A long while passed before either of them even thought about the need to use the nursery, but it came up again when Astrid announced her pregnancy a year and a half after the wedding. The village saw it as another excuse to drink while Hiccup thought it should be a little more intimately celebrated. He took Astrid to the clearing where he and Toothless had first become friends and set out a picnic. Of course, Astrid had insisted that just the two of them was far too lovey dovey for her tastes. She went behind his back and invited Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Fishlegs, and Snotlout to come along. Hiccup's face when they arrived and saw the old gang waiting was priceless. In the end, he was happy for their presence. Snotlout and Tuffnut kept pestering Hiccup about how he felt about being a dad. Fishlegs made plans with Hiccup for a mechanism that would rock the cradle automatically. Astrid vetoed the idea as fast as it sprang up from their overexcited minds. Ruffnut begrudgingly offered some mothering tips her mother had rammed down her throat as soon as she turned sixteen and every day afterwards. Snotlout boasted that his sons would always be able to outdo Hiccup's at everything they did. Astrid retorted that at least their children would have brains.
The day ended sooner than Astrid had planned, due to the fact that Tuffnut and Snotlout ended up in a fist fight. She had come to expect little else from her friends. Months passed, as months do. Valka and Ingrid came by often to help Astrid and Hiccup around the house. Stoick often came by for dinner, sharing stories of his youth, glorious battles, his proudest achievements, anything he wanted to, really. Valka had taught Astrid how to knit when she was confined to sitting or lying by Gothi. Astrid got so bored that she invented three new knitting patterns and made fifty pairs of socks, all of the pairs different sizes. The measurements ranged from Stoick to newborn and everything in between.
She was knitting a sweater for Ruffnut out of white yarn when her water broke. Fortunately, Valka was in the kitchen at the time, so when Astrid asked if it was normal for her to wet herself without meaning to, she knew that it was time. Astrid insisted on going to get Hiccup first, since Ingrid had told her having the father's support made it slightly easier to deliver the baby.
It wasn't until the late hours of the night that the first child of the chief came into the world. Alas, this child was not the one they were expecting. One of the many blessings placed upon them was the blessing of many strong sons. This child was not a son. This child wasn't even strong. When the midwife handed Astrid her baby, she asked where the rest of her was. She was by far the frailest, smallest, and lightest child anyone in the room had seen. She had a thin crop of dirty blonde hair and her entire body was dusted lightly with dark brown freckles. Her eyes were blue-grey like Astrid's, but Valka insisted that Hiccup's eyes had been the same color when he was born. Her eyes would likely change color over time. The only thing that really worried Astrid and Hiccup was that she hadn't cried. Not a single whimper or tear. Gothi was called in, to inspect the baby. After an hour of inspection, Gothi asked to speak with Valka. She returned to the room with the baby and a sad look on her face.
"Mum, what is it?" asked Hiccup. Valka handed him the child and he cradled her gently in his arms. "What did Gothi say?"
"Hiccup…" Valka began. A choked sob forced her to stop and give the couple sympathetic looks. She walked in between the bedside and Hiccup, resting a hand on their shoulders. "I… I am so sorry, you two. This can't be helped. I wish to all the gods that it didn't have to be this way, but there's no changing it."
"Valka," said Astrid with a stern and worried tone. "What's wrong? What did Gothi say?"
"Have you two picked a name for her?" asked Valka. They nodded. They'd decide on Magnus for a boy and Valkyrie for a girl. They would be officially naming her in three days, at her naming ceremony. Valka took a shaky breath and looked between Astrid, Hiccup, and her granddaughter. "Well, even if you hadn't, it wouldn't matter. There will be no naming ceremony. Gothi said… She said… She said that your child is too weak. It will be a miracle if she lives through the night."
"Wh- What?!" exclaimed Hiccup and Astrid in unison. Hiccup clutched his daughter closer and gave his mother a hurt look. "Mom, no. She's…She's a little small, I get that but… Dead by morning? No. No, I don't believe that. She…She's fine."
Astrid and Valka both gave Hiccup apologetic looks and he shook his head furiously.
"No. No. No! No, she's fine. Astrid, Mom, she's fine," said Hiccup, glancing down at his daughter's face. Her eyes were wide open, staring at nothing in particular. Her tongue poked out of her mouth slightly and she stretched her arms out, little hands grasping at the air. He smiled wistfully, tears brimming in his eyes and offered her his index finger. She grabbed onto it immediately, giving it a slight squeeze. In that slight squeeze, he realized he now had something very important to fight for. And this something was never going to be hurt, not as long as he was alive. He was filled with a fire he hadn't felt since he saw Toothless in those chains so long ago. Hiccup looked back up at the women. "It's not true. She's fine. She'll make it tonight and every night for a very long time and she's going to be absolutely amazing. You can't just write her off because Gothi said something. Gothi doesn't know everything you know. Astrid, you can give up on her if you want, but I won't. Never."
"Hiccup," said Astrid, sitting up and reaching out to him. "Please."
"No!" said Hiccup, glancing back down at the child in his arms. He walked to the open door of their bedroom and stood in the doorway for a second. "I'll be in the nursery if either of you feel like making sense."
Hiccup stalked across the hall, ignoring the calls of his wife and mother. He opened the door to the nursery and went in, shutting the door behind him. He plunked down in the rocking chair and waited for either of them to come in and tell him again how the precious thing in his arms was going to be taken from him too soon. He slowly began to rock in the chair, thinking through the possibilities. Forward and his little girl was wrenched away from him by crooked-fingered death, backwards and he was kneeling arms held out and a joyous look on his face as she took her first uncertain wobbly steps to him. He heard Valka leave, and he continued to rock, eyes only for his daughter. So it went, forward bringing on his fears and concerns, backward showing his family, full and happy. He had no idea how long this went on, but after what he was fairly certain was a few hours, she finally began to sort of whimper. Hiccup shifted her in her arms a bit more and gave her a smile.
"Hey," said Hiccup in a friendly tone, kissing her forehead. She quieted and Hiccup smiled wider, brushing a tear away from his cheek. "You have nothing to cry about, sweetheart. Trust me. It's all snoozing and eating for you right now. Your problem's aren't gonna start for a long time. Even when you think its gonna be all happy happy, joy joy, life just sucker punches you in the gut. But they can't have you. Anything but you."
It was in that position that Astrid found him the next morning. She was wrapped in a robe, arms crossed meekly across her chest. She lingered in the doorway, waiting for Hiccup to look up from the bundle in his arms at her. He didn't.
"Are you going to come in?" asked Hiccup after a few minutes, never looking up at her. "You're letting the cold in."
"Did you sleep?" asked Astrid. He shook his head.
"Did you put her down?" He shook his head again.
"Did you eat?" Another shake.
"Are you okay?"
"Astrid, I don't remember how to be okay," said Hiccup, finally meeting her eyes with his bleary ones. His voice was full of pain, so much so that it hurt Astrid. It hurt to know he was likely dying a little and there was nothing she could do. "I have never been more terrified than I am right now in my life. How can I possibly be okay?"
"I'll go make breakfast," said Astrid after a while. She couldn't bring up their daughter again, or she'd hear that broken voice again. "I don't blame you if you don't want any. And, Hiccup? I'm sorry. We can't… We can't keep her forever."
With that, Astrid turned and left, shutting the door behind her. Hiccup sighed and kissed his daughter's forehead again, praying to all of the gods that were listening that Astrid was wrong this time.