I'm sorry this chapter is short, but the last chapter was so long! I hope you like it anyway!

"Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!" ~Dr. Seuss

It was the morning of Irena's fifth birthday, and Astrid and Hiccup were determined to give her the best birthday she ever had. To be honest, it wasn't going to be very hard. Irena's first four birthdays had not been very happy occasions.

They were still going to spoil her a little bit. What was the point of having a birthday without spoiling the birthday girl?

It didn't take much to make Irena happy, so they knew she was going to have a good day. Especially with the one big surprise they had for her.

Cassia was on Berk for a visit.

And Irena had no idea, as Cassia had come much too early in the morning for little girls to be awake.

Cassia had nearly had a panic attack when all the dragons swarmed around her to sniff her.

Toothless, knowing how much the nervous girl meant to his rider's hatchling, growled at the dragons protectively. And when the Alpha gave an order, the dragons were wise to listen.

Cassia's anxiousness and dislike of staying still made her want to help Astrid set up for the little party they having for Irena later in the day so the five year old would be surprised when she woke up.

It had been several weeks since Cassia had seen the couple that had adopted her little girl and in those weeks, Astrid had become more obviously pregnant. And slightly more uncomfortable. Now, other people could actually feel the baby moving around. Meaning she felt it a lot more than she had before. Hiccup thought it was the greatest thing ever. Astrid had to disagree.

Astrid moved a slightly wilting bouquet of wildflowers in a cup from the table to the shelf.

Cassia's confusion at the young woman's attachement to an almost dead bunch of flowers must have been obvious, because Astrid smiled and said that Irena had given her those flowers for her own birthday just a few days before.

Astrid hadn't wanted to cause a fuss or take away attention from the Irena, so she hadn't brought it up. Hiccup had, of course, made her something, despite her telling him not to. He was impossible.

Cassia had smiled back.

Toothless had been whining by Irena's door all morning, eager to wake the little girl. There was going to be a party later. And a party meant good food. And Irena and Jakob and Colby often slipped him scraps.

"I think it's about time to wake her up." Astrid commented. Toothless whined excitedly, swooshing his tail all about.

Hiccup laughed. He and Toothless weren't leaving until Irena woke up and they'd be back for her party. "Alright, bud. Go on. And be gentle."

Toothless snorted. Of course he'd be careful with the hatchling. He went into Irena's room.

And a couple of moments later, Irena rushed out fully dressed, but her hair was still mussed from sleep. Toothless followed her out, proud he had accomplished his mission. Safira scampered out to catch up with her best friend.

"There's the birthday girl!" Hiccup said cheerfully, ruffling her already messy hair.

"Happy birthday, little one." Astrid added with a smile.

Irena smiled shyly and mumbled a quiet 'thank you'. She couldn't believe they cared enough about her to celebrate her birthday they way they were.

Cassia, still unnoticed by her little girl, bit her lip and, twisting her hand, spoke up. "Happy birthday, my love."

Her voice was soft, but it certainly caught Irena's attention.

"Mama!" Irena cried excitedly, dashing into her mother's arms.

Cassia laughed and picked the excited girl up before kissing the top of her head. "Hello, sweetheart."

"You did come visit! You did!" Irena said, practically bouncing. She was smiling so hard, it looked almost painful. She whipped her head around to look at Hiccup and Astrid, who were grinning. "You knew!" she said accusingly, still cheerful.

"We wanted it to be an extra special birthday surprise for an extra special little girl." Astrid replied.

"It's a very good surprise." Irena replied enthusiastically.

The three adults chuckled.

Hiccup and Toothless left a few minutes later, leaving the girls to themselves. Usually, Astrid would be at the Academy, even though Fishlegs technically had taken over for her at this point. She still helped out. But she had used the fact that she wasn't necessary to her advantage. While Cassia fixed Irena's hair with an amazingly gentle touch, Astrid finished up the necessary preparations. And then the three of them went to breakfast, Astrid introducing Cassia to anyone who came over to see who the stranger holding the chief's daughter's hand was. They had a few hours to show Cassia around before they had to get back home.

And finally, it was time for the party.

Astrid's mother had made food and little cakes that were put out and a pile of presents accumulated on the floor as the partygoers came. As the presents increased, the food decreased.

Hiccup and Toothless had made it back in time, thankfully. Irena was just beside herself. She had never gotten so many presents before! Lena and Kaida and the bracelet her daddy had made her (she never went a day without wearing it) all counted as gifts before, but she had never seen so many at one time. Certainly not for her.

"Where's Ingrid and Colby?" Irena asked suddenly. Her Mommy had said that they were coming and there was no sign of either child. Jakob was there already.

"Ingrid was at training today." Fishlegs commented, looking a little concerned. Ben nodded. Ingrid and Ben stayed close with Irena, which was nice. They were always eager babysitters.

The door opened slowly and Ingrid and Colby came inside, both holding little packages. Colby was bright red and sniffly, Ingrid looked sheepish.

"Sorry," Ingrid apologized. "We had a bit of a hold up, but we're all good now. Right, Colby?"

Colby nodded shyly.

"Don' worry 'bout it, lass. E'ry one else is jus' early." Gobber chuckled.

Ingrid and Colby added their presents to the pile.

"Well, Irena, do you want to open your presents now?" Astrid asked.

Irena nodded shyly.

Astrid laughed. "Alright, well, go on. Everyone's here."

Irena sat on the floor cross-legged near the stack and before she could reach for one to open, Hiccup said to hang on. Off a shelf, he grabbed a few packages. "From our long distance friends. They heard it was your birthday." he explained, plopping them in front of the little girl.

There were four total, each with a small note.

The first one was from Rapunzel and Eugene and it was a set of paints, paintbrushes, paper, and a storybook straight from Corona. 'Every little girl needs a good set of paints and a great story' the note had said.

The second one was a beautiful silky pink dress with tiny purple flowers. It was from Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Sven the Reindeer, and their talking snowman Olaf. 'We hope you like your dress, Birthday Princess. Hopefully we get to see you soon!' the note read.

The next package was a child size bow and a set of arrows. It was from Merida and her family. 'Your parents can teach you how, but I will show you the right way the next time I see you.' promised the princess.

The final long-distance package was from Kristianna and her sisters. It was a little wooden top. 'We love ours, hopefully you'll enjoy it too!' said the note.

Irena was beside herself already and she hadn't even gotten to the people who were in attendance's gifts yet.

She had just opened a beaded necklace from Ingrid and a tiny, doll sized cradle from Ben when there was a knock at the door.

Gobber opened it.

"Eh, Chief," said Not-So-Silent-Sven awkwardly to Hiccup. "Sorry to in'erupt, but we have a problem down by the docks. There's some arguin' and they won't listen to no one."

Hiccup sighed. "Alright, I'll be right there."

Sven nodded and left.

Hiccup turned to Irena, who looked sad. "I'll be right back, little one. Just don't open my present until I am back, okay?"

Irena nodded. She knew he was important, but sometimes she thought it wasn't fair.

Hiccup and Toothless left again and before Irena could open anything else, Eret said awkwardly "Irena, I'm sorry but I don't know too much about little girls. Hopefully, a hug will make it up to you?"

Irena smiled and got up to give Eret a hug.

Soon, Irena was nearing the end. From Colby she got a messy drawing of Safira, from Jakob, his lucky rock, from Valka, a blanket, Astrid's mother made her a dress and Astrid's father said he was still working on his present. Snotlout had managed to find an old toy wooden horse of his to give to her, the twins gave her face paint for some reason, Fishlegs made her a small Book of Dragons with the breeds she was most familiar with, Gobber made her more blocks because she really liked the first set. And Irena was just about to open her mother's present when Hiccup and Toothless came back.

Hiccup slipped in and said "Carry on,"

Astrid glanced at him.

Hiccup shook his head. Everything was fine. Arguments were common, those guys were just being particularly obnoxious.

Irena smiled and continued. Cassia had made her little girl a stuffed bear. She had obviously put a lot of time and effort into it. Irena loved it.

Astrid had given her a headband, which she fell in love with.

And then, Irena opened Hiccup's. It was an blank book with lots of pages and two pencils.

"You can use that for anything." Hiccup told the little girl. "Writing stuff you don't want to forget or for drawing. Whatever you want."

Irena nodded happily.

Irena hugged every single person before they went home that evening.

Eventually, all the gifts were put in Irena's room and the birthday girl was falling asleep against Cassia's side.

"Did you have a nice birthday?" Astrid asked Irena.

Irena nodded sleepily and put her thumb in her mouth. She only did it when she was falling asleep now, she was growing out of the habit.

"Good," Astrid smiled.

"I think it's time for birthday girls to go to bed." Hiccup commented.

Cassia nodded in agreement and stroked Irena's hair.

"Can you stay with me, Mama?" Irena asked Cassia.

Cassia glanced at Hiccup and Astrid. She didn't want to step on anyone's toes.

They nodded.

Irena slipped from her seat and hugged Astrid's legs. "Thank you,"

"You're welcome. Good night," Astrid replied, crouching to hug Irena. Irena then hugged Hiccup before going off to bed. Cassia went with her. Toothless went to his rock bed in Hiccup and Astrid's room.

"Well, that was fun." Hiccup said to Astrid, pulling her to him.

"It was a good idea." Astrid agreed, resting her head on his shoulder. "She's so happy."

"It was a good idea to think to invite Cassia." Hiccup replied. It had been Astrid's idea to ask Cassia to come.

"Mhm,"

"Is someone else tired?" Hiccup teased.

"No," Astrid lied, stifling a yawn.

Hiccup chuckled. "Come on, yes you are."

"It's your kid's fault." Astrid replied, taking his hand and pressing it right where the baby kept kicking. It kept her up at night. It wasn't very enjoyable. But at least she got a cute little kid out of it, right? A drooly, screaming kid, but it'd probably be cute anyway.

Hiccup laughed again. "Sorry,"

"You're not sorry." Astrid muttered.

He grinned. "No, not exactly."

"Can we go to bed now?" Astrid asked. "I'm tired."

Hiccup shook his head. "Of course we can."

Everyone had a great day. It was certainly one of Irena's favorite memories.

A/N: I have absolutely no idea if Vikings had birthday parties, but, hey. It's fiction, right? I really do hope you liked this chapter! It's cute and fluffy!

Good news, everyone! Next week will be a special Snoggletog chapter! I'm so excited! :) Thanks for reading!

Please review if you can! It means a lot!

See you next week! Happy Hanukkah, if you celebrate!

~Pink