The Bad Dream

Loki awoke from his slumber to the sounds of his new-born daughter crying. He got up, slipped a robe on and shuffled through to the nursery. He picked up Hel and hummed to her as he picked up the bottle from the water heater. Loki sat down in the rocking chair and hummed a little louder as he fed Hel. Tony refused to do any night feedings which tired Loki out. He'd given birth to their daughter, was that not enough? Evidently not.

As the time passed, Loki found himself drifting on and off. He shook his head and checked that Hel had finished before he began the frivolous task of burping her. It was now 2:37am and all he wanted to do was sleep. He lay Hel down and stumbled back to the room he shared with Tony.

......................

"Mommy, I had a bad dream."

Loki blinked his eyes open and sat up on his elbows. The clock by the baby monitor read 3:23am. Loki sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes before looking at his youngest son.

"Do you want to get in bed and tell me about it, Fen?"

"No, Mommy."

Loki frowned. The strangeness of the situation woke him up fully. He squinted at the door, barely able to make out Fen's figure, pale against the black of the night surrounding him.

"Why not, Fen?"

"Because in my dream, when I told you about the dream, the thing wearing Daddy's skin sat up."

Loki froze. Tony had not been acting strange all weak; he had not been tinkering in his workshop nor drinking, Loki could not move his eyes off his son. Behind him, the covers began to shift.