CHAPTER 4 – The Discussion

"Incredible," said Valka. "I have no idea they'd catch so much. I hope you can cook it all in time!" The other women in the Great Hall's kitchen laughed. "We can do it," said Phlegma, "And don't forget; it's not all for the first banquet. The wedding's a week long, remember!"

The collection of mothers, sisters, daughters, wives, and grandmothers nodded in agreement. "Alright," Valka said, "well, good luck! I'd help of course, but…well…I want Hiccup's wedding to be perfect, and my cooking isn't the best." An elderly woman sighed sympathetically. "It's alright dearie," she said, prodding Valka's shoulder comfortingly, "When you don't cook for a long time, you get out of practice."

The chief's mother smiled warmly. "That's true. Thank you. In fact, thank you all for your help in making my son's ceremony a success! We will forever be in your debt." " No dearie," said the old woman, "we're all in your debt. Without your dragons, Drago Bludvist would have killed us all." Valka beamed humbly. In that moment, a feeling of communal love and joy circulated amongst the women. Then Valka had to leave on Cloudjumper for a meeting with Hiccup, and the women's cooking began.

Meanwhile…

"So you're telling me…that two days before our wedding a mysterious queen shows up, makes my mother sign some contract, invites you to join her school for royal girls, demands you come two weeks after our wedding and stay for at least a year there, and says if you don't she'll wage war on Berk." Hiccup said slowly, letting it sink in.

"Did I miss anything?" he asked quietly. Astrid gazed at him silently from across his kitchen table. He shook his head in disbelief. "This is—" "Ridiculous, I know. You're the second person who's told me that," said Astrid, whose frustration had ebbed off ages ago.

"Well, at least, I'm glad you understand," she sighed. Hiccup peered at her skeptically. "Nobody else thought it was such a big deal. As if a year is nothing." Astrid rested her chin on her arm. "It is. To Gothi," Hiccup remarked sarcastically. Neither of them could really muster up the energy to laugh.

"There's really nothing we can do, is there," Astrid sighed.

Hiccup shook his head. He turned to look at his bride-to-be, a slight smile on his face. "Guess the only thing I can say is…I hope to Odin you graduate early."

She made a strangled noise halfway between a laugh and a sob. Hiccup reached across the table and grasped her shoulder comfortingly.

Their eyes met. He stroked her cheek gently. Indescribable emotions swelled inside Astrid's chest (a culmination of an entire week of separation anxiety), and before either of them knew what they were doing, their lips were locked, and somehow Hiccup had Astrid pressed against the wall—how they got there, nobody knows.

And, as is always the case, the moment (well, make-out session) had to be shattered by the untimely arrival of the groom's mother.

"Hiccup, you summoned me — oh! Thor!"

"Mom!"

"Sorry, I just—should I—oh dear—sorry!"

"Okay! Okay! Just go outside for a moment!"

"Okay!"

Valka left quickly, eyes burning. Obviously, she had seen the two kiss before, but this was quite different. She had walked in on something private, not some public act of affection.

Meanwhile, inside the house, the couple were at the mid-way point between utter humiliation and hysterical laughter. Eventually they leaned more towards the hysterical laughter side of the scale, and it took over five minutes for them to calm down. When Hiccup finally invited his mother back into the house, the event was completely glazed over, and overall, no real harm was done. It was still awkward, though.

Once seated in a business-like manner around the kitchen table, Hiccup, Astrid, and Valka talked for several hours about the wedding the next day. They also discussed, in depth, the matter of Astrid's departure for the Kingdom of Corona's University for Young Women of High Stature. After about twenty depressing minutes of that, Astrid excused herself for a breath of fresh air, and Valka and her son were left alone.

"So," began Valka, clearing her throat. There were a few seconds of silence. "Sorry… about before, I didn't—"

"Mom." Hiccup stopped her in her tracks. "It's fine."

She searched his eyes.

"Don't worry about it," he continued, smiling reassuringly, "We've been walked in on before."

"Really?"

"Yeah. By Dad. And Gobber. And Gothi, once, oddly enough. I don't even know why she was—well. Never mind. It's not a new occurrence." Hiccup said.

"But you've never been interrupted by me before, have you."

"You weren't interrupting anything, we were just—ugh. Forget it. It's fine, really! I don't know why this is such a big deal." Hiccup ran his fingers through his hair, abruptly crossing his arms.

Valka sighed. "It was a little… surprising, is all." She studied her hands for moment.

"I know this is a little off topic…" she began, "But…I feel like I've only just been reunited with you after all these years, and you're already a grown man, and getting married… And everyone in this village seems to know more about you than I do. I'm just trying to keep up."

Gosh, this really was off topic, thought Hiccup. Not that he really minded. The previous topic had not been a comfortable one. He glanced at her briefly, before directing his gaze at the wall to his right. He cleared his throat.

"I want to know so much about you, Hiccup," she expressed, "I want to know what you liked to do when you were a child, what your favorite meal was… who was your first crush? What did you do for your thirteenth birthday? What is your shoe size? I want to know everything! I have a lot of lost time to make up, Hiccup. And I don't want to waste it."

Hiccup exhaled loudly. "Gosh, Mom. You have a lot of…questions." This conversation had taken an interesting turn. He took a minute before replying. "Well, my shoe size is a touchy subject because I only have one foot, but…" His mother laughed. He smirked at her, before replacing that expression with a serious one. "You know," he said, "I'm not going anywhere. We have the rest of our lives to answer all these questions together."

"I know, I know…I just wanted to get it all out there," she said, smiling. Then she gazed at him contemplatively. "I just… don't want to lose you again. And—don't take this the wrong way—but; marriage can consume people. All of a sudden, you have your own household, and the rest of your relatives become your 'extended family'. I don't want to be extended, Hiccup."

"You won't be. I promise. You can be 'Grandma-who-lives-right-next-door', if you want!" He laughed.

Valka perked up considerably. "Speaking of grandchildren! How many are you thinking?" she asked, bursting with excitement and curiosity. A little taken-aback, Hiccup stammered, "Um, I, well, we, uh, we don't really… uh, know yet. Really. Um…"

"Well, can you give me an estimate?" his mother urged, enthusiastically.

"Um…" Hiccup shrunk into his chair. This conversation was getting uncomfortable again!

A sudden, grave expression came over her face. "Son, this is serious." She leaned forward. She gave him an apprehensive look. Taking a deep breath, she asked, "Are you physically capable of reproduction?"

"Mom!" he shouted, springing out of his chair, nearly having a heart attack. "I-I-I would t-think so! Now can we please talk about something else? Please?!" Valka agreed reluctantly. "Thank you!" the young chief exclaimed, slowly sitting back down again.

Astrid appeared in the doorway. "Is everything okay in here?" she asked cautiously. Hiccup nodded his head quickly, the picture of innocence. His fiancée scrutinized the mother and her anxiety-stricken son doubtfully. She gave a quiet "humph," and joined them at the table. Breaking the weirdness, Hiccup refrained from glaring at his mother for a moment, and turned to Astrid. "Are you okay?" he asked. She had been outside for what seemed like a while. She nodded. "I think I just need to sleep."

"Okay," he said, kissing her, purposefully on the forehead. "I'll walk you home."

"'Kay," she murmured.

All three Vikings stood at the same time.

"Bye Mom," mumbled Hiccup, smothered by his mother's tender embrace. "See you tomorrow, Valka," Astrid said affectionately, exchanging kisses on the cheek with her soon-to-be-mother-in-law.

"See you at the wedding," whispered Valka, as she watched the happy couple head down the torch-lit road. They turned and waved one last time before disappearing around a corner. Valka sighed. "Odin bless them."

In an afterthought, she added, "and my future grandbabies."