Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. Thank you for the wonderful reviews.
Aragorn hurried up the stairs to his apartment, only to run into those he was seeking.
"Looking for someone, nin hervin?" Arwen asked teasingly.
"No, I was just running for the joy of knocking someone over." He gibed back. The girls giggled and Aragorn pretended to have just noticed them. "Looks like somebody needs a good tickling," he said, swooping down on them. He didn't hold them up for too long, though, because everyone's stomach began to growl. Taking them by the hands instead, he led the way to the formal dining hall.
Someone had evidently been warned, because there were empty seats on either side of the rulers' chairs, and a bassinet placed behind them for Ceara, since Arwen had judged it would be too traumatic to separate the family at all yet. The younger children were astounded by all the food but for the most part did not yet comprehend that the King had given them permission to eat with him.
Aragorn and Arwen urged them forward with smiles of encouragement. Elessar seated Dan, Canden and Nath beside him, while Undómiel placed Hanny and the nine-year-old, Kylie, beside her. Ignoring the looks given them by their subjects, they helped serve their charges and made sure they did not have too much because that would upset their too small stomachs.
The children chattered among themselves as the King and Queen helped Dan and Hanny to cut up their meat. This meal did not seem as the one they had had the last time Strider had had after a city foray.
The children had been given the rooms closest to the monarchs', the ones intended for the royal children when they came. Each had a very large bed with plenty of pillows, because Aragorn realized it would be very traumatizing to separate them and because he secretly hoped they would discover the joy of pillow fights.
All the bedrooms in the royal suite were connected directly to each other by side doors, which Aragorn fully expected to be used, remembering his own childhood habit of creeping into his father's or brothers' bedroom after a nightmare. These youngsters had fully as many reasons for nightmares as he had ever had. He was just as glad that the bed he shared with Arwen was huge. They would need the space to fit in the terrified children.
After settling them in bed with new nightclothes, he went to his own room with a sigh. The healers had discovered nothing worse than small bruises, scratches, and internal parasites. Pulling off his clothes for the fourth time that day, he left them on the floor and fell backward onto the bed with an explosive exhalation.
Arwen frowned at him and tossed the clothes onto a chair. Normally she wouldn't have minded because she knew he would put them away in the morning, but the night guests would probably have tripped over them. She handed him a nightshirt, which he pulled on with a groan.
He rolled over onto his knees so he could give her a hug. "I don't deserve you, beloved." He murmured.
She snorted delicately. "Excuse me if I contradict you, but you are the hero of the day. Of course you deserve the lady." They kissed and then climbed under the covers. "I wonder how long it will be before the first one shows up."
They were sound asleep before the door creaked open. Fortunately, Arwen had closed her eyes to sleep, despite her continued ability to sleep in the elvish manner. The little girl tiptoed across the room in the moonlight and climbed up on the bed. This slight movement awakened Aragorn, who was on that side of the bed.
He saw tears glinting on her cheeks and heard the soft hitching of her breath so he whispered, "Come on in, pen tithen." He lifted her small form over him and lay her down in the middle of the bed. Arwen didn't wake fully but instinctively pulled the little girl close, where she fell back asleep.
Aragorn had fallen into a light doze by the time the door once more opened. This time it was young Elladan who climbed up. Again Aragorn picked up the frightened child and put him on his other side next to the little girl. He knew from experience that it was comforting to be protected on both sides, which was why he had most frequently sought his own brothers' bed. And they in turn had known from sleeping between their own parents.
The last visitor the night was Kylie, who had woken from a bad dream to an empty bed. She seemed hesitant at first, lingering in the dark doorway, but Aragorn called out softly, "Don't worry, sweetheart. Come join us." So she closed the door quietly and got on the bed, where the king sat up and hugged her. "See, you aren't the only one afraid. I was afraid to sleep alone for many years myself and spent more time in my brothers' room than in my own."
She relaxed at his words and lay down. He reminded her of her own father, dead these past few years. He had been a ranger of the south, but he fell fighting orcs a few years before the War began. In the increased furor of attacks, no one recalled his motherless child who up to that time had been cared for by an aunt. But the woman soon drove her niece out of the house because food was becoming scarce and she couldn't afford another mouth to feed. Kylie had spent almost four years on the street until this man, the King, she reminded herself, took her in and acted like a father to her and the others. With that comforting thought, she snuggled up to Aragorn and fell fast asleep.
Canden and Nath never stirred, having each other for comfort as brothers.
It was late the next morning before any of them woke. In fact, it might have been longer if Canden hadn't woken up to discover that Dan was gone. Having looked after the children so long, he was rather alarmed at first and then remembered the events of the previous day and the words of King Elessar, 'Don't be afraid to approach either of us, day or night.' Canden shook Nath awake.
"Wha…Where am I? Oh." He grinned at his older brother. "So it wasn't a dream."
Canden grinned back, "Come on." They went to the door connecting into the King's bedroom and opened it a crack. Two adults and three children lay in the bed. Dan had somehow squirmed in his sleep so his head was on top of Aragorn's chest. Kylie's head was on the man's left arm and Canden knew he would have pins and needles when he awoke.
He had an idea and pulled his brother back away from the open door. With the merest whisper of sound, he told his plan. The two of them grabbed several pillows off of their bed and crept back to the door, which they eased open slowly. Moving as quietly as they could, they went to either side of the bed. Nodding his head as a signal, the older boy hurled a pillow with alarming accuracy into the middle of the bed, hitting Aragorn in the face. "Hah!" He exclaimed, waking everyone up.
Aragorn's eyes popped open in alarm and then he laughed, tossing the pillow back right handed. Both children who had been using him as a pillow sat up in surprise, and he took the chance to grab his own pillow and hit his attacker. Soon all of them were laughing as the pillow fight raged on for almost ten minutes.
The guards stationed outside the door were at first alarmed by the yells inside, but their liege's laughter reassured them before they could move to break the door down since it was locked from inside. Soon they were trying to hold back their own laughter at the sounds coming from within. It would seem that the King and Queen were getting royally trounced.
It was the cry of the baby that brought things to a halt. She had slept peacefully through the night, having had a full stomach for the first time, but the noise and a dirty diaper combined to wake her up. He changed the diaper quickly, having learned from his time spent among the Rangers of the North, many of whom had families. Sending the children back to their rooms to get dressed, Aragorn put on a robe over his nightclothes and opened to door, holding Ceara. The younger guard blushed at the sight of his disheveled King, whose robe was not tied so his legs were bare from the lower thigh down.
Unembarrassed, Aragorn turned to the older guard, who was himself a father, "Would you be so kind as to take her down to the kitchen and get her fed?"
"Of course, your Majesty," he said, expertly taking the child. Bouncing her and humming, he walked away, leaving the other guard looking on in awe. Aragorn chuckled. He made sure all his guards got time off regularly to be with their families but he knew that the man he had given Ceara to was due for his next day of and missed his children.
He reentered the room and caught the formal clothes his wife threw at him. He changed quickly and brushed his long hair back neatly, tying it into a ponytail temporarily so he could wash his face with it out of the way. By the time his ministrations were complete, the children had all returned neatly clothed.
Looking them over, he realized that the first order of business after breakfast would be to have them fitted for shoes. They were all currently barefoot, which was not so punishing in these rooms but the autumn temperatures had a tendency to fluctuate, even this far south. The children's feet were all tough but they were definitely not hobbit feet and it was amazing they had survived as long as they had. He picked up Dan while Arwen took Hanny and they headed down for breakfast.
A/N Just to reemphasize, there is no slash implied at all. I have shared a bed with my sister before when necessary, and in the cases mentioned, it was just for comfort that they shared a bed. I didn't mean for any incest either if anybody thought that. I just said the twins shared a bed because it fit into a story, and twins have strong bonds so they wouldn't mind such closeness. Anyway, enough ranting. Please review. I'm not much good at individual responses but I do highly appreciate people's comments and advice.