Chapter 10

Astrid and Valka were seated at a table on the patio with each a glass of red wine in front of them. The women were laughing at something Hiccup couldn't hear.

"So lad, how's the missus," Gobber asked as he grilled steaks, burgers, and sausages along with corn and surprisingly avocados. Hiccup had been helping his godfather prepare the avocados and he watched as the pitless fruit, with its skin still on, went on the grill for several minutes before it was topped with herbs.

"Everything's pretty fine," Hiccup shrugged as he drank from his beer. "We've been married for a couple of years now so things are…."

"A bit stale huh lad?" Gobber nudged Hiccup. "You can tell ole Gobber."

"It's not that," Hiccup mumbled. "We're happy. We got a crazy but good family life, awesome jobs, a house with only a year of mortgage left…."

"But…." Gobber asked with a raised brow.

"I don't know. Did we become so predictable?" Hiccup questioned.

"Predictable as in…" Gobber wagged his bushy brows rather suggestively causing Hiccup to blush.

"NOT LIKE THAT GOBBER! OH MY THOR!"

Gobber was waiting rather expectantly and Hiccup gave in. "I mean, for instance, our date nights. We go to the same places. The food is excellent. That's not the problem. It's when your waiter knows you're coming before you make a reservation. I had my favorite drink placed in front of me last week at the restaurant before we even ordered."

"We have an amazing babysitter, thank Thor for that." Hiccup sent up a silent prayer at whatever deity was listening. "But when your babysitter can answer your questions before you even ask them then you're predictable."

"It's not that we don't enjoy these outings but you know, sometimes I see Astrid smile and wave at the staff of a place we go to and watch her ask about how their kids are doing and I wonder, what if at some point she isn't pleased with all the monotony and wants something more…. Exciting." Hiccup confessed. "But we also need the monotony because let's face it, the kids need a routine to follow. They're like sharks sometimes. You deviate and they smell blood in the water."

"They can't be that bad," Gobber muttered and Hiccup just stared his godfather down with that look that Stoick sometimes got when he had to deal with Hiccup's antics.

"I sometimes think we need to take a vacation," Hiccup confessed.

"Then why don't you?" Gobber asked. "Book a nice cruise. I hear the Bahamas are nice this time of year."

"It's not that simple Gobber," Hiccup shrugged. "We both have our jobs. I got this big new Chinese client who is looking to invest. In the coming months architects are going to be pitching their ideas for hotel designs and Astrid has that promotion coming up. She'll be swamped with work as she is transitioning. I have no doubt she'll get that promotion. Also the kids already seemed to have made plans for the summer."

"What plans can kids make?" Gobber raised a brow.

"Nuff wants to join the Berk Boyscouts and Zeph is trying to bribe us into letting her go to this Summer camp for kids interested in astronomy." Hiccup explained.

"Well ya don't wanna have a vacation when you're that age to be put in a retirement home," Gobber pointed out. "I say you talk it over with them. Who knows, maybe the kids will like it."

"My kids, on a cruise….. Trapped on a floating metal craft adrift on an ocean… I mean…. What could go wrong…." Hiccup shrugged just as his dad returned from the garage carrying a sack.

"Kids I have Croquet!" Stoick announced as he dumped the contents of the sack on the lawn. There were balls of different colors rolling around, several mallets and some metallic hoops along with two wooden sticks. Nuffink who had been using the trampoline and shouting like a sugar high kid scrambled off of it and approached his grandpa. Zephyr however had a harder time as she had been roughhousing with the dogs and was currently trapped under them and slightly covered in mud. Though she did manage to extricate herself from the pile of floof, Hiccup noted. Both kids went to their grandpa curious and it was Nuffink that spoke up first.

"I thought you had croquette!" Nuffink frowned as he looked at the balls. "I can't eat this,"

"It's a game, not food!" Zephyr rolled her eyes as she stared at her brother. The adults chuckled at their antics as Stoick passed the mallets around and explained how the game worked.

The game started after Stoick pressed the hoops and sticks into the ground in a specific pattern. When it was Nuffink's turn he frowned. The six year old had watched his sister and grandpa hit the balls and cheered when they went through several hoops. So he reasoned that if he hit his ball hard enough it would go through more hoops.

Nuffink stepped up and readied his mallet. He took a stance like he'd seen those golfers on TV do and whacked the plastic ball. Only he whacked it too hard. The mallet flew out of his hands while the plastic ball soared off the ground and straight at Hiccup's forehead. Luckily Hiccup ducked but he had stepped backwards a bit, slipping on the plastic pink flamingo that had lain on the grass near the BBQ.

When Hiccup came too he was on the living room couch and Astrid was crouching over him. "Honey you alright?" Astrid asked as she dabbed a wet towel against his forehead.

"I feel I should resent plastic flamingos now," Hiccup groaned.

"Don't get up too quickly," Astrid put a hand on his shoulder. "Besides while you were out things…. Happened."

Hiccup quirked a brow "It can't have been that bad. Just how much could I have missed?"

"Well, once we carried you inside, Gobber went to get the first aid kit. When he came back there was a light shower happening outside and he, Stoick and Valka scrambled to save the food. Well, most of the food."

"Most of?" Hiccup asked as Astrid kept the towel pressed against his head.

"Yeah, Skullcrusher and Cloudjumper managed to get away with a steak which caused Gobber to shout about 'Thieving dogs', which then prompted the neighbour to shout 'shut up!'." Astrid explained and all Hiccup could do was groan. "So now everything is moved inside and the kids are in the bath with your mother. She wants to get all the mud off of them before she breaks out the board games. It looks like it will be BBQ and Monopoly until the rain stops."

Hiccup groaned. Monopoly would bring chaos and he knew his kids. This would be bad. Very bad. His mind muttered 'Dun Dun Dun you're dead'.