Hiccup was following his father today and listening to, him drone on about some dealings with Chieftain Matters. He could not follow along and his mind began to drift. It was when his dad's voice reached his ears he snapped back to reality.
"Huh. Oh yeah, sounds great dad."
Stoick sighed, "You haven't heard a word I've said have you?"
"What! Of course, I have," he said in defense. "You were talking about that thing with the other thing." Seeing his father's scowl he knew he was not getting away from it.
Groaning Stoick decided that his son needed to have a certain talk. "Look, son, I know these past months have not been the greatest for you. That being said you need to see the good coming your way. You're going to be a father. You have an amazing wife and home. Great friends. I even wager you will be the best Chief Berk will ever have." He took pause to see how Hiccup was receiving his praise and when finding him once again drifting off Stoick became upset. "Oi, come on Hiccup! You need to be more focused, more intentive with the village and your life. You are not a child anymore, so stop acting like one."
"I'm not acting like one." Stoick glared and Hiccup snapped back, "I'm not!"
"You've been daydreaming ever since I've pulled you out of your house this morning," the Viking told him, "and it seems like this is the last place you want to be."
Hiccup looked down at his feet and stirred some of the dirt up. He would never admit it, but his father was right. This was the very last place he wanted to be. He didn't like walking around town listening to the daunting task the other villagers wanted to be done. He certainly didn't enjoy it when he was in charge during those training days when his father left for meetings. He also never wanted to be thrown into it on the day of his wedding. Though he had the suspicion that his father did that because of the events unfolding from Eira's past, which neither of them asked for. He bit his cheek thinking about it. He would have sworn if his dad was in charge at the time half of what happened wouldn't have. All Hiccup's thoughts turned into a huge audible sigh.
Stoick's hand was on his slim shoulder. "Look, I didn't drag you around today to make you miserable. I just want you to be more prepared."
"Yeah," he sighed, "but it's not me, dad. I-" his words were cut short by the look his father was giving him. He knew it all too well. It was the one where no matter what Stoick would not budge with his thinking. Just like when he told him, he was going to learn how to kill dragons when he was fifteen and everyone knows how well that turned out. So he took a different approached. "I'm just worried about Eira."
That changed the subject and the younger Haddock was thankful it did.
"How is the lass?"
"How well can you be when pregnant?" Hiccup chuckled at his own joke. His father joined along with him.
"Just a few more months. Do you feel ready?"
In truth, Hiccup wasn't sure. How could he be? It was all new territory for him, for both of them. And with everything going on between them, he would never dare tell anyone that he was starting to feel overwhelmed. It was probably a good chance it was the reason he was exploring and flying on Toothless more, than staying at home. He stilled answered, "I'm as ready as I can be."
"Honestly son," Stoick said after seeing the terrified look upon the teen. "No one is ever truly ready." The Chief was about to continue when both turned to a man calling his name.
"Stoick! Please, you have to get to the young Ingermen's house."
"What's wrong?" Hiccup asked. "Is there a fire?"
"Worse. Ruffnut is in labor and both houses are at one another's throats. They're about to start a war."
No one wasted any more time and raced towards the home.
They could hear the commotion coming from houses away and when arriving they were all glad that they came. For some of the Vikings were very close to drawing their weapons. But the shouting was the worse. It was so loud that they seemed to drown out Ruffnut's own labor-intensive screams.
"Enough!" Stoick yelled, "What in Thor's name are you men up to!"
Everyone stopped. Some of the members were looking down in shame. Other were still glaring at one another. No one seemed to want to speak now and for good reason.
The Chief was about to demand an answer but was cut off when Ruffnut let out another cry.
Hiccup looked at the entrance of his friend's home and was taken by surprise at the noise. He knew of the intensity that labor could bring, but to actually witness just the sound. He wasn't sure if Eira nor he were prepared for what was to come. He was so in trance at what was going on behind the closed door that he almost missed the reasoning behind the dispute. When he heard it he was angry.
"Are you kidding me?"
"No we're not young man," stated the twin's father. "And frankly I don't see how this concerns you or your father. It's a household problem."
"It concerns me because they're my friends!"
"Hiccup," Stoick interject placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. He then turned his attention towards the other man. "Thorston. We are only here because both parties are causing a disturbance of the peace. And from what it sounds like the two parents already made their decisions on this matter before the birth. We need to respect it."
"But how can we when they are children themselves. How can we trust them with the fate of another child? My grandchild."
"It's my grandchild too," Mr. Ingermen said.
"Yeah and I bet my left foot that wuss tricked Ruffnut into handing the rights over to your household name," another family member of the Thortson's yelled.
Hiccup took offense to that comment.
"My nephew would never do such a thing!"
The fighting began again until Stoick had enough and barked at all of them to settle down. He pinched the bridge of his nose before speaking again. "Where is Fishlegs now? Maybe he can get the treaty and settle this."
"Um, right here sir," the large Viking raised his hand from behind the group of his family. He stepped in front of the Haddocks making both of them very puzzled to see him.
"You're not inside Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked.
The larger teen shook his head. "No, but Tuffnut is in there taking my place. It made Ruff feel a lot calmer." Right on cue, the girl let out another loud scream. He spoke once more once the sound died down, "There was a lot less of that since we switched."
Hiccup nodded, his eyes wide at the sound the twin had just made.
This caused a chuckle from Fishlegs who then whispered in his friend's ear, "Just think, this will be Eira pretty soon. Except you get to be in there."
That made him shake his daze, "I rather not."
They were both dragged back into the dispute at hand when someone else started to threaten another member. The fighting between the two families made the soon to be father feel guilty. It made him question if this was the best thing to do, but he promised Ruffnut that he would keep her happy and if it meant to do this on his own then he was going to give her that.
Seeing his friend being put through all this turmoil upset Hiccup. He wanted to say something to cheer him up, but he didn't know what would be the best thing.
· Sorry that Ruffnut refuses to be a mother and wife to you.
· Sorry that half of your kid's family is insane and wants your head on a pike.
· Sorry you have to go through all this, but hopefully, your kid gets mainly your genes.
None of them seemed to be appropriate nor helpful at the moment, so Hiccup chose to be silent.
The bickering continued with the families, however. They ended up being so loud that they were muffling the thoughts of Fishlegs, Stoick, and Hiccup. Just when Stoick was about to end the feud and send them all back to their huts, the front door to the house flung open.
Their standing in the doorway with both fists in the air was Tuffnut and he said something that quiet everyone, "I- am- an- Uncle!"
Hiccup smiled and congratulated his friend. Patting him on the back he noticed that he seemed to be frozen, almost like he was in shock. That's when he urged him, "Hey Fishlegs, go in there and meet your kid."
He bobbed his head and in a daze walked inside his hut. He past Tuffnut who only happily hugged the new father for a brief moment before joining the rest of his family. He walked inside and saw his mother and the twin's mother, both were smiling at him as they cleaned up the room. His mom did take a moment to go up and celebrate the news with him.
"She did wonderful sweetie." She then kissed her son on the cheek and continued to clean up.
"That she did. But what can you expect with it being Ruff." The other mother beamed, standing up ready to leave the hut. "Come on Ingrid we should leave the boy and try to get our husbands from killing each other."
Ingrid nodded, "With all the shouting they did you would have thought they were the ones delivering a baby." Both grandmothers laughed at the joke as they headed out. She did take pause, however, wondering if one of them should stay to help the two out. It was brushed off with more encouragement from Mrs. Thortson, though Fishlegs never heard exactly what she said.
His main focus was to the room ahead. When peeking inside he whispered her name.
"Please, please." She croaked out, "Take her away from me Fishlegs. I-I don't know what to do to make her stop."
Immediately he ran to her side and took the newborn in his large arms. He carefully supported her head and gently tucked the cloth around her chubby frame to keep her warm in this new cold world. As he inspected her he noticed that she had a wisp of very blonde, almost white, hair and her perfectly rounded cheeks were flushed pink as she cried. And boy did she let the two parents in the room know that she had a great pair of lungs on her. But when she took a breath he noticed her blue-green eyes, though he had a feeling that they would turn the typical Ingerman green just like his. As he admired his new baby girl he realized something.
"Um Ruffnut," he squeaked.
"What?" she rasped still upset that she was left alone with the newborn. She told them all that she did not want to hold her, but they didn't listen to her and carelessly handed the baby to her. Even her own mother said it would change her mind once she held her, yet if anything it only cemented her feelings on her decision to give parental rights to Fishlegs. Ruffnut Thortson was defiantly not a mother.
"I don't know what to name her."
"Please Fishlegs," she begged, "I don't want to be a part of this anymore. You promised me remember?"
"I- I know," he stammered trying to keep his little girl's screams down, which was slowly happening. "But I have so many running through my head that I don't know which one would be right. Which one would be perfect for her." He smiled and cooed down at her as she tried her best to hold one of his fingers in her fist.
Ruffnut looked over at the two and saw how happy he was. How happy they both seemed to be. It made her smile and that's when she knew what to tell him. "Lillias. Name her Lillias Ingermen."
Fishlegs looked at her surprised, "But isn't that your favorite-"
The twin cut him off, "yeah, it is and all because of that stupid book you gave me. So I hope I gave you something just as good."
Without even thinking Fishlegs kissed the top of her head and said, "No, you gave me something even better." He grinned. "Get some rest. You deserve it." He walked outside the room to show the two families waiting for the new little addition.
Ruffnut nodded and laid down. Watching them go she only had one thought for her daughter, "At least she'll be happy."
When Fishlegs finally came out both families crowded him like a swarm of bees to see the baby. They all said their usual comments for when a child was born, but they all agreed she seemed very strong and large for a new born. That they were all proud of. Only a few close family members picked up on her name, but no one brought it up except that it seemed to fit her.
After firmly putting his foot down on upholding the treaty for Ruffnut sake, both mothers explained to him how he can substitute breast milk for Lillias because the new mother was not only out of the picture, but she was also not producing enough milk to give the baby. If the lack of the baby latching onto her was any proof. There was also no one else producing any milk yet within the village.
Once everything had calmed down and everyone had separated back to their normal routines, Hiccup was finally able to congratulate the new dad and daughter. When getting a good look at her Hiccup was already beaming. "Oh man, Fishlegs. She's beautiful."
"Thank you." He smiled down at the very tired and overwhelmed baby. "Say do you want to hold her?"
"Really?" he asked in shock.
"Yeah. I don't see why not. Besides, when you're Chief again you'll have to be doing Naming Ceremonies once more."
He chuckled nervously, trying hard to suppress that memory. Yet he still took the offer to hold her. At first, Lillias was not happy being passed off to the new person and she let it known. It freaked the young man out. Quickly, he wanted to pass her back to her dad, but when she calmed back down, after some tips from Fishlegs, Lillias gave the future father a small smile.
This small act made Hiccup ecstatic and more confident. "You see this Fishlegs? She's smiling at me. I think she may even like me."
"Yep, she sure is smiling at you." He didn't have the heart to tell him what her small grin actually meant. When she yawned Fishlegs knew he had to take her back. "Here, I need to get her feed and see if she'll nap. Today has been a very new and different routine for her."
Hiccup agreed, but reluctantly gave her back. As soon as Fishlegs disappeared through his door, Hiccup bolted towards his own home.
He threw open the door frantically calling out his wife's name. He ran to their bedroom and only turned around when she called out his name, worry incasing her voice.
"Hiccup, what's wrong?" she waddled her way out of the stable, the dragons peeking out behind her, only to be caught off guard with him kissing her deeply and then dropping to his knees, placing his hands on her stomach. He then proceeded to kiss and whisper to her baby bump.
"Hiccup, what's going on?" she asked still worried about what was happening. When he kept talking to the baby she broke him out of his world by stating, "You're scaring me."
"I'm sorry," he said with a smile and stood up. He kissed her again before he explained, "I just." He sighed in happiness. "Fishlegs' daughter was born. She was just beautiful and I got to hold her too."
Eira finally understood and she copied her husband's grin. "That's amazing dear. How's Ruff doing?"
"Good, from what I heard," he said. "But Eira, I thought that I wasn't ready. That something would come along again and mess all this up. But now, I can't wait until this one arrives." He touched her stomach again still beaming at her.
She only laughed and caressed his cheek. "Well, you are going to have too. Because this little one is not coming out until it's time and that is still a few months away." She kissed him softly and he returned it. When they pulled away the smile was still plastered on their faces.
"I still can't wait."
Eira laughed, shaking her head and kissed him once more. His hands traveling from her oversized stomach to her sides where her waist would be, while hers rested on his shoulders. He tried to pull her closer but her wide stomach refused too and with the small thump he felt through her stomach Hiccup took it as a sign that this was as far as they should go. Both containing their excitement for the day their child would arrive.
Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait, but here is the next chapter. Please Read, enjoy and review. Also, I want to thank everyone for your wonderful reviews they are what help me motivate me to continue this story. Another thing, MMM or Mariah ( I don't know what you go by now, sorry) gave me the idea on writing an AU between Hiccup and Eira if they met maybe at a different time and I have the first chapter of that written but I am not sure if I should be post it or if you would be interested in reading that. Let me know and Thanks!