I don't even wanna acknowledge how long it's been. My time blindness is SO bad it's unbelievable.

Anyway, here's hoping this can make up for it. If anybody is still reading!

-HTTYD-

Eret stared longingly at the slow cooker, wishing it was the next day already. Hiccup had managed to find a pretty big haul of wild deer meat on a shopping trip - it wasn't quite the same as reindeer to them, especially culturally, but it was still a good find. And so he was waiting not-so-patiently for the bone broth Hiccup was making after the meat was consumed. Eret loved broths and soups, but they took time to make and so that left him waiting.

At least it was a big slow cooker and a decent amount of bones. So there was going to be lots when it was done. Until Eret got his hands on it, anyway. He was still in pretty good spirits though - the next day was when Henry was coming over again! Eret was utterly besotted with their son, and every moment he was with him - even the messy and exhausting ones where Eret questioned if it was a toddler or a tornado in their flat - was amazing. And so was every moment he watched Hiccup with him.

His heart fluttered slightly at the thought of Astrid bringing Henry over. It was a couple of weeks since their mother had made a comment that she thought Astrid was still harbouring some kind of romantic feelings for the twins, and those words were still rolling around his head. He and Hiccup had talked about it, but neither had reached a solid decision on what to do. They were both too afraid of scaring Astrid away, but there was no denying the two of them missed her terribly. Eret tried to stop himself, but occasionally imagined a different situation, where Astrid lived with them and they got to see Henry every day, and her every night, curled up between them in bed where she belonged...

Eret couldn't let himself dwell on that little fantasy for too long though, as it left his chest aching and he didn't want to make himself unhappy, not when things were actually working out as well as they could for the moment - Henry spent time with them every week, and he seemed very happy with the arrangement. And Astrid had stopped looking so uncomfortable around them... was it worth risking all that?

Part of him said yes, but the rational part said no, not when it meant the risk of losing Henry completely.

Henry arrived the next day before Eret had had chance to devour the now-finished bone broth, and he felt that flutter in his chest and belly when his eyes landed on Astrid. She still braided her hair most of the time, and as she walked in to Henry's room, her braid swayed back and forth to brush against the small of her back. Eret wasn't sure why that detail drew him in so - it wasn't like it was really different to the last time he'd seen her - but Hiccup did have to nudge him to stop Eret staring while Astrid was led to Henry's room by their son, who liked to make sure she saw it each time they came over.

"You have a good time baby boy. I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"

"Kay."

Henry answered, lifting his arms up to Astrid for his goodbye hugs and kisses. There was no way he'd let his mama leave without those! Astrid happily obliged him, kissing Henry all over his adorable face until the boy squealed happily.

"Bye mama!"

Henry waved as Astrid headed out. Then he tottered back over to the twins and tugged on one leg each of their bottoms, grinning up at them and obviously expecting to be picked up by one. Eret bent down and picked him up, and Hiccup leant over to kiss the top of his head.

"What do you wanna do? Shall we play?"

"Yeah!"

Once he'd put Henry back down, Eret watched the boy as he charged over to his bedroom and started digging through his toys. He made a mess digging through his plush toys, and Eret couldn't help but chuckle at his single-minded determination to find whatever it was he was looking for. Henry surfaced with a few choices wrapped in his arms, then plopped down and looked up at his fathers expectantly.

They obediently sat down on the floor with him. Eret was handed a toy reindeer, Hiccup a dragon and Henry had himself a plain old teddy bear. He seemed not to need much input from either of them other than to hold their respective creatures in place so Henry could enact play-fights between them. Hiccup joined in the dramatics though, making his dragon 'fly' away. He didn't mention bears lacked wings as Henry's bear chased it, chuckling when Henry leapt on him to tackle the toy dragon to the ground. Hiccup hugged him, laughing.

"You got me!"

Henry giggled along, then turned to give the reindeer a similar fate. By the time he'd gotten bored of the toy battles, half his toys were scattered on the floor and Eret was already questioning where the boy got all his energy from again.

"You hungry little man?"

"Yeah!"

Hiccup scooped him up as he stood, winking at Eret.

"Wonder where he gets his appetite from? Come on then. You too, the broth is ready."

Eret didn't need asking twice, scrambling after the other two. He took over warming a bottle for Henry so Hiccup could focus on the slow-cooker, stomach rumbling eagerly when the smell filled the kitchen. Henry sniffed, looking over curiously but soon distracted when he had a bottle in his hand.

"I think he wants to try some."

Eret pointed out. Hiccup turned to glance at the boy, then nodded.

"I'll add some water so it's not as rich for him."

Henry had guzzled down his bottle by the time Hiccup was done getting the food ready. He stared at the bowl of watered-down bone broth in front of him, poking it curiously with the spoon for a minute before he scooped some up in to his mouth. Apparently, Henry approved, consuming the rest of the bowl as eagerly as Eret did. It warmed his heart to see - bone broth was something they often ate when visiting Saami homelands, though it was usually reindeer. Still, it was nice to see Henry enjoying it - he wasn't old enough to appreciate the cultural difference, or his Saami heritage yet.

Eret took care of the washing up while Hiccup dealt with Henry needing a nappy change, then cleaned remnants of bone broth out of the boys hair. He really was a messy eater. At least he hadn't tried to eat the liquid with his hands. Eret had seen the fallout of that habit with bananas a few times.

Aside from a short half-hour nap, Henry continued to run the two of them absolutely ragged for the rest of the day. Eret adored every minute, even though he was completely exhausted by the end of said day. They sent a couple of photos of Henry settled down in bed that evening to their mother, who sent back a few words of appreciation and love for her grandson.

Once they'd dealt with the trail of destruction left in Henry's wake, Hiccup and Eret retired to the sofa together, curls of steam rising from their cups of tea on the table as Hiccup wriggled in to Eret's arms and let out a tired sigh.

"If only there was some way to take a little of his energy and share it between us."

Eret chuckled.

"Yeah. Still, he's adorable."

"Especially now he's asleep."

Hiccup replied, yawning in to his hand. Eret stroked his hair absently, mind wandering back to that morning.

"I wish it wasn't like this."

"Me too. But he seems perfectly happy. Which is the important thing."

Eret nodded, humming to himself.

"Is Astrid happy though?"

Hiccup was quiet for a minute after Eret asked that, before letting out a small sigh.

"I don't think so. I think she's happy Henry's happy, and she's happy in her own way that we're in his life. But I don't know that she's really happy about us being in her life again."

The two lapsed in to thoughtful silence. Astrid had started to relax around them, Eret thought to himself, but he supposed she never really tried to spend extra time around them. She rarely stuck around a long time on either drop-offs or pick-ups, and there hadn't been any shared meals like when the twins spent a few hours over at Astrid's place back when they visited Henry there. She didn't laugh like she used to, or turn to them for hugs at will. Though things were as good as they probably could be, all things considered, Eret knew in his heart things could definitely be better.

Both he and Hiccup were quiet for the rest of the evening, having a small meal and quick showers before they headed to bed, needing their rest for the next day with their son. Hiccup made a sound of contentment when Eret spooned up against his back, arm wrapped loosely over his waist.

"Love you."

"Love you too."

Sentiments exchanged, they cuddled up and drifted off. Henry slept through the night - well, until dawn, but he normally woke up hungry at least once. Which explained why he was absolutely ravenous when he woke Hiccup and Eret for the day. Eret changed the boy's nappy while Hiccup went to the bathroom, then Hiccup went to get Henry fed so Eret could relieve himself.

Henry was back to full energy after breakfast, and so they spent the morning chasing him around, enjoying his playful squeals when they tickled him and the joyous laughter he let out when scrambling after his little coloured balls. He had a little more watered-down broth with them before taking a nap, looking absolutely precious wrapped up in one of the blankets Valka had made for him. Eret sat with Hiccup on his lap, the two drinking coffee and quietly watching Henry look adorable. His nap was brief, but when he woke he wanted snuggles and attention from them. Which they happily gave, of course. Henry leant against Eret's arm, his legs on Hiccup's lap and a blanket tucked around all three of them for a bit.

Neither of them wanted to move, so an hour or so passed in near silence before Henry's energy demanded more play time. He was gnawing intently on a teething ring, surrounded by toy building blocks when there was a knock at the door. Hiccup crossed over to answer it as he was closer, inviting Astrid in quickly. Eret tried to quash that damned flutter in his chest, but it was little use.

"Mama!"

Henry dropped everything to run over to her, and Astrid didn't pay his drool-covered chin any mind when she picked him up, getting some slobbery kisses from the excited toddler. She kissed him back and hugged him tight, then turned to the twins.

"Can't dawdle, Heather and Cami are coming over to my place for dinner. First time we've all been free for a couple of weeks now. Go say bye baby boy."

Henry nodded as he was placed down, toddling over to where Hiccup and Eret waited. Hiccup picked him up and Eret wrapped his arms around them both. When he looked up from their cuddle, the look on Astrid's face... the deep pangs of longing were so clear there, they made Eret's own chest ache desperately. She managed to shake it off when Eret looked at her, but not quickly enough to stop him seeing it.

His mind turned over rapidly, thoughts tumbling against each other. Was Astrid... had their mother been right? Did she still want them? They'd refused the notion before, but that expression... he and Hiccup had agreed they wanted it, but only if Astrid gave them a real sign that was what she wanted too. Maybe she was just as scared as them. Maybe she was waiting for one of them to show a sign they wanted her? It was possible, he supposed, especially as Hiccup and Eret were still an item.

After they'd told her their relationship was just sex... gods, she didn't still think that, did she?

Eret's mind still whirred when Hiccup pulled away, and Henry's little giggles broke him out of his internal confusion.

"I'll just change him, then you can go."

Astrid nodded in agreement, and Hiccup turned to take Henry in to his room for a change. Heart feeling like it was about to pound out of his chest, Eret swallowed heavily before he made his choice. It was definitely spur of the moment in many ways, but something in him felt like it was a long time coming too. He crossed the room in a few steps, and stood in front of Astrid before she had time to decide to move back. She'd barely had time to look up at him before Eret leant down and kissed her, hoping with every fibre of his being that he wasn't about to ruin everything.

Astrid froze, and Eret felt panic start to creep in. He went to pull away, already trying to figure out how to apologise for making such a monumental mistake, when he heard the low, weak sound in the back of Astrid's throat.

And then she kissed him back.

-HTTYD-

About time right?!

In more ways than one. No clue when next chapter will be, but I hope the three people still reading this enjoyed!