Ch. 12

As soon as Astrid went into labor, Hiccup made sure the whole village knew of it; he ran through the village, screaming at the top of his lungs that his wife was giving birth. Once Hiccup reached the Elder's home, he banged on her door to hurry so she could help Astrid. The Elder hurried to Hiccup and Astrid's home, with Ruffnut, Astrid's mid-wife, right behind her. Once they reached the house, the Elder immediately began getting everything ready for the child, and Hiccup tried to get into the house, but Ruffnut wouldn't let him.

"Ruffnut! Let me in my house! I want to be with Astrid when she gives birth!" Hiccup yelled, but Ruffnut wouldn't budge.

"I'm sorry Hiccup, but it's always too dangerous to allow the husband to be in the house where his wife is giving birth; it's going to get a lot more crowded than just me, the Elder, and Astrid. You just have to trust the Elder; she's done this before after all." Ruffnut said, and Hiccup just kept being stubborn, trying to shove his way into his own home, but Ruffnut just pushed him away, and when Stoick walked over to the house, he grabbed his son by the shoulders.

"Son, I know what you're feeling, this is how I felt when you're mother went into labor with you; I wanted to be there with her, but the Elder wouldn't let me either, and you'll understand when you see how many women are involved in giving birth." Stoick said, and although Hiccup nodded, hearing Astrid scream in pain, and beg for Hiccup to be next to her didn't make it easier for him.

Sixteen hours later

"Man, how long does it take for a woman to give birth?" Hiccup asked, getting impatient and worried with how long it's taking.

"Well son, it normally takes awhile, life for instance; it took you twenty hours for you to emerge from your mother." Stoick said.

"Thanks dad, that's exactly what I wanted to hear, especially since my mom died because of me only three hours later." Hiccup said sadly.

"Son, when will you understand that you didn't kill your mother? The Elder already explained this to you and me; you're mother was sick in the last few weeks of carrying you, and it made her weak. After she gave birth to you…she just couldn't hang on anymore…but she loved you so much son, just remember that." Stoick said, and Hiccup nodded, when Toothless purred at the two Viking's, offering a seat next to him near the egg. Hiccup stood up and sat next to his best friend and began scratching the dragons neck, when suddenly, Toothless jumped up, and looked at the egg, and saw that it was moving around. Toothless then roared out and Raven appeared a few seconds later, and started watching the egg with anticipation with Toothless, Hiccup, and Stoick. Suddenly, a piece of the egg broke off, revealing a small black dragon foot. The egg continued to break off pieces, revealing the remaining three feet, the dragon tail, and the wings, the only part of the egg that hadn't broken off was the part covering the baby Night Fury's head. The hatchling started wobbling around, confused about why it couldn't see, and started crying out for its parents.

"Mama! Papa!" The little Night Fury roared, and Toothless slowly moved his tail onto the egg, and began using his tailfin to push the egg off of his child. Once the dragon was completely free from the egg, Toothless and Raven began licking and snuggling the baby dragon.

"It's okay little one, your parents are here, and you are safe." Toothless purred.

"Toothless, what happened to the dragon that tried to harm our child?" Raven growled, and Toothless picked the little Night Fury with his mouth.

"He flew off after I pierced his scales…the coward; he tried to eat my unhatched child, and ran off when I attacked him. I should've torn his head off!" Toothless growled, but he calmed down when his son looked at him and started purring, but it was quickly drowned out by the wailing of an infant.

Hiccup was happy that his friend's child had hatched safely, but when he heard a baby crying in his house, he ran over to the door and barged in, and saw the women that helped Astrid give birth, smiling at Hiccup, and when he reached his wife, he saw a small bundle of furs in her arms, and she was smiling and crying at the same time. He stood next to the bed Astrid was lying on, and saw a small child, now sound asleep, and Hiccup started smiling as well.

"He looks like you." Astrid said, and Hiccup smiled even larger.

"I have a son." Hiccup said gladly, and Astrid handed the infant to Hiccup, and he held his son, and admired how he did indeed look a lot like his father.

"What are we going to call him?" Astrid asked, and Hiccup thought for a couple of seconds before coming up with the perfect name.

"Talon." Hiccup said, and Astrid smiled.

"Talon…I think that's a perfect name." Astrid said, and Hiccup handed his sleeping son back to his mother. Once the Elder was sure that the couple had everything under control, she had everyone leave the house, and told them to let Stoick know he can see his grandson. Stoick walked in slowly, not wanting to wake the sleeping infant, and stood next to his son, and looked at Talon proudly.

"He looks a lot like you did when you were born, son." Stoick said, placing a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. Astrid offered Stoick to hold the child, and he accepted, showing a face of pride Hiccup hadn't seen in awhile.

"I haven't been this happy or proud since the moment you were born, Hiccup." Stoick said, and the child started squirming, and he handed Talon back to Astrid, and the baby calmed back down.

"Well, I'm just as proud and happy, of my son, and of you Astrid." Hiccup said, and he kissed Astrid's sweaty forehead, and Astrid went to sleep. A few minutes later, Toothless and Raven walked in, with their son riding on Toothless' head. Hiccup took his son from Astrid, and showed the sleeping child to Toothless and Raven, and the two dragons looked at the infant and purred at the child.

"Well, you're an uncle now, bud." Hiccup said, and Stoick gave a final congratulatory pat on Hiccup's shoulders before leaving the house to inform the village of the newborns safe arrival.

A few hours later, Astrid had woken up and was cuddling her son lovingly, when a knock on the door caused little Talon to wake up and start crying. Hiccup went to the door, and when he opened it, he saw Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and their new born daughter, Marrow, who was born two weeks before Talon was.

"Hey Fishlegs, Ruff, how are you guys doing?" Hiccup asked, and let the two walk into the house. Ruffnut took a seat next to Astrid and began cooing over both her daughter, and Talon, and Hiccup just watched, amazed and shocked. "Fishlegs, are you sure that's Ruffnut?"

"I honestly don't know." Fishlegs answered, and the two laughed over the joke, and Hiccup poured Fishlegs and himself a couple of mugs of mead.

"So how's Marrow been?" Hiccup asked, and Fishlegs shrugged.

"Good; she has plus three my appetite and plus fifteen Ruffnut's beautifulness." Fishlegs said, and Hiccup rolled his eyes at his friend still categorizing the looks and abilities of people, dragons, and objects.

"That's good…I think." Hiccup said, and Fishlegs nodded, and the two continued to talk and drink their mead, while their wives talked about newborn Talon.

"He's so beautiful, Astrid." Ruffnut said, and Astrid just smiled and cuddled Talon some more.

"Thanks, Ruff. He looks so much like his father." Astrid said.

"Well, I see small bits of you in him; there's a bit of a blondish tint in his hair." Ruffnut said, and she started rocking Marrow, who started shifting in her mother's arms, and eventually, Marrow yawned and went to sleep. "I just hope you and Hiccup are ready to lose a few nights of sleep; Marrow here sometimes cries through an entire night, and no matter what we do, she never stops crying." Ruffnut explained, and Astrid just chuckled.

"Anything will be worth giving up as long as our son is healthy and happy." Astrid said, and she quickly fell asleep, and Talon quickly followed her. Ruffnut then stood up, and told Fishlegs that they had to go, and the couple left immediately with their daughter. As the two Viking's left, Toothless and Raven walked in, with their son sleeping on Toothless' head.

"Hey Toothless, Raven." Hiccup greeted, and he gave the two dragons a couple of fish for them to eat, and suddenly, the baby dragon rolled over on Toothless' head, causing him to fall off, but before the hatchling hit the ground, Hiccup caught him, but the hatchling started squirming in Hiccup's arms, and when he got a good look at who caught him, he looked at the stranger and growled, and although it wasn't very threatening, and Hiccup found it kind of funny, Toothless didn't see the humor of his son growling at his best friend, so Toothless gave a more threatening growl at his son, and the hatchling got quiet and calmed down in Hiccup's arms.

When Astrid woke up, she got scared for a couple of minutes because she remembered that he son was in her arms when went to sleep, and now he was nowhere to be seen. She heard Hiccup walk down the stairs, and when she saw her husband, she realized he had their son because he was walking with a bundle of furs in his arm. Once Astrid calmed down, she smiled at Hiccup as he walked over to her, and kissed her forehead.

"Sleep well?" Hiccup asked, and Astrid nodded. "Talon was squirming while you were sleeping and I didn't want you to wake up, so I took Talon and just held him and walked around the house for a couple of hours." Hiccup explained, and Astrid finally noticed the bundle of black resting on his shoulders.

"Uhh…Hiccup?" Astrid asked and she pointed to the bundle of black, and suddenly, an eye appeared on the bundle, and it watched Astrid with suspicion.

"Oh, I forgot you were in labor when he hatched; Astrid, this is Toothless and Raven's son." Hiccup introduced, and he got on his knees, careful not to wake Talon, and Astrid looked at the hatchling for a couple of seconds before she started petting it.

"Do you have a name for him?" Astrid asked.

"I'm thinking about it now; I'm thinking either Inferno or Firefin." Hiccup said.

"Firefin seems like a fitting name." Astrid said.

"Do you have a suggestion though? After all, I did name Toothless and our son." Hiccup said.

"Toothless was your only friend when you named him, and I believe a father should always name his sons when their born. So those don't count, and since I named Raven, it's your turn to name our new dragon family member." Astrid said, and Hiccup smiled.

"Firefin it is then." Hiccup said, and the dragon jumped off of Hiccup's shoulders, and landed on Astrid's face, causing Hiccup to laugh when his wife screamed with surprise, but Talon woke up and started crying, causing Firefin to start wailing as well, and Toothless and Raven were there in an instant. Hiccup gave Firefin to his parents, and Astrid took Talon and started rocking him. "We're going to need a bigger house." Hiccup said, and Astrid just chuckled at her husband's remark, and continued calming Talon until he stopped crying, and Astrid decided it was time to feed him. As Hiccup saw Talon eat, Astrid cooing him, and Toothless and Raven sleeping with their child, Hiccup smiled, thanking the Gods for his perfect life.

A/N: I apologize for the long update gap, I am trying to update as much as I can, but it's hard with me doing that with school and all. And thank you Bolo Toothless MarkXXXIII for the suggestion of the hatchlings name.