-Chapter 9-

Problem Solving

Her heart thundered in her ears as she walked up to the stoop of Hiccup's hut. The bag on her shoulders felt monumentally heavier the closer she got to asking him her question, but she kept reminding herself of what Heather said.

"Don't be embarrassed. It's natural to be curious."

She also had to remind herself that it was now or never. Wedding preparations had already begun. They'd be married in less than two months.

She knocked. Which felt odd even to her, and must have been even more strange to the man who opened the door.

"Astrid? Why did you-"

"I think we should research birth control." She spat out afraid she would fumble all over herself or worse yet run away, if she didn't just get it over with.

"Okay." Hiccup answered but he still seemed confused.

"I was talking to heather and she was suggesting maybe birth control if we're not sure we want to have kids right away." Astrid explained further.

"I've heard of some, but there's a lot right?" Hiccup asked opening the door for her to walk in.

"Yes. So I borrowed some books from Gothi. Maybe we can look through them and see?" She was embarrassed, he could see that, so he just nodded and took the bag from her shoulder to start sorting through it.

They shuffled through the papers for hours. Some of the ingredients would be tough to get so those were out, and some had terrible side effects. It was just so hard to choose and they were beginning to get frustrated. Hiccup sat cross legged just a few paces from where Astrid was laying on her belly trying not to loose focus on their task.

"Stoneseed root seems to be the most effective, but it takes six months to really start working." Astrid grumbled the last bit, six months meant they would either have to postpone their wedding or wait until four months into their marriage.

She wasn't sure what was worse.

"And this here says that it can end up permanently sterilizing you." Hiccup snapped shaking his head. "We need to be careful, we have to be one thousand percent sure before you start taking something, no experimenting."

"I understand Hiccup, trust me." She placed a hand on his and he turned it from under her palm to hold her hand in return.

"Smartweed is sounding like the best option." Astrid said after another hour or so of reading. Her hand still clasped in Hiccups but she was now laying on her side.

"I was reading that too." Hiccup stretched his stiff spine. "And it sound like you don't have to take it everyday, just for a week after we..." Hiccup looked away from her and back to his reading.

"Have sex Hiccup." Astrid looked at him seriously and he looked just a little stunned. "And... I might end up just having to take it everyday anyway." She said as she skimmed over the pages, the line of her body where she laid on the floor seemed to curve more in that moment and she glanced up at him through her lashes only momentarily.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Hiccup groaned giving her hand a squeeze

"No!" She waved him off flicking through another page of the book. "Tempt you, maybe." Astrid smirked and rolled closer to him

"You little-" he shifted his weight so he could move closer as well.

And just as Hiccup is hovering over her ready to kiss her senseless.

Valka walks in.

"Oh, pardon me." She clears her throat and casts her eyes upwards.

"It's ok, we were just doing some research." Hiccup quickly gathers up all the papers moving to put them away.

"Research?" She moves closer and Hiccup and Astrid hurry to collect all the pages and secure them back in their books.

But they don't move quick enough and his mom has already picked up the page Astrid had put aside for a final review.

"Mom, it's not- we just want to be prepared and-"

"We just aren't sure if we want to have kids right away."

Valka waves them off.

"I may be an old widow but I know a thing or two." She smiles at them and seems to look them over. "May I?" She asks and reaches for the book Astrid is holding.

She flips through for quite awhile.

"W-we were considering smartweed." Astrid announces hoping she may solidify their choices.

"That ones new, hardly any substantial evidence on the side effects for children who's mothers have consumed it." She informs and they both share a look.

We hadn't even thought of the effects on a baby.

"Wild carrot." She says and hands them the book, open to a page with a bushel of little white flowers depicted on it. "Most reliable form of birth control, this one is to be taken within eight hours of consummation to prevent fertilization. There are little to no side effects and women who stopped taking it reared perfectly healthy children."

"T-thanks, but just so you know. We're not doing anything... not yet." Hiccup assured her.

"Oh I know son." She patted his cheek. "Well I came to check on you but you seem to be in perfectly capable hands here." She hugged Astrid tightly before she left, leaving the blonde just a little stunned.

Astrid and Hiccup both turned to each other and shared alook, before the both promptly erupted into fits of laughter.