Growing Pains

Chapter Two: Familiar Strangers

Adrianna felt rather cheerful that afternoon when she made her way to the Thorstons'. She waved to Tuffnut, who was heading to work for a few extra hours. Ordinarily he wouldn't be working so hard but the reason for that was lying on the couch, smiling at the Haddock girl as she walked in.

Svala Thorston was pretty with long brown hair that curled in all the right places, brown eyes, and a graceful demeanor that offered quite a contrast to her husband's rather, well, tough one. But today, like every day in the recent months, she was slightly deterred by a large, round belly- an indicator of her fourth and, so far, most successful pregnancy.

"At last!" she exclaimed by way of a greeting. "A new face!"

Adrianna grinned. "Getting tired of Tuffnut?"

"Wouldn't you if he was the only person to talk to for days?" Svala patted the chair next to the couch. "Stay a while, why don't you?"

"Sure!" Adrianna exclaimed cheerfully. She was always up to chatting with a new friend and, with very little to do in the past few weeks, Svala was rapidly becoming a good friend indeed. "I got you the books you asked for. Matilda insisted that I added this one about raising toddlers but I don't think that's a concern at the moment."

"Not yet, anyway." Svala agreed, putting the books beside the couch. "So how have you been doing? Getting to know your gentleman friend?"

"It's not like that!" Adrianna protested through a blush. "I mean, we've been writing but we haven't been together in person all that long."

"Is that so?" Svala shifted her seat to get a better look at the teenager. "I seem to remember you flying off to see him every other weekend for the last year."

"Well..." Adrianna said sheepishly. "That's different. He never came here. Never had the time. And this is Berk, I mean we've got fishing and hunting and a charming view of the ocean." she looked out the window at her brother strutting around the village square like he owned the place. "And the only problems are the pests." she turned back to Svala, who looked amused by that statement. "But beyond all that, I don't see anything that stands out or sets us apart."

"Lowest number of missing limbs in the archipelago after your dad became chief." Svala said quite seriously.

"Well that's not hard since he kind of abolished dragon fighting and everyone has had plenty of time to get used to the culture shift." Adrianna shook her head with a small smile. "I mean, how many other ways are there to lose a limb?"

"You could chop it off yourself." Svala suggested. "That would be pretty effective."

Adrianna laughed. "And stupid."

"We're Vikings. It's in the job description." Svala quipped. "But seriously, it is an accomplishment to be proud of."

"Fair enough. So now we're the safest island in the archipelago. That's an exciting distinction." Adrianna rolled her eyes. "My point is that, I guess, Brandyn's going to have to make a lot of changes to assimilate to our culture and I don't know if he'll want to."

"Maybe it's the fact that I've been cooped up here for a long time," Svala said rather knowingly, "but I think you're worth that."

"Maybe." Adrianna said dismissively. "How are you feeling?"

"Bored and ready to drop this kid." Svala patted her belly. "Tell me what I'm having, will you?"

"It'd ruin the surprise." Adrianna protested.

"But Lily's never wrong and I want to know what I'm going to painfully give birth to." she rubbed her belly and Adrianna saw a tiny movement under her tunic.