The things that matter

Chapter 11

I felt how my body turned on itself while a pile of rocks shook me, touched me up, and made a fuss, letting themselves be carried away a little too much by the enthusiasm.

In a couple of minutes, they had me wrapped in the same garment and... crown? they put me in the first time they tried to marry me and Anna. The hustle and bustle weren't really giving me much room to think as I was busier trying not to get knocked down or crushed by my peculiar family, but, the moment they threw me into that hole next to the one who was about to be my wife, everything else disappeared. I no longer heard their yells or felt their pinches on my cheeks; I couldn't even blink. I could only travel through the magical image of Anna before my eyes. If the last time she seemed the most beautiful thing I had seen, this time she seemed simply so dazzling that she outshone the previous one. I suppose that the overflowing love in her eyes and the fact that she was not dying by a frozen heart had a lot to do with it as well.

Cliff stood before us like he did the first time and began to officiate the wedding without giving us time to exchange a single word. My ears remained perfectly disconnected from the outside world and I bet my eyes twinkled with the emotion in my chest, unable to give one more tear after the outpouring of the previous day. She was going to be my wife, finally, really! After years of growing up together, of losing her before I had her, of being about to lose her a lot of times later; after loving her all this time with all my might, after giving her up and realizing that I could never get her out of my life in the same day; after learning so much about her, after learning so much thanks to her, after feeling her invade my mind, my soul and my body, and, incredible as it still may seem, after knowing that she is carrying our child in her womb, in her tender and warm belly. After feeling infinitely loved and fortunate, here I am at last, on this peculiar and familiar altar, holding her hands (which I don't even remember taking), and listening to her response.

"I do."

Okay. Time to go back to the real world.

"And do you, Kristoff, take Anna to be your trollfully wedded in the light and the dark, in the earth and the essence with the strength of your hands, the dedication of your mind, and the warmth of your heart linking your soul to hers for the rest of eternity?"

"Undoubtedly, I do."

Anna smiled and the sweet blush on her cheeks stood out even more amid the lush green of the layer of leaves and moss that covered her. Then, Cliff hung a couple of crystals around our necks and they began to shine as the Northern lights were seen over the valley, filling up everything with their particular magic.

"In that case, I declare you union. You can kiss, trollove birds."

This time, when Anna threw herself into my arms, she reached them with all her weight without anyone getting in her way. I held her tightly and a little eagerly and we shared our first kiss as husband and wife. Probably that marriage didn't have any kind of validity in any corner of the planet except for that valley, that's true, but, for us, it was true and real. Finally, we were union.

The trolls got into an uproar once more and started a seemingly endless party in which it didn't seem to matter much if we were included or not, so I took her hand and slightly pulled her away from the tumult.

"So... unofficially, we are already one," I said caressing her face feeling how she drank from my words.

"Weren't we already, unofficially King Kristoff of Arendelle?"

A nerve gripped my gut as I realized that tiny little detail.

"We've always been."

I kissed her lips again while one of my hands got lost in her hair and the other caressed the current home of our child still somewhat insecure. She hung her arms around my neck and began to play with the hair on the back of my neck and moved her hand down my neck and chest as the passion grew slowly and strong between us.

"Ahem, ahem..."

Grand Pabbie's harsh voice interrupted our little meeting, which was probably not happening at the right time.

"Err, uh... Pabbie! Ehrm... Something you need?"

Bulda appeared beside him with a broad smile of satisfaction.

"Wellcome to our family, Anna. Take care of my baby."

"Always."

Bulda threw herself into my arms making me fall backward and cried with excitement as she exfoliated my face with a bath of kisses.

"Easy, ma! I'm not the baby to take care of now, please try not to kill their father!"

Anna laughed cleanly and freshly and Bulda completely ignored my wailings until Grand Pabbie finally intervened.

"Precisely, I wanted to talk to you about babies. There is something I want you to know before you go."

Anna and I exchanged a worried look that didn't go unnoticed by the old troll.

"Calm down. As I have told you, the creature is perfectly healthy."

"Then, what is it, Pabbie?" Anna asked visibly impatient.

"Anna, as you already know, when you were little you suffered a mishap whereby I had to manipulate your memories."

"Uh-huh..."

"Because of that, a little part of my powers now resides in you."

"Inside me? Like I have magic or something?"

"Only you do not exercise it, you contain it."

"Oh," she answered apparently disappointed.

"You must know that there is a remote possibility that the magic that lives in your body gets related to the life that now grows in it and your baby is born with powers."

"With powers? Like yours or Elsa's?"

"Well, not like Elsa's. Theirs are a particular gift created out of need. It would be like a minimized version of my power. I could not tell you how far it could go. But, without a doubt, they would be linked to the connection between life, time, and the earth, like mine."

"That's... not a bad thing, right?" I asked, not sure what to expect.

"Not at all. It is a beautiful power full of goodness. But I thought it was convenient for you to take it into account. We do not want more children isolated for fear of their abilities."

"We'd never do that," we both answer in unison with the purest and most solid conviction.

"I'm glad to hear that," Grand Pabbie said smiling paternally. "And now, guys, you should go enjoy your brand new bond," he added winking at us. "The party here will go on for a while."

"May I recommend a relaxing camping trip in the privacy of the thermal lagoon where my babe used to bathe the few times he did so?"

"Ma!"

"What? Do ya think your wife doesn't know you well enough to know what it takes to get you into the water?"

I would have grumbled as I used to when my mother humiliated me in front of Anna, but it was undeniable that she was right in what she said and, furthermore, hearing how she spoke of Anna as my 'wife' made me forget all the nuisances and made appear a goofy smile on my face.

"We will take care of Sven while you are out there. Take your time."

Anna and I looked at each other without trying to hide our pleasure at Bulda's mischievous proposal, but, without a doubt, a thermal bath and a roll on a stony and muddy floor, wasn't the best plan for a pregnant woman.

"Thanks for everything. You are the best family I could wish for," I said truthfully in my words but feeling a growing hurry inside me.

They both nodded and I took Anna by the hand and ran up the mountain on my way to a better plan.

As we ran immersed in the emotion of the moment, I could hear her laugh behind me and I felt free, full, and happy.