Chapter Sixteen: Emergency Landing

The sun was beginning to come up over the horizon, casting a strange reddish glow on the ocean beneath them. Hiccup couldn't believe he and the others had been awake all night. The whole ordeal from finding out Astrid had been captured to where he was now, riding on Toothless' back with her in his arms, seemed to have lasted seconds. And perhaps it was adrenaline but he didn't feel the least bit tired.

If only the same could be said about his wife. As Astrid, who had refused to straddle Toothless, leaned against him, he could feel the sweat on her face soaking through his clothing and her cries of pain were quieter and more breathless. Hiccup had to hold her rather tightly to make sure she wouldn't be blown off the dragon midair but he couldn't help stealing glances at her paling face and praying to the gods that she and their baby would be okay. As they flew farther from Berserker Island, another pain seized her, making her moan and clutch her belly. Hiccup felt a tightening in his own stomach. Somewhere inside of his mind, he knew that it was a natural process and that it wasn't his fault that his wife was in pain but his heart wouldn't listen. He felt like he was punching Astrid in the stomach every few seconds, unable to stop and feeling horrible when she cried out. When he imagined the birth of their child, he had pictured it in the healer's house with Astrid being given herbs for the pains. They weren't as effective as they might have liked but at least it would be tolerable. But it was clear that the pains were far worse than either of them had expected and the stress of the last few hours wasn't helping things.

The pain finally came to an end and Astrid crumpled into him, gasping for breath. He didn't know what to say. There weren't enough words to express how sorry he was for his words hours ago but this seemed to be the wrong time. Before she had time to recover from the last contraction, she was seized with another which made her tense and clutch her belly once more, looking as though it hurt worse than the last.

"Breathe, Astrid." he reminded her, gently rubbing her back with his arm. "Deep breaths. You're going to be okay."

Without realizing it, he tightened his hold on her every time she was hit by another contraction.

"Hiccup, you're squishing me." Astrid said at last, feeling completely constricted.

"I'm so sorry." Hiccup said, loosening his hold and allowing his wife to breathe easier.

Rather than respond, Astrid cried out, her hands clutching Hiccup's shirt. Her sudden scream threw Toothless out of his flight pattern for a moment. Hiccup jerked and tried to calm her.

"Shh, it's okay. We'll make it. Toothless, faster!"

Astrid shook her head, her eyes squeezed shut. "No."

"What?" Ast-"

"Hiccup..." Astrid breathed, her face ashen. "Land, Land right now. NOW!"

Hiccup heeled Toothless' gear into the landing position and they swooped to the ground without notifying the others in the group. They shouted in shock when the Haddocks plummeted but quickly followed suit. Thank the gods for a few rocky spits of land in the middle of the ocean, for that was where they landed. That was where Hiccup and Astrid's lives changed forever.

Not giving time for her husband to assist her, Astrid slid off Toothless the moment they landed, grasping for breath and collapsing onto the ground. Hiccup soon followed, his deep concern evident in his facial features. Abruptly, she began to scoot herself over to a near-by boulder. Wanting to assist her in any way he could, Hiccup, did his best to support her and situate her against the rock. In a quick movement, Astrid stripped her filthy pants off of her legs and tossed them aside, leaving only her skirt. Hiccup's eyes widened.

"It's time."

She nodded, looking terrified, and leaned against the boulder just as the others landed around them. Hiccup felt completely useless as he watched her clutch her belly and breathe heavily. There had to be something he could do for her. The answer came seconds later. He leaned forward and placed a hand on her back.

"Sit up." he whispered.

"Hiccup-"

"Trust me, Astrid, just for a second."

She complied and he squeezed in behind her, sitting between her and the boulder so she would be comfortable. She smiled as she remembered that this was one of the many things she loved most about him: his selflessness. She leaned down on his chest and was surprised to find herself nice and warm in his arms. In fact, if it wasn't for the agonizing pain shooting through her body (not to mention the racket his racing heart was making), she might have been able to fall asleep.

"Ruff!" Hiccup called. The young woman ran over and he asked, "You said you have delivered a baby before?"

"Well, yeah but that was like a year ago and it was the fifth kid in the family so the mom was telling me what to-"

"Spare us the details. You're delivering ours."

"But I don't know what I'm supposed to-"

"It's you or one of those guys!" Hiccup irritably gestured to Tuffnut, Snotlout, and Fishlegs.

Ruffnut looked over at the three men. Both Fishlegs and Snotlout were shaking their heads profusely, their eyes fixed on a spot over her right shoulder.

Tuffnut stepped up."Well, I could-"

"Okay, I'll do it!" she hastily interrupted.

Rather than run over to Astrid, Ruffnut made a beeline to the water

"Uhh... Astrid's that way." Tuffnut said, pointing to her and looking very confused. "Where are you going?"

"I'm sanitizing my hands, idiot!" Ruffnut shouted back.

As Ruffnut washed her hands in the ocean (no one thought it would do any good but it was better than nothing), Astrid clutched Hiccup's wrist.

"This is too soon." she gasped. "I can't do this, I can't have this baby, I'm not ready yet!"

Hiccup gently kissed her left temple. "I'm not either. But I know you can do this."

"I should have been honest with you, we could have talked about it!" a few tears slipped out of Astrid's eyes as she shakily breathed, her pains increasing every second.

"I know. But right now we have to focus on the baby, okay? Don't think about anything else." Hiccup whispered, his breath feeling very warm on her cold face. "When this is over with, we are going to talk about it because you are going to be fine. Do you hear me?" he sounded like he was trying to convince himself of what he was saying, which was not at all comforting to his wife.

Astrid nodded, her grip on Hiccup's wrist tightening. "I'm so scared."

"Me too." Hiccup kissed her on the temple again, his heart pounding so hard he could barely hear himself think. "I'm here, Astrid, and I'm not going anywhere."

Several more tears slipped out of Astrid's eyes as the pains shot through her abdomen. "Just hold me."

Hiccup slipped his left arm out of her grip and entwined his fingers with hers, placing his other arm around her. "Always."

Ruffnut had finally finished washing her hands. She rushed over and bent down in front of Astrid.

"Cool, I can see its head!" she shouted, getting on her knees. "Astrid, breathe! Snotlout I need some cloth and Fish, I need hot water!"

The two men stood there with mouths gaping. Snotlout looked paler and paler by the second.

"Did you not hear me? MOVE!" Ruffnut roared. "We don't have time for lolly-gagging!"

The two men shuffled to get what was needed. As soon as he handed Ruffnut the cloth, Snotlout tried to walk away but he was only able to advance two steps before falling on the ground in a dead faint. Tuffnut dragged him away from Hiccup and Astrid, looking irritated.

Hiccup watched Astrid take deep breaths, her eyes shut and her head on his shoulder. She looked as if she was trying to physically tear herself away from the agonizing pain. He pulled his sleeve past his wrist and wiped her forehead with it. The cloth was soaked within seconds.

"You're going to be fine. I promise." Hiccup whispered into her ear in a very shaky voice.

"Hiccup," Astrid gasped, pressing the back of her head into his shoulder. "It hurts..."

"Shhh..." Hiccup shushed into her left ear and lightly kissing the nape of her neck. "It's okay. It's almost over."

Astrid felt another striking pain and gasped. "Liar..." she gritted her teeth. Hiccup breathed a laugh and kissed her cheek, making her look at him.

He smiled at her. "You've never looked more beautiful."

She rolled her eyes but smiled. "Shut up."

Hiccup shook his head, "Never."

At that moment, Fishlegs handed Ruffnut the bucket of water (made hot by Meatlug) and Ruffnut soaked the cloths in the water before carefully placing them underneath Astrid.

"Okay... I remember this part... Pull! Wait... that's not it... oh yeah! Push!" Ruffnut commanded, now holding out her hands so she would be able to catch the baby.

Astrid shook her head desperately, suddenly terrified. "No! I can't-"

Hiccup squeezed her hand. "Yes you can, Astrid. Just push and this'll all be over."

Astrid took a deep breath, braced herself, and pushed. The sound that tore from her throat caught her husband off guard, as did the sudden tightening of her hold on his left hand. But he didn't say a word as Ruffnut encouraged her, "That's it. Keep pushing."

"What's taking so long?" Tuffnut asked impatiently.

"I'm pushing a person out of my body, Tuffnut! I'll take as much time as I need!" Astrid snapped.

Ruffnut rolled her eyes and waved her brother away. "Shut up. Go get help!"

"But I wanna watch..."

"Now!"

Tuffnut reluctantly complied, hopping on Hookfang (as Barf and Belch needed two riders) and began flying off in the direction from which they came.

"What... no! Berk is that way!" Hiccup called after him. "Oh forget it..." he muttered.

Astrid panted hard for a minute, lying heavily on her husband. This was too much. She felt like all her energy had gone into that one push and nothing was left.

"Astrid, don't stop pushing." Ruffnut said, rolling her eyes. "How else are you gonna get the baby out?"

Astrid shook her head. She'd never felt pain like this before in her life. She just wanted it to be over. Tears continued to spill out of her eyes. "I can't-"

"Yes, you can," Hiccup whispered, kissing her temple. "You're Astrid Hofferson Haddock; you never back down from a challenge."

"Yeah," Snotlout butted in from the shadows, standing up and still looking dazed. "Surely you can handle a little natural pain..."

"SHUT UP BEFORE I COME OVER THERE!" Astrid roared.

Hiccup held her arm down as she tensed, hoping she wouldn't seriously try to get up. He sent a glare to Snotlout, who ducked away when Astrid cried out again.

Ruffnut shook her head. "Astrid, you have to push!"

Astrid panted for another minute before gathering a deep breath and bending over, pushing as hard as she could. Hiccup felt the blood loss in his fingers, but he still said nothing.

"That's it; I can see more of the head." Ruffnut coaxed her. Astrid exhaled heavily and relaxed against her husband again, her face still very pale and sweaty. He wiped her face again as Ruffnut said, "Uhh, you're not done yet. There's still the rest of the head and the body..."

"Oh shut up!" Astrid groaned.

She breathed for another thirty seconds before steeling herself and pushing hard again, harder than she expected. Her grip on Hiccup's hand tightened the hardest and everyone jumped at a loud snapping noise. Hiccup's mouth tightened and Ruffnut glanced at his hand for a moment.

"Umm...Hiccup?" Fishlegs asked.

He shook his head, "Not now. It's fine."

Snotlout leaned to Fishlegs, "Was that..."

"His hand?" Fishlegs finished. "Yeah. She just broke his hand."

A high pitched wail pierced the air, interrupting the two men. Hiccup jerked at the sound with wide eyes. He felt his muscles relax a bit, breathing a sigh of relief. He didn't know much about babies but the sheer volume of his child's scream assured him that its lungs were in perfect working order. And then some. It was like a high pitched version of his father's booming voice.

"The head is out!" Ruffnut smiled. "Push again and then we'll see if it's a boy or a girl!"

Astrid continued to grit her teeth. "I'm going to kill you, Hiccup."

"That's right; get this baby out so you can kill me." Hiccup smiled through the baby's screams, his heart pounding. He was really hearing his baby scream!

Astrid steeled herself again and with one last push, her baby was born. Ruffnut held the screaming baby, wiping it off with her vest. Then she held it up.

"It's a boy!"

Hiccup's face broke into a smile and Astrid sagged against him, panting but unable to tear her eyes off her child. Ruffnut leaned forward and handed the wailing baby to his mother.

"I knew it." Astrid whispered as she reached out to take her son.

Hiccup peered over her shoulder and looked at their baby. "Yes, you did." he lovingly kissed her temple.

As the crying newborn was placed into the new mother's arms, everything seemed to stop moving. She held him for a moment, completely at a loss as to what she was supposed to do next. But suddenly, everything clicked into place. This little baby who had spent the last 8 and a half months growing inside her was the most perfect, most beautiful creation she had ever seen.

And he was hers.

It didn't matter that she and Hiccup hadn't been married very long, that they really didn't know what they were doing. They would work it out. They would do it for this precious little person in her arms. Because he was worth it. Every bout of nausea, every mood swing and bizarre craving, every agonizing contraction, and ultimately protecting him from a madman... every little thing she had gone through in the last 8 and a half months. Completely worth it. A new love enveloped her and she immediately forgot everything she thought she felt about this baby. He was perfect.

And he was hers.