Chapter 12

Days of Motherhood

A/N: Thank you all for the great reviews! I've had some of you mention some of the 21st century elements that are present in the story. I acknowledge this, but for the sake of the story's topic, I had to bend the historical timeline a little bit. Nonetheless, I thank you for bringing it up, and will do my best to refrain from any more of those. Without further ado, please enjoy this touching chapter!

In the days that followed Isaac's birth, Elsa experienced a whole new world. The world of motherhood was one of exhaustion, but excitement at the same time. Elsa always knew that it took a lot to raise a baby, but never did she imagine it was this much. The daily routine included everything: feeding, changing diapers, bathing, and calming Isaac down whenever he got upset. Despite her worries about being a mother, Elsa found that she took to the role naturally. At the moment, Elsa was at her desk, trying to respond to letters from nearby kingdoms. Anna was still doing most of the work, but Elsa thought she could do a little bit to help. As soon as she finished the letter she was working on, she heard crying from the nursery. Elsa looked at the clock, noticing that it was noon. Isaac was probably hungry. She walked to the nursery, taking the crying Isaac out of his bassinet, and sat down in the rocking chair. Unbuttoning her dress, Elsa exposed her breasts, bringing Isaac closer, so he could feed. Elsa loved this moment. It was so intimate; she felt so connected with her son whenever she breastfed him. Staring down at Isaac, Elsa smiled.

"You sure are a hungry boy, sweetie," she said.

As she continued to breastfeed Isaac, Olaf walked into the room.

"Hi Elsa, hi Isaac!" he said.

"Well, hello to you too, Olaf," Elsa greeted.

Olaf looked curiously at Elsa. It looked as if he was confused.

"Elsa, why is Isaac sucking your chest?" he asked.

Elsa laughed. Olaf was always so curious.

"I'm feeding him, Olaf. He's drinking milk from my breasts," Elsa explained.

"Your breasts have milk in them?" Olaf asked, confused.

"Well, when a woman has a baby, her breasts develop milk so she can feed the baby."

"Oh, so Isaac can't eat anything else?"

"Not yet. He's still too little."

"Well, I can't wait until he's old enough to eat chocolate," Olaf said.

Elsa laughed. "Well, it will be a while before he can."

"I can't wait to introduce him to my favorite foods," Olaf said.

"I'm sure he'd like that, Olaf."

"I bet! Well, I'm going to see what Sven is up to. Bye Elsa, bye Isaac" Olaf said, giving Isaac a pat on the head with his stick arm.

Soon after he left, Anna came in with another letter. When she saw Elsa breastfeeding Isaac, she stopped in her tracks.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Elsa. I didn't mean to interrupt you," she said.

Elsa gently removed Isaac from her breast, putting him back into his bassinet.

"You're not interrupting. He's had enough," Elsa said, buttoning up her dress. "I see that I have another letter."

"Yes, but this one doesn't have a return address written on it," Anna pointed out.

"Hmm. Well, I wonder who it could be from."

Elsa opened the letter, read its contents, but instead of getting a warm feeling of happiness like she did with the other letters, Elsa dropped it, and began to cry.

"Elsa, what's wrong?" Anna asked.

"The letter," Elsa sniffled.

Anna picked up the letter to read what it said.

"Dear Queen Elsa,

While it's unfortunate what happened to you, the fact that you decided to have a bastard child is appalling beyond belief. If your father were alive, he'd be ashamed of you. If you still demand respect after the birth of this child, you are sorely mistaken. You should be dethroned.

Sincerely,

A disgusted citizen.

Anna crumpled up the letter, throwing it against the wall.

"Elsa, don't listen to that jerk," she said. "They don't know what they're talking about."

"It doesn't matter, Anna. They still said it," Elsa wept. "They blame me for what happened. Because of that, they'll never love Isaac like I love him."

Anna watched her sister cry before her. Elsa had always struggled with self-esteem, so this letter was another heavy blow to her. Wrapping her arms around her, she led her to Isaac's crib.

"Elsa, look at your son," Anna instructed.

Elsa did what she was told, but was still weeping.

"Isaac is a beautiful baby boy, and you're his mother. You love him, I love him, Kristoff and Olaf love him, that's all that should matter to you. Regardless of how he was conceived, he's still your son, and he is loved."

As Elsa continued to stare at Isaac, she felt her motherly instincts rise up inside her. Every time she looked at him, she couldn't help but feel so much love for the child. She wanted to hold him tight, and never let go. Reaching a hand down into the bassinet, she allowed Isaac to grab a hold of her finger, smiling when he did so.

"Hi, sweetie," she said. Slowly, but surely, the tears faded, only to be replaced by shining bright blue eyes, and a big smile.

"He looks just like you," Anna said.

"Yes, he does."

"He's going to grow up to be a great man, because he has a great mother," Anna said, proudly.

Elsa turned to Anna, feeling the tears come back, but they were happy tears this time. She hugged her sister tightly, savoring her touch, admiring her presence. Everyone should have a person like Anna in their lives.

"Thank you, Anna. I don't know how you do it, but you always know just what to say," Elsa said, gratefully.

"What are sisters for?" Anna laughed.

"Indeed."

Looking back at the letter crumpled up by the wall, then back to Isaac again, Elsa knew exactly what was really important.