One Year Later

"Your father wanted you to be a boy," Darcy cooed to the bundle in Loki's arms. Sitting on their bed, the couple was spending another leisurely day at Yggdrasil. The summer home had become their permanent abode. A generous wedding gift from Odin once he got over the shock at the return of Loki and his new bride. It was a far cry from the royal family's main residence in terms of size and popularity but that simply made it all the more enticing to Darcy and Loki.

Soft sunlight shone through the open balcony doors, letting in fresh air and serene sounds of the bountiful nature surrounding the chateau. The little angel in Loki's arms opened her eyes and looked up at him in wonder as he, in turn, fixed Darcy with a thin-lipped glare. Holding back a giggle, Darcy leaned more of her weight onto Loki's side when she was satisfied that it would not affect the hold he had of their daughter.

"Of course, I love you no matter what," promised Darcy sincerely to the wriggling girl.

As Darcy held Loki's disgruntled gaze, she offered him a coy smile and kissed his lips briefly before offering a finger to the little bundle wrapped in a green silk blanket and tapping her gently on her tiny little nose. Looking up at Loki, Darcy saw that his gaze had returned to their daughter and had quickly lost any ire. Without warning, the tiny girl yawned and both parents let out a sigh of adoration.

"Well, as time has taught us often, this father has turned out to be quite the fool, on occasion," Loki admitted quietly. Between the newly married men, Thor, Loki and even level headed Izzet, there had been a wager. All boasted that they would be the first to produce a son. So far, both Thor and Loki had lost, despite them being so sure as to have official announcements written with the statement before any of the wives had gone into labour. As much as Darcy liked to tease Loki about it, she had not witnessed any sign of regret on Loki's face the moment Helja had been placed in his arms. "And I am certainly a fool if I could look upon this face and wish for her to be anything other than she is."

"I hope you and Thor did not already make a wager on our second child. Remember what the Baroness says? Fate will be cruel to you and saddle you only with daughters, if I am to be your wife," Darcy reminded and Loki rolled his eyes.

"I honestly do not know why you still talk to that woman," grumbled Loki, still sore from all the comments within the palace they had been met with on their arrival back to Asgard. Loki had lasted a week before packing up his and Darcy's things with Yggdrasil as the destination, despite everyone else's complaints. The loudest had been Jane but she understood the new couple's need to be free of the dirtying words that had clouded them so much before. Darcy did not regret that decision, though did often visit the palace to assist Jane in her pregnancy. Loki was often grumpily in tow as he did not want Darcy to have to fend for herself in the palace. Eventually, her own pregnancy had prevented her from traveling.

"She has charm. Sometimes," Darcy claimed but Loki obviously did not believe her. "Well, she's Felicity's concern now."

"I do not know who has it worse between the two of them," snorted Loki, smirking at how the Baroness decided to take on Felicity as her newest protegee once the two youngest Lewis sisters visited Darcy five months ago. Though, it appeared that Felicity had more constitution for the palace life and was holding her own rather well against many of the hardships Darcy had faced. Freyja had become the best of friends with Felicity, even encouraging the youngest Lewis to join in charitable endeavors. Darcy could not have been more pleased of her sister.

"Even if you were to give me a thousand daughters and no sons, I would not complain," Loki stated, going back to the matter at hand, literally. Gently, he rocked little Helja and earned a happy gurgling sound in return.

"I am not going to bear a thousand daughters," Darcy said firmly and Loki smirked. "This one was difficult enough. Perhaps an even two? I'll do my best to make sure the next one is a boy."

"How about five?"

"How about we focus on the one that we have first," Darcy pointed out. Chuckling softly, Loki turned his head and placed a kiss on Darcy's temple.

"I suppose that would be the sensible thing," he conceded, bringing his attention back to Helja. "You, little one, will just have to wait just a bit longer for any sisters. Oh, look how disappointed she is."

"She obviously has no clue what we are arguing about," said Darcy, raising an eyebrow and watching as Helja blinked slowly but made no discerning facial expressions. Turning her attention away from Loki and their daughter (which admittedly was a difficult feat within itself), Darcy looked at the letters sitting on the end of the bed. She'd only half read through them, becoming preoccupied with her tiny little family rather easily. For the past two weeks, she and Loki had spent most of their energy in taking care of Helja. Although she was provided a wet nurse, Darcy had prefered to do everything on her own. Loki was more than willing to help as he was absolutely fascinated with his daughter. This freedom was certainly one of the many advantages to living in Yggdrasil.

Picking a letter at random, Darcy began to read. She'd picked up a letter from Esther, who was Kadem's newest lady-in-waiting. The young woman was absolutely delighted with learning everything about Muspelheim from Kadem and the other ladies-in-waiting. It seemed that her language lessons were continuing to go well and she was picking up the language extremely quickly. It was not surprising. Esther was always smart, even if she was quiet about it.

When she reached the announcement that Esther was accompanying Queen Frigga's visit to Yggdrasil, Darcy raised an eyebrow. The Queen was set to arrive in three days time. In fact, the reason Darcy had dressed properly today and not in a simple loose gown and robe, was so she could prepare for their guests. Though, it seemed the staff at Yggdrasil were doing quite fine without her. Still, now she knew there would be more entertainment with Esther's most inept suitor who was bound to be in tow, Darcy certainly wanted to ensure she had a good seat for it.

"It seems that Esther will be joining Frigga's visit here. At Frigga's request, no less. I believe your mother is quite fond of her strange ways."

"Mother does love to laugh," Loki said, chest moving with silent chuckles. "Though, I think as of late she also enjoys playing matchmaker. So, I assume Fandral will be forced to attend the retinue."

"I doubt there needed to be much forcing on his part once he learned Esther was going. He'd follow her anywhere," Darcy pointed out, skimming through the rest of Esther's letter quickly in case there were more unexpected guests. Jane and Felicity were planning to visit once Frigga returned to the palace and Darcy's father needed to wait until the harvest was finished before he and Caroline could visit. Caro's husband, Ian, was still concerned about the long trip and their own due date. So, that was still in discussion. It appeared the calm and quiet of their home would have to wait for the time being. Though, she appreciated that the entertainment now would be enjoyable to her.

"Has he gotten around to courting her finally? Or is he waiting until someone else asks for her hand? I hope our little journey to Midgard hasn't made his expectations for romance even more dramatic," Loki said, holding Helja just a little closer to his chest. While Loki seemed to have grown a little more fond of Fandral, he still did not like to spend extended periods of time alone with him. One journey into Midgard was more than enough for Loki.

"Honestly, I think he's just scared," Darcy pursed her lips as she moved on to the next letter. If she had not seen it with her own eyes on numerous occasions, she'd never have thought to see Fandral tongue tied over any woman. For some reason, he was quite smitten with Esther but never could find the right words to express his affection. Esther, while she enjoyed tales of romance, had always been a little too practical for it. Given that Fandral's greatest weapon against womankind was passionate declarations, he had finally met his match with Esther. Last time she saw them interact, Fandral tried to extol the virtues of a good cobbler after hearing Esther complain about her lack of buckles. It was rather painful to watch.

"Does Esther even like him? As much as he annoys me, it would be cruel to let his delusions continue."

"In her last letter, she told me that she was fond of his bumbling ways but could never see herself marrying a man without courage. Whether it be courage to discuss his true feelings or discuss opinions not shared by the masses," Darcy explained and that seemed to satisfy Loki's curiosity on the matter. Once he and Darcy traveled back to Asgard, his interest in anyone else's romantic relationship had greatly waned, not that there had been much to begin with. Which meant that Darcy's next request would be met with resistance.

Waiting until Helja did something particularly adorable- in this case, wrinkle her nose ever so slightly- Darcy scooted back to the head of the bed where Loki sat. Laying her head on his shoulder, she placed a hand on his thigh and was pleased that he didn't seem to notice the affection for anything other than that.

"If only someone could take Fandral aside and suggest he talk to Esther," Darcy sighed and felt Loki's entire body stiffen.

"And who did you have in mind to have this little talk with him? Hmm?"

"You know he would listen to you. After your little trip together, he values your opinion greatly," Darcy insisted but Loki was already shaking his head.

"I am not getting in the middle of any sordid romance. Ours was enough for a lifetime," Loki stated and Darcy huffed. "Do you not have a feast to plan? Isn't that more than enough to occupy you?"

"You know better than I that everyone here hardly needs my help. They're just kind enough to let me poke my nose in and venture my own opinion."

"That is somewhat true but they let you poke your nose because they are fond of you, as well," Loki interjected.

"Besides," Darcy continued, determined to not let Loki distract her. "You wouldn't have to tell him right way. You can watch him flounder a bit before stepping in. I know you regretted not watching him discuss cobblers and buckles for a full ten minutes."

"Fine," groaned Loki, shoulders hunching at Darcy's kiss on his neck. After their vows, Darcy had discovered he gave in rather easily to many of their little disagreements. She wasn't sure if marital bliss made him much more agreeable or if he simply didn't care about anything else now that he'd had her by his side everyday. Either way, she found that she didn't have to use much of Mrs. Beckett's suggestions on how to bend her husband to do whatever a lady desired. Although, she did use a few of them just for Loki's general benefit.

"Have I told you today how you are the most wonderful husband I could ever hope to dream of?"

"Yes, but I do not tire of hearing it," Loki admitted, turning his head towards Darcy and receiving soft kiss on the lips for his troubles. "I fully expect them to name their first child after me. Just so you know."

"I think Esther was always fond of the name Avis. Though, maybe she'd be willing to buy herself a lapdog and name it Loki," Darcy giggled.

"If she gets a hunting dog, perhaps it will suffice," sniffed Loki. "Enough of this. Maybe Helja and I will go for a stroll around the gardens. I will tell her the story of how her fearless father defied king and crossed the country to sweep the most beautiful woman off her feet. I think it is Helja's favourite, so far. She drools considerably less during it."

"That sounds like a splendid idea," Darcy agreed, giving Loki a kiss on the cheek before placing a gentle kiss on Helja's forehead and whispering. "I will miss you, my darling girl."

"What about your darling husband?"

"Oh, I can make due with not seeing you for a few hours," Darcy teased, hopping off the bed before Loki could grab hold of an arm or leg and demand a kiss as apology. She smoothed out her skirts as she ran towards the door. Before she left, she turned around and watched as Loki began telling Helja the long and embellished story of the month leading up to their wedding. Slowly, he made his way off the bed to follow her through the door. Joy filled Darcy. She was no longer a stranger to the feeling. It permeated the household each day. At times when she mused upon the journey, she was thankful for the pain she'd endured for it only made her happiness that much sweeter. As she walked out of the bedroom, she decided with a smile that it had all been worth the wait.