Author's Note: Hi everyone. Here's chapter eight: A Hearty Conversation.
I hope you enjoy.
Chapter Eight
A Hearty Conversation
When Bilbo walked into her kitchen, she wasn't overly surprised to see what her guests had gotten up to while she had been tucking her son back into bed. They were all helping themselves to whatever food she had left on the kitchen shelves or the table.
She also wasn't surprise to see them eating as if they had never seen food before. It had been a common sight whenever they had decent food in front of them. Well, besides the time in Rivendell but that was their loss.
"Would you like me to cook you up something?" She asked, shaking her head and trying not to laugh. She failed with the pitiful look they all gave her, so still chuckling she went to her well stocked pantry and pulled out all the ingredients she would need for a quick but hearty soup which she placed into a basket for her to carry everything with ease, along with throwing in a few bits and pieces that would tide the hungry dwarves over until the soup had finished cooking.
"You're lucky I wanted to make a soup tomorrow," she announced as she walked back into the kitchen with her basket full of food, "everything is already cut up and ready to go in."
She placed the basket onto the table and started unloading it, chucking various articles of food at the dwarves to eat while she cooked.
It made her happy, cooking for a group again. Even if this one was quite a bit smaller than the one she had once cooked for.
That is, of course, until Kili opened his mouth and started asking the awkward questions she had known were coming, but had hoped the lad would have the patience to wait til morning to ask them.
"Why didn't you come back after the battle?" was the first question he asked, which she supposed considering all the other questions he could have asked first, this was one of the least painful questions to ask. She finished filling up her soup pot with water to boil over the small fire before turning around to answer his question.
"Hit my head and fell into a ditch," She started simply, unconsciously lifting a hand to the nasty scar that cut across her brow. "And when I came to, the battle was over, and the side of the ditch I just so happened to crawl out of was the side facing Laketown. It wasn't on purpose that I didn't come back, my mind was simply too blurred to know where "back" actually was. It wasn't until I reached the edge of Mirkwood – and started to wondered how I was going to get through it again – I released how far I had come. I was thinking of coming back, but Gandalf and Beorn had caught up to me by this point and they were all for returning me home."
"And the baby?" Bilbo sighed heavily.
"I found out about the baby when we reached Beorn's home. I was terribly ill and," she started to blush now with embarrassment, "Beorn had to carry me the last few miles because I was too weak and ill to walk but couldn't bear to be on Gandalf's grand horse. It was Beorn who informed me of my condition." She hung her head in remembrance of that awkward and embarrassing conversation. Of course, it wasn't for Beorn. He just stated that she had a babe growing inside of her and needed to take better care of herself before walking off to patrol his lands, leaving her to splutter and gap after him while Gandalf muttered darkly about the integrity and stupidity of dwarves.
"So who else knows about the baby? Besides obviously, your family and friends…" Kili started only for Bilbo to interrupt him with a snort.
"And just about everyone else in the Shire! Word gets around here fairly fast, Kili." She sighed, "Especially about a child born out of wedlock without a father in sight."
She watched her old friends wince but she didn't give them time to say anything – what could they say? Really. Nothing, nothing at all. – before resuming answering Kili's question. "Besides from everyone in the Shire? Beorn and Gandalf, obviously, some goblins but I doubt they'll be telling anybody, not unless they've learnt to talk without bodies attached to their heads, ah," She felt her cheeks heat up again, this time from nervousness for the next person she was going to list was sure to annoy at least one member of the group present, "Lord Elrond. He checked on the baby's progress, making sure he was growing well and so on." She said quickly, not in the mood to defend her elven friend from prejudice dwarves. However she didn't get the protests or growls of anger she would have gotten if other members of the company were present and Bilbo felt a swell of relief and fondness for the dwarves who were sitting at her kitchen table.
"Anyone else?" Bofur asked gently.
Bilbo shook her head.
"Not that I know of. I mean, there were elves in Rivendell who saw me and would have guessed my condition but only Gandalf, Lord Elrond and Beorn know who the fa…" She trailed off softly, staring intently down at her hands as she started to add ingredients to her soup. How can it still hurt, even now?
"Why didn't you send word back to us? You must know with time, Thorin would..."
"Thorin would have what?" Bilbo snapped, rounding on poor Ori who shrank in his seat, "forgiven me? If it weren't for me, we'd all be long dead from starvation, locked inside that damn mountain, all because our leader was too stubborn or greedy or whatever it was that made him no longer able to see sense and pay compensation for the damages our, our actions caused! If he had just let me give Bard and the rest my share of the treasure, I never would have taken the damn stone as a peace offering to begin with. It was all his fault!" She knew she was being very childish, but she was so sick and tired of hearing how everything that had happened to her in recent years was entirely her fault, she felt justified to blame a great chunk of her current mess on the damn King under the Mountain!
The four dwarves looked at her, their expression varying from surprise, fear in Ori's case and Bofur, Bofur...
The dwarf was laughing, laughing!? His deep belly laugh with his eyes sparkling with mirth.
"What is so funny?" Bilbo demanded her cheek feeling hot for she truly hated being laughed at, especially when she was being laughed at over something she felt so strongly about.
"Oh lass," he chuckled, wiping his eyes with his hand, "Forgive me; I wasn't laughing at you, as much at the truth you speak."
"So," Bilbo started cautiously, "you agree with me then?"
"Always did," Bofur replied solemnly, his laughter now forgot, "just didn't get a chance to say as much."
"Yes, it did all happen rather quickly, didn't it?" Bilbo said cringing as she remembered her great moment of disgrace, her heart throbbing painfully.
"I wasn't – I'm not trying to keep him a secret to be deceitful or vindictive to – towards Thorin, I – I just wanted to come home. And I thought it would be best to allow him time to cool down. And now…" she looked around her cosy kitchen, "how am I supposed to tell him now that he has a son?" she looked back at the four dwarves.
"We could…" Ori started before Kili cut him off.
"No, we won't." the young dwarf prince said, shaking his head.
"You won't, what?" Bilbo asked confused. She had been certain Kili, out of all of them, would be the one wishing to tell his Uncle of his son the most, despite their obvious problems.
"Tell Thorin. He can come here and find out for himself." Kili said crossing his arms ignoring the horrified look Bilbo was giving him along with the annoyed looks from his fellow dwarves.
"He's coming here?!" Bilbo squeaked in horror.
"What? No, of course not." Kili replied quickly, "No, but if we told him, he would… actually, he'd probably send a scout to see if what we spoke was in fact, true, and then he would send an envoy, but himself? Hardly! Our esteemed king rarely ever leaves his mountain." Kili sneered.
Bilbo felt a little torn by this, relieved that the chances of Thorin coming to the Shire were close to nil, even if the four dwarves did tell him he had a son from her and fury that he wouldn't come for himself to see if he indeed had a son.
"You won't tell him?" Bilbo asked locking eyes with Kili while the other three hesitated. He met her gaze without hesitation or doubt.
"No, not a word." The dwarf prince replied, and Bilbo was torn between the desire to hug him and slap him for his lack of family loyalty. Honestly, when had this happened? The lad adored his uncle only a few years ago. What had caused this change?
She bit down on the inside of her mouth. Please don't let it be because of her. Please…
"Are you going to keep the little one a secret from Thorin forever?" Ori asked softly, "I know what Thorin did…" He trailed off at the looks the others in the room were shooting him, "I mean, not that Thorin doesn't deserve not knowing," the dwarf lad hurried on, "but it's not fair on the little one. All children should have the right to know who sired them, shouldn't they?"
Bilbo sighed, for of the scholar lad was right.
"I never planned on keeping Frodo's parentage a secret from him," she took a deep breath and steeled herself as she continued, "or Thorin. I just, I want to have him as my baby for as long as I possibly can before he inevitably gets ripped from me."
"Bilbo…" Bofur started to speak, but Bilbo held up her hand to silence him.
"My plan is to tell Frodo of his parentage on his thirty-third birthday – thirty-three that is when a hobbits comes of age – and I will give him a letter that if he wishes, he can take to the Lonely Mountain and to Thorin, explaining everything. Gandalf has agreed with this and has even offered to go with Frodo when the time comes." She swallowed nervous as she looked at the dwarves who were all sitting back and thinking deeply over what she had said.
"Does – does that sound reasonable?" she asked softly.
"Reasonable? More than Thorin deserves." Kili snorted, "But reasonable for the lad?" he sighed, "it's hard growing up without a father, or mother." He nodded at Bilbo. "So, I suppose it's a fair enough plan."
"Do you want to write up a contract, Ori?" Bilbo asked the young scribe, "and…"
"I don't think you need to do that, lass." Bofur's face was pained as he interrupted her, "we trust you."
"But it will keep her safe," Ori said, fumbling with his satchel, "if anyone else from Ered Luin or Erebor were to find out about the little one and discovered whose child he is, a contract stating her plans for him would save her from…"
"A great deal of unpleasantness from temperamental dwarves?" Bilbo asked dryly, and Ori nodded sheepishly as he pulled out a notebook, a quill and a small pot of ink.
"Who else would come this far into the Shire to find out about the little lad?" Kili asked, clearly thinking the whole idea was stupid.
"You did, Kili." Bofur pointed out before Bilbo could speak, "on the mere whim of another."
"And as I said before," Bilbo added, "word spreads fast around the Shire. If anyone, say Dwalin," she swallowed thickly as she thought of Thorin huge right hand dwarf, "were to ask the right questions to the right hobbits, he would quickly discover that I had come back from our quest, heavily pregnant, birthing a child out of wedlock. It wouldn't be too hard for him to connection the dots. He wouldn't stop to ask any questions of me, he would take Frodo, and this contract might be the only thing that saves me from losing my child forever."
"He wouldn't…" Ori started before sighing and shaking his head.
"That's what you've been living in fear of for all these years?" Bofur asked softly, "one of us or all of us finding out about the little one and coming and taking him from you?"
Bilbo didn't look up from her soup as she nodded her head slowly.
"We won't." Ori promises, his head bouncing up and down on his neck causing Bilbo to giggle softly.
"Thank you." She whispered weakly as she moved to grab down some bowls from the shelf so she could start serving the dwarves.
"Have you been given a hard time with, you know, your little one…"
"Being born out of wedlock?" Bilbo finished for the unusually sombre Bofur. "Ah, no more than usual I suppose. I have family members pressuring me to marry so the family can save face."
"Yes we heard," Bofur replied trying not to look too amused while Bilbo turned pink as she remembered what she had been snapping before she had opened her front door and saw it was them standing behind it and not her cousin-in-law.
"Oh, yes. Sorry about that. My cousin's wife came around this afternoon, badgering me to marry her son so they can finally get their slippery hands on my home, saying I've disgraced the family and that people are talking and all that nonsense. I'm quite fed up with the woman, but if I do give into my desire to sock her one in the eye, people really will talk." She sighed while the dwarves chuckled as they gratefully took the bowls of soup she offered them. Even though it hadn't stewed for very long at all, the soup still tasted to them like the near damn best thing any of them had eaten in all their lives.
"But I'm not going to. I didn't want to marry before I went on that damn, mad quest of ours – that was why I went on it to begin with, you know, so I would get out of getting married – and I have no desire to marry now that I'm back from it, especially not to Otho Sackville-Baggins of all people!"
She blushed at the amused looks she was receiving from her friends at her rant.
"Well, it's true." She muttered in embarrassment as she started to dish out her soup into bowls, "you know it is, I told you all as much during the quest."
"No one should be able to force you into marrying anyone you don't love, lass." Bofur patted her hand, though a part of him wondered if she would still have felt this way if a certain dwarf had asked her to marry him before everything went horribly wrong.
"Too right they can't!" Kili agreed, smacking his fist against the kitchen table, "show me who is trying to force you into marriage and I'll make 'em wish they had never learnt the word."
"Yeah!" Ori agreed as he smacked his own fist against the table as well; almost upsetting his bowl of soup.
Bilbo giggled at their enthusiasm.
"I'll definitely keep that in mind the next time Lobelia comes calling." She chuckled as she got some soup for herself, pulling a face at the lack of flavour in it for the lack of proper stewing time; though she still smiled as she watched the dwarves wolf it down with gusto.
Even though the dwarves still had more questions to ask of their hobbit, they instead informed her of what had been happening with them for the past couple of years, how the rebuild of Erebor, Dale and Laketown were fairing since the death of Smaug and the Battle of the Five Armies. They spoke fondly of their company, of the jobs and tasks they now do for Erebor and Thorin.
"Bifur and I have a workshop, making all the toys we have ever wished to make." Bofur informed her proudly, "And Bombur has been made head cook."
"Only problem is he eats all his cooking before it even leaves the kitchen, so we never get to taste it." Kili stage whispered to her causing her to laugh as Bofur lightly smacked the prince of his head.
"He doesn't eat all his cooking." Bofur chided the prince.
"Just most of it?" Bilbo chuckled as Bofur sighed in defeat while the others roared with laughter. They quickly checked themselves when Bilbo motion for them to keep it down, she did after all have a young child and old father trying to sleep and would be cranky in the morning if they didn't get a good night's rest.
Speaking of sleep, Bilbo pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle a yawn. She was quite tired after all the excitement this night had brought.
"Time for bed?" Bofur teased, and Bilbo stuck her tongue out at him tiredly. It had always been something of joke for the dwarves about how early Bilbo would take herself off to her bed roll. They seemingly forgot their own exhaustion from a day of hard riding or walking once they were sitting around a fire and had some food in their belly.
"Yes, yes it is, unless you four feel like chasing an excitable, adventurous, sticky-beak toddler all-around tomorrow by yourself while his mama sleeps."
Instead of looking horrified by the suggestion, the four dwarves grinned at her in delight, nodding their heads eagerly. Bilbo groaned.
"I'm going to regret opening my front door tonight, aren't I?" She sighed as the four dwarves grinned innocently back at her.
"Yes, I thought as much. Come on, I'll show you where you can sleep. Leave your bowls where they are, I'll wash them in the morning." She gestured for the four dwarves to follow her out of the kitchen and down the hall towards her multiple spare guest bedrooms near the back of her hobbit-hole.
"Sleep well." She said and after a moments more hesitation, she gave into the desire she had been fighting since the moment she saw the four of them standing on her door step. She hugged them, expressing without the need of words how much she had missed them all and how glad she was to have them here.
"Good night." The four dwarves beamed at her and returned the sentiment with a bow before she left them to retreat to her own bedroom.
She changed into her night clothes with fumbling movements and collapsed gratefully upon her bed, falling into a deep sleep in seconds.
Author's Note: Good news everyone 'pauses as Author realises she's been watching way too much Futurama and is now thinking of all Professor Farnsworth Good new everyone...quotes'
Anyway, No, I'm not about send this fic on a sucide mission, nope. Instead the good news, really is good news as this Fic has a Beta. BayWeather was kind enough to offer her services for this fic - of which I a very deeply grateful for. I'm dyslexic, so while I'm getting better at proof-reading my writing and seeing the mistakes I've made, I still need to do a bit more work so it's nice to have an extra pair of eyes to look over chapters for me. So thank you very much BayWeather.
So yeah, that's the good news.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter and you will hear from me soon.
Bye for now