Anna was finishing cleaning up her classroom and packing up the papers she needed to grade, when someone knocked on her doorframe. She turned and saw Snow standing in the doorway. Great, and I thought I was finally done with her. I guess Esmeralda didn't do enough. "What is it, Snow?" She tried to keep her voice as polite and teacherly as possible, but a good deal of irritation still managed to creep in.

She looked hurt, but she walked in and sat on a desk. "I'm sure you've noticed that I've been leaving you alone of late."

With a curt nod as she zipped her bag shut, Anna replied, "I had."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been treating you like I had been. I was being a bully. I didn't realize how much it was hurting you. I wish I could say that I didn't mean it, but I'd take it back now if I could."

Anna frowned at her, her eyebrows knitting together as she studied her student. She seemed to be sincere – it was a strange look on the young girl. "Ms. Agnes – Esmeralda talked to you, didn't she?"

She nodded. "She did. I hadn't realized how much I was putting you through, or how much you were going through on your own." Anna gave a panicked look, and Snow held a hand up to silence her. "Yeah, she told me you're gay. It never really occurred to me that teachers could go through anything. I mean I know you were getting divorced, but that's just part of being an adult. I just kinda thought that once you were an adult, and especially by the time you have a career and a family, that you'd know who you were, that most of the big questions would be answered. It actually scared me a little to find out I was wrong. I was hoping I'd be done with all that stuff by the time I was your age."

Anna tried to decide between being amused and being offended, but she settled on a small giggle as she sat down next to Snow. "Everyone always has some more growing to do, more of a life to live. It's just part of being human. I know when I was in high school, I thought I had everything sorted out. I knew who I was going to marry, where I was going to live, what I wanted to do with my life, it was all planned out. It wasn't until recently that I finally realized that I really hadn't known all that much. Although I was at least dead-on about being a teacher, I do love it." Except when you make it Hell.

She smiled weakly, glancing into Anna's eyes. "Sounds like we weren't too different back then. I hope I would've been nicer to you if you were my age."

Not so different? I wasn't in all advanced classes, and I sure as hell wasn't popular. "Do you treat students like that, or just teachers?" I just assumed she was always a bully.

"I think I'm actually pretty nice to people my own age. Teachers just always kind of seemed like they weren't people – no offense – they weren't like us, so I didn't mind making them miserable, since it didn't feel like I was really hurting anyone. Wow, saying it out loud I sound like a total psychopath." She wrung her hands in her lap, tugging on her yellow skirt.

"It's never too late to become a better person." Anna rested her hand on Snow's shoulder. "If you can learn to stop hurting those around you, you'll end up a lot happier with yourself too. I know changing can be difficult –"

"It really isn't." She shrugged off Anna's hand and stood, pacing over to the large desk at the front of the room and resting her hand on it. "I thought it would be, but just stopping being a bitch was so easy. Talking to you about it was hard, it's why it took me over a month, so maybe being a good person isn't easy, but not being mean is. It's the easiest thing I've ever done, I just had to stop. The fact that it took nothing from me, and I still resisted it for so long really scares me. Maybe I am a psychopath."

"You're not. If you were then you wouldn't be thinking any of that." Anna took a step toward her, but stopped, watching as the girl's mind raced. She didn't want to push her, she was sure this was far more difficult than she was letting on.

Snow nodded, but continued staring at the desk. Anna thought she saw a tear fall onto the cheap wood. "Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow, okay? I promise, I'll be better from now on."

"Better? You were already top of the class." Anna hated to see one of her students suffering, even if she had been wanting it for most of the past year. She hoped the compliment, humor, and change of subject would help with that. "I'm a little scared to see how much better you could be."

It seemed to do the trick. Snow met her eyes again – she had been crying – and she managed a genuine smile. "I bet I could manage 102%. You offer enough extra credit."

Anna smiled back at her. "I need to get going, it's my son's birthday today. We can talk more tomorrow if you're struggling any more with this whole morality thing." The smile grew a tad more jovial.
"Thank you. You're a way better teacher than I've ever given you credit for."

Anna laughed. "I'm really not."

Anna stood in front of the zoo gates with Lilo and Olaf. She blew out a shaky breath. She was so much more nervous than she thought she'd be. I managed to be friends with Esmeralda, despite how things are – or were. I can make it through a day with my ex-husband. I hope. She gulped. I made it through fifteen years with him, how hard can a few hours be?

"Hey," a hesitant soft voice came from behind her. She turned to find Kristoff, his hands stuffed in his pockets and his eyes locked on his shoes. He was clearly as nervous as she was. "Happy birthday, Olaf." He squatted down in front of their son, his anxious expression turning into one of genuine glee. "I got you this." He handed him a wrapped box.

"We said we'd do presents with dinner!" Anna set her hands on her hips. They had agreed to this! She didn't really care that much, but having something to fuss at him about made it somehow less uncomfortable.

"Oh, come on, Anna, just this one?" Kristoff looked up at her, his expression as pathetic and pleading as the one on Olaf's face next to his. "Please?"

She rolled her eyes. "Fine."

"Yes!" they both cried. Olaf tore into the wrapping paper, ripping it to shreds to get to the contents within. He grinned up at his father when it was finally open then held up the box as he turned to his mother, his face barely able to contain his smile. "Mama, look!"
She did look. She had no idea what it was until she read the text in the bottom corner of the box. A tricorder. He wouldn't have to just use his phaser anymore. "You can scan all of the animals with it."

His grin grew somehow even larger. "You're right! I bet I can find out so much about them." Anna just hoped the zoo staff wouldn't give them any trouble for it. "Thank you so much, Papa."

"I'm glad you like it." He ruffled Olaf's hair as he stood up, his knees cracking audibly. "Let's go inside."

Olaf scanned Lilo as soon as he managed to get it out of the box.

Her eyes widened. "You weren't supposed to know that I was controlled by an alien parasite!" She lunged at him, wrestling the toy out of his hands. Neither Kristoff nor Anna bothered to separate them, Olaf never seemed to mind. "Oh no!" She stared into the display. "There's one in you too. All this time, you were part of my race." Aww, I think this is Lilo being sweet. "We shall conquer humankind together. The Federation can never stop us."

Olaf beamed back at her and the two kids ran toward the entrance. Kristoff fell into step next to Anna. "Don t worry, I'll pay for it," he said.

She blew out a sigh of relief. "Thank you." The mortgage and bills had eaten almost the entirety of her last paycheck and Kristoff's child support was barely enough to keep food on the table. She shook her head. It's Olaf's birthday, I can worry about money later. I will worry about money later.

"It's no problem, Anna." He clearly wanted to give her some sort of affectionate touch, his hand reached out half the distance between them before falling back to his side. "It's for our son."

Once they were inside, Olaf and Lilo immediately ran ahead, while Anna and Kristoff struggled to keep up. Lilo ducked under a sign while Olaf went around, and the adults finally found them staring at a map. "I want to see the lions!" Lilo insisted.

"I want to see the penguins."

"Lions!"

"Lilo, it's Olaf's birthday," Anna explained. "We can see the lions later."

Lilo narrowed her eyes. "Fine," she growled, "but we must see them before dinner."

Anna shook her head. Lilo seemed to be getting worse again, she and Olaf took turns corrupting or improving each other. Olaf led the way toward the penguins. There was an entire exhibit to walk through, with various breeds of penguins, shaking their tail feathers, preening, diving into the water, and splashing Kristoff.

Anna really tried not to laugh. She did. As soon as she started laughing, a second splash hit him right in the face. It had completely avoided all three of them. She covered her mouth as she laughed so hard that her eyes started to water.

Kristoff glowered at her. "It's not that funny."

Lilo and Olaf's laughter argued otherwise. "Papa, I don't think penguins like you."

He grumbled.

Anna handed him a few tissues from her purse. It was all she had on her. "I'm sorry. I'm sure you would've laughed if it happened to me." She thought she kind of needed it. Seeing him like that gave her a certain satisfaction. He hadn't wronged her in any way, the divorce should have been amicable, but seeing her ex-husband humiliated by tuxedoed water fowl was apparently the last piece that she needed to really move past everything.

He yanked the tissues from her hand and folded them up before attempting to wipe the water from his face. Anna was surprised but not quite disappointed to see that the penguins didn't splash him again to spite these efforts. "Thanks," he mumbled.

We're actually talking. I should press onward, maybe we can salvage enough of a friendship that handing over Olaf every weekend won't feel like a hostage exchange. Her expression softened, as she wiped a spot that he'd missed. "How have you been?" She sounded calm, not at all like the idea of an extended conversation with him was about as tempting as jumping in the exhibit with Lilo's lions.

He met her eyes for the first time in what felt like ages. "I don't know," he admitted, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I'm still kind of settling into everything. It's weird living in an apartment again, it's weird not having you around, it's weird only seeing Olaf on weekends. I mean, I guess we barely saw each other anymore anyway, so that hasn't really changed, but –" he cut himself off. "I guess I'm okay. You don't need to worry about me. You and Esmeralda doing all right?"

She considered lying. "It's Moana now, she's a friend of Nani's. We just became official about a month ago."

He chuckled lightly. He was taking this surprisingly well. "Official? Sounds like high school all over again. I don't know how you do it, dating sounds so weird." Panic showed on his face for a second. He likely decided that he sounded like an ass. He didn't, he was being unfair to himself, but he had in enough of their recent conversations that she couldn't blame him for the assumption. "How is Nani anyway? I haven't talked to her since we – I figured she was mostly your friend anyway."

For just a moment, Anna considered setting them up. He was thinking about dating again, after all. It would just feel too weird. I wouldn't want to stick him with Lilo. "She's busy, as ever. Her and I have been taking shifts with the kids of late. It's nice having her there to help. I know you're there too, I don't mean to sound like that. I just never realized how hard being a single mother is, and she's been dealing with this for the last five – almost six years." Lilo would be joining Olaf with her own birthday in another month. Nani had already made reservations at a monster themed restaurant that Olaf always found a bit scary, but that Lilo adored. "I think she's doing okay though. Maybe. She's seemed more exhausted than ever."

Kristoff frowned as he considered that news. "Let her know I can babysit too. I know how much of a handful the kids can be, but they love spending time together, and you two don't need to always deal with them. I know I could mostly just do weekends anyway, but if either of you need me in the evenings, or if she can't handle her little sister for another second some weekend, I'm happy to help. Besides, I'd love to see Olaf more."

Anna was surprised to find herself hugging him. She pulled away, realizing just how awkward that must have been for Kristoff, but she smiled up at him. "Thank you. I'll let her know, and I'm sure Olaf would love to see you more too. I think he really misses having his father around sometimes." She watched him and Lilo taking turns scanning the penguins with the new tricorder. "Plus he misses Sven."

"Well Sven can visit as often as Olaf likes too. It's tough for him being cooped up in an apartment, he needs our – he needs your yard."

Before she could deal with that statement, Lilo and Olaf ran out of the exhibit, and they had to chase after them. For a moment, Anna started to panic when she didn't see them anywhere, then she looked back and realized that their baggy winter coats had blended in with the rocks off the polar bear exhibit. They were looking through a window to see a bear playing with a plastic barrel. Lilo scanned it. "It's one of us!" she called. "It has the parasite too. We must free it from this captivity so that it can assist our efforts in overtaking the Federation!" Anna started to panic again.

By the time Lilo had managed to climb halfway up the rock wall, Kristoff had caught up to them and plucked her from it, holding her in a terrified bear hug. "Oh no, you don't. That bear is a sleeper agent. If it's not here, then your spy network won't be properly placed."

Anna let out a breath that she hadn't known she'd been holding. She hadn't taken a step. She had frozen in place while Kristoff saved the day. She wanted to throw herself into the polar bear exhibit. If Kristoff hadn't been here, Lilo could've died. Nani would've killed me. I won't freeze like that again, I can't. I wouldn't have for Olaf, right? She recalled running to Olaf's bedroom every time he screamed in his sleep. He hadn't had those nightmares in a while, but it had used to be a common occurrence. She knew that she'd be there for him. She had to be. Just think of Lilo as an extension of Olaf, she practically is, then Mama instincts will kick in, right?

She caught up to them as Lilo and Olaf scanned Kristoff, realizing that he was another of their numbers. I'm starting to feel left out. "I suppose I'll trust you," Lilo announced. "We won't free our agent. Not today." I am not taking her to the zoo again.

Kristoff smiled back. "He'll know when it's time and free himself. Trust your minions." Can only blondes handle her?

She nodded gravely. "You're right. I need to stop trying to run everything. The Federation shall be ours."

Olaf cheered. "Yeah! We're gonna rule."

"Now who wants to see if the monkeys are still out in this weather?"

He didn't have to ask them twice. The three ran on ahead, leaving Anna to race after them. She caught up as they were staring down into an empty pit. "They're not here," Kristoff cried. I forgot how much he loved monkeys.

Anna pointed at the sign. "This is the red panda exhibit."

They all stared at her.

She pointed at another one. "The monkeys are in that building."

Lilo scanned her. "All right, we can trust her." Does that mean I'm an alien parasite too? Olaf grabbed his toy back from her and Anna led them into the primate house. It smelled like hay and feces, but not enough to make her run back into the February Portland cold. Some howler monkeys were visible to their immediate left, with a few great apes lining the walls in massive rooms. Kristoff ran ahead, but stopped himself long enough to wave for the kids to follow.

Anna took a seat on a bench and watched the three of them go ape. She was far too proud of that pun. While she waited, she checked her phone and saw a text from Elsa. Her face flushed slightly, but she didn't feel any urge to confess her love or do anything else stupid. It read 'Tell Olaf happy birthday. I hope he likes my present. I've been in court all day, but I'll call when I get home.' Her present was sitting along with all of the others in the back of Anna's Kia. It had arrived already wrapped, so Ana had no idea what it was, but she suspected that it was ludicrously overpriced. Maybe I should really see if Olaf can get her to buy me that new car. Mine is starting to really show its age, and it's become a bit of a gas guzzler.

"Hi, Mama!" She looked up from her phone to see Olaf barely a foot from her face. "Are you okay?"

She pulled him into a hug, smiling softly at her absurdly caring son. "I'm fine. Go play with the other kids," she gestured toward Lilo and Kristoff, "it's your birthday. I just wanted to rest my feet for a few minutes."

"Okay, Mama." He squeezed her tightly and ran off to join Kristoff and Lilo, as his father scanned a baboon with the tricorder.

"Fascinating," Kristoff said, his voice scarcely louder than a whisper. "It's not one of us, and yet it shows signs of intelligence far beyond the humans and the rest of their Federation."

Anna chuckled as she typed out a reply to her sister. 'We're not opening presents until dinner. I'm sure yours is gonna be great though.' I forgot to tell him! 'I'll tell Olaf that you said happy birthday, though you'll get to do so yourself when you call.' She hit send and then typed out a message to Moana. 'Your present arrived yesterday and I had to tear Olaf away to keep him from opening it early. I can't wait to see you next week. It feels like it's been forever.' She avoided pondering over why talking to her sister would make her think of her girlfriend.

The three parasitic alien creatures ran up to her. So, am I one too? That's what Lilo meant when she said I could be trusted, right? "You ready to go look at the lions?" Kristoff asked.

"Lions!" Lilo squealed.

Anna put her phone back in her purse and followed them to the lion exhibit. It was on the other side of the zoo and they paused to check out the zebras, tapirs, hippos, and ocelots, who all presumably had some form of heating. When they found the lions, Lilo roared at one. It roared back. She roared again and it roared back. "That's not what lions sound like!" she cried.

"Yeah it is." Olaf pointed at the lion as evidence.

"It's not what they sound like in Lion King," she grumbled. The roar she was expecting sounded from behind them and she turned to find the tiger enclosure. "My entire life has been a lie."

Olaf patted her on the shoulder. "Wanna scan the tigers?" He offered her the tricorder.

"Yes," she muttered, yanking the toy away. She held it up, pointing it at the jungle cat. "It says it's actually a lion. It's just in disguise."

"That makes sense." Olaf nodded.

Anna rolled her eyes. She heard a buzz coming from her purse and pulled her phone out. She was almost happy to find that she was a little disappointed it was Elsa. She'd wanted to hear back from her girlfriend. Good. She swiped the answer icon and held the phone to her ear. "Hey, Elsa."

"Hey, Anna. The case is insane." Anna could see Elsa shaking her head, exhausted as she fell into the couch. She knew it was probably not an accurate image, but part of her loved the idea of seeing her coming home from work, worn out and looking to Anna to help her relax. She threw that thought as far away as she could. "How's the birthday boy doing?"

"He's decided that he's a parasitic alien bent on taking over the Federation."

"Oh, that's good."

Olaf stared at her, wide eyed. "She's your sensei, you can trust her," Anna replied, holding the phone away from her mouth. "Did you want to talk to him?" she asked the phone.

"I do."

She handed the phone to her son. "Hi, Sensei! Thank you. You got me a present?" His face lit up. "I can't wait to see it. Mama and Papa are mean and won't let me open my presents until dinner. Yeah, they're glaring at me now. Yes. Okay." He looked to his mother. "Sensei Elsa says you should let me open my present before we eat." He put the phone back to his ear. "We're at the zoo. Yeah, it's great. Lilo is here too. I think she wants to talk to you. Okay."

He handed the phone to Lilo. "Hi, Sensei. I have continued my training. I will. Thank you. Do I have to? Fine. I guess. Yes, Sensei. The Federation deserves it! I understand. I'll try to go easy on Nani. Thank you, Sensei. A jedi robe? Oh, Olaf gets one too? Fine. I guess that's okay. Thanks, Sensei. Fine, I'll give you to Olaf."

She handed the phone back to Olaf. "Yes. Thank you, Aunt Elsa. Okay, here, Mama."

Anna took it and stared at the two of them. "What was all that about?" she asked Elsa.

"Jedi-ninja secrets."

Anna narrowed her eyes. "I'm his mother."

"And I'm his sensei. And his aunt, so let me spoil him once in a while."

Just once in a while? You spoil him all the time. Spoil me! "Fine."

"I won't keep you. Have fun at the zoo, and make sure he sees my present! I spent so long researching it. I really hope he likes it."

"I'm sure he will."

"It's a Millenium Falcon drone. I thought he was into Star Wars, and now I'm worried."

"He likes both." Anna was smiling so hard it hurt. She loved how much her sister cared about her kid. She'd be a great mom. Shut up, me!

She shook her head and realized that Elsa had been talking. "–Probably right. I just wanted to make it perfect."

"I'm sure he'll love it. Don't worry so much."

She could hear Elsa sighing over the phone. She imagined her chewing on her lower lip as she wrung her hands. "Okay. You're right. I don't want to keep you. You have fun at the zoo. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay. Love you, Elsa."

"Love you too, Anna. Have a good night." The phone clicked.

Olaf, Lilo, and Kristoff had run off to stare at a sleeping cheetah. "I bet it sleeps fast too," Olaf mused.

Anna joined them, and they spent another hour at the zoo, taking in the few exhibits they'd missed. Kristoff wanted to look at the monkeys again, but Anna was hungry and Olaf really wanted to open his presents already, so he gave in and they made their way to Chuck E. Cheese's.

Kristoff made a run to her car to grab the last load of presents while Anna watched the kids as they waited for their pizza. They had already been serenaded by the robotic animal people. The final box resting before Olaf, Kristoff fell into his chair. "You can open them now," Anna announced. She looked at the pile of gifts that all but blocked her view of her son, and quickly found the present from Elsa, wrapped in a sparkling sky blue paper. She knew how nervous Elsa was about it, and wanted to make sure that she could assuage her sister's fears before she went to bed. She handed the present to him as he eyed the pile, trying to decide where to start. "Here, open this, it's from your sensei."

He beamed back at her as he tore into the pristine wrapping. "Woah," he breathed, staring at the drone. I really hope it's safe for kids. She tried to get a good look at any warnings on the box without taking it away from her son. "It's so cool! Lilo, look!" He held up the Millenium Falcon.

Lilo's eyes widened as she climbed out of her seat to get a closer look. "It's the Millenium Falcon!" she confirmed.

"You know what that means?"

She made a surprisingly impressive Wookie noise. Why am I surprised? Of course Lilo can roar. She already showed that lion. "I take it you like it?" Anna asked.

"I LOVE IT!" Olaf shouted, attempting to rip open the box.

Anna set her hand on his. "You can play with it when we get home. You're not flying it in here, it could hit someone."

He pouted at her, but quickly gave in when she set another present before him. Anna hastily texted Elsa to let her know that he loved her present, while he tore open the Star Trek wrapping paper that Moana had used. Where do I find these nerds? "I can be a captain?" He held up a red and black shirt with a Federation insignia on it. Anna vaguely recognized it, but it looked different from what she'd seen in the TV show so far.

"It's the command officer shirt from the movies! I always wanted one of those!" Kristoff squealed, affectionately stroking the fabric. Seriously, where?

"It's a First Officer shirt," Lilo insisted. "I'm the captain!"
"Lilo," Anna growled. Why is she so bad at handling other people's birthdays?

She stomped her foot. "I'm the captain!"

Anna glared down at her, placing her hand on her hips in her perfectly but rarely used angry mom pose. Olaf so rarely required it. "Lilo."

"Fine. He can be captain. Just for today."

Olaf pulled another present from the pile, this one looked like Giselle's. There were a couple others with similar 'Happy Birthday' wrapping paper, one of which was from Kristoff, but it looked like the one Giselle had handed off to her that morning in the parking lot. He tugged it open, the wrapping neatly falling apart. A trick of Jack's, I assume? "Oh." He sounded a little disappointed, but she wasn't quite sure. "I don't have this one yet." Anna let out a sigh of relief. He wasn't as ecstatic as he had been for the last two presents, but he did like it. He held up a pack of two Amibos, one Mario and the other Luigi. She had no idea what they were, but apparently it was a thing that he'd wanted. "I wonder what they get me."

"Me next!" Lilo shoved a present that looked like it had been wrapped by a rabid orangutan. I wonder how she got along with the orangutans. I hadn't watched.

Olaf tore open the four layers of wrapping paper before he found a Metaknight figure. It's a thing I know! "Nani got me a Kirby." She grinned. "I wanted the Metaknight too, but I guess I'm okay with you having it."

He opened it and poked Lilo in the nose with Metaknight's sword. Anna tried not to laugh too hard. He found the present from Kristoff and managed to open it. It was almost as big as he was. "A new bike?" He stared up at his dad. Olaf had been getting a little big for his trike, but the tiny car Elsa had bought him the last year had allowed them to put off this decision for another year.

Kristoff nodded. "With training wheels. I thought maybe that was something we could do when you're visiting, teach you to ride one like a big boy. I'll be able to take the training wheels off when you're ready and then you can ride it all over the place. The woods by my apartment aren't too dense and I bet they'd be great for it."

Anna glared at him. He would just let Olaf bike around outside? On his own? They could discuss this later, but they would most certainly be discussing it. He stared at her, dumbfounded, when he sat back down. "Anna?"
She shook her head and passed Olaf the next gift. This one was from Esmeralda. She hadn't even told her it was going to be Olaf's birthday, she'd just found it waiting for her in her classroom after lunch. She hoped it was nothing too horrifying. "Mama, can I?"

She turned her attention away from her ex-husband. How bad is it? Her eyes fell upon a small electric guitar, perfect for Olaf's size, with an amplifier almost as big as he was. No wonder it was so heavy. I don't know if I can afford lessons. She sighed, but gave her son a smile. "I think the giant mouse person might get offended if you play over him, but we can look up some videos to teach you how to play when we get home?"

"Okay." He nodded, a massive goofy grin plastered to his face. He'd gotten an impressive haul. I guess this is what happens when your friends know you can't afford to spoil your kid. She nervously handed him her own gift, terrified that it couldn't compete with the presents everyone else had given him.

She could barely look as he unwrapped it. She felt ridiculous. She could've come up with something so much better. She'd just thought if he loves sci-fi, and laser guns and such, then why wouldn't he like it. "This is amazing!" He squeaked excitedly as he held the present up to Lilo. It was a cheap little laser tag set, with two sets of straps that secured a receiver to your chest and back and two laser guns.

"Oh yeah." Lilo eyed the guns appreciatively. "I can't wait to try this baby out." She made a gun out of her fingers and pointed it at the massive mouse on the stage. "Pew."

Anna felt a surge of relief flow through her. So she hadn't been crazy, it really was something he'd like. It had been on sale. She felt bad spending so little on him. She did some quick mental arithmetic to see if she could afford getting him anything else. Other than the plastic medieval armor he'd wanted that had been just over ten bucks and was sitting in another box, she was pretty sure she couldn't have managed any more without having to skimp on something minor like food or gas.

Before he could open any more presents, their food was brought out. "Cheese pizza, for the birthday boy," the waitress announced, as she set a plate before Olaf before serving everyone else. Olaf and Lilo devoured their food in record time, then begged them for some more money for the arcade games. "You don't want to open the rest of the presents?" Anna asked.

"Of course I do." Olaf smiled earnestly. "I just also really want to play games."

"Okay." She reached for her purse but Kristoff stopped her.

"I told you. I've got this." He handed them each a ten dollar bill. Olaf looked between his presents and the collection of machines making their cacophony of noises.

"Go on. You can open some more later." Anna smiled down at him.

He nodded and the two ran off to a coin machine. She sighed and looked to Kristoff. She still needed to lecture him, but it was hard when he'd just saved her butt.

"The bike thing?" he asked in response to the look she was giving him.

"How can you just let him out on his own?"

"It's what we both did as kids. I didn't know you too well back then, but I know you had a bike that you made good use of and that you still have a scar from one of those outings."

Anna stared at her shoulder. She couldn't see it through her shirt, but she knew the shallow line was barely visible anymore. "That's exactly the problem. Olaf doesn't need any scars."

He squinted at her. "You don't want him to enjoy his childhood like we did? Anna, the world is a safer place than it's ever been. Let him go have fun, scrape his knee, learn some things, maybe catch some bugs. It's what he's going to want to do, and it gets him some exercise. He is a little –" Anna's glare silenced him before he could finish that sentence. "I just want him to be healthy and happy, okay? I promise I'll keep an eye on him, and by the time that he's ready to go off on his own like that, I'll get him a cell phone with parental tracking."

That only irritated her more. "You don't have to be the one getting him everything!"

With a quick pat on her back, Kristoff replied, "Yes, I do. I wanted you two to have the house, because a big place to live is good for him, but I know how little you make. I'm trying to help out, and not just because of a court order, I'd do more if I thought there was any chance you'd accept it." I should've asked for alimony. "You're a teacher. I sell cars, and I'm pretty good at it. I can afford this, you can't. I can buy him a phone so we can keep track of him, I can make sure that he has clothes he can grow into each year. You just worry about feeding him and keeping a roof over his head, and I can still take care of the rest."

She hated how reasonable he was being, it made her anger seem so wrong. "I should be able to look after our son. I shouldn't have to rely on everyone else." Fighting back tears, she stared into Kristoff's eyes. "I know you're his father, and I'm so glad that he has you looking out for him, but I hate that I can't do more. I need to be able to provide for my son. Hell, I need to know that I can keep him safe, and after that display with Lilo earlier, I don't even know if I can do that.

He blinked, tilting his head slightly. "Anna –"

"You just ran for her and pulled her down from the wall. I stood there, doing nothing." The tears finally came. "She's my best friend's kid – well, little sister. I'm supposed to look after her, and if you weren't here, she would've been eaten by a polar bear. Or maybe eaten a polar bear, it's tough to tell with her," she added, trying to lighten the mood a little. They weren't friends, she shouldn't just be venting to him.
She was a bit unnerved when he pulled her into a hug. "You're being ridiculous, Anna." He pulled back, looking into her tear filled eyes, then sat back in his chair, clearly worried he may have broken a few rules. "I know you. If I wasn't already running for her, you'd have done it. You had the luxury to freeze because I was already handling it. That's all I'm trying to do with the money. You don't need to do everything. Just because we're not together anymore doesn't mean I'm not still family. He's my son."

She chewed on her lip and took a sip of her diet coke. "Fine. Thank you. It just feels so weird still relying on you."

He patted her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Now if you'll excuse me, they just ran over to the Metal Slug machine, and I haven't played that in at least a decade."

Left alone again, Anna stared at the pile of presents and torn up wrapping paper on the table and let out a shuddering breath. She had so many people she could count on. She just wished that she was one of them. I should've become an accountant. Then I could afford everything. She leaned back in the chair, watching the three kids rapidly mash buttons on an arcade cabinet. She checked her phone and felt her heart flutter. 'I'll be in town this weekend. It was a bitch to arrange it, but I'll be there Friday, and won't be leaving until Tuesday. See you then?' She'd see Moana soon. That might be enough to help her keep her sanity.