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"Ah. Yes, I suppose we should... I am sorry about all this. If I made you feel like you have no choice if we have a child or not, I did not mean to. We don't have to if you do not want one; and there is always Halina, we could find her mate or maybe nobody has to have a babe. My father was not very specific on what would happen if no one birthed Loki. Maybe I could find Thor, or Odin, or maybe-"

"Calder. I would love to have a child with you."

Calder froze in his ramblings and stared at Hemming with wide, desperate eyes.

"You would? Even if he was Loki?"

"Even if he was the ugliest child that the world had ever seen. I had been getting myself used to the truth that we would not have pups; learning we could is fantastic news."

Calder huffed out a relieved laugh and let his head fall onto Hemming's shoulder.

"Do you think the others would be mad if stayed with me a while longer? I would love to tell you about what I saw in the ocean."

"Whatever you want, my sweet. They will understand." Hemming chuckled and placed a kiss to Calder's blonde mess atop his head.

"Well at first there was nothing but the sea while my father talked to me. But when he finished and I opened my eyes, there was Jörmugandr! He was so big and only one scale was as large as me, and the colors were so beautiful, Hemming. He let out this rumble when I touched him, like a deep hum from an ancient old man. I truly do not know how you think him scary; he gave off such a kind aura.

"There were fish out there, and a school of herring swarmed me and it tickled so much, but of course I could not laugh; it is so strange the things you do not realize you do become so apparent when your lungs are filled with water.

"Of course, I also had to look out for the coral and rocks. Some of them were so pretty and had such strange designs; I would love to bring back a couple to show you. I could see everything too, like it was day whilst under the water; the way it felt under there, it was unlike anything I had ever known."

Calder was joyfully laughing and swinging his arms around as he told of what he witnessed under the water. Hemming laughing too, but Calder was sure it was only because of his own tone of voice.

"You certainly had an eventful time out there, didn't you?" Hemming chuckled heartedly and brought a hand to ruffle into Calder's hair.

"Yes. Yes, I truly did. I wonder if Loki would be able to come with me. See his son?" Calder had a sad smile at this; he longed for those days when he could call another god his and Hemming's son.

Hemming hummed silently, as if thinking about something the same as Calder.

"Now that we are settled; we can court each other, right?" Calder asked with a smirk.

"I suppose that would be alright." Hemming teased.

"Good." Calder said and smiled. "We should go help the pack. What are they doing anyway?"

"Marking out where the house will go. Though, I think we will end up building more in the future; since there would be no privacy for mate pairings." Hemming said and gestured to where the pack was stomping down snow in a medium rectangular shape.

Calder hummed and stood, holding out a hand to help Hemming up from the ground. The man did take it, but he was sure he did not actually put any weight on Calder.

"I am sure we can find something to do. Maybe I will start removing the snow from within the border; I cannot feel cold after all." Calder said with a smirk and kept his hand tucked in with Hemming's.

"That will be perfect; I will help in felling trees." Hemming smiled.

Calder laughed when Hemming combed his fingers through the others hair with a fond look.

If this is what his fate is; he will welcome it with open arms.

_____________

With the combined labor of seven adults, and the entertainment provided by a babbling babe, they had at least provided a small border situated.

The house was going to be large, and had enough room for at least four beds and a cooking fire. It would be cozy enough for the pack.

While the rest of the pack worked on chopping down trees with axes that included the one from Calder's farm, Halina and Calder stayed with Eira and worked on clearing the snow from the inner border of the house.

They had started a new fire in the middle of the floor where they eventually would build up a small well to keep a fire lit in.

Calder was far from tired and had been carrying logs from where they lie when they first were felled. He had just begun to heave a decently sized stripped tree over his shoulder when Hemming returned to the woods from the clearing.

"It is almost night, we will continue tomorrow."

Calder frowned and adjusted where the log was sitting on his shoulder.

"Is it alright if I continue for a bit? I find I am not quite tired yet."

"We have been working all day. The pack has done less than you and they are tired. Do you think this is because of your... being a god?" Hemming crossed his arms and Calder huffed affectionately.

"Well if I was always able to do this I think my mother would have liked me more. My fake mother, that is." Calder grinned and continued to walk out of the dwindling forest.

"You are sure you are alright? That you can continue?" Hemming asked and followed after Calder with a worried look.

"Yes, Hemming. I am fine. I will stop the moment I feel a lick of soreness."

Hemming sighed lowly but kept quiet, both of them entering the clearing and finding the moon rising against the sea.

"Actually, Why don't you and the pack go for a run? I will stay and keep myself busy, you can go howl at the moon with the others." Calder suggested and finally let the log fall off his shoulder and into the pile of other trees that had accumulated from his work.

Hemming looked to him with a happy yet hesitant face.

"Go! We will be fine here." Calder laughed and slapped Hemming's shoulder lightly.

"Padma would kill you if you left Eira alone while you hauled trees through the forest. You would have to stay at the camp." Hemming smiled and reached forward to grab at Calder's waist.

Calder ducked out of the grip quickly with a laugh, dancing away towards the fire with a smug grin towards Hemming.

The other man let out a loud bellowing laugh before running to catch Calder.

Calder yelped and ran quicker towards the others, immediately taking refuge on the side opposite of Hemming and hiding behind Nadir.

Hemming let out one low growl and Nadir stood quickly, walking away from Calder with a small huff of a laugh.

"That is not fair!" Calder exclaimed stood with a fake pout.

"It is fair if I make it fair." Hemming chuckled and circled around the fire before shooting forward to finally grab Calder by the waist.

Calder let out a shriek of laughter as Hemming's finger jabbed into his ticklish sides.

"Oh Gods, Please no- no please I'll do anything!" Calder laughed and squirmed in his mates grip; he was sure the others were having a pleasant time watching him struggle.

"Oh, anything? As tempting as that sounds, I expect a kiss will grant you mercy."

Calder blushed with both the hard laughter and Hemming's words.

He did not waste time before nodding quickly and leaning forward to kiss the other man swiftly on the lips.

Hemming smiled against Calder's lips and ceased his administrations. Calder pulled back a few seconds after with a small sigh.

Calder pulled back enough to look at the other people nearby.

"I have suggested to Hemming that you all go take a run in the moonlight. As a pack." Calder called out and simultaneously watched all the wolves heads snap towards him with an excited look.

"It would not be a pack event without you and Eira; but it will be nice to get out." Halina answered and stood.

"Well, we do not have all night. Calder will watch Eira while we are gone." Hemming sighed with a small smile and let go of Calder in favor of reaching to take off his shirt.

The rest of the pack jumped up at this and also began taking off clothes; besides Lagina, who had already shifted for the night. Eira laid on the ground, swaddled in furs and cushioned by a few blankets.

Calder looked away from the others in favor of watching Hemming strip. Calder had stepped a foot back in order to watch as Hemming unbuckled his belt.

When his hands finally came to his waistline, Calder looked away with a disappointed sigh. He would not look if Hemming did not explicitly say he could.

Calder listened to the sound of bones snapping fill the air, grimacing even though he knew that they were not in pain.

As the breaking stopped, the sound of wolves shaking out their coat filled Calder's ears instead; he smiled at the action with fondness. Calder had immediately tried to spot which wolves were Halina, Hale, and Padmas; eyes landing on the three new animals quickly.

Halina was a beautiful light brown and white, with grey speckled throughout her face and legs.

Hale was the same, but with more grey than his brother and sister than brown.

Padma was black and dark brown; which was odd considering their hair color being mostly light.

They wolves all gave a look to Calder, Padma and Hale nosing against Eira, before Hemming gave a short bark and they all followed him off into the forest.

Calder waved a little as they ran off, hearing Hemming start a howl and the others respond. It was nice.

He had made sure they were out of sight before walking to Eira and picking her up with a comforting murmur.

"Hello, little goddess. I am thinking of maybe making you a basket to lay in, hm? So you do not have to be on the ground while we work; it is certainly not fit for a goddess." Calder talked to the babe silently and cradled her to his chest with one arm as he stood.

He found his way over to where there were smaller branches in a pile from where they had removed them from the trees for firewood.

"Now, we do not have any straw or hay, so I suppose if I used some sticks and string it might work. I should not use the nails while we need them for our home."

Calder held the infant close as he leaned down and picked up suitable pieces.

When he returned to the camp, he laid down Eira and used the axe to mark how long the child was; he made sure to go a tad farther to account for growing and movement also.

Calder retrieved string from one of the bags and began working on sawing the branches to the length of Eira.

He hummed as he made a U shape with the wood logs, stringing them together to bind the whole thing into one.

The rest of the string was used to wrap around the entirety of the piece and block off the ends with a wall of twine.

It was crude, but it was tight and would hold Eira safely and comfortably. They could easily rock her or keep her stable with just a few well placed stones.

She was sleeping by the time he placed her in his new creation, the walls thickly padded with fur and cloth.

Calder made sure she was cozy before placing two rocks beneath the basket to stop any rocking. The sound of wolves keeping her silent and asleep.

He had been hearing them the whole night; howling and barking both near and far.

Calder had curled up beside Eira sleepily after a few minutes. The feeling of tiredness washing over him as he wrapped himself in a blanket.

He fell asleep as Eira did; while listening to his pack run free in the forest.

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