One

The house was full of people dressed in dark clothes and for a moment she thought all of them were crows. It contrasted with the luminous sun-rays splashing through the open windows. She could see the sad way in which everybody present looked at them, making her feel like one of those stranded dogs she had seen on posters and adds. Their mournful voices also travelled to her ears: 'poor little things', 'what a disgrace', 'why is life so unfair?' Sitting on the well known colorful rug of the living room, she was supposed to be entertaining her two-year-old little sister, a chubby redhead bread roll who was trying to get her attention by chewing her dear stuffed snowman. In another situation it would have bothered her and she would have snatched the teddy from her quickly, but not that day.

Aunt Liv, dressed in a navy blue vaporous skirt below the knee and a short sleeve white blouse, walked over to where they were and squatted on her also dark blue heels. She had a remarkable resemblance to her mother's features, although her hair color was not as brunette, and she had a lot more freckles than her mother ever had.

"Elsa, how are you doing honey? Are you taking care of Anna?" She put a hand on her head and caressed the platinum hair gently.

The five-year-old girl nodded while looking at her.

"Good," the adult woman praised affectionately. "Are you hungry? Do you want something to drink?" She glanced at the ginger haired toddler, who kept biting the snowman.

Elsa shook her head. "When are Momma and Poppa going to come back?" she asked instead.

Aunt Liv sighed sorrowfully. "Elsa, we've already talked about this. Mom and Dad are not coming back, they're now in Heaven watching over us," she said as delicately as she could. "Uncle Greg and I will take care of you from now on."

The ice blue eyes of the little girl dampened and the adult woman felt her heart break. She got on her knees and hugged her, kissing her head multiple times. It wasn't the first time Elsa had asked that question and Liv knew it wouldn't be the last.

"It'll be alright, baby. We love you both very much and we will take very good care of you." She cleaned the silent tears of the girl's colored cheeks. "Don't cry honey. If Anna sees you're sad then she'll be sad too." Elsa nodded and brushed her eyes with her small fists. Then she embraced her Aunt.

"There, that's much better," the woman said stroking her blonde hair. "I have to take care of a few things, but when I finish I'll be with you and your sister, okay?"

Elsa nodded again.

"Call me if you need anything."

The fair little girl felt one more kiss on her forehead and then saw her Aunt stand up and leave.

Two months later

She was sitting on a large sand colored sofa pretending to watch cartoons on television, her stuffed snowman right next to her. Many things had changed in a very short period of time. She had to say goodbye to her Grandma, her nanny, her pre-kindergarten friends, her teacher, her dog, her house, the city she had been born in... She had never travelled on a plane before, but now she had crossed the Atlantic ocean. She used to be familiar with her neighborhood and her surroundings, and now the new environment felt alien to her. She was accustomed to the cooking of her mother, and now she had to be content with whatever Aunt Liv was able to make. Her father used to read to her at night before going to sleep, and now she didn't want anyone to read to her anymore.

The doorbell rang and she jerked her head towards the hall. Aunt Liv appeared quickly.

"Elsa, can you come please?"

Reluctantly, she grabbed her snowman and got down from the sofa. She walked in the direction of the greeting voices. Aunt Liv had let in an adult slender woman with chestnut colored hair dressed with casual clothes. A redhead boy, dressed in a t-shirt and short pants, accompanied her.

Both of them greeted her Aunt warmly, the two women embracing strongly, while the boy looked at her with an indecipherable look on his green eyes.

"Elsa, this is Mrs. Westergard, a good friend of mine, and this is her son, Hans. They are our neighbors."

The woman crouched, laying one knee on the floor. "Hi dear, nice to meet you", she said with a bright smile. "Did you have a good flight?" She seemed to expect and answer from her, but Elsa remained silent and looked at her Aunt.

"Elsa, say something, she's talking to you," Aunt Liv told her encouragingly. However, the girl didn't heed.

Mrs. Westergard stood up, downplaying what was happening. "Don't worry, I understand," she mentioned sharing a look with her friend. "I only want you to know," she said looking at Elsa again, "that we live there," she pointed to the house that could be seen through the right side entrance windows. "If you ever need anything, you can come without problem."

"Can I go watch TV already?" the little girl asked her Aunt in Norwegian.

The two guests showed surprised faces when they heard the foreign language.

Aunt Liv sighed, nodding with her head. "Yes, you can go."

Elsa left without giving a second look to the strange people that were in the house.

"I'm sorry, Sophie," the hostess apologized. "All of this is being pretty hard on her."

Mrs. Westergard reassured her friend that everything was fine, that there was nothing to apologize for. "Hans, go with Elsa while I talk with Liv. Remember what I told you," she said with a meaningful look. Her son nodded and disappeared towards the living room.

In the kitchen, the two women set to prepare some coffee. They both knew each other for a little bit more than a year, when Liv and her husband had moved to that neighborhood looking to have their own family. They had gotten along very well since the beginning, despite Sophie being eleven years older than her friend. Both couples had shared lunches and dinners at each others' houses as well as different activities both the men and the women on their own.

"How are you holding up?" Sophie asked setting up the plates and the cups her friend had taken out from the cabinet.

"As best as I can," Liv confessed resting her hip against the countertop and slumping her shoulders. "These last two months have been very difficult, so many things had to be done. The funeral, all the paperwork from my sister and brother-in-law, obtaining the custody of the girls, emptying the house to prepare it for its sale… We haven't finished yet, but hopefully we will by Autumn. I was thankful I had my mother and Agdar's brother there to help me."

"How's you mother?" She took the teaspoons from the drawer while her friend tended to the coffee maker.

"Broken. No mother should ever lose a child. I think taking care of the girls is what kept her going, but now that we are not there I'm not sure how she's going to cope. I know she's tough, like Idun always was, but this has been a big hit for all of us. I've told her to come live here in the US with us, because I don't like the idea of her being alone, but she doesn't want to, and I understand her. Oslo if where she has always lived and she likes it there."

"I see. You'll have to be on top of her and call her often to make sure she's fine."

"I know," she said nodding.

"And the girls? Everyone accepts that you and Greg are going to raise them?"

"Yes. There wasn't really much discussion about it. It would be too much for my mother to handle and Jarle already has three kids," she said referring to Agdar's only older brother. "We were the best option, and frankly, I love the girls dearly, I want them with me." Liv's light blue eyes dampened at the thought of Elsa and Anna being orphaned.

"Hey…" Sophie said approaching her friend and taking her hand. "It's going to be okay, Liv. I know it's hell now, but with time it will hurt less." Liv knew Sophie had also lost a sister some years ago, so she comprehended what she was talking about. "What you're doing for them is wonderful and they are lucky to have you."

"Thank you," she replied trying to hold back the tears. "Greg has been very understanding. All of this was very unexpected and knowing we have one under way," she touched her little swelled belly, "he doesn't mind that there are going to be two more members in this family. It's going to strain us financially for a while, but I think we'll be all right, if I don't loose my job of course," she finished with a concerned voice.

"You're not going to loose your job, Liv," Sophie said to cheer her up. "You're good at what you do and they need you."

"But I've taken too much time off and I'm worried that when I go back I'll find someone else in my place. I don't even know how am I going to take care of Elsa and Anna during the summer. I'm going back to work next week and I haven't even started to look for a nanny yet…"

The coffee was already done and the older woman approached to serve it. Liv went to get the milk from the refrigerator, as she knew her friend liked her coffee with it.

"C'mon Liv, you can leave them with me. You know I work from home and that I have Hans."

"But I can't ask that of you," resisted the light brunette pregnant woman.

"Of course you can. What are friends for? I want to help you, specially after everything you're being through. Besides, I think it will be a good distraction for the three of them. Hans gets bored because he doesn't have his older brothers around that much now, so I'm sure he'll welcome it."

Liv looked at her friend seriously.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am," Sophie answered with a warm smile.

Liv agreed, thanking her friend with a hug and telling her that she would owe her a 'big one'.

Hans walked into the living room and found Elsa seated on the right side of the sofa. She looked at him once and then continued watching the television screen. The boy decided to border the low wooden table to sit on the other side, his mind replaying what her mother had told him an hour earlier.

"Hans, today when we go to Mrs. Callahan's house, you're going to meet her nieces, Elsa and Anna. They've come all they way from Norway." The mother, who was seated at his son's dark green desk in his room, on a swivel chair of the same color, grabbed the globe that was on top of it, a Christmas present, and turned to show it to him. "Do you know where Norway is?" she asked.

The red haired boy stood up from his bed and went towards his mother. He rotated the sphere, his emerald eyes shining by the challenge, until he pointed one place up close to the North Pole. "It's here, in the north of Europe," he replied.

"That's right," she confirmed. "Do you know what the capital of Norway is?"

He thought for a moment. "Oslo," he stated.

"Yes, that's correct. You're very smart, honey" the mother praised smiling. She focused her attention again on the globe. "The two of them have come from Oslo, crossing all the Atlantic ocean," she marked it on the circular surface with her index finger, "to Chicago, to live with their Aunt," she explained.

"Why?"

"Because their parents died," answered the mother.

"Died..?" A frown appeared on Hans' freckled face. "How?"

"In a car accident."

There was a moment of silence.

"That's very sad," he said almost in a whisper looking at her mother. The concept of death wasn't unfamiliar to him, for her Aunt Olivia had passed away a couple of years ago. He remembered the experience as a dark cloud that didn't let the light of the sun go through. Her whole family had been affected by it, specially her mother.

"Yes, it is. How would you feel if Dad and I died?"

He got nervous by the thought of it. "Sad… lonely… lost… I would want to cry."

The woman put the globe in its place .

"Well, that's how Elsa and Anna are feeling right now. I want you to behave and be nice to them. They're suffering a lot and everything here is new to them. They don't know how life is lived here and they don't have any friends, so we need to help them, okay?"

Hans nodded, understanding. "Alright."

Save for the movement of her eyelids she looked like a statue with her gaze fixed on the cartoons. Hans didn't remember meeting someone so… fair. Her skin was a lot paler than his and his was already very light colored. The same with her hair, it was of such a light blonde tone that it was almost white. After only several minutes in her presence, she already felt enigmatic to him. He wondered what was she thinking. Probably something sad by the seriousness of her expression.

"Hi, I'm Hans," he introduced himself looking at her from the other side of the large sofa.

The little girl ignored him and kept to her quiet stance.

"Was that Norwegian what you spoke before?" he tried with a different subject, tilting his head a little while he observed her. She was wearing a navy blue and white dress with a matching headband and shoes. Her teddy snowman was seated right next to her, making her more company than he was.

He looked at the television screen. "Tiny Toons are fun, right?" he asked, glancing at her once more. He could tell she had heard him, for she looked at him from the corner of her eyes. Still, he had no answer back. That didn't relent him, quite the opposite. The more she acted as if he wasn't there the more he wanted to get a reaction from her.

Suddenly, he decided to try something different. He approached her on the sofa and picked up the fluffy snowman. He turned it around in his hands, so it was facing her, and grabbed the brown sticks that were the snowman's hands.

"Hi, I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs," he said with a deeper tone of voice moving the plush toy.

Elsa's blue eyes finally paid him attention. She showed a small smile on her lips.

Encouraged by that reaction, Hans kept speaking. "I also like Summer. Do you like Summer?" he continued in the same fake voice.

Elsa nodded and smiled more.

Glad that she wasn't seeing the television screen anymore, he dropped the childish facade, returning the teddy snowman to her. "I've seen the movie and it's very good. Olaf is funny, right?" He saw the girl nod again. Hans thought for a moment before continuing. "I especially liked the Queen's powers. I wish I could have them, they're better than Spiderman's."

"I'm the Snow Queen," Elsa blurted with determination.

Hearing her voice startled him, but he smiled. She was finally talking.

"You are?" he said not convinced, playing along. "Then show me."

Elsa raised her arms and moved her small hands in front of her for the imaginary magic to come out.

"Oh, that's very pretty," he complimented when she finished, looking in front of them as if there was an ice creation in the middle of the living room. "Can you make something bigger?"

Elsa nodded smiling and put her hands to work again in a different direction.

The two women kept talking in the kitchen for some time until they finished drinking their coffee. Sophie asked if she could see Anna, and so Liv took her to the room where the two-year-old toddler was taking a nap. However, as they walked through the hallway, which had open spaces connecting to the living room, she came to a full stop, her eyes on the two kids on the sofa.

"What's wrong?" asked Sophie also looking at Hans and Elsa, who were talking at that moment.

"Nothing," said Liv reprising her footsteps.

When they reached the bedroom, they got closer to the recently bought crib and saw Anna sleeping face down.

"That's the first time I've seen Elsa smile in days," whispered the Aunt with her eyes on the sweet strawberry blonde.

"Oh, you know how Hans is, he can charm anyone," she mentioned smiling and also admiring the sleeping child.

They became silent for a few seconds, until Liv spoke again.

"While I was in Oslo, I was so busy taking care of everything that I barely had time to realize that I had lost a sister and a brother-in-law. However, my mind was constantly thinking of the girls. Every time I went to my mother's house to see how they were doing I could see their sad faces, mainly Elsa's. I mean, Anna is too little to really acknowledge what has happened, but Elsa…" She grimaced. "I'm worried about her. She used to be so cheerful and energetic, and now she barely smiles… She's become so calm and quiet. I find her many times spaced out, as if her mind is somewhere else and not in the present."

"Children notice everything. They may not grasp all the details, but they are aware of what is happening. It must be very difficult for her to accept that her parents won't be here anymore," reflected the older woman.

"She keeps asking me if Idun and Agdar died because of her, and every time I answer her that it's not her fault, that they had an accident. I'm trying to tell her the truth as tactfully as I can, but I'm not sure if it's doing her any good." Sophie could hear the insecurity in her tone of voice.

"You're doing the right thing, Liv. Don't keep anything from her. She deserves to hear it." She caressed Anna's cheek delicately. "She's very pretty," she murmured.

"And a whirlwind," Liv added with a smile. "She likes to talk a lot and to move. If you don't watch her, she disappears in an instant."

"Really? So I'm going to have my hands full, huh?" Sophie joked.

"Yes. I think you don't know what you signed in for."

"Believe me, after Hans I can handle any kid," the chestnut hair colored woman assured her friend.