I did a little editing on this chapter ages after posting it but only on a minor detail. Enjoy!
Chapter Two: Sugar High
Hiccup and Astrid had taken the liberty of putting out rocks all over the village, giving their children strict instructions that they were to stay within the rocks and only go out to play when there were people around. Otherwise, they had to be watched by an adult. Finn and Adrianna understood these rules very well and knew the consequences would be dire if they disobeyed. Finn had gone over the rocks once and had been kept inside and by himself for two whole hours as a result. He had watched Adrianna and Helga Ingerman playing together from his window with a scowl. No, he wasn't eager to repeat that incident.
Like all little boys, Finn had a bit of a stubborn streak. And with parents like Hiccup and Astrid, this may have been magnified just a touch. And like all little boys, he had a lot to learn about impulse control.
Then again, leaving a bucket of fresh, sweet berries out in the open was just asking for trouble. But Lotus had no idea that setting it down while she went into Gobber's workshop to ask him a question would result in such mayhem. Finn immediately spotted the ripe, purple berries and made a beeline to them. Grinning widely, he stuck his grubby little hands into the bucket and raised the berries, dripping dark purple juice, to his face. Soon he was covered in juice and his smile kept on widening until his whole face shone with it.
"Ohhh Finn!"
Finn looked up and found himself face to face with his grandmother. She stared down at him with a look of, oddly enough, disgust. Why was she looking at him like that? She should be happy that he had found something so tasty!
"Yook, nana!" he held up a fistful of berries. "Want some?"
He pitched the fistful of berries into her dress and grinned when she jumped back, scowling at the splatter marks he had left.
"Let's get you home. You need a bath." said Lotus, sighing deeply.
"No!" Finn squealed, his eyes widening in horror and the grin melting off his face.
He tried to get up and run away but his grandmother was too quick for him. She reached forward and gripped his upper arm. Finn began to scream very loudly in protest but she didn't let him go. Suddenly, he made his entire body go limp so that the only way to get him home would be to drag him.
"Gobber!" she called, trying to keep the boy at arm's length. "Can you help me for a moment?"
Gobber immediately came out of his shop, took one look at Finn, and began laughing uproariously. Lotus glared at him but he seemed to find this even funnier.
"Ahhhh he takes after his mother, doesn't he?" he guffawed. "Had a good time, didn't you, squirt?"
Finn nodded. "Uh-huh."
"Gobber, could you help me take him home? I would rather not pick him up." Lotus sighed, narrowing her eyes at the boy.
"Arrr come here, Finn. Listen to your grandma!" Gobber exclaimed, swiftly picking up the child and clearly not caring that he now had purple splotches on his outfit now.
"Noooo!" Finn wailed. "Pumme down, Unca Gobbew!"
"Nope." Gobber responded calmly.
As muscled as the little boy was for his age, Finn simply couldn't struggle his way out from under Gobber's arm. Finally he went limp again. It didn't take long to take the toddler to his at least one of his parents. Hiccup was home with Adrianna and the two of them were unabashedly playing with stuffed toys. As soon as Hiccup caught sight of his son, he bit back a laugh.
"What did you do to him, Gobber?" he asked as Gobber deposited the boy at the front door.
"He did this to himself." Gobber replied, gripping Finn's upper arms so he couldn't escape.
"And what did you do, little guy?" Hiccup asked, scooting himself over to his son.
"There was bewwies!" Finn said matter-of-factly, trying to struggle out of Gobber's grip. "Yummy bewwies! And they had juice! See, daddy?" Finn held out his sticky purple fingers for Hiccup to inspect.
"Fresh berries that I'd just finished picking and had set down for only a minute so I could talk to Gobber." Lotus shook her head at her grandson. "I'd forgotten how fast little ones can be when they're determined."
"Very fast." Hiccup agreed with a smile. "All right, buddy, looks like it's bath time."
"Na-uh." Finn said, scrunching up his face and shaking his head profusely.
"Ya-huh." his father said patiently. "Come on. If you come now, I'll have Toothless make the water nice and warm and you can play with your boats."
"Do I need a baf, daddy?" Adrianna asked, looking slightly worried.
"Not right now. Want to help me fill the tub?"
The girl brightened at this prospect and rushed into the house. Finn looked less than pleased but having warm water and boats to play with was a tempting offer, even if it did mean having to be clean. He finally stopped struggling.
"You are so good with them, Hiccup." Lotus said with a fond smile. "I could never convince Astrid to do anything she didn't want to do when she was that age."
"Well that's Astrid. What did you expect?" Hiccup chuckled, taking off his son's shirt. "Come on, buddy." He took the boy by the hand and patiently walked with him into the house.
Adrianna was struggling to carry the buckets of water in the cupboard out to the tub. She looked delighted at the prospect of someone other than her being given a bath.
"Thanks, sweetie." Hiccup said, smiling and taking the bucket from her grip.
She looked relieved to let it go and watched her father pour the water into the tub. Once the tub was full, Toothless heated the water with a plasma blast and it was ready for Finn. Once all of his clothes were off (and would be thrown away now they were covered in stains), he settled into the tub and was surprised to find the water quite comfortable. Hiccup got out the little boats he'd made out of wood a few months after the twins were born and placed them in the tub.
"Yook… I'm going to Dwagon Iwand!" Finn squealed, directing the biggest boat to the edge of the tub.
"You are? What kind of dragon are you looking for?" Hiccup asked with great interest as he began washing the purple juice off of his son's chest.
Finn thought very hard for a moment. "A Deadwy Naddew. Yike Stormfwy!" he paused for a moment, his face scrunched in concentration. "Ca-I have a Naddew for Snoggwetog?"
"I'll let Odin know." Hiccup chuckled. "What about you, Addie? What do you want Odin to bring you for Snoggletog?"
The little girl furrowed her brow, thinking very hard for a moment. "A Night Fury like Toofwess!" she said, pointing to the snoozing dragon behind them.
Toothless raised his head at the mention of his name and grinned back at Adrianna. She ran over and gave him a big hug. The Night Fury made a happy sounding coo and Hiccup couldn't stop smiling.
"Well you still have a month to go. Have you been good this year?" Hiccup asked Finn, his eyes narrowing but a smile still on his face.
"Oh yeah." Finn nodded.
"Really?" Hiccup stared the boy in the eyes.
"I been good!" Adrianna squealed, tugging on her father's shirt.
"Can you be good this month?" Hiccup asked them.
"Uh-huh." chorused the twins.
"Then I think Odin will definitely have a Deadly Nadder for Finn and a Night Fury for Addie." Hiccup touched both toddlers on the nose with each mention.
If Hiccup had thought the consequences of his son's indulgence was over now that he was clean, he was sorely mistaken. Soon after his bath, Finn began to act very strange. When Astrid had returned from her errand, he bolted to her and threw his arms around her.
"Mommy!" he squealed. "You home!"
"I sure am!" Astrid got on her knees so she was eye to eye with her son. A glimmer in his bright blue eyes made her slightly suspicious. "What did you do today?"
"Mommy, I pwayed outside today and I followed Poppy and, and, and, and... annnnnnnd…" Hiccup looked over and tried to hide his laugh as Astrid's eyes widened and she nodded profusely, waiting for their son to continue speaking. "AND," Finn continued, his eyes widened. "Tornado, he, he went like whoosh and woawed vewy youd... and it was AWESOME, mommy!"
"That's great, Finn." Astrid said with a genuine smile. "But what did you do after that?"
"I had bewwies fwom gramma!" Finn continued. "Then I got a bath." He wrinkled his nose in displeasure.
"Did you, now?" Astrid looked up at her husband, who was smiling down at them.
"He was purple!" Adrianna piped up, skipping over to welcome her mother home.
Astrid was beginning to catch on to where this story was going. "Did grandma say you could have berries, Finn?"
Finn looked down sheepishly. "Noooooo." He said with slightly puckered lips. "They were in a bucket."
"Ahh I see. Finn, you know you have to ask first." Astrid said, her eyes boring into his forehead. "Look at me." She placed her fingers on his chin and slowly raised his head so their eyes met. "What did I just say?"
"Ask fiwst." Finn muttered.
"That's right. I don't want you to eat any food that's out without asking first. Okay? Do you understand me?" she asked patiently.
Finn nodded his head, looking a little bit guilty. His mother gave him a warm smile that he returned. Once she took her fingers off his chin, he scampered up to his room.
"Addie, that goes for you too." Hiccup added, looking at his daughter, who was watching the scene with some amount of fascination. "If you see food lying out, what do you do first?"
"Ask." Adrianna said, nodding her head.
"Good girl. Would you go tell Finn that dinner is really soon?" Astrid asked, pointing up the stairs.
The little girl nodded and immediately headed toward her brother's room. Hiccup and Astrid watched her as she disappeared into the second level of the house.
"She's so… obedient." Astrid said, crossing her arms and staring at the staircase. "Where does she get it?"
Hiccup laughed. "Not from me, that's for sure."
"Me neither." She smiled. "They're so cute. They get that from me."
"Oh really?" Hiccup asked, his eyes narrowing but the edges of his mouth twitching upward. He watched as Adrianna emerged, grabbing the railing of the staircase and walking down the stairs. "So they didn't get anything from me?"
"Of course they did." Astrid replied, raising an eyebrow at Hiccup. "They got plenty of things from you."
The little girl tripped on the last step and fell forward, landing on her face.
"Like that." Astrid said in triumph.
"You okay, sweetie?" Hiccup asked, trying to ignore his wife's comment.
Adrianna picked herself off the ground and nodded. Finn followed a few seconds later, hopping down the stairs with a sort of manic energy.
"Whassferdinnew?" he asked in one breath, jumping off of the last three steps and stumbling slightly as he landed.
"Fish and peas." Hiccup replied, stoking the fire.
"Oh lovely." Astrid said, winking at her husband. "We all know how good that'll taste."
Finn ran around the fire pit making Toothless flight noises as he did, making his parents smile while working on dinner or the fire. Finn ran over to Adrianna and grabbed her arm, bouncing up and down.
"ANNAANNAANNAANNACOMEWUNNINGWITHMEANNAANNA…"
Adrianna squealed and yanked her arm away. "Finn, let goooooooo."
Hiccup faced his children. "Finn, let…"
"OTAY DADDY!" Finn ran past Hiccup again, his little foot smacking Hiccup's prosthetic.
His daddy flailed, leaning heavily onto the stone fire pit so he wouldn't trip backwards into the fire. Adrianna snorted and covered her mouth with her hands.
Finn was now running around the pit again but laughing and screaming hysterically, "I WUNNING I WUNNING I WUUUUUNNING!"
His parents and sister stared at him in shock, unsure what was happening.
Astrid stepped out from the kitchen area. "Finn, I think it's time to sit down…"
"NOMOMMY I WUNNING AND I'S FUUUUN! AH HAA NOOO MOMMY!" Finn ran up the stairs in order to avoid his mother's reaching arms.
"Finn!" Astrid jumped up the stairs two at a time after him.
Hiccup and Adrianna shared a look when they heard the running and tussle upstairs. Astrid finally clomped down the stairs with an upside down Finn in her arms, his flailing legs barely missing her face and his shirt nearly falling over his head.
Astrid stopped at the bottom panting and staring at their madly laughing son. "What's wrong with him?"
"Erm..." Hiccup stuttered, shock at the volume of his son's laughter. "Berries?"
Astrid huffed. "All right you, settle down."
She raised up her struggling son, gathered air in her mouth and blew hard onto his stomach, making him laugh uproariously from the tickling sensation. "NOOO 'TOP, MOMMY!"
"Well I have to give you something to laugh at instead of nothing!" She grinned and repeated the process.
Now Hiccup was laughing at the spectacle, and looked over at his daughter. "Addie?" She looked up at him with wide green eyes. "Your turn?"
She fiercely shook her head but her smile was unmistakable. She held her hands up to her mouth as she backed away, and her daddy stood stock still, waiting for the opportune moment to spring forward.
"I'm gonna get you!" He called, just as Astrid let go of their son.
Finn and Hiccup both ran forward at the same time.
"Hic-!" Astrid called just as they collided.
"WHOA!" Hiccup managed to grab his crazy son and pull him out of the way as he fell.
The young man wiped out, his son on his stomach and flailing and kicking furiously while still laughing. And now Adrianna was laughing at the spectacle.
Hiccup blew his bangs out of his eyes. "So much for dinner time."
Hiccup and Astrid knew they had a hyperactive son. They just didn't know how hyperactive until a few hours later after some intense roughhousing. Adrianna started to get crabby as the sky grew darker. She couldn't go to sleep with all the racket going on and Finn wouldn't stop giggling. The boy had barely eaten any dinner (though they did manage to get a few peas into his system).
Adrianna finally went up to her room, her eyes drooping. Hiccup told her that he would be up in a minute to tuck her in but he suspected that she would be fast asleep by the time he got Finn to go to bed. Once the little boy was tucked in, he and Astrid collapsed in their room, taking deep breaths.
"Never again." said Astrid, her voice sounding slightly hoarse from shouting at her son. "He will never touch sweets again."
"Agreed." Hiccup breathed, his heart still racing from chasing Finn in circles.
They took deep breaths, enjoying the silence for a bit. Their little boy would probably have trouble falling asleep but as long as he stayed in his room and didn't make any…
Pitter patter, pitter patter…
"Great." Hiccup sighed. "Which one of us is going to get up and deal with this? I vote you." He nudged his wife.
"I don't think so." Astrid nudged him back. "I cleaned out the outhouse this afternoon so it's your turn."
Hiccup slowly sat up, groaning as his back made a funny cracking noise. With two newly outhouse trained children, the outhouse had to be cleaned more often. It was a highly unpleasant job of which he and Astrid were not particularly fond so it was his turn to deal with the next crisis.
Finn was sitting on the floor and playing with a small wooden Gronckle. He was roaring as quietly as he could (which wasn't all that quiet).
"Fearless Finn Haddock, what are you doing up?" Hiccup asked, giving his son a stern gaze.
Finn yelped in surprise and they heard a muffled, frustrated sob come from above them. Hiccup sighed, gritting his teeth so that he wasn't too hard on the boy.
"Do you hear that? Your sister is very, very tired and you're keeping her awake." He said in an unusually sharp voice. "Now you go upstairs and get into bed."
"But daddyyyy…"
"No buts, Finn!" he snapped. "If you don't go up the stairs right now, I will put you over my knee and spank you."
Finn froze. His father had spanked him only twice. Once when he had thrown a rock at Adrianna and again when he had kicked his mother in the shin during a tantrum. If Hiccup was talking about spanking him, he was already in big trouble.
"I'm going to count to three. Onnnnnne…" Hiccup began.
The little boy immediately jumped to his feet and pounded up the stairs. Hiccup didn't even need to continue counting. But, knowing his son, he sat down on the bottom step just to make sure that Finn really would stay in his room. As he heard Adrianna's cries finally cease, he thought that perhaps a restless night would be good for the boy, Hiccup thought. He would certainly think twice about putting things in his mouth that didn't belong.
Hiccup was pleased to see a much quieter Finn the next morning. The boy was almost too tired to eat breakfast and when he finally went outside, he didn't run as fast as usual. Adrianna was usually the night owl but even she seemed to have more energy that morning. After checking to make sure that his children were surrounded by villagers, Hiccup went to a boring town meeting that lasted until mid afternoon.
At long last, when the meeting was over, Hiccup emerged into the sunlight and immediately looked for the twins. He wanted to make sure they were still okay so that he could have an hour or so with Toothless. Finding time for his dragon was becoming a challenge. Astrid was throwing Heather a party to prepare for the new baby so he hoped there weren't any more crises because it would be up to him to deal with them.
In a few seconds, he spotted his son's bright red hair in the crowd. He ambled over to the boy and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey, buddy. What are you doing?" he asked amiably.
Finn faced his father and smiled; or at least it would have been a smile. His lips pressed together tightly and they stretched across his face, but it was obvious what was happening.
"Finn, what's in your mouth?" Hiccup stood and bent low to his son's level. The little boy tried to scamper away, but Hiccup grabbed him by his shirt. "Nu-uh, come here. What's in your mouth?"
By now a few people had stopped to watch the exchange, Hiccup trying to squeeze his son's stubborn mouth open. Finn's eyes were alight with mischief and a giggle erupted in his throat, but he struggled to keep his mouth closed.
"Fearless Finn Haddock," Hiccup looked at him sternly. "Open. Your. Mouth. Now."
Finn legitimately shrugged his shoulders, looked his father in the eye, opened his jaw… and out jumped a frog.
"Gah!" Hiccup yelped as it landed on his arm and continued hopping away. He stared at his son incredulously. "Why would you do that?"
"He's swimy." Finn stated matter-of-factly.
Hiccup swallowed thickly, trying not to gag. "No kidd… You know what? Nope. Let's go home. I'm washing your mouth out. A lot."
As he picked up the struggling boy, he could hear several villagers laughing. He sighed deeply. It seemed Finn hadn't learned his lesson about eating things he shouldn't eat. Then again, he didn't know what he expected. Like all little boys, Finn had a tendency to forget things he'd been taught. And it was Hiccup's job to make sure he remembered.
The young man wouldn't have said it as he carried the child home, trying not to puke his guts out at what he had just seen, but he wouldn't have it any other way.
Sorry it took an unusual amount of time to update! I had a really hard time writing this chapter for some reason. The ideas were there but they seemed to be stuck and I had to tug at my brain quite a bit to get them out. Since I've had a complaint or two about how the twins don't have different personalities, I had to make sure Finn was properly introduced since we got to know Adrianna in the last chapter.
Special thanks to EmmerzK for ideas and writing a little bit of this chapter.
Finally, to those who say this is such a cute fluff piece, you did read Unexpected, didn't you? Because a Hiccstrid pregnancy story could easily be nothing but fluff yet it certainly wasn't. Why do you think this will be any different?
Don't forget to review!
~KateMarie999