Chapter 5

Present day

"Flyyyy me to the moooon…. Let me play among the stars…" Astrid drunkenly sang as she stepped off the elevator and giddily danced to her apartment door. "Let me see what spring is like on….. Jupiter and Mars," she continued as she clumsily dug into her clutch purse for her keys. She kept humming as she stuffed her keys into the lock and walked inside. "In other words! Hold my hand…" She sang as she happily walked inside, kicked the door closed, and eagerly took off her high heels. Her feet were killing her but it was a well-deserved ache. Her singing woke Heather who had been dozing on the couch with Twilight playing in the background.

"Huh, what… where!" Heather had shot up and looked around groggily.

"Oh Heather you were right!" Astrid beamed as she hugged the brunette while leaning over the couch and giggling. "He didn't care!" She exclaimed.

"Huh?" She questioned while wiping the sleep from her eyes. "Wait what?" when what Astrid said hit her she looked at her neighbour in confusion. "You told him?"

"Yeah, I got right down to the cold hard facts. I thought that I might as well be upfront. If a guy can't accept that Damian and I are a packaged deal then that's that." she leaned over her couch. "Turns out he has no problem with me having a kid…" Now a soft red tint dusted her cheek "He even said he admired me for raising Damian on my own,"

"Oh Thor you're already smitten," Heather stood up. "Also what was with that singing just now? I haven't heard you sing since… jail…"

"Wait, you didn't drive home drunk did you?" she then asked while going into cop mode.

"Noooooo," Astrid giggled. "Hiccup gave me a ride home. Charming, funny, smart, and well-off. Can you believe that? He treated me like a queen all through the night," she sighed happily. "This feels like a Hallmark movie!"

"Okay, this I need to hear. Spill the tea girl." Heather, now fully awake eyed her friend.

"Maybe I should tell you tomorrow," Astrid muttered. It's past eleven already. Sleeping on my couch is hardly comfortable."

"Spill. The. Tea." Heather enunciated. "I'm not on call tomorrow so I can sleep in. I need to hear about this date."

"Okay, Okay," she said, flopping on the couch and sitting next to Heather, who turned off the TV. "Damian's been a sweetheart by the way. He's fast asleep so don't worry about spilling all the juicy gossip," the other responded to which Astrid nodded. She then continued with her tale.

"Well if you must know, our date started at Mangia Tutto. You know that fancy Italian restaurant near the botanical gardens." Astrid said while Heather was nodding. "So Hiccup texted me that he had already arrived and had been seated about five minutes before I did. I go into the place and expect him to see him on the ground floor. But no, the hostess takes me up to the VIP area." Upon Heather's incredulous reaction, she nodded. "Yes, that VIP area is at the owner's discretion. The same VIP area that would deny celebrities if they wanted to."

"How?" Heather questioned. "Just how loaded is your guy?"

"Don't know but he knows the owner, apparently." Astrid shrugged. "At first I thought the guy, Giovanni he introduced himself as, was one of the waiters. But he turned out to be the owner himself. Like I'm not joking here. He and Hiccup seemed quite familiar with each other."

"Dinner was…. Incredible." Astrid happily continued as she could still taste the dishes. "I had the Focaccia while Hiccup ordered an Eggplant parmigiana. For dessert we shared a Tiramisu, which is just as sweet as my date was… according to Giovanni, of course," She quickly added. Heather just raised her brow more.

"Oh Heather, the date was perfect. After we'd eaten we went downstairs to dance. I haven't shimmied like that since…. Junior Prom," she said while thinking back and noting that she did not get to attend Senior Prom. "Who knew that they would have occasional live music in the restaurant? I felt kind of embarrassed that I didn't notice the small stage set up near the back on the ground floor."

"We danced the night away to Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin songs after a delicious dinner." she happily uttered and leaned on her palms as she thought back to a few hours ago dreamily.

"Wait… so when did you mention you had a kid?" Heather now asked with a raised brow.

"Right at the beginning," Astrid commented. "After the menus arrived and we were deciding I just blurted out, I have a son," she explained. "Hiccup looked up, raised a brow, asked what his name was, and then nodded. Frankly, I was taken aback by his acceptance. I had to ask him what he thought of dating a single mother and I added that my other dates hadn't acted nearly as cool as he had."

"Well go on girl! Don't just leave me hanging!" Heather grumbled.

"Oh, Hiccup said that the other guys were fools to let a pretty lady like me slip away," Now Astrid was blushing harder. She clapped her hands to her cheeks as heat radiated from them.

"Seems like quite the smooth talker," Heather observed.

"Actually, he really wasn't," Her friend shot back. "He was kind of nervous the whole night. Apparently, he hadn't had much luck with women either. The smooth-talking, he explained, was advice from one of his friends. Honestly, he was a gentleman all night. We both had too much to drink, so he called us a cab, dropped me off first, and even offered to walk me to my door. But I refused that for now." Heather nodded as she understood. For a single woman living alone or with kids, it was best not to let your first date know which apartment you were in immediately, even if the date went well. She'd seen cases where things had gone sideways.

"Seems to have worked quite well," Heather observed. "You are absolutely smitten."

"I mean can you blame me?" Astrid replied as she lounged against one of the couch's arms and fiddled with a loose thread. " He's cute, witty, funny, a total gentleman, loaded but humble to boot. Not that I'm a golddigger or anything but I'm just being realistic here."

"No, I totally get you and agree. You have a kid to take care of. You have to be realistic. I made the mistake of trusting my now ex who turned out to have a gambling problem. Now look at my situation." Heather sighed.

"Hiccup's pretty down to earth. He was pretty upfront with me about his wealth after I told him about Damian." Astrid uttered. "Seems his previous dates approached him with malicious intentions once they learned his family was in real estate and waste management. He figured he couldn't hide after Giovanni blurted out his last name."

"And?" Heather leaned forward.

"And what?"

"What's his last name girl?!" The brunette asked.

"Haddock…" Astrid answered while thinking a bit. "That's what I heard at least. Hiccup didn't really mention it after meeting Giovanni."

"Hold on….. Haddock?! Are you sure?!" Heather blanched a bit.

"I think so, what's wrong?" Astrid questioned.

"Astrid, I know you've been living under a rock a bit with all your focus on night school and Damian but you seriously don't know about the Haddock family?!" Heather nearly wheezed out from shock.

"Heather could you please just spit it out?! You're making me worry now."

"You should be worried! YOU JUST WENT OUT ON A DATE WITH A HADDOCK! A HADDOCK!" Heather shouted as she grabbed her friend's shoulders and shook her for a bit. "Astrid you just went out with someone in the upper echelons of the Hooligan Mafia!"

Three years and 11 months ago

Astrid rubbed her icy fingers together as she was helping arrange a bouquet. She'd arrived in Berk just over a month ago with meager possessions and six months pregnant, now going towards seven.

Berk was a lot bigger than Havenholme, a true metropolis as opposed to the tight-knit community she'd grown up in. Here people didn't know her, oh they stared at her and her belly at times but otherwise they didn't gossip. She was just another hopeful girl trying to make it in the big city. Some things did take some getting used to though. The fast-paced city never slept and for the first few nights in the shelter, she'd laid awake on the cot provided to her to the sounds of the city nightlife.

Within the month there, she'd been trying to find a job, hoping to have some income to support herself and the child she was carrying. Most wouldn't hire her because she was pregnant. One even rudely told her to her face that he didn't need any pregnant chit working in his store and bringing in problems. Astrid wanted to punch the man for assuming she'd be trouble but restrained herself. Finally, she'd found a job at a corner flower shop, helping the owner with the register, bouquet wrapping, cleaning, and whatnot. The flower shop, in a not-so-safe part of town, had been there for over 40 years. The owner was already an old woman and she'd inherited the place from her grandfather.

"This neighbourhood's gone to hell and high water," The old woman muttered as she closed the backdoor. Rain pelted the pavement as dark clouds kept rolling in. Astrid had learned early on that rain, snow, and Berk went hand in hand.

"Did you seriously make a rain joke Debbie?" She questioned as she was putting a ribbon away.

"Well someone's gotta lighten up the mood here." Debbie stated but then said "I'm serious though. The whole neighbourhood is going to hell. Didn't you hear, that Anton's Deli got robbed last night? Punks cleared out everything from the cash drawer and trashed the place."

"I'm thinking of taking up my son's offer and going to live with him in Florida. Honestly, I'm tired of living in this city and seeing it being taken over by these wannabe gangsters. Back in my day gangsters had class. Now they can't even pull up their pants." Debbie looked up as she noticed Astrid staring. "But don't ya worry for now. If I do move I'll be writing you one heck of a recommendation letter. I know a few places that could benefit from a hardworking gal like you." Astrid blushed.

She left work that evening with her hoodie zipped up and an umbrella to keep herself dry. It was only marginally successful as the rain pelted down at an angle. When she finally reached the bus stop she used to travel to and from the shelter she wasn't alone. Some teens were seen lounging at the stop. She stood off to the side. The guys were rowdy, possibly her age or a year or so younger, and were not at all embarrassed by speaking loudly about her…. Attributes.

"Hey Sweetheart, nice ass. Why don't you come plant it here on my lap?" One of the teens hollered after catcalling her.

"Dude, ya crazy. She's pregnant," Another one muttered.

"Means you're easy, right dollface," The one that had catcalled her stated, and when Astrid didn't turn around or respond to his provocation, he got up and yanked her arm and growled, "Listen when I'm talking babe". Which was a big mistake as Astrid proceeded to jab the umbrella into the guy's stomach rather fiercely. One thing that Astrid learned in the shelter was to always be on guard. No one messed with her belongings because she'd punched the first guy who tried.

The teen she had jabbed had let go of her arm and staggered back. His cronies, laughing at first, got up to back him up once he started shouting at Astrid that she'd assaulted them. Something in Astrid snapped. Here she was, a seven-month-pregnant woman getting shouted at by a wannabe bad boy after he tried to lay hands on her. She was cold, she was wet, she had cravings, and her feet were swollen. If he wanted to claim assault then she might as well make him work for it. Astrid's eyes narrowed as she readied her umbrella like an axe. Someone was gonna cry tonight.