Chapter 4

Astrid stepped out of Martin's Corvette that he had parked near the restaurant. The sign saying 'Chez Forge' shone brightly with its loopy lettering. She grabbed her purse and checked if her black Maxi dress was good. The restaurant looked quite busy from the outside. She took Martin's arm as they walked inside. They were greeted by a hostess who then showed them to a table where Julia was already seated.

"Mother!" Martin said as Julia stood up and gave him a warm hug. She then turned to Astrid and said in a frosty voice. "So glad you could join us Astrid."

Astrid, was not one to back down. "The pleasure is all mine. You know just how much I love your company." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm as she said this. Martin held out a seat for Astrid and was practically oblivious to the tension between the two women as they stared each other down in the middle of a crowded restaurant.

"Well we have a lot to talk about sweety." Julia stated as she turned to her son and completely ignored Astrid. Astrid didn't mind that as they placed their orders, the less attention that was on her the better. She started off with Vitello Tonnato as appetizer, followed by Chilean Sea Bass for the main course. It was when they placed their choice of dessert that Julia turned to Astrid.

"So tell me Astrid, how was your day? Hmmm" She said in what was supposed to be an unassuming voice. "Did anything interesting happen?"

Astrid raised a brow "Well, my publishing company let me go." She stated. "Now I have to find a new one."

"Why would you want to find a new place. It's quite obvious that your latest book didn't quite cut it." Julia smirked. "Besides once you're married to my son you'll have no time with all the little ones. I'm sure Martin will be able to provide for you."

Astrid raised a brow at that woman's audacity. "Well that isn't really why I called you here Astrid. You see a package arrived today while I was visiting my son after work. A package from Nevada, from somewhere called the Happy Times wedding chapel. A congratulatory gift on your nuptials."

Astrid choked on the wine she had just taken a sip of. She looked at Julia, who had a smug look on her face, after she had gotten a hold of herself. "Now Astrid, you weren't thinking of taking my son and whisking him off to Las Vegas, were you?"

"You went through my mail?!" Astrid asked Julia as her eyes narrowed. "You had no right."

"I'm your soon to be mother-in-law. I have every right." Julia argued back. "We spent time and energy in planning this upcoming wedding." Julia was interrupted by a cart being pulled up to their table.

"I hope everybody is ready for some Crepes Suzette." The chef announced with a smile. Astrid knew that voice. She'd spoken with that voice just that afternoon. She looked up and her eyes widened when she saw Hiccup, dressed in a chef's outfit, standing next to their table with a portable stove.

"What are you doing here?!" Astrid asked shocked. Julia pursed her lips at being interrupted mid-interrogation. Both Martin and Julia looked at Hiccup as well.

"And here I thought I knew all of Astrid's friends." Martin commented as Hiccup started making the crepe.

"Oh, Astrid and I became acquainted recently." Hiccup said as he effortlessly made the pancakes.

"That's lovely." Julia said as she gave a fake laugh before turning back to Astrid. "As I was saying Astrid, a lot of time and energy was put into planning this upcoming wedding. I will not have you wisk my son away to Vegas of all places to get married in a cheap chapel. Or is it that you're hiding something from us?" She asked rather smugly.

Hiccup raised his brow at Astrid as if to ask 'Is this the MILzilla?' while he added the caramel, orange juice and Grand Marnier to the frying pan.

"Now hold on just a darn minute Julia. How dare you start accusing me when you just went through my mail!" Her voice rose attracting the attention of sever other patrons. "Future mother-in-law or not, it gives you no right to go through someone else's mail."

"Now darling please don't overreact." Martin jumped in. "I'm sure mother thought she was doing what was best." He tried to defuse the situation, unfortunately it had an adverse effect.

"Uhm….." Hiccup tried to cut in as he was preparing their deserts but decided to stay quiet as he noticed the fury in Astrid's eyes. He just went back to finishing the desert. 'Yeah, not going to jump into an argument between two women who had their claws out.' He thought as he started the flambe.

"Don't overreact?! Don't overreact?" Astrid ground out. "You and your mother ignored me for almost the whole meal, then she starts getting snippy with me and tells me, quite casually I might add, that she opened my private correspondence. And all you can tell me is not to overreact?!"

"You're making a scene Astrid!" Martin told her. "Perhaps this conversation is best held in private."

"I stand up to your mother and I'm making a scene!" Astrid growled as she gripped the fork in her hand tightly. "Why don't you stop being such a momma's boy Martin!"

"Excuse me!" Julia now cut in as she waved her hands at Astrid. "How dare you insult my baby! He's to be your future husband, show some respect girl!" Unfortunately as Julia's tirade went on her blazer caught fire by accident when her hand got to close to the flambe Hiccup was preparing. When she noticed she let out a series of shrieks that would have sent a lion scurrying for the hills. Martin, being the helpful son that he was, tried to put the flames out by patting his napkin onto her burning sleeve. It didn't work quite as he expected when the napkin also caught fire.

Hiccup however managed to grab a small fire extinguisher that was placed at the bottom of the cart and sprayed both Martin and Julia with it. The two were covered in white foam once he was done and Astrid had bite her bottom lip to stop the laughter that was bubbling up.

Julia looked askance, or as askance as anyone could look while covered in foam. She primly stood up and said "Martin I would like for you to take me home now!" Martin being the good boy that he was immediately stood up and went to pay the bill. The patrons still watched as the two foam soaked individuals walked past. Astrid was about to get up when Martin came over and told her he would be staying the night with his mother to help her cool down.

"MARTIN!"

"Coming mother!" Martin said as he wished Astrid a good night before heading over to his mother. Astrid couldn't take it anymore and she let out a huge guffaw when she saw them quickly walking to where her fiance had parked. It was then that she remembered that Martin was her ride home. "Oh crap."

"What's wrong?" Hiccup asked as he plated her Crepe Suzette and placed it before her like he just hadn't put out a person on fire. "On the house by the way."

Astrid stuck her fork in the pancake and then grumbled "Martin was my ride home. Now I'll have to catch a cab."

"You sure you want to still marry this guy?" Hiccup asked quietly. Astrid pursed her lips but didn't reply. "I'd be more than willing to give you a ride home. My shift ends in fifteen minutes."

"That's very nice of you Hiccup, but I don't want to be a bother to you."

"It is no problem Milady." Hiccup said and then he bent a little closer to whisper. "Anything for my lovely wife." This caused Astrid to blush brightly. He left the table after he had given her a wink. Why did the handsome chef, whom she accidentally ended up marrying, have to flirt with her. It wasn't unwelcome either she thought as she ogled his behind again as he left with the crepes cart. Honestly those pants had to be illegal she thought. Astrid kind of missed the flirting. Martin had stopped with the flirting and the flowers when she said 'yes' to his marriage proposal like all the attention had paid off and now there was no more need of it. "Sometimes a woman still wants to be shown that she matters." Ruffnut, who by the way was quite the journalist, had told her during one of their late night Netflix marathons. She had even written an article on it afterwards.

Astrid shook her head as she ate another piece of the crepe. Was she really having second thoughts? She certainly didn't need Martin to provide for her. The royalties from her book sales brought in quite a large sum of money. He was also a bit of an ass today and she was planning to call him to task if he didn't get his act together. How dare he tell her that she was embarrassing him. He did nothing to stop his mother for Thor's sake. She thought back to what Heather and the others had said in the hotel room. Was she really just becoming a trophy wife? Was he just using her? She'd kick him in the nuts if that was the case.

Astrid thought long and hard about it all. Hiccup seemed to be quite the gentleman. Her friends encouraged it and even though they were drunk at the time of the wedding she knew that he hadn't laid his hands on her. They had after all woken up with their clothes still on after what she supposed was the bridal party. Her wedding was in a month, the annulment in two weeks. While her friends seemed to think that Hiccup was a catch she still couldn't see them married. She just didn't know him well enough.

"Hey are you ready?" A familiar voice said from behind her. She turned and saw Hiccup approaching. He was out of his chef's uniform and carried a foam container with him. "This is for you." he said as he handed it to her. "You mentioned that you liked tiramisu."

"Thank you." Astrid smiled as she got up. She didn't just like tiramisu, she loved it, was addicted to it. Heather, on more than one occasion, had to hide all the tiramisu in her apartment because according to her Astrid could sniff it out like a bloodhound.

When Astrid got home she put the container in the fridge and called her mother. "Mom think you can come over tomorrow? I want to tell you something."