Three Weeks Later
Billie twirled the golden ring between her fingers, thinking. Before her on the kitchen table was spread a plethora of documents, most yellowed with age. One in particular held her attention, with a loud scuff of chair legs on the wood floor she stood up, shoving the paper into her pocket.
The drive to the nursing home took almost no time at all. Billie wasn't entirely sure why she was doing this, but it seemed…right somehow.
The reception area was quiet as she stepped inside the home, an attendant in a pink uniform sat behind the desk chewing on a pen cap as she studied a crossword puzzle. Billie tapped on the top of the desk to get her attention.
"Excuse me," she said when the woman looked up, "I'm here to see Arthur Higgins."
"Arthur?" The woman raised her eyebrows a smile forming in the corner of her mouth, "Really?!"
"Yes?" Billie said, mildly confused.
The woman shook her head, "Sorry, it's just. Arthur has never gotten a visitor before, not in all the years he's been here! Are you family, or - ?"
"Not exactly," Billie explained, "he broke into my house a couple of weeks ago."
"Oh -." The attendants smile fell flat, "Well if it's property damage you wanted to discuss, you can talk it over with me -."
"No, it's not that at all." Billie assured her, "I'm not looking for money or anything, I just-I did some research on the history of our house and…may I see him? Please." The attendant raised an eyebrow at her, but seemed to feel she was being honest, because she stood up and motioned for her to follow.
"He's probably out back." She explained, striding down the hallway. The walls were painted what was probably supposed to be a soothing shade of blue, but to Billie they just looked depressing, watered down. The back garden was much more cheerful; someone had obviously tried to make it nice out here. Sunflowers ringed the veranda they stood under, a path led to a bench placed under a weeping willow. Smaller beds filled with bright, growing things lined the wooden fence encasing the yard.
A male attendant, sat on an overturned bucket, watching a thin, white haired man as he puttered around in the flowerbeds. Seeing them approach, he stood up.
"Hey Mary," he said, "is it time for lunch already?"
Mary laughed, "Not quite yet you glutton, can the gardener be interrupted? This young lady would like to speak with him." Glutton-man looked as surprised as Mary had.
"Really?" Mary nodded, the man burst into a wide smile. "Hey Arthur." He said, turning to the figure in the flowerbed, "there is someone here to see you." Arthur straightened up and turned towards them, Billie walked forwards, clutching the hem of her shirt nervously.
"Hello Arthur," she began.
"Hello Donna," Arthur smiled sweetly at her, "have you come to see your garden at last?"
"No. I mean it's-it's lovely," Billie said truthfully, "but I came to talk to you actually. Um…do you mind if we sit down?"
"Of course not," Arthur slipped his skinny arm through hers and led her over to the bench under the willow. "Now, what is it dear?" he asked once they were seated.
"Um," Billie cleared her throat, this was harder than she thought it was going to be. "Um," she began again, "I was - I did some research into the previous owners of my house, you might not remember but you broke into it a couple of weeks ago." Arthur looked back at her with confusion.
"Anyways," Billie went on, "Like I said I did some research and -," here she pulled out the crumpled bill of sale that she'd placed in her pocket. "the house was owned by a Mr. Arthur Higgins in 1956." Arthur continued to look at her blankly, so Billie pressed on, hoping this was going to end well. "I'm not sure, but I was hoping…was this yours." She pulled the golden ring out and held it out to the old man. Arthur looked at the piece of jewelry sitting on her palm and slowly recognition seemed to dawn in his eyes.
"My ring," he broke into a gummy smile, gingerly plucking the gold band from her hand. "Donna you found it."
"It is yours," Billie said with relief. Arthur nodded, slipping the ring onto one thick-knuckled finger.
"Of course it's mine silly woman," he laughed, "Don't you remember, you picked it out for me. I thought I'd lost it when we upgraded the Hobbit Hole."
Billie went from smiling happily to confused, "the what?"
Arthur laughed, "You're forgetful today my love. Remember, that's what you called our trailer on the lot, before we built the house. After those creatures in Norse legend that you love so much. The little ones with the hairy feet, that lived in the holes." Billie felt her throat catch, pushing back sudden tears she played along.
"Oh right," she smiled, "the hobbit's, of course I remember." Arthur pressed a kiss on top of her head, giving her hand a squeeze.
"I'm so glad you found it Donna," he said, "I didn't feel right without it." He looked away, smiling at one of the flowers bending its head in the breeze, he turned back to her mouth open as if to say something and then paused, gray brows wrinkling in confusion.
"I'm sorry have we met?" he asked. The lump in Billie's throat got bigger, she swallowed around it, making herself talk.
"I was just admiring your garden." She said. Arthur smiled, looking back out at his flowerbeds.
"I made it for my wife Donna." He said, getting creakily to his feet, "she's going to come and see it soon, I'd better go make it nice for her." Slowly he moved over to one of the other beds. Billie stood up, she'd done what she came to do, she should go….
But she didn't, not for a long while, she just stood there watching the old man putter around pulling weeds, the breeze in her hair, the sun warming the mulch at her feet.
One Year Later
Billie stood at the kitchen window, watching the August sun beat down upon the Durin boys as they tried to cram the last of their possessions into their car. Thorin was attempting to help them with their intricate game of packing Jenga but mostly Billie knew he was trying to keep busy. If he was busy, he wouldn't start crying…again.
"I remember when they were born!" he'd reminisced drunkenly at the twins going away barbeque, "Kili was weirdly hairy! Fili peed on me, and now look at 'em" Billie looked the direction his beer was pointing. The twins were playing a game of cornhole with Lizzy and Elann, but it had mostly dissolved into a game of "let's chuck beanbags at each other." The doctor had let out a sniffle, more than one tear trickling down his cheek. "God, I'm going to miss them!" Billie looked down at the sink, smiling.
"Billie?" she looked up, the twins were standing in the doorway, "We're ready to go." The lump in her throat was getting bigger by the second. She rushed forwards and tried to wrap her arms around both boys at once.
"Promise you'll call once in a while." She sniffed, "So I don't forget what you sound like."
"You might see me soon. I can't be sure I'll make it through the whole first semester," Kili grinned down at her, "college might be super boring."
Fili frowned at him. "You actually studied enough last year to not only graduate, but to get a decent score on the SATs, and you're going to throw that all away because you might get bored?"
His brother grinned, "I do have to stop you from becoming an even bigger nerd, so it might not turn out so awful after all. Planning your future annoyance brings me nothing but joy."
Billie transferred her full hugging power to Fili cutting off his squawk of protest. He sighed and hugged her back, then Kili wrapped his arms around her, almost lifting her off her feet. They stayed that way for a long minute until she made herself let go. A part of her wanted to stay in this doorway forever, crushing the breath out of the little brothers that she had never known she wanted.
"Look after each other alright," Thorin said, joining the group to hug both boys, "Don't do anything too stupid."
"Us?!" Kili mocked outrage, "Uncle Thorin, how dare you suggest such a thing!"
Thorin grinned, shoving his nephews arm, "Alright, alright. Get out of here you dunderheads. Billie and I can't wait to start celebrating your absence." Both boys made a face.
"Ew!" Kili said, backing away, "Yeah come on Fee, we do not want to see that."
"Agreed." Billie and Thorin followed the boys outside, standing on the front porch watching as they got into the car and started pulling away. Billie waved frantically.
"Goodbye!" She called, "Goodbye! Love you guys! Be safe!"
"Love you too!" The boys called back, returning her wave, then they were gone, disappearing into a cloud of dust. Billie kept waving until the dust settled, the stillness rushed in to surround her and Thorin. He slid his arm around her waist. Billie leaned into him, not even trying to stop her tears.
"They'll be alright, won't they?" she asked finally. Thorin's voice was rough with emotion as he replied.
"Of course they will."
Three years later, Christmas
The snow was falling thick and fast outside, Billie moved with slow, awkwardness around the table, laying out more place settings. She still wasn't used to being so…large. Seriously, women used to work in the fields like this? She could barely bend over to tie her shoes!
The front door burst open letting in a blast of cold air that she felt all the way in the back of the house, loud laughter bounced through the hallways. Billie grinned and threw down the pile of silverware she was holding, they were back.
"Boys!" she called, waddling out of the dining room, "Boys!"
"Auntie Billie!" Fili reached her first, picking her up and spinning her in a circle until she was breathless with laughter. She wrapped her arms around his snow-drenched shoulders, squeezing hard.
"Hey, don't hog her! Kili grumped, shoving his brother away and holding Billie tight, "you think just because you grew a stupid little mustache you're the king now or something?" Billie looked over his shoulder at Fili, who had indeed grown a stupid little mustache.
"Oh Fee," she sighed, "Please tell me you're going to shave."
"Elann likes it." Fili smiled, giving his lip hair a stroke, "it's not going anywhere!" His brother and Billie both moaned.
"Tell Fili his mustache is stupid," Kili said to Billie's stomach, he leaned his head in as if listening intently, "Yes. Yes, I agree. Oh dear, baby, you shouldn't use that word!" he gasped.
"Will you quit harassing my wife and child and take these upstairs." Thorin grumped, coming into the room, dripping snow and carrying what appeared to be all the twin's luggage. Laughing, Fili and Kili stole their suitcases out of his hands and pounded up the stairs to their rooms.
"Everyone will be here at five!" Billie called after them, "Change into something nice!" Thorin took off his wet coat and shook his head like a dog, sending droplets of melted snow flying everywhere. Billie shrieked and shielded her face.
"Thorin!" she scolded, but her husband only laughed and wrapped her in a big wet bear hug, planting a kiss on the end of her nose.
"Love you Sunshine," he told her, Billie smiled, kissing him back.
"Love you too," she crinkled her brow slightly, "When does your Mom get here?"
Thorin looked at his watch, "Madeline should arrive in t-minus…" he paused to do mental calculations, "forty minutes."
Billie nodded, "Okay," she shrugged out of the apron she had on and started for the stairs, "and Arthur should be here just before dinner, the home said they'd drop him off. I'm going to go take a shower real quick, watch the turkey for me?"
"So we can recreate the National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation dinner scene?"
Billie swatted his arm, "Just don't let the kitchen catch on fire."
"The kitchen isn't supposed to be on fire?!" Billie rolled her eyes at him and moved up the stairs, talking to the bun in the oven.
"Your daddy thinks he's funny but he isn't." she told her child, "just you wait till he's making jokes at your friends and you'll understand my pain."
Eight months after that…
"God, I'm gonna cry." Billie muttered, peering out at the packed lawn, "I'm going to walk down the aisle crying."
"Oh no you're not." Elann scolded, narrowing her perfectly done up eyes, "if I don't get to cry, you don't get to cry. I'm the bride, what I say goes." She tried to look fierce for a while longer, but ended up bursting into giggles, which made Baby Sam watching from her perch on Billie's hip burst into giggles too. Elann smiled, kissing the infant on her soft cheek.
"That's right baby girl, none of us should be crying. This is a happy day." The swell of organ music blasted over the speakers, the wedding planner urged them all into their places. Elann's father took her arm. Another swell of music and Billie and Sam stepped onto the carpet on the lawn serving as the aisle. Billie glanced around at the friends and family gathered in rows of plastic chairs. The rented field they were using instead of a church looked glorious without any help from anybody. She dipped her hand into the little basket she carried, helping Sam to scatter petals in her role as flower girl. Thorin watched them from his place besides Fili, Billie smiled, he grinned back. Kili standing next to his uncle made faces at his cousin who once more burst into peals of laughter that could be heard over the music. The audience chuckled.
Billie took her place, the bridal march started, everyone turned to look as Elann began her long walk, but Billie looked at Fili instead. He looked much more handsome now that he'd grown a beard to go with his stupid little mustache. Elann had convinced him to cut his hair and it now resembled the style Thorin wore. His eyes lighted on his bride and the smile on his face melted Billie's heart. Crap, she was going to cry, she looked out at the audience trying to suck it up. Lizzy met her gaze and made an exaggerated boo-boo face, which made her chuckle wetly. From a few rows before her Arthur Higgins was leaning on his cane, smiling at the bride as she went by. Great now the tears were welling up faster. Billie took a deep breath. Sam grabbed onto a hunk of her hair as she focused back on the ceremony.
The couple were facing each other, Elann's face shining like a star. Promising to love each other through thick and thin, sickness and health. Finally, the organ music started back up and Billie was free to escape to the car.
She cried all the way to the reception like the giant baby she was.
The Arbor Day after that…
Sam dug her plastic shovel into the dirt mound and sprinkled some into the hole Billie had made for her little tree.
"Tree?" she asked Lizzy, who was holding the sapling steady.
"It's an Oak tree," Lizzy told her. Billie tried to crouch down but gave up, her pregnant belly made her teeter precariously so she just sat on her butt, mindless of the mud and helped her daughter shovel.
"Okay," she started again, glaring at her best friend, "I am trying very hard to remain open-minded here, but it's not working. It's super weird Liz!"
"It's not that weird." Lizzy insisted, tugging her scarf tighter against the April chill.
"Not that weird?! You are sleeping with my nephew! Who you are way older than I might add!"
"Kili is an adult, I'm an adult, it's not that weird." Billie sighed, tilting her head back to look at the cloudless blue of the sky.
"Fine, whatever. Just tell me when this all started."
"On Fili's wedding. I was feeling kind of lonely and I think he was too, twin brother getting married and all that. So we had a few drinks and danced and then next thing I knew we were making out in the back of his car."
"Okay! Ew!" Billie stopped her, waving her arms. "I don't want any details! Kili is like my little brother."
Lizzy put her hand on Billie's stilling her flurried movements, "I really like him Billie." Billie sighed again, hanging her head so it rested on her chest. Sam started singing a song, Billie didn't know where she had picked up AC/DC, but the tune was clearly Highway to Hell.
"I was afraid you were going to say that." She told Lizzy, "it means I have to be understanding." Lizzy laughed.
Five years after that…
The graveyard smelled like rain and rotting flowers. Billie knelt outside the rectangle of still bare earth, not caring that the grass was staining her knees. The October wind pressed against her back, moaning its complaints through the headstones. Billie cleared her throat.
"Hi Arthur," she sniffed, the cold was making her nose run. "It's me…again. I know that you're probably getting sick of me showing up here, but I wanted to show you this." She drew a picture out from her purse, holding it up to the headstone.
"See the girls wanted to make you a memorial, because Sam just learned about them at school and I remembered what you used to call the house, back when it was a trailer. So Thorin had Balin and Dori make us a sign to hang on the porch and the girls carved their names into it, so did the twins, and Thorin and I added ours."
She looked down at the picture. The whole family smiled back at her. Fili, Elann and their son. Kili, smirking with his arm around Lizzy, her hands resting on her pregnant belly. Sam sitting on her father's shoulders, her little sister Pippin clutching at Billie's sleeve and baby Marion, who everyone just called Merry, living up to her name and laughing in Billie's arms. The sign swung from its chains over their heads.
"The Hobbit Hole," the text burned into the wood read, "Established 1956 by Arthur and Donna Higgins."
"I thought you'd like that," Billie said, tucking the picture back into her purse, "When baby number four comes along, we'll put their name up there too. Yeah, I'm knocked up again." She laughed a little, "I've told Thorin this is the last one. I never wanted a baseball team, but four is a nice number." She paused, wiping at the corner of her eye. "Pippin says to tell you hi," she remembered, "And Sam wants you to know that when spring comes she's going to plant you a garden, right here. She wanted me to ask what your favorite flower was," she wiped away another tear, "I never did ask you that, so I don't know what to tell her. Guess I'll make something up, something bright. You'd like that. Sunflowers maybe."
Billie shook her head, standing up, her knees creaking. The temperature had dropped at least five degrees while she'd been kneeling there.
"Well, I'll see you later." She told Arthur's grave, "It's Pippins toddlers ballet recital tonight and I have to go help Thorin get her ready. I'll bring you a picture of what he's done to her hair, I'm sure it's hysterical." She smoothed her hand over the freezing stone of the grave, and then started the long march back to the parking lot where she'd left her car.
Ten years after that, Thanksgiving…
"-And you guys all have to promise to be nice to him." Sam wound down after seven straight minutes of instructions. The family, who she had forced to sit on the couch and listen to this spiel, just blinked at her. They had been ordered not to talk.
"Well," Sam said, "Nod or say yes or something."
"Oh, we can talk again?" Frodo asked, looking up from her book. Sam let out a miniature frustrated scream and her little sister smirked.
"Yes, you can talk. Promise you'll be nice to Rob." Fili and Kili looked at each other and started laughing.
"Don't worry 'Cuz." Kili giggled, "We'll all be very nice to Rob." Fili smoothed his beard, stifling his grin.
"Yes, very nice." Elann elbowed him in the ribs, giving him a "behave" look, that he just laughed off.
"Daaaad," Sam whined, "make them listen." Thorin laughed at that, heaving himself off the couch.
"If only I had that power honey." He patted her head as he walked past, headed towards the kitchen for another eggnog. Sam sat down on the floor in a huff. Billie sighed and came to crouch next to her.
"Sam sweetie, no one is going to be mean to your boyfriend. Are we?" she leveled the rest of her children with her evilest stare, Frodo looked up from her book and clearly wished she hadn't. She gulped and nodded, Merry and Pippin murmured their promises to be good. Lizzy stuck her head out from the kitchen, calling for her.
"Now no fist fights while I finish dinner," Billie ordered. Her girls giggled a little, the spell her glare had cast broken. She went into the kitchen, Thorin was leaning up against the counter drinking his thirty-seventh egg nog of the day.
"You are no help at all." Billie told her husband, prodding him in his still nice chest. Other men his age were flabby and going bald, Thorin didn't look much different than the day she met him, except for the silver starting to creep in on his temples, but Billie liked that, it made him look distinguished.
"You wound me Sunshine," he said, putting down his eggnog cup and grabbing her around the waist, "I need kisses now." Billie laughed, trying to fend him off. She was unsuccessful, a minute or so later Lizzy cleared her throat.
"Can you two please stop making out?" she pleaded. Thorin sighed, pressing one last kiss to Billie's forehead.
"You will be nice to Sam's friend," she asked, "Please Thorin?"
Thorin sighed again, but in a different category than the first one, "So long as he doesn't call me dude like that other kid did."
"That other kid was thirteen years old!" Billie reminded him, sliding a tray of rolls into the oven, "you made him wet his pants!" Thorin smiled at the memory and then frowned upon remembering it further.
"He had his hands all over Pippin!" he defended himself, "I'm her father, what was I supposed to do. Just let her get groped by retainer-boy?"
"And this is why he is no longer allowed to chaperone school dances." Billie explained to Lizzy, who laughed. Joyous screams could be heard from outside, a snowball splatted against the window. Lizzy opened the glass an inch or three, letting in the freezing air.
"If anybody loses an eye I'm going to be very upset!" She yelled to her twins, who had been having a snowball war for somewhere around five hours now. The other kids had gotten cold and headed inside ages ago, but not Kili's boys. They were like miniature versions of the energizer bunny, Lizzy had learned long ago to just let them keep going and going and going.
"We're good Mom!" the twins called back, "no rocks this time, we promise."
"Thank you!" Lizzy pulled the window closed. Billie laughed at her, Lizzy flushed. In the background, the doorbell rang.
"Oh my God it's him!" Sam squealed, close to hysterically, sliding into the kitchen on her sock feet. She slipped and skidded her way to the door, Billie and Thorin followed. Sam paused, taking a deep breath and smoothing her dress before pulling it open. A nervous 16-year-old stood on the front steps, Lizzy's twins stood behind him, arms crossed, snowballs at the ready.
"Hi Rob," Sam gushed, ushering him inside. The rest of the family trickled out of the living room to stare at the two. Kili motioned his boys over, whispering something in their ears. They nodded and tossed their snowballs back outside.
"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Oakenshield," Rob squeaked. "Thank you for having me." Billie smiled as the youth shook Thorin's hand, her husband obviously resisting the urge to squeeze too hard.
"We're glad you could come," Billie told the boy, shaking his hand in her turn, "welcome to The Hobbit Hole."
