Disclaimer: The Hobbit belongs to Professor Tolkien and Peter Jackson.

Worth More Than Gold

Chapter 3

"Are they settled?" Kili asked his wife as she returned to the semi-darkness of their room after tucking their nephews Arne and Soren into the extra room across the hall.

"Aye," Tauriel whispered so as not to awaken the five-year-old sleeping sprawled across Kili's bare chest. "They went right to back to sleep. Freyr's nightmare just startled them."

Kili shifted to a more comfortable position against the headboard and brushed blonde hair from his nephew's eyes. The boy sighed in his sleep against his uncle. "He knows something is wrong; he's worried about his mum." The boy had awakened them all screaming in the throes of a nightmare a short time before.

Tauriel smiled as she slid between the sheets of their bed and pressed a kiss to her husband's bearded cheek. "He will understand soon enough when he has a little brother or sister come morn."

"Uncle Ki," a tiny voice sniffled into the dark room.

"Go back to sleep, Freyr," Kili soothed. "I'm right here. I'll keep the bad dreams away."

"When is Da coming to get me?" the small child asked anxiously around a yawn.

Kili rested his cheek on the boy's blonde hair. "He will return for you, Soren, and Arne once your new brother or sister has arrived," he assured the child. Kili's heart ached for his little nephew. This small boy was so much like Fili; he felt things deeply just like the heir to the throne of Erebor.

Freyr sighed. "I love you, Uncle Ki."

"I love you, too, Freyr," Kili replied with a glance toward his wife.

Tauriel was watching them and her eyes shone with unshed tears. She loved this child so much; he had formed a close bond with his uncle the day he was born. Freyr often begged to spend the night with Uncle Kili and Auntie Tauriel. At times she caught herself pretending that Freyr was their child, hers and Kili's. She knew that train of thought was dangerous, so she always forced herself to shove it to the back of her mind.

There was a knock on the outer door to their suite, startling the she-elf from her thoughts. Both she and Kili knew that Fili would wait until morning to retrieve his children unless something was wrong. Tauriel's eyes met those of her husband. "I will go," she murmured. "There's no need to disturb Freyr."

Kili nodded. He could hear the rumble of his brother's voice and could tell from the pitch that Fili was upset. Anxiety burned in his stomach; had something happened to Sigrid? He longed to comfort his brother, but his main priority right now was the slumbering child in his arms.

Tauriel rushed into their room and grabbed her robe which she slipped on over her gown. "The midwife believes the babe is turned the wrong way. Sigrid is struggling. I must go to her aid."

Kili bit his lip anxioulsy. "Send for Drifa or Thorin to stay with the children. I need to be with my brother."

Tauriel nodded, and Kili knew that soon one of his family members would arrive to take Freyr from his arms.

It was Thorin who knocked softly and then let himself into Kili's rooms. "Drifa has gone to help with Sigrid," he murmured quietly into the dark as he reached for Freyr.

The little boy shifted in his sleep. "Uncle Thorin?" he mumbled in confusion as he woke while being transferred into the dwarf king's arms.

"Hush, Freyr. Uncle Kili has business he must attend to; I will stay with you tonight."

"All right, Uncle," the child sighed sleepily as his eyes drooped closed once more.

Kili slipped a tunic over his head and struggled to find the arm holes in his haste. His worried dark eyes met his uncle's. "I will be with Fi as long as he needs me."

Thorin nodded stoically in return as he eased himself down on the bed with Freyr.

Kili moved swiftly down the hall to the rooms of the healers. He heard a long, loud cry that could only have come from Sigrid. It sent a shiver down his spine. The dwarf archer found his feet slowing; he dreaded seeing his brother's wife in such pain. He swallowed back his reservations and forced himself to move forward. Fili needed him.

With a soft knock, Kili entered the birthing room. Sigrid was lying on sweat-soaked bed sheets. Her face was pale and her hair was plastered to sweat dampened cheeks although at one point Kili could tell it had been pulled aside into a neat braid. Tauriel leaned over the weakening woman as she held a mug of tea of some sort to her lips. Drifa helped to hold Sigrid's head upright as the midwives gathered together to discuss what was to be done next.

Fili was pacing back and forth nearly wearing a groove in the floor. His eyes whipped up to his brother. "The boys?" he questioned worriedly.

"With Thorin," Kili replied as he moved forward to place a reassuring hand on Fili's shoulder. "Tauriel says that things are not going smoothly."

Fili's blue eyes bored worriedly into Kili's gaze. "The babe should have been here by now. Sigrid is weakening. She can't keep going like this." The heir of Durin's voice became almost frantic. "The midwife believes the babe may be turned wrong; if that is the case, I may lose them both, Kili."

"You will not, brother!" Kili protested, careful to keep his voice low. "Sigrid is a fighter. Have you forgotten her resilience after the worm Smaug attacked Lake-town or her determination to make a better life for her boys after the death of her first husband?" He tightened his grip on his brother's shoulder.

"Of course, Kili, you are right," Fili replied. He pulled away. "I must go to my wife; she needs reassurance."

"Sigrid, love,"Fili murmured as he bent over the woman laboring in the bed, "you are strong; you are so very strong. You can deliver our child and you both will live. The healers will find a way to help you."

"I'm so tired, Fili," Sigrid gasped as another contraction began to tighten around her midsection.

"Our babe needs you, Sigrid; I need you as do our children. You mustn't give up."

Sigrid lifted a trembling hand to cup his cheek. "I will fight as long as I have breath, my love."

Kili knew that losing Sigrid would break his brother. He could barely stand to stay in the room and watch his loved ones suffer, yet he could not leave Fili. "Is there nothing that can be done?" he asked one of the midwives desperately.

She nodded curtly. "We must attempt to turn the babe."

Fili took his wife's hand and Kili watched from the corner in utter horror as the midwives pressed on Sigrid's rounded belly to shift the position of the baby. He cringed as his brother's wife screamed in agony.

"One more time, Lady Sigrid," one of the midwives soothed, "and the babe should be in position. Come now, it won't be long."

Sigrid nearly choked on a sob as she tried to suck in a deep breath.

Kili leaned his hands back against the wall for support, the cool stone grounding him. He could not fathom the pain Sigrid and his brother were experiencing right now. If this were to happen to Tauriel, Kili did not know if he would be able to stand it.

Sigrid cried out once again, but this time there was a triumphant cry from one of the midwives. "Push, Lady Sigrid!"

With Fili murmuring words of encouragement in her ear, Sigrid gave one final yell and delivered a large baby boy right into the waiting hands of the head midwife.

Kili sagged in relief and watched as tears streamed down his brother's face. Fili pressed a kiss to Sigrid's lips and then sank to the bed as the child was placed in his mother's arms.

Tauriel's eyes met those of her husband and she smiled, tears welling in her beautiful gaze. Kili held a hand out for her, and she moved forward to take it. Leaning forward, she pressed her forehead against his. "They will be fine, my love."

"Aye, but it was very close," he murmured.

Tauriel sighed. "Sigrid is a strong woman; she will recover from this."

"Fili almost lost her, Tauriel."

"Brother, Tauriel!" Fili's voice was rough from his tears, but he was smiling now as he held his new son in his arms. "This is your brother-son, Fror." He held the child out toward Kili.

The dark-haired dwarf prince took his new nephew into his arms and felt a smile creep onto his face. The little imp looked much like his big brother, Freyr. "Hello, little one," Kili crooned softly.

Fror yawned in response and Kili chuckled.

Tauriel leaned over and stroked the small baby's hand with a gentle finger. "He is a very fine son, Fili," she praised.

Kili offered the child to his wife, and she reverently took Fror into her arms as tears filled her eyes. Carefully, she raised him to her lips and kissed his forehead.

Kili felt his chest ache. He could see the longing in Tauriel's face even if no one else could tell it was there. His arm slid around to rub the small of her back comfortingly.

Fror yawned once again and then began to fuss.

"Someone is ready to eat," Fili smiled as he retrieved his son from Tauriel's arms.

She smiled at the blonde dwarf prince. "Tell Sigrid we will be back to visit her once she has had time to rest."

Fili smiled. His eyes latched onto his brother's gaze and they exchanged a nod. Fili was thanking Kili for being in the birthing room with him and reassuring him when things seemed to be lost. Kili, in turn, was letting his brother know that he'd be there whenever he needed him.

As they walked back to their rooms, Kili threaded his thick fingers with the slender ones of his wife. "Tauriel," he began hesitantly.

She looked over at him, sensing that something was bothering her husband. "What is it, love?" she asked in a soft voice.

"I do not want children, not if you must suffer in that way." His dark eyes suddenly glistened with moisture as he stared up at his beautiful wife. "Sigrid was in so much pain."

"Kili, my body is more suited to delivering the child of a dwarf. I will be fine should I ever conceive." Tauriel cupped her husband's face, glad for the late hours and empty corridors.

"Sigrid is quite hardy," Kili protested, "and she was nearly lost. The pain seemed nearly unbearable to her." His eyes were haunted with his memories of the evening.

"That is the way of childbirth," Tauriel said simply. "It is simply how things work; there is no way to change it."

"I could not bear it if anything were to happen to you and our child," Kili told his elf bride fiercely, his eyes still flooded with tears.

Tauriel rested her forehead against his. "You must not borrow trouble, Kili. There is no child growing in my womb. You have no need to fear." Although her voice was reassuring, it also carried a note of sadness.

"I love you so," Kili murmured, pressing upward to kiss his wife's lips.

"As I love you," Tauriel replied against his mouth. "Now, we must return to Fili's children." She kept her hand nestled in her husband's and fought to bury the empty ache in her heart deep inside.

To Be Continued…