Summer Kisses, Winter tears

Chapter 1

"-appy hours, lonely years. But I guess I can't complain. For I still recall the Summer sun. Through all the Winter rain. The fire of love, the fir-" Astrid growled and quickly changed the channel of the small transistor radio she had next to her as she sat on her apartment fire escape smoking. The drag of tobacco did nothing to calm her nerves and the new radio station wasn't helping either. "-ver did fit in too well with the folks you knew. When it's plain to see that the likes of me Don't fit with you. So you traded me for the gaiety of the well-to-do. An-" She growled and just turned off the radio. It seemed even the Golden Oldies were against her.

The door to the apartment opened with a creek and her husband of four years, Hiccup, now stepped in looking like someone had overcooked his broccoli. "Bad day?" She asked while taking another drag of her cigarette.

"Yeah... and..." Hiccup stopped and frowned as he looked at his wife. "I thought you stopped smoking?"

Astrid extinguished the cigarette butt on the metal of the fire escape before climbing back inside, taking her radio with her. "Let's just say, the situation called for it. I needed to unwind."

"Did it help you unwind?' Hiccup then asked as he put his messenger bag down on the sofa before hugging Astrid.

"No... It just made me want to be more stabby," Astrid grumbled though she returned the hug.

"What happened?" Hiccup then asked.

"My stepbrother tracked me down at work," She grumbled. "Turns out him, his wife, and the parental units found out where I'm living and now are vacationing in Berk, demanding to see their grandchildren."

Hiccup pulled back a bit and blinked incredulously. "Yeah I know," Astrid gave a mirthless laugh. "If they think I'm going to bend over backwards for them...."

"It's messed up is what it is." Hiccup frowned. "Why now? Hasn't it been almost a decade since you cut them out of your life?"

"I mean, what am I even going to tell the kids?!" Astrid asked worriedly. "They know my mother is alive but they've been asking why they never got to meet her. I've been putting off that talk for quite a while now,"

"Oh Thor, I knew this was coming," Astrid sighed tiredly. "I just have no idea how the kids will take it. I'll have to tell them tomorrow because Thor knows my mother is determined as hell. She'd find a way to see the kids even if she has to wait outside their school."

"Want me there with you?" Hiccup asked in a reassuring manner and his wife nodded against his shoulder.

Luckily the following day was Saturday and both Astrid and Hiccup had a lie-in, or at least they tried to if not for their seven-year-old who cannonballed onto the bed. "Mommy! Mommy! Zeph won't let me play with her lightsaber!"

Hiccup groaned and tried to hide his face but their son was persistent. Finally, he cracked open an eye and told the boy "Nuffink. It's her toy. She doesn't have to share."

"But dad!!! She's going around the room in a Darth Vader mask yelling execute Order 66!" Nuffink explained as if that was a valid reason. "What's Order 66 dad?"

"It's still a no Nuff," Astrid now sat up. "Leave your sister's stuff alone." Just as they said that however Zephyr appeared in their open doorway, and shouted "Execute Order 66!" before she too divebombed onto the bed giggling.

"Vader never giggled," Hiccup smirked as he grabbed their daughter and picked her up.

"Looks like we won't be having that lie-in," Astrid rubbed the sleep out of her eyes while Hiccup asked who wanted pancakes.

Once in the kitchen, the kids went back to playing as Hiccup started making the batter while Astrid put on the coffee. "When's your shift today?" Astrid asked as she got the coffee cups.

"They asked me to come in at 4. Just in time for the dinner rush," Hiccup told her. "I'll probably be in late tonight."

"You really need a vacation. Thank Thor the restaurant is closed on Sundays." Astrid mumbled.

"So when will you tell them?" Hiccup brought up the elephant in the room.

Astrid sighed. "After breakfast. I don't want to spoil that. Especially now since you're making your banana pancakes," she said as she reached to lick some of the batter only for Hiccup to smack her fingers playfully. Astrid just pouted.

"You know I tried recreating them one night," Astrid mumbled. "It shouldn't have been hard.... Well the recipe, not the pancakes."

"Astrid, the kids used those 'pancakes' as frisbees! Even the ants didn't want them," Hiccup chuckled which earned him an elbow in his side.

"Those ants were just picky eaters," Astrid said in a huff that caused Hiccup to laugh.

Predictably the kids scarfed down the pancakes with copious amounts of maple syrup and sugar. "Zephyr chew," Astrid warned as the girl filled her mouth. Traces of powdered sugar were on her lips though she did slow down at her mother's warning. Nuffink was a slower eater but only because he had to lick the syrup off his fingers every half a pancake. When Breakfast was done Astrid asked the kids if they would join her and Hiccup in the living room area. The kids took a seat on the two-seater couch while Hiccup sat opposite them on the one-seater. Meanwhile, Astrid was taking a deep breath before she addressed the situation.

"Now kids. You know I always explain big life decisions to you guys." Astrid said as she crouched down to their eye level. Zephyr nodded while Nuffink just bit the ear of his owl plushie. "My mother, your grandmother, is visiting the city and she's asked to meet you," 'More like demanded,' but Astrid wasn't going to say that. The kids brightened up at the news of finally seeing their grandmother but then Zephyr frowned and asked "But mommy, why is this a hard choice?"

"Mommy....," Astrid hesitated. "Mommy has had some problems with her mommy years ago. We don't get along well,"

"But you like grandpa!" Nuffink piped up.

"Yes... uhm... I want you two to hear the story first. Then you guys can decide if you want to see Grandma. Alright?"

"Alright," The kids agreed.

Astrid began her tale about how at age nine her father had gone on a business trip to Seattle with a colleague. He ended up cheating on her mother but confessed to it promptly when he got back. Her parents hadn't known that she was listening in on the argument, having been awoken by their yelling. Her father sounded contrite as his wife ripped into him. Astrid didn't remember much about that night but she did hear divorce being mentioned.

"Wait, grandpa cheated on grandma?" Nuffink asked as he squished his plushie a bit.

"But we still see grandpa all the time!" Zephyr exclaimed.

"Yes, there is more to this story," Astrid sighed while leaning against the couch her husband was seated on.

"My parents divorced and mom ended up keeping the house. Dad moved out and got an apartment close by because he wanted to still be in my life. He also more than willingly paid child support to my mom until I was 18." Astrid explained.

"What's child support?" Zephyr asked with a tilt of her head. A quirk she had gotten from her father.

"It's when a mommy and daddy separate and the parent that takes care of the kids the most gets money from the other to help raise them. Like for food, school, clothing," Hiccup explained.

"So grandpa is still a good guy because he helped pay?" Zephyr asked.

"I guess you can put it like that. Some people refuse to pay child support," Hiccup pondered aloud.

"That's mean!" Nuffink announced.

"Very mean," Astrid agreed with a nod before going back to her story. "Two years later mom started dating again and she soon remarried to a guy that already had a son from a previous marriage." As the kids looked at her wide-eyed Astrid muttered "So yes, you have a second grandfather and an uncle."

"Adam, my stepbrother, was a year older than me and a right terror." Astrid grimaced. "He used to play these mean pranks on me but mostly left me alone when he hit 15. That's around the time he got his first girlfriend. Neither my mom nor my stepfather did anything when I complained about his behaviour. I just got told, boys will be boys."

"The house dynamic was pretty weird after mom got remarried. It was only after moving out that I realized just how toxic the family actually was." She muttered before rubbing her forehead. "Adam was clearly the golden child of the family. He played sports, was popular, and had girlfriends left and right. For his 16th birthday, he got a brand new car too. Meanwhile, I was.... I was in my goth phase alright." Astrid pouted a bit which caused Hiccup to bite his fist to stop himself from laughing as he had seen Astrid's goth photos. "For my 16th birthday, I got a $150 gift card for Target. Mom told me to... Pretty up,"

"When Adam turned 18 the parental units, so to speak, paid fully for his college." Astrid now pulled a somewhat disgusted face. "I don't know why I expected the same treatment still," She then sighed. "I often wonder if it was because I looked so much like dad," Hiccup pulled his wife onto his lap and gave her a hug.

"I'm fine Hiccup," Astrid mumbled. "It was over a decade ago." The kids were watching their mom with rapt attention by now.

"I had been working part-time for years now and had managed to save up for a beater of a car," Astrid explained. "The rest of the money I got from the odd jobs went into a bank account dad helped me set up. But it still wasn't enough to fully cover the University costs. So I went and asked mom if she'd be willing to chip in." Here Astrid took a breath. "She just told me they had spent all their savings on sending Adam to college and I was on my own. Okay, no problem. I could still take a student loan and maybe dad could chip in a bit. What really got to me was her asking why I was even going to University. I responded by saying I wanted to major in Nursing and said the university had a great four-year program." Astrid gritted her teeth as her hands fisted the couch armrest. "Mom laughed at me and told me point blank 'Honey, you're not smart enough to be a nurse,'"

The kids gasped and Zephyr exclaimed "But mom! You're a great nurse!"

"Grandma was being super mean!" Nuffink uttered. "Big old meanie!" This caused Astrid to laugh a bit.

"I was noticeably upset and drove to dad's apartment. Over the years we mended our relationship quite a bit. Even though I hadn't forgiven him for the cheating and splitting the family we did end up having quite a good relationship." She confessed. "He was angry at his ex-wife's response to my career aspirations and then he asked why I didn't just use the college fund he had set up for me. You can imagine my utter confusion at this point because I didn't know of any fund. He proceeded to explain that he put money aside in a bank account mom and I could access. This was aside from the child support and that his ex knew it was to be my college fund."

"When dad realized I didn't know, he gave me the account details and I went to check with the bank. They told me the account was emptied and closed a year ago and that's when I realized that they used my college fund to send Adam to school. I was beyond angry and crying and I just couldn't stay in that house anymore. So I packed up and moved out."

"Grandma stole from you?!" Zephyr asked in shock. "Why?! I mean, you guys are family right?"

"Sometimes family members do mean things to each other Zephyr," Hiccup sighed.

"But mom, you did become a nurse at the end," Nuffink uttered. "Show's grandma what she knows,"

Astrid nodded. "Yes, I still wanted to become a nurse so I saved up for two additional years after moving to Berk so that I could get my associate's degree in Nursing from a local college here. It's actually how I met your father." She then laughed while reminiscing about that part. "Your uncle Snotlout was my neighbour at the co-ed dorms."

"Hey, Astrid you shouldn't tell them that!" Hiccup quickly exclaimed only to have Astrid laugh. She gave her husband a wicked smirk before relaying to the kids how one drunken evening Hiccup was going to crash at uncle Snotlout's place. It was way past the time the dorms would lock up so he had climbed up the fire escape, intending to go through Snotlout's window. Only he ended up going through the wrong window and Astrid ended up hitting him over the head with her Anatomy course book.

"So here's the deal kids," Astrid stated. "Your grandmother, her husband, Adam, and his wife are in the city to visit. Do you want to meet them?" She then asked.

"I don't wanna!" Nuffink proclaimed. "She sounds mean!" Zephyr however was putting much more thought into it. "Mom, why after all this time? Do you think she wants to apologize to you?"

Astrid just shrugged as she didn't know. Now Nuffink was looking at his sister incredulously. "You can't want to meet her!"

"I don't know. What if she's like.... Really really... really sorry?" Zephyr questioned. "Mom and grandpa are all buddy-buddy but gramps cheated remember?"

"Yeah but.... Zeph, she stole," Nuffink pointed out.

"But you take my toys all the time too and I forgive you," Zephyr pointed out. "What if grandma really wants to... You know..." The girl waved her arms around as if that was supposed to clarify things.

"I don't know...." Nuffink was still unsure.

"If grandma does something bad again mom can just chuck her out the window," The girl then suggested. To which Nuffink nodded. Hiccup couldn't take it anymore and laughed while Astrid looked at the kids with a raised brow.

Astrid, before noon, made her decision and decided to call the number Adam had left behind. She and Hiccup both agreed that it would be best to meet on their terms and thus invited her estranged family to their apartment for a late Sunday brunch as both Hiccup and Astrid had busy schedules throughout the weekday. This way Hiccup could be present as moral support or when an ambulance needed to be called. Thor knows how Astrid would react after all these years.