Fíli woke up to the sound of retching.
Upon opening his eyes he could see a sliver of light coming from the closed door of the adjoining bathroom. Sighing, he rolled onto his back, stretching out his arm. The sheets on her side of the bed were still warm, so Sigrid must have gotten up very recently.
With another sigh, Fíli sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes. As happy as he was to become a father, he hated how hard this pregnancy was on his wife.
So, he got up and walked over to their bathroom.
"Sig? You alright?" he asked through the closed door.
More retching.
"Yes, I'm fine, it's just morning sickness. Go back to bed, love, I'll join you as soon as it's over," he could hear Sigrid's weak voice.
Fíli did the exact opposite by opening the door to the bathroom, going in.
"Fíli! Get out!" she exclaimed scandalized, kneeling in her white night shift in front of the toilet, holding back her dark blond curls.
He chose to ignore her, crouching down, placing a hand on her back.
"Is there anything I can do for you? " he asked.
Sigrid sighed in defeat. "Actually, yes, you could go and get Tauriel... I need one of her potions against sickness. It always makes me feel better," she admitted timidly, looking at him with her lake-blue eyes from beneath her long dark gold eyelashes.
Fíli nodded and pressed a light kiss to her forehead. "I'll get her for you. Don't worry, you'll feel better soon," he promised, leaving his wife alone in the bathroom.
Quickly he pulled a tunic over his sleeping pants and slipped into his boots before exiting his and Sigrid's chambers, hurrying down the corridor of the royal wing, past his brother's, his mother's and his uncle's rooms before stopping in front of the plain wooden door to Tauriel's small bedroom. He knocked and waited for a response, but in vain. Thus, he knocked again, louder this time, even calling her name. Still no reaction. Fíli frowned. Tauriel was an elf, meaning that she had excellent hearing. So her not answering the door meant that she wasn't in her room.
That wasn't good because she could be anywhere in the mountain (or outside). Fíli let out a frustrated growl, punching the wall. Then he had an idea. He could ask his brother about Tauriel's whereabouts; if anybody knew where the elf was, then his brother.
So Fíli walked back the corridor until he was standing in front of Kíli's door. It took a while but then the door was opened by a tired looking Kíli in his nightshirt, his hair a mess.
"What do you want, Fee?" he asked.
Fíli drew his eyebrows together. "Good morning to you too, little brother. Actually, I'm looking for Tauriel, do you..." He interrupted himself when he saw Kíli turning pale.
"How did you find out that she is here?" he wanted to know.
This question made Fíli suspicious. With a raised eyebrow, he brushed past his brother, despite Kíli's protest, and was greeted by an interesting sight. Tauriel was sitting on Kíli's bed, wearing nothing but a flimsy nightgown, her hair undone (except her betrothal braid), falling over her shoulders.
"Fíli!" she exclaimed in the same scandalized tone like Sigrid a couple of minutes ago, pulling the dark blue woolen blanket up to her chin.
Fíli only snorted, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "You got to be kidding me," he said, "there's a reason for Uncle Thorin giving your elf her own bedroom - you are not supposed to sleep together until you are married!"
"We are not sleeping together!" Kíli declared vehemently, blushing.
"And what is she doing in your bed then?" Fíli asked sternly, imitating his uncle and his mother at the same time.
"Well, yes, we are sleeping together, but not like you think... We don't do anything improper - unlike you and Sigrid!" Kíli yelled at his brother.
Fíli was flabbergasted. "Sigrid is my wife, so I'll say it's different from your situation," he answered in a warning tone.
Kíli poked his brother's chest. "So you admit that you are doing improper things with Sigrid!" he said triumphantly.
Fíli slapped Kíli's hand away, shaking his head. His little brother was really behaving like an immature stripling. But before he could come up with a reply, Tauriel cleared her throat.
"So, Fíli, you mentioned earlier that you were looking for me. Why?"
She was still clutching the blanket to her chest, displaying her silver betrothal ring on her right index finger (it was beautifully crafted and engraved with dwarven runes since Kíli had made it himself). The ring and its meaning reminded him of his reason why he had searched for his brother's betrothed.
"Oh, Sigrid is asking for you. She is suffering from morning sickness and said she needed your potion to get better," he explained.
Tauriel nodded while climbing out of bed. "The ginger root infusion. It's in my room - I'll go and get it," she said, donning a thick, dark green velvet robe and putting on slippers of the same colour and material before leaving the brothers alone.
Fíli was still scowling at Kíli.
"What?" the younger one exclaimed.
"I can't believe that you are going behind uncle's and amad's back! What if Tauriel gets pregnant before the year of your betrothal is over? Have you ever thought about her reputation?" Fíli scolded.
Kíli growled, tearing his hair. "She can't get pregnant! Didn't you listen to me? We are not doing anything that could get her pregnant!" he exclaimed.
Fíli studied his brother for a moment. It seemed that Kíli was telling the truth.
"So, why is she sleeping in your bed, then?" Fíli finally wanted to know, clearing his throat.
Kíli shrugged, lowering his gaze. "I might have trouble sleeping. Too many memories, you know. She keeps my nightmares at bay," Kíli confessed.
"And you two have never..." Fíli started to ask and Kíli shook his head vehemently.
"No, of course not. It would be against her people's betrothal and marriage customs. We have to be betrothed for at least a year before we can get married and... consummate our marriage," Kíli explained, blushing a deeper shade of red than before.
"Oh," was all that Fíli answered.
They remained quiet for a while, until Tauriel came back, this time fully dressed in her customary brown patent leather britches, knee-high brown leather boots, and a cream-coloured tunic, embroidered with a green leaf pattern while her hair was arranged in her usual half-up hairdo, displaying her betrothal braid.
"I've got it, Fíli, let's go," she said, presenting a vial with a yellowish, clear liquid to him before pressing a chaste kiss to Kíli's lips.
Fíli cleared his throat again.
"Alright, let's go!" he announced before turning on his heel, heading back to his and his wife's chambers. He had left Sigrid too long alone for his taste.
"Sigrid? I'm back! And I've brought Tauriel," he called upon entering his rooms, Tauriel hot on his heels.
To his relief, Sigrid was no longer kneeling on the bathroom floor, but sitting in one of their armchairs in front of their fireplace, a knitted shawl in different shades of blue draped over her shoulders, looking into his direction. Even after three months of marriage, her subtle beauty still took his breath away and he wondered how he deserved this luck that Sigrid had agreed to become his wife. Sometimes he thought that he must have died then and there on Ravenhill when Azog had pierced him with his spike and this was nothing but a dream while he was waiting to be called to the Halls of Mandos.
Sigrid smiled at him. "Thank you, love," she mumbled, getting up from the armchair to welcome Tauriel properly by embracing her and kissing her on the cheek.
"Fíli tells me that you are still suffering from bouts of morning sickness?" the red-haired elf asked after being escorted further into their chambers, frowning.
"Yes. Although I don't know why it is called morning sickness when I'm feeling sick the whole time - yet in the morning it's worse," Sigrid answered while sitting down on her and Fíli's marriage bed.
Tauriel nodded. "And have you seen Oin about this? Or one of your people's midwives?" she wanted to know.
Sigrid shook her head. "No, I thought this is normal... isn't it?" she inquired.
Tauriel gave her a small smile. "Don't worry, I think it is. But I'm no expert. You should see someone who has experience with pregnancies and births," Tauriel advised.
"That's what I'm telling her since we found out!" Fíli declared, sitting down next to his wife, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
"But I don't trust anyone except you, Tauriel!" Sigrid remarked.
"Believe me, you can trust Oin too! He helped my mother when she was pregnant with me and then again when she was with Kíli. He also helped her with our births," Fíli explained.
Sigrid sighed, leaning her head against his. "I guess you are right... but... well, he's male, so I find it kind of embarrassing to let him examine me. Or talk to him about intimate things," she confessed.
Tauriel's smile broadened. "Then maybe you should see one of your people's midwives," she suggested.
Sigrid snorted. "Yeah sure. You know, I saw a midwife before getting married to have my virginity attested as is usual for human girls and ask her for something that would prevent... a pregnancy. Her herbal infusion seemed to have worked just fine, didn't it!" she exclaimed.
Tauriel and Fíli exchanged a surprised look.
"You didn't want to bear my child?" Fíli asked finally.
Sigrid sighed. "Not so soon after the marriage, at least. I was born nine months after my parents' wedding and things weren't easy for them. So I wanted to have some time before becoming pregnant, to prepare myself, to get settled into married life first," she admitted.
"Ach, Sigrid!" Fíli whispered, pressing a kiss to her temple.
"Well, it seems that the Valar had different ideas and I'm expecting now. Tauriel, please give me the potion," she requested, extending her hand towards the elf.
Tauriel complied, handing over the vial.