OKAY so I imagine this taking place about five months after the events of "How Not To Meet Your Ally." You don't have to read that story to understand and enjoy this one. Hiccup and Astrid are married, and have been so for a few months. And so, this is just a one-shot, occurring between "How Not To Meet Your Ally" and "How Not To Give Up" (this story will be posted soon, hopefully). So, enjoy this one-shot! :D

Astrid walked out of the healer's hut, not knowing what she should have been feeling. As soon as she did so, she took off running, jumped on Stormfly's back, and then took off to find Hiccup.

She just had to find him. She had a few important things to tell him.

She found her husband at the docks, where he was breaking up a fight between two fisherman. Astrid landed Stormfly as near as she dared, and then approached slowly, waiting for them to stop.

"I told ye, Ack's guilty!" one of them shouted while looking at Hiccup, pointing to the person he was arguing with.

"Me!?" Ack exclaimed. "But Haggard the one who sabotaged my catch!"

"What happened again?" Hiccup questioned.

"I was sailing," said Ack, "when suddenly this lunatic tried to define my vessel!"

"It was my ship he was usin'!" Haggard shouted back. "I didn't want his catch!"

"But ya still lost it!" shouted Ack. "I'll never get it back!"

"Well, maybe ya shouldn't 'ave used my ship!" shouted Haggard.

"But I don't have one!" said Ack. "There was nothin' else to use!"

"Okay," said Hiccup, wringing his hands together, "how about this. Haggard, we can get someone to build a ship for you. Once it's finished, you'll fish for Ack for a week to make up for the catch you cost him. And then, afterwards, Ack will have a catch, and you will have a ship. Shake on it."

The two villagers complied after a second, and then went off in separate directions. Hiccup sighed, shaking his head. Astrid approached him, half-laughing.

"Tough time?" she asked him.

"You don't know the half of it," said Hiccup. "This has been the third time this week Ack and Haggard have had a disagreement." He boarded one of the ships as they docked and grabbed one of the ropes, helping the other villagers moor it. Astrid followed Hiccup to help him. "I hope you're having a better day than I am," he said.

Astrid suddenly remembered. "Oh, that reminds me," she said, stepping back onto the dock, Hiccup doing the same. "I needed to talk to you about something."

"Okay, sure," said Hiccup. "What is it?"

"Well-" Astrid started, only to be cut off by Ruffnut.

"Hiccup!" she shouted. "We need you!"

"Not again," Hiccup groaned. "Who did it this time?" he asked when Ruffnut stopped in front of him.

"Tuffnut wanted to see how far Barf's jaw would stretch," said Ruffnut, "and let's just say, he...um...accidently used himself for a measurement. And so...he's stuck in Barf's mouth."

"WHAT!?" Hiccup yelled. He started towards the Academy, and then remembered Astrid. "Just...g-give me two minutes," he said.

"Don't worry about it," said Astrid. "Go on." He nodded and ran after Ruffnut as she took off.

It took a lot longer than two minutes, actually. More like two hours. Throughout the day, everytime Astrid tried to talk to Hiccup when he had a moment, she was always cut off abruptly by another villager and their problem or problems. Of course, Hiccup had always apologized to her when he had to run off, and she had always understood. She knew he was still Chief of Berk, and so he couldn't show favoritism to his family especially.

It wasn't until late night Hiccup finally had time to actually talk to her. She found him at the Great Hall, where he was running out no doubt to look for her. He smiled once she caught his eye, and then approached her in a full-blown run.

"Astrid!" he shouted, stopping in front of her, hands on his knees, panting as he regained his breath. "Astrid, I'm so sorry, I just got so caught up and-"

"No, no, it's fine," said Astrid. "I understand you're Chief and you can't show special favoritism to your wife-"

"It's not that," said Hiccup. "It's only been a month since my recoverment, and so...I have a lot to catch up on, and-"

"I understand, Hiccup," said Astrid, silencing him. "You don't have to explain."

"So, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Hiccup asked, clapping his hands together only once. "It sounded pretty important earlier."

"Oh, yeah...um…" She thought for a moment. How exactly did she tell him? How would he react?

"...Astrid?" he asked when she didn't answer. "Is something...wrong?"

"No, no, nothing's wrong!" said Astrid.

"Because if it is," said Hiccup, "you need to tell me what it is. What is it? Did someone do something?"

"No-" Astrid tried, only to be cut off.

"Did something happen!?" Hiccup asked. "What's wrong? What happened!?"

"Nothing-"

"Did something bad occur?" Hiccup asked, sounding angrier than he probably wanted to. "Did Snotlout say something stupid again? I tell you, he never listens-"

"For goodness sake, Hiccup, I'm pregnant!" Astrid shouted, blurting it out, smiling like mad. Hiccup stopped speaking immediately, staring at her as if he had seen a ghost. Astrid's smile slowly faded.

"...Hiccup…?" she asked, tentatively.

Instead of replying, Hiccup's eyes rolled back in his head, and he fainted.

Astrid stared at her husband for another second, before she started worrying. He fainted. That could have meant a number of things. Was he happy? Upset? Mad? What?

So, she got down next to him, and shook his shoulder lightly. About a full minute later, he opened his eyes, squinting up at her as he sat up.

"Hiccup?" Astrid asked.

"Is...a-are you serious?" he stuttered.

"Yes," said Astrid. "...Hiccup?"

"You're...you're really pregnant," he said, almost as if in a trance.

"Yes," she said again. Now she was really worried. "Hiccup-"

He cut her off when he jumped to his feet, pulling her up with him, and slammed into her with a bonecrushing embrace. After a few moments, he pulled away from her.

"You're not...you're not upset?" Astrid asked.

"Of course not, Astrid!" Hiccup shouted. "Why would you even think something like that!? You're going to be a mother, Astrid!"

"What's the world coming to?" Astrid laughed jokingly, tears in her eyes. She paused for a moment. "Oh, Hiccup…" she said, as if a suddenly realization had hit her, "you're going to be a father."

"Oh man," said Hiccup, laughing half-way, tears of joy blurring his vision. "Someone help this baby."

He hugged his wife again, and Astrid hugged him back.

"I love you, Astrid," he said.

"I love you too," Astrid said back.

Author's Note:

GAH.

So, this is another one of those "bridges" that comes in between "How Not To Meet Your Ally" and soon to be "How Not To Give Up." I know, this is really kind of short, but I hope you all liked reading it. :)

-BeyondTheClouds777