Chapter 3

Present day

"That will be 93.50," Astrid heard the cashier say to the man checking out as she mopped the floor near the registers. She mostly tuned out the now familiar sounds of the cash drawers opening and closing and went about her job. It was nearly noon and she couldn't wait to take her break. The last three days had been hectic but thank Thor it was Friday.

Hitting Henry... uhm... Hiccup, he had insisted with a smile she'd call him that, with her car had been the start of it all. She was surprised to have gotten a date out of it and even more surprised that she was looking forward to it. Since Damian was born she'd hadn't had much luck in the dating market. With needing to care for a newborn at the time and now a toddler she had pondered swearing off dating altogether. Sure Heather had set her up with a work college or acquaintance here and there trying to get her out more but once those dates learned that she was a single mother they either, ghosted her the next day, ghosted her that night, and stuck her with the bill, called her a gold digger, or her favorite yet, thought she was an easy lay since she'd already had a kid.

However, the events of that night were possibly the only thing she'd been looking forward to. The next day she'd gotten a notice in the mail that her landlord was going to be raising the rent the next month. When she saw the new figure her eyebrows shot up. There was no way she'd be able to afford that, pay for Damian's Pre-K, pay Heather for babysitting, groceries, classes, and utilities. The cost of living in Berk was getting expensive and she'd already been nearly living paycheck to paycheck while trying to provide for them both. She'd had this one-bedroom apartment since leaving Havenholme. It wasn't in the best part of town but it was decent. Now she'd either had to find something cheaper or get another job. Which was what Astrid was doing during her lunch break. She was munching on a sandwich while scrolling through her phone for job listings in the area. It wouldn't be good to uproot Damian now that he'd made some friends in Pre-K. Also, cheaper apartments were in more dangerous neighbourhoods which she didn't want to risk as a single woman.

"Yo Astrid!" A familiar voice uttered. She looked up from her perusing to her work college who took a seat opposite to her in the breakroom.

"Eddie," Astrid greeted not sparing the guy much of a glance before taking another bite and returning to her phone. Her colleague was a well-built guy, with shaggy blond hair that screamed surfer dude though there wasn't a sea in sight in this city.

"Looking hot as always," Eddie chuckled.

Astrid merely rolled her eyes. Eddie was such a flirt, though he never really meant anything by it. She had long become accustomed to his words and his wagging eyebrows.

"So how was the week?" Eddie asked. "They had me in the backroom doing inventory. According to Jess, I missed some juicy gossip. Did we finally get rid of Miss Trunchbull?"

"Eddie you can't keep referring to our manager like that," Astrid admonished though she mentally agreed with the comparison.

"Hey, one could hope," Eddie grumbled before leaning in and whispering "If there was an award for micromanaging..."

Astrid just shrugged it off before saying offhandedly "I think Jess was referring to my date tonight,"

"Hold on, you have a date?!... YOU?!"

"Yes, me Eddie," she muttered while finishing off her sandwich.

"This isn't gonna be another Ben & Jerry's fiasco is it 'cause you know you got banned," Eddie asked with a raised brow.

"NOoooo," Astrid groaned. "You must know he's taking me to this fancy Italian place near the botanical gardens. Oh, Thor... I still don't know what to wear!"

"High heels probably," Eddie commented which caused Astrid to shoot him a glare. She hadn't worn heels like that since she'd had her son. They had been way too impractical. "Also don't forget Jess and I. We're invested now," Astrid merely rolled her eyes in return.

Four years ago

"Thuggary you freaking idiot!" Astrid growled as she stomped into her room while holding a crumpled letter that had been taped to the front door. "I hope you go bald!!!" She cursed before flopping down on her bed while still in her wedding dress.

With the groom missing they had no choice but to call off the wedding. Both families had decided, after a screaming match, to have the guests enjoy the reception, otherwise it would have been a waste of food. Food that Astrid never got to taste because her parents had angrily herded her out of that barn to avoid the awkward questions. Well, awkward questions for them. At this point, Astrid didn't even care about the wedding. She was mostly apathetic about the whole thing now.

Then when they got home, she'd spotted an envelope taped to the front door with her name on it. When the letter inside was revealed to be from Thuggary, her mother had grabbed it out of her hand, read it, crumbled it in a fit of rage, and threw it on the ground before calling the guy every swearword she knew, and it was a lot, some of which Astrid didn't even know.

She'd picked up the crumbled letter and read it with brows shooting up inch by inch after each paragraph. 'The nerf of that mulch-eating-baboon,' her mind screamed before she unlocked the door and stormed inside.

Astrid didn't know how long she'd been staring at her ceiling but she looked up when she heard the creak of footsteps on the stairs. Her door had still not been returned so she had a full view of her older sibling coming up, proceeding to lean against her doorframe while holding a plate with a slice of white fondant-covered chocolate cake. "You want some? Mom's rage eating," her sister offered.

"Do you really need to rub it in by offering me a piece of wedding cake?" Astrid sat up fully and raised a brow.

"Yupppp," Her sister smirked. "Not every day I see you, the golden child, get knocked down a peg."

Astrid frowned. "Why are you even here Alex? Didn't you go low contact with Mom and Dad?"

"Yeah, but this is too good to pass," she kept smirking. "I'm just here to gloat and see you finally wallow in misery. Schadenfreude ya know. For once they aren't harping at me to be more like you," Alex flipped a stray black hair back. "Their miracle baby," She said with a hint of resentment.

"Look, I don't want to get into that with you again," Astrid growled. "Can't you at least give me some peace?! I'm already contemplating where to shove these heels when I see Thug."

"Enjoy it while it lasts," Alex turned around while waving dismissively. "'Cause, knowing mom and dad, do you seriously think they'd keep you around while being pregnant and UNWED?"