A/N: Ok, extremely short chapter this week. The result of two/three weeks of writing and rewriting and NaNoWriMo and distractions that haven't given me much time to work on it. Going to take a break next week to focus on the last week of NaNoWriMo so please enjoy this very small chapter until then. And don't forget to review.
Chapter 10
After breakfast Hiccup grabbed his belt and Inferno, ready to head home quickly to get the list of things that needed to be done that day, before heading to the docks to check on the repairs to the ships. "I'll be back later to check on the eggs," he said before kissing Astrid a quick kiss on the lips and heading for the door.
"Have a good day babe," Astrid said watching him walk backwards out the door.
"I'll try." Hiccup then gave Astrid a wink and a smile before he closed the door and was gone.
Astrid was still watching the door, her chin resting on her hand as she rested her elbow on the table. "Why does that man have to be the exception to every rule I set myself?" she asked.
"That's what love does to you," Valka said placing the bowls and spoons the three had used into the sink to be washed up. "No matter how many barriers you put up, there will always be someone who knocks them down."
"I used to think that if I didn't let anyone in, I wouldn't get hurt. But then there's Hiccup. I let him in, and I didn't get hurt. I don't think he would ever hurt me. Not knowingly anyway."
"I was like that when I was a teenager. A lot of people thought I was weird. So I told myself never to let anyone in. And then there was Stoick. I doubt he fully understood me, but he tried. And he loved me regardless. Letting him in seemed so easy." Valka sighed and leaned against the worktop. "I should have come back sooner. Maybe as soon I learnt to ride Cloudjumper I should have flown back and showed the whole village I was right about dragons being peaceful. Maybe then Stoick would have understood and Hiccup wouldn't have had to grow up feeling like he didn't belong," she said.
"You weren't to know what would have happened if you returned," Astrid said as she got up and joined the older woman.
"I know." Valka sighed again and pushed herself off the worktop with a smile, wanting to put an end to the conversation. "Why don't we go and see how those dragons are getting on shall we?" she asked. "The eggs should be about ready to hatch." Valka headed for the door, with Astrid following on behind as they left the house.
Astrid should have realised her future mother-in-law still had some lingering guilt about staying away for so long. And she doubted it would ever go away. If it had been her who had stayed away for twenty years, thinking it was for the best, only to discover it hadn't been for the best, she'd have felt just as guilty no matter what was said.
The two women walked into the dragon stables to find Toothless and Stormfly with baby dragon Hiccup, watching over the eggs as small cracks started to appear in them. The rest of the eggs were already starting to hatch, and Astrid and Valka were just in time to see it happen.