This is something that occurred to me on Mother's Day.

Chapter 1: Dis Needs Help

"I don't feel well, brother," Dis replied tiredly in response to Thorin's question as she put her palm to her forehead. Thorin stepped forward and tipped her chin, scanning her face. He had come after Balin stopped by his council room in Ered Luin, telling him to check on his sister.

"She's not been seen out and about for a several days, Thorin," he said, "and we're worried about her. It's not like Dis."

Thorin was surprised, although he dimly recalled not seeing her lately, but he had dismissed his vague concern and gone back to work. He had been so busy with business that he, himself, took meals in his chambers to catch up on the nuances of mining contracts and trade negotiations. Now he regretted his distractions, even though they were important. Her face was drawn, and she had dark circles under her eyes.

"Dis," he said worriedly and took her hands. They radiated heat, and he felt her forehead. Aye, she was hot, and her hair hung in damp strands. Fever for certain, and he felt guilty for neglecting his sister.

Fool! She's all I have now. How did I miss this?

He flushed as he recalled the look on Balin's face when he reminded him to take care of his remaining family.

"We must get you to a healer, Dis," he said, already making plans in his head. "You need rest, and you won't get it here." He looked around at her small but cozy home strewn with toys, plates covered in crumbs, wooden swords, and other remnants of her sons' last few hours.

She shook her head. "They need me here, Thorin," she said, glancing with frustration at the destruction of her usually tidy home, "although I haven't been able to keep up with them lately."

He grimaced and straightened up. This was his chance to make amends for neglecting her, and since he had just finished the last pile of contracts, he had a rare moment to spend with family.

Family. Such a precious thing to any dwarf and rarer to us Durins than seams of gold in these mountains. I must be more mindful of them no matter how busy I am.

A wonderful idea percolated through his thoughts. He had not seen his nephews much over the past several months, and here was a chance to take care of two problems at once.

"I'll watch them 'til you're better," he said. "I should spend more time with them anyway, being their uncle and all. I'm sure that a few day's rest will have you feeling better."

Dis rubbed her temple slowly with the pads of her fingers. She was grateful for his offer, she really was, but did he have any idea what he was proposing? She did not think so. Although Thorin was a fine uncle and spent time teaching her young sons and playing mock battles with them, he had never taken care of them in any significant way—not to mention that they were always on their best behavior during his visits. Fili at only six and a half seasons old and Kili at five were the reason that Dis' long, luscious locks contained several dreaded gray hairs. Still, a few days of uninterrupted rest sounded wonderful.

"That's a lovely idea, brother," she began, "but you don't need to do that. I'm sure I could hire a sitter or ask one of the …." She stopped at the wounded look on Thorin's face. His smile dropped, and his gaze touched the floor.

"You think I can't take care of them?" he asked in a low voice. "You think I can't take care of my family?"

The hurt in his voice was obvious. For all that Thorin had done for his people and for her and her sons, he still felt a failure for not defeating Smaug and for not dissuading their grandfather and father from going on foolish and tragic quests. Their brother, her husband. He couldn't save them though in the end, he saved everyone else, but that was not good enough for Thorin. He lived forever under a cloud of doubt and despair, and even the colony's considerable achievements did not make him happy. For the longest time, it seemed that nothing could. She reconsidered. Who knows? It may be that spending time with his nephews might be just the thing to lighten his spirits.

"I just thought you'd be too busy, but I'd be delighted to have you watch them, Thorin," she said gratefully. "They just adore you."

A small smile curved on his face.

"They do?" he asked almost shyly.

She could have cried from the look of joy on Thorin's face. The hopeful light in his eyes made him look younger somehow, and she swallowed back the tears that threatened to spill over.

Maybe he needs this as much as I do. I haven't seen him look that way in years.

Blinking rapidly to hide her emotion, she turned her back on him and began bustling around the kitchen and living space, listing all their habits, things to be careful of, their likes and dislikes, latest arguments ….

"Let me write out what they need, and …."

He shook his head. Dis had taken on that motherly, in-charge tone she used with the boys, and he knew then that she would spent at least an hour preparing everything and writing down every last detail of Fili and Kili's lives and schedules.

"You're sick, and you need rest now," he said confidently. "I'm sure there can't be that much to it now that they're not babes anymore."

Dis stopped and threw him a look of utter disbelief.

"You think they're not a handful now?" she asked incredulously. Didn't Thorin remember what he and Frerin were like at that age? Mahal above! Dis shook her head in amusement. Thorin never spoke about his childhood, but after she pestered him mercilessly, Balin finally gave in and told her what Thorin was like when he was young.

"Smart as a whip, he was, too smart, really," Balin said chuckling at the memory, "and always asking questions."

Thorin pestered his parents endlessly with questions about anything and everything. Why is the sky blue? Why are dwarves shorter than others? Why don't cats and dogs like each other? Where do babies come from? Where do the stars go in the morning? Why is my pee-pee sometimes soft and sometimes hard?

"I thought Thrain would go mad," Balin said with a twinkle in his eye, "but that was your brother, and the trouble he got into? Well, it wasn't mischief, no, more like he was testing his limits, always pushing, always pushing …."

Dis eyed her brother, and he shrugged.

"If I can lead Ered Luin," he said, "with all its complexity, I'm sure I can handle two dwarflings for a few days."

"You think so?" she asked with a smirk despite feeling worse by the minute.

"I know so," he countered proudly. "Now you get what you need—just what you need—and I'll get Fili and Kili and tell them what's going on."

As Thorin walked outside, he smiled and looked out on the valley. His nephews preferred to play outside their house, which was built only part-way into the rock. Miners and masons were even now carving out the insides of the Blue Mountains to make living space, but that was some months away.

Dis smiled to herself as she packed a dressing gown and a few essentials. Cook? Clean? Mediate their entirely childish and unreasonable requests? Thorin might run back to the council chambers and bury himself under his personal Erebor of paperwork after this. Hmm … might lower her mighty brother a peg or two. She felt a bit better already.

Aye, this will be a wonderful memory for all of us, Thorin thought to himself, feeling the pure, fresh confidence of the untried and untested. Perhaps I can even help Dis become more efficient and effective in raising my nephews. She certainly seems to lack discipline to have the place in such a state.

Thorin strode around the corner in search of his nephews feeling for the first time in a long time that there was no way he could lose.

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