1My sincerest apologies go out to PrincessofRain for my stupidity in not realizing that my giving Tari Cancer wouldn't affect my reviewers. I'm really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really REALLY sorry. And now my hand hurts...

Actually, I have two grandparents with Cancer. Both of them are just recovering. does happy dance

Oh well, I deserve it. If Tari does die, it won't be from the Cancer... slaps face I didn't say that! Ugh! Me and my mouth!

Chapter 3

A Concerned Husband

Legolas stared at her wide-eyed. "Truly!" he exclaimed, looking from his hand upon her stomach, to her eyes, then back again. "You are with child?"

Tari nodded, "Aye, I am... The healers say I am about a little more than a month along..."

Legolas covered her lips with his own, showering kisses upon her, and laughing joyously. "My beloved!" he gasped, "This is wonderful!"

Tari smiled, knowing that his joy would soon fade once he remembered why he still had tears in his eyes. "You will be a father." she said, "And with this gift that I give you, you must promise me something..." Tari said seriously.

Legolas held her close, whispering in her hair, "Mani, meleth nin?" (What, my love?)

"That no matter what happens to me, you will not fade. That you will not abandon our daughter or son just to be with me in Mandos." She said, her voice constricted with tears. Tari placed her fair hands on either side of his face, staring intently into his eyes. "Promise me, Legolas. Swear it."

Legolas stared back... Could he truly make that promise? He had experienced the utter grief before when he thought he had lost her... Would he survive it if he knew that she had died; and that she was never coming back? "Tari... I-"

"Promise me Legolas!" she cried out, clinging to him as her tears fell.

Legolas hesitated. "I-I promise, Tari. I do."

"Truly?" she asked sternly, "Swear it by the Valar, Legolas."

"I swear that I shall not fade if-if you d-die." he said, hardly able to form the last three words.

Tari buried her head against him, still clinging to the front of his tunic. "Thank you, Legolas... Thank you..."

Legolas scooped her up in his arms saying, "If thee is with child, then thee should know better than to stress thine self this much..." He laid her upon the bed, pulling a blanket over her.

"But-" she protested, "I feel fine, Legolas! You are being ridiculous!"

"Am not!" he retorted with a feigned pouty look. "I am doing exactly what a concerned husband and soon-to-be father should be doing."

Tari sighed dejectedly, and murmured, "At least I only have to deal with this for another eight months..."

Sorry that this is so short. I wanted to leave off here.