The baby boy had his father's smile, but while it had always looked dumb and grotesque on Rudolf, on his son it was the smile of an angel.
"He's beautiful, Julienne."
"Kai's our little miracle," his mother cooed at the baby in her arms. Kai grabbed onto one of Hans' fingers and held on tight. "Would you like to hold him?"
"May I?" Hans looked to Rudolf, who was smiling, as always. Hans took that as a yes, opened his arms and cradled his brother's son.
"You'd think it would have been easier for us to have a son, considering our family's luck," Rudolf prattled. His son had his mother's bright blue eyes and reached up to Hans' face and tugged.
"Ouch! What are you doing, silly?" Hans cooed and moved his sideburns out of Kai's reach. "You don't know your own strength." He shifted the baby in his arms and took a seat across from Rudolf and Julienne. They sat in a large parlor room at the back of their palace. All along one side of the room, tall windows let in the morning light and reflected on the gilded ceiling. The room was done up all in yellows and greens, the image of joy and comfort, but the chair Hans sat in felt stiff and uncomfortable. "He's a strong one."
"He had better be," Rudolf said. "Julienne can't have any more children, and Kai is our only son."
"Our only son who survived this long, dear," Julienne corrected.
"Kai is our only son," Rudolf repeated, "and he will do great things." The smile underneath Rudolf's twirling moustache only grew. "He will be a great leader – a good soldier and a better prince. He is our family's one great chance."
Hans looked down at baby Kai, wishing that he could say, "Lotta pressure for a little guy like you, huh?" and the look on Kai's face said that he understood, as if he wanted to answer, "You have no idea. How'd your brother turn out so crazy?"
Hans wiggled his fingers at Kai, who grabbed hold of his glove and pulled it off. "I'm so glad I came, Rudolf," and he meant it, every word.
"If I may ask, what brought you here, little brother?"
Hans cut in before Rudolf could ask what he knew he would ask next. "I wanted to travel, to see family that's not living back home."
"Weren't you appointed Admiral of the Navy? Don't you have duties in the Southern Isles?"
"An admiral can't go to sea?" he asked absently and turned his attention to Kai, who was now chewing on his glove. "No, that's not for eating," he pulled the glove away gently. "Don't want you to choke, now do we?"
"Aren't you needed at home?"
"No," Hans answered honestly.
And before he could think of anything else to say to stave off his brother's questions, one of the large doors leading from the hall flew open and a barefooted little girl ran inside, letting the door slam behind her. She flew across the room, scrambling over and under furniture, until she pressed her face to the glass door leading outside. She was wearing a dress trimmed in embroidery and lace, fit for a princess.
"Hans?" Rudolf asked gently, as though something were wrong with his little brother. The small girl started jumping and caught hold of the gilded door handle. Her fat feet dangled inches from the floor. She kicked and whined, but the door was locked, so she landed softly on the carpet. Though she caused a maelstrom whirling through the parlor, neither Rudolf nor Julienne had blinked an eye. But they had also dropped the subject of Hans' naval career, and he chose to take as much advantage of the situation as he could.
"I was actually thinking of attending the coronation in Arendelle," Hans said. Rudolf shook his head, disapproving. "Is the Southern Isles sending someone else? We should be represented there."
These were the oddest moments, when Rudolf both smiled and clearly disapproved. "I wouldn't go. There's been an increase of reports of sea monsters between the Southern Isles and Arendelle. And there are rumors that the queen is… less than normal. Monsters everywhere there, Hans. I wouldn't go, and you shouldn't either."
The little girl gave up on opening the door yet again, and noticed Hans. She ran up to his chair.
"There's no such thing as monsters, Rudolf. Only men who do not understand what they see."
The little girl stood beside his chair, up on her tiptoes.
"Gerda, now's not the time," Julienne said softly. Rudolf didn't even look her way.
Gerda tugged on Hans' trousers. "Who are you?"
Hans looked for a moment between the girl and Julienne before answering. "I'm your Uncle Hans."
Gerda's face broke into a genuine grin, and she lifted up her arms, asking to go up. She had blonde curls and eyes as blue as her brother's.
Hans held Kai towards his mother. "You can take him, if you'd like."
Julienne waved a hand absently. "He likes you."
Gerda tugged on Hans' trousers, and he leaned over to tell her that it seemed he couldn't talk now, when Rudolf interrupted. "Don't give her attention, Hans. It only encourages her."
"I wish our youngest daughter behaved more like a princess, but we're doing our best." Julienne said wearily.
"We have two beautiful girls and a perfect son." Rudolf put an arm around his wife. "What more could we ask for?"
A lump rose in Hans' throat. He knew that if he looked at Gerda again, he would start to cry.
"Our other two daughters are so perfect in every way. We really are being silly expecting so much from Gerda," Rudolf said. Hans heard the patter of small, bare feet, and the large white door shut again. "She's always running away like that, never will stay in one place…"
"Our deepest apologies for the interruption," Julienne said. "Now, where were we?"
Hans looked down at Kai, still chewing on the thumb of his glove, and suddenly he hated the helpless child.
"Yes, I was asking Hans what he's doing so far from home. Isn't the admiralty keeping you busy, brother dear?"
Hans' throat felt so clogged with tears he could barely breathe. He walked to Julienne, handed back her child, and said, "I need to go." He walked away as fast as he could.
Rudolf rose and followed him to the double doors. "But you just arrived! Hans – "
"Yes, and now I have to go."
"Hans, we've barely spent any time together. Let's catch up."
"It's too late, brother," he hissed.
"What?"
"You want to know why I left my job as admiral?"
"You left it?"
"You want to know why?" Hans yelled to keep from crying. "Because I was useless! I did nothing but parade around in my uniform for three years. Three whole years, Rudolf! I never went to sea, never did anything worth mentioning – "
"You're our baby brother, Hans! We wanted to keep you safe."
"Too valuable to die, not valuable enough to live – what the hell do I mean to you?!"
From his place in Julienne's arms, baby Kai began to cry.
"I thought you wanted to be admiral. We gave you the job because you wanted it, Hans!"
"I wanted it because I thought I was going to do something important. I didn't realize I was being shoved away, out of trouble and out of your sight."
Rudolf's face softened. No trace of a smile was left. When he spoke again, he almost whispered. "What did I ever do to you?"
Hans forced the lump of tears down his throat and bowed to his brother. "Good day, brother. Sea monsters or no, I will be attending the coronation in Arendelle. Let me know if you wish to see me again."
As Hans walked out the front doors of his brother's palace, he knew that if he set foot in Arendelle, he would not leave empty-handed.
