Unexpected

Secrets

Chapter Six: Secrets

Over the next month, Hiccup realized that he was woefully wrong about his assumption that a village full of supportive Vikings was a good idea. At first, it was nice. People were patting him on the back and congratulating him. Old women in particular rather liked to grab Astrid's stomach. She had nearly hit Elder Gothi; thankfully Hiccup had held her back. She was a lot more volatile now that the pregnancy symptoms were kicking in.

Astrid had been quite dismayed when her armored skirt had to be loosened the previous day. She had always prided herself on her slim, muscular build but now that the baby's presence was becoming a bit more obvious, she was irritated every time an article of clothing became tight. She complained that she was getting fat but truthfully, Hiccup couldn't even see the tiny bump unless she lifted up her shirt. Even so, he thought it was cute. He also realized that it was a mistake to voice this opinion.

"Why would you say that to me?" Astrid wailed, lowering her shirt.

"What? I-I didn't say anything..." Hiccup stammered.

"You think I'm ugly, don't you?" she shot back.

"Astrid, don't ridiculous. You look beautiful!"

"I look huge!"

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "It doesn't matter how much bigger you get. I'm always going to think you're beautiful."

Never had Astrid been so emotional. He thought she had been awfully emotional just after their wedding but that had been nothing, nothing compared to this. She was always just about ready to explode and he was usually caught picking up the pieces. Just last week, she had very nearly knocked out Snotlout's front teeth for commenting on the weight she had gained. He had been ready to punch Snotlout's lights out himself but his wife had beaten him to it. Thank goodness. He would probably have lost a few teeth if he had hit the bigger Viking.

Probably the most distressing thing about Astrid's pregnancy (other than her mood swings) was the fact that she never wanted to touch him anymore. She was so tired all of the time, she didn't even want to go on her morning rides on Stormfly anymore and after a few days of enduring his and Toothless' evening rides, she finally consented to let him ride his dragon by himself. But concern for her made him enjoy those rides quite a bit less and his Night Fury could tell. So for a while there was no dragon riding and the dragons seemed more depressed than ever. Then the previous week, Gustav's dragon had become injured and Hiccup decided to lend him Toothless and Stormfly with strict instructions to take them flying morning and evening (in exchange for a little bit of pocket money). The dragons seemed to be happier and the boy took very good care of them but they still missed their time with their own riders. But this didn't solve all of their problems as Astrid didn't want to even touch her husband anymore. Hiccup was beginning to feel neglected but he knew he had to suffer through it for her sake.

They suspected that their child had been conceived on their wedding night so Astrid was about three months pregnant when an odd invitation came their way. Stoick politely knocked on their front door at dusk.

"Hi, dad." Hiccup said, slightly surprised at this unannounced visitor.

"There's something going on at the Great Hall tonight. I want you and Astrid there in half an hour, all right?" Stoick asked, looking slightly uncomfortable for some reason.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "Was that an order?"

"It was a strong suggestion." Stoick replied.

And with that, the older man stomped off. Hiccup turned around to look at his wife.