Have I gone wrong somewhere? This story lost like five follows and favourites over the last week or so. WHY DO YOU HATE MY VALCUP
Now that's out of the way, lets continue.
-HTTYD-
"Is it going to hurt him?"
Hiccup couldn't help but ask, watching the physiotherapist who was manipulating little Leo's twisted feet into the position closest to 'normal' that he could. Obsessive studying of the condition told him that this was the best and most likely-to-be successful treatment option, but still... Leo was so small and fragile.
"Not at all. We do this in stages to ensure he won't be in any pain."
The physio assured the frantic young man, and Valka ran soft fingers down the side of Hiccup's jaw. If the physio thought the gesture or her words odd, he didn't show it.
"Don't fret love. Look, he's totally fine."
Two weeks and one day old, Leo had gained a little weight and aside from stature and talipes, appeared to be quite healthy. Hiccup couldn't get enough of the boy, cuddling and talking and touching his little face whenever he could. Valka was equally enchanted with their son, and her own recovery was coming along perfectly according to Nadia.
"I think that's as far as we'll get you today little one, but I'm very optimistic about your response already."
The casting went from his feet all the way up beyond his knees, which meant Leo couldn't move his lower legs very easily. That was important, Hiccup reminded himself, and would only last for a few months.
"I think weekly visits until he's twelve weeks, then we can discuss the possible need for a minor release of the Achilles tendon. It's a non-invasive procedure that won't even require stitches, and once he recovers from that it's likely we'll move on to the boots and bar brace."
Hiccup listened avidly, reaching to touch Leo's little hand as a distraction while his casts were checked.
"That's the metal thing he wears to keep his feet pointing out, right?"
The physio nodded, smiling as Leo gurgled and lifted his casted legs up with surprising agility. Hiccup watched the man frown slightly, then reach toward Leo's face and pass a finger in front of his eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"I don't mean to overstep, but has he had the usual checks performed on a child with talipes?"
Hiccup nodded, heart rate already starting to reflect a slight panic.
"His karyotyping results aren't back yet. What's wrong with his eyes?"
"It could be nothing, but he doesn't seem to follow my finger. It's worth mentioning when you go to discuss his KT results."
They had been careful not to specify Hiccup's relationship to Leo; his presence was easily explained as Valka was recovering from a caeserean, as opposed to anxious father. Leo wasn't the slightest bit concerned so long as he was being cuddled, an affectionate little bundle with gravity-resistant auburn locks sticking out in all directions. Bundled back up in his babygro, the baby was ready to take back.
Hiccup picked Leo up, strapping him into the 'papoose' (he wasn't convinced Valka hadn't made up that name) on his chest. They hadn't gotten a pushchair for him yet, as Leo wasn't supposed to go outside much until they were sure his results wouldn't show an immune system problem - a common issue for babies of... their type of relationship.
"Let's get you home mini Magni... are these casts water proof? I'm just wondering how we're meant to bathe him."
"No, he'll need to be sponge bathed and the casts kept dry. There's a booklet out in the reception that helps explain it all. On the morning of his next appointment, you can remove the cast at home and bathe him properly, but be very gentle with his legs as they'll be sensitive straight out of the cast."
Head spinning slightly with all the information, Hiccup nodded and hushed Leo when he fussed. The baby was quite sensitive to everyones moods, grizzled when Hiccup's anxiety spiked and reflex-smiled - he couldn't smile properly yet - when he wanted to be doted on.
Valka picked up the booklet since Hiccup had his hands full petting a fussy baby, smiling at 'her boys' as she called them when Leo was lazing on Hiccup's bare chest for bonding time. Perching to transfer the little one to his car seat, Hiccup made sure his straps were secure before getting up to go to the front seat. Once they were safely in the car, Valka leant across and kissed him softly.
"You're such a wonderful father."
"It's not so tough, he's a very good baby."
"He's perfect."
Hiccup smiled but it felt a little forced, concern for Leo's eyes surging.
"What if there is something wrong with his eyes?"
Valka was less concerned, more worldly and without PTSD and anxiety muddling her thoughts.
"Then we adapt. Maybe he'll need glasses, that's not the end of the world. Lots of people need glasses."
"I guess. Thanks for helping me keep my head."
"It's no trouble."
She smiled, soft and genuine and Hiccup believed she meant it, even if he didn't necessarily believe what she said himself. He drove them back, Toothless patiently waiting for Leo to be set down in his baby bounce seat thing (Hiccup had eyed it warily for hours before he felt safe putting the newborn in it) before he bounded up to greet the returning humans.
"Hey buddy. Thanks for not complaining we can't walk you much lately. We should find out soon if mini Magni can go on adventures with us."
Toothless huffed happily, preening under the affection from both Hiccup and Valka and already having learnt not to touch Leo's chair. Astrid and Dagur had both taken up taking Toothless on longer walks every few days, ensuring he got his exercise outside of Hiccup's own physically therapeutic walks. Valka was going stir crazy herself, often walking all around the house with Leo in her arms, singing and telling him stories until they could all go out together.
"I have a message from Nadia. She expects Leo's results back tomorrow and, assuming you don't mind, she'll be over to give them to us."
"Not at all. She's here every couple of days anyway to check on you and him. Does she not trust the nice health visitor people?"
Valka chuckled, rubbing at her chest and Hiccup knew it meant Leo would want feeding soon. Mother knew what her child needed.
"No, she does. She just likes to reassure herself."
"Maybe she can look at Leo's eyes and tell us if he's maybe going to have problems."
Beckoning Hiccup closer, Valka wrapped her arms around him; they had gotten good at hugging without jostling her healing belly.
"It's going to be alright Hiccup. Our boy is different, but he's perfectly him."
"I know. I think I'm just a bit wound up, I've not been to therapy since he was born."
Based on his slow but steady improvement, his PTSD counsellor had suggested that Hiccup try a monthly appointment. It was the longest he had gone without a professional head-working person since his parents died, and timed quite well with the arrival of their little warrior.
"When is your appointment?"
"Day after tomorow. I can tell 'Bertie' or whatever Sharon called him to pass on why I've not been back to the adoption group."
"Me and the little one can manage without you Hiccup, if you want to go."
He shook his head.
"Why would I want to be anywhere but here? I will go back, but Magni over there is my priority right now."
Almost as if on cue, said tiny bundle started whimpering. It was a sound Hiccup knew well - it preceded wailing for food, sleep or attention. He was still picking up the nuances of which meant what, but picking him up usually eliminated one and Valka quickly eliminated or proved the other. Of course, she could already tell most of his cries apart.
Hiccup made adult food while Leo got his fresh from natures tap, trying not to angst himself into a panic attack over the possibility his son might need glasses one day. Heather wore reading glasses. It wasn't the prospect of glasses themselves that worried him, but the anticipation. The not knowing.
With Astrid busy that afternoon and evening, it left Valka and Hiccup visitor-less and therefore safe to be at ease around each other. Hiccup had taken to locking his bedroom door, something he had never done before, to hide the fact Valka's things had mostly migrated in there now she shared his bed.
Once done with feeding Leo, Valka left her shirt hanging loosely open and Hiccup would be lying if he said he didn't look. They still weren't allowed... but they kissed and cuddled and held hands, Valka laying on the sofa with her head pillowed on his leg while their son slept on either her chest or his. Their relationship was still very much intimate, even if it wasn't sexual.
Valka appeared more frustrated by that than Hiccup - he had already learnt that her scowling at a post-birth book or leaflet meant she was reading the 'advice' on when she could have sex again was. He had learnt her frustration was fairly normal itself, regardless of him as her hormones would take time to settle, particularly when she was a nursing mother.
Not that Hiccup didn't still crave his mothers body in ways a boy never should. He had just mastered the art of pushing such thoughts away since before she gave birth to Leo. The mental reasoning had simply shifted from "risk of premature labour" to "it would hurt Valka". If he eased his tension in the shower... well, that was his business.
"Hows your stomach healing?"
Laying in bed together, Moses basket on Hiccup's other side, Valka was tracing nonsensical shapes on Hiccup's bare chest that evening.
"Perfectly fine. Once the residual post-baby swelling goes down, I imagine I'll be back to normal."
"Still painful?"
Hiccup absent-mindedly played with her hair, having enjoyed the fact Valka needed his help washing it since she couldn't bend and stretch fully yet.
"Only if I move the wrong way really. Some occasional discomfort, but that's absolutely normal too."
She tipped up her head, seeking his mouth and Hiccup happily obliged her a kiss. Not to be left out, their son started fussing and Hiccup sat up with a chuckle. Reaching in to the Moses basket, he lifted the baby out. He wasn't terribly disgruntled with his leg casts, at least not noticeably so for now. They looked a little strange, though that might be because Hiccup was used to seeing his bare feet turned inwards.
Now they were splinted, and no longer completely twisted. They weren't quite halfway, but Hiccup was surprised how far they actually moved for a first time without hurting Leo. Valka reached up and tickled his little belly, making Leo wiggle in confusion at the odd sensation when he couldn't laugh yet.
"Gods, I can't believe how much I love him."
Valka smiled up at him as he held Leo on his chest, baby hand patting Hiccup's skin gently.
"Feels like it might burst out of you at any time?"
"Yeah. That's exactly it."
Smiling more, Valka pushed herself into a better seated position carefully, reaching across to stroke the baby's hair.
"I feel the same. I felt the same with you... I never wanted to give you up."
"If you hadn't... we wouldn't have little Magni the mighty here."
Despite everything it took to get them there... Hiccup could not imagine a life where he wasn't a father. Already. After only two weeks.
"That's very true. Life played out in its own way."
By the time they had awkwardly but successfully sponge-bathed their son without getting his casts wet, mini Magni was ready to sleep. Hiccup always spent a few minutes watching him sleep, little chest rising and falling, before taking himself to bed with their mother. Valka was an easy bedmate; she occasionally let out the odd sound or word, but she didn't snore nor did she move excessively in her sleep.
Hiccup was still worried to wake up and find her gone. Each morning, he found her there - often still asleep, a heavier slumber taking her for the last few weeks owing to the recent toll on her body. He found her there at night too, when Leo woke them for feeds and changes and just to let them know there was nothing wrong with his lungs.
Smiling to himself, Hiccup dropped a kiss on her cheek. He thought her still asleep, but Valka stirred and smiled when she felt his lips.
"Morning."
"Indeed."
A rather terrible habit of hers was to rub somewhat suggestively against Hiccup's morning erection, then act terribly put out when he put a stop to it.
"Spoil sport."
"Behave. Mini Magni is awake too, for starters. And besides, you're not allowed."
Valka growled slightly, then rolled onto her back properly and smiled sleepily up at him. A hand ran over his bare chest, splayed across his heart.
"I know. I just... I miss you."
Hiccup placed his hand over hers, squeezed it gently.
"I'm right here. And I feel like he intends to keep us quite busy until you're... ready again."
Pouting slightly, Valka nodded and moved to get Leo for his morning feed while Hiccup used the bathroom. Then she would take the bathroom while Hiccup changed or dressed the baby. It was a fairly good system, and had happened quite naturally.
Astrid came over for lunch and cooed over little Leo, not even complaining when his surprisingly fierce grip fixed upon her hair braid.
"He's so adorable. And I see he's been castrated. Wait. No. That's extreme. I mean casted!"
Chuckling, Hiccup recalled the treatment plan the physio had lined out for them.
"Yeah. Six to eight weeks of these, then a really minor not-quite-surgery, three to four weeks of casts after that then he has to wear that metal boot brace thing" Hiccup gestured vaguely "for about three or four years."
"Years?"
"Yeah. But he doesn't have to wear it twenty four seven for the whole time. Like. It'll be twenty three hours at first, but it gets taken down to just when he sleeps and naps and stuff eventually. Otherwise it'll almost definitely come right back."
Playing with his chaotic hair, Astrid smiled as Leo wrinkled his little nose up at her and tried to rub his eyes.
"Well that sounds very long and stressful, but this little guy" Astrid tapped Leo's nose and he tried to grab her finger "has a tough Viking name to live up to. And as an honorary Hofferson, I have no doubts that he'll be just fine."
About the only time Astrid was happy to hand over her favourite mini Magni was when he needed changing. Hiccup didn't really mind; he reminded himself it meant Leo was unlikely to have serious digestive issues since he fed and pooped regularly.
"Have you drawn him as a dragon yet?"
Hiccup laughed, tickled by how Astrid automatically assumed he would do such a thing.
"Not yet. I'm trying to think of how I can represent Magni, Norse god of strength in something a little small... and decide whether the dragon should have slightly crooked wings or just club claws or something."
Things were a little awkward when Leo needed feeding again - Valka wasn't shy about nursing him in front of Astrid. Or Heather. Or even Dagur. The first time Dagur turned around and saw her holding Leo to her breast, he tripped over Toothless in his surprise. The only problem came when Hiccup found himself looking, and had to hope nobody could tell he was looking. Or at least that he was looking at Valka's bared skin as much as he was happy to see the boys healthy appetite.
Once that was over and Astrid had her fill of pasta and chicken salad, she left with a longing look at the baby and the parents were alone with their son again.
Hiccup knew a deep concern for his sister then. He had already accepted heartbreak was inevitable if Valka did leave again with Leo - they hadn't talked about it and he was afraid to bring it up - but Astrid was getting quite attached to her honorary baby brother. She was even getting along with Valka more now too.
Would she end up getting hurt too?
He wasn't able to dwell on that - Nadia was suddenly there with test results and to check on mother and baby. As the only person to know the full truth of... pretty much everything, she was equal parts scary and soothing for Hiccup. They didn't have to hide anything, but she knew. That still bothered him somewhat. If she could work it out, anybody could.
"Karyotyping is not the deepest genetic test we can run, but" she pulled out papers and flicked through them "the test subject, that's Leo, shows no trisomy, monsomy, mutated or missing sections of chromosomes. I'm not going to say he's lucked out completely, but that rules out many of the possible genetic conditions he could have gotten."
Hiccup almost cried with relief. Their babe wasn't out of the woods completely, but Nadia didn't look too worried herself.
"So, we can take him outside for walks now?"
"Absolutely. I'm going to have his blood tested for antibodies to check his immunity regularly, but as I know Valka has an excellent immune system and he's breastfed, I'm not all that worried. And since the clinic who does my tests knows it was a child of cosanguineous parentage, they will be thorough."
Hiccup looked up at her, slightly perturbed.
"You told them he's..."
"Yes, but they would have worked it out anyway when they discovered that you and Leo share identical mitochondrial DNA. The tests were done anonymously, and since it's intriguing to anybody working in genetics, they don't complain about anonymity since they get to study real cosanguine genes, not twenty year old facts in a book."
He frowned slightly, but supposed if the tests were anonymous and already complete there wasn't much to be done.
"That doesn't mean they'll keep wanting his blood or something right?"
Nadia shrugged, checking Leo's grip on her fingers and gently lifting his legs to test his range of flexibility.
"They might well want it, but I promise only to take what's necessary in ensuring he's as healthy as possible. Valka is my friend Hiccup, I'm going to do what's best for her and that includes what's best for her son. Sons."
She amended, and Valka touched her hand to Nadia's arm in gratitude. Hiccup's stunted relief faded under a reminder from his anxious brain.
"The physio thinks there's something wrong with his eyes, said Leo couldn't follow his finger."
Nadia's mouth twisted at one side in thought, and she passed her finger in front of Leo's eyes just as Hiccup had seen the previous day. Then she did it further away and Leo didn't even register her movement.
"A lot of babies are far sighted, and he was premature. He's got a little development to catch up on that other babies would complete in utero, but I'll keep an eye on it. We'll probably not know for sure until he's at least two or three if he needs glasses."
Hiccup knew there were still uncertainties, but as he read through the slightly-gibberish report Nadia relinquished to him while she talked with Valka, he felt some of the weight lift.
-HTTYD-
Slowly starting to work on bringing up my chapter lengths after everything got really tough in my head and 2000-2500 words was about all I could squeeze out. Long may it continue (hopefully)