Chapter 3
7 December 2007
Bilbo offers Dis the tin of biscuits when she opens the front door. She stares at the unannounced visitor for a second before her gaze drops to the item in the short man's hands. Her face lights up in recognition of Bilbo's fine cuisine and waves him inside.
She leads him into the kitchen, opening the biscuit tin on the way to inhale the sweet aroma of the baked goods inside. Bilbo waves at Fili, who is playing in the living room. The two-year old gets up and comes running over at the prospect of a visitor with a loud "Unca Biwbo!". He trips over his trouser legs when he is halfway across the room and smacks onto the floor but is back on his feet only a second later. The curly-haired man picks the small boy up and hugs him before sitting down in one of the kitchen chairs with Fili in his lap.
Dis puts the kettle on and watches as Bilbo offers her son a biscuit. Fili squeals in delight as he chews. "Mo! Mo bicit!" he yells once he is done and slumps forward to reach the tin. Bilbo only raises his eyebrows at him and wriggles the fingers of his right hand in front of Fili's face. The two-year old giggles and then holds his hands up, palms facing his body before moving one of his hands slightly forward, the sign for "more". Bilbo nods in understanding and hands out another biscuit. Fili presses his hand to his chin and then moves it forward and down for "Thank you."
Dis is amazed at how fast Fili is picking up on the sign language even though he is not exposed to it every day. Just by watching Bilbo interact with her son she has actually managed to pick up some signs herself. She feels bad for not being able to communicate with Bilbo properly except writing and she is therefore surprised that he has suddenly shown up on her doorstep without Thorin in tow. Her brother usually acts as interpreter whenever the two of them come over.
The curly-haired man meets her gaze with his warm eyes and grins before wriggling around in his chair, one arm slung around Fili to keep him from falling, the other extracting paper and pen from his jeans pocket. He supplies the boy on his lap with another biscuit before bending over to write something down.
"Ma! Biwbo bicit!" Fili exclaims as Dis sits down at the table. The toddler shows her his half-eaten biscuit before stuffing it in his mouth. "Are they yummy biscuits?" She asks him and accepts the notepad Bilbo slides across the table towards her. Fili giggles. "Yum bicit. Fee wuv Biwbo."
"Make sure you tell him that," Dis says before turning her attention to the note in her hand.
I need your help. I have NO idea what to get Thorin for Christmas.
She looks up and finds Bilbo watching her with a hopeful expression, not seeming to care that Fili is pulling on his dark blonde curls. Dis sighs. Thorin is not an easy person to get gifts for. She scribble a response.
I always get him a tie.
Bilbo is not happy with that answer as he immediately wrinkles his nose in irritation. Dis shrugs.
Well, he does wear a lot of ties.
Fili tugs on Bilbo's hair again. "Unca To here?" the toddler asks and looks around to make sure he hasn't missed any other visitors in his excitement over the biscuits.
"No, Uncle Thorin is not here, baby," Dis tells him and Fili slumps back into Bilbo, almost causing the two of them to fall off the chair. The curly-haired man tightens his grip on the small boy and offers him another biscuit to get him to let go of his hair. Then he pulls the notepad closer.
Not very romantic though, is it?
Dis nods in agreement. The kettle goes off on the counter and she gets up to prepare the tea. It gives her a couple of minutes to think about the problem at hand. As she is pouring water into the second mug, Fili starts giggling behind her. Dis turns around and smiles. Her son is standing on Bilbo's thighs, his pudgy hands pressed to the man's cheeks as they make faces at each other. They are both laughing hysterically by the time Dis returns to the table with two mugs of tea in her hands. She grabs the abandoned pen and paper.
You could always get him one of those hideous Christmas ties. Some even play music!
Bilbo snorts when he reads her words and then blows a raspberry on Fili's cheek. Thorin would just think him mad and immediately toss the tie in the bins and Bilbo along with it. Dis is not to be deterred though.
I'll pay you 50 quid if you get him one and then make him wear it to work.
Bilbo shakes his head but the mental image of Thorin wearing a Christmas tie in a meeting with his business partners amuses him quite a lot.
He would rather use that tie to strangle me before anyone saw him with it. Not sure I want to risk it.
He extracts a biscuit from the tin and brings it up to his mouth. Fili grabs it from his hand at the last second and takes a bite. Bilbo pouts at him. The toddler giggles and presses a crumbly kiss to the man's cheek before offering him the rest of the biscuit.
Bilbo lets him manoeuvre the baked good into his mouth and they grin at each other. Dis watches as they fall victim to a minute-long giggling fit.
Soon after, Fili pulls the curly-haired man into the living room to play with his wooden train tracks.
She gets the feeling that Bilbo's hunt for Christmas presents is abandoned for the time being and decides to take advantage of his presence in the house to get some gift wrapping done.