A/N: THANK YOU!!!! All of you people who favorite-d me or added me to their alerts or to the special few who reviewed without me begging (I LOVE YOU MORE THAN YOU KNOW!!!!), this chapter is for you. It is hereby dedicated to you all. And btw, this is the first time I have ever updated two days in a row. And it happened because of all of you!

ALSO, I have noticed that I don't really include their dragons much. This is sad because I've thought up names for all except Snotlout's Nightmare. I was actually thinking Mushu ("I'm your worst nightmare." Haha) but that does not exactly inspire terror. So any help on that would be greatly appreciated. I will credit you with the idea if you give me something to use. But anwy...

Enjoy!

Tuffnut pulled his sister off to a side alley, knowing she'd be more likely to talk to him away from prying eyes. He faced her and she glared at him. He went to put his hand on her shoulder and she slugged him in the arm. Hard.

"Ow!" he yelped.

"That was for being an over-protective dickhead." Then she hugged him. "So was that."

"Do Mom and Dad know?" he asked, the real reason he stopped.

"Mom was there when it came out so by now, yes, our father knows."

"We need to go see them." She looked at him like he was crazy.

"Are you out of your freaking mind?! Have you missed Dad calling me a whore since I was twelve?! I don't need that right now, thanks ever so. I'm more concerned with my baby than worthless parents who don't even give a damn."

"Ruff, don't be like that. Mom cares." Ruffnut snorted.

"Yeah, whatever. You know she follows whatever Dad says. She hasn't thought for herself since she married the jackass." Tuffnut looked down then looked back up at her.

"Are you planning on marrying him?" he asked quietly. Warmth spread over Ruffnut's checks.

"Well, he hasn't… ya know… asked or anything. I'm mean, he just found out like a half hour ago…" she stuttered out.

"You just told him today?! I thought he knew! I thought he knew and just didn't…"

"Didn't care?" she asked in a near-whisper, finally saying one of her biggest fears out loud. He put his hand on her shoulder (she didn't punch him this time).

"It'll all work out. In the end, it's always been us against the world. It may end up that way again."

"'Cept this time, I've got Astrid. She's been a huge help. So has her mom."

"That's good. It's really awesome that you can talk to someone about this and you don't have to keep it to yourself. But you have to talk to Mom and Dad, if only to tell them to fuck off and that this is your kid and they will have no place in its life." That sounded really good. To finally say what needed to be said… To finally be independent of the people that had made her throw herself into training, if only to be rid of them for a few hours of the day…

"All right. I'll do it."

"That's my girl."

"Oh, why'd I let you talk me into this? This is stupid. It's not like they care anyway. They'll see this as a sign of weakness. Like I want them back in my life. I can't do this! What the hell am I doing?" Tuffnut sighed.

"Are you gonna do this montage all the way up the path?" he asked, irritated.

"All right. Fine. I'm leaving." She moved to turn around. Her brother grabbed her by her upper arm.

"No, no, no, chickie. You're going in there and you're going to tell them what needs to be said. Remember, you're doing this for the baby." She inhaled deeply.

"Yes. The baby."

Tuffnut walked quickly up the rest of the path to their parents' house. He knocked sharply on the door then hurried back to Ruffnut to get her closer to the house and keep her from bolting as soon as the portal opened. A small, mousy woman answered the door. Her dark brown hair hung lank around her small face that was displaying a weary smile as she viewed her children. She ushered them in.

"He said you would come. He said that it was only right for a daughter to seek her parents' blessing on her new child, no matter how... Never mind. He's in here." The twins' mother led them into a small den in the back of the house. Tuffnut still held his sister's upper arm in his hand. Inside, there wasn't much chance she'd run but she still needed to know that she had his support. No matter what.

"Hello, son." The greeting came from a chair in the dark corner by the fire. The twins' father couldn't walk very well. He had lost his mobility in a midnight raid when his children were about ten. From then on, even more pressure was put on his son to be a great dragon-killer. And the daughter…

"And you. The slut returns to further disgrace her father's house. Pregnant this time. Who's the father? What idiot allowed you to seduce him?"

"Shut up. The father is none of your business." Her father glared at her.

"Come on, child. We should know what poor fool let himself fall into your trap."

"You ever figure that maybe he loves me for me?" It was easier than she thought to say those words. Even though she had no idea if Snotlout actually loved her at all.

The person with whom Ruffnut shared her DNA laughed. "Someone love you?" he sneered. "Who could? You're nothing but a whore and all of Berk knows it."

"Fuck off, you son of a bitch." His eyes flared at the words that came out of his daughter's mouth. Tuffnut stepped forward, as if to ward off an attack, letting go of Ruffnut's arm as he did so. The man rose difficultly but sturdily to his feet and moved forward. He brushed his son to the side and reached for his daughter. He struck her across the face and knocked her to the ground, ignoring the pathetic whimper his wife let out. Ruffnut couldn't see her but she didn't need to; she'd be standing in the doorway, with her hand over her mouth and eyes wide in shock… just like every time before. This time was different, however. Last time, she was just a scared teenage girl who didn't have anywhere else to go. Now, she was on her way to becoming a mother. She was no longer a helpless child. While on the ground, moving slowly, she touched the handle of the belt knife that she kept with her at all times (peace was one thing. Leaving yourself defenseless was entirely another). She shifted her feet under her and slowly, looking weak, began to move onto her knees. Catching her father by surprise, she leapt up and pushed the mobility-challenged man back into his chair. The knife in her hand, she leaned over him, eyes cold as they looked into his. Tuffnut made a noise or a comment; she couldn't tell and she didn't care. All that mattered was being in a position of power over the man who had made life hell for her.

"Now you listen to me for once in your sorry life. You have made life miserable for me for as long as I can remember. And I took it. I did it in some naive attempt to protect Tuff and Mom, thinking if you took all your anger out on me, they'd be ok. I guess I just wanted to protect them. But now I've got someone else I need to protect. Someone who is defenseless and doesn't even know what is going on outside his or her world. And the only way I can defend my baby is by defending myself. So if you touch me or my child again, now or after he or she is born, I. Will. Kill. You. And not lose a bit of sleep over it. Because that's what a mother does when someone is a threat to her children." She backed up and let her father sit up. With one last disappointed look at her mother, she brushed past her and walked out of the house, her twin close behind.

"What did you need my help with, Snotlout?" Hiccup asked.

"You're a blacksmith, right, Hiccup?" He rubbed the back of his neck

"Well, yeah. I mean, not really, but I know my way around a forge. I've been trained, sorta, but I'm nowhere near as good as Gobber."

"I don't need Gobber. I need you," Snotlout said intensely. Hiccup laughed nervously at the serious look on his face and began to walk towards the forge, his prosthetic no longer bothering him like it used to.

"What exactly do you need?" Snotlout sighed as he followed behind.

"I… Your girl is one helluva wake-up call." Hiccup laughed sincerely at that.

"Oh, I am quite aware of that. Do something wrong or mess with her or Ruffnut, and you're just asking to get bitched out." Hiccup grew quiet for a moment. "That's what this is about, isn't it? Ruffnut?" Snotlout looked away. "Look, I gotta ask. Are you the father of her baby?"

Snotlout tried to walk through the forge door but Hiccup stuck his arm in the way. He looked the smaller boy in the face and saw his eyes were inhabited by green steel. It was with this look on his face you remembered that Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was the son of Stoick the Vast, his ancestors the leaders of Berk since Vikings had first landed on the godforsaken piece of land. That he had been the first person to ever tame a dragon, a Night Fury at that. That he was the Viking who had saved all of Berk from the Green Death without a single ally, aside from Toothless.

"Tell me. Truly. Or you can find yourself another blacksmith."

"Yeah, I am. Are you happy? I fucked up, ok? I fucked up and now she's gotta deal with the consequences. That's why I came to you: to show her that she won't have to do it by herself. I came to ask you to help me make a ring for her." Hiccup's emerald eyes grew bigger. Could he mean…

"Are you…?"

"Yeah," he said, iron in his voice. "I'm going to ask her to marry me and if anyone has a problem with that, tough shit."