Today was November 9th, and it was the very first birthday of Joseff, the little prince of Arendelle, son of Princess Anna and Kristoff Bjorgman, and nephew of the kingdom's ruler, Queen Elsa.
Much like his first baptism, everyone in the entire kingdom was invited to attend the birthday party that the royal family was preparing to hold for Joseff. No guests from neighboring kingdoms would come, because everyone thought the occasion made sense just to invite those in Arendelle.
The party was scheduled to begin at noon, and right now it was less than half an hour until that time. Anna was feeling more excited as each minute passed, eager for the party to begin. Even at this time, people were beginning to crowd outside, gathering in the palace courtyard, waiting for the castle doors to be opened so they could finally come inside.
Besides this party, the family was planning to visit the trolls in the evening, after the party had ended. Although Kristoff had stopped by to see them if he stayed overnight during the summer, neither Anna, Elsa, nor Joseff had seen them for a while, so they thought celebrating Joseff's birthday was the perfect time for a family reunion.
Right now, Anna and Kristoff were in their room getting dressed for the party. As Kristoff finished and began to dress Joseff, Anna glanced down through their window. "Oh, wow! There sure is a big crowd of people gathering inside the courtyard right now!"
"Look, Anna," Kristoff began, "I know you love these parties and other get-togethers, but did we really have to invite the entire kingdom to Joseff's birthday party? I mean, he's only one, and it's not like he's going to remember everyone who came or what happened on this day. Why couldn't the party just include us, Elsa, and the staff?"
"Kristoff, I know you still don't like being around a lot of people, but don't you think it would be rude if we went ahead and had this party and not invite the people in Arendelle? I mean, since he's a prince, his birthday is a great occasion, and our citizens would hate to not be able to help us celebrate it. And besides, it's not like we make a big fuss and announce to them every single time Joseff does something brand new."
Kristoff sighed in a defeated manner. "Yes, I suppose you're right."
Anna walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder. "Look, if you want me to help you think positively about this, just imagine all the food that is going to be there and what kind of gifts everyone will have for Joseff…especially since we didn't have to buy them." She said the last words with a small mischievous smile.
"Ha!" Kristoff exclaimed, widening his eyes. "I didn't think about it that way!"
"See? You feeling better now?"
"Mmmm…a little. But I think I'll feel much better when the party's all over." Kristoff gave Anna a wink, then they kissed.
Just then, Elsa walked into the room. "Are you all just about ready? We should go ahead downstairs and be ready for when people start coming into the castle."
"All ready," Anna answered.
Elsa turned her attention to Joseff, who was all dressed and sitting up on his changing table. "Oh, look at you, Joseff! You're such a big boy now for a one year old!"
"Hey, Joe, why don't you walk some for Auntie Elsa?" Kristoff suggested.
"Yes! Show how much more you can walk, sweetie!" Elsa said as she kneeled down on the floor.
Kristoff picked Joseff up and set him on the floor. As Elsa held her arms out for him, Joseff walked towards her. Sure enough, by now, he was walking at a faster pace. He didn't hesitate or fall down at all.
By the time he was in Elsa's proximity, she picked him up and gave him a hug. "That's marvelous, Joseff, just marvelous! Wait until Bulda and Cliff see what you can do!"
"Oooh, that's right!" Anna spoke up. "When we go see the trolls tonight, he'll be able to put on quite a show for them."
"Too bad he hasn't learned to speak yet," Kristoff commented. "When he learns to say even a couple of words, we have to visit them. I know Mom and Dad would get all excited to hear him say 'mama' and 'dada' for me and Anna."
"Well, for now, I think they'll all be amazed at how big he's grown in this whole year," Elsa said as she gave Joseff another hug. "Let's go ahead downstairs now and wait in the ballroom…and maybe check out the food that the chefs made." She gave Kristoff and Anna a mischievous wink upon saying the last sentence.
"Oooh, I wonder what kinds of chocolate I can stuff into my face this time!" Anna exclaimed eagerly.
"You mean besides the cake and ice cream?" Kristoff asked, giving Anna a small smirk.
"Ha, ha," Anna gave a mock laugh before she lightly punched Kristoff on his arm.
Seeing their playful bickering, Elsa said, "Why don't I carry Joseff downstairs so you two lovebirds can be alone together?" She gave them another wink before she walked out of the room. Once she left, Kristoff grabbed Anna around her waist, then lifted her up and twirled her a few times.
Within the first hour of the party, everything was going well. The guests were all having a wonderful time eating, drinking, and dancing, and they were especially delighted to see Joseff and how much he could walk at his age.
Not too long after the party had started, the royal family had opened all of Joseff's presents. Most of them were items that Joseff wouldn't be able to use until he was older, but many of the citizens did that with attention; they wanted Joseff to have gifs that he could cherish later in his life.
Nearly all of the gifts consisted of a variety of clothes and toys, the latter of which included a set of building blocks, a top, a Jack-in-the-box, a rocking horse, a wagon, a kaleidoscope, and a couple of snow globes and music boxes. One present that particularly caught the attention of Kristoff was a lute. The man who had presented it approached Kristoff and explained, "I have seen you play the lute before, Sir Kristoff, and I just thought maybe your son would like to try it someday as well."
"Well, thank you," Kristoff said to the man. "That was nice of you to think of that. I will try and help Joseff put it to use when he is older."
Shortly after all of his gifts were unwrapped, Elsa announced to everyone, "On behalf of my nephew, Kristoff, Anna, and I would like to thank you all for your wonderful gifts!" She turned to her family, who was standing right next to her. "And now that that has been done, we would like to proceed to cutting and eating Prince Joseff's birthday cake."
Like the cake on Kristoff and Anna's wedding day, the cake for Joseff had eight layers, was of mixed chocolate and vanilla, and had vanilla icing. There was also a single candle on the very top layer. Although they thought it might be a little difficult, Kristoff and Anna wanted to make an effort to have the candle lit and Joseff blow it out himself.
After everyone had gathered at the table that held the cake, the family started singing, "Happy birthday to you," and by the next line, everyone joined in with, "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday, Prince Joseff, happy birthday to you!", then they all cheered and clapped.
Kristoff held Joseff in his arms as he stood on a ladder and tenderly held his son over the cake in an attempt to blow out the lit candle. "Come on, son," he gently urged. "Blow it out," then he mimicked a blowing action.
Joseff attempted to imitate his father, and after a couple of puffs, he finally blew out the candle! Everyone cheered again, then Kristoff stepped off the ladder to rejoin Elsa and Anna just as the cake was being cut into pieces.
The party continued up until around the dinner hour. By this time, Joseff was fast asleep, and actually had been for a couple of hours. Everyone thought it was perfect that he was sleeping now, because they thought there was a chance he could be awake at some point when they went to visit the trolls.
When it was 10:30, the whole family (including Olaf) set off to the mountains in Kristoff's sled. Joseff was still sound asleep, and he was bundled up well in order to stay warm during the ride.
It was well after midnight when they finally reached the Valley of the Living Rock. Joseff was starting to wake up, and luckily, he wasn't crying or making a very big fuss. Anna continued to hold him as they all approached the center of the valley where the rocks that were obviously the trolls were sitting.
Kristoff walked over and called out to them. "Hey, guys! We're all here, and we brought Joseff, so you could see him today, since it's his birthday!" Then he motioned to Anna and everyone else to come join him.
Soon afterwards, the rocks began to move towards them and unveiled the true forms of the trolls. As almost always, Pabbie, Cliff, and Bulda were those closest to the visitors.
"Kristoff and Anna are home!" Bulda exclaimed happily.
The trolls followed suit in saying the same words, then did so again when Bulda added, "And they brought little Joseff!"
The family kneeled down to meet the level of the trolls, and Anna held Joseff out so everyone could get a good look at him. She set him on the ground in a sitting position as Bulda approached him. Bulda took one of Joseff's little hands and patted it, and Joseff reached towards her. "I hear that a little cutie just celebrated his first birthday today," she said. Then Bulda turned towards the rest of the trolls. "I think this calls for a song of celebration!"
"Yeah!" all of the trolls exclaimed happily. Then they all started to sing, "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Joseff! Happy birthday to you!" Everyone cheered and applauded afterwards, which made Joseff grin as widely as he could.
Cliff joined Bulda in being close proximity with Joseff. He gently put his arm around Joseff's shoulder. "No doubt about it, Bulda, our grandson is a real cutie."
While the proud troll grandparents fussed over their little grandson, a few other trolls came closer to the family to get a look at Joseff, and said different things amongst themselves. One female troll said, "Look how big he's gotten in his first year."
"He's just about my size!" a little baby troll said.
"Has he learned to talk yet?" a male troll asked.
"No, not yet, but we're hoping he will soon," Anna answered. "But maybe you would all like to see him walk."
"Yes! Let's see Joseff walk!" the trolls all cried.
Anna helped Joseff up on his feet and set him a short distance away from Bulda and Cliff. As he started walking towards them, Bulda held her arms out for him while she and Cliff both said, "Come on, Joseff! Come to Grandma Bulda and Grandpa Cliff."
All of the trolls were in awe as they watched Joseff walk so well. By the time he had approached them, Bulda pulled him into a hug, and the trolls all cheered.
"Way to go, Joe!" Cliff exclaimed, gently ruffling his hair.
"Be sure to come back and visit when he starts to talk!" Bulda said. "We want him to be able to learn our names as well."
"We'll definitely do that," Anna responded.
For the next couple of hours, Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff spent time talking and catching up with the trolls. Soon after Joseff fell asleep again, they headed back to Arendelle. They all agreed that today had been a happy birthday for Joseff, indeed.