Fearless Fables

Grandma's Bonnet

"Ah, ah, ah, put the sword down, boy!" Gobber chided from the other side of the forge.

"How'd you know I was holding it if you didn't turn around?" Finn asked with a scowl as he reluctantly obeyed.

"You're talking to the man who spent most days with your father when he was a little older than you. I see everything that goes on in here." Gobber replied, still not looking up from his task. "Mind you, he was less likely playing with the sword and more likely trying to turn it into something."

Adrianna grinned at the sight of her brother being scolded. She certainly had more common sense than that. Instead she started sorting through baskets of equipment under the workbench, looking for something to play with. Their parents had gone with the other grown-ups to search for a fishing boat that had not returned after the latest storm. With the freeze about to set in, they needed every fish and able bodied man available. Except for one. Gobber had been given babysitting duty. Again.

Admittedly, he wasn't the worst babysitter, in fact he was great with kids, however he always felt a little overwhelmed when it came to watching the twins, though he wasn't certain if that was to do with the stress of nowadays or the traumatizing flashbacks of babysitting gone by. He was just going over to the other end of the forge to pry a mace out of his almost-great-nephew's fingers when the girl uncovered a suspicious, bright pink bonnet.

"Umm... Uncle Gobber... why do you have a girl's hat in your toolbox?" she asked, holding it up and inspecting it. "It has flowers in it."

Gobber crossed the room with amazing speed for a man of his age and snatched the offending article form her hands. "Now, you don't need to go looking at that."

"Oh." Adrianna's face fell. "Shouldn't you throw it away, then?"

"NO!" he exclaimed a little too quickly, holding the bonnet several feet over her outstretched arms.

"Is there something you need to tell us?" Finn said, acting a little too old for his age with his hands on his hips in a way that was strongly reminiscent of Astrid.

"No, I... you really don't remember this, do you?" Gobber asked, sounding, quite possibly, a little bit hurt.

Adrianna raised an eyebrow. "Should I?"

"Yes, considering I wore it every time I used to babysit you." Gobber replied with amazing nonchalance.

"Umm... why?" Finn asked, finally distracted from the dangerous weapons in the corner, albeit not in the way Gobber would have wanted.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to distract them from further mischief, Gobber gestured to a pair of stools by the door. Finn, still giving his almost-great-uncle a suspicious glance, slowly sat down on one while his sister hastened to the other, excited to hear another Uncle Gobber story.

"It was actually a lot like today. Your parents had to rush out because several Outcast ships had been spotted near our beaches. Your Poppy did what he always had done when your father was little. Dumped the kids on me." Adrianna's face fell. "Not that I minded, of course. I loved every second of it. Well... almost every second..."

Xxx

"Now they're not allowed to play with sharp objects." Astrid said, handing a wiggling Finn to Gobber.

"Yes, I could have figured that much out myself." Gobber deadpanned, having a lot more trouble than he expected keeping the young boy in his arms.

"Well we wanted to make sure." Hiccup said. "Oh and they need to be tucked into bed by eight. Addie might fuss a bit but trust me, she'll fall asleep. Eventually."