Chapter 13

The next morning Hiccup woke up before Astrid. He got up out of bed quietly and snuck downstairs and outside where Toothless was playing around. "Hey buddy," he said as Toothless jumped over to him and nudged him affectionately. "I know I haven't seen you in a while," Hiccup said as he scratched behind his ears, "I've been a little busy with Astrid." Toothless made an angry face and shrugged away from him. "What?" Hiccup asked, "Are you jealous that I've been spending more time with Astrid than you lately?" Toothless merely continued to avoid eye contact. "Oh come on buddy," Hiccup said, "I'll always have time for my best friend." Toothless turned back to face him and smiled. "You want to go for a ride?" Toothless nodded excitedly. "Okay, lets go," he said as he jumped up onto his back.

Toothless took off over the island and soared over the ocean. Hiccup smiled down at his tribe. He couldn't help but feel happy with how everything was going but also anxious for the future. Now that he and Astrid were married, he knew that they were going to be expected to have a child fairly soon. He tried to push that thought out of his mind.

About an hour later, Toothless touched down outside Hiccup's house and Astrid came out.

"Hey," she said, "Where have you been?"

"Just spending some time with Toothless," he said, "He's a little jealous that I've been spending more time with you."

"Oh," Astrid said and turned to Toothless, "Don't worry buddy. I could never replace you." Toothless smiled and Astrid laughed.

"Morning love birds," Gobber said from behind them. Hiccup turned to see Gobber, Snotlout, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, and Fishlegs walking up the hill.

"Morning," Hiccup said, "What're you guys doing here?"

"Just coming to see the newlyweds," Fishlegs said and the others agreed.

"And," Gobber added, "The dragon population is getting way out of hand in the village. We need Hiccup to come try to deal with it."

"Okay," Hiccup said and turned back to Astrid, "I'll be back as soon as I can." She nodded and he kissed her quickly before running down the hill with Gobber and the others.

"So," Astrid said as she turned back to Toothless, "I guess it's just you and me today buddy." She scratched behind his ears and he smiled at her.

Hiccup got back later that evening after helping the dragons that had been gathered for the war against Dalla's tribe relocate. "Hey," he said as he opened the door and saw Astrid sitting in a chair petting Toothless who was asleep on the floor. "Sorry that took so long. What'd you do all day?" he asked as he sat down next to her.

"Spent some time with Toothless," she said as she continued to pet his ears. "Hopefully he won't feel so left out anymore."

"That was nice of you. You want to go for a ride right now?" Hiccup asked, "Both of us?"

"Yeah," she said, "I'd love to." Hiccup smiled as he pulled her up out of the chair and Toothless off the ground.

In a few minutes, the three of them were soaring over Berk just as they had many months ago when Astrid had stumbled upon Hiccup's secret pet dragon by mistake.

"This always reminds me of that night," Astrid said, "When I first really met you." Hiccup smiled as she hugged him closer. "Who knew we'd end up here again, married."

"I definitely never thought that would happen," Hiccup said, "I never thought I'd be married to someone as amazing as you."

"You're pretty amazing too you know," Astrid said and kissed his cheek, "I think I'm pretty lucky to be your wife."

"I love you," Hiccup said and Astrid squeezed him tighter.

"I love you too," she whispered in his ear.

A few hours later, Toothless touched down outside their hose and immediately ran into the house, curled up by the fire and fell asleep. Astrid climbed into bed also but Hiccup stayed standing, staring at her.

"Is something wrong?" Astrid asked and he snapped out of his trance.

"I just wanted to ask you about something we were talking about the other day before Dalla's tribe invaded," Hiccup answered and sat down in bed next to her.

"Okay," Astrid said, "What is it?"

"Since I'm chief, I'm kind of expected to have children. At least one boy and I got the feeling that you aren't thrilled about that…."

"I wasn't." Astrid said, "But I talked to my mother about it before our wedding and she got me much keener on the idea."

"Really?" Hiccup asked completely stunned by this answer.

'Yeah, " she said as she moved closer to him, "She said that a child is living proof a couple's love and the only thing in the world that is truly theirs. I really like the sound of that. So I want one."

"Just one?" Hiccup asked and Astrid laughed.

"We'll see," she said before Hiccup pulled her in for a kiss.