"You ready for another day of chiefing, girl?" Astrid asked her almost-two-year-old daughter as she handed her to her husband in the early hours of the morning.
Hiccup and Astrid had both decided that taking Zephyr to work with them was actually beneficial. Not only for them. As people seemed to instantly relax in her adorable presence.
"Okay, just a quick diaper change, and then we are off." Hiccup noted as he placed his daughter down on the bed and began to change her. He noticed something on her thigh. "Astrid."
"Yeah?" The blonde looked over from where she was combing her hair.
"You had the pox before, right?" He checked.
"Eel pox? We all did." She reminded.
"No... chicken." He corrected.
"Oh, no." She realized.
"You had them, right?" He checked again. "Astrid. Tell me you had them!" He pleaded.
"Sorry, Honey. I never got them." She sighed. "But you got them right? You were covered in them."
"Astrid, that wasn't chickenpox. That was poison oak." He explained.
"Poison oak? How did you-?"
"A hawk flew by and I thought it was a dragon and fell into a bush. I think we have more important things to think about right now." He said quickly so as to avoid as much embarrassment as possible, with a little scratch to his neck.
"Come here, Muttonhead." Astrid rolled her eyes.
"No, Astrid. You're pregnant. We can't risk it." Hiccup declined.
"Hiccup, we slept in the same bed. You've kissed me seven times this morning already and I've been nursing Zeph all night. Odds are, I've already got it."
"We don't know that."
"Just get over here." She grasped Hiccup's arm and spun him around, moving his scruffy hair from his neck to confirm his suspicions. "Sorry chief. Looks like your mother is in charge for a few days."
Knock knock.
"She must've heard me." The blonde giggled.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Hiccup double-checked and after receiving a nod he raced to the door of his hut.
Astrid watched as he ran down the stairs and turned the corner before letting out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and rolling down her sleeve to give her arm a quick scratch before scooping up her daughter and joining her husband downstairs.
"Mom, you had the chickenpox right?" Hiccup asked with his ear pressed against the door.
"Of course, son." She confirmed. Hiccup let out a sigh of relief and opened the door, allowing her to enter. "So, am I to assume that you finally caught it?" She wondered.
"It was only a matter of time." He shrugged.
"And you, Lass?" She gestured towards her daughter-in-law.
"Never had it." She admitted.
"What do you need me to do?"
"You and Gobber are acting chief for a few days until this blows over and could you please check with Gothi and see if there's anything Zephyr can take to ease her symptoms and what risks there are to the baby."
"Of course." She agreed with a quick hug goodbye.
***
"Hiccup, will you stop scratching?!" Astrid scowled as Hiccup itched ferociously.
"I can't!" He huffed. "You have no idea how awful this feels."
"Hiccup, I survived the scourge of Odin."
"I lost my leg."
"Seven months of pregnancy and premature labor, in the middle of nowhere. Get over yourself." She chuckled.
"Okay, fine. You got me on that one. But it still hurts."
"Whatever you say." She rolled her eyes at her husband before heading towards a chest in the far side of the room, returning with a rope and tying his hands behind his back.
"Astrid, what are you doing?!" He shrieked in a rather unchiefly fashion.
"I have to feed our daughter and I can't do that while I'm trying to keep you from scratching, so deal with it."
"Fine, I won't scratch. Just get these things off me."
"I don't believe you." She admitted, tightening the ropes and heading over to nurse Zephyr.
"Astrid. You promise you don't feel even a little itchy?" Hiccup triple-checked.
"I'm fine, Hiccup." She fibbed.
"Then what's that spot on your chest?" He wondered.
"Fine, I got the pox." She sighed in defeat, removing her arm sleeves to reveal even more. "We both knew it was coming."
"But, you feel okay? With the baby? Everything's okay?" He panicked.
"Well, I'm nauseous as always. But other than a little itch. I feel fine."
"You promise?"
"I promise."
Minutes passed and Zephyr was finally full and drifting off in her mother's arms. Astrid left the room to place her daughter in her room next door before returning to Hiccup, who was sitting on the bed trying to wriggle out of his ropes.
"She's out like a light."
"Good! Now can you get me out of these things?!" He scowled.
"Say please."
"Please." He huffed.
Astrid smirked and made her way over to the bed. She climbed over his lap and straddled his hips.
"Nah. It's our first day off in months. I have a better idea." She suggested.
"Astrid, please. This itch is killing me." He writhed beneath her. Astrid just chuckled.
"Where?" She chuckled.
"My neck." He informed, finally catching on to her plan. He had an itch he couldn't scratch. Astrid brought her hand up to rub the side of his neck. Avoiding an actual itch to prevent scarring him but still providing a sense of relief. "Mmm."
"Better?" She checked.
"Uh-huh." He moaned. Her hands moved from his neck to his chest and began to ease the itch as she leaned in for a kiss. Hovering just an inch away, knowing Hiccup couldn't just pull her closer and it was killing him. But what she didn't know, was that Hiccup had gotten rather good at wriggling out of her restraints over the years and the rope had slipped off of him. He quickly wrapped one arm around her waist and the other around her head and flipped them around.
"Now..." He rasped. "About that itch of yours?"
***
