Hello friends! I have returned! Please enjoy!

Astrid was starting to get antsy in the way she always had a few weeks before she gave birth. Valka and her mother lovingly called her want to clean and organize "nesting" each time and it was no joke. She'd get motivated to clean, to shift things around, to organize, and then she'd get very, very sleepy. And, with this little one, her sleepy spells were often accompanied by bouts of sadness.

She'd cried much more in the last few months than she thought to be possible. The kids seemed to have recovered from the loss of Hiccup for the most part. Gabe still crawled into bed with her on occasion, Hic still cried for him every so often, Irena woke from terrifying nightmares once a month or so, and the twins had snatched two of Hiccup's pencils and they each slept with one under their pillows. She hadn't taken so well. She blamed the pregnancy hormones for most of her emotions, but loosing the love of your life could definitely send you into a spiral of depression and she was seriously struggling.

She had started to become worried when her kids were out of her sight for too long, paced around at night because she couldn't sleep. She was constantly exhausted. Toothless, who had taken to following her around, would often force her to sleep, or at the very least to lay down. Granted, most of the time she ended up curled into Toothless on the floor, his wing around her, but at least she slept. That's one of the few ways she could sleep anymore. Between all her kids, including Nova and Evie and the one that would arrive very soon, and the village needing her, she was busy most of the time. But when she was alone and ran out of things to do, she would all but collapse and cry.

Irena and Nova were being extremely helpful, probably doing too much, but they both expressed how happy they were to be helping when they weren't busy with their own things. Irena spent much of her time now split between Dragon Training with Valka, spending time with Jakob and her friends, and sewing. Nova had begun to train under the midwifes of the island, and the ladies simply adored Evie, so she was always welcome to tag along with her mother. Astrid missed them when they were gone, more than she had before. They were wonderful young ladies who were determined to do what made them happy and Astrid was beyond pleased and proud of them. But she still missed spending time with all of the kids at once.

Apparently, Nova had taken to midwife training like a fish to water. She had already assisted in a birth, doing mostly housekeeping things like boiling water and cleaning, but she had been present and she was very proud of herself for doing it. Within a year or so, she would probably be ready to do most of the important work. She was good, but she still needed a lot of practice before she could run things by herself.

Irena and Jakob had become extremely comfortable in their relationship, the sort of comfortable that made them not be so shy about their relationship anymore. They kissed in front of other people now, Irena called Jakob her boyfriend. Gobber had smiled sadly at Astrid the other day at dinner.

"They remind me of an awkward young couple I knew once, many years ago. I think they're gonna be happy for a real long time. Just like you two were, lass."

Astrid had to agree. They were so sweet to each other, so caring and respectful. Astrid wished her little girl every happiness of course, but Irena had certainly already found one of those happinesses in Jakob.

Auger was sticking around for a while longer than he initially was supposed to. Astrid had allowed him to stay as long as he pleased with her family after he had confessed that he liked it much better on Berk than back at home. His dad wasn't around to bug him and his brother wasn't around to show him up at everything he did. He didn't have to be anything on Berk but Auger and he enjoyed it very much. She knew one of the reasons why he was staying though, even though he hadn't mentioned it. His extended stay had something to do with a certain dark-haired girl. It was obvious to Astrid he was attracted to Nova, but she wasn't sure if Nova knew or not. Nova had taken to him somewhat, at least speaking to him more than she had spoken to new people at first. She had become more friendly and willing to speak since she arrived at their home, but Astrid figured she also had a little crush on Auger too, even if she didn't realize it. Auger was a good boy, once Astrid had looked past his father trying to set up the boy with Irena, she had realized that he was just like a normal teenaged boy. He truly seemed to love life, was outgoing, and just overall kind. He had also been offering his assistance to Astrid, which she greatly appreciated. Only time would tell if anything would happen between him and Nova, a very long time. Astrid wished for their happiness as well.

Nova stood shyly in the corner of the Healer's hut with Evie on her shoulder as Kira, the midwife that had been present at the births of Gabe, the twins, and Hic spoke to Astrid about how things were going.

"Nova, you can come closer." Kira said with a chuckle. "You never stand so far back. I know you know Astrid won't bite you, dear."

Nova took a few steps closer to them.

Astrid smiled at her comfortingly. "I'm sure this is a little weird for you, isn't it?"

Nova adjusted her glasses and nodded.

"It's a little weird for me too. There's a reason I don't let Irena come with me even though she's asked- it's a little weird for me having one of my kids in the room for this sort of thing."

"I-I'm like… your kid?" Nova asked incredulously, completely derailing the real reason Astrid was there.

Astrid held her hand out to her and Nova took it. "Of course, I love you. You and Evie. It didn't take long for… H-Hiccup and I to start considering you two part of our family. I don't expect you to think of me as your parent, but I do love you both very much."

Nova was shocked. She had a family now, a real one. She had for a while she supposed, but this… this made it real. She stood frozen for a few seconds before going in for a hug, which Astrid accepted and returned.

"You've been such a big help to me the last few months and you're doing so well here and I'm so proud of you." Astrid said quietly.

Nova's eyes filled with tears and she managed to squeak out a small 'thank you'. Astrid kissed both her and Evie on the head and held them both in a hug a little longer before letting go.

Kira adored Nova and she was smiling as Nova took her usual place at her side, happier than Kira had ever seen her before. Kira continued asking Astrid questions, and Astrid continued to answer, every so often smiling at the starving teenaged mother stowaway she met all those months ago.

Life was hard right now, but she had hope it wouldn't always be this way. Their family was quite a large one, made up by fractured little pieces that fit together like a puzzle. It would only grow and she couldn't wait to meet the little one who would add to it first.

Evie pulled herself to her feet on the little table that was in the widwife's hut. This was a new skill she had learned in the last few weeks. She was quite unsteady and refused to take any steps even while still holding on, but she was content with standing there, holding onto the table, taking in the world for a few moments until her little arms tired out.

"She's such a sweet child," Kira commented to Nova, as she was reorganizing her shelves. Nova had been practicing identifying different medicinal plants and such, and thus the shelves had been taken apart and became rather unorganized for Kira's standards. Nova was sweeping.

Evie grinned. She knew Kira was talking about her. Kira chuckled.

"She's bright too. Still no words?"

Nova shook her head and pushed her glasses up. She stopped sweeping for a moment and leaned against the broom. "No. Is that normal? Hic says so much." Nova truly was becoming worried about Evie's lack of speech. Hic spoke in short sentences now, Evie, though not being much younger, had yet to speak a single word. She made noises and pointed, she cried and laughed, and smiled. It was very obvious she could hear as well, so that wasn't the issue. She was hitting every other milestone but speaking.

"She'll speak in her own time. Some little ones take longer than others."

"What… if she never does?" Nova asked, concerned.

"Aye, sometimes that happens. They'll understand all the words but never say them. That's a mute. Nothing wrong with that, you'll just have to learn other ways to communicate with her."

"Is there anything I can do to encourage her to talk?"

"I think you're doing all you can. You speak to her and around her. You tell her what things are. She's exposed to other little ones who speak. She'll speak when she's ready, or maybe she won't but that's alright too. She's an intelligent and beautiful little girl, and I know you'll love her either way."

Nova nodded seriously. She loved her little girl and she would always love her little girl no matter what. Nova may not have wanted Evie, the idea of having her terrified the young mother all those months ago, but Nova simply adored her now. She was the absolute light of her mother's life now, Nova couldn't imagine life without Evelina. Evie probably had saved her life in more than one way over her short life span. The curly haired chubby-cheeked child in the corner of the room had a smile that could bring joy to anyone's heart- and it certainly had brought joy to Nova's. It didn't matter if Evie would ever be able to tell her mother she loved her, Nova was able to tell Evie she was loved and Nova knew Evie understood that.

Kira came up to Nova and rested her hand on the teen's shoulder. "You're doing a fantastic job with her, dear. Astrid's right to be proud of you. I'm proud of you too."

Nova smiled at her mentor. "Thank you, Kira."

Kira gave the girl a side hug that Nova returned eagerly.

"When you're done, you and your darling girl head on home for the night." Kira said, patting Nova's cheek.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," Kira nodded. "You've done a lot of work today."

"Alright," Nova replied. She finished her sweeping and scooped up Evie and her things, bade goodbye to Kira, and headed back to her home. Her home. She had a home where she and her baby were loved and wanted. She grinned to herself as she headed home, Evie on her hip, happily chewing on her own little fingers.

Auger was sitting beside Irena looking over a book. She had taken to showing him all around the island, as well as teaching him the history, which included her father's work on dragons and mapping the nearby islands and bodies of water. She was a bright girl, Auger appreciated her intelligence and kindness to him. She was very helpful and welcoming, as was her entire family. But Nova, the more mysterious and quiet yet lovely girl, still captured his attention the most.

Nova arrived home from her midwife training, greeted Irena and nodded politely to Auger before heading off to the room she and her baby shared.

Auger couldn't help but follow after her with his eyes. He had never met a girl like her before. She intrigued him.

A/N: I hope you liked it! Please let me know what you think! Love you all!