Rifiuto: Non Miriena

A/N: Written: 2019 - Licia

They had returned to quiet; many were surprised to see Hans and Elsa alive, for they had expected at least the Snow Queen to be gone. Whatever had taken hold of the tribe had left, Elsa could feel it deep in her bones. It's gone... whatever hold the river had on the tribe is gone... they're free...

It was quiet chaos; Vanja laid the baby she held in Hans' arms and then slipped off to Yelena's tent, Matthias and Kristoff followed with Agathe, Egil and Gunda in tow; the other remaining elders would decide what was to be done with them, and after several moments, Ryder handed Elsa her other daughter and joined his sister towards their mother's tent, promising to return. Quietly, Hans lifted the flap of their hut and let his wife enter before following. They settled as best they could, taking the time to get to know their new daughters.

Two hours later, Honeymaren, Ryder and Kristoff returned, bringing food and drink for the young parents, knowing they hadn't eaten and that supper was well underway. They had all sat silent over the meal, until Elsa finally decided to speak. She had explained what had happened as best she could, as best as she could understand it, anyway. Hans gave his insight on occasion, but it was mainly Elsa who spoke. On occasion, Honeymaren, Ryder or Kristoff would explain what had happened on their end, but for the most part... eventually, they all just settled for silence, the only sounds utensils clicking together, and the cooing of both infants.

It had taken time, but eventually, Elsa had been able to figure nursing out for herself and had nursed each girl separately, so that it was easier on her. Hans had stayed by her side the entire time; he refused to leave his wife again, for fear he would return and she would be gone. And so, he'd sat beside her, cradling the baby that either wasn't feeding or had been fed, while his wife nursed the other. Despite the embarrassment she felt, none of the men said anything or acted in any way other than appropriately. Elsa had no reason to be ashamed; which helped her to understand when she'd seen other mothers of the tribe nursing their children so blatantly out in the open- it a was a natural, normal process and warranted no shame or un-acceptance, for everyone at one time or another, had nursed at a woman's breast as a babe.

Elsa, however, couldn't take her eyes off the babies, and Hans couldn't take his eyes off her. It had taken Honeymaren threatening to take both children away for them both to even touch their food.

"I didn't know. I... I thought I was simply carrying one, which is why I was so panicked when my labor started, because I knew I had two weeks left." She met Honeymaren's gaze. "Or I thought I did. I was so relieved when the first one came, but... something didn't feel right, and I just knew I had to push again. The pressure got so bad, and then-"

"And then your water burst for the second time." Honeymaren filled in. "Which is why I said that it couldn't be possible, because you'd already given birth, and yet," She sighed. "There you were, pushing again, and soon another little head appeared." Both Kristoff and Ryder winced in embarrassment, and Hans just chuckled.

"You'll both understand when you have children." He whispered, gently trailing a finger down the baby's cheek.

Honeymaren had watched the couple, chuckling softly as Hans had watched his wife nurse; the fact that she was there, cradling each child tenderly in her arms, against her breasts as they nursed, had filled him with wonder. It was the look of all new fathers, and yet, there was something else there as well. It was the look of a man who had been reunited with his soulmate.

Now though, they sat together, side by side, each cradling a newborn girl in their arms. Both babies had beautiful blue eyes- but most newborns had blue eyes, and the color would change as they grew. Despite being born two weeks early, they weren't underweight; instead, they were both a good weight- especially the baby in Hans' arms, the second twin, whom neither had even realized existed until Elsa had pushed her out into the world. Vanja's silently rang through the air, what she'd told them after they'd 'returned', and now, it all made sense.

"She had been hiding behind her sister, which is not uncommon with twins; especially if one parent is or has siblings that are twins, the chances are higher that twins will be borne from them and their partner at some point. And since your husband has siblings that are twins- twice- the chances you would birth twins was higher. I do not think we expected it to be on the first try, however."

Elsa had counted ten tiny fingers and ten tiny toes twice over, and she spent several minutes looking between the two, searching for similarities and differences, for they didn't know if the girls were identical or not. At this stage, it was difficult to tell, though Honeymaren suspected that they might be, and before Vanja had buried the placenta, she'd showed the younger woman the signs that may have indicated they were identical and not fraternal.

"There was a single placenta that nourished them." Honeymaren said, as Elsa tore her gaze away from the baby in her arms. "But two sacs that held each separately. I think there may have been two placenta, one for each, but they fused together at some point, and then each girl had her own sac, so all they had to share was the placenta which nourished them."

"Not uncommon for twins to share one placenta, fused from two or not." Hans whispered, gently stroking his daughter's cheek. He had read something similar in that book he'd found in the library back at the castle as a child, and had always wondered if being forced to share one source of nourishment in their mother's womb was what had made his brothers so... horrible. He chuckled softly, eyes never leaving the baby, who, now sated from her feeding, stared up at her father with unfocused eyes. "Vanja said that she's our second-born." He nodded to the baby in his wife's arms, and Elsa turned her gaze to his. Her brow furrowed, and then she looked down at the little girl. "She was the one that surprised us both."

Elsa snorted softly, turning her gaze back to the baby she held. "Well, she was certainly the surprise. Though now it makes sense that I went into labor so early- or, what I was thought was early. I couldn't go any longer, because there was no more room inside me and they were both ready to come out into the world, weren't you, little one?" The baby shifted, curling her tiny hand around her mother's finger. "I'm guessing it's common for twins to be born early?" She turned to her husband.

"You said it yourself, there's only so much space within your womb, love. Not only is it uncomfortable for you, but them." She nodded, but didn't say anything. "It also makes sense as to why you were asking about multiples, Honeymaren." Elsa looked up, meeting her cousin's gaze at her husband's words. The other woman cocked her head, before remembering.

"Twins run in your family."

Elsa shook her head at the statement-formed-question. "No."

Her husband snorted softly. "Something like that." He tore his gaze from the baby, meeting the other woman's eyes. "I'm the thirteenth son of the Southern Isles. Not all of us were single births." Elsa gently began to rock her daughter back and forth, gently trailing her pinkie down the baby's nose with a soft hum. "My mother, Odin rest her soul, endured thirteen births before giving her life to her fourteenth- three singles, two sets of twins and two sets of triplets." Honeymaren winced and shifted, crossing and quickly closing her legs; even Ryder and Kristoff winced in sympathy. Elsa shook her head softly.

Having just endured a multiples birth hours earlier, the thought of such pain didn't bother her quite like it did her cousin. She now had a better sense of what her mother-in-law had gone through. "I was the last. My oldest brother was a single birth, and then there was a set of twins and a set of triplets, and then my other older brother, and then a set of twins and a set of triplets and then me. We literally bookended the multiples three ways."

The baby in his arms shifted, whimpering, and Hans shifted, unbuttoning part of his shirt and settling the baby against his chest. She immediately settled down at the feel of her father's warmth and the sound of his heartbeat. Elsa shifted closer, until she was settled against his side; he slid his arm around her waist, holding her close so that she lay nestled against his side, their second daughter still cradled in her arms.

"I can't imagine carrying more than one, let alone giving birth to more than one." Elsa's gaze narrowed into a glare at her cousin, and Honeymaren blushed. "Sorry, Elsa." But the Snow Queen didn't say anything, simply returned her attention to the baby in her arms.

"They have such heads of hair. Is that normal?" Everyone turned to Ryder, who stared back. "I mean, for newborn babies to have that much hair when they're born?"

Elsa turned her head to glance at the little girl against her husband's chest, before she glanced down at the baby girl in her arms. Now that she thought about it, Ryder was right. Both of their girls- the one they knew about and the one they hadn't expected- had heads of beautiful, soft blonde hair, similar in color to Agnarr's hair; the color Elsa's hair would have been had she not been born with powers and followed her father's footsteps and not her mother's- for Iduna had told her once that her father was expecting her to come out with thick dark hair like her mother, while her mother had expected her to come out with her father's blonde coloring. "It's beautiful." Elsa whispered, reaching up and tenderly brushing her fingers along the baby's scalp.

Her husband shifted, removing his arm from around her waist and adjusting his hold on their older daughter. Elsa sat up, watching as her husband gently settled the baby into the crook of his arm, before turning to her. "What is it, Elsa Dahl?" She smiled softly, glancing at the baby in his arms. "You want to switch?" She nodded, and chuckling softly, she leaned over, laying the little girl she held into her husband's free arm before taking the one he held. Both newborns cooed at the movement, but didn't fuss.

"They've only been out in the world a few hours and they're so calm." Honeymaren whispered. "Compared to how loud they both were when they entered the world-" She shook her head, remembering the cries of both infants that had rung out, minutes after they'd each slid out of their mother. "They've got your lungs, Cousin, both of them." Elsa smirked but didn't say anything.

"I think they're just content now that everything's calmed down and they're with Mama and Papa." Kristoff said, watching as Hans gently stroked his daughter's tiny hand.

"We need to name them." She turned at her husband's words, nodding.

"Do you have names chosen?" Kristoff asked, but Hans shook his head.

"Not chosen. There are names we liked, but we weren't sure if we were having a boy or a girl-"

"I pretty much told you that we were having a girl." Elsa muttered. "I saw it when I put the diadem on that night." Hans rolled his eyes quickly.

"Just because you saw it didn't mean it was guaranteed, Charlotte," He whispered. "The diadem didn't anticipate two being born, only one."

"It also didn't anticipate that my husband would be the bookend of two sets of twins and two sets of triplets, so I think we can cut it some slack." She replied, meeting his gaze. "It is carved of ancient ice, not newfangled machinery or your wonderful carving skills." He rolled his eyes again, shaking his head.

"The point is," His voice rose, and the baby in his arms began to whimper. "Shh. Shh, hush, love. It's okay. I'm sorry." Elsa couldn't help the smile that tugged at her lips as she watched her husband calm the baby down. "The point is," he started again, softer. "that there were names we liked, but we haven't chosen any yet."

"Well, what do you like?" Kristoff asked, watching as Elsa brushed a strand of hair out of her face. Hans met his wife's eye, smiling softly.

"I was thinking Dorothea, for my mother."

"And Iduna, for mine."

Honeymaren smiled softly. "They're beautiful. Any others?" The Snow Queen bit her lip, nodding softly, but before either had a chance to speak, a voice broke the calm.

"Elsa." Everyone looked up as Vanja entered, having been gone all this time, either with the elders or Yelena. Her dark eyes were filled with sadness. "She wants to see you; both of you."