me having to witness your deplorable flirting skills. Thor, have we brought any food?”
“I did not think we would stop for a picnic.”
“Very funny. In that case, I need you to go and hunt a rabbit.”
Meanwhile, back at the palace, Leah was busy regaining her breath.
“I think... oh, God... I think that’s it. Can I sit down now?” she asked Frigga, who was walking beside her up and down the vast bedroom.
The queen exchanged a glance with Adis, who was busy making tea on an kettle over the fire.
“Good job, child”, answered the midwife. “Your contractions are still widely spaced, you have plenty of time to rest before the next one. Come sit and have some of this tea, it will help with the pain.”
Almost out of breath, Leah let herself fall on a rocking chair. Frigga sat on a low bench, always by her side like she had been for the past couple of hours.
Leah sipped a bit of the herbal drink. It tasted like bay leaves and bitter aniseed, and she scrunched her nose before swallowing it.
“In all the classic movies I’ve seen, women give birth in bed”, she complained to Frigga. “Why do I have to walk and move so much?”
The queen smiled.
“Those ‘movies’ you mention were probably made by men, my dear. Walking during the contractions will help with the progression of the birth, and it will keep your mind away from the pain. Now relax and let your body prepare for the next time; it will be easier if you do not fight the process.”
Leah let out a loud sigh and looked around her. They had installed her in Loki’s former lodgings, which had turned out to be quite more than a simple room. In fact, it was a full apartment, complete with two bedrooms, a study, a giant bathroom and a huge living room, all of them decorated in green and gold. There was even a small kitchenette, tucked away behind a cleverly hidden panel. Both the main bedroom and the living room had French doors that led to a balcony; Leah had peeked outside during one of her strolls around the place, and she had seen a number of people congregated outside. They clapped and cheered when she approached the edge.
Private matters weren’t that private in Asgard, not when they concerned Odin’s family.
She had avoided the balcony since then; it was starting to get dark, and Adis had closed the curtains so she wouldn’t worry about the small crowd who was anxious to meet their new prince or princess.
“What time is it?” she asked, wondering what Loki would be up to, and how long it would take him to come back.
“No looking at the clock, dear”, answered Frigga. “It will not hurry things up and all it will do is make you nervous.”
“I’m already nervous. I feel like I’ve been in labor for ages!”
The queen walked to the fireplace and fanned the flames. Between her duties and Leah’s confinement, she hadn’t had many long conversations with her daughter-in-law since the day of her arrival, and now she was anxious to find a topic that would make the girl forget that her husband was away, battling a troll, perhaps in mortal danger.
“Why don’t you tell me what you were like as a child?” she finally asked. “Loki was so quiet and well-behaved that sometimes I could not believe my own luck. If he had been like Thor I would have gone mad before the first year.”
Thankful for the change of subject, Leah smiled.
“I was... I guess well-behaved would be a way of describing me, yes. My Nonna… my grandmother said I talked non-stop, and I remember a game I played all the time with my dolls... I was the host of a television show, and they were my guests. Of course I did all the talking, of course.”
“Sounds like you were a happy child.”
“Yes, at first I was. At least until my mother got sick”, Leah said, frowning.
Frigga raised an eyebrow in silence, and Adis left whatever she was doing with her herbs and came near the fire, listening intently.
Leah downed the rest of her tea, and spoke again.
“Shortly after I was born, my mother married a man called John Channing. He wasn’t my father, but I didn’t know it then... he adopted me, gave me his name, and he was the most wonderful dad any kid could dream. He drove a huge truck, and I loved it when he took me for a drive with him... One day when I was five, I told him I wanted to be a lady truck driver when I grew up. He laughed, but he got me a toy truck for my next birthday anyway. “
She stopped to catch her breath and went on.
“I had no idea, but my mother had started drinking when I was a baby. Dad... John was away a lot, because of his work, and I guess my mother felt lonely. Then she began drinking even when he was at home, and they fought more and more every day... until one day he left and didn’t come back.”
Frigga put a hand on Leah’s shoulder. “I did not mean for this to be painful for you, dear. If it is too much, let us talk about something else.”
“No, I have to tell this to someone or I will burst. Let me finish.” She ran her hands through her hair, loose now that her carefully braided bun had become undone with all the moving and walking around. “I was seven years old when my parents divorced, and from then on my mother’s drinking only got worse. My grandmother moved in with us for a few months, but it was one fight after another again, because my mother refused to get help. Any kind of help. One day they had a huge row, and my mother… she insulted Nonna so badly, and then she threw her out. My grandmother was a proud woman, and that was the last time she set foot in our house. I visited her almost every day, but she didn’t see her daughter again for several years.”
By then Frigga was cursing the moment she had started asking inconvenient questions. She looked at Adis, whose kind brown face was now serious and worried, and then at her daughter-in-law.
“How did you manage after that?” she asked in a soft voice.
“I had to take care of things”, she answered, fixing her steely gaze on the two women beside her. “I did the chores after school when my mother was too sick to get up. I got a cookbook from the school’s library and spent hours reading it... and then the following day I made mac and cheese. I remember my mother liked it... she even got out of bed to eat that day, and told me it was delicious. I guess that’s one of the reasons I like cooking.”
She reclined her head back, as if the long speech had exhausted her, and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she squeezed Frigga’s hand and blinked to hold back a tear.
“And now you know why I’m so scared to have this kid. How am I going to raise a child... when it’s been so long since I knew how it feels to be one?”
Frigga smiled at her, making tiny wrinkles appear around her kind blue eyes.
“You have a new family now. A husband who loves you, a new brother… even a new father.”
“Odin doesn’t like me.”
“He does not know what to do with you... or with Loki, but that is a different problem, and we will address it at a different time. Moreover, you have me. I know I cannot replace your real mother and grandmother, but I will help you in any way I can.” She smiled at herself, like enjoying the visit of an old memory. “If I could handle raising a baby who turned blue every time he cried, I am sure helping you with my grandchild will be... how do they say it in Midgard? A piece of cake.”
The idiom seemed so out of place in Frigga’s voice that Leah had to laugh.
“I’m still hoping this one doesn’t give me frostbite when I hold him... oof!” She put her hands over her belly, feeling the familiar pain start again.
Adis put an arm behind Leah’s shoulder, supporting her back while she stood up.
“This one has arrived sooner than I expected. I will put the water to boil and get the bed ready.”
“You mean you’ll actually let me get on the bed now?” Leah asked, hopeful.
“Maybe for a while, when this contraction is over. Now, hold my arm and start walking, child.”
Leah did what she was told to, groaning.
“Oh, why did I let Loki do this to me? I swear, if he survives the troll I’m the one who’s going to kill him.”
The two women beside her laughed heartily, and Leah did all she could not to look offended.
“Now you are talking like a woman in labor”, Frigga said. “Come on, keep walking slowly and do not hold your breath.”