Disclaimer: Of course I don't own them. If anyone wants to give them to me though, I wouldn't say no ^.~
AN: Here it is to all of you loyal people who still read this. I'm very sorry about the delay but as it's the end of the school year, the teachers have all decided to give out project after project and finals are next week. But here it is. Enjoy.
Legolas awoke when the sun's morning ray's shone in on his face. Lazily, he stretched his arm out only to find the place next to him cold and empty. Sitting up quickly, he glanced around the room. Everything was in its place for the most part. Aragorn's cloak lay crumpled in a heap on the floor in the middle of the room from the night before. Legolas shook his head at the disorganization of the young human. There was no other sign of Aragorn in the room however.
Folding back the covers, the elf slid gracefully out of bed. Knowingly, he headed for the small refreshing room off their large bedroom. He opened the door to find Aragorn seated upon the floor next to the stone bowl. His face was flushed and dark circles framed his closed eyes. His hair hung loosely around his face. Legolas knelt down behind the exhausted ranger, placing a hand gently on his back and gently rubbing in slow, soothing circles.
Aragorn slowly let out a slightly shaky breath, pressing against the elf's moving hand a little more. Legolas felt his body tense up a little as he leaned forward, closer to the bowl. He stopped rubbing his back to reach up and pull the human's hair out of his face just as Aragorn retched forward, emptying his stomach. When he had finished, he leaned back again. Legolas settled himself on the floor with his back against the tub, pulling Aragorn back with him, settling the human so that he was resting against his shoulder.
"How much longer do I have to go through this?"
Aragorn's tone bordered on whining as he rested against his lover. Legolas shifted to get more comfortable as he wrapped an arm around the ranger's back. He reached his other hand across and rested it lightly against Aragorn's stomach. There was only a slight difference in its appearance. To any who didn't know him, it would just seem normal but those who knew him better might just say that he put on a pound around the middle or stopped working out. Aragorn groaned slightly as his stomach muscles tightened a little.
"Your father said morning sickness tends to last up to the third month. Seeing as you've hit that marker, my love, it shouldn't be much longer 'till it goes away."
Aragorn groaned again, this time in slight frustration. Legolas smiled a little. The young ranger wasn't one to tell or complain about his ailments but it seemed that pregnancy had changed his mind about this. Snuggling back against the elf's shoulder, Aragorn closed his eyes in an effort to ignore the passing waves of nausea that still rolled through him occasionally. Legolas spoke to him quietly about insignificant things that really didn't matter but Aragorn was grateful for the constant one-sided conversation. It allowed him to focus just on his lover's smooth, almost musical voice instead of his discomfort.
Legolas paused to catch his breath for a moment a while later. Looking down he noticed that he had managed to lull the exhausted human into a light sleep. He sighed contentedly to himself, careful not to move and awaken the dozing ranger. Resting his head back against the tub, he allowed himself to fall into a light sleep also.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Later that morning, after their naps, they went down to the dining hall to meet with Elrond for breakfast. The couple was surprised to a set of twin elves seated at the table with the Lord of Imladris.
"Elladan! Elrohir!" Elrond's twin sons stood and greeted their younger brother with a big hug when he threw himself at them.
"It's good to see you too, Estel." Elrohir laughed, releasing himself from his little brother's grip.
"When did you get back?" Aragorn asked Elladan excitedly while Elrohir moved on to greet his wood-elf friend.
"Just last night. We're going to stick around for awhile."
"Yeah, it's nice to be back home," Elrohir added as he and Legolas joined them. Elrond watched them talk amongst themselves, content to have all four of them together under the same roof and healthy. But, happy as he was, he was getting a tad impatient waiting for them to join him for breakfast. He cleared his throat loudly. The four of them glanced over at him and saw his pointed look at the four empty chairs near him. Sheepishly, they sat down at the table, Legolas and Aragorn on one side, the twins on the other. Elrond shot a sympathetic look in his foster son's direction at the wary and slightly sickened look the human gave the offending food.
Aragorn sat, talking animatedly to his brothers, asking them all about their long trip. It wasn't until halfway through the meal that Elladan realized that his adopted brother still had an empty plate and didn't appear to be loading it anytime soon. This was quite unusual for the young human who always had a good appetite, unless he was sick or injured. However, his outward appearance gave no sign of either illness or injury. In fact, he seemed to be quite the opposite, healthy and energetic. Confused, he interrupted the young ranger's nonstop chatter.
"Estel, aren't you going to eat something?"
Elrohir looked up at his younger brother in time to catch the slightly greenish, grim look that passed over the human's face as he glanced at the food on the table. This reaction caused both twins to forget their food in an instant and start hounding him with questions of their own.
"What's wrong?" "Are you sick?" "Have you been injured again?" "Does Ada know?"
The twins fired the questions in rapid succession, not allowing time for Aragorn to answer any of them. Elrond quickly silenced them.
"Calm down. He has not been injured nor is he sick, technically speaking. And yes, I know. He is all right, 'tis nothing life threatening."
Even more puzzled, the twins focused their gazes on the fidgeting human, apprehension plastered all over his face. He wrung his hands nervously under the table, flicking a glance at his lover. Legolas reached a hand over and placed it on top of Aragorn's, stilling their movements. Aragorn took a deep breath before facing his older brothers again.
"I'm pregnant" he stated simply.
Elrohir burst out laughing. Legolas looked at Aragorn who didn't seem to be fazed by the younger twin's outburst.
"Good one Estel. I can't believe you managed to keep a straight face while saying that!" Elrohir continued laughing. Aragorn looked over at his foster-father for some help.
"He is not joking" Elrond scolded sternly in a no-nonsense voice. This shut Elrohir up quickly. He stared at the human in astonishment. Elladan snapped out of his shock at the sound of his father's stern voice. He immediately turned on Aragorn.
"I can't believe you let this happen."
"What?!" Aragorn stared at the older twin in disbelief, not quite believing his own ears.
"You two acted irresponsibly and have now put Estel in danger." Elladan stood, fear driving his anger which he directed towards the couple.
"You decided to 'get it on' and now the price you'll pay is Estel's life." Elladan glared deeply at Legolas. Elrohir stared at his twin, shocked by his blunt words.
"How dare you sit here and not only yell at my lover but act like our child is some…some mistake!"
Before Aragorn could say anything more, Lord Elrond slammed his hands down on the table, rattling the dishes, and rose to his feet.
"That is ENOUGH! I will not have fighting at my table." Anger radiated off the elder elf's aura. He turned his attention to his oldest son. "Estel's risk is just about the same as the one every other female, elf or not, takes when they become pregnant. I will not have you attacking him or Legolas on something neither can control. I am extremely disappointed in you Elladan."
Before Elladan had a chance to add anything else or redeem himself, Aragorn turned and stormed out of the dining hall. Legolas rose from the table and followed the angry human, pointedly not looking at the twins. Elrond sighed and sat back down, one hand rubbing his temples. Without looking at the twins, he scolded them lightly.
"I know this is a shock but yelling at him and blaming Legolas is only going to make Estel hate you for it. We all know he loves Legolas more than anything on Middle-Earth, he has proven it. He has his own family now when they hadn't really thought it able to happen. It was as much of a surprise for them as it is for you."
Elrohir shook his head, understanding. Guilt and regret etched themselves across his silent twin's face. Elrond continued, knowing full well how bad his oldest felt for his uncalled-for behavior.
"I might suggest speaking with Estel once he has calmed down."
This time both nodded in agreement, rising from the breakfast table.
"And no more fighting" Elrond called out to their backs as they left the room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Legolas searched their bedroom and a multitude of other places Aragorn favored, until he remembered one of the human's favorite places to sit and think at. Quickly scaling the building the prince found his human right where he knew he'd be.
"How is it that you cannot climb trees very well and yet you manage to get up here on the roof so easily?"
Aragorn scowled at him briefly before returning his gaze to the large landscape spread out in front of him. The roof provided him a view of most of Rivendell and of the woods and mountains far beyond. It was a beautiful place to sit at sunset, however not so great under the hot midday sun. Legolas seated himself down next to the sulking human, pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. He waited and let Aragorn's anger simmer down a little more before speaking.
"I'm sure Elladan didn't mean what he said."
"How can you defend him?" Aragorn demanded.
"How can you forgive him when he has blamed you and insulted our child?"
Legolas cupped the side of Aragorn's face with a hand. "We both know Elladan and that he doesn't mean it in his heart. You're above this anger. Give him some time to get used to it love." Legolas rested his forehead against Aragorn's. Aragorn closed his eyes and relaxed against the comforting touch.
"And I won't forgive him until you do" Legolas whispered to him. "But give him a chance to redeem himself."
Aragorn nodded before grabbing Legolas's upper arm gently and tugging until the elf placed himself in front of the human. Wrapping his arms around the elf's thin waist, Aragorn pulled him into his lap, content to just hold him there. Legolas settled himself back against the man's strong chest and enjoyed the feeling of being held. A thought occurred to him as he cuddled in further and he chuckled lightly.
"Sitting in this position won't be nearly as comfortable in a few months" he said teasingly.
"Quiet, you." A grin spread across the ranger's face erasing the creases formed from thoughts of the earlier events. "That just means that we'll have to sit here longer to make up for it."
"I have no objections to that."
The rest of the morning and midday drifted by slowly as they enjoyed their time together and the grand view of Imladris in all her beauty.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Late afternoon rolled around and it was decided that they should wash up for the small dinner banquet celebrating the twins' return. Elrond's twin sons had been gone more than half a year and Aragorn know his father would not be terribly pleased if he skipped it, so against his better judgment, he agreed to go.
Upon opening their bedroom door, Aragorn found his oldest brother pacing the floor inside. Elladan looked up as soon as he heard the door swing open. Legolas glanced between the two trying to decipher whether or not there'd be another shouting match. Satisfied that Elladan appeared regretful and that Aragorn seemed to be willing to hold up his promise to Legolas, the wood-elf slipped back out, leaving them to settle things alone.
Elladan stopped his pacing and began nervously leaning from one foot to the other. His younger brother closed the door and gestured to one of the two armchairs near the unlit fireplace. Not waiting to see if the older twin would follow, Aragorn flopped down into the plush chair. Elladan followed suit, seating himself more gracefully than the slightly clumsy human. Silence encompassed the room as Elladan tried to find the right words to explain himself without further angering the ranger. The sounds of birds twittering in the far off distance filtered through the open windows as they flew around in the sunset one last time before settling for the night. A random cricket chirp could be heard every so often as they slowly awoke and began tuning themselves for their evening concert.
His brow furrowed a little as the elf took notice of how patient the young human was being. 'We must have been gone longer than I thought' Elladan contemplated to himself. He wondered how much of this new development could be attributed to getting older or if it all had something to do with his relationship with a certain blonde elf.
Aragorn cleared his throat, drawing the elf out of his ponderings. 'Well, not that patient' Elladan thought, momentarily amused. Elladan met Aragorn's eyes cautiously, finding them unreadable. He was surprised to see such a closed and guarded look directed at him and hesitated before letting everything spill out in a rush.
"Oh Estel, I'm so sorry for the way I acted earlier. I shouldn't have yelled at you and Legolas like that. I was just so shocked that I started yelling instead of speaking to rationally."
Aragorn waited for Elladan to continue but after an awkward silence it became clear that he wasn't going to.
"But you're not sorry for what you said?"
Elladan held the fiery glare Aragorn was giving him. He stood firm with what he had yelled at the couple earlier.
"No I'm not because it's still true."
Aragorn took a deep breath and counted to ten three times, trying not to begin another shouting match, if only for the sake of his promise to Legolas. It pained him greatly to think that the elder brother he had always looked up to and admired was still angry at such a wonderful thing.
"You don't seem to understand. This is a living being that we're talking about. My baby, your niece or nephew! You act as if its some disease or…or…plague that's taken over me to cause me harm. The only thing this baby's done is cause me joy."
Aragorn desperately tried to make the stubborn elf understand. Unfortunately, he wasn't listening to any argument. He just shook his head, only thinking about the bad things that could happen, ignoring all that Aragorn said.
"You're risking yourself, your life, for something you don't even know yet. Please, don't chance what time you have. Go to Ada. He must have something that could just end.."
Elladan was abruptly interrupted by Aragorn's fist connecting soundly with the side of his face. The force of the blow caught the stunned elf off-guard and he fell right off the edge of the chair he had been sitting on. A loud thump sounded as he hit the floor.
The doors burst open as Legolas and Elrohir rushed in, apparently having been waiting outside the room. Aragorn towered over Elladan who remained on the floor, one hand rubbing his quickly bruising jaw. Legolas lay a firm hand on Aragorn's shoulder in case he went for the older twin again. Elrohir gripped his foolish twin's upper arm and yanked him up on his feet. Elladan glared daggers at his foster-brother. Aragorn met his glare with one even orcs would run from.
"Get. Out." Aragorn's voice remained dangerously calm. Stiffly, Elladan stalked out of the room without a backward glance. With an apologetic look to the couple, Elrohir quickly chased after his fuming twin. Legolas turned his attention to the furious human. He reminded the elf of a hissing cat. If he had hackles, they would have been up.
"I want to get out of here" Aragorn stated tersely.
"All right, let's take a walk then."
"No. I mean out of Imladris."
Legolas frowned. Trying not to upset him more, he cautiously asked, "Where? Where would you like to go?" In truth, Legolas had been yearning to get back out in the wild. He knew Aragorn had been too. Neither had taken a trip in a few months, not since before they found out Aragorn was pregnant.
"I don't know." Aragorn sat back down on the edge of his chair, leaning his elbows on his knees, and rubbed his face in his hands. "Somewhere. I need to be out in the woods again and I can't stand to stay here around Elladan right now. I'm afraid of what I might do or say."
"All right. Let's go talk to Lord Elrond." Legolas grasped the ranger's wrist and yanked him up. He pulled him into quick, reassuring embrace before releasing him and heading out to find the elf-lord.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Elrond frowned and sighed inwardly. He knew they were past the age where he could really forbid them but he still didn't feel right about letting them go out. However, they weren't the type to heed his warnings. The least he could do was make sure they brought the proper supplies with them.
"I will pack your medical kit for you" he stated, resigned. A grin broke out across Aragorn's face as he got excited.
"Thanks Ada! We've been dying to go out for awhile. I promise we won't get in any trouble." Legolas shook his head.
"That's what you said last time and we had to drag you back with a dislocated shoulder, concussion, and head wound."
"That was once!"
"Well what about the time before that where your brothers played a joke on you and scared your horse off. You had to walk home in the rain and ended up in bed for a week with a bad cold."
Before Aragorn could protest, Legolas continued.
"And how about the time before that when you dropped that flaming stick on your pants and you were hopping around and you bumped into Elrohir who was about to cut that rope for Elladan but managed to end up cutting three inches of hair off the left side of his head. And three months before that…"
Aragorn clamped a hand over the chattering wood-elf's mouth.
"That's enough out of you." Pushing away the human's hand, Legolas flashed him a mischievous grin.
"We just can't take you anywhere."
Elrond rubbed his temples, feeling the beginnings of a headache.
"Please, please try to be careful and stay far away from danger. You're not thinking just for yourself now Estel."
Aragorn's playful _expression was wiped right off his face.
"You're right." Hesitation became clear upon his face. Suddenly the thought of leaving the safe haven of his home didn't seem so appealing. Having seen the apprehension on his lover's face, Legolas immediately spoke up.
"We do not have to go. Staying here is a perfectly good option." Aragorn thought this over seriously before making a decision.
"No, I want to go. It'll most likely be the last time we get to before the baby comes. We can just make sure we remain fairly close by and we'll be extra careful about avoiding any places that could present danger of any kind."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning Legolas and Aragorn saddled up their horses with enough supplies to last them a month. Aragorn's chestnut horse stomped a front hoof impatiently, excited to be going out again. The pure white stallion alongside her waited more quietly. Their personalities seemed to reflect those of their human and elf companions.
Ready to leave, Aragorn turned and quickly hugged his father around the neck. He stepped away and Elrond favored him with a loving smile. Aragorn walked over and checked his saddle before mounting. In the meantime, Legolas had walked over to the elder elf's side. Dipping his head slightly, Elrond spoke quietly to the wood-elf's ear, knowing that only Legolas's ears would pick up his low words easily.
"I know you'll take care of him. However, with him being pregnant, I want you to keep an even closer eye on him eye on him. If anything seems out of place or unusual, bring him back here immediately."
Legolas nodded in agreement before walking over to join Aragorn.
"And Legolas," he paused and turned his head back to meet the elf-lord's eyes. "Use any means necessary."
Elrond watched as Legolas vaulted onto the back of his horse. They waved before nudging their impatient companions forward in a light trot. His eyes followed them as far as the twisting path would allow, a sense of foreboding creeping up on him. He pushed it down, attributing it to his normal fatherly fears for his young mortal son.
"Be safe nin ion."
Thank you soooo much for being patient with me while waiting for this chapter and extra thanks to all who reviewed. Any reviews for this chapter are greatly appreciated as always.