Present Day
"And that... was how it all started..." Hiccup sighed in relief as he lay his head back on the pillow. Astrid chuckled as she lay back next to him, simply saying "hm... no regrets though, right?"
"Well, yeah, I guess..." he chuckled a bit as he scratched the back of his head, adding "I'd argue it's safe to say that I didn't even think I'd still be alive at this point, let alone engaged to you with a baby on the way... almost like I should thank Ruff for trying to ruin my..."
"Hiccup, if you even try to finish that fucking sentence, I'm leaving you."
"Ah... understood. Lips, sealed." Hiccup pinched his fingers over her mouth to visualise his point, taking Astrid's hand as he added "I'm just... I'm just real glad it's over... for all of us. Ha ha..."
"Yeah, me too..." Astrid grinned, before looking down for a moment to think to herself. About a minute later, she looked back to him, almost laughing giddily as she said "so... you wanna talk to her...?"
"Who, Ruff?" Hiccup had an eyebrow raised, scoffing as he said "Gods, no... I'll tell you right now, Astrid, that if I even end up in the same room as Ruffnut Thorston ever again, it'll be too soon."
"Hm, yeah... but, um... well I wasn't talking about her, Hiccup..." when Astrid said this she placed one of her hands over her own stomach, making Hiccup go wide-eyed as he saw this and realised what, or who, she meant.
"Oh... Oh Gods! You... you meant our, uh... aw man, I didn't realise, uh... so, um... so talk to your, uh..."
"Uh-huh..." Astrid stroked the side of his face gently, adding "I heard it could help her get used to your voice..."
"Huh... okay, so I just, uh... talk to your... belly, or uh..."
"It's how it's normally done, yeah." Astrid lay back in the bed and lifted up her shirt a bit to expose her stomach. Hiccup sat up, itching the back of his head as he looked at her nervously.
"Go on..." she said encouragingly. "It'll be fine..."
"Uh... oh... okay, alright... alright..." Hiccup itched his neck for a moment before shuffling his way down the bed so his head was at level with Astrid's stomach, waiting another moment before bringing his face closer to it.
He couldn't bear the thought of going too close and crushing the child or hurting Astrid, though she was only about seven or eight weeks in so there wasn't much of a bump yet. He heard Astrid giggle as his beard tickled the sensitive skin on her stomach, prompting him to jerk his head back a little bit as he said "sorry! Uh... sorry, Astrid, I'm still... still getting used to the facial hair, y'know. Ha ha..."
"Hm... it's fine..." she kept smiling at him, with Hiccup letting out a little grin in return before turning to the stomach and speaking a little louder than a whisper.
"So uh... hey there, little uh... little person, I guess." He almost froze as he thought about what to say, before clearing his throat a little and continuing. "This is... well, uh... this is your dad... um, I guess I uh... I just wanted to say hi and..."
He chuckled to himself, before getting a little closer to his sleeping listener and saying "and I wanted to let you know that I'm always gonna be there for you."
"Hm..." he glanced back at Astrid for a split second as she gazed lovingly at him, noticing that she was clearly getting a little misty-eyed already. "Your grandpa always believed in me, even if he never told me, but I just want you to remember I'll always believe in you... and I already know the day you're born is gonna be the happiest day of my entire life... and no matter what you grow up to be, whoever the person is you wanna become, I promise you, I'll be there right by your side, every step of the way."
"Hm... what if she grows up to be like Ruffnut?" Astrid snarked, prompting Hiccup to shrug with a grin as he continued his message.
"It's not gonna be easy, or perfect, I know... some days'll be great and others will be, well, for lack of a better word... a shit-show." Astrid chuckled a bit as she heard Hiccup say this, stroking the back of his head as he smiled at her. He kept his eyes on Astrid as he continued speaking to her belly.
"But that's okay... you're not alone, and neither am I... because your mommy is the most beautiful, selfless, and wonderful woman I ever have known and I ever will know... and if it wasn't for her, neither you or me'd be here right now... funny, isn't it?"
"Aw, babe..." Astrid gently said, but she remained quiet enough for Hiccup to gently put his hand on her stomach, finishing his message to the baby inside.
"So, I guess I just want you to know that I love you both more than anything in the entire world. And I always will. Sleep tight, sweetheart..." he kissed her belly softly as he sat back up again, wiping the side of his face as he slowly lay back on the bed next to his betrothed.
"Hm... well, I uh..." he turned to her with a smirk, before adding "I guess that went pretty well..."
"You'd better believe it." Astrid gave him a gentle kiss on the lips as she snuggled closely to him. After a minute or so of silence, she laughed again, sitting up on the bed and balling her fist as if she were holding a microphone.
"Astrid, what are you doing?" Hiccup had a brow raised as Astrid started mimicking a game show host as she said "so, Hiccup Haddock... if you could do one thing differently in the last few years... what would it be?"
"Uh... well... well, I dunno..." Hiccup groaned and laughed at the same time, scratching the back of his head as he thought about what to say. Eventually, he looked at the ring on Astrid's finger, holding her hand gently as he said "I guess, if it was only one thing... I'd have proposed properly..."
"Properly...?" Astrid had to think for a moment about what he meant, before chuckling a bit as she remembered how he did it.
One Year Earlier...
"Well..." Hiccup grinned sheepishly, reaching into his pocket and prompting Astrid to turn to him curiously as he pulled out a small, golden circle. "I have this ring..."
Astrid had a scowl on her face as she hit Hiccup's shoulder hard, prompting him to say "OW!" as he nearly dropped the small ring.
"You weedy little fucking prick! I've just been through probably the most traumatising episode of any of my shows ever... and you think now is a good time to propose?!"
"Um... I guess..."
"Well..." Astrid said, her scowl suddenly turning into a grin as she grabbed Hiccup's shirt and pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss. When they separated, she took the ring out of his hand and placed it on her finger, saying "you thought absolutely right..."
Present Day
"Pft... alright, well..." she smirked at him as she got up off of the bed and stood there. "Why don't you try it now? Propose again..."
"Now... what, like right now?"
"Uh-huh... for the baby..."
He had his hand to his face and stuttered nervously as he said "look, I... I dunno, Astrid, okay... p-proposal's in my family don't involve just g... getting on one knee and popping open the box. I mean, my Dad sang my Mom a song, for Thor's sake, and I can't sing for shit. And... and I..."
"I know what you sound like, babe..." she giggled like an excited schoolgirl as she took his hand and pulled him to his feet. "But I still wanna hear it... come on..."
"I, uh... ugh..." Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned out, while Astrid had her hands behind her back with a warm little grin on her face. Seeing this finally gave Hiccup a tiny bit more courage, as he exhaled heavily.
Clearing his throat, he straightened the creases on his shirt so he looked as presentable as possible. He knew his singing voice wasn't all that great, being only slightly less nasally than his usual one, so he decided to take a gentler, quieter approach with the song.
"I'll swim and sail on savage seas... with ne'er a fear of drowning..."
Astrid let out a soft little chuckle as Hiccup edged a little closer towards her. "And gladly ride the waves of life..."
He then gently took her hand, whispering in an even softer tone. "...if you would marry me..."
Astrid's grin grew into a smile while she put her free hand over her heart. "No scorching sun... nor freezing cold... will stop me on my journey..."
"If you will promise me y-your... her... heart..." she could hear Hiccup's voice break a little when it got to this point. Clearly his nerves were getting the better of him now.
"And love... and l... lo... uh... ugh, man, this was stupid..." he turned away from her and put his palm over his face in embarrassment. "Fuck... fuck, fuck, fuck..."
He heard Astrid sigh in slight disappointment, which made him feel even more angry with himself about this, and caused the negative-thinking side of his brain to speak up for the first time in months. Nice move, dickhead...
Hiccup tensed up a bit as he felt Astrid's hand on his shoulder, before her other hand turned his face to look at her as she stood next to him. Surprisingly, she kept smiling brightly and warmly at him, gently yet encouragingly singing the next part of the song in a voice that was nothing short of angelic to him. "And love me for eternity..."
"Astrid, y... you knew about this song?"
"Your mom taught me the lyrics... hm..." Astrid chuckled as she took his hand and brought him over to where she had been standing beforehand. "My dearest one, my darling dear, your mighty words astound me..."
Hiccup was almost beaming red with love and joy as she brought herself closer to him and sang "but I've no need for mighty deeds when I feel your arms around me..."
He suddenly sang in a louder, more upbeat tone as he grabbed both of Astrid's wrists to swivel her around to face him, but had tried not to startle her too badly due to her burden. "But I would bring you rings of gold, I'd even sing you poetry. And I would keep you from all harm, if you would stay beside me."
Astrid was chortling loudly as she grabbed his wrists in return, pulling him close to her again as she sang "I have no use for rings of gold, I care not for your poetry, I'd only want your hand to hold..."
"I'd only want you near me..." they sang together from this point, laughing and whooping as he lifted her up by her waist and spun her around.
To love and kiss to sweetly hold
For the dancing and the dreaming
Through all life's sorrows and delights
I'll keep your love inside me
I'll swim and sail on savage seas
With ne'er a fear of drowning
And gladly ride the waves of life
If you will marry me!
Hiccup carefully put Astrid back down on the bed, the pair of them still out of breath and laughing as he sat down with her. Hiccup wiped his face with the back of his arm due to the few happy tears he was letting out, while Astrid chuckled as she put her hand to the side of his face, wiping the last tear with her thumb as she gazed lovingly at him.
"Aw... looks like someone else is sleepy, too..." Astrid suddenly said as she looked to the floor, picking up Toothless and putting him on the bed between them. The cat mewed gently as he slowly climbed onto Hiccup's lap and settled there, letting Hiccup stroke his fur gently as he began to fall asleep.
"I hope you know I'll never ever regret meeting you, right bud?" Hiccup snarked with a chuckle, prompting the cat to snuggle in even closer to his boy. He looked back at Astrid, who reached for his hand and took it gently.
"So... no regrets, babe...?" she said as she brought his hand over, letting him put it onto her belly as he reached his other to the back of her head, putting their foreheads gently together as they both closed their eyes.
"Not one, milady... not one..."
THE END