Coming Home (Sequel to This Time Around)

Chapter Forty-Seven

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

As she bent over to brush Selig's hair away from his face, he said, "Can I ask you something, Mommy?"

"Sure, sweetie. You can ask me anything." McKenna sank onto the edge of his bed. He looked so serious, more so than usual. "What is it, honey?"

"Did I almost die?" His eyes—the same shade of blue as his father's, only with a soft innocence to them—met hers. "Eir said I went into shock."

She nodded. "You did, but you didn't almost die. The soul forge needed to be recalibrated because you aren't Asgardian or full-blood Jötunn. I guess Midgardians need to be handled with kid gloves when it comes to that sort of thing. We are a little more fragile than Asgardians or Jötunns." She patted him through the covers. "But you were never in any danger. Why?"

"I had the weirdest dream. I met a lady, with long, light brown hair and she told me her name was Frigga." Selig's forehead furrowed. "Isn't that what Daddy's mommy's name was?"

"It was, Selig, yes." McKenna tried to ignore the chill creeping up along her spine. "Were you afraid of her?"

Selig shook his head. "Nope. She took my hand and we went for a walk and she told me I could stay with her if I wanted."

That chill turned even more frigid. "What?"

"Yeah. But if I did, she said I couldn't be with you and Daddy any more. I could see you, but you wouldn't be able to talk to me or hug me or anything." Selig's voice grew soft and his eyes grew shinier. "But I wasn't scared, Mommy."

"Of course you weren't, sweetie. She was your Bestemor. She would never hurt you. She wouldn't take you away from us." Her heart beat so loudly against her ribs, she was positive he had to hear it, but she couldn't slow it down. When Loki died, he'd met Frigga, who gave him the choice of going with her to Valhalla or returning to Asgard. When she died, after Ward stabbed her, McKenna met her mother, who offered her the choice of staying or returning as well.

Had Selig died?

Without thinking, McKenna pulled him into her arms and squeezed him. "Mommy?" he asked, his voice muffled. "You're hurting me."

"Oh, I'm sorry, baby," she whispered, tears stinging her eyes as she held him away and brushed his hair away from his forehead. "What else did she say?"

"Nothing, really. She was so nice. And so pretty. She told me about Daddy, about how she taught him magic and how proud she was of him and that she was happy to meet me and that she loved me and Aislinn and Nicky and Kyra. And—" he paused, pressing his lips together for a moment—"that I could stay, but she wanted me to come back to you and Daddy. She said that you'd be too sad if I didn't."

He said this in barely a whisper and McKenna caught his face between her palms as she whispered, "It was only a dream, little man."

"I don't think so, Mommy. It seemed so real..."

"Remember when you had those dreams about Daddy and the spear? The one with the blue stone that looked like it had water in it?" She waited for him to nod, then continued, "Well, you thought that was real, too. Remember?"

He nodded again. "Yeah."

"But it was only a dream. And that's what this was."

"But how did I know it was Bestemor?"

"Because you've seen pictures of her and you've heard Daddy talk about her." She cleared her throat and ruffled his hair once more. "And now, you should try to get some sleep, okay? It's late and you've had a long day."