"Baby, I'm not talking down to you." Rafael looked at her, calmly, though he sighed a moment later and ran a hand through his curls. "Look, I have dealt with Lucia's ass for years now, okay? I know Eliana doesn't recognize her and wouldn't care less if she was here or not. But what Lucia is good at is making a scene." He turned to face his girlfriend and gently placed his hands on her shoulders. "That's what i don't want her to do. I don't want Lucia to hurt Ella by causing a scene. That's what she wants me to do. So when I can, I'm going to get her out of here." The answer wasn't enough, based off of how Klara told him to do what he thought was right. He let out another breath, catching his brother's gaze as he looked out to the party. Thankfully, Rafael was able to get to his ex-wife shortly after, which was why he was looking at Klara with a look of confusion when she approached him later on in the day. "My mom?" He asked, a little alarmed at the state his girlfriend was in. Rafael sat his drink down and turned fully to her. "She's with the girls." He looked at Klara a moment longer, realizing what was happening. Rafael moved his arm around her, eyes flicking over to his brother and Odinson—the latter looking like he knew something was happening—and to his mother who was with Eisa and Ella. Their baby nowhere in sight. Raf looked over at Odinson again and nodded towards Tony and Bruce in a signal for him to get them. Voice shaking a little, he turned back to Klara and asked, "Can you stay with Ella?"
Klara's anxiety grew with each passing second that it took her boyfriend to realise what was going on. She felt her best friend's magic tug at hers, trying to figure out what was wrong but she was so distressed that it already must have been an answer enough. "Wait, no. She's going to see me and know something's wrong," Klara protested when Rafael asked her to stay with their oldest but she then just nodded, composing herself enough so that nobody at the party would get any clue what was happening. Once Klara ensured the girls were safe with Rafael's parents, especially his father after she'd briefed him on the situation, she set out on her own to find whoever had Lovisa, relying on her own bond with her daughter. She froze when she saw Lucia on the steps leading away from the tower, thinking she was hallucinating. She saw her boyfriend escort her out -- then how did she manage to come back and take their baby without anyone noticing? Klara didn't take too much time to ponder on that. Fueled equally by rage, fear, and guilt, she didn't even notice when her magic took over, turning her into her Ljósálfar form. And it was an instinct for her to protect her baby girl, with one invisible hand nearly choking the life out of that woman, and the other catching Lovisa into a safe embrace until she'd be able to be with her mother. Klara hadn't noticed she had an audience, nor did she particularly care as her only focus was on Lucia and making her pay for all that she'd done to them and to her own daughter, too. And it was Ella coming up in her mind that actually stopped Klara from making the ultimate move. She eventually released the hold she had on the woman and without wasting any second, ran towards Lovisa, cradling her in her arms, tears streaming down her face as she kept talking to her in Asgardian and rocked her to calm her down. Afterwards, everything had been a blur and she barely noticed when she was back at the apartment where the party was already wrapping up, with the birthday girl none the wiser about anything that had just happened. And Klara hoped she would stay this oblivious.
She knew this was far from over but everyone had finally left, save for Rafael's parents, who insisted on staying the night. And once it was quiet and empty, Klara relocated from the nursery where she'd locked herself in, back to the living room; waiting for Rafael to come back home. "Hey," she spoke softly when she saw him. She adjusted Lovie in her arms and sat up straight. "Your parents are in the guest room, they didn't want to stay the night at their hotel," Klara explained and fell silent, letting him take their daughter in his arms. "Has she said anything?"





















