Kids grow up so fast. One second they can fit in the palms of your hands, and the next they're running around like a startled sheep yelling at everything that moves.
I was worried about Toothless at first, neither Astrid or I knew how he would cope with not being the 'baby of the family' anymore once the child was born. He actually took it really well; he grew so attached to Valka...
Hiccup yawned and realised just how tired he was; all the crying and heartbreak had exhausted him both physically and mentally.
"Time for bed baby girl" he carried the bundle of fur up to his and Astrid's room on the second floor of the hut, yawning as he walked.
"Come on Tooth!" He shouted down to the sleek black dragon who enthusiastically bounded up the stairs after his rider.
Hiccup recalled Astrid telling him that when the baby came he was to leave it in the wooden cot in the next room over; this was to teach it to be independent at an early age due to the fact that as parents, they wouldn't be around that much when it was growing up due to being on Chiefing duties all the time. They'd already planned for Gobber to look after the child whilst they were busy, although Hiccup hated the idea of leaving his own child alone all day.
Hiccup didn't have the heart to leave the baby all alone, and he was paranoid that something bad would happen, and he couldn't risk losing anyone else... He lay Valka down on the soft, thick furs covering his and Astrid's bed as he removed his prosthetic leg and set it down on the wooden flooring.
"Hey Val-" he cooed, waving his fingers at the girl who gurgled in delight and tried to grab the hand in front of her face.
"Easily amused huh? Just like your mom..." Hiccup tried to ignore the pang of sorrow that stung his heart as he thought of Astrid once more.
"You would have loved her Val, she was so kind and loving when she wanted to be" he laughed, remembering all the times they had fought when they were just children.
"We used to have so much fun when we were kids, all of us, we had a little team. We'd always be going out looking for new adventures to be had" a smile crossed Hiccup's face as he remembered what they had called themselves, 'the Defenders of Berk'
They'd all settled down into their own individual lives now; Snoutlout had a family of his own. The twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut had decided to stick together even in their adulthood and resolved to living happily in the single life, which was extremely surprising given the fact that Ruff used to flirt with every new piece of meat that came her way.
They took the Academy over from Hiccup along with Fishlegs who had also remained single, and helped to train the new 'recruits' Gobber also went down sometimes for 'old times sake' to help out with his unusual methods of teaching.
"I'll take you there when you're older sweetheart; you'll love it! Though I might have to keep you away from the twins..." He stifled a snigger and looked down at Valka; her eyes were drooping and she yawned, trying desperately to keep her eyes open to look up at her father.
"Am I just that boring huh?" He joked, tickling her through the fur blanket.
Valka yawned again and Hiccup decided that it was time to call it a night. He wrapped his arms protectively around his child as Toothless blew a warm flame to heat up the stone slab he slept on.
"Night Tooth" Hiccup smiled as best he could through the pain of his broken heart at the Fury and closed his eyes.
-X-
Hiccup was stirred from an uneasy sleep by a loud piercing noise emitting close by his ear. The moon was still high in the purple-blue sky.
"What in the-?" He groggily opened his eyes and waited for them to shift into focus before he laid eyes on what was causing the racket.
"Val?!" He leapt up suddenly and scooped the bundle from the mattress.
"What's wrong beautiful?" He fumbled in the dark for his prosthetic.
Toothless had woken up and blew a quick flame onto the dead fire to bring it back to life, allowing Hiccup to find his leg and quickly strap it back on.
"Do you know what's wrong with her?" He held the baby out to Toothless who just stared at her blankly.
"You're still a useless reptile!" The young Chief scolded and stood upright, grabbing a creamy coloured fur body warmer with a hood and pulling it on over the top of his armour that he had fallen asleep in. He charged down the stairs with Toothless following close behind.
He only had one back up plan.
"GOBBER!" Hiccup knocked furiously on the door to the smith's hut.
"Come out!" His teeth chattered in the biting cold. Even Summers on Berk were freezing, and it was a long way into Autumn...
"Gobber!" He knocked louder this time.
The sound of objects crashing to the floor was heard from within, and not moments later, a very tied and very irritated looking Gobber was standing in the doorway.
"HICCUP?! What-? What in Thor's name are ya doin' here laddy? Do ye even know what time it is?" He rubbed his head and yawned loudly.
"Yes, yes I do, but I need your help!" Hiccup held out the crying baby to the disgruntled Viking.
"What is that?!" He pointed at the child, obviously not happy at being woken up because of something as trivial as a crying baby.
"I can't get her to stop crying, I checked her and she's not injured! I don't know what to do!" Hiccup explained.
"Get Astrid to do it; why ye came here in the firs' place is a mystery to me" Gobber was ready to go back into his house when Hiccup grabbed his arm,
"No! Wait! Astrid... She can't help anymore" Hiccup felt his throat closing up.
"What do ya mean?" Gobber felt his heart throb as he saw Hiccup break down into tears on his doorstep.
"What in Thor's name happened to ya boy?" He ushered Hiccup into his hut before anyone else saw him in such a state.
"Did she leave ya or something?" Gobber sat Hiccup down in an old wooden chair at the side of a clutter covered table.
"You could say that..." Hiccup wiped at the tears that continued to streak down his freckled cheeks.
"Well, where'd she go?" Gobber raised a bushy eyebrow, "she run off or somethin'?"
"She died Gobber..." The sentence came out as a mere choke; Valka had fallen quiet, disturbed by her father's behaviour.
"Oh... Hiccup" Gobber stood and pulled the young Chief into a hug the best he could manage; Vikings weren't known for their caring manner.
"I don't know what to do Gobber" Hiccup held Valka closer to him, "she's so tiny, I don't know why she's crying... I'm a hopeless and worthless parent"
"Don't say tha'!" Gobber shouted suddenly, making Valka start to cry again.
"Sorry..." He sat back down awkwardly,
"It's okay baby, shhhh" Hiccup rocked Valka backwards and forwards in his arms.
"I've never seen ya like this before" Gobber spoke more to himself then Hiccup, "you've changed"
"Yeah, I sort of had to" Hiccup smiled meekly, not really feeling up to being happy after everything else that had happened.
"She's probably just hungry" Gobber fished a half-eaten chicken leg from the clutter on the table,
"I don't think that's what babies eat..." Hiccup looked uncertainly at the meat in his friend's hand.
A rumbling growl was heard from outside the hut,
"Oh Gods! I left Toothless out there, he's probably really worried about me!" Hiccup rushed to his feet and ran to the door to let the anxious dragon inside.
"Well no guesses as to why, ye did just start cryin' at the door for no given reason" Gobber spoke, not exactly comforting words, but he was trying in his own way.
"What do babies eat?" Hiccup tried to think, "aha!" He cried, he could remember now; he had seen the Viking woman about the village giving their children milk.
"She needs milk!" Hiccup looked around Gobber's hut frantically,
"Sorry lad, haven't got any o' that nasty stuff here, I got mead if that helps?" He offered.
"Erm, no" Hiccup knew where he could get some milk from, but she wouldn't be too happy at being disturbed so late into the night.
"Thanks Gobber!" He waved goodbye to the Viking who dragged himself back to bed, and left the hut.
"I sure hope she's in an accommodating mood..." Hiccup mumbled under his breath.
Sorry it's not very long again... I actually wrote this with 2500+ words but I accidentally deleted the entire chapter and I couldn't get it back! So I had to completely re-write it... Thanks to all the reviews favs and follows! Ihope you like it! ~ Watermelon-Dragon-Chibi
