A/N:I'll be using American Sing Language for Torinth. I'm pretty sure Vikings did use ASL, but they didn't have dragons or fire swords either, so, what the heck?

Special Gift

Astrid sat up and ran her hand over her extended stomach. She was cramping again. Panic began to rise in her, but she told herself to be calm.

This is normal. This is only because your stomach stretching to make room for the baby. This isn't a miscarriage.

She threw the blankets off and set her feet on the floor and stood up. She paced back and forth across her bedroom and rubbed her tight muscles. Inside the baby stirred slightly, causing Astrid's mouth to curl up in a smile. She didn't get to feel the babies moving inside her the first time.

The pain slowly beginning to ease up, Astrid decided to take a walk down the hall to the next door room. The light orange glow of the night candle peaked out from under the door as she opened the door.

Only Annly's pightails, arms, and one foot could be seen poking out beneath her blanket. A stuffed toy Night Fury dangled from one of her hands. On the bed across from hers, Torinth hand his blanket tucked under his arms. Another toy Night Fury tucked under one of his elbows, his thumb stuck in his mouth. Astrid smiled at the twin toddlers. She could hardly believe it had been three years since the two had made their surprise entrance into the world. Now they were expecting a third.

Astrid frowned a bit as she rubbed her hands over her belly again. So many things had gone wrong with her first pregnancy. She'd nearly lost the twins in a riding accident. In fact, for several months she thought she had lost them, only finding out once she'd gone into labor that she hadn't miscarried. Despite the miraculous birth, though, there had still been consequences. About a year ago, they had discovered that Torinth was deaf. Hiccup continually assured her it wasn't her fault. That Torinth may have been born deaf even if the pregnancy had been normal, but Astrid still couldn't help but feel guilty. And she worried deeply that this new child would have something wrong with it.

Astrid leaned against the doorframe and rubbed her belly as she tried to relax and push her fears aside. The baby was kicking hard now, so obviously it was healthy. She had no reason to think there'd be anything wrong, but she couldn't shake the feeling.

As Astrid fought against her worries, she heard a small pitter patter of feet coming towards her. She looked up and saw Torinth running towards her. She blinked in surprise. If she'd woken up one of her children to wake up, she thought it would have been Annly, not Torinth since, well, he couldn't hear.

She smiled at him and held out her hand. Torinth didn't take her hand, however, instead he set his thumb to his chin and spread out his other four fingers in a sign meaning "Mom." He then pointed his two fingers towards each other and jabbed them at each other. Astrid had to think a while before remembering that sign meant "hurt." Since Hiccup, Astrid, and Annly were learning to sign alongside Torinth, they still didn't quite have the hang of it.

Astrid smiled and pinched her thumb, index, and middle finger into the "no" sign.

"No. Mom."

She had to think for a while before she remembered to poke her thumb on chest and spread her fingers out for the "fine" sign.

Torinth didn't look convinced, his concern scowl making him look even more like his father than he usually did. Astrid smiled at him again, and reached to place her hand on his head. Torinth moved forward, out from her touch and placed both hands on her belly, and rubbed tiny circles on the bump. Astrid smiled and ran her fingers through her son's hair. Torinth pressed his cheek against the bump, and turned his head up to into his mother's crystal blue eyes, the only physical trait he'd gotten from her. Torinth stepped back after a few moments, and pretended to rock a baby in his arms. He then gave the sign for fine.

Astrid's jaw fell slack. How had Torinth known she was worried about the baby. Torinth gave the baby sign again, and then patted his chest with both hands in a circular motion in the happy sign. When his mother didn't respond due to shock, Torinth simply smiled and threw his arms around his mother's waist. Astrid set her hand on the back of his head.

How on earth had Torinth known? She didn't tell him. He was only three years old, so it was very unlikely he'd learned to pick up on subtle hints yet. As she pondered her son's actions, she felt a pair of protective arms wrap around her from behind, one hand resting on her baby, the other on Torinth's head.

Astrid looked over her shoulder to find Hiccup's concerned face staring at her with, ironically, the same worried scowl her son had given her a few moments earlier.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I think so," Astrid answered. "I was worried about the baby."

Hiccup kissed her cheek. "The baby will be fine. There's no need to worry, there's no signs that anything is wrong."

"I know," Astrid nodded. "And…"

Astrid tried to think of a way to word what had just happened. Torinth let go of his mother, and walked around her to his father, stretching his arms up. Hiccup released Astrid, and bent down, scooping Torinth in his arms and set him on his hip. He kept one arm wrapped around his son's back to hold him up, and set the other one around Astrid's shoulders. Torinth laid his head on Hiccup's shoulder, and stuck his thumb back in his mouth.

"And what?" Hiccup asked.

"Torinth knew I was worried about the baby," Astrid replied. "I didn't tell him, I don't think I did anything to tip him out. But he came up, asked if I was hurt, and then told me the baby was fine and happy."

Hiccup stared at his son with a surprised expression. Torinth didn't even notice, by now his eyelids were starting to droop, and the sucking on his thumb grew slower and slower.

"How'd you know Mommy was worried?" Hiccup asked as he let go of Astrid and gently pinched Torinth's hand. Torinth sleepily swatted his father's hand away, and then stuck his thumb back in his mouth. Hiccup chuckled softly, and began patting his son's back and bouncing him, setting his chin on top of the little boy's head.

Astrid smiled at the sight. Her father, though he cared about her, was never a very affectionate man, and always put a bunch of pressure on Astrid to be, well, perfect. Seeing Hiccup rocking their three-year-old son back to sleep with such tenderness warmed her heart.

"I read something once," Hiccup said as he continued to rub Torinth's back. "That people who are deaf can see better than other people and can sometimes see things others can't."

Astrid frowned. "So Torinth saw that I was worried?"

"Sort of," Hiccup answered. "Have you noticed whenever Annly or one of the other kids scrape their knees, or gets their feelings hurt Torinth is the first one to go help them?"

Astrid thought for a while, then nodded.

"I think Torinth has some sort of, I guess you call it gift, where he can tell if someone is hurting?"

"I suppose," Hiccup nodded.

"How?" Astrid pondered.

Hiccup shrugged. "Maybe there's some sort of subtle reaction we can see that he can? Maybe it's some kind of intuition? I don't know."

Hiccup glanced at Torinth to check on him, and saw that he was asleep. Hiccup walked over to the bed, lied the boy down, and tucked the blankets around him. He kissed the top of his head, and set the Night Fury toy under the blankets next to him. He then walked over to Annly's bed, and pulled the blankets back just enough to kiss her forehead.

Astrid smiled at her husband as he walked back towards her.

"He was right though," Hiccup told her as he pulled her into a hug. "The baby will be fine."

Astrid smiled at him and nodded. "I know. I just have to remind myself."

"Me too," Hiccup confessed before leaning down and kissing her forehead.