There's only one more epilogue after this one! Both taking place a considerable jump in the future from previous.

This story has been such a journey for these guys, and for me. So many people telling me this story taught them about polyamory, which is super cool to me as a poly person. Got posted on TV Tropes. Had so many warm fuzzies from the response to this story.

Basically, never expected the fantastic response this story got, and I love y'all for it.

-HTTYD-

Eret watched wide eyes take in the sight before them, grinning.

"And you thought our family was mad when you only met a few of them."

They hadn't seen each other in more than twenty years, having lost touch over time after the court case, but Mala had still ended up back in their lives. Granted, in a very different way now.

"Quite so. What is that your daughter is wearing?"

"It's called a gatki. Traditional Sami wear."

Eret swelled with pride - after lots of practice, he was finally competent in making them the last few years, and got to make his daughters bridal gatki. Like him, all four of their children had gotten tattoos on their faces - by choice, and with Eret Sr's blessing despite two not being Sami by blood. Erik and Anton had been as keen as their sisters - Anton perhaps more so - to learn the Sami history, and that was what counted.

Theirs was slightly different to Eret and his parents' ones, but all four had the same three-line pattern over their jaws.

And Eret, Hiccup and Astrid had started a bit of a trend. Fifteen years after their surprise wedding at the yearly reunion, there had been ten more people who'd wed there. It wasn't for the faint-hearted who wanted a quiet, intimate ceremony, but if someone wanted no pressure and all the family? It was perfect.

Mala's daughter Madeleine - Maddie to friends - was about to marry Helena. There hadn't really been a 'coming out' from them. Hel had always been into her education, and then one day came back from uni with a blonde girl in tow, introduced her as her girlfriend. Finding out she was the result of a brief and otherwise unremarkable relationship Mala had after Eret lost touch with her was a surprise.

With two dads, Hel had never been afraid they wouldn't accept her. She just hadn't been interested in relationships before Maddie. Two years on, they were inseparable and nobody was going to talk the daughters of women like Astrid or Mala out of getting hitched if they damn well wanted to.

Not that Eret considered trying. He completely agreed when Helena told him simply;

"When you know, you know."

Both Hel and Maddie were studying to work in Forensics - Maddie was following her mothers footsteps. Helena just wanted to fiddle with bugs for a job. And the most important approval Helena sought for her relationship was from Elsa, who thought Madeleine was perfect for her sister.

Eret looked over to where his kids were stood next to a trio wheelchairs, which hosted three generations - Hiccup, Eret Sr and, still going in her nineties, Valka's mother Rama. Both Hiccup and Eret Sr could still walk, but it was very painful on long-suffering joints and so they used wheelchairs.

There were five generations of their family all in one place now; Elsa had a young son, having fallen pregnant at seventeen by her then-boyfriend. She was a single parent now, but Eret had no doubts in her capability. And given the history Eret and Hiccup had had, they couldn't exactly get mad that Elsa had been having sex. He knew that it could easily have been them, despite always using condoms, getting someone pregnant.

Gods, it had been them. They were just older when it happened. All four of their kids had happened while Astrid was on the pill. They'd gotten vasectomies while Astrid was pregnant with Erik, which kept their number at four kids. Elsa's son Cain was named after her great-grandfather, and Rama adored her great-grandchildren and great-great-grandson.

"So everyone here is related to one of the three of you?"

Mala was still taking it all in. Eret remembered that feelings twenty odd years ago, and the numbers back then were smaller.

"Somewhere along the lines, pretty much. With Hiccup, you got the Viking lot on Stoick's side. Aussies on Valka's side. Then once I started dating Hiccup, we started hauling the Sami folk along too. Astrid brought Heather and Dagur along, and Dagur is actually now married to Hiccup's cousin Scott. Heather's husband and kids are around here somewhere... yeah, we can barely keep track either."

Eret fiddled with the rings that sat on his finger still. He had a special cover for them when he was climbing, and it did the trick. They were well cared for, and Eret could still read Hiccup and Astrid's names in the runes etched upon them.

Joining the others, Eret clasped Hiccup's hand so said husband could stand up to kiss him, leaning on the stronger. Well, stronger physically. Hiccup was the rock of their relationship, stable and collected through the toughest of times. And there had been tough times. But he'd been with Hiccup for nearly thirty years, Astrid part of them well over twenty five, and there had been many more happy times.

"Hey Mala. Glad you could make it."

Like his parents, Hiccup was slow to grey fully, starting in streaks like his mother and more whitish than grey in parts like his dad. Valka was still pretty spry for a woman in her seventies, and at eighty Stoick was still ambulatory and vast, though he relied on a (very chunky) walking stick to get about.

"I would not miss my daughters wedding."

"I've no doubt" Hiccup sat back down, wincing a little "but to those unprepared, this could look a tad intimidating. Not that I think of you as easily intimidated."

Mala offered Hiccup a wry smirk. That particular personally trait had been incredibly pivotal to them once, when Mala faced those two vile lawyers down in court when testifying in Astrid's case. Gods, that had been so long ago now.

Astrid, still holding Hiccup's hand, leant into Eret's side. It had been decades since they met, and Astrid was no longer fresh-faced. Lines creased at the sides of her eyes, her lips, and the roundness of her cheeks had faded considerably. None of that diminished Astrid's ability to take his breath away. Hiccup didn't have much in the way of wrinkles, and he still had that sharp jaw shape under the reddish-brown scruff on his face that was sprinkled with white like his hair.

Like his father, Eret had yet to really go grey or lose his hair. He was still in reasonably good condition physically, thanks to his job, which meant Eret could still cart his husband around like a backpack if they went somewhere with no accessibility and Hiccup was too sore to climb stairs.

Eret lost track of Mala, but figured she could handle herself. Maddie and Hel were waiting for the unwritten-but-accepted 'wedding hour', which allowed everyone to eat and reconnect before their attentions got drawn to the event. Heading to get food for Hiccup, Eret located Mala sat with young Cain at one of the makeshift picnic tables, where Cain was arranging vegetables by colour on his plate.

"I'm named after my great great grandpa. He died when my mom was little."

To her credit, Mala looked fascinated by Eret's grandson. Gods, he was a granpda.

"I named my daughter after my grandmother. She died when I was a little girl."

"You talk like my great grandma Valka. Are you from 'stralia too? Hi grandpa Eret!"

Cain had spotted him coming closer, waved avidly at Eret and Mala looked up from her own plate, smiled.

"Hey little guy. I hope you're behaving yourself."

Cain beamed, showing his gap-toothed grin.

"Yep!"

Only having a quarter Sami genes, Cain still had that natural golden hue to his skin and the dark hair that dominated their line. However, he had bright blue eyes, presumably inherited from his biological father. He was a sweet, cute little lad and adored spending time with his three grandparents.

Returning to his husband and wife with hefty piles of food, he chuckled at his and Hiccup's dads - both had heart problems. Fairly expected for men their age, but they were allowed to relax careful diets for the reunion day. Meaning they were both being very mature and pulling faces at their wives before eating massive burgers.

"Thanks Ret."

"Anytime Hic."

Hiccup smiled at the old nickname, 'Hic' and 'Ret' names only they could use for each other. When Astrid became part of them, she got the same privilege. Hiccup joked that the upside of a wheelchair was always having somewhere to put his food, setting in to his meal with gusto.

Faded with age, Astrid's hair still caught the sun when it peeked out amongst winter clouds. Hiccup stopped eating to look up and admire it, love for their wife written clear across his face. That look still drew shy smiles from Astrid. Ah, they were both adorable. Eret was lucky to have them.

Neither Maddie or Hel made much fuss, but their shared happiness and commitment to the vows they actually made was clear. Blonde, slim and tall like her mother, Maddie slung her arm around Helena's broader shoulders, both beaming as everyone cheered while they kissed again. Maddie had opted for a suit, looking almost tame next to Helena's colourful gatki.

"Is it weird that two people we slept with before getting married have now become in laws? I mean-"

"What?"

Hiccup was cut off from his musings to Eret and Astrid by the newlywed brides. Helena didn't look that surprised, but Maddie was obviously stunned.

"Oh. Hi girls."

"You slept with my mother? Mom!"

Maddie called out to Mala, who came over with a face of confusion.

"Yes Madeleine?"

"You slept with Hel's parents?"

Eret had never seen Mala with a 'deer in headlights' look before. Hiccup elaborated on how it came up quickly.

"Sorry, she overheard me talking."

"I see. Yes. Once" that was sort of true Eret supposed, it had been a one off "and many, many years ago. Long before he was married, before any of us were parents."

Hel was sort of aware, but not that interested in her parents sex lives past or present, so it had never been discussed in depth. They explained to a still-faintly-scandalised Maddie, who shook her head and looked to her new wife.

"Regret marrying into my family yet?"

"No. But it is just a little strange to think that a broken condom could have meant we shared a half-sibling. I need a drink."

Eret hadn't even considered that.

"That is a weird thought. I mean, Hiccup had sex with my brother but it's not like either of you could have gotten pregnant."

Astrid was far calmer than most saying such things, it seemed.

"Then he married my cousin."

"In my own defence, it's not like we sat there and went 'hey what happens if our future daughters become a lesbian couple' with anybody we ever hooked up with."

"I hope Maddie isn't too upset. I wouldn't have said anything if I'd known they were coming over here."

Nobody else there would have been that perturbed - their previous open relationship was pretty common knowledge, but by the time Hel met Maddie, they'd left that behind long ago in lieu of polyfidelity, kids and then marriage. Mala waved off his concerns.

"Madeleine will be just fine. I just imagine it is not what anybody expects to hear on their wedding day."

Hiccup nodded, still frowning slightly.

"I guess so."

Thankfully for in-law relations, Maddie said she was fine so long as nobody tried to give her details. Even laughed at the fact the first time they met, Dagur had to be restrained from beating ten bells out of Scott after Astrid busted his nose.

Later on, Eret noticed Hiccup was oddly on edge. Perching down next to him as his husband looked toward the sky, Eret nudged him gently.

"You ok H?"

"Hm? Oh. Yeah. I was just hoping history doesn't repeat itself."

"What do you mean?"

"My grandma is almost a hundred."

Eret frowned, then suddenly realised what worried his husband so.

"But she's not ill. Cain was sick. Your grandmas just... old. Pops is on more pills than Rama."

Hiccup nodded, turned and smiled at Eret.

"You're right, I know. But I'll feel better when I go to bed tomorrow night knowing she's still alive."

As Eret had jokingly predicted many years ago, Hiccup was still pretty narrow-framed - even with increasing reliance on wheels over legs - but he did have a cute little belly on him now. It pushed at where Hiccup's dragon-scale tattoo was, so Hiccup often joked that putting on weight had broken his human shell, revealing the dragon beneath. He was still every bit the nerdy dragon lover Eret fell in love with years before. Just like Astrid was still perfectly capable of putting them both in their place, sparky and witty and fierce.

Eret was still a royal pain in the butt, according to both his husband and his wife. He was ok with that.

"Do you really do this every single year?"

After seeing the newlyweds off on their honeymoon - a week in California, visiting the Bohart Museum of Entomology, naturally - Mala found him again, smiling fondly at where Hiccup and Astrid had fallen asleep, Astrid leant against Hiccup's shoulder. Normally the worst for impromptu naps, Eret was surprisingly alert.

"Yep. They were doing it before Hiccup was even born, it just became a much grander thing over time until it was the entire lot. Then Valka started bringing Aussies. I brought the Sami. People got married and had kids and their kids got married and had kids. My first time here, there were half as many people."

Despite the huge gap between the last time they had seen Mala and her dropping back in their lives when the relationship between Hel and Maddie developed, Eret still considered her a friend after all that time. She'd been there at one of the lowest points they'd gone through, granted in her professional capacity, but she'd helped them get justice for Astrid.

That felt like another lifetime almost, a real trial by fire start to the triad relationship. Now, married, with adult kids and even a grandchild? Eret would never not be thankful for the life they'd built together.

"You're welcome back here next year you know."

"Excuse me?"

"Maddie came last year. You could have too, but now you're officially an in law. Plus, you are hardly the only one from down under."

Sipping delicately from her drink, Mala furrowed her brow in thought.

"I would have expected I was a reminder of times in your life you would rather not remember."

"Which part? Being open? Or court?"

"Both, I suppose."

Eret caught sight of Elsa, Anton and Erik all sat together, talking amongst themselves with Cain laid across their laps having effectively pinned them there. He was cheeky like that.

"If me and H weren't open, we never would have ended up married to Astrid. As for court? You helped put that animal away. If you want to be here, be here."

He wasn't totally sure Mala would actually come back, but he'd be damned before he was the reason she didn't return. She didn't rush off immediately after Maddie left, so Eret felt a little hopeful she wouldn't do her best to vanish from their lives wherever possible.

"We will see."

Back in their home the next day, Eret smiled at a text from Helena, relaying it to where Hiccup and Astrid were lying on the floor together, warming their bones in front of the wood burner.

"She is so definitely your daughter H. Just 'I love bugs!' the way you always say 'I love dragons!'. We raised nerds."

"Nerds are awesome. Don't knock nerds. And if I recall correctly, Erik is studying to be an archeologist. That's pretty physical."

"True."

With Helena on her way to becoming a forensic entomologist and Erik a bone digger, Anton was training to become a teacher, and Elsa was a trainee mechanic, having to take longer to do training and qualifications owing to time dedicated to raising her little boy. Eret - and the others, of course - was so proud of all of them. Felt privileged to have even been a part of bringing up those wonderful people.

Thankfully, both in general and for Hiccup's sense of dread, Rama was still just fine when they went to bed the next evening. She'd relocated to the UK after losing her husband, wanting to see out her last years with her great grandchildren. So far, she'd made it to even seeing her first great-great-grandchild born, even little Cain's first day at school. Eret could only hope to stubbornly last such a long time.

-HTTYD-

*cuddles Open* I am not ready for this to be over!

But it must. See you for the finale!