A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews and the follows and favs. I'm looking forward to continuing this story. Hope you all enjoy!
Ingrid sat there silently, her hand monotonously rocking the baby's small cradle, as Jack's voice just began to fade. She was trying to take it in, trying, but everything was just a blur. She couldn't figure out what was real and what wasn't.
Finally, she lifted her head, allowing her eyes to meet with his. He kept talking, but she heard nothing. The thoughts racing around in her head were far too loud. Why? Why was he there? How had he found her, and after fifteen years? He hadn't even explained it to her, didn't take the time to catch up, or talk to her. No; he just sat her down and dropped the bomb on her. Now she couldn't discern whether or not she was in a state of shock or if it was simply the bombardment of all of this information at once.
"The girls are ten and seven," she heard him say. His voice seemed to echo, and she could feel her stomach churning.
Placing her free hand on her forehead, rubbing her eyes, and then setting it back on the table, she then demanded, "You need to slow down." She shook her head frantically, still so confused. "You can't just waltz in here after fifteen years and just… tell me that my sister is dead. You can't expect me to just be fine with all of this."
"I don't, but, Ingrid, how else did you want me to tell you? It's not like you stayed in touch. You didn't give me much of a choice as to how I delivered the news," the man replied, brushing his fingers through his light-colored hair.
With an aggravated glare, Ingrid responded, "I didn't want anyone to deliver the news. I didn't want to see you again, to see anyone again. That was how I intended it." She took her sleeping infant in her arms and stood from her seat. "Now, I'll ask you kindly to leave."
"Ingrid, did you even listen to a word I said?" The man stood after her, beckoning for her to stop. "It's not that simple. We need to talk about this."
"I have absolutely no interesting in reliving that, Jack," she replied, continuing on to the nursery.
"Not about that." He followed her close behind. "We need to discuss the girls."
After placing her daughter in her crib and turning on the baby monitor, Ingrid pushed Jack back out into the hallway and shut the door behind her. With her hand still lingering forcefully on his chest, she replied, "I've never even met them." Dropping her hand to her side when noticing where it was awkwardly placed, she cleared her throat. Staring into his deep blue eyes, she asked, "Why can't you take them?"
"I'm not the next of kin. You are."
Leading him back into the kitchen area, clutching the baby monitor, she frantically said, "Well, then… I relinquish it in whatever way that I can. I don't want them. You are more than welcome to take them."
Jack sighed with irritation. It may have been fifteen years but her stubbornness was still intact. "It doesn't work that way and you know that."
Leaning over her kitchen counter, her face buried in the palms of her hands, Ingrid let out a long sigh. This was too much. "I was only just starting to understand this whole 'being a mother' thing. I'm not prepared for this. I can't take in two more kids. I mean I barely have the space for myself and a baby."
"Listen," Jack interrupted her rant, "the social worker will be by tomorrow to discuss all of your options. The only reason I'm here is because I thought you may have wanted to hear this from someone you know."
Dropping her hands and glaring up at him, Ingrid chuckled slightly. "Fifteen years, Jack. I don't know you and you don't know me. We never really did."
Leaning forward on the opposite end of the counter, Jack managed a smirk. "I like to think otherwise." She remained persistent though. Bowing his head down, he continued with a sigh, "I'll be by tomorrow before the social worker stops in."
"I don't want you here," Ingrid repeated.
Shrugging his shoulders as he made his way towards the door, Jack teased lightly, "Too bad I already know where you live." Before he closed the door, he said, "See you tomorrow."
0-0-0
He came about a half an hour before the social worker was supposed to arrive. She really didn't see the point in his presence there, but what else could she do? He wasn't going to leave. She would just invite him in and ask him if he wanted coffee; treat him like any other visitor. However, she knew he wasn't any other visitor.
They had remained in silence for a short while as he sat at the counter while she made the coffee. Emma was comfortably sitting in her little rocker. Ingrid would turn ever few minutes to check on her. She would try her best to ignore him when she did, but every so often, her eyes would wander over to him. He was just staring at her attentively, his deep gaze never straying and a weird smirk painted on his lips. It was rather uncomfortable.
"What are you looking at?" Ingrid asked as she turned to hand him his coffee. She tried her hardest to remain reserved, show no emotion or hint of personality towards him.
In response, he shook his head and his smile grew a bit wider. "You look exactly the same." He paused and stuttered, "You... look good."
Bringing her mug to her lips, she commented, "I really don't want to start this."
"What?" Jack gave her a confused look.
After taking a sip and setting her cup back on the counter, she repeated, "This. This whole small-talk thing. 'You look good.' 'You don't look so bad yourself.' 'How have you been all of these years?' I'm not doing that with you."
"Ingrid, I wasn't-"
"Just," she interrupted quickly. She took a moment. With a sigh, she continued, "Just don't say anything, Jack. Okay?"
In a bit of awe, Jack replied, "You're going to be that stubborn with me? You won't even try to talk to me?"
"I'm not being stubborn," Ingrid replied with a raised brow. She sighed again and shook her head. She didn't want to deal with this. Changing the subject, she said, "The social worker will be here any minute. We'll… we'll take care of this issue and then we can just go back to our lives the way they were."
"The life where you pretend that we don't exist," Jack snapped back. He watched her eyes widen with shock. She had most certainly not expected him to fight back like that.
Ingrid didn't reply. Silently, she went to go pick Emma up and brought her into the nursery for her morning nap. As she exited the room, Jack let out a sigh, suddenly regretting what he had just said. But sadly, there was a hint of truth in it. Fifteen years and she just wanted to ignore everything, pretend that it had never happened and that the people from her past never existed. He questioned why she would ever want to live like that; why she would ever wish to raise her daughter like that, without knowing the truth and accepting it. She was running and hiding all over again.
0-0-0
"Legally, this process will be rather simple," the social worker continued to explain to Ingrid. Jack stood leaning against the archway that led into the hall; it was a good distance from Ingrid and the worker, the way Ingrid preferred it. She continued, "It will be somewhat similar to the process you went through with adopting your baby, but slightly easier.
When she finally paused, Ingrid took a moment to think. She wanted to ask it, but was still hesitant. "Um…" she began in a quiet voice, "What if… I… choose not to take the girls?"
The worker tried to refrain from looking at her oddly. Though, she found herself a bit confused. Ingrid had recently gone through the process of adopting a baby. Why, now, did she not want this? It was hard for the social worker to really wrap her head around but, either way, she was only there to do her job, which was give Ingrid her options. "Well," she started, "if you decided not to take the girls, they would enter into the foster system."
Hearing the social worker mention that, Ingrid grew slightly more hesitant. She had heard rumors about the system, though they weren't many. What she did know wasn't all pleasant. "Alright," she commented in a questioning tone. "What exactly would happen to them? How… how long would it take for them to find a home?"
The social worker shook her head. "In all honesty, ma'am, finding a home for one child at their age range is difficult, never mind trying to find a home that will take in two."
Jack was trying to remain to himself, but when hearing that, he quickly stood straight and spoke out at Ingrid. "Why don't you want to take them?" He had been questioning it since the moment Ingrid first refused.
Instantly, Ingrid stood from her chair. She was embarrassed, that was for sure. With an angry glare, she approached Jack, grabbed his arm roughly, and led him into the hallway where they could talk privately.
Furiously, Ingrid replied in a whisper, "Why can't you just respect my wishes? This is my choice. I don't need you here, pushing guilt onto me and forcing me to do what I don't want." Pointing her finger at him, she continued, "It isn't your life that is going to change because of this; it's mine."
"And theirs," Jack replied quickly. He watched Ingrid back off suddenly, and continued, "These kids just lost their mom and dad for the rest of their lives. You don't think that's life changing? And now it's you, not them, who has to decide whether or not they have to spend the rest of their lives living in foster care."
"I didn't ask to be the one who makes this decision," Ingrid defended. "I don't know these girls. I didn't know their father. And Grace? Grace hated me. If she had a say in this, she would have never picked me of all people! She probably would have trusted some homeless man on the street with her kids before she even thought about trusting me!"
"Well, Grace isn't here," Jack replied bluntly. He knew that it would be harsh, but he couldn't allow Ingrid to keep doing this. "She never changed her will after your parents died, so they automatically go to you." Shaking his head, Jack just couldn't understand one thing. "What is making this such a difficult choice for you?" he finally asked. "I know it's not fear of being a parent, of being responsible for a dependent because you have your daughter." He watched as Ingrid just shrugged her shoulders and remained silent. "'Fess up," he demanded.
Staring directly into his blue-grey eyes, Ingrid took a breath. "I…" she began, "I don't know what they think of me."
"What do you mean?" Jack asked with some confusion.
"I don't know what they think of me; what Grace might have told them. What if I'm 'Aunt Ingrid: the woman who destroyed the family'?"
"You don't know that," he replied.
"Yes, but I don't want to face it if it just so happens to be true. I can't." She continued to shake her head, trying hard to hold in her tears. She was afraid; afraid of being judged by them, by her family, maybe even by him. She didn't want to face it, to relive it. She didn't want to be seen as a monster. It was why she had shut them all out in the first place.
Jack continued to stare at her. He didn't understand her fear; he couldn't. But, he knew in that moment that if he let her give in to her fears, if he let her make the decision that she wanted, it would have great repercussions not only for her, but for the girls too. He cleared his throat and took a step closer. "I understand that you don't want to face that. But would you rather make this choice and have them see you as 'Aunt Ingrid: the woman who gave them up when they had nowhere else to go'?"
Ingrid grew silent again, just staring. She wanted to figure this out. Either way, her life was never going back to the way it used to be. Finally, nodding her head, she quietly replied, "Alright."
For all of you who guessed that Jack was based off of Jack Frost, you were right. Though, remember that this story is a complete AU and only takes place in our world. Eventually, we'll dive more into his and Ingrid's past.
Hope you are all excited to meet young Anna and Elsa next chapter! Just for the record, I did alter some names and made them more common. Gerta was changed to Grace, Helga I changed to Helena, and Elsa I changed to El (short for Eleanor). Please let me know what you think so far! Thanks for reading!