Summary: These are a series of drabbles written for the Mellon Fic 100 Challenge on the mellon chronicles group.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, sue me and find yourself poor as well.
A/N: The majority if not all of these drabbles will be AU.
Chapter 36 (Children)
Elrond Peredhil stared out over the gardens. Below him the sounds of laughter floated up to the balcony he was standing on. His daughter was visiting, a rare occasion that brought all his children together.
The crisis of Arathorn being slain had sent the whole of Imladris into mourning. They had all valued his friendship. The twins had often ridden by his side into battle, and now he was gone, his most treasured possession left to the Peredhil family.
Elrond recalled back to the time when the twins had been born. It had been a long labor, of which at the end had been the surprise of not one but two children. Elrond and Celebrian had revealed in their good fortune, and spent countless hours with them both.
Just as they had settled in with the twins Celebrian had become pregnant again, and Arwen had been born. Again they were overjoyed with their child. Their family was complete it seemed and then tragedy had struck.
Celebrian had been the gentle one, the one to go to in the night, but Elrond was the one who snuck into their rooms to watch them sleep. He was also the one who sat by their bed when bad dreams came. Though it was not often Celebrian had found him asleep, nestled against whatever child was in need.
Once Celebrian had sailed, with her went the innocence of the children. Now their nightmares were a reality that they had seen, but Elrond had been too lost in his own grief at the time to notice.
For a long time the halls of the Last Homely Home were filled with nothing more than silence, elves going about their duties, and yet forgetting the joy of each day. It was that very night that a small whimper could be heard, and it stirred Elrond from his sleep. Getting up from is bed he made his way down the hall to the room next to Elladan's.
Inside the room he found Estel, tears streaming down his face, lost in a dream. As before he sat down on the bed next to him, lifting the small child into his lap as he did. Estel clung to him as if he were a lifeline, his small hand gripping his night shirt. Elrond had sat there all night, falling asleep next to him.
That had been years ago when Elrond had wondered what it would mean bringing Aragorn into his home. Could he handle another child, when his own would not even remain there? All his doubts had melted away that night, and now all he could do was smile down at them as they laughed. Though all were not his by birth, nor did they all live in Imladris, they were all his children.