I will save you

Chapter 13: Names

Hiccup's POV

"What about Magnus?" I suggested, but Astrid shook her head.

"No ... I think for a boy maybe Harold, and for a girl ... Ingrid." A soft smile crossed Astrid's face as she stroked her large belly. According to Gothi, it wasn't long before the baby was going to arrive, which is why she had advised me not to go on any business trips until after the baby had been born, so that I wouldn't miss the birth.

"You know what? I love those names." Astrid's smile widened as our eyes met. With a playful grin, I pressed my lips to hers before pressing a kiss to her protruding belly.

Suddenly, I felt a soft tap against the palm of my hand. I quickly pulled my hand away from Astrid's belly as I saw the slight outline of a very small foot stretching the skin around Astrid's stomach. "Is that ...?"

Astrid chuckled as she placed both her hands on the sides of her stomach. "Yeah, our little bean has been kicking like crazy in there, I think they've got my fighting spirit."

I gazed into the glittering, ocean blue eyes of my wife. "They most certainly have."

A groan escaped Astrid as she sat up in the bed. "Well, now I'm sick and tired of laying in this bed. Can we please get out of this Thor-forsaken house?"

I chuckled as I placed my hands on her shoulders, kneading tight knots out of her neck as she visibly relaxed. "Anything you want, my darling wife."

Astrid closed her eyes as she let out a satisfied sigh. "Gods, Hiccup, You better stop that before I lay you back down in that bed."

"As you wish." I grinned, getting out of bed and leaving her to get dressed by herself. Ever since Astrid's stomach had gotten so large that she could no longer see her feet, I had offered to help her out with getting dressed. And had she refused? Of course. 8 moons pregnant and she still refused to give up her independence or be helped by anyone.

Toothless and I waited patiently as she slipped a dark blue, day dress over her head, fitting the dress to her forms by wrapping a piece of string right above her stomach. "Are you ready to go?"

Astrid slipped into her shoes before dusting of the sides of her dress. "Yeah, I'm ready."

I slipped my hand inside of hers and gave it a tight squeeze. "Then let's get out of here."

***

"Hey everyone!" I called into the academy as Astrid and I walked in, fingers laced together with our dragons on our heels.

"Hiccup! Astrid! Baby!" Fishlegs squealed as he ran over to us and crouched down so he was at eye level with Astrid's stomach. "Hello there little baby! It's your Uncle Fishlegs speaking!"

A playful roar tore through the arena as Toothless and Stormfly chased one another around, using every trick in the book to try to get the other, and once one had caught up to the other, they would begin to wrestle, rolling around the arena like there was no tomorrow.

I couldn't help but let a quick laugh escape me, but the sound of Astrid letting out an annoyed groan drew my attention right back to the grown man speaking in a high pitched voice to the unborn baby inside of my wife.

"As soon as this stupid belly of mine became visible to others, it's like I'm not even here anymore! Until this baby is born, I'll just be the mere bearer of the heir to the Berkian throne." Astrid sneered, crossing her arms across her chest as she scowled at Fishlegs.

I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close, pressing a kiss to her temple. "Don't worry about it babe, to me, you're absolutely everything."

Astrid scoffed, wrinkling her nose. "Yeah, including the bearer of your child. Gods, I can't wait to become a person again."

I couldn't keep a grin from spreading across my face at her reply, and right as I was about to assure her that she was more than just a vessel to our baby, Ruffnut swooped in. "You do know that after the birth your title will just change, right? You'll go from bearer of the heir to the Berkian throne, to mother of the heir to the Berkian throne. You'll probably never be just Astrid again."

"Thanks for the motivational words, Ruff, you really know how to cheer a gal up." Astrid replied sarcastically, pinching the bridge of her nose in the process. I placed a supportive hand on her back, and was about to say something when I was yet again interrupted by another one of our friends.

"Don't worry, A, you'll always be the finest lady on Berk, baby or not." Snotlout winked at Astrid, and I couldn't help but raise my brows in surprise. He did know that she was married, right? Of course he knew, he was in the front row at the wedding!

I glanced over at Astrid and found her smiling to herself, at least Snotlout's comment had cheered her up. Suddenly, Astrid's eyes wandered over to the barrels outside one of the dragon pens, where a gloomy-looking Tuffnut sat, head buried in his hands. Astrid raised a brow at him. "Hey, What's up with Tuffnut?"

Ruffnut cast a lazy glance over at her gloomy brother before turning back to us. "Other than the fact that he's an idiot, a little smelly, married to a chicken ...?"

Astrid let out an audible sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I was referring to him having not said a single word since we came here, which is very unlike your brother."

"Oh, that. Yeah, he just think that Chicken is having an affair, seeing as she has been laying a lot of eggs lately." Ruffnut said nonchalantly as she dug out dirt from under her fingernails.

"I can't with these two, not today ..." Astrid mumbled as she walked over to one of the stone benches that lined the walls of the academy.

As the day went on, I taught several aspiring young dragon riders the many tips and tricks on how to befriend a dragon, bringing Toothless in for both example and practice for the young ones.

I placed a finger behind Toothless' ears. "This next trick will work on most dragons, so watch carefully as I—"

"Uh ... Hiccup?" Astrid called out in an unnaturally high-pitched voice from where she had been sitting on one of the benches along the wall.

"Not now, Astrid, I'm a little busy." My students turned to watched the interaction between the two of us as I turned back to Toothless.

Astrid went pale for a second, her entire face tensing as her hands gripped her stomach so tightly it turned her knuckles white. It didn't take me long to realize what was happening. I had small a moment of panic before dashing over to Astrid, scooping her up in my arms and hopping into Toothless' saddle.

"Class dismissed!" I announced as Toothless performed an elegant and smooth takeoff from the academy before setting us on course for Gothi's hut.