Nothing to Fear

Chapter Four: Hidden Darkness

Hiccup and Astrid didn't usually wake up at the same time most days. Hiccup liked to sleep in while Astrid enjoyed rising with the sun and getting as many things done as possible before the rest of her family joined her for the day. But holiday mornings are special and thus habits are often broken. Hiccup and Astrid, therefore, were awake as a tiny glow of light came through the window. Thankful for the warmth of each other and the heating system Hiccup had rigged throughout the whole house years before, they didn't see any reason to get up right away. Hiccup snuggled in closer to his wife, breathing deeply and taking in the wonderful scent she offered. He gently stroked the soft skin of her curves beneath the furs and hummed contentedly in her ear.

"Happy Snoggletog." Astrid whispered in response. "You're a lot warmer than you were last night."

"How could I not be?" Hiccup leaned in a bit more. "I wish the kids were out of the house. Then we could go again."

"That would be nice." Astrid stretched her arms and turned to face her husband, burrowing into the furs some more. "But they're not here now."

Hiccup smiled and snuggled down with her, firmly placing his hands on her hips and drawing her close to him. She raised a hand and brushed some of his thick brown hair out of his eyes before leaning in and catching his lips with her own. Despite the warmth of the embrace, shivers ran down both of their spines as they tried to make up for the two weeks they had been separated. Just as they were thinking of throwing caution to the wind and repeating the previous night's activities, they heard a crashing sound and a high pitched squeal of pain.

"Someone's up." Astrid whispered into her husband's ear. "We'll have to save this for later."

"Mmmm no." Hiccup kissed her again. "I'm not ready to get out of bed."

Astrid pecked his nose before rolling over and emerging from the many furs covering her. She quickly slipped on some comfortable clothes before slipping out of the room. Hiccup watched her go with a sigh. As happy as he was at the thought of seeing his daughter again after a long two weeks away, he wasn't at all finished with Astrid. He suspected he wouldn't be for quite some time.

Meanwhile, Adrianna had tried her best to get out of bed without waking anyone but alas, her poor cleaning skills thwarted her efforts. As she got up from the ground, her foot tangled in several shirts, Astrid opened the door a crack and peered in.

"Sorry." she whispered. "I can go back to bed."

"No need. Your dad's already up." Astrid replied with a wink. "I think he'd like to see you. Go on downstairs and I'll be down in a minute after I wake up your brother."

Adrianna grinned and pounded down the stairs without another word, her nightgown flying out behind her. Her time of the month had come to an end the previous day and she was feeling much better.

Astrid walked down the hallway to the adjacent room, which contained her teenage son. Finn was buried deep into the blankets and was so out of it, his mother had to shake him several times before he was awake.

"Mmmmm dad..." he mumbled almost incoherently. "Lemme sleep."

"I'm sure your dad would let you sleep too." Astrid said cheerfully. "But I'm not your father."

"Mom?" one of Finn's eyes slowly opened and, for a moment, he was very confused.

"Yep." Astrid ruffled his hair. "Welcome home."

Despite feeling more like his body was fused to the bed, Finn suddenly felt a surge of energy powerful enough to allow him to sit up and embrace his mother. She held him tightly, very happy that her little boy was home at last. Well, she thought as they broke apart and she got a good look at him, he wasn't so little anymore. His thick red hair fell all over his face and neck. She would have to cut it soon before it got out of hand. And he seemed to have grown even more since he had left. Most people probably wouldn't have noticed this since the change in height was so subtle but Astrid could tell her boy would be taller than her in no time at all.