On we roll with chapter five. Thank you to all the gooey reviews!

I've only been present at one birth - a home birth (an unplanned shit the baby is coming home birth to be precise) - so if it's not terribly accurate do forgive. I did Google it but man there's so many stories and all are different.

-HTTYD-

"Everything hurts. My aches and pains have aches and pains."

Hiccup fretted at his girlfriends side, unable to focus on his homework. Astrid was thirty-nine weeks pregnant, and had only agreed to take a break from college four days ago, when she could no longer move or sit in one position comfortably. Despite his desire to be glued to her side, Astrid insisted he continue going - he had to pick up her work, after all.

Still, her latest tests suggested Astrid was close to delivering. His mothers desk said it all; she had moved her office to the Haddock home in a temporary permanence - while the teens finished out college, Valka was working from home to take care of the baby. Hiccup was reminded again and again how much his parents were going through to be helpful, but they never came across even a little bit resentful.

If anything, they were nearly as excited as the parents.

Well. Hiccup. Astrid was excited too, he was sure, but she was probably also really sick of being pregnant. He suspected strongly that she was mad at him for getting her pregnant at times, given how she kicked him out of bed sometimes. Quite effectively. Stoick laughed whenever he found Hiccup sleeping on the sofa, even hauled a sleeping bag out of the cupboard for him to use those nights. Like last night.

"Ah, not long now lad."

"Yeah."

Hiccup blinked blearily against the spring sunshine as he got up, sleeping bag crumpling around his waist before sliding off the sofa completely. He stared at it for answers, but his father waved him off to get ready for college. He used the downstairs bathroom to pee, lest Astrid lynch him for being in the upstairs one. Pregnant women peed a lot, he noticed. His mother had given them books on babies and pregnancy, but reading was one thing. Experiencing was another.

Clambering up the stairs, Hiccup saw the bathroom was empty and hastened to brush his teeth, then went to check if Astrid was awake. She wasn't, sleeping peacefully in a contorted position surrounded by pillows, her pregnancy pillow wedged under her bump. Hiccup hoped she wouldn't punch him for touching her belly, running a hand over the firm swell of life.

As he knelt on the bed, he felt it was wet. Bedwetting was a common enough occurrence in pregnancy that Hiccup wasn't immediately concerned, but against the white part of his patterned bedsheets he realised the liquid was clear. Astrid's waters had broken.

Hiccup did what any scared teenage boy would do.

"Mom!"

His shouts woke Astrid, who frowned at the wet sheets before realising why Hiccup was so concerned. Valka thankfully came running in, found Hiccup pointing at the bed in an instance of blind panic.

"Stoick! Get ready!"

The house became abuzz with activity - even Toothless was running around excitably as Astrid was gotten up, insistent on taking a shower since she hadn't had a contraction yet. Valka stayed with her, while Hiccup and Stoick packed the car ready and he stripped the bedsheets soaked in amniotic fluid from their bed; thankfully they had been covered for such an eventuality, and the mattress had a protector on it.

He dressed for a potentially long day - nothing compared to what Astrid had to go through, obviously - and Hiccup was ready, if rather panicked.

"Have you called yer college son?"

"No, I'll do that now!"

Flailing to himself, Hiccup grabbed his phone and scrolled through his contacts to find the college. The dial tone made him realise there might not be anyone in yet, but some tired-sounding receptionist answered eventually.

"Hello?"

"My girlfriends having a baby!"

He realised a second later that he probably could have said something less blurted-out and panicked.

"Hiccup, is that you?"

Astrid's pregnancy was fairly common knowledge, as was his relationship with her.

"Uh-huh."

"Alright. I'll mark it down you'll not be in for a few days."

"Thanks!"

He hung up, turning around on the spot in an attempt to figure out what he should be doing. Footsteps from upstairs alerted him to the descent of the others, mother supporting about-to-be-mother down the staircase until they reached Hiccup, who Astrid simultaneously cursed and clung to.

The trip to the clinic was a litany of threats to Hiccup's anatomy and life, but Astrid clutched his hand throughout, barely let go to be whisked into a side room and await Gothi. Hiccup had only been delivered in a "proper" hospital because he was so premature - Astrid was at full term, or thereabouts as the exact conception date was fuzzy.

"I hate you! Now get over here."

Hiccup prepared himself for many contradictions that day, Gothi's nurse chivvying Stoick out of the room. It was sort of sensible since he was huge and the room was not, but he probably felt a bit left out since Valka was birthing partner and Hiccup the father, so they got to be present. The exact ins and outs of labour were mildly frightening to Hiccup, but Astrid seemed so intently focused on delivering she didn't notice.

"It's too late to do an epidural" were possibly the bravest words ever said by any human. Astrid probably would have swung for the nurse if she could. She was stripped efficiently with no time for protests, though Astrid did growl.

"That means it's almost over Astrid."

"Doesn't feel it!"

His mother was so calm. Hiccup was convinced, later on, that they might all have lost their heads without her there.

"Get behind her. Upright positions are faster."

Slightly worried Astrid would throttle him if he got close enough, Hiccup complied and got behind Astrid, supporting her sitting upright so she didn't have to hold herself up. Her sweat soaked through his t-shirt in a matter of minutes, but he figured she was working pretty hard. Between contractions and pushing, she laid limp against his chest and simultaneously threatened him and begged for it to be over.

"We've got a head! Keep going!"

"I'll give you keep- ahh!"

Whatever Astrid was going to say was lost in the next wave of contractions and pain, but then someone said there were shoulders and before Hiccup had time to prepare, gloved hands were holding a wailing, messy and perfect creature before them.

"It's a boy!"

Astrid slumped against him, her last bit of energy going into reaching for the baby.

"Who's cutting the cord?"

"Valka. Hiccup's not moving."

Chuckling, Valka willingly obliged and then after a quick wipe down, Astrid was introduced to their son at last. Hiccup peered over her shoulder to see him, overwhelmed by the rush of love he felt seeing the babe.

"Hey little guy! Oh, you're so beautiful!"

They gave Astrid a sheet so she wasn't naked for all to see once the afterbirth was delivered, and finally Stoick was allowed in to meet the newest Haddock. Her chest was still bare, but since their son was nestled skin-to-skin with his momma, nobody dared mind.

"Blimey, 'es twice the size Hiccup was!"

Hiccup stroked a soft cheek, heart stuttering as blue eyes opened up. At first it seemed he was bald, but Astrid stroked his scalp and cupped her hand to show him.

"Look, he's got white hair like I did when I was born."

"He's so perfect. Gods, is he really ours to keep?"

"I know! I can't believe it either."

"Alright Stoick, lets give them a minute."

Valka tugged at her husbands arm as he stared down at the little baby, and he went begrudgingly.

"Wait! Have ye named 'im yet?"

"Not yet."

Seven foot tall with a beard longer than most ten year olds height, Stoick 'the Vast' Haddock pouted as his wife removed him from the room. Hiccup got his girlfriend's permission before moving from behind her, wanting his arms free to hold his Astrid allowed him the privilege. He held the boy close to her still, and Astrid looked up from baby to boyfriend for a moment.

Sweaty and flushed and utterly exhausted from the ordeal she had just gone through, Astrid had never looked more beautiful to him than she did now.

"I love you."

He'd never said it before. Hiccup had known he felt that way for a while, but it had never seemed the right moment to say it. Now felt right. Astrid looked surprised for a second, but then she leant up and pressed her lips against his, kissed him sweetly with their son close by.

"I love you too. My Haddock boys."

They sat and simply watched, neither happy to give him up for his measurements and blood test, but he came back to them quickly with a tiny hospital bracelet around his wrist that simply said 'baby boy Haddock'.

"Don't you want him to have your name rather than ours?"

Astrid shook her head.

"Nope. He's a Haddock. Just like me, apparently."

"There's no apparently about it. You're a part of the family. My parents love you, and they're obviously smitten with the grandchild."

"Exactly. So, why give him the name of a family who aren't interested when there's a much better family waiting to love him?"

Smiling happily, if sleepily, Astrid kissed his cheek before surreptitiously retrieving their son from his hands to have a cuddle for herself.

"Whatever you want Astrid. Wow. I can't believe how much I love him already."

She nodded in agreement, cradling the little boy to her chest and watching his little hand pat against her bare skin.

"Me either. What are we calling him then? Other than Haddock."

Hiccup shrugged.

"You pick. Honestly. He's taking my surname, you pick his first. I've no doubt I'll love whatever you choose."

When his parents could wait no longer to meet the boy properly, they peered back in to find Astrid holding him to her breast, nursing him lovingly with a face of pure love and joy.

"I'll uh, come back later."

"You had better get used to this, really Stoick. I'll not be impressed make Astrid feel she has to leave the room to feed our grandson."

Sufficiently scolded - and with Astrid's agreement, he edged closer to the bed she rested on. There wasn't really much to see anyway, since their sons face was busily scrunched up to feed.

"'ave ye named him now?"

Hiccup grinned; his fathers thick accent told of how emotional he was at that moment.

"Mom, dad. Meet Henrik Ashton Haddock the first."

They cooed over his name, and Valka helped show Hiccup how to wind the baby with a mothers patience. A little burp sounded by his ear, then Henrik was returned back to an angle where everyone could gaze upon his sweet little face. Stoick's hefty arm completely dwarfed his grandson, but the huge Viking was clearly besotted, reticent to hand him over even to his wife.

"Oh, he really is the most precious thing."

"Aye. Ye did good son. You too Astrid."

The teen parents smiled, and when it came time to dress Henrik up for warmth on the trip home, Hiccup was touched by the blanket his mother brought out. She had sewn it herself, but the love that went into it was so clear a few missed stitches mattered not. It had a dragon on - the same dragon she had made a toy of for Hiccup.

"I'll add his name some time, but since the moths got to Hiccups old blankets I thought perhaps we could start over with this little one."

"That's beautiful Valka, thank you."

Henrik seemed to like it too, clutching a corner with his pudgy little fist as he yawned sweetly. Hiccup felt his insides melt. Gods, his son was perfect. Henrik laid in Valka's arms while Hiccup helped his girlfriend dress, given a list of things to look for that might need medical treatment post-birth but otherwise, mother and baby were cleared to go home.

While he hadn't considered so many possibilities, Hiccup's parents had and there was a comfortable cushion for Astrid to sit on for the ride back. Henrik slept away in his car seat, unaware of the change of venue taking place.

"Welcome to Haddock central little guy" Hiccup lifted Henrik, already wanting to cuddle him again "you are going to be so loved, I promise you."

When he turned around, Astrid was smiling at them both.

"Go stand with them so I can take a picture Astrid!"

"Oh come on, I look awful."

Hiccup shook his head, kissed Astrid when she got in reach.

"You have never looked more beautiful. I love you."

Her answering smile was blinding, and it didn't take further motivation to get her to stand with them where Valka could take their photo, which naturally set his mother off taking lots of pictures of little Henrik while Astrid sat down to rest after her long, arduous day of delivering this tiny, heart-stealing human into the world.

Once he had shooed his mother and her camera away, Astrid felt free enough to take Henrik for a feed. Her enchanted face as she watched him nurse only made Hiccup love her more, sparing only a second to wonder how Astrid's parents could have wished to not be a part of this joyful occurrence.

"I'm just going to call my parents and let them know the little one is here."

"Ok. Tell them we aren't visiting until at least next week. Astrid needs to rest since she's adamant about going back to college."

Smiling - everyone was super smiley that day, buoyed by the baby - Valka left to make the call. Astrid leant against his side when she was done feeding their boy, letting Hiccup hold him while she rested again. It would be a few days before she wasn't just tired all the time, according to his father. Valka insisted she was fine immediately. Stoick called it 'mommy brain', and his wife promptly swatted at him.

"You are terrible, I don't know why I put up with you."

Stoick laughed, pulled his wife close and kissed her.

"For the dancin' and the dreamin', obviously!"

Hiccup watched his parents, echoing Astrid's sentiment that he would love if they could be such good parents, such a happy couple. Henrik gurgled up at them, clutching Hiccups finger with surprising strength in his little fist.

"Are you planning on keeping that? Because I'm gonna need it back at some point."

Big eyes fixed on his as Astrid laughed to herself, watching Hiccup talk to their son.

"Gimme. I miss him."

Hiccup relinquished the baby back to Astrid, already wondering if they would ever be able to put him down. He was going to be spoilt for attention, that much was clear. Henrik began to nod off in Astrid's arms, one little hand resting over his mothers heartbeat, the lullaby he had known for the last nine months.

It was already Hiccup's favourite sight.

-HTTYD-

One chapter to go!