Early April, 1852

The Queen's Private Chambers at Linnea Castle,

Arendelle

When the British Royals arrived in Arendelle in April of eighteen-fifty-two, the queen requested they be brought to her private chambers, for this was not necessarily a 'diplomatic' visit- even though, in a way, it was. Hans had arrived the week before; he'd informed his council that he would be in Arendelle for a month in order to fix a trade agreement he and the queen had drawn up, though he would keep in touch. In the time between his return to the Isles at the end of February, and his return to Arendelle, his wife was now unable to hide her pregnancy anymore, and didn't. Sof had turned two in March and stopped nursing at her mother's breast, though the little girl was protective of her mother.

"Her Royal Majesty, Queen Victoria of Great Britain and her Consort, His Royal Highness, Prince Albert, Your Majesties."

Once Kai had left and the door shut softly behind him, Victoria rushed to Hans, giving him a hug before doing the same to Anna. The children rushed to the British Royals with exclamations of 'Auntie Victoria! Uncle Albert!' and all were given hugs kisses. Victoria pulled away from Milla, surprised as how the nearly-eight-year-old girl had grown.

"Good Lord, how you've grown! All of you!" Her eyes widened as Sofia toddled over to her, and she knelt down. "Sofia? Why, when we last saw you, you were the same age as my little Arthur!"

"She's grown quite a lot in the last few months, and she's not the only one." Victoria looked up as Elsa moved to stand; Hans rushed to help her, and she whispered a soft thank you before moving towards her friend. The British monarch's mouth dropped in shock, before she closed the distance between them, wrapping her in a hug before slowly pulling away.

"Oh Elsa!" The younger woman smiled softly at her friend as Victoria gently rested a hand against her belly after getting permission from the young queen. She covered it with her own, pressing gently. The babe shifted at the light pressure, kicking against their hands. "My husband and I cannot exactly keep to ourselves."

Albert chuckled softly, as Victoria merely shook her head. "When does the babe arrive?"

"Around the second week in July." Hans spoke up.

"Two months?" Victoria asked, as Elsa nodded. "Are you all right to have us visit?"

"This is not the first babe to grow in my womb, Victoria. I'm okay. Getting more uncomfortable as it gets closer to the birth, but that's normal. You understand that. Besides, I wanted to see you before the babe came, and there is nothing like an Arendelle summer. I hope you will all enjoy your time here."

She stood in her shift, studying herself in the mirror. She knew that because of her petite stature, she looked much bigger than she was, even though she had begun to really show around the end of her fourth month. After a moment, she gathered the skirt of her nightdress up, tucking it beneath her breasts. Yes, she was nice and round, the skin smooth.

A soft knock sounded, and she bid the person entry. "Oh, I'm sorry, Elsa, I thought you were-" She glanced over her shoulder to see Victoria already dressed in a simple day dress, and blushed.

"No, no, it's my fault, I should be up and dressed by now, I just... cannot seem to get over how fast I've changed... as though overnight." She looked up as Victoria came into the room and softly shut the door, before joining her friend.

"It is quite remarkable, isn't it?" She asked, as Elsa rubbed a hand back and forth across her belly; the baby kicked and stretched at the movement, and after a moment, Elsa met her gaze in the mirror. "Are you hoping for a son or a daughter?"

The Arendellian queen tugged the skirt down and sighed. "Hans believes I am carrying another girl; I think I am carrying another son. We shall see who is correct when the babe is born."

Victoria chuckled, perching on the window seat as Elsa quickly shed her nightdress in favor of a dark green day dress with a loose skirt of her own creation. She then gathered her hair, but the British queen stood to help, twisting the long, thick strands into a bun and pinning it with multiple pins to keep it in place for her. Elsa rewarded her with a soft smile.

The Scandinavian royal knew the queen's views on babies- unlike Elsa, who actually enjoyed being pregnant, Victoria detested being pregnant. Unlike Elsa, Victoria had never nursed any of her children, relying on wet nurses for each one, and found each newborn she gave birth to as ugly. Elsa, partially due to the customs of her country, and partially due to her belief that she had carried and given birth, and therefore she should be the one to nurse her babes, viewed breastfeeding as a special experience; she also found each of her babes fresh from the womb beautiful- but that could have been more because they were hers and Hans' than anything else. The fact that the two queens had such opposing views on pregnancy and motherhood, meant tense conversations and awkward silences.

The older woman took her hands. "Now, what is on the agenda today? And not politics; this is not a diplomatic visit. This is a visit between friends."

Elsa thought a moment, licking her lips. She turned to glance out the window, before turning back to her friend. "How about a trip to the countryside?"

The visit out to Jannicke was one of absolute enjoyment on everyone's parts, but especially the British Royals. To see the castle with its sprawling gardens and the woods behind it- it awed all of them. The Arendellian countryside was actually quite lovely, especially in the summer, with the fields in bloom and the air sweet with the scent of early morning rain.

Victoria, Elsa and Anna sat in the sitting room, chatting over coffee, tea and sweets, when footsteps came rushing in. Alfred darted around his father and Hans, who stood by the window, discussing the architecture of such a castle, and Camilla followed, careening into her father. "Easy, mitt lille hjerte. What is going on?"

"Alfred stole Marie, Papa! Give her back before you hurt her!"

"I won't hurt her! That's ridiculo-" But he never got a chance to finish, as Milla stalked towards the boy, reared back, and decked him. He had been taunting and teasing her all day, tugging on her curls and pinching her arms just to annoy her, only stopping when the adults or his older siblings told him too, and taking her doll had been the last straw for the little girl.

"Camilla!"

"Camilla Helene!"

To say chaos broke out was an understatement. The Crown Princess was scolded, the young Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was scolded, the boy's nose was checked over by both his father and his uncle- for all the British children referred to the Scandinavian couple as 'Uncle Hans' and 'Auntie Elsa'- and he was made to apologize, the girl's doll was taken away as punishment and she was made to apologize. Tense minutes passed as the adults watched the pair, before finally, Alfred whispered an apology; Camilla crossed her arms over her chest with a pout, glaring at the boy. "Mama! Må jeg be om unnskyldning?"

Elsa merely raised a slender eyebrow, resting her hands upon her belly. It was clear the girl wasn't going to get out of it. After a moment, she turned to her father, who motioned for her to turn back to Alfred. She cast pleading blue eyes towards her uncle and then both her aunts, but none of them came to her defense, knowing better than to go against the king and queen. Huffing, she turned back to the boy. "I'm... sorry."

Realizing that was all she was going to get out of her daughter, Elsa turned to the one thing that had been confusing her. "Camilla, where did you learn to punch like that?"