Tales of Erebor: Thrice blessed

"You know what this is?" Thora pointed to a picture in a book of a cat playing with a ball of yarn and smiled, "This is a pussycat! C-A-T. Cat."

"Kitty cat!" Bror repeated and slapped his smaller hand down on the picture.

"Yep! And next page," she made him lift his hand so she could turn the book and point out the next picture, "this one is a dog! D-O-G. Dog. Like the one we're getting for my birthday-"

"Thora," her mother told her in that familiar voice that meant she should stop that talk, right now, "please don't encourage Bror. You know what your dad says."

Her daughter sighed and pouted, looking down at the book.

"The one we MIGHT get for my birthday, IF I'm really, very good," Thora obediently said and then, quickly got back to the book with him, to save herself from her mother's wrath.

But Dru wasn't mad at Thora. She was frustrated and felt angry, but despite those feelings, she would never take them out on her children. She'd been feeling 'prickly' the last few days and it had all started with something small. Fili had neglected to bring her a slice of cake with her tea and she knew it was silly and childish, but for some reason, she held onto that selfishness.

As though he were summoned by her thoughts, Fili opened the door to their room and came happily marching in.

"Daddy!" The two children cried in unison and he fell to the floor with them, grabbing them in either arm and pulling them close.

"Hello, you little trolls!" He welcomed kisses, tickling his daughter and son back with his beard, "Have you been good today?"

"SO GOOD!" Thora squealed excitedly and began to rattle off just how good both had been. Fili listened and looked up to his wife, waiting for confirmation about their children's behavior, but she seemed lost in thought as she sat slowly rocking back and forth in her rocking chair.

"So, what did you do today with mummy?"

"We made dolls and then played and then we went to see Papa, but Mam got tired."

"Oh?" Fili looked up at his wife, concern coming over him, "Dru? Are you alright?"

Usually, when Dru was tired, it was because she was feeling run down. Having two children, being a Princess, and being married to him were always exhausting.

But instead of turning to him, reassuring him she was ok or saying how she felt, she continued to stare off into space.

"Fine," she said in terse tones and the alarm bells in his head started to ring.

'Uh oh.'

"…Alright…Thora, could you and Bror go play in your room for a bit?" He pecked them both quickly on their heads, standing up as they scurried out together.

"Come on, I'll show you the picture of the doggy I'll get!" Thora squealed excitedly as she left, followed by Bror, who, whilst still little, happily grabbed the door and slammed it loudly behind him.

Dru's little flinch at the noise didn't go unnoticed by Fili.

"Are you alright?" He asked her and she turned to look up at him, though there was no warmth in her eyes. She instead wore that look that warned him there was about to be a fight.

"Yes, I'm fine. I said."

She evidently had enough of rocking gently in her chair and stood up, purposefully stepping around him so as not to touch him.

That hurt him a little bit.

"Dru-" he reached out to touch her, but she saw him and flinched, pulling her hand away as she cast a glare at him, still walking away.

"I told you, I'm fine-fuck!" She stumbled back, tripping over a random toy that her children had left, but instead of falling over, she managed to right herself and quickly snatched it up off the ground, "I've told them NOT to leave their toys in the middle of the room! I could have twisted my ankle!"

Fili stepped closer again but kept his hands down by his side.

He knew she was angry at something but what?

"Alright, what have I done now?"

She looked at him, her eyes blazing with fury.

"Don't act as if you don't know! Why did you promise her that bloody dog?!"

"Dru, I didn't promise her, I said she could if she was good and- "

"THAT'S JUST AS GOOD AS PROMISING!" She yelled and then, remembering her kids were right next door, stepped closer and whispered in a hissed tone, "You do that all the time! And you said you would spend more time with Bror this week, but you've been out all the time!"

"Now that's not fair!" He felt his own ire rise, but justly so, "You know I can't control what happens in the Mountain- "

"No, but you can stop making promises if you know full well you can't keep them!"

Fili stepped closer so they were almost nose to nose and if this had been a situation five years ago, he would have kissed her and soothed her worries, but as it was, they were older and in the midst of a very real argument.

"I don't mean to break my promises to them, you know that," he tried to calm himself, but her temper always rubbed off on him, "Bror understands very well for his age that sometimes, things happen and Thora is learning responsibility, so if she wants a dog, I don't see the problem?! So, I can only assume that for some reason, YOU have a problem, so come on, what's wrong with the bloody dog?!"

"IT'S NOT ABOUT THE BLOODY DOG!" She cried out again and, in her fit, raised her hand out, ready to slap him around the face. But she stopped herself. He saw the moment she knew what she was doing, and the anger fled, to be replaced by sadness.

His anger cooled almost immediately and as she lowered her hand, he reached out again.

"Dru-"

"No," she stepped back, as though afraid of his touch, and shook her head, "just…I want to be left alone. Stay with the kids."

She turned from him and without another word or look, he watched her leave and close the door behind her.

In the silence of their rooms, all he could hear was his children playing loudly next door, luckily unable to hear their argument (or choosing to ignore it).

'She's getting better at controlling her anger.'

He went over to the rocking chair she had been in and immediately sat down, trying to gather his thoughts and think about what he could have possibly done. Or what someone else could have done? Either way, he knew if he didn't get it sorted, he was in for a long wait. And the idea of sleeping in his study didn't really appeal to him.

A few days later…

So far, Fili was having no luck. Anytime he tried to talk to Dru, she shook him off and gave him the cold shoulder. She seemed to be doing fine looking after the kids and with a few other people, but despite his prodding at them, they could not discern what was wrong with Dru either. He put on a brave face for Thora and Bror and took a day off to spend time with them, but even that didn't seem to placate Dru's mood.

Even at night, whilst he hadn't been 'banished' from their bed, she would not talk to him and he was beginning to think he'd missed her birthday or something terrible along those lines.

A lucky distraction came when the party that Thorin had planned went ahead as usual and the merriment seemed to rub off on Dru. She smiled happily for people and when they arrived as a family, his hand was resting on her back as though everything was normal.

But she was tense and even the 'small talk' he pulled her into with other people felt forced.

At some point in the evening, they'd separated and Thora and Bror broke off to terrorize their grandmother, Thorin, and Rana.

Fili wasn't really feeling the party, what with Dru's mood, even though it had been especially thrown to 'welcome back' Kili and Tauriel and the unexpected arrival that was their newborn son, Ceri.

He smiled at the memory of being called to the mountain entrance to welcome back the couple with all his family.

He and Dru were happy to see their brother again, but also sneakily eager to watch Dis unload her anger onto both for 'whipping off without a trace and getting married like a pair of younglings!'

Thorin and Rana were both standing side by side, no anger or negative emotions showing, but their best robes out for the arrival.

The kids had just been excited to see what Uncle Ki' and Auntie Tori' had bought them. They were only a little disappointed when Tauriel removed the large shoal from around her shoulder to reveal a tiny little baby.

Of course, any fight that Dis had in her left immediately at the sight of the small, pale but little creature that they produced, Tauriel unhooking the boy from her sling to pass him straight to his grandmother.

Ceri took after his mother in terms of looks, but he still had that thick tuft of black hair and when his eyes sleepily opened and smiled at everyone, there was a tell-tale sign of Kili's charm.

Fili smiled to himself when he remembered holding his nephew. Such an unusual being that could not have possibly existed and by some Dwarves in the Mountain 'should not' and he knew, he would fight anyone he had to, to make sure the little boy would be safe and brought up to be loved just as his own children were. But, despite the small mutterings he'd occasionally heard, the kingdom was in love with Ceri, and the little boy was showered with gifts, Dru being the one to give him the most and promising lots of sweet treats in the future.

'Dru.'

He looked around for sign of his wife and knew, he had to have this out now. Even if it meant losing his testicles as he slept.

He slipped through the crowd, finding Thorin with his children, though neither paid him notice when both Dis and Rana were introducing them to new, sweet treats.

"Uncle," he bowed his head and looked about, "have you seen Dru?"

"I saw her go off that way earlier," he gestured towards the exit and furrowed his brow at his nephew, "Is she alright? She looked as though something was troubling her."

"Not really, but I'm going to find out," he looked apologetically at Thorin and then his kids, "would you mind?"

"Anytime. If you need a night off, we'll take the kids to bed. Just," he placed a hand on Fili's shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze, "take your time. I'm sure it will work out."

"Thanks, Uncle."

Fili stepped away and quickly left the party and merry atmosphere behind. Wherever his wife was, he was going to find her and set things right.

Hopefully.

A short while later…

Fili had been walking around for an hour, searching quiet rooms and kitchens, up and downstairs. He eventually turned into one of the lower alcoves and was going to turn back but found her. Tucked behind one of the curtains and sitting down on a bench.

Crying her eyes out. Her hands were had bunched up most of the fabric in her skirt as she sobbed loudly, not noticing him at first.

"Dru?"

She jumped in surprise and seeing who it was, turned away and tried to hurriedly wipe her face.

"I'll-I'll be there in a bit. You-you go back."

"Piglet," Fili was having none of that nonsense and immediately came to sit down beside her, "piglet, what's wrong?"

"Nothing-nothing at all, I promise!" She blubbered and frantically battered his hands down as he tried to get her to look at him, "I'll explain in a bit, I-I just need a moment."

Fili waited until she managed to get her tears under control, though she didn't stop crying altogether. She slowly turned to him, taking deep breaths to control her sobs.

"Piglet, whatever I've done, I'm sorry," he started and looked down at her hand, placing his fingertips against her knuckles, "I know I said it before, but-"

"No, no," she made him look at her by grabbing his face and she saw her wide smile, "I'm happy, I am. I just had a sudden realisation that explained a lot of things. Oh, I'm so sorry."

Fili let her quickly kiss him, again and again, telling him how sorry she was between each peck. Once she seemed satisfied with her level of kissing and the amount of 'I'm sorry's', he gently took hold of her neck and stroked her jawline with his thumbs.

"I forgive you. I don't know what for, but I do. Know…can you tell me what's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing, that's just it!" She grabbed his hands and quickly pulled them down, placing them against her stomach, "Nothing's wrong at all!"

He was still confused by her behaviour but she splayed her hands over his and held them fast against her stomach.

"Don't you see? Mood swings!" She laughed joyously and finally, he caught on.

"Another?"

She nodded and he laughed with her.

"Oh, praise Mahal!" He drew his arms around her and held her close, "This is better than anything I could have thought of!"

"I knew something was up as soon as I left the party! I'd just wolfed down a jam tart and thought, 'oh, some fish paste would go nice with this' and headed to the kitchen and it bloody hit me," she cried and laughed against him, rocking back and forth, "mood swings, odd eating and feeling sick and bloated. I have had two and I did not bloody guess! Can you believe this?!"

"I can't," he pulled back to look at her face, properly soaking in her expression, "I can't believe it. Blessed three times! And you're glowing!"

She sniffed and shook her head.

"I sipped some ale before leaving, but I swear, no more for now," she bit her lip and pouted, "oh, I wanted to give you a present for your next birthday and well…will this do?"

"Of course," he leaned forward to kiss the tip of her nose, "given me this gift three times over. I'm a father to a wonderful daughter and son and now, we have another on the way."

Dru kissed his nose in return.

"Sorry for being a pain in the backside."

"Sorry for starting the argument."

She blinked at him a few times, obviously trying to think of the argument in the first place.

"What was it about, anyway?"

"Truthfully?" He smirked, "No idea."

They both laughed and since the air was cleared and they both felt like it, they returned to the party, arm in arm, laughing and smiling as they entered.

Thora ran up to them, the first to greet and acknowledge their presence.

"Mummy, daddy!" She grabbed both of her parents, her hands clinging to Fili's coat and Dru's skirts, "You've stopped fighting!"

"Oh, sweetheart," Dru nodded and bit her lip, "we're sorry about that, but it was because mummy was a silly goose."

"I thought Papa was a silly goose?"

"Well, mummy more so," she looked to Fili and nodded her head, "go on, you do it."

Fili bent low and quickly swooped his daughter up in his arms, settling her against his hip.

"Guess what? We have a surprise for you," he gestured for her to lean closer and when she did, he whispered the news in her ear.

Dru watched her eyes widen and pull back excitedly.

"HUH, I AM?!"

He nodded and gave her a swift kiss on the cheek.

"And I think YOU should tell everyone. Would you like that?"

"Yes!" She squealed excitedly and shimmied down, immediately running off to join the small gathering she had just left.

"Papa! Granny! Everyone, you'll never guess what!" Thora waved her arms about to make sure she had the family's full attention and Thorin wondered what game it was they were playing today.

"Let me think…you found the dog you want for your birthday?"

Thora shook her head and before anyone else could guess, she broke the news that no one was expecting.

"NO! Mummy and Daddy are going to give me and Bror another sister or brother!"

For a moment, everyone was silent. Their faces of amusement turned to startled shock and surprise and they all looked to Fili and Dru.

They knew what she said was true, even before Dru nodded her head because Fili's hand was resting protectively over her belly.

Evidently, the entire hall heard, because the cheer that suddenly sounded was deafening and Dru buried her head into Fili's neck as she squealed excitedly.

The party that night had been for a welcome home party for Kili and his wife and son. But they didn't mind sharing the night with Dru, Fili, and their children. After all, it just meant more ale.