Sorry for such a long wait! I was really busy with a few things but I found some time to finish this up (: Hope it doesn't seem too rushed!
Hiccup sat on the ground at the cove with a stick in hand as he danced it around in the dirt, tracing an intricate pattern through it. Although he was paying a lot of attention towards his work, he made sure to keep an eye of his surroundings since the last time didn't go so well for him. As he looked around, he heard rustling in the leaves. His head shot up to look in the direction of the sound. Just then, Astrid slowly walked out and leaned on a nearby tree.
"Hey." She said quietly.
Hiccup looked at her and nodded slightly, "Hey." He replied back flatly, matching her voice's volume.
"Can I join you?" She asked expressionless.
Hiccup, picking up on Astrid's tone and mood motioned for her to sit next to him as he patted on the dirt to finish the gesture. Noticing this, Astrid slowly walked over and sat on the designated spot next to Hiccup. She put her hand in his and looked up at him as he looked down at her where their eyes met.
"Hiccup, are we ready for this?" She asked him in a serious tone, still holding his gaze.
"This?" Hiccup asked slightly confused, although he thought he had a pretty good idea as to what she was talking about.
"This .. as in like us and the marriage .. and everything that comes with it." She dropped her eyes to the floor and overlooked the work he did on the floor.
"Are you?" He asked, looking at her. His eyes dropped from where hers had met his, but he overlooked her and took it all in. He looked at her golden braid as it seemed to glow in the sunlight and the way her baby blue eyes looked so soft and innocent and precious but could look like a raging sea in seconds.
"I asked you first." Astrid replied, not looking up from the floor. Their voices were mainly serious and monotonous for the most part.
"I .. well .. I'm ready. But I'm not ready for ..." Hiccup trailed off. He didn't want to say it. What if Astrid was ready and waiting for him and he wasn't sure he could do it? What if he wasn't ready to be a parent? He could hardly run a village, now a village and a child? How could he be a good parent when he's so busy? Hiccup bit his lip as he tried to block his thoughts out in frustration.
"For what?" Astrid asked boldly, lifting her gaze from the floor and staring at Hiccup's green eyes through her piercing blue eyes. "Hiccup, I need to know." She said, but her voice was letting out some sense of desperation that she tried to cover up. Her tactic was threatening, calm, and understanding, but she knew she felt herself breaking down on the inside and it was getting harder and harder to hide it.
"Why do you need to know?" Hiccup began raising his voice, his green eyes like shards stabbing through Astrid's eyes. For once, she found him extremely intimidating and she felt like he wasn't even trying. She felt so vulnerable with him there, and usually she felt invulnerable.
"I asked you a question first." She said, not letting herself falter.
Hiccup sighed, and dropped their intense stare at each other. She had won. "Astrid, I'm ready. I'm ready to spend the mornings with you, the afternoons when we can with you, the nights with you, a bed, a home, and a life. But ... " Hiccup let out a steady exhale and met Astrid's eyes who have shown to have eased a little and went back to their soft, precious look Hiccup loved seeing so much. "But .. I'm not ready to have to father a child. It's not something I could just .. just ignore. The Council is already thinking about it, coming up with names and everything and it's crazy. I just think about it and wonder," Hiccup's voice slowed down and softened up. "And I wonder what happens if I'm not good enough of a father for him? What happens if he grows up to become a strong viking like my dad and he looks at his father who's well .. a Hiccup."
After Hiccup finished, she looked at him for a little and they sat in silence before she threw her arms around Hiccup. The entire time she had thought he wasn't sure of marriage, but he wasn't sure of a child. It felt like a surge of relief went straight through her, until she realized they had to have a child, just like Hiccup had said. She still held on tight, though her face went pale as she thought about what was to come of the couple. Hiccup, who at first was puzzled, slowly pulled his arms around Astrid and embraced her. Her touch never felt so good, but he felt something was wrong. "Astrid?" He asked quietly with confusion.
I'm going to stop it here and finish the next part soon. I didn't want to keep you guys waiting so hope you don't mind a random, abrupt stop ;x :D!