The house is quiet, the sounds of the day giving way to peace and slumber. Hiccup watches the fire in the hearth. Bright yellow and orange flames lick the air, the burning logs crackle. It's soothing, almost mesmerizing, and it calms his weary mind.
Footsteps approach and stop beside his chair. He glances up to find Astrid, changed in her nightgown, standing there. She looks as tired as his bones feel. Being a mother is a never-ending task. A baby can't sustain itself. A mother is its life source, the main caretaker that tends to every need. Her baby must be on her mind every moment of the day, and even when it's in the care of another just for a little while, she doesn't escape the worry of the baby's safety.
Hiccup understands this considerable weight. Being chief of such a populous village as Berk, the needs of both human and dragons are on his mind continuously. But at the forefront, she is the one he worries about the most. Tending to their child, managing a household, insisting to continue her duties as the wife of the chief and a dragon rider – he knows she carries a load that he wishes she would lighten.
He grasps her hand without a word, gently guiding her to rest on his lap. Astrid slings her legs over the arm of the chair, snuggling her cheek into the soft wool tunic covering Hiccup's chest. He holds her close just as he does in his heart.
"I love you," he murmurs into her hair, leaving a tender kiss in the blonde strands.
"I love you," her sleepy voice echoes.
The quiet envelopes them once more. Hiccup absently smooths his palm along Astrid's leg, the motion more calming than watching the fire dance. He needs this; they both need this peaceful time where the world outside – and even inside the house – doesn't need them. Where only they can exist and recoup in the arms of the one who loves them most.
They stay this way for a long stretch. Astrid is growing heavier on his person, and Hiccup softly calls out to her. No answer. He smiles against her head that still rest on his chest.
Hiccup slips an arm under Astrid's knees, and as careful as possible, he carries her to their bedroom, hoping for a few hours of sleep before the baby cries out to be fed; before the world calls out to them again.