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“I could use a little more slack, Hans!” Anna said and glanced down to her fiancé. She was standing near the top of a tall, rickety ladder attempting to hang garland around the castle’s entrance. This was a moment she had been looking forward to ever since the autumn season started to come to a close. Christmas was always a favorite time of year for her, even with the gates closed and Elsa hiding away in her room. Her parents always did their best to keep her in the highest of spirits, and that included decorating the main living spaces of the castle. And while she wasn’t in Arendelle anymore, there was no reason why that kind of tradition couldn’t transfer over to her new adoptive family!
Weeks ago, she could remember standing awkwardly outside King Alexander’s study with her fist just inches from the wooden door, afraid to knock. It wasn’t that she was terrified of Hans’ father. In fact, she rather liked the man. Hans and a few of his brothers found the Westergaard patriarch rather intimidating, but the monarch was always extremely kind and generous with her. She was the daughter he never had, therefore he, too, had a hand in making sure Anna was comfortable in her new home. However, unlike Hans’ extensive efforts of happy-homemaking, King Alexander was never present much during regular day-to-day routines. He was always holed away in his study along with Frederick, the heir to the throne, as they handled matters of state.
Asking him to participate in a family activity was actually easier than she thought, though it didn’t give her the result she wanted. At least she was rejected nicely, though the king did promise to try to pop in in-between his engagements to see how the activity progressed.
Hans was eager to give a helping hand, as always, and he even managed to rope twins Viktor and Georg, the second and third eldest brothers, into helping them search through storage closets and attic spaces in search of old family decorations left abandoned over the years. And now, thanks to their labors, the entire great hall was covered in makeshift tables with crates all over the floor. And in the center of the grand room, situated right in the middle of twin curved staircases was a grand Christmas tree just brought in and secured from the outside. There was plenty to decorate, and even better, there were plenty of potential bodies to help decorate, too!
That is… if they were actually doing anything in the first place. As she reached down to get better grips on the rest of the garland, she happened to look over her shoulder at the scene behind them. Viktor and Georg were sitting on the floor by one of the large storage boxes attempting to sort through ornaments for the tree, but it seemed they were the only ones participating.
“Hey, c’mon guys! Don’t let me be the one doing all the work! This is supposed to be good ol’ fashioned family fun!”
“...for whom? ” Lars asked as he slouched sideways across an armchair across the hall. He looked both extremely bored and completely uninterested in anything going on around him. “This certainly isn’t my idea of fun.”
“That’s not surprising.” Viktor spoke up, “considering you’re never in the mood to do anything .”
“It’s amazing that he even knows how to have fun in the first place.” Georg added. Both brothers nodded in agreement.
“Well, it’s not our idea of fun, either.” Derrick muttered with his arms crossed as he and Dirk leaned against one of the marble columns flanking the hall. “And we know what real fun actually is.”
“For god's sake,” Johan sighed excessively loudly, “there’s more to life than screwing every skirt in the village,” he said and knelt down next to where Viktor and Georg were on the floor. He didn’t appear that interested in helping either, but at least the various tree decorations captured a shred of his attention.
“Why aren’t there any snacks?” Tomas whined and collapsed into a chair of his own. “I'm hungry!”
Hans shook his head and as Anna bent down for more garland, he looked up to her with an apologetic look. “I tried to warn you that this was going to happen…”
“I know…” Anna said dejectedly, “I guess I just had hope that Christmastime would make your brothers a lot less… like themselves.” Once she had the garland secured, she climbed down the ladder and brushed her palms into her skirts. “ How does it look?”
Hans took a few steps back to admire her handiwork. “It looks–”
“--Crooked.” Dirk snickered.
“What??” Anna’s eyes widened as she looked back up to the wall. “Hey, no it’s not! Stop pulling my leg.”
“Now that that’s over, can we all go?” Tomas asked and checked the time on his pocket watch.
“What do you mean, ‘now that it’s over’?” Johan asked and pointed to the massive tree. “We still have to get through that monstrosity!”
“Oh geezus!”
Frederick shook his head as he casually turned the page of the book he was reading. “Y’know, if you all stopped complaining and helped Anna, this whole activity would go a lot faster.”
“Well you’re one to talk, Freddy.” Lars swung his legs over in front and sat up in his chair. “You’re not helping, either!”
“I don’t need to.” The heir to the throne replied with a slight holier-than-thou tone of voice. “I’m only here to supervise.”
“ What?!” Dirk pushed off the column and stomped over to the eldest prince. “What makes you so special?!”
“Just because you’re Father’s favorite doesn’t mean you don’t have to get your hands dirty.” Derrick snapped.
Anna sighed and glanced at Hans as the princes continued to banter back and forth. This afternoon was not going to end well if they all kept arguing. She really wanted this to be something fun for everyone. Instead, it seemed to get them all at each other’s throats. Her eyes scanned around the great hall and landed on the makeshift craft station she put together, untouched. Instead of arguing and complaining, they could have been doing something far more constructive. She didn’t go through all of the efforts of finding materials and setting up this workspace just to let it all go to waste. What would King Alexander say when he arrived back from his engagements and found there to be little to no progress made? He would be expecting this hall to be decorated. She couldn’t bear to let him down in such a way.
“Gentlemen, please! Don’t fight!” She stood in the center of the hall and waited until every single man present turned to her. She didn’t care if they eyed her with curiosity or contempt. They were going to have a family activity even if she had to break some noses to make it happen. “Christmas time is supposed to be about traditions and being appreciative of everything that we have. It’s about helping those in need. It’s about loving each other and acting out from the kindness of our hearts!”
“…in what world is Christmas like that ?” Lars whispered to Tomas and Dirk. They all shrugged their shoulders.
Frederick nodded thoughtfully, stood up and turned towards his brothers. “That’s how Christmas would have been all of these years if Mother were still with us.” He said and narrowed his eyes at Tomas. “Don’t give me that skeptical look. Many of you were still too young to know her and the way things used to be, but I remember everything. It was no secret, especially now, that Mother was the life of this castle. Father may have run the kingdom, but she was responsible for this family and its prosperity. There’s a reason why all of this décor and merriment became lost in storage over the years after she passed–”
“--Yeah, thanks for that, Hans .” Derrick snapped and sent a nasty glare to the youngest prince.
Anna winced at the comment and wrapped her hands around her fiancés arm. She could just feel the tension radiating off of him. This was always a sore topic for him. The last thing she wanted was more fighting.
“No.” Frederick shook his head and rubbed his forehead briefly. “We’re not playing that game anymore. Blaming each other for things out of our control is what started this whole mess. It’s what caused Father to retreat to his duties and leave us to our own devices. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I for one would like to see light and life return to this castle; to hear genuine laughter again, not jeers at someone else’s expense. And most importantly of all, I would like to see Father find enjoyment in the holidays after over two decades of loneliness and misery. At the very least, let’s be a family for his sake. I think after all of this time, we owe him that much.” He cleared his throat and made his voice seem as authoritative as possible, “that being said, all of us are going to put aside our scruples and follow through with whatever Princess Anna has in store for us. Because if any of you refuse to cooperate, you’ll find yourself landed in stable duty for the next six months shoveling horse muck with your bare hands .”
Anna had to resist snickering at the bewildered, wide-eyed looks of sheer panic and horror across the majority of the prince’s faces. Honestly, she didn’t peg Prince Frederick to be an ally in this, especially for him sticking up for Hans! But if this rare dose of unity was a result of Christmas magic, she would take it without question.
“Right!” She clasped her hands together and gestured towards the tables set up. “Now that that’s settled, let’s get to work! We only have so much time before the King returns and I want him to be pleasantly surprised! So… there’s paints, fabric scraps, cardstock, scissors and paste. Everything we need for a make-your-own-decoration fest!”
“Wait, stop right there.” Derrick looked warily to the tables. “You’re going to have us craft ? What is this, a toddler’s nursery game?!”
“Wha– no! ” Anna shot back defensively, “This is a chance to add some personal family flair to the tree instead of everything being shiny chains and glass ornaments!”
Hans took a step forward and purposefully positioned himself between Anna and Derrick, just in case his brother decided to throw more of a fit. “What’s the matter? Afraid of using your imagination?”
“...if he even has one.” Johan mumbled under his breath.
“Calm down, Derrick.” Dirk said, resting a hand on his twin’s shoulder. “The sooner we get through this, the sooner we can get laid…”
After a few more choice mumblings from the youngest in the group, the princes dispersed towards the tables. Viktor and Georg eagerly grabbed some carved wooden spheres and the colored paints and moved off to one side. Johan stalled before some fabric pieces and yarn. Tomas, Lars, Dirk and Derrick just stood there staring at the entire table with blank looks on their faces.
Anna took this opportunity to turn to Frederick, who had retreated back to his chair and book. “Wait… aren’t you going to join in? This is supposed to be for everyone .” She said with her hands on her hips.
“It is.” He smiled lopsidedly. “I’m going to get way more enjoyment out of watching them all squirm about. Crafts are… not my forte. But when Viktor and Georg decide they’re done painting, I might just do one bauble. Don’t worry. I promise I will still help. But for now, I’ll just—”
“—supervise.” She finished for him. “Well… I guess that’s acceptable.” Anna sighed. “And I suppose I should be thankful that you stood up for me in the first place. I don’t think I would have managed to really get them going without your help.”
“That’s because they’re afraid of me. It’s nice to flex that power once in a while,”
“Well, I thank you all the same.” She smiled back, then reached for Hans’ hand and dragged him back over to the crates worth of decorations scattered all over the floor.
“Well…” Hans murmured to her, “this is going off better than I thought. “I wasn’t expecting Frederick to put the fear of god into them. For once I’m not the one being threatened.”
Anna beamed at him and leaned over to kiss his cheek. “Maybe this is a sign that things will be better from here on out.”
He shrugged. “Or at least for Christmas.”
“Baby steps, Hans. Baby steps.”
After an hour went by, Anna stepped over to the hall’s entrance doors to survey everyone’s handiwork. The spheres that Viktor and Georg painted were now dry and the twins were busy hanging them around the lower parts of the tree. Johan had used most of the red fabric scraps to make bows. He and Lars glued bits of holly to them, and Frederick was currently using the tall ladder to hang them along the many columns flanking the chamber. Tomas was sitting on the floor surrounded by so many paper scraps, she had no idea what he was up to. But it seemed his imaginative streak finally kicked in because whatever he was doing, he was intensely focused on it.
As for Dirk and Derrick… they were huddled in the corner of the room working on something. It was a secret. The unknown, along with the sly looks on their faces did not sit well with her. But— it was Christmas, and she was going to give them the benefit of the doubt.
She and Hans had made the rest of the room as festive as possible. There was more garland hiding in another box, so they wrapped it around the stairway banisters and spread some colorful tinsel on the console table at the top of the stairs. Before too long, the only full box left was one reserved for the Christmas Tree. And in a stroke of perfect timing, some of the groundskeepers even brought in large wreaths from outside that they hung on the grand entrance doors.
“Great job everyone!” She exclaimed loudly and clasped her hands together against her chest. “Everything looks so beautiful! Your father is going to love this!”
A subtle cough caught her attention, and her gaze moved to the left. Hans was leaning casually against the wall with a ‘come hither’ look on his face. Ooh, he was up to something, that much was certain. Her curiosity was immediately piqued, and when she was about halfway to him, he turned his head and called out into the room.
“Hey, Frederick! Anna and I are going to step out for a bit and get some snacks—“
“Oooh, you had better bring some back for the rest of us!” Tomas interrupted from the floor. “I’m hungry enough to eat Lars!”
A sigh came from Frederick. “Very well. I’ll just—“
“—Supervise.” Hans finished for him this time. “We know.” Eagerly, he took hold of Anna’s hand and led her out through a side hallway towards the kitchens.
“Hans!” She giggled as she tugged along. “The kitchen isn’t this way! What’s this about?”
When they rounded the corner, Hans immediately pulled her against the wall and reached into his waistcoat pocket. Out came a small sprig of mistletoe and he grinned like a fool as he purposefully held it over their heads. A quiet gasp escaped her as soon as her eyes landed on it and her hands came sliding up his chest to loop around his neck to pull him down to her.
The kiss was slow and sweet. A far cry from the more passionate moments when they would duck inside a small sitting room and practically fall into each other’s laps. No, Hans was being a pure gentleman here— as gentlemanly as sneaking an unchaperoned kiss in a darkened corner of a hallway could be, anyway. She loved these chaste kisses just as much as the fiery ones, if only they could last long enough. The smooch was over before it could really get a chance to develop into anything more, and Hans broke away to lean his forehead against hers.
“That was nice…” she murmured to him softly and massaged her fingers gently through the bottom of his hair.
He smiled adoringly at her, “I wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done organizing this today…” he explained, “What Frederick said about my mother was true… there really hasn’t been much life in this place. That is… until you came here. A-and I don’t just mean that because I love you and we’re getting married. Regardless if my brothers would admit it or not, you really have made a difference.”
Anna could feel her cheeks reddening. “But all I wanted to do was decorate for the holidays—“
“You’re forcing us to be a family. Tomas and Lars hardly remember my mother. And Dirk and Derrick were barely over a year old when she died. None of us really know what a real inclusive familial environment is like, and that’s why they act out the way they do. I’m not saying our issues will dissolve after today or even tomorrow… but by you coaxing us into working together, maybe there’s a chance for this family after all.” His empty hand came up to stroke her cheeks, “so thank you… for saving not just me, but maybe my brothers, too.”
She smiled shyly and leaned her head into his hand, “well… most of them. I think Dirk and Derrick are a bit beyond hope.”
He chuckled. “You’re probably right.”
“You didn’t have to pull me away just to say that, though. I’m sure some of your brothers could benefit from hearing that, too.”
“Maybe…” Hans said thoughtfully, “except I also wanted to kiss you. And I certainly wasn’t going to do that right in front of Dirk and Derrick.”
Her eyes flitted upwards to the mistletoe that he still held awkwardly over their heads. “I suppose you were hiding that from them, too?”
“Mmhm…” he nodded. “It’s too much work to chase after eight men fighting over this thing. No one kisses my bride-to-be but me!”
Anna batted her eyelashes sweetly. “Well… I’m still standing under it… and I think a proper thank you for my hard work warrants another kiss, don’t you think? Or better yet… several?” She asked with a slight giggle in her voice. “How long do you think we can get away with hiding here before Tomas becomes cannibalistic?”
Hans couldn’t resist rolling his eyes. “Probably not long.”
“Then we better make every moment count.” She whispered and pulled his head back down for a deeper, more passionate kiss.
Anna couldn’t hide the blush on her cheeks as both she and Hans carried snack trays back to the great hall. The naughty mistletoe was stashed back into his pocket, but that didn’t stop Hans from stealing an extra smooch just outside the kitchen. Hopefully Tomas and the others wouldn’t question why it took so long for them to find something to eat. If word got around that the majority of the time gone was from them devouring each other’s mouths in the corridors, they would never hear the end of it. And Hans worked too hard to keep their courtship as virtuous as possible.
Virtuous with make-out sessions. After all, balance was important!
“Do you think they finished decorating by now?”
“I don’t know…” Hans said thoughtfully. “If everything is done, more of a reason for us to be alone again.” He sighed softly, “but at the same time, I did enjoy decorating, so I hope they still left some of the tree for us.”
“Me too… for both of those!” Anna nodded. “It would be so wonderful if this turned into a new family tradition! And just think! There’s–” her voice was cut off as soon as they rounded the corner onto the connecting hallway to the Great Hall.
“Don’t you dare put that piece of shit on the tree!”
“We made this! It deserves its proper place along with everyone else’s projects!”
Anna exchanged a worried glance with Hans. “Um… what’s going on?”
“There’s only one way to find out.” Hans led the way back to the large chamber, but he and Anna both slowed their pace once Frederick’s voice could suddenly be heard shouting nearly every expletive under the sun while a mixture of the other brothers’ voices all talking over one another. Then there was the sound of something breaking.
“I left you alone for five minutes. FIVE. MINUTES! Must you two always be so god-damn offensive?!”
Anna and Hans stopped dead in their tracks once they actually reached the hall and the sight before them made their jaws drop. Derrick had taken the ladder and stood all the way at the top, but his back was to Anna so she couldn’t see what he was doing. Dirk had pulled the craft table over to the other side of the tree and was standing on it to reach the top where Derrick was to decorate. Tomas was still sitting on the floor in the same place, only now it was clear what he was working on. There were paper snowflakes all around, and he was using string to create a banner for them to hang. Anna wondered how he could even focus on that while there was so much going on around him. Lars, thankfully still alive, was doubled over on his knees. Was he laughing or crying? It was hard to tell.
Viktor and Georg huddled together further back in the room, shaking their heads and using their hands to hide their view of the tree. Frederick had joined them after running out of things to say since it was clear whatever Dirk and Derrick did, they weren’t listening to him to begin with.
“Um…” Anna began, not entirely sure what to say. “We’re back?”
At the sound of her voice, Tomas perked up and instantly dropped everything in his hands. “Oh thank the merciful heavens!” He got to his feet so fast and ran over to the tray Anna was holding. He snatched a sandwich off the pile and shoved a good quarter of it into his mouth. “Ish abou’ ‘ime! What ‘ook…” he swallowed hard and licked his lips before taking another bite, “...what took so long??”
“Never mind that.” Hans said warily as he stepped further into the room. His tray was set down on the nearest console table. “What happened to Johan?”
“Oh.” Tomas shrugged and reached for another sandwich. “He left.” He pointed to a spot on the floor where the broken shards of a glass ornament lay. “Derrick stole the ladder and pissed him off.”
Finally feeling brave enough, Anna set the tray down next to the other one and stepped more into the center of the room. The first thing her eyes landed on were the ornaments decorating the tree. It looked like the brothers finished going through everything! That was wonderful! Different colored glass baubles were scattered about, mixed in with tinsels and ribbon garland draped all the way around.
“Aw, guys! The tree looks great!” She exclaimed with a proud smile on her face. “You should be so…uh…” her enthusiasm instantly waned as she managed to get a look at the top of the tree and what Dirk and Derrick were doing. From the initial look of things, they were trying to precariously settle a topper in place. Only that was no star. And it wasn’t even an angel or a snowman, or anything really resembling winter or Christmas. It was oblong and overall fleshy colored, with the bottom end more divided and rounded on both sides as if they glued two spheres together and used tubed cardstock for the longer portion. For whatever reason, though, there were bits of tinsel glued to the very bottom and the narrower top, the stem, had the tip painted in white. Those were decorative choices that left her rather confused.
“Um… what is that?” Anna couldn’t resist asking with her head tilted slightly to one side. Briefly, her eyes found Hans as he slowly approached. His jaw was dropped, though instead of her curious look, his was more of horror. She couldn’t quite understand why. “Did you guys really make a… squash and put it on the tree?”
“ A SQUASH!!! ” If Lars wasn’t laughing before, he certainly was now. His outburst made Anna turn towards him and she saw him clutching his side as he now fell over onto the floor from his fits with his legs kicking out in the air. Even Tomas nearly choked on his sandwich as he cracked up laughing, too.
Anna felt her cheeks redden in embarrassment. What was so funny?
Dirk and Derrick looked at each other with unamused faces and muttered a disdainful “ virgins” in unison under their breath.
“Um… Sunshine…” Hans wasn’t quite sure how to word this. “That’s not a–”
“ What is this?” A curious voice boomed behind them all. Everyone’s attention was suddenly on King Alexander and Prince Astor as they strolled in from outside and naturally, they froze upon the sight before them. Tomas dropped his half-eaten sandwich to the floor. Lars had managed to stop laughing at his father’s sudden presence, but he was so out of breath that he couldn’t even get off the floor. Frederick, Viktor and Georg looked too embarrassed to even be associated with their brothers. Everyone had grown so quiet that a loose pine needle from the tree could be heard fluttering to the floor.
“Oh dear God…” Astor’s jaw dropped as his gloved hand covered his mouth. He too shared Hans’ horrified expression.
But King Alexander? He stared at his twin sons balanced precariously on ladders and tables clutching the most ridiculous and inappropriate tree decoration that he had ever seen. And for the first time in years, he, too, let out a hearty laugh of his own that lasted so long, it made a few of his sons chuckle awkwardly. After all, if the King wasn’t offended by the sight of the tree, why should they be? “Well done, my children. Well done.” He walked further in and approached Anna. He clasped his hands over her own. “Especially you, my dear. None of this would have been possible without your determination, and it has paid off. It certainly feels like Christmas after so long.”
Anna smiled wide. “Thank you, Your Majesty! But in the end, we all pitched in to make this happen. Even Frederick! He was really the one to rally everyone together. We wanted to do this for you.”
King Alexander smiled warmly at her and bent down to give her a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you,” he said softly and straightened up to address the room. “Thank you, all of you. We are truly lucky to have Anna here who cares so much for this family. It warms my heart to think that perhaps things can return to the way they used to be so long ago. Queen Miriam would be proud to see a sight like this.”
Anna’s cheeks turned pink as she clutched her hands to her chest. “I wish she could be here with us. I wish I could have known her.”
“Then tonight, you shall!” Alexander bellowed, “after dinner, we shall regale you with Christmas tales from years gone by. Stories perhaps… that should have been shared a long time ago.” He nodded slowly, then gestured for Astor to follow him. “But for now, the Ambassador and I still have work to complete. “The rest of you may carry on! We have plenty more decorations stored in the North tower! I think the South Parlor could use some attention.” He said with a subtle wink to her.
“Hint taken.” Anna smiled.
“Oh and Frederick?” Alexander turned to his eldest son as he walked by, “get those three dicks out of that tree.”