A/N - sorry for the delay. Hope this chapter was worth it. The good news is we have most of the last two chapters written, so we should have the story wrapped within a couple of weeks!

Shoutout to my beta, stillslightlynerdy. And for advice on childbirth from one who knows, jedijae!

=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=

"My mother groaned, my father wept,
into the dangerous world I leapt."
― William Blake

"You know what the great thing about babies is? They are like little bundles of hope. Like the future in a basket."
― Lish McBride, Hold Me Closer, Necromancer

Elsa helped Anna get to her feet, then supported her as they stumbled out of the cave.

"Here, Anna, sit and rest. Kristoff should be coming along in a few minutes." Elsa waved her hand and created a chair of ice with a cushion of snow. Anna sat down gingerly, but she was clearly not comfortable, clutching her stomach and stifling a groan.

It took only a minute or so for Sven to come galloping down the trail, Kristoff and Olaf in the sled, Marshmallow loping along behind. Kristoff didn't even wait for the sled to stop before jumping down and rushing to Anna's side. He could tell she was in distress; he took her hand and asked, "Anna, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"

She looked at him and clutched his hand hard enough to make him wince. "Not hurt, but the baby is coming. Kristoff, Elsa, I'm … scared. It hurts, and we're in the middle of nowhere and – "

Kristoff took both her hands in his and said, "Feisty Pants, we're close to a village with a midwife. Your sister and I are here and you're going to have a fine, healthy baby." He scooped her up and went to lay her gently on the blankets in the back of his sled. "Elsa, are there any more blankets in that sled?" He gestured to the sled Hans had brought.

Elsa went to rummage in the back of Hans' sled, gathering up the blankets she found there. As she pulled them to her, she uncovered a locked, wooden box. She grabbed that, too, thinking perhaps Hans had left a journal or other notes about the magic he had gloated over, then went to cover Anna with the blankets and put the box in the sled next to her.

She spoke to Kristoff, "Let me get the horse – we can't leave him here!" The horse couldn't be left alone – Elsa didn't know how long it would take them to come back for it and it would need food and water.

Kristoff nodded as he arranged the blankets around Anna and reassured her again. She grunted in pain and reached to squeeze his hand.

Once Elsa had led the horse over and tied it to Kristoff's sled, she got in with Anna and cradled her head in her lap, then said to Kristoff, "Let's get back to that village before you and I and Olaf and Marshmallow have to deliver this baby!"

He grunted, then jumped into the driver's seat, grabbed the reins and urged, "Sven, go!"

Anna winced as the sled moved along the snowy trail. She groaned and held her swollen belly, then reached up to take one of Elsa's hands and squeezed, hard, as another contraction gripped her.

"It's okay, Anna, it's okay. The village and the midwife aren't far. Do you remember you were there yesterday?" Elsa asked, concern on her face.

"Honestly? No. Everything is kind of … fuzzy and vague. I remember going to Thorstad's house, then things get pretty confused." She looked up at her sister. "Was that really Hans? How could I have believed he was my husband?"

"He apparently had brought some dark magic back from his trip to America. And shards of a magic mirror that made you suspicious of everyone except him," Elsa explained. She went on to repeat the tale Hans had told her while he gloated over her with the sword.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Anna gasped through another contraction. "Elsa, this baby wants to be BORN!"

"The midwife said she thought you would be early," Elsa reassured Anna. She continued, "and magic often doesn't make any logical sense. Whatever Hans had, it worked well enough for him to lure you away from Kristoff and make you think he was your husband and that the evil snow queen had killed … me."

Elsa looked away as she said this last. She had a lot of explaining to do to Anna. She wished there were time to do this properly, but … the baby was being insistent. "I … I owe you an abject apology, Anna. And a much longer explanation than we have time for right now."

Anna thought so too, if the glare on her face was any indication. The easing of the contraction apparently let her remember her anger and despair about Elsa's disappearance.

"I thought YOU killed YOU, Elsa! You ran away AGAIN after promising you'd never leave me! Why? Do you know how hard that was on me?" Anna demanded.

"I … uh, yes, I mean, I knew it would hurt you, but it was the only way I could think of to keep you and Arendelle safe," Elsa mumbled. It wasn't convincing Anna.

"Safe from WHO?"

"All the kingdoms that thought I was a danger to them. That kept threatening war. You saw all the diplomatic notes, the hostility. As long as I was around, they would hate and fear me, fear Arendelle." Elsa's voice was sorrowful. She brushed her hand across Anna's hair, trying to comfort her as another contraction took hold. "We're almost there. I promise, we'll talk about this when the baby is born."

Anna couldn't speak through her clenched teeth, but squeezed Elsa's hand and nodded.

Kristoff slowed Sven down as they pulled into the village, then stopped in the small square formed by several houses. "Is the midwife here? We found my wife, and she's having the baby!" Kristoff called out.

As the sled stopped, anyone outside started to gather around it, remembering the story they had heard when Elsa and Kristoff had come through. The midwife pushed her way through the crowd and looked over the side of the wagon, reaching down to touch Anna's stomach lightly.

"Yes, the baby is coming, and soon." She straightened up, looked around and pointed at several of the men. "You, help them get her to my house. You, take the sled and the horse and get the animals stabled. Take the husband with you. Babies are for the women to deal with. Come."

Kristoff looked like he would follow the women, but one of the men put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Come, lad. She'll be fine. Let's take care of the animals, then settle down to wait, we've got some fine mead to help pass the time."

It was the work of only a few minutes to get Anna to the home of the midwife. Two girls in their late teens were waiting for them. Several large pots of water were boiling over the fire and an odd looking chair draped with clean bedding sat close to the warmth of the hearth. They took Anna from the men helping her and began to get her undressed and settled.

The midwife shooed the men out and reminded them to keep Kristoff busy and unworried, then she turned to Elsa. "She is your sister?" At Elsa's nod, she continued, "You can stay, she will need your support. These are my apprentices, one a daughter, one a niece. They are good nurses."

Shortly Anna was dressed in a clean shift that came to her knees. She was sitting in the odd chair, which supported her but left the area between her legs open and accessible to the midwife. Elsa sat behind her on a small bench, which let her wrap her arms around Anna from behind. "What is this?"

"It's a birthing stool. I'm sure you city folk have never seen one. It's easier on the babe and the mother. It helps me to be able to guide the baby out. When you sit there, your arms will comfort your sister, but do not press down on her belly unless I tell you to. The baby will come naturally." The midwife was sitting on a stool in front of Anna, lifting the shift to check on her progress with a practiced eye. "Now we wait."

Elsa comforted her sister as best she could when the contractions hit. The midwife coached Anna to breathe through the pain. "Inhale through your nose, then breathe out slowly through your mouth, like you were blowing out a candle. Control it, visualize blowing the pain away."

Anna tried to follow the advice, she really did, but as the contractions got closer together and stronger, it got harder to stay in control. She gripped Elsa's forearms so hard that Elsa knew there would be bruises on them after this was all over.

One of the apprentice midwives gently wiped the sweat off Anna's face and forehead. A sudden groan escaped Anna's throat, it went on longer than previous sounds. The midwife looked closely and said, "I see the babe's head starting to come. Control yourself, and push when I say so!"

Her entire body tense, Anna tried to relax even a little, but the pain was building. It felt like her insides were being twisted, pulled, and squeezed. There was an intense searing pain in her lower back, then it felt like her body was being stretched wide open.

"Here it is, here it is. Push now, push when you feel the most intense pain, the babe is coming!" exclaimed the midwife.

Anna felt her vision narrow and go black, and she thought she'd scream as she felt she was being torn apart. Then suddenly it was over, the pain was just a dull ache. She collapsed limp in her sister's arms, and she heard a faint squalling wail.

The two apprentices waited for the midwife take the baby and slap it smartly on its tiny backside to make it cry, then helped to cut the umbilical cord and wrap the child in a clean blanket. Delivering the afterbirth and cleaning Anna took but a few moments more, then they said, "Let us help you up and to the bed, Lady. Your child is hungry and must be fed!" One of them left, presumably to fetch Kristoff to meet his new child.

Elsa was dizzy from her emotions and the sensations she had just experienced. The birth was messy and bloody and she thought SHE'D screamed in shared pain with Anna, but the baby was here now, apparently healthy, and the midwife didn't seem to think there was anything to worry about. Elsa mentally congratulated herself for keeping her magic under such tight control that not even a snowflake escaped – cold might not bother her, but Anna and the baby needed to stay warm.

Once Anna was comfortably propped up in the bed and a warm blanket tucked around her, they handed her the little one to feed. Reddish gold fuzz covered the baby's head, and teal eyes blinked at the confusing world. The little … "Is it a boy or a girl?" Anna asked. She hadn't noticed, everything had happened so quickly.

"You have a beautiful daughter, Lady," answered the midwife. "Let her find your breast, it is important she feed now."

Elsa helped Anna fumble with her nightgown and cradle the baby to her breast. Presented with her first meal, the child began sucking eagerly.

"Wow." Anna looked down at her newborn daughter and took a deep breath. "I'm a mother, Elsa, I really did it!"

Elsa smiled through her tears, the joy and relief and giddy happiness almost overwhelming. "You are indeed, Anna. She's beautiful."

There was a commotion at the door and Kristoff came in, looking dazed. "Anna? Are you okay? The baby?" His knees seemed wobbly as he came to the bed and knelt beside his wife and child and tears came to his eyes as he kissed Anna's forehead.

Elsa stepped back to give him his moment and found herself near the fire, where the midwife and her two apprentices were doing the necessary cleanup chores. "Thank you," she murmured. "I was so worried about her."

The midwife chuckled and finished drying her hands. "Just a day's work, Lady. I assume the man who kidnapped your sister has been … dealt with?" When Elsa nodded, she went on, "I knew there was something wrong, but your sister didn't seem to be in distress except for the baby. I'm glad you found them in time."

"We owe you for your services, ah … ?" Elsa realized she didn't know the woman's name.

"Rana, Lady. Most folk pay with chickens, or rabbits, or root vegetables. We aren't a prosperous village. Too far from the capitol, too out of the way. But we have a decent living, if not surrounded in luxury."

"Well, Rana, I can promise that you will have whatever you ask for in return for the service you have done today," Elsa assured her. "My sister will see to it."

Another chuckle from Rana. "Our needs are meager, Lady, but I'm sure I can think of something."

"Elsa! Come here!" Anna was calling from her bed.

"What, honey? Is something wrong?" Elsa hurried to the bedside.

"No, silly, I just want you to meet your new niece! Elsa, may I introduce you to Kristiana … Elsa Idunn, heir to the Crocus Throne!"

Elsa teared up again. Kristoff's grin was so wide she thought he'd split his cheeks.

It didn't take long for little Krissi, as Anna immediately began to call her, to finish eating, burp up a few milk bubbles and fall asleep. Anna was nodding off, too, so Rana shooed Elsa and Kristoff out of the house and told them to get something to eat next door at her brother's home. Her niece would take them and introduce them. She reassured them that Anna and the baby would be watched over while they did.

=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=

It had been more than a week since Anna had disappeared and Kristoff went off to find her. Admiral Naismith and Captain Gunnarsson looked like men who hadn't slept the entire time. They were in Naismith's office in the castle, still coordinating the search. So far, nothing had turned up and they had received no messages from Kristoff.

"I think that the kidnapper must have gotten the Queen across the border and completely out of the kingdom before our search really got underway, Eric," Naismith was saying when the door slammed open.

Kai Brevik, the Head Butler of the castle, stood in the door, breathing heavily as though he had been running. But he was smiling, grinning, actually, almost giddy.

"Admiral, Captain, we have received a message from the Queen!" He waved a piece of paper in his hand. "She is well, Kristoff found her, she had the baby in a small village near the far northern border. Both mother and baby are well, we have an heir!"

It took a moment for the news to sink into the exhausted brains of the two men at the desk. When it did, Naismith slumped back in his chair and covered his eyes with a hand and muttered something that could have been a prayer of relief. Gunnarsson's shoulders relaxed and he sighed.

"Where are they now?" Naismith asked as he straightened himself into his normal ramrod military posture. "Does the note say? Are you sure the note is from the Queen?"

"Yes, it's Anna's handwriting for certain. She says they are stopping and spending a day or two with the trolls to introduce them to the baby. They ARE Kristoff's family, after all." Kai was almost dancing as he relayed this information, he couldn't seem to stand still. It was very odd behavior for a man normally as staid and dignified as the butler was.

"Kai, I must ask – I am thrilled and relieved that the Queen is safe and so is the baby, but … you seem rather more ecstatic and demonstrative than I would expect." Naismith quirked an eyebrow at the man. "Is there something more to the message that has you acting like this?"

"Well, the message was most gratifying, most welcome, don't you see. But the MESSENGER was … was a delightful surprise, Admiral. Most delightful." Kai giggled. Naismith couldn't believe his eyes or ears.

"Who was this delightful messenger that has you so giddy, Kai? I swear I've never seen you like this!" Gunnarsson demanded.

"Why, it was Olaf, Captain. Olaf brought the message from the Queen!" Kai's grin lit up the room.

Again, their exhaustion kept them from connecting the dots immediately but when the import of what Kai had said did hit them, they both reeled. It seemed that more than one prodigal was returning to Arendelle.