Disclaimer: I do not own "For the Dancing and the Dreaming"! All rights belong to Islandic rock singer, Jonsi, English film composer, John Powell and Irish vocalist Shane MacGowan. And extra credit for Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson and Mary Jane Wells for singing it too!
Chapter 7: Hiccup
Berk
February 29
"Hic."
Someone was hiccupping, Stoick was sure of it.
"Hic."
Yes, that was definitely a hiccup, Stoick decided. Even when out like a light, he recognized the sound of hiccups anywhere.
"Hic."
Then came another sound.
"Stoick? Stoick, can you hear me?!"
It was Valka's voice. That was another voice he'd recognize anywhere.
"Oh, my gods, Stoick! Please wake up!"
Valka's voice sounded a bit far away and also very frantic. If only he could locate her and comfort her, to let her know he was all right.
"Valka, try to control yourself! There's no need to exhaust yourself even further."
Another woman's voice. It sounded a lot like Valencia's.
"Hic."
"Exhausted or not, I still have the right to worry about my husband, Mom!"
Valka sounded nearer than ever. Now Stoick had to find the strength to open his eyes and escape this darkness around him.
"Hic."
"It's nice that you're worrying about Stoick, Val, but you need to worry about yourself just as much."
That was Gobber's voice, Stoick decided. It had to be. Who else would it be?
"I will always worry more about my two boys than myself, Gobber. And furthermore, you and Rockhands are as much to blame for this!"
"What do you mean we're as much to blame for this?" Gobber sounded surprised and hurt.
"Yeah, what did we do?"
That was Rockhands' voice.
Stoick could sense an argument rising. He had to open his eyes and deal with this before things got worse. There! He finally got them open and now there was lightness all around him. And right above him were blurry outlines of some familiar looking people.
"If you and the other boys hadn't provoked those Monstrous Nightmares, he wouldn't be in the condition he's in!"
She sounded really close. If only he could find her.
"Oh, Valka, don't start this again!"
That was Ingrid Hofferson's voice and she sounded exasperated.
"It's okay, Ingrid, Gobber, Rockhands," came Valencia's voice. "She didn't mean it."
Stoick looked over at his left side. Sure enough there was someone right beside him. Even with his vision all groggy, he'd recognize his wife anywhere.
"No, Valencia, it is most definitely not okay," came Ingrid's voice. "If you ask me, I am getting quite fed up with this whole…"
"Valka?" Stoick blurted out loudly but exhaustedly.
Valka turned her head towards his direction and Stoick could just make out the aqua-green dots in the middle of her face. No, those weren't dots, they were her lovely eyes.
"Stoick!" Valka, Gobber, Rockhands, Valencia and Ingrid cried out at once.
Suddenly Stoick felt Valka's arms wrap around his neck and her lips press against his cheek as she kissed him pretty hard. This caused a great deal of pain to rise from the spot on his chest where the dragon had slammed its tail earlier.
"Ow! Ow! Valka! Valka!" Stoick groaned.
Valka pulled away and with his vision much clearer, Stoick could make out the apologetic expression on her face. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen. Yep, she had been crying all right. And while her hair was still tied back tightly in her three braided ponytails, it was slightly disheveled.
"Hic."
"I'm sorry, Stoick, I'm just so glad you're all right," Valka said. "I was so worried."
"We all were," Gobber admitted. He, Rockhands and Gothi were standing beside Stoick's side of the bed.
"Gothi looked you over once we got you into bed," Gobber continued, patting Gothi on the shoulder. "Fortunately, she said you don't have any broken bones, just a few bruises."
Stoick looked over at himself and sure enough, he could see some fresh bruises on his arms. Then he looked down at his feet. They too were a bit bruised and swollen on account of the rocks that had pinned them down from before and they were both propped up against a pillow. He figured there was a bruise on his chest as well courtesy of the red Monstrous Nightmare's tail.
"Hic."
"Even if it was just a few bruises, I feared the worst as you laid there beside me unconscious," Valka admitted.
"I'm just fine, Val," Stoick said, patting her on the shoulder reassuringly. "And besides, it's you I'm worried about. How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine too," Valka replied but she looked sad as she said it.
"That's right, Stoick, she's fine," Valencia said as she and Ingrid stood beside Valka's side of the bed, with a small, rolled-up green blanket in her arms, possibly for himself and Valka. Not that they didn't have enough blankets already.
"Hic."
"Gothi says that after at least a few days of bed rest, she'll be back on her feet in no time," Valencia continued. "And after what you just went through, Stoick, I'd suggest you do the same thing."
"Right," Stoick admitted.
"Even if I do feel better after a few days, I doubt I'll ever leave this bed again," Valka said, still looking depressed.
"Valka, what are you talking about?" Stoick asked, surprised to hear Valka say something like that.
"Hic."
"And whoever has those hiccups, please do something about them," Stoick added, looking around at everyone standing around the bed.
"I don't have the hiccups," Gobber admitted, shrugging.
"And I most certainly don't have them either," Ingrid said.
"Don't look at me," Rockhands said.
Gothi pointed to herself and shook her head in a way to tell him that she wasn't hiccupping either.
"Then who…?" Stoick asked.
"Oh, how stupid of me," Valencia chuckled, looking down at the green bundle. "It's your new baby son that has the hiccups."
"My new baby…?" Stoick muttered, suddenly stunned.
The baby!
He had been so focused on driving out that Monstrous Nightmare, so confused after waking up and so sore from his bruises that he had completely forgotten all about the baby!
"I had been planning on introducing him to you once you woke up. And now that you are awake, it's time for the two of you to meet," Valencia said, holding out the rolled-up green blanket to Stoick.
So that blanket she was holding wasn't for himself or for Valka. It was for their new baby!
Stoick didn't even realize he had held out his arms until Valencia had placed the bundle in them. Then she pulled a corner of the blanket back to reveal a wrinkled face – small in size, thinly rounded in shape and pale pink in color with a hint of a grayish pallor. The baby's eyes were closed and fine layers of dark auburn hair coated the top of his soft head.
Stoick couldn't take his eyes off that tiny face. His whole body felt rigid and he couldn't even make out a heartbeat from within his broad chest. He tried to inhale but he couldn't. He didn't even have the strength to exhale. It was as though his lungs had been completely deprived of all oxygen.
"Hic."
The baby jolted lightly as he hiccupped and this caused his eyes to open half-way. He blinked a few times confusedly before closing them again. After about a second, he opened them again, this time with a stunned expression.
"Oh, look, his eyes have finally opened," Valencia was saying.
Now that the baby's eyes were wide open, Stoick could make out the two green irises around his black pupils. It was a beautiful shade of green too, like new, fresh blades of grass poking out of a pile of snow on the first day of spring.
As for the baby, he too was staring up at his father, not taking his eyes of him either. Then he gripped the edges of his blanket with toothpick-like fingers and smiled softly and weakly up at him.
"Ooh," the baby murmured before letting out another "Hic".
It was then that Stoick made the first movement ever since his baby was placed in his arms: He too smiled back softly.
"Stoick? Hey, Stoick."
"Huh?"
Stoick's head jerked up at the sound of Gobber's voice and he turned towards the direction of his friend.
"Everything all right there, old friend," Gobber asked. "You looked as though you just died there for a minute."
"I think I did die for just a minute," Stoick said absentmindedly, turning back to his baby's face.
"Well, if you did, welcome back to the living," Gobber replied.
But Stoick didn't even hear his best friend. All he could hear, see and feel was his son.
"Hic," the baby hiccupped again.
Stoick's smile grew softer and wider as he leaned forward and gently kissed his son's soft, pudgy cheek and whispered into his ear, "Hello, Hiccup. I'm your daddy."
As he pulled back, he noticed that the baby now named Hiccup had scrunched up his eyes in slight discomfort. He probably got tickled by all the bristling hairs of his beard. Then he opened up his eyes again and smiled again as well.
"Valka, we have a son," Stoick said, looking up at Valka for a split second before looking back down at Hiccup.
"Well, you have a son for now," Ingrid spoke up.
This time, Stoick fully looked up from Hiccup and stared at Ingrid in the eye. "What do you mean by "for now", Ingrid?" he demanded, annoyance setting in.
"Well, it's just that, earlier before, after the baby was born and before you were brought in…" Ingrid began hesitantly. "Gothi told Valka…as well as all of us…"
"What did Gothi tell you all?" Stoick demanded, still clutching his new son.
"Go ahead, Gothi," Valka said sadly. "He'll find out sooner or later."
Gothi nodded sadly and began to draw symbols on the floor with her staff while Gobber looked down trying to make out what she was saying.
"Well, Gobber?" Stoick asked when it looked like Gothi was finishing.
"She says…" Gobber began. "She says, 'Because he was born so early, he is much smaller and much frailer than most babies. And because he is so small and frail, I'm not quite sure he'll make it through his first year.'" He turned to Gothi. "Ah, yes, Gothi, I had warned the Chief about that earlier."
"I think she's right," Rockhands added. "That's the smallest, scrawniest baby I've ever seen in my life."
Stoick's eyes widened slightly at the mention of Gothi's diagnosis and Rockhands' comment. He looked down at Hiccup who was smiling up at him, his green eyes full of childish innocence. He also held out his grape-sized fist and his spindly arm out to him. Even his hand and arm looked a little grayish-pink. Stoick had to admit that Hiccup really did look and feel a lot smaller than most babies he had seen.
Gothi scribbled something else and Gobber translated, "'And furthermore, for Valka's own good, she must not have any more children from here on out. She was lucky to have made it through such an early delivery but should she take the risk of getting pregnant again, she might not survive a second time.'"
Stoick's eyes widened even more and he turned to Valka who was looking back at him with dullness, depression and acceptance.
Turning back to Gothi, he said softly, "I understand, Gothi."
There was about a minute of silence between the group in the bedroom. Finally, Gobber clapped his hand and club twice and announced, "All right, ladies and Rockhands. Time to go home now. The Haddocks need a great deal of rest and if they're going to get that rest, they must be left alone."
"That's a very good idea, Gobber," Valencia said, nodding. Pressing a hand against Valka's cheek and kissing her forehead, she added, "I'll come back in the morning to look after you, Stoick and the baby, Val."
Valka nodded dully.
"And I'll take some time off from the forge to look after you all as well," Gobber offered loyally. "Whatever this family needs help with, I'll do it."
"Thank you, Gobber," Stoick smiled.
And with that, Valencia, Ingrid, Gothi, Rockhands and Gobber had walked out of the room. Stoick watched as they walked down the stairs and after a few moments, he heard the sound of the front door shutting, letting him know that they had left. Now only he, Valka and Hiccup were the only ones in the house.
Stoick looked back down at Hiccup's still-smiling face, still thinking about Gothi's words, well, symbols, actually: Smaller and frailer than most babies. I'm not quite sure he'll make it through his first year. He also thought about Rockhands' words: That's the smallest, scrawniest baby I've ever seen in my life.
"Well, son, you are smaller and thinner than most babies," Stoick admitted to his son. "And it's because you've arrived a lot earlier than we expected you to. But you couldn't possibly be frailer than most babies. No, you're a strong baby aren't you?"
He had no idea why he saw his son to be a strong baby, of course but something inside seemed to be telling him that Hiccup was strong. At that moment, he looked up at Valka and a thought just occurred to him. "Eh, Val, have you had a chance to hold Hiccup yet?"
"No, not really," Valka answered, shaking her head dully.
"Well, would you like to hold him now?" Stoick asked, holding Hiccup out to her.
Hiccup looked over towards his mother looking quite curious.
"Um, maybe later," Valka said hesitantly.
Stoick was quite bemused by this. All expecting mothers just couldn't wait to hold their newborn babies. So why didn't Valka want to hold her own brand new firstborn?
"Well, how about I leave him right here in between us?" Stoick offered.
"Well…I suppose that would be fine," Valka decided.
Smiling at her decision, Stoick placed Hiccup down as gently as he could in the middle of the bed so that he would be between his parents. All that time, Hiccup was looking all around, curious to see what would happen next. Once he had placed Hiccup down, Stoick pulled the corners of the bed sheets and the cloak that he had loaned Valka and placed it over his baby.
"This kind and beautiful woman you see lying beside you, Hiccup, is your mother," Stoick said to Hiccup, gesturing to Valka.
Hiccup looked over at Valka curiously and Valka stared at him with sadness and sympathy as though she had felt sorry for him.
Then Stoick moved his hand to the spot of the blankets where Hiccup's belly was and gently rubbed against it. Hiccup's smile widened at the feel of his father's large hand moving up and down against his scrawny stomach, closed his eyes and giggled happily.
"You like that don't you son?" Stoick asked, still smiling. "Well, how do you like this?"
He rubbed Hiccup's tummy even faster and that made Hiccup laugh even more. Even Stoick found himself laughing.
"He really likes having his belly rubbed, Val," he said, looking up at his wife. "Why don't you try it?"
"Um, no thank you, Stoick," Valka insisted. "I'm sure he'd rather feel you rub his belly than he would me."
Stoick frowned at his wife. He paused from the rubbing but kept his hand against Hiccup's body.
"Eh…you know, while Hiccup was being born, some Monstrous Nightmares arrived near the slope," he said.
"I know," Valka said, nodding. "Gobber told me all about it. He said that one of them almost killed you."
"Yes, and it also got away. And so did some of the others."
"Not all of them. Gobber also said that Spitelout successfully killed one."
"Oh, yes, of course, I remember now," Stoick said, thinking back to the news Gobber had gave him shortly before he passed out. Then he shrugged. "Well, at least there's one less Monstrous Nightmare in the world to worry about."
Valka nodded dully. "Oh, yes. I quite agree."
Now Stoick's eyes really practically popped open. His wife who was strongly against the fighting between Vikings and dragons and believed that there was more to the beasts agreed that there was one less Monstrous Nightmare to worry about? Now he knew that there was something up.
"All right, Val, what's wrong?" he asked in a firm voice.
"What makes you think there's anything wrong?" Valka asked dully.
"Well, for one thing: Here we have a brand new baby son and you don't look or sound as happy as all new mothers should be. I offer for you to hold him and to rub his belly and you refuse. Then you've been told that the boys and I went up against a herd of dragons and that one of them had been killed – something you are highly against and you tell me that you're glad about it. You never say you're glad about killing dragons and you never agree that there's one less dragon to worry about when one is killed. You either try to stop us or beg us not to do it again. Now do us both a favor and tell me what's troubling you."
Valka just continued staring at him with sad eyes.
Stoick's expression softened and he placed a hand against her disheveled hair and tried to smooth it down. "Come on. You can tell me anything."
Valka's eyes trailed down towards Hiccup and finally began to speak. *"I understand if you're angry at me, Stoick. You have every right to be."
"Now, Val, what would I be angry at you for?"
"For not holding our son in long enough," Valka answered, still staring at Hiccup who looked back up at her with curious eyes. "I tried to hold him in until the start of spring, honest I did."
"Of course, of course you did," Stoick said, patting her shoulder comfortingly. "And if he's here a little early, it's not your fault. It isn't anyone's fault. It just happened. Perhaps, he was a little impatient. Perhaps, he didn't want to wait until spring to see the world outside your womb."
"Well, I'm sorry he won't be seeing this world for long."
"Why not?" Stoick asked, frowning again.
"You heard what Gothi…well, you saw what she wrote: he may not survive his first year. He's just too small and frail." As Valka said this, more tears began to leak out of her already-bloodshot eyes.
Now it all made sense to Stoick. It was because of Gothi's news of Hiccup possibly expiring due of his frailty and being born early that Valka had refused to hold or touch him or use any form of attachment towards him. Not to mention the further news that she shouldn't get pregnant again because it would risk death in childbirth.
It also explained why she was hysterical and pleading for him to wake up when he was unconscious as well as blaming Gobber and Rockhands for his condition. It would have been bad enough to lose her child. But to lose her husband as well? Then she would have been all alone in this world.
It was then that Stoick was feeling anger towards Gothi. She was a good elder and healer and he liked her very much. But the birth of a child was supposed to be a most joyful moment. He didn't think it was fair of Gothi to ruin his wife's happiness by telling her that her firstborn child was not expected to live.
Then he thought about Ingrid Hofferson saying, "Well, you have a son for now." How dare she take Gothi's side and agree that his child was going to perish? And she was going to have a child of her own soon enough for Thor's sake! If that child of hers was destined to be born just as early as well, would she believe that he or she was never ever going to make it?
He admitted to himself that he was a wee bit saddened by the news that he and Valka couldn't have any more children even if it would have been nice to have more. But so what? Lots of families in the world had only one child. One child was better than no children right? And as he looked down at Hiccup's curious, confused face, he couldn't have felt prouder to have him as his son.
Furrowing his brow, he slid his hand under Valka's chin and lifted it up so that she was looking at him in the eye.
"Valka Haddock, don't you dare fill your head with those thoughts," he said in a voice that was both gentle and firm. "Yes, our son is small and frail…for now. But I, I see this as a sign."
"A sign of what?"
"That one day, he will grow up to be a healthy, young man doing incredible things."
"What kind of things?" Valka asked and Stoick was happy to see that she was looking curious.
"Things like…like fighting rival tribes and the most ferocious of dragons without fear, traveling outside the Archipelago and discovering lands that no man has ever seen before, and leading our people with dignity and justice like a proper Viking chief should. And who knows, perhaps one day, he will find the lady of his dreams and start his own family just like you and I have. Trust me, Val, our boy will become the strongest of them all."
"Well…I don't know," Valka said, looking doubtful again. But not too doubtful.
"Who are you going to believe – an old woman whom you've only conversed with a few times in your life or the man you've been married to for five whole years?"
Valka slowly smiled. "I'm going to believe…you."
"Good," Stoick smiled. "Then you have nothing to worry about."**
"Hic," Hiccup hiccupped and Stoick chuckled.
Even Valka couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, I suppose the only thing we should worry about is getting rid of those hiccups of his."
"No, let him have his hiccups," Stoick insisted. "Those hiccups are a sign that his lungs are working perfectly. In fact, it's the perfect sign that what I say about him growing up bigger and stronger is true."
"Perhaps they are," Valka considered.
"I know they are," said Stoick with pride.
"Speaking of hiccups, I notice that you keep calling him Hiccup," Valka began.
"Of course I do. And that's his name: Hiccup."
"Whatever happened to Magnus or Gunnar?"
"Lots of Viking families out there can name their children Magnus or Gunnar. Personally, I think Hiccup suits him better."
"But isn't it Viking tradition for the runt of the litter to be called a hiccup?" Valka pointed out.
"We're not naming him Hiccup because he's a runt," Stoick said. "We're naming him Hiccup because of his strong and healthy lungs."
"Oh, yes, of course. His lungs. How silly of me."
Stoick nodded. "And besides, I had two ancestors who went by the name of Hiccup. So our son will be the third Hiccup of the Haddock family. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third."
Valka narrowed her eyes. "Horrendous?"
"What? I think it's a good middle name," Stoick said. He looked down at Hiccup. "Don't you like your middle name, Hiccup?"
Hiccup just smiled and babbled baby noises.
"See? He likes it," Stoick said, looking back up at Valka. Then he stretched out his bruised arms and yawned. "All right now. No more talking for tonight. Let's all try to get some sleep. I just went through a scuffle with an angry Monstrous Nightmare…"
"Which you should've left well enough alone," Valka said with a smile.
At first Stoick glowered at her but then he smiled, happy to see that she was acting like herself again. "And you just went through an early delivery. And according to your mother and Gothi, we both need at least a few days of bed rest if we're gonna get back on our feet."
"Trouble is I don't feel like going to sleep," Valka said.
"Well then, I'll just have to put you to sleep myself," Stoick said deviously. "And I'm gonna put you to sleep with my secret weapon."
"Oh, no," Valka said but she was smiling and chuckling as she said it.
"Oh, yes," Stoick said, still devious. Then he cleared his throat and began to sing his and Valka's favorite song slowly and softly. "I'll swim and sail on savage seas with ne'er a fear of drowning and gladly ride the waves of life if you would marry me."
For a strong, stubborn and sometimes hot-tempered Viking, Stoick really liked singing that song with Valka. It was an especially extra special song for them both because they had been singing it and dancing with each other to it since the time they knew they were right for each other. And they had even sang it as they danced on their wedding day as well. Of course, he and Valka couldn't dance now in the conditions they were in but he still felt like singing it anyway.
Hiccup giggled and lifted his pale spindly arms. Stoick smiled down at his baby boy. He knew it was a known fact that babies loved lullabyes so he held out his thumb for Hiccup to grasp in his even smaller fingers and continued singing.
"No scorching sun nor freezing cold will…"
Hiccup let out a series of babbles as he continued to hold onto his father's thumb. Stoick laughed at Hiccup's babbles and even Valka was laughing as well. The sound of his wife laughing again after the terrible day she just had made Stoick very happy.
"If you will promise me your heart," Stoick sang as he placed two fingers against Hiccup's chest. Then he looked up at Valka and nodded encouragingly and expectantly. "And love…?"
"And love me for eternity," Valka sang back, giving in.
Then slowly and rather hesitantly, she reached out and stroked Hiccup's beautiful auburn hair. Hiccup leaned towards his mother's first touch against him. His smile growing wider, Stoick also ran his fingers through his son's hair, so soft and shaggy. Hiccup closed his eyes relaxingly as he relished the feeling of his parents' hands running through his hair.
"My dearest one, my darling dear, your mighty words astound me," Valka continued singing, "But I've no need for mighty deeds when I feel your arms around me."
"But I would bring you rings of gold I'd even sing you poetry," Stoick sang a little louder and quicker this time.
"Oh, would you?"Valka asked.
Stoick nodded and continued, "And I would keep you from all harm if you would stay beside me."
At the "you" part, Stoick pointed one finger at Valka and the other at Hiccup before gesturing to himself once he got to the "me" part.
"I have no use for rings of gold," Valka sang. "I care not for your poetry. I only want your hand to hold."
"I only want you near me," Stoick sang, enjoying the sound of his wife's beautiful singing voice.
Then both Stoick and Valka sang together, "To love and kiss to sweetly hold for the dancing and the dreaming. Through all life's sorrows and delights I'll keep your laugh inside me. I'll swim and sail a savage seas with never a fear of drowning and gladly ride the waves of life if you will marry me!"
It wasn't until the song was completely over that Stoick realized he was singing all by himself. And what he saw next gave him the answer why he was singing alone. Both Hiccup and Valka had fallen right to sleep before the song was even finished and the mother and son were cuddled up together. Valka had her arm wrapped around Hiccup, her head leaning on top of his. Hiccup had his hand on top of his mother's arm.
Stoick chuckled to himself. "Works every time."
The sight of his wife and son cuddled up together and the fact that Valka had overcome her fear of becoming attached to Hiccup made Stoick very happy. He was certain that his speech of Hiccup becoming the strongest of them all wouldn't stop Valka from worrying. So he'd remind her again every single day if he had to. He still couldn't understand why he thought it but somehow he knew for a fact that his son would grow stronger every day.
Stoick leaned forward to blow out the candle on the bedside table and complete darkness hovered over the room. Then he rolled over onto his side so that he would face his son and wife, wincing a little as his bruises burned slightly. Even in darkness, he could make out the peaceful expressions on his family's faces.
Although he took his duties of keeping the people of Berk happy, fed and safe seriously, he was actually looking forward to having a few days off in order to recuperate from the fight. This would also give him more than enough time to spend with his family and get better acquainted with his new baby son.
As he placed his arm protectively on top of Hiccup and Valka, he felt a tiny but noticeable tug on his beard. Looking down, he saw that Hiccup had reached out his arm and was now tightly holding onto a handful of long, bristling red hairs. Yet another sign to prove just how strong he would grow up to be: his tiny but tight grip. Smiling warmly, he planted a soft kiss against Hiccup's head and then he leaned forward and kissed Valka's cheek. Both Hiccup and Valka exhaled deeply in response.
"Sweet dreams, my loves," Stoick whispered. "I promise to love you and protect you with all that I have. Should there come a time when I'm forced to sacrifice my life at the last minute, I would more than gladly do it. And I would do it for the both of you, but especially for you, my son."
Exhaling deeply himself, he too drifted off to sleep.
…
Coming next...the birth of Toothless and his siblings!
The dialogue between Stoick and Valka about Hiccup growing up to be the strongest of them all can be found in Chapter 12 of my first fanfic, "How to Live Without Dragons". If you hadn't read it yet, I suggest you do. * signals where it begins in Chapter 12 and ** signals where it ends in Chapter 12.