"You fainted, straight into my arms." Hiccup smirked. "You know, if you wanted my attention, you didn't have to go to such extremes."
Astrid pushed her bangs out of her face. The dizziness that had sent her sprawling still lingered, but at least the world was no longer spinning quite so fast. "I didn't faint." She grumbled.
She opened her eyes and was greeted by Stormfly's worried face. The dragon's head tilted in question.
"I'm okay girl," Astrid murmured and reached up to scratch the Nadder's neck.
Hiccup kneeled down beside Astrid "You did. You totally did." The grin faded as he gazed at Astrid in concern. "Are you okay?"
Astrid sat up slowly. "I'm fine. And, first of all, I didn't faint. I passed out."
"Sure." Hiccup offered a hand to pull Astrid to her feet. She gripped his arms as another wave of dizziness swept over her.
"Second of all, your noodle arms dropped me!"
"My noodle-? I did not drop you. Besides, I wasn't exactly given much warning before you went down. Maybe if you'd told me you weren't feeling well-" Hiccup held Astrid steady as she swayed. "Look, it doesn't matter now."
"Ugh, I don't feel well." Astrid's hand went to her queasy stomach. Stormfly was hopping around the two riders, keeping closer.
"Maybe we should head back to Berk." Hiccup lead Astrid over to Toothless.
The two Viking's had taken advantage of an unusually quiet morning and made their escape to the cove where Hiccup had first met Toothless. It was their go-to date spot when they wanted to be undisturbed without venturing too far for the village.
"It's not a long flight back but you should ride with Toothless and I, just in case you feel dizzy again." Toothless crouched so that Hiccup could help Astrid up on to the saddle.
The Deadly Nadder was watching them carefully. "I'm fine Stormfly," Astrid tried to reassure her, though she clutched the handles on Toothless's saddle with white knuckled.
Hiccup climbed up behind Astrid, wrapping his arms around her.
"Stormfly seems really concerned." He mumbled into her ear. "You've been sick before, but I've never seen her quite like this. She was acting weird yesterday too. Maybe we should get you checked out."
"Maybe you and Stormfly should relax." Astrid had her eyes closed. Her head was tipped back against Hiccup's chest as Toothless launched himself into the air. The motion made her stomach flip unpleasantly. "We had dinner with your mom last night, it was probably just something I ate."
"Mom cooks just as well as you do."
Astrid cracked an eye open to give her husband an amused looked. "We both know my cooking is bad."
"Only when you experiment." Hiccup brushed a hand against Astrid's forehead. She didn't feel warm. "And we ate the same food last night. If that was the issue, I'd be sick too."
They were already gliding into Berk, but the short trip had turned Astrid green. As soon as Toothless touched down, she was slipping from the saddle and bending to retch onto the grass.
Hiccup jumped down to stand behind her, rubbing soothing circles on her back and holding her braid out of the way. Stormfly hovered nearby chirping anxiously.
"That's it," he told her when she straightened. "I'm taking you to see Gothi."
"I don't want to go see Gothi," Astrid complained. "I just want to go home."
"Fine," Hiccup conceded, "but if you're still sick like this tomorrow, I'm taking you to see a healer." He led her up to their house.
Valka was inside, tidying up.
"Mom? I didn't expect you to be here." Hiccup left the front door open so that Toothless could follow them in. Stormfly was too wide to fit so she sat with her head poking through the doorway.
"I thought you two would be off on your little date." Valka walked over to the couple.
"We came back early; Astrid wasn't feeling well." Hiccup left Astrid with his mother so he could fetch her a clean shirt.
Valka tutted in sympathy. "Oh no, Astrid dear, sit down.
"Actually, I'm feeling much better," Astrid admitted. She took a seat by the fire. "I was feeling a bit queasy before, but that's completely gone now."
"Really?" Valka took a seat beside her daughter in law.
"Yeah," Astrid shrugged. "Don't tell Hiccup, but I was feeling a bit unwell yesterday too, but it passed pretty quickly."
Valka looked thoughtful. She chose her next words carefully.
"Have you considered dear, that you might be pregnant?"
All the colour drained from Astrid's face.
"What? That's not possible, it's been-" She counted up on her fingers, trailing off as she added the numbers up.
Hiccup reappeared and handed Astrid her shirt. She took it with numb fingers and balled the fabric up in her fists.
"Hey, what's wrong?" He knelt down in front of her.
"I-I think I'm pregnant."
Hiccup knelt in stunned silence for a moment.
"Are you sure?"
"No, not completely…but… what if I am?" Astrid could feel her eyes stinging. She swiped at her eyes.
"If you were pregnant?" Hiccup took Astrid's hands. "That would be amazing!" He leaned forward to kiss her.
Laughing, Astrid pulled away. "We don't even know for sure! What if it is just food poisoning?"
"Whether it's a baby or if it's just mom's bad cooking-" Hiccup stood, pulling Astrid to her feet with him. "We'll face it together." He stepped up closer to Astrid. She tipped her face up to meet him.
Valka took the opportunity to quietly let herself out.
