Chapter Text
Sif was pressing red and green M&M's into her sugar cookies when Loki came up behind her and kissed her neck.
“Ahh,” she laughed in surprise, dropping a few of the candies.
He held her hips and kissed her ear.
“Loki,” she laughed. “I need to get these in the oven.”
“You don’t have a few minutes to spare?”
She laughed again, a quieter laugh this time, and sighed at his touch. She turned around and kissed him, abandoning the cookies for now. They wouldn’t be alone much longer, anyway, with guests arriving soon. Loki abruptly lifted her up and made for the bedroom, and she shrieked with laughter.
They were swiftly in bed, her warm lips on his inked skin, her hands in his hair. She bent up one leg as he was on top of her, as was her habit, and he kissed the side of her knee, as was his.
Years before, she’d been surprised by his passion and tenderness the first few times they made love, but now it was perfectly normal; perfectly him. He’d seemed somewhat reserved on their early dates, but even then she’d noticed something about the way he looked at her, something she couldn’t pin down at the time that she might've mistaken for sadness except that he didn’t actually seem sad. It was the same way he still looked at her now when he told her he loved her, that she was so beautiful, that he was so lucky.
She breathed his name as he panted by her ear and he responded in kind. She had no regrets about letting him whisk her away from her baking.
Afterward, they lied in bed looking at each other. There were things to do to get ready for dinner, but for the moment, it was only the two of them holding each other, him running his fingertips over her back as she played with his hair. Sif smiled and kissed his nose and then lifted her hand above their faces to look at her ring. Loki reached up and took her hand in his, holding it there as the stone faintly sparkled in the dim light of the bedroom.
“Best present ever,” she said.
He had proposed just a few weeks before at a Christmas lights festival while they were shivering at the top of a ferris wheel. You are the single most wonderful part of my life, and if you’ll have me, I’m yours forever.
“I can’t wait to marry you,” she added, lowering her hand and kissing him again.
“I’m so lucky,” he said softly, running his hand through her long hair. “I love you so much.”
“About half as lucky as me,” she said, holding his face. “Christmas always reminds me of when we met… Do I say that every year?”
“I think so,” he laughed. “Me, too.”
She kissed him again and he wrapped his arms around her. But then it was time to get dressed again.
As Sif headed back to the kitchen, she turned and looked over at their tree in the living room, lit up with the pretty angel on top--a paper mache angel with gold wings.