Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings
Summary: See previous chapters.
The trials of pregnancy
3rd Person
Faramir, Prince of Ithilien and second son of the Steward of Gondor, ducked a flying vase as he exited the rooms that he shared with his wife, Eowyn, White Lady of Rohan and Princess of Ithilien.
Trying to think of what he had done to cause such a display from his wife, Faramir barely avoided running into the still-armored King Eomer of Rohan, his wife's brother. Just what he needed; another reminder that the Council of Rulers was being held at Ithilien this year.
On the bright side, this meant that Faramir's adopted baby sister, Queen Natasha of Rohan, would be here too, which in turn meant that he would have someone other than King Aragorn and his older brother (both of whom tended to be singularly unhelpful) to act as marriage councilor. Eowyn seemed to be having violent mood-swings lately, and Faramir was at a loss.
Said baby sister was now heading down the corridor toward them, carrying one of her two-year-old twin sons and holding the other by the hand. Faramir noticed that she seemed very pleased about something. Natasha took one look at her brother's face and immediately asked, "Alright, what happened?"
Faramir lifted a hand to run it through his hair, then remembered that he was wearing the circlet he reserved for formal occasions. He quickly lowered it again. "I have no idea. She has just been very moody of late. She said that it (whatever 'it' is) was my fault. Do you have any idea what she was talking about? Because I'm lost."
There was a speculative glint in Natasha's eyes. "Perhaps. Do you have any idea what you may have done?"
Faramir shook his head. "No, but when I said that Eowyn told me that I knew exactly what I had done."
The Queen of Rohan smiled. "I'll talk to her. Eomer, will you take care of the twins for a while? Theodred, please don't pull Mama's hair, it isn't very nice. Thank you."
She passed the younger twin to her husband, then detached Elfwine, the elder, from her skirt, and left to find her sister-in-law.
'Moody" was perhaps an understatement, Natasha decided as she entered the chambers that her brother shared with Eowyn. To hear Faramir talk and to judge by the pottery shards scattered on the floor, the room had borne witness to Eowyn's occasionally rash temper. Now, Eowyn sat on the bed, looking as though she had been crying.
Natasha smiled. Mood Swings, Ai! "Eowyn? What troubles you?"
Eowyn looked up. "Hello, Natasha. My mood seems to be as changeable as a spring breeze. My mood is swinging back and forth and sideways constantly and I keep getting sick in the mornings. Now I doubt Faramir will come near me for a while."
Her sister-in-law smirked wryly, "Enjoy it while it lasts. The instant he remembers the first time it happened, you won't be able to do a thing without him hovering over you."
Eowyn shared her amusement. "You too, I see. Does Eomer know?"
Natasha shook her head. "I want to see how long it takes for him to figure it out. Does Faramir know?"
Eowyn returned the gesture. "No. I wanted to be sure first."
They both started laughing just as Queen Arwen of Gondor entered the room. She narrowed her eyes. "All right; what's been going on? Failing that, what did whoever say?"
Natasha gave the half-elven-turned-mortal a welcoming smile. "Things spoken in a marriage bed are not to be repeated." She spoke in a lofty tone. "As to what has been going on; the same thing that you and King Aragorn have been doing." She gave Arwen's stomach a pointed look.
The Queen of Gondor began to smile. "All three of us at once, won't this be interesting." She tilted her head, "Stop listening at keyholes, you three."
The door opened, revealing a slightly sheepish-looking Faramir, Aragorn, Boromir and Eomer.
Aragorn broke the uncomfortable silence. "We overheard what you were saying just now. Do you suppose you could explain?"
Natasha rolled her eyes. "Eavesdropped, you mean. And shouldn't someone raised by elves be just a bit more observant? We were discussing the symptoms of Eowyn's condition."
Obviously anxious to make amends for the perceived slight to his wife, Faramir instantly started asking questions. Eowyn glared at her sister in law, who gave her an innocent look, then relented, turning to her brother. "There's nothing wrong with her, Faramir. Eowyn isn't sick or anything and neither are Arwen or I. That won't come for a few weeks yet."
This statement, unfortunately, only caused more worrying, this time joined by the equally clueless kings. Boromir realized what his sister was talking about, and grinned. "Congratulations, little sister. All three of you at once; won't this be interesting."
Natasha absently addressed her oldest brother, "I'm not little, Boromir, so don't call me that. And quite probably, yes."
This drew the attention of the other men. Again, Aragorn posed the question. "Boromir, what are you talking about."
Boromir obviously enjoyed knowing something that his king didn't. He adopted an airy tone. "Oh, nothing. I just thought you should prepare for another occupant in the royal nursery."
Silence fell with a whacking 'thud' as the news finally dawned on the three rulers and their wives looked on in amusement. It got up and was chased away by Natasha's shriek of laughter and surprise as Eomer lifted her into the air and whirled her around. Aragorn sat down in a daze. Faramir looked at his wife, "Why didn't you tell us."
Eowyn only smiled in satisfaction. Arwen was trying to shake her husband back into the world of the living, so Natasha replied. "Eomer, put me down, I'm getting dizzy!" she sat down and waved off hisinstantly protectiveattempts to fetch a multitude of cushions. "We wanted to be sure first, then we wanted to see if you could figure it out on your own."
Arwen had managed to regain her husband's attention and she and Eowyn were now fending off their overjoyed respective spouses.
The three women exchanged glances. The chance of doing anything without someone hovering over them went flying out the window.
Eomer walked into his study and sat on the couch. He was severely tempted to flop, but it would be seem as unbecoming.
His visiting brother-in-law looked at him, eyebrow raised. Eomer closed his eyes. "I'm going to go bankrupt. Why do pregnant women need all that chocolate? And the traders won't come for another month!"
Faramir was less than sympathetic. "Count yourself lucky. Eowyn wanted strawberries. In the middle of winter! I swear, body chemistry cannot be responsible for all this."
Eomer conceded that point. "At least Theodwyn isn't insatiably curious about what is going on and why her mother is suddenly gaining weight. Have you ever tried explaining that to a pair of curious two-year-olds? Natasha insisted that I do it, and she will explain such things if we ever have girls."
Faramir smirked, then returned to the original topic of conversation. "I think that the ladies view cravings as a form of entertainment. If a husband proves willing to disassemble the world to find strawberries out of season or foods found half the world away, it is a sign that he still loves her, despite her expanding waistline."
Eomer nodded. "Therefore, the more unattainable the desired food, the more they will insist that they will simply die if it is not provided in abundance. Now Natasha is worried that she is getting fat. I told her she looks as slim as the day we met, so at least she didn't give me a black eye this time."
Faramir nodded in return. "King Aragorn has started describing the Queen's temper as 'violent she-elf mood swings'. Very accurate term, as the castle staff are giving her a wide berth."
Eomer smiled slightly. "Natasha is the near the same. She keepsalternating between eerily calm and something like a raging volcano.Nothing big can seem to upset her now, not even when one of the servants spilled wine on her white dress. Then I say somethingperfectly innocent andshe blows up at me.Imrahil is visiting as well, and it seems to be driving Princess Lothiriel absolutely wild."
Again, Faramir could relate. "At least it takes you saying something. Arwen and Eowyn just switch moods at the drop of a pin."
Eowyn and Natasha had finally managed to get rid of their husbands long enough to have a little talk about how things were progressing. Eowyn was currently talking. "Arwen seems to be more affected by mood swings than both of us put together. Everyone is staying as far away from her as possible."
Natasha smiled. "No, just you. It's strange, but at one pointnothing seems to be able to upset me, then I get annoyed over the smallest things. But it annoys Lothiriel, so it isn't too bad."
Eowyn snickered. There was an unofficial war going on between the Princess of Dol Amroth and the Queen of Rohan, a war which all of Middle Earth that was not immediately involved followed eagerly. "Faramir is being completely impossible, though. He refuses to let me do anything by myself and if he isn't fussing over me he makes sure there is someone around to do everything for me!"
Natasha gave her irate sister-in-law an amused look. "Really, some males view pregnancy as a form of invalidism. All right, this far along it is hard to walk properly, and the backaches are hell, but still! Yalewen thinks it's amusing. What do the people of Ithilien think?"
Eowyn gave an inelegant snort. "Legolas thought it amusing, until Faramir threatened to shave his head next time he commented. Everyone else is keeping their own council on the matter."
She winced suddenly, then looked at her friend. "I'm sure that this one will be a boy. I think he kicked me in three places at once just now. Theodwyn was never this lively."
Natasha said nothing, then they both winced. Natasha closed her eyes. "Only a few more weeks, I can handle that much."
One month later…
"My Lord! My Lord Eomer! Come quickly! The queen is in labor!"
Eomer sprang to his feet, knocking over his chair as he almost ran around his desk to grab the messenger. "When? Where?"
The unfortunate messenger looked panicked. Why had he been volunteered to tell the King? "A few minutes ago. She's in your rooms. The midwife is with her and the Queen is yelling."
The messenger dodged as the King of Rohan ran toward that section of the golden hall, taking the steps four at a time, intent on reaching his wife.
Perhaps it would have been better if he had not, and had been forced to wait outside like last time, Eomer reflected later. Granted, the suspense when the twins were born had given him at least one gray hair, but at least his bones had remained intact. He was sure that Natasha had at least cracked one of the bones in his forearm.
On the bright side, he now had a lovely baby daughter with his eyes and facial features, albeit with a more feminine cast, and Natasha's hair and build. Natasha had insisted on naming her Saranna, a variant on the name of her own twin, Sarah.
He wondered how his fellow rulers were managing. Messages had arrived not long ago from Gondor and Ithilien, proclaiming that he now had a nephew, Isinil, and that Gondor now had a princess, named for Queen Arwen's mother, Celebrian.
Eomer had not said as such to his wife, but he decided that he would like to wait a while before having any more children. He loved his wife beyond measure, of course, but the nine months before hand were absolute hell on all those concerned.
A/N – So, how did I do? I apologize if the chapter is out of character for actual pregnancies, but please bear in mind that I am basing this of the accounts of Mothers whose children attend the center where I work and their children's descriptions of what is happening at home ever since they found out that they would be getting a new baby brother/sister.
Anyway, review and the next chapter will soon be posted. I am thinking of doing a few based on the courtship that we didn't get to see in 'Children and Fellowships'. What do people think?
Thanks, Nathalia.
