The things that matter

Chapter 13

"I'm pregnant."

"Yeah, I've heard something about it. Weren't you sleeping?"

"Kristoff! I'm pregnant!"

"Are you waiting for me to be surprised?"

"No! I want you to think!"

"Good luck with that."

"Do you realize what we've done?"

"I could give you some details, yeah."

"I'm serious!"

Anna moved from her makeshift bed in the back of the sleigh to the front seat with me, cupping my face with both hands and turning me toward her as if I would follow her train of thought more easily cause of it.

"We've to get officially married in less than a month if we don't want there to be too many rumors about our child, what will there be, but we'll dissuade them."

"Uh, yeah... Is that a problem?"

"Well, it is not the relaxed time that I was waiting to prepare everything. I wanted to pay attention to all the details and now I can't afford that stress."

"Is that what gets you worried? I may..."

"No!"

"Okay, then, what is it?"

"You'll be king!"

"I know... I can't say that's not a problem, but I'll do my best and..."

"No!"

"No?"

"No! That's not what worries me!"

"Either? What are you getting at, Anna?"

I took her hands in mine trusting in Sven's ability to carry the sleigh without any directive. Sometimes I wondered why was I bothering to take the reins. I could've slept in the back with Anna and we would have reached our destination anyway. I guess it was a way of feeling that I was abusing him a little less. At least I was staying awake too.

"The creature I carry in my womb is the rightful heir to the throne of Arendelle. The day I am absent, hopefully, you will be there to guide his steps."

"Don't even think about it! You cannot leave me alone on the throne! I promise you that if you die before I do, I will sink the kingdom into utter misery."

"That doesn't give me any peace of mind, you know?"

"Then, don't die."

Anna's gaze smiled at me, but her mouth continued to spit out fears.

"Before I thought that, if I was missing, you would be free to reign. Although, well, it would be a bummer for Elsa. But now there is no escape. I am exposing you to a reign you feel unprepared for and worse, I am condemning our child to reign. Whether they want it or not!"

"Don't worry about me, Anna. We've already discussed this, right? We will manage it; it'll be worth it."

"I... grew up being prepared to reign. I thought I'd never get to do it, but, you know, they have to prepare you just in case. And I really like what I do: I like taking care of Arendelle."

"And you are the best queen Arendelle could dream of."

"But what if he, or she, doesn't like that? What if she wants to be an ice harvester like her father? Or an artist! Or carpenter! It doesn't matter. Whatever! Why doesn't she have the right to do what she wants?"

I finally understood everything. It was nothing I hadn't thought of before.

"I understand how you feel, Anna. It makes me angry too, but... what else can we do? It's not something you can run away from."

"Maybe it is."

"Anna, sweetheart, I know you don't like it, but if you escape they will come looking for you, and if you don't come back soon, Arendelle is quite likely to be conquered by some other kingdom; and there is a certain southern kingdom which comes to mind that would gladly do so."

"I'm not talking about escaping. Not literally."

I saw that spark in her eyes. The one that shines when an idea, be it the best in the world or a terribly bad one, crosses her mind and she feels totally determined to carry it out. Something big was going to happen.

"I can't abdicate into Elsa and there are no other heirs."

"Uh-huh..."

"I am going to call elections."

"What?!"

"I'm going to declare a democratic republic, and I am going to do it before we get married. I'm not going to make you reign, not you nor anyone else."

"Anna... and what about you? You like what you do and you are good at it. I don't want you to give up on your dreams."

"Who told you that I am not going to run as a candidate?"

"Huh!"

"If they liked my work, they will choose me, but me and only me, and my family will be free, and I will be able to retire whenever I want. And if they don't choose me, it may be that I wasn't doing as well as I thought I was, right? It may be a good opportunity for Arendelle to improve."

"I bet I'm going to be the husband of the president of the republic of Arendelle. Cause... we'll get married anyway, right?"

"Of course we will. I don't want bureaucratic complications."

"And... are you going to start your possible legislature pregnant?"

"If that's okay with you... I mean, I could turn the castle into a museum or guardhouse or something like that and secure jobs for the staff who work there, but I'd like to hire Kai as an assistant."

"Sounds like an excellent idea to me."

"But, if I have all that work and, at the same time, we are parents... I, well, I guess, if you are not going to reign... you will want to go back to work and..."

"Hey, don't worry. If you are not chosen, I will immediately return to work and, in a very humble way though, we will be able to get ahead. And, if you are elected, you will have my full support. Our child can always count on me; I'll be there for them. There will always be time to get back to work."

"Will you stay home with her?"

"I'll do whatever it takes to be with you, girls. Besides, I'm not looking forward to tiring out my back day after day alone up high and cold in the mountains. My place is by your side. We'll see how we fit it all, okay? We'll find the balance."

Anna kissed me sweetly.

"So, have we already decided that she's a girl?"

"Don't you feel it that way?"

"You too?"

"When we get to the castle there'll be a lot to organize. What do you think if we spend the rest of the journey thinking about names?"

"What do you think if we dedicate the journey to thinking about how we expose all the news to Elsa?"

"Good idea."