Chapter Eight
Over the course of the next seven months, Bilbo's stomach grew until even he was surprised by the girth of it. That is not to say that others around him could call him fat, for the hobbit was much more sensitive about nearly everything then he had been before. The dragons had grown too and Bilbo was very proud of them, they were crawling around the floor of the king's rooms and trying to get into anything their little hands could lay upon. They also babbled at each other nearly constantly, something that Bilbo thought adorable. The dwarves had warmed to the hatchlings slightly, Bilbo said it was because no one could resist their cuteness.
Still it was a surprise when he awoke one morning to find an actual baby dragon curled against his side. The hatchlings had been quite vocal about using a cradle and prefered to sleep with Bilbo and Thorin. Thorin perfered to not have his ears yelled off by a hormonal Bilbo and so had agreed. Bilbo smiled at the tiny sleeping dragon, who was blowing slight puffs of smoke as it slept. Bilbo hesitated a moment, before gently stroking the dragon scales, delighted by how soft they were. He wasn't sure if the dragon he caressed was Vladis or Somor and that upset him slightly. Still he loved both his little hatchlings, even though it was hard to tell them apart in their dragon forms. For some reason their eyes were blue and green when they were human, but they both had yellow eyes as dragons. Other then that the twins looked identical in both forms. Bilbo had asked the scribes about that and they told them that the children of dragon would take entirely after their dragon parent, do to the way that dragons conceived. There hadn't been much more information then that, however, something that troubled the hobbit.
He felt a slight twinge across his stomach and frowned, that had hurt slightly, but he couldn't go out, not with a baby dragon in tow. He sat up slowly, as to not disturb the sleeping dragon and smiled at its sibling, who laid curled at his feet. Thorin must have left for the council, not saying goodbye to Bilbo, as the baby was making him have trouble sleeping. Then Bilbo felt a sharp pain again and frowned, pulling up his shirt and staring at the bright red mark. "Get into your human forms ." Bilbo said to his children and smiled as they shifted, still fast asleep. He grabbed them and the baby sling from where he kept it, before going down the hall, as quickly as he could. He gasped as another contraction hit and panted through the pain, clutching at his stomach. He had to keep going and get to the healer, he had to. He managed to continue walking, through force of will, until he reached the healing rooms. He barged in and the healer took one look at him and sat him down.
"What is the matter Bilbo?" The healer asked and Bilbo glared at him.
"The baby...is coming." Bilbo panted. "Like..."
"Like you told me, yes I know what to do, everything will be fine and soon you will be holding your little one in your arms." He comforted the hobbit, before pulling on a bell. "Now lets get you out of that shirt and settle the hatchlings on one of the other beds." He said and gently removed the hatchlings from around Bilbo's shoulders. He set them down on a bed nearby, before going back to his patient. He sterilized a knife, by placing it in boiling water, before helping Bilbo to take off his shirt. "So I cut at the red mark, the long way round right?" He said and the hobbit nodded, the healer took the knife out of the hot water and made a shallow cut, before cutting slightly deeper and putting his hands inside of the cut he'd made. He then felt around for a moment, before pulling out the baby, who gave a loud cry, as Bilbo tried to see her. The healer was silent a moment, before a wide smile spread across his lips and he reached for the placenta. He then laid the baby down and started to stitch Bilbo's stomach back up.
"Let me hold my baby." Bilbo said.
"Let me just finish stitching you up first, then you can hold her."
"Her? Its a girl? Thorin said that was really rare."
"It is, but apparently you've got a fine young lass, what will you be naming her?" He asked, dwarven mothers always named their children and when Bilbo had offered to allow Thorin to have some say in what they named the baby, he had stated that it was for Bilbo to name their child.
"What do you think of Rose, because of Thorin's name. I know its more of a hobbit name then a dwarven one, but I like the name and I thought if I had a daughter, I'd like to name her either Rose or Thea."
"Both are very pretty, Thea sounds more like a traditional dwarven name, but I like Rose too. The choice is yours, as to what you wish to call your children." Bovin said and Bilbo frowned.
"What if I wanted some advice on what to name the child, I like both names, but she is going to grow up in Erebor. I don't want to choose a name for her, that would not fit."
"Whatever name you choose will fit." Bovin said and smiled at Bilbo. "She's a very pretty little lass, would you like to hold her, after I've cleaned her up a bit?"
"I'd love to hold her." Bilbo said and grinned, leaning back against the pillows. The healer cleaned the baby and handed her back to Bilbo. Her eyes were a beautiful cornflower blue, they were Thorin's eyes, looking up at him, from such a tiny precious little face. "Hello little one, I'm your Papa Bilbo, Papa Thorin will be here soon, with your cousins. Little one, are you a Rose or a Thea?" Bilbo asked the baby and got no response. "Well you are Thorin's daughter and mine, so I bet that you will have a bit of a temper." He said and kissed the baby's forehead. "You don't look much like a Rose, do you my Thea?" Bilbo said and cradled her in his arms. "You are going to be a beautiful woman, once grown and Papa Bilbo will teach you all about his homeland. You need to know where you came from, my little Thea." He said and stroked the baby's soft head lovingly. One of the hatchlings started to cry. "Those are your siblings, Vladis and Somor, they will take care of you and watch over you." Bilbo told the child in his arms. "They are very special little ones, as are you in your own way. Maybe one day they will let you ride on them, my little girl on the back of a dragon, imagine that Thea." He said and the baby just stared up at him. "You like my voice, don't you sweetheart?" Bilbo asked. "You know I'm your Papa and I'd never let any harm befall you."
Just then the door burst open, revealing Thorin and the boys, startling Thea who started to cry loudly. "Hush now Thea, that's your Papa and your cousins, I know they are noisy, but they love you very much."
"Thea?" Thorin demanded and Bilbo smiled.
"Thea, we have a daughter Thorin." Bilbo said and Thorin stared at Bilbo a moment, before his eyes rolled back in his head and he fainted. Fili caught Thorin and lowered him to the ground.
"You gave birth to a girl?" Fili asked and Bilbo nodded.
"She's very pretty." Bilbo told Fili. "She has Thorin's eyes, as Papa Thorin was being very silly, would you like to be held by your cousin Fili?" Bilbo asked the baby and smiled at Fili, as he came closer.
"I wouldn't know what to do."
"Yes, you would, you've held the hatchlings before, just be careful of her head." Bilbo said and handed the baby to Fili. Fili stared down at the small bundle and smiled.
"She is beautiful Uncle, she has Thorin's eyes, but why is she bald?" Kili asked.
"Is she supposed to have hair?" Bilbo asked surprised.
"All dwarven babies are born with a full head of hair." Fili said.
"Well she's not entirely dwarven, hobbit babies are born sometimes without hair, but it will grow in time." Bilbo said and smiled at Kili, before yawning.
"Would you like to rest some, Uncle Bilbo, we can take care of the children." Kili said.
"I want her close by me, but you can take the hatchlings, if you like." Bilbo said and Kili grinned.
"I'd love to, I'll take them to their room and I'll play with them for a bit, while you get some rest."
"Thank you Kili." Bilbo said and his eyes slipped closed.
Bilbo awoke to Thorin singing. "The mountain rises into the skies and we rise with the mountain. Rest now the jewel to my heart, rest and dream of caves of crystal, as they sparkle in the light. You will sparkle and shine day by day. Know that you are loved in every way, know that you are loved in every way. You are beautiful, my shining stone, if I have my way, you will never be alone. You are my most precious treasure, my love for you will stop never. You are the heart that beats outside my chest, go to sleep now child and safely rest." Thorin said and Bilbo blinked back sleep and smiled at Thorin, he cradled the baby in his arms, the tiny infant barely visible.
"That was beautiful Thorin."
"I didn't mean to wake you, I'm sorry Bilbo."
"Its fine, give her to me." Bilbo said and chuckled as Thorin reluctantly handed the baby to Bilbo. Bilbo held her to his chest, careful of the still healing wound. He smiled as the baby latched onto him and started to suckle. "That's my girl, you are a gutsy little thing aren't you?" Bilbo asked and smiled at Thorin.
"She's beautiful Bilbo, I hope she has your hair."
"She might at that." Bilbo said and sat up slightly in bed. "The boys are taking care of the hatchlings?"
"Yes, they are, though I don't like to think of what trouble they are getting up to."
"The hatchlings just started crawling, I doubt that they would be ready to pursue much mischief yet." Bilbo said wryly.
"I suppose that is true, they are much like other babies." Thorin said and smiled at Bilbo.
"Yes, they are." Bilbo said and returned the smile. "Could you get me something to eat?"
"Of course, the healer said you should take it easy until your wound closes." Thorin said and Bilbo nodded.
"I'm too tired to do much else. So I imagine that we'll have to repaint her room." He said and grinned.
"Blue is actually the traditional color for the rooms of royal children, before we paint it, maybe we should wait for her to be old enough to decide what she wants."
"Fair point." Bilbo agreed. "Though I want her close to me for now, would you object to sharing our bed with another child?"
"I wouldn't, but if you want more children someday, we should most probably get them used to sleeping in their own chambers."
"Thorin!" Bilbo said. "First off it was you, not I that thought that having sex during pregnancy would do harm to the baby. Secondly who says I want more children at the moment, I mean isn't three enough for now."
"For now, but I want to have a house full of them." Thorin said and looked so tenderly at their daughter that Bilbo felt his annoyance melt away.
"Alright, but you will have to deal with my mood swings and constant tiredness."
"It would be worth it, though you are right, maybe we shouldn't have more right away."
"Well thank you for that at least, I can get an herb that grows in the shire, that should stop me from getting pregnant."
"But the shire is eight months away."
"Too bad I didn't plan for my randy husband then." Bilbo said and laughed at the look Thorin gave him. The herb that Bilbo used, was in fact a common one, though Bilbo had found that he enjoyed baiting Thorin.
"Randy? You call me randy!"
"I do." Bilbo said and smiled. "Now can you please get me some food?"
"Of course, I almost forgot, I'll have someone send for it." Thorin said and left the healing rooms, returning to Bilbo's side.
"Where is Bovin?" Bilbo realized suddenly that they were alone in the healing rooms.
"Down celebrating the birth of our child, with everyone else in the kingdom." Thorin said and grinned. "I bet ballads are being written for her already."
"She's a bit small to have ballads written for her." Bilbo said and smiled at Thea who yawned and closed her eyes. Bilbo smiled softly, rocking her in his arms.
"She's a wild one, I couldn't get her to settle. She wanted her Papa Bilbo." Thorin said.
"Maybe I should be Dada instead of Papa, after all it might be hard for her to say our names at first."
"No I'll be Dada, Bilbo my heart, you are a Papa." Thorin said and kissed Bilbo soundly. "And you have made me a father."
"I highly doubt our daughter will be able to call you father any time soon." Bilbo said and Thorin laughed.
"I don't think I would want her to, in any case. Maybe she should when attending formal occasions and the like, but I don't want to be a father, as my father was to me. Father loved me, but he was a king's son first and a father second, everything he did, everything he taught me was for the good of the realm. I can count on one hand the times we did something together, just as father and son."
"I wouldn't want to be like my own father either, he loved me, but I had a certain wildness to me, even as a boy."
"You are hardly wild Bilbo, with your pocket handkerchiefs."
"For a hobbit, I am very wild." Bilbo said and pretended to snap at Thorin with his teeth.
"Very scary, I've seen kittens that would tremble in fear of you." Thorin said dryly and Bilbo arched an eyebrow.
"Oh really? I've clawed at more then just kittens." Bilbo said and Thorin nodded.
"That you have, you never stop amazing me Bilbo." Thorin said. "I hope that they left at least one person in the kitchens, because quite frankly, you might just as well be poisoned by my cooking. Now what do you want love?"
"Anything you can find, I don't care as long as its editable." Bilbo said as Fili and Kili burst into the room, with the two babies held on their shoulders. The twins were laughing and Somor had his chubby little fingers in Kili's hair.
"Apa!" Somor said and pointed at Bilbo, who stared at the child a moment, before grinning.
"He wanted you Bilbo, he was babbling to his sister, in whatever tongue they seem to speak together, then he turned to me and said Papa." Fili said and smiled.
"Hello little one, Papa can't play with you right now, he's got an ouchie."
"Ow?" Somor said.
"Yes, an ouchie, can you understand us Somor?" Bilbo asked and Somor cocked his head, before nodding, its sister did as well. "Were you afraid to talk before?" Bilbo asked and the little boy shook his head. "You just didn't want to?" He asked and the little dragon nodded. "You liked talking with your sister more, didn't you?" Bilbo asked and he nodded again. "Do you understand that you have a new sister?" Bilbo said and Somor grinned.
"Ity ites." The little dragon said.
"What Somor?" Bilbo asked.
"Ity ites, ike cwanle." Somor said and pointed at the torch. "Apa Foen ity ites, Fi Ki ity ites, So Sis ity ites, ofth Sis."
"I'm sorry I can't understand you Somor." Bilbo said and the little boy frowned, before squirming. Kili set him down and the little dragon patted Fili and Kili.
"Fi ofth Ki, Apa ofth Foen, So-Soma ofth Sis."
"You love our child, like I love Thorin?" Bilbo asked and the little dragon nodded.
"Ity ites." He said and grinned, pointing to Thorin and Bilbo. "Ity ites."
"Pretty lights?" Bilbo asked and Somor nodded, laughing happily. "Do you always see the pretty lights?" Bilbo asked and Somor nodded.
"Soma ook ike Sis, Foen ook ike Apa, Fi ook like Ki."
"No, Somor cannot be our daughter's one." Thorin said flatly. "I will not allow it!"
"And how do you propose preventing it Thorin, Somor needs us and so does his sibling. Nothing will happen for many years yet, Somor is still a hatchling, our daughter is but newly born. Save your yelling and defense of our daughter's honor for when she needs it. Though I doubt she'll ever need it, Somor will protect her."
"You can't know that!"
"I can and I do, if what he is saying is what we think he's saying, then he'll protect her. Our daughter is his mate and you know the stories about dragons and their mates."
"I do, but how do you know those aren't just tales Bilbo?"
"I don't, I cannot, but neither can I punish a child for who he will come to care for." Bilbo told Thorin, as Somor looked confused between both of them.
"Wha ean?" Somor asked and Bilbo smiled.
"Just that my daughter is a very special little girl, you are to take good care of her and make sure she never comes to harm."
"Ok." The little dragon said. "Soma see?"
"Yes you can see her, but she's sleeping right now." Bilbo told Somor and smiled at Thorin, as he clenched his fists. His daughter wasn't even a day old yet and already Thorin was being overprotective of his little princess. Bilbo chuckled at the thought of how Thorin would be once their daughter had grown into a woman. If the birth was anything to go by, her lifespan should be between a dwarf's and a hobbits, but Bilbo knew that only time would tell. Fili settled Somor on the bed, watching as he crawled to Bilbo. "Remember to be careful of Papa's ouchie Somor."
"Ok Apa." Somor said and Bilbo smiled.
"This is Thea, my daughter and your little sister." Bilbo said and smiled at Somor.
"Wea itta."
"Yes, she is really little, you were this size once, but you've grown since then." Bilbo told the baby dragon, though really Somor had never truly been as small as his daughter. Bilbo had a feeling that Somor would take his height more from men, then from dwarves and hobbits, once he was grown. "Now about those pretty lights you see, have you seen more of them?"
"Efeyane as a ity ite, dey ife Soma ow." Somor said.
"They hurt you Somor?" Bilbo asked and Somor frowned.
"Dey ake awd to see." Somor said. "Too bwite."
"They are too bright for you, little one?" Bilbo asked and Somor nodded.
"Don' wike ity ites, don' wike no see. Don' wike ots of..."He pointed at Thorin.
"You don't like to be around a lot of people, because of the pretty lights you see?" Bilbo asked and Somor nodded.
"Ow." He said and Bilbo nodded.
"Well from now on, you and Vladis will only see the pretty lights when you want to." Bilbo said and Somor grinned at Bilbo, before tiny hands tried to wrap around him in a hug. "I love you too Somor, but Papa has an ouchie remember?" He said and saw the little dragon's face scrunch up, like it did whenever he was upset. "Would you like to see Papa's ouchie, it only hurts a little, but I can't be moved or hugged around my middle, until the ouchie gets better." He told the boy and Somor nodded. Bilbo handed the baby to Thorin and lifted up his shirt.
"Ig ow Apa!" Somor said. "Apa oin' to be ok?"
"Papa is going to be okay, but this will take several days to heal. You can't hug me until the wound closes, it will hurt Papa if you do and you don't want to hurt Papa do you?" He asked and Somor shook his head.
"Ofth Apa, don' wan' ow." Somor said.
"Some things are worth the pain, I got the ouchie, because your sister had to come out of my belly. Remember when you felt her move inside my belly, well she got too big for my belly and had to come out. So the healer helped me to take your sister out." He said and Somor buried his head in Bilbo's lap.
"Don' wike ow, wike sis, no ow." He said and Bilbo smiled softly, stroking Somor's head, which so far lacked any sign of hair. He wondered briefly if dragons were always bald, or if it was just when they were young.
"I know, but sometimes ouchies are worth it, your sister is worth any pain, as are you and your sibling."
"Soma boy! No ee!" Somor said.
"You need to decide that for yourself Somor, I know you can become both genders if you like. Do you think you are a boy, because I gave you a more manly name?"
"Nuh uh, Soma boy, odda orec Sis and Adas." Somor said and Bilbo smiled at the little dragon.
"If you want to be a boy, you can be a boy, if you want to be a girl be a girl, boy or girl it doesn't matter to me. You can be both or continue to be neither and I won't love you any less."
"I iwl." Vladis said and Bilbo smiled.
"If you want to be a girl, that's fine Vladis, but if you want to be a boy, we can change your name as well."
"Nuh uh, I iwl, Adas ike pwitty lowers. Adas ike dwesses, I iwl."
"Alright sweetheart, your a girl and your brother is a boy." Bilbo said and smiled at both his children. "But know if you change your minds at any time, I will love you no matter what you choose to be."
"No oice, you say we obey." Somor said. "Don' wike."
"I know, but all children have to listen to their parents Somor, you just have to actually do as I say. Though have I ever ordered you to do something that wasn't necessary at the time? You can't hurt people in Erebor, you can't climb on things that might give you ouchies if you fell, but beyond that I've let you be who you are, haven't I?"
"Uh huh, ofth Apa." Somor said. "Adas does too, no wike aek."
"She just doesn't like to talk."
"Wike aek wif Soma, no wike aek..." Somor growled and Bilbo smiled.
"Its alright Somor, you are learning to speak, when you talk together, is it in another talk."
"Uh huh, wike Foen's aek, no Foen's aek."
"Its like Thorin's talk, but its not Thorin's talk. Its your own talk, or is it a shared talk?"
"Awed aek, awed wif Soma and Adas and aey Apa."
"Aey Apa?"
"Apa das in da aey..." Somor pointed upward. "Eee oud Adas an Soma, he go aey, no op ofth. Eee oud Adas an Soma da unna man come, if Aey Apa no come. Unna man was Apa Ilo." Somor said and Bilbo stared at him.
"How much do you remember of your life Somor?"
"Ots, see day ememer eet." Somor said and Bilbo stared at the dragon baby, he knew dragons were intelligent but he had never imagined that they were this intelligent.
"You remember everything?" Bilbo said and Somor nodded. "How?"
"Usd do." Somor said and shrugged.
"I never knew that dragons could remember all they learned, why don't they rule all of middle earth?"
"En owda et sweepy ots, otta sweep a wea wot." Somor said and yawned. "Sweepy now."
"Adas too." Vladis said and was set on the bed, she crawled over to her brother and curled herself around him. Bilbo smiled and gently stroked their little heads, they purred contentedly and he smiled down at them, as they fell asleep. Somor always let out a growling little snore that Bilbo thought adorable, though his sister was quiet in slumber.
He watched the children sleep for a few more moments, before he turned towards Thorin. "You should take her, my arms are getting tired and I want to sleep a bit more."
"I will be here when you wake up my love." Thorin said and took Thea from Bilbo. Bilbo closed his eyes and fell into sleep as his body recovered from its ordeal.