The village, or those who were still awake and knew their chief had gone into labor, waited outside for an update on the situation. Everyone knew that Hiccup was a male, and had been pregnant with a half-dragon child for the last four months. Technically, four months and one week. Today had been September 4th, a Friday and the time now was 11:30 pm. Stoick was a nervous wreck, pacing back and forth, and praying for the best with his only son. It had been warned many times that things could go wrong because this was the first time a male dragon mating among Night Furies had been done with one partner being human. The entire pregnancy had been hard on Hiccup, so there was no telling how things would go. While most women, when giving birth, were loud; this situation was quiet. And strangely, no one had heard any crying, so no one knew what was happening inside the house and more concern came when Alva was summoned into the house by her mother.
"Stoick, you need to calm down…" Gobber said.
"I need to know my son is okay, Gobber…He's all I've got left. Grandchildren were something I always wanted, but not at the cost of Hiccup's life…And it's too quiet." Stoick sighed.
"He's alright to worry, Gobber…But I'm sure everything will be fine. We're prepared for this, and taken all possible complications into account. All we can do is hope for the best and be patient," Draco stated.
Finally, the door opened as Embla, Ryuka, and Alva walked out. "How is my son?!" Stoick asked, not meaning to sound as abrasive as he did, but he was scared.
"Wonderful, but quite sore and tired right now. In fact, I believe and Toothless are already asleep," Embla reported.
"And…The baby?" Gobber inquired.
"The babies are fine too," Ryuka smiled.
"Babies? Hiccup had twins?" Stoick inquired right away.
"Yes, the second one was quite the surprise to us. I'd been going to close his stomach after taking out the first child and spotted it, we're shocked that no one picked up the second heartbeat." Embla chuckled. "The second child hadn't been breathing right away, but we cleared the throat and got it warmer."
"What were the genders?" Draco wondered.
"A girl born first, then a boy." Ryuka said. "And we've been instructed inform you that Hiccup and Toothless will announce their names at the tribe member ceremony. But that will take place when Hiccup has healed more. Embla has said that it may be a week or two before Hiccup's stomach heals closed, then she'll remove the sewing that it keeping it together now. He'll still be quite sore afterward,"
"I've instructed him to remain in bed for, at least, a week. Toothless will be helping him with the babies because I said no walking, no stretching, and no lifting. We don't want that wound to open; he did lose quite a bit of blood due to the extra time he was open so we could get the second child out." Embla said calmly.
"So leave them be for now." Ryuka said.
"I'm sure Toothless will allow family in soon, once Hiccup has rested a bit." Embla added.
"They're okay, that's all I can ask for." Stoick sighed out. "And while Hiccup recovers, I'm handling the village so with that said…Everyone off to your homes!"
No one could really argue with Stoick, who was the stand-in chief while Hiccup was recovering from child birth. Everyone was excited though, Hiccup had twins! Both a boy and girl! Now all they had to do was wait for Hiccup to be alright and heal from the birth, then they would get to meet the two newest additions to the Hooligan Tribe, who also happened to be the next heirs.
. . .
It was the next morning, September 5th and about 5:30 am. Toothless was already awake and had peeked over to check on the babies, who were just starting to wake up and would likely need changing and feeding shortly. Hiccup was laying on his back, but slightly angled with his head off to the side and still sleeping. When the kids got louder and began crying, Toothless handled changing them both and it just so happened to work out that Hiccup began to awaken.
"Good morning, mate," Toothless greeted.
"Hi…" Hiccup replied, then hissed a bit when he shifted only a bit. "Are they ready to eat?" Although Hiccup had fed them earlier around 3:15 am.
"The boy is, but the girl isn't quite there yet." Toothless said softly.
"Let me feed him then," Hiccup readied himself to take the baby from him after getting a pillow under his arm.
"Don't you want to use the bathroom first?" Toothless wondered.
"I will after, but I still need to wake up more and I don't really have to go that bad right now." Hiccup said as Toothless handed over the male baby to Hiccup and helped him to get the child to latch on. "We should come up with names today instead of using girl and boy child…" He laughed a little.
"We will, let's get more awake first." Toothless informed. Hiccup nodded and laid his head back to relax while the boy child fed contently.
An hour later, both children had been fed and were now back to sleep. Hiccup got help from Toothless to use the bathroom, then get comfortable on the couch with the bassinet out there by they fire to keep the babies warm. Hiccup and Toothless were relaxing and enjoying some breakfast together, which was just eggs, fruit, little bit of toasted bread with butter, then milk.
"We should also let the rest of the family come see the kids before the big ceremony. I'm sure my dad is antsy and doesn't want to wait the next week or two…" Hiccup mentioned lightly.
"We will, let's get names handled first and we can have them over for lunch or dinner depending how you feel. Embla said she'd be by later to check your wound and on the babies." Toothless reminded.
"Alright, so what do we want to call them?" Hiccup asked.
"Well, I kind'a like Erling for a boy." Toothless shrugged. "I think it means son of a chief, which is rather true for both of us. You are chief of Berk, and I'm your…Second chief?" He said, unsure because he wasn't chieftess.
"I think that sounds good and for our daughter…I kind'a wanted to do something after my mom, but not the same name. I was thinking Valda…It means ruling protection," Hiccup mentioned.
"I like it, and a pretty name too. Both names fit our kids," Toothless smiled. "Which of the kids would rule after you?"
"Well, Valda was born first…That would make her firstborn to the tribe, but I suppose she could always pass it off to her brother and he could rule. There's plenty of time. I'm only twenty, babe…" Hiccup giggled. "I still can't believe I was pregnant with them less than a day ago…And that nothing happened, except Erling being born not breathing. That scared me…"
"I think I heard my mom say that something was in his throat and they cleared it pretty easy," Toothless said. "But yes…It's a miracle nothing went wrong with something we'd never done before." He agreed completely. "I'm shocked there were two and we never picked up the second heartbeat…"
"I had a theory on that. Maybe you never heard it because their hearts were beating in sync…? So it sounded like one." Hiccup offered.
"I suppose it's possible," Toothless responded. It was a good idea on why they never heard two heartbeats the entire four months. "I wonder if you would have gone longer in the pregnancy if it was just the one…I've heard that happens to pregnant women when they have twins, that they go earlier than the nine months."
"Who knows, but I'm glad they are here now…" Hiccup smiled as he looked over to their kids. "It's nice to not feel sick in the morning, or all day…Eating normally again."
"I take it no more kids then?" Toothless teased.
"Two ain't enough?" Hiccup arched a brow at him. "I took most of my emotional state out on you…Why would you want me to do that again?"
"I knew it was the pregnancy. I never held it against you, or took it personally, love. And to me…It was all worth it to have what we do right now," Toothless informed. "Two is plenty for me, but they'll grow up faster than a normal human, Hiccup and something tells me that you'll want more. You loved the nights we laid in bed and just felt our kids kick around."
"Maybe…And only maybe…" Hiccup told him. "It's more than just carrying the baby, Tooth. You know it would involved cutting me open again…And not that I'm not thrilled to have our kids now, but this hurts like hell. The recovery would keep me down and I do need to run the village. I know I have my dad, and you…But still."
"Well, at least we know now that you won't get pregnant if we have sex and I'm in human form. Only in hybrid, and potentially, only on full moons. The upside also is that we know what to expect for a possible next time." Toothless reminded.
"I know and that sets me at a little ease, but it was still rough on my meek human body to go through pregnancy. Thank Odin it wasn't the full nine months, but still…We're gonna have our hands full with these two. Maybe down the line we can have another one…" Hiccup said firmly.
"Hey, whatever you wanna do, babe…I support and with you fully." Toothless reassured.
"Thank you, Tooth…" Hiccup smiled and adjusted a little to lay against him.
"Easy does it now…" Toothless said when Hiccup winced at the movement. "Maybe Embla will have something to lessen the pain you feel while the wound heals. I know she said we have to keep it clean," He added.
"Yeah, I wiped it gently with a soft cloth, water and soap earlier in the bathroom. I'll do it a couple times a day until it closes fully," Hiccup told him.
"Good…We don't want an infection," Toothless chuckled lightly. "How do you feel right now?"
"Still tired. It's gonna take some getting used to being up in the middle of the night for feedings, and I think the recovery is adding to the tiredness too." Hiccup said.
"Likely, and Embla or my mom would advise that you rest while you can. I'd say your best bet on that would be to sleep when the kids do, until you're healed and not tired from that. As the kids get older, though, they'll sleep longer and eventually through the night. And you only have to nurse until their teeth come in, which shouldn't take two or three years like most human babies do. Probably less than a year, actually," Toothless mentioned. "So rest now. I'll be right here,"
Hiccup yawned and got as comfortable as he could, then soon after fell asleep against his lover.
. . .
Hiccup woke up just two hours after falling asleep on Toothless because it was time to feed their son and daughter again, and after the feeding, Embla came by to check both kids and Hiccup's wound. Embla said everything was great and she would stay through this next week to continue making sure everything was going well, but it was more to make sure Hiccup healed alright. When the kids were back to sleep, Hiccup drifted back to sleep too, but only after telling Toothless they'd invite over his family, his father, and Gobber for dinner so that they could meet the kids. While Hiccup slept, Toothless slipped out to let his family, Stoick, and Gobber know about the dinner and to come around 6:30 pm as it would likely be just after the kids were fed and changed, so they shouldn't be fussy or sleeping to be held by everyone. That time was now, it was 6:30 when Toothless heard knocks on the door. Hiccup, was in the bathroom to relieve himself and clean the wound again.
Toothless got the door and saw his family, along with Stoick and Gobber standing there. "Come right in." Toothless smiled. Once everyone was inside the main room and had taken a seat, the washroom door opened as Toothless went over to help Hiccup return the couch.
"Oh, son…" Stoick said with relief. Even though the man knew Hiccup was fine, just healing; it was good to see him in person.
"Hi, Dad…" Hiccup smiled. "Hey, Gobber,"
"You look exhausted," Gobber mentioned.
"Recovery is taking a lot out of me, but so is feeding two kids every three hours." Hiccup laughed a little.
"Embla said you look good for just giving birth, and suspects you'll get your original figure back with a lovely scar in a couple weeks." Ryuka stated.
"I'm just glad I don't feel sick all the time," Hiccup remarked calmly.
"I can imagine," Draco smiled. "Now, where are those kids?"
As if on cue, little whimpers could be heard from the bedroom. "That would be them now. I'll go change them and bring them out so you can feed them, love," Toothless said.
"Thanks. Can't wait until I'm recovered enough to be able to do it too. I feel bad that you're doing all the work." Hiccup frowned.
"Hiccup, you carried them for four months inside you and suffered all the pregnancy effects…I think I can handle a couple weeks of changing and lifting them." Toothless kissed his forehead. "It's not a lot of work, babe…"
"You two ever decide on names," Stoick asked.
"Yeah, this morning…We'll tell you if you keep it quiet from the rest," Hiccup said.
"Of course," Ryuka nodded.
It was about ten minutes later when Toothless came into the room with both kids in his arms, handing off their daughter to Hiccup, who already had the pillow ready under his left arm and a blanket over his shoulder. Hiccup got the blanket over Valda and then lifted his shirt for her to latch and start feeding. Hiccup knew there was nothing to be ashamed of with feeding the kids, but with company over; he just felt better about keeping covered.
"He's not ready to eat yet?" Hiccup asked his mate, who sat down with their son in his arms.
"No, not yet. But that's okay because it's easier on you not to have to try and hold both while they feed," Toothless reminded lightly.
"So tell us the names?" Davin asked.
"Our son is Erling Haddock," Hiccup informed.
"And our daughter is somewhat named after Hiccup's mother as Valda," Toothless smiled.
"Those are wonderful names," Stoick beamed with joy that Hiccup named his daughter after his mother.
"Thanks…" Hiccup smiled, checking on Valda while she fed. "Would you like to hold Erling?" Stoick nodded his head quickly. "But share with Gobber and Toothless's family,"
"I know, son," Stoick replied as Toothless went over to place Erling into Stoick's waiting arms. "Oh, he's so cute…" The man complimented.
Hiccup was happy to see his father gush with joy to be holding his grandchild. Of course, Stoick spent about five minutes holding him, then passed him to Draco. Then it went to Eskil, and Cort, Gobber, Ava, Davin, and Ryuka went last. She had offered to because she held Erling the night before after he was born. It worked out that everyone got a chance to hold the boy because Valda finished eating and was burped, then Erling was ready to feed. Toothless helped Hiccup switch out kids, and get Erling latched to the nipple Valda hadn't been sucking from, then Toothless took a moment with his daughter before passing her off to his father, who passed her to Stoick, then all of Toothless's siblings, Gobber, and Ryuka last again. During this, Toothless got to work on making dinner for everyone because when Erling finished feeding; both kids would go back to sleep and that left the others to enjoy their meal together.
"You two definitely have beautiful kids," Gobber smiled. "Planning to have more down the line?"
"Maybe." Hiccup shrugged. "We already talked about waiting a couple years. I know these two will age a bit faster than humans do, but it was rough to be pregnant and then there is the heal time to consider." He informed. "But it is a possibility."
"Whatever ya choose to do, we all support. You've got firstborns, both a boy and girl. Anything else is extra and purely your choice," Stoick reminded.
"We know, but still…We'll see what happens. Toothless and I are just thankful that we know how to avoid getting me pregnant, so there's no chance I will end up there until we have sex with him as a hybrid. As it's been said, likely on full moons, but just in case it only takes him being hybrid…That means all we have to do is have sex as humans and should be fine." Hiccup explained.
"Aye, that be true," Gobber nodded.
"But for now, we've decided to just have these two," Toothless stated lightly. "We'll have our hands full with the twins, and Hiccup running the village."
"We're all happy to help out." Ryuka reassured. "But you're right. Another pregnancy would likely be hard on Hiccup and you will be quite busy with these two for a couple years."
"Thank you," Hiccup and Toothless said together.
Soon, little Erling was done feeding and Toothless took both kids back to the room to sleep. Toothless finished dinner and everyone sat down at the table to eat. It was nice to have the family together and enjoy a meal just as them. In a week or two, the ceremony would be held to have everyone meet the twins and officially name them members of the Hooligan tribe, also the next heirs to Berk. It would be fun and Hiccup knew they could have just gotten it over with today, but he really did want to wait until he was healed so that Toothless wasn't the one walking around with both babies, and also having to help him. Hiccup didn't like not being able to do as much, but like Toothless said; it was all worth it for them to be able to have not one, but two beautiful children together.