Bilbo stared at Oin, her mouth hanging open in a wide 'O'. "No, that simply can't…Are you sure?"

Oin smiled lopsidedly at the Hobbit, clucking his tongue, before patting the hobbit on the shoulder. "Aye, lassie. Sure as I am that the sky is blue and the sun is warm," the dwarf hummed, flashing Thorin a quick smile, before trundling out of the room.

Bilbo turned to Thorin, who was practically vibrating in the chair he'd pulled up beside the bed during the healers examination. The king smiled widely at Bilbo, reaching out to grasp her hand in his own. "A babe," he murmured, placing his other hand over the blankets that covered the hobbit's stomach.

Bilbo swallowed back the fear that lodged itself in her throat when Oin had spoken those damning words, unable to bring herself to wipe the rare smile on her husband's face.

~

"We're going to have a cousin?!" Kili chirped loudly, bouncing a bit on the balls of his feet after Bilbo had told them her news. Fili stood next to his brother beaming at her.

"Yes," Bilbo muttered, looking less than pleased at the dwarf's enthusiasm.

Fili gave her an odd look at her reply, tilting his head like a confused puppy. "But, surely, this can only be good news, Bilbo? You and Uncle Thorin have been together for a couple of years now, and children are a blessing," the dwarf trailed off uncertainly at the glare Bilbo shot him.

"It is true that I love your Uncle to the ends of the earth and back, and would do most anything for him, but," she clutched at her yet unrounded belly, "but this…You boys cannot tell your Uncle. Not a word." She glared up at the dwarves, who mimicked mirrored buttoning motions over their lips. "I just, I never wanted children. My mother spent years trying to give me brothers and sisters, and I watched her misery grow with every failed attempt, while my father sat by her side and fell into misery with her."

The brothers exchanged a quick glance, before Kili gave Bilbo a reassuring smile. "You are frightened," he said, reaching out to give the hobbit a quick hug, before stepping back, "We understand. But worry not. Oin is the best healer in the kingdom! I'm certain everything will be fine."

Bilbo heaved a sigh as she watched the boys wander away, shoving at each other in excitement. Of course they wouldn't have understood. Of course.

~

Bilbo tried not to grind her teeth as Ori and Bofur cooed over her, the former busily knitting tiny socks and the former whittling away at some yet to be named toy.

"Do you think it will be a boy or a girl? I don't want to knit the wrong colour socks," Ori fussed, setting his knitting down for a moment to help Bilbo rearrange the pillow she'd been mussing with behind the small of her back.

"Aye! It'd be nice to know if I should start working on a nice little practice sword for the young one," Bofur added, smirking at the hobbit, knife never slowing in its movements.

"I haven't the faintest," Bilbo huffed, swatting Ori's hands away as she finished settling her pillow herself, glaring at the cozy fire the three had settled themselves in front of. She absently prodded at the side of her growing belly, a faint shiver of fear rolling up her spine.

~

Thorin jerked at the sound of glass shattering on the floor, immediately leaping from his seat and rushing over to where Bilbo had been enjoying a cup of mid-afternoon tea. "What is it?" the dwarf king asked worriedly, reaching for his wife.

"I-I, it-" Bilbo stuttered, her hands shaking as she pushed herself away from the table she was sat at, staring down in disbelief at her stomach.

"What?!" Thorin urged, kneeling next to Bilbo, fearing the worst.

"It moved," the hobbit all but hissed, a trembling hand moving to settle at the side of her belly.

Thorin all but lit up at the news, mistaking the utter horror on Bilbo's face as mere surprise at the babe's movement. His hands quickly moved to cup the still growing expanse of his wife's belly, gently feeling around until there was a faint, but obvious pressure against the palm of his hand. "Hello there, little one," he murmured, gentle smile on his face. The king turned his gaze up, mouth open to make a remark about their child, when he found the exact opposite reaction he'd been expecting to find on Bilbo's face. Tears streamed down the hobbit's cheeks, tiny, inaudible hiccuping sobs escaping her lips as her fingers slowly dug into her skirts and her shoulders began to shake.

"Bilbo?" Thorin murmured, lifting his hands to cup her cheeks, worry evident in his voice, "Are you injured?"

The hobbit slapped his hands away, jumping from her chair and storming a few feet away, before turning on her heel to face Thorin, face red and tear stained. "You did this to me!" she all but shrieked, pointing at her rounded belly, "You put this-this THING inside me!" She fell to her knees, covering her face with her hands, great wailing sobs wracking her tiny frame.

Thorin sat stock still, still knelt by the chair Bilbo had just been sat in, completely baffled by his wife's words. "Bilbo," he murmured after he'd finally collected himself, slowly getting up and moving towards Bilbo. He brushed his fingers through her curly locks gently in hopes of calming her down. "If you're frightened for the babe, all will be well. Oin has delt with almost every kind of complication. Nothing will go wrong, I assure you."

Bilbo shifted a bit, only to lift her face and promptly shove Thorin away at the knees, making the dwarf stumble and nearly fall to the floor. "I am not frightened for the baby!" she screamed, rising to her feet, while yanking at the strained fabric around her stomach, "I am frightened for ME. You do not know the legacy of my family, so let me share it with you," she continued, beginning to look a little crazed, "My mother wanted a large family, as all hobbits do! Everyone in our extended family had at the very minimum, three children. So, of course, my mother simply HAD to have a large family, too! But then she miscarried. And then she miscarried again. But, miracle of miracles! I survived! I got to grow up and watch my mother slowly drive herself into an early grave trying to give me siblings, and my father more children. She nearly died while trying to give birth to what would have been my brother, had he not been dead already when he was born! She didn't eat, couldn't sleep, the guilt ate her up inside! I do not want that!" She heaved in a breath, very nearly tearing her dress with how she was tugging on it, "I don't want it."

Thorin rushed to curl around his wife, who promptly fell onto the floor in a heap of rumpled skirts and soul piercing wails of anguish. He took a shuddery breath as he stroked her hair, tears slowly falling from his own eyes at her despair. "I am sorry," he whispered into her hair as he rocked her.

~

The day Bilbo went into labor was anything but a happy affair for the couple. Fili and Kili were barred from their chambers for causing a fuss, while the rest of their once close company were bade to wait out in the hallway. Oin was called and was busy bustling around, preparing for any and all events that could occur while delivering the baby, and Thorin sat by the bedside with a mostly neutral expression, allowing Bilbo to nearly crush his fingers in his grip while she wailed in pain.

"Almost ready, lassie," Oin hummed, checking under the covers, before going back to make sure they had enough warm water.

"I don't want to do this," she pleaded, fat tears rolling down her cheeks, her gaze turned pleadingly towards her husband. "I don't want to do this, please." Thorin simply stroked the back of her hand, chewing on the inside of his cheek.

"All right, now! Get ready to push," Oin declared from the foot of the bed.

Bilbo's scream reverberated down the hall.

~

"Bilbo. Bilbo, wake up, my love."

Bilbo groaned, blinking hazily up at the sloping canopy of her bed, sucking on her teeth for a moment, before turning a confused gaze towards where the voice was coming from. She frowned in confusion at Thorin, who had a soft smile on his lips, and a bundle of blankets cradled in his arms. "Wassat?" she asked muzzily, lifting her hands to rub at her eyes.

Thorin chuckled, while moving to slide onto the bed next to his wife, offering the bundle of blankets to her. "She is beautiful."

Bilbo took the bundle and stared down at it, not comprehending what she was seeing at first. Slowly, her brain caught up with her present history, her eyes widening a fraction at the tiny face staring right back at her. The bundle squirmed, and the babe in her arms let out a cooing burble, a pudgy hand reaching up towards her mother. Bilbo's lip trembled for a moment, before she let a hesitant smile form on her lips. "Well, hello there," she murmured, letting the tony fingers of her daughter curl around her finger.

Thorin watched the two for a moment, a warm, soft feeling settling in his chest, before he leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to Bilbo's temple. "Congratulations, my love," he whispered, turning his smile towards their daughter, "You did wonderfully."

Bilbo hiccuped quietly, wiggling her finger in her daughters grasp, the weight that had settled on her shoulders and in her chest lifting at the soft cooing of the babe in her arms. "I did, didn't I?"

She settled back in her pillows, turning her face up to press a quick kiss to Thorin's cheek, before repeating the action carefully on her child's forehead.