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Ok, I just HAD to share! I was asked this from a guest reviewer: "What is hard to understand is how you are able to update so frequently with spectacularly good, dare I say, fabulous chapters. And long chapters. Seriously, are you in locked in a room somewhere, just typing away? You're not in jail or something are you?" I admit that I burst out laughing at reading that part!

No, I am not incarcerated. I have a home, a husband and a job that all require my time and attention too. However, I have learned long ago that when I write a story, I need to finish it all first - or at least MOST of it - before I begin to post. That saves me from losing interest and abandoning it, prevents me from getting into a pickle when I want to go back and change things, and allows me to post at a speed that makes me happy. I began writing this tale back in November of 2015.

I am currently working on chapter 28 and nearing the end of this story. Leaving me with 15 chapters stockpiled. So posting 5 a week is not a hardship. And while I do love all your suggestions and guesses on what will happen...I must apologize that I am unable to incorporate many of them in, due to the fact that most of the story is already written...in stone. ha ha.

But keep them coming, I have been able to put in a few of them and I just love hearing your ideas!

Thanks for each and every treasured review!

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Chapter 13

~X~

Sier had only made it halfway to the bedroom door when it opened and out came an excited little dwarfling. Rushing towards her, he launched himself into her awaiting arms, his hair still mussed with sleep, but his eyes were wide and bright.

"Is it true?" he asked, placing his chubby little palms on either side of her face. "Are we really in Erebor where my adad lives?"

"Yes, it is true," Sier smiled. From where they stood, Flinn's back was towards Fili and Dis, leaving the lad unaware of their presence. And while she knew that the teary eyed dwarrowdam was anxious to be introduced to her grandson, Sier couldn't help but take a moment to tidy him up. Setting him down she tugged at his sleepshirt, doing her best to lay it straight before she set to work on his hair. "For goodness sake, just look at this mess," she laughed, working her fingers through his golden strands. "One would think you were raised by goblins."

"Oh, Ama," Flinn huffed, giving an exasperated sigh as he did his best to brush her fussy hands away from his head. "No one cares what my hair looks like."

"That is not true," came Fili's voice from behind, causing the little dwarrow to spin around with a look of pure joy on his face. The prince had risen from his seat and made his way over, just in time to be slammed into as Flinn wrapped his little arms around his father's legs. Reaching down and scooping him up, both sets of Durin blue eyes met. "From now on, it is my duty to see that your hair is well taken care of, and very soon we will be having your naming ceremony, where you will receive your first braids and beads."

"Really?" Flinn asked, excitement reflecting in his face. "I can have braids just like you?" At this he reached out both hands to lightly tug at the twin plaits at his father's temples, fingering the intricate clasps at the ends. "Like these?"

"Yes, but not just those, you will one day earn your warrior's braid and several others as well…when you get older," Fili said, using his free hand to pull a few of his others forward as an example.

"When do I get these?" Flinn asked, wiggling his own upper lip as he reached up to play with the ones that hung on either side of Fili's mustache.

"Not for a while yet, I would imagine" his father laughed. "You still have some growing to do before you will have enough to braid there," he told him, tapping at his son's upper lip. Then, as if he suddenly remembered his mother was impatiently waiting to be introduced, Fili turned around so that Flinn could easily see her. "Flinn, I have someone very special for you to meet. This is my amad, which would make her your Ugmil'amad. Would you like to say hello?"

Dis, who had been practically twitching with anticipation did her best to smile, though in truth she was close to bursting into tears. Just the sight of her firstborn holding his own child was almost too much for her. Her hands were shaking as she held them out, eager to touch the little dwarfling she already loved dearly.

"Hello, Flinn," she said, her voice catching slightly.

Flinn looked at the dwarrowdam for a few seconds and then over at his mother in a questioning manner. Yet when he received her nod of approval, it appeared that all his concerns faded. Wiggling to be let down, Fili placed him on his feet as the little dwarrow walked over to her.

"You look a lot like the king," Flinn announced, causing her to chuckle.

"I suppose I do," she nodded, her desperate fingers at last making contact with his cheek and hair as she stroked it lightly. "Thorin is my brother after all, so I would suspect we do share some similarities. Just like you and your adad look so much alike."

This announcement caused Flinn to beam with pride, craning his head to look up at his father, who was also wearing a proud smile.

"I'm going to grow up to be just like him!" he added with a toothy grin. "My ama says so."

"Well, she must be very smart indeed," Dis agreed, giving Sier a wink. "I really hope we can become good friends, Flinn. It has been a very long time since I have held a dwarfling in my arms…would you mind if I gave you a little hug?"

"I'm no baby any more…I'm very big now!" he announced, crossing his arms and sticking his lip out in a slight pout.

"Flinn…remember your manners," Sier warned, not wanting him to make a bad first impression with Fili's mother. Yet Dis just smiled and held up her hand, as if telling Sier it was perfectly all right.

"Yes, of course you are," Dis nodded, doing her best to hide her smile at Flinn's offended expression. "How foolish of me not to notice. And if it is all right with you, I think Ugmil'amad sounds far too formal…how about you call me N'anad instead? I think I would like that much better."

"All right…N'anad," he smiled, holding up his arms as he willingly offered her the hug she had requested.

In no time at all, the little dwarrow was not only engulfed in Dis' arms, but resting on her lap as well, the two laughing and talking, mostly over stories about Fili when he was a dwarfling - something that Flinn was only too happy to hear about.

"You have made my mother happier than I have seen her in a very long time," Fili whispered to Sier as the two stood back and just watched the tender scene. "She has endured many losses over the past century; a husband, a brother, her parents, her grandfather, and then lived in fear of losing Thorin, Kili and myself on our quest to reclaim Erebor. I think having Flinn in her life will be just the thing to help her heal."

"I am glad," Sier smiled, touched at how concerned Fili was being over his mother, a dam who appeared hard as nails to her. "Flinn does have a way of bringing out the sunshine whenever he is around."

"I am sure he gets that from you," Fili insisted, flashing her a winning smile.

Thankfully, there was another knock at the door, saving Sier from having to respond to his startling remark, as Fili went to see who it was. It turned out to be the breakfast he had ordered and soon all four of them were seated around the table, eating and talking, just like a real family.

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They had just finished up when Thorin and Kili arrived, showing no signs of being surprised to find Fili and Dis already there.

"I knew you would not tarry once you heard the news, but even I did not expect you this soon, Sister," Thorin chuckled.

"If you had thought to send word ahead, I might not have been in Esgaroth at all," she replied, giving him a cold stare, obviously upset by his failure to alert them of their coming.

"We're just glad you are back, Amad," Kili spoke up, doing his best to sidetrack the conversation. Thorin and Dis' sibling arguments were well known in the mountain, and right now the youngest prince figured they did not have time for such things.

Apparently, both the king and his sister saw the wisdom of Kili's intervention, and silently agreed to let things lie. So, after kissing her younger son hello, and giving her brother a warm hug of forgiveness, they all sat down around the fireplace once more. Yet even Sier could tell that a measure of tension had settled over the room, leaving her feeling a bit unnerved. When Kili suddenly offered to take Flinn on a little tour of some of the royal chambers, including the ones that he and Fili currently shared, she immediately recognized this as a ploy to get the youngster out of the way so the adults could talk.

"Can I? Pleeeeeease, Ama?" Flinn begged, quite eager to go exploring.

"Well, first you will need to get dressed," she insisted, taking him by the hand as she led the bouncing lad towards the bedroom, informing Kili it would only take a few minutes.

Once she closed the door behind them, Fili was instantly on alert, looking over at Thorin in a questioning manner.

"Why the need to get Flinn out of the room…what is it you wish to discuss?" he asked, having read the situation the same as Sier.

"Isn't it obvious?" Thorin asked, taking on a kingly stance. "We cannot keep the child hidden for long, and only a great fool would not immediately identify him as your offspring. And while the company can be trusted to keep your secret, I doubt the same can be said for the rest of Erebor. Thus we need to formulate a plan and come up with some way of explaining this whole situation which will not end up in the scandal we originally hoped to avoid."

"Your uncle is right," Dis nodded, having obviously been far too excited over the prospect of meeting her grandson to even think about the consequences of him being in Erebor. "There has to be a way to fix this where no one is looked down upon. I believe that Sier has already endured enough, and it would kill me to hear anyone speak out against that darling child."

"You need not worry about their reputation or mine," Fili announced, standing up and looking at them all with confidence. "Sier and I spoke last night and we both agreed that she will remain in Erebor."

"Well, that is a relief," Dis nodded. "Yet how will you be explaining the fact that her son is obviously yours as well?"

"Easy. I have asked Sier to become my wife," Fili informed them, quite matter of factly.

"You what?" Dis gasped. "Fili…what are you thinking? I…I don't know what to say."

"You do not have to say anything, Amad," he said, crossing his arms in a defensive gesture. "It is my decision and I alone will shoulder the consequences."

"But if you marry Sier…what will you do if you find your one?" Dis continued, not willing to be silent. "You can't condemn yourself, or Sier, to a loveless marriage."

"I have known all my life that, as a member of the royal house of Durin, I might be called upon to make certain concessions," Fili replied resolutely. "It is my duty to marry and produce an heir in order to carry on the family line, and with Sier as my wife…I will have accomplished both. She has already told me that she never plans to marry another, that she has devoted her life to caring for Flinn. And if she is willing to make such a sacrifice, then who am I to do any less? Besides, I owe it to Sier to see that she is taken care of. If it had not been for me and my big mouth, we would not be discussing this at all."

"And there would be no Flinn either," Kili quickly pointed out, bringing the conversation to a screeching halt. "You can't go on blaming yourself forever Fili, not when none of this was your doing…but especially when you gained such a wonderful and unexpected gift in the process."

"Kili is right," Dis nodded. "We can never look back on what happened as something to regret, not if it has given us Flinn. And while I know you want to do the right thing, to see that Sier and your son are taken care of…must you do so at the expense of your own happiness? Throwing away any chance you may ever have to find your true love? And while I hardly know Sier, I am shocked that she would agree to such a thing as well."

"She hasn't," Fili replied almost dejectedly. "I did my best to convince her last night…but she refused to give me an answer. She said she needed to think about it."

"Well, apparently Sier is demonstrating more common sense than you appear to be!" Dis stated, feeling slightly vindicated.

"My mind is made up, Amad," Fili said in a firm voice. "I will not see my son mocked, scorned or displaced from his inheritance because of what that horrible Bina did five years ago. If I do not marry Sier, and claim Flinn as my legitimate child, that vile hag will have won – and I will not stand for that! I have told Sier that we will wed in secret, and then announce to the kingdom that due to threats against me five years ago, she had been sent away after our marriage for her protection. No one will question that Flinn is my heir, and we will go on as if everything had been planned from the beginning."

"And you think she will agree to this?" Kili asked, looking somewhat hopeful.

"I have given her every reason to do so…but I would never force her to comply," Fili admitted. "She has already had so much responsibility thrust upon her without her consent, I just wish to make things easier for her. To somehow try and repay her for the sacrifices she has made…and for allowing me to become a true father to Flinn."

"But, Fili, you know so little about her," Dis continued. "And I am not saying that she is not a fine dwarrowdam, her care and love for Flinn speaks volumes for her character, but you can't marry someone you have just met. Search your heart…do you not have misgivings?"

"I thought I would…truly I did," Fili admitted. "And yet, after the words were spoken, I felt a wave of peace wash over me…not fear. And last night, for the first time in so long, my dreams were not plagued with guilt. Instead, I dreamed of Sier…at our wedding. And it felt…perfect."

"You…you dreamed of marrying Sier?" Dis gasped, covering her mouth with her hand as her face visibly paled.

"Yes, and even if she is not my one…even if we never become more than just friends, I know in my heart that this is the right thing to do and nothing you can say will cause me to feel differently," Fili told her firmly. "I will make her see the wisdom in this, and we will do it for Flinn…for my son!" The golden prince stood there, realizing that he had at last silenced all objections from his mother…and yet, through it all, Thorin had not said a word. "You have been unusually quiet, Uncle. Has my decision displeased you?" Fili truly hoped not, for he had made up his mind and nothing, not even the command of his king, would sway him in this.

"I have remained silent because, after all I have heard, there is nothing left for me to say," the king under the mountain replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Do you mean that you agree with me?" Fili asked, somewhat flabbergasted at the idea.

"It would appear that you have given this a great deal of thought, planned things out, and come up with a viable solution to a situation that has perplexed me all the way back from Himros," Thorin admitted, a small smile of pride creeping across his lips. "A king is required to put the needs of his subjects before his own, to offer himself on their behalf. A parent should do no less for their children. Thus, by your choice, I see the makings of a true king and a devoted father in you, Fili…and I could not be more proud."

Fili's mouth fell open, having been bracing himself for an argument, yet this was quite the surprise. Thorin actually supported his plan…and he was proud of him? Fili did not know what to say.

Thankfully he was spared having to form words by the return of Sier and Flinn, now dressed and ready for his adventure. The little dwarrow bounded up to Kili, eagerly pulling on his hand in an effort to move him towards the door.

"Let's go, Uncle Kili!" he cried. "I wanna see Adad's swords and his armor and his helmet and his crown too!"

"Well, if we have all that to look at and inspect, we best hurry," Kili laughed, scooping the lad up in his arms amid squeals of glee. He then looked over at Sier, giving her a wink. "And I will make sure he is safe, no touching anything that could possibly cut, maim or decapitate him."

"I would greatly appreciate that," Sier laughed, though secretly she was relieved.

"What does de…de-cap-tate mean?" Flinn asked as they headed out the door. No one heard Kili's answer though, for by the time his laughter died down they were long gone.

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Now that only adults remained in the room, Sier felt very much the center of attention and as they all took a seat, she fiddled with her hands nervously. Finally, Thorin cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Sier…you have proven yourself a very wise and brave dwarrowdam, both in the past and now. Your willingness to return to Erebor and make a new life for you and your son shows the love you possess for Flinn. I know that I speak for all my kin when I say that we are both honored, and in your debt for such an act." Here he paused and Sier could only wait for the ax to fall with his next words. "However…it would appear that Fili has given you yet another reason to step up and show your courage, one that would require not only a change in your life…but in your status as well. I believe you know of the decision I speak."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Sier nodded, daring to look up and catch the almost pleading look in Fili's eyes. "And while I do agree with your nephew that it would seem the most advantageous solution to our situation…I can't help but feel woefully inadequate to accept. When I agreed to come to Erebor, it was with the hope that I could remain as a seamstress, or in some other capacity of service. What Fili is offering is far too grand for the likes of me. I come from a simple family, with no connections or status, not at all the makings for a future queen. You have to see this as well."

"Nonsense!" Dis broke in, reaching over and taking Sier's hand in hers. "No one is ever born for such a thing, instead we choose to accept our role and train to be worthy. And if you think for one moment that any of us here care one hoot about your background, then you do not know us at all."

If Sier appeared shocked by the princess' words…Fili was twice as floored. What had happened to suddenly change his mother's mind? Had she not just moments ago been staunchly against his proposal to Sier? Could his own words have somehow swayed her decision…or had it been something else?

"Sier, no one will fault you for being afraid," Thorin spoke again, also a bit surprised to find his sister as his sudden ally. "Yet it boils down to this…if you wish to remain in Erebor with Flinn, a marriage is the only way to protect him, and you, from scandal and gossip. I may be king, but even I cannot command the silence of every tongue in Erebor…or in the other dwarf kingdoms. We believe it was Lord Colm and Bina's plan to discredit Fili, thus making him a prime target for her to force him into an unwanted alliance. If word should get out that he now has a son by a dam he is not wed to…her plan will have come to fruition, possibly leaving her as his only choice. Fili will need to marry eventually, be it now or later when he takes the throne, there is no way around it. It is my belief that you do not wish for Bina to triumph any more than we do, am I correct?"

"I would never do anything to aid her in such a wicked plan," Sier stated, anger for her former mistress blazing in her eyes.

"Then, will you accept my proposal?" Fili asked, his tone revealing the depth of his desire for her to agree. "I believe you know my mind on this and promises I made last night still stand. I realize it is a lot to ask…but I swear that you will never regret it if you do. I will see that both you and Flinn are well taken care of, and you will want for nothing till the end of your days. Please say yes."

"I would say that my son is in earnest," Dis assured her, once more reaching out to squeeze her hand encouragingly. "As a mother, it is our duty to see to the happiness of our children, and while I never thought I would encourage a marriage of convenience…I find myself compelled to condone this one. In my heart I truly think it is for the best. Best for Fili, for you…and for Flinn."

Sier turned her eyes to Fili for a long moment, almost getting herself lost in the depths of Durin Blue. Then her eyes moved to those of the king, as well as his sister, a dwarrowdam for which she had already formed a great deal of respect. It would appear that they all saw this as the only solution to retain the honor of the royal house. It would be a lie…well, most of it anyway, but a lie to cover up an even bigger betrayal seemed the lesser of the two evils. She would not let Fili be disgraced or forced into a union he would hate, not if she could help it - and there was nothing she wouldn't do to protect her son. So, in the end, there was only one answer she could give.

"Yes…I will accept," she nodded, feeling as if she might faint at any moment over the stress heaped upon her.

"Excellent, it is settled then!" Thorin said with a clap of his hands. "The marriage will take place this evening and tomorrow we will present you and Flinn to the kingdom." He then got an amused look on his face and added, "However, just because you are to become my niece-in-law, that does not excuse you from your other duty."

"My other duty?" Sier was perplexed and a bit mystified.

"That of finishing my new winter coat," Thorin pointed out with a wide grin. "I paid good money to have it made, and I am very anxious to see if those buttons do indeed match my crown."

"Of course, Your Majesty," Sier agreed, unable to hide her own smile as she gave a bow of her head. "I will not let you down."

"I never doubted you for a moment." Thorin assured her.

Well, there you have it. Thorin has spoken, they shall be wed...tonight!

THAT should prove to be a very awkward (and fun for us) start of a marriage. What better way to get to know your husband than to live with him 24/7 and share a kid? ha ha, only in Fan Fiction...right?

Did you like Dis and Flinn's meeting?

And what do you think caused Dis to change her tune about the proposal? I wonder...

Since I am not leaving you on a cliff hanger - I will be taking the weekend off, spending time adding a few more chapters to my stash and see you all again on Monday! Have a nice Saturday and Sunday.

Guest Reviews:

Mjean: As you probably read at the start of this chapter, no I am not in jail. ha ha. Do those in prison even have access to the internet? Yah, Dis got a bit emotional when she heard Sier named Flinn after her dead husband. And Fili will always be her first baby, and now he has a baby of his own, she is deeply moved. Glad this moment came in as a close second to the head bump with Fili earlier. I LIVE to know I am pulling out emotions from my readers. ha ha.