"Oh, Gods... Astrid, I swear to Thor I won't touch you, ever again... I wo-won't even go near you."
His face is contorted with fear now, even though he successfully managed to hide his panic for a long time. He is cupping my sweaty, exhausted face and hisses every time I scrunch my nose in pain. He is annoying and I want to punch him, but I can't and he is adorable and I want to kiss him, but that's not possible either.
"Really, babe, if I had known that you would suffer this much, I never would have..."
"Oh, shut your mutton hole!" I cut him off, probably a little too harshly, but I need him to be braver right now. He's not the only one who feels helpless and worried. "Could you wipe my forehead? It felt good before..."
He grabs the rag with trembling fingers and dips it into the bowl of cold water on the bed stand. He gently places it on my forehead and the cool water dripping down on my face gives me some comfort. But oh, I'm still in very much pain...
The mid-wife lifts my tunic up and checks on me. I feel a sharp sting and I know it's totally normal, Hiccup, however fixes the elderly woman until she finally nods that everything is okay and my dear, panicking husband lets out a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, I feel another unearthly jolt of pain in my stomach and I grab his arm. I squeeze him until my fingers go white and I let go of him as soon as the throbbing in my abdomen fades away.
I have a calm moment and I use it to look at his face, to examine the deep rows of wrinkles that were ploughed into his forehead by the hours of my constant torments. I want to tell him how much I love him because he rebelled against the women and stayed next me, even though it is considered to be scandalous if a husband is in the room when his wife is in labor. But words are too hard now, so I just try to smile at him, but the stinging pain is back again and instead of a reassuring grin, I bite my lower lip.
The painless periods are getting shorter and I know it means we are getting closer to meet the little one, but since everything is new and unfamiliar, I don't know what to expect and the insecurity makes me nervous and even upset a little.
The mid-wife checks on me again and announces that it's time to push. If only I knew what she means by that and how to do it...
They push my legs up and order me to pull my knees towards my chest and I'm angry, because it's uncomfortable and it hurts, but I look at my poor man and I feel a bit shocked when I see how white he is. I don't want him to faint and miss our first minutes with the tiny one, so I decide on getting over with the whole ordeal with a straight face and a brave heart. For all three of us.
"Hiccup..." He looks at me with big, tear-laced eyes. "Hiccup. I love you." I don't see his reaction because the agony starts again and I close my eyes, but I feel his feathery fingers on my forehead.
I'm getting a bit confused now, it's hard to concentrate because the pain grows with every second, but I try to pushpushpush and I pant a lot and I then I have to start it all over again, until I feel totally out of this world and there's nothing there just me and the pain that seeps into me through my pores and it tries to tear me into million pieces...
And suddenly... it's all gone. It's nowhere to be found or felt, it disappears into thin air... There's an excitement at my feet and I hear muffled voices and little squeaky sounds and Hiccup stands up and he leaves me and I feel so desperately lonely, but I'm too weak to even lift my head.
I want to cry, oh, I really want to cry, but he's back and he has a little bundle in his arms and he kneels down next to me and gently places the little fur covered ball on me and when I notice a tuft of chestnut hair sticking out from underneath the furs, the tears escape my eyes...
With a finger, I carefully lift the furs a little and there is this most perfect creature, peacefully lying in my arm. I look at my husband and his face is wet with tears too, and he is sniffing and I'm sobbing and the tiny one yawns in my arms.
"I told you it was a boy." He leans closer to me and places a little peck on my damp cheek. I smile at him and he smiles back. "We really aced it," he adds with a cocky grin and I know he, the dragon killer, has never felt this proud.
"Yeah, you're my hero," I compliment him and I lift my hand and grab his tunic and I pull him closer to kiss him properly.
"I love you," he says quietly when we part, "I love you both."
§§§
Finally, our house is quiet. The mid-wife and my parents have left and I managed to feed the baby for the first time and he is slumbering in my arms. We silently adore him while sitting next to each other on our bed. My husband's head rests on my shoulder and he is quietly thinking while stroking the fur that covers his miniature doppelgänger. His overgrown "cat" is sleeping at our feet, in our giant, dragon-proof bed, guarding his people in a curled up position.
Toothless had a rough night too. He didn't really understand why he was shut out from the room when his master was so agitated and my constant screaming was also a frightening mystery to him. And when he was finally let into the room, Hiccup was holding a small creature, who smelled like us and looked like Hiccup and everything must have felt so unfair for the dragon at first...
But Hiccup was patient, he held the baby for him, so Toothless could examine the hatchling as long as he wanted to and after long minutes of silent watching and curious sniffing, he poked the tip of his tongue out and he looked at Hiccup shyly waiting for his permission. Hiccup nodded with a grin on his face and Toothless licked the little one's face. The baby wiggled and made the cutest coos and when the loyal reptile cooed back to him, I knew the baby had stolen Toothless's heart too.
"Are you thinking about your mom?" I ask, breaking the silence. There's an elephant in the room that needs to be addressed...
Hiccup shrugs. "I've sent Fishlegs for her, but she wasn't in the sanctuary, so he left her a note."
He tries to sound neutral, but I know it hurts him a little. Her presence at the baby's birth could have marked the start of a new beginning. I turn my head and kiss him. "It's okay, babe," he whispers.
Our front door opens downstairs, but we're too tired to get up and greet our late night visitor. Soon we hear light steps coming up on our squeaking stairs and Valka appears in the door. Glittering snowflakes paint her dark hair whiter and her cheeks are kissed red by the cool winter wind. She's smiling and there's a small bundle in her hand - a present, I assume.
Suddenly, Toothless lifts his head up and looks at Valka. He sniffs in the air and jumps down from the bed, trying to get closer to the thing Valka is holding, but she gently pats him away.
"Oh, Mom, did you get my message?" Hiccup stands up and holds his arm out. His mom grabs his hand and squeezes it. It looks oddly formal, but she seems to be extra careful with the little thingy she is holding in her other hand...
"Yes, son, and I came as soon as I could." She is still smiling and Hiccup smiles back at her, then gestures towards our baby.
"Oh, right, Mom, meet your grandson... Finn Dragonheir Haddock I."
She leans closer and looks at the slumbering baby in my arms. Toothless is still really interested in whatever she is hiding, but Valka doesn't let him touch or smell it.
"He is beautiful..." She says in awe of the baby. "Congratulations to you both." We thank her simultaneously.
"Son, the reason I came this late is because I was helping at another birth..." Hiccup looks at me with a puzzled face and he has every right to be surprised, whose birth could have been more important for Valka than her first grandson's?"
"A Gronckle brought an egg to me and it was cracked and..." She starts to unfold the bundle in her hand. "So, the egg shell was broken and I feared he wouldn't make it..." Something starts to move under the thick fabric, but we can't see it yet. "I massaged him and tried to warm him up and... Phew... ten minutes later, he finally took that one breath I was so desperately waiting for."
Suddenly, Tootheless goes totally crazy. It's weird. He jumps and makes some sharp, overly excited noises I've never heard from him before.
"Kids, I want you to meet this little fighter... He's One Breath."
I feel a tug at my heart when I saw the tiny Night Fury in her hand...
"Mighty Thor..." Mumbles my shocked husband. " But how could it be?"
Valka shakes her head and shrugs. "I don't know. But... I guess some things are just good as they are - without asking any further questions"
Toothless is finally allowed to take a good look at the small dragon. He sniffs him and presses his nose to the tiny one's side and One Breath suddenly sneezes, with which he frightens himself and the baby dragon covers his eyes with his miniscule tail, just like Toothless does it when he is tired or wants to ignore us. We all laugh at the little ninny and I can't help but let out a deep sigh.
Hiccup looks at me worriedly, but I shake my head. There's nothing wrong, on the contrary, it's all too perfect.
§§§
Two and a half years later...
The cool spring wind bites my face with its sharp teeth, but I don't mind it. I feel free, I'm up in the air and Stormfly floats with me above the clouds. My husband and his Night Fury fly right before us and I take a good look at his perfect butt when he lifts himself up in the saddle to make navigation easier. He looks back at me and he's smiling from ear to ear.
I shake my head with curling lips; he is a serious chief, a gentle husband and a dedicated father, yet somehow he is still the same old goofball I fell in love with.
But his excitement is understandable, it's going to be the first night we spend together, just the two of us, since little Finn was born. And our son was nothing but proud when he learnt that he could spend the night at Grandma Valka's magic dragon home. We're not worried about him, Valka is an attentive grandmother and One Breath is basically glued to Finn - his not allowed to fly his dragon just yet, because the little Night Fury is not strong enough, but they inseparable.
The whole trip is a surprise from Hiccup, he organized the free night for us to celebrate the 5th anniversary of our wedding. He packed everything behind my back and when he told me after I had woken up that we would take a trip to the Itchy Armpit, I kissed him with all my passion.
We arrive a good hour later and I make the fire while he puts up our old tent. We fry shrimps and fish and we drink mead and as the night darkens on us, his hungry lips catch my mouth more and more often. We say goodbye to the dragons and we crawl inside the tent... And then...
He gets crazy about me. I'm crazy about him. We peel each other's clothes off in no time. He nibbles at my neck and his hands cup my breasts while my fingers lace around his hard shaft. We both moan silently because we got used to doing the do quietly because of Finn...
"Babe... I want to make you scream..." He mutters to my collarbone. "I miss your screams."
"You have to work for them," I say with a smile and I sigh when he latches on my nipple. Meanwhile, his diligent fingers find my clit and I give out a loud "ah". He smiles against my nipple and he sucks at it while his fingers touch me at all the right places...
His lips soon travel further down and I pant really hard when his tongue licks me between my folds. He presses a thumb to my clit and draws tiny circles while his tongue dances around it. I arch my back and I tremble with pleasure and when he pushes two fingers inside me an "I love you, babe," leaves my mouth.
He sucks at my clit gently than little harder and he adds another finger... I fist the furs above my head and I repeat my I-love-yous a million times and when a couple minutes later his diligent work pays off, I came with a loud scream.
He laughs when he crawls back up to me to kiss me. I taste myself on his lips and it excites me and I snake my legs around him and I pull him close. "I want you inside me, now," I moan with pure lust and there's no need for begging. He thrusts into me.
"Ah, babe, you're wonderful... I fucking love how tight you're... Gods." He is rocking into me, deeper with every push and I dig into his shoulders with my ten nails. He turns me from my side to my back and he reaches under the crook of my knees and pushes my legs up, pressing them to my chest. "Ah, Gods, Hiccup, this is amaz... Ahahahah..." The angle is unbelievably good and it's so unlikely that after all these years of active sex life, he can still come up with fascinating new ideas...
My second orgasm is a little bit quieter, but there's the added pleasure of him spilling into me a couple seconds later...
Then he gently lets my legs down and lies next to me, pressing his sweaty body to mine.
"Thank you, babe," he mumbles into my ear.
"You're an idiot," I smile back.
"Mmm, I love Finn to death, but... It's mmm nice to have some alone time with you," he continues.
"Mhm."
"I'm glad, he is all big now and can spend the night at my mom's." His hands land on my hips and he pulls me closer.
"Yeah, we have a couple of months left until we have to stay at home again..."
His hands stop and lifts his head to look at me. He is adorably confused and it makes me grin. "Yes, Hiccup."
"Huh. Wow. Oh. How... When... Oh... Gods..."
"Relax. I learnt it two days ago and we have a good seven months before..."
"Huh. Two kids? Oh."
"Yes, chief, we're going to have two kids."
"That's... that's... wow."
I punch his arm. "Enough with your stupid wows!"
"O-okay..."
"Now, let's use our time wisely... I erm... really liked what you did with your erm... fingers and tongue before..."
"Yeah? Oh, yeah... Yeah, I heard you liked it."
"I kind of want to like it again..."
He looks at me with those beautiful green eyes and leans down to kiss me. "Your wish is my command, m'lady."
FIN
§§§
Wow. First of all, thank you for reading it, I hope you liked it.
If you did, I have a drabble series, entitled Hiccstrid in the Air, and it's basically the continuation of this fanfic.
Also feel free to contact me on tumblr (haddocksortails) if you have any questions or requests.
And thanks for the kind and thoughtful reviews, they are my pride and joy.