A/N: Another story? So I went to see Mary Poppins Returns recently and though I love the original movie, watching the new one, I could see there was the potential for a HTTYD version. Not the same, of course and there will be no chalk drawing excursions or magical bathtubs in this story and definitely no mangled 'cockerney' accents (yes, I'm looking at you, Mr Dick Van Dyke!) But there will be Hiccup, Astrid, a cute kid and some romantic fluff. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own How To Train Your Dragon. Rights remain with Cressida Cowell and Dreamworks.

Chapter One:

The beeping of the heart monitor slowed inexorably, despite every prayer he could muster to all the Aesir, despite every ounce of hope and love he could pour into the fierce grip he kept on her hand throughout her desperate struggle. But on the screen, the line went flat and the jarring tone filled the air.

They tried to push him aside but he wouldn't let her go. Scratch that-he couldn't let her go. She was his wife, his soul-mate, his...everything. So he remained as they pushed drugs through her IV, as they pumped her chest and breathed for her, only letting go as they arched electricity through her, over and over.

And he held her hand tight, tears trickling unheeded down his face, throat clogged with sobs as they called the time of her death.

oOo

"HEATHER!"

Hiccup Haddock sat bolt upright in bed, the nightmare shuddering through him, a cold sweat drenching his lean and shaking shape. Automatically, his hand stretched out to where his wife should be-but tonight, as every night for the rest of his life, the space was flat and empty. Tears were streaking his cheeks, reliving that horrible memory for the hundredth, the thousandth time since her death nine months earlier. And as he struggled to control his breathing, he heard the soft cry from next door. Running his trembling hands through wild auburn hair, guilt wracked him once more. He had killed Heather-and now he had woken their child.

Still shaking from the aftermath of the memory, he threw the covers back and slid his legs round, reaching for his prosthetic and mindlessly strapping it on. He had lost the lower part of his left leg at fifteen in a car accident and had never let the disability hold him back. Heather had loved his determination and had mimicked him mercilessly with a comic limp that had him chuckling and loving her more every time. It had been their 'thing' and he missed it. He missed her.

Another cry sounded and he levered himself up, the faint grimace as he put his weight through the sensitive stump automatic as well. He walked slowly through the door, using only the light filtering through the gaps in the drapes and pushed the door open, forcing a smile on his pale face. The room was neat and clean, pink everywhere. Pink plush toys, pink drapes, pink carpet-and yellow walls. Heather had been firm despite tantrums: she was not walking into a room that looked like the interior of a raspberry. And Hiccup had thanked Thor for her wisdom. He knelt cautiously down by the little bed and gently rested his hand on the shaking shape there.

"Hanna?" he asked gently, his emerald green eyes sweeping over her.

"Daddy?" the little voice murmured. "I miss Mommy." He gently swept her into his arms and gave her a warm hug.

"I know, Princess," he sighed. "So do I. Did you have a bad dream?" She nodded, her little head nuzzling against his chest. He stroked her dark chestnut hair, feeling little arms wind around him.

"I was looking for Mommy," she mumbled. He gently kissed the top of her head.

"It's okay, sweetie," he soothed her. "I know. I want her back too. But Mommy is in Valhalla and can't come back."

"Can't you send her the fare?" Hanna asked suddenly and a small smile tilted his lips. He shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Princess,"he sighed. "Lord Odin wants her to stay with him. She's not allowed to come home-ever. We just have to stay here and struggle on." He swallowed and she squeezed him harder.

"'m glad I have you, Daddy," Hanna said, lifting her head. She was a small child-as Hiccup himself had been-her narrow face lightly freckled, her wide emerald eyes the mirror of his. He could see Heather in her nose and lips and voice but she was all he had left of his wife. "Please promise you won't leave me?" He kissed her on the forehead.

"I'm never leaving you, Princess," he promised, hugging her tight. "Now, can you get back to sleep?" She nodded sleepily, easily soothed by the presence of her father.

"Will you stay with me, Daddy?" she asked hopefully. He sighed. The child sized bed was not a great option for his long frame but his daughter needed him. He smiled.

"Sure, sweetie," he said and scooched under her 'Frozen' bed cover, curling up as best as he could, feeling the little body snuggle into him. He managed to uncomfortably curl on his side, cushioning his head with his arm. He pulled the covers over them and felt Hanna fall asleep.

"Love you, Daddy," she mumbled. He draped his other arm around her and nuzzled her head.

"Love you too, Princess," he sighed and lay there, listening to her gentle breaths. But the image of Heather's death rolled round his head and sleep eluded him. "I'm here, baby," he murmured as she shifted. "I'm never leaving you."

oOo

He'd lain awake, managing to sneak away around four and attending to the washing, ironing and preparing breakfast and lunch while his daughter slept. Their small house was spotless, Hanna's clothes were clean and she had plenty of toys and diversions. But Hiccup was a complete mess, barely sleeping, exhausted all the time and struggling as a single parent. He got Hanna up, made sure she had washed her face and cleaned her teeth and was dressed and fed. He'd showered before she woke and he was ready for work, in his dark brown pants, pale green shirt and slightly rumpled tie. Hanna was in a pink top, denim pinafore dress, pink leggings and pink and white wellington boots.

"You ready, Princess?" he asked, getting her ready for Nursery. She nodded as he pulled on her coat, mittens, scarf and pink fluffy hat and helped her on with her pink backpack. Hiccup had learned that she insisted on wearing at least one pink item every time so he often had to do a run of pink things overnight to make sure her favourite items were clean for the next day. Hanna had spent time at Nursery when her Mom was alive but now she was there every day while her Dad had to work. Sometime his friends collected her but almost always, it was her Dad, quiet and kind as he collected his daughter like the most precious jewel that she was. But the Nursery knew that Hanna had lost her Mom and they cared for her, knowing they could call Hiccup any time if there was the slightest of concerns with his child.

But while he was at work, he buried his pain, focussing on complex engineering calculations and leading his own small company as they bid for contracts and developed new solutions to problems they were commissioned to deal with. Strike Engineering had been Hiccup's greatest creation before Hanna, the culmination of his innate technical and inventive abilities. He had put in insane hours before Heather gave birth but afterwards, he had worked in evenings and early mornings, not wasting time with his precious family. But they were wrestling with a particularly difficult commission and Hiccup's expertise was of paramount importance. So he had to put in extra hours, because he was the sole breadwinner for his motherless daughter-and that was proving a problem.

Family Services had been alerted when Heather died, for Hiccup had no siblings or parents to help him look after the little girl. Heather had a brother and an estranged father but that was it as well-so the department had assigned a Social Worker to keep a close eye on the family to ensure that Hanna's needs were being met and that Hiccup was an adequate father. And the woman assigned had made it clear that she did not consider a lone male with a full time job and a company to run was a suitable guardian for a young child. So far, Hiccup had managed to deal with her because Hanna was always clean, well-turned out and the house was perfect...but she was now making more demands. He had to attend Grief Counselling, there had to be supervised play and he had to demonstrate integration with other parents in the Nursery. And he knew that some of the demands were really unfair and excessive but he had no power and no will left to argue...because he was in desperate fear of losing his daughter, the last part of his wife.

So he sat in the chair of his Grief Counsellor's office, his long fingers drumming nervously in the wooden arm of the leather chair, a leg bouncing nervously and heart hammering in his chest. The man looked over his half-moon glasses and gave a benign smile.

"So how have we been this week?" he asked calmly. He was a portly man of late middle years, his blue eyes compassionate and bald head gleaming in the muted lighting. Hiccup considered lying, his emerald eyes flicking over the very familiar surroundings-the pale green walls with wood panelling, the deep green carpet and simple, empty desk. Then he shrugged.

"Not so good," he admitted.

"Nightmares?" Anders Svenson, the Counsellor asked. Hiccup nodded.

"I see her die, every Loki-damned night," he growled, suddenly angered. "And I can do nothing about it. It's all my fault...I already knew that...but it just hurts worse and worse each time. And when I see that, I wake...and I end up barely sleeping." He shook his head. "I feel like a zombie. And all I can think is I mustn't screw up because they will take Hanna away from me and that would finally kill me..."

"And are you likely to 'screw up'?" Anders probed lightly as Hiccup shrugged.

"Probably," he sighed. "I mean, I was a screw-up at school-small, clumsy and prone to accidents-and Heather was really my saving grace. She knew everything about Hanna and though I tried, she was just so much better at all the Mom things. And I do know how to work everything in the house and cook and clean but I just don't want to let her down. I mean, the Social Worker is demanding I do more and more things to prove I'm an adequate parent and while she demands that, I know that somehow, I'll slip up. I mean, work is insanely busy and I have long hours and while Nursery and my friends are great, I-I don't know what to do..."

He leaned forward and covered his face with his hands and his shoulders shuddered. Quietly, the counsellor watched him, making a note in his records and inspecting the young man. Hiccup was thinner than he had been when the man had first walked into his office and despite his diligent attendance, he didn't seem to be moving forward. Of course, he had refused to go on antidepressants because he was terrified that needing them would work against him. And Anders was saddened because it was clear that they were precisely what he required.

"Maybe you need some help?" he suggested gently as Hiccup wiped his nose and palmed his face dry.

"How?" he mumbled. "I mean, my parents are dead, Heather's Mom is dead and she's estranged from her father and her brother...well, he's not great babysitting material..." Anders sighed.

"I meant professional help-like a Nanny," he said calmly as Hiccup stiffened.

"Oh, I couldn't..." he began but Anders sighed.

"HIccup-please don't see this as criticism but you are clearly struggling," he said. "You are not sleeping, you are in a constant state of anxiety and your work will suffer as well."

"I can manage both," Hiccup said stubbornly. "I promised Heather I would look after Hanna..." Anders sighed.

"Did you specify on your own, Hiccup?" he asked sympathetically. The auburn-haired man shook his head.

"She's my responsibility," he said defeatedly. "I mean, what sort of father would I be if I couldn't look after my own child...? How useless would I be?"

"And most other people have family and friends who can take the strain...but you are very restricted in your resources," Anders reminded him. "You take her to Nursery. This is just an extension of that..."

"In my home...doing the things I should be doing," Hiccup replied slowly.

"Look-you need help and this is your best option," he reminded the young man. "You are worried that the Social Worker is on your case? This will help answer many of her queries and may end up protecting you both." He saw a dubious look in his client's emerald eyes and he sighed. "All I ask is that you consider it." Hiccup clasped his hands together and stared at his wedding ring.

"Okay," he sighed. "But I guess it may be my only option."

oOo

"I think it's a great idea," Frederick 'Fishlegs' Ingerman told him bluntly as he stirred his coffee and made Hiccup's tea. The man was Hiccup's best friend, a solid husky guy with short blonde hair, a round face and strangely short legs. He was kindly and very clever and Hiccup's best support. Hanna was sitting on the couch, playing with her Elsa and Anna dolls, having finished her meal of pasta, meatballs and sauce. Hiccup shrugged.

"I hate the idea," he mumbled. "I mean, I promised Heather I would look after our daughter. What kind of father would I be if I had to get help from a stranger?"

"A wise one," Fishlegs told him, placing the tea on the table and sitting opposite him. "Look, you're finding it a strain and your social worker is convinced you aren't a good father. She's looking for any way to trip you up and this would be proof that you are taking measures to ensure that Hanna is well-provided for."

"She is well provided for," Hiccup corrected him more sharply than he had intended.

"Sorry-bad choice of words. But there will be someone to cover for you in case you may be doing something that you can't abandon," Fishlegs pointed out. "I mean, I come when I can-but I can't walk out of a class of Freshmen either-and though I know Ruff will always help, she's not the best person to convince that social worker that you have a responsible deputy in place." Hiccup gave a thin smile.

"Yeah...thank Thor she doesn't know about that time when Ruff took Hanna home and they both ended up pink and covered in sequins," he said slowly, his eyes drifting over to the child. Hanna looked up and grinned, waved and then turned back to her dolls. Fishlegs looked up with a smile at the antics of his girlfriend.

"By Ruff standards, that was mild," he reminded his friend.

"Don't remind me," Hiccup groaned, recalling some of the woman's antics when they were at school. "I suppose I should be grateful that Hanna didn't come back with a piercing or a tattoo..." Fishlegs chuckled.

"I think she'll wait at least until Hanna's five," he quipped as Hiccup buried his head in his hands.

"And yet you want some strange woman I don't even know to look after my child," he sighed.

"Yup!" the husky man said with a grin. "Look-you're my best friend, Hiccup-and I hate to see you like this. Having someone to help with Hanna will mean you can concentrate more on your work."

"I just worry that Hanna will forget Heather," Hiccup sighed. "I mean, she died nine months ago, just around when Hanna was three and she's so little. What if she starts thinking the Nanny is her Mom? What if...?"

"I know you won't allow that to happen," Fishlegs reassured him, opening a packet of biscuits and peering at them. "Jammy Dodgers?"

"Hanna's favourite," Hiccup said automatically. "She is allowed one a day after Nursery if she's good..." Chuckling, his friend bit into one of the treats and grinned.

"I'm moving in here," he said playfully.

"No room-the Nanny will get the spare room," Hiccup told him glumly.

"Then you'll do it?" Fishlegs checked and his friend nodded.

"Yeah...well, you think it's a good idea, my Counsellor thinks it's a good idea and who knows? We may get Mary Poppins," he said in resignation. "Though if I find my front room full of chimney sweeps, I'm firing her."

"If you find your front room full of chimney sweeps, you'll find the twins all over them," Fishlegs grinned. Hiccup sighed.

"Are you sure this isn't some ploy to set me up with a new girlfriend?" he checked and his friend shook his head.

"We'll get this sorted and then we can sort out your social life," he said but Hiccup glanced over at the little girl.

"She's my social life," he reminded his friend. "I'm doing this for Hanna. Nothing else matters."