Dragons: The New Chief

Chapter 46: Birthday Surprise

"Come on!" Astrid hissed. "We have to get this done before Hiccup returns."

It's been two months, two, since Astrid, Hiccup and the whole village found out that a possible heir was on the way. As promised, Astrid and Snotlout had their rematch the day after. Surprisingly, Hiccup didn't seem to mind. The gang, with much of the village, thought that he might forbid the woman from flying, but he just said that he couldn't do that to Astrid. He knew she could take care of herself and wouldn't do anything too reckless or dangerous enough to hurt the baby. But, without much surprise, Astrid won again, defending her title as everyone declared the past race as void.

The blonde scampered around the village hall, hanging lanterns, streamers and lighting candles. All of the villagers, apart from the children and a few others that were basically watching the children out in front of the hall while watching for their chief, ran along to Astrid's orders.

The hall was bright with light from the hearth; the weather outside was terrible, but the hall was warm enough. Every viking in town now had their warmer clothing on. Instead of short sleeves, there wore their long, woolen ones instead. Astrid traded het red short sleeved shirt for a longer sleeved one of the same color. Everything else was the same, her leggings, knee pads, leather cords, cloak and fur bracers, except for the fact they were starting to become tighter.

Sure she was only two months along and was quite small, she wasn't even really showing yet, but she could still feel it.

"Gobber can't keep him busy with chores around the village forever." She said, mostly to herself.

Astrid strode around the hall one last time, checking off everything on her mental list. Stormfly followed close behind and nudged the woman each time she came to a stop. Astrid would just snicker, knowing that the dragons attachment came just the same as Toothless' overprotectiveness, so she went on with her list. Candles, streamers, lanterns, lit hearth, buffet of mutton, chicken, vegetables, bread, nuts, fruit, but not fish. No, Astrid felt like retching every time she even caught a whiff of the stuff. Wait...

"There is a bowl of fruit missing!" She screeched.

As the countess looked around frantically, a certain five-month-heavy woman stiffened. Astrid turned her head in the woman's direction, zeroing in on her sitting at a table not too far away. Slowly, the blonde approached.

"Heather? Do you know where the fruit is?" Astrid asked sincerely.

The villagers fell silent. The raven haired woman turned her head up with wide eyes.

She quickly glanced back down at the half-empty bowl in front of her. "It looked so good." She said with her mouth full.

Astrid narrowed her eyes on Heather, then the bowl. Heather grimaced, waiting for the blow.

Astrid chuckled. "They do look really good." She said, then reached down and popped a berry in her mouth.

"Alright, continue on!" She told the rest of the villagers before sitting down next to Heather and eating out of the bowl with her. "I can't fault you, I have been doing the same thing with Valka and Hiccup." She said, popping another berry in her mouth. "I had to make them get rid of fish, much to Toothless' disappointment, and the chicken is always gone."

Heather laughed. "Yes, that is how I am with fruit, I cannot get enough of the stuff."

"Hiccups coming!" Someone yelled from the door.

Astrid stood, patting Heather on the shoulder. "Can you gather everyone at the door? I'm going to get Hiccup."

The woman nodded, reluctantly leaving her bowl of fruit behind. Astrid glided out of the hall, her cloak billowing with the speed of her steps. When she arrived at the door, a viking slipped it open just enough for her to squeeze through.