Between this and Flatmates, I feel like queer human disasters has become my new thing. Then again, I am a queer disaster too. Maybe that's influencing my writing.
-HTTYD-
Working two jobs, searching for a new place to live and occasionally panicking about impending fatherhood and whether or not Eret secretly resented him left Hiccup a little fried, and so checking off one of his tasks - finding a decent place to live, that he could afford and that was in a sensible location definitely took a load off. As did dinner with his mother, where she listened thoughtfully to his emotional outpouring and reassured him he was going to be a wonderful father.
"I hope so. I guess I'm worried they're gonna grow up resenting that I just turn up on weekends or something."
"Well, that won't always be the arrangement, and I'm sure your daughter will appreciate the time you spend with her. Children need to be loved, and this child is going to grow up with three parents who all love her, and a nice big family who will all adore her."
Hiccup nodded, feeling a smile cross his face despite his nerves.
"Yeah, that's true. I guess I'm just... nervous. There isn't really a way to prepare for any of this, other than buying nappies and bottles and reading books where everybody has a different bloody opinion."
His mother laughed, nodding along.
"Everybody has a different opinion, and those are things you and the other parents will work out. But I have faith in you, and so far it sounds like Astrid and Eret have their heads on straight and want to be good parents just as you do."
"I guess. I still think Eret hates me."
"Well, you did impregnate his girlfriend, so it will probably take a little time for him to get used to you. But I sincerely doubt he hates you, it sounds like you're all being mature about this. Give him time."
Hiccup left that evening feeling better, grateful to his mother for listening to his venting and giving him much needed reassurances. His dad was still being a little overexcited and occasionally invasive, but he was just... like that, and Hiccup had opted to just be happy his dad was taking it so well. Eret hadn't been quite as lucky, though Hiccup did understand the reasons the other man's father was upset.
And his dad and Gobber were helping him with his move, which was a bonus since both of them were built like human trucks, and could probably carry more boxes in one trip than Hiccup could in three. The pub was sad to lose their extra staff member, but his boss was understanding that Hiccup had to move on to prepare for his future as a father, and wished him well when Hiccup gave in his unofficial resignation.
"If you ever need a few hours to make some side money, give me a call."
"I will, thanks."
Half his stuff was still in boxes anyway, as he'd never planned on the flat over the pub being a permanent place to stay, so Hiccup didn't have to pack everything he owned. Which was definitely a plus. He'd signed his tenancy and picked up the keys, so all that was left was to move in, set the place up and invite Astrid and Eret over to approve the place he'd be caring for their daughter. His uncle (well, more specifically, his uncle's wife/Hiccup's aunt) had offered to build a baby crib for him, which Hiccup hugely appreciated - both his dad and his uncle were very good at woodwork, and both Hiccup and his cousin's cribs had been hand-made so he trusted their skills and loved the personalised, family-support feel of the gesture.
"Right, let's get to work!"
His dad's booming voice was probably audible downstairs in the pub, Hiccup chuckled to himself as he and Gobber arrived to offer their brawn and manpower (and Gobber's hefty pick up truck).
"Ok. These are my fragile boxes, these are the ones you can throw on the truck cus it's just clothes and stuff. Please don't hurl my box of art supplies, those pencils are expensive."
"Alright, alright. You bring those down later then, we'll get these down now."
He'd padded his expensive art supplies for safety, but given that both men were probably capable of throwing a car if they were determined enough, Hiccup was still wary of them getting damaged and didn't want to have to replace them. He had baby supplies to buy!
Hiccup stayed upstairs to organise while they took the first few lots of boxes down, then grabbed a couple of the smaller, fragile ones for himself and put them in his own car, safely piled on the back seat (and buckled in with seatbelts, but nobody else had to know that). They were done before long thanks to the brawny manpower and big truck, and Hiccup handed his keys in to the pub manager with thanks for the living space.
"I cleaned up, all my stuff is out. If my dad accidentally picked up anything, let me know and I'll return it."
That got him a chuckle before they said goodbye, and Hiccup headed out to get moving. He had to lead the way, and was sure it looked quite comical - his little car followed by a huge truck carrying a pile of boxes, which felt like an accurate representation of the size difference between himself and his dad and Gobber. His new place wasn't huge, a little barely furnished two bed being rented out to him by an old lady who wanted to downsize but owned the home. She was very nice and happy for Hiccup to be moving in to raise his daughter, and commended him on taking responsibility for the result of a one night stand. Hiccup hadn't meant to tell her that, but she had one of those looks that felt as though she knew everything before he even said it and he said more than planned.
"The boxes are labelled, so just put them in the right rooms, I'll unpack them myself."
"Aight. Which room is yours son?"
"The bigger one, cus I wanna put my drawing desk in there. Means a toddler won't get into my inks or anything, like she would if I kept it down here."
"Good plan. You were always gettin' in to everything!"
Hiccup shrugged, grinning as they started shifting boxes. His desk was carried upstairs by his dad and Gobber, with Hiccup indicating where he wanted it.
"You gonna paint?"
"I did get permission to paint the nursery, and she said I can paint other rooms if I let her approve the colours first. I'm only really concerned with the nursery though."
Hiccup unpacked a few kitchen things first, so they could all have a cup of tea. He had the usual two mugs better described as buckets - Gobber made them himself - for the two large men, and they stood around chatting and drinking their tea.
"Once I'm all set up you can definitely come over for dinner. I'm so happy to have a proper kitchen again!"
He was already planning all the things he could cook, which made his dad laugh.
"Need anything else lad?"
Gobber asked, and Hiccup shook his head.
"No, thanks for the heavy lifting help! But I got it from here."
Once he'd seen them off, Hiccup spent the rest of the day exhausting himself thoroughly, unpacking and noting what furniture he needed - the house had a bed and a sofa and a TV stand, but not much else. He'd brought along his desk and Gobber was bringing over his bookcases from storage the next day, so his box of books was left unattended for the day. He strongly considered leaving some of it, but encouraged himself enough to finish purely so he could cook in his new kitchen. A batch of cookies went in to the oven while he was eating dinner, solely because Hiccup wanted his house to smell liked baked goods as soon as possible.
After he was done, cookies cooling on the side, Hiccup texted his new address to Astrid so they could set up her and Eret coming over to check out the new place. Their schedules luckily lined up the next day for the two to pop over, and Astrid texted asking if there would be brownies, which made Hiccup chuckle.
"I'll make some in the morning. I have to go shopping first."
"Excellent. I'll text you when we're on our way over."
Hiccup was glad he was so worn out, as it meant that first sleep in a new place wasn't nearly as difficult as he'd expected it to be. He was confused when he woke up and there was no residual smell of beer, but that wasn't a bad surprise. He discovered his new shower didn't dump freezing water on him at random, which was also nice. After a quick search on google, Hiccup located the nearest supermarket and headed out, gleefully stocking up for his new kitchen. While the brownies were in the oven, Hiccup started the slog of calling round updating his address with various places.
By the time Astrid and Eret arrived, his house smelled lovely and there was a pile of brownies waiting. He'd also picked up the decaf coffee he'd seen at Astrid and Eret's place, since he knew Astrid liked it.
Astrid was really starting to show, twenty-week bump visible against her t-shirt when he opened the door to them. The baby had started kicking a week or so back, and Hiccup was allowed to feel it. He sort of wanted to feel the bump more, but always waited for an invitation so they didn't think he was weird or overstepping. Eret had seemed to relax a bit around Hiccup, though Hiccup felt like Eret avoided being in a room alone with him as much as possible. He couldn't prove it though. He might just have been seeing issues that were not even there.
"I need to paint and furnish it, obviously, but this is the baby's room."
Hiccup led them upstairs, and Astrid and Eret both nodded approvingly.
"Nice!"
"With your art skills, I'm expecting to come back in a few weeks and see a freaking mural on the walls, plus a pile of dragon toys."
Was he that predictable? Hiccup shrugged, then smiled.
"Well, they're only gonna see it on weekends, but I still want to make an effort. I'll throw in some reindeer, though I don't know how much use antlers will be against dragons."
"Are you suggesting we let the toys fight it out amongst themselves?"
Astrid giggled as she asked, shaking her head at the bemused look on her boyfriend's face.
"No, of course not. It wouldn't be a fair fight!"
Still snickering, Astrid suddenly looked up.
"Wait a minute. I was promised brownies!"
Even Eret cracked up then, and Hiccup was little better.
"They're in the kitchen, I wanted to show you this room first because I doubt I'll pry you out of the fridge once you get started."
"That was very wise."
"I also bought that decaf coffee you like."
Astrid's eyes lit up, displaying her enormous love of coffee at the mere mention.
"Then what are we doing standing here?"
Well, they'd seen what would be the baby's room, so Hiccup didn't see any reason to delay letting Astrid get what she clearly wanted. Eret's hand rested on Astrid's lower back as they turned to head back downstairs, and Astrid watched eagerly as Hiccup pulled out the brownies from the fridge.
"There's some cookies from yesterday too, if you want something different."
While Astrid was happily tucking in, there was a knock at the door. Hiccup realised a moment too late who it most likely was, thinking on his feet before turning to his two houseguests.
"Stay here a minute."
"Everything alright?"
"Yeah, fine."
Hiccup headed out, closing the kitchen door behind him before he opened the front door. Sure enough, it was Gobber - and his dad, who was supposed to be at work - both armed with a bookcase each.
"Alright laddie, where do ya want these?"
"Uh, one in the living room, one upstairs in my bedroom."
As Gobber had a prosthetic leg, Stoick offered to take the upstairs option, and Hiccup briefly hoped he could get them out before they realised Astrid was there. They hadn't had the whole 'meet the parents' moments yet, because Astrid hadn't said she was ready for that.
"Somethin' smells good. Ya been baking son?"
His dad thundered down the stairs, voice no doubt carrying. Hiccup quickly put himself between his dad and the kitchen door.
"Yeah, but you have to go now."
His dad frowned, confused.
"What's goin' on son?"
"Nothing, nothing."
His words were not quite backed up when Astrid chose that moment to shout out "HICCUP? Where are the mugs?", and realisation dawned on his father's face.
"Is that..."
"Yes, and you are leaving right now."
"But-"
"No. Astrid has agreed to meet you and mom. When she is good and ready. That is not now, and you guys are going. Thanks for bringing my bookcases over, I will bring snacks to work tomorrow as a thank you if you just go."
He didn't want Astrid to feel like he'd somehow conspired to make the meeting happen, and honestly he needed some time himself to mentally prepare for the actual parents-meeting-the-couple-having-his-kid event, which he hadn't had chance to do while moving house. Though he saw Stoick visibly considering nudging Hiccup aside (with the size of his dad, it wouldn't take much) to get at least a peek, the man eventually deflated a bit and sighed.
"Alrigh', fine. C'mon Gobber."
"Right behind ya Stoick!"
As Hiccup held the front door open, he gave a last warning to his dad.
"And no loitering outside waiting for them to leave either!"
Pouting like a petulant child, his dad made a display of getting in to Gobber's truck, and Hiccup only closed the door when he'd heard the engine roar to life. The sound of the truck trundling along was audible even with the front door closed, and Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief before he headed back to the kitchen.
"Did you just kick your dad out?"
"Yep."
Astrid looked confused.
"Why? It's your house."
"Because... you said you'd meet my parents when you are ready. You haven't said you are yet, and I'm not gonna spring those two on you by surprise."
Both Astrid and Eret seemed pleasantly surprised by his answer, but then Astrid's expression changed. Hiccup briefly worried she was about to get a re-surge of morning sickness, but then she was smiling, tossing the half-eaten cookie on the side and pressing a hand to her belly.
"The baby is kicking again! Oh wow, that's so weird. I love it though."
Eret pressed his hand to her bump with impunity, his own face splitting into a broad smile. Hiccup hovered, feeling a little out of his depth until Astrid gestured to him with her free hand.
"Get over here before she stops!"
He didn't need asking twice, managing to find space on Astrid's crowded bump to press his hand and feel the little flutters of life beneath her skin. As the three of them stood there, all transfixed by the little baby kicking in Astrid's womb, Hiccup looked up at Eret. The other man looked back, and Hiccup wasn't sure what it was, but a strange sort of calm washed over him, and he finally felt like maybe, things were really going to work out for them all somehow.
-HTTYD-
There were other notes for this chapter, but none of them wanted to happen! *glares at characters* why do you never do as you're told?