Hiccup was pretty quiet the next few days after going to the police station to see his father, ended up seeing his mother there too. The others had no idea what had happened but it pissed Hiccup off so they agreed to give him his space to think about things. Hiccup still came out for practice, and to say goodbye to Astrid when she went to work-but they didn't harass him about whatever had happened earlier. His mood seemed unchanged for an entire week so Astrid was now one week away from being thirteen weeks. She'd be starting her second trimester then-Hiccup was excited about that, it was part of the reason he was cheering up more. Why should he let his parents' choices bother him? They were adults and so was he. The best part was that he didn't have to live with them and deal with it anymore-he had his own life and it was wonderful.
Tonight was one of those nights that Astrid had off from work, it was a Monday and everyone was over at Gobber's for practice that would be starting in an hour. They were all waiting for dinner, most of the others had eaten already though-this was mainly for the Fury family, Astrid, and the baby. Hiccup was in his room: finally he sighed-he couldn't keep just sitting in here upset at the fact his parents were dating again, and talking about getting remarried. It sounded insane but whatever if they loved one another then who was he to speak out about it-he just didn't want them near him and his family. Hiccup got up and took a deep breath before coming out, shutting the bedroom door and moving down the hall to see them all sitting around the living room.
"Hey, there ya are," Stormfly smiled some as they all turned to see Hiccup standing there. He yawned and gave a wave of his hand.
"You look like you just woke up," Astrid pointed out as she got up slowly and went to hug him.
"I did actually-managed to fall asleep for a few hours. Sorry," he replied softly as he kissed her on the lips-she blushed returning it.
"Are you okay?" Toothless asked him.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just needed some time with my thoughts about that day," Hiccup smiled softly as he looked at them all.
"Bad day?" Hookfang inquired.
"You're gonna get a laugh outta this. Gather round-I'll tell ya what happened," Hiccup said as he led Astrid back to the couch, then sat beside her. "Alright so I get there and make it to his office. First thing his secretary said was that he was in with his girlfriend and that she would check first. It was a little comical too, my father asked if there was a name or reason for someone to see him. I responded with: Well, I didn't think I needed a reason to come see you, Dad. No it's fine, I get it if you're too busy to see your only son you haven't seen in four years. The whole room went quiet, my father rushed over and looked like he'd seen a ghost," Hiccup shook his head some with a laugh.
"Then what happened?" Zap asked curiously.
"As soon as I walked in the office, I saw my mother there...I was shocked myself to see her. I asked why she was there and she told me a lot of things had changed. I got a weird, sickening feeling in my gut at how nervous she sounded and something clicked. Secretary said the chief was in with his girlfriend, and my mother was in there with him. First thing my father asked me is where the hell I'd been for four years, that they'd been so worried about me. Told him I was living on Archi but not that I'd moved back to Berk. I inquired about why my mother was there and the answer actually just pissed me right off," Hiccup remarked.
"What had he said?" Astrid asked softly.
"You're gonna get a kick out of this," Hiccup chuckled some, "Apparently...Mom's now former husband was an abusive asshole to her, she got away and was living in a motel here on Berk. The husband found her and I guess Dad was called to handle the domestic issue. When he realized it was Mom-she started staying with him. They realized their feelings for one another still exist, and they've been dating for a few months-talking about getting remarried."
"Oh my Gods, really?" Astrid said in shock.
"Yep. They've been seeing each other since about six months after the two year marker of me being gone. I told them they were ridiculous and I couldn't even stomach that they were my parents after all the shit they did when I was ten with cheating on one another and getting divorced. My Mom asked me not to leave because they hadn't seen me in so long-told her not to touch me and that I didn't care. Said it was their fault for pushing me away and now I've chosen to push them away. Also added before I left that just so they knew, I'd be a father in twenty nine weeks. Dad tried to demand me to come back and I told him that he seemed to forget I'm over eighteen and he can't tell me what to do anymore," Hiccup shrugged now.
"Wow, that's just wow...I don't even have words for that..." Hiss and Sparky said together.
"Neither did I, that's why I left after telling him to enjoy their remarriage, maybe this one would work out." Hiccup informed.
"That's actually cold bro. I mean-you told me all you went through because of their choices when you were a kid, and now they want to be together and have you in the family?" Toothless sighed shaking his head. "Least you got us," he then smiled.
"I'm grateful for that. I don't need or want them around me..." Hiccup stated, he gave a smile to Astrid now. "How are you feeling today beautiful?" he inquired.
"Good, morning sickness has faded almost completely now-I can eat bacon again," she giggled a bit. "Oh and the baby is becoming really active. Only two more months until we know the gender-we should probably start thinking about names soon," Astrid smiled.
"We'll work on it." Hiccup said with a nod. "So we got practice in an hour, we gonna shoot for something new or work on something we started awhile back?" he asked next.
"I think we finished all songs we've started so we gotta try something new, question lies with which direction to take it in." Meatlug shrugged looking at them all.
"You got any ideas?" Hiccup looked over to Astrid.
"M-me?" she asked a bit shocked, Hiccup nodded to her. "I-I don't know. All my lyrics are meant to be sung by girls and you're the lead singer so I don't see how that would work," she mentioned.
"True," the others sighed now. Without a direction in which to go, they didn't know what kind of song to do next. Astrid got up and moved to her room-then returned about a minute later with her notebook and handed it to Hiccup.
"If there's anything in there you can make work to your style of music, you're welcome to it." Astrid smiled sitting back down.
"But this is your music, babe. Things you should be performing," Hiccup stated now.
"Yeah but I'll never be a professional singer, besides that, I'm terrified of stages..." Astrid blushed a bit, "I don't want to see them go to waste, so use them," she insisted.
"Alright but you gotta help us. You wrote them, you know how they were were supposed to sound so we'll need you," Hiccup smiled at her.
"I'll help all I can," Astrid nodded with a wide smile.
"Well, I think we should take this to the basement and get to work right now!" Toothless said as the others agreed with him-that being decided on now, they all made their way to the basement with Astrid coming as well in order to start working on some new material for their next CD scheduled to come out after the new year started.
(Two Months Later)
Astrid's songs did wonders for them-they were able to work quite a few into something they could play after hearing her sing them as they were meant to be sung. It helped also she had some of the tunes for them already made on her laptop, so it made it easier for the instrument players to know what they needed to play. With Astrid's help, they were able to make almost three new songs in the last two months for the CD. So far in total, they had nine for it and were still working on more. The month was now November, very beginning of too and Astrid was twenty weeks along-meaning she was five months pregnant. Hiccup and Astrid were excited because they could finally find out the gender of the baby, that appointment was set for later on today at 3:30pm after Astrid got out of school.
The baby was very active and the two of them spent a lot of time together sitting on the couch with their hands on her belly feeling the baby kick and wriggle around. Hiccup and Astrid loved it and they loved each other-both of them were happy as ever to be going through this, and glad they were doing it together. Hiccup refused to talk to his parents, he'd gotten letters that were forwarded from Archi from them-evidently they located his mailbox there but he wouldn't write back or contact them: he wanted no part of of their being together and getting married again. Hiccup just wanted to focus on his girlfriend and their soon to be family. Right now he was relaxing in the living room with Toothless and the others of the band since Gobber had things to do and would be back later around dinner time.
"Today is the big day, you excited?" Stormfly said in a giddy voice.
"Course I am. Today I find out if I'm gonna have a son or daughter," Hiccup smiled wide.
"What are you hoping for?" Toothless asked.
"It doesn't matter to me, as long as it's healthy then I'm happy with either gender." Hiccup replied to them as they nodded in agreement knowing he was right.
"You and Astrid come up with any names yet?" Zap inquired softly.
"Have a notebook filled with them but nothing decided on yet," Hiccup chuckled a little.
"Are you two gonna share a room once the baby is born?" Meatlug questioned smiling.
"We've talked about it a little bit. She wants the baby in one room with both of us for the first few months-then start putting it in the nursery with a baby monitor and taking shifts on feedings. It's a good chance we'll start sleeping in the same room afterwards," Hiccup nodded.
"Still buying things week by week?" Hookfang asked next.
"Yeah, little by little. We're gonna start buying nursery furniture after we know the gender-however, Ruffnut is planning to throw her a baby shower so we might wait until after that. We'll have it all done by the time the baby gets here," Hiccup assured firmly.
"Ooh, maybe we can throw her one here too since we can't join the other one without giving away who we are?" Stormfly suggested now.
"I"m sure she'd really like that," he checked his watch to see the time was 3pm, Astrid would be getting home in about ten minutes-have a snack, then they'd likely head for the sonogram office.
"Do we all get to be unofficial aunts and uncles?" Meatlug beamed curiously.
"Duh, you're all family to me." Hiccup smiled as a car was heard pulling up in the driveway, Hiccup went to check to find that it was Astrid. She was home earlier than usual, he wondered if something was wrong. He moved to the door and opened it up seeing her coming down the walkway. "Hey, you're home early. Everything okay?" Hiccup asked as he let her inside and shut the door behind him.
"Yeah, class let out a little early because the fire alarms went off. Had the cops and fire department there so they just told us to go home for the rest of the day, classes would resume normal tomorrow at 8am." Astrid told him, Hiccup nodded understanding now.
"Hungry?" he asked her.
"Not really. I'm...actually not feeling that well right now," she mumbled a bit. "There's something else too," she added as Hiccup looked at her worried hearing her tone, "Your ex is stalking me."
"Heather is stalking you? What do you mean?" Hiccup said quickly now.
"She's been following me at school for a week now, at first I didn't think it was her-but there's no mistaking the dark brown hair and bright green eyes followed by a smirk on her face. I'm sure it's her because she kept hiding when news crews showed up-I assume to find her. She cornered me today during the fire drill when I got to my car, told me to watch my back or I was gonna end up hurt," Astrid whimpered a bit.
"She just never quits, does she?" Toothless sighed.
"That has gone on long enough, I will deal with her personally." Hiccup stated as he pulled out his phone and dialed a number then put it to his ear. "Officer Solberg, it Haddock." he said. "For the love of God don't tell my father I'm on the phone please. I need a favor and you owe me," he added. "Just come over," he hung it up.
"What are you gonna do?" Astrid asked.
"Keep her away from you," Hiccup said as he moved to a file cabinet in the den and pulled out a file then put it on the table. About fifteen minutes later, there was a knock on the door and Hiccup opened it revealing an officer standing there. "Anyone follow you?" he asked.
"No sir. What can I do for you?" the man asked. Hiccup picked up the folder and handed it to him.
"I want a restraining and no contact order on her." Hiccup said firmly.
"To keep her away from you?" the officer asked curiously.
Hiccup shook his head, "No. Away from my girlfriend and unborn child. Heather's been stalking her for a week at Berk University: today, she confronted my girl and told her to watch her back or she'd get hurt. I want her away from this house and B.U." Hiccup said.
"Understood, Mr. Haddock. I'll take care of it right away, I'll contact judge Amundsav. This will be in effect by sunset," the officer nodded affirmatively.
"Good. Thank you," Hiccup said, the officer and him shook hands as the man left and Hiccup closed the door. "She won't bother you again or this time, she'll go to prison."
"You didn't have to do that, Hiccup, but thank you." Astrid leaned her head on him. "Why'd you call that officer, do you know him and the judge he'll contact?" she asked.
"They are on my payroll. I helped him back on Archi before I met Toothless, got him out of a lot of trouble and made it so he could keep his job. It was a misunderstanding and I'd seen the whole thing. As for knowing the judge-well one of the gigs that Dragon's Roar started out with was the home of the judge to entertain his daughter's graduation party when last minute the band she had wanted to play had to cancel. Both told me if I ever needed anything to let them know," Hiccup explained.
"Oh, so they work for you now?" Astrid blinked.
"A lot of people work for me and the band. Don't worry about it, you're safe and that's all that matters." Hiccup smiled as he kissed her gently. "And with that being said, we have to get to the appointment." he added afterwards. Astrid smiling nodding as Hiccup got his keys, wallet, and phone while the two got in Hiccup's car and took off for the sonogram building-today was going to be a good day.
(Office)
Arriving fifteen minutes later after parking and heading inside they were waiting in the main area to be called, Hiccup was excited-he'd get to see this live! The time was now 3:35pm the door opened with a woman smiling and holding a clipboard.
"Astrid?" she asked, Astrid stood now and Hiccup beside her, holding her hand with a smile himself. "Come right in," Astrid and Hiccup walked together into the back area with the different rooms, the woman opened a door and led them into one on the left. Astrid got her coat off and Hiccup placed it in the extra chair while she got herself on the table and laid back. "So we are...twenty weeks today, yes?" the woman asked softly.
"Yes ma'am," Astrid nodded with a smile.
"I see we finally got a hold of the father. Pleasure to meet you, I'm the sonogram technician, Leanne Dawson. I met with Astrid back when she was seven weeks along to confirm the pregnancy and make everything was where it should be," Leanne smiled after introducing herself.
"Hiccup Haddock," Hiccup shook her hand when she held it out, "I saw the video from the first one and yes, I was very excited to find out." he responded.
"Well, I hope you're excited today because we can determine gender." Leanne sat down on her chair and powered on the machine. She moved Astrid's shirt out of the way and got the jelly then pushed it around with the Doppler as the image came up on screen, Hiccup almost cried. It was amazing to see like this, in person instead of by phone but Astrid still had him recording because she wanted the memory along with all the others-she was making a scrapbook of everything.
"We're very excited," Astrid said now as she was holding Hiccup's hand while looking at the screen.
"Let's get in some measurements and listen to that heartbeat," Leanne said as she began measuring and getting a good spot for the heartbeat before turning it up for them to hear better, "Still strong as before, 145 beats per minute. Perfect size too, everything is developing as it should be. So, are we ready to find out if you're having a little boy or girl?" she inquired as Astrid and Hiccup both nodded, Leanne began to move it around to get a good image to check. "What are we hoping for?"
"I'm good with either as long as it's healthy," Hiccup smiled.
"I want a little girl but I'm happy with either," Astrid admitted.
"Any names picked out?" Leanne asked now.
"A few, was hoping this could narrow down the choices," Hiccup chuckled some.
"Well, if I were you...I'd stick around the female names. Congratulations...you're having a girl," Leanne told them with a bright smile. Astrid could have cried, Hiccup leaned over and kissed her deeply. Leanne printed out a few images for them and turned the monitor off. "I wish you the best and hope your family enjoys many years of health and happiness," Leanne told them as she shook their hands and left the room.
"A little girl, we're gonna have a girl, Hiccup!" Astrid exclaimed happily as she finished wiping her belly and sat up with his help-then they hugged again, both happy.
"I know. I can't wait-now we have to pick a name for her...Gods, I never knew I would be this happy knowing I'm about to be a father. I'm terrified but I'm happy. I love this, I love you, Astrid..." Hiccup told her, she gasped a bit. In the last few months they'd been dating, they'd never said I love you but Hiccup just had.
"Y-you do?" Astrid asked a little shocked.
"I do. I really do, Astrid. I love you and our daughter with my everything-there is nothing I wouldn't do for either of your safety or happiness..." Hiccup smiled softly as he held her hand, Astrid looked like she was about to cry as she leaned and kissed him deeply.
"I love you too." Astrid said afterwards. The two held each other's hands and left the office smiling, they returned back to Gobber's place where the others were all waiting to know what Astrid and Hiccup were having.
"WELL!?" they all said together as soon as Hiccup and Astrid walked in the door, the two of them smiled at one another and chuckled a bit.
"IT'S A GIRL!" they said together as the cheering commenced, so did the hugs and handshakes of congratulations to them. Gobber was there too and he was excited to find out he was gonna be a grandfather-the man was basically Hiccup's father, and Toothless as his brother. It really was a great day for them, Heather wouldn't be bothering Astrid anymore-Hiccup got a phone call from officer Solberg saying the judge signed off on the restraining and no contact order-then the officer delivered it himself to Heather in person, she now had to stay 10,560 feet away from Astrid at all times-this equaled out to two miles away. Heather couldn't come a mile near Gobber's house either or she'd be subjected immediate arrest and a minimum of two years in prison.
Knowing this set both Astrid and Hiccup at more ease to know their family would be safe from his crazy ex-girlfriend. The rest of their night was spent going over names and spending time together until practice where the band was working on a new song. The family time, with his friends and unofficial family-this is what he lived for, what made him over the moon happy.