Chapter Seven
Bilbo woke up several days later and got out of the bed he shared with Thorin. Every day he had checked his stomach, waiting for the sign of the goddess's blessing. He stared down at the two tiny buds that were now on his skin, one was yellow, while the other was purple. He had never imagined that he would be pregnant with twins, but to his shock he was.
He would have to see a healer often to make sure both babies would be alright. He stared down at his stomach and smiled slowly, rubbing his hands against it thinking of the children growing inside of him. He then went into the other room and prayed to Aule and Yavannah, after that he got dressed and gently shook Thorin awake. The King smiled sleepily at him, a smile that Bilbo couldn't help to not return.
"Good morning." Thorin said and yawned and stretched. "Do you know the time?"
"I don't, but look Thorin the goddess has blessed us!" Bilbo said pulling up his shirt excitedly and Thorin stared at the marks. "The blooms show when the babies are ready to come out."
"Babies?" Thorin demanded and Bilbo nodded.
"We are going to have twins!" Bilbo said and Thorin's eyes widened before they rolled back into the dwarf king's head and he collapsed onto the bed, in a dead faint. Bilbo stared at Thorin, worried about him, before running to the door and calling for a healer.
The healer came a few minutes later and stared at the passed out dwarf and the frantic hobbit. "What happened?"
"I told him I was pregnant and he fainted." Bilbo replied staring at Thorin. "I didn't know what to do, so I sent for a healer."
"You are pregnant?" The healer asked and Bilbo nodded.
"With twins, I need someone to check me over weekly starting in about a month or so, there's not much risk before that." Bilbo replied and the healer stared at him in shock.
"Twins are very rare for dwarves, I never imagined our king would be so blessed."
"It came as a surprise to me as well, twins are pretty rare for my race too, but I have two uncles who are twins."
"As to your checkups I will make sure that if I don't check on you myself, another healer will do it within the specified time. Though admittedly I don't know much about male pregnancy." The healer said recovering from his shock
"Its not much different than female pregnancy, once the babies are ready to come out, they make a small pocket in my stomach, away from anything vital, that part of my stomach will open. The babies will need to be removed quickly, but other than that its much like any other pregnancy. Often the bearer can remove the babies themselves, but occasionally they might need help to do so. That's why we tend to like to have at least one other person around, in the last month, just in case anything goes wrong."
"What might go wrong?"
"Sometimes the pocket opening will rip and cause bleeding, which can lead to the bearer fainting, we lost a few males before we realized that we should not be alone during the last month." Bilbo replied and the healer nodded. "It might be best to have a healer actually as they would be calmer under pressure." Bilbo said and the healer nodded again. Thorin groaned and Bilbo smiled going over to the dwarf and smiling down at him. "Thorin!" Bilbo said happily and Thorin opened his eyes and smiled at Bilbo.
"I had the strangest dream, my dream was that you were pregnant with two children." Thorin said and laughed. "If that could actually happen."
"I am pregnant with our children Thorin, when I told you, you passed out and I got a healer, who spent more time talking with me about my needs rather than seeing to you I might add."
"His majesty was fine, once I knew you were with child, you became the more pressing of my two patients. Generally shock induced fainting only lasts for several minutes to several hours. Are you feeling any dizziness Majesty?"
"No I'm fine." Thorin said and the healer nodded.
"Good then I will see you within a week Bilbo." The healer said and Bilbo nodded.
"Can I come with you today Thorin, only I need to be close to you to help the babies grow. I need to feel you close by me and I'll most likely sleep most of the day."
"Why will you be asleep for so long?"
"The babies need energy in order to grow, they grow the most during the first and third month, I'll need you then and you might be tired as well, as the goddess needs to draw energy from somewhere to create new life." Bilbo said and yawned. "Can we go get breakfast?" He asked and Thorin smiled.
"Of course, but first I want to put my beads in your hair, we will need to start planning for the wedding and the babies." Thorin said and Bilbo smiled, before going over to the bookcase and taking out the beads he had made.
"Would you wear my beads too?" Bilbo asked and Thorin stared at him shocked for a moment.
"I would be honored, but when did you get them?" Thorin asked and Bilbo smiled.
"I made them, after I finished the kitchen." Bilbo replied and smiled. "I thought that if they were mostly wood, you could wear a bit of silver." Bilbo stated and Thorin opened the box slowly.
"These are amazing Bilbo." Thorin said and Bilbo blushed, before sitting down on the floor, as Thorin took out his own box. "I made these when I was barely out of my youth, I had hoped to find my one, one day but you are beyond my boyhood imaginings. You make me so very happy Bilbo." Thorin said and gently caressed Bilbo's hair before he started to braid it. Bilbo let out a sigh of pleasure as Thorin's fingers stroked through his hair and was near drowsing by the time Thorin had finished. Bilbo sat on the bed then and braided Thorin's hair, in courtship knots, before they both left the chambers.
Several people stared as they walked down the hall, but when they got to the dining room, Thorin's friends clapped him on the back. "We must have a party to celebrate." Bofur said and grinned. "I've not seen Bilbo drunk yet."
"Nor will you, not for the next five months at least." Bilbo said patting his stomach and smiling.
"Am I going to have a little cousin?" Kili asked and Bilbo smiled.
"Yes, two in fact, in five months time." Bilbo said. "That's why we need to speed up the courting, my biology decided that it was time to have children and if we hadn't acted on it, it would have been twice as hard to have been given a second chance." Bilbo stated his face becoming crimson.
"It isn't abnormal for dwarves to find comfort with their partner before they are married. When we find someone to love, it is for life, we love but once in our lives and I am glad that you have found one another. Although I have no desire to contemplate my brother's sex life, I am looking forward to being an Auntie." Dis said and Bilbo felt a sense of relief and belonging rush through him.
"We will need your help, as at least one of our children has the Durin stubborn streak." Bilbo said with a grin.
"How can you tell so soon?" Kili asked curiously.
"Its a peculiarity of how I can bear children and of my race, I'd be glad to tell you and your family about it later, but I don't feel comfortable talking about it in the greater dining hall." Bilbo said and started to fill his plate.
"Let me do that for you, tell me what you wish for." Thorin said and Bilbo smiled at Thorin, pointing out what he wanted. Once he had a large breakfast, Thorin served himself and then the others began to eat. Bilbo ate the food and filled his plate three more times, by the end Kili and Fili were trying not to stare at the hobbit, unfortunately they weren't very good at being covert and Bilbo chuckled at their looks.
"Pregnant hobbits need a lot of food." Bilbo told Fili and Kili. "I'm not used to eating as dwarves do, despite being here for nearly two months."
"You eat differently then us, I know you eat more at meals, but I wasn't aware of difference in eating habits." Thorin said and Bilbo laughed.
"Well I suppose that when we started out, you knew very little of my race, other than the fact that I and some other males can get pregnant." Bilbo said and smiled. "I thought it was a bit rude at first, but I got used to it, though it was hard on the road. I never considered that the dwarves you sent didn't know about what eating habits were customary for hobbits."
"So what are the customary eating habits for hobbits?" Kili asked curiously.
"We eat seven meals a day, though some are lighter than others. We need food more often than the other races and become hungry more easily. Beyond that we enjoy eating and cooking, I eat more at the three meals that you usually have, because I'm used to having seven." Bilbo said and shrugged. "There's a running joke about pregnant hobbits, some call them bottomless pits out of their hearing. At least we don't have strange cravings unlike most of the races." Bilbo yawned then and shook his head. "Sorry I'm tired."
"You don't need to apologize to anyone Bilbo, you are ensuring the safety of our kingdom." Thorin said and smiled at the hobbit. "I will never stop thanking the Valar for bringing us together." Bilbo smiled at the King, before returning to his food, concentrating on eating as much as possible, as waves of weariness dragged at him. He finally managed to finish eating and barely remembered making it to the council chambers.
"How close do you need to be to me Gem of all gems?" Thorin asked.
"Skin to skin is best, but touching is fine." Bilbo yawned again.
"Then I'll hold you in the chamber." Thorin said and smiled softly at the tired hobbit, who looked like a child past its bedtime as he dragged his feet to the council chamber. Thorin's grin widened as he realized that it would be so long before his own children would be in the same state. Tired hobbits were truly adorable Thorin thought and smiled at his intended. He sat in his large throne in the council chambers and dragged the hobbit onto his lap, situating Bilbo so he laid across the throne, his head resting on Thorin's arm by the arm rest and his feet dangling over the other arm rest, Thorin placed his other arm on top of them and chuckled softly as Bilbo fell asleep between one breath and the next.
To Thorin's considerable surprise Bilbo slept strait until lunch despite how loud the chambers became. Thorin shushed those that raised their voices looking to the hobbit in his arms, protecting Bilbo's rest. By the time lunch came, Thorin too was fighting sleep, as he gently shook Bilbo awake and headed with him to the dining hall.
Bilbo again ate enough to seemingly feed five dwarves again, managing to get through the meal, as Thorin struggled through his own food. He didn't understand why he was so tired, he felt as if he'd worked a full day in the forge, before battling a large group of Orks. He realized, as he shook himself for the fourth time in as many minutes that he'd be no good to the council that day.
"Fili I will need you to take notes on the deliberations today and what was decided." Thorin said and Fili stared at him confused for a moment. "I am not feeling well, it is merely exhaustion and it is my hope that it will pass in a few days." Thorin said and Fili nodded, after the meal he went back to his rooms with Bilbo and nearly collapsed on top of the bed. He stared as Bilbo undid his shoes and pulled them off. "How can you remain upright?"
"Don' wanna have you sleep in shoes." Bilbo said and yawned widely, before throwing back the blankets and unbuttoning his waistcoat, as Thorin forced himself to unbutton his overcoat, getting half way through, before Bilbo helped him with the buttons. Finally they took off their outer garments and got under the blankets together, both were asleep within moments.