Chapter 1: Annabelle
The snow flurries were swirling harder. The temperature was dropping - rapidly. The doctors and midwives standing at attention were trying their best to hide the shivering taking over.
Only two people did not seem fazed by the seesawing climate in the Queen's private residence. Princess Anna of Arendelle, who had been the baby sister of the Snow Queen for close to four decades, was running around and slowly taking over the childbirth process. The other was the Queen's husband, King Consort Robert Hansen, who had once been a blacksmith and sea captain before meeting and falling in love with Queen Elsa.
Elsa was now writhing on the bed, moaning in agony, as she rode through another contraction. A particularly strong gale of wind moved through the royals' chambers. It didn't still even as Elsa grew quiet, flopping back into the pillows as the contractions passed, her breathing labored.
"Robert..." and her voice was unusually gentle for someone who was about to give birth. "I need you to get out of this room. Just for now. For your own safety."
Robert gawped at his wife. "Like hell I am! I'm not leaving you!"
"Robert," Elsa gritted her teeth. "Do this. For me." And her voice was so sweet, Robert found it nearly impossible to refuse her. Then her voice broke. "Please. I don't want to hurt you."
Robert looked to Anna. The siblings-in-law did not need words. Anna would take care of her, he knew. Crossing to the bed, Robert kissed his wife with all the love he could muster, followed by a few frantic pecks.
"You could never hurt me," Robert told her, the words as fierce as his kiss. And he meant it. A stunned Elsa could only nod. Yet Robert obeyed his wife's wishes, and forced his feet to move out of their chambers.
He was barely out the door before he was being attacked by his niece. "What are you doing out here?"
"Calm down," Robert warned her.
"Is the baby here yet? Are you coming to get us?"
"Calm down..."
"Oh no - is Aunt Elsa all right?"
"JOANIE!" Robert grabbed her and gave her a little shake. Sometimes she ran her mouth faster than her mother. "Nothing's happened yet. Your aunt very nicely kicked me out of the room."
On a plush seat next to them, Prince Consort Kristoff snorted. "Ouch. Anna never did that to me."
"Well," Robert leapt to his wife's defense, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's getting pretty cold in there. She wanted me safe, tell you the truth."
"That's sweet," Christian, Joan's little brother, bounded up to his uncle. Robert just ruffled his hair.
The minutes passed agonizingly slowly. Pretty soon, even Kristoff succumbed to the on-edge anxiety the rest of his family felt and began pacing up and down the hallway. It only got worse when Anna stuck her head out the door and requested Robert's presence, and Robert's only, his banishment from the chambers apparently lifted. Silence reigned.
"It's taking so long, Joanie," Kristoff fretted, passing by where his daughter sat for the untold number of times.
Joan just chuckled. "Look at yourself, Daddy. You'd think this was your first child. Tell me: were you this nervous when I was born?"
"Yes and no," Kristoff admitted, remembering. "It was different with your mother. But with Elsa, we gave up hope. We thought she would never have children..."
That's when Robert suddenly burst out of the room again. "Guys! It's a girl, it's a girl!"
Kristoff broke into a huge grin and ran after his brother-in-law. Joan and Christian hung back, basking in the moment.
"Can you believe it?" Christian gaped. "Aunt Elsa had a baby."
"I guess it really is a miracle," Joan chuckled, and she and her brother moved forward to greet the newest member of the royal family.
