Gobber was making a new sword when he saw his chief leaving the docks. "Gobber! Did you see anyone take a boat? One of them is missing."
"Sorry Stoick, I didn't see anyone go near the docks today." Gobber answered as he put the hot weapon in the water having it make a hissing sound.
"I need to figure out who took that boat," Stoick grumbled to himself.
"I know who took the boat!" Stoick turned around and saw Fearless Finn Hofferson walking up to him with a note. "I find this note by my brother's bedside. He and Ingrid took a trip; it says that they don't know how long they would be gone." He answered and he gave the note to the chief.
Stoick read the note and gave it back to Finn. "Well, at least I know who has it. I just don't understand why they didn't tell anyone."
"They're young married teenagers having a baby; I say 'let them go on a little vacation'. They probably just want to be alone before the baby comes." Gobber replied as he hung the sword on the wall.
"That's still no excuse for them leaving without a warning." Stoick stated giving Finn back the note.
"I can't speak for my brother anymore. He's married and about to be a father, he needs to learn how to communicate with people." Finn stated then walked off to do his daily chores.
"Is Valka still asleep?" Gobber asked his chief. Stoick nodded and walked in the forge.
"She didn't sleep well last night. I caught her walking in the bed room in the middle of the night. I don't think she'll be up anytime soon."
Gobber shrugged then walked to the back of The Forge. "So, what about you? Have you been losing sleep from your kid?"
"He likes to scream in the middle of the night. He keeps us up, but usually because he's hungry." Stoick answered watching Gobber walking out with an axe.
"I don't know how you do it. Taking care of the village and raising a family." Gobber stated as he sharpened the weapon.
"Valka's doing most of the work at raising the family." He mumbled making Gobber stop working.
"Oh come on Stoick-"
"I'm serious Gobber; I only see my wife and son at night. Valka and I didn't do anything for our seventh year anniversary because I was too busy. We were also focused on taking care of Hiccup, so that's another reason." Before Gobber could reply, two men ran towards them.
"Stoick, we have a problem. He won't pay me back after I gave him my yak!" yelled one man.
"I told him I would pay him back! I'm still working to get money," the other man said.
"You said you would pay me yesterday!"
"That Is Enough!" Stoick shouted making the bickering men stand in fear. "Now, let's fix this issue before it becomes a conflict." While Gobber watched Stoick talking to the men, he got an idea then left The Forge.
~oOo~
Valka heard a knock on the front room door. She let out a groan and rubbed her crusty eyes. She heard another knock then she got out of bed. As she walked out of the bedroom to the front door, she brushed her hands threw her knotted hair. She let out a yawn before she put her hand on the door handle.
When she opened the door, she found Gobber standing in front of her. "Wow, Stoick was right. You look horrible!" Valka glared at him then shut the door in his face. She heard him apologizing for his comment through the wooden door. Valka opened it again seeing Gobber giving her a nervous smile. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have started with that."
Valka glared at him again leaning on the door post. "Can I help you, Gobber?" she asked crossing her arms over her chest.
"Actually I was wondering if I can help you!" Gobber smiled at her. Valka blinked a few times and rubbed the back of her head.
"You need to explain that because I'm half asleep." She said leaning her head on the post.
"Take the night off. Be with your husband tonight. Call it a late anniversary gift, and I'll watch the little munchkin."
"Are you sure Gobber? Watching a baby is harder than it looks," she tried to explain. Gobber shrugged it off and put a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sure Valka, you need a break. When Stoick is done tonight, the two of you should go for a walk, have a meal together, or whatever married couples do. I can watch your son, how hard can it be?"
~oOo~
"Are you ready?" Stoick called out to his wife as he put his helmet back on.
"Almost, I'm just getting everything ready for Gobber." She called out after writing down the last bits of instructions for Gobber. She picked up her son who was waking up in his crib. "Are you ready to spend some time with Uncle Gobber?" she baby talked to her son.
Valka walked out of the bedroom and saw her husband opening the door for the blacksmith. "Hello Gobber how's your evening?" she asked walking up to the men.
"Boring, maybe this kid will keep me on my toes."
"Oh trust me, he will." Valka replied then handed Hiccup to Gobber. "Now, I already fed him so expect him to spit up. I made a list of instructions for you. The list is by the crib, and we should be home in an hour." She explained before putting her on her coat.
"Alright, now you two go enjoy your walk. I and the little munchkin will just enjoy our time here." Gobber stated as he adjusted his good arm to hold the baby. The couple walked out the door then Gobber walked in the bedroom to get the instructions. After he read it he looked at the kid then put him in his crib. "This doesn't seem too bad. Valka just likes to overreact."
~oOo~
"I feel like we've been gone for too long." Valka stated to her husband. They had been taking a walk in the woods while everyone else was getting ready for bed.
"We've been gone for five minutes," he replied. "I think you're just missing Hiccup."
Valka crossed her arms and looked up at him. "It's not that, I'm just worried about Gobber. He has never handled a baby before, and I'm worried that he might do something stupid."
"This is Gobber we're talking about; of course he's going to do something stupid." Stoick stated making his wife chuckle. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close to him. She put her hand on top of his and they continued their walk.
After a few more minutes of strolling around the edge of the woods, Stoick saw a boat in the dark ocean coming towards the island. He stopped walking and looked out in the horizon.
"What's wrong?" he heard his wife ask.
"There's a boat coming, but I can't make it out if it's one of ours." Valka walked up next to her husband and saw the boat sailing to the docks. "Maybe we should check it out."
"Stoick, it's not a big deal."
"It might be an enemy or someone who's lost." He explained walking away from his wife to the docks. Valka let out a sigh and rolled her eyes before she decided to fallow him. When they got to the docks, they saw two figures in the boat. When the boat finally stopped by the docks, Stoick walked up to it and saw who was on the boat.
"Asmund? Ingrid? What are you two doing back?" When Valka heard her husband, she ran towards them and saw Ingrid with her back towards them.
"Sir, we have something we would like to explain." Asmund stated, and then he walked up to his wife and turned her to reveal their sleeping daughter in her arms.
"You had your baby already?" Stoick asked looking at the new child in Ingrid's arms.
"Yes sir," he said lowering his head down.
"The child looks rather big and healthy for it being born early," He stated. Asmund nodded keeping his head down and Ingrid was trying to avoid eye contact.
"So, you two were trying to fool us?" he asked not noticing his wife looking down at her feet.
"Yes sir."
"When was the child born?"
"She was born yesterday," Asmund mumbled raising his head up. "We were going to leave for two months then come back, but we couldn't do it. Lying to our daughter about her age didn't seem right." Valka raised her head up and looked at Ingrid.
"There is no need to be ashamed about this." Stoick said making the young married couple look at their chief with wide eyes. "You two are married, you have a family and you should raise her like any other child. I can't promise that people won't talk, because they will. What I can promise you is that she will be raised by loving parents."
Asmund let out a sigh of relief and patted his wife's shoulder. "Thank you sir, you have no idea how much we appreciate this."
"Now go home and raise your daughter, she's going to need you two to stay strong for her. Don't listen to the people around you; just prove to them that she'll be someone great." Stoick gave them a smile watching the couple looking at their child. They thanked him again and they walked back home with their bags.