Well, haven't we just been on quite the journey through this story!

Here we are, the final chapter.

-HTTYD-

"Dad! Alex won't give back my dragon!"

Hiccup rubbed at his tired face, stood up and turned to his son. Erik held his arms up, affectionate and cuddly... perhaps a little clingy, but they didn't mind yet. They had adopted Eret at the age of five, at which point he already had a couple of abandonment issues and was reaching an age where he was considered 'harder' to adopt. With his blonde curls and big blue eyes, he fit right in but they wouldn't have cared if he didn't.

Two years on, he and his sister Alex got on fantastically but he still tended to crave affection and reassurances. Hiccup, who worked from home, was happy to give his son all the love he needed.

"Come on, lets get your dragon."

Erik pointed him out toward the garden, where Alexis - who preferred to be called Alex - was tumbling around in the grass with the dog. Erik's dragon toy was seated at her little toy table, alongside her own toy dragons and a plushie Viking. While Erik had been getting their dad, Alex had abandoned the dragon tea party. He dropped from Hiccup's arms, ambled over and grabbed Stampede into his arms. Stampede was a big fluffy green thing, with sturdy legs that allowed it to stand up independently.

Hiccup's love of dragons had rubbed off - Alex had her own army of dragons. Erik had eyes for only Stampede, and after five years in foster care he had gotten used to not having many things of his own.

"Hey! Stampede was drinking his tea!"

"Alex, you know your brother doesn't like you taking his toys."

Alex pouted, having Astrid's mouth meaning despite her reddish-brown hair and freckles she looked the spitting image of her mother at that moment. She remembered after a few seconds sulking why Erik was attached to his things, brightening into a smile.

"Sorry little bro. If you want he can stay there while you come play with me and Thump?"

Erik's little mouth stuck out in thought as he clung to Stampede, but then he nodded and put his toy down to follow Alex out on to the grass. Hiccup smiled as they rolled around with Thump, a chocolate Labrador that had been the key in bringing Erik out of his shell properly. The boy giggled as the dog licked his face and played tug-o-war, but soon there was another distraction as the door knocked.

"Alex! Uncle Eret is here!"

They knew their 'uncle' was due over, and Erik always kept track of times and peoples comings and goings. He knew when Astrid would be home from work too, would start clock-watching if she was late because of traffic.

The kids and Thump beat Hiccup to the door, revealing Eret and a slender woman with ice blonde hair. Of course, she was quite an important part of the family too - Elsa was Eret's fiancee.

And she had carried Alexis Haddock, having been found by Hiccup and Astrid through a surrogate agency. That was how Eret met Elsa, the two bonding over mutual Sami ancestry while she was carrying her 'niece' near a decade ago. Alex knew she had been 'grown in someone else's tummy', but as far as she was concerned so had Erik, so they had that in common. Kids saw the world in a purer way.

"Hey little monsters! Get over here!"

Eret lifted them in his arms for a joint hug as Elsa stepped in, holding a big Tupperware box in her arms. Hiccup took it off her immediately, taking it through to the kitchen while Elsa chivvied her daughter in. The girl wasn't Eret's - Elsa had a daughter before she had Alex - but he had taken the role of dad to heart immediately. Young Anna adored Eret.

"Thanks for making dessert Elsa."

"Oh it was no trouble. You're making dinner for eleven."

"Still, thank you. Making enough dessert for this family is no small feat."

She chuckled, immediately inviting herself to help with the cooking while Eret kept watch over the three kids. Both of Hiccup and Astrid's parents - and their respective partners - were coming over too, which meant cooking was a mammoth task and Hiccup had started the preparations two days ago.

"Who's bringing what?"

"Mom's bringing cake and dad's bringing bread. Granted, her boyfriend made the cake and dad bought the bread from Berserk Bakery, but it saved me a trip and another job."

The kids and Eret went out in the late summer afternoon, freeing up Hiccup and Elsa - no matter if he tried to insist he was fine alone - to keep an eye on the food.

"So, how's work?"

Hiccup and Astrid had both gone to university after they got married; a quick affair after her adoption was dissolved but then, they had not long survived a car crash. Hiccup still smiled when he looked at the slim silver band on his finger. He studied Illustration, making a more serious career out of drawing dragons that allowed him mostly to work from home. Astrid had studied Psychology, and now worked as a counsellor for people with trauma or family problems. Both close to her heart.

"Well, I just became part of a design team for Dreamworks. They're planning a movie about dragons and so they basically give a couple dozen people lists of qualities they want, then everyone gives them drawings. We go from there. The money is pretty good and the job gives me some artistic freedom."

Next through the front door were Valka and her boyfriend Sven, carrying lots of cake and making a big fuss of Thump, who lapped it up. Greeting his mother warmly, Hiccup smiled over at Sven too.

"Everyone's out back if you want to join them."

"Thanks son."

He heard Alex and Anna squeal in delight at the sight of Valka. Hiccup didn't need to look at the clock to know Astrid was due home when Erik came to sit in the kitchen, watching the front door with Stampede clutched in his little arms.

"Mom!"

Erik leapt from his seat and up to Astrid, who was used to such a greeting and caught him with practiced hands.

"Hey little man! And of course hey Stampede. Can you two do me a favour and wait one minute while I change, then you can tell me all about your day?"

"Hmm. I guess that's ok. Hurry back mom."

Astrid leant to kiss Hiccup in greeting, then headed off to change out of her work clothes to relax with Erik. Hiccup couldn't help snuling as he watched her manage their son effortlessly, somehow knowing exactly how to keep him calm all the time. She came down in a loose vest and knee length shorts, unashamed to display the old scars on her arms and legs. Hiccup's hip twinged as though demanding he remember his own scars.

"Ok, I'm all yours Erik."

Erik crawled onto her lap, chatting away quietly about his day and Astrid looked completely riveted by the details of his colouring in and playing with Thump. The only distraction for Erik came in the form of his grandfather, who Erik loved being carried around by.

"Grandpa!"

"Easy now, don't let on I'm getting old."

Erik giggled as he was transferred to another set of arms, waving at Stoick's girlfriend Delilah.

"Hey dad" Astrid stretched up to kiss Stoick's cheek "hey Del. Let me take that... head out back if you want. I figure that's where everyone else is."

"Aye. Come on little fella."

Again the room cleared, leaving Hiccup, Elsa and Astrid in the kitchen. Astrid put down the big order of bread, then slumped happily within Hiccup's embrace. Hiccup smiled down at her, still adoring everything about her. Including the little lines that creased her face when she smiled in return, leaning up to nuzzle his scarred cheek.

"You two are so sweet together. I'm very glad it was me you picked."

"Hey, I think Eret was pretty pleased we picked you too. We'll always be more grateful than we can say for what you did."

It was strange to think there was a time Hiccup felt awkward with Elsa - effectively a woman they were asking to incubate their child. It was powerfully intimate and private and she barely knew them at the time. And Hiccup was still feeling a little embarrassed at the time about having to jerk off into plastic cups to hand his sperm off to nurses.

But Elsa had fallen pregnant with their baby first time, and by the time she gave birth they were firm friends and Eret had asked her out. Elsa had offered to be their surrogate again when Hiccup and Astrid decided they wanted a second kid, but they agreed - adoption was the way forward for them. Astrid had what she had dreamt of before the accident in Alexis - Hiccup's freckles and her fearless nature. Then Erik completed their little family.

"Ok. We should start getting dinner put together."

"Shall I set the table?"

"That would be wonderful milady."

Astrid grinned, setting cutlery and glasses along the surface, with plastic cups at the kids section and Erik's plastic Avengers cutlery marking his spot. The bread was set in intervals along the dinner table - it held sixteen, but Stoick took up at least three peoples spaces. If Eret and Elsa had another kid, they would start running out of room.

Massive piles of steaming lasagna, cooked chicken and salad and mounds of homemade sweet potato fries made up the bulk of the meal, though there were plenty of vegetables and other bits to pick and choose from. Plus the fancy bread.

"Ok, better let in the hordes."

Hiccup put down a nice hearty meal for Thump, which would fill him up and conk him out while the humans ate their dinner. The nicely filled table quickly became organised chaos as everyone sat down, passing trays up and down to serve themselves and trading vegetables left right and centre. If he said so himself, the lasagna and fries were fantastic.

Between eleven people, pretty much everything was eaten. Down to the bread, which most used to soak up excess sauce left over from the pasta dish. Elsa's chocolate and Sven's cake topped off the rich meal with sweetness and temptation for the tastebuds, meaning everyone was utterly stuffed and lazy as they made their way to enjoy the sunset in the garden.

Alex, Erik and Anna fell asleep on blankets in the grass, having been insisting they weren't tired only moments before. The adults chatted and drank. Well. Most of them drank. Elsa turned away a glass of wine, which immediately piqued Astrid's interest as she looked at the bottle.

"You sure? It's your favourite."

"Nope."

"Any reason?"

Everyone was listening, and Elsa flushed prettily.

"Yes. Alright. Its true. I found out last week we're having a baby."

Cheers went around the Haddock clan, muted to stop them waking the kids. They were a tight knit group - even Stoick and Valka were good friends so long after their divorce - and Elsa was basically family for having Alex, her engagement to Eret just compounding it. Eret had become like family back when Hiccup and Astrid had their car accident.

Even when Hiccup and Astrid moved for university, they stayed in constant touch with Eret, and when they bought the home they now lived in it was picked for its location. Roughly equidistant from Valka, Stoick and Eret. It had a garden for their kids to play in, and enough space for Hiccup to have an art studio for work meaning he could be a stay-at-home dad. And obviously, a bath tub.

Basically, it was perfect.

"How far along are you?"

"Not sure, got a scan next week to age the foetus."

"We're thrilled for you! You deserve it and we don't need your womb anymore."

Everyone fell about laughing as Astrid curled herself up against Hiccup's side, playing with the button of the shirt he had on over a t-shirt.

"Anyone else want to announce a baby so we need to get a bigger table? No? Good. I like that table."

Hiccup knew exactly how much Astrid liked the table. Sometimes he was amazed it was still standing, since they had had sex on it, against it, over it so many times he had lost count.

"You two definitely done having kids then? No more adoptees or... what did you call it? Gumball babies?"

"It's basically true - insert embryo, wait and receive baby. And yeah, we agreed when we adopted Erik that we were done having kids"

The boy in question looked ever so sweet, thumb in his mouth as he slept clutching his dragon. Alex and Anna were curled up either side of a sleeping Thump, somehow not noticing his snores. Hiccup smiled to himself, adoring the sight of family all around them. Relatively few of them were bound by blood, but that only bolstered Hiccup's love for them all - Astrid's adoption had been an early and constant lesson that family was more than just DNA, and the people around them proved it now they were all grown up.

Hiccup, Eret and Sven headed in to clean up, Stoick the brawn to gently carry sleeping children. Their dishwasher was full to bursting, but as ever, the family dinner nights were a roaring success. Waving each of the couples off, they carried their sleepy kids to bed before heading to their own bedroom and collapsing to the bed with a sigh.

"I am exhausted."

Astrid chuckled, already wriggling out of her clothes - she never did get the hang of pyjamas in bed with Hiccup. Not that he particularly minded.

"Family night is always rough. Especially when we're the only ones who can hold everyone."

"This wasn't even everyone. Ruff and Tuff, uncle Spite, aunt Helga... the list goes on. If the kids start dating we're gonna have to eat outside like wild beasts."

Laughing, Astrid tugged insistently at the hem of Hiccups t-shirt so he knew she wanted it off.

"They are seven and nine. I think we're ok for a couple years."

Hiccup sat up, pulling off his t-shirt and flopping back to the bed.

"Still... there is a reason we only do the full clan once a month."

Everyone was constantly in and out in their respective couples, and Eret, Elsa and Anna spent whole weekends with them sometimes but they kept a full get together for a monthly occurrence.

Astrid reached out to trace Hiccup's old burn scars, the one on his hip still the most prominent. It had faded mostly to white, but it was still raised skin and rough textured tissue. She smiled, seemingly to herself as she mapped them knowingly, eventually coming down to play her fingers over the biggest one. Hiccup squirmed; it was a bit ticklish where some nerves had regrown.

"You too tired?"

She was biting her lip, still sweet and sexy and playful some fifteen years after they got married. He still remembered how Astrid had leapt on him and kissed him in full view of anyone and everyone when her adoption was severed, making them no longer legally siblings. Of course, that hadn't stopped her calling him 'little brother' from time to time...

"Never for you milady."

He captured her smiling lips with his own, swallowing Astrid's exuberant giggles as she responded to him as quickly and hungrily as she ever had. Kids and sleepless nights and long working hours... none of it had slowed the two down in bed. After their sex-limited injuries had healed, their sex life really had never stopped. Astrid's hysterectomy might have cost her the ability to become pregnant, but that had led to Elsa being a part of their family. And, in Astrid's own words, there no longer being days of the month where she couldn't have sex since she no longer menstruated.

Silver linings were big deals to them - Elsa was a silver lining. Hiccup's scars being appealing to Astrid was a silver lining. They had long learnt to look on the bright side - even Eret was a silver lining, since they never would have met him had they not felt compelled to move and hide their relationship from their parents.

Everything all sort of came together in it's own way. Most of those ways were unconventional, but convention was boring anyway. Hiccup made love to his wife, slow and deep and long experienced in their partners body. Astrid grew tired of being placid, rolling them over and straddling him. Hiccup had no complaints, enjoying the sight of her body atop his as much as ever. Old scars on her arms and legs and stomach lingered, but she wasn't embarrassed or ashamed of them - they were badges of survival.

Afterwards, she curled into his side and kissed his chest lazily, purring when Hiccup ran fingers down her sweat-slick back before curving his hand around her hip. Hiccup bit back a yawn as his eyes grew heavy, the long day plus electrifying climax with Astrid more than enough to wear a guy out.

"Love you."

Astrid murmured it, shuffling a bit closer to nuzzle him sweetly.

"Love you too."

Hiccup managed to return it, though slumber was already starting to slur his words. Shifting slightly to embrace Astrid more comfortably, Hiccup drifted off to sleep with a smile.

-HTTYD-

Ok, we reached the end!

While I have your attentions, I'll offer the same warning I did when Engineering An Awkward Romance was ending.

I don't exclusively write Hiccstrid. I don't even ship it, I just write the prompts that interest me. If you put me on author alerts from this story and will have a problem with the fact I write slash and a whole host of other HTTYD pairings, then by all means remove me from your alerts. I won't hold it against you.

Look out for Prom, Hiccstrid One Shots, Feel The Music (I will get to that, promise) and Twisted Hiccstrid if you only want to see my Hiccstrid works.

Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed my flagrant disregard for social conventions in this story.