The Calm Before the Storm

Family Time

"Are you and Storm having alone time?" Brynhild asked Eret nervously as he put some loaves of bread into the saddlebag.

"Actually, this was going to be some family time." Eret said as he grabbed a waterskin Storm had filled and put it in another bag. "But if you don't wanna come, it could be the alone time Storm and I get-"

"Eret." Storm scolded.

"No I wanna go!" Brynhild yelled. "I gotta supervise you two!"

The two adults chuckled as the red head rushed upstairs to grab some things.

"Guess after her outburst the other day she's been warming up to you." Eret said as he closed the bags.

"Oh she's warmed up to me like a recently hatched Fireworm." Storm chuckled and leaned against the wall. "And she's been more open with me and always asking if I could walk her to school."

"Guess she wants to show off her new 'mother' to the other students."

"You can say it's like that."

Brynhild came skipping down the stairs with Smokey at her heels with a bag around her shoulders and humming a little tune to herself.

"Ready to go?" Eret asked when she reached the bottom of the stairs. Brynhild nodded excitedly and let Eret scoop her up and sat herself on his shoulders.

"I'm so high up!" She giggled as Eret walked to the doorway.

"Oh no, wait till you are outside to do that!" Storm scolded and snatched Brynhild off Eret. "Don't want you cracking your head open! You'll get stitches for that!"

"No needles!" Bryhild shrieked and clung to Storm. "I hate pokey things!"

"Your father is so tall you wouldn't have cleared that doorway even if you had ducked down." Storm said sending Eret a glare.

"So shall we go?" Eret asked with a nervous laugh.

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"...eight-two mugs of ale on the wall, eighty-two mugs of ale! Take one down, pass it around, eighty-two mugs of ale!" Storm, Eret and Brynhild sang as they walked up the grassy slope.

"Alright I think we walked far enough." Eret said stopping to rest against a boulder. "Where should we put down our things?"

"Somewhere shady." Storm suggested.

"Like that tree!" Brynhild giggled and pointed to a broken tree.

"Or that boulder over there would be nice."

"I say we go with the tree, it's probably going to get hotter later." Eret said and pointed to the river that was close. "Plus there's a river where we can go and cool off and replenish the skins."

"Broken tree it is." Storm said with a nod.

The two adults spread out a blanket while Brynhild started picking flowers that were nearby while Smokey stayed close to her. After collecting her flowers she rushed back to Eret and Storm and dumped the plants on the blanket.

"Can you teach me to make a crown of flowers?" She asked Storm.

"Sure, after we eat that is. I used to make these when I was out herding sheep and always gave it to your father to wear when I came home." Storm said handing her a chicken leg.

"I missed it when we used to do this." Eret chuckled and took a leg of chicken as well.

"I never got to do this with my daddy, he was always too busy." Brynhild said before biting into her food. "He worked as a fisherman and even when he had free time he spent it with Torunn."

"Well I like to spend my free time with both my girls." Eret said ruffling her bright red hair and made her giggle before looking at Storm with a smile. "Quiting dragon trapping was the best choice I made."

"An irresponsible choice, but let's not linger on the past." Storm said curtly and took the flask of water.

Once the three were done eating, Eret cleared his spot and laid down on the blanket. Brynhild took the opportunity to pull his hair out of of it's tie and started trying to braid it. Storm had to untangle the messy knots and show her how the braid was done.

"If you start sticking flowers in my hair you're going to make Snotlout jealous." Eret joked when his daughter started putting some of the flowers she picked into his hair.

"Mind getting some fresh ones Brynhild?" Storm asked as she tied the braid. "So maybe we can put some in yours and in mine?"

"Sure!" Bryhild chipped and hopped to her feet. "Come on Smokey!"

"Don't take so long! And be careful!" Eret called after her.

"Don't worry papa!" She yelled over her shoulder before racing off into the woods with Smokey at her heels.

After a while, Bryhild found several flowers she thought would be good for her and Storm's hair. Smokey even found some too though most were probably weeds.

"Let's head back now!" She told the wolf and they both hurried off back to their picnic area.

"I found flowers-" Brynhild saw the two Vikings immediately scoot away from each other with their faces red. "Did...did I interrupt something?" She asked.

"Uh no! No you didn't!" Eret assured her and gave a nervous laugh while Storm covered her face in embarrassment. "Here let Storm show you how to make crowns with those!"

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"Thor almighty Eret, did you really have to go and kiss me like that?" Storm asked in a low voice as she shut the door to Brynhild's room behind her. "And the fact that Brynhild almost saw us was worst! She looked so scared when she saw us and probably thought I was going to punish her like that woman!"

"I...I'm sorry, really." Eret apologized and looked away.

"I'm going to have to talk to her tomorrow, and don't try something like that again. She's scared enough already." Storm said shaking her head and walked back into Brynhild's room.

The young Viking was tucked under her furs with her stuffed dragon in her arms but her bright green eyes remained open. Storm sat at the front end of the bed and brushed Brynhild's bright red hair from her face.

"Brynhild, I'm not upset with what happened in the woods." Storm said gently. "I'm not going to punish you for that."

"I'm still sorry." Brynhild whispered softly. "I...I didn't mean to interrupt you two."

"I know you didn't, but please understand that you did nothing wrong. Your father and I are going to be discussing this matter some other time, so no need to worry." Storm said getting to her feet and bent down to kiss Brynhild's forehead. "Get some sleep, you have school tomorrow."

"G'night Storm." Brynhild said taking Storm's hand and giving it a squeeze.

"Good night Brynhild. May Odin bless you with sweet dreams." Storm replied, giving her a soft smile.