Disclaimer: I do not own Thor. I do, however, currently have a kitten.

Loki wished for many things in life. He wished he could have been there to see the castle explode, Acenath having done Quadir's job of planting the magic-sensitive flour in the foundations. He wished he could have seen the ensuing fire, and Kuthah crawling out of the flames only to die of blood poisoning. He wished he had more magic, so that he could have brought Hagar and Tartak to the cottage to thank them properly, rather than dropping them off in Morocco. (Though he mostly wished he had more magic to heal the stupid ache in his left arm. That was an injury that he would feel every time it rained.) He wished he had enough energy during the transportation to turn Acenath into a smaller cat, rather than a Sphinx-sized cat.

Loki wished a lot of things, but mostly, right now, he wished he had more time before his idiotic brother had brought his lovely wife back.

After retching on an empty stomach, Loki breathed a few times and took stock of where he was. He was right by the Sphinx prints, the area where this whole bloody mess started, and the sun was starting to set behind the trees by the lake. Loki sat on his bottom and gathered his two kids in his arms. It hadn't even been a whole day.

That's when he saw the bridge open up by the old gardening shed. He only had a few minutes to get everything in order, and that's assuming Darcy stopped to admire Sven's little paint job.

"Alright." He said, speaking softly mostly because his head was too dizzy to talk loudly. "Sven, get cleaned up before your mum sees the blood on your shirt." Sven nodded and trotted off to the house. Kids. One would think such an ordeal would make the creature tired.

"Sarai, help Daddy cover up the foot prints. Like when we built castles in the sand, remember? Yes, just like that." Sarai giggled as she patted the dark earth next to her father. Loki picked up his daughter- was it him, or did she feel heavy?- and walked up the few steps to his back door.

"Acenath, you lay down here." Loki nodded to the floor by the dog door. The large brown cat padded over to her place, curled up in a ball and fell asleep.

Loki sighed and went in the door that led him to the kitchen, trying to wipe the dirt off of Sarai's dress. That maid certainly had an odd fashion sense.

….

"Loki, you really had me so worried, calling Thor to come get me like that." Loki sent a withering glance his brother's way. What part of keep Darcy occupied had he not understood? Thor was beaming, thinking he had done nothing wrong.

"I'm sorry, dearest," Loki concentrated on the smell of his tea to calm his stomach. Sarai was bouncing around the house, and Sven had fallen asleep after hugging his mother. "I just couldn't comprehend another day without you. Thor and Jane can take care of themselves." He would have shot Thor another glare, but opted to rub his eyes instead.

"I understand, it's hard for kids to get along without their mother," Darcy got up to refill her coffee cup- Loki would never understand how The Lovely could drink the substance at all hours- and picked up Sarai as she sat back down at the table.

"Where did this dress come from?"

"Ah, it's just a little something I picked up. Thor, isn't it time you got back to that Jane woman?"

"I have all the time in Midgard, little brother!" Thor beamed, his hands still clasped together on the table. All these years and he still couldn't take a hint. Loki rubbed at the dark bags under his eyes again.

Darcy giggled and smiled at the two brothers. Is that where Sarai had gotten the laughing from? He hadn't ever noticed before.

"Oh! Loki?" The black-haired man looked up at his wife. "Did you get a cat?" Darcy smiled again, as Loki glanced behind him. It seems the once tentative Acenath had decided she had enough of the back porch and silently squeezed through the dog door.

Loki just nodded, and drank some more tea.

"I used to have a cat, back before you met me." Darcy was gushing now, too happy to be home with her family, "You know what I used to call him?"

Loki set his cup down, and willed her not to say the name. Thor leaned in and nodded encouragingly.

"Twinkle Toes! He was the cutest little thing!"

Thor laughed, Darcy smiled, Sven shifted in his sleep, and Sarai giggled.

Loki grinned. It was good to be back home.

In the end, it seemed his family was all he needed. They were enough- rather, they were more than enough, because they seemed to complete him. They were completely enough.

And Loki rather liked the sound of that.