The Birth of Jadis Jorgenson:

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Hiccup slowly opened one eye to the sound of someone at the door. He groaned in frustration, picked up his pillow and placed it over his head. Even through the three inch layer of feathered stuffing, he could hear a small creak, creak, creak noise. He slowly lifted up the corner of his pillow and saw ten-month-old Annly sitting up in her cradle, rocking it back and forth by clumsily swinging her weight back and forth. She presently lost her balance and tumbled back on her back, tangling herself in her blanket, which she then began to contentedly suck on. In the cradle next to hers, Torinth slept soundly, his thumb still stuck in his mouth.

Hiccup smiled at his babies. He couldn't believe they would be a year old in a few weeks. Two days ago, Annly had stood up for the first time. She only lasted for a second before tumbling over and bumping her head, but she quieted down after a little bit of bouncing. Torinth had even tried to stand up yet, but Hiccup wasn't worried. Torinth was far more laid back than his go-get-'em sister, and was content to keep doing was he was doing. It took quite a lot of coaxing from him and Astrid just to get the boy to crawl, they'd just have to work a little harder with him than Annly to get him to stand and walk, just like crawling.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Hiccup groaned. Whoever this was, they weren't going away. He threw the blankets off himself, sat up, and began to attach his prosthetic. The clicking noise of her father's prosthetic caught Annly's attention, and she began to coo and reached out her chubby hands for her Daddy.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Hiccup called.

Annly cooed a bit louder and tried to sit up so she could reach farther towards Hiccup.

Hiccup stood up and walked to his daughter.

"Hey, Baby Doll," Hiccup picked up his little girl and kissed her cheek. "Daddy has to go see who's at the door so you're gonna have to stay here, okay?" Hiccup began to set the little girl back in her cradle, and she began to whimper.

Hiccup sighed and stood back up, holding his little girl to his chest, patting her back. "I know, I know, but Daddy has work to do."

"Let me have her," came a groggy voice from behind him. Hiccup turned around and saw Astrid sitting up in the bed, and reaching her arms out for the baby girl. Hiccup passed their daughter on to his wife, and she cradled the girl in her arms.

"There's my little Shield Maiden," Astrid smiled at the little girl.

"I'll be back as soon as possible," Hiccup said as he put on the fur cape he wore as chief.

"Alright, go take care of Berk and kick some butt," Astrid answered.

"Love you," Hiccup gave Astrid a quick kiss, then he walked over to the cradle where his son was still asleep and kissed the top of his head before heading downstairs. He opened the front door and found Gobber standing outside.

"Morning, Gobber. What's going on?"

"Jorgensons," Gobber answered.

Hiccup sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What now?"

"Eleetha's gone."

Hiccup picked his head up with surprise. "What?"

"Eleetha's gone."

Hiccup stepped out of the house and closed the door behind him.

"What do you mean gone?" he asked as they began to walk towards the Jorgenson house, Hiccup snapping for Toothless to follow from where he had been perched on the roof.

"She's gone, and so are her dragon and belongings," Gobber explained. "Snotlout woke up this morning and her side of the bed was empty."

Hiccup put a hand to his forehead. "Wow. She really did it," Hiccup sighed. "She took off."

"I told Spitelout that woman was no good, but no, he had to marry Snotlout off to a girl from a rich family, even if it was a rich family from another tribe who have a bad reputation. That man couldn't-"

Hiccup stopped listening to Gobber's as something else pressed on his mind.

"What about the baby?"

"She gave birth last night," Gobber answered.

"She did?"

"Yup. A healthy baby girl. I suppose that's why she split, didn't want the responsibility of raising a child."

Hiccup shook his head in amazement. He'd never liked Eleetha, and always thought of her as a bit of a gold digger who was only interested in Snotlout because of the glamour of the title "dragon rider." But this? This was a new low.

They grew closer to the Jorgenson house, and Hiccup made his way into the house. He was met to the sight of his old comrade sitting in a chair with his head slumped over as Spitelout hovered over him, yelling at the top of his lungs.

"You embarrassment, you! Couldn't keep your wife in line, after I hand picked her for you from a family that was known for their submissive women. Can't even do that right! Shameful! Shameful!"

Hiccup winced at the words for Snotlout, who couldn't take his eyes off the floor to face his father, or notice the chief's entrance.

"And to top it off, you couldn't even get a son out of her before you let her walk out! All you got was a girl!"

A twinge of anger shot through Hiccup, and he cleared his throat to catch Spitelout's attention.

Spitelout looked up, and rolled his eyes. "About time you got here, lad."

"That's Chief lad to you, Spitelout," Gobber corrected.

Hiccup rolled his eyes at Gobber's attempt to defend his honor while Toothless plodded up to his rider's side and plopped down next to him.

"Gobber gave me a brief summary of what happened, but could the two of you further explain."

"All I know is that this morning my pathetic excuse of a son comes in to inform me that he let his wife slip out, and take the dragon we gave her and all her junk with her," Spitelout sighed, exasperated.

Hiccup bit his tongue from lashing out at the infuriating older Viking, and instead continued his explanation. "I understand that the baby was born last night, about how long ago was that?"

Spitelout shrugged. "Eight hours, I suppose. Wouldn't you say, Snotlout?"

Snotlout just stared at the floor.

"Snotlout?" Hiccup asked.

"Closer to nine," the downcast Viking finally answered. "Nine hours."

"What happened after the baby was born, were there any visitors?"

"I dunno," Spitelout answered. "Once I learned it was a girl, I decided to go for a few pints of mead at the Great Hall and wish for better luck next time. Doesn't look like there'll be a next time, now, howev-"

"I wasn't asking you," Hiccup said through gritted teeth. He turned back to Snotlout, who was still sitting with his face downcast, no change. Hiccup wondered how he had stayed so still while Spitelout showed such contempt towards his child for being a girl.

If Spitelout had made such comments about Annly…

Hiccup tightened his hands into fists at the thought.

"No," Snotlout answered. "No visitors. About an hour after she was born we all fell asleep. I woke up a few minutes ago and Eleetha was gone."

From upstairs, the soft sound of a newborn baby crying emerged. Hiccup ran his hands over his face as he tried to think.

"That gives her eight hours tops," he groaned. "She could nearly be out of the archipelago by now."

The baby's cries grew steadily louder.

Gobber, go wake up the other riders and tell the to saddle up. We'll have to leave right now if we're going to have any chance of catching up to her."

The baby's cries were now screams. Spitelout covered his ears in disgust.

"I'm going to have to listen to this from now on, aren't I?"

"Spitelout, you're daughter-in-law just abandoned your son and granddaughter," Hiccup finally turned on the older Viking. "You complaining won't make this any easier on either of them, go with Gobber to wake the other riders and make yourself useful."

Spitelout glared daggers at Hiccup, but did as he was told.

Alone in the living room with Snoutlout, Hiccup took a moment to take in his old comrade. He'd never seen Snotlout look more defeated in his life. The sounds of the baby screaming upstairs only dampened the mood even further. After a few moments of motionlessness, however, Hiccup grew concerned. Why wasn't Snotlout doing anything? Shock, perhaps?

"Snotlout?"

"Hm?"

"Aren't you going to go take care of your baby?"

Snotlout suddenly went from defeated to terrified. "My baby? Oh, Thor! I don't know a thing about babies! And I'm supposed to take care of one? I can't go up there! She's crying! And-" Snotlout's face softened to a look of sadness. "She's crying…" He slowly stood up and began to walk to the stairs, then stopped, and collapsed to the floor in a panic again. "But I don't know how to stop a baby from crying. I don't-"

"Hey, it's okay," Hiccup said as he knelt to his comrade's level and set a hand on his shoulder. "I didn't have a clue what to do with babies with Annly and Torinth were born, but Astrid and I have figured it out."

"Yeah, but you're Hiccup and Astrid!" Snotlout wailed. "You two always figure stuff out. Nothing ever gets in your way. Everything gets in my way!"

"Snotlout, calm down," Hiccup instructed. "You can do this. People raise children all the time."

"And people suck at it everyday too."

"Snotlout," Hiccup sighed as he put a hand to his forehead. "Just, come one. Let's just go get your kid."

"No, I can't go up there!" Snotlout shook his head.

"Why not?"

"Because I'll screw it up."

"No you won't."

"You don't know that!"

"All you're going to do is rock your baby."

"Yeah, my baby who's mom just ran out on me because I couldn't be the husband she wanted."

Hiccup sighed. "Snotlout, this isn't your fault. Eleetha said I do to you just like you did her, she has a much of a responsibility to you and your daughter as you do. She's the one who's failed, not you."

Snotlout shook his head. "It's not that simple. You know that."

Hiccup bit his lip and nodded. "You're right. It's not. But that still doesn't excuse her for running out like this."

Snotlout hung his head. "I know she didn't want me. I wouldn't want me. But why did she leave our…"

Hiccup set a hand on his friend's shoulder as the baby's screams reached a piercing pitch. "I don't know why she left your baby. But she did, which means you have to step up. You can't leave too."

Snotlout sniffed in disgust. "Leave? I've got nowhere to go."

"Yeah you do," Hiccup answered. "Upstairs to your daughter."

Snotlout shook his head. "I can't face like this."

"Oh, for the love of Thor, she's a newborn! She doesn't know what's going on, she just wants her Daddy to hold her."

Snotlout drew his knees to his chest. "I can't. I've screwed too much up as is."

"You don't do this for her, you'll be screwing up even more."

Snotlout shook his head. "You do it, Hiccup."

"Snotlout, I can't be your child's father for you," Hiccup yelled. "This is your job."

"Then be her chief," Snotlout retorted as he stood up. "And take care of her while I'm gone." He began to walk to the door.

"Where the heck are you going?!" Hiccup all but screamed.

"I'm going to find my daughter's mother, and bring her back!"

"Snotlout, that's not where you're needed. Let the other riders look for Eleetha, you take care of your daughter."

"Take care of her?" Snotlout asked. "After I've just disgraced her entire family, and chased her mother off? No. I have to fix this."

"Snotlout you can't fix this. This is out of your control. Even if you find Eleetha, what will you do? She won't agree to come back, so you'll have to drag her back. And that will just prove she ran off. She'll be tried for abandonment and thrown in prison. Your child's never going to know her mother either way."

"Yeah, well, at least I'll have my honor, and my family will too."

"Wha-wha-what!? Honor!? That's what you're worried about?"

"Yes, because I don't want my daughter to grow up in a shamed household with a shamed father."

"Snotlout, you're over-exaggerating things-"

"Am I, Hiccup?" Snotlout challenged, and with that he stormed out of the house. Hiccup collapsed on the steps and buried his face in his hands. Toothless plodded over to his rider and nudged him, warbling sympathetically. Hiccup reached out a hand and petted his head.

"What a mess, bud," he gasped in exasperation. Toothless laid his head in Hiccup's lap, and whimpered. Hiccup buried his face in the top of Toothless' head. The creaking of the door opening caught Hiccup's attention, and he peaked up. Snotlout meekly poked his head in.

"It's Jadis, by the way," he whispered. "Her name's Jadis." And with that he closed the door back, and was gone.

Hiccup sighed and stood up. He mounted the steps and entered Snotlout and Eleetha's bedroom. He quietly approached the cradle sitting next to the master bed and picked up the tiny bundle thrashing and screaming inside. He cradled the wailing baby girl to his chest and began the gently rock her back and forth.

"There, there, Jadis," he whispered as she continued to sob. "I know. I know I'm not who you want. But your Daddy will be back soon. There. Sh, sh, sh."

He loosened the blankets around the newborn a little bit to allow her to stretch and smoothed the thick, black hair on the top of her head, hoping to calm her. Jadis eventually quieted down a bit, her screaming diminishing to small whimpers. She stared up at him with giant grey eyes, imploring him to show her what was going on. Why her mother and father, the only two voices she'd ever known were suddenly gone, and why he was the one who was now comforting her.

Hiccup felt his heart ache for the little girl in his arms. What chance did this poor child have? Snotlout would spend the rest of his days obsessing over how Eleetha had left him. For even though Hiccup wouldn't say it, , he'd trained Eleetha on dragon riding when she'd first arrived at Berk. He'd seen how she was a born natural, and how well she knew her dragon. They would never find her.

Yes, he'd ordered the search out of some small hope that maybe, by some miracle, they could catch up to her or figure out where she was going. But she was too smart, too talented, and had an eight-hour head start. She was long gone.

This child had no mother. She barely had a father. And Spitelout…

"I'm sorry," Hiccup whispered. "I'm so sorry you had to be born into this."

Jadis softly wept for her parents and Hiccup held her closer.

"You deserve better than this," Hiccup told her. "I wish I could fix this for you, but I can't. I might be the chief, but I'm only human. But I promise you this, I will do everything in my power to care for. I can't be your father. But I can be your chief. And I can be your friend. Odin knows you're gonna need one."

Hiccup placed a small kiss on Jadis' forehead, and then picked another blanket out of her cradle to wrap around her for the walk back to his house.

Snotlout hung his head as the stars danced in the sky over Berk. Nothing. He and the other riders (minus Astrid and Valka who had stayed home with the babies) had searched all day and found no trace of Eleetha. Hookfang landed in front of his house. He dismounted and began to walk towards the door, but felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Ah, ah, ah."

He turned and saw Hiccup standing behind him.

"Come with me," the chief ordered. Snotlout unenthusiastically obeyed and followed Hiccup back to his house. Hiccup opened the door for him and ushered Snotlout inside. Valka sat in the living room floor with Torinth in her lap, sucking his thumb as his grandmother held his sister's hands and helped her stand up. Behind them, stood Astrid who was rocking Jadis as she paced back and forth. At hearing the door open, both women looked up, and fell sullen at the sight of Snotlout.

"Snotlout," Valka greeted politely as she helped Annly sit back down.

"'Bout time you showed up, muttonhead!" Astrid called venomously as she walked towards him.

Hiccup entered the house and closed the door behind them. Snotlout took a step back, not sure what to expect.

"Snotlout, I know this has been incredibly hard on you," Hiccup started. "No one should have to go through this. You will need help getting through this, whether you like it or not, and we're here for you."

Snotlout smiled in appreciation and opened his mouth to explain, while he really didn't need any help, he was thankful for the offer, but he was cut off by Hiccup.

"That being said, this stunt you pulled today, running off to save your honor and leaving your newborn daughter by herself in distress is outrageous."

Snotlout huffed a sigh. He should have known there'd be more to this.

"Snotlout, you're a father now," Hiccup continued. "You can't just run off on some quest or mission to boost your ego or status anymore. You have to take care of your daughter, and in order to do that, you have to be there for her. Not in spirit. Not in word. In person. As unfair as it is, you're the only parent Jadis has, she needs you."

"Hiccup, I get that," Snotlout sighed. "And I will be there. But If Jadis is going to have any chance of survival, I need to fix this mess."

"No. N-no," Hiccup stuttered frustratedly. "There's no fixing this problem. This isn't one of those things you can punch in the face and make go away. The only way you are going to make this better is by being there for your daughter."

"You don't know that," Snotlout challenged. "I might be able to patch this whole thing up. I'll finally make my dad proud of me, and if he's proud of me, he'll be proud of Jadis."

"Your father?" Hiccup yelled. "That's what you're worried about?"

"Just let me handle this, Hiccup, on my own."

"That's the problem, Snotlout," Astrid joined in. "You're not on your own anymore. You have Jadis now. You are never going to be on your own ever again. She needs you, and she needs you here. If you don't start being here for her now, you won't farther down the road, and she's going to grow up alone and thinking that her father doesn't love her."

"Of course I love her-"

"Then prove it! Stand strong for her!"

An uncomfortable silence fell over the room. Valka slowly stood up and walked towards the younger man.

"Do it for yourself too, lad," she gently encouraged. "If you fail to be a part of your child's life because you are too busy doing something else, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. I should know," Valka hung her head, and Hiccup turned away to hide the fact that his eyes had grown misty.

Valka set a gentle hand on Snotlout's shoulder. "Do us all a favor. Don't make the same mistake I did."

"I…" Snoutlout sighed. "I just…you guys don't understand…"

"Can you at least hold her?" Astrid all but hissed.

Snotlout flinched at her words, but cautiously held his arms out. Astrid set the tiny girl into them, and helped him position his hands so that they supported her head and back. Snotlout stared down at the little girl and a faint smile spread over his face.

"There's my warrior girl," he cooed softly as Jadis stared at him with grey eyes that mirrored his own. She reached out a hand and tapped his nose with her finger tips.

"Already learning how to narrow in on a target, aren't you? You'll be the pride of Berk yet," he grinned.

Hiccup, Astrid, and Valka all smiled while Snotlout continued to talk to his daughter as he headed to the door to go home. He stopped when he was one foot out, and turned back to the three adults a conflicted look on his face.

"Thanks," he started. "I'll…I'll drop her back off tomorrow so I can look for Eleetha."

A disappointed and pained groan escaped the Haddocks.

"I'm sorry, but I have to try. If I can't fix this by finding her, I have to fix it another way. I'm sorry."

And with that he closed the door.

Hiccup let out a sad chuckle. "He never was good at listening."

Astrid set an arm around his waist and buried her face in his shoulder. Hiccup set his arm around her shoulder and held her close.

"That poor little girl," Astrid sighed. "Barely a day old, and she already has an uphill climb."

Hiccup ran a hand over his face. "I can't imagine what he's going through. But still, you can't just leave your kid…you just can't…"

Hiccup walked to the doorway and held out his hand to open the door to go after Snotlout, but stopped. It was no use. He leaned his elbow on the doorframe and rubbed his chin. Astrid just watched him.

Still seated on the floor, blissfully unaware of the chaos that had just ensued, Annly began to babble contentedly to herself as she shook a wooden rattle in the air.

Hiccup turned to her and Torinth, who sat next to her, sucking his thumb and tapping his hand on a wooden ball. He tapped it too hard, causing it to roll away, so he removed his thumb from his mouth and began to crawl after it. A soft smile spread over Hiccup's face and he walked over to his two children.

"How are my miracles tonight?" He asked as he scooped Annly into his arms and set her on his hips. Hen then scooped up Torinth with his other arm, and set him on his other hip. Annly began her babbling again as Hiccup walked over to the couch and sat down.

"That a fact?" he asked the baby girl as he set her on one leg and her brother on the other. Annly held the rattle out to him, which he gently took and began rattling for her, to which she grinned and clapped her hands. Torinth watched with big, curious eyes, gently reaching for the rattle himself. Hiccup let him take it, rather than shake it, though, Torinth just ran a tiny figured over the patter carved into the side, relishing in the feeling of the bumps.

Astrid watched on and smiled. Hiccup had always been an amazing father, from the first moment the twins had come into their lives that shocking night on Dragon's Edge. But given the events of that night, she appreciated him even more. She sat down next to him as he let Annly curl up against his chest, listening to his heart beat, one of his arms forming a protective circle around her. Torinth was still examining the rattle with great interest, and Hiccup smiled at his son's inquisitiveness. Astrid ran a gentle finger across the back of Annly's head, and leaned her head on Hiccup's shoulder.

"I love you," she whispered. "I don't think I tell you that enough."

Hiccup turned to her and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "I love you too. More than I can ever say."

Astrid stared up at him, awe in her eyes. Hiccup smiled curiously at her. "What?"

"You're an amazing father," Astrid answered.

Hiccup shrugged. "I try."

"I'm serious," Astrid set a hand under his chin and turned his face towards her. "You are. Our children are the luckiest kids alive because they have you."

Hiccup shook his head. "No." He reached over Annly's sleepy form to brush Astrid bangs' out of her face. "They're lucky because they have you."

Valka suddenly walked over to the small family and scooped the two babies into her arms.

"I'm going to put these young ones, I have a feeling you two need to talk."

She disappeared upstairs. Hiccup and Astrid stared at each other for a while, then Hiccup leaned in and pressed his lips against Astrid's. Astrid returned the gesture, and wrapped he arms around his neck. Hiccup slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her tight against him. After a few moments, they parted, only for Hiccup to dive back in with much more vigor and passion than before. So much so, that Astrid let out a small squeak of surprise. His hands ran through her hair, and he held her even closer against him, almost as if her were afraid to let go. He eventually did have to release her for air, though.

"What was that for?" Astrid asked, amazed.

"I love you," Hiccup answered. "And I'm so thankful that I have you. You are an amazing wife and mother and I can't imagine what my life would be like if you just disappeared."

Astrid smiled and ran her fingers through his hair. "Well, you don't have to worry about that, because I'm not going anywhere."

"I know you're not," Hiccup replied. "And I'm glad I can rest easy at night knowing that."

Astrid smiled sympathetically at him again, and gave him a small peck on the lips. "Same here.