Toxic

34 | Familiar But Different

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Also, their anniversary is mentioned, but it might be off. I'm terrible at keeping track of time lol.

••• many, many years later •••

"I actually have a surprise for you."

Summer beamed at his words and sat straighter in his lap. "Do you, now?"

It was nearly their anniversary- 36 years to be exact. They hadn't aged a day and lived life to the fullest. Loki treated her like the queen he always envisioned her to be. She was now blind to all the bad due to the potion, but she never forgot her children.

He grinned widely and instructed her to, "close your eyes and hold your hands out."

She trusted him completely and did as told, a big smile on her face.

"Okay, open."

She swore the world stopped spinning when she opened her eyes. With a lump in her throat, she ran her fingers over the pictures and croaked, "Is that.... How long has it been?"

"Twenty years." He answered, peering over her shoulder and at the pictures of their kids in her hands. Twenty years since they left.....

The first picture was of Siv and her family. She was married with a big family, just like her own. Three kids in the picture and a fat cat held in what Summer assumed was her granddaughter's arms. One girl and two boys, all breathtakingly beautiful.

The next was of Landon. He was nearly a spitting image of his father. He was all grown up, facial hair, and manly features. It was a graduation picture, college, she assumed, so she wasn't sure how old the picture was. Her heart swelled with pride, nonetheless.

Next was little Freyja. She wasn't so little anymore. Her hair that she always persisted was in pigtails were now loose, long, and midnight black like her father's. But other than the hair, she looked identical to Summer. Summer hoped she remembered what she looked like and how much she looked like her mom. Next to her was a kind looking gentleman, no ring on his finger, but one on hers. Must be engagement pictures. Summer silently prayed that Siv and Freya found amazing husbands and they were nothing like what their father used to be.

Summer flinched when a tear fell onto the picture, not realizing until then that she was crying. She sniffled and turned to Loki. "How'd you get these?"

He opened his mouth and hesitated.

She sighed and smiled, sadly. "You're not going to tell me."

He grinned, apologetically. "I just thought you'd like to see them again."

"So they really are all happy and safe?" She whispered and gazed up at him with her big, watery eyes that he adored so much.

He brought her into his chest and kissed the top of her head. "All happy and safe. I promise." He felt her visibly relax in his embrace, his words giving her slight peace. Peace she hasn't been able to feel for the past several years.

She held onto that peace for a few more weeks, incredibly thankful she at least had pictures of her children. She looked at them everyday and said a prayer over them at night before going to bed. Yet the more she studied and appreciated the pictures, the bigger the hole in her heart grew. The more empty she felt. The more she felt like so much was missing.

The right to have pictures of her children shouldn't be a privilege. The right to have them in a safe home with her and her husband should be something she should have. The more she looked at the pictures every day and night, the more her appreciation for Loki's gift turned into heartbreak and resentment.