Chapter 11 Family History

It was Saturday January 3rd, Hiccup would be at the university or doing something concerning Haddock Enterprise; a random check at the factory or one of its Berk improvement projects for most of the day. So Astrid would have the day to herself more or less. She decided to have the long over-due Family History conversion with Finn, also she had to tell Finn that she was pregnant. Astrid rode her Nadder to the Hofferson Farm, there she noticed Hiccup's van parked so that if anyone whom needed to come-in or get out would be able to while enabling him to easily get out. Astrid entered and saw the Hiccup and Finn at the table she ate at most of her life. "And as you can see, while Haddock Enterprise have first rights to lease, the Hofferson Farm would be in your name." Hiccup was trying to sell something to Finn.

"You know, I was planning to buy back the farm. But this is a great offer, I have to admit." Finn replied looking over the contract.

"What are you two up to?" Astrid asked taking a seat at the table.

"Your husband and I are taking about the mundr." Finn stated.

"That's the sum the husband..." Hiccup started earning him a glare from Astrid.

"I know what it is, its what you'd pay to be my legal guardian. We all are descents from vikings. So how much am I worth to... you're offering to give us back the family farm... Hiccup...that's..." Astrid was at a lost for words. While the monetary value of the farm was not a lot... about the average price for a farm, what having the farm again in the family meant to both Finn and Astrid was beyond value. Astrid's joy was written all over her face.

"I wanted to also give your uncle all the surrounding farmland but he's been rejecting each offer thus far."

"I cannot ask for more than the restoration of the family farm. Astrid, do you think I should take the offer?" Finn asked as he handed Astrid the contract. Astrid paid close attention to every word.

"Yes. You don't have to spend the money to purchase it back, the rent is good, and the taxes won't be much. Besides, we'll have the farm back and the end of the shame." Astrid pointed out.

"While you to discuss my offer in farther details, I have to head out. Milady, I love you and will see you tonight. Finn, it has been a pleasure." Hiccup said and with a slight bow and left.

"So what brings you by, dear? Hiccup's story was apparent when I saw his van coming down the drive." Finn asked.

"I want to know about my mother and father. Well specificity how they meet and what they were like."

"Well my sister, Brunhilde, was a more... feminine version of you is all I can really, she was athletic like you but she was the kind of girl that would be as happy as a clam to be a house-wife/mother... no job no side projects, just being a mother. Now I have already took you and have recorded every one of the family stories, they are all on this portable hard drive Hiccup gave me a few months ago... well I told you all but one, how your parents meet and how your mother fell in love with your father. When your mother started becoming a woman, physiologically, she was... well endowed... we're talking being 16 and having a bra on the higher end of the E-cups range... well anyway one day someone accosted her with my father present and he did nothing, I was busy in the field and was not present for it. Since then what ever respect we had for our father was gone. Now that was short of a back story, to the main story. One day one of our farmhands made a comment about your mother's... bosom to a co-worker. Now the second farmhand was not someone anyone should mess with, he was Heracles Makos, as in the Makos Tektons, the carpentry-construction company; their home is located on 8th Ave not far from the intersection with Ester. Anyway Heracles then started betting the commenter, reprimanding him for his lust-full remake, your mother and I happen to be close enough to first hear the comment and when we heard the fight... well beating, we ran over. I tried to pull Heracles off the farmhand that made the comment, but it took you mother's calm command to get him to stop. That day Heracles become my best friend and your mother fell in love with your father. Now Heracles always loved your mother, but he admired her from a far until that day, not unlike how Hiccup would have if you two were born the same year. My father almost fired him, Heracles, that day, but Brunhilde threatened to elope with him, I also pointed out that we couldn't afford to fire him and the year before I suffered an injury that has left me sterile. No charges were pressed but no one ever made a comment about your mother's body. Heracles and Brunhilde spent as much time as they could together, he would always call her 'Kyria mou' it means the same thing as 'Milady'; 'my lady'. Hiccup's a lot like your father. Interesting story my father issued to Heracles what he considered 10 impossible tasks as the mundr, Heracles one-upped the ante twice, and did twelve things that my father considered impossible. But all twelve things were well within your father's capability, he grew-up as a 'tekton' but wanted to work in the fields instead of in a construction site."

"So I married a thinner, more educated version of my father... I am guessing, I never had the chance to know him." Astrid commented taking in what Finn told her. Finn's shocked look told Astrid that she was right about the Hiccup-Heracles comparison. "Uncle Finn, there is one more reason for me being here; I am pregnant. Hiccup and I found out last night. I know I should have told you sooner, but I wanted to let the idea sink in. Do you think I'll have the same problem my mother had with my birth?" Astrid asked, she was clearly afraid that her child may grow-up without a mother or worse Hiccup would lose both her and their child or even worse she would have to bury her child before she had the chance to...

"You mother was involved in a car crash, she survived long enough for the emergency c-section because she was in the back seat. Heracles wasn't so lucky, but that was mostly because he turned the car so that your mother would get the lest amount of force from the collision. They would be proud on how you turned out and Heracles would approve of Hiccup. No I don't think you'll have the same problem your mother did. Don't worry dear, you are like your mother, a fighter. And your child is a fighter too." Finn said reassuringly.

"There's still the issue of the dowry." Astrid jest, changing the topic.

"Actually Hiccup and I already discussed that. Since I have no other relatives, you are my sole heir you will inherit everything thus I don't have to pay a dowry. Hiccup was the one that pointed it out."

"I am lucky aren't I?" Astrid asked looking at her relationship. Finn nodded in silence. Finn signed the contract that Hiccup gave him and after putting it into an envelope handed it to Astrid. "Want me to pass this one to Hiccup." Astrid joked. "On a different note, Hiccup and I are thinking about names for the little one. Hiccup suggested 'Brunhilde' if daughter is like mother, or "Baldr' if a son like me. Still work in progress if they take after him."

"'Alf is a better name for a son like you, but I think you're children with be a mixture of both of you and Hiccup. How does Heimdall Hofferson Haddock for a son sound and Asta for a daughter?" Finn suggested. "Stoick and Valka agree with me that they would be great names."

"I'll talk it over with Hiccup tonight. I love you, Uncle Finn."

"I love you too, ride care-full." Finn stated as Astrid headed out.

"You mean I should start just traveling in Hiccup's family-safe tank as soon as possible." Astrid jested, but she knew she was not too far off, she would most likely hear it from Stoick and Valka... well a more subtle version, while Hiccup would lead her into that direction. Not that she could blame anyone of them. She was carrying the next generation of their family. The ride home was event-less, once there she decided to snuggle on the couch in nice blanket, Toothless and Stormfly joined her, Toothless rested next to her, but his pose was like he was watching over a young cub... Aw Toothless are you protecting my baby, Thanks. Astrid thought to Toothless, the cat gave a low gentle growl indicating that it was his shift to keep the newest member of the Haddock family safe and the newest mother in the family safe as well. Stormfly also seemed to watching over Astrid's womb as if it was her own egg...Girlfriend are you the early-warning system, Thanks... Astrid thought at Stormfly, the macaw seemed to understand what Astrid was thinking and nodded.

"Toothless and I are going to be joining you and Stromfly in your runs. Toothless put his foot down that I was going." It was Hiccup as he entered the house and started to move Astrid to join her. Toothless growled at Hiccup, it was clear Toothless was taking his self-appointed roll of protector of Astrid's womb and the Haddock that was inside very seriously... not even Hiccup was beyond suspicion. Stromfly looked over Hiccup a few times and spoke.

"He's clear." Stromfly said, but Hiccup got the feeling that he barely pasted Stromfly's inspection and it was under Stormfly's most relaxed standards.

"Can't even do my job as a human-mattress without getting the fifth degree." Hiccup said in his typical sarcasm as he joined Astrid on the couch, squeezing behind Astrid and went about his stated task. "How are you, Milady."

"I am... happy... I just learned today I married my father."

"Oh... You mean I am like Heracles Hofferson, how so?"

"According to Finn and my mother's journals he would call her, 'Kyria mou' it's Greek for 'My lady.' and he treasured my mother, initially admiring her from afar, he was also tender and kind to her, like you are to me. He also had some engineering skills."

"I know, as do all the Makos, they are all tektons." Hiccup commented. "I looked into the public records of your family. Sorry for not telling you sooner. Anyway, I am given to understand that maybe Heimdall Hofferson Haddock would be a better name for our son, if we have one, and Asta for our daughter. That's what my folks say."

"My uncle is of the same mind. So do you think we should use them?" Astrid asked.

"I want to only if you want to. But we will see. S 'agapó, Kyria mou." Hiccup said in Greek. Something stirred in Astrid, as if she heard those words before, many times both directed to her and to her... But how... she couldn't possibly remember anything from her time in her mother's womb... could she... She remembered the warmth that she sensed when her parents held each other, she then started hearing Greek singing or so she thought. She turned and leaned up looked around. "Milady is something wrong?" Hiccup asked.

"I thought I heard something, it was a man singing I think it was Greek. Hiccup do you believe a person can remember things from when they were in the womb?" Astrid asked.

"I have never heard of it, but it wouldn't surprise me. There is a debate on something call 'genetic memory'. Its something that we as a species seem to recall."

"Can you give me an example."

"There is a theory out there that our more ape-like ancestors remembered certain key traits a bout large cats, large snakes and large raptors and overtime these traits merged into dragons and the memory of these traits have carried down the generations to the present, which would explain why when we see a dragon, no matter the culture, we reconsign it as a dragon. That's an example of a genetic memory, not the best one but its the only one I can think of on the spot." Hiccup answered. "You are the one studying the mind, maybe it is truly possible."

"Oh..."

"Maybe if you out of the blue sing a song your father sang while you were in the womb, that you could not have heard else where... On a different note, maybe we should reach out to father's family... you know so you have a fuller idea of where you came from, I know you can recite almost everything of your mother's side..." Hiccup suggested.

"We'll visit the … tomorrow, but for now...Cuddle..." Astrid said the word cuddle trying to sound like a little girl. Hiccup shock his head and pulled Astrid as close as he could... Toothless' growl caused him to loosen his hold.

"Now I can't even hug my wife without my cat threatening my life." Hiccup chided over Sentry Toothless. Astrid could only laugh at the whole scene.

The next day Hiccup drove Astrid to the Makos' house. It was not easy to get Astrid to follow through, there was a reason why Finn didn't know much about his late brother-in-law's family, Heracles didn't share anything... as to why, Astrid was not sure she wanted to know the answer. But this was one of the few times when Hiccup put his foot down it happened. They were greeted by a woman old enough to be Astrid's mother, she introduced herself as Hebe Makos, she escorted them into the living room where she and her husband, Ajax, served them some water to drink and some feta cheese on a crackers to eat. After Astrid and Hiccup made it clear they didn't want anymore Ajax asked the first question. "So what brings such a young couple here, need a cradle made for your first child? Any particular wood?"

"No, Mr. Makos we aren't hear for business. I am Hekkrulf Haddock, I think you know my father, Stoick the Vast?" Hiccup started.

"I remember Stoick, but I am more familiar with your grandfather, Old Wrinkly, he bought Makos Tektons when we fell on hard times because we couldn't compete with firms outside the city when my father was in his early twenties. So what does bring you by?" Ajax returned the topic.

"I am my husband's reason, I am Astrid Hofferson. I think you may know of my late mother Brunhilde Hofferson and her husband..." Astrid paused with an uncharacteristic nervousness and took a deep breath. "My late father..." she paused again. "Heracles?" Astrid finished. Just as she said it an older man, some where between sixty and eighty, but was still very fit.

"Heracles?" The older man asked, he was not asking if some-one had just said it but in awe at seeing Astrid as if he was looking at a … "You're Heracles' daughter?" the man asked as he weakly took a seat.

"I was told so by my uncle, Finn..." Astrid started.

"Hofferson. You're uncle didn't lie to you." The older man said as he took out a photo from a drawer, it was clear it had been in that drawer for years. "Look here, you see his eyes, they match your so perfectly you have to be my first born Heracles' child."

"So that means you are..."

"Nestor Makos, I am your grandfather. You meet your uncle Ajax, my second son and your aunt Hebe, my daughter-in-law. May I ask, how much do you know about your father?" Nestor asked.

"I know he treasured my mother, he left the family business to work at the Hofferson Farm, that he almost killed a man that made a remark about my mother's... chest and he took my mother's name. I think there was a falling out between him and his family. I am guessing because of the lack of information about the Makos in my family history." Astrid replied.

"Heracles and I got into a heated argument when he turned 17, I wanted him to carrying on the trade, he wanted to do something else. We have been drifting apart for some time, since my wife... your paternal grandmother died when Heracles was 11. We were both so adamant about the issue that I threaten to throw him out if he didn't go into the family trade, he threatened to run-away if he was not permitted to follow his own path. One night after I got back from a job I found his room empty of all his things, he didn't even leave a note for anyone else in the family. The only time I heard of him after that was the police report of the crash that ended his life about four... no five years later. I didn't even know he was married until that article or that he was a father." Nestor answered, clearly he regretted that he could never reconcile with his son as tears started to slowly drip down his checks as he finished the story.

"Will maybe this is the chance you are looking for." Hiccup spoke up trying to turn things into a positive. "Astrid wants to know more about her father and that side of her family... well needs to is probability more accurate. You see, Astrid and I are expecting." Hiccup informed. "You see I know almost everything about my whole family and Astrid knows all that can be known about her mother's family, but there is a fair amount of our child's family history neither of us can tell him ore her. We're not expecting to learn it all today, but at the least start the ball rolling?"

"You're a lot like my brother, Hekkrulf, he would always try to put a positive spin on things, remember what he said about mother's death, that her suffering was over... okay not the best example, but still." Ajax tried to recover. "Any way, it would be nice to know about the lost niece." The rest of the day was spent the exchange of a few stories, mostly about Astrid's childhood for stories about Heracles, at about 4pm Hiccup took Astrid home, he did however leave with the Makos a hard drive with a copy of Dragon Speech software installed for them to dictate the family stories and Astrid made plans to meet there every other week or so mostly to learn more about this side of her family and meet her cousins.

When they got home Astrid called Finn and told him about meeting the Makos, Finn was clearly supportive about Astrid learning about her father's family. After that Hiccup and Astrid spent the night cuddled in together in their bed just to be with each other, and while Toothless was locked out so that they could be alone, the cat's growls through the door made it almost impossible until Cloudjumper roared telling the larger younger cat that he was trying to sleep. Toothless may have been younger, stronger and bigger, Cloudjumper had more experience and was known to be resolved than Toothless. The younger cat backed down with no protest. "Remind me to get a decent size ham for Cloudjumper was a 'thank you'" Hiccup whispered.

"I don't think Valka would like it if we fatten Cloudjumper with two 10 lbs hams." Astrid joked. "Thanks for making me follow through, Babe." Astrid said rubbing the crown of her head against the underside of Hiccup's chin.

"I will do everything for you, Milady. Lets get some sleep, you have work tomor... you're sticking your tongue out aren't you?" Hiccup didn't have to ask, he knew she was without seeing it but it he was going to address it none the less. Astrid didn't answer, all she did was turn to face Hiccup, not only showing her stuck-out tongue but to lick his nose. "Ew...What... Why?"

"Because I can, Babe." Astrid answered clearly having fun.

"Good night, Milady." Hiccup said jokingly and pulled Astrid back with him as he fell on to the bed.

"Hiccup!" Astrid nearly shouted as she felt herself going down with Hiccup and then again as she tried to get out of Hiccup's embrace. But it was in vain, Hiccup was not letting his lady go, not tonight. After ten minutes of fruitless effort, Astrid gave up fighting Hiccup and allowed herself to sink into her human-mattress.

Author's note: The inspiration for this chapter is a couple of true family stories my mother told me about my grandparents. In the true stories it was my grandmother's father, my great-grandfather, whom was the employer, that stopped my grandfather from almost killing the farmhand that made the comment about my grandmother. The other farmhand is still a good friend of my grandfather and had said that my grandfather beat him and I quote 'into a puddle in the hay'. My grandfather most likely would not have killed his co-worker, as he taught my mother and maternal uncle that if you do something big enough you'll only have to do it once, but still. As for the scene about some-one accosting Astrid's mother, well my grandmother was also 'well-endowed' as a young woman and she too was accosted in front of her father, whom did nothing. In all fairness my great-grandfather was a devote Quaker and couldn't have done anything because of his religion even if he wanted to, but Astrid's maternal grandfather in this AU is just a plain dick/asshole/jerk/bastard what ever term you want to use.

Concerning Astrid not knowing much about her father's family and knowing more about her mother's family, that's straight from my own knowledge about my family, I know a lot more about my mother's side of my family than I do of my father's side.

On a different note I am not the first to have Toothless being the sentry of Astrid's womb, I saw the idea in jack-frostitutes' fan-ficion Say Something and it just seemed to make sense. Sorry jack-frostitutes for stealing the idea, it was just too good to not take it. Now Stromfly being an early-warning system/bouncer, I don't claim to be the first person with that idea, but I don't know who else has done it.

If any one wants to know more about the economics of an Old Norse wedding, the whole mundr, morning-gift and dowry thing I have used throughout the story, PM and I'll send you my source.

Please R&R to this chapter, the previous chapters and the one-shots, Critics are welcomed.