Chapter 11

The next few weeks were very busy for both Thorin and Bilbo. Bilbo started his garden, in addition to constantly going for fittings for his wedding regalia. The things they would be wearing were very dwarven, but Bilbo didn't mind all that much, he had to admit that waistcoats weren't very practical for life in Erebor. He smiled at the thought of people preparing for the Durin's Day celebrations and his wedding to Thorin. He didn't care when they were married and for generations Thorin's family had always been married on that day.

He continued to tend to his plants, until the day before the wedding where he spent all day preparing, he was nervous. He stared at his vows several times hoping that he had understood the words correctly. He mouthed them and decided that whatever happened he would be married to Thorin by tomorrow, so it didn't matter if he didn't have the words he wished to speak to his husband quite right, Thorin would love him regardless.

He smiled as people prepared him for his wedding and went to bed that night with his daughter. He was somewhat surprised that both hobbits and dwarves shared the tradition of sleeping away from their intended the night before. Despite his nervousness, Ris' soft breathing soon lulled him into sleep.

He woke early the next morning, as the servants helped him get on the expansive and expensive robes, which had half a ton of silver on them according to Bilbo. They then had to help Ris into her robes and Bilbo took his daughter's hand.

"Its really heavy." Ris complained and Bilbo chuckled.

"I know, take it up with your Daddy's traditions." Bilbo said and Ris frowned.

"How can I talk to Daddy's traditions?" She asked and Bilbo laughed.

"You can't I didn't mean for you to do it." Bilbo said and winked at the child, who giggled. They walked together to the tree they had decided upon, taking back routes and passages. They arrived as Thorin stared at Bilbo from an alter, the sign of Durin carved into the back, as people from Dale, Erebor and Mirkwood looked on. Bilbo had insisted that they would have a hobbit ceremony and invite people from the surrounding areas before doing another traditionally dwarven ceremony inside the mountain.

"We are gathered today in Yavannah's bounty to celebrate the love between Bilbo Baggins of the Shire and Thorin Oakenshield King of Erebor. Though they have faced many challenges, they prove that love can overcome even the darkest of circumstances. You are our friends and family, kin of the heart, if not of the body, so we invite you to celebrate with us." Balin said and smiled. "There are crowns of pine for those that wish to wear them and ale and food if you so desire. The point of this celebration is to celebrate life and the choice of these two people to live out their lives together. Neither one has chosen the most obvious path to get here today, in fact they have defied the odds many times. So today we celebrate and watch as they dance for the first time, as husbands by the traditions of the Shire."

Bilbo grinned as a fiddle reel started and danced a hobbit foot dance with Thorin who smiled and stared at his eyes the entire time. "You've been practicing." Bilbo said and Thorin grinned.

"Indeed I have been." Thorin said and Bilbo smiled as they finished their dance. Next Bilbo taught everyone a circle dance, Thorin watching bemusedly as he got men elves and dwarves of all ages to dance with him. There was something about Bilbo that was irresistible and Thorin was glad that others saw that quality in his One. He smiled crossing his arms as he watched the dancing. They stayed until midmorning, before going back into the mountain.

They then had a traditional dwarven ceremony, which involved statements of what both would bring to the marriage, how skilled both parties were and whether or not they were each other's One. Four hours later Bilbo's feet were killing him, as he recited "Shaped from the same stone cleaved in two before we were born. My soul is your soul and your soul is mine for all of time. Throughout all of time and space, we have managed to find one another, like a gem and a setting we fit together. You are mine and I am yours, I am yours and you are mine. I dreamed of you, before I knew who you are and now my days and nights are consumed by thoughts of you. I will be the best husband to you that I can be that does not mean that we will never argue. Still I will stay with you through both feast and famine, wealth and poverty. I do not care if you come to me miner or royal, I will take you as you are and bless the day we met. You are the only one ever for me, as I am for you. Together we shall share our days and even in dark times they will be happy ones, for I will have you beside me. I will bare your children and nurture them as they grow, loving them for who they are and who they will become. We will live our days out together, surrounded by the people we love and who love us. When we die, we will go to the halls of waiting and spend eternity together, for once found our two halves of the same stone will never be parted.

Thorin you are more to me than ritual words spoken by rote resuscitation. For that reason although I do swear to do all I said before and gladly, I will speak my own vows to you. I promise to see you as my husband, before my king. To treat you as a man rather than some mysterious leader. To share my life with you, both the good and the bad. I have little to offer and I realize that, but what little I have is yours if you want it. I will listen to you in all things, but I will not blindly follow you simply because I am the more delicate partner. That's what we will be partners in truth and there will only be truth between us. Though I may sometimes keep things from you, such as my knowledge of the tongue, or when my body changes in readiness for a child, I will never again directly lie to you. I will never steal anything save your heart I hope and moments of your time. I will try to understand your ways and customs, without loosing sight of my own and raise our children to know both traditions. I will not force our children to partake in things they have no interest in past the age of thirty and I will spend my days loving you and our family and friends." Bilbo smiled at his shocked friends and his grinning daughter.

"That was really pretty Papa, but I didn't understand all the words." She said quietly and Bilbo smiled.

"I'll tell you what I said later." Bilbo promised and Ris nodded.

"I know not what to say after what you have spoken, although I made my own vows they seem small in comparison to yours. Shaped from the same stone cleaved in two before we were born. My soul is your soul and your soul is mine for all of time. Throughout all of time and space, we have managed to find one another, like a gem and a setting we fit together. You are mine and I am yours, I am yours and you are mine. I dreamed of you, before I knew who you are and now my days and nights are consumed by thoughts of you. I will be the best husband to you that I can be that does not mean that we will never argue. Still I will stay with you through both feast and famine, wealth and poverty. I do not care if you come to me miner or royal, I will take you as you are and bless the day we met. You are the only one ever for me, as I am for you. Together we shall share our days and even in dark times they will be happy ones, for I will have you beside me. I will protect you and our children, loving them for who they are and who they will become. We will live our days out together, surrounded by the people we love and who love us. When we die, we will go to the halls of waiting and spend eternity together, for once found our two halves of the same stone will never be parted.

I am a man of few words, those that know me well know this. Still beloved, I promise to try to keep my temper with you, though I cannot promise never to be angry. I promise to try to listen, even though listening can be hard upon occasion. I promise to love and care for our children, to give them the childhood that was stolen from me. I promise that I shall no longer wander, or wonder at what may have been, instead I will look towards the future instead of the past. Although I am a King and that is something I would not change even if I could, I promise I will not be when we are alone together. I promise to be the best husband, friend and father I can be, as well as to do what I believe is right for our kingdom. I promise that I will take your council and listen when you feel you have a better way of doing things, other than that which we have always done. I promise to avoid the lure of metals and the false promises of gleaming gems and golden things. Bilbo you and our daughter are my greatest treasure, to keep you safe and happy there is nothing I won't do. Will you become my husband?"

"Yes!" Bilbo said and grinned at Thorin. "I will take your hand and together we will step down from this dais husbands." He said as Fili and Kili took out two boxes, Bilbo gasped at the copper flower wreaths Thorin had created. He knelt as Thorin did and the boys placed them on their heads. They then stepped down from the dais together smiling, as they did music started playing and Bilbo and Thorin started to dance. Then came the food, the kingdom looking expectantly towards the barrels of ale lining the walls. "I will enjoy the celebrations for a short while longer, before retiring to my garden. The babies don't like ale and I become sick if I so much as smell it. I beg your forgiveness for this shortcoming on my part and assure you that in a short while you can drink and be merry freely. For now however I would appreciate it if you avoided drinking around me."

"Do you think it would help me if I don't drink your highness?" A dwarrowdam asked and Bilbo smiled.

"It may, but I can't be certain that it will." Bilbo replied. "I know only that I can't stomach smoke or alcohol while I'm pregnant and neither can the rest of my race. Though I think our fertility is more do to us being the creation of the green mother than anything else."

"Do you think praying to the green mother might help?"

"I don't know for certain, it would not hurt I think, but I can't promise that if you act as I do you will have babes."

"Its enough that you would just talk with me, I will have my own child soon and I am worried about somehow harming them."

"What barer doesn't worry?" Bilbo asked with a smile. "I'll be glad when I get to hold it and this will be over, I assure you being a kill joy and being unable to enjoy drink and smoking is as unpleasant for me as it is for you, but I have no desire to be violently ill on the day of my marriage."

"Do you know the dances?"

"Some yes, but not as many as I'd like." Bilbo said and grinned, as Thorin passed him some food. He waited for his friends to fill their plates, before starting to eat. Musicians played as they ate and Bilbo chuckled as Ris sawed at her meat. "Need some help Ris?"

"Yes!" Ris said and then frowned. "So are you only going to talk in khudzul now, cause I might not understand you."

"Not exclusively, I just got into the habit of speaking it." Bilbo said and smiled at his daughter, cutting up her meat. He finished eating and checked to see if Thorin was finished, grinning when he saw that Thorin was. He stepped out onto the dance floor and Bilbo grinned as he shocked Thorin for the second time that day. "While I appreciate your awe, I believe you are supposed to move your feet, not stare at me, as I do so." Bilbo said and Thorin laughed. They danced together for three more dances, before Bilbo grew tired. "I'm going to go garden now."

"Have fun." Thorin said and Bilbo smiled, before going off with some servants to help him out of his clothes and into more comfortable gardening clothing. He spent the rest of the day in his garden, before going upstairs and falling into bed, a smile on his face