Astrid was miserable. Even more miserable than usual. This past month she hadn't been able to keep a single morsel down, and she felt ill at every moment. She had been told by her own mother how hard things would get. But she had gotten that talk at twelve years old and pretty much slept through it. Now she wished she'd listened to her mother's advice on relieving aches and pains and keeping food down.

Being four months pregnant sucked.

But not only did it suck, it was incredibly difficult to conceal. She hadn't told the other riders yet, but she knew that she would have to any day now.

With a groan, the blonde girl sat up and lifted her long shirt to put a hand to her protruding bump which was now starting to really jut out. "Hang in there little guy...or little girl. It's almost time to show you to your aunts and uncles. I know they're going to love you."

The gang could use some cheering up. After several failed escape plans, most of the group had given up hope on Hiccup's return and the news that Hiccup's son or daughter would be arriving soon might just be the perk they needed. But Astrid was still terrified to speak a word to them about it. Heather had been trying to convince her to tell the group for days, and plainly told her that hiding her bump wasn't going to last forever. The baby was going to grow, whether Astrid liked it or not.

"I'll tell them about you, I promise. Just...give me a few more days to work up the courage."

…

Hiccup was getting really tired of Dagur. Brother or no, Dagur's snores rivaled that of a dragon. Ember had her claws pinned to her ears trying to drown out the noise. Hiccup rubbed his eyes and tried to fall asleep, his stomach churning. Dagur still refused to tell him how the gang and Astrid were doing.

Astrid…

Gods, he missed her...every night he had her face in his mind before he finally drifted to sleep. He often dreamed about her, too...one time he had even had a very particular dream with her and barely avoided being caught cleaning up the mess before Dagur got up. But Dagur had been great company. He didn't feel like he was slowly losing his mind anymore and there was still a glimmer of hope left in him.

He pet Ember's scales, calming her and finally getting her to go to sleep, but Hiccup knew he'd be up for a while...tomorrow was a very special day...and he wasn't even going to be there for it…

…

Astrid woke up knowing instantly what day it was. And her heart beat with pain.

Hiccup's birthday. He would have been twenty today…

"Stop thinking like that. He IS turning twenty today. He's still alive. I can feel it. The baby feels it."

Thinking to herself was something Astrid did often now, but she never let it get to her. Just like usual, as she rolled herself out of the bed, she felt the baby move in her belly and she would always smile.

"Won't be long now," she cupped her belly, "I promise…"

It had taken her a few weeks to accept, but Astrid Hofferson's pride and joy was inside of her belly, and all she wanted was to see her baby's face.

The knock at the door startled her. "Come in!"

Heather was already dressed and ready to go. "You know what day it is, right?" Astrid nodded her head. "Do you think he's okay?" Heather shrugged.

"Everyone is really upset already. And I think I know what would cheer them up." Astrid's heart froze. "But...Heather…"

"They need to know Astrid. Today more than ever. Stoick sent a letter. He wants to see Hiccup tomorrow. One of us is going to have to tell him what happened."

"What?! No!" Astrid froze. This was bad...and she didn't want to tell him...not yet. But it looked like she didn't have a choice. She would have to tell him tomorrow that she was carrying his grandbaby.

...

At lunch, when all was silent and the gang looked like they were mourning, Heather stood up and put her hands together.

"Astrid has some very special news for everyone today." She ignored Astrid's look of terror and let the girl stand up. Astrid fidgeted with herself as she saw all the attention on her.

"Well...I...uh...know that this day is very special...and I know that makes us upset...but...well…"

Was it best to be blunt or descriptive? She chose blunt.

"I'm pregnant."

The table howled with laughter. Snotlout was almost crying, Ruffnut was snorting like a pig, and Tuffnut had fallen over in his chair. Only Fishlegs was still calm, but his face had paled.

"That's hilarious, Astrid! You, the great and beautiful warrior...pregnant! That's funny!"

"Astrid rocking babies on the Edge! Oh Gods!"

"I can hear the baby battle cries!"

Blood boiled in Astrid's veins. They were making fun of her baby. And for some reason, she felt that she was about to explode. And she did,

"It's not a joke! I'm actually pregnant, you insufferable idiots! I've been pregnant for four months trying to hide this baby from you because I was so scared about what you all thought, and you just want to insult me?! I have been throwing up, crying, peeing uncontrollably, eating like a hog, and hiding my belly bump! And you all just don't care! Look at this! Does this look fake to you?!" She lifted her shirt to show off the protruding bump. "And while you all laugh about the funny joke that Astrid Hofferson is pregnant, let's also laugh about the fact that the baby's father is locked up far away from here!"

Everyone was quiet. Astrid didn't even know that she was crying until she felt the tears stream down her face. She was so angry, so embarrassed, so upset...and suddenly, so sick.

The look of disgust on everyone's face was evident as Astrid vomited onto the table, heaving herself over and emptying everything out of her stomach before running away, more tears coming down her face.

"Astrid! Wait!" She could hear Heather's voice, but she didn't care. She ran right to her hut and slammed the door, throwing herself to the bed and sobbing in her hands. That couldn't have gone worse. As she cried, she felt her baby moving around. She set a hand on her belly.

"Shh...I'm sorry, little one...Mama just...got really upset...I'm so sorry…"

As Astrid cried, Heather knocked on the door.

"Astrid? Everyone is here...they want to say they're sorry."

She didn't move to open the door so Heather came in anyway. She could hear the footsteps of the others.

Snotlout was the first to speak after several minutes.

"Are you actually pregnant?"

Astrid weakly nodded.

"Is Hiccup the father?"

Astrid nodded, still not showing her face.

"That baby is going to need a lot of love and attention." She felt a hand on her shoulder, and then another, and then two hands on her legs and one on her hand.

"We're here for you." Fishlegs squeezed her shoulder. "It's good to know that Hiccup is still here with us in some form."

Astrid finally let her hands drop, and she saw tears in all of their eyes. She gave a very weak smile, and lifted her shirt to show her bump. She let them all move their hand around the small little shape in her stomach, tears dropping onto her legs once in awhile as she felt her baby move. This tiny baby...this unborn child resting inside of her...held so much hope and love that Astrid didn't even think it was possible until now.

"This baby is going to be so special…"

Astrid nodded and wiped her eyes.

"He really is...or she…"

…

Despite it being his birthday, Dagur still wouldn't tell him anything.

"Dagur, please, this is driving me crazy. Just tell me how Astrid is doing!"

Dagur shook his head. "Uh uh! Nothing is wrong with her, she's fine!"

"Not with the way you're acting! Just tell me!"

"I can't!"

The argument has lasted most of the day, and now Hiccup was angrily stroking Ember's scales, huffy. It didn't even feel like his birthday. And all he even wanted was to see Astrid. But that wouldn't be happening.

As the night showed up, Dagur walked over to his brother, sighing.

"Okay...I'll tell you. I can't hide this secret anymore."

Hiccup let go of Ember and stood up. "Tell me."

Dagur fiddled his fingers. Blunt or descriptive? He chose blunt.

"Astrid is pregnant."

The three words wouldn't register into Hiccup's brain. They just wouldn't. Astrid. Is. Pregnant. And he had a sickly idea on who the father was.

"What...no...she...I…" He had to balance himself, feeling dizzy and sick. "Astrid...no...she can't…"

The room was getting dizzy, and he felt incredibly sick and hot. He couldn't feel anything. He didn't even hear Dagur call out his name as he hit the floor, the three words running over and over in his head as his vision went black.

...

It's back, baby! I decided to post this on Halloween. We've got a lot going on. The gang finally knows about the Hiccstrid baby. And Hiccup does too. But it hasn't quite gotten through his head that he's a father. Oh boy...I guess we get to see how Grandpa reacts next time, huh?

Stay cool!

- Carla ;)