Author's Note: 96 followers! That may not be much to some, but to me it is more than I could ever ask for. I know I've said it already, but thank you guys. None of you had to follow, favorite or leave a review, but you did anyway to show your support for this story, and I appreciate that. Now, to show you my gratitude, here is chapter nine!

3 months, 3 weeks and 1 day.

Astrid woke up to an empty apartment that morning, something she was thankful for. She didn't need Ruffnut and Heather teasing her about Hiccup while she got ready, not when she was already on edge about her appointment that morning.

She stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a light blue t-shirt, braiding her hair over her left shoulder. Her eyes fell to her abdomen as she finished the braid and twisted a hair tie around the end. There was already a small bump forming between her hips, just large enough to show through her shirt.

It was startling to see it. She had been wearing sweatshirts and loose t-shirts since she had started to show a few weeks ago, but now that she would be away from the apartment for most of the day, there was no point in hiding it.

Astrid lifted her shirt and hesitantly placed a hand over it, feeling the subtle curve of firm flesh under her palm. She breathed a laugh and glanced at her reflection, amazed by howright it both looked and felt.

Astrid let the hem of her shirt fall back into place when there was a knock at the door. She glanced at her reflection one last time before grabbing her phone and car keys and jogging to the door.

Hiccup grinned at her when she opened the door. "Hey," he said.

Astrid smiled back as she pulled the door shut behind her. She crossed her arms as they began the short walk to the stairs. "Hey. So… are you ready?"

He nodded. "Well, yeah. We're going to see our baby for the first time today. It would be hard to not to be excited."

"I just hope that everything is okay," Astrid sighed. She followed Hiccup down the stairs and outside to her car. She opened her door and climbed into the car as Hiccup ran around to the other side. "What do you want? A boy or girl?"

"Anything alive and healthy," he said.

Astrid smiled to herself as she backed out of her parking spot. "I wouldn't mind having a boy. Girls are too hard," she laughed.

"Yeah.."

The rest of the drive to the clinic was quiet. Hiccup turned on the radio at one point, and they both laughed at the horrible song playing. After that neither of them said much, but the silence between them wasn't uncomfortable.

Astrid bit her lip as she pulled the key from the ignition and looked up at the building in front of them. It was simple; a large picture window that looked out into the parking lot in front, a few trees that offered little shade but hid the clinic away from the road.

"We don't have to do this if you aren't ready yet, Astrid. We can reschedule-"

Astrid shook her head and opened her door. "No. I-I want to. I'm ready now," she said.

Astrid made her way inside and to the desk, where a short woman with dark hair was scribbling something down on a note pad. She glanced up when Astrid rested her hands on the desk, Hiccup awkwardly glancing around the waiting room behind her. A few older women gave them odd looks, but said nothing.

"Name?" The secretary asked.

Astrid leaned forward a bit, feeling the women's eyes burning into the back of her head. "Astrid Hofferson."

The woman typed something into the computer before looking back up at Astrid. "Date of birth?"

"March 3rd, 1994."

"Have your address or phone number changed since you scheduled the appointment?"

"No," Astrid sighed.

"Alright. Dr. Anderson just finished up with her last appointment a few minutes ago, so you can head back to room 4. Second door on the right." The woman pointed to the narrow hallway next to the desk.

"Thanks." Astrid grabbed Hiccup's hand and followed her directions to the second door on the left, where she took a seat on the bed as she waited for the doctor. Hiccup sat down in the chair next to the bed and glanced around the dim room. He grabbed something from the counter and started to examine it.

Astrid snickered when she saw him putting on a pair of blue latex gloves. "Take those off! The doctor will be here soon," she said.

Hiccup flexed his fingers and grinned at her. "Are you ready for your exam, Ms. Hofferson?" He asked as he took a step closer to the bed.

Astrid giggled and rolled her eyes. "Knock it off," she said.

"Knock what off?" Hiccup lifted her shirt and sat down in chair next to the bed. "If you are saying that I do not take my profession seriously, Ms. Hofferson, you are incorrect."

"Hiccup-"

"Dr. Haddock."

Astrid swatted his arm. "You're going to get us in trouble."

"Ms. Hofferson, I don't believe you have the authority to tell me how to do my job-"

Hiccup jumped up as the door opened. He pulled off the gloves and dropped them in the trashcan before sitting back down next to his girlfriend, his blush evident in the dim light. She fixed her shirt and stuck her tongue out at him.

"I'm sorry for the wait. I had a bit of trouble finding your file," Dr. Anderson announced as she closed the door.

Astrid nodded and laid back down as the doctor took a seat in the swivel chair next to the bed that Hiccup had been sitting in. She kept her eyes trained on the ceiling as her shirt was lifted again.

"So how has your morning been, Astrid? Anything out of the ordinary?" Dr. Anderson asked as she squeezed a small amount of clear gel into her gloved hand and spread it over Astrid's stomach.

"Fine so far. We were planning on getting breakfast after this," Astrid said. She smiled at Hiccup and reached for one of his hands.

"That sounds wonderful. Now, lets see how that baby of yours is doing." Dr. Anderson pressed the transducer [1] to her belly and began to twist it around as a black and white image appeared on the monitor next to the bed.

Astrid watched the screen as it became clearer and clearer what it was that she was seeing. "Is that… is that our baby?"

"Yes it is. This right here is a leg," Dr. Anderson said as she pointed to the blurry shape on the screen. "And this is the baby's head. The baby is about the size of an orange now."

Astrid looked over at Hiccup, at loss for words. His green eyes were trained on the screen, so many emotions flashing in them at once that it was difficult for Astrid to read his expression. He noticed her gaze and squeezed her hand before returning his attention the Dr. Anderson.

If someone had told her a month ago how relieved she would be this relieved to see her baby moving, to know that his heart was beating… she would have laughed. But now, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. A tiny, healthy baby that would make an appearance in only five months. Her baby.

"Would you like to know the sex?" Dr. Anderson asked.

"I…" Astrid glanced at Hiccup, unsure.

"It's up to you. I'm happy either way," he said.

"Then yes." Astrid smiled as she watched the image on the screen move as the doctor turned the transducer to get a better view of the baby. After a few minutes of feeling the plastic device moving over her belly, she began to grow worried.

Hiccup sensed this and stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. "Is there something wrong?" He asked.

"No, not at all. Unfortunately I can't tell the sex because of the baby's position, but if you schedule another appointment in a few weeks we can take another look then," Dr. Anderson said. She offered Astrid a small towel to wipe the gel off with.

"Yeah, we'll do that," she said as she cleaned herself off. She handed the towel back and pulled her shirt down.

"Would you like pictures to take home?"

Astrid stood up and brushed a stray lock of blonde hair behind her ear. "That would be great." She looked over at Hiccup. "Did… did you want a picture of the baby?" She asked.

He nodded. "Of course. I want something to show my mom. She's going to be thrilled when she finds out," he said.

"I hope so…" Astrid opened the door and walked down the short hallway to the waiting room, where she finished filling out the paperwork and billing information.

"Hey, everything will be fine," Hiccup said. "Trust me."

"I can't. My parents are going to disown me when they find out and make it their first priority to get as far away from me as possible," Astrid said as she finished writing and returned the paperwork to the secretary.

"Astrid, you can't hide it from them forever. You know that," Hiccup sighed.

"I won't hide it from them forever. Just until he starts kindergarten."

"Well that's going to change. I called my mom yesterday and we're going to have dinner with them next Saturday," Hiccup said.

Astrid gripped the car keys in her hand tighter as she whirled around to face him, her blue eyes wide. "You what?! I-I have plans that weekend-"

"Doing what?"

"Ruff and I were going to look for a new couch after she gets back from her class," Astrid said.

"Well if you leave earlier then there should still be plenty of time to be at my parents' by six."

"Hiccup-"

"Please Astrid. My mom has been asking about dinner for weeks. She's going to show up at my door sooner or later if we don't go. This is really important to them," Hiccup said.

Astrid crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. If her parents weren't going to be in the baby's life, then she would need to get to know Hiccup's parents better. Their baby deserved to know it's grandparents. "Fine."

A grin lit up Hiccup's features. "This is going to be great! I just know that you're going to love her," he said.

Astrid gave him a small smile. What was she supposed to have done? Say no and walk all over his feelings? No matter how crazy and idiotic he could be at times, Hiccup didn't deserve that.

Hiccup pretended to not notice when Astrid swirled her straw in her drink for the fourth time since they had arrived at the little diner not even ten minutes ago. She huffed and took a sip of her strawberry-banana smoothie, thunderclouds gathering behind her stormy blue eyes.

He took a drink from his own smoothie and glanced out the window. Raindrops still fell from the grey sky and tapped on the window before rolling down the glass. It was almost as if somewhere, someone was crying, and it was their tears that he was watching roll down the window panes. Thunder rolled and lightning flashed in the clouds, startling Hiccup from his trance.

"So… we should probably talk about names," Hiccup said.

Astrid looked up, and once again her eyes resembled the clear blue sky. She let go of her straw and folded her arms on the table. "Did you have any ideas? I mean, I have a few, but they're no good."

"Try me."

A small smile crossed her lips. "Fine. For a boy, Finn Adrian, and for a girl, Valerie Grace," she said, "Now you."

Hiccup thought for a moment before speaking, "For a boy, Hayden Riley, and for a girl, Fiona Denae."

Astrid wrinkled her nose. "Denae?"

Hiccup shrugged. "It's a tradition to give your daughter the middle name Denae in my family. It goes all the way back to my great-great grandmother," he explained. "Why? Do you not like it?"

"No, it's not… it's just not my favorite name. What about Adrienne?"

"Isn't the meaning of Adrienne darkness?" Hiccup asked.

"Yeah, but-"

"And you think it's better to give our baby a name that means darkness than a family name."

"I didn't say that, Hiccup!" Astrid snapped. "It's just a middle name. You're making this seem way more complicated than it really is."

"Oh now I'm the one making things complicated? You're the one who won't listen," Hiccup said.

Astrid pursed her lips and trained her gaze on the plastic cup in front of her. "I'm just trying to make sense of things, okay? Today has been kind of a letdown," She sighed.

Hiccup took a drink of his own smoothie and thought for a moment. "How about this: if it's a boy, you get to choose the middle name and I choose the first name. If it's a girl, then I get to choose the middle name and you pick the first name," he suggested.

Astrid chewed her lip for a moment. "I think that's a good idea. That way we can both choose a part of the baby's name and everyone will be happy," she said.

Hiccup nodded. "Are you… Are you happy, Astrid? About all this I mean?"

A warm smile crossed Astrid's face as she reached across the table to grasp one of his hands. "So happy," she whispered.

Hiccup stood, holding his smoothie in his free hand, and tugged Astrid after him. He pressed his lips to hers as she stood, taking her by surprise. She melted into him, her fingers still intertwined with his. They broke apart as their lungs screamed for air, oceanic blue meeting forest green.

"So what's next on the agenda?" Hiccup asked.

"Well, I was thinking that maybe we could rent a movie? If you would rather do something else, it's not a big deal."

He smiled. "That sounds amazing."

Astrid grinned and let him pull her outside. She let go of his hand to wrap her arms around his waist as they walked, her face pressed against his side. Her ponytail was wet and clung to her skin, but she made no move to adjust it. Because she was afraid that if she let go, he would slip right through her fingers.

[1] A transducer is the plastic device that allows you to see the baby during a sonogram.