"I thought perhaps you had forgotten about me," Tauriel jestingly lamented as Kíli came into their bedroom. He had been gone a long time, putting their children to bed.

"Impossible." He smiled across the room at her. "But it took some coaxing to get those two quiet for their story. After running wild all day long, they still had quite a lot of energy."

"They take after their father," Tauriel said as she continued weaving her hair into a loose plait. On warm summer nights like this, she found it far more comfortable to sleep with her hair tied back, and even Kíli did not complain (much) that he could not immerse himself in those copper waves.

"Ah?" He cocked a mischievous eyebrow at her. "And have you any suggestions for how to tire me out if I'm not yet ready to sleep?"

She laughed. "Hmm… I'll let you know if something occurs to me." She tied off her braid, then stood and went to the head of the bed, where a small pulley controlled the slatted roof panels above, allowing them to be opened or closed as weather and comfort demanded. She experimented with the shutters till she found the angle that caught the most of the cool evening breeze and directed it down to them.

Kíli was sitting on his side of the bed, unwinding the braids from his own hair; they were something of a mess after today's adventures, and tomorrow, he would ask her to remake them. Tauriel lay down and watched him as he then stood, pulled off shirt and trousers and tossed them, loosely folded, into the wardrobe.

"Oh, by all means, don't stop there," Tauriel teased as he climbed into bed, clad only in his small clothes. "You gave the rest of the world a full view of yourself today, so you mustn't be shy before your own wife."

"Mustn't I?" Kíli kissed her, then lay back on his pillow. "Maybe you can convince me."

Tauriel propped herself up on her elbow to look at him. "What I want to know, hadhodeg, is what convinced you and two most regal elves to strip naked and jump into the lily pond."

"Well." He reached over and flicked the strap of her nightgown off her shoulder. "You know, I'd been up and down the garden without so much as catching sight of our little Galad when I met the twins. They agreed to help me look; they knew all the best places for hiding, they said. And sure enough, there we found him under the footbridge on the south garden walk.

"He didn't want to get dressed, of course, after having his taste of freedom. He made quite a lot of fanciful excuses against it and demanded to know why he must dress, so finally I told him that naked dwelflings were simply not allowed in Rivendell.

"'Adad, you're wrong,' he said, and begged the twins to tell me so.

"But very gravely Elladan assured him it was true; it was a very serious offense for little dwelflings to go without clothes. 'Oh yes, and the punishment is quite unspeakable,' added Elrohir. Poor little Galadion! He looked quite shocked and desperate at this news.

"Of course, there was one exception to the rule, Elrohir said, and that was for swimming."

Tauriel interrupted Kíli's narrative with a laugh. "Of course! And no doubt that is the only reason my own dwarf wasn't thrown out of Rivendell years ago for just the same crime."

Kíli's lips curved up in a smile. "No doubt. Anyway, the twins agreed that the only way to save Galadion from the worst of punishments was to make sure he went swimming right away. So they scooped him up and carried him off. About when we got to the lawn, Galadion wanted to know how we could go swimming with him if we had all our clothes still on, so we had to stop and undress, too. Galadion thought it was the very best of jokes. And, well, after that we ran into you."

"I see," Tauriel said. "Yes, I can believe that my young son and my young husband could make a few fully grown elves forget to act their age."

"And what about you, amrâlimê? You were carrying on with us. Did you forget yourself, too?"

"No, Kíli." She smiled softly as she drew a lock of his hair through her fingers; the strands still held a tight ripple from the braid. "With you, I always act exactly my age."

"Good." He caught her about the neck and drew her to him for a kiss. "I love you, my sweet young wife."

She laid a hand on his bare chest, combing her fingers through the rough hair that liberally covered his skin. He was so warm, on this summer night when the air was so warm that almost one could not wish for bodily contact. Almost.

Tauriel leaned more fully against him, and she kissed him again. He took hold of her, settling her atop him. Her knee slipped easily across his body and her foot looped back to tangle in his legs. She could feel the heat of his palms through her light gown as his hands pressed down over her waist and hips; then he found her skin as his fingers slid into the hollow of her knee.

She laughed against his mouth. Kíli had discovered how ticklish she was on their wedding night, and eight years of marriage had not taught him to have any mercy. Not that she disliked being teased by him…

"Meleth," she whispered, as his broad hands moved up along her bare thighs. Tauriel buried her face in his neck, and then they tipped over so that he lay above her.

She passed her hands around his back and slipped one beneath his small clothes to clasp his buttock.

Kíli exhaled, the sound somewhere between a moan and a laugh. "I do enjoy being convinced by y—"

"Amad!"

A bright voice cut across Kíli's husky growl.

"Amad, I can't sleep."

Tauriel drew her hands back to herself, and Kíli gave a disappointed groan as he tugged her nightgown back into place and tumbled off her to his own side of the bed again. But when Eydís padded over, he put out his hand and hoisted her up beside him. She climbed over his body to flop into the space between him and Tauriel.

"I can't sleep. It's too hot," the little dwelf said.

"It's hot in here, too, my love," Tauriel said, feeling an ironic smile on her lips. The hammering of her pulse and the perspiration dewing her skin had nothing to do with the summer heat. "I think you would be cooler back in your own bed. It will be even warmer with all three of us here."

Eydís yawned and nestled down against the feather mattress. "No. It's better now."

Tauriel heard Kíli chuckle softly from the far side of the bed.

"Good night, my jewel," he said, and tickled his daughter's foot once.

Everything was quiet for a while, save for the rushing of the water outside the bedroom windows. As the flames of unfulfilled desire ebbed oh so slowly from Tauriel's limbs, she took what amused comfort she could from the knowledge that Kíli, at least, understood precisely how frustrated she was. Ah well, tomorrow, surely they could find a few moments just to themselves…

After a quarter of an hour that passed far more slowly than it should have, Tauriel was drifting off when soft footsteps again sounded in the room. She sat up. "Galadion, what is it?" she asked.

"I don't like sleeping all alone," her son said, gazing hopefully at her from the foot of the bed.

"Come here," she said, patting the mattress.

Galadion needed no further invitation, but quickly scrambled up beside his sister. There was a brief tussle as the two dwelflings fought for places down the center of the bed. Sheets were tangled and then untangled and everyone thoroughly jostled before all was settled again.

In the stillness at last, Tauriel glanced across at Kíli, who was now quite effectively divided from her by their two children. It was impossible to get an arm to him, but if she shifted one long leg, she could just nudge his foot with her own.

At her touch, Kíli smiled, and she knew that he was happy. Oh, so was she.

Author's note:

hadhodeg - "my little dwarf"

Well, here's the end of this fluffy little fic! Poor Tauriel and Kíli; they're going to have to enlist a proper babysitter next time. But I think there may be a few elves willing to look after some adorable little dwelflings, don't you? Our lovebirds may be disappointed, but I'm not because I got to write heaps of cute family fluff.

If you enjoyed this fic, I'd love to hear from you! :) Did you like Kíli's story of how everyone ended up in that pond?