Toxic

31 | Changes

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It's been a few weeks and the older kids have noticed the slightest changes in their mother and father- as people and with their marriage.

Their mom was a strong woman, despite the many challenges she went through. Though the kids would always see her as strong, they noticed she became more timid and dependent on their dad.

Their father to them was always someone they could respect and look up to. He was a patient man who was always there for them. Now, it seemed like he would only spend time with them if Summer was there too.

As for their marriage, they were always affectionate, both into PDA to some extent. They always had a hand on each other, cuddled up on the couch, little stuff like that. It seemed like it was more now. Summer would always be on Loki's lap, he'd feed her off his silverware, and never really leave each other's side for very long.

Even now at the dinner table, everyone had their own chairs, except for their mom. For the family of five, there were only four chairs at the table. She was expected to sit on Loki's lap.

Silently, Loki cut up the steak into bite sized pieces before he used the steak knife to stab a piece and held it up for Summer to eat. It was easy to spot the tears she fought back as she gave in and allowed him feed her. She feared what would happen to her kids if she didn't.

"Go ahead."

The clashing and scraping of everyone's silverware stopped at Loki's sudden declaration.

His eyes were zoned in on Siv, and when she looked at him quizzically, he explained, "ask me your question. I can tell you have one." He said in a teasing tone. He seemed to be in a awfully good mood right now, and no one was sure why, but they certainly didn't want to ruin it.

"Umm," Siv finished chewing and cleared her throat before she asked in a small voice. "It's nothing. I'm just thinking."

"About?"

She shook her head and shrugged, but he was having none of it.

"I would like for you to speak to me, Siv."

She sighed and set down her fork. "I guess, it's just.... Things have been so different since we moved here. I have no friends, none of us are going to school, we're all acting as if our whole family wasn't just- just murdered, and everyone just seems so... different." She finished, timidly.

"Your family?" Loki repeated, his jaw ticking. "All your family is right here."

"No," she shook her head. "Family is more than blood. I'm talking about Steve, Sam, Thor, Wanda, all of them." She replied, a little more agitated now.

A low hum rumbled through his chest as he seemed to ponder on this. "I see," he sighed. "Summer, what do you think of this?"

Summer tensed, her eyes widening just slightly. This was a test. "Siv, you're right. Things have been different." She paused, careful on choosing her words. "But the sooner you- we all- accept that this is our life now, the better our lives will be." She mimicked what Loki told her the first day they got here.

Loki couldn't have been more proud. "Your mom's right. It's okay to miss the avengers, but that's not going to bring them back."

"Dad, Thor was your brother, but I have yet to see you mourn." Landon piped in, a tad defensive. "Are you in denial?"

"Denial?" Loki repeated with a snicker. "No, son. Like your mother has said, I've accepted what happened and that this is our life now."

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