The Miracle of Love

Chapter 2

"I'm pregnant." Saying it out loud made everything more real. Up until now Bilbo knew he was pregnant in the back of his mind, but saying it made him realize that there is something growing inside of him.

"Y-y-you are pregnant," question Bofur and Bilbo nodded in confirmation. "You can't be pregnant, you never… You know…"

"Well I did."

"I thought you wanted to wait," exclaimed Bofur at the revelation. "To make things special."

"Can you keep it down a bit? I don't want the whole school to know."

Bofur sighed. "Why did you do it," he finally asked.

"Why everyone does it," spat Bilbo back. He was a little annoyed by Bofur's judgmental tone. "I found the right person to do it with and I did it."

"But you always said that the right person for you was…," Bofur trailed off, he finally understood why his friend has done it and most importantly, with who. "You slept with Thorin," Bofur stated his voice showing compassion.

"It's not important," answered Bilbo.

"It is important! This is Thorin's baby you are carrying –"

"This is my baby I'm carrying," interrupted Bilbo before he realized what he just said. This was his baby. The small group of cells growing inside him represented his baby.

Bofur was little surprised with Bilbo's answer but he decided to ignore it. "Are you sure you are pregnant?"

"Yes. I took three pregnancy tests at home."

"And they were all positive," questioned Bofur.

"Yes. Without a doubt they were all positive."

"Have you told your parents?"

Bilbo raised an eyebrow at Bofur's question. "I only found out this morning, there wasn't a lot of time to have this kind of conversation. I couldn't just go downstairs and be like 'hey mum, I'm pregnant, got to run now, talk to you later'."

"I see your point. When are you planning on telling them? You have to let them know soon, because I have heard that this kind of pregnancies can end up badly if the patient doesn't visit the doctor regularly."

"I'll tell them." Bofur raised an eyebrow. "Soon, I promise. Can I get a hug now?"

Bofur didn't have to be told twice before he pulled his friend into a loving embrace. "Come on, let's go back to class."

"I don't feel like it," complained Bilbo. "Everything there smells of cheese flips and they make my stomach turn."

"Okay, then we'll go somewhere else."

"Not to the cafeteria," exclaimed Bilbo. "I don't know what they are cooking in there but it smells horrible."

"I thought you liked the food here," said Bofur.

"I did. Before I got pregnant," Bilbo whispered the last part. "Now I hate it." Bofur couldn't help but laugh at his friend's statement.

:::

Bofur was a great friend. He didn't mention the pregnancy for the rest of the day. He figured out that Bilbo was already worried enough and he needed his support not his judging. They spent the rest of class in the school park and they returned to school when the bell rang. Bilbo went to apologize to Mr. Elrond for running out like this and he accepted his apology. Bilbo was one of his favorite students that's why he didn't question him what happened only advised him to talk to someone about whatever was troubling him.

Bilbo managed to keep the content of his stomach for the rest of the day. He didn't eat much except few crackers and some juice, because everything else didn't do well to his stomach.

He was relieved when the bell rang for the last time and he was finally able to go home. He and Bofur decided that a walk wasn't such a bad idea in such a nice weather and Bofur escorted him home.

As expected, Frodo was already home from school. He was full of energy and he kept running around the house demanding Bilbo's attention. But Bilbo was far too tired to be running after his little brother and playing his games. It was first day of school and that meant that he didn't get any homework or assignments to do. His afternoon was free and he decided to spend it in his room reading a book. He didn't even hear his parents come home until his mother called him for dinner. He had no intention of eating it, but if would refuse then his parents would get the confirmation that something is wrong.

When he entered the kitchen he was greeted with warm smiles from his parents. Nothing strange, he thought.

"How are you feeling, sweetheart," asked Belladonna while she filled Bilbo's plate with way too much food. "Are you feeling better? You still look rather pale."

"I'm fine," answered Bilbo as he accepted the plate he had no intention of eating.

Dinner was a quiet affair. The only one speaking was Frodo who apparently had a very eventful first day of school. Bilbo managed to get few bites of dinner down, but most of the time he spent playing with the food on the plate.

"Can I be excused," Bilbo asked.

"But you didn't eat anything," reasoned Belladonna.

"I'm not hungry. I had a big lunch at school," lied Bilbo.

"Alright then," answered Belladonna, unsure if her son was telling her the truth. "You can go."

Bilbo didn't need to be told twice. He cleaned his plate from the table and ran back upstairs to his bathroom. He didn't understand how this was even possible but he once again lost the content of his stomach even though there wasn't much in it. Whoever named this morning sickness was clearly never pregnant in his life. He washed his mouth and cleaned his teeth in no time. After two weeks of vomiting he became quite the expert on how to hide it and how to quickly get rid of the taste. But one thing he wasn't an expert and that was lying to his parents. He knew that sooner or later they will figure out that something is wrong with him and then they will, like all normal parents, start worrying.

In Bilbo's case things like this usually happen sooner than anticipated. It wasn't long after dinner when his mother called him to come down. He was laying on the bed, his face pressed into the pillow, when she called. "I'm coming," he called back but still took another ten minutes before he dragged himself downstairs.

He was too tired to notice the ambush his parents prepared in the kitchen. One door were already locked and the others got closed at the moment he entered. He was trapped.

"Why don't you sit down," said Bungo and led him to a kitchen chair and gently pushed him down to sit.

"We wanted to talk to you about some things," started Belladonna. "We noticed that you don't feel good and you look pale. You don't eat much. And there is that thing with the water in the bathroom."

Bilbo's eyes widened. He knew where this conversation is going and he wasn't prepared to have it just yet. If it was possible Bilbo became even paler.

Belladonna placed a card on the table and pushed it toward Bilbo. "We want you to talk to this person." Bilbo reached for the card with a shaking hand. It was the name and the number of psychiatrist. Why would he need a psychiatrist when he was pregnant? "We understand that you don't feel comfortable talking to us about all of your problems," continued Belladonna, "But maybe you could talk to someone you don't know."

"We just want you to make you feel better, son," added Bungo. "This thing that you are doing to yourself is not healthy."

Now Bilbo understood what they were trying to say. "I'm not having an eating disorder."

"We understand this is hard for you to accept this, but this is a disease and with the right treatment we can control it."

"You don't understand a thing!"

"Calm down son," soothed Bungo. "We're not here to judge you. We are here to help you get better."

"I'm not making myself sick if that is what you are implying."

"I have read enough books to know that everything is not alright. You don't eat, you try eating in front of us but you don't eat as you used to. You look pale and you lost a lot of weight. You constantly lie to us and there is that thing with the –"

"I'm pregnant," Bilbo blurted out before Belladonna could finish her sentence.

"What," asked Bungo with disbelief, but Bilbo did not answer.

"Sweetheart is that true," asked Belladonna after few moments, but once again Bilbo didn't answer.

They were quiet for few minutes until Bilbo decided to break the silence. "You are not going to yell at me about how big of a disappointment I am for a son and how I destroyed my life?"

"You already know that."

"Bungo!" warned Belladonna. "How did something like this even happen?"

"Do you really need me to explain how this happens? I thought you knew," answered Bilbo annoyed by the unbelieving tone of his mother's voice.

"Don't try to play smart here," snapped Bungo.

"I'm sorry mum. I didn't mean to."

"Who's the father," asked Bungo.

"I'm the father."

"You know what I meant so don't try to play smart with me. I'm not in the mood. I'll ask again, who is the father?"

Bilbo didn't answer and Belladonna gasped. "Did someone force you?"

"No!" exclaimed Bilbo. "Nothing like this happened, I knew what I was doing."

"Then why didn't you use a condom," asked Bungo.

"I don't know," sighed Bilbo. "I wasn't thinking at that time."

"You said nobody forced you," panicked Belladonna.

"I said I wasn't thinking at the time not that I didn't agree," explained Bilbo.

"Then why are you not telling us who the father is," demanded Bungo.

"Would it make any difference?"

"No it wouldn't," sighed Bungo when he realized that his son was right. It wasn't important who the father was, his son was pregnant and nothing would change that. "Are you sure you are p-p-pregnant?" Even for Bungo it was hard to say it.

"Yes. I took three tests and they were all positive."

"Alright then," said Belladonna after she took a deep breath to calm herself. "This is happening and we will have to deal with it as a family."

"I'm sorry," said Bilbo on the verge of crying.

Belladonna stood up and pulled her son into an embrace. "There is nothing you can do about it now. Your life will change and not entirely for the better, but we will help you as much as we can. We may not have much to offer but this baby will be loved." Bilbo started sobbing into his mother's chest.

"I'm sorry."

Belladonna cupped Bilbo's cheeks and forced him to look her in the eyes. "We will help you get through this, I promise." He gave him a kiss on the forehead. "First things first, we need to find a good doctor."

Author's notes:

Here is another chapter. We are still not finished with the conversation, there is more to come. As I said these chapters won't be long (max. 3500 words). I do have some trouble writing them short but if I don't give myself a limit we would end up with chapters as long as in The Crown of Sonnets.

For everyone that is waiting for me to update that story I can tell you that the next chapter is already in progress. It's coming together rather quickly. I already wrote the beginning and now I can start complicating things. Anyway, enough of this for now. I hope you enjoyed this (short) chapter. Feedback is always welcome and I'll see you at the next one.