Gandalf sipped at his tea, his fingers hovering above the cake sitting on the table before him. He dipped his finger into the frosting and quickly sucked the digit clean, humming in pleasure at the sweet taste. He reached forward for another taste when a sharp slap to his wrist had Gandalf pulling his hand back.
"That was completely unnecessary," Gandalf grumbled, staring longingly at the cake.
"Not until the boys come home," Belladonna scolded, handing her old friend a muffin. "Bilbo would pout at you for days if you got a slice before he did."
Gandalf bit into his treat, grumbling good naturedly all the while.
"Where are the Baggins boys?" Gandalf asked, noticing the lack of boyish giggles and the deeper, good humored chuckles of father and son.
"Looking for the perfect pumpkin," Belladonna smiled, raising her eyebrows. "Bilbo wants to carve one with a missing tooth."
Gandalf stretched out his long legs and grinned in amusement. He had been teaching for many years, and rather than feeling older at the new faces in his kindergarten classes, he felt rejuvenated. Having his dear friend's only son in his class… well that just made him feel like a young man all over again. Bilbo had that same charm Belladonna had when she was his student.
Though that was years ago. Now that he thought about, how did the two become such good friends? Perhaps he wasn't as young as he felt.
"Speaking of teeth," Gandalf started. "What do you think of young Thorin?"
Belladonna ran her finger along the rim of her teacup. "Is there something you're not telling me, Gandalf?" Her lips pursed and her brows furrowed, Gandalf knew that she knew that he knew something. She was always most difficult to fool.
Coughing in a most innocent fashion, Gandalf brushed off her suspicions. "I am merely inquiring after my students."
"I have the sudden feeling you were the cause of the traffic jam that made me late," Belladonna teased.
"Impossible," Gandalf told her. "I couldn't possibly. I was watching your boy!"
"And he came to me bruised, scraped, and bloodied," Belladonna told him.
The front door burst open with a slam and the two could hear Bilbo's eager jumping and hopping and giggling. "Mama!" he yelled as his father scolded him for treading mud on the floors. There was the soft thump of boots falling to the ground, just seconds before Bilbo flew into kitchen with his yellow raincoat and rain soaked curls, a tiny pumpkin in his hands. "Hi, Mr. Grey. Is that cake? Can I have some? Mama?"
"Bilbo," Belladonna scolded. "Stand still." She unbuttoned his coat and ruffled his hair, getting water all over the floor.
"Oomph," Bungo grunted, placing a large pumpkin onto the kitchen counter. "Evening, Gandalf."
"Mama, look!" Bilbo cried, shoving his pumpkin into Belladonna's face. His father's entrance a reminder to why he was so eager to see his mother in the first place. "This one's for you. I picked it special."
He climbed onto a stool and hugged his pumpkin, his hands not even close to touching. "And this one is ours. Right, Pop?"
"Right," Bungo told him. "Go dry your hair and we'll get to work." Bilbo ran out of the room, Bungo following, a faint, "And put on some shoes," before the kitchen was quiet once more.
"He's quite the ball of energy," Gandalf noted.
Belladonna sighed. "I don't know how you do it."
"Years of practice."
She grabbed a mop and began cleaning the wet floor. No point in delaying the inevitable. And knowing Bilbo, he probably wouldn't put on any shoes. She didn't want his socks getting soaked through.
"It's a bit unusual," Gandalf muttered.
"What is?" Belladonna asked.
Gandalf shook his head, clearing his mind, forgetting he was not alone. "Their friendship. Thorin and Bilbo's," Gandalf clarified. "Thorin is a quiet type. Sits at his table and frowns and tells his friends what to do. Bilbo's nothing like that."
Belladonna laughed. "They did strike me as an odd pair."
"I think Thorin has a bit of a crush on your boy."
"Well the same could be said for Bilbo," Belladonna commented. She put the mop away and patted the large pumpkin. "He's constantly telling me how amazing Thorin is. You should have read the note he wrote for the tooth fairy."
"I'm sure it was charming," Gandalf agreed.
"I thought maybe the two could go trick or treating together," Belladonna informed him. "I called Freya of course, to set everything up. We've just moved and we don't quite know any good candy spots. Besides it'd be nice to have an adult friend again. Present company excluded, of course."
"Naturally," Gandalf said. "Bilbo must be thrilled."
"Haven't told him yet," Belladonna confessed. "I'm too afraid he'd refuse to sleep in his flurry of excitement."
Bilbo rushed into the kitchen once more, his sweater rolled up to his elbows and his sneakers untied, with a heap of old newspapers in his hands. He climbed atop a stool and put the papers around the pumpkin. Once done, he began hitting the pumpkin in excitement, babbling on and on about his pumpkin.
"Yes," Gandalf mused. "I quite see what you mean."
Frerin and Thorin were sitting at the kitchen table. The older boy hunched over his schoolwork while Frerin watched.
Thorin stilled his pencil to glare at Frerin. "Go away."
"No," Frerin answered, scooting closer to look at what Thorin was doing.
"Mom!" Thorin shouted. "Tell Frerin to go away!"
Thrain entered with a drowsy Dis on his hip. "Boys," he scolded. "Stop fighting."
"Frerin won't let me do my homework," Thorin told him.
Thrain ran a hand through his hair, wishing that it was any other day but Thursday. Why did Freya have to have her shows on Thursday? He wasn't equipped to handle these children. It was moments like these, he thanked Mahal that he was blessed with a beautiful and perfect wife. He'd be a wreck on his own.
"I wanna pway," Frerin complained. "Torin say we was gonna pway."
"I said you had to wait," Thorin explained, exasperated. What use were little siblings? They did nothing but get in the way.
"Can't you play with him for a bit?" Thrain pleaded. "Your homework's not due till Friday, anyhow."
Thorin let out a long suffering sigh. "Fine," he gritted out, closing his folder. Frerin clapped his hands and hopped off his chair, running towards the play room, no doubt.
"Take Dis with you too, huh?" Thrain asked, putting Dis onto the floor.
Thorin nodded, taking Dis's hand and leading her out of the room. "Toh!" she gurgled.
When Thorin entered the playroom, he found his little brother digging through the box of Duplo Legos. Dis waddled towards him and plopped onto the floor, putting a bright yellow block in her mouth. He sat down between the two and put the blocks together as per Frerin's instructions.
He idly wondered if Bilbo had any brothers and sisters. If he didn't, then he was awfully lucky. Not that Thorin didn't love Frerin or Dis. It was just that sometimes, like now, he had to put aside whatever he was doing and watch over them.
Dis grew bored with the blocks quickly, deciding instead to play with Thorin's hair. She brushed it and petted it, her little hands shoving at Thorin's cheeks. He gently tried prying her off him, but only succeeded in moving her attention to his face. Where she laughed and giggled and placed wet kisses on his face.
Jealous of the attention, Frerin pulled Dis off of Thorin and blew raspberries into Dis's belly.
Freya and Thrain walked into the playroom some ten minutes later to find her two boys chasing Dis around the room, catching her every so often and tickling her belly, kissing her nose, and blowing raspberries onto her arms.