Chapter Text
Loki watched Sylvie curl closer to him, even in the warm weather she still somehow seemed to be cold as she pulled away the last corner of his blanket and wrapped it around herself, with a sleepy smile.
Being able to lie there with her, Loki was struck for far from the first time, how lucky he was.
It had been a bit more than a year.
A blissful, wonderful, beautiful year of loving her.
The warm air rushed through their window, sending the satin curtains dancing before they drifted back down. Loki turned his eyes to the alarm clock on the other end of the hotel room, it was almost noon. Sylvie didn’t sleep in often, running a bakery rarely allowed her the opportunity, but when she did, boy could the woman sleep. She was currently holding his left arm hostage, foiling any idea he would have to get up without her.
Under normal circumstances, he would never have even considered it, but today was special.
He felt his stomach flip, mainly with anticipation but also with a healthy a dollop of nerves.
To say he had been planning the proposal for months, would be a bit of an understatement. He had been dreaming about this day since sixth grade. But since that Christmas a year ago, the dream began to coax closer and closer to the realm of reality.
He had run through hundreds of different ideas of how to ask her before landing on this, he needed it to be perfect for a woman as perfect as her.
The hardest part had been convincing her to go on vacation, especially during Valentine's day weekend. It took months of pleading, and an agreement from Bea to send her hourly updates to get her to finally agree.
Once it was all booked he had done extensive research in finding the perfect bakery. He knew Sylvie had high standards when it came to cake, fortunately every local he could find swore up and down by the place, making it massively popular. He needed to preorder the cake almost a month in advanced to even get the slot.
He ordered a 12 inch vanilla round filled with raspberry curd and rose icing, and “Will You Marry Me?” written right on top. The ring would be sitting right beneath it in a box made of chocolate.
He could imagine Sylvie’s face, lighting up when she saw it, before she hopefully said yes.
He looked down at her, curled against his shoulder.
She’d say yes.
They had long entered the realm of discussing a future together. She seemed just as enthusiastic about it being with him as he was with her.
And yet, too familiar doubt curled in him. She had seemed distracted lately, it was probably just because of how busy the bakery had been but what if it wasn’t? What if he was reading it all wrong. What if she had fallen out of love with him? What if this was too much, too soon? What if she said no?
The only other person he had talked to about this was his mother, who had been overjoyed by Loki’s plans. Along with providing him plenty of rational reassurances when his anxieties would flare like this, she had also provided him the final piece he had needed.
“Patsy asked me to hold onto this for her, until you needed it,” she had explained, handing him an emerald green envelope from her jewelry box.
Inside he had found a handwritten letter scrawled on a piece of lined paper that simply read.
Congratulations on finally smartening up.
Take care of her for me.
-Patsy
XOXO
Tucked in a leather pouch had been a beautiful ring. The band was composed of two twisting gold strands, embedded with two small emeralds next to a shimmering diamond. It was perfect.
He had hated the idea of letting it out of his sight, even for an evening. But the bakery needed it to complete his design, so he had no choice but hand it over he night prior.
“You’re cute when you’re thinking,” came from beneath him.
He looked down to see Sylvie wiping the sleep from her eyes with a yawn, before grinning up at him.
“Good morning, darling,” Loki leaned down to plant a kiss on her forehead. Her eyes fluttered shut as she leaned into his touch.
“Morning would be generous,” she scoffed looking at the clock, “why didn’t you wake me?”
“Because, you’re cute when you sleep,” he tucked a blonde curl out of her face.
“If you’re cute when you think, and I’m cute when I sleep we both must be rather ugly,” she teased.
“Oh yes,” Loki wrapped an arm around her, “utterly hideous.”
She nuzzled closer into his hold.
“Besides, I’m going to keep you as long as I have you,” he smirked.
He had booked her in for a spa day, partially because it gave Loki the chance to put together the last of his preparations for the proposal in the evening, but also because she seemed to really need it.
November to February was what they affectionately called “hell season” in the bakery industry, where it was just one big event after another, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and then Valentine's day. It was a three month sprint, and although he would never tell her this, it had clearly taken a toll on her. He had done what he could to be the best help possible, but if there was one thing about Sylvie it was that she would throw everything she had into anything she cared about. It was one of the things he loved about her, but it was hard seeing the stress wear her down.
Even now she looked mildly worried as she glanced out the window.
“Bea will text you if anything happens,” he tried to reassure her, “they’ve got this.”
“What?” she blinked, before catching his implication and giving him a tight smile, “Oh right. I know.”
“They’ll survive without you,” he promised.
“They’re going to have to,” she muttered.
“It’s one day Sylv, they’ll make it work.”
Letting out a heavy sigh, she gave him an unconvincing nod.
“You want Breakfast?” he offered, forcing himself to sit up and hoping to take her thoughts off of it.
“It would be lunch at this hour,” she scoffed, “but no, I’m good, I’ll pick up something on the way.”
Planting another kiss on the crown of her head, the two of them finally rolled out of bed and got dressed for the day. Sending Sylvie on her way to the Spa, Loki redirected his focus to perfecting the final details of their evening.
He strung twinkling lights all over the balcony, moving the table outside where they could see the sunset, set up the speakers so they would be softly playing the playlist he had composed of their favourite love song, triple checked the weather to ensure there was absolutely no chance of the rain from last night returning.
He had a last few errands to run in town, so he called himself a cab and made his way to the mainstreet. His first stop was the florist, picking up the massive bouquet of dahlias he had speciality ordered for her, the next was the dry cleaners to grab the suit he had gotten tailored before leaving, and then to a boutique he had requested her favourite champagne from. Collecting each, everything was perfect.
Well almost everything.
Since it was Valentine's day, everywhere and everyone was incredibly busy, so it took considerably longer than he had anticipated.
But he was sure it was going to be fine! All he had left to do was pick up his cake, get back to the hotel, and get it all set up before Sylvie got back at seven. Simple.
Making it to the bakery, there was a sense of nostalgia stepping inside, being greeted by a familiar scent of yeast and sugar. The place was packed, as he imagined it would be for Valentine's day. Jostling his way to the counter he was met with a clearly frazzled and overwhelmed baker at the counter.
“Hi,” he greeted with a sympathetic smile, “I have a pick up for Kunbi Wagner.”
He had gotten Bea to put the order under her name and her phone number, just in case the bakery needed to call. Sylvie was around his phone too often to risk them calling him and giving away the surprise.
“One second,” she breathed.
Turning around, she found a box and checked the tag.
“547-321-1111?”
“That’s it,” he grinned as she passed him the box.
“Happy Valentine's day,” she sighed, “and congratulations.”
“Happy Valentine's day,” he responded with a grin, “and thank you.”
Grabbing the cake in his car, he called the cab to take him back to the hotel. Reaching their room, Loki placed his things on the counter.
Checking the time he was hit a mix between nerves and excitement as he noticed it was nearly six. He put the flowers in a vase with water, laid the suit on the bed and went to put the cake on the display plate he had gotten.
Cutting the scotch tape sealing the bottom, he lifted the lid, eager to see their work. As soon as he saw it, he felt as if all the blood had drained out of him.
This was not his cake.
It was not his perfectly planned proposal pastry, it was a completely different cake with a completely different message, the words “We’re pregnant,” scrawled on the top in cursive.
Loki’s body flooded with panic.
Where was his cake?
More importantly, where was his ring?
It was Sylvie’s grandmother’s ring, he couldn't lose it! She would be so heartbroken and angry she wouldn’t want to see him again let alone marry him.
It’s fine, he tried to calm himself back to the point of breathing, this was definitely a simple, easy to fix, mistake. He would take it back to the bakery and his cake would be waiting there for him. This whole thing was just going to be a funny misunderstanding.
Grabbing the cake, he made his way back out the door and to the bakery. He reached the door, right as the baker from before was stepping up to flip the open sign to closed.
“Wait,” Loki called, racing up to her, “wait, I have the wrong cake.”
By some miracle, the baker did pause, holding the door open as he approached her.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“This cake isn’t mine,” he said, lifting the lid to show her, “I need my cake.”
The baker bit on her lower lip, looking nervous. “I’m so sorry sir, we’re completely sold out, I can refund you-”
“No,” Loki shook his head frantically, a fresh wave of panic coursing through him, “my cake has an engagement ring on it, I need to find it!”
Waving him inside, she disappeared into the back before emerging again a moment later, still empty handed.
“All of today’s orders had been picked up,” she said, shaking her head before opening up a thick binder.
“What was the name again?” she asked.
“Wagner, Kunbi Wagner.”
“547-321-1111?”
“Yes!”
“It says here, exactly what you got, chiffon cake, strawberries and blueberries, “We’re pregnant,” written on top.”
“My cake,” Loki pleaded, “it was for an engagement, it was a vanilla cake with raspberry and rose. I dropped off the ring for it yesterday.”
“Let me go ask.”
She returned to the back before stepping back out a moment later.
“Our decorator says she remembers making your cake. We switched to an automated system recently,” the baker sank her head into her hands, “it must have swapped the description of yours with another order. I am so sorry.”
“So where’s my ring?”
The baker turned to the binder and began frantically flipping through pages, “Maybe,” she thought out loud, “if it switched the description then if we can just find the description that matches, we can figure out whoever ended up with yours….”
“Found it!” she cheered, “Raspberry, rose proposal cake, it looks like it was sent to Antonio's for a 6:30 reservation. It’s seven blocks down, you might be able to get there and switch them back!”
“On it,” he nodded quickly, a match of determination lighting in him. He could fix this. It was only seven blocks away, he had twenty minutes to reach it, it would all be fine.
“Good luck,” she called as he raced out the door.
He was about to call a cab when a bike whipped by him, checking his shoulder and sending his phone tumbling into a puddle below.
“Sorry,” the biker called, as he continued along his path, not even bothering to stop to make sure he was okay.
Loki groaned in dismay as he pulled it out of the dirty water. Trying to turn it on, confirmed his fears, it was completely dead.
Looking down the street and checking his watch, he took off sprinting.
He would never be able to hail one off the street on a night this busy, and besides, how far could seven blocks be?
It turned out ridiculously far, and uphill.
Halfway there he was already panting, the only thing keeping him moving was the adrenaline being generated by his panic.
It was all going to be okay, he tried to calm himself, he could fix this, he could fix all of this. He’d get his cake, he’d make it home, get everything ready super quickly, it would all still be perfect! He just needed that cake.
Climbing the last three and a half blocks, he could see Antionio’s shining in the distance, with a line snaking out the door and halfway around the street. Stumbling his way through the crowd, he was met with a series of pointed groans and grumbles by annoyed couples thinking he was cutting the line. All he could offer them with an apologetic smile as he continued fighting his way up the host stand.
The host met him with a glare of palpable judgment, likely attributable to the sheen of sweat clinging to his face and heavy breathing.
“Reservation name?” he said, looking him over skeptically.
“Oh, no,” Loki tried to explain through heavy breaths, “I-l
“I’m sorry sir, but we are completely booked for the evening. If you don’t have a reservation, you will not be seated.”
“I’m not-” he panted.
“I know you are not,” the man waved, “I’d advise you to go and find another arrangement.”
“No, you don’t understand-”
“I understand quite clearly,” he snipped, “we are very busy. I am sure your situation is quite desperate, but we simply do not have the room and as you will not be dining with us I am going to need you to step to the side.”
From behind him, Loki caught a glimpse of a cake. His cake. Being brought out by a smiling waiter.
Pushing his way past the stammering protests of the seater and into the dark dining room, he raced towards the cake, reaching it the moment it was placed in front of an elderly woman.
“Wait,” Loki called, trying to get the box for their cake open to explain, “I have-”
His voice cut out when he suddenly noticed the ring sitting on top of this cake. It was massive and shimmering silver. Definitely not his.
He then noticed the couple, they were both at least in their eighties. Looking back down at his cake he realized that it was also definitely not their cake he was holding.
The elderly couple glanced up at him and his cake reading, “We’re pregant,” clearly confused.
“best wishes,” he chuckled awkwardly, “just all the best wishes for the two of you.”
They gave him a very terse thank you before turning back to their cake.
“Excuse me sir,” suddenly came from behind Loki.
Turning he found the host from before, now fuming and standing next to a very big, very angry looking man.
“I’m going to need to ask you to leave, or my friend is going to remove you from the premises.”
Quickly exiting in a flurry of apologies, Loki looked down at the time. 7:00 he realized Sylvie would be getting back any moment, and he wouldn’t even be there. She’d be coming home to an empty hotel room, with nothing properly set up and no way of getting in contact with him. He’d look like he forgot. Unable to even call a cab, he began his long trek back to the hotel as quickly as he could.
Finally making it through the door, his whole body felt heavy with guilt and sorrow. He had worked so hard to make this whole thing perfect, like she deserved, and yet, all he had now was a half baked evening, and a lost ring.
“Sylvie,” he called as he entered.
Seeing her sitting up at the counter, alone, all dressed up in a beautiful yellow sundress with tears in her eyes, his heart shattered.
“I am so sorry,” he started desperately rambling, “I swear I had something planned, and it was all going to be perfect, but there was a mistake, and I was trying to fix it, and my phone broke-”
‘Loki it’s okay,” she sniffed.
“No it’s not,” Loki protested, “I left you here, and you have every reason to be upset-”
“Loki,” she repeated, “that’s not why I’m upset. Look at this place, and the flowers are lovely. You did a great job”
“But-”
“It’s nothing to do with you,” she gave him a sad smile, “it’s just that I was going to get us a cake and I got Bea to call it in for me, but somehow they gave me the wrong one, and it has this beautiful ring on it that I’m sure someone is looking for. I’ve been calling the bakery trying to fix it but they’re closed-”
Glancing down, Loki only now noticed the big white pastry box in front of her. Lifting the lid, sure enough, there was his cake sitting there. Looking absolutely perfect, the ring perched in the center.
“And I just keep thinking about the poor person,” Sylvie continued, “whose probably losing their mind looking for this, and the fact that I have utterly ruined someone’s proposal and-”
“Sylvie-” he laughed, “you didn’t ruin anything.”
“But I did, this was obviously for-”
He grabbed his hand, sucked in a breath and closed his eyes. It was nothing like he had planned, it was way past sunset, they weren’t on the balcony with the twinkling lights and soft music, but it was still her.
It wasn’t perfect, he realized, but it was very them, and that was even better.
“It’s for you,” he breathed.
Sylvie went silent, the words sinking in slowly.
“But-” she stammered, the realization just beginning to hit her as she looked down at the cake then back at him.
Picking up the ring from the cake, Loki took her hand and knelt down in front of her.
“I promise you, I had a much better plan than doing it like this,” he stammered nervously, “but Sylvie Lushton, you are the most incredible person I have ever met. You make me better, you make me kinder, no matter what is to come, I know I want to face it by your side. Would you do me the honor of making me the happiest-”
He watched as Sylvie’s face gave way from shock to joy as she pulled him into a long sweet kiss. Loki felt tears gather in his eyes as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her as close as he could.
“Is that a yes?” he whispered into her ear.
“Yes,” she cried back, “yes, a thousand times yes.”
Loki felt like he was going to burst with joy. His mind flashed with a thousand potential futures for them, together. Each and every one was beautiful.
Pulling away, he noticed both of their eyes shining with tears of joy, before Sylvie’s fell to the other box sitting on the counter.
“Since you picked up mine, I apparently got someone else's,” Loki explained as he pulled it open to show Sylvie. Her breath caught in her throat and her expression turned nervous.
“ Recognition ,” Loki mentally realized.
Piece began to gather in his mind. Ift she had picked up a cake under Bea’s name, then she must have ordered one too. But that would mean-
He looked down at the cake, then back at her.
“Sylv?” he whispered.
“I know it’s a bad way to tell you,” she stammered, shaking her head, “and that it’s so fast, and so soon, and we’ve barely even talked about this, so if you’re not ready I completely understand, and the timing is terrible, us having to deal with a newborn during the Christmas rush and-”
Newborn circled through Loki’s mind.
A baby , came through with a moment of clarity. They were going to have a baby. He was going to be a dad.
Throwing Sylvie into his arms, Loki felt himself sob with complete and utter joy at the prospect. He couldn’t imagine anything more beautiful than creating a person with the person he loved most in the entire world. The two of them, building their own family.
“You're not mad?” she whispered.
“Mad?” he laughed in disbelief, “Sylvie, I’ve never been happier.”
He reached out, and placed her hand on her stomach, imagining the small seed of a person growing inside of her with a gasp of wonder.
“It’s a big change,” she whispered looking down at where his hand was placed, the timing, with the bakery-’
Loki took her hand with his free one, giving it a tight squeeze.
“We’ll figure it out,” he promised.
After a moment, her expression gave way to a small smile.
“Together.”
“Together,” he echoed.
Taking her back into his arms, Loki closed his eyes. He could see it all so vividly, the two of them together, building their life and family knowing no matter what, they would always be there for each other. Loki pressed his lips onto hers.
There was nothing sweeter.