Okay, WARNING: If you do not like childbirth scenes, or scenes of a woman nursing a baby, then go ahead and skip directly to the bottom. I will have a story summary there for you.
The ninth month.
Oh the baby is going to be here soon! We are four days from Snoggletog and I'm going insane. I'm a few days past my due date if I did that math correctly! Everyone is excited, except me. I'm terrified. I want this baby, SO bad. But I'm terrified something will go wrong, or I won't be a good parent, or the dragon part will ruin everything. I'm just terrified. And nobody knows that.
Nobody else is scared, I even asked them. Rye was a little, because he is going to be a father, but nobody is petrified like I am. But maybe getting rid of the emotions and sore ankles and constant hunger will be better for me. And let's not talk about my chest, while swelled some more due to soon having to feed a baby from my breasts, and so now if I weren't pregnant, I would look like a little Barbie doll.
Rye feels my belly as he passes by my chair, and of course a kick is felt in response. Unlike Hiccup, who talks to the baby. Rye plays games with it. By tapping here and there, and letting it kick in return. Fun for him, painful for me.
That is what it is like, all day. People see me, touch my belly, tell me it will be here anyday or some other comment, then leave. THEY don't have to endure terrible emotions like I do…
Hiccup walks in on me and Rye sitting by the fire, keeping warm from the chilly winter. Which has left Hiccup's hair frosted with snow. He shakes it off and then grins at me. "In all the commotion of the baby coming soon and Snoggletog, I forgot. I forget the exact date, but you have been on Berk seven years now Belle!" He says.
I remember now, it has been seven years. Time passes so quickly, and then so slowly when you're expecting a child any second now.
Stoick and Astrid walk in the door. Astrid has been permitted to ride Stormfly, just not fly her. So every day they make up for lost time by flying until well after dark. Which is what it is now.
Hiccups shivvers as Astrid kisses him. "Cold nose!" He exclaims and she giggles at him. She removes the wool hat she keeps for the winter, her hair frizzy and damp from the mix of cold and sweat.
I smile at my happy family bumbling around, but before I add another addition to this family, we will need sleep. So we all head up for bed, barely eating our late supper.
I curl up under four blankets and drift to sleep easily.
Isabella's dreams swirl about, the last one she knows of she has fallen on the ground, not pregnant now. And a very large glass vase has fallen off a shelf and its sharp pieces are heading for her body. About to splice her open.
I wake up. My dream of pain ends. But real pain starts! I feel a contraction, worse than any before. I have been in labor for hours now I bet! Not even knowing it!
I need to get Hiccup, and pray he won't freak out! Rye is asleep and farther away in the house. Astrid is in bed with Hiccup, but she isn't going to wake easy.
I stumble out of bed, I hadn't noticed pain earlier today, or is it yesterday? It's late at night, that's what I know. I manage across the hallway, wincing at times, my feet barely leaving the ground.
Hiccup's bedroom door is right in front of me, I lift my hand to knock on it, but stop when I feel something damp between my legs. My water. It's broken. I bang on the door, no time for a polite, 'I'm in labor, wake up first and we'll go to the midwife.'
The door opens to reveal a bedheaded Hiccup, dressed in his brown sleeping tunic and leggings. All at once he quits rubbing his eyes and grabs a torch, lighting it quickly as he hears my whimper.
Hiccup looks at his sister, the light filling the doorway and area around them, all at once a look of pain on her face and messy wet cloth and floor show the signs. "Hiccuuuupp!" She moans his name in a sound that would make even Dagur The Deranged tremble. It's a painful sound of desperation, and a stale stench of the liquid dripping from her wakes Hiccup fully.
"Let's go and hope Asvor and Terri are available for childbirth." Hiccup says and grabs Belle to lead her out.
Her whimpers and cries of pain during the short walk to Toothless, after he carried her to the door, are enough to make Hiccup cringe. He glances at her bulging stomach, that sticks out from her green tunic and watches the movements. His little niece, or nephew, is on its way.
Toothless is as close to the house as he can get. But I can do it. I can't ride to the healers.
I look into Hiccup's face, my tears are flowing down and dampening my neck. "I won't make it! Wake up everyone else and go get the healers!" I cry out and bend over as the seething pain burns my body.
Hiccup nods nervously and takes me back inside, he lays me down on a makeshift bed of many dirty blankets and some pillows for support.
I cry out loud enough that dad comes from behind the stairs where the door to his room is, looking bewildered but then all at once aware of what is happening.
Dad looks at Hiccup and then glances at me. "I'll wake the others, go as fast as you possibly can to the healers!" He says and Hiccup nods. Rushing out the door as dad goes upstairs.
Stoick plods to his son and daughter in law's room, he knocks on the door and wakes Astrid. "Belle is having her baby, Hiccup is getting the healers, go down quickly and sit with her." He commands gently but urgently.
He walks down the hall to the very end and slams on Rye's door. "Your future child is coming! Get downstairs in two minutes or you won't even get to see my grandchild!" He yells a bit fiercely. This was just the wake up call the young man needed. But Stoick was pleased with 'my grandchild' coming out of his mouth.
Rye was out in an instant, a fur vest on for extra warmth. Stoick and Rye walked down the hall together, but just before they reached the stairs, Stoick stopped him. He looked into the soon-to-be father's eyes.
"I know I am tough, but I am proud to have you in my family. And I'm proud to have you be the father of my grandchild." Stoick said and placed a hand on the man's shoulder. Rye nodded and smiled at Stoick. "I know." Was his amazing and hushed reply. But their moment was ended as Isabella wailed in pain.
Rye replaced Astrid by Belle's side and squeezed her hand. The woman whimpered in pain but enjoyed having her almost-husband by her side. Hiccup and the two healers were inside quickly. Slamming the door to keep snow and cold air out.
I looked at the people around me. Dad was sitting behind me, so he could observe carefully but without seeing too much. Hiccup was on my right side, and Rye on my left. With Asvor and Terri ripping off my leggings and Astrid sitting off to the side back near the stairs.
I cringe as another contraction squeezes my body nearly. Asvor inspects me and then looks at me and my family. "Everything's ready."
This is it. I'm going to have a baby. I'm going to finally be able to meet my child. After I go through lots of pain.
Hiccup grips my hand while Rye slacks off. Terri is preparing stuff but Asvor looks me dead in the eye over my stomach. "I want you to push."
I muster up some strength, I feel weak now, and I see my skin on my hand, my entire body is three shades lighter, which is lighter than I thought human possible.
Hiccup watches his sister, she starts up to push, she leans forward and her brows furrow as she grits her teeth in pain.
She sits back panting, her body is shaking and moving and the baby is kicking a bit. She pants and groans for a few minutes before she tries again and pushes. Her whole body jerks but there is nothing to show for it yet.
She pushes again repeatedly, but still nothing. Asvor looks worried, and Hiccup now does to. The healer clucks her tongue and looks not at the woman in labor, but at her brother and boyfriend. "Something is wrong. It feels off, and at this far into labor we should be seeing something now." Asvor explains.
Rye and Hiccup have never been close, but the look they shared at each other was a bond at once. Rye releases Belle's hand slowly and works his way down to the healers. He can see Belle's body, but he ignores it and starts feeling her stomach.
He frowns as he feels the baby kick in a place not expected. He looks at Belle then at Hiccup, whom are in pain physically and emotionally.
Rye takes his hands and pushes on her stomach, everyone sees what he is doing now as motions of the baby shift and Belle's stomach is suddenly even larger. Rye goes back to his place beside Belle.
Whom then starts to push again. She screams as she pushes and feels the baby move.
"We can see a bit of the head now!" Asvor exclaims and grabs a cloth and hands it to Hiccup. Who takes it confusingly then realizes what to do. He wipes away sweat and tears on Belle's face.
"It hurts… I don't want to anymore…" Isabella says in a slur of words. Hiccup drops her hand and waves his own in front of her face. "Belle, you have to! Come on, you'll be fine… What's wrong with her?" Hiccup says as Isabella passes out.
Asvor looks at Hiccup. "It happens. She lost her strength and blood, she is bleeding and in pain. Her body is letting itself relax, don't worry. Baby will come out through natural ways." She replies and wipes some blood off of Belle with a cloth.
Hiccup nods but he is still not assured that his sister is safe. All of the sudden a wiggling black form bursts through the door. "Toothless!" Hiccup says sternly. But the dragon is more interested in the passed out woman in labor.
Astrid stands and tries to grab Toothless, but she sees Belle and the baby's head. Blood and motions. Tough Astrid Haddock goes pale and almost faints. But the dragon helps her back up and she sits back down. She does not want to see childbirth anymore.
Stoick puts the dragon back outside and returns to his seat quietly.
Without Belle awake Hiccup is bored and just stroking the girls hand as she sleeps. Hoping it is helping her in her dreams some how.
"I want to see." Hiccup says suddenly. Everyone looks a little startled by this, but Asvor moves a bit so he can look.
He crawls down, his eyes closed, but he opens them and looks. Astrid had the right to feel faint, it was disgusting and brutal looking. But the baby's head was showing. All of the sudden Belle's unconscious body contracted and the head came out even more. He couldn't believe what he was looking at, but he didn't want to see it again for a while.
So he crawled back to his position holding Belle's hand. Terri and Asvor held a small conversation, kept away from the others. Then nodded in agreement and went back to work. "Rye, Hiccup, wake her up, It has been over half an hour. She can't push the rest out if she isn't awake." Asvor says.
Hiccup and Rye look like scared puppies. Dealing with Belle in labor. Hiccup is a bit surprised, it has been over half an hour already?
They start their job and wake Belle slowly by tickling her neck and rubbing her shoulder. She wakes up blinks back to consciousness. "Is the baby here?" She mumbles out. Rye kisses her forehead, "Not yet, you have to do a little more pushing." He tells her. She nods and pouts, she wants the torturess pains to be over.
They all get ready, and then she pushes her body again. A sharp blaring cry fills the air.
Hiccup and Rye grin while Isabella pants in pain yet again. Astrid covers her ears a bit at the noisy baby. She was going to have to live with that.
Stoick smiles as he remembers a similar wail coming from a baby that had just been born. Twenty one years since he had heard that.
"That was great! Just the shoulders and such and you are done sweety!" Rye says and grins at Belle.
The woman groans in pain and shifts her back. "Push!" Asvor yells suddenly. Isabella grunts and moans and pushes again. The wailing from the child continues but all of this is happy somehow.
"The shoulders are about out! Isabella Haddock if you push once or twice more you will be a mother!" Terri says from beside her lead midwife.
Hiccup is chewing on his lips he is so excited. He will be an uncle, the whole family will have different roles in life! But Belle's grip stiffens and both men whimper in pain as her nails break the skin on their hands and they bleed as she pushes one last time.
Asvor grabs the baby and finishes the deal by snippinf the umbilical . "It's over darling. You are a mom to a," She says and has everyone anxiously waiting. "Girl!" She says and the family grins and laughs and cheers. Even weak and sore Belle sees how amazing this is and smiles. She is a mother. This is her little baby.
The crying child is wrapped in a blanket and Asvor uses a method of weighing it that has been passed down in her family for years. They quickly measure her as well, only taking a minute to do both. Asvor announces the size of the baby before handing her to the anxious mother.
"If everything lined up correctly, this little girl is on the lighter end of seven pounds, and is seventeen inches long."
Isabella takes the baby into her arms and everyone leans over to get a good look. Belle smiles as dark blue eyes with brown spots and a yellowish hazel spot on each side of the pupil gaze at her. Her nose is small and curved, unlike her own, but the shape of her lips and the delicate curls just barely on her head are certainly hers.
"Our girl needs a name." Rye says as he puts a hand on Belle's shoulder. He is a father, of a beautiful and tiny little girl. Isabella looks at her family and husband, then back at her adorable, pale skinned, amazing little girl. "Azalea, Azalea Alma Haddock." She says to the girl. Who's tiny body seems soothed by the name. "Fereckson, but yes." Rye says and smiles at Azalea. Isabella starts to pass the girl around, watching Rye's hands take her first.
He had never really held a baby for long. And never one this young. She was delicate, and his. His daughter. Those were his little girls eyes, and he felt his body become relaxed. His heart beat as he felt her hot little breath blow against his hand. So tiny, but so strong. She was full of life, full of chance, full of potential.
He hands the girl to her grandfather like she was worth a million runes. But to him she was worth more than all the money in the world.
Stoick's large, rough, old hands held the tiny little girl delicately. She was fragile, she reminded him of Hiccup as a newborn. So quiet now, and already she was using her eyes and mind even at such a young age she was a person. Azalea was his little granddaughter, his first one. The girl he would tell stories to and show her Berk's past. He would watch her grow up here, with the rest of her family, under the house he raised his son under. The son who has done well to grow a family through marriage and adoptions. He would be the one to watch her from behind, to help her before she fell. Not after.
Astrid looked at the baby while Stoick held her, but passed and let Hiccup go ahead and hold her.
Finally he got a chance to feel her. He was her uncle. This amazing little girl was his niece. She would help her train dragons, teach her how to draw, he would be like Gobber was to him. A teacher, mentor, family.
He passed her back to Isabella who took her gratefully. Asvor had to do a vitals check and make sure Belle wasn't internally injured.
Asvor clicked as she looked over the woman's body, "All is good. You will be just fine." She said. Everyone was happy to hear that.
Hiccup and Rye with the help of Terri managed to get Belle and Azalea upstairs and into bed. A crib was set into the corner of the room by the bed in case Belle needed a break. "You know how to feed her?" Terri asked in a joking yet serious way. Belle nods and everyone leaves. Giving her peace and quiet to nurse the child.
I am glad Asvor has knowledge to know to help me into another set of leggings. Though a bath and a tunic change are in order, first is to feed my baby girl.
I roll up my shirt and move my chest plate. Azalea instinctively uses her now freed and tiny hands and latches on to me. I feel her suck and I use my sleeve to wipe away milk from her chin. Messy, pretty, sweet, definitely a Haddock. Or Fereckson in this case.
A new addition to this family is hectic, everyone is tired now after losing over half a night's sleep. But Azalea and Belle are upstairs, safe and alive. Everything is alright for now. And Snoggletog is just a couple days away.
I wake up, it is late morning I'm guessing, and my dreams were terrible. My body kept reliving the birth that happened a few hours ago, that icy yet burning pain that would move through my body and squeeze me practically. It hurt, but seeing little Azalea sleeping in her cradle beside me is worth it.
And look at that, Rye's passed out on my floor… Ridiculous man.
The Haddock family was enjoying a peaceful sleep, warm blankets kept the cold out, the relief of the birth of the youngest Haddock kept them happy. But that all ended quickly.
Hiccup groaned as a blaring wail rang through his ears. Without Belle even knowing Rye and Stoick had changed two diapers during the night, Hiccup and Astrid knew it. They were just across the hall from the mother and infant, they woke Stoick and Rye up for it. Considering neither of the married couple could change a diaper. Last he saw Rye had fallen asleep on a rug in the middle of his sister's room, well, his sister, Rye, and Azalea's room now. But his turn had come to check on the baby.
Isabella blinked at him as he walked into the room, he shook his head no before she could stop him. He carefully picked up the tiny baby, her crying continued so he took her down stairs. He couldn't feed her, she still needed her mother for that for a long time. So he stood in the kitchen area downstairs and rocked her, trying to find a soothing rhythm to quiet her.
He stroked her little head with his thumb, and she slowly quieted down. She was fully awake though, her little hands moved, her small amount of wispy hair was soft and blonde. But there was a red tint he could see, and oddest of all, a black streak. And her eyes were so amazing, blue as dark as the ocean depths, with those two yellow spots she had on both sides of her pupils in each eye. The dragon part of her didn't exist, except in small parts of her looks.
Her small hands had been gripping her blanket, but she grabbed his thumb and held it. Hiccup adored the tiny girl, her dainty fingers felt like nothing, she was the smallest person Hiccup had ever seen, let alone held.
He knew him and Astrid would have kids someday. They had talked about it late into the night sometimes, how they would have a big family with lots of kids, but for now he had his niece. His little Azalea. The girl made an odd sound from her throat, like she was going to cry again. But Hiccup stopped any outbursts by stroking her hands and talking to her.
"Hi little Lea, you like that name? I thought of it last night. It's a nickname, short for Azalea. Which is the name your mommy thought up. I should introduce myself! You are only a few hours old, but you should know I'm your uncle Hiccup. My full name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, but you'll know me as Hiccup. You know my name, and you know your first name, but do you know your own full name? You are Azalea Alma Fereckson. And don't go thinking that because you have your daddy's last name you aren't a Haddock. You are for sure, through and through for forever."
Astrid had come downstairs now, without Hiccup even noticing she had watched the tender moment between uncle and niece. Hiccup holding a baby was by far the most adorable and amazing thing she had ever seen. And the way he chatted with her like she was an adult even though she couldn't reply was remarkable. And Azalea seemed to understand it somehow, she stopped her thoughts. In no way could a baby understand any of that.
Hiccup had seen his wife now and motioned her over, she came and stood beside him, staring at the baby girl in his arms. She was very nice looking, not red like last night, all her skin was now pale and smooth. And her face was a lot prettier, "Here, hold her." Hiccup said. Astrid wanted to refuse but she couldn't.
Astrid wanted lots of kids, but she was scared. She knows she is a tough girl, not used to fragile things. But she held out her arms and took Azalea. She was a bit heavier than she expected, but she held her gently. Hiccup raised his eyebrows at Astrid, the nervous woman swallowed and cleared her throat.
"Hi, Azalea. I'm your aunt Astrid." She said to the girl. The baby made a face that resembled some sort of happiness. Astrid just held the girl stiffly, being careful of her fragile head and not squeezing her to hard.
Hiccup had gotten himself a drink and nodded as Rye came down the stairs. He walked over to Astrid quietly and almost startled the woman. "What are you doing with my daughter?" He jokingly asked. She blushed a little and handed Azalea to her father.
Rye took the girl in one arm, caution not his top priority, and grabbed some food and drink Hiccup had pulled out of a closed box of ice.
Astrid and Hiccup looked at the father and daughter pair, he sat at the table, eating his food with his right hand while holding the girl with his other arm.
They glanced at each other, they wanted to be like Rye some day. But not now.
Yup! Belle's baby has been born! I am so relieved and sad. (Future parts of the story are barely decided, so I'm sad because I might not have another pregnant Belle to play with again. :/ But maybe I will! I don't know. Now, if you skipped this chapter, I will give you a summary:
Belle went into labor and gave birth to a baby girl named Azalea Alma Fereckson, (Rye's last name if you do not remember that from a while back.) That happened, with lots of emotions and sometimes semi funny scenes. Then Belle went upstairs and fed Azalea in a room by herself.
The next morning, or that morning in this case. Hiccup awoke and took care of crying Azalea and there was a bunch of tender moments.
I'll do something for you, if you skipped the childbirth and nursing scenes, then go look for a divider line somewhere in the story, anything below that is safe. ;)