Chapter 11

It took Eret's ship another three months to reach the Berk. They took a quick detour to Draconian waters where Archibald was turned over to the Draconian authorities. Once he was long gone the ship headed for Berk. They were all excitedly talking about their adventures and about Serenity's baby. They had been gone nine months, the baby was probably ready to come out by now. The ship sailed back to Berk as fast as it could, with some help from Scaudly and Aurora's magic. Then at long last they saw the Isle of Berk on the horizon.

"Yeah we're back!" cried Avalon. Anxiety rose as they got closer to the docks. When they reached the docks they were greeted by Mulch and Bucket.

"Where's Serenity?" was the first words out of Chris's mouth.

"Ah, you might want to go up to the hospital," said Mulch, as he and Bucket tied the ship down. All the riders and dragons rushed up to the hospital without saying a word. When they got there they found Cloudjumper sitting in the shade by himself. He sat up as all the dragons and riders arrived.

"You are right on time," he said. "The baby is coming now."

"It is?" said Chris. Cloudjumper nodded.

"Valka wants everyone to stay out here until she comes out," he said. "So you all might want to make yourselves comfortable." They could hear a commotion coming from the house, screaming. The riders and dragons sat around the house, watching the door anxiously. They waited for any word from inside. Chris sat in Serenity's chair, nervous as heck. The chair was surrounded by bags of baby clothes, and on one of the branches of the apple tree was a leather and wool baby sling. Next to the tree trunk was a wooden cradle. Chris could tell that Serenity had been really bored stuck in the hospital. He turned to Cloudjumper.

"How has she been doing while we were gone?" he asked.

"Well, I haven't been allowed up here," Cloudjumper said. "But she was okay from what I've heard." Chris went back to watching the door. He could here Serenity's cries of pain and he gripped the armrests of the chair, his knuckles turned white. Windwalker sat next to him.

"She'll be okay," she said. Chris stroked her head absentmindedly.

"I'm never going to be able to get that sound out of my head," he said.

"Yes you will," said Windwalker. "It might take a bit, but you will." Chris leaned back in the chair. Then came the sound no one would forget, the unmistakable sound of a baby's cry. Everyone perked up when they heard it. The commotion inside subsided. Everyone's eyes were on the door, waiting for it to open. They didn't have to wait long. A few minuets later the door opened a few inches and Valka stuck her head out. She caught Chris's eye and beckoned him inside. They all looked at him. Chris took a few deep breaths and slowly got to his feet. He went into the house. Valka told the others to wait outside.

"Well what are we, garbage?" asked Tenor. He was so fed up with being told to wait outside. He slumped to the grass and closed his eyes. Chris entered the house and Valka closed the door behind them. Serenity was laying on a bed, propped up on some pillows, holding something hidden by a blanket. She looked up when Chris came in, she gave him a tired smile. He went to her side and knelt down.

"Did you find them?" Serenity whispered.

"Yes, everyone's safe," Chris said. Serenity smiled wider and what was in the blanket. It was a beautiful baby girl, sleeping peacefully. Chris could make out a small mock of black hair on top of the baby's head. The rest of her was hidden by the blanket, which had a big edelweiss flower in the middle surrounded by dragons.

"Wow, she's so tiny," said Chris.

"I know right," Serenity agreed. "But I she's totally worth giving up dragons for nine months."

"And now you can have them back in your life," Chris said quietly. Serenity smiled bigger. At that moment Edelweiss opened her eyes, which were bright green. She looked around at the source of the new voice. When she saw Chris her eyes grew wide.

"Hi Edelweiss," he cooed. Serenity gently handed her to him and Chris took his new daughter in his arms, still looking her in the eye. His mind went back to when he first held his little sister, he felt the same emotions. He was going to do whatever it took to make sure nothing bad happened to Edelweiss.

"Can she go outside?" Serenity asked Valka.

"Not right now," Valka said. "Too cold."

"Oh, I really wanted to try out that baby sling," Serenity said, a bit disappointed.

"She can go out tomorrow," Valka said.

"That'll work," Serenity said. Edelweiss decided she had seen enough, yawned and went back to sleep. Chris handed her back to Serenity.

"You should get some rest," Valka said. "You can introduce her to the dragons."

"Alright," Serenity said.

"I'll go make sure the dragons don't go mad," Chris said. "Tenor wasn't too thrilled when he was told to wait outside."

"Yeah," said Serenity. "I lost count of how many times Toothless came up to my hospital saying he felt like dirt because he was forced to wait outside alone while all the humans were allowed in. It's really sad when it happens."

"Speaking of which," Chris said. "There's a young dragon out there with a broken wrist, do you think you can fix it when you feel rested?"

"Sure," said Serenity, looking at Edelweiss. She now felt as tired as Edelweiss looked. Chris left the room and went back outside. All the dragons got to their feet.

"They're okay," Chris said, before the uproar. "You will all meet Edelweiss tomorrow."

"Edelweiss?" said Astrid. "That's a nice name. So it's a girl?"

"Yup," said Chris. "Black hair, green eyes." He closed the door.

"Wow, pretty," said Aurora. The riders and dragons left the hospital except for the Draconinans. Scauldy, Torch, and Fanghook went to find a cave to sleep in for the night, they wanted to see the baby as well. Valka and Gothi soon left as well. They all settled down after their big adventure. The three young dragons curled up together next to the tree trunk. The adult dragons slept all around the tree, and Chris slept in the tree.

Early the following morning Serenity and Edelweiss were the first ones up. Serenity got up, fed her baby, then went outside. Edelweiss was bundled up in her blanket and wore a blue wool dress. Outside there was frost on the ground, but the hospital was protected by a spell Draco put on it several years ago that kept the sun shining on the place. The tree was glowing gold in the morning sunshine. Serenity went over the cradle and put Edelweiss in it, tucking her in, then sat in her chair. At that moment Re woke up and stretched.

"You're up early," he told Serenity. She smiled.

"Got restless," she said. Re got to his feet.

"You've never gotten restless before," Re said.

"Not me," Serenity said laughing.

"Oh," Re said, realizing what she meant. He went over to the cradle to see his granddaughter. She was wide awake and wiggling. When she saw Re, her eyes grew wide again.

"She knows she has a long day of meeting people," Serenity said. Then she hugged the King.

"It's good to see you again," she said. Re hugged her back. "That was the longest nine months of my life without dragons."

"You took it on like a champ," Re said. "And your rewards are dragons back in your life, and a new baby." At that moment the other dragons woke up.

"Good morning my friends," Serenity said.

"Hi Serenity," said Tenor. Serenity hugged him next. Aurora looked at Edelweiss.

"She has your eyes," she said.

"Yeah and Chris's hair," Serenity said. "What do you think?"

"She's beautiful," Aurora said. Edelweiss squealed in delight.

"Where did the cradle come from?" asked Re.

"Valka lent it to me," said Serenity. "That's Hiccup's old cradle." Avalon and Apollo tried to look over the side of the cradle, but couldn't quite reach it.

"We can't see Mama," said Apollo. Aurora picked her hatchlings up by their tails and put them on Serenity's chair. Now they could see the baby. Eider sat by himself. Serenity noticed.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"I'm Eider," said Eider. "I was imprisoned with your friends."

"You hurt your paw," Serenity said. She pointed to his left front paw.

"And it hurts too," Eider said. "Can you fix it?" Serenity looked at the cradle. Edelweiss was checking out her grandmother.

"Would it be cruel of me to go back to work now?" Serenity asked.

"No," said Re. "There's probably going to be a whole mob here in a few minuets, save yourself the trouble of having answer dumb questions."

"Okay," Serenity said. "Right this way Eider." She led him back into the house. At that moment Chris finally came out.

"Where's Serenity?" he asked.

"She's fixing Eider's paw," said Aurora. "She's left us in charge of Edelweiss, and the mob that are due to arrive to see her."

"And went they're done we can go home," said Tenor. "And get started with those Dragon Island plans."

"Oh, I almost forgot about that," Re said. "That's the whole reason we came out here in the first place."

"Well things change," said Aurora. "We can start on them when we get home." She put a vaccine spell on Edelweiss so she wouldn't get sick from being around so many dragons. It didn't take long before the visitors came up the hill. They filled the hospital and were allowed up, one at a time, to see Edelweiss. Re looked at the crowd quite surprised.

"Wow, you guys act like you haven't seen a baby before," he said, giggling.

"Well we've never seen this baby," said Astrid. Toothless approached the cradle and looked at Edelweiss. He put on the cutest face he could. Edelweiss gave him a gummy smile. Toothless tilted his head, then gave her a gummy smile. She giggled and reached a little hand out and touched his nose. Toothless purred, the baby's skin was very soft and delicate. He gave her hand a tiny lick, she giggled again when it tickled. Then Toothless stepped a side to let the next person see her. Edelweiss seemed to like the dragons, she looked interested at how different each one looked. The riders however she seemed afraid of. Chris and his parents stood nearby incase something went wrong. Tenor was perched in the tree to make room for the others. Then Fishlegs got so excited that he shoved Snotlout out of the way and ran up to the cradle. He ran so fast that he knocked into the cradle and tipped it over. Everyone gasped as the cradle landed on the ground with a sickening thud. Chris drew one of his swords, pinned Fishlegs to the tree trunk, and pressed the blade of his sword to his neck. Astrid rushed toward the cradle and picked up Edelweiss who was screaming bloody murder, while Hiccup set the cradle back up. It had smashed on the ground.

"Is this going to be a habit of yours?" Chris snapped at Fishlegs. "Running up to newborns like an itdiot and put them in danger?" He remembered when Fishlegs had accidentally kicked Aurora's eggs.

"I'm sorry it won't happen again," Fishlegs said fearful. "I swear."

"That's what you said last time," said Chris. He looked over at Astrid. "Is she hurt?"

"No, she's pretty scared though," said Astrid. She had Edelweiss resting on her shoulder and patted her back trying calm her down. Hiccup was looking at the broken cradle.

"Shame, I really liked that cradle," he said. Snotlout had his fingers in his ears.

"Will some one shut it up?" he yelled. Aurora scowled at him. Then she whipped her tail around and whipped Snotlout in the rear. He howled and clamped his hands over his throbbing backside, dancing on the spot. Everyone laughed at him.

"Hey do that again that was funny," said Tuffnut between laughs.

"Nah, it's not as funny the second time," said Aurora.

"What's going on out there!?" Serenity called from the house.

"Nothing, we've got it under control," Re called back. Meatlug went up to Chris, who still had Fishlegs at sword blade.

"Please let him go," she said. "I'll make sure he doesn't get near another baby." Chris sighed then released Fishlegs. Everyone started to calm down from the even, including Edelweiss who had stopped crying. Chris put his sword away. Then Serenity came out with Eider. The young dragon had his bad paw in a cast. Astrid handed Edelweiss to Serenity.

"I don't know where you can set her down at," Astrid said. "Because someone had to go and break the cradle." She glared at Fishlegs.

"I said I was sorry," said Fishlegs.

"Well this gives me an opportunity to try out the baby sling," Serenity said. She handed Edelweiss to Chris then took the baby sling off the tree branch it was hanging from. She put it around her neck and shoulder. Then she took Edelweiss back and gently put her in the baby sling. She seemed to fit perfectly. Serenity picked up the blanket that was on the ground near the cradle and tucked it around the baby, keeping her warm.

"It looks to big for her," said Re.

"It'll last me a long time then," Serenity said. "And I can ride dragons this way."

"Can we go home now Mama?" asked Apollo. "I want to show Eider our castle." Aurora turned to Serenity.

"You up to go home?" she asked.

"I'm itching to get back in the saddle again," Serenity said. Tenor jumped down from the tree.

"I hope this incident with Fishlegs won't keep you from bringing Edelweiss back," said Astrid.

"I don't think it will," Chris said. "But if it happens again, then we won't bring her back. I'm just glad she has dragons for grandparents." Re and Aurora blushed. Serenity looked down at Edelweiss who was falling asleep.

"Lets get going while the sun is still in the morning position," Re said. Tenor knelt down so Serenity could mount him. Chris got on Windwalker, bareback as she didn't have her saddle.

"We'll be back to get started on our plans for Dragon Island," Aurora said. "In the next month or so."

"And we'll help with the construction," Hiccup offered.

"You got yourself a deal," Re said. He spread his wings and took off, followed by the others. Tenor was the last to take off.

"Take it easy Tenor," Serenity said patting his neck. He nodded then took off after the others. Serenity was very happy to be riding again after nine months. She was pleased to see that she hadn't lost any of her skills. Tenor flew as smooth as he could. They were followed by Apollo, Avalon, and Eider.

"Thanks for the swan it was beautiful," Serenity said to Chris.

"You're welcome," Chris said. "Where is it?" Serenity reached into a pocket in the baby sling and pulled out the wooden swan.

"Oh wow that is pretty," said Windwalker. Serenity put it back into it's pocket. She clicked the reins and they dragons all sped up heading for home.