Hiccup's POV

I watched as Astrid dug her head into the pillow, hands gripping onto the sheets so tightly her knuckles were turning white, all whilst panting heavily. I furrowed my brows as I watched her. Gods, did it hurt to see her in that much pain. With each scream and whimper that escaped her, I could feel my heart contracting painfully in my chest as she thrashed around in the bed.

"I-I can't do this, it hurts so much." Astrid whimpered, tears running down her cheeks as the violent crimson color in her face began to fade and she had a chance to catch her breath.

I took her hand in mine and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "I know it hurts, babe, but you've got to keep going."

Astrid growled as she gritted her teeth, her face contorting in pain as her hand squeezed mine, almost to the point of breaking, before she let out another scream. "I've been doing this for four hours, I can't take it anymore!"

As Astrid let go of my aching hand, I glanced over at Gothi, hoping that she would confirm that there was indeed not much time left before the final pushes, but she just shook her head slowly at me before running out of the room to grab what I assumed to be another towel.

I placed my focus back on Astrid, whose contraction had eased down. Once again, her face was a deep crimson, small beads of sweat ran down her temples and her lips were chapped from the intense physical pressure she was under. I ran a hand over her damp hair, hoping to ease her pain just a little.

Tired ocean blue eyes met mine, the usual glitter in them having vanished long ago. The exhaustion she felt was evident, and I touched into the feeling that she might not make it through the birth. I gave her hand a soft squeeze as I pressed a kiss to her warm forehead.

"Hiccup, I'm so tired." She sighed, closing her eyes momentarily as she leaned back into the pillow that supported her back.

I bit my lip, distant memories of losing her on the battlefield suddenly making a reappearance in my mind. Gods, I remembered how awful it had been to lose her back then, to see her bleed out and not be able to stop it in any kind of way, but somehow, watching the light slowly fade as she gave birth to our child was even worse.

"I-I know, babe, I know. You've just got to get through this, and once you do, you can rest for as long as you want." I ran a hand over her hair once again. She attempted to smile, but it was twisted into a strange grimace as another contraction rippled through her.

Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned and found Gothi beckoning me to follow her outside, where Gobber was waiting.

"Hey, lad." Gobber greeted me as I stepped outside, where I found all of my friends including my mother also gathered, sitting on the benches that had been set up outside Gothi's hut.

"Why am I out here? My wife needs me in there!" I stated firmly, wishing for the conversation to be over as quickly as it had begun.

"Listen Hiccup, Gothi thinks it's best if you take a short break, let your mother help Astrid instead. They have a good relationship, you know?" Gobber said, as I exchanged a look with my mother, who seemed desperate to go help her daughter-in-law.

"Please, Hiccup, I can see that you're tired as well, let me help." My mother shot me a small smile as she placed a hand on my shoulder.

I took a moment to think it through, before nodding. "Fine. But just a small break, alright?"

My mother's smile widened as she pressed a kiss to my forehead. "Of course, son."

Mom quickly disappeared inside, and I was left sitting on the bench with my friends. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the fresh air of the mountains as I closed my eyes.

"So ... how is she doing?" Ruffnut asked, glancing over at Gothi's hut as she snapped me out of my little bubble

Another scream, followed by a loud whimper cut me off as I felt my heart ache for my poor wife. "She's exhausted, and I'm terrified that she won't make it."

A long silence passed over the group, the only sound being Astrid's pained cries from inside the hut. Fishlegs placed a hand on my shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Listen Hiccup, Astrid is perhaps the strongest woman on this island, if anyone can make it through something like this, then it's probably her."

The others mumbled in agreement as I shot Fishlegs a small smile. "Thanks, Fishlegs. I'm just ... just so worried."

A soft coo filled my ears. I glanced up, and found a familiar night fury on top of Gothi's roof. "There you are, bud. I feared the screaming had sent you running."

The dragon slithered down from the roof and over to me, where he comfortingly placed his head in my lap and nuzzled it against my stomach. I ran a hand across his head, setting my eyes on the horizon. "I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who's worried about her."

Time continued to pass, and I remained on the bench with my friends, the five of us sitting in absolute silence as we listened to the sounds coming from inside the hut. Day turned into night, and as the hours passed by, I couldn't help but think of the villagers, who were probably having a hard time sleeping with the seemingly endless screaming coming from the mountains.

After a while, we had all gotten quite used to the sounds coming from the hut, our own tiredness creeping up on the five of us as our eyelids slowly began drooping. Snotlout had gone to sleep on the floor, so that he wouldn't have to share a bench with the twins, who were sleeping atop one another. Fishlegs was sitting upright, giving the illusion that he was still awake while in fact, he was very much asleep on his own shoulder. I too struggled with staying awake, but just as I was about to give in to my own exhaustion, the screaming ceased and was replaced by deep growling and heavy panting before a high-pitched cry rang through my ears, something which woke me up completely.

I shot up from my seat, jolting Fishlegs awake as I awaited someone to exit the hut and allow me to go see my child. The sudden cease of screaming had seemingly also awoken the others, who were yawning as they rubbed their eyes and stretched their limbs.

"What's happening?" Tuffnut yawned as he stood up from the bench and stretched his back.

Another high-pitched cry rippled through the silence of the evening, answering Tuffnut's question as I lost all patience and ran inside, where I found Astrid sitting upright in the bed, cradling a newborn baby. Astrid may have looked as if she had been through hell and back, but gods, never had she been so beautiful as she was in that moment. At her bedside sat my mother, who seemed to be so busy admiring her new grandchild that she didn't even notice me entering the room.

"Hiccup," Astrid shot me a weak smile, her voice raspy and low as she held our child close to her chest. "Come meet our daughter."

My mother beamed at me as she stood up and left the room. I carefully walked over to the pair in the bed and crouched down at their bedside to get a better look at my newborn daughter.

"A daughter." I whispered, absolutely overjoyed as I felt a grin pulling at the corners of my lips. "Ingrid it is, then?"

Astrid let out a weak chuckle as she smiled fondly down at the baby. "Ingrid it is."

"She's gorgeous. I'm so proud of you, Astrid." I pressed a kiss to her damp temple. She leaned in against my lips.

"Thank you." She breathed. "Do you think you could maybe take her for a second? I'm so tired."

"Of course." I beamed as Astrid handed me my new daughter. It had been one hell of a road, but I had finally become a father, and to a beautiful little girl at that. I kissed the tip of her little nose as I brought her as close to my chest as possible. "Nice to finally meet you, little Ingrid. I'm your father, but you can call me dad, daddy, whatever you like."

Another weak chuckle escaped Astrid as her eyelids drooped slowly, and she quickly fell asleep. I took the opportunity to introduce my little daughter to my friends. I went outside and was immediately met by wide eyes and cooing from my grown friends, who all wanted a closer look at Ingrid.

"Oh my Thor, she is so precious!" Fishlegs squealed as he admired Ingrid from afar. Toothless slithered up behind me with a rather confused look on his face as he aimed to get a closer look at the little baby in my arms as well.

Snotlout smiled fondly down at the bundle in my arms. "Alright, I'll admit it, Haddock, you have a very adorable daughter."

"Thank you" I shot Snotlout a smile as I stroked Ingrid's pale cheek.

"It seems you got lucky Hic, Ruffnut and I weren't nearly as silent as this when we were babies!" Tuffnut sighed wistfully, as if he was remembering the event himself, placing his hands on his hips and earning a nasty look from his sister.

"And how would you know that, bro?" Ruffnut asked, raising an eyebrow at her brother as the twins started an argument over their 'exceptional' memory.

But for some reason, Tuffnut's words stuck with me, and I couldn't help but check Ingrid's breathing. I brought the baby up to my ear and listened for a heartbeat, or even a movement at all, but there was none.

I turned to my mother, a look of horror in my face. Somehow, she knew exactly what I meant, which is why she quickly snatched Ingrid out of my arms, and ran back inside to Gothi.

Snotlout let out a groan. "Back to the bench it is."

A while later, Gothi emerged from the hut alongside my mother. The two women exchanged a sad look before hanging their heads. Somehow, I knew immediately what they were thinking. I felt my heart constrict painfully in my chest, as if someone had just reached in, taken a hold of it and squeezed with all their might.

The first thought that came to my mind was Astrid. Gods, I couldn't even begin to imagine how she would be handling those news. I pushed past my mother and Gothi and burst back into the hut, where Astrid laid curled up on the side of the bed, staring blankly down at the floor.

"Astrid?" I spoke softly as I took a careful step in her direction, but it was like she hadn't heard me at all. "Astrid?"

"Go away, Hiccup." Astrid said in a shaky voice, her eyes filling with tears as she refused to face me.

I sat down on the bed beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder, which she quickly brushed off. "Astrid, I'm staying. I am not going to leave you alone at a time like this."

A sob escaped her as she mumbled incoherently. I laced my fingers with hers, and found little resistance from her as I did so. I felt my own eyes burn as I thought of my little daughter, but it was nothing compared to the pain Astrid felt, having spent so long giving birth only to not have a baby at the end of it.

"I'm so sorry, Astrid." I whispered to her as I wrapped my arms around her. Astrid slowly turned around and nuzzled up to my chest, gripping onto my back for dear life as tears streamed down her face.