Coming Home (Sequel to This Time Around)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

McKenna couldn’t keep the smile off her face as she scooped some blueberries onto her plate. She peered over her shoulder and her smile widened at the sight of Loki sitting with Aislinn on his lap and Selig to his right. It was something she thought she’d never see again and once more, she offered up a silent prayer of thanks to whichever god was responsible for bringing Loki back to them.

“Do you keep touching him?”

She jumped as Sif sidled up to her and reached for a pastry. “What?”

“Loki.” Sif smiled. “Do you keep poking him, to make certain he is real?”

“I’m not so much poking him as I can’t seem to keep my hands off him,” McKenna confessed, setting a banana onto the plate and selected a few strawberries to go with it. “It’s so funny, Sif, but it’s like it was when we first got together.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” Sif replied, breaking off a corner of her pastry to pop into her mouth.

“You know, when you first start dating someone, you get a million butterflies in your stomach and the time just flies by when you’re together and a single kiss makes you want to rip each other’s clothes right off and you just can’t get enough of each other.” McKenna leaned back against the sideboard, gaze going back to Loki. He must’ve felt it, for he looked up and a slow smile lifted the corners of his mouth. He winked, then turned back to Aislinn. “He just looks at me, Sif, and I want to melt. And we’re an old married couple.”

“That’s because you both found out what it would be like to be without the other.” Sif turned to grab another pastry, this one she tucked next to the banana on McKenna's plate. “Most couples, I think, come to take one another for granted. You’ve both learned no tomorrow is promised or guaranteed.”

“I think you’re right,” McKenna murmured, watching as Loki ruffled Aislinn's hair, then dipped to kiss the top of her head. “There is something so sexy about watching him with the kids. He’s just such a good father, no matter how many mistakes he thinks he’s making.”

“Frigga always thought, when the time came, he would make a good father. He’s always had an affinity for children. Children and animals.” Sif broke off another piece of pastry. “When we were children, he was always healing some poor creature or taming some wild thing.”

McKenna smiled. “I can see that. And when I see him like this, when I see him laughing, with them climbing all over him, I just fall in love with him all over again.” She glanced up at Sif. “You have no idea how wonderful it is to see things like this again.”

“I know how lost you were, Your Highness. And we all hurt right alongside you, trying to think of some way to make it easier for you to bear. You were never alone, no matter what you might have thought.”

McKenna felt tears poke the backs of her eyes. “I’m sorry, Sif. My emotions have been all over the place for weeks. They’re still leveling out.”

“Worry not. I won’t tell a soul I made you cry.”

“You’re making my wife cry?” Loki slid his arm about McKenna's waist. “Selig is starving, love. I can hear his stomach growling.”

“Oh, sorry.” She handed him the plate, but snagged the pastry. “That’s mine.”

He gave her a squeeze. “Feeling a little hungry yourself?” he asked with a wink.

Sif gave her a knowing smile, but McKenna's face didn’t even feel warm as she smiled up at him. “What can I say? You make me work up an appetite.”