Sometimes 'girl time' was well deserved. This? This was one of those times. Cotillion had ended without any fuss or fanfare and the group had split, the boys dragging Ben off for some 'guy time' and the girls dragging Mal and Evie off for a sleepover.
Apparently it was a well established Cotillion tradition. Evie was all for it but Mal was more than a little hesitant. She wasn't big on 'girl' things. Smoke bombs? Sword fights? That was more her area of expertise. Not hair braiding and makeovers.
Thankfully, Mal had forgotten just who was involved in this sleepover group. Lonnie, Macaria and Emma were no pampered princesses (even if Emma was a princess) and Rowyn and Robin wouldn't try to force makeovers on people.
"Okay, okay, I got one," Robin said, leaning on the four poster bed in her dorm. They were playing a game Emma had started called 'Would You Rather?' "Would you rather eat a bad apple and sleep for a week or break up with your prince?"
"Apple," Evie said instantly.
"Yeah, what she said," Mal nodded before chuckling. "Though I guess it would be 'king' in my case."
"Apple," Macaria said, shaking her head in amusement at her cousin's comment. "Just because I'm curious to see how it would affect someone who was part deity."
"Princes are overrated," Lonnie shook her head. "Besides, sleeping for a week means less time to train for Swords and Shields."
"Depends if I really liked the guy or if he was a political match," Rowyn said. "Then again, sleeping for a week might be a good way to break up with your prince if he was a more shallow type."
"Though I bet you'd pick 'apple' if the choice was that or breaking up with Conner," Robin teased.
"Shut up!" Rowyn glared but her red cheeks betrayed her.
"Conner?" Mal asked with a small chuckle. "Ben's former Tourney team mate?"
"The very same!" Robin nodded.
"Oh like you don't get doe eyed over William," Rowyn shot back at her sister, who shrugged but a faint blush came to her cheeks.
"Okay, both of you like someone on the Tourney team?" Mal asked. "Ben'll be happy. He keep saying that those boys need girlfriends so that they'll stop trying to pry into his dating life."
"Well Emir's covered with Emma," Evie spoke up. "Plus Akiho's now with Elle. Carlos is with Jane and Chad is in an on again off again relationship with Audrey. I *think* they might be getting close to on again but then again I don't really talk to Chad. Or Audrey."
"Okay as fascinating as this is and now the four of us and Jane will have to form a 'dating Tourney team members club', I believe it's my turn!" Emma chuckled. "Would you rather sing with a squirrel while you twirl or have a zit?"
"Zit."
"Zit."
"Zit."
"Zit."
"Squirrel."
"Come on you guys, what do you have against squirrels?" Emma asked with a small pout. "Only Macaria picked squirrel!"
Macaria shrugged. "I don't get zits. Again, part deity. Have you ever seen a God with acne?"
"Nothing against squirrels Emma," Mal said. "I don't twirl—tonight was an exception, not the rule. Plus, zits will go away at some point."
"If you're good enough at makeup, you can make the zit disappear while you have it," Evie nodded. "Besides I think Dude would chase away my dance partner."
Robin chuckled and shook her head in slight amusement. "Okay sis, it's your turn."
"Hmm," Rowyn said, tapping her chin as she thought of a question. "Okay. Would you rather wear a shoe made of glass or fall asleep in your class?"
"Fall asleep," Robin said instantly. "You're asking for major foot injuries if that shoe breaks."
"Yeah I don't know how Queen Ella did it," Emma said, shaking her head. "Besides, the humiliation of falling asleep in your class lasts for maybe the class period. Those foot injuries could last weeks."
"Eh, we've had worse," Mal shrugged, thinking of the number of times she had to reset Jay's knee after he fell off one of the roofs on the Isle. "Besides falling asleep in public could leave you vulnerable for people to attack. The apple question at least implied you were sleeping in your own room which could be fortified to prevent an attack."
"Very true," Evie nodded. "Besides, I can think of so many things I can pair with a glass slipper."
The other girls frowned but didn't comment. "Okay then...Lonnie, you're up!" Emma said.
"Would you rather...give a big smooch to a frog or drop your phone in a bog?"
"Wouldn't you risk dropping your phone anyway since most frogs live in bogs?" Macaria asked and Lonnie shrugged.
"Is neither an option?" Robin asked. "I can't afford a new phone and I'd rather not risk turning into a frog like Queen Tiana did."
"Yeah, I'm on my sister's side with that," Rowyn nodded, the former mini argument from earlier forgotten. "I just paid off my phone."
"You two know this is all hypothetical right?" Mal asked. "No one is asking you to actually drop your phone into a bog or kiss a frog."
"We know."
"Okay, just checking."
"You two are royalty though," Evie pointed out. "Couldn't your parents just—"
"Dad believes that we should earn anything 'expensive' we want," Rowyn stated. "Our hobbies, he's fine with helping finance. Or at least the basics. For example, he's fine buying me all the canvas I want but if I wanted a really expensive set of brushes, I'd need to earn the pocket money for it."
"Or if I need a new bow for archery, he's fine with footing the bill but I'd need to buy the ticket to the Tourney game with my own money if I want to go," Robin added.
"Basically, he doesn't believe in spoiling us to no end," Rowyn said with a smile. "Though our birthdays and winter holidays are exceptions to the rule."
Mal chuckled. "So sounds like your parents are making sure you're not Chad or Audrey?"
Despite the fact that the princess was trying to change, there was no denying that Audrey was rather spoiled.
"Pretty much."
"Sounds about right."
"They're not the only ones," Emma said with a smile. "Mom and dad are firmly in the camp of 'spoil them rotten on their birthdays and holidays' but that's about it."
"Didn't your mom once get you a bow and arrow set?" Macaria asked. "I remember because she asked dad to ask Aunt Artemis where to get the best kind of bow and arrows."
"That was a birthday present," Emma said. "Besides, dad got me a sword so it wasn't too bad."
"Wait, Snow White got you a bow and arrow set?" Mal asked with a small chuckle. "The same Snow that frolicked with woodland creatures and got them to do housework?"
"Dad taught mom how to defend herself after the apple incident," Emma said. "She's still what I know you two would call a 'prissy' princess but she can handle herself pretty well in a fight. Plus, I have an uncle on the Isle so my parents wanted to make sure both Neal and I could defend ourselves if need be."
"Wait, you have an uncle on the Isle?"
Emma sighed. "I've never told anyone this before but dad's not a real prince. Well, he is a prince but he wasn't born a prince."
"Whenever you want to start making sense, go right ahead," Mal said and Emma rolled her eyes.
"Dad and his brother were born to a shepherd on the other side of their kingdom," Emma said. "I don't know why the king asked for dad but he did and was raised to be a prince. When Ben announced that he was considering bringing kids from the Isle, they told me about my Uncle James. Just in case one of the kids Ben brought over was one of his."
"James...James...E, why does that name sound familiar?" Mal asked, looking at her best friend.
"Oh, Prince James," Evie said, snapping her fingers as the name came to her. "The one mother thought would be a good match for me when I turned sixteen."
"That's right!" Mal nodded, not noticing the horrified looks on the other girls' faces. "But then she changed courses and put you in Hans' path after James didn't work out."
"Okay, wait a minute," Emma said, interjecting herself into the conversation. "Evie, are you saying your mother tried to force you into a relationship with a man twice your age?"
"We don't have a lot of princes on the Isle," Evie shrugged. "If you wanted young, our only choices were Hans or James. Otherwise we were looking at either Scar or John, who were much older than the aforementioned princes."
"Still! James is old enough to be your father!" Rowyn spoke up.
"He was a decent man, well decent for the Isle anyway," Evie said with a small smile, trying not to think about her father, who'd passed away on the Isle when she was eight due to a virus that had ravaged the Isle. "Honestly, I think he had more of a thing for Jay's mom."
"Jacquline," Mal smiled. "Of Jack and the Beanstalk," she elaborated upon seeing the confused looks on the AK's faces.
"I thought Jack was well...a guy?"
"Yeah well so did most everyone else," Mal chuckled. "Jacquline taught Jay the basics of stealing when he was about three or four."
"Hey, don't be thinking only guys can do stuff," Lonnie chuckled. "My mom practically won the war for the Chinese army and she was a girl."
"Didn't mean anything by it Lonnie," Rowyn said, shaking her head slightly. "But let's get back on topic. Evie, your mom didn't actually try to put you in a relationship with someone twice your age did she?"
"Why would I lie about that?" Evie asked. "Most parents on the Isle tried to arrange matches if they could. It was all about trying to gain the most power on the Isle—though Mal had it lucky since Maleficent ruled the Isle."
"She probably would have tried to arrange something for me to be with Jay or Hook if she was so inclined," Mal said with a shrug. "Keep the bloodline going—probably Jay more so than Hook since there's the possibility of magic with Jafar wishing to be a genie before Aladdin defeated him."
"When you say Hook, you don't mean Captain—?"
"No, no," Mal said, shaking her head and looking slightly disgusted at her cousin's question. "Harry. Captain Hook was too much of a coward and a codfish for Maleficent to ever entertain the notion. Harry's insane and weirdly obsessed with Uma but there's no denying he's a lot braver than his father."
Of course Maleficent would actually have to care about her or think relationships were important to even begin considering paring Mal with someone. Never before did Mal think she was lucky to have Maleficent, otherwise she might have been forced into something she didn't want—thankfully she had had Steph in her life too, for the stuff a normal mother would do.
"Did anyone ever punch James? For being in a relationship with you, Evie?" Emma asked and Evie chuckled.
"On the Isle? I believe the words 'lucky bastard' were used a few times," Evie said dryly. "If anyone punched him, it would have been because they were jealous. Not because they thought the pairing was wrong. It didn't work out though—James wanted someone more...shall we say mature? Didn't help that I already had the reputation of messing with boys, stringing them along until I got what I wanted and then leaving them high and dry."
"And your match with Hans lasted maybe a week before that ended. We came here soon after though so your mom didn't have time to try to force you into a match with Scar or John," Mal added.
The AKs looked on, still horrified that this had happened. They had had no idea! Sure they knew the Isle wasn't like Auradon but they didn't think it was that different. For a mother to try and force her daughter into a relationship with a man twice her age?
"What are you guys looking like that for?" Mal scoffed. "You guys saw the Isle in the viewing. You know it's nothing like it is here in Auradon."
"But...we just thought—"
"That even villains love their kids?" Mal finished, repeating the same words Lonnie had used that night in the kitchens and the daughter of Mulan winced at the reminder. Mal sighed and her voice lost the slight edge it had gained. "A few do. Dr. Facilier has a good relationship with Celia and Freddie, and Anastasia Tremaine loves both Ava and Anthony dearly even if Anthony drives us all crazy by insisting on being called 'Lord Tremaine'."
"And Dizzy. Anastasia definitely cares for Dizzy," Evie added with a small smile, thinking of the young redhead.
"True," Mal nodded. Steph and dad clearly love Hadie, anyone with eyes could see that, she thought as the group grew silent. They sat in the silence for a few minutes before Mal clapped her hands together.
"Okay, I thought we were playing a game?" Mal asked, trying to regain the cheerful mood that had vanished with the talk of the Isle. "Is it my turn?"
"I think so," Rowyn nodded, thankful for the subject change.
Mal tapped her chin as she scrolled through her phone before pausing on an image of an ogre. Why she had that, she had no idea but she was thankful for it in this instance. "Would you rather ride to a ball in a pumpkin and fall or...go out with him?"
She showed the girls her phone as they all burst out laughing.
"There's more to life than looks," Emma said. "He could be a real sweetheart."
"Says the girl who's mom is the 'fairest of them all'," Robin teased and Emma chucked her pillow at the other girl. The game quickly turned into a pillow fight and Mal had to laugh at the sudden turn.
Meanwhile, over in Akiho's dorm, the boys were having a sleepover of their own; having retired from 'guy time'.
"Guys, come on," Jay said, rolling his eyes at Emir's third attempt to find out if he had a crush on anyone or in Emir's words if he had his eye on any of the girls in school. "Just because I'm the only single one in this room does not mean I need a girlfriend. Why break the hearts of all the other girls?"
"Hey I'm just amazed I got a girlfriend before you did Jay," Carlos chuckled.
"Shut up!"
"Hey it's okay Jay," Ben said. "Emir and Akiho have had crushes on their girls for a respective three years before having the nerve to ask them out."
"Ben!"
"You guys teased me about Mal after I asked her out, turn about is fair play!" Ben chuckled. "Besides I didn't take three years to ask Mal out!"
"At least we've got girls," Emir snorted as he shook his head. "The rest of the team's still single."
"And constantly sticking their noses into my dating life!"
"We do too!"
"Yeah well you're you. Safe to say I'm used to that by now," Ben said, shaking his head.
"Yeah, yeah," Akiho rolled his eyes before glancing at his phone. Emir shook his head before gently tugging his phone out of the Arendelle prince's hands.
"Dude!"
"If anything happens, they'll call," Emir said, tossing the phone to Ben to try to prevent Akiho from grabbing it. "You need to relax okay? I swear, you're turning into Ben!"
"Are we playing keep away?" Ben chuckled, holding the phone and seemingly ignoring the comment Emir had made.
"Ben, I swear..."
"Jay, catch!" Ben chuckled, tossing the phone to Jay as Akiho stared at Ben in shock, not expecting Ben to do that. "Hey, as you used to remind me when we were younger, my dad's an anti-hero. You really think I can't be 'bad'?"
"You?" Akiho asked. "King Golden Boy?"
"Ooh, can we use that nickname?" Jay spoke up, smirking a little.
"Guys, come on. I'm not that gold—"
"Ben, the fact that you can't even trash talk anyone is a sign that you're golden," Emir spoke up. "I dare you, right now, to come up with something negative about someone."
"...you're insane you realize that?"
"Well thank you your highness but that doesn't count. You've called Akiho and me insane probably once a day since we were twelve."
"Yeah Ben, that's tame," Akiho chuckled. "Come on. What about your council? I know you've had plenty of meetings that could easily have been an email. Aunt Elsa usually has plenty to say about your council members."
"Dad too," Emir nodded. "I believe the term 'egotistical time wasters' have slipped through his lips a time or two."
"Aunt Elsa usually rants about the fact that it takes the council three hours to decide on something that could easily be a two paragraph email."
"What's the point?" Ben asked. "All that causes is unnecessary drama and if a member of the press happened to hear what I said..."
"There's no members of the press here," Emir said. "No one in this room would dare say anything to those vultures."
"Yeah Ben, it's not healthy to keep stuff bottled up," Akiho nodded. "Take it from my aunt, the 'conceal, don't feel' method doesn't exactly work."
"Lay off him guys," Jay said gently as Ben sighed. "If Ben doesn't want to trash talk anyone, that's his choice."
"Thank you Jay!" Ben said with a smile.
"You know he's just saying that because you're dating Mal right?" Carlos chimed in. "Jay's protective of the gang but none more so than Mal and therefore anyone under Mal's protection. Probably because he's known her the longest."
"Doesn't matter, he's still asking those two to lay off," Ben chuckled, gesturing to Emir and Akiho. "Now, I thought we were playing keep away with Akiho's phone? Or have we changed to pressuring me into trash talking someone?"
"No reason why we can't do both," Emir joked. "Jay, pass it here!"
"Guys, I swear to Zeus, if you cause that phone to break..."
"You'll what? Glare at us?"
"Emir!"
"Dude, I told you. If for some reason they can't reach you, they'll call Ben since Ben's the reigning monarch and he'll need to be informed to be invited to the celebration of birth. And then, your aunt will probably call me because by now all the adults in our lives know we're practically joined at the hip."
"That doesn't matter! I don't want to worry my mom if they can't get ahold of me right away!"
"Carlos, catch!" Emir shouted and tossed the phone to the younger boy. Carlos caught it but grunted as Akiho tackled him to grab his phone.
"Got it!"
"Great. Now get off!" Carlos exclaimed, causing Akiho to pause.
"Oh, sorry Carlos!"
Carlos shook his head as the Arendelle prince scrambled to get off of the other boy. "Gods, you weight more than Jay!"
"Hey, I'm not that bad!" Jay chuckled. "You're just way too skinny dude."
"I know," Carlos sighed. Being off the Isle and living with Rodger and Anita had helped in allowing Carlos to gain some weight but it would be a long way to go before he matched Jay or the others. If Carlos was honest, that probably would never happen but at least he could get to be a healthy weight. Whatever that was.
Ben frowned slightly as he noticed a scar on Carlos' ankle as the smaller boy's pajama pants had ridden up when Akiho had tackled him. Ben didn't remember seeing that before, but then again he didn't spend much time looking at Carlos' ankle if he was honest. "Carlos, what is that?"
"Nothing," Carlos said quickly, pulling his pant leg down to cover it.
"Carlos, come on," Ben said, frowning slightly at the behavior.
"Ben, I said it was nothing!"
"Is someone hurting you?" Emir asked, having seen the scar too. "Is it Chad? I want to say Audrey too but it's obvious she's at least trying to turn over a new leaf."
"No, guys come on. It's nothing," Carlos said. "It's old. From the Isle okay?"
The three AKs looked over at Jay, who shrugged.
"If Carlos wants to talk about it, that's his business," Jay said. "But guys, you know the Isle isn't all sunshine and rainbows. The number of times Mal's had to reset my knee or shoulder after falling off the roofs when we were younger..."
"Don't you guys have doctors who could do that?" Akiho asked, causing Jay and Carlos to look at each other before the two VKs burst out laughing. It was at least three minutes before either one of them sobered up enough to talk once more.
"Doctors? On the Isle?"
"Akiho, you were present at the viewings right?" Carlos asked. "Did you see anything that could possibly function as a doctor's office?"
"And even if there was, no kid would want to be seen as weak by going there," Jay said, thoughts of when he was younger and a particularly stubborn pirate floating unwanted in his head.
The Harry I thought I knew would have gone days before letting Mal reset his knee and usually I had to hold him down to make sure he didn't run off while Mal did it, Jay thought before shoving the thoughts down to the far depths of his mind. Hook had made his choice all those years ago. As had Jay.
The past was in the past. Thinking about it now would only be painful and bring up memories Jay would rather forget.
Ben frowned—unlike the food situation and the clothing donations, the lack of doctors on the Isle seemed like it had been set up that way from the start. His father had set up the Isle. But he wouldn't be that cruel would he?
Just talk to him. Maybe dad did set up a medical system and it just fell to the wayside, Ben thought. After all, the Isle's twenty years old while Jay's seventeen and Mal and the others are sixteen. A lot can happen in three years.
"So Carlos, you've gone sixteen years without seeing a doctor?" Akiho asked, more than slightly shocked. All the kids in Arendelle at least had access to medical services whenever they wanted or needed them.
"I'm fifteen," Carlos said after a moment's pause.
"Yeah, Carlos is a year younger than Mal and Evie," Jay nodded.
"Oh. Sorry I just thought—"
"No, no, it's alright," Carlos said with a small smile. "I'm used to people thinking I'm not my age. Though usually it's in the other direction."
"It's Auradon, Carlos," Jay chuckled. "No one wants to insult anyone here."
"Chad?"
"I think he's the exception, not the rule."
Emir and Akiho snorted in amusement while Ben frowned slightly. The more he heard about Chad's behavior from the viewings or his friends, the more it became apparent that he truly didn't know his oldest friend.
Before Ben could say anything, though, the familiar melody of For the First Time in Forever rang through the room. Akiho snatched up his phone and answered it, heading over to a corner for privacy.
"Dad? Is it...is mom...uh huh. She's not in the castle? They're moving her where? Asclepius Memorial? Dad, I can be there in fifteen minutes, twenty if I take the time to throw clothes on. What? No, dad! I want to be there for mom! I don't care that it's almost midnight! Dad, I'm almost seventeen years old. Aren't I old enough to make this choice?"
Akiho grew silent and the other boys glanced at one another before nodding. No matter what, they'd find a way to make sure Akiho got to the hospital in time.
"Okay. Okay, thank you dad. Yes, I understand, I'll stay in the waiting room. I'll be there in fifteen. Love you."
Hanging up, Akiho turned back to his friends and smiled slightly.
"Mom and dad apparently were coming to Cotillion to surprise me when mom's water broke," he said, heading toward the door. He didn't even care that he was still wearing his sweatpants and short sleeved shirt that he normally wore to bed. "I have to go Ben—"
"I texted Dean and the limo's waiting for you out front," Ben said and Akiho stopped in surprise. "We'll be five minutes behind you dude. I'll just need to text Mal so someone knows where I am—plus I'm sure she knows about your mom."
"She was the first person I told," Akiho said. "The day Lady Persephone asked me to come to her chambers."
Ben couldn't help but smile at that, happy that his friend was able to have a friendship with Mal. It certainly was different than how Emir and Akiho had felt about Audrey...but it wasn't the time to get into that.
"Go on," Ben said gently, turning Akiho to the door. "Like I said, we'll be right behind you."
Akiho nodded and raced out of the room, running to where Ben said the limo waited. Sure enough, the black car was there with the Auradon flags flying on the front as a way to differentiate it from the other limos the royal family used.
"Where to, Prince Akiho?" The driver asked as Akiho climbed into the back seat.
"Asclepius Memorial, please. As fast as you can."
"The king already gave orders for me to do just that," the driver said, giving Akiho a small smile through the rear view mirror. "Hope you're ready for speed."
Akiho nodded and the driver took off. Before Akiho knew it, he was there—fifteen minutes exactly.
It probably helped that the flags were there. Any cops on patrol wouldn't pull over the king's limo, especially with how fast it was going and where we were traveling to. They probably assumed there was an issue with either Queen Belle or King Beast, Akiho thought as he made his way to the waiting area of the maternity wing.
"Akiho!"
"Aunt Elsa!" Akiho sighed in relief upon seeing his aunt. "How did—?"
"Olaf sent word on Gale that Anna was giving birth," Elsa told him, wrapping her nephew up in her arms. "I came as quickly as I could."
"I'm sure mom will appreciate that you came," Akiho nodded and Elsa chuckled softly.
"There's no place else I'd rather be," Elsa said as the two of them sat down on the uncomfortable waiting room chairs, Akiho resting his head on his aunt's shoulders. Right now, he didn't care about perception or being a perfect prince. He was just a tired and worried son.
"You should get some sleep," Elsa said gently. "It's late and I'm sure you wore yourself out, having fun at Cotillion."
"I'm fine."
"As stubborn as your mother," Elsa chuckled. The two sat in silence for a minute before Elsa began to hum softly. Akiho smiled as he recognized the tune, it was the same song his mother used to sing before bed when he was younger.
"Where the north wind meets the sea, there's a river full of memory," he began to sing softly.
"Sleep, my darling safe and sound, for in this river all is found," Elsa sang back, gently brushing some hair out of Akiho's face. "In her waters, deep and true, lay the answers and a path for you. Dive down deep into her sound, but not too far or you'll be drowned."
Akiho's eyes grew heavy as his aunt continued to sing and he was soon fast asleep when Ben and the others arrived, Ben the only one fully dressed while the others were still in their pajamas.
"Queen Elsa," Ben said softly, not wanting to wake his friend. "Any news?"
"No King Ben," Elsa said and the others took their seats; Jay pocketing his phone.
"Lady Mal would like me to pass along congratulations, Queen Elsa," Ben said. "She would be here as well but she's entertaining others—"
"King Ben, do not think I'm offended by Lady Mal not being here," Elsa said gently. "It's late and you all are first and foremost teenagers. The only thing you should be doing at this hour is sleeping."
"Good luck with getting this workaholic to sleep when it's still technically the same day," Emir snorted in amusement, patting Ben on the shoulder. Ben rolled his eyes and the group fell into silence. Every few minutes or so, a doctor would come out from behind the double doors but no one with news that mattered to the group of six. Finally, after about three hours of waiting, Kristoff came out with a small smile on his face.
"Elsa?"
"How is she?" Elsa said, not wanting to get up as Akiho was still fast asleep; his head resting on her shoulder.
"Resting right now," Kristoff said. "I'd ask if you wanted to come meet your niece and nephew but—"
"Twins?!" Elsa gasped and smiled in delight. "But I thought there was only going to be one?"
"So did we," Kristoff chuckled. "Little Agnarr apparently was hiding from the sonogram."
Elsa's eyes filled with tears. "She named him after father?"
"It was the only name that felt right," Kristoff told her. "Prince Agnarr II of Arendelle."
"And the girl? Or does my niece not get a name?"
Kristoff gave a soft chuckle. "Your sister insisted that if she was going to share a first letter with our sons, then I would share a first letter with our daughter. Princess Kari."
"Congratulations King Kristoff," Ben said softly, getting up to shake the other royal's hand.
"Oh King Ben! My apologies, I didn't realize you were here or else I would have—"
"Kristoff, it's fine," Ben said, forgoing the formal title. "I'm not here in an official capacity, only to make sure my friend had company while he waited."
"We both are sir," Emir nodded. "Allow me to pass along my family's congratulations as well."
"Thank you. Both of you," Kristoff said with a smile before gently shaking his son. "Akiho, son?"
"Hmmm? Dad?" Akiho said, groaning slightly as he woke up.
"Who else?"
"Dad!" Akiho exclaimed as he remembered where he was. "Mom, is she-?"
"Your mother's fine," Kristoff said, cutting off the worried tirade. "She's resting. I was going to ask if you wanted to go take a look at your new siblings."
Akiho smiled but then paused. "There was an 's' at the end of that. Twins?"
"Trust me son, I'm just as shocked as you are but Agnarr and Kari are here, perfectly healthy as well," Kristoff chuckled as the father and son went to the newborn nursery to look at the new additions. Akiho couldn't help but smile at seeing his new brother and sister. Kari shared the blond hair he had gotten from his father while Agnarr seemed to favor their mother.
"They come with hats?" Akiho asked, noting the blue and pink hats his siblings were wearing. Kristoff could only chuckle.