Hans was right, a lot could happen in a week.
And yet, nothing happened, at least, not in regards to their babe being born.
He returned that early morning to the city, before boarding the ship and returning to the Isles. Elsa, Anna and the children stayed at Jannicke well into Elsa's fortieth week, and despite the discomfort, the pressure, and the bulging of the sac, her labor still hadn't started. She hadn't spoken to Anna about the conversation with Lord Bismarck at all, because she had more important things on her mind, such as the impending birth of her baby-
"Elsa, please! It's not like he is asking for my hand, he is simply asking to court me!"
Two days.
She was two days past the day her babe should have come; for some reason, her body was ready, but the babe wasn't, and the midwife, who'd come two days earlier, couldn't figure out why. Unless her due date was off, which the queen had a sneaking suspicion was the case; though her pregnancies and births had been fairly... regular and accurate, predicting when a child would be born was not an exact science, and even experienced midwives such as hers could be wrong on occasion. It was not something to be hugely concerned about, it just meant the queen would have to endure the discomfort and pressure within her body for however long, until the babe decided it was time to be born. She swallowed the groan working its way up her throat, resting a hand against the underside of her belly as she sat on the window seat in the study. She felt the babe shift within her, though it wasn't much, given the limited space in her womb. The heaviness of the babe was starting to put pressure on her hips, and she released a slow breath. "Enough, Anna."
The princess didn't seem to notice the discomfort her sister was in. "No! I don't understand! If Lord Bismarck were to court me, then I wouldn't have to leave Arendelle some day! I don't want to leave Arendelle, Elsa! It's the perfect solution!"
The queen quickly shut her eyes, choking on the hiss that worked its way up her throat as she felt the pressure continue to build between her legs. With great difficulty, she pushed herself up from the window seat, refusing her sister's help. The moment she stood, it felt as though the babe had dropped out of her, though she knew it was the sac, which had continued to bulge even more between her legs for the last week. Anna watched with narrowed eyes as her sister- well, waddled was the only appropriate word for it- towards her desk, one hand on her lower back, the other beneath the great swell of her belly. Something wasn't right.
"I don't want to... discuss this now, Anna."
"Why not, Lise? What are you so afraid of?"
Elsa huffed out a breath as she reached her desk, grabbing onto the edge; the pressure was getting stronger, heavier. She was half afraid that if she sat down, the babe would fall right out of her womb, but then again, she mused, that wouldn't be a bad thing, given how uncomfortable she'd been for the last four weeks- ever since the sac had begun to bulge. "I'm not... afraid of anything." She ground out.
"Really?" Anna shook her head; clearly Elsa wasn't even going to hear her argument. She moved past her sister, heading for the door. "Because it sounds like-"
The sound of something bursting, followed by a thump caused her to turn back, only to find her sister having sat heavily in the chair at her desk. She was still upset with her, but in that moment, her concern for her sister far outweighed any anger. "Lise?" Her sister let out a squeal, hands down between her thighs, beneath her belly. Anna rushed back to her side, noticing the water on the floor. "Lise, talk to me. Is it time?"
All her sister could do was nod before she grabbed onto her hand, squeezing hard and letting out a scream of pain as contractions grabbed her around the belly. Anna turned back to the door. "Helena! Fetch the midwife!"
The sounds escaping her mother's throat sounded more suited to a wild boar than the ruling Queen of Arendelle.
She watched from where she hid, as her mother, propped against the multitude of pillows, legs up and spread wide, the skirt of her shift falling over them like a tent- let out a bellow before collapsing back, chest heaving. Her mother's long white-blonde hair tumbled down over her shoulders, having fallen out of its braid hours earlier, and she still wore the brightlu colored shawl about her shoulders. She had been laboring for hours; pacing back and forth in nothing but her shift, hair pulled back in a loose braid, hands upon her back, face contorting in pain with each contraction. At one point, she grabbed a hold of the curtain, doubling over in pain. Anna hurried to her side, speaking softly to her, and she nodded, allowing her sister to bring her back to the bed after the contraction had passed.
They had heard Mama's screams from the garden where they were playing with Marta, and had come out of the gardens in time to see Helena saddle up one of the horses and ride off in search of the midwife. The only reason Helena would go to fetch the midwife would be if Mama's pains had begun. She and her brothers had rushed into the house, Marta following with Sof in her arms.
At that point, they didn't know Mama was still in the study, and so went looking in the bedchamber she shared with Papa, being forced to hide when the door banged open and Auntie Anna and one of the other servants helped their mother into the room. She had stumbled out of their arms, grabbing onto the footboard of the bed and allowing them to remove her dress, leaving her in only her shift, as a contraction brought her to her knees with a scream.
Unable to sneak out of the room without being caught, Milla and her brothers had watched over the last few hours as Mama had suffered through the agony of labor. Despite the sunshine that splashed across the hardwood floor of the bedchamber, a fire raged in the fireplace, to keep the warmth when the temperature would inevitably drop due to the queen's loss of control over her powers.
At one point, Auntie Anna had rushed off to dispatch a letter to Papa in the Isles, but it would not arrive until well into the next day or so. The three children watched as the midwife had her assistant set up a strange looking chair- it possessed a back and arms, but no seat- before going to the bed and reaching to help the queen out of the bed. But Mama shook her head, pleading with the girl, curling onto her side as another contraction grabbed her around the belly. "Majestet, vær så snill. It will help to relieve the pain!"
"Don't touch me!" The girl backed up as the queen lashed out, and after several minutes, the midwife and her apprentice managed to get Mama to shift onto her back so that she could be checked. It was several minutes of tension as the midwife quickly checked her over.
"The babe may be slightly bigger than anticipated."
"Meaning what?" Auntie Anna asked, gently brushing strands of sweat-soaked hair from Mama's forehead. "She will be okay, won't she? She is not Charlotte of Wales! We have made advancements in the years since she died!"
"We have, Deres Høyhet, but that does not mean that her labor will not be long and difficult. It is our job to make sure she follows what her body is telling her. She is not to ignore its demands, that is the only way she is going to get through the pain." She turned to Mama, going around to the side of the bed and taking her hands. "Come, Majestet, we just get you up. Up and moving, be it walking or upon your hands and knees and shifting your hips or squatting, regardless of what it is, you must stand, for gravity will help the babe to come."
The children watched they helped Mama stand; her knees buckled, and the midwife- a woman ancient in her ways and old in her looks, who had attended the birth of every royal child of Arendelle since Queen Rita- caught her, loping an arm around her waist and walking with her. Mama whimpered, even as the older woman continued to walk with her. "Jeg vet det, Majestet, I know, I have birthed many children myself, I know the pain."
"It won't... come... it won't... come out..."
"Yes it will, Majestet. Even the heaviest of babes comes out eventually, it just takes time. Time and patience. Of which we have plenty. There is no time that a child must come into the world; the child decides when it will enter. We do not dictate birth, we merely experience it. You are much stronger than you believe; women were built to birth babies. It is in our design that we carry and bring forth the future; it is why she is called Mother Earth, for everything stems from her, just as a child stems from its mother."
Mama shook her head, grabbing onto the footboard as another contraction grabbed her around the belly. "I can't..." She ground out, her knees gave out, and the midwife caught her; despite her advanced years, she was strong, and had held many a laboring mother as she struggled through labor.
"All gravity to help bring the babe lower, Majestet. Your sac has already burst; your pains are strong and the babe is engaged near your opening, all that needs to be done now for your body to get to the moment for it push the babe out."
Hours passed, long, torturous, agonizing hours as Mama's labor progressed. She begged to be returned to the bed, but midwife shook her head; she had seen many a bed birth end in tragedy, for to birth within a bed was to limit movement and reject the help of gravity- and gravity was what was needed to progress childbirth.
Milla glanced at her brothers from where they hid within the clothespress; there were times everyone had been so focused on Mama that they could have snuck out, but none of them dared- nor did they want to leave Mama behind. They knew Mama was pregnant; it was almost commonplace now for them to watch Mama's belly grow with their new sibling- in fact, it was strange to the children when Mama wasn't pregnant- but they had never witnessed a birth before; usually, they were either in the nursery until Auntie Anna came and got them or visiting the Isles with Papa when word would arrive of their new sibling. It was those nights when Papa would slip off to the library, as though the realization that Mama had another baby was too much for him to bear. There was never any question of paternity among the siblings, for they all bore a striking resemblance to both the Queen of Arendelle and the King of the Isles, but the adults kept the children as in the dark as possible about the unsavory situation keeping their parents from sitting together upon both the throne of Arendelle and the throne of the Isles, wanting to keep their children as innocent and out of the crosshairs as long as possible.
"Why isn't anything happening?" Annes whispered, but Milla shook her head, gaze transfixed on Mama as the midwife helped her to sit upon the strange-looking chair at one point. By then, two days had passed, and she had been at this for hours. Anja bit his lip, keeping quiet.
"All women go through this, Majestet, it is common. Even the young prinsesser will endure this one day, for it will be their duty to bring children into the world to continue the line-"
"I won't." Milla breathed softly. Annes turned to his sister.
"What?"
"I won't have a baby. I won't suffer like Mama is."
The older boy furrowed a brow at his sister's soft muttering, confused, but he didn't get a chance to ask, as a scream rang out and all three siblings jumped, peeking through the gap in the doors to see Mama in the birthing chair, legs spread wide and holding tight to Auntie Anna and the apprentice's hands. After several endless hours, the midwife and her apprentice helped her back to the bed so that she could check something. With Mama sitting up against a multitude of pillows, and the height of the bed, it was easier for the older woman to examine the queen and figure out how her progress was coming along.
After several minutes, she was able to discover the problem- though the sac had burst, it was only the fore waters; her back waters hadn't gone yet, which was part of why the labor was so difficult. Gently, she pushed on the queen's belly, gauging an idea of everything-
A loud pop! was heard, and the children jumped as their mother let out a bellow; her back waters having finally burst, meant her labor would progress exponentially now. With that popping noise, the head appeared between her legs- a mass of thick curls matted to the babe's head. "Igjen, Deres Majestet! Igjen!"
Mama let out a scream, clutching tight to Auntie Anna and the apprentice's hands as she sat up, pushing as hard as she could. In the clothespress, the siblings shared glances, as the temperature began to drop rapidly and their breath began to appear. "What... what's happening?" Annes breathed; chills began to overtake them, and soon, the crackle of ice could be heard as it dashed about the room, over the ceiling, up the walls and along the floor, hurrying to coat every available surface. The children quickly peeked into the room; the ice pulsed blue, matching Mama's pain and fear, and frost coated the bed where she sat, in the midst of bearing down.
"The fire!"
Auntie Anna hurried from the bed to stoke the flames in the fireplace. As the hours progressed, the snow and ice progressed, until it coated every available surface several times over, and the temperature continued to drop rapidly. Their mother's controlled breaths turned into grunts, which turned into screeches, which morphed into screams as she bore down. "I can't!" A bellow escaped her as she strained against the pain.
"Yes you can, Lise! You're strong! You're so much stronger than I could ever be!" Auntie Anna's voice broke through the chaos. The children watched as their mother bore down again, fingers tangled in the sheets as frost continued to build up and the temperature once more dropped. The apprentice worked to keep the fire in the fireplace blazing, but it was little comfort in what was now the tundra of the queen's bedchamber.
"You have to raise the temperature, Your Majesty! Such a rapid drop in temperature is only putting you and the baby at risk!" The apprentice pleaded, as the queen continued to bear down, curling a hand around her sister's, her fingers like talons in the princess's palm. "Your Highness, talk to her! The baby won't survive if the temperature stays like this! It will kill not only the babe but it could very well kill the Queen as well in the state she's in!"
Milla gasped, Annes slamming his hand over her mouth as Anja buried his face in his brother's side; their aunt's gaze snapped to where they were hidden, before she turned back to her sister. "Lise, please, you have to raise the temperature of the room, before everything freezes-"
"I... can't..." She shook her head. "I can't... control it, Anna... I don't have control..." She grunted, collapsing back among the pillows. "I have no control now... you know this..."
"Your Majesty, if you don't raise the temperature of the room, the babe won't survive outside your womb. Think of your child!"
"I'm trying! I have no control over my magic now!" She pushed again, before collapsing back amid the pillows. "It won't come! I can't anymore!"
"Mama, please!" Annes and Anja watched as their sister stumbled out of the clothespress that was their hiding place, tears in her eyes at the pain in their mother's voice. A moment passed before the boys joined her.
"What are you three doing in here? You're supposed to be in the nursery with your sister!" Anna snapped, but Milla choked on a sob.
"Mama, p... p... please!" She ignored the chattering of her teeth. "It's so cold! Please, Mama... it'll... hur... hurt the baby..." Elsa turned her gaze to her three oldest children, and something in her snapped. The sight of her three oldest, in their light summer clothes, standing in the middle of her chamber, shivering in the drastic cold, roused the maternal instinct in her, and she glanced at her sister.
Anna helped her sit up, and she tightened her hold the princess. The temperature began to rise again to a manageable level, and the Crown Princess and her brothers watched in silence as their mother bore down. She let out a bellow, straining, pushing as hard as she could, eyes snapping shut. "Push, Lise! Harder! Keep going!" Anna let out a light squeak as her sister dug her nails in and broke skin. "Keep pushing!"
"It's coming, Your Majesty! Igjen! Vanskeligere!" She didn't have to tell Elsa; having already birthed four babies before this, the Arendellian queen was essentially an old pro. Minutes passed, and Milla craned to peek around the midwife; she caught a flash of something slowly sliding from between her mother's legs, atop blankets stained heavily with blood. Her mother's bare feet shifted, her left foot pushing against the midwife as she gave birth.
Their mother's screams reached a crescendo pitch; all three children threw their hands over their ears, watching as finally, after two days, after hours and hours of hard, difficult labor, something burst out from between their mother's legs, a wash of fluid accompanying it as their mother collapsed back among the pillows of the bed, chest heaving as she gasped for air. Her screams faded, replaced with the strong cries coming from between her legs, and the siblings glanced at each other before slowly sneaking up to peek over the midwife's shoulder.
"En liten prinsesse, deres majesteter." The midwife informed the adults, as Elsa glanced at her.
"A daughter." The queen choked out in surprise, and the midwife nodded, before turning to see the three oldest royal children on either side of her. As the midwife cleaned the baby and her apprentice took care of Mama, Anna tugged herself away from her sister, to go to her oldest niece and nephews. She grabbed them each by the arm.
"What in Gods' name were you three thinking? Sneaking in here like that! This was not something children should see! Not until you're grown and having children of your own-"
"I will not go through what Mama did!" Milla cut in, yanking her arm away from her aunt as her mother looked up. "I will never have children! I will die before I ever have children!"
Anna grabbed her niece's chin. "Camilla, you're the Crown Princess of Arendelle and-" She stopped, glancing at her sister, something flashing across her face before turning back to her.
"And, Auntie Anna?" Annes asked as Anja took his hand, but his aunt ignored him.
"- and it will be your duty to birth a child when your time comes, as next in line for the throne, in order to keep the Bekkerdahl line going!" But the princess, so like her mother- so like both her parents, really- caught what her aunt had tried to keep from saying, even if only a half-step behind her brother, who got it as soon as Anna paused. She yanked away from her aunt, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Annelei, that's enough." Auntie Anna turned at the nickname, and the children followed, to see their mother cradling a bundle in her arms. She was calm, if exhausted. "The Bekkerdahl line-" The queen glanced at her three oldest before turning back to her sister. "- is as secure as it will get, until they are of age to take the throne. I have more than done my part to secure heirs to both thrones." Her words faded as the three children shared glances. Like Auntie Anna, Mama had also amended her words, but not fast enough. "Now, bring them here, and then go fetch their sister, so that they may meet the newest member of the family."
Anna glanced at her niece and nephews before turning back to her sister and curtsying quickly. "Of course," She glanced at the children. "Your Majesty." Then, she turned on her heel and stalked from the room. Slowly, Elsa met her children's gazes.
"Come meet your little sister." Milla glanced at her brothers
before they climbed onto the bed and scooted close enough to see. Gently, Mama sat up, leaning close as her older children gathered around, shifting to show a newborn baby girl, still slick from birth, in her arms, with a head of blonde curls, though not as light as their mother's. The children shared glances as the door opened and Auntie Anna returned, Sofia in her arms.
"What's her name?" Milla asked; Elsa glanced at the girl, smiling softly.
"Annalise, for a wonderful sister." Anna wrinkled her nose as she set Sof on the bed.
"No, Elisabeth, for a great queen." The queen giggled softly, exhausted as she settled back against the pillows.
"Fine, then. Compromise. Elisabeth Annalise."
The children shared glances before Sof spoke up. "Liesel."