The sixth begetting had been a surprise for both of them.

Ever the idealist, Fëanàro had boasted many times in their youth about having ten children with Nerdanel, and with their shared fëa and desire to create, she had agreed to the challenge willingly.

Now they had five beautiful children—all of them sons—which was already more than any family in Aman ever had, and his wife (while still stronger and more fiery than most other elleth he has ever met) was no longer the young maiden who could match his flame, for she had divided and given most of her fëa to their sons, while his fëa only seemed to burn brighter as he matured.

So when Nerdanel had revealed her pregnancy, it had both delighted and terrified him.

Until recently, Fëanàro had placed most of his focus in teaching his youngest son—who was the most like him in almost every way, now barely having reached his majority now and was already close to getting married—working in the forge to bring alive his inspiration, and a distance like never before had (unknowingly) grown between him and his wife.

It had been too long to give it any more consideration, especially with how he guarded his gems so fiercely after presenting them to the public, and half of his mind kept wandering back to their light without meaning to.

Perhaps that was why he didn't sense the fëa that grew in his wife's belly from the start.


In this case, unplanned pregnancies are one of the very uncommon things among the Elves, next to twins, second marriages, deaths in Aman, etc. I don't know if it's canon, but given how few children an Elven couple ever has, compared to the race of Men, it makes sense. Finwë's House connected with Fëanor's have already been the first to accomplish a number of unusual things, besides Elwë who married a Maiar.