"You are up well before the sun today, Tauriel. Are you feeling unwell?"

Tauriel frowned at the King, "My waters broke a short time ago, making a frightful mess, and I had no desire to stand around while those poor maids clean it up and shoot horrified, pitying looks at me. The midwife said this would be the sign which would mean the time had come. Now, it feels as though half a dozen belts are wrapped around my belly taking turns squeezing me."

The King tilted his head slightly, listening to more than her words, "You are worried."

"The babies are agitated by the movements. I am far past worried and well into the realm of terrified, but I wanted to let Legolas enjoy the last few hours of peaceful sleep I fear he may ever get." There was no denying this day would change there lives forever, more than anything either of them had experienced up to this day.

"Babies? Are you carrying twins?"

The wood-elf winced, "I am. We may have decided not to... burden you... with that piece of information."

"'We' should have mentioned it before now, so the proper arrangements could be made for more things like clothing and blankets."

Tauriel gave him an irritated scowl. "We have been gifted more than enough clothing and blankets for me to give birth to an entire litter of Eldar children."

The King's face brightened with a small smile. "I should have guessed there was more than one child, by your girth and lack of energy."

"My girth," Tauriel warned him, "Is not so great that I can no longer waddle across the room and find something breakable to throw at your head, my King."

Thranduil laughed. "You have refrained from throwing vases for several months. And I must say your restraint is admirable."

"Only because you have refrained from calling attention to the size of my belly and the way I must walk like a duck."

"It would appear your going to be free from waddling quite soon."

Although the King was trying to be supportive, his words edged up Tauriel's already elevated anxiety level. Her hands trembled and she clenched them into fists as the next contraction started.

"Are you in pain?" Thranduil asked her, coming around to stand behind her and kneading the tension in her shoulders and neck with strong, but gentle, hands.

She rested her head back on his shoulder. "Not yet. Though, I imagine this will change, and the expectation only increases the terror I feel."

The King pressed a kiss to her cheek. "We will be with you every step of the way."

"Legolas will, of course, but I am not so sure I wish my King to see me in such a state."

"I witnessed the birth of my son."

Tauriel raised an eyebrow. "I am not your wife, and we have never been intimate, thank the Valar. I do not wish to be so exposed to your eyes."

"I considered the possibility when I kissed you in the vineyard in Dorwinion," Thranduil admitted.

The Wood-elf laughed, flattered and appalled, "I just bet you did. How better to muck up any future between me and Legolas than by seducing me yourself?" She smirked at his surprise. "It was terribly obvious, even to a child like me, you wanted to toss me over your shoulder and carry me back to your Halls where I would not have the chance to befriend other Kings and do anything else which might arouse your jealousy."

Thranduil shrugged his massive shoulders. "I didn't have to do anything so... dramatic. You came back on your own."

"Married to your son, pregnant and a scared to death you were going to reject both me and the baby."

"I knew where you ran off to the minute one of the stone-masons gathered the courage to tell me you were gone from Dale and your rooms were empty. It was obvious, Tauriel."

Tauriel smiled at him as she confessed, "I married Legolas within a week of arriving in Rivendell."

"Well, I should hope so," Thranduil told her. "It would be quite an embarrassment if my son and the heir to my throne carried on a lascivious dalliance with a young, unmarried elleth in Rivendell under the noses of Lord Elrond and that balrog-slaying fool Glorfindel without at least marrying the silly girl."

"Had I found Legolas' heart given to another silly girl, I think I should have considered a scandalously lascivious dalliance with the sons of Lord Elrond, just to spite you and your son. They are quite handsome and charming."

Thranduil raised an eyebrow, "Both of them?"

"It would have to be both since they are impossible to tell apart. I am sure I would manage them, somehow."

"Of that, I have no doubt."

"Good thing my heart is yours and yours alone, then, is it not?" Legolas asked. His pale hair and clothes were still rumpled from sleep. "Why are we flirting and discussing dalliances before the sun is even up?"

"The twins are coming," Tauriel told him. "Today. Soon. A few hours at most, maybe."

The color drained from Legolas' face. "Are you in pain?"

"It is becoming increasingly... Uncomfortable. I can feel much shifting around inside me. And I have come to suspect there is a skull over here." She placed a hand on her left side, down low. "I think we better have someone fetch the midwife sooner rather than later."

"I will have someone fetch her. Maybe, you should sit," Legolas suggested.

"The midwife said standing and walking would make the labor progress faster." She gave her husband a meaningful look. "I want the laboring over quickly. I tire of being unable to walk normally or sleep in any position I choose."

Legolas nodded, sighing, "Forget sleep, Tauriel. We have ónoni. With two babies, we are never going to sleep." He left to find a servant to go fetch the midwife, and when he returned, Legolas asked her, "What in the world were you and my father discussing."

"I was just explaining to the King why having him witness the birth makes me uncomfortable."

"And that topic led you to thoughts of seducing Elladan and Elrohir?"

Tauriel grinned at him and patted his hand. "Only if I thought you found happiness with a proper Sindarin elleth who would make a good mother, and future Queen." She straightened her spine, a hand caressing the head she knew was on her left side. "I count myself fortunate there was no other."

Thranduil took Tauriel's free hand in his, his expression grave as he looked down on her, "I would want no other as future Queen of the Woodland Realm, Tauriel. Or as mother to my grandchildren." He kissed the back of her hand.

Legolas beamed with pride. "Thank you, Ada. Tauriel needed to hear those words from you."

Tauriel's knees wobbled, and she swayed on her feet, making both father and son reach out to steady her. To them she said, "I think I need to sit, now."

Once the midwife and her assistant appeared, with an army of servants carrying blankets and steaming pots of water and herbs and one huge basket lined with the softest rabbit fur, Tauriel's world narrowed to a blur of faces and commands which she was expected to obey, even if doing so cause her pain like the Wood-elf never imagined possible.

To her credit, Tauriel bit her lips until they had to be bleeding, but did not scream as she wanted to during the point the midwife called 'the crowning', the emergence of the baby's head from the birth canal.

That was the worst pain, but it faded from her memory the moment the tiny babe was wrapped and placed in her arms.

"Admire her quickly, my Lady, and then hand your elleth to Lord Legolas, for we are not finished with this business, only taking a small break while your son takes his sister's place." At the look on Tauriel's face, the midwife patted her thigh reassuringly. "Fear not, Tauriel. The worst is behind you, I would bet a barrel of your first vintage from Dorwinion that the ellon is the smaller of the two."

A contraction hit her like an arrow in the guts and Tauriel's eyes widened in alarm, "I shall hold you to that wager, do not think I will not."

They were both distracted by Legolas scooping the bundle of squirming, mewling child from her arms. "Oh, Tauriel, she's just beautiful. Tiny," Legolas breathed, "but perfect."

Tauriel winced. "Are you certain the second child is a boy?" she asked the midwife.

"I am rarely wrong," the ancient Sindarin healer told her.

"Legolas. You must wait," Tauriel pleaded. "Take our ellon to the King first, let him believe our firstborn is a son."

He looked down at their daughter and nodded, "We know the truth, Eryniel, and so shall you, little one. Your mother and I would never treat you as second best merely because you are a female child. Our love is offered in equal measure, and to spare you from prejudice, we will do this thing and deceive our King for your sake."

"Our firstborn, Ada," Legolas said, placing the tiny bundled form in the King's arms. "His name is Legoliôn."

The King stared, speechless, at the child for a long time, before he asked, "A son?"

"Yes, a son."

"Welcome, Legoliôn, son of Legolas." The King winced at the tiny bundle squirming in his arms, "I do not remember you ever being so small."

"Because they are ónoni, they are smaller."

Their discussion was interrupted by furious squalling from the room where Tauriel was delivering the other twin. Or at least that was what they wanted Thranduil to believe. Kings wanted firstborn sons, not daughters.

Legolas left Thranduil with the baby and returned almost immediately with a second bundled form. He traded the twins with Thranduil. "Her name is Eryniel. Daughter of the Wood."

The King's eyes widened as he peered at the tiny, pink face. "Welcome, little granddaughter." He smirked as the baby's forehead scrunched and her mouth pursed in preparation for more screaming. "You appear to have a strong will, little one, but do you have your mother's fiery temper or my temper of ice?"

"It is my hope she has little temper at all, like her Ada," Legolas told him, chest swelling with pride in his little family.

Thranduil's eyes lit with amusement, and he lifted the child to rest her tiny head against his shoulder. "We will see."

"We should give them back to the midwife, so she can bathe and swaddle them. It is cold in here."

The King wasn't fooled, he rolled his eyes and nodded at the door, "Go and be with your wife, Legolas."