I think this may well be the last baby free chapter. No promises. Let's see where we end up.
-HTTYD-
"You ready?"
"Yep."
Astrid strolled in to the community centre room full of people who, like Hiccup, were adopted. It was much busier than last time - at least five of the attendees had brought a biological parent, and going by appearance Hiccup suspected he wasn't the only one to bring an adoptive sibling. The group generally only catered to the adoptees and the adoptive parents.
"Hiccup! Glad to see you came back!"
Sharon spotted him, swooping in like a hungry bat in blue. Astrid kept close to his side, supporting her overly anxious brother.
"Hey. This is my sister, Astrid."
The two women shook hands, smiling.
"Yes, Hiccup here speaks highly of you."
"So he should. And you know he's great right?"
Hiccup flushed, cursing his easily red cheeks.
"Oh definitely. He's got a bit of an admirer in Evie already, she was most put out he couldn't make the last one."
Astrid turned to Hiccup, who was doing his best impression of a tomato. On fire.
"Why did you skip it?"
"Had therapy."
He muttered, hoping nobody was listening in.
"Oh, that's fair enough. So, which one's Evie?"
Hiccup glanced up, spotting Evie by the drinks table with who could only be her biological father - their eyes and freckled, dimpled cheeks were identical.
"Over there."
Astrid cocked her head as she appraised the girl, eventually grinning.
"She's cute. Not my type but hey, you should be awkward in her direction and see what happens."
Hiccup shook his head violently.
"Think my life is busy enough right now. And to be honest, not sure she's my type either."
Astrid pondered his words, hopefully not hearing how violently his heart pounded. He couldn't seem to see the faces of other women that way, not with Valka in his home being the object of his twisted incestuous desires.
"Fair enough. Guess we probably have similar tastes what with Heather having collected the set of Hoffersons."
"That's a terrible way to put it."
Astrid grinned, stuck her tongue out and went toward the table for a drink. Sharon was chuckling as Hiccup felt crushing embarrassment all round.
"She's energetic!"
"Yeah. Astrid's amazing."
Hiccup always felt proud to say that. His little sister really was amazing. And she thought the world of him. He stopped thinking about how that would change if ever she found out Valka's baby was his and went to acquire some water for his dry mouth.
Astrid managed to socialise effortlessly with some of the other adoptive siblings there while Hiccup muttered awkwardly with some of his fellow adoptees, and when they sat in a messy sort of circle for the 'official' meeting part, he sat next to Adtrid and tried to stay quiet.
"I don't think you should need reminding, but let's remember that whatever is said here is completely confidential. Stefan here has bravely asked to talk about something... and everyone is going to be respectful. If you wish to leave during the topic, that's fine but any abusive or derogatory comments will see you ejected."
Hiccup's ears pricked up. He had a strong feeling he knew what was coming. Nobody got up and left but everyone looked curious as Stefan moved nervously in his seat. His dark skin flushed deeper as everyone paid attention, and he played with a dreadlock at the side of his face while composing himself. Hiccup was practically on the edge of his seat as the young man drew in a deep breath and launched into the 'topic'.
"So my birth mother got in touch when I turned eighteen, and that was pretty cool. We had the same sense of humour and she was cool. I didn't track down my biological father for another two years, and I found out I had brothers and... a sister."
Someone at the back got up and left, but by the time Stefan had finished stammering they came back - bathroom break.
"Did I miss it?"
Sharon shook her head, then gently nudged Stefan to continue.
"My father and new brothers weren't real interested in me, I was just a mistake their father made and their mother didn't like me straight away. But my new sister and I traded numbers and started chatting. We both realised pretty quick that we liked all the same music and movies and stuff, and we started hanging out but... I realised that I didn't quite see her as a sister. And when I told her, she said she felt the same. So after all that time to find that part of my family... I can't see her any more. For obvious reasons."
Stefan was brisk, direct and so everyone had to take a minute to process the information. Nobody made a negative comment shouting "incest is gross" so Hiccup mused Stefan was ok. Sharon waited a minute to let it all sink in, then drew eyes back to her.
"Thank you for your honesty Stefan. As told in every adoption-reconnection information leaflet and website these days, Genetic Sexual Attraction is very real, very challenging and completely involuntary. What's important is that nobody blame themselves, and if they struggle they should feel free to reach out. I have the numbers of a couple of therapists who specialise in these things should anybody wish to seek help that way. Anybody have anything to add?"
Everyone stayed silent for a minute. Hiccup's heart felt like it was in his throat. Then one girl raised her hand.
"My biological father tried to kiss me. This stuff can develop one-sided right?"
Sharon nodded.
"It's more likely to be one sided, and as it's a sensitive subject it's hard to be totally accurate but it seems more common between siblings than parents or grandparents."
Hiccup felt very uncomfortable - neither the one sided feelings nor the siblings applied to him. Stefan shifted in his seat, obviously nervous to speak up again but managed to ask.
"Why does it happen though? I mean, we know these people are our blood so that should tell us not to be attracted to them right?"
Astrid leaned forward slightly and Hiccup banked on it being because she studied psychology rather than because she suspected her brother was a victim of the GSA plaguing as many as half the adults in the room.
"We seek similar mates. Blood relatives tend to have a familiarity that we look for on a primal level, but when we are raised by family there are psychological tricks we implement to teach us they aren't possibilities. When the familiarity is there with none of that familial foundation, it can cause certain instincts to set off. It's biological, it's emotional but it's certainly not logical or anybodies fault."
That became the topic of the day, and they only realised how long the meeting had ran for when the people who had the room after them were outside, confused by them not having left yet. Hiccup left feeling rather emotionally wraught as everybody discussed all the reasons not to give in, and there was him who had, who desperately wanted to again.
"Hey, Hiccup! Can I talk to you?"
He and Astrid turned around in the car park to see Stefan jogging toward them. Astrid looked confused, but carried on ahead to the car.
"Yeah?"
Stefan side-eyed Astrid, waiting until she was in the car and honestly, Hiccup felt like Stefan was being so unsubtle it hurt.
"You knew what I was talking about in there didn't you?"
"I think everyone did."
"No, I mean you knew."
He swallowed thickly.
"Yeah. Ok. But Astrid doesn't know and I would like it kept that way."
Stefan peered to his left, looking toward where Astrid was watching through the window.
"Oh, right. I'm not trying to jam you up on that, I just... I guess I wanted someone to talk to. Who understands."
Hiccup frowned in thought.
"Find me on DeviantArt, I'm NightFury18. My contact information is on there, but I need to go before Astrid starts getting suspicious."
Stefan reached out a hand, friendly and calm but Hiccup automatically startled anyway.
"Sorry, forgot you're jumpy. Thanks. I'll uh, yeah. Talk soon I guess."
Stefan left, and the girl waving across the car park at Hiccup gave him a ready-made excuse for when Astrid inevitably asked.
"What was that about?"
"He uh, wanted to know if I had any intentions of going after Evie. I said no, but pointed out he ought maybe to deal with... yanno, the GSA thing before he starts dating."
Astrid rolled her eyes.
"Boys. Needing permission like Evie is something to stake a claim on. Still... I guess ya can't blame him for wanting to get back out there. Poor guy. Guess it's good you're not gay."
Hiccup stared at Astrid, shocked.
"What?"
"I didn't mean for him! I meant because your mothers having another kid who, if you're any indicator, is gonna look just like her. You. So if she buggers off with the baby and you don't meet him until he's all grown up, you're not at any risk of... you know."
He started the engine with shaking hands. Astrid was so certain he hadn't... already fallen foul of the taboo discussion that she was talking about Hiccup's little brother still in Valka's womb. Not a single mention of whether he could have felt it for Valka already.
Maybe Astrid expected he would have told her already. Maybe she simply couldn't comprehend her brother doing such a thing.
Either way, he felt sick all the same.
"You want dropping at yours or you coming over?"
"Is there still leftover pie?"
Hiccup nodded.
"Then to Hofferson central!"
He drove them back, heart in his mouth by the time they got back and Astrid could tell he was halfway to an anxiety attack.
"You're all pale and shaky, come on lets get you on a sofa and drinking hot chocolate."
Hiccup let himself be led, not registering the large box on the table in his haze as Astrid sat him down, placed a scruffy dog in his lap and left him to go make hot chocolate. Toothless nuzzled his face, licking his chin until Hiccup scratched him behind the ears.
"Here, drink."
He could smell the chocolatey drink as soon as Astrid came in, somehow carrying two mugs and her plate full of cherry pie - Hiccup found himself with a lot of fruit delivered by Heather and Dagur's parents and opted to cook most of them since he didn't eat much fruit and Valka couldn't eat it all alone. She noticed the box, gesturing at it with her pastry-covered fork when Hiccup had obediently drunk his cocoa.
"Is that your new leg?"
"Oh. I guess so. I mean I haven't ordered anything else in those proportions."
Astrid was excited to see it in action, so once Hiccup was done recovering from anxiety somewhat she nudged him in the direction of his bedroom with the box. He perched on his bed and pulled down his jeans, then realised he ought to open the box first before removing his current limb. And take off his shoes before his jeans.
The box was sellotaped to within an inch of its life, like a game of pass-the-parcel all by itself. Even once he got past the first layer of packaging, there was padding and parcel paper everywhere and Astrid overheard him swearing violently.
"Everything ok?"
She called from the other side of his door.
"Yeah, just too much box!"
Eventually Hiccup located his new leg, a lightweight carbon fibre that was meant to help reduce the weight and discomfort of wearing it. It looked odd to just have a leg residing in a box, could be a bit gory-seeming he mused with a chuckle to himself. He finished kicking off his jeans, then worked off the current leg and replaced it with the new one.
Paul had had a point - it was a better fit already. Hiccup stood a little ungainly, adjusting to the lighter feel and comfier fit. He adjusted the liner and sock to stay in place, then took a few shaky steps.
"Well?"
"Hang on, I'm coming out."
Astrid eyed his new leg immediately, grinning as she saw the new design.
"Wow. That's some statement."
"Well, I'm not thinking 'it's not real enough' and that's what counts right?"
The black scaled pattern extended the whole way around, save for two big green eyes that ran sideways along where Hiccup's shin would be.
"Comfortable?"
Hiccup nodded, still getting used to the new feel. It was always a little surreal to be replacing his limb.
"Yeah. Lighter too. Should be easier to get around on."
"Oh, that's very different!"
They obviously hadn't heard Valka coming in, and now she was looking at Hiccup stood in t-shirt and boxers with his new black prosthetic starkly contrasted to the rest of his pale, sun-starved legs. He tugged his shirt down self-consciously.
"Well, that's kinda the point. I'm gonna go put my clothes back on now."
Hiccup fled to his room, putting socks and jeans on quickly. He wasn't as desperate to hide his leg as he usually was, but he was still an awkward skinny guy who felt weird being trouserless before his sister and biological mother/ex-lover.
Between his new corrective insole and the new leg, Hiccup's gait had shifted a fair bit but ultimately, moving was a damn sight more comfortable for him. Adding a jumper with a soft, fuzzy lining to his outfit, Hiccup immediately felt with the cosy embrace of fleece. His chunky slippers helped prevent the thud-step-thud-step sound his walking made without footwear, so he felt safe going back outside.
Valka and Astrid were talking about the upcoming scan the expectant mother had - the next day. Hiccup tore his eyes from her still-growing belly, hands itching to explore it. Valka let out a small sound of surprise and cupped her stomach, immediately setting Hiccup on edge.
"Everything alright?"
"Yep. Just stretching. Think he fell asleep while I was outside and now he's getting up."
Astrid smiled, won over by talk of the baby despite her reservations about Valka.
"Have you picked names out yet?"
Valka shook her head, face clouding over for a brief second before she cleared it with a smile.
"No. I think I'm a little reticent to, after I named Harry only for it not to really be his name."
"Are you keeping this one? That's not a judgment, obviously I'm glad Hiccup became part of my family."
The mother nodded, stroking her belly the way Hiccup ached to.
"I agree it was the best thing for Hiccup, but I couldn't go through losing another child."
Hiccup stuck his head behind the fridge door to hide the fact he was a little emotional, remembering before he was twisted inside by desires he shouldn't have. When he looked at Valka's pictures, saw how much she loved the baby she gave up. His phone vibrated in his pocket, a notification for '1 new e-mail' flashing up on the screen. He reckoned that was probably Stefan.
Sure enough, he opened the e-mail to see Stefan's name and a compliment on his dragon drawings.
"Hey, you using the fridge or just chilling the room?"
Astrid jolted him from his reverie, and Hiccup pulled ingredients for lunch out to place on the side.
"Astrid, you staying for lunch?"
"I'm staying but I have pie, I'm good."
Hiccup chuckled as she retrieved more fruit pie from the fridge, offering the tin to Valka.
"I'm fine thank you."
"Suit yourself, this pastry is to die for."
"You said that about the blueberry one the other day."
"Still true."
"But I made the blueberry one. That's shop bought pastry because I was feeling lazy. So I may as well stick with shop pastry?"
Astrid shrugged, digging her fork into the cold pie with relish. Hiccup made a light chicken salad for he and Valka, which was well received and her audible enjoyment left him unreasonably aroused. Astrid kept stealing his cherry tomatoes despite insisting she didn't want lunch half an hour ago.
"I should , I've got work later. Let me know how the baby check up goes tomorrow?"
"Sure. Oh, hang on."
Astrid came closer, then squealed when Hiccup revealed a cake tub with an apple and cinnamon pie she hadn't known about.
"This way Heather gets some too."
His sister pouted as Hiccup loaded the tub into a bag for her to carry it in, feigning indignation at the prospect she would keep pie from her girlfriend.
"How did you remember that's her favourite?"
"Funnily enough, the fact she's my ex girlfriend hasn't exactly made her disappear from my life."
"Fair point. I'll talk to you tomorrow bro."
Astrid hugged him, waved to Valka and left with her bounty of filled pastry. Valka chuckled as Toothless whined at the door, attempting to make Astrid come back with her nimble scratching fingers and the interesting-smelling bag.
"C'mere you daft creature, pie is not for dogs."
Hiccup offered his gummy mongrel some soft, messy treats in his bed, which Toothless naturally carried off to drool over elsewhere. That was a mess Hiccup would have to clean up later.
Despite their cohabitation, Hiccup found he and Valka still incredibly prone to awkward silences. He wiped already clean sides, checked and double checked everything in the fridge so he could ensure the shopping list fridge magnet was accurate for the supermarket tomorrow. Valka didn't initiate conversation for several minutes.
"Does your new leg feel better?"
Hiccup jumped slightly; she murmured an apology for scaring him.
"Y-yeah. I was due a new fitting months before I got this really."
They existed mostly in an awkward silence until the following morning, where there was an obvious conversational topic to make use of.
"Is this just a growth check or is she looking for more... problems?"
"How do you mean?"
Valka frowned, halting in her yoghurt-stirring. Hiccup tried to form his words correctly.
"I mean... she said if he has talipes then they look for other 'defects'. Guess I'm just worried about him is all."
Tapping her fingers on the side the same way Hiccup did when he was thinking during drawing times, Valka hummed.
"Yes but Nadia also said she couldn't see any other problems besides his size. Which is what we're checking on today. I know you fret Hiccup, but everything is going to be okay."
Valka took his hand and squeezed it gently, then seemed to remember their physical contact had been strikingly limited and let go. Hiccup held tight before he could consult his brain, then let her go when he realised he was being peculiar. He turned away quickly, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"I was thinking we ought to start you know, preparing. I need to get a car seat put in and stuff like that."
"Why you?"
Valka quizzed, spoon scraping against her bowl as she somehow carried on eating while Hiccup privately melted down.
"Well I figured you wouldn't be driving right after giving birth so makes sense I do it first?"
"True. I suppose it's like the name thing for me... I've done pregnancy before, but the thought of actually bringing a baby home is all very new territory for me."
Hiccup hadn't realised until then - Valka was as terrified as he was. They just showed it differently. His was in misplaced anxiety, hers in slow admissions while keeping much to herself. He picked at his breakfast for a minute longer before giving up and tossing the leftover toast pieces to a hopeful Toothless.
Fiddling with his laptop, Hiccup looked up the nearest baby shops from both his home and the clinic Valka was going to. Next, he brought up the calendar, calculating the exact dates of Valka's pregnancy. He wasn't sure on the particulars of when it was counted from exactly, but it was more than seven months ago that they had... taken part in the act of conception. More like seven and a half. It wasn't a huge difference, but every day counted when one was anxious about the end of pregnancy.
"Ready to go?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah. Driving with my new leg should be interesting."
Hiccup grabbed his car keys, watching Valka pick up her own and cupping her stomach.
"I can drive you. It's not a problem."
"Are you sure?"
No. He was very not sure it was anything resembling sane to be that close to her, but Hiccup was worried about her behind the wheel with her bump.
"We're going to the same place."
"That's true. I'm just going to change my top, I've learnt my lesson with sleeves."
Hiccup was already appreciating the few minutes respite as he headed out to get in the car, taking the last few breaths that wouldn't be heavy with Valka's scent in his lungs. Testing the pedals, he found it wasn't any more difficult to navigate them with his new leg. He heard the front door close, looked up to see Valka sliding her bare arms into a jacket over a light orange vest. The scars over her arms didn't concern her in the slightest. Hiccup envied her that.
They both wrestled the seat, usually containing Astrid who was near a full foot shorter than Valka, backwards. It took her a minute to navigate the seatbelt, which had to be placed on her body specifically to avoid compressing her bump, especially in the case of an accident. Not that Hiccup was expecting one; he was probably one of the most careful drivers in the world after the last accident cost him both his parents and his leg.
"Ready?"
Every breath was her. She was so close Hiccup could barely avoid touching her when he adjusted the gear stick.
"Ready."
Hiccup started the car, focusing solely on the road and driving and not on the woman carrying his baby sitting inches from him. The route to the clinic was already ingrained in Hiccup's mind despite having only made the trip there and back once before; Hiccup revisited the memory often as he held the sonogram of his son in his hand.
"Valka! Looking radiant as ever. Come on through."
"Oh Nadia, you're too kind."
The women were so genial and upbeat with each other; Hiccup felt at a loss with what to do with himself until Valka was lying back to roll up her vest and expose her stomach. The firm bump gave his gut a heated punch of want, reminding him how sick he was as Nadia covered her with the lubricating jelly again.
"Ok, lets take a look shall we?"
The heartbeat that filled the room was enough to make Hiccup shake, that strong pounding of vitality from the developing baby.
"Have you been eating?"
"Constantly. Hiccup is an excellent cook."
Hiccup eyed the ultrasound image as Nadia frowned slightly.
"What's wrong?"
"He's still small. He may just be a small baby, but not as much growth as I would expect for a month at this stage. Your blood didn't show any major deficiencies... hang there for a moment. I need something."
Nadia let Valka hold the Doppler, so she could carry on looking at the baby while she moved to get something. The something transpired to be three sheets of paper, one of which Nadia filled in silently before looking up at Valka.
"This is a preterm labour risk factor sheet. You said your first was early, yes?"
Valka nodded and Hiccup began to grow more worried.
"How old were you?"
"Eighteen."
Nadia asked an array of questions regarding health care and how strenuous her activity had been, any possible illnesses during the pregnancy, then looked down at the pages with visible concern.
"With his lacking growth and the risk factors I'm seeing... I worry you're at risk of early delivery again. Do you know the exact date of conception?"
Valka had it memorized it seemed, giving the same date branded in Hiccup's mind. Nadia calculated quickly.
"So you're as far along as you were with your first... I want you to take it easy. Eat, sleep, gentle walking the most exercise you get. Any pains, call me. I want you back in a week. Oh, and... no sex."
That caught Hiccup's attention. Valka looked a little stunned too.
"I'm sorry?"
"There's a hormone in semen that's linked to triggering labour. It's why sex is recommended to induce labour in overdue pregnancies. Oh, and no pineapple. No spicy curries. Here is a list of ways to induce labour, avoid them where possible."
Valka took the leaflet, slightly bemused by the overload of information.
"Alright. Anything else?"
"Nope. I'm just going to take your blood pressure, then your blood. Two copies again?"
"Oh. Please."
Valka cleaned her stomach while Nadia flitted about picking up various things, reaching just in time for her print outs to place into envelopes that were handed to Valka. Valka handed one to Hiccup immediately, which he cradled carefully as he would the real thing. The blood pressure cuff sounded different when it wasn't on his own arm, Hiccup decided.
"You remembered no sleeves today then?"
"I did."
Nadia took two vials of blood, then taped cotton to the tiny pin prick bleeding.
"That's you done. Take. It. Easy. I know you're a whirlwind with limbs but it's only for a few weeks now."
Valka indicated acceptance, folding the leaflet and tucking it into her jacket alongside the sonogram.
"Hiccup?"
Not expecting to be directly addressed, he jumped a little.
"Yep?"
"Since I hear you're the main cook, you should read that list too to be sure it's safe."
"Oh. Ok. I will."
"Good lad. Don't drive until-"
"Hiccup drove us here, but I'll be wary of dizziness all the same."
Nadia smiled, tidying up the discarded gloves and checking her tray of blood vials.
"Alright. That's all for today. I'll see you in a week and I expect to hear a very boring story of you resting and eating and not much else."
Chuckling, Valka stood up as they exchanged goodbyes before she and Hiccup headed out. Valka had a sugary drink and chocolate at the ready again, buckling herself into the car carefully first before drinking and eating her replenishment.
"Do you want me to drop you back first before I go out shopping?"
She shook her head.
"Good gods no, this is probably the most adventure I'll get until the baby is born now."
Hiccup supposed she had a point. He started the car up and headed for the baby store nearby, fingering the sonogram in his pocket briefly as he summed up the nerve to talk to a store assistant while Valka was browsing.
"How can I help?"
"I uh, need to buy a car seat. Can you guys fit them?"
The exuberant middle-aged woman clapped her hands - Hiccup wasn't sure why - and nodded, then sort of dragged him politely toward the car seats.
"What sort of size?"
"Um, newborn? I think he might be small though."
The range was boggling but eventually the chirpy mad woman helped him pick out one that was made to be a good fit for preemies and underweight babies but allowed for growth as babies tended to gain weight quite fast.
"Are you sure you want it fitted rather than moveable to a pushchair?"
"Yeah. I would prefer not to worry I didn't put it back in right."
A weedy looking man with thick rimmed glasses at the help desk checked the seat model would fit Hiccup's car, then once it was paid for he was hustled out to have the seat professionally installed. It looked strange, like real solid proof Hiccup was preparing for fatherhood. It also seemed impossibly small, fragile as the creature it would hold.
"Can we help you with anything else?"
Hiccup shrugged, then started thinking properly - if he wanted to be part of caring for the baby, he did need some things logically.
"I guess I need a cot. Crib. Whatever you put a baby in to sleep."
He left with a helper to load a boxed cot - Hiccup would have to assemble it - and a bag with 'baby essentials' like dummies and little onesies that made his throat tighten in to his car, feeling shaken by how close it all suddenly felt. Valka seemed to have been shopping herself, though not to the same extent.
"You good?"
"Mhmm."
"Good. I need to go to the supermarket now, are you coming?"
Valka nodded, running her fingers over her belly again as she waited for Hiccup to start the car up.
"Almost time little one."
"What did you get?"
"Oh, a few things. Mainly a special pillow that helps support me when I sleep. I get terrible backache sleeping on my side from the weight of my bump. And a nursing pillow for if he needs neck support while I feed him, which I'm told is common for smaller babes."
How could they talk about the baby they were having together without really talking to each other? It was confusing. Hiccup felt like they could almost be strangers sometimes, when they were anything but.
The supermarket was fairly quiet and the usual amount of awkward, but Hiccup was in notably less pain on his new leg. Hiccup bought more pre-made pastry since Astrid liked it so much, then the usual stack of fresh fruit and vegetables, mindful of the things Valka was told to avoid. Then there was the 'baby bag' Heather's mother had told them they should already have ready, which was basically nappies, wipes and clothes for the baby to wear home.
Hiccup had no clue about any of it, but he wasn't sure the information had been worth the exhausting visit all the same. Especially cringing when Heather's dad Oswald grumbled about babies needing a dad. His wife smacked him and hushed the ex-soldier, but the embarrassment was already inflicted.
Lunch was quiet, reserved. He called Astrid and gave her an abridged version of the appointment that made him worry all over again. Needing a distraction, Hiccup pulled out the cot to set up. Valka sat on the sofa watching him frown at the instructions as she prepared the baby bag how she thought best.
"Are you sure you don't want help?"
"Nah, I was good with Lego as a kid."
"With what?"
Oh, yeah. Eighteen years of feral life.
"Plastic blocks that sort of fit together. You can buy them in sets to build like..." he searched for something she would know "Hogwarts. The Death Star. That sort of thing. It's fitting things together in the right order."
Hiccup carefully crossed his legs, practiced in not putting weight on his prosthetic leg with his organic leg. He sorted the pieces according to the instructions, ordering them how he would need them and keeping the fiddly screws and bolts all in one place lest Toothless decide they looked like fun things to pick up and hide or kick under the sofa with an errant paw.
There was mostly silence save for Toothless' snoring, Hiccup's occasional swearing and Valka's soft breaths for some time. Hiccup was halfway done before she broke that silence.
"Hiccup... do you hate me for coming back?"
He was so surprised he dropped a whole side of the cot down.
"What? Of course not. Why would you think that?"
Valka wouldn't meet his eyes, playing with the end of her hair braid where it rested by her waist.
"You've been ever so withdrawn. I feel like I made an error in storming back into your life as I did."
Hiccup shook his head so violently it made him a little dizzy.
"You really didn't. I just..." he wasn't sure how to phrase it "I get that you regret before or you feel different or whatever it is that made you leave and makes you avoid me sometimes. You don't want me like that. I do. I'm just trying to respect your feelings and it's hard to act normal."
There. He said it. Hiccup felt naked, vulnerable.
"Regret? You think that's what happened?"
Hiccup shrugged, nodding stiffly. Valka moved so fast he barely registered, not until he was feeling a familiar mouth close over his own. It took him a minute to realise it was really happening, then he was kissing her back and he felt months of pain and tension leech away.
"Oh my beautiful boy, that's not it at all."
-HTTYD-
this chapter sorta got away from me and ended up wayyy longer than expected.