Look after you
Kai stopped the car outside the house and sighed in relief. It was no secret he was getting older and being called to the station on his days off was taking a toll on him. He was certain he wouldn't miss it the day he finally retired.
He enjoyed the time he spent with the new recruits and he valued how much they respected him, but the older he got, the more he wanted to stay at home on a rainy Sunday.
It was the third weekend in a row he had been called in. So it meant it was the third week in a row he'd had to cancel his plans to visit Elsa at the mountain. He was getting more and more annoyed by that fact than he wanted to admit to the chief of the department. It was a good thing he had never told Elsa his plans beforehand, because he wouldn't have had the heart to cancel his visits so many times.
I need to talk to Pedersen this week and tell him I won't be home next weekend, he thought as he got out of the car. It had been weeks since he had last seen his daughter, and he wanted to spend some time with her.
Elsa was starting a business with her friend and he didn't even know the man. He hadn't even offered them a helping hand or, at least, sat down to talk to Elsa about her plans; and he felt terrible about it. Ever since his children had become adults, he felt as if he was distancing more and more from them — even if Kristoff and Elsa always greeted him with the biggest smile they could muster whenever they saw him. He was tired of relying on Gerda to find out what was going on in their lives.
He entered the house and hung his wet coat before he went into the kitchen to find his wife. He smiled the moment he saw her at the table surrounded by old photo albums. Rainy days never failed to put Gerda in a melancholic mood.
"I've come to the conclusion that I'm getting old," he said as soon as Gerda raised her head to greet him. He looked to his right and noticed the coffee maker was on and smiled. Exactly what he needed. "Ten-hour shifts are becoming unbearable. I still like the job, don't get me wrong, but the amount of time at the station is killing me lately."
He poured a cup of coffee and sat next to her. "Gerda?" he asked, surprised she hadn't made a joke about his age yet.
"Elsa's home."
A big smile drew on his face the moment he heard his daughter's name, and he failed to notice her downhearted look.
"She is? Now that's good news! Did she come to—" He stopped himself mid-question as soon as he locked eyes with her. Elsa's visit would have never made Gerda look so sad, unless something bad had happened. "Is everything okay?"
"Not really," she said sincerely. "She'll stay with us for a couple of days."
"What happened?"
"I'm not really sure," said Gerda as she stood up to pour herself some coffee. "She came home around lunch time. She had an injury in her hand and—" She tried to gather her thoughts for a moment, and Kai let her. "I don't know, Kai. It's hard to explain."
"An injury? Did someone hurt her?" Suddenly, his instinct told him to find whoever had, but he needed to remain calm until Gerda explained the situation better.
"No. She hurt herself trying to fix a window or something. She came home so I could help her. But that's not the problem…" She sat down once again and looked him in the eye. "One moment, I was giving her stitches — we were talking as if it was just another day; and the next, she was crying and hugging me as if her life depended on it."
"What?" Even if he knew Elsa was a lot more open about her feelings with Gerda, he knew that wasn't something Elsa would do for no reason.
Gerda nodded. "I think she finally reached her breaking point."
"About her birth parents?"
"About everything."
Deep down he hoped it was only about her birth parents, at least then he'd know where to start if he wanted to help her. Everything was a lot more complicated. A sudden urge to see her took over himself. "Where is she now?"
"She went to bed."
"Already?" He turned to look at the clock. "It's only six thirty."
"She said she was tired," said Gerda as she put a picture inside the photo album she had in front of her. "And she did look exhausted."
He knew what Gerda meant, do not disturb her. But there wasn't a good reason for her to be so tired so early, unless… "Did her powers—?" He wasn't sure how to word the question.
To his good luck, Gerda understood exactly what he meant. "I'm not sure, but I suspect they did."
"You didn't ask her?" If her powers had gone on a rampage to the point they had drained her energy, then something bad had happened to her.
"I was not going to bombard her with questions when she was finally letting go of all the anger and resentment she was keeping inside," Gerda growled. "She was finally talking about the way she feels."
"I guess you did the right thing, then…"
"She clearly needed someone to talk to, even if she didn't know what to say." Gerda said, a lot calmer. "I don't know what caused her to fall apart the way she did, but it must have been serious."
The two of them stayed in silence for a minute. They didn't need to say it, but whenever Elsa had a bad episode with her powers, the two of them began to wonder what was best for them to do as if they had never had to deal with them before. It was no secret that even after ten years, they weren't sure what to do to help her.
"Was it really that bad?" He didn't doubt his wife, but part of him wanted to believe she was worrying more than she should. He desperately wanted Elsa to tell him she was okay, and that nothing bad had happened.
Gerda looked at him and said, "let's just say I'm glad she's staying with us. I don't trust her to be alone right now."
Kai's blood ran cold at that, but he tried to remain positive. "Gerda, we've talked about this. I don't think Elsa would—"
"If my daughter tells me how tired and fed up with her life she is, I will worry, Kai." Her watery eyes told him she was a lot more worried that she was letting on, and that crushed him.
Gerda had all the right in the world to be pissed at him for trying to diminish the situation. But he needed to believe it wasn't that bad. He needed to believe Elsa was just going through a rough patch and that she'd come out of it like she always did. There were few people more resilient than her.
"Have you talked to Kristoff?" he asked, hoping their son could help them. "Maybe he knows something."
Gerda shook her head. "I don't think he does. She didn't call him to pick her up from the mountain this time."
"She travelled on her own?"
She nodded.
"Do you think they had a fight? Elsa and Kristoff, I mean."
"No," once again, Gerda shook her head. "She only talked about her powers and her birth family leaving her behind." She tried to keep calm but her anger was getting the best of her, and Kai noticed.
Before he could ask her if she was okay, she huffed and said, "I knew it was a bad idea for her to get in touch with the Arendelles again. They're doing more damage than good."
He agreed with Gerda. They were doing more damage than good. That had been clear from the moment they told Elsa the truth, but there wasn't much they could do. Sighing tiredly, he said, "they're her parents. We don't really have a say. Whether she gives them a chance or not, it's her choice."
"We are her parents. Not them," Gerda retorted, finally allowing a couple of tears to fall.
"You know what I mean," he said, defensively. "He knew they had earned the right to be called Elsa's parents, but sadly Agdar and Idunn were still her birth parents whether they liked it or not.
After a few minutes of silence, Gerda said to him, "could you try to talk to her tomorrow?"
"About this?" he asked, unsure if he should bombard Elsa with questions when she hadn't talked to him personally.
"About anything," she sighed. "Show her we are here for her. Let her know how much we care."
Elsa woke up in the early morning the following day. She turned in bed a few times as she tried to fall asleep once again but, as it was usual, her body refused to cooperate. This time around though, she couldn't really complain. She had gone to bed earlier than usual the previous day and thankfully she had been tired enough to sleep the whole night. Something she hadn't expected, given everything that had happened.
She shook her head a few times, trying to get rid of the intrusive thoughts that were already disturbing her. She couldn't get rid of the awful feeling of hurting Marshall, or the empty feeling in her chest whenever she remembered her conversation with her birth parents.
Thinking it was best to do something instead of staying in bed feeling sorry for herself, she sat down in bed ready to start her day. She looked at the alarm clock and noticed it was earlier than she'd imagined, but at least she knew it wouldn't take long for Kai or Gerda to wake up, especially if her father had to go to work. With a tired sigh, she got up and went straight to the kitchen. She guessed a cup of coffee could help her start her day with the right foot.
With a steaming cup of coffee in her hands, she walked out the back door and sat down on the steps of the veranda that looked at her parents' garden. The heavy rain had stopped during the night, but it was still drizzling. The falling rain could certainly help her stay calm and distract her from her turbulent mind.
She wasn't sure how long she had stayed outside watching the rain fall, when her father's voice called her attention.
"Hey, kiddo," he said, playfully.
"Dad, hi," Elsa said surprised, as she turned around to see him come out the back door. "It's been a while since you last called me that."
"You'll always be a kiddo to me," he said with a smile. "Did you fall out of bed?"
Elsa chuckled at Kai's antics. "I was well rested, I guess. I couldn't fall back asleep. Did I wake you up?"
"No. Don't worry. I usually wake up early." She watched him look around until he spotted the closest chair and moved it closer to where she was sitting. "Mind if I keep you company?"
Elsa shook her head. If she was honest, she was glad her father was willing to spend some time with her. She could use the company to help her keep her mind off her problems. The rain had stopped helping a long time before he showed up anyway. "There's coffee in the kitchen," she offered, knowing Kai loved a warm cup of coffee in the mornings as much as she did.
"Oh, that's good news," he said with a smile. "I'll be back in a minute."
True to his word, he showed up a few minutes later. He sat down in the chair and said, "how have you been?"
"Mmh?" Elsa had been lost in her own thoughts even as she watched him move around the veranda, and so she wasn't sure what he was saying.
"I haven't known much about your life lately."
"I'm fine, I guess."
"You guess?" he asked with a sad smile. "Your hand tells me otherwise. What did you do?"
The question reminded Elsa of the many times she'd tried to do things on her own when she first came to live with them. Back in the day, she had failed miserably at the simplest tasks around the house, and the question was one that Kai regularly asked her, in amusement as he watched her try and fail time after time. She smiled to herself at the memory. Kai had never been judgemental, on the contrary, the question was always followed by a 'let me help you', which soon turned into a useful lesson, and she ended up learning a new skill.
"I tried to fix a broken window." It wasn't completely true, but it wasn't a lie, either.
"The one in the small bedroom?"
Of course he'd remember. He was the one who always insisted she got it fixed. "Doing it on my own wasn't my brightest idea."
Kai chuckled and smiled at her. "Accidents happen. Did I ever tell you that I met your mother because I shot myself in the foot?"
"What?" She was certain she'd remember if he had. Especially knowing Kai was a really competent police officer.
Kai laughed at her astonished expression. "Remind me to tell you the whole story one of these days."
It was obvious he wanted to keep the conversation about her accident, and Elsa wasn't sure if she liked the idea.
"Did your mother have mercy on you?" he asked before she had the chance to ask him to tell the story at that moment. "She says she's a healer, but I think she became a nurse because she likes inflicting pain."
Elsa laughed, and she felt it was the first honest laugh she let out in the last two days. "Of course she did. She's the best."
"It's impossible to badmouth your mother in your presence. It's no fun," Kai said with a smile that told Elsa he was actually proud of her, and for a moment the whole inside her chest didn't feel so big.
Elsa returned the smile, and once again she thought about her life and how easy it could all have been if Kai and Gerda had been her real parents. Every bad memory, every heartache, could have been replaced by the warmth and love that characterised them. But sadly, life had dealt her all the wrong cards.
"Would you like to play chess? I haven't played in months."
Something told Elsa he'd read her like an open book right then and there, and he was only trying to find a way to erase the sadness written in her face.
"You're the only one who actually likes playing in this family besides me."
With a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, she agreed. "Sure."
Before she could offer her help. Kai had gone into the house to pick up the board game.
They played for several minutes in silence. Each of them lost in the game, thinking of their best strategy to beat the other. They didn't consider themselves particularly good, but their skills were on the same level after having played against each other more times than they could count. From the start, chess had been what had got them closer to each other. And, if Elsa was not mistaken, it had been the first thing Kai had taught her.
Once the game had found a more relaxed pace, in comparison to their always frantic starts; and they found themselves taking more time to think their next movement carefully, Elsa found the courage to ask him a question that had been on her mind since the day she came to live with them.
"Dad…" she said, calling his attention.
"Mmh?"
"Do you remember when we first met?"
"It's kind of hard to forget," he said sincerely. "I'm not going to lie though, if I had known you were going to end up being part of my life, I'd have paid more attention." He then moved his remaining bishop and gestured it was her turn.
Elsa analysed the board in front of her and once she made up her mind about her next movement, she said, "were you afraid of me at the time?"
"What?"
If he had tried to hide the surprise in his voice, he'd have done a terrible job. "I froze Gerda's hand when I was in the hospital. Were you afraid of me because of it?"
"I didn't believe it at first…" he said as he watched Elsa move one of her pawns.
"Didn't Gerda show you her hand?"
"She did," he admitted, as he tried to come up with a good step to take in the game. "I was convinced the lack of sleep was driving my wife crazy. I thought she had burnt her hand some other way and had dreamt the whole thing."
"What about the other doctors and policemen? They must have told you something."
Kai smiled and looked at her before he said, "I didn't believe my wife. What makes you think I was going to believe a bunch of policemen?"
"So you just denied it?"
"Pretty much, yes," he said, shrugging. "If I'm honest, till this day I find it hard to believe you're capable of doing what you do. It's hard to say what I thought about at the time. I guess I tried to come up with a logical explanation to what had happened." He picked up his bishop a second time, but gently tried to put it back in place. "Then I saw you do it and I didn't have a choice but to believe it."
"You touched the bishop," pointed Elsa. "And you didn't answer my question."
Kai sighed, knowing Elsa was right about both things. So, he picked the piece once again and moved it as he answered her question. "I wasn't afraid of you, Elsa."
"But—"
"Did I think you were unusual? Yes," he said before Elsa could retort or ask that question herself. "Was I afraid of you? No."
She stayed silent as she processed what he was saying and came up with a good way to protect her Queen. "Not at all?"
"You were nothing but skin and bones at the time. Finding out you had ice powers only helped me understand why a monster like Weselton was so obsessed with you. It helped me see why he had kept you hidden all those years."
Elsa tried not to flinch at the mention of Weselton, but she knew Kai probably noticed how it affected her nonetheless.
"But you, Elsa," continued Kai, not commenting about her reaction. "You were just a child. Children are not dangerous."
She stayed silent once again until she made up her mind. A small smile drew on her face when she found a way to put Kai in a difficult position. She moved her rook and said, "check."
She enjoyed Kai's surprise as he analysed the board in front of him, making sure she was not messing up with him. "What about now?" she asked, unsure if she wanted to hear his answer.
"Are you asking if I'm afraid of you now?" Kai laughed. "I'm more afraid of Gerda."
"I'm serious, Kai."
The fact she used his name called his attention and he looked her in the eye. "I've seen a good deal of dangerous people in my life…" He moved and gestured for her to continue as he said, "you're not one of them."
Without looking at the board twice, Elsa moved her Queen and called check once again.
"Except in this game of chess. Leave your father alone for two seconds, will you?" Without any other options left, he moved his King.
"Checkmate," called Elsa with a small smile.
Sighing at his mistake, he pushed his King down. "I wish you'd be as confident in life as you're in this game."
The comment surprised Elsa. Kai didn't often comment on her lack of confidence. And perhaps she'd exposed herself more than she intended with her questions.
"Don't let the snow cloud your judgement, Elsa. You're a good person," he said, offering her a reassuring smile. "Why did you ask?"
"Would you like to play another game?" she asked, hoping to avoid the question. She couldn't tell Kai she had frozen Marshall's hand. She couldn't admit out loud how terrified of losing Marshall — and her parents' trust — she was. She couldn't risk it. There were only five people in the world who cared about her. Five. If she lost Marshall, she'd be devastated, but she'd manage. Time would help her heal that wound. But there was no way she'd be able to keep going without Kai and Gerda's trust.
"Why did you ask?" repeated Kai, noticing how distressed she'd become.
Not knowing what to say, she shrugged. Her father would keep trying to get a better answer. But at least she could buy herself some time.
"If there's something you need to talk about, you know I'm always—"
The telephone ringing inside the house distracted him, allowing Elsa to breathe a sigh of relief.
"That'd better not be the police station. I'm not in the mood to go to the station this early in the morning. I'll get it," he said to her, even if she'd never picked up the phone in her parents' house.
Kai walked into the house ready to pick up the phone and tell the chief of the department he was not showing up early this time. He didn't care if he ended up walking the streets with the new recruits. He was tired of putting his work before his family. Elsa clearly needed help. Her downcast expression as soon as he saw her was all the proof he needed. Elsa rarely wore her heart on her sleeve. It wasn't easy to read her. But this time, all he could see was a sorrowful soul, and he wanted to be there for her — not inside an office that smelled like old coffee.
"Yes?" he asked as soon as he picked the phone. He hoped whoever was on the other side noticed his frustration.
"Dad! Hi!" Kristoff said on the other line. "I'm glad you answered."
"Is everything okay?" Kristoff never called this early. The few times he had, he'd been so sick he couldn't get out of the bed and he'd needed his mother's help.
"Yes," he said. But he soon regretted it. "Well, I hope so."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Marshall Hålkesen," he said. "Do you know him?"
It took Kai a few seconds to realise who Kristoff was talking about. "By name, yes. Why?"
"He's just called me."
"This early?"
"He says he's been trying to talk to Elsa but she won't answer her door. He says he hasn't heard from her since Saturday, after she asked him to leave or something. He stopped by her house several times yesterday."
He could hear the worry in his son's voice. And that's when he remembered Krisotff didn't help Elsa get home the previous day. "Kristoff, she's—"
"Look," Kristoff said, interrupting his father. He was talking faster than usual. "I know he has probably just missed her, but I can't help worrying. He sounded quite agitated."
"Kristoff—"
"I start work in half an hour. I can't go check on her. Could you?"
"Can I talk now?" Kai asked, hoping he had nothing else to say so he'd listen and stop worrying.
"Yes, sorry. I overslept and I'm in a kind of a hurry."
"Elsa's here. She's fine."
"Here as in… your house?"
"Yes."
"That's odd. She didn't call me to pick her up."
"She travelled on her own." Now that Kai thought about it, he had no idea how Elsa had got home. "She needed your mother's help with something."
"Is everything okay?"
Kai smiled, proud of Kristoff for knowing his sister so well. "Yes. Don't worry."
"Okay, then." He didn't seem to trust him, and Kai couldn't blame him. He was lying through his teeth right then and there after all.
"Tell Elsa to call Marshall, the guy is capable of breaking her door down."
"I suppose you're exaggerating," said Kai, not liking the idea of a violent man near his daughter. "But I'll let her know."
"You clearly don't know Marshall," laughed Kristoff. "Anyway, I've got to go. Tell mum I say 'hi.'" And with that the other line disconnected.
Kai remained where he was thinking about what his son had just told him. He was unsure how to feel about Halkessen. Thinking it was ridiculous to dwell on that while his daughter was waiting for him, he hung up the phone and walked out the house.
"Do you have to go to work?" came Elsa's question as soon as he sat down in front of her.
"Not yet," he said with a smile. "It was your brother. Your friend called him."
"My friend?" said Elsa barely over a whisper.
"Marshall, is it?" He felt bad using the cheap trick-questions he usually asked suspects at the police station with his daughter. But he wanted to see her reaction to the man's name.
To Kai's alarming surprise, Elsa didn't answer. Too stunned about the mention of Marshall's name to speak. A bad sign in Kai's opinion.
"He's worried about you — your friend," he clarified. "He couldn't find you at your place yesterday. Kristoff said you should call him."
Elsa nodded her head slowly, and then once again a bit faster. Kai wasn't sure if she was trying to convince him or herself that she should do it.
"Is everything okay, Elsa?" he dared ask. If there was something going on between them, now was Elsa's perfect time to tell him.
"Yes," she said, a lot more convincingly than he expected. "I'll call him later today. Another game?"
He looked at her for a moment, trying to give her some time to change her mind. After a few seconds in silence, he accepted. Maybe all Elsa needed right at that moment was a distraction.
At midday, Kai found himself in the kitchen, watching his wife cook, as he wondered if it was a good idea to tell Gerda about his worries. He had no reason to mistrust Elsa's friend after all.
Gerda had insisted the previous night that Elsa's sorrow had been directed to her birth family and her powers. She hadn't mentioned any other person. So, the chances of Halkesen being involved in his daughter's sadness were almost null. Maybe there was no point in bringing him up if they talked about Elsa once again.
"Mum, can I use the wireless phone?"
Elsa's question called Gerda's and his attention. The question itself wasn't strange. Elsa had always asked permission to use every single gadget in the house. It didn't matter how much they had insisted everything in the house belonged to her as much as the rest of the family. She always asked if they were around. Kai remembered considering a sweet gesture at the beginning. But, as the years went by, he began to notice it was more sad than sweet. Even after ten years, Elsa still felt like she had to walk on eggshells around them, as if using a stupid phone could make them stop loving her.
"Of course, dear," said Gerda with a sweet smile. There was a time she'd insisted there was no need for her to ask. But she had stopped trying a few years after he did.
Elsa smiled back to her mother, picked up the phone and walked out the back door to sit on the steps where she sat earlier that morning.
Kai knew who Elsa intended to call, and he couldn't help standing up and walking closer to the counter, nearer the window. He didn't imagine Elsa building up the courage to call her friend so soon. Something in her face that morning had told him she dreaded making that phone call.
But to his surprise, there she was. Maybe he had done the right thing by not telling Gerda about his intuition. Perhaps he had been mistaken and Halkesen was only a really good friend. He hoped that was the case.
He was about to walk back to his place when Elsa's voice called his attention once again. She was speaking louder than before, as if the person on the other line wasn't quite listening to her.
"I wasn't home, Marshmallow," she repeated for a second time.
She was still calling him by his pet name, and that made Kai breath out in relief. He thought it was best to stop prying and sat back down, when he heard another thing that called his attention.
"I'm okay. My hand's okay."
She remained silent for a moment.
"I'm sorry. I know it's not– I'm staying at my parents' house for a while."
She sounded a lot more discouraged than she had just a moment before.
"I don't want to talk about it right now."
Kai watched her run her hand through her hair over and over again as she listened. Elsa's back was to the window, so he couldn't see her face, but he was certain she might have been biting her lip to the point her lower lip started to bleed.
"Just give me a few days, please."
He then noticed that her leg kept bouncing and she couldn't keep the phone on one ear for more than two or three seconds. It didn't take a genius to realise how nervous she was.
"I don't know what you want me to say," he heard her say, even if her voice was muffled by the window pane. "I'm not ready to— Could you please keep this between us?"
At that moment, he knew his intuition had been right all along. Something had happened between them.
"You know where the spare key is."
There was no doubt Elsa still trusted the man. She was willingly giving him access to her house and Kai wasn't sure how to feel about it.
"Marshmallow…" The way she called his name, as well as the deep sadness in her voice, made Kai feel guilty for being eavesdropping. Elsa was talking to this man from the bottom of her heart, he knew that; but a part of him wanted to make sure the man on the other side was not hurting her. So he stayed put. "I'm sorry I—"
She stopped abruptly and looked at the phone in her hand to make sure the call hadn't disconnected. Once she checked the screen, she tried again, "Marshmallow? Marshall?"
It was clear Halkesen had hung up on her.
He watched his daughter put the phone to the side and run her hands through her hair several times. A moment after, she buried her face in her arms, trying in vain to hide her pain.
A part of Kai wanted to go out and hug her, but he knew it would make it obvious he had been listening in on her, and the last thing he wanted was to lose her trust.
"Help me with this, please. And stop listening in on Elsa," Gerda said, calling his attention.
She had been on the other side of the kitchen cooking, with her back turned to him. Up until that moment, he thought he had been discreet enough not to call her attention. But it was clear she had been aware of his whereabouts the whole time. He was glad she hadn't come closer to see what Elsa was doing. He was certain she wouldn't have had the restraint he had, and she'd have gone out to pull their daughter into her arms as soon as Elsa ended her call.
Hoping to give Elsa some deserved privacy, he obeyed his wife and started cutting some vegetables next to her. They worked in silence for a few minutes until Kai's curiosity forced him to ask Gerda a question that had been on his mind since early morning.
"Do you know anything about Jostein's grandson?"
"Jostein… the old logger from the North mountain?" she asked, unsure if they were talking about the same man. "The last time I heard from him he was six or seven years old. He was always running around and exploring the mountain. He used to run errands for us during the summer, remember?"
"I mean now. Do you know anything about him now? He is Elsa's friend, isn't he?"
"You mean Marshall?" Gerda turned to look at him, surprise written all over her face. "It cannot be. Jostein's grandson was this tiny little scamp. The man I met does not fit that description."
"We haven't seen him since he was seven, Gerda. Of course he's not going to look the same. When did you meet him?"
The glance his wife sent his way told him she knew the kid was a grown up man now. But she still didn't believe they were the same person. "We ran into each other the last time I visited Elsa. Are you sure Marshall is little Hålkesen?"
He nodded. As far as he knew only five Hålkesens lived in town. Two of them were brothers. They owned a bar in the outskirts of town and they were not related to Jostein in any way. Jostein had a sister who, as far as he knew, was still alive and living in the city. The same was true about his daughter. And little Hålkesen, he had lived with his mother for a few years until he moved back to his grandfather's cottage. "Didn't he recognise you?"
"I don't think so," said Gerda, trying to remember. "He was only a child when we used to spend our holidays at the cabin. Maybe he doesn't remember us. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious."
"And this curiosity came out of nowhere?" She raised an inquiring eyebrow.
"Elsa was on the phone with him," he admitted, knowing his wife was not going to let him off the hook.
"Stop eavesdropping." Her accusatory tone did nothing but fill him with shame.
"I'm not! I'm just—" He sighed, not knowing how to justify what he had been doing. "It doesn't matter."
"I know you worry about—" The backdoor closing interrupted Gerda and she turned around to look at Elsa.
Kai knew she was even more worried than he was. After all, she was the one who had been by Elsa's side when she broke down. So he waited in silence as she addressed her. To his surprise, she didn't ask anything about Elsa's sombre mood.
"Are you having lunch with us, Elsa? Food will be ready in about fifteen minutes."
"No, thanks," Elsa said with a forced smile.
"You skipped dinner last night, dear."
"I had breakfast earlier. Thank you, Gerda."
Kai looked at Gerda at the mention of her name and he realised she had understood Elsa's hidden plea for her not to insist. She simply nodded once and continued working while Elsa left the kitchen.
Once she was certain Elsa was out of earshot, she turned to him and said, "I worry she might stop taking care of herself. Did she have breakfast today?"
"Just a cup of coffee, for all I know."
"Did you talk to her today?"
"We played chess."
"Is that a yes?"
He wondered if playing a board game even counted. He hadn't tried to talk to her after Kristoff's call and they had only played a few more games before Elsa excused herself and went back inside the house. "Kind of. I tried. I'm not the best father out there. I never know how to ask questions without sounding like I'm interrogating a suspect."
"You're a good father, Kai," Gerda said, as she put her hand on top of his. "You show them you care in a different way, that's all."
Kai wanted to believe her. But, as his children grew older, he realised how much he depended on Gerda to know what to say or do around them.
Once again, I underestimated the amount of words this chapter would have and I had to cut it in half. For a moment I thought about posting an extremely long chapter, but that would mean I had to delay it for a few more days. And to be honest, I'd rather give you guys something to read in the meanwhile.
This story keeps growing and growing and I fear I can't make it any shorter. Whenever I sit down to write, I have all these things I want to tell and I can't make up my mind, so I end up writing everything down. Sorry about that.
This time, I felt it was time I gave Kai an opportunity to show the way he felt about his family. I feel as if I had given Gerda and the Arendelles more importance than him, but he is one of Elsa's pillars and he deserved some time to shine. I also needed to show Elsa from other people's perspective. A person's sorrow is not something they deal with alone, after all.
Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter. It isn't filled with exciting scenes, but I needed something like this to move the story forward. I apologise in advance for any typos or thing that's out of place. I tried to edit this chapter as best as I could, but it's quite late right now. I'm sure something may have escaped my eye.
Hope you guys are doing fine,
Read you soon!
