I know, I know, it's been a while, huh? I genuinely did not realise how long it had been, this chapter has literally been part written for a year. I have absolutely no awareness of time.
-HTTYD-
Hiccup doubted he'd ever get tired of the sound of their baby's heartbeat, the steady thump reassuring them all was well as the wand was moved over Astrid's belly. Her bump was getting bigger, making more room for Helena to grow. And grow she did.
"Everything looks good. She's the right sort of size, no abnormalities that I can see."
He sighed in relief. As a premature baby, Hiccup had been unable to suppress the mounting nerves as Astrid passed thirty weeks. So, at thirty-two weeks, they went for another ultrasound, just to check everything was going to plan in there. The technician assured them all was well, and Hiccup felt a weight lift. Astrid and Eret were both smiling at the monitor, one of Astrid's hands held in Eret's. Hiccup swallowed against the pang of loneliness and focused on Helena, who seemed to be sleeping her way through the entire thing.
Astrid asked for two copies of the ultrasound, and handed one over to Hiccup. He smiled and thanked her, tucking it carefully in to the inside pocket of his jacket. Thirty-two weeks... that meant Astrid was due in about two months. Hiccup felt a little dizzy just thinking about that. He was going to be a dad!
"You coming back with us?"
Astrid asked, once she was cleaned up and had just about managed to pull her top down over her bump. On her slim frame, it was pretty prominent. Hiccup shrugged at her question.
"If you guys have something to be doing, I can go home."
They both waved his concerns off, and Astrid rolled her eyes.
"Are you going to be this awkward after Helena is born? If we were busy, I wouldn't have asked."
Hiccup very maturely stuck his tongue out, but dutifully followed the couple out of the ward and along the corridors that led toward the car park. He did his best not to stare at their joined hands. With his emotions a little heightened as Astrid's due date grew nearer, Hiccup was definitely feeling more aware of his singledom. And though he was absolutely certain he'd never resent his daughter for it, Hiccup doubted dating was going to be easy when she was born. With Astrid and Eret's involvement in his life a guaranteed constant due to Helena, and the fact Hiccup came with the 'baggage' of a daughter... he knew that in reality, seeing Astrid and Eret together ought to have reassured him that somebody could see past the situation, but in his most maudlin moments Hiccup didn't hold out much hope.
"Earth to Hiccup. You in there?"
He lifted his head to look at the other two, not aware he'd spaced out a bit.
"Sorry, spaced out a bit. What did I miss?"
"The exit, that hallway leads to the delivery ward. Bit soon, don't you think?"
Hiccup looked around and saw the signage, then made a sharp turn to continue following Astrid and Eret out of the building. He successfully made it out of the maternity wing that time, though Astrid checked he was alright to drive himself before she followed Eret to their car.
"I'm fine!"
"You better be. I will hold it against you if you crash and die just to get out of nappy changes."
Hiccup snorted.
"Noted."
He made sure to focus on the road the whole way back, and managed to end the trip without incurring Astrid's wrath through death by car accident. Eret offered to get him a drink while he was getting Astrid her usual huge mug of decaf coffee, and Astrid joked about how it was never long before Hiccup managed to get himself in the kitchen regardless.
"I'm not complaining, I love food so having two guys tripping over themselves to feed me has been a highlight of pregnancy."
Hiccup chuckled.
"I love to cook, so it's worked out very well."
Eret returned with a mug in each hand, the huge one placed down in front of a grinning Astrid as she reclined on the sofa. Hiccup accepted the other one with thanks, and Eret went to get his own drink before returning so the three could chat.
"So, has your house disappeared under gifts yet?"
Eret asked Hiccup with a laugh - the last time they saw each other, Hiccup had joked that he had too many gifts from his family as different members heard he was going to have a child. Hiccup shook his head.
"Not yet, but there's still a couple of months to go!"
He joked back, sipping at his hot drink. It was tough not to feel those pangs of loneliness and longing again as he watched the couple, though Hiccup was happy for them too. It was sweet to see how Eret clearly couldn't do enough for Astrid, glad to fetch anything and letting her shift him and any cushions around to try and get comfortable witth her growing bump.
"I'm glad she's growing well in there, but I am definitely ready for this to be over."
Astrid groaned as she rubbed at her back with a grimace. Eret took over to massage her sore muscles with one hand, and Hiccup had to look away when she turned to offer her boyfriend a loving smile. He wasn't jealous. Not really. Just lonely.
After it had taken him some time to figure out how to be comfortable around Hiccup, Eret found himself very aware Hiccup was noticeably uncomfortable around them as Astrid's due date approached. Given that they had agreed to spend the time leading up to said due date becoming friends so they weren't strangers sharing custody after Helena was born, it felt counterproductive now that Hiccup was reticent to be around them. He brought it up with Astrid, who agreed that it was definitely happening, but waved it off.
"He's probably stressing out now it's not far off. We have each other through this, he's kinda going it alone."
"Maybe. Hopefully he gets over whatever is going on."
Eret answered, unable to suppress a smile when he watched Astrid tug her shirt off as she got ready for bed that evening. Her belly had swelled quite a bit in the last couple of months of her pregnancy, and the sight of their daughter growing so big made him positively giddy.
"Not long now."
He commented, and Astrid cupped her belly with a nod.
"Yeah. Wish she'd get a shift on, to be honest. I feel like I swallowed a beach ball."
"I know, you're a trooper. I'd do it for you if I could!"
Eret made sure Astrid's pregnancy pillow was fluffed up and waiting for her to crawl in to, chuckling at the loud sigh she let out when she was burrowed in to the giant U-shaped nest she slept in most nights.
"How did I live without one of these?"
"You normally use me as a pillow?"
He answered, and Astrid snorted her amusement.
"Ok, fair point. Can you fill my water bottle pleeeease? I'm comfy."
"So demanding!"
Eret joked, but of course he got up to fill her bottle anyway. Astrid forgot all the time. He checked the doors and switched off the lights, then peered in to look at the waiting nursery with a smile before he rejoined his girlfriend in bed.
"Love you."
Astrid mumbled, her face half-buried in her pillow. She made a half-hearted attempt to turn toward Eret when he leant over to kiss her goodnight, though he mostly got her cheek.
"Love you too. Get some rest."
"Mhmm."
Eret chuckled softly as he settled back in, turned on his side to face Astrid. His mind wandered again as he waited to fall asleep - not something he usually struggled with, as Astrid would tell anybody who listened. He hoped whatever was going on with Hiccup was just a temporary worry over impending parenthood, and not some kind of permanent shift to him being uncomfortable around them all the time.
Especially since Eret couldn't think for the life of him why Hiccup would have suddenly been uncomfortable, and had wracked his brains to try and figure it out but none of their recent interactions leapt out as odd or offensive. He tried to put it to the back of his mind and eventually fell asleep.
There was not much longer for Eret to dwell on those thoughts, as it turned out - though a little prior to the full term mark, Astrid went in to labour only a week and a half after that conversation. There was no room for awkwardness when Eret called Hiccup's phone to let him know to meet them at the hospital, and the other man let out a particularly high pitched noise before breathlessly answering that he was on his way.
Eret grabbed their pre-packed baby bag for the hospital in one hand, and offered to carry his girlfriend with the other. Astrid told him to go away in considerably more colourful language, and the two headed out to the car. Astrid's contractions were still pretty far apart, but she was insistent that it was different to the 'practice' contractions Eret couldn't remember the name of in that moment, and he trusted her to know what was going on with her body better than he did.
"Are you gonna call your mom?"
He asked, to which Astrid snorted.
"Oh fuck no, not til after. Can you imagine if all three of our parents were there? There's enough chaos already!"
Eret chuckled lightly at her expression before buckling his seatbelt, ensuring Astrid was safely situated with the pillow between her belly bump and belt and the folded towel underneath her (just in case... he would do it, but had heard it was tough to clean birthing mess out of a car) before he started the car.
"That's a good point. I'll hold off too. Maybe I should have said something to Hiccup."
"I doubt he's gonna bring his parents, since he's probably going to assume we did and you know, he's awkward and wouldn't want the potential row between Stoick and Eret Senior. I love your dad, but he'd never win in a fight against the Viking guy and his boyfriend. Hiccup's mom can probably hold her own in a scrap too."
Eret laughed and shook his head.
"An all out brawl in the hospital waiting room... yeah, parents can wait."
Astrid nodded, then her focus shifted to the breathing exercises she'd been taught to do during contractions, and so Eret left her to that and focused his attention on driving.
"You better be ok in there Helena. I know I was complaining, but I didn't mean you should rush out before you're ready!"
"Ah, she's just got your impatience. I'm sure she'll be fine. Hiccup was really premature and he's alright, and we had that extra scan that said she was growing well and everything."
He reassured. Astrid nodded, reaching a hand over the middle console to squeeze Eret's forearm since his hands were busy with the steering wheel. The journey went without incident, thankfully, and they reached the hospital soon enough (well, Astrid probably didn't agree but she was the one who had a human trying to make an entrance out of her...). He glanced around the parking lot to see if Hiccup's car had beaten them there, and had just decided he hadn't when said car swerved in to the lot.
"Daddy's here!"
Eret joked to ease the sudden tension he felt, and Astrid turned to follow his eyeline.
"Oh, good. We can have the awkward conversations to explain right away!"
The hospital was aware that Astrid's boyfriend and the baby's daddy were two different people, but that only really helped avoid awkward conversations if they got the staff who knew, though they had been assured that there was a note on Astrid's file to ensure nobody tried to stop both men being present.
Hiccup paid for his parking spot quickly and made a beeline for the two he'd spotted, and Eret shook off the brief moment where he noticed Hiccup looked even cuter with the excitement and emotions that made his eyes wide and his cheeks flushed.
"Were you waiting long?"
"No, we just got here and were about to go in when your car pulled up."
Eret answered. Luckily, it seemed whatever awkwardness Hiccup had been dealing with was forgotten in the moment, and the three headed in to get Astrid seen to. She was ushered in pretty quickly and checked over, where it was confirmed she was in actual labour, and not having Braxton-Hicks contractions (of course they knew the name, Eret thought to himself).
"Let's get a quick look to check there's no sign of foetal distress, and we can go from there. How far along are you?"
"A little under thirty six weeks."
Astrid answered, sucking in a sharp breath as the next contraction came along. Eret let her squeeze his hand as she pleased, though it wasn't dreadfully painful for him (yet). The number alarmed their nurse slightly, and he headed off to presumably get somebody more qualified. Before long, he returned with someone else in tow, who did a bunch of stuff Eret didn't fully understand before announcing that delaying labour was not advisable as Astrid was just past the point that it was considered helpful, but that the baby might need breathing help after delivery.
"I was premature, is that a risk factor?"
Hiccup asked, his anxiety visible as he did so. The doctor shook her head.
"No. There's some evidence that it can be linked, but only in the maternal line. Were you pre-term, Miss Hofferson?"
"Not as far as I'm aware."
Hiccup relaxed a little; Eret felt bad that he was so worried he had to ask, fearful he had caused Helena to be keen to make an early entrance. There was little to do but wait and monitor Astrid and Helena for a little while, her contractions timed and beeping contraptions seemed to be monitoring just about every aspect possible.
"Did you tell your parents?"
Astrid eventually asked to break the silence. Hiccup nodded.
"I told them not to come down, but they asked to know so they could light a candle for Astrid."
"A candle?"
Eret asked. Hiccup nodded.
"Yeah. We light candles to help illuminate the journey of birth. Obviously it's symbolic, Helena doesn't have a candle herself."
"I should hope not!"
Astrid exclaimed with an eye roll, which made both men chuckle. Tension somewhat eased for a minute, the three waited and waited some more, medical personnel a near-constant presence as Astrid and Helena were checked on regularly. Though early, apparently Astrid was progressing well and they were hopeful she wasn't going to need a C-section, which she was clearly relieved to hear. Eret was sure she didn't care about surgical recovery or scarring, just that it meant there were no indications of any urgent danger that required a swift retrieval of their daughter.
Her contractions grew closer together and some not-so-pretty stuff went on at the other end of the bed, but Eret focused on helping his girlfriend stay as calm as possible and not complaining when she squeezed his hand tighter and tighter, When it came time to start pushing (with four people anxiously hovering around Astrid's ankles just in case), Astrid reached out and grabbed Hiccup's hand.
"This is your fault! No reason Eret should be the only one I'm hurting."
Hiccup seemed to be stunned silent for a minute, but otherwise didn't react beyond a nod. Eret watched his jaw tighten when Astrid's hand did, but he took it without complaint. The sight of them holding hands didn't bother Eret at all. If anything, it seemed pretty... natural? He didn't have time to linger on that thought before Astrid was pushing again and all attention was on the bottom of the bed as they awaited news of... anything, really.
"Keep going, I can see the head!"
The doctor encouraged, and Astrid did her best to oblige. After some more noise and heroic efforts, a messy little baby Eret could already see had a shock of Haddock red-brown hair was in the doctor's arms and Astrid slumped back with a deep sigh, panting and sweating and, in Eret's entirely unbiased opinion, glowing with the incredible act she had just performed.
"Is she ok?"
Hiccup and Astrid asked in sync, barely glancing at each other to acknowledge it as they waited for an answer.
"We're just going to get her cleaned up and check her breathing. Did you want to cut the cord?"
Astrid looked at Eret briefly and he knew what she was thinking even before she then turned to Hiccup.
"Go ahead, Eret can get the next one. If I'm ever crazy enough to do this again."
Eret nodded encouragingly, and the doctor talked Hiccup through cutting the umbilical cord.
"Oh that feels weird."
Hiccup said, returning to his spot next to Astrid as Helena was whisked off to be checked on, three anxious parents waiting for news while one doctor waited around for any sign Astrid was going to pass the afterbirth.
"Well, we'll be keeping an eye on her for a couple of days at least, but no reason to delay this any longer."
Astrid's hands reached out for Helena even before she was within range, and she was visibly teary-eyed as she cradled the newborn to her chest for that precious first skin-to-skin contact.
"Hey there. You just couldn't wait, huh?"
Helena said nothing, and just laid there being absolutely precious with a few little sounds as she presumably enjoyed that first cuddle. When Eret briefly managed to tear his eyes away from that incredible sight, love already swelling in his chest for the baby that was definitely his daughter, he found Hiccup looking just as awestruck. Green eyes damp with tears briefly flicked up to meet his, and Eret swallowed against the rush of feelings that were suddenly stuck in his throat. He had just become a dad! He was bound to be emotional, after all.
-HTTYD-
I don't know when I'll get back to this, but it's not forgotten! I'm just a mess of time blindness but I still love Hicretstrid!
