"Auntie Elsa?"
"Yes?"
"Will you read me a story?"
"Sure. What will it be tonight?"
Iduna climbed onto the sofa and handed her the beautifully illustrated volume of fairy-tales before cuddling up to her and pulling her feet in under her nightgown. "I want to hear The Sleeping Beauty again," she announced. "And Elsalill isn't here, the scaredy-cat, so you can do a real witch."
Elsa chuckled. Five-year-old Iduna took great pride in being the eldest, which included being allowed to stay up a little longer with her Auntie Elsa – provided she had brushed her teeth and had changed into her nightgown – while papa and mama got Elsalill and Agnar ready for bed.
"Alright, let's see." She leafed through the brightly coloured pages until she found the beginning of The Sleeping Beauty. It was Iduna's favourite at the moment, and she wanted to hear it again and again. But before she could start reading, the girl grabbed her arm and admonished, "And you have to really read it. Not making it up!"
"I will," Elsa promised, considering that there were downsides to kids learning how to read. But she dutifully read the story as it was written in the book – including doing a real witchy voice where required. "... And they lived happily ever after."
Iduna sighed contentedly, and took the book out of her hands to decipher that last magical line one more time on her own. "That's how it goes, isn't it?" she asked (although it sounded suspiciously like a statement). "One day you meet a prince, and then you fall in love, and then you get married, and then you have a lot of children, and you live happily ever after."
Elsa smiled down at her dreamy niece, but couldn't quite hold back her chuckle. "Sure."
Iduna looked up, with something of an accusation in her eyes. "Well, it worked for mama and papa!"
"Yes, so it did," Elsa granted her.
"But how come you aren't married and living happily ever after? You were a princess before you became queen, weren't you?"
"I was indeed." Oh dear. Where was this going?
"So why didn't you get married?"
Conceal it; don't feel it. She winced at the thought. That didn't really apply here, did it?
"Auntie Elsa?"
"Yes?"
"Why are you not married?"
"Well, I never had the inclination to marry, like your mama and papa did."
"What is an incanation?"
"Inclination. That is a feeling. I just never felt like marrying."
"Why not?" Asked in all innocence of course, but how should she answer? She didn't want to lie to the girl...
"Well, I'm happy with my life as it is. I don't need a husband to live happily ever after."
But little Iduna instantly refuted her words. "Yes, you do. Everyone needs a husband to live happily ever after."
"Says who?" Elsa inquired, a little put out despite herself.
"Every fairy-tale in the book!" Iduna announced promptly.
"But sweetheart, life is not a fairy-tale."
"Yes, it is! I'm a princess, you're my auntie the queen, we live in a castle with rose-bushes, we have a real-life snowman living with us, and you have magical powers. How can that not be a fairy-tale?"
Well, it was hard to argue with that, was it...
"I sure want to marry a prince when I grow up," Iduna mused. "And we're going to have ten children: five girls and five boys. And we're going to live right here in Arendal with you and papa and mama, and then there'll be happy-ever-after forever." She frowned. "Auntie Elsa, how much longer till I can get married?"
"Here in Arendal you need to be at least eighteen years old on your wedding-day. So for you, that's well over twelve years away."
"Oof... that's a long time." But then she shrugged. "Oh well. At least I'll have plenty of time to find a prince."
"Quite." Elsa chuckled.
"Auntie Elsa, how old was mama when she married papa?"
Elsa had to think for a moment. "Your mother was twenty when she married your father."
"And you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Are you old enough yet to get married?"
Elsa chuckled. "Of course I am: I'm three years older than your mother."
Iduna's face fell open. "What?! Impossible! You can't be older than my mother! She's got kids; you don't!" *
Elsa couldn't help it: the laughter just bubbled up inside her. "Oh dearie... that's the best thing I've heard all day!"
"It is?"
"It sure is." She wiped away a few tears of laughter and hugged her niece close. "But sweetheart, look at the clock. It's time for you to go to bed."
With a sigh, little Iduna slid off the sofa. "But you still didn't answer my question," she insisted, ever her mother's daughter. "When are you going to get married?"
Elsa sighed. "I don't know, dear. So far, I don't feel like marrying. Maybe I never will."
"But I want to be your bridesmaid!" Iduna yammered, and she stomped her foot to emphasize her plea. "How can I be your bridesmaid if you don't get married?"
Elsa nodded. "We'll save that conundrum for another time, shall we? Right now, you're going up to bed."
The girl pouted a little, but picked up the fairy-tale book and headed for the door.
"Good night!" Elsa wished her.
"Good night," came the muttered reply back.
And when the door fell shut, Elsa leaned back her head and blew out a long breath. "Thank heaven for the invention of bed time..."
.
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* This line is actually not of my own making; it comes from some of my 8-year-old students. I teach the equivalent of ESL in an elementary school, and when we discussed our ages and the respective ages of those around us, this was literally their reaction when I mentioned that I am one year older than their class teacher... ;-D Well, adapted to fit the situation here by exchanging the teacher's name for 'mother' of course. But it's kinda comforting to know that even if I'd live to be a hundred, I will always remain younger than every 20-year-old with a baby! ;-P