Suburban Shenanigans

Part 4 of 6

Chapter 4: 7-month pregnant Astrid

It was a normal morning in the Haddock household. Zephyr was downstairs playing with her Polly Pocket, 'Pockets.... Pocketi?! Pocketess?? Just what exactly was the plural name of the toy anyways? She pondered while reading an ebook on her tablet. Today Hiccup had spontaneously decided to organize the closet because.....well, who wouldn't want more space? Astrid wasn't going to stop him, her heels were never better organized than when her hubby did it.

"Astrid have you seen my-AGRH AAAAH MAH FOOT!" Hiccup shouted as thumping came from upstairs.

Astrid who was now 7-months pregnant had trouble getting up from the couch. She scooted and wiggled until she could stand up properly while calling "Hiccup you alright?!"

"My foot!" Hiccup grumbled as he came down the stairs limping, clutching a red Lego block in his hand. "Zephyr, how many times do I have to tell you to clean up your toys once you're done with them! You can't spread out your Legos in the hallway." He scolded as he limped over to the couch. Astrid was hovering over him and Zephyr looked away shyly after getting chastised. For an almost three-year-old she was perceptive. "Why do Legos even hurt so much?" Hiccup groaned.

"Because they have pointy bits? Remember when you stepped on Batman's head?" Astrid said rather pointedly as Hiccup shot her a look. She sat down next to her husband and motioned for him to lift up his foot so she could inspect the damage.

She pursed her lips when she saw no damage and then swatted Hiccup on his knee muttering "You big baby,"

"But it hurts!" Hiccup grumbled and then laid back against the plush pillows of the couch.

"Your mom was right, men are all just big babies," Astrid giggled as Hiccup shot her an affronted look while she cuddled closer. Her hand snaked around his waist and she laid against him while putting her feet up.

"So are you done with your home improvements for today?" she asked as she used Hiccup as a plushie.

"Hmmm, why do you ask?" He mumbled.

"Well I was thinking we could do that thing we talked about."

"You mean get a second car?" Hiccup blinked. "Now?"

"I'm already 7 months pregnant and if you are going to work from home while I go to the office we'll need a second car. Zephyr will start pre-school in a couple of months and by then I'll already be off my maternity leave."

"True," Hiccup nodded as he and Astrid continued cuddling. "I can go to the dealership today. But with the budget we have right now I don't think we can get a new car."

"A secondhand is fine I think," Astrid pondered. "I mean, you know the basics of auto mechanics. If anything does happen it would be easier to fix but I consider that still better than trying to take public transportation in the suburbs. When we lived in the city it was easy to take the subway or a bus but not here."

"Why don't we both go out for a bit," She then suggested. "You go to the dealership and I'll take Zephyr to the outlet mall close by. I can take her to the indoor playground, we can do some window shopping..."

"You really want to go out don't you?" Hiccup chuckled.

"Hiccup darling, it's been nearly two weeks that I've been further outside than the front door. I'm 7 months along, my feet are swollen and I have cabin fever. Even killing people in Call of Duty isn't doing it for me anymore."

"I can see your point," Hiccup said. He knew that a restless Astrid was dangerous. Very very dangerous. He'd hidden the decorative axe she had stored in the linen closet in the garage just because he had woken up at 2AM one morning and found her sharpening it on a whetstone in the kitchen. In the darkness of the early morning, Astrid looked more frightening than Freddie Kruger with that axe in her hand.