Chief Hiccup sighed as he made his way up the path that lead to his hut. It had been a long day consisting of dissolving disputes, overseeing the continued building of the Skydocks, and yet another council meeting to settle the final decisions behind the titles for each of the council members. Hiccup had sent Astrid home halfway through the meeting, which she was not happy about. They had just finished discussing who would take over each of the new General's duties now that her and the Chief were expecting. She fought back, but once the other council members agreed with Hiccup that she needed rest, she gave in. Hiccup had left her with a kiss to her lips and growing belly before she reluctantly headed back to the hut.

"I promise I won't be out much longer, alright? I'll be home with you in no time" he had promised.

She had sighed. "No, it's okay, I'll find a way to entertain myself. You do what you need to do. Take your time, Chief," she had added with a small smile and a touch of her hand to his scruffy cheek.

Hiccup smiled now remembering the conversation, scratching and smoothing out his thin, growing beard where she had rested her hand against it earlier. He and Astrid often used their new titles jokingly with each other but out of respect, both immensely proud of the other in all that they have accomplished since the Battle of the Bewilderbeast. Gods, he missed Astrid. He picked up the pace, suddenly needing her in his arms. He expected his wife to be resting comfortably in her favorite chair next to the fire pit, attempting yet again to knit the same blanket for the new baby that she had been working on since her belly had begun to grow. He would saunter in and scoop her up in his arms, plant a firm kiss on her lips and greet her with a casual, "Hello, milady." She would giggle like a child and he'd sit with her in his lap. He would cuddle her close to his chest and rub gentle circles over their small baby as he chuckled at her continued attempts to knit and the frustrated crease in her brow.

He came back to reality as he walked up the steps to his hut, blushing red as he glanced back to the chuckling villagers. Quite a few had caught the dorky smile that had overtaken his face at the fantasy in his head. He too shook his head and chuckled at himself as he gently pushed open the door, eyes immediately finding Astrid'd favorite chair.

It was empty.

Hiccup glanced around the hut, puzzled. "Ast?" he called. Where was she?

He took a step further into the hut, but froze. He heard footsteps above his head in the loft and followed them with his eyes as they made their way to the stairs. Astrid appeared suddenly, flying down the stairs and scurrying around the hut's interior. Hiccup raised his eyebrows, still frozen in place. She didn't seem to notice he was there.

"Hello, milady," he said, sounded surprised. Not quite the casual greeting he had planned.

"Hey, babe," she said, surprising him further. Maybe she did notice he was there. She continued to scurry around the hut, hands working in a flurry to clean anything and everything she could reach.

Hiccup relaxed his stance, considering following his wife around but quickly deciding it was pointless. "You, uh… You wanna tell me what you're doing?"

"Cleaning," she replied shortly.

Hiccup nodded with pursed lips and raised eyebrows. "I see that."

She didn't respond.

"You, uh… You wanna tell me why?" he added.

"It's filthy in here!"

Hiccup glanced around the hut. It was? He knew they didn't clean all the time like some of the other residents of New Berk, but he and Astrid also didn't stay in their hut as much as others do. Some days they came in long enough to sleep before returning to their duties in the morning.

He started to walk towards his wife now, slowly following so that she didn't trip over him if she changed directions suddenly and glancing around the hut. "Have you been doing this since you got home?"

"Mhm," she replied absent-mindedly.

"Astrid, it looks fine, you really need to rest," Hiccup insisted, reaching out his arm to grab her gently. She twirled away from him, out of the small cooking space and into the sitting area near the fire pit.

Hiccup sighed and followed. "Ast, you listening to me?"

She scrunched up her face in annoyance and waved her hand at Hiccup, focusing on smoothing out the already smooth furs on the furniture.

"Thor, help me," Hiccup murmured under his breath, looking up to the roof. He stepped around to the sitting area as well as she focused intently on the largest fur over the couch, leaned over to inspect every little crease and imperfection in her work. Hiccup leaned over behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist and resting his hand on her belly. He kissed her shoulder gently. "Come on, babe, you need to sit down. Everything looks great, don't you want to- And, she's gone," he added as Astrid slipped out of his embrace and left him frozen in place hugging air. He fisted his now empty hand before letting it drop to his side and straightened up with a sigh. This wasn't going well for him.

Suddenly, Astrid gasped and straightened up as well, hands flying to her belly, eyes wide and staring straight ahead. Hiccup froze now too, his heart pounding out of his chest, arms slightly outstretched in her direction. "Astrid?! What's wrong?!"

She spins around, hands grasping at air and looking around frantically. "Weapons! We need so many weapons! In our room, by the door, in the kitchen… Where's my axe, Hiccup?"

Hiccup's shoulders relaxed, but the rest of his body remained still. "Ah… What?"

"My axe! Hiccup, where is my axe?!"

Hiccup closed his eyes and lowered his face while shaking his head, hands fisting and first fingers pointed to the air, weight shifting to his only good leg, but otherwise still did not move. "Wait wait wait wait, did you say we need weapons? Why would we need- Ah, oh! Ow! Why?!" Now he broke out of his shock, responding to his wife punching him in the shoulder, rubbing the sore spot and shying just slightly away from her like the first time she punched him like that. He hadn't even noticed she charged at him.

"Where. Is. My. Axe," she threatened, sounding out each syllable carefully and pointedly.

Hiccup continued to rub his arm, beginning to pull off his armor and wondering how she managed to hit the one break in the armor around his arms. "I hid all the weapons so that you wouldn't trip or hurt yourself on them. And so they would already be out of the way once the baby is here."

The room was suddenly uncomfortably quiet. Hiccup looked up slowly into the fuming eyes of his pregnant wife.

"You. Did. WHAT."

Hiccups arms dropped to his side as his eyes went wide and his lips pursed. He felt his hands fisting and unfisting nervously but he couldn't stop them. "Ah… I hid them?"

"What if we're attacked?!" Astrid exploded.

"By who?!" Hiccups asked bewildered.

"ANYBODY!"

Hiccup just blinked at her. And then he couldn't help it. He broke down into laughter. He braced for a punch to the arm again, silently wishing he hadn't neatly set his armor down on the table beside him, but the punch never came.

Astrid relaxed and exhaled with an exasperated sigh. "Wha…?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Hiccup apologized, lauding between phrases. "I'm sorry! I just… Gods, you're adorable! Weapons! She wants so many weapons! You're so perfect!"

Astrid's eyes start to fill with tears, angering her more. Why was she about to cry right now? And why was her husband laughing at her?

Hiccup saw the tears come to her eyes. "Oh! Oh, Astrid, no! No, it's okay!" He said, still chuckling between phrases. "Come here, you beautiful viking." He wrapped her up in his arms and pulled her close to his chest, kissing her hair and gently rocking her. "You don't need weapons, okay? I'm here. I'll always protect you. Always."

Astrid smiled and released the breath she was holding in the attempt to keep from crying. "I know." She relaxed into him fully, enjoying the scent of his skin and the warmth of his embrace.

"Now, can we stop cleaning, maybe? And relax by the fire?"

"Can we sit in my favorite chair?" Astrid asked quietly, clinging to Hiccup's chest.

Hiccup smiled, remembering his earlier fantasy. "Anything for you, milady."