Part 2 of 2
Chapter 2
The following day there was a knock on the apartment door just as Hiccup was putting the finishing touches on his Beef Bourguignon. The kids were roughhousing in the living room when Astrid walked to open it and greet their... 'guests'. "Zeph, Nuff, best behaviour," Astrid told the kids. She opened the door and greeted "Welcome..." Her greeting wasn't as enthusiastic as she'd liked and even though the kids were of the opinion that her estranged family might want to make amends, she was still paranoid.
"Astrid! It's so good to see you again," Her mother said cheerfully as if she hadn't been awful to her own daughter all those years ago. Astrid stepped aside and invited the group of four in.
Hiccup was drying his hands as he came to stand by Astrid's side as introductions were made. "This is my husband Hiccup," Astrid said before gesturing to the couch where the kids were watching the interaction with great interest. "And that's Zephyr and Nuffink,"
"It's so nice to meet you all," Astrid's stepfather announced as he shook Astrid and Hiccup's hands. His next comment was directed more at Hiccup. "You probably heard some things about Miriam already, but I'm Peter, my son Adam and his wife of five years Jessie." Astrid warily shook Adam's hand but since she knew nothing of Jessie she greeted her a bit more warmly.
"And how old are you two dearies?" Miriam asked while turning towards the kids.
"I'm nine," Zephyr answered and Nuffink who was still a bit shy answered "Seven," when elbowed by his sister.
"Aren't you two just the cutest," Miriam gushed which caused Astrid to raise a brow in shock. Her mother never... gushed... So to speak. She was usually all business and blunt.
Hiccup offered everyone a seat in the living room and then asked "Sooo... I have to know. How did you track down Astrid?" While Hiccup could be a teddy bear he was also protective of his family. Now he was worried as the stepbrother had known which hospital Astrid worked in.
"Social media of course silly," Miriam played it off. "It was actually Adam that found you in his friend's suggestions. I have to confess I was somewhat surprised to hear that you've married. On your social media profile, you kept your maiden name."
"All my degrees and documentation are in my maiden name. It would have been a hassle to have it all changed," Astrid just shrugged. "And Hiccup certainly didn't mind."
"Can I offer anyone tea? coffee? Alcohol?" Hiccup quickly asked as he noticed an edge in Astrid's tone.
Both Peter and Miriam declined though Jessie said "Some tea would be nice, thank you," Adam just nodded at his wife's decision.
"Okay, am I in the twilight zone or something?" Astrid asked with a frown as she stared at Adam. "Where is the cocky guy that went off to college?"
"I guess I just matured," Adam shrugged.
"Indeed he did," Miriam boasted. "Your brother now works as a bank manager. He and Jessie just bought a house close to us,"
"I see," Astrid said. She thought she was quite frankly looking at aliens when she stared at her estranged family. Her mother was bubbly, her stepfather wasn't bossy and Adam was mellow. It felt like she'd been thrown into the deep end of a pool without any floaties.
"What's your profession, Astrid?" Jessie asked with genuine curiosity.
"Mommy's the best nurse in Berk!" Zephyr proclaimed proudly just as Hiccup came back with a tray of tea. He poured some for Jessie and Adam. As Adam was adding some honey to his Astrid said "I'm a Staff nurse at Berk Regional Hospital right now. If all goes well I'll be a Registered Nurse in a couple of months after my NCLEX exam." here she looked pointedly at her mother. Miriam had the grace to not meet her eyes.
"And you Hiccup?" Miriam asked, trying to change the subject a bit.
"I'm a sous chef at A La Drake," Hiccup explained while pulling Nuffink onto his lap as the boy was poking him with his stuffed owl.
"I've heard of A La Drake," Peter commented. "Isn't that place just a tourist trap?"
"It's no Michelin restaurant but I can assure you the quality of the food is good," Hiccup responded. "In fact, I made one of my specialties today. I hope you'll all enjoy it."
"A man who can cook. I'm jealous Astrid," Jessie stated. "Adam tried to cook an omelet once. My non-stick pan was never the same,"
Hiccup's beef stew was the highlight of the brunch but he had also prepared a few side plates consisting of sourdough bread, long beans sauteed with onions and garlic, and some creamy mashed potatoes.
"This is delicious," Adam announced while eagerly eating the stew. "Compliments to the chef," This caused Hiccup to blush. Astrid laughed as Hiccup nervously rubbed the back of his neck.
"So Astrid," Miriam spoke between bites. She dabbed her lips with the napkin as well. "So a decade of marriage, got anything special planned?" Her mom was clearly trying to make small talk.
Astrid actually laughed and said "A decade is rather far away still. Hiccup and I have only been married for four years,"
"Four years? But...." Miriam frowned. "Your children are nine and seven. Don't tell me you've had them out of wedlock!"
Astrid just rolled her eyes at the dinner table and muttered "Of course mother. It really doesn't matter."
"Of course, it matters!" Miriam exclaimed. "How could you let your children be bastards?!"
"ENOUGH!" Hiccup slammed his fist down on the table startling everyone. "We were kind enough to invite you into our home. How dare you insult our children..... Your own grandchildren.... The same ones you were gushing about not even an hour ago."
"I... I meant no disrespect..." Miriam backtracked.
"Clearly you did," Astrid's glare was piercing.
"Miriam, apologize." Peter was the one that spoke next before he turned to Astrid and Hiccup. "I am terribly sorry for my wife's attitude. She should be more accepting of other people's lifestyles."
Miriam was fuming and Astrid was glaring daggers. The whole atmosphere became awkward.
Miriam did end up apologizing but Hiccup and Astrid sent the kids to their rooms with their plates.
"Awww, but I wanted to know if grandma was gonna apologize," Zephyr insisted while pouting.
"She said a very bad thing at the table and I really don't want you two to be caught in the middle...." Hiccup started to explain but his daughter cut him off. "No daddy! Not that!" Zephyr insisted. "I wanna know if grandma is gonna say sorry for robbing mom!"
"Wait what?" Adam frowned.
"Why are you surprised?!" Nuffink then asked.
"Kids... go to your room now," Astrid warned. Her tone was clipped so the kids skedaddled.
"To you, they listen," Hiccup complained jokingly to which Astrid just gave him a smirk.
"What I want to know is what did they mean about robbing Astrid?" Adam asked with a frown as he looked at his dad and Miriam. Jessie too was feeling uneasy.
"You mean you don't know?" Astrid frowned. "You were literally their golden child! How could you not have known?!"
"What my wife means to say is that she thought you knew that her mother used her college fund on you and let her sink with the sharks... so to speak."
"It's swim with the sharks honey," Astrid corrected.
"No... it was more like sinking. You were working three jobs to keep an apartment and save up for that Associate's degree." Hiccup frowned.
"Mom, you said that money was saved up from dad's promotion!" Adam uttered shocked. "I might have had my head up my ass when I was in High school but I wouldn't have wanted to use Astrid's money!"
"Well..." Peter looked uneasy here. "This is rather difficult to say but I lost my job at the docks that year and we were blowing through our savings while I was looking for a new job. You were so excited to go to that University and I hadn't the heart to tell you that it might not be possible when Miriam told me she had some cash stashed away that we could use." He took an uneasy breath here. "I'm sorry Astrid. It was only after you left the house that Miriam confessed that used your college fund. But she promised to pay it back over the years."
"Well I still haven't seen a cent of it," Astrid announced, crossing her arms.
"That.... I realize that now." Peter sighed. "Let me write you a check. 70 grand should be the amount I believe,"
"Peter what are you doing?! That's our retirement fund!" Miriam shouted while sputtering.
"I'm finally doing what's right," Peter wrote the check, tore the piece of paper out of his checkbook, and slid it across the table towards Astrid.
Astrid carefully picked up the check, looked at her stepfather, and then back at the check again. "Thank you," she said not quite believing what had just happened.
"Miriam, if you weren't trying to get in touch with your daughter to give her back her money then why were you so adamant about coming to Berk on vacation? Why did you even want to reach out?" Peter then asked while frowning.
"I was... I was...." Miriam looked nervous now that all eyes were on her. "I was just hoping she'd act as Jessie's surrogate!" the woman finally blurted out.
"WHAT!" Both Adam and Jessie exclaimed while Peter just looked wide-eyed at his wife. Hiccup and Astrid were equally flabbergasted by that proclamation.
"Excuse me what?!" Astrid finally managed to utter, still in some shock.
"Jessie and Adam are having problems conceiving," Miriam explains. "They started invitro but it's eating up their funds. Then Adam showed me a family picture you posted on your site and I figured you could be their surrogate. You've already had kids so you already know how to be healthy and all that during pregnancy. Think of it as doing a favour for the family,"
"Mom! Have you gone mad?!" Adam asked as he had his spoon in a hard grip.
Jessie looked more disgusted than anything. "We don't want to do surrogacy Mirriam. I thought we talked about this. Adam and I settled on trying IVF. If that doesn't work then we're probably going to adopt. Why would you assume Astrid would want to do this? Why would you assume we'd be willing either?!"
"Get out of my house," Was growled. Astrid's brows shot up as she watched her husband next to her. His eyes had narrowed and he was glaring at Miriam.
"Excuse me?!" Miriam uttered.
"I said. Get your entitled ass out of my home!" Hiccup said in a dangerously low voice as his fist banged on the table. Peter, Adam, and Jessie went to stand up, none of the three would even look at the sputtering Miriam right now when Hiccup spoke again. "Not you three." This caused them all to look confused. "Just her," He indicated towards Astrid's mother.
"How dare you speak to me like that!" Miriam haughtily stated but Hiccup just stood up, grabbed Miriam's very large leather handbag that she had placed on one of the couches, and walked with it to the door. "Hey! Where are you going with that?!" The woman jumped up, scraping the chair across the wooden floor. "Give that back!" She dashed towards Hiccup who was opening the front door. He chucked her handbag out into the hall. Miriam made a dash for it yelling that if he'd broken something in it he'd pay but Hiccup just shut the door on her behind and then calmly walked back to the table.
Miriam could be heard cursing and banging on the door but Hiccup just took his seat again. Surely one of the neighbours would call building security to have the crazy woman frog-marched out of the apartment complex. He turned to their still flabbergasted guests and asked "Anyone want seconds?"
Astrid couldn't take it anymore and just burst out laughing before kissing Hiccup on the cheek while saying dramatically "MY HERO!"
The End
AN:
The two songs Astrid is listening to at the beginning of the story are:
Summer Kisses, Winter Tears by Elvis, and Chrystal Chandeliers by Charlie Pride. Give them a listen if you want.
This story was inspired by too much wine, Golden Oldies, and Nightstar Fury who got me addicted to Reddit.
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top