Chapter 10 – We're a Team

This chapter is even longer than the last one! Actually, this is the longest chapter I have written for this series as a whole. LOL but y'all said that was okay, so here ya go! ;)

It may be my birthday today, but this is my birthday gift to YOU cause you guys are so awesome and thank you all for reading!

Will this be the chapter y'all have been waiting for? GO READ GO!

Thank you to my wonderful and so supportive collaborator, Christine! I love you so much!

Hope you all enjoy!

Hospitals were not Astrid's favorite place. She hated the stuffy smell. How cold they were. The sticky chairs. The constant beeping and noises.

Everything about them got on her nerves, especially since the last time she was sitting by one of the uncomfortable beds it had ended in black clothing and watching her beloved mother being lowered into the ground.

She was thankful for the books she'd asked Ruffnut to pack her because it kept her occupied and her mind off the worst case scenario.

"And you're sure you don't want to head home with me for the night?" Stoick asked Astrid, whose legs were tucked underneath her in the chair by the hospital bed, her position and the blanket resting over her legs signaling that she didn't plan on heading anywhere.

She glanced away from the random show she was watching on the television on the wall and over at him standing by the door, "No, I'm staying."

This was Hiccup's third night in the hospital. Astrid had barely left his side for more than thirty minutes at a time, and she didn't plan on being gone any longer than that anytime soon either.

"You can go if you want, Astrid, I'll be here," Valka spoke from her seat by the window on the other side of the room.

Valka had arrived the day after the accident after flying the entire night. Her company was appreciated and helped take away some of the awkward silences that Astrid and her father-in-law had found themselves in from time to time before she arrived.

"I'm staying," Astrid repeated.

And the two didn't argue with her any further.

If the situation had been reversed, Astrid knew that her husband wouldn't have left her side for a second. And not only that but even if this chair was the most uncomfortable seating and sleeping arrangement, she'd still manage to get more sleep in it than she would in her large empty bed back at home.

The sedation and the drowsiness that all the drugs and pain medicine brought could wear off any moment and Astrid didn't want to be away when it happened. She missed his bright forest green eyes and was determined to be the first person to see them open again.

Stoick nodded and glanced over at his sleeping son who was still hooked up to the noisy machines, "I'll be back tomorrow."

Astrid watched as Valka stood from her seat and strolled over towards Stoick, who was still standing in the doorway and hesitating to leave. Then she watched as she placed her hand on his arm and gave him a tight and reassuring smile, "I'll call if anything changes."

And then she noticed as Stoick's hand raised towards the comforting gesture, but he placed it back down by his side before he could do something that could bring even more uneasiness between the two.

"Thank you," Stoick cleared his throat and pressed his lips tightly together, "Goodnight." He spoke to both the women in the room.

Valka's hand fell as he turned out the door and shut it behind him, the loud click of the latch echoing throughout the quiet room.

Astrid bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling at the moment she just witnessed. It was cringe-worthy yet sweet at the same time and reminded her of that awkward phase at the beginning of any relationship. The part where you didn't know how far was too far.

But it was even weirder to witness it between two people who had once been in love.

Valka made no comment on the moment, "What do you want for dinner?" She asked her instead.

Astrid shrugged, "I'm not too hungry." And she knew she shouldn't have said that as soon as the words left her mouth. Valka had been on top of her health since she arrived - shoving food and bottles of water into her hand when she felt she'd gone too long without drinking or eating something.

Valka wasn't having it, "You've got to eat something." She'd raised one of the most stubborn people on the planet so Astrid's equally as headstrong personality wasn't hard to deal with.

Astrid suddenly knew exactly where her husband had learned his overbearing behavior. It wasn't that she hated it because she knew that her mother-in-law meant well and it showed that she cared. That's why she continued to let her remind her to eat and drink and get up to walk around so she wouldn't have a repeat of the argument that happened the last time someone was a little too overbearing.

"I'm sure Hiccup would say the same thing," Valka spoke when she hadn't replied.

And then she'd let out the one thing she'd been keeping from her since she arrived, "Hiccup doesn't know."

But Valka didn't look surprised by the news, "I know."

"How?" She watched Valka make her way back over to her own seat. Dinner was completely forgotten for the time being.

She took a seat and crossed her legs, "I hadn't heard anything about it again from neither you nor him since you all left."

"We've been busy," Astrid explained.

"Is that the only reason?"

Astrid grasped her bottom lip with her front teeth. The words Hiccup spoke at dinner that one evening still made their way through her mind every time she wanted to open her mouth and just blurt it out. She looked back over at her sleeping husband as she spoke, "I didn't...do you think he'll be excited?"

And then it all made sense for Valka, who had been waiting all week for a call from her son shouting over the phone and announcing that he was going to be a dad. She had still been just as worried as she had when she was sitting next to her on the cold tile floor in her bathroom back in Georgia.

They were still young, they hadn't known each other very long, and kids were the very last thing on either of their minds, but Valka still knew the answer to her question because she knew her son. And also because a year ago back in the kitchen of the palace, he'd told her that Astrid was the girl he really wanted to marry and start a family with. He'd told her that he saw that future for them and that he really wanted that future with her.

And so Valka told her about that particular conversation.

"But just recently he'd said we weren't ready," Astrid argued.

"Just because he said you two weren't ready doesn't mean he won't be excited."

And Astrid felt pretty ignorant for not ever thinking that before now because even through all the fears and doubts, she was excited too. And then she remembered the photo still tucked away in her blazer resting on the back of the chair, "I have an ultrasound photo." She spoke, changing the subject.

"You do?" Valka asked, surprised and so intrigued she already forgot about their previous conversation.

Astrid's lips were pressed in a tight line as she nodded, "Want to see?"

"Of course I do," Valka spoke as she filled with excitement while she watched her young daughter-in-law dig in the pocket of the jacket resting behind her.

As soon as the photo was placed in Valka's grasp and she saw the word BABY with an arrow pointing towards the small shape, she raised her other hand up to her mouth while she smiled with pure delight as she looked down at her future grandchild.

"I went Friday and I was going to tell him but then…" Astrid explained. She didn't have to finish her sentence for Valka to understand that was also the day she was planning to tell her son, but other things got in the way before she could.

Valka handed the photo back to Astrid who also hadn't stopped smiling down at it since she got it out of her pocket, "And that right there is exactly why you need to eat dinner." She added, pointing at the ultrasound photo.

Astrid just rolled her eyes.

Of course, she hadn't forgotten about that.

Astrid was in that stage somewhere between being asleep and being awake. She couldn't distinguish if the noises she heard were in her dreams or not. But the fast beeping and the ruffling of scratchy sheets and the groaning from someone that sounded a lot like her husband didn't fit anywhere in the dream she was currently having.

And then she remembered where she was and what those noises could be and sleep lost in the end.

Her eyes shot open and what she saw was Hiccup. His eyes were still closed, but he was moving and groaning and then wincing every time a certain movement didn't agree with his injuries.

Astrid hastily tossed the blanket off her, and it - along with the pillow resting behind her head - fell onto the floor beneath her.

"Hiccup?" She softly asked as she leaned forward in her seat.

He opened his mouth and mumbled something completely incoherent. It almost sounded like her name, but it could've been anything.

She glanced across the room and noticed that Valka was already awake and making her way out of her chair and closer to the bed.

Astrid stood up when she saw his eyes begin to flutter open, "Hiccup…" She said his name again and gently brushed her fingers through his hair. She felt her eyes sting when she saw a small smile tug at the corners of his lips the second her fingers touched the top of his head.

She never once took her eyes off his bruised face and was glad she didn't because her bright blue eyes were the very first thing he saw when he finally woke up, "Hey there, babe."

"Astrid?" He asked hoarsely, his throat all dried up from being asleep for days.

She never knew that hearing him say her name could make her feel happier than hearing him tell her the three words that always made her smile no matter what. But it did. Looking into the green eyes that reminded her of the colors in their secret cove while hearing him speak her name made her feel like she was the luckiest person on the planet.

And while she was bursting with joy, Valka was already one step ahead and grabbed the water lying on the tray table that was saved just for this very moment. She passed it over to Astrid who held the straw right in front of his chapped lips.

She could see the confusion written all over his face as he tried to figure out where he was and why he was there and just what the hell was going on, but he couldn't talk without water so he sucked the cup dry.

Just the action of raising his head a tiny bit was exhausting so he plopped his head back down on the pillow behind him and groaned, not just because he felt like he'd been hit by a truck, but because he was in the hospital. The last time he woke up in a hospital bed, the news hadn't been so good, "Oh God…"

"What's wrong? Are you in pain?" He heard Astrid ask frantically.

He looked into her wide and panic filled eyes with the exact same expression, "Please tell me I still have my other leg."

Astrid breathed a heavy sigh of relief and chuckled, "Don't worry, your remaining limbs are still intact, but you sure gave it your best shot."

He felt Astrid grab one of his hands, "What happened?" He asked her.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

He thought for a moment as he focused on the feeling of Astrid's thumb brushing over his knuckles. Everything was a bit of a blur, but he remembered her laugh and then he remembered a phone call, "Talking to you...I think."

She smiled, thankful that he at least remembered that and not the events that followed after, "Well, right after that, the floor collapsed and then you, of course, just had to fall right along with it."

"Did anyone else get hurt?"

And Astrid loved the fact that was the first thing he asked because his selflessness was one of the things that made her fall for him in the first place. Forgetting his own injuries and what happened to him, he wanted to know if anyone else was hurt before he even asked about himself.

"No, just you," Valka spoke from her spot on the other side of the bed, beating her to it.

Hiccup looked down at his bandaged arms, "So, how bad is it?"

Both Astrid and Valka gave him the extent of his injuries, but he was worried more about the prosthetic leg being destroyed than the bruises that lined his spine that could also be serious.

"They said they were going to fit you for another one just like it," Astrid explained.

"It's just really...hard breaking in a new leg." Hiccup sighed. He hadn't once looked away from staring up at the ceiling since they'd started telling him about his injuries.

"Hey, look at me," Astrid said sternly. She waited to continue until his gaze shifted from the boring white ceiling to her face and the second she saw his trembling bottom lip and red eyes with tears at the brim is when she realized why he was avoiding looking at her in the first place. "You don't have to go through any of this alone, okay?"

"She's right," Valka reassured.

And Astrid wanted nothing more than to crawl into the small bed next to him and wrap her arms around his chest and hold him close to her the second she saw him shut his eyes and one of the tears make its way down his cheek.

Hiccup crying was a rare sight. It didn't happen often, and Astrid could count all the times she's seen it on only one hand.

And he didn't even know why he was crying. He wasn't sure if it was just a mix of feeling like shit on top of whatever was dripping into him from that bag hanging over his head while also being relieved that he was able to look into his favorite color of blue.

All of that mixed together was just apparently more than he was able to handle at the moment.

Astrid cupped her other hand against his jaw, careful not to disturb the cuts and bruises. Hiccup leaned into the warm touch from his wife and squeezed the hand he felt his mom holding on to, "Thank you." He finally said.

A light knock at the door interrupted the moment from going any further.

The doctor peeked his head around the frame of the door, "Oh, look who's awake." He stepped fully into the room, his hands tucked in his white coat pockets.

"He just woke up," Valka informed him and stepped away from the bed to let him take her spot.

"I picked the right time to do my rounds then." He spoke as he peeked under the bandage wrapped tightly around Hiccup's forehead, "How are you feeling, sir?"

"Like I've fallen through a floor." Hiccup quipped. "And you can leave any and all formalities out of this. I think you've deserved the honor of calling me by my first name."

Astrid bit her lip to keep from smiling. She was just glad to hear that he felt well enough for his usual sarcasm and wittiness.

"Of course, Henry." The doctor snickered, a tad amused, as he shined a light in each of Hiccup's eyes, seeming pleased by whatever it was he saw when he stuffed the flashlight back in his coat pocket with a slight nod.

She watched as he moved to the foot of the bed and threw back the covers, revealing Hiccup's remaining bare foot.

"Can you feel this?" He asked as he ran the tip of his pen up the bottom of his foot.

She watched Hiccup's toes curl at the ticklish sensation, "Yeah."

The doctor looked relieved as he covered his foot back up and made his way back to the other side of the bed. He slowly began raising the bed with the controls until Hiccup was in more of a sitting position rather than a lying position, "Lean forward for me…" he started and Hiccup began to sit up, but the motion must've been too fast for his liking, "slower, please….good."

He pulled back the cloth gown and Astrid finally got to see the bruises that have been causing the worried wrinkles in the doctor's forehead since the day of the accident. A terrifying mix of purple and yellow covered his shoulder blades completely and lined his entire spine from top to bottom. Even she was in pain just looking at it.

Hiccup tensed as the doctor gently pressed his fingertips along some of the bruises.

"Okay," the doctor closed his gown and patted his right shoulder, "you can lay back down now...slowly."

Astrid helped Hiccup rest back against the pillows behind him and readjusted the few that slipped away during the examination. She felt him squeeze her hand that she hadn't let go of since he woke up because she was afraid he'd slip away the second that she did. It was silly, but she still wasn't letting go.

The paleness of his face and his tense muscles made the fact that he was in pain by the jostling and the movement known to everyone in the room, and Hiccup being Hiccup was trying his best to hide it.

Astrid began brushing her thumb across his knuckles again and he decided to focus on that instead of the pain shooting up his back and the slight ringing in his ears.

The doctor, however, didn't seem to be too surprised by the pain it caused him.

"How is he?" Valka asked from behind him.

"Lucky." The doctor replied, stepping towards the foot of the bed again so he could look everyone in the eyes. He focused on Hiccup first, "I don't want much movement from you for the next couple of days though."

"I don't think that'll be a problem." Hiccup strained. He took a deep breath and cursed when his broken ribs didn't care for the action. He never knew breathing could be such a difficult and painful task, but it was.

"But everything looked alright?" Astrid asked the doctor.

He nodded, "The CT scan came back clear and he's responding to everything quite well...he should be just fine." He looked right at Hiccup, "As long as you take it easy."

Hiccup didn't have an argument for that because he sure didn't picture himself doing any cartwheels or running any marathons anytime soon.

"How much longer will he be here?" Valka asked, returning to her spot by the right side of the bed.

The doctor thought for a moment as he played with one of the buttons on his coat, "I'd say he can go home by the end of the week."

Astrid hoped that would be true, not only because she was sick of being in the depressing and dark room, but also because their anniversary was Friday and there'd be nothing better than spending it together in the comfort of their home and bed.

It still wasn't exactly how she pictured them spending the celebration of surviving their first year of marriage, but as long as they were together she really didn't care if it was here or their favorite spot on Berk.

"Thank you." Both Astrid and Valka spoke sincerely while also sounding the most relieved they had since the incident three days ago.

The doctor nodded, "We'll get you fitted for your new prosthetic when I find it suitable for you to start being a little more active."

Hiccup already dreaded it. It was painful, tedious, and always took longer than he usually had the patience for.

But he still thanked the doctor and when no one could think of anything else to ask him he left the room and promised he'd make another visit before he left later in the day.

There was one thing that the doctor said before he walked out of the door, "You were very lucky. It could've been much worse."

And that kept making its way through Astrid's head as she watched Hiccup talk to his mother about something she wasn't paying any attention to.

She really could've lost him.

She could've lost him and he would've never known the life-changing information that she's held from him all week.

He could've died without ever knowing he was going to be a father.

And if that had happened, she never would've forgiven herself. That guilt would've stayed with her for the rest of her life.

Learning to be able to rely on someone else and trust another person with everything was just one part of marriage she'd struggled with getting used to over the last year.

But today...today she was going to fix that.

They were a team. He'd once told her while standing out in the cold on Christmas that they would handle everything that came their way together and this was no different.

It was time she started taking that promise he'd made to her a little more seriously.

Astrid looked up at Valka and interrupted their conversation, "You think you should go call Stoick?"

And Valka wasn't stupid, she saw the real meaning for wanting her to leave the room and make a phone call. The nervous yet bright and excited look in her wide eyes told her everything she needed to know. "I should. I'll go do that right now." She wasted no time to pull her phone out of her pocket and head out of the room, looking back at the two with a bright smile that highlighted the wrinkles around her eyes before she shut the door behind her.

There was silence for a moment. Nothing but the sounds of beeping machines every second.

"How's my dad?" Hiccup asked as he watched Astrid take a seat on the edge of his bed, careful to not jostle him too much.

"He's come to see you every day."

"Really?" He asked her, complete and utter shock filling his tone because his father didn't usually seem like the type of person to sit by a hospital bed all day while reading the paper and watching the television.

Astrid nodded.

"And you've been here the whole time, haven't you?" Hiccup asked even though he already knew the answer because he knew his wife well.

Astrid cracked a smile, "What gave it away? The greasy hair?" She joked, running her fingers through her blonde strands and cringing at all the oil left over on her fingers afterward. She really should shower.

"You didn't have to stay."

Then she was suddenly serious, "Yes, I did, Hiccup. I wasn't leaving you."

Hiccup squeezed her hand, silently thanking her.

The room was quiet again, all except for the constant beeping that was once annoying, but Astrid had grown accustomed to over the last few days.

"Are you okay, Astrid?" Hiccup asked because the silence they kept finding themselves in was starting to worry him.

And then suddenly, there was that sound again. The one that Astrid heard in the car and didn't realize it was her until her father-in-law wrapped his sturdy and strong arm around her shaking shoulders.

"Astrid…" Hiccup tried to sit up and winced when the movement didn't agree with his bruised back and broken ribs. He cursed underneath his breath when something that should've been so easy wasn't easy at all. "Astrid, what's wrong?" He asked her, his voice shaking with worry because seeing his strong wife cry was something that did not happen often or hardly ever at all for that matter.

She hastily wiped away the tear she felt falling down her cheek with the back of her free hand, "Hiccup...I could've lost you...we-"

He interrupted her, "You didn't. You didn't, Astrid. I'm right here. You didn't lose me."

And then he realized she was scared, which made him want nothing more than to wrap his arms around her because he's never seen his wife this way and the one time she is he can't be the person she needs him to be and the person he vowed to be.

Astrid nodded, "I know...I know. But Hiccup, if I had lost you, I never would've been able to tell you."

He was so confused by where this was going because he was expecting her to curse him out for being so reckless and stupid while letting out all her fears in such an Astrid way. But then he suddenly remembered the conversation they'd had right before everything went dark, "Tell me what?"

Astrid took a deep shuddering breath and squeezed his hand before looking him right in the eyes. She didn't even take a moment to think about a fun and cute and sweet way to tell him because the last time she'd decided to do that, it backfired.

She was just going to blurt it out like she should've done a week ago.

"That you're going to be a father." She finally said.

She watched her husband's eyes grow as wide as they could go and then shrink back down when he furrowed his brows, wondering if he'd heard her right, "Wait. Did I...I'm going to be...you're preg-"

Astrid nodded, "Pregnant, yeah, I am." She finished for him.

Astrid was trying her best to figure out his emotions crossing his face because she could usually read him like an open book, but she couldn't this time. She couldn't because he was feeling too many emotions all at once that even Hiccup himself couldn't distinguish either.

It was a mix of terror and excitement and shock and happiness and others he couldn't wrap his head around because he was going to be...a father.

"Oh my God." He didn't know what else to say. He wanted to shout and cheer and pull his wife in for the biggest hug he's ever given her because they were going to be...parents. But he couldn't do any of those things so he just laid there and stared at the face of his favorite person who was looking at him with a scrunched up face full of worry.

"Are you...happy?"

And that was an easy question to answer, probably the easiest question he's ever had to answer, "Of course I am, Astrid. I'm...on cloud nine, over the moon, and all the other metaphors for happy."

He heard breathe a heavy sigh of relief.

"Are you...not?" Hiccup asked, his stomach slowly filling with nerves that she wasn't happy about this miracle because he still had yet to see her smile at the news that made him forget he was trapped in a hospital bed.

"No, Hiccup...God, of course, I'm happy - also pretty terrified," Hiccup nodded, agreeing with that, "but ever since I found out I've just been worried that you wouldn't be."

"How long have you known?"

She thought about lying and telling him she found out Friday, but she'd already lied about this situation enough and was sick of it. So, she told him the truth and just waited for the anger, "I found out the day before we left Melody."

But all he did was give that furrowed brow look again. The one that created a crease in his usually smooth forehead and the one she couldn't ever read, "Why did you wait so long to tell me?"

"I...I don't know. I was scared, Hiccup. I was trying to figure things out. And everything has happened so fast for us, you know? I didn't want anything to change and I know not telling you wasn't going to make anything slow down...I don't know..." she trailed off, not quite sure where she was headed with her rambling.

"Astrid-"

She decided to keep going and he let her, "I'm sorry I kept it from you, Hiccup. I wanted to tell you, but I didn't know how you'd react and I like what we have now. I guess...I guess I just wanted that to last a little while longer."

"Astrid," he repeated, softly, "this isn't going to change anything."

Astrid scoffed, "You must've hit your head harder than the doctor said because, Hiccup, this is going to change everything."

He shook his head, wincing again, "That's not what I meant."

"What-"

He removed his hand from hers so he could wipe away the tear falling down her cheek with his thumb. He left his hand there and caressed the side of her face while enjoying the feeling of her soft skin underneath his palm, "Astrid...I meant it's not going to change the way I feel about you. It's not going to change the way I look at you...it's not going to change the fact that I fall in love with you a little more each and every day when I wake up and see you lying there next to me. It's going to change everything, but it won't change how much I love you."

And she didn't care that he was lying there hurt and injured, "Oh, Hiccup," she cried and leaned over to press her lips to his because she couldn't stand the distance anymore. Not after days of worrying. Not after he looked at her like she was his favorite thing in the world. And definitely not after those words that just left his mouth.

The kiss took away all the pain.

The kiss was filled with relief that he was alright and that he was happy.

It was filled with love.

And it was filled with excitement for their life ahead of them.

When she pulled away she couldn't tell if the tears that were making their way down his face were hers or if they were his. Maybe it was even a mix of both.

"We're a team, remember?" He reminded her.

"I know." And then Astrid stood up to reach into her blazer pocket and sat back down once she pulled out what she's been waiting to show him, "And in April we'll have another little team member." She handed him the photo.

She's seen Hiccup smile, but she's never seen him smile like that. This smile was the brightest thing she's ever seen. It was brighter than the sun on a clear day. It was brighter than the light that twirled around the lighthouse every night. This was a smile that lit up the whole room.

Hiccup didn't look away from the photo, "We're having a baby." He spoke like he was still trying to get himself to believe it.

"We are," Astrid chuckled, "And the day I got that image, the doctor compared the baby to the size of...guess what?"

He looked up at her then, still holding onto the photo tightly, "What?"

"A blueberry."

He laughed, but not too hard, already learning what movements he could do that didn't end in pain, "How appropriate."

She watched as his gaze went back to the photo, "I'm just so glad you're happy."

Hiccup placed the image on the blanket between them, "Astrid, we're having a baby, of course, I'm happy." He said again.

But he was also a bit terrified…okay, a lot terrified.

But then he took one look at that wide smile that Astrid was looking over at him with and he pushed all the horrible and scary feelings that were trying to overtake the pure joy he felt.

They were a team.

They'd made this child together.

They'd raise this child together.

They'd love this child...together.

HICCUP KNOWS. THE REVEAL. IT HAPPENED.

Gosh, FINALLY!

I'm just so beyond happy for these dorks right now.

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Thank you so much for reading and can't wait to hear what you thought!