Chapter 18
Kili glared at Dain annoyed that Dain was kissing Primrose's hand. No dwarf but him should kiss her. He then realised he had no need to be jealous and Dain was just showing Primrose respect by kissing her hand.
Dain stepped back and bowed then returned to his seat. The representatives from the other dwarf clans then swore fealty to Kili and Primrose as did representatives of the dwarves from Erebor. Thranduil then came forward and made a speech.
"As King of Mirkwood I wish to congratulate you both on your coronation. Until recently I harboured mistrust and enmity towards dwarves as a result of past grievances. However you have both showed me that not all dwarves are to be mistrusted or are greedy. I wish to extend to you Kili King under the Mountain and Primrose Queen under The Mountain the offer of friendship and an alliance. It is my hope that we can trade with one another and fight together if the need should arise. Our bows and swords are yours should you need them. May this be the beginning of a long and prosperous friendship," Thranduil said.
"It is my wish also to be friends and allies," Legolas said, joining his fathers.
He too had realised that not all dwarves were greedy and not to be trusted.
"And mine," Tauriel added.
Kili nodded.
"I would be honoured to call Thranduil, the Elf King my friend and ally," Kili said.
The elves then sat down and Bard stood. He made a similar speech to the one Thranduil made.
"As Lord of Dale I wish also to extend the offer of friendship and it is my hope that you will help us rebuild Dale and restore it to how it was before Smaug came. I believe we can be of great help to one another. I have a song to sing," Bard said.
He cleared his throat and sang:
"The King beneath the mountains,
The King of carven stone,
The lord of silver fountains
Shall come into his own!
His crown shall be upholden,
His harp shall be restrung,
His halls shall echo golden
To songs of yore re-sung.
The woods shall wave on mountains
And grass beneath the sun;
His wealth shall flow in fountains
And the rivers golden run.
The streams shall run in gladness,
The lakes shall shine and burn,
All sorrow fail and sadness
At the Mountain-king's return!"
Kili smiled and Primrose clapped when Bard was finished. Some of the words of the song were the same as the prophecy they had heard while in Lake Town.
"I was wrong about the prophecy. It wasn't suggesting that the return of the King under the Mountain would bring sadness to us but that he would bring in a new time of prosperity," Bard said.
"Thank you for the song and yes I indeed intend to make this kingdom prosperous again," Kili said, " I would be glad to be friends and allies with you and help you rebuild Dale," Kili said.
"Thank you Kili King under the Mountain," Bard said.
He bowed and returned to his seat. Gandalf then said a few words as did Elrond. The final person to speak was Beorn.
"Until recently I have hated dwarves because they are greedy. But I have come to see that you Kili King under the Mountain are not greedy. You and your wife did a very brave thing keeping the Arkenstone from your Uncle. I am glad you are now King under the Mountain and I believe you will make a very fine king. I would like to consider you a friend and my home is your home should you ever visit. You will be safe and protected from all harm there," Beorn said.
"Thank you Beorn. I would be honoured to call you a friend.
Kili then stood again.
"It is with great joy and delight that I wish to officially announce that Primrose is with child. Our child will be half dwarf half hobbit and will be my heir. He or she will be born in just over 10 months' time and I trust that his or her bloodlines not being full dwarf will not be a problem for anyone," Kili said.
Everyone cheered as the two smiled happily.
Then Kili and Primrose were blessed by a dwarf holy man and the coronation was over. Kili and Primrose led the way out of the throne room and a feast was then held to celebrate their coronation. After the feast was over Kili and Primrose retired to their quarters for the night. They were now using the Royal Quarters which were reserved for the King and his Queen. Thorin had used them for the short period that he lived in Erebor and they were now Kili and Primrose's. The two had been given lots of gifts including a brand new bow and some arrows for Kili made by Bofur, and golden armour for Kili that had been handed down in the family from Thrain to Thror to Thorin. It was ceremonial armour and would only be worn on special occasions. For Primrose there was a shirt made of mithril which would protect her should she ever be in battle and beautiful jewellery. At the end of the night when the two retired to their quarters Primrose turned to Kili.
"I really should let Uncle Bilbo know that I am ok. He must be really worried about me," Primrose said.
"Do you wish to return to the Shire and visit him?" Kili asked.
"I would like that very much but not until our bubba is born. I would like him to be able to meet his great niece or nephew," Primrose said.
"I will have a message sent to him telling him you are here at Erebor and are well. I will tell him that you are now my wife and living with me here and that you are with child and that we will visit him once our baby has arrived.
9 months later…
"My lord, my lord you must come quickly. The Queen's waters have broken and her contractions have begun," a servant told Kili.
He was practicing his archery and Primrose had dispatched the servant to find him. The servant had bowed and apologised for interrupting Kili then passed on the message.
"I will come at once," Kili said.
The servant bowed again then hurried off to let Primrose know that Kili was coming. Kili quickly packed up his bow and arrows and slinging his bow onto his holster he headed back inside the mountain and down to the royal quarters. There he found Primrose lying on their bed clad in her nightgown. She had a hand on her very rounded stomach and was grimacing. Oin was at her side and he bowed when Kili entered.
"Primrose is in the early stages of labour my King. And it is my belief she may be carrying twins. Have you noticed how big she has become and how early she began to show? I wasn't sure until recently and didn't want to say anything in case I was wrong. But as she's gone into labour early that would confirm my suspicions," Oin said.
"We had both begun to wonder that ourselves. Right now I just want the baby or babies to be born safe and healthy," Kili said.
"I have given her some herbs for the pain but there isn't much more I can do right now until her contractions get closer together. I've examined her and her cervix needs to spread much more. Just so you know if she is carrying twins she will deliver one then she will start having contractions again and will need to push again to deliver the second twin. I cannot tell you if they are identical or not. If they are the first born will be your heir. If they are fraternal then your son will be your heir even if he's born second," Oin said.
"What if we have twin girls?" Primrose asked.
"The first born will be Kili's heir unless you and he have another child and it is a son. If that happens your son would be Kili's heir," Oin said.
Both Kili and Primrose nodded.
"My love if we are having twins and they are boys I think it would be appropriate to name them Thorin and Fili," Kili said.
"Yes that would be totally appropriate," Primrose said.
"Thorin for the eldest and Fili for the other," Kili said.
"If we have a boy and a girl the boy shall be Thorin," Kili said.
"And the girl what shall we call her?" Primrose asked.
She winced as a contraction passed. The two had a brief discussion of names and settled on Birgit. If they had two girls they would be Birgit and Belladonna.
Primrose's labour continued on into the night her contractions getting closer and closer together. Kili stayed by her side giving her support and comfort. As Primrose's contractions grew closer together her pain increased. Oin gave her more herbs as her labour progressed and constantly checked her. Finally early the next morning after 15 hours of labour Oin told Primrose that she was ready to push. He lifted her nightgown above her waist and she bent her knees up allowing Oin to be able to see what was going on.
"When your next contraction comes I want you to push as hard as you can. Push down into your bottom as though you're using the toilet," Oin said.
Primrose nodded and when her next contraction came she pushed hard, letting out a cry as she did so. Kili held her up so she could bear down and that made things a little easier. This process was repeated for about half an hour until Oin suddenly smiled at Primrose.
"I can see the head. Your baby has dark hair like yours Kili," Oin said.
Primrose smiled at Kili who squeezed her hand.
"Prim you need to push again with the next contraction then pant as the baby's head is born," Oin said.
Primrose nodded and then the next contraction came. She pushed with all her might then panted as the baby's head emerged. Oin caught it in his hands and gently guided it as the baby rotated.
"A couple more pushes should do it," Oin said.
Primrose pushed again when the next contraction came and with the next and suddenly the rest of the baby slid out into Oin's arms. Primrose fell back exhausted and Kili smiled happily.
"My Lord and Queen you have a son," Oin said checking the baby to see what gender it was.
"Thorin, his name is Thorin. He will be Thorin the third," Kili said, happily.
Oin cleaned Thorin up and passed him to Primrose. She cuddled him tears of joy running down her face. She had only been cuddling him for a short while when contractions began again. This confirmed that she was indeed going to have a second baby and had been carrying twins.
"You need to push again Prim with each contraction," Oin said.
Primrose went through the same process that she had been through to deliver Thorin and at the end of it her second baby was born. It was another boy and was identical to Thorin with the same dark hair.
"Fili, his name is Fili," Kili said.
Both Fili and Thorin had tufts of dark hair on their feet and their feet were leathery like Primrose's. Primrose was exhausted so after the placenta had been delivered and found to be ok she just wanted to sleep. Kili left her and the twins so they could rest. Primrose was able to rest until the twins decided it was time for their first feed.
Later that day Dis came to visit Kili and Primrose and meet her grandsons.
"Mama meet Thorin and Fili. I hope you like their names," Primrose said.
"I love their names. Your Uncle and brother and law would have been honoured that you named them after them. Which was born first?" Dis said.
"Thorin was so he will be Thorin the third after Kili goes to the halls of waiting," Primrose said.
Dis smiled then asked Primrose which was which. The two boys were identical so had been wrapped in different coloured blankets.
"Thorin's in the blue blanket, Fili the green. It's the only way I can tell them apart at the moment," Primrose said.
Dis picked up her grandsons.
"Hey boys I'm your Grandmama. It's really good to meet you both," she said.
She rocked them gently and cooed to them. Kili came in not long after.
"How are you doing my love? I see our sons have met Grandmama," he said.
"I'm doing well. Not as tired as I was earlier," Primrose said.
Kili nodded and kissed her. Dis then passed him Fili and he spent some time rocking Fili and cooing to him. Fili waved his tiny hands at him and gurgled.
"I think he's saying hello," Kili said.
He then passed Fili back to Dis and held Thorin. Thorin gurgled and buried his hands in Kili's long hair.
"Ouch," Kili said.
He carefully extracted Thorin's hands from his hair but Thorin buried his hands in Kili's hair again.
Three months later Kili and Primrose presented their sons to the dwarves and invited guests. Representatives from the other clans came as did Thranduil, Bard, Legolas, Tauriel, Beorn, Radagast and Gandalf. Kili made a speech telling everyone the names of their sons and then held them up so that everyone could see them and placed a tiny crown on each of the princes' heads. He introduced Prince Thorin as his heir and crown prince and Fili as Prince Fili. The assembled Dwarves and guests cheered and the dwarf holy man, who had blessed Primrose and Kili, blessed the babies. Then the dwarves and guests were able to personally meet the babies.
"You have handsome sons. But I must confess I would not be able to tell them apart were they not wearing different robes and crowns," Dain said.
Each of their sons had been dressed in tiny robes, Thorin in dark blue and Fili in dark red. Their crowns were made of gold and mithril.
"You are blessed to have such handsome sons. I too was blessed when Legolas was born," Thranduil said.
"I hope your sons grow to be strong warriors. I too hope to have a son who will be a warrior," Legolas said.
He and Tauriel had been courting and he hoped to become betrothed to her. Beorn presented Kili and Primrose with wooden cribs for the babies.
"Thank you everyone for your kind words and gifts," Kili said at the end of the ceremony.
The ceremony was followed by a feast to celebrate the birth of the Princes.