Chapter 3

12 June 2010

Thorin is slowly but surely falling victim to a panic attack. He is standing in the foyer of the registrar's office, flanked by Dwalin and Vili, who only keeps adding fuel to the fire of Thorin's panic by giving him seemingly helpful advice. "Just make sure you put the ring on the correct finger. Remember that, on our wedding, I tried to squeeze Dis' ring onto her middle finger and it wouldn't fit? And she just laughed at me?"

Thorin does remember. And desperately tries not to. Because Bilbo and Dis are too similar in their humour and he would experience the same humiliation his brother-in-law had to endure if he managed to mess up their ceremony by being a moron.

He decides to tune out Vili's ramblings and instead watches his nephews chase each other around the hall which is becoming more and more difficult with more people piling into the foyer. They managed to arrive half an hour before the ceremony is supposed to begin which doesn't help Thorin keep calm either. He had hoped Bilbo would already be there, proper person that he is, always early and prepared for any eventuality. Now there are ten minutes left but neither his fiancé nor his future parents-in-law or the best man have been sighted yet.

There are a lot of other people there though. Most of Thorin's extended family has already arrived. He can see Balin and Oin across the room. Gloin is trying to keep his son Gimli from running havoc or, even worse, teaming up with Fili and Kili and make the entire building collapse, while his wife and Dis are standing close by, calmly chatting away. Thorin thinks he spotted Gandalf Grey, Bilbo's godfather, at some point, but the man is now nowhere to be seen. There are also some colleagues of his and, since he doesn't recognise them, presumably Bilbo's colleagues. And people that are definitely Bilbo's relatives. Same hair, same stature, same round faces. Thorin probably met them before at some Baggins or Took family party but he can't remember any names. Bombur, the owner of the small café he and Bilbo often meet at and the brother of Bofur, is now coming up the stairs, his heavily pregnant wife Aria and two toddlers beside him.

Thorin clenches his hands nervously and turns to Dwalin who has been in close contact with Ori all morning. "Where are they?" he asks tensely.

"Wouldn't that just be grand for Bilbo to be late once in his life and on his wedding day of all days?" Vili chimes in happily and grins when Thorin's expression becomes even more disgruntled. Just then Dwalin's phone chimes with an incoming text.

Thorin is ready to scream or punch something. "You better make sure you turn that off," he hisses. "I'll kill you if your phone goes off during my fucking wedding ceremony."

"You are just scared it will make you forget your vows," Vili supplies and leans backwards to avoid getting smacked by Thorin.

Dwalin is meanwhile studying his phone. "Just pulled into a space outside. Apparently your future husband went MIA for a bit."

"WHAT?" Thorin screeches (he will deny this later). Several heads turn in his direction and eye him questioningly. Even Kili and Fili stop their game to stare at their frantic uncle who has started pacing up and down the hall while mumbling under his breath, now and then running one of his hands through his hair, making his earlier efforts of grooming a futile activity.

Dwalin's mobile chimes again and the burly man opens the new message while watching his friend carefully. "He's disappeared again," he mumbles, almost hoping that Thorin won't hear him through the thick fog of panic surrounding him. "Ori doesn't know where he ran off to. We can only hope that he is making his way up here." Suddenly he is shoved backwards and his back hits the wall behind him with a loud thump. Thorin is at his throat.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" he yells and there is a fire burning in his eyes that Dwalin has never seen before. Thorin tries to shake him a little but Dwalin has gotten over his shock and can now use all of his strength to keep his friend from getting carried away.

"Calm bloody down, Thorin," he hisses back. "He got out of the car just as it stopped and ra-"

"Thorin."

Thorin releases his hold immediately and turns to face the owner of that beautiful voice. Bilbo is standing right in front of him, dressed in a dark grey tuxedo and beige waistcoat under his jacket, breathing heavily but grinning from ear to ear. Before Thorin can react in any way, his fiancé is in his arms, curly hair tickling his chin, rosy face pressed against his chest.

"I missed you," Bilbo signs when they finally part. Thorin chuckles and presses a kiss to his lover's slightly damp curls. "I missed you more. Why is your hair wet?" he asks and moves away from the wall a little to give Dwalin, who is still pressed against the bricks, some space.

Bilbo rolls his eyes but before he can explain a loud "BILBO BAGGINS" echoes around the room. Belladonna has appeared in the hallway, wearing a lovely red dress and a furious expression. Why she is yelling at her deaf son is beyond anyone's comprehension but she is now making her way over and even Thorin, Dwalin and Vili, who are standing in close proximity to Bilbo are feeling the fear crawl up their necks. They quickly step out of the way to escape her wrath and Bilbo is left with no line of defence.

Belladonna grabs his ear and pulls him into a corner of the room, next to a display case with trophies of some kind. Thorin knows that, if he wants to stay alive, he should not interfere but he still winces internally when Belladonna starts her furious scolding.

Everyone else in the room averts their eyes to give them privacy and not become witness to a grown-up man being scolded by his furious mother. Even Kili and Fili have picked up the change in the atmosphere and sneak over to their father to hide behind his legs.

Bungo, Ori and Bofur slowly make their way over to where Thorin, Dwalin and Vili are standing, keeping their heads low as if afraid Belladonna might turn on them. Bungo is fiddling with his wife's purse, Ori keeps sliding his hand into his pocket where the rings are, even Bofur is wearing an expression of sorrow.

Thorin is afraid to ask for details but does so anyway.

"Bilbo went against Belladonna's will," Ori mumbles and ducks his head. After a pause he adds, "twice!" Thorin groans. Sometimes his fiancé seems to lose all of his high developed common sense and become a reckless fool.

Dwalin claps his shoulder sympathetically. "Well, looks like you'll be a widower before you are a husband. Sorry, mate."

Bungo shifts Belladonna's purse to one hand and pats Thorin's arm with the other. "Don't worry, son," he murmurs. "She won't kill him. Not yet, at least." He grins. "She'll wait till after the ceremony. She has dreamed of this day for a long time after all. She's been planning this since Bilbo was about two." Bungo and Thorin share a quick laugh. That is just how Belladonna does things. "So it is understandable that she became a little flustered when Bilbo didn't go along with it."

Flustered is not the right word to use in Thorin's opinion but he keeps his mouth shut.

"You know," Bungo goes on, "she wanted to make sure that you two didn't see each other before the ceremony. Tradition and bad luck and all that. Of course Bilbo refused to go along with that. He was out of the car and inside the building before anyone really knew what had happened. I've never taken Bilbo for much of a sprinter but I've never seen anyone run that fast." He chuckles and shakes his head in amusement.

Thorin smiles weakly but he is taken by the thought of Bilbo risking the wrath of his mother just to see him before their wedding ceremony. His eyes wander to the corner where his fiancé is still being berated. Or not.

Bilbo and Belladonna are both smiling now, the younger signing something that makes his mother laugh. She plants a kiss on Bilbo's forehead and pulls him in for a hug.

"See? All is well now," Bungo murmurs beside him.

"And just in time," Dwalin grumbles with a pointed look at his watch.

Thorin is reminded of his initial panic and tries to swallow the lump that is now back in his throat.

Just then the doors to the registrar's office open. An older man steps out and announces: "Bilbo Baggins and Thorin Durin".