'Too late.'
When I got out of the shower, my mother had left a tray of muffins and the bag with Anna's clothes on my floor and had left. I dressed briskly in the first jeans and T-shirt I found in the closet and went out to meet Anna.
I turned the emotion and the nerves that ran through my body into energy and, with a muffin in my mouth, I ran toward the restaurant. I didn't know where Anna lived, but on the night of dinner, she said that she lived nearby. Maybe, reading the names doorbell to doorbell or asking people on the street, I could find her.
On the way, as magically illuminated by a revelation, I remembered the century in which we actually lived and that I had her phone number. I stopped for a moment in the middle of the pavement, almost in front of my family's restaurant, and, with the clumsiness that my trembling hands and the lack of sleep forged in me, I managed to press the keys which I had to press at third try.
"The phone you are calling is powered off or out of r-"
"Great."
I walked slowly in the direction I saw her leave that night head down and wiping tears away. I was looking for a clue that would tell me where I should direct my steps at. Some clothes that I could recognize on a clothesline, her or her sister leaning out of a window, the trace of her perfume, her laugh… Her laugh! I was hearing her laugh!
I looked in all directions desperately until I found a fiery reddish reflection that shone in the sun surrounded by the arm of a damnably attractive chestnut man. The man hugging Anna had tame brown hair, not all messy like mine, a wide white smile, a perfectly outlined and manly jaw not excessively robust like mine, a long and slender nose that, unlike mine, it didn't fulfill a significant percentage of his face. His chin, not round and wide but sharp, was covered by a neat, gradient goatee that made him even more masculine. His shoulders were broad, his waist firm, his back straight, his legs strong and slim at the same time, his skin tanned and immaculate… He was fucking perfect.
She… she was smiling. I wouldn't say it was her best smile, but it wasn't the angry face that Hans caused her or the pain one I made her show. Maybe I really should disappear from her life. Maybe it wasn't me who was going to make her happy.
Mr. Perfect smiled at Anna and gave her a warm kiss on the forehead which she reciprocated with a caress on his cheek and a sweet look. I wanted her to be happy, but I couldn't deal with that. I turned around ready to leave her life forever and let her be happy when an energetic brunette with huge green eyes collided with me and fell on her ass.
"Ow!"
"I'm sorry. Are you hurt?"
"You don't have to, I was the one who was being careless. I'm fine."
"Kristoff?"
Shit. Anna's voice, more whispered than spoken, sounded right behind me. I turned around slowly and found the couple piercing me with their gaze. He with some indifference and, she, I would say with fear.
"You are Kristoff?" the brunette said enthusiastically.
"Hi," I answered abandoned by the rest of my words without taking my gaze from Anna's eyes.
"We leave you alone," said the girl, holding too affectionately the arm of the man who was hugging Anna. "I bet you have a lot to talk about."
Anna looked at the man with concern and he gave her a smile.
"Eugene, let's go."
The brunette gave a kiss to the corner of the lips to this Eugene and left me with an idiotic face.
"Aren't you…?" I said looking from Anna to the boy and from him to her hoping that they would soothe my soul confirming that they were just friends.
"What? Oh, we are…" Anna started to say.
"Don't worry, Kristoff. I can manage myself with two women at the same time, you know." "Sorry?"
I looked at Anna and she looked flushed and gaping at Eugene; I then looked at the other girl who was smiling with pleasure and returned my gaze to him. What exactly was that all about?
"If you want to talk to my girl, do it, but don't take too long, I have plans with these two beauties. Come on, blondie?"
'Blondie? I no longer understand anything. What dimensions does his harem actually cover?'
"So you are his girl?" I asked awkwardly as the couple walked away.
"Does it matter?"
"It matters to me." "Why? I thought you weren't the right man to be by my side."
"I love you."
"Wait, what?! What are you talking about? And what about everything you told me last time?"
"Sometimes… it's not so bad to talk to a mother…" "So…" "So, if you want, I would like to dedicate my life to you. To our family."
Anna's jaw dropped completely, unlike her brain, which seemed completely frozen in place.
"I… I…"
She looked back, as if seeking refuge in the company of her… peculiar relationship, and turned back to me.
"It's okay. I understand that you aren't interested in all this thing right now. Just… please, I'm not the best person to say this, but… don't let them hurt you, please. Try to be happy."
I turned around, fighting not to shed a tear in her presence, and started walking toward the restaurant when her voice broke into my world again.
"I'll do that."
Suddenly, I felt how her arms made a superhuman effort to turn my body and how, once face to face, she climbed me to close my lips with a kiss.
There it was again. Her sweet scent and her soft touch. Her body surrendering to mine. Her soul claiming me. I needed her. I needed her, but I couldn't be involved in something so complicated. I wanted nothing more than her and couldn't bear to see her with anyone other than me.
"Anna…" I struggled to get my words out of my mouth as my hands unconsciously lost around her waist. "I… I don't want to be part of that…"
I nodded at the lovey-dovey couple who were smilingly at us.
"Well, if you form a family with me, you will have no choice," she said with a smile from ear to ear.
"So unshakable is your thing?"
"You know, you don't choose your cousins."
"Your…"
One might expect that one, in what was probably the most ridiculous and shameful situation in the world, would turn red, but it wasn't my case. I got even redder from laughing.
Anna pulled me up to them by the hand and formally introduced us.
"Kristoff, she is my cousin Rapunzel and he is Eugene, her husband."
"Mine and only mine," Rapunzel added with a mischievous grin.
"You're an asshole, Eugene… Thank you."
Mr. Perfect shook my hand in a friendly way and I realized that he was perfect indeed. He was trying to bust my… make me jealous. He was trying to make me jealous to get me to react. I guess he didn't expect me to come from home already reacted.
"Nice to see you here," Rapunzel said hugging me effusively. "This poor creature was in tatters until you showed up."
A pang shot through my chest imagining Anna having as bad a time as I did for those interminable five days.
"Anna, I… I'm really sorry."
Anna shook her head.
"I perfectly understood your reasons. But, you know? Today speaking with them, I've realized that our children would never be alone. They and Elsa could take care of them if something happened to us. But, hey, don't be careless, I prefer you far more. If you want, not now, of course! It's soon! Just… someday."
'Our children. She's said our children.'
"I want it! I want to start a family with you! I want you by my side, always. I want our children! And I will try my best to be there for them. And I want... I want to put a ring on you that you never have to throw into the sea. I want our life together."
"Are you… proposing to me?" "I… No, I don't know. I mean, yes, but not necessarily right now. I… I know that if it's with you, it'll be right. It doesn't matter when it is. That it's up to you."
Anna's gaze lit up and her vibrant smile returned to my world, giving me back my breath and the desire to dream.
"Excuse me, perfect stranger, but I would appreciate it if someone could at least introduce us before the wedding."
The clinic receptionist, Anna's sister, appeared behind me without warning and gave me an icy smile that soon turned into an expression of utter surprise.
"The big blond man!" she exclaimed without seeming to be able to close her mouth again.
"Elsa, this is Kristoff, the man of my dreams."
"Uh… nice to meet you," I said feeling unusually small before that powerful woman.
"Kristoff, I got a favor to ask you," she answered, ignoring the introductions.
"What favor?"
"Take Anna to get some rest. She hasn't slept for days and I have an arranged meal with our cousins."
"Sure! I… if it's okay with her, I'll take care of her."
"I count on you," the sisters said in unison.
At that moment, Anna grabbed my hand tightly and ran down the street. She led me down a couple of alleys and stopped in front of a small old three-story block. Without saying anything at all, she opened and dragged me to the first one where she unlocked the creaking door of her house and pulled me into her bedroom.
She entered that place which was flooded with light despite the worn curtains that covered the window and stopped to show me all her teeth through her wonderful grin.
"This place…"
I knew that place.
"I've been here before."
"Here?"
"Yes. With you."
"Sure, in your dreams."
"Exactly."
"What?"
"It was in a dream. The night before I met you I… dreamed of you, right here."
"It was a windy night…"
"Yes, it was."
"And it was cold."
"I think so."
"But I was hot."
"You were hot it in my dream."
"We were hot in mine."
"Yours?"
"That same night, I also dreamed of you."
"Here?"
"You were here, we both were."
I gulped.
"In your dream… were we both here?" she asked then in a soft, tiny voice.
I sat down slowly on her bed and recognized the caved shape of that soft mattress.
"We were in this very spot."
I looked into her eyes and found bewilderment and understanding at the same time. She sat on my lap and gently kissed my lips. Then, she gently slid her cheek across mine until her teeth brushed my earlobe.
"Do you believe in magic?" she whispered losing herself in my neck.
"I do now."
...
"Come on, Anna, you can do it. You've done more difficult things in this life. It's just a diaper. A plump baby covered in greenish poop is nothing you can't deal with."
"Anna! I need your help! Keldan has thrown up! On my shoulder!"
"Now?! And where is Eir?!"
"Throwing up in my other shoulder!"
"Don't worry! I'm with you in five minutes!"
"Five?!"
"Okay! Three!"
"Make it two! They are playing with the barf!"
"Come on, Liv. Help me. Your siblings need us. No! Pee fountain noooo!"
"Anna!"
I opened my eyes in mid-scream and found myself face to face with my worried and extremely naked husband who was trying to comfort me despite having almost a worse face than me.
It had been a magical night. After a romantic evening picnic, we had frolicked in the starlight and enjoyed utter debauchery in the privacy of our tent.
"Anna, are you alright?"
"Yeah… Sorry, I didn't want to wake you up. It was just a crazy dream, that's all."
Kristoff breathed in relief and wrapped his comfortable arms around me. Then he gave me a smirk and kissed my cheek.
"I don't think it was as crazy as the one I just had. Imagine, the two of us alone dealing with three chubby and… slimy triplets."
"Oh, God…"
"What is it?"
"Kristoff… do you believe in magic?"