Title: Surprise

Summary: Bilbo mourns his lost love…and promptly faints to find her with his bundled child at the door of Bag End. Fem!Thorin Everybody Lives AU

Requester: 666mewmew

Two years. Nearly two years since the Battle. Since he watched her die in his arms. The minute the Battle was over, he packed his things and left. He didn't even stay for her funeral. When the Elves of Mirkwood offered to let him stay, he declined. He also declined the same invitations from Beorn and Elrond when we passed there. In all honesty, Bilbo Baggins just wanted to go home.

Bag End was a mess when he first arrived. His friends and neighbors had assumed him dead and took this as a chance to empty the entire house of all its thing (he caught that wench Lobelia making off with a pocketful of his spoons). Once everything was put in order and the house was refilled, he shut himself in. While cooped up in Bag End, he would barely sleep or eat. In fact, most of his time was spent in the armchair in his study, staring at nothing. Bilbo could barely be bothered to fiddle with his magic ring anymore, however much it pleaded with its whispering voice. He wouldn't come out for days on end and when he did venture to the market for food, he hardly spoke a word and kept his head low. It wasn't until months later, at the request of his good friend and gardener, that he even see someone about this.

The healer had called it post traumatic stress. She said that he was haunted by his adventures, the Battle, the death of…. But Bilbo had soon dismissed her diagnosis. No, he could never be haunted by his journey; he missed it. He missed the dirt path beneath his feet and the wind in his hair. He missed the sneezes he'd get from the horse hair and the weight of Sting in his hand. He missed Bofur's oblivious nature and Balin's stories, Bombur's cooking and Dori's nagging of his two little brothers, the playful banter of the Brother's Durin and the wise words of Gandalf.

But most of all, he missed her.

Thorena Oakenshield had not been what Bilbo had expected. Dwarf women were rarely spoken of within Dwarf culture alone, so it was surprising to see one such woman leading a battle charge all of its own, even if she was a descendant of Durin. When she first came knocking on his door that eternity ago, she was cold, unmoving, a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield, and one to bear a grudge. As the journey progressed, however, Bilbo began to notice some things. She wasn't as cold as he'd originally made her out to be, as she did care immensely for those close to her (mainly her sister sons). When he'd saved her life on the cliffside, Thorena seemed to include Bilbo in that group.

It was slow, but the Hobbit did eventually warm up to her as well. One thing turned into another and, by the time they'd reached Laketown, they started courting. They was…one awkward night before they'd left Esgaroth for the Mountain, but for the most part the courtship went along smoothly…. At least, until Erebor was taken back from Smaug. Thorena had grown distant, more distrustful of the other Dwarves and more possessive over their resident burglar. The madness came to a head when she tried to throw him off the parapet for the theft of the Arkenstone.

The things she had said, all the threats and insults…. If Bilbo Baggins thought the ache in his chest before the Battle erupted was heartache, then he was vastly unprepared for what transpired on Ravenhill.

He remembered waking up after a nasty blow to his head. Then wandering around the hill, trying to help in whatever way he could. Then he found Thorena, collapsed on the ice, blood absolutely everywhere. He rushed forward, the panic of the situation drowning out any reason as he tried to help her. But she was beyond help at that point.

"I'm going to get help. One of the Elves can heal you."

"B-Bilbo-."

"You're going to be alright, I just-!"

"Bilbo." A hand had cupped his face. The light was already fading from her eyes. "I'm sorry…for everything. I would take back all my words, all the peril I put you through."

"I would go through it all again. Please, just stay with me!"

"F-farewell, my love. Go back your books…and your armchair…and your garden. Plant your tree…w-watch it grow."

"No, please-."

"If more valued home over gold…the world…would be a merrier…place…indeed…." She closed her eyes. And didn't open them again. He couldn't remember much after that, just feelings: hands on his shoulder, tears in his eyes, an unbearable ache in his chest….

Bilbo was dragged out of those memories by a knock on the door. At first he ignored it, thinking it some concerned neighbor or annoying relative. Perhaps it was Lobelia Sackville-Baggins wondering when he would just up and die of a broken heart. When the knocking became more insistent, the Hobbit finally lifted himself from the armchair and made his way to the door. "Hamfast, is that you? I already told you that healer doesn't know what she's talking about! Just leave me b-."

He opened the door.

So much was right there in front of his face yet he couldn't register any of it.

Thorena, alive, tears, Dwarves, gurgling, baby, WHAT?

He fainted right on the spot.

When his vision returned, he found several faces hovering overhead. The first he recognized was Hamfast Gamgee. His cousin Drogo was also looking down at him, more concerned than he'd ever seen him. The familiar face of Balin came into focus next, followed by…Fili and Kili? But they'd….

Bilbo forced himself to sit up in bed, shaking the illusions from his mind. He looked up again, but the Brothers Durin were still there. "What?"

"Are you feeling alright, Mr. Bilbo?" The question came from Hamfast, whose hand now rested on Bilbo's shoulder to support him.

"I'm hallucinating. I'm seeing the dead."

"That's no way to speak about Balin," Kili reprimanded playfully. "He's not THAT old."

"Kili," Fili whispered to his brother. "I think he's talking about us."

"Oh."

"B-b-but," Bilbo stuttered, pointing at the 'ghosts' before him. "You two were killed on Ravenhill!"

Balin spoke for the boys. "I can assure you, Laddie, that they're as alive as you and me."

"What are you even doing here?!"

"Sorry, cousin." The Hobbit turned to receive an answer from Drogo. "They were asking about you, so I showed them here. They said they were old friends of yours."

"And you, Hamfast?"

"I was on my way over to weed the garden when I saw the Dwarves out front and you fainting in the doorway. I ran over as fast as I could to see what the problem was."

That's when the crying started.

The distinct sound of a baby wailing echoed from outside his bedroom and Bilbo suddenly remembered the other reason for his faint. He forced himself to stand up, pushing past his cousin and his gardener towards the door. The Hobbit followed the sound down the hall and towards the study, the wailing soon accompanied by a woman's lullaby. He round the corner…and there she was.

Thorena, as alive as Fili and Kili, now sat in his armchair, cradling an infant in her arms. The baby cooed sleepily in response to their mother's song. Bilbo watched for a few minutes, still in utter disbelief, until the infant finally drifted to sleep. That was when the Dwarf women looked up. She stood, uneasy, and placed the baby in a wicker basket on the table (probably a makeshift cradle) and faced the Hobbit.

"Th-Thorena?"

She smiled sadly. "Hello, Master Baggins."

He wanted to run away. He wanted to punch her. He wanted to dash forward and hug and kiss the thrice damned woman and never let her go again. Instead, he stood shaking, stuttering. "I thought…I thought you…."

"I almost was." There wasn't any need to finish that sentence.

"I saw you die. I-I saw you bleed to death in my arms."

"I know you're upset-."

"Upset?" He wanted to shout, but he'd rather not wake that baby. "One word, Thorena. Just one. That's was all I needed to know that you were alive." Tears that he'd thought he'd shed long ago came streaming down his cheeks. "Why?"

"…Dain."

"Oh, don't blame that wretched cousin of yours for what-."

"Bilbo, just-!…just listen, please." The Hobbit now took notice of the tears in her own eyes. "He said you'd left. That you hadn't forgiven me for my actions under the gold sickness." Her voice shook as she spoke. "I-I believed him. For the longest time, I believed that you wanted nothing to do with me."

Bilbo took a step towards the Dwarf woman. "What made you change your mind?"

"Gandalf." Of course. "He told me to pull myself together and see you."

"And here you are."

"And here I am."

Utter silence…. Well, not utter, as the Hobbit could hear his other guests muttering from the other room. He ignored those voices, only focusing on the wonderful woman that was ALIVE and standing before him. That third option came into effect as he practically leapt into the Dwarf's arms, both of them crying and laughing at the same time. He leaned back and kissed her; it wasn't anything passionate, but tender, and endearing none the less.

One of the best moments of Bilbo's life was interrupted when he remembered his other visitor. He reluctantly pulled away from Thorena and glanced toward the baby. "And who is this?" He had his suspicions, but he wanted to be sure.

Thorena smiled, lifting the infant from the makeshift cradle and holding her for the Hobbit to see. "She is ours."

He fought to stay conscious and not faint again. That incident in Laketown was coming back to bite the two of them. "I-I'm so sorry, this is my fault, I-."

"Bilbo." His rambling apology was silenced by the sound of her voice and a hand on his cheek. "There's nothing to apologize for. In fact, she was the reason I held myself together these last years."

"D-does she have a name, or must I just refer to her as 'the baby'?"

Thorena's smile flickered a bit. "Well, Dwarf youths aren't truly given a name until their second birthday. So the parents get to know the child before deciding on a name that best suites him or her. However, if you would rather go by Hobbit traditions in this case, I would be fine for picking something now." She passed the infant over for Bilbo to hold. He looked down at his new little girl as she opened her eyes drowsily. He smiled when he saw the same blue eyes her mother bore and the faintest bit of curly brown hair on top of her head.

"You know what? I'll get to know her first." He looked up at the beautiful Dwarf woman that'd he grown to love in his adventures. For now, he'd just enjoy the fact that they were both alive and well.

I'm sorry I can't come up with a good name for a Dwobbit baby.