Chapter Four: Compromises

Hiccup woke up the next morning with a face full of Astrid's long, golden hair. He slowly brushed it out of his eyes and snuggled closer to his wife. He heard her slow, rhythmic breathing and felt himself fall in love with her all over again.

It took him a few minutes to figure out why he was so terrified and excited at the same time. And then he remembered. We're having a baby. He thought. The most precious gift that the natural world can bestow upon us has been handed to us. A brand new human being. A life. A person, a wonderful new person is going to come into our lives and bring love and joy and magic and wonder... and why can't I ever be this eloquent when I talk to anyone?

"Hiccup?" Astrid whispered, stirring slightly. "Let go of me."

"Why?"

"Just let go."

Hiccup let go of her body and his wife immediately jumped up, ran over to the window, and retched.

"Are you okay?" he asked, sitting up slightly.

"Hold my hair." She said, gripping the edge of the window with her one good hand.

He stood up and made his way to her. She retched again. He grabbed hold of her hair just as she finally expelled the contents of her stomach onto the grass below. She turned to face him, wiping her mouth with her hand.

"I'm sorry." she said, looking slightly embarrassed. "Not a very nice thing to wake up to, was it?"

"I've had worse." Hiccup gave her a lopsided smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, actually." Astrid replied. "Though I really want a drink of water."

"Say no more." he said, immediately grabbing the first skin of water he could find.

She drank it as though she hadn't had a drop to drink in days. His brows furrowed in concern.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked once she finally finished it.

She wiped her mouth again. "Yes, I'm sure."

"Okay... do you want something to eat?"

She shook her head. "No thanks. Not now. I'm still really tired."

Hiccup paused. His wife was definitely a morning person (while he was most decidedly an evening person) and she was usually wide awake within seconds of getting out of bed. Sensing his concern, Astrid waved her hand, as though trying to physically push aside his doubts.

"I'm fine, Hiccup. I'm just tired. And I don't feel too sick anymore." She assured him.

"Either way, we should go see a healer and..."

"No!" Astrid exclaimed, making her husband jump.

"Why not?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because I don't want anyone to know just yet." she replied. "I don't want anyone to make a fuss. You're going to be annoying enough."

Clearly whatever it was that made women so unpredictable during pregnancy was the reason for that admission, Hiccup reasoned.

"Well my dad already knows. And so do the twins." he reminded her. "And how long do you expect us to keep it a secret when it's going to get more obvious when..."

"Are you making a crack about my weight?" Astrid snapped suddenly.

Hiccup took a few steps back and tripped over their bed, landing on it with a thud. Astrid laughed maniacally.

"Oh this is going to be fun." she said once her laughter had subsided.

"Really? You're going to torment me?" he frowned.

Astrid nodded, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "Consider it my revenge."

"Revenge? You had a lot to do with this too!" Hiccup protested. "I just helped..."

"Yes you did but I'm the one who has to do all the work. And besides, it's fun!" she reached out a hand to help him up.

He stood up, grumbling the entire time. She chucked; this was going to be an exciting few months.

"You know, I do feel a bit better now." She said, walking toward the door to their bedroom. "I think I'm going to take my morning flight on Stormfly."

"No!" Hiccup shouted, rushing forward and blocking her from opening the door.

Astrid crossed her arms. "Hiccup, if you do not get out of my way, I will punch you in the face!"

Hiccup shook his head, a panicked expression on his face. "Astrid, be reasonable..."

"I am being reasonable; you're the one who is being ridiculous!" she retorted.

"I'm ridiculous?"

Astrid took some deep breaths. "Okay... you let me fly with a broken arm..."

"You ran away from me and didn't listen to my warnings..."

"...and nothing happened so why is this any different?"

The couple stared at each other for a few seconds. Hiccup was at a loss for words. He thought his wife would be a lot more careful than this.

"Because it's not just you." he said in a low voice. "You have to think about the baby too."

"So I have to give up flying now?" Astrid hissed back. "I don't think so!"

"Astrid, what if you fall off again? We could have lost the baby the first time!"

"But we didn't!"

"I don't want to take that chance." Hiccup sighed. "If you go flying and a storm sneaks up on you and what happened last time happens again and I'm not there to save you, I'm going to lose everything. We'll lose everything."

"So come with me." Astrid said, brightening up considerably.

"What?"

"We'll compromise. No flying unless we do it together. And that goes for you too. Our kid needs a father." she explained.

Hiccup considered this for a second. If it meant making his wife happy, he was willing to compromise. Plus he was frightened of her temper now that her emotions were about to become so unpredictable.

"All right. But Toothless and I always go flying at dusk. And you'll have to come along for that if I'm really going to give up flying without you." Hiccup agreed.

"And Stormfly and I always go flying at dawn. So you'll have to come along for that flight too." Astrid reminded him.

They were silent. Hiccup finally walked away from the door. He walked over and took Astrid's hand.

"You know, I think I'm going to like flying with you, Astrid Haddock." Hiccup winked at her.

"I'm just looking forward to getting rid of you." Astrid said and, without waiting for her husband to respond, opened the door and yanked him out of it.

They nearly tumbled over each other down the stairs and when they finally got to the pen with the dragons, both beasts eyed them with confusion.

"Come on, Stormfly." Astrid said, mounting her dragon. "We've got a guest this morning. And every morning for a few months. Sorry, girl."

The dragon gave Hiccup a disgruntled look before taking off. He placed his arms around his wife and leaned into her shoulder. Her hair smelled wonderful and the air in his face was very refreshing. Perhaps there was something to be said for riding at dawn instead of dusk. He was witnessing the birth of a new day. This thought made his heart leap for joy. He didn't think he was ready to be a father yet but... now he really was happy. Perhaps he had just needed to get used to the idea. Either way, he found that he loved his baby more than he ever thought he could love anyone. Not more than Astrid, of course, but the fact that it was their baby made him love her even more.

Astrid felt his hand move down to gently stroke her stomach. She smiled.

"Getting to know him?" she asked, turning her head and kissing his cheek.

"Oh yes. I can't wait to meet her." Hiccup held his wife closer. "I love you. Both of you."

Hiding Astrid's pregnancy proved to be very difficult that evening. Hiccup and Astrid had hardly sat down in the Great Hall when Gobber came bounding over, a tankard attached to his left arm.

"Ahh, just the happy couple I was hoping to see!" he exclaimed excitedly, waving the tankard around.

"Why's that?" asked Hiccup, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"I finally managed to make that wine from those berries you found on the other end of the island. My first two tries were horrible but this one is delicious. Come on then, drink up!" Gobber slammed a tankard in front of them filled to the brim with a purple substance.

"Oh... Gobber... wow, that looks... wow... but I don't think now is the right time to..."

"Nonsense, Hiccup! You and Astrid found those berries so it's only fitting that you be the first ones to try it. We've been waiting all evening." Gobber said, putting a tankard in front of Astrid as well.

Hiccup and Astrid exchanged a split second glance. There was no way they were going to get out of this unless they worked together. Hiccup took a big swig of the wine. To his immense surprise, it was rather tasty. At least he wasn't going to have to choke it down. Astrid pretended to take a dainty sip while Hiccup verbally praised the recipe, recommending that everyone try it now. When the rest of the Hooligans were distracted, she poured the wine into Hiccup's nearly empty tankard.

"That was close." Hiccup whispered to her.

"I know. Sorry about that." Astrid whispered back.

"Don't be sorry. It's my job to take care of you." he kissed her on the cheek.

At that moment, Gobber came bounding over to the couple. "Woah, Astrid, you certainly drank that down in a hurry! I'll get you some more!"

Gobber picked up Astrid's empty tankard before she could protest. She shared a wide eyed look with her husband. It wasn't over yet. As soon as Gobber put the full tankard in front of her, she pretended to take another sip. Hiccup gulped down the rest of the wine to make room for hers as well. The room was starting to go in and out of focus and his head was beginning to ache ever so slightly. Then, as soon as they were sure everyone was distracted once more, they switched tankards.

Gobber did not excel at reading facial expressions so he took Astrid's smile at her husband and Hiccup's look of immense discomfort as a signal that they needed more wine. When it was all over, Hiccup had drunk six full tankards of the stuff. The entire room spun in front of his eyes. He didn't think he could stand up. He wasn't even sure he could sit up. Was he sitting up? Perhaps the dull pain in the back of his head had something to do with the fact that the room lurched and now everyone was staring down at him.

"What in Odin's name is going on here?" came a distant voice.

A familiar face swam in front of his eyes. Hiccup squinted but he still couldn't figure out who had shouted. The yellow blur began to move and he heard a voice come out of it.

"Stoick!" it said. "Well you know, Gobber all wanted us to try this new wine and Hiccup here had a lot to drink what with... things..."

"Yes, Astrid sure finished hers in a hurry!" another blur said excitedly.

The familiar blur nodded its head. "Oh... oh! Yes well it's about time we got him home. Come on, Hiccup."

Hiccup felt hands underneath his shoulders and found himself standing upright. The entire room spun in front of his eyes. His foot and the odd silver contraption where his other foot should have been shook and he fell backwards onto a vast figure. Someone's hair tickled the back of his neck.

"Ismmmoving!" he slurred. "Make isssstop..."

"Let's just get you home, son."

Hiccup suddenly recognized the voice. "Dad!" he shouted very loudly. "You... you... hi, dad!"

"Hello, son. Come on, people are staring." Stoick pushed him out of the Great Hall and into the darkness outside.

Hiccup tripped all over his feet but still his father led him onwards. Suddenly, he remembered something vitally important.

"Dad! Dad! You hafta know... I'm gonna have a baby!" he said suddenly.

He heard a loud snort from some point behind them but he ignored it and the ensuing shouts of laughter. He was glad to have told his father this important news.

"Yes, son, you are. But right now you need rest." Stoick said, keeping a firm grip on his shoulders.

"Wait!" Hiccup stopped.

He felt very odd. For a few seconds, he simply stood there, rocking back and forth slightly. Suddenly, his entire body heaved and he heard a horrible splattering noise.

"Oh gross!" exclaimed Astrid.

Unsure of why Astrid had shouted (or why the front of his clothes were now wet and the inside of his mouth tasted foul), Hiccup continued to walk forward, steadied by Stoick.

That was the last Hiccup remembered until he woke up the next morning. Unfortunately, his wife would spend the next few months trying to forget what happened after that incident.

Hiccup had been silent for the next few minutes, meekly walking in the direction he was steered. As soon as they got to the house, he turned around to face his father. He then began to laugh.

"You look like a yak!" he choked between fits of giggles.

Stoick looked rather taken aback at this sudden observation. Astrid thought she saw the corners of his mouth twitch but he kept a straight face. Her own face was growing hot. She had only been married for two months and her husband was already humiliating her.

"I can stay if you like." Stoick offered as the two of them watched Hiccup stumble up to the front of the house.

"It's okay. I need to learn how to be a mom. I guess this will be good practice." Astrid shook her head. "I'm really sorry..."

Stoick put up a hand. "Don't be sorry. What Hiccup did for you was very noble. Stupid, yes, but noble."

Astrid nodded as she watched her husband trip over nothing and fall on his side. Stoick finally stomped away and she distinctly heard loud guffaws in the distance.

"Okay, Hiccup, come on in. We're going to get you all cleaned up." Astrid said, helping him up and leading him in through the door.

"Astrid! You're gonna have a baby!" Hiccup exclaimed as if he had just figured this out himself.

"Yes, Hiccup, I am." Astrid assured him, finally getting him into a back room where there was a giant tub.

She took the buckets of water they saved for bath time out of the cupboard and splashed them into the tub. She would have gotten Toothless or Stormfly to heat up the water but she thought it was probably best if it was cold this time. She then walked over to her husband, who was swaying back and forth. She took off his vomit soaked shirt in one swift movement, thankful for all the practice she had been getting in using her left hand.

"Ooh... Astrid! I didn't know you wanted to do that! Here? In the room with the tub?" Hiccup gave her his best attempt at a seductive grin.

Astrid grimaced. "Oh Hiccup, there is no way I would ever even consider doing that with you tonight." She said as she slid off his pants and pushed him into the tub.

"AHH! COLD!" Hiccup bellowed.

But try as he might, he couldn't manage to get himself out of the tub. Smiling in satisfaction, Astrid began to bathe him with her one good arm. She was vaguely reminded of the day she had walked in on him bathing when they had been teenagers and was highly amused to wonder what that Hiccup would have thought of this moment if he had known it was going to happen.

When the bathing was finished, Astrid wrapped Hiccup in a cloth and led him upstairs. He tripped twice and very nearly knocked her down but she remained patient with him. Once she had gotten him into bed, she took a deep breath. Being a mother was going to be verydifficult.

All right, did you like that? Great! I have to say, writing drunk!Hiccup was one of the most amusing things I've ever done! This chapter was actually quite difficult to write but I think I did okay. Please leave a review! Trust me, if you knew how unbelievably happy reviews make me, you'd understand why I say that! I read them all and I grin like crazy when I see them.