I may not have mentioned this before now...
This is the last story chapter. I have epilogues planned. It suits me better that way.
Apologies for the ill-timed hiatus prior to this final chapter. I needed it.
Bit of a time jump or two in this chapter, I tried twice to do something more linear and it came out terrible.
-HTTYD-
It was utterly nerve-wracking, and Astrid paced the hallway while Eret hummed to himself, looking around occasionally.
"Where is he?"
"He'll be here Astrid. Hiccup wouldn't miss this for the world."
Sighing deeply, Astrid resumed pacing. Someone came out to call them, ended up taking those next in line instead when informed they were waiting for someone. There was obvious confusion - Astrid and Eret were there, who could they be waiting for?
Of course, the triad were used to the presumption of monogamy and expectation of a couple, not that it stopped being a bit annoying. Still, Astrid wasn't about to let that stop Hiccup being there for their first ultrasound.
The pregnancy discovery had been something of a surprise, given that Astrid was still on birth control. Still, it was somewhat fortuitously timed - after a year in their two bed flat, talking about renewing the lease, they now knew they were looking for a more permanent residence in which to raise their children.
Fifteen minutes after they were meant to go in, Hiccup stumbled through the doors at the end of the hallway, looking incredibly relieved to have found them.
"Did I miss it?"
"Idiot. Of course not, we wouldn't go without you."
Hiccup hugged Astrid since she was closer first, throwing Eret a tired smile.
"I got stuck in traffic and then my phone died, I'm so sorry I'm late."
"That's ok. You're here now, that's what matters."
Something about having them both there with her always filled Astrid with a sense of relief, comfort. Being without them was like missing two of her hearts; they were all as much a part of each other.
"Miss Hofferson? Are you ready now?"
The slightly irritated ultrasound tech called her again, obviously spotting a second man had arrived. Now they had to go explain polyamory and two dads to her. The problems started quickly.
"Hold on, just the father is allowed in."
Eret rolled his eyes, and Hiccup gripped Astrid's hand.
"If you can tell by looking who's the biological father, then fair enough. Otherwise, we would both like to be their for our girlfriend and our child."
Their relationship wasn't without its trials; Astrid had been called a whore out on the street simply because some nosy bastard had seen her kiss one boyfriend and hold the others hand. He'd paid for it with a broken nose, but it was still annoying.
Now they had a confused technician watching the three walk in, obviously already forming opinions that Astrid had fucked them both and didn't know who the father was. It was true, but not in the way most people expected. How was anyone to know? Astrid had sex with both of them, very very regularly. A nurse asked a few questions of Astrid while she hopped up on the exam chair, boyfriends either side of her and trying not to get in the way.
"So which of you is the father?"
"Don't know."
Hiccup shrugged, and Eret added.
"Don't care."
Astrid rolled her eyes. Idiot men. She loved them.
"They both are."
"Both? Oh. Are you their surrogate?"
Exasperated already, Astrid shook her head.
"No!"
"She's our girlfiend. We all date each other. Triad. Poly."
"We don't give a toss who's sperm hit the egg. That baby has three parents."
"I see."
The person meant to do the ultrasound turned and walked out. The trio looked at each other, then to the nurse, who's expression suggested that wasn't expected procedure.
"Has she ditched us cus there's three of us?"
The nurse shrugged, poor young man unsure what to do clearly. Astrid tapped her fingers on her belly, attracting the attention of her boyfriends.
"You ok milady?"
"Yeah, just antsy to get this done with."
She wanted to see the baby, to know they were really going to become parents. After ten minutes or so of awkward silence from the nurse, a new technician came in.
"Sorry for the wait. Shall we get you scanned?"
Astrid wanted to ask why they swapped, but honestly she just wanted the image on the screen. So she lifted her shirt, catching sight of her tattooed hip. She hissed at the cold goo and waited for the picture to take shape. There was a look on the technicians face Astrid wasn't sure she liked.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong, exactly. Have you considered the possibility of multiple babies?"
Her eyes widened, and she heard Hiccup gasp as he squeezed her shoulder.
"There's more than one?"
"I'm getting two heartbeats. And from the looks of the placenta, identical twins."
Astrid squinted, seeing what looked like a lot of white noise and she wasn't entirely convinced the technician wasn't lying.
"Can you tell how far along she is?"
Eret asked, and he looked transfixed. Astrid was still struggling to see the babies apparently in there. As the image cleared up, she could see two tiny little things, just floating around in her belly.
"From the looks of things... six to eight weeks. With twins, it's not always easy to ascertain early on but you'll be booked in for four weeks time and measured properly."
"Any chance we can request not to have the one in here earlier?"
A dial was turned and the room filled with steady thrumming thumps, quick and rhythmic and music to Astrid's ears.
"You can, certainly. I'm sorry if she caused you any undue stress."
Any irritation was long faded by then, now they had been presented with the image of their children. Gods, Astrid was carrying twins. A couple of weeks ago she hadn't even known she was having one baby, now they were having two!
"Would you like a copy of the ultrasound?"
"Uh, yeah. We need four" at the technicians raised eyebrow, Eret chuckled and indicated them each "three parents means three families all obsessively interested in us having kids. Plus, we'll probably want one ourselves."
"Right. I'll add a note to your files about the... parenting situation, so you shouldn't have any trouble next time with both partners."
Left to clean herself up with paper towels while their pictures were being printed, Astrid rubbed her now-dry belly.
"Twins. Two babies."
Eret rubbed the top of her arm, still standing while she was sat.
"Yeah. Identical though. If they were fraternal, we coulda spent months guessing if they were gonna be one each or two to one daddy."
Astrid blinked, momentarily concerned.
"Is that important to you? Who the biological father is?"
Hiccup shook his head.
"Could not care less if they have my eyes or Eret's. Or yours. Hel, we were set on adoption before you came along with one of them wombs that does the baby growing. So genetics have never mattered to me."
"Doesn't bother me either. I mean, my dad would probably be glad to hear they were mine but I don't doubt he would adore them just as much if they are baby Vikings. But like H said, before you our kids would never have been ours biologically. Was never important."
Relieved by her boys, Astrid leant back in the chair and tried to get her head around two babies. With their ultrasounds back, Astrid was also given a pamphlet on multiples pregnancy. Then they went to arrange the next one, and finally Astrid was sat in the car staring at the little image of their babies again.
"Are you ok love?"
Eret prompted her gently after she had been quiet for a while.
"I'm great. Just having a moment of 'I can't believe my life ended up here', when I thought my life was going to end... you know."
"I know what you mean. This lil' nugget" Eret leant over and ruffled Hiccups hair, giggling "was born to change stuff."
Astrid could see Hiccup chuckling, smiling as he focused on the road.
"Mostly tyres and engine parts. The occasional limb."
When they got home, greeted by two bundles of fur very happy to see them, the trio separated just enough to make three separate phone calls - Hiccup and Eret calling their parents while Astrid called Heather.
"Twins? No way!"
"I know! The guys are calling their parents now and no doubt there'll have to be a get together."
Their family of nine - soon to be eleven! - took pretty much any excuse to get together. Astrid adored being part of it.
"We're in. Well, Dagur's at work but as one of his sisters I decree that he is in anyway."
Astrid laughed, promising to update Heather when there was some form of concrete plan. Their current place was only fifteen minutes from Heather and Dagur's place, but still a little far from their parents to just pop over on a whim.
"Toothless! Get off me you daft animal."
Toothless was one of their two rescue dogs. The day they went looking for a dog, Toothless - originally named Fury - bounded up to the kennel door and licked Hiccup's hand through it. It had been love at first sight with the slightly limping mongrel. He was Hiccups biggest fan, and fit the trios criteria of being able to be around other dogs and maybe kids. She guessed that was coming true now.
Their other one had been a bit of work, but now Storm was as loving and friendly as Toothless. She just needed some love and a lot of brushing. Her fur was a mix of grey and blonde speckles, and she could be bribed with chicken very easily to be anyone's friend. Heather spoiled her, always bringing treats and the mutinous mutt would go to her for food and petting when she visited.
Skullcrusher and Koira got on well with the two new canine family members too. So their rescues had become part of their unit, and definitely part of their home. Astrid loved being bowled over by furry love whenever they got home, and if Eret and Hiccup got up for work Astrid would wake up with the dogs in their place. It meant their bed was constantly full of dog hair, but that was a small concession.
"My mom is over the moon, and dad was out at the vets with Skullcrusher so she'll tell him when he gets back."
"Is Skullcrusher ok?"
Astrid knew the dog was elderly by his breeds standards, though he was still pretty healthy all things considered.
"Oh, yeah. Just getting his check up on his joints."
Hiccup slid his fingers along Astrid's forearm, tracing the tattoo they'd gotten for their one year anniversary. Both Eret and Hiccup had one too, the triple symbol of the yin-yang-yuan in the same place. It was plain for now, simply a shape of outlines, but Hiccup had come up with the novel idea of adding to it at each subsequent anniversary. So up next was getting them coloured, and then after that they'd add their initials to the smaller circles.
"Not really a surprise, but my parents are thrilled too."
Eret's fingers landed on Hiccup's hips, kissing the back of their boyfriends neck. Astrid smiled as Hiccup hummed, pulling Astrid closer and kissing her sweetly. She found herself smiling into the kiss, skin tingling as Hiccup's hand slid around to the dip of her lower back, holding her tight to him.
"You hungry?"
Astrid shook her head, then stopped and nodded.
"Very. Lets go to bed."
Hiccup chuckled, turning to look at Eret.
"You coming?"
Eret, rather than answer, simply picked Hiccup up and began carrying him toward the bedroom. Astrid followed, laughing as Hiccup squirmed and giggled.
"I can walk you know!"
"I know, but this is fun."
Hiccup was already on his back with Eret on top of him when Astrid caught up, leaning against the door frame with a happy sigh while watching the two kiss. Eret was a little broader than he was when Astrid first met them, but with his very physical job and their joint gym trips, that didn't really surprise her. Hiccup didn't seem to mind, running his hands over muscled shoulders and going for the hairband holding Eret's hair back.
The fine black strands fell down, Hiccups hands dipping in to stroke through it. They didn't take too long to realise Astrid had opted for audience stance, beckoning her over to join them instead. Hiccup untied her braid while Eret was kissing her, dragging a multitude of sounds from her throat when Hiccups fingers reached her scalp.
Well practiced at such team efforts, Astrid was stripped efficiently between them, leaving her in only underwear before she managed to regain coherent thought enough to insist they undress too. Hiccup's fine-knit jumper came off, revealing the third of Hiccup's three tattoos - a skillful work of shading and shadows that left him looking as though skin had been torn from his side and stomach, revealing a pattern of shiny black dragon scales beneath. Not touching it while it was healing was difficult for Astrid and Eret, because the tattoo had been secret - and both his partners found it incredibly sexy.
Now it was all healed though, and Astrid happily ran her fingers over the pattern so realistic she expected to actually feel scales. Hiccup wriggled, reaching for Astrid's loose hair and pulling her down for a kiss that left her gasping. Eret didn't need help undressing - he'd done it while Hiccup and Astrid were kissing. It reminded her of something Hiccup had said when she first moved in next door - Eret really had missed his calling as a stripper. His most noticeable change was also a torso tatt, a reindeer rearing from his hip to his chest diagonally, with a backdrop of the Northern Lights filling between the sea-scape on his hip and the galaxy up on his chest. A noticeable nod to his heritage.
Astrid got a little distracted looking at their decorated bodies, only coming back to awareness when Hiccups lips on her stomach, kissing where she was not yet showing pregnancy. Eret's mouth touched her shoulder, tickling fingers over the dragon on her hip, the silhouettes on her thigh. She'd only gotten the yin-yang-yuan since the enormous dragon undertaking, though Astrid doubted any of them were done with the needle just yet.
Her bra was discarded before long, Eret's playful joke about whether twins meant her boobs would get twice as big earning him a playful slap.
"Are you sore today love?"
That had been the first clue for Astrid, followed by chronic nausea. Playfighting with Eret, his arm brushed against her chest and the soreness was immediately noticeable, but completely unusual for the time of the month. When Astrid started feeling sick, she went and bought the test. Well. Three.
All positive.
"Not really, but be gentle on them."
Oh, Astrid loved there were two of them. Not that being with them individually was lacking, but Astrid greedily adored the way it felt to have them both with hands and mouths on her skin, the press of warm bodies either side of her. Hiccup tugged at her underwear, tongue delving between her thighs without preamble and Astrid swore as the damp muscle flicked over her clit with precision-knowledge of the best way to turn Astrid to a writhing wreck.
Eret kissed her, swallowing her moans and gasps as he thumbed her nipple - gently, as she had asked but still sending pleasant zaps along her nerves. Teeth nipped at her shoulder, her neck, her lip until Astrid was shaking, unsure whether to lean into one or simply melt in place. Hiccup pulled away and chuckled as she swore, even less amused when Eret diverted attention to Hiccup, tasting her arousal on his lips while the girlfriend in question growled in frustration at being abandoned twice over.
They didn't leave her waiting long, both with hands back on her soon enough and Astrid mewled happily, body thrumming with need.
"What is it milady wants?"
Knowing she'd probably struggle with this as the pregnancy progressed, Astrid had an immediate answer.
"Both of you."
They were a dab hand at the logistics, and since Hiccup and Eret still regularly fucked each other a good lube was always going to be a bedroom essential. So when Astrid was nudged up onto spread knees, she trusted their motions innately, felt Hiccup hold her up as they kissed. Hiccup wriggled out of his boxers, leant back against the bed - this was the easier way for them to come together as a three, though if Hiccup leg was having a good day he could take Eret's current place.
Hiccup pulled her closer once he was settled, fingers dipping to check she was still wet and ready for him. Astrid moaned softly as he stroked her clit, coaxing further wetness from her. His erection filled her beautifully, a slow slide until they were flush. He caressed her tattooed thighs as Astrid adjusted, shifted herself until the angle suited her best.
Letting her seat herself properly on their boyfriend first, Eret kissed along her back as he lubed his fingers, murmuring soothing sounds against her skin before he then touched her. Astrid bit her lip at the first intrusion of slick fingers, though it was familiar to her body there was always an initial response before her body remembered how to accept it. Eret was gentle, worked Astrid slowly until she was letting out little breathy sighs of pleasure, eager to be filled again.
"You good love?"
"Mmm."
Astrid leant forward - kissing Hiccup simply because she could - in a show of readiness for Eret, enjoying the way Hiccup ran his fingers over her sides and upper arms as she waited, keeping her from tensing up. Eret braced a hand on her shoulder, cock sliding into her ass until his stocky hips pressed against her. Astrid sat up, felt his arms around her waist as she struggled to catch her breath.
It always felt too much for a second, but they waited and soothed her, knew Astrid was more than capable of taking it but it was overwhelming at first. She squeezed Eret's hand on her stomach, letting the buzz of having them both inside her, that intimacy Astrid knew she could never find with anyone else.
Bracing her hands on Hiccup's chest, Astrid lifted herself to test her body's readiness, enthralled to hear twin groans of pleasure from her lovers. Bolstered, Astrid settled her legs and pushed back on Eret, indicating he could move now - he had the most leverage.
"You sure?"
"Mhmm."
Eret's hands held her securely, first thrusts still a little much but Astrid settled quickly as discomfort melted away, leaving that acute pleasure in it's wake as he hit those incredibly sensitive nerves. Hiccup simply watched as they got into it, eyes molten emeralds ashe watched Astrid's arousal climb. Only when she could lean further forward did Astrid plant her hands against Hiccup's shoulders, moving in tandem with Eret and moving against Hiccup pleasantly in the process.
Hiccup didn't seem to mind doing very little whilst enjoying the show, though once they found their rhythm he made lots of quick, shallow thrusts that Astrid really rather enjoyed, the slide between Hiccup and Eret as one pushed in while the other withdrew, only to switch and never leave Astrid lacking sensations that made her shout, moan, shake between them.
Astrid knew she would never get enough of it, the utterly unique feeling of being so full, of them both burying themselves inside her, connecting them to each other and herself. There was nothing quite like it, and they agreed too; Hiccup and Eret could feel each other through the skin separating them, and so Eret's thrusts filled Astrid and rubbed against Hiccup's cock simultaneously. Once the heat began to build, it quickly became an inferno that stole Astrid's higher brain function entirely.
Eret's low grunts and Hiccup's breathy whines were all but lost in the pounding blood in her ears, body seizing periodically as they both hit just right and leaving Astrid just there to take it, to be little more than a receptacle for the waves of feeling that were threatening to undo her completely. When they were like this, Astrid reached a point where she wasn't sure she'd come, but every thrust felt so good she may as well be having one intense, prolonged orgasm.
Hiccup's fingers brushed her nipples again and Astrid realised how close she was, teetering on the edge of pure ecstacy and Eret was only too happy to push her off, timing his thrust with his hand slipping around her sweaty thigh to press against her clit.
Astrid buckled, completely unwound between them as she fell to the sheer onslaught of pleasure. Her nails dug into Hiccup's skin as she clung tight, body clenching vice-like around their cocks inside her as she quaked, spasming and bucking and in no way able to control her body as white heat wracked her.
Reality was slow to find her again, sticky warmth indicating she had missed her boyfriends climaxes in her own sea of bliss. Removing the iron grip she had on Hiccup's shoulders, Astrid saw crescent moons left in his skin and murmured apologies. Hiccup chuckled, waving them off as he sighed happily in satisfaction. Eret waited until he was softening to pull out, making it easier on Astrid as the residual ache throbbed. Hiccup helped her off him, leaving her feeling empty and thoroughly debauched.
Bundled between their sweaty, flushed bodies, Astrid hummed as Hiccup played with her hair, Eret tracing the individual scales of her dragon tattoo. There weren't words for how she felt in that moment, no way to describe the pure contentment and happiness she felt with the two of them. And the deep-rooted excitement of the adventures to come, their babies growing inside her as they laid there, catching their breath and trading lazy kisses.
Reuniting as a family fairly fast, their parents and her siblings cooed over the ultrasounds and lamented over the nonsense they had with their triad relationship. But overall, the mood of their group was joy at the image of two new family members.
"Identicals? So biologically speaking, one dad, one sex?"
Dagur asked, squinting at the little image to see the tiny beans that would become humans. Hiccup laughed at his face, showing him properly where they were as he answered.
"Yeah. But we already agreed we don't care either way, so it'll be a surprise when they come out. So no gendered gifts."
Astrid watched her in-laws, checking for reactions to the prospect of waiting another eight months to know boy or girl, Hiccup or Eret's blood.
"Aren't there tests for that stuff though?"
If anyone was going to ask, Astrid knew it would be Eret Sr. His wife scolded him, swatted his arm.
"Behave you. They want to wait, they can wait."
"The amnio tests carry a risk of miscarriage pops. We aren't putting them at that sort of risk to find out something that to us is completely insignificant."
Eret Sr frowned, concerning Astrid.
"Is that a problem for you? I've asked them this" Astrid indicated her boyfriends " and now I'm asking you. Is it going to make a difference if they're your biological grandkids or not?"
Hiccup's parents immediately shook their heads, both still beaming at the sonogram. Elsir also shook her head, but Eret Sr was quiet, pensive, faded facial inking pulled up by his tight frown.
"When Eret first got serious with Hiccup and they set themselves on adoption, I made my peace with our bloodline ending there. Now there's a possibility... I admit it, I'm biased. But I wouldn't consider them any less family because they weren't my blood."
That was honest of him, and Astrid appreciated that. Hiccup had mentioned early on that the Sami elder was raised on the values of a bloodline, hence his son carrying his name and the traditional tattoo on his face.
"You're still waiting to find out. They aren't putting our grandbabies at risk for that."
"I quite agree."
"Well, you already know blood isn't important to us little sis" Dagur slung his arm around her shoulders, beaming "they'll be our nieces or nephews no matter what."
Heather nodded, then her mouth tipped into a smirk Astrid didn't trust.
"Hey, at what point do you tell your kids that their dad slept with their uncle?"
Everyone burst into the giggles as Hiccup and Dagur looked away, sheepish until the laughter caught them too.
"I don't know. Personally I think the fact he's doing my cousin is weirder."
Astrid still mentally staggered in disbelief at that sometimes; her first encounter with Scott had not been a pleasant one, and Dagur had wanted to rip his head off. Now they were... neither was calling it a couple, but they had been seeing each other for over a year after a drunken heart-to-heart at that first family get together.
Still, she supposed Dagur had found the most effective way of keeping an eye on Scott.
Their moods and spirits remained high for the next four weeks, despite some unpleasant morning sickness, bringing Astrid to her presumed twelve week scan for proper measurements. Eager to see and hear the twins again, Astrid hopped up on the exam table with no comments about the two dads in the room from the new tech this time. Hiccup was almost beside himself with excitement, and Eret was little better as the goop and Doppler was ran over Astrid's belly.
"Ok. Here's baby one, and there's baby two. I agree about identical twins, so I hope you're ready for double trouble."
The tech moved the ultrasound to show them more of the position, and Astrid was already smitten with them as double beats filled the room. She knew with twins at nearing three months, she would begin showing soon, couldn't wait to watch them grow.
"Hey doc, what's that?"
Eret had left her side to come around, pointing at something definitely not there on the last ultrasound - they had all looked at that picture enough times to know - but that Astrid had been too distracted to spot while looking at the wrigglers.
"I... I have no idea."
Well, that wasn't very reassuring. The scanner moved up, trying to focus on the anomaly in the image. It was little more than a speck, but it was clearly out of place above the twins.
"I am just going to go fetch a colleague, try not to worry Miss Hofferson."
How was she supposed to not worry when someone had spotted something weird and was now leaving to find someone to identify it. A very stern looking man came back in, studying the image on the screen without so much as a glance to Astrid. The technician indicated the speck, and they mumbled incoherently to each other whole prospective parents panicked.
"Congratulations. You're having triplets."
The stern man left, and Astrid stared after him in shock for the bombshell dropped before he just strolled out like that was an everyday occurrence.
"Triplets? As in. Three kids?"
Astrid babbled, already aware twins was a big deal. Now there was more? Eret was still turning his head to work it out on screen.
"How'd they miss that on the first scan?"
Hiccup was quietly thoughtful, though he held Astrid's hand still and she needed that.
"Is there a chance the third one was conceived later?"
Astrid and Eret both looked at their boyfriend, at a loss as to what he was talking about.
"You can't get pregnant twice... right?"
"Pregnant while pregnant? Is that even possible?"
Hiccup leant to rub his knee, shuffling from standing still too long.
"It was in one of the books we had about multiples. Fraternal twins are two seperate eggs right? Well, in some like, one in a billion odds or something, the egg releases can happen separately. I think it's only meant to have happened in cases where the woman was on fertility drugs."
Still reeling from the triplets thing, Astrid didn't formulate an answer before the technician did.
"What kind of books were you reading? Superfetation is generally only found in medical textbooks."
"Super-what?"
Now they were talking made up words, clearly.
"Superfetation. Conception after already falling pregnant. By the looks of the size, this third feotus is probably around four weeks old."
Head spinning, Astrid began looking for something to throw up in. Clearly used to that, the nurse quietly watching handed Astrid a little cardboard thing. Refusing to be disgusted, Hiccup held her hair back from her face while Eret rubbed her back, waiting for the retching to subside. Some water and wipes later, Astrid felt a little better.
"So... what happens to baby three? They'll be premature when the twins are to term. If they make it there, cus don't multiples tend to come early?"
"If that happens, we'll give you steroids to help develop baby threes lungs. The alternative is an elective reduction."
Astrid wrapped her arms around her belly.
"Nope."
"I must warn you, this will be a difficult pregnancy. You'll have to take extremely good care of yourself, exercise caution constantly. And you'll be at higher risks for early delivery, complications like pre-eclampsia. All four of you could be at serious risk."
Astrid shook her head.
"I don't care. They all deserve a chance."
She'd lost one family and gained a new one. Astrid wasn't about to give up on the babies.
"Alright. We'll schedule you for more regular ultrasounds, and arrange for you to talk to a doctor and midwife about the pregnancy and options for delivery soon."
Her boyfriends had stayed fairly quiet as Astrid argued for her pregnancy in there, waiting until they were out in the fresh air again before she thought to ask how they felt.
"What do you two think?"
Eret kissed her before he answered, proud smile on his face.
"I think you're amazing. I'd have supported you if you went for the reduction, but... I can't say I'm not glad you turned them down."
"Same here. And now we have doctors orders to take super good care of you."
Astrid smiled as they hugged her, looking at the ultrasound with the tiny little dot of their surprise baby, dwarfed by the twins.
"I feel good about the number three."
-HTTYD-
Ok, I lied. Unintentionally. This finale chapter got so big I've split it. Part two tomorrow.