Chapter Sixty-Seven: An Ever Bright Forge

Emelia was the size of a small barge and she hated every single moment of it. She had hoped, all things considered, that she might be lucky enough to be one of those pregnant women who positively glowed, who swanned around the Mountain like a fertility goddess come to life and who had nothing to complain about.

Instead, she lumbered around like wounded hippo, sweaty and bloated and ravenously hungry all the time.

She literally could not wait for it all to be over and she still had at least two months to go.

It was the middle of the night and their room was absolutely roasting, but every time she got up to attempt to put out the fire and use the privy chamber, she was overcome by a sudden chill that sent her back to bed and the whole process cycling all over again. Of course, Kili continued to sleep like a rock, a fact which irked her beyond belief, and was completely oblivious to her struggle until she had had too much and elbowed him in the side.

"What? What is happening? Is it the baby?"

"No," Emelia said, voice an immature whine. "Yes, but no. I'm so hot I want to die."

Kili had the audacity to laugh and she very nearly elbowed him again. To his credit, however, he did pull off the covers and fan her with his hands. But all it did was move the hot air around and she threw her head back and let out a loud groan as she covered her face with her arm.

Her misery wanted company but she couldn't bring herself to inflict it on Kili.

"Em?"

He rubbed comforting circles on her stomach, the touch feather light and chill inducing. "I'm fine. I'm just being dramatic."

"Rightfully so."

"Do you have to go tomorrow?" She asked, peering out at him from behind her arm.

In the dim light of the fire she could only make out the scantest hint of his facial features. But it was enough for her to see that whatever small smile he had, fell instantly. If she had been less uncomfortable, she might have tried to backtrack, to try and pull back what she said and made it clear that she didn't actually care that he was leaving.

"I don't," He said, moving his hands down to her hips so he could pull her back against him. It made her even hotter, but she didn't mind so much as he continued to rub circles over her skin. "I can send Gloin in my stead."

The thought appealed to her on an almost molecular level, but she knew it would be selfish of her to take him up on the offer.

Their lives had settled in the last several months, with each of them taking on more and more responsibility around the Mountain as the time passed. Before her Oin-mandated bedrest, Emelia had been pretty committed to following Dis around and helping in whatever way she could. She felt like a bit of a hanger-on, but she found it much easier to move through everyday life when she had someone who understood it. It came with the added bonus of getting to know Dis better.

But it had been a month since she was able to do that, a month since she had made it her mission to put an ass-sized dent in their bed, and she was about to go absolutely insane.

As much as she would like to guilt Kili into staying to keep her company and to stave off what she sincerely hoped wasn't a boredom induced mental breakdown, she couldn't justify being quite so selfish.

He had his responsibilities as much as she had hers, and she never wanted to be the reason he abandoned them.

She let out a long sigh and shook her head.

"No. You need to go," She said, trying her absolute best not to sound insincere.

He pressed his nose against the back of her neck and kissed the juncture of skin and hair. Normally, she would respond in kind and turned around and kiss him with abandon, but she felt far too uncomfortable to do anything but accept the gesture.

"I love you," He murmured against her, pulling back only when he succeeded in making a flash of sweat appear on the skin of her neck. "And if you want me to stay, you only need to say."

"No. Seriously. Go, get out for a little bit while you still can. It'll only be a few weeks before I give birth when you get back."

"Are you nervous?" He asked, wrapping his arm around her hip to flip her over to face him.

"Extremely." She felt no shame in admitting it to him. In fact, it felt better to get it off her chest. "My mom gave birth in a hospital. She had every possible pain relief imaginable and a team of healers and she still had complications when she gave birth to my brother." She scooted closer to him, overheated body forgotten for the moment and she sought out the comfort of his arms around her waist. She tucked her head under his chin. "The more I think about it, the more worried I get. But I also know there isn't anything I can do."

"I am going to stay."

"No, you need to go. There's no reason or both of us to sit here and worry ourselves sick."

"You know I am going to worry regardless of where I am."

"Kee. I want you to go. I'll be okay."

She tilted her head up and kissed him. He hesitated for a moment, moving like he was going to pull back and argue with her more, before he sighed against her lips and began to kiss her back. Using one hand to push off the covers and the other to pull him closer, she melted into him, discomfort briefly forgotten.

She continued to kiss him for a moment until the telltale feeling settled in her bladder and she pulled back.

"What? Is something wrong?"

"I have to pee," She sighed, throwing the rest of the covers off as she hauled herself to her feet. "Again. Always. Forever. In perpetuity with this fucking walnut sized bladder I have."

Kili got up as well, albeit it with much less difficulty she noticed with no small amount of bitterness, and rushed around to her side of the bed to help her the rest of the way. She had become very well acquainted with their privy chamber over the last several months. If she wasn't puking her guts out, she was peeing every ten minutes, and of all the things she was looking forward to about her pregnancy being over, this was at the top of the list.

Kili leaned against the door, illuminated by the soft glow of their privy chamber.

"You know," She said, grimacing as she lowered herself down. She pulled her dressing gown up over her hips. Whatever preconceived notions she might have had about marriage and using the bathroom in front of each other quickly flew out the window when she realized she would never actually see him with all the time she spent dashing back and forth. "We never talked about what we wanted."

"For?"

"Boy or girl."

Kili folded his arms across his chest and tilted his head down, a contemplative look on his face.

"I do not have a preference," He said after a long moment.

"So you won't be disappointed if it's a girl?"

"Disappointment would not even enter my mind."

"I want a girl," She admitted. She finished, but waited for a moment longer. From past experiences, every single time she trusted that she wouldn't have to pee anymore, she was always proved wrong within about thirty seconds. "I know it's a cliché, but I don't even care. Imagine how cute she would be with your hair."

"I think the Mountain would far prefer it if she looked like you," Kili said, somehow finding a way to flirt with her as she heaved herself off the toilet. He sent her a wink, smiling at the flush that appeared on her face, and crossed the small space to help her back to her feet.

"Mahal, the indignity of this all."

"Listen you, cursing Mahal instead of God."

"Yes, well, you're a terrible influence one me." She smoothed down her nightgown and peered up at him, thoughts turning towards the more serious. "Promise me you'll be careful while you're gone?"

"I promise."

He bent down and wrapped his arms around her. He picked her up without warning and pulled her close to his chest.

"No, I mean, like really careful. Like -take no risks, don't spend time around your co-conspirator brother, and sit as far away from the campfire as possible- careful."

"Do you think I'm going to set myself on fire?" Kili asked, chest vibrating with laughter as he sat down on their bed, cradling her against him as he leaned back into their pile of pillows.

"It's not out of the realm of possibilities for you, Kee."

"Will you see us off tomorrow?"

"I suppose I can be bothered," She said, scooting down and making herself comfortable between his legs. They wouldn't be able to sleep like that for long, before the discomfort and the heat became too much for her, but she was going to make the most of it while she could.

He was leaving tomorrow.

For how long, she couldn't be sure. He told her it should only be a week. Two, at most, if fortune and the weather was not on their side. But she knew it would be longer and she was starting to feel the anxiety creeping in despite her best efforts to keep it at bay.

"I will bring you a gift," Kili said, voice dipping lower as exhaustion started to overtake him.

"You can forget the gift if you do me a favor now."

"Anything."

"I have to pee again."

"I can't believe he said that," Emelia said, waddling along behind Thorin and Dwalin. The pressure on her hips was nearly unbearable and her back felt like it was on fire, but the only thing that relieved the pulsing ache, even just slightly, was walking around so she dragged Dwalin and Thorin out of bed in the middle of the night and forced them to walk with her.

"I know," Thorin said, holding out his empty hand to balance on the rock wall as they descended deeper into the Mountain. They were near the mines. They were normally a flurry of activity, but right now they were silent as the grave as everyone slept away the rest of the night, as she should have been doing as well.

But she couldn't sleep.

And she hadn't been able to sleep through the night for what seemed like months.

The process was even harder since Kili left and she knew it wouldn't improve until either she had given birth, Kili came back, or both.

Most likely both.

Kili and Fili had been gone for nearly a week on a trade mission, taking most of the Company with them, and she had been left to her own devices as far as entertainment was concerned. Dis had been a pleasant enough companion, but she was currently on the opposite side of the Mountain, preoccupied with one of the textile merchant clans. Thorin, who was still dead asleep when Emelia burst into his chambers, hadn't even bothered to change clothes and instead pulled on his nicest cloak over his nightclothes to give the appearance of caring, and dutifully followed after her.

She was, after all, the physical embodiment of his lineage continuing and she fully intended to milk that for all it was worth.

If that meant putting on her most pleading face and pointing to her very large stomach just to get them to take her on a walk to alleviate even a tiny bit of the discomfort at, then so be it.

And she had never been above emotional extortion, as she had proved time and time again.

"What did you do?"

"I could not very well let him know of my great dissatisfaction."

"You're the King. Couldn't you just tell Dain he was being a dumbass and move on? Or better yet, throw him out of the meeting if he's going to insist on being such a nonce."

"I cannot punish him for being criminally stupid, Emelia, as much as the idea appeals to me."

"There is also the inconvenience of being related to him," She said, sharing a smile with Dwalin. A kindred spirit, if there ever was one, when it came to being annoyed by Dain, Dwalin could put on a masterclass in subtle disdain.

Dwalin turned back and held out his arm. She took it gladly and leaned on him as they made their way through the lower tunnels. It was the one place in the Mountain they were most unlikely to run into any other dwarves. Emelia picked it for just that reason. She was appreciative, of course, of all their good intentioned, if not a little intrusive, well-wishes, but she wanted nothing more than to walk away the pain, undetected, unnoticed, and unbothered.

That was impossible, given that Dwalin and Thorin were there, but she wasn't about to go wandering around alone.

What if she tipped over and landed on her back and she couldn't flip back over like a turtle?

Not only would it be endlessly uncomfortable, but she could only assume her dignity would take a hit that she would never be able to recover from.

"How do you feel?" Thorin asked, turning around to look at Emelia. He set an incredibly slow pace with his cane, something that she was immeasurably thankful for, and stopped every so often to give her a moment to rest.

"Fat."

"Such is life," Dwalin had the audacity to say. Even Thorin, who so often tolerated Dwalin's curmudgeonly ways above all else, stared at him with a disbelieving look on his face.

"Anyway, my entire pelvis is on fire and my back feels like a tiny little gremlins are dancing an Irish jig on it. So totally great, thanks for asking."

Emelia paused and dropped her hands to her knees, grimacing as another wave of pain washed over her.

It occurred to her, when she woke up in a cold sweat and promptly dismissed it entirely, that she might be ignoring the signs of labor to her own doom. But she refused to consider the possibility. It was just too damn early. By all accounts, human and dwarf, she shouldn't be ready for at least another month. Dwarves carried for a full year, a possibility that literally made her ovaries want to shrivel up and die, and humans carried for nine months. She dreaded the thought of splitting the difference, dreaded the thought of giving birth to what amounted to a toddler in her pregnancy induced paranoia, and she hadn't given it another thought since.

She felt a hand on her back rubbing circles back and forth as she rode the wave of fresh pain. It hit her all at once, hot like a knife, and she nearly passed out.

"Emelia." It was Thorin who spoke and she could tell he had bent down to speak to her more directly.

"Holy shit," She moaned throwing out her hand to grab the nearest thing she could, which happened to be his cloak. She twisted it up and yanked him closer, losing all sense as the pain increased.

And then it was gone and she felt like had made it all up.

Thorin kept his hand on her back as she stood up straight, his other firmly wrapped around his cane, and only removed it when he was certain she wasn't going to keel over or face plant into the ground. But he hovered, staying closer to her than he normally would have, and only started to walk when she did.

Their little group walked deeper into the Mountain, Emelia now leading the way. Living underground was generally pleasant. She liked the look of the buildings, how they were carved out from the rock, and the way everything was available all the time. But if there was one thing she would change it was the inability to tell what time it was at any given moment.

It could be the middle of the day for all she knew.

It must be approaching work hours, however, as she could hear the sound of the early morning miners at the end of the long hallway the three of them found themselves in. Emelia ignored them, now giving her sole attention to every single atom in her body. She self-analyzed, paying more attention to her vagina than she ever had in any single day of her life. And after all of that, after another wave of pain, she came to unfortunate conclusion that she was very close to giving birth.

In the middle of nowhere in the Mountain, without a healer in sight, and accompanied by two of the dwarves least prepared, by her estimation, to get her through the beginning stages of labor.

"Thorin," She said, voice barely audible through the sudden onslaught of pain.

It shouldn't be happening this fast.

And yet.

Thorin turned to face her, face morphing into panic when he saw her bent over at the waist once again. His hands found her back for a brief moment, supporting her as she once again struggled to remain standing upright. It was worse than before and she thought, if the pain didn't pass soon, that she really, truly and genuinely, might die.

Emelia felt her knees buckle, but she was kept upright by Dwalin wrapping his arms around her shoulders. He lifted her up and pulled her to the side and helped her lean against the rock wall.

"Why is everything moving?" She moaned, eyes watering and mouth going dry.

"What?" Thorin asked, coming to stand on her other side.

"The wall. It's moving."

The tremors started off small enough, barely noticeable to her through everything else going wrong in her body. But then they grew in intensity, just like her cramps, and she couldn't focus on anything else but the rock wall vibrating behind her. Thorin turned his gaze towards the ceiling, eyes widening as the entire tunnel began to shake. Emelia looked upwards, moaning a little louder, now from a delightful combination of panic and pain, when she saw a large crack split the ceiling in two.

"Run!"

Emelia was only capable of a very fast waddle, but she gave it her level best as the three of them moved towards the end of the tunnel.

A pile of rocks slammed down in front of them, cutting them off. Thorin turned immediately and pushed her back, covering the top of her head with his arms as rocks continued to rain down on top of them. The three of them pressed in close together, each folding in on themselves until the rocks finally stopped crashing down.

When the dust settled, and it was a disturbing amount of dust, she could see that they were spared from the worst of the cave-in. The space was small, barely wide enough to pace back and forth, and littered with spiked rocks shards of unrefined metal.

"Well, that was lucky," Dwalin said, letting out a puff of air as he observed the damage.

Emelia might have agreed with him if not for the sudden rush of warmth between her legs and the giant puddle of water now beneath her feet.

Her chest tightened.

Her palms began to sweat.

"Emelia?"

She grabbed around for the nearest warm body, fingers grasping without purpose.

"My water…" She couldn't manage much more than that, but it was enough to send Thorin in Dwalin into a panic that rivaled her own.

"You cannot do that here!"

The glare she sent Dwalin could have curdled milk.

As if she could somehow control it.

Thorin wrapped his arms around her waist and moved her to the ground, surprising her when she felt the shake in his limbs. The debris from the cave in bit into her skin, but whatever deity she had pissed off at some point didn't seem to care.

The baby was coming.

And there was nothing any of them could do to stop it.

"We have time," Thorin said, although it wound like he was trying harder to convince himself of that than her.

As he helped her to the ground, Dwalin rushed over to the collapsed rock and began to frantically dig his way out. But each rock he moved, another took its place, and the cave in only got worse. Emelia moved her hand to grab onto Thorin's hand, squeezing it for dear life as a knife of pain shot through her.

"This is your fault," She said, gritting her teeth and trying to speak through the pain of a full-blown contraction. "Somehow, some way, this is your fault, Thorin Oakenshield."

"For once, Emelia, I had nothing to do with this," He said, humoring her even as she squeezed the life out of his hand.

"Oh it hurts, holy shit, holy…" She cut herself as another contraction came over her. She sat up and grabbed both her knees, screaming bloody murder as the pain continued to radiate and intensify.

She thought she had experienced the full spectrum of pain. Middle Earth had no less than an overabundance of ways to cause her pain. It was sharp and cold and diseased. Something as minor as a splinter could kill her. Something as minor as a sprained ankle lingered for weeks. But everything, every single little cut and scrape and bruise, paled in comparison to this.

Emelia gasped and collapsed back when the contraction ended, head pounding and arms shaking.

"It's happening. Oh, oh. Ow, ow, ow. Shit!"

She lost all control of her brain at that point.

"Dwalin, your cloak," Thorin commanded, snapping his fingers to get the other dwarf's attention. Dwalin paused in his now frantic quest to dig them out only long enough to throw the item at Thorin before he turned back and continued. "Emelia. Breathe. You will only make it harder on yourself if you panic."

She wished she had the broadband necessary to rip him a new asshole, but instead, she simply stared at him and nodded her head.

She had no choice but to trust him.

"Okay," She managed to say between clenched teeth.

"Your Majesty!" A loud voice called from the other side of the rocks, sounding so very close and yet far enough away they might as well have been on mars.

"We are trapped behind the rocks," Thorin yelled back, keeping his hands on her shoulders even as he turned to face towards the giant rock wall. "Send for a healer."

Another contraction came over her and she couldn't help but work through it by reaching up and grabbing Thorin's hand and squeezing it within an inch of its life.

"Fuck!"

"My King?"

"Now!" Thorin yelled.

Dwalin dug faster, shouting at the dwarves on the other side in rapid khuzdul.

"Do you feel like you need to push?"

"How could I possibly know that?" Emelia ground out. "I've never given birth."

"Neither have we," Dwalin pointed out, continuing on his quest to be as minimally helpful as possible. He glanced over his shoulder at them when she let out another high pitched moan.

"Push," Thorin said, hobbling out from behind her so he could place himself in front of her legs. He struggled to balance on one leg, but he managed to orient himself after only half a moment. Whatever desire she might have had to argue with him or, more accurately, kick him square in the face, when he lifted up the end of her dress quickly melted away when another contraction washed over her. He moved his hands between her legs and looked up at her.

"I can't."

"Yes, you can. You must. Focus on your breathing and then push."

Emelia felt like she was being ripped in half.

But she pushed.

She pushed like her life depended on it.

She pushed hard enough that it felt like all her guts would spill out.

She pushed.

She pushed, and pushed, and pushed, and when she felt like she couldn't do it anymore, she pushed again.

A light burst through a gap in the rocks just as the immense pressure in her abdomen finally stopped.

She collapsed back and let out a loud sob.

"Emelia."

She hardly registered Thorin's voice, or the sound of the rocks being pulled away and the rushing of feet all around her, or even the feel of hands on her body. She hardly registered anything at all but the pounding in her head.

Everything else melted away.

And then, the tiniest little cry cut through the brain fog, and whatever pain she was feeling seemed to recede long enough for her to hold out her arms and take hold of her baby for the first time.

"Perhaps some warm soup?" Dis offered, moving the blanket on Emelia's lap just a little bit higher. The move supported the baby better, taking some of the pressure off her arms and making it easier for Emelia to continue to breast feed. It was an alarming feeling, but not an unwelcome one, and she found herself bending down every few moments to smell the top of the baby's head as she relished the moments. "Or some tea?"

Emelia took a deep breath and shifted in place, grimacing as the move caused a shoot of pain to rocket up and down her entire body. In the aftermath of giving birth and aided by some sort of milky white drink that Oin kept plying her with, she could hardly feel a thing, a true blessing if there ever was one. But now, the further and further away she got, the more she could feel every single little ache.

"Tea, please," Emelia said, moving her lips against the top of the baby's head. Her mom always talked about new baby smell and she always judged her for it, but now that she was smelling it for herself, she never wanted to stop. "And something with bread."

Dis smiled and stood up from the edge of the bed. She stopped long enough to smooth out Emelia's hair, a motherly gesture that threatened to make Emelia, so out of control of her emotions at the moment, to burst into tears, before she stepped outside and ordered the nearest dwarf to get something from the kitchens. The dwarf practically sprinted away, armor clanking and clattering, and Emelia couldn't help but blush at the enthusiasm.

The entire Mountain was buzzing with excitement. Outside her door, down the hallways and into the communal homes, she could hear the sound of celebrations in full swing. Apparently, and she had only been told this after her baby was passed around to about two dozen well-wishing noble dwarves like some sort of prized ham, dwarvish birth rates were abysmally low.

That she gave birth so soon after getting married was nothing short of a miracle.

The fact that it was to a girl, she might as well have been a goddess among mere mortals.

And they were going to celebrate as such.

But, Emelia, with her child in her arms and the assurances that Kili would be home at any moment, was perfectly content to celebrate on her own.

Just as she thought of him, Kili burst through the door to their bedroom.

"Em," He started, eyes wide.

"Shhh," She said, hoping to cut off the inevitable and failing miserably.

A sharp cry cut through the silence of the room.

If nothing else, it would never be said that their daughter came into the world and didn't make her presence infinitely known.

Emelia shifted in place and tried to turn the baby so that Kili could see her easier. He crossed over to the bed in three long strides, throwing aside his dirty riding cloak but leaving the rest of his muddied clothes in place. He pushed aside the pile of blankets and pillows to make it easier for him to sit next to her, jostling the whole bed and causing the baby to cry even louder.

Whatever annoyance she tried to project to him disappeared the moment he touched the top of their daughters head for the first time.

"A girl," Emelia, turned and held their daughter up just a little bit higher.

Kili leaned down and pressed his face against the top of their daughter's head and breathed in deeply.

"She smells so good."

"Right?"

With a full head of dark brown hair, waved just like her fathers, and bright green eyes, she was their mix, their tiny little clone, and Emelia was certain she had never seen anyone more perfect.

"And you?" Kili asked, keeping his hand on the top the baby's head. "How do you feel?"

"Real answer, or flowery post-birth hazy answer?"

"Whichever you wish to give me," He said, bending down to give her a quick kiss.

"Let's have another," She said against his mouth, laughing as she pulled back and saw the shock. The movement of her chest caused their daughter to cry even louder and they both immediately sat back and turned their attention down. "Take off your shirt."

"What?"

"Just trust me."

Kili looked at her like she might have lost her mind at some point, but he still stood up and began to peel off his muddy layers. He bundled them up in a ball and tossed them aside. She pat the bed next to her. When he was back in position, she lifted their daughter up and laid her on his chest. She moved the blanket swaddling her back a little bit, freeing both of her arms so that Kili could hold her little hand.

"She's perfect," Kili breathed, pressing his face to her forehead again. "She has sideburns."

"She needs a name," Emelia said, covering her breasts back up and scooting down in the bed just a little bit. It took some of the pressure off her back and she was able to stretch out her legs for the first time in several hours. She ignored the lingering soreness in her crotch as she leaned sideways to rest her head on Kili's stomach just beneath their baby.

"She does."

"Any ideas?"

"Perhaps something after your mother," Kili suggested, words trailing off as she he seemed to forget that Emelia was even there. She understood the feeling. The moment their daughter opened her eyes, Emelia was certain her entire world shifted.

"Hani?" Emelia suggested, testing out the possible name for the first time.

She hadn't given the name a great deal of thought, oddly enough. A few possibilities crossed her mind, fleetingly and without taking any real hold on her. None of it had seemed quite real enough. More than that, however, she just couldn't quite put her mind towards something so permanent. Like all things, she worried far more than she should about what would happen if she messed it up and picked an unintentionally awful name.

She was saved from the worst of her anxieties in that regard by the truly horrendous names some of the dwarves were saddled with in comparison.

But she still didn't want to pick something wrong.

Names held power and their daughter, already so fierce, deserved the strongest of all.

"Hani," Kili said, lowering his voice so he could whisper it to the baby on his chest. "How does that sound to you? Hani?"

"I don't know, we can still work on it."

"I love it." Kili shifted the baby up higher on his chest and pressed his nose against the top of her head again.

"Really?"

"Really. It should be your decision. You did the hard work, after all."

"It was hard," She said, finally admitting it to herself in full for the first time. The worst of the pain seemed to have been burned completely from her mind, but she still felt the ghosts of it. The sharp pain between her legs and the horrible pull in her abdomen every time she so much as thought about moving would stick with her for a while. "But, I'd do it again in heartbeat."

"Words cannot begin to express how sorry I am that I wasn't there," His voice cracked at the end and she very sincerely hoped he wasn't going to cry. Because if he cried, she would cry, and their newest little bean would likely join in as well and then it would be a whole mess.

"It was a freak occurrence, Kee. Nobody could have predicted it."

"I missed it."

"It was probably for the best. I attempted to break Thorin's hand several times. I'll need to apologize for that at some point."

Kili snorted, causing their baby to squirm even more. Her little mouth popped open, primed to cry again like the world's cutest banshee. Kili immediately began to process of shushing her, murmuring to her in khuzdul in such a sweet voice that Emelia nearly turned to goo on the spot. She leaned into him further, letting her eyes close for just a moment as Kili continued to soothe them both. At some point, he moved on from speaking and began to sing, voice lilting and calm and warm and representing every part of him that she fell in love with.

Time passed at a glacial pace. Each moment stretched on into a million- each little squirm and coo and suckle from their daughter catalogued in her mind- and she let herself get lost in the feeling.

She felt Kili moved his arm to wrap around her shoulders and pull her closer. After what felt like an eternity, she finally managed to muster up enough energy to open her eyes and look up at him. She moved her hand to brush over the top of their daughters head, smiling as she opened her eyes and stared back at her.

"Hani," Emelia said, moving closer to press a kiss to the tip of her nose. "A little something from both of us."

Silence stretched between them and Emelia worried, for a brief moment, that she might have inadvertently stepped all over some dwarvish tradition in what she said. But then she saw the slight mistiness to his eyes and felt the way he pulled her even closer and her brief panic went away completely "I am so sorry your family could not be here. They would be proud of you, Em."

"Half of my family isn't here, but the other half is, and that's good enough for me," Emelia said, lacing every single word with all the love she felt for him and his family, her family.

The door to their bedroom creaked open and Fili peaked in, hesitating before Emelia waved him over with a lazy hand. She shimmied down under the covers and pulled her dressing gown back on all the way, cringing as it brushed across her nipples, before she remerged, as presentable as she was ever going to be. Thorin trailed in after him, keeping his distance like she was libel to start screaming at him again. Instead, she smiled at them both.

Her appreciation for him was at an all-time high.

A foreign feeling for her, to be sure, but a welcome one.

Fili crossed the room in a manner similar to Kili and propped himself up on the end of their bed, close enough to see, but still far enough to give them space.

"A girl," Kili enthused, holding Hani out for Fili to hold.

"Oh no," Fili breathed the moment he looked down at her in his arms.

"What?"

"She's already beautiful," He said, laughing at the look on Emelia's face. "Imagine what she will look like as an adult. We will have to fight off the suitors with a stick."

"Maybe she'll take after Kili," Emelia mused, winking at him when he looked thoroughly offended at the very notion.

"We can only hope. If she takes after you, there will be no hope," Fili said, flattery dripping from every word. Fili cradled Hani in his arms and lifted her up to his face, bending down the rest of the way to kiss her forehead. "She smells good."

"Well, I cooked her up, so that's to be expected," Emelia said, sharing a smile with Fili over the top of Hani's head. "We're thinking about the name Hani."

"After your mother," Thorin said, surprising Emelia with his unexpected recall. When he caught her staring at him, mouth slightly open, he merely smiled and inclined his head.

"So, Thorin, have you made a decision yet?"

"On?"

"What you want to be called? One of my grandfather's was a Peepaw and the other was Pops. You don't really seem like the Peepaw ty…" She trailed off at the look on his face. "What? Did I say something wrong? Is that not a thing for dwarves?"

"No, no, it is," Thorin started, voice wobbling slightly at the end, much to her horror. "I never thought you woul…" He cut himself off before he could finish.

"What, want you to be the grandfather for my kids? You're an insufferable ass, Thorin, but you're family. And you did see every single part of me today. We can't go back to pretending we don't like each other after that."

"I had hoped we would never again mention that fact."

She was thankful that he didn't feel the need to linger on the subject. Instead he took Hani from Fili and held her up, cradling the back of her head. "Hani. Kidhuzel, tan menu selek lanun naman. And you, Emelia, have made the entire Mountain proud. May your forge burn ever bright." Thorin pressed a mustachioed kiss to the side of Hani's head before he passed her back to Kili and stood to his feet. "We will leave you to rest."

Kili closed the door after they left and turned back to look at Emelia, cradling Hani in his arms as he moved back to her.

"You need to sleep, Amrâlimê," Kili said, voice barely above a whisper.

"I will," She insisted, holding out her arms as she gestured for him to join her again. "I just want to look at her again."

"She will still be there in the morning."

"How cute. You think we'll be sleeping through the night," She smiled brightly at him and opened her arms to take Hani back. She fit like a puzzle piece, like she had been carved directly from her and was always meant to be sit right against her chest, heart beating next to hers, in time with hers. Emelia stared down at her, memorizing the delicate features of her tiny face.

She could see bits of her mother in the shape of her lips.

And her father in the shape of her high cheekbones.

Best of all, Emelia could see Eddy in the smattering of freckles across the bridge of her delicate nose and the endless pools of emerald of her eyes.

They were all there with her, just as they were all there with Emelia, rooted in the very fibers that held her together.

"We did a good job, Kee," Emelia said, looking up at Kili as he began to prepare their bed for them both to sleep. "We did a really, really good job. She's… I just… I don't even know. I never thought I would love someone more than you. Like, you're my favorite. Cream of the crop. My number one. And just like that, holding her…I… I'm…"

Kili cut her off before she could send herself into a confused spiral of love, disbelief, and sheer joy by pressing his lips against hers.

He pulled back after a brief moment, staring at her with such an intensity it would have alarmed her under normal circumstances. And then her smiled, and his little dimples made an appearance, and her happiness in the moment magnified to the point of it being concerning.

"Happiness is not nearly a strong enough word to describe how I feel right now."

"And, to make this all even better," She said, lowering her voice as Hani started to coo in her sleep. "I'm not going to have to get up every ten minutes to pee anymore."

Kili kissed her, and then Hani, and then her again. Back and forth he peppered them with kisses until Emelia couldn't hold in her laugh. Hani squirmed in her arms, feigning sleep for a moment longer, before she opened her mouth and let out a wailing cry. Emelia and Kili shared a look, an agreement passing between them as they seemed to come to the exact same conclusion.

It was the greatest sound in all of Middle Earth.

Only three chapters to go, friends!

See you next chapter, when we have a bit of a time skip and Aragorn and Legolas making a reappearance!