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bi-bi-want-dragon · 5 years

Text

Brothers

(link to read it at ff.net if you prefer that)

Daddy was nervous. Daddy was very nervous. Zephyr didn’t completely understand why, but she knew. He wasn’t pacing like Momma did when she was nervous. He was trying to be happy and play with Zephyr, but his hands were doing that thing Momma made fun of him for. He never stopped moving, and his arms and hands were flailing around constantly trying to find something to do. He kept looking at the stairs that led to Momma and Daddy’s bedroom.

Zephyr knew enough to understand her little baby brother or sister was on the way. But everyone always said it would be a very happy day when the baby came. Today was not a very happy day in Zephyr’s eyes. Momma had been very scared, and she told Daddy something was wrong. And before Zephyr knew it, Daddy was trying to distract Zephyr and Grandma was taking Momma upstairs. Daddy had sent someone for Aunt Ruffnut, but she wasn’t here yet. So Daddy was sitting downstairs with Zephyr. Daddy was trying really hard to be strong and happy, but Zephyr still knew.

Zephyr was sitting on Daddy’s lap, playing with her stuffed Night Fury that Daddy had given her for her name-day celebration. He looked back up the stairs again with his eyebrows pinched together. He tried to be sly, but Zephyr still saw it and she knew what it meant. She was a very fast learner; Daddy told her so a lot.

“Daddy, what’s wrong with Momma?” she asked, focused on her Night Fury.

She felt him shift but kept her focus on her toy. “With Momma? Nothing’s wrong, Zeph, she’s okay.”

“Daddy,” she said, dropping her toy and looking up at him with a sigh, quite annoyed with her father. Hiccup chuckled internally at the sass that coated her tone; she may look like him, but that attitude was all Astrid. “I’m a big girl. How come Grandma took Momma upstairs? Momma looked scared…” Zephyr let the nervousness show in her eyes now, afraid that she was losing her mother.

Hiccup saw the sudden shift and held her close, kissing her hair. “Hey, little warrior, she’s okay. Momma’s going to be just fine. The baby just… Is coming a little early, that’s all.”

Zephyr’s voice was small. “Is that bad?”

“Hopefully not,” he muttered. Zephyr didn’t like the sound of that.

She wanted to ask more, but then the front door swung open. “Alright Haddock, I’m here. What was so urgent?” Ruffnut said, sounding almost annoyed as she stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

Hiccup stood up immediately, carrying Zephyr with him over to Ruffnut. “Astrid.”

Ruffnut’s face softened, as did her tone. Her arms dropped to her side and she gave a short nod. “‘Nuff said. Come here, Zephyr, Daddy’s uh… Gotta go help your mom.” She reached out her arms to Zephyr who hesitated, glancing up at her father.

He smiled down at her and kissed her forehead. “It’s okay, stay with Aunt Ruff.” Hiccup tried not to laugh at Ruffnut, who scrunched her nose at the word “aunt.” He forgot the twins didn’t like how “adult” the titles sounded. “Momma’s going to be just fine. I’ll come get you as soon as you can see her, okay?”

Zephyr still didn’t like what was happening, but she nodded and leaned over into Aunt Ruffnut’s arms. She lifted Zephyr out of Daddy’s grasp and set her on her hip. Zephyr leaned her head on her aunt’s shoulder and popped her thumb into her mouth. Daddy saw and gently pulled her hand down. “It’s okay, little warrior,” he said softly, nodding to Aunt Ruffnut before running up the stairs.

Aunt Ruffnut sat down on the couch with Zephyr in her lap. Zephyr played with her fingers nervously, sucking on her lower lip as she glanced around the room.

“Aw, you can put that thumb back in there, kid, I won’t tell your dad,” Aunt Ruff said. Zephyr gladly did so before leaning against Aunt Ruff’s chest, curling herself into a ball. Aunt Ruff seemed to stiffen for a moment, but then wrapped her arms around Zephyr and relaxed.

The room was quiet for a while as Zephyr cuddled with her Aunt Ruffnut. Neither knew quite what to say, but Zephyr was glad she had someone to hold her. But eventually she had to ask. “Aunt Ruffie?”

“Yeah, kid?”

“Am I gonna lose my Momma?” The question was almost a squeak.

Ruffnut was caught off guard. Zephyr seemed genuinely scared, and she wasn’t sure how to handle that. “Your mom? Astrid? Heck no! She’s the strongest person I know!”

Zephyr was quiet for another moment, but her next question was almost whispered. “Am I gonna lose my baby brother or sister?”

Ruffnut bit her lip. That one wasn’t so easy. “I hope not.”

Zephyr sighed. “That’s what Daddy said too.”

Ruffnut felt bad. Should she have lied? Normally she had absolutely no qualms about lying to anyone, but Zephyr was different. She was too innocent, and even the Thorston twins had enough of a heart to realize that. “Hey, look, I’m sure he’ll be okay. Or she.”

Zephyr didn’t seem very convinced, but Ruffnut didn’t know what else to say, so she just sat in the quiet trying to comfort the small girl in her lap as best as she could.

Zephyr’s mind was racing though, and she didn’t like that. “Aunt Ruffie?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you like having a brother?”

Ruffnut chuckled. “Yeah, I do. I mean, he’s a pain in my a- uh, butt, sometimes, but he’s my brother. I’d do anything for him.”

“Anything?” Zephyr asked.

“Anything.” Ruffnut said, sneaking a glance up the stairs. “Wanna know the craziest one?” she asked with a devious smile.

Zephyr nodded curiously.

“One time, Snotlout convinced Tuffnut that he was turning into a dragon after something bit him in the woods. So, I dragged Snotlout into the forest to got a bunch of dragons and sea slugs and all kinds of crazy stuff to bite him. Then I’d drag him back and compare the bite marks to Tuffnut’s to figure out what bit him.”

Zephyr giggled. “Really?”

“Really. Your dad was mad for a second there when I brought Snotlout back with the first round of bite samples, but when I explained what I was doing he just let me go. Best day of my life. He totally had it coming.” Ruffnut chuckled, remembering the look on Snotlout’s face.

“Does Uncle Tuffnut still think he’s a dragon?” Zephyr asked, thoroughly entertained by the silliness of her uncle.

“Nah, we found the wolf that bit him.” Ruffnut though back for a moment. “Then again, he was kind of convinced again when Hiccup gave him that flight suit…”

Zephyr giggled again. But then she heard her mother shout from upstairs. She sounded like she was in pain, and that scared Zephyr.

Ruffnut felt the little girl in her lap start to shake at Astrid’s scream. Why did Hiccup have to call her of all people? Ruffnut was not exactly the comforting type!

But then she saw how her little hands gripped the black plush dragon until her knuckles went white. How the tears began to bead at the corners of her eyes as she stared at the staircase leading up to her parent’s bedroom. How her small lip quivered and her breathing began to hitch when she inhaled.

“Hey… It’s okay, that’s pretty normal. I think,” Ruffnut said. She hadn’t had kids of her own yet (though Fishlegs seemed pretty determined to change that relatively soon) and she wasn’t exactly someone who would jump at helping another woman through something like that.

“Really?” Zephyr asked, still looking at the stairs and clutching her toy.

“Yeah! Same thing probably happened when your mom had you!”

Zephyr’s eyes grew even wider somehow. “I hurt Momma?!”

Whoops. “No! Well, I mean, I guess technically, but no!” This did not calm Zephyr whatsoever. Ruffnut sighed. She was unintentionally destroying this poor girl. She decided she would blame it on Hiccup. “It happens with everybody, not just your mom. It’s just… How this stuff works, she knew that before she even knew you were coming. She wanted you anyway. She knows you didn’t mean to hurt her.”

Zephyr calmed down a little, but still cringed every time she heard Astrid cry out. Ruffnut prayed to the gods that they were almost done before she ruined the Chief’s daughter any more than she already had.

After awhile more of silence between the two (Ruffnut decided it was probably best to keep her mouth shut), Zephyr leaned back against Ruffnut’s chest. She popped her thumb back in her mouth and used her free hand to play with one of Ruffnut’s braids hanging in front of her. Ruffnut wrapped her arms around Zephyr and gave her a little squeeze. Astrid’s cries were growing more frequent, making Zephyr more and more uneasy. She was fidgety and jumpy, and Ruffnut couldn’t figure out how to make her feel better. So she just tried to hold her tight, laying her head on top of Zephyr’s when her neck got tired.

When Astrid’s cries stopped suddenly, Zephyr’s head whipped up so she could stare at the stairs. Ruffnut snapped her head up as well, startled by the sudden movement of her quasi-niece. “Woah, I’m up,” Ruffnut said, blinking and trying to reorient herself to her surroundings. She found Zephyr looking up at her with her eyebrows pinched together.

“I don’t hear Momma anymore,” she whispered, eyes brimming with tears.

Gods, I can’t keep doing this, Ruffnut thought to herself. “Well, hey, that’s good! Maybe that means it’s all over!”

Zephyr’s lips pursed in thought like her father’s always did as she looked back to the stairs. It almost gave Ruffnut whiplash; the blue eyes were just about the only thing that reminded her she was Zephyr and not Hiccup.

“If it’s all over… Does that mean Momma’s okay?” she asked slowly.

“Well, yeah, sure. Astrid’s totally fine. She’s the strongest person I know, remember?”

The tears in Zephyr’s eyes didn’t disappear, but she looked back to Ruffnut. She careful stood up on the chair next to Ruffnut’s legs with her thumb back in her mouth.

Ruffnut grabbed onto her little waist, not wanting to have to explain to Hiccup why his daughter fell off a chair on her watch (quite honestly terrified of how Daddy Hiccup would react). “What is it, Zephyr?” she asked the girl.

Zephyr didn’t say a word; she simply laid her head on Ruffnut’s shoulder, thumb still in her mouth, and wrapped her free arm around Ruffnut’s neck. Ruffnut froze, surprised by the embrace, before slowly wrapping her arms around her. She tried rubbing Zephyr’s back like she’d seen Astrid do hundreds of times, hoping it would make her feel better. “It’s gonna be okay.”

“Thanks Aunt Ruffie.” Zephyr spoke around her thumb.

“For what?”

“For sitting with me.”

“Oh, well… You know I’m always here for you, kid.”

“Aunt Ruffie?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

Ruffnut’s eyes widened just slightly as she hesitated out of surprise. Huh. Maybe she wasn’t doing so bad after all. “I love you too, Zephyr,” she said, giving the girl a small squeeze. She lifted Zephyr up and set her back down to straddle her aunt’s lap, letting Zephyr face her still so she could lay her head on Ruffnut’s chest. Zephyr settled easily against her aunt, who began to gently rock her side to side. Ruffnut wasn’t sure why she did any of it, but it just sort of felt right. And as long as Zephyr wanted to stay there, Ruffnut would hold her tight and rock her if it meant she felt better.

Ruffnut and Zephyr froze as they heard slow footsteps down the stairs. Zephyr recognized the alternating pattern of boot and metal and knew it was her father. She didn’t look up at him, but Ruffnut did. He looked exhausted despite Astrid’s labor lasting less than a day. Which means he had been more worried and stressed than he let on. And he let on that he was incredibly worried and stress as it was. He sighed as his not-leg leg stepped on the floor, making Ruffnut second guess if everything was okay.

“Zephyr?” Hiccup said gently, kneeling next to her and Ruffnut. Zephyr’s heart raced, worried about her mother. But Hiccup lifted her chin with his finger and asked, “Would you like to meet your baby brother?”

The smile that lit up Zephyr’s face melted Hiccup’s heart in an instant. She nodded shyly, reaching out to her father. “Come here, little warrior,” he said softly, lifting her from Ruffnut’s lap. He nodded to Ruffnut as he settled Zephyr against his chest, a silent thank you for giving his little girl company. She smiled back as Hiccup carried Zephyr up the stairs.

Eh. Maybe she could do the whole mom thing.

You know. If Fishlegs wants it so bad.

#httyd #hiccup #hiccup haddock #zephyr #zephyr haddock #dadcup #ruffnut #ruffnut thorston #aunt ruffnut #fanfic #Haddock family #post httyd 3 #life after they left #randis fics

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