Chapter Three: Tummy Ache

It was rare for Hiccup and Astrid to have moments together without distractions. Either they were needed by their children or their dragons. And on the rare occasions both were happy and taken care of, they were usually needed by someone else. But today was an exceptionally good day. They'd dropped the twins off with Heather, had a race on their dragons (Hiccup won by the tiniest bit though Astrid was slowly catching up), and had some time alone in the house. They had put their time alone to good use and were now on the couch next to each other, staring into the fire pit as its orange glow waned.

Astrid breathed a contented sigh, leaning on her husband. As much as she loved being a mother, more than she ever thought she would, she lived for these moments. The little ones with only Hiccup and no one else constantly trying to get her attention. She turned her face so her nose was against his chest. She breathed his scent deeply, the smell of leather, warmth and summer. She hummed as she exhaled, trailing her fingertips down his chest.

She heard and felt a light vibration of a laugh in his chest, his voice rumbling in her ear. "You all right there?"

Astrid smiled and leaned into him even closer, snuggling her face into his chest. "I couldn't be better."

Hiccup ran his fingers down her waist, catching the hem of her shirt. He slowly lifted it until his fingers touched her skin, soft and lean. He closed his eyes, resting his head on hers and gently trailing his hand up to her stomach, reveling in the softness of her skin as if it were the first time feeling it.

Astrid slowly raised her head up at him and kissed the hollow of his neck. "I love you."

Hiccup opened his eyes and kissed her right in between those gorgeous blue orbs. "I love you more."

"Impossible."

Astrid then twisted out of his grasp, his hand meeting air. She sat up a few inches above him, making him look up at her with a small smirk. Starting at his temples, she ran her fingers through his thick hair, making him lean back and sigh with a content smile. She smiled, knowing how much he loved that. And it had been a while since she did it. She towered over him and kissed his forehead, his nose. He smiled, waiting for her next target. She held his face in her hands for a moment before locking her lips onto his in a slow, passionate kiss that sent him reeling. How in the world did she learn to kiss so well? He wondered if that was his doing or if she had a natural talent for it. But he certainly picked a very good kisser to be his wife. Hiccup ran a few fingers up her shirt again, making her giggle through the kiss. He began to pull her down closer to him when a couple of high-pitched squealing voices were heard outside the house.

Astrid pulled away with a sudden pop. "They're coming."

Hiccup moaned. "Mmmm... whyyyy?"

"Oh stop being a baby." She sat beside him again but pecked his lips one final time.

"Fine. But we're finishing this later." He winked at her with a seductive smirk that sent a torrent of butterflies through her system.

The door flew open and in tottered their twins, both breathing heavily and excitedly. Finn was pointing back out the door, his blue eyes alight with in excitement. "Aunt Heathew's tummy huwts."

Hiccup and Astrid exchanged very confused looks. Why had they apparently run across the entire village to tell them that?

"What do you mean her tummy hurts? Is she sick?" Astrid asked, raising an eyebrow.

Adrianna shook her head. "She said the baby makes her tummy hurt."

Hiccup's eyes widened. "Oh! We have to go get her right now!"

The parents struggled to climb off of each other. Their children watched them, completely bewildered as to why they were acting this way. And why their Aunt Heather had cried out and put both hands on her big tummy. Was the baby making her sick? Was she going to throw up?

"Okay, I'll go help Heather get to the healer, you go get Snotlout!" Astrid commanded as they bolted to the door.

"Right!" Hiccup exclaimed, opening the door and allowing his wife to exit the house before him.

The twins stood there, staring at the closed door in surprise. What were they supposed to do now? Suddenly, the door flew open and their parents emerged, panting slightly.

"I'm sorry, sweetie!" Astrid breathed, picking up Adrianna. "We need to go get to Aunt Heather really fast."

"It's okay, mommy." Adrianna replied, putting her arms around her mother's neck.

"We're going to go get Uncle Snotlout." Hiccup explained as he picked up his son. "Let's go, buddy!"

"Otay!" Finn squealed in delight. This was turning into a very exciting adventure.

Astrid carried Adrianna across the village in record time. She would have been faster but the child's weight slowed her down and the girl would never have been able to keep up on foot. When they got to the Jorgenson house, they found Heather lying against the wall, panting heavily.

"Oh thank Thor." she said as Astrid and Adrianna entered the house. "This is a lot more intense than I thought it was going to be."

"You'll be just fine." Astrid said, helping her friend stand up.

"Why is the baby making your tummy hurt?" Adrianna asked, her eyes wide with concern.

"Because it's time for the baby to come out." Heather replied, shooting the little girl a small smile.

Adrianna furrowed her brow, obviously in deep thought, and followed her mother and aunt to the healer's. Heather would bend over every few minutes, breathing heavily and moaning. That baby was giving her a very bad tummyache. When they finally got to the healers, Hiccup and Snotlout had arrived. Snotlout immediately rushed forward and put his arm around his wife. His face was paling by the second.

Heather suddenly glared at him. "Don't you dare pass out like you did with Astrid." she said in a low voice. "You did this to me and you're going to be here for it."

"Right." said Snotlout, taking several deep breaths. "Well come on then, let's do this."

He led her into the healer's house. Hiccup and Astrid sat outside, staring at the door. Not only were they feeling slightly awkward at being outsiders but they also weren't able to finish what they'd started at home.

"Daddy?" Adrianna said, pulling on her father's shirt. He crouched down next to her. "Did I make mommy's tummy hurt?"

"Well..." Hiccup thought for a second. "Yeah you did."

"Oh." The little girl looked close to tears. She suddenly ran over to her mother and threw her arms around her legs. "I sorry I made your tummy hurt, mommy!"

Astrid chuckled and got on her knees so she was facing her daughter. "It's okay, sweetie. I'm happy it happened because then I got to meet you."

"Was daddy happy too?" Adrianna asked, still looking visibly shaken by this news.

"I sure was." said Hiccup, scooting forward. "Addie, it's okay. That's what happens when babies are born. It's not your fault."

"Yeah. As soon as I was holding you and Finn, I forgot all about the..." Astrid suddenly trailed off, looking around. "Where's Finn?" she asked, her eyes widening.

Hiccup looked around and noticed, with a jolt, that the boy was gone. He faced his wife again. "He was just here!"

"You had him last, Hiccup!" Astrid snapped, now getting to her feet.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "All right, well let's just look for him. He couldn't have gone far."

Xxx

Finn had obviously gone outside the rock barrier. He wasn't anywhere in the village square and no one had seen him. It was as if he had gone invisible. Astrid's heart began to pound in her ears. Where was her little boy?

"Did you find him?" she asked Hiccup breathlessly as he ran into the village square.

Hiccup shook his head. "No, he's probably wandered into the woods. We need to..."

"Hiccup!" Stoick called, running over as fast as he could. "Astrid, good. You're here. I found Finn."

"Oh thank the gods, do you have him?" Astrid asked, not sure whether or not to sigh in relief.

"That's the difficult part. Now don't panic..."

"Where is he?" Hiccup and Astrid shouted in unison.

"I said don't panic!" Stoick boomed. "If you panic, you'll make everything worse. Now get your dragons and follow me."

"What about Addie..."

"Lotus!" Stoick shouted. The woman, who was sitting and talking to someone on the other end of the village square, bounded forward. "You watch Adrianna for a bit." It wasn't a question.

"What's wrong with Finn?" Adrianna wailed, looking genuinely terrified now.

"Don't worry about it, sweetie." Hiccup said, giving her a surprisingly gentle gaze. "We'll make sure he's okay."

Moments later, Hiccup and Astrid followed Stoick as they flew over Berk. They scanned the ground and trees as they went by, wondering where Stoick was taking them. Hiccup looked to his father to ask a question as the cliffs came to view, thinking that they must have passed the spot, but he stopped. Stoick's eyes were locked on the cliffs, making Hiccup's insides turn to ice. As they flew over the cliff drop to the ocean, he looked down... and nearly fell off Toothless.

Their little son was lying on a ledge six feet down, still as a statue; he was lying on his back, his head facing toward the ocean with his red hair blowing in the wind. Hiccup and Astrid urged their dragons into a loop after Stoick. The flapped above the still form of Finn for a moment, unsure how to proceed.

"Finn!" Astrid called down. The boy didn't move.

Hiccup felt like screaming; he was supposed to be watching him! But he shoved down his emotions for the moment. The crag didn't look very supportive. If anyone bigger than Finn had fallen on it, it probably would have shattered.

"How do we get him?" Hiccup asked Stoick, who's face was etched in thought.

"It's too steep for you to fly down. Astrid, stay here and watch Finn. Hiccup, you land by the edge. I'll go get some rope and some help, then lower you down." Stoick called.

The couple nodded, following his instructions without question. If the crag was as brittle as it looked, it certainly wouldn't hold for very long.

Toothless landed on the ground near the edge. Hiccup hopped off and jogged to the edge, Toothless on his heels. The duo looked down at the still boy. From up close Hiccup could see the cuts and bruises on his little boy's body. He crouched on the balls of his feet, putting a hand to his mouth. Curse him for not paying attention... if his son wasn't breathing... no. No, he was fine. He had to be. He'd never forgive himself otherwise. A coo and nudge to his right shoulder brought him out of his reverie. Hiccup looked up; Toothless' wide eyes were in front of his, and the dragon cooed again.

"You're right, bud," Hiccup sighed. "He'll be fine."

Stoick soon flew overhead with Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and Spitelout trailing behind on their dragons. Stoick turned around and tossed one end of a long rope to Hiccup. Hiccup grasped the rope and gave Stoick a thumbs up. He was lifted off the ground a little shakily at first, Toothless shrinking a bit and watching steadily, ready to dive after him should he fall.

"It's okay, Toothless," He called calmly. "I'm fine."

The Night Fury visibly relaxed and sat on the edge, watching his friend's descent. Hiccup was steadily lowered the almost six foot drop. Just above his son now, he could really survey the damage. The cuts and bruises were minor and a little bump had formed at the back of Finn's head, but what made Hiccup smile in relief was the breathy sound coming from his open mouth.

"He's breathing!" He called up for Astrid's sake.

"Good! Now grab him and let's go!" Stoick called down.

Hiccup was lowered to be side-by-side with Finn. He reached out, swaying in the wind a bit so he gripped the rope again. Once he was steady, he reached to his son again.

His hand brushed his son's shoulder, but the boy stirred. "Finn?"

Finn's eyes opened a crack. "Daddy..."

"Hey buddy, it's okay, I'm here." Finn stared at him for a moment before he tried to sit up. "Easy buddy..."

A loud crack under them jolted them both. The rock cracked underneath Finn's body and Hiccup gripped his son's arm. "Finn, come here!"

Finn jumped into Hiccup's arms just as the rock crumbled beneath him. Father and son watched as the rock fell down the rest of the chasm and splashed into the water.

"Whoo, that was cyose." Finn remarked from Hiccup's shoulder.

Hiccup eyed him with a most definite fatherly expression. "Yeah. I'll say."

Stoick had Thornado fly them up to the ground to meet Astrid, who was just landing. Hiccup lightly rolled his eyes at his son's cheers of the wind blowing in his face.

"This so tool!" he shouted.

Hiccup touched on the ground and released the rope, trying hard to stay stern with his son. But he couldn't help but think of the glorious day he could teach his son fly through the sky by dragon.

"Finn!" Astrid nearly yanked her son out of Hiccup's arms.

"Dahh mooooommy I tan't bweave!" Finn choked from Astrid's shoulder.

"Astrid, you're smothering him."

"You zip it. You still lost my baby." Astrid growled.

"And I just saved him! You should be thanking me!" Hiccup frowned.

Astrid sighed. "All right, fine. But Finn..." She sighed heavily, pulling him up with a stern expression on her face. "You are in big trouble little man."

"Umm..." Finn looked at his hands. "I think I should be a big man with a wittle twouble."

Stoick couldn't help the chuckle from his perch on Thornado. "You will be a big man when you obey your parents' rules, son."

Finn sighed heavily in defeat. "Otay, Poppy."

Hiccup sighed heavily. "All right. Let's go home. Addie's probably in fits."

"And we also have to check to see if your prophecy about Snotlout's kid is right!" Ruffnut shouted as they took off.

"Oh yeah. So we do." Astrid smiled as she hopped onto Stormfly.

"Prophecy?" Hiccup scoffed. "I'm no Elder. I just know."

The group sighed in relief as they flew back to the village. They touched down in the square, Hiccup smiling at his chatty son. He still needed a lecture, but he was so thankful that everything hadn't been too bad. That was about as terrifying as his parenting experience had been up to that point, and he was content to leave it that way.

Sadly, Fate had other plans.

Xxx

"Owww!" Finn wailed as Astrid attempted to put a salve on one of his cuts. "Stop it, mommy!"

"Hold still." His mother snapped.

"But it huwts!" the boy cried.

"What were you thinking?" continued his mother. "You know you're not supposed to go outside the rocks. We tell you this almost every day." The boy tried to pry his arm loose but she gripped it tighter.

"Owwww, no!" he shrieked, tears beginning to stream out of his eyes.

"Maybe you'll think twice before disobeying us again." Astrid's relief at his safety had long since ebbed and now she was more upset with her child than anything.

"Mommyyyy!"

"No, I'm not letting go of you, Finn. You did a very stupid thing today. You could have gotten very, very hurt. Or died."

The boy's face suddenly went ashen. He looked up at his father, who had walked behind Astrid and gently placed his hands on her shoulder, still giving his son a very harsh look.

"Astrid, don't bruise him more." He said in a soft voice.

The mother looked down at her hand and realized that she was probably gripping the boy's arm more than necessary. She loosened it slightly. Just then, they heard a very loud sniff from behind them. They turned around to see Adrianna, her hands covering her mouth and tears spilling onto her face.

"Finn was gonna die?" she squeaked, looking horrified.

Astrid raised her eyebrows at her husband, as if nonverbally telling him to deal with this particular crisis since she was already so preoccupied with the errant boy whose arm she was gripping. Hiccup got the hint; he walked across the room and got down on his knees next to his little girl, who looked like she was going to burst into tears.

"Finn was in a lot of danger today, Addie." he said as gently as he could. "But your mommy, Poppy, and I saved him. And look, he's okay now, isn't he?"

Adrianna's lower lip trembled slightly as she nodded. Hiccup put his arms around her and held her to his chest.

"I promise that mommy and I are going to do everything we can to make sure you and Finn are safe. You don't have anything to worry about, sweetie."

He could feel her little heartbeat slowing down a bit as she relaxed and put her arms around his neck. Hiccup smiled as he hugged her, feeling like this was where she belonged. Right there in his arms where nothing bad could happen to her. And he would do anything in his power to uphold his promise to her and to Finn. As he stole a glance at his wife, who was still furious with her son, he saw a gleam of determination in her eyes that assured him that she too would do her best to keep their children safe.

Xxx

Heather and Snotlout's baby came into the world a few minutes after Hiccup, Astrid, and the twins came to find out how they were doing. As they sat outside in the dark with a group of other Vikings, the twins became antsy. Astrid was clinging to Finn to make sure he didn't run away again. Finding him in the dark would be almost impossible. A high pitched wail came from the inside of the house and everyone brightened up.

"Moment of truth." Astrid said, grinning at her husband as Snotlout pushed open the door.

The expression on their friend's face made Hiccup grin almost maniacally. He locked eyes with Snotlout.

"Don't say it." Snotlout growled at him.

"I wasn't going to say anything." Hiccup said, trying to act innocent.

Snotlout turned to the rest of the crowd. "It's a girl." he said in an odd voice, not quite disappointed but also not quite happy. "She and Heather are fine."

Several of the onlookers cast Hiccup surprised glances. He shrugged modestly, trying to not to gloat too much.

"Congratulations, daddy." he said to Snotlout.

"Oh shut up, you." Snotlout rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, they heard a loud, delighted sounding gasp come from inside the house.

"It's a baby!" squealed a small, feminine voice who was certainly not Heather.

"Oh Odin above..." Hiccup muttered. "Adrianna, come back out here!"

"But dere's a baby!" she repeated, sounding completely ecstatic.

"It's fine. She can stay." Snotlout said, sounding defeated.

It was a good thing Adrianna had made a beeline to the baby. Had she taken in her surroundings, she might have been terrified out of her mind. The others waited until Heather was cleaned up before coming in to see the newest Jorgenson. Adrianna was sitting on the bed next to Heather, grinning from ear to ear and staring at the baby girl in her arms.

"She's... she's cool, you know?" Snotlout said, sitting on Heather's other side and looking into his daughter's face. "Kind of small... but she won't always be..."

"Are you crying?" Astrid asked as she suddenly noticed tears begin to slip out of his eyes.

"No! I'm not... shut up, Astrid!" Snotlout grumbled but the smile on his face only widened.

Adrianna looked up at Snotlout, the smile melting off her face.

"Don't cry, Unca Snotlout." She said in a very high pitched, shaky voice. "Why you not happy?"

"I... I am happy..."

But it was too late to stop Hiccup and Astrid's little girl once she was determined. She immediately got down off the bed, ran around to the other side, and threw her arms around Snotlout's neck. Snotlout looked up at Hiccup, his eyes wide, and Hiccup grinned. He then slowly put his arms around the little girl, feeling a bit uncomfortable and, embarrassingly enough, even more emotional.

When she finally let him go, she stared into his face. "Be happy." she said, wiping a tear out of his eye.

"Thank you. I will." Snotlout said, awkwardly tapping the child on the head.

Adrianna immediately ran back to get a better look at the baby. She stopped when she noticed that Finn had taken her seat, looking a bit upset at first, but then sighed and walked resolutely over to her mother.

"Can you have another baby, mommy?" she asked.

Astrid chuckled. "No, sorry sweetie. Two babies are enough for me."

Snotlout noticed the tiniest glimpse of sadness in Hiccup's face after she said those words. But he may have been imagining it.

"She's cute." said Finn, grinning down at the baby.

"Thank you." Heather smiled at him. "I think so too."

Finn leaned down and kissed the baby on her forehead.

"Oh no!" Snotlout suddenly shouted, or he would have done if it didn't mean waking up his daughter. "You keep him away from her!"

Hiccup and Astrid exchanged glances, both trying not to crack a smile.