Fili bounced his tiny son in his arms. Vijl was hungry and it had been several hours since he ate last, but Fili would not interrupt Hana again. Not when the end was so close. And they were getting to the end, Fili could tell.

Three times during Agli's long labor Hana had come out to nurse her three month old, but now, Vijl would just have to wait until his cousin was born. Mailis and Thorin were asleep, snuggled together on the couch in Torsten's sitting room. Iomhar sat, nervously fletching arrows. The twins had finally fallen into a light dozing sleep after pacing the room as nervously as their father. Kili looked frazzled. As soon as this was over, Fili knew Kili would go to the archery range to work out all his energy and nervousness.

For now, they could only wait. They couldn't hear much on the other side of the heavy wooden door, but once in a while they could hear Agli's painful cries. Fili paced the room, gently bouncing Vijl and letting him suck on his finger.

After Fili had returned to Erebor, he presented Torsten an opportunity to stay in Erebor. Fili offered him the position of chief engineer and Torsten had agreed. He and Agli had been living in Erebor ever since, but Fili had been talking to his cousin Gimli recently. Gimli was thinking of leaving the Glittering Caves soon and was wondering if Torsten might agree to leaving Erebor to become Lord of the Glittering Caves. Fili and Kili had given Gimli their consent, but asked they not talk to Torsten about it until the baby was born. Fili couldn't help but wonder how long Torsten and Agli would stay, once the title was offered to him. He would hate to see them leave, but Torsten was the best choice for taking the Lordship of the Glittering Caves.

"It's quiet," Kili said.

It was quiet. Fili stopped his pacing and held still. He strained his ears, but all he could hear were the quiet muffled voices of people on the other side of the door. Kili went to the door and leaned against it, his ear pressed flat to the wood.

"I can hear it, Fee!" he whispered excitedly.

"Hear what?"

"My grandchild," Kili was grinning.

Fili slapped his brother on the back. "Congratulations."

A few minutes later, the door opened and Torsten wheeled his way out In his lap was a baby wrapped in a blanket. He stopped and held the baby in his arms.

"Adad, Uncle, your majesties, allow me to present to you, my son, Prince Dursten."

"Well done, boy," Kili said, putting a hand on Torsten's shoulder. "I'm so happy for you."

Iomhar poked Keil in the arm, who jerked awake, waking his twin in the process. They ran to their eldest brother and looked at their nephew.

"What is it?" Klin asked.

"It's a baby, dimwit," Iomhar teased.

Klin kicked at Iomhar's leg. "I know that, but it is a boy or a girl?"

"It's a boy. His name is Dursten," Torsten answered.

"Oh," Klin cooed. "May I touch his hand?"

Torsten nodded and the twins each took one of the newborn's hand in theirs.

"I'm Uncle Klin."

"And I'm Uncle Keil."

"And we are going to teach you the best stuff."

Torsten laughed. He held his son up to Kili. Kili took the infant and held him close to his chest. "He's perfect, Tor. Looks a lot like you did when you were born." Kili ran his hand over the dark, thick, velvety hair on Dursten's head. "How's Agli?"

"Exhausted, but she came through with flying colors. Hana said everything went perfectly," Torsten answered, with no small amount of relief in his voice.

Tauriel came out a few minutes later. "Well," she said with a grin, "what do you think of my grandson?"

"He's amazing," Fili said.

"I know," Tauriel was stroking Dursten's head now. "Hana said she'll be out soon," she told Fili.

"Good, thank you."

Dursten let out a cry, which started Vijl, making him cry, which woke up Mailis and Thorin.

"Baby?" Mailis asked.

"Yes," Torsten took his son back. "Come and see your cousin, Dursten."

The children ran over. Mailis, who was now five, looked over the baby. "He's little, like Vijl. I like him."

"Baby Dursten?" four year old Thorin looked to his oldest cousin. Torsten nodded. "We can play together."

"Not quite yet," Torsten smiled and ruffled Thorin's dark hair.

Hana came out, carrying a bag to be taken to the laundry.

"How is she?" Kili asked.

Hana smiled. "She's very well, but tired. She needs to rest now."

Tauriel took the bag from Hana. "I'll take this to the laundry. You go home, take care of your son and get some sleep," she told Hana. "You're a new mother yourself and I know Vijl isn't sleeping through the nights yet. Don't worry about anything here." She turned to her son. "I'll stay here, tonight, if you wish."

"Thank you," Torsten said. "I was worried about being on our own tonight."

Tauriel kissed her son's head. "It's my joy to stay and help."

Hana and Fili congratulated the family once more and left for their home with their three little ones in tow.

Iomhar took the twins and Tauriel took the laundry, promising to return very soon. Kili and Torsten checked on Agli and made sure she was comfortable, then they encouraged her to sleep.

After she fell asleep, the three generations of fathers and sons sat together in the sitting room, Torsten hold his son in his arms and looked over him. Kili watched them, remembering the night he had hel Torsten for the first time. All children were precious, but there was something very special about that first child that turns you into a parent.

"Adad? How do I do it? How do I take this perfect child and raise him?"

"I don't know how it is done. You just do it," Kili answered. "You'll figure it out."

"What if I mess up?"

"Of course you'll make mistakes, but you won't mess up. You'll raise him with Agli. Your mother and I are always here to help, as are Fili and Hana. I have a feeling you will do a great job. You'll be an excellent father."

"Thank you, Adad, for everything."

NAMES NOTES:

I'm an onomast, a studier of names. I love names! I think that is one reason I love to write: I get to name many characters! Today's names are brought to you by Google Translator.

Fili's son Vijl: 'file': 'vilj' is Dutch for 'file', Fili's name is Frisian or Old High German for 'file' (according to the Tolkien Gateway website)

Dursten: 'rough stone': 'dur' is Romanian for 'rough' and 'sten' is Norwegian for 'stone', yeah, I'm mixing languages.

Thanks again for the great comments. I try and reply to many of them, but there are a few guest comments that I can't PM, so, thank you Elise and Aranel and others who are listed only as 'Guest' for all your kind reviews! Yes, Aranel, I loved your suggestion and used it. Thanks for the great ideas.