Chapter 20

Kili:

Luckily for me, Uncle Thorin saw the same look on my mother's face and stepped between us. "Not here Dis, we will explain later." He said glancing at the dwarves that had ridden from the Blue Mountains with mother, "In private."

"You've got a lot of explaining to do then." She said, her eyes fixed suspiciously on Tauriel before turning them back to me. I could see the conflicting emotions in her face as I stood fidgeting. She finally sighed, stepping around Uncle and pulled me into her arms, checking me like she did Fili. When she was satisfied, she touched her forehead to my own, "Thank you for keeping your promise, my son." Mother pulled away, and turned ignoring Tauriel's presence all together and let Fili help her back on her pony.

Her calm demeanor didn't fool me, I knew my mother well, and I was still in deep trouble. As I helped Tauriel back up on her pony, she turned and gave me a concerned look. I shook my head at her, this was not her fault, and I was sure that once we told everything to my mother she'd come around. On the ride back I thought about the last time I had seen her like this. I had been small, and Uncle Thorin had given me my first bow. I had heard stories of the elves running through the treetops and shooting their arrows at those unaware down below, and had thought it didn't sound so hard. I smiled, glancing over at Tauriel, little did I know one of those scary elves from the stories would turn out to be the love of my life, as graceful and as deadly as the stories told, but also kind, gentle, and all mine. I could never match her grace in battle as she stepped effortlessly from branch to branch and landed in front of me, saving me from the spiders… But I didn't know that as a child. I had climbed up the first tree I could find, inching my way out onto the thickest branch. I judged how far it was to the branch on the next tree over and had leapt. I, unfortunately, had judged wrong, and had fallen, smacking into several branches before hitting the ground. Mother had fussed and carried on over me, showering me with affection and care, that is until I was cleaned up and she found out I was okay, nothing more than a few scratches and a broken arm, then the calm quickly turned into the storm as she screamed at me for being so reckless. If I recalled correctly poor Fili got in trouble also, for not being with me. She had taken away my new bow, saying I wasn't responsible enough for it yet, and Fili and I weren't allowed to have dessert for a month.

I could hear the whispers of the dwarves behind us as we dismounted at the gate. They, like my mother, had seen the beads and the braid in Tauriel's hair, but unlike my mother, who had quickly put two and two together, did not realize that she was my betrothed. I set my mouth firm and tried my best to ignore their gossip. The women mother had brought along were the worst of them all, I could hear their voices floating about the men, already spreading gossip before they were even inside. Already they had speculated that it must be a spell that the elves had cast, or that she was a spy, and how sorry they felt for the poor dwarf who had fallen for it, and that surely Thorin wouldn't allow it to happen. Uncle was shaking his head as he walked past my mother right on his heels and motioned for us to follow them. I held out my hand for Tauriel to take as she slid gracefully off her pony. I was glad to get away from the crowd of voices. Fili fell into step next to Tauriel and myself as we followed Uncle and mother down the hall, far enough back where we couldn't hear their voice.

"Did you hear them already at their gossip?" I asked Fili rolling my eyes. He smirked at me, "You should know better by know Kili, dwarvish women love their gossip." I laughed, shaking my head, "I guess you're right, we'll have to say something before it gets too out of control." I kissed Tauriel's hand, and looked over at her, seeing she was giving us a strange look. "What is it amrâlimê?" I could see the blush creeping up her neck, "I just…" she hesitated, "I didn't realize there were dwarvish women here also… I thought they were all men, besides your mother." It took a grand total of about two seconds before Fili and I burst out laughing, and Tauriel to angrily pull her hand away from mine. "Don't be mad amrâlimê, it's a common mistake." I said between laughs. "We'll make sure we point them out to you, wouldn't want you to offend them on accident." Fili supplied.

We were still chuckling when we got to the council room, but the look on Uncle Thorin gave us was enough for us to stifle it before we stepped inside. Mother was pacing the length of the room her hands clasped behind her back. I could tell the Tauriel was tired from the walk, even though it was a short one, and pulled out a chair for her, helping her to sit down and get settled. As soon as Fili shut the door behind him, she turned on Uncle. "What did you do?" She demanded, but did not give him time to answer before she continued, "I entrust my sons with you, I tell you to keep them alive, keep them safe, and I come back and there is an elf on the arm of my son?!"

"Don't you blame me sister. You're son made his own choices." I step in between the two of them before it can escalate even further. They had always managed to butt heads for as long as I could remember. "Mother, just let us explain, please." Her lips were pressed tight together, but she nodded. I began my story, from the beginning when Tauriel rescued me from the spiders in Mirkwood. I saw the color drain from her face when I told her how I had been struck by a morgul arrow and there would have been no hope for me if Tauriel hadn't disobeyed orders from the Elf King himself and followed us so that she could save me. I stressed how Tauriel had left everything she knew, knowing she would be banished from her home, and had taken my hand, following me to Erebor. I told of her excellence as a warrior and how she had stood with us and was prepared to fight with us, even when we were far outnumbered. I told my mother how she saved my life for a third time and Fili's life as well, when battling against Bolg, son of Azog, she had wrapped herself around him and pushed them both off of the side of the cliff, greatly injuring herself, but saving both of our lives. It was hard to talk about that moment, it was so clear in my mind even now. Her eyes locking on mine just before she went over the edge, and the feeling of dread thinking I had lost her forever. As if sensing my emotion, I felt her hand slip into mine, as she came to stand beside me. Mother looked at Tauriel, eyeing each and every part of her critically.

"There are dwarvish women in the company with me. Good dwarvish women, who come from good families. They would be a proper match for a Prince of Erebor, not some elf."

I shook my head, "From the moment I first saw her I knew there would be no one else for me. I love her mother; she is my jewel that gleams from the depths of the mountain. I couldn't imagine any one else in all of Middle Earth I would rather have to be my bride and the mother of my children."

Mother scoffed, "Well I can see you've already gotten a head start on that." I looked at her shocked, the small bump of her stomach was barely visible. "Don't take me for a fool, I've been around in this world far longer than you have." She said seeing my face, the anger was not gone from her eyes, but it was subdued. "I can see that I have no say in this matter. I hope you know what you are getting yourself into, this will not be accepted readily by our people." She said, looking pointedly at Thorin. "You have just won back your Kingdom, now you have to keep it." She turned then, looking Tauriel square in the eyes, "I thank you for saving the lives of my sons. But know this elf," Her voice getting dangerously low. "I will never, NEVER, call you my daughter, and if you as so much as raise a finger against my son, I'll cut it off your pretty little hand." Mother was out of the room before Tauriel could even respond, Uncle following close behind her. Tauriel had a look of shock on her face as Fili rocked back on his heels, watching the door slam. "Well all and all, that went much better than I thought." He said, tucking his thumbs into his pocket.

Tauriel:

I wasn't quite sure what to think as Kili helped me back to our room, sweeping my off my feet as we stepped out the door and carrying me quiet, lost in his thoughts. Dis wasn't going to stand in the way of our marriage, but she wasn't giving it her blessing either. Her words still rung in my ears, "I will never, NEVER, call you my daughter." It had pained me more that I had let on to hear that. Kili had been talking for weeks about how much his mother was going to love me and welcome me into their family, and in some part of my brain I had let my doubts be pushed away and had dreamed of being part of a family again, having someone to call mother again. But it seemed all I was doing was pushing his family apart. I buried my face in his neck, not wanting him to see the tears that threatened to spill over. He kissed the top of my head, "She'll come around amrâlimê. Look at how many stone cold dwarves you've already won over." He opened the door to our room, already filled with warmth from the fire. "Don't let her upset you, she's always been a very passionate woman." He said with a chuckle, setting me down in the chair by the fire before sitting in the one across from me and pulling my feet into his lap gently pulled off my boots and began to rub my toes. I sighed gratefully, sinking into the chair. "I think our first plan of action should be for you to make friends with the other dwarvish women… I think that would help speed your acceptance along." I opened one eye, looking across with him, "And how would you propose that?"

Over the next several months I found myself at more quilting and sewing circles than I wished to be at. The first time Kili had brought me to them I felt like he was bringing me to be fed to the wolves. They giggled and laughed, speaking in Khuzdul so I could only catch a word here and there, and acted like I didn't even exist other than to look at me and then whisper to the girl next to her and laugh. I looked forward to the moment that it was over and Kili brought me to the range so I could let out my frustration and practice with my bow and arrow again now that I could stand for longer periods of time.

The next time I begged Ithilwen to come with me so I did not have to face it alone. Facing battle was one thing but facing these women was another. We were careful to speak only in the common tongue, where they could understand us, but still all we got was suspicious looks and giggling whispers. After several months I could no longer hide the swell of my stomach, and gave up on even trying. That week the whispers and glances were intensified and I tried my best to ignore them like I always had. Ithilwen was a natural at all of the sewing and crafting; I was not so much, which actually turned out to be my saving grace. I tried over and over and still could not get the stitching right until one day I threw my hands up in the air in frustration, and one of the curse words that Kili had taught me slipped out of my mouth. I immediately brought my hand up to my mouth, feeling the warmth rushing to my cheeks. I could feel all eyes in the room on me as I looked at the pathetically stitched cloth in my hand. The girl next to me burst out laughing, which started a chain reaction across the room. She leaned over, "I've never heard at an elf being bad at anything, let alone curse." I was just making up my mind that this would be the last time I came here and tried to make friends when she leaned over and showed me her perfectly stitched square, "Here let me teach you."

After that the meetings went by smoother, and several of the girls would come over and sit closer to Ithilwen and I, chatting with us and teaching me how to stich. The woman who had first spoken to me and broken the ice was called Athdara, and I quickly learned that once you got her started talking there was no stopping her. The first question out of her mouth after she showed me the proper way to stich was one that had apparently been on her mind for a while. "So when is the little one due?" I looked up, seeing the other women pausing in their sewing to listen. "It will at least be another four or five months or so I think." She nodded, "So who's is it?" I looked up startled, "What?"

"Who's is it?" She questioned again. "Kili's." I said, only looking at her. She smiled, "Couldn't wait until the wedding night eh?" She said with a wink. She laughed as my face turned the same color as my hair. Isla was another dwarvish woman who warmed up to us, she was very soft spoken but had a quick wit and caught on to things very quickly. And then there was Robena and Robina, twin sisters whose smiles dazzled almost every man who walked past. Several others eventually seemed to accept our presence, but did not join into the conversation, keeping to themselves, but always listening. There were three who went out of their way to let Ithilwen and myself know that we were not welcome, Laoghaire and her two little birds that never left her side Oighrig and Caillic. They would sit across the room from us, and look disapprovingly, commenting loudly in Khuzdul, and earning glares from Athdara. "Ignore them, Laoghaire is just jealous." Athdara said one day after the three of them erupted into giggles. "Jealous?" I questioned.

"Loaghaire's had her eyes set on Kili ever since Fili publicly rejected her." Robena whispered so she couldn't here. "She's got her sighs set on the crown that one." Despite Kili and Fili's teasing I had know could see the differences between the men and women dwarves as plain as day now. I looked over at Loaghaire, her deep chocolate colored hair fell in curls around her face, her beard full and adorned with small gems, and I knew that she was found to be extremely beautiful among the dwarves. She looked up, here eyes catching mine and narrowed, and she leaned over and whispered something to Oighrig who burst out laughing. "Forget them, Lady Tauriel." Isla said softly, "They do not know what pleasant company they are missing." Athdara looked at Isla a tease in her smile, "I know whose pleasant company you're missing Isla." She said with a wink, "What she left out is that when Loaghaire cornered Fili at a wedding demanding that he dance with her he told her no, loud enough for everyone to hear and danced with Isla instead." A small blush tinted Isla's cheeks. I smiled at her, seeing the look in her eyes and allowing the topic to drop, going back to the blanket I was making for the arrival of our little girl. Stich by stich I worked in a rhythm and hummed, happy to be surrounded by friends, and to have some new dirt on Fili.

Kili:

I remembered the first time that Tauriel held my hand to her stomach and I felt the little hand move past my own. It was so tiny but I had felt it reach out for me. I had been so excited that I had picked her up and spun her around, kissing her as I set her feet back to the ground. I had spent the rest of the day with my hands on her stomach, waiting for the next time I could feel our child try and reach out and touch me. I couldn't wait to meet him, I had been using my free time between working on repairs while Tauriel was attempting to sew with the women, and I say attempt because I let her bring a pair of my pants one day to mend and got back something that looked nothing like pants, to work on the little crib that we would place next to our own bed. I was happy when she came to me beaming one day that she had made friends with some of the women. She sat curled up in my lap next to the fire, it was much to cold to go out on our balcony now, the snow blanketing everything for miles, so we had given up our favorite spot on the bench for a while. It became our nightly routine; we would sit by the fire together, talking about our days and our future. She was almost fully healed now; the only thing that gave her a little trouble was the stairs. We sat one night curled up together, "I'm glad you've found some friends." I said kissing the top of her head, "Well you're the one who pushed me…. Although I have to admit I'm not the sewing type of women. I'd much rather have a weapon in my hand." I laughed, "Well you did kick my butt at target practice today." It had been amazing to watch her. Even though she carried a child, she seemed to be even more graceful with her bow and arrow that I had ever seen. She had been refraining from the hand to hand combat practice, not wanting to risk anything happening, but I could tell she was itching to use her knives, so I challenged her to a knife throwing contest. Loser had to do whatever the winner wanted. So here I sat, rubbing her feet until I couldn't feel my fingers any longer, very much the loser, but feeling like a winner.

AN: So sorry this took so long to update. The holidays kind of just ran away with my spare time. I already have the next chapter started and the ideas in my head, so it should be up pretty quickly. This chapter spans the time frame of a couple of months, I needed to further Tauriel along in her pregnancy and doing it a few weeks at a time was killing me haha. Stole some more Scottish names for the new characters because it is really hard to find good dwarven names. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I love reading all the positive feedback from everyone. You all are what have kept me going on this story for so long. Thanks everyone, and Happy New Year!