[IC] The Making of a New Queen

[tsubasa]

Anastasia took Alexandra from him and placed her on her chest before she took Marcus as well. Once they were both feeding, she took the blanket and cover most of their little heads. She looked at Samsul, "He might have been. A lot of people are scared to drop babies. And these ones are half human, he isn't used to that. He is used to strong durable Lost Elf babies," She smiled down at them, "It is good that he was worried... It means that he cares."

She moved over in the bed slightly and patted the spot beside her, "Lie down."

[pyroman]

Samsul did as he was told and lay down next to Anastasia, smiling at her and glancing at his children which he could barely see. Looking back at her he nodded. "Yes, it does seem that he cares a lot. I think he feels regrets for not being a true father for me. He might be scared that something like that might happen again." Samsul spoke out loud as he thought about the situation. He smiled when he thought about the comment about his children only being half human, and kissed his wife lightly. "They're still strong though, it's in their mixed blood."

[tsubasa]

Anastasia smiled as he kissed her and nodded, "With you as their father, I don't think there is a way for them not to be strong."

She laughed a little rubbed Alexandra's back as she fed. She rested her head on his shoulder. She was happy again, that her mother was alive. Not only to see her hold her children but it was nice to know that just like herself Samsul would be getting a bit of a break from his kingly duties. Long enough to get to know their children. When Marcus finished, she picked him up and handed him to Samsul. She adjusted Alexandra in her arms and smiled at the baby. She couldn't think of a time in her life that she had been happier. This was easily on par with their wedding day. She looked at Samsul and kissed him, "You are going to be a wonderful father."

[pyroman]

Samsul smiled as he took Marcus from Anastasia, holding the little boy in his arms carefully. "And you're going to be a wonderful mother." He told her, kissing her back, but being sure not to bump Marcus into into his mother. He was so happy laying there with his wife and children. He doubted that anything could be better than this moment, and smiled up at the ceiling as he thought about their future with all of them. "Millie had a question earlier. When will we be announcing out children out to the world?"

[tsubasa]

Anastasia looked down at Alexandra as she thought, "If we wait too long. Surrounding kingdoms might be mad... We already hid my entire pregnancy from them. They might feel as though we don't trust them.... So sooner the better. I think maybe once we get used to having these two. When we are looking a little less tired."

She bounced Alexandra in her arms a little as she started to cry a little. She held her finger out in front of the baby girl and watched as she grabbed it. Anastasia smiled, "They are absolutely beautiful."

She looked at Samsul again and kissed him, "It wasn't as scary as I thought."

[pyroman]

"I see." He said to her simply as he looked at his son with a wide smile on his face. He wasn't really what else to say since he knew that he couldn't experienced what she did, so he simply lay there with his son in his arms.

Samsul did feel bad that they hadn't told anyone at all about the pregnancy, but they had felt that in order to keep Anastasia safe and out of harm during her pregnancy, they wouldn't be able to tell anyone about it. "I think that the other countries would understand why we chose to keep it a secret."

[tsubasa]

Anastasia looked at him, "Some will...Those whom we did not just end a war with..." She sighed and adjusted Alexandra in her arms, "We hid this to protect us from anyone who might not want us to have heirs. The same people who tried to kill me when I was a babe... The same people we just ended a war with... There is still tension. Thus our reasoning and they might take it wrong."

She sat up slightly and kissed Samsul, "Everything is going to be fine though," She looked at Alexandra, "They are going to be happy."

[pyroman]

A few months had passed since the birth of their two children, and Samsul had always made time to spend with them. He remembered what his own father had told him, and took it to heart, always placing his son and daughter before his work and duties. Them along with Anastasia meant the world to him, and always came first before anything else.

As the sun shined into their room, Samsul woke slowly to s surprisingly quiet Marcus and Alexandra. He knew that they were still there since he could hear their soft and quiet snores, but they weren't screaming or yelling yet at this point in the day. Getting out of bed to check on them, Samsul circled around the bed and made his way over to the crib, where both of his children were laying asleep. He smiled softly at them and looked down at them for a moment before walking back to the bed and laying down with his wife, sure that the children were asleep and okay.

[tsubasa]

Anastasia woke with a start when Samsul climbed back into the bed. In the last few months it was very rare that she managed to sleep through the night. She looked toward the babies snoring and smiled before looking to Samsul. She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a kiss, "How are they?" She whispered.

Very few things dragged Samsul out of the bed and brought him right back. So, she could only assume that he was checking on the babies. They'd wake up soon and cry wanting food. She rolled onto her stomach, glad to have her body back to normal size and being capable of doing so. She kissed Samsul again, "My parents said they are going to be leaving tomorrow..." She said with a yawn. It had been nice seeing her parents for so long and letting them see their grand children grow up a little. They had offered to allow them to stay in the palace with them but they declined, wanting to continue to live on their farm. However, they promised to come back for every birthday.

[pyroman]

"I see, It's a shame they couldn't stay longer." Samsul whispered back to Anastasia as he thought back to her parents visiting. He was surprised that they had stayed for as long as they did, but was still happy to see them once again. They sure did love the children when they first saw them, and although they had both asked if they wanted to stay here and stay with them and the grand children, they declined and told them that they wanted to continue living on the farm. Although they couldn't stay, he was happy to hear that they would be visiting for their birthday every year, assuring that they would see them at least once every year.

Glancing at the children, Samsul smiled again and kissed Anastasia lightly. "The two of them are doing fine. They were just a little quiet, so I checked up on them."

[tsubasa]

Anastasia smiled and looked up at Samsul, "Thank you," she whispered, kissing his cheek. She was glad that he had gotten up to check on them. It let her lie in bed a little longer. After the last few months of waking up in the middle of the night to check on them or because they were crying, a little but longer was the best thing Samsul could give her.

She kissed him, "So, when are we getting married?" She grinned, "Marcus and Alexandra are starting to sleep through the night, my baby belly is gone and I should be able to fit in my wedding dress again ."

[pyroman]

Samsul quietly hummed in thought as he lay there next to Anastasia. He wasn't sure if he wanted to have the wedding soon, or later on when the children were old enough to remember things. For the wedding, he was thinking that it should be simple and small, since they have already been wed. With the children now being able to sleep through the night without fussing, they could still wake up at dawn and not be drained of energy from the night before. "I'm not sure." He told her, thinking about the situation. "but with the children now sleeping through the night, we won't be tired at dawn."

[tsubasa]

Anastasia nodded and smiled as Alexandra started to cry. She jumped off the bed and lifted the baby into her arms, bouncing her before she could wake her brother with her cries. She rocked her back and forth as she opened the front of her dress and allowed the baby to feed while her brother slept. This was easiest, when only one needed to be fed at a time. It allow Anastasia a bit of movement. She walked back over to the bed and sat down on the edge next to him. She pursed her lips, "Well... I don't want to wait too long. You never know what might happen... But yes, waking up at dawn and not being absolutely exhausted will be nice."

[pyroman]

"Then we should have it at the end of this month or near the middle of the next." he suggested to her, still unsure of when their wedding will be. He didn't know if she wanted for it to be a fully blown wedding like the previous one, but he personally didn't see any reason to invite everyone back to the castle just so that they could get married again. He was curious as to how they would react to that, especially when they found out that they were having the wedding for the sake of her mother who actually isn't dead. "What do you think?"

[tsubasa]

Anastasia nodded, "Sounds lovely. We'll just have the servants, which will be nice. I think everyone would be awfully confused by a second wedding. Also, I don't think we need to have the crazy party. I'm sure my mother would just want to see the actual ceremony," Alexandra finished feeding and Anastasia grabbed a small blanket and tossed it over her shoulder. She held Alexandra to it and stood as she patted her back lightly, walking around a bit. She smiled at Samsul, "Besides, if we are going to tell the world that my mother actually isn't dead, I don't think doing so with a wedding is really the way."

When Marcus started to cry, Ana handed Alexandra off to Samsul and went to her son. She lifted him into her arms and just as she had with Alexandra, allowed him to feed as she spoke with her husband. She smiled at him, "We got a summer wedding last time around... It'll be a winter wedding this time around."

[pyroman]

Samsul took Anastasia in his arms and began to play with her a little, making sure not to move around all too much because she had just eaten. He nodded to his wife as he continued to play with her, and smiled at his daughter. "Yes, it does seem that way." He told her. "I think it will be a different experience than having out wedding during the summer." He knew that it would definitely be colder than in the summer, an that fact that they were just far north enough to get snow would only make the change more drastic. Thinking about the light amounts of snow they got, Samsul turned to Anastasia. "Have you ever gotten or experienced snow before?"

[tsubasa]

Anastasia looked at Samsul, slightly surprised by his question. She shook her head, "No... We never got snow back home and I left during my first winter here... and we haven't gotten any snow that I was able to see at least... I assumed that we didn't get any here either."

She transferred Marcus to her shoulder like she had Alexandra and patted her back. She smiled at Samsul, "Why? Do we get snow here?"

She grinned a little at the thought of snow, she wondered if it would feel like the first time she saw the ocean. Her and Samsul could play with Alexandra and Marcus in it when they were older and make a trip out to the ocean to play. She cradled Marcus in her arms again and walked back over to the bed. Carefully, she climbed back on and gave Samsul a kiss. She adjusted Marcus a little before his gave him a kiss on the head, "Oh, my baby boy is getting so big."

[pyroman]

Samsul nodded to Anastasia with a smile as he did his best to remember the snow that they would usually get during the winter season. It wasn't a whole lot of snow, but it still looked nice and you could grab some off of the ground without exposing what was underneath the snow. "We don't get much snow, but with the odd weather that we've been having, I think that we'll be getting more this year than we did last year. The year before didn't bring us much snow." He thought out loud as he continued to play with Alexandra.

He then smiled at Anastasia and moved over to kiss Anastasia. "I think that you'll love the snow, Anastasia. It's truly something to see. We're just north enough to experience it,"

[tsubasa]

Anastasia smiled at Samsul kissed her, "Is that so? Well, I can't wait."

She leaned against him and looked at Alexandra, who lay in his arms looking at her. She waved, "Hi, baby girl."

Alexandra wiggled her arms, throwing them around, causing Anastasia to laugh. She turned her attention back to Marcus, who was staring intently at his father. She giggled a little and waved her finger in front of him, "You'll love the ocean.... when we get a chance to go. It is... wonderful."

She looked at Samsul, "I can't wait for you to see it."

[pyroman]

"From what you told me, the ocean does seen amazing." He told Anastasia, looking back at his daughter in his arms every so often. When seeing her mother laugh, Alexandra giggled and wiggled around more, smiling at her parents.

Looking over to Marcus, Samsul could see him staring intently at his father, which only brought a smile to the Elfs face. "I can't wait for you and the children to experience snow. I think they'll love it."