“Poor dear,” Smiling, Calanthe accepted the tiny princess, cradling the child in her arms. “Hello, little miss Anna,” She crooned, bouncing her gently. “Don’t worry, Idun. I see this all the time helping in the orphanage, doesn’t last long.”
“We managed to escape this with Elsa,” Idun murmured, bringing out a handkerchief to wipe at her daughter’s nose a little. There was something of those new parent jitters about the brunette, her eyes full of nothing but love for the little bundle in her sister-in-law’s arms. “Do you truly think it’ll be gone soon?”
“Take this one, won’t you, Calanthe?” Idun said with a smile, holding out the wriggling child in her arms. The other queen always seemed to manage to get little ones to calm. “I think the poor mite has a cold and can’t quite seem to get comfortable with me.”
A silent yawn, and a further snuggling up, nice and close. That and a little, “Yeah” was how Anna replied to her mother’s words. Whether or not she actually wanted a nap was moot point, since she was already halfway there.
Perhaps she would dream of Elsa, and then wake up to tell her about them. That had happened before, and it would happen again. They would be silly dreams, and she could get Elsa to giggle at them, and it would be a merry time.
Realising from the way her daughter was snuggling close that there would be no putting her down at this point, Idun settled her back against the headboard, bringing a blanket up and over Anna’s little form.
It was true, there had been some tears that morning, but Anna was well on her way to recovery now. They were tears of a tantrum, not of pain and frustration, and Idun was glad of it. The Queen never thought she’d see the day when she was glad of a tantrum from her youngest.
”I want it to be after lunch already,” she murmured, eyes shutting as she made herself comfortable in her mother’s hold, ” ‘wanna see Elsa.”
It was her most favourite thing of the day, Elsa’s visit. There’d always be a story, or something new from Elsa’s day that she’d hear about, and always lots of reason to laugh and giggle. She especially liked it when they made tiny versions of snowmen or other such creatures. It was a sure fire way to entertain the child, that was for certain.
"Well, if you have a little sleep, lunch will come and go much faster,“ Idun murmured, continuing her pat at Anna’s side. "And then Elsa will come, and you’ll have a grand time, won’t you?”
The joy on her children’s faces during their visits made every tantrum, every upset worth it. While Elsa was not as optimistic as her little sister, there was no one better to cheer the younger girl up, the blonde knowing every little trick to get a smile out of Anna. And after so long spent away from her eldest, Idun enjoyed the visits as well.
Anna sniffed and scrunched her face up as the handkerchief wiped all tears and sadness away, and the girl who didn’t admit she was tired let herself lean on her mother’s chest.
”I—I wanna—-I wanna walk with Elsa,” she said, liking the idea of Elsa being there with her. The thought brought Anna out of her upset a bit more, the girl calming down considerably at the thought.
”When’s she coming, Mama?” she croaked out, a question that came with droopy little eyes, tired from walking, and tired from crying.
Glad to see the child calming down, Idun let a hand pat against Anna’s side. A feisty thing, that was for sure, but sweet nonetheless.
"That would be nice, wouldn’t it?“ she murmured, noticing the signs of tiredness. "I’m sure she’d like to help you. She’s coming after she’s had her lunch, little one." And after you’ve had a nap, she added silently, smiling softly at her little girl.
Mealtimes had been thrown out of the window while Anna was sick. She would eat when she was hungry and when she could. With an illness so violent, there was no point trying to keep her set to the same times as the rest of the family, and so none had tried.
Sometimes it was firmness that Anna needed. She was a bull-headed thing, more often than not, and words a bit more stern and punishments a bit more strong were needed for Anna compared to her elder sister.
Her angry wails died down, though the tears kept falling, and that frown of hers didn’t leave. A little thing she was, in a way that gave her a mind that didn’t always want to look at situations logically, or even understand them in the first place.
She knew she had to be in bed to get better, but she didn’t know why, didn’t see the reason behind such a fact, and didn’t care to find out.
And now Elsa would surely visit, and Anna would still surely be stuck in bed. And that was why the tears and the hiccups continued.
"Good girl,“ Idun said when the wails stopped, and she brought the girl back up to her chest to try and soothe the tears away. "Shh, you don’t want to be upset when Elsa comes to see you, do you? If you behave well, we’ll see about walking again a little later–maybe your big sister will even help you, if you ask her nicely.”
While the Queen didn’t like telling off her children, especially when they had been sick, but tantrums wouldn’t be tolerated. But she still kissed Anna’s hair and held her, understanding the frustration.
Pulling out a handkerchief, she held her daughter cradled in one arm as she wiped her face. From her eyes to her cheeks to her little nose, Idun cleared all.
“Ah,”was the man’s reply, the culprit made known, and Agdar took the opportunity to plant yet another kiss upon the tot’s head, “Well perhaps we could get comfortable enough in my study, hm?”
A study which may very well one day become hers. But it was hard to imagine such a tiny little thing to be Queen. No, let him be King, let this daughter of his remain a bundle of joy. That was what he would love most in the world—-and of course, with a sibling for Elsa, surely it would be a blissful few years.
He wondered how it would feel to see them grow up, how beautiful his Elsa would become, for he was sure she will grow beautifully—-there was no doubt in the man’s mind.
Already having latched herself onto her father, Elsa let out a little yawn. It would seem in the King’s arms, she was already getting past whatever it was that had held her from sleep. She was like a different child to the one who had been fighting off her sheets, wailing that she wanted her father. For most children, such an outburst would be easily fixed or subdued, but Elsa’s tantrums came with wind and snow.
"Papa,“ she said softly, her young tongue already starting to slur the word with sleepiness. "Comfy.”
"Better than your bed?“ Idun asked, brushing some of that wispy hair away from the child’s face. And she got a most definite nod in return.
”No-o-o-o,” was her response, a long moaning out of the word, her little tight fists covering her eyes, upset and the consequences only making her more distressed.
And after that word, is was simply hiccuping wails which left little Anna’s mouth. She was making a fuss, indeed. One she probably shouldn’t have made, but was doing all the same. That was the price of a young mind that still was just grasping the idea of thinking ahead.
Grabbing her daughter’s wrists, Idun pulled them away from the girl’s face.
"Anna,“ she said firmly. "If you don’t stop this tantrum this instant, you most certainly will not be allowed out of bed again today. I know it is frustrating, but you are a young lady, and this is not how you are to behave. Now, stop this.”
It wasn’t that she was meaning to be cruel, but she knew when Anna was genuinely upset and when she was just trying to get her own way. She knew it was hard for an energetic girl to remain in bed, but if she wanted to truly heal, she would have to learn to follow instructions.
And just like that, Anna’s moment good behaviour left her, and a high-pitched wail of protest rang throughout the infirmary as she was lifted off her feet and brought back to the bed. The little girl definitely didn’t want to go back there, and in her mind, she definitely wasn’t done. Her protests continued into an angry, wailing cry in her mother’s shoulder, any arguments her mother brought up ignored.
She didn’t want to go back to bed, she wanted to walk around and play and run more than anything.
Such a wail would normally earn the girl a punishment of some kind, but given the state she was in, Idun couldn’t bring herself to do so. But her expression did grow serious, with a hint of a motherly annoyance as she pulled Anna away from her shoulder.
"Now, Anna, you promised to get back into bed when I told you,“ she said over the cries. "And if this is how you’re going to behave then you’ll stay there the rest of the day.”
The Queen had truly meant for the child to just have a little rest before trying again, but if this was to be the reaction, she wouldn’t get want she wanted.
”You have, have you?” He said, planting a nice firm kiss on top of those locks, before glancing over at his sweet wife with a knowing expression.
Bringing his daughter and himself to the couch, he figured this was a good way to have a break as any, and sat both him and his daughter down, and of course expecting Idun to join them.
It was always a pleasant surprise, no matter how good or bad the timing, when a child seeked the arms of her father. To Agdar, it was a gift to see Elsa reach out for him just as much as Agdar longed to reach out for her.
And Idun did, sitting herself beside them, one hand remaining on her stomach while the other went to rest on Elsa’s back. The toddler was too busy making herself comfortable against him, wriggling a little to get her position just right, to pay her mother much attention.
It always hurt a little when her own arms weren’t the ones her daughter wanted, but she couldn’t hold onto to the sadness for long. Because toddlers had a tendency to do such things, and seeing her husband and child so happy together made it a little easier to bear.
"She has been a very good girl for most of the morning,“ Idun replied softly, moving up a little to stroke the girl’s hair. "But now it’s nap time, and she just can’t sleep.”
