Chapter Sixty-Six: A Great and Wonderful Panic

"Please tell me you are not remotely naive enough to belief that a tea can prevent pregnancy?"

"I'm exactly that naive, apparently."

Emelia leaned back at Bard's large kitchen table and folded her arms across her chest, very much aware of how idiotic she had been to trust a tea with something so important. Tauriel kneeled next to her and extended out her hand, a commiserating smile on her face that did nothing to calm Emelia down. She lifted up the edge of Emelia's shirt and splayed her cool hands across her lower stomach, fingers feather light and comforting. Their house, normally a flurry of activity with the five children, was blissfully empty save for the three of them for the time being. Bard, quiet up until that point, sat just across from her, a slight smile on his face as he observed the two of them.

It was unnerving, to be sure, to see them together, but Emelia quickly overcame her initial shock and settled on a happy acceptance. It was, after all, easier to make one trip than two.

But she could have done without Legolas' incessant snideness through letter about the whole thing.

"So?"

"So?"

"I cannot tell if you are with child just by touching you," Tauriel said.

"I assumed it was one of your numerous elvish magic tricks."

Tauriel pursed her lips but said nothing. She moved her hand over Emelia's stomach, pausing over the ever so slight swell that seemed to have appeared overnight. At least, it felt like it had appeared overnight. Perhaps it was psychosomatic, or perhaps she had been stress eating just a little bit more, but the fact that she already had a little paunch concerned her greatly.

It seemed her concern list was just destined to keep growing and growing until forever.

Tauriel smiled at her and stood back up, pulling her hand back.

"When was your last cycle?"

"That's the hard part," Emelia said, unabashed to be speaking about it in front of Bard like she normally would have been. The months on the road had deprived her of any and all privacy when it came to bodily functions and she had not managed to find a way to claw it back since. Embarrassment would have to be saved for later. "They've been all over the place. First they were regular, then nonexistent, then they came roaring back with vengeance, and then nothing. To be perfectly honest, I didn't even notice it all that much."

Bard shook his head and leaned his arms against the table. "My wife experienced something similar."

"And is there even a slim possibility that my body is rebelling against me and that I'm not actually pregnant?" Emelia asked, knowing that she wasn't likely to get the answer she wanted. Which answer she wanted, she wasn't entirely certain.

"It's possible, yes. Unlikely, but possible."

Bard had the decency to look sympathetic. But he also looked quite happy and Emelia realized that that was the emotion she was supposed to be feeling as well.

She leaned back in her chair and touched the top of her stomach.

"I suppose there's no avoiding it now, is there?" She asked, more to herself than the two others in the room. Tauriel moved to her other side and sat down on the bench and placed a supportive arm around her shoulders. Emelia tried not to notice that she smelled like fresh cut flowers and cinnamon and the way her stomach turned in response.

One of the many new things she was going to have to get used to for the next nine months.

"Wait," Emelia said, pulled away from Tauriel slightly so that she could look at her more in full. "How long are dwarves pregnant?"

"This is really something you should discuss with Kili," Bard said, interrupting Tauriel before she could respond.

"Oh I will," Emelia insisted, tying to pluck up the internal courage to do so. She hated the bubble of panic and disappointment that flared up in her chest, but it was unavoidable. She had been adamant about not wanting to be pregnant so soon. It scared her. It kept her up at night and made her heart race. But buried in with all that fear was a much more overwhelming amount of joy and she was beginning to feel like the emotional dissonance was going to give her heartburn. "Because this situation is entirely his fault."

"Well," Bard started, sharing a knowing smirk with Tauriel. "Not entirely his fault."

"This is serious, Bard."

The door banged open before Bard could respond. Tilda, flanked on either side by Hiron and Galon, came streaming in like a small hurricane, throwing aside bags and her coat with little regard for where they landed. The boys, upon seeing Emelia sitting at the large table, crossed the small space and threw themselves at her. It felt coordinated, with the way one slammed into her legs and the other latched around her shoulders like a lemur, and she struggled to stay upright. Tauriel had to support her when Tilda added herself to the embrace. Three pairs of small arms squeezed her as tightly as possible.

"You never come and see us," Tilda said, finally pulling back from Emelia only when her father grabbed the back of her shirt and forced her to do so.

"I've had so much to do in the Mountain."

"Being a princess?"

"Technically speaking, I'm not a princess yet."

"Well, what's taking so long? I have already told all my new school friends that I know a princess. They're going to call me a liar," Tilda moaned, collapsing in the small space between Emelia and Tauriel despite the fact that there was very little room to do so. "Perhaps you could tell Kili that this is pressing? He seems to like you well enough, I think he will listen to what you say."

It took everything in Emelia to not laugh. But she couldn't cover up the wheezing laugh that sounded like it shredded her lungs. She covered her mouth her hand as she continued to snort her way through what Tilda said. Of all the reasons she could use to justify bypassing standing on ceremony, Tilda's feelings on the matter might not rank in top fifteen. Hell, it probably wouldn't even rank in the top fifty. But it did offer an interest perspective to her.

It was pressing.

It was critical.

Not for the reason Tilda said, of course, but pressing none the less.

If they lived in a small town, it was potentially reputation and life ruining.

Emelia did not generally think of herself as being concerned about that sort of thing, but the last few months had increased her anxiety about a million-fold. She knew Kili would support her, and by extension, Fili, Dis, Thorin, and the entire rest of the company, but she did hold the same hope for the rest of the Mountain. She was still an outsider, still an alien to so many of them, that she felt like she was walking on eggshells around them all.

She had already offended them in a thousand ways, but getting knocked up out of official wedlock with the future heir to the throne and the inheritor of the line of Durin, seemed like it would be the worst to date.

Emelia stood up from her seat slowly, mind and heart racing a mile a minute.

"I'll be sure to pass on your concern, Tilda," Emelia said, bending down to kiss her forehead as she moved towards the door in a haze.

Tilda's face fell at the sight of her leaving so soon after she got there, but before she could express her displeasure, Bard placed a hand on her shoulder and steered her towards the small kitchen space at the back of the floor level of their home.

"Tildy, Sigrid could use your help preparing the tubers for dinner."

"But she isn't even home."

"Exactly," Bard said, steering her with two hands now instead of just one. She seemed to get the hint after another moment and rolled her eyes, grabbing hold of Hiron and Galon's hands. She dragged them behind her, making her displeasure known as she stomped through the house. Emelia couldn't help but smile, despite her painful levels of anxiety, at the display.

Tauriel waited until she was certain Tilda was out of earshot before she leaned forward and placed a steady hand on her shoulder.

"I know you are scared, but this is a blessing."

Emelia nodded, only half convinced of that herself.

Of course she knew and felt it was a good thing.

She knew she would love and cherish the kid with all that she was and all that she had.

She would jump in front of a stampeding bull for them.

She would kill a warg with her bare hands for them.

She wouldn't even blink.

But she was also scared.

And she didn't think any amount of kind words, comforting thoughts, and support was likely to change that anytime soon.

So she made peace with the idea that she would just have to live with the panic and the fear and committed herself to trying to embrace the more positive aspects of what was to come. And there were so many. Too many to count, in fact, that she stopped trying and instead decided, in that moment, to sink into the good and enjoy what was supposed to be one of the happiest times of her life.

Kili was waiting for her at the end of the street, absolutely loaded down with baked sweets, and smiling at her like he was seeing her for the first time in a month. It was one of her favorite things he did. He always made her feel like it was gift to see her, even when they had parted not even six hours before. When she approached, he held out a fried bit of bread dusted with sugar. He wouldn't take no for an answer and she took a large bite, shocked by how much it reminded her of a churro. She quickly ate the rest of it and went back for seconds and thirds.

Kili stared at her, eyebrows raised.

"Did Tauriel and Bard not feed you?" He asked, smiling as he held out another soft-baked piece of bread.

"Oh they did," Emelia said through a mouth full. "I'm just hungry. Did Thorin let you out early?"

Kili nodded, sensing that there was an upcoming pause in her ravenous appetite. He grabbed her hand and started to walk through the market, pulling her close. "You would not believe how dull economic meetings can be when Thorin, Gloin, and Dain get together."

"Sounds like a nightmare," Emelia said, eyes trailing over the market stalls that they passed by. Every so often she would pause, attention captured by something shiny or a particularly nice fabric. It was only when she realized that her attention kept wandering to the occasional child's toy or cradle that it hit home for her that she could only stall for so long before she told him the big news.

How, exactly, she was going to do that escaped her.

She couldn't very well just come out with it.

It was the most obvious course of action so naturally she dismissed it as a possibility right away.

Emelia looked around at the stalls, eyes trailing over all the wares until she spotted a particularly fetching rattle. The dwarf at the stall smiled when she made eye contact with him, not recognizing her at first until Kili turned to see at what she was looking at as well. A look of confusion crossed the dwarf's face when she stared at the rattle harder. Her face took on a pinched quality.

They would need baby rattles.

And blankets.

And clothes.

And formula.

Her brain short circuited despite her best efforts to keep it focused on the positive. Middle Earth didn't have formula. All their baby would get milk wise would have to come from her and she didn't even have the first inkling of an idea of how she was supposed to manage that. What if the little monster bit her nipple off and she spent the rest of her life lopsided? Or the baby didn't take and they would have to use a wetnurse?

Even worse still, what if she loved every single minute of it and wanted to pop out a million more little bearded buggers?

What if she was actually good at it?

It felt cynical to describe a baby as challenging, but that was the only word she was able to muster. She felt horrible for being so afraid, so uncertain, but all she could think about was how difficult pregnancy was with the aid of modern medicine. Her brain cycled away from the good against her will and dived headfirst into the panic and fear once again as she started to think of the particulars.

The thought of giving birth in a society that had advanced only slightly beyond medieval times felt tantamount to jumping out of airplane without a parachute and hoping to land on a tree.

She had trusted the healers around her for her own self, trusted Tauriel and Oin to keep her alive after all the sharp objects -claws and knives and swords-that she had run herself into over the last year. But her baby was different.

Her baby was an innocent little thing. Granted, right now it was probably only a little blob of cells, but one day that little blob of cells would be a large blob of cells, and then that large blob of cells would be a small baby, and then that small baby would force its way out of her body like bowling ball through a needle head and she didn't trust the medicine available to get them both through it.

But she wouldn't be doing it alone.

Emelia grabbed Kili by the front of his shirt and dragged him away from the stall before he noticed what she was staring at.

"Love, you're a little pale," Kili said as she pulled on him, trying to slow her down so he could get a good look at her face.

She kept pulling him, forcing him past a group of gossipy women, through a smattering of young children, and around a pair of old fishermen before she finally found a suitably private alcove in a side alley. The building shielded them from the prying eyes and there was even a small bench for them to sit. She grabbed his hand the moment they sat down and clung to it for dear life. She scooted closer to him and pressed in as much as she could, finding comfort and a tiny twinge of confidence in his proximity.

"Promise you won't be upset," She said, after only opening and closing her mouth about a hundred times.

"Never."

"No, I mean like you really have to promise me. In fact, I'm sort of hoping you might be the exact opposite of upset when I tell you."

"Emelia, you are starting to worry me," He said, leaning sideways so he could kiss her temple. "You can always tell me anything."

"Do you remember when we talked about having kids in the Shire?"

"I am old, but not that old. I do not have memory issues just yet," He said, the barest hint of a smile finding its way to his face. She raised her eyebrows at the way he completely missing what she was hinting at, hoping that the gesture would get him to think about what she said and that wouldn't have to be explicit about it.

Clearly, she was wrong.

She rolled her eyes and let out a long suffering sigh.

"I'm pregnant."

"No, you're not."

"Kee, I am."

Reality settled over him painfully slow. It didn't register for what felt like an eternity, but the he went through the full gambit of emotions that she expected from him- shock that morphed into a brief panic before the most blistering happiness she had ever seen. It nearly bowled her over and she found herself leaning back ever so slightly out of reflex before she remember herself and surged forward to meet him in a hug halfway. His arms shook as he pulled her into his chest, rocking her back and forth slightly as they attempted to squeeze the life out of each other.

"I cannot believe it," He breathed into her hair, voice wavering towards the end. She was shocked to discover that he had started to cry. She was even more shocked to discover that she had as well.

None of her panic existed in that moment.

All that she felt was love and joy and the endless possibilities.

She pulled back after a moment wiped the tears from his face, smiling at him through her own mess.

"How did this happen?" Kili finally asked. "You have been drinking the tea."

"Apparently pregnancy preventing tea is bunkum," She said, keeping her hands on his face even after she had finished wiping away the tears. "Also, it's not like we didn't push it to its absolute limit."

Emelia was pleased by the blush she managed to pull from him.

"I say we keep pushing the limits."

"I agree," She said, crinkling her nose as she started to laugh.

He laughed with her for only a moment before something akin to fear settled over him. His eyes blew wide and his mouth popped open. She could not read his mind, yet, but she fairly confident in her ability to guess what he was feeling. At that moment, she knew he had just remembered that they were not married, still unapproved by the clans, and hurtling towards what had the potential to be an absolutely and total unmitigated disaster.

"I know," She said before he could say what he was thinking.

"Thorin is going to…"

"I know."

"Mahal, my mother." Kili pulled back and stood up, shoulders up around his ears and hands shaking. "She's going to kill me. She's threated to so many times, but this time she might actually do it."

Emelia popped up to her feet and grabbed his arm before he could start to pace.

"Let's not focus on the whole pregnant out of official wedlock thing and instead focus on the whole we're going to have a beautiful little baby by this time next year thing."

"We're going to be parents," Kili said, cycling back around to happiness once again, worry forgotten for a brief moment. "Emelia, we're going to be parents."

"I know. Terrifying isn't it?"

"What if we muck it all up and the bairn hates us?" Kili pulled his arm out of her hands and turned around to grab both her shoulders, face sad once again. His whiplash of emotions coupled with her own was starting to get to her. "Oh, Em, I'm so sorry."

"For what?"

"You said you wanted to wait."

"And that didn't turn out to be possible. I'm more than a little relieved to say that I'm actually excited. I'm terrified, don't get me wrong. But I'm also really, really happy. "

"But we could have…"

"What? Had less sex? Serious solutions only, please."

Kili smirked and moved his hands up from her shoulders to cup her jaw. He pressed in closer to her, breathing just a little bit deeper, and kissed every single bit of her face he could reach. His hands moved away from her face then, passing over shoulder and down her arms, pausing briefly on her hips, before they settled on her stomach.

"Is it my imagination, or are you bigger?"

"I thought so too!"

Kili bent down and placed his face next to her stomach, eyes misty once again. He leaned forward after a moment, breaking eye contact with her to look at the tiniest of bumps already formed. She nearly turned into a puddle when he pressed his lips against her over the fabric. He wrapped his arms around her hips and pulled her even closer, lingering for just a little while longer before he stood back up and kissed her with as much enthusiasm as she had ever experienced.

"I love you," He breathed against her lips. "I love you so much, Emelia."

She buried her own hands in his hair and kissed him back, pulling his down to her level just a bit. In response, he lifted her off the ground and spun her around, not breaking the kiss for even a moment. She moved her hands from his hair and down to his coat and yanked as hard as she could. He tried to pull back out of shock, but she refused to stop kissing him. She set her sights on the secluded alcove just behind them as she continued to pull on him until she was pressed against the cold stone wall.

Emelia flipped their places only after she was certain no would be able to see them.

"Here? Now?"

Any protest he might have had was lost when she winked at him and pulled on the ties of his pants and started to bend down, mind thoroughly made up and body positively buzzing with the spark of new found joy at the whole situation.

They were going to be parents.

And she was determined that they were going to be good ones, her own cycling panic be damned.

The view from Ravenhill was nothing short of miraculous. Emelia, having been roused well before the time she naturally would have woken up by an entirely too enthused Kili, squinted at the inky purple horizon and waited for Raven Master to make his appearance. Kili had been borderline insufferable ever since she told him the good news. Normally, she was happy when he was happy. But right now, with the building stress of still not having clan approval and her ever growing stomach, she found herself more irritable than ever.

Not with Kili.

At least, not really.

She was irritable with the whole situation.

What should be a wonderful few months had instead morphed into something wholly stress inducing. Every single time she interacted with Thorin and Dis she was absolutely convinced they were going to figure it out.

She had taken to avoiding them entirely. An action she was certain only added to their suspicion.

"Ah, Lass. I was expecting you to be a late riser," The Raven Master said, appearing out of nowhere to her left.

"It's you!" She exclaimed, shock washing over her at the sight of the dwarf she saved on the battlefield all those months ago. He looked much cleaner now, and decidedly less fearful for his life, but she would recognize his face anywhere. His shocked expression was seared into the back of her mind, permanently there and reoccurring only when she allowed herself to think back.

"It's me. My name is Tilv," The dwarf said, entirely nonplussed by her sudden excitement. "Now, we have a bit of dirty work to do today."

"I don't mind," She said, hurrying after him as he turned his back to the slowly rising sun and walked into the newly repaired Raven Hill.

It was vacuous inside, but not uncomfortably so, and was covered ground to ceiling in raven nests. She gave up trying to count the number of birds after she reached over three hundred. The bridge that spanned the circular space, the one she and Fili so stupidly collapsed, had been repaired. She didn't linger on that feature. Ravenhill looked nothing like it had almost a year ago, the fine architecture and constant raven activity almost alien to her before she reminded herself that that was what it was always meant to be. In happier times, past, present, and future, Raven Hill was a center of life for the Mountain. Even her own little raven had started to spend more times up on the Hill than with her.

She was pleased when it came flapping out to her the moment she crested the top.

"You don't have a week stomach, do you?"

"Not usually," She said, hoping he wouldn't notice the dicey expression on her face. Morning sickness had been an absolute beast for the last few weeks, but she seemed to have finally gotten over it.

"Good. You'll be chopping innards."

"Lovely."

Tilv shot her a look over his shoulder but said nothing and instead directed her over the large pile of very fresh innards. She picked up the knife without question and began to chop up the meat into tiny, bite sized pieces.

"I assume you are here for my Clan's blessing for your upcoming marriage," Tilv said, keeping his back to her as he cleaned out the straw from a few of the lower nests. The ravens in them nipped at his fingers but he completely ignored them and went about his work.

"Also to visit my little bird." She turned her head to the side to give her raven just a little bit more room on her shoulder.

Since telling Kili the big news over a month ago, she had managed to get ten more approvals, bringing her total up to twelve now. With Tilv it would be thirteen and she would only need four more. It was so close, but it felt like it was never going to happen. She hoped Tilv would be one of the easier sorts.

She did save his life, after all.

An unintended bonus, if there ever was one.

As she continued to chop, fingers now stained red and brown, two more little ravens landed on her head and made themselves comfortable in the nest of her hair.

"How many do you have left?" Tilv asked, genuine curiosity coloring his words.

"With you, four." He harrumphed, as all dwarves seemed to do, and threw more dirty straw on the ground. "I have a speech about why I'll be a good wife and princess," Her whole body cringed at the word, but she pushed forward and ignored the feeling. "If you're interested in hearing it."

Tilv turned back around and snapped his fingers six times, the rhythm impossible to duplicate, and her raven immediately flew from her shoulder and landed on his outstretched arm.

"I only care about one thing," He said, lifting up the wings of her raven and running his finger along the delicate underside of feathers. "He seems healthy, strong. No bent feathers. No welts or scars."

"Of course not," Emelia said, offended by the very idea that her raven would be anything other than immaculately taken care of.

"Then you have my approval."

"Nothing else?"

"What more should there be? I do not stand on ceremony. You take care of the ravens in your care, and I am content. You have my Clan's approval. You seem to have an affinity for this sort of work and you are welcome to come back and learn more any time you wish."

She was now so close she could taste it. Out of reflex her gaze traveled down to her stomach.

Tilv gave her a knowing look before he went back to his work.

Four more to go.

"Pull!" Emelia groaned, bending over to grab the edge of the bed to keep herself upright. Behind her, Kili yanked the ties of her loosest corset as hard as he could. It was a fine line, cinching her waist enough to keep from showing too much and not putting herself at risk for passing out at some point during the night, but one she must dance around as long as her and Kili were still unmarried in the eyes of the Mountain.

"I am," Kili snapped, forced to use his weight to finish the process of tying her into the dress. He leaned on the bed next to her and had the audacity to give her a cheeky look. "You look lovely."

"Shut up. Why did you pick this dress? It's so fancy."

"It was a gift from my mother."

Red faced and covered in sweat, swollen, gassy, and very much dreading the dinner they were about to attend, Emelia was tempted to just give up the whole gambit and tell the Mountain the truth of it all. It would certainly be easier than constantly trying to pretend like she didn't need to throw up all the time, or that she wasn't rapidly losing the ability to fit into her favorite clothes, or that, based on the size of her stomach, she was now nervous she was carrying ten babies instead of one.

But most of all, she hated keeping the secret from Kili's family.

She had managed to convince all of the clans to give their approval. It took her a literal lifetime, but she had finally managed to do it.

All save for one.

Clan Durin.

The one that, theoretically, mattered the most and she still hadn't managed to get it.

She assumed Thorin would be the one she needed to convince, but she was shocked to learn that it was Dis who held the keys to opening the door to the rest of her life.

Kili kissed her as he helped haul her up into a standing position.

"Let's just get this over with."

"I have always loved your unyielding commitment to optimism," Kili said, ducking just in time to avoid her flying hand. He caught it on the way back and kissed it three times before he laced their fingers together and led her to the door. There was an unexplainable spring to his step that caused her to narrow her eyes instantly.

"Why are you so happy?" She asked, keeping her gaze on him as they walked out of their room and down the hall. She could hear the sounds of an already rocking feast, music and laughter and the clinking of flatware and all.

"I am always happy when I am with you."

"Bullshit. You didn't talk to me for two days last month after I ate the last cream filled popover."

"I didn't talk to you for two days because I was on a hunt on the other side of the lake and did not see you for two days."

"I distinctly remember a popover being involved." Emelia walked slower as they approached the large audience hall, dread filling her stomach. "Can't we just stay in tonight? We can read the next chapter of our book and have something really cheesy delivered from the kitchen and then we can have really bloated sex."

"No," Kili said simply and without any offering of further explanation.

"You're the absolute worst."

"I know. You've told me numerous times, and yet, you keeping coming back." He bent down and kissed the side of her head to let her know that he was not remotely upset by her. "I promise you will not be mad at me in ten minutes."

"Bold prediction."

Kili pulled her through the doors and the sheer volume of the large room drowned out any response he might have had. Instead, he pulled his hand out of hers and put his arm around her lower back and led her to the raised platform on the other side of the room. The dwarves partying all around them parted, stepping back and bowing their heads slightly to Kili. It still caught her off guard every time they did that, still forced her to remember that she was married to an actual prince. He didn't act like it ninety-nine perfect of the time, and literally never when they were alone, but she was forcibly reminded of it whenever they were with the more common dwarves of the Mountain.

"What's the occasion?" She asked, eyeing the fine dress of Gimli and Gloin as she passed them with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, did I not tell you? We're getting married."

"What?" She pulled to stop and gaped at him. "Your mother is giving her approval. Right now? Tonight? And you let me leave our room looking crusty."

"You…"

"If you say you always find me beautiful I'm going to scream."

"That might alarm all the dwarves who have shown up to celebrate their new princess."

Whatever sweat was lingering from the ordeal of trying to get dressed at five months pregnant, magnified tenfold and she immediately started to fan her very red face. Emelia threw out her hand to grab onto him for dear life, just to keep from keeling over from sheer shock of it all.

"No fucking way."

Kili kissed her cheek and plastered a very large smile on his face as they continued their process through the large crowd. Fili was waiting for them just before they reached Thorin and Dis at the raised platform, giving her his most shit-eating grin.

"Soon-to-be sister," He greeted, bending down to whisper in her ear while Thorin and Dis rose to their feet. "Smile."

"You knew about this?"

"I did," Fili said.

"And you didn't tell me? When did we start keeping secrets?"

"I suppose all around the time you got pregnant and kept it to yourself," He whispered so that only she and Kili would be able to hear. Kili snorted to her right but kept his gaze stubbornly to the front.

"Fair."

"Emelia Kinsington Montgomery," Thorin said, deep voice cutting across the cacophony of noises and putting it to an end. "Step forward."

He probably didn't mean it to sound ominous, but the effect was inescapable. She felt very small under his gaze, but she felt microscopic as Dis looked her over, eyes trailing from her face and down to her stomach. Dis' lips quirked and whatever bad reaction Emelia had been expecting melted away.

Emelia wobbled forward, unsteady once she didn't have Kili and Fili supporting her anymore.

"You have sought permission to marry Kili son of Mirwi," Thorin said, surprising her when he smiled slightly at her when he paused. "The seventeen ancient Clans have offered their consent."

He then asked them all, starting at the beginning and naming each and every one until he reached his own.

"Durin?"

Dis continued to stare Emelia down, dark blues eyes searching her face for what felt like an eternity, before she cleared her throat and spoke. "Clan Durin gives their approval."

"Then it is done."

The hall erupted and Emelia found herself looking around, confused as hell and more than a little overwhelmed. Her confusion only got worse when she was surrounded on all sides by well-wishing dwarves. She felt hands clapping her on the shoulders and back. The members of the company pulled her into tight hugs, passing her from one to next until she lost track of who she was being held by and who she was being passed to. When she finally settled back in Kili's arms, she was absolutely frazzled.

"That's it?" She asked, looking around the chaotic hall like it would all suddenly start to make sense to her.

"That is it," Kili said, hand sliding down to wrap around her hips so that he could pull her back against him just a little closer. "Princess Emelia."

"Ew, no. Just Emelia, please."

"Well, just Emelia, would you care to dance with me?"

"Only if you say you'll not spin me too fast. I might throw up on you."

"I would welcome it," He said, spinning her around despite her protests so he could grab both her hands and pull her out to the raucous dance floor.

"Don't make it weird."

"It is far too late for that, love. You and I are one and the same now." The song playing was as fast one that seemed to involve a great deal of dipping and twirling and leaping, but Kili, bless him, tucked her close to him and was perfectly content to just sway back and forth. "See, this is not so terrible, is it?"

She leaned up and kissed him, thankful that the chaos in the room didn't seem very inclined to infect either of them. Fili streamed past them, Gimli and Ori hot on his heels as he balanced a load of very large drinks in his arms. He sloshed them over Kili's side, but Kili simply turned him and Emelia away and continued to sway with her, perfectly content to ignore everything else for the time being and travel back to their mental island for a moment and revel in the feeling of being in each other's arms without the need to hide anything between them anymore.

"Happy wedding," He said, pulling her even closer.

"Happy wedding. Again."

Emelia collapsed into the chair beside Dis after over three hours of dancing and kicked her legs out, desperate to relieve some of the pressure on her abdomen, if even just a little bit. It felt like her stomach had grown even over the course of the night and the corset, loose though it may be, was nothing short of a straightjacket. She would just as soon pull out a knife and cut the damn thing off if she didn't have to think of the nonsense that was decorum. She was a princess now, as much as the idea gave her the heebs, and she had to maintain even a baseline level of respectability. But that didn't mean she wasn't going to sink down into the chair as far as possible and splay her legs out underneath the folds of her skirt.

"You look tired," Dis observed, sliding a glass of bright red wine in her direction. "Perhaps a drink?"

On Dis' other side, Thorin leaned forward and looked at his sister, an expression on his face that Emelia had never seen before. It was almost playful, if Thorin was even capable of feeling that emotion.

"Dis, there is no need to tease the girl."

"I have never teased, brother," Dis said, sliding the glass even closer to Emelia. "Red wine is good for a growing baby."

Emelia did not have the energy to muster up a reasonable protest and instead sank down further into her chair. "When did you figure it out?"

"You and Kili are both terrible at keeping secrets," Thorin said, leaning around Dis to take the wine from Emelia when she showed no signs of taking it up to drink. "In that, you are perfectly suited to each other."

"I can't help but notice the lack of yelling."

Thorin took a large swig of wine and shrugged, bowling Emelia over with the nonchalance of it all.

"Why would we yell? You are family, Emelia. Your happiness is ours. And you will find that no dwarf is ever upset to learn they are to be a grandparent, regardless of the less than ideal circumstances that led to such a happy occasion," Dis said, scooting forward in her seat when she noticed Dwalin approaching them. He had cleaned up just a bit, although she noticed he was still armed to the teeth. She thought, for a moment, that he was coming up to talk to Thorin, but then he turned towards Dis and held out his hand. Dis, to her absolute credit, did her best to not act like a little school girl, although Emelia could tell the desire burned through her. She stood up, the picture of grace and class, and grabbed Dwalin's outstretched hand and followed him out to the dance floor.

Thorin watched them with narrowed eyes and continued to sip his wine. Emelia, taking Dis' words to heart, heaved herself out of her seat to take the one Dis had just abandoned.

"Nothing to say about that?" Emelia asked, watching Dwalin and Dis dance.

"Nothing."

"Wow, you really are different," Emelia said, holding her hands over her stomach for the first time in public. "I would have something to say about my best friend macking on my sibling," She paused, leaning over the arm of the chair so she could poke his arm. "But then again, I've never been as easy going as you."

The irony of her words was palpable.

Thorin shot a look at her over the top of the wine glass.

They settled into comfortable silence after that, each content to watch the celebration unfold. After a moment, Thorin pushed a glass of water towards her and a little plate of cheese, but said nothing else. She took the offer as she pulled her legs up underneath her and leaned towards him. "So, now that I'm in the inner circle I want to know every single bit of gossip you have about all these dwarves."

Thorin looked for a moment like he might chastise her for being so childish.

But then, miracle of miracles, he leaned closer to her and plucked a cheese curd off her plate and indulged her curiosity. "Where to begin? As yes, Gloin…"

So Dis and Thorin weren't angry. Given how much their family has suffered I thought they would be happy more than anything else. We have four more chapters to go before this story wraps up and I move onto Lord of the Rings! If you are interested in the continuation, hop on over to that and give it a follow so you know when I start updating it!